Archive

May 2021

Filmmaking Creative Confidence: 'First Sparks' (and Rachel Bloom!)

April 2021

Filmmaking 'Feeling Through' Deserves an Oscar, and Here's Why Filmmaking Six Questions to Strategize Getting an Agent or Manager Filmmaking Why the 2021 ScreenCraft Writers Summit is the Answer to Your Screenwriting Slump

March 2021

Education Eavesdropping on Bring It On's Jessica Bendinger + Emily Best Film Crowdfunding Three Cheers for These Newly Launched Campaigns! Mar 1 - Mar 5 Film Crowdfunding Three Cheers for These Newly Launched Campaigns! Feb 22 - Feb 26

February 2021

Filmmaking 7 Tips for Taking the Leap from Short to Feature Films Film Crowdfunding Three Cheers for These Newly Launched Campaigns! Feb 15 - 19 Film Crowdfunding Three Cheers for These Newly Launched Campaigns! Feb 8 - Feb 12 Distribution Seed&Spark Alumni at Slamdance 2021! Film Crowdfunding Three Cheers for These Newly Launched Campaigns! Feb 1 - Feb 5

January 2021

Film Crowdfunding The 7 Things We Look for When We Review Crowdfunding Projects Film Crowdfunding Our Favorite Pitch Videos of 2020

October 2020

Film Crowdfunding 15 Tips for Creating Rewarding Crowdfunding Incentives

September 2020

Film Crowdfunding Answering Every Single Common Crowdfunding Question Film Crowdfunding How To Write (And Use) An Outreach Plan

August 2020

Film Crowdfunding Incorporating Activism and Education Into Your Incentives Film Crowdfunding Managing Self-Doubt in Crowdfunding And Marketing

July 2020

Education Finding Creativity Within Constraints with Mark Duplass Film Crowdfunding Maintaining Momentum During Your Crowdfunding Campaign Education Emily V. Gordon Wants to Know: What's Keeping You From Writing Today? Film Crowdfunding How To Raise Over 100% Of Your Crowdfunding Goals Film Crowdfunding Should you have personal or project-specific social media?

June 2020

Film Crowdfunding Every Cent I Spent Of My $700 Crowdfunding Goal Film Crowdfunding The Lowdown on Loans Education Finished in Four — A 4-Week Screenwriting Challenge with John Ridley Film Crowdfunding Crowdfunding Events Ideas for Writers Film Crowdfunding Crowdfunding Event Ideas for Filmmakers Film Crowdfunding Crowdfunding Event Ideas for Musicians Film Crowdfunding Crowdfunding Event Ideas for Theater Projects Film Crowdfunding Crowdfunding Event Ideas for Podcasts and Audio Dramas Film Crowdfunding How To Make Live Events Part of Your Crowdfunding Strategy

May 2020

Film Crowdfunding How To Interview Your Audience Before Crowdfunding Festivals 10 Questions Every Filmmaker Should Ask When a Festival Opts to go Online Education Crack Your Project with Mark Duplass Education A Step-by-Step Roadmap to the Draw of Comics Film Crowdfunding How to Use Social Media to Tell Your Campaign's Story Film Crowdfunding Motivating Your Teammates During Crowdfunding Taking Action Top 5 Takeaways from Jeff Yang's Family Meal Seed&Spark Updates Your Mission (Should You Choose to Accept) Film Crowdfunding Audience Building While Social Media Cleansing

April 2020

Seed&Spark Updates Introducing the Creative Sustainability Sessions Film Crowdfunding Writing Great Crowdfunding Emails Taking Action Storyteller Support in the Age of COVID-19 Film Crowdfunding Drop "donate" from your crowdfunding vocabulary Film Crowdfunding Can I Crowdfund If My Friends Are Broke? Film Crowdfunding Building Your Email List for Your Crowdfunding Campaign...and Career Film Crowdfunding Raising funds for post-production Film Crowdfunding Audience building with a bit of help from criminal psychology

March 2020

Film Crowdfunding Crowdfunding for venues and festivals Film Crowdfunding Telling Your Story With Your Story Section Film Crowdfunding Where you build, your audience will follow. Filmmaking How to Be Creative Without Being Productive Film Crowdfunding Crowdfunding for an Art Residency due to Social Distancing Film Crowdfunding Coronavirus Crowdfunding Tips Film Crowdfunding Making a perfect crowdfunding pitch video Film Crowdfunding Our favorite pitch videos of 2019: Part II

February 2020

Film Crowdfunding Our favorite pitch videos of 2019: Part I Film Crowdfunding Aligning Your Incentives With Your Career Level Film Crowdfunding What's up with updates: How to use them to reach your crowdfunding goal Seed&Spark Updates 2019 Year in Review

January 2020

Festivals Filmmakers, Here’s The Top Things Festival Programmers Want You To Know Festivals 2020 Film Festival Calendar Film Crowdfunding The Elusive $25 Incentive Education Education For Every Step Of Your Creative Journey

December 2019

Distribution What the Joyful Vampire Tour of America Taught us About Independent Film Today

September 2019

Seed&Spark Updates Growing to help even more creators build sustainable careers

July 2019

Festivals Seed&Spark films at Outfest 2019

June 2019

Seed&Spark Updates Growing creator sustainability, community first.

May 2019

What to Watch Mothers In Film What to Watch Films in support of Mental Health Awareness Month

April 2019

Success Stories Seed&Spark Films at Tribeca 2019

March 2019

Success Stories Fourteen Seed&Spark crowdfunded films at Queens World Film Festival Education Top 10 Takeaways from the ATL Creative Sustainability Summit Success Stories Seed&Spark films at Cinequest

February 2019

Success Stories IRS Agent And Vampires Takeover Cinequest Film Festival As Much Anticipated Comedy “Bite Me” Premieres March 9

January 2019

Seed&Spark Updates 2018 YEAR-IN-REVIEW

December 2018

Film Crowdfunding 12 Pitch Videos We Loved In 2018

November 2018

Success Stories Duplass Brothers To Executive Produce Independent Film Selected From Seed&Spark Crowdfunding Rally

October 2018

Seed&Spark Updates Seed&Spark expands to Canada!

August 2018

Filmmaking Film production tech tools

July 2018

Film Crowdfunding A Killer Campaign Timeline Film Crowdfunding The best pitch videos...of the last 3 months

June 2018

Film Crowdfunding Setting a responsible crowdfunding goal What to Watch 18 LGBTQ filmmakers to watch What to Watch Let's get exclusive this summer!

May 2018

Film Crowdfunding Tools to Use While Crowdfunding Film Crowdfunding Best pitch videos of 2018...so far.

April 2018

Success Stories How One Tweet Led to $62,690 to Make a New Kind of Teen Movie Filmmaking From Fearing Social Media to Making It My BFF: Growing An Audience for your Show or Film Taking Action Amanda Knox makes her Case for Optimism Taking Action Novelist Chris Robinson on cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence and creating for the future Film Crowdfunding Following a campaign on Seed&Spark

March 2018

Taking Action Searching's Sev Ohanian makes his case for optimism Seed&Spark Updates Using Google Analytics for more data on your crowdfunding campaign Production Taking The Plunge: Tips for Getting the Most from a Self-Financed Film Taking Action Director Meera Menon talks FernGully, Peter Gabriel and preemptive victory laps Taking Action Gratitude, self-care and solutions: all part of a #CaseForOptimism Taking Action Charlotte Clymer is shaping the future with her #CaseForOptimism

February 2018

Seed&Spark Updates Creator Musa Okwonga on progress, perseverance and his case for optimism Seed&Spark Updates Figuring out how to imagine the future: James Kaelan's #CaseForOptimism Seed&Spark Updates Journalist Rebecca Ruiz makes her Case for Optimism Seed&Spark Updates Pressing on with a case for optimism: Kelly Daniela Norris and TW Pittman

January 2018

Seed&Spark Updates #FilmDis creator Dominick Evans on his case for optimism Seed&Spark Updates This is Us writer Kay Oyegun shares her case for optimism Seed&Spark Updates Writer, director Caitlin FitzGerald makes a case for optimism Seed&Spark Updates The Pessimist’s Guide to Optimism Film Crowdfunding The Desperation Phase

December 2017

Festivals 2018 Film Festival Calendar Film Crowdfunding Our favorite crowdfunding incentives of 2017 Film Crowdfunding Our favorite pitch videos of 2017 Film Crowdfunding New crowdfunding campaigns this week What to Watch ICYMI: November New Releases

November 2017

Education How a series creator used social media to build an audience Film Crowdfunding Hurricanes can't stop this Hometown Hero filmmaker Film Crowdfunding Meet the filmmakers who earned rewards this quarter What to Watch ICYMI: October New Releases! Seed&Spark Updates It's Here! Hometown Heroes Winners!

October 2017

Film Crowdfunding Meet the #HometownHeroes finalists Diversity & Inclusion Moving forward after Weinstein: How to build a better culture What to Watch September new releases

September 2017

Distribution Getting started advertising your film on Facebook Taking Action Why It’s Time to Disable Diversity Efforts

August 2017

Seed&Spark Updates August new releases Film Crowdfunding Success Story: Cameo Wood on 'Real Artists' Film Crowdfunding 10 reasons to crowdfund with Seed&Spark Education #FilmCurious recap: Film as a mirror and a window Distribution New Voice Rally Winners, TableTalk, Talk Season 1 Premiere Seed&Spark Updates 1 to Watch, 1 to Fund: Week of August 7, 2017 Film Crowdfunding Partnering with Grant Larson Productions to support female filmmakers Film Crowdfunding Rewarding inclusive filmmakers: Quarterly perks recipients announced! Seed&Spark Updates Filmmaker Spotlight: Meena Ramamurthy

July 2017

Film Crowdfunding 10 incredible incentive ideas for crowdfunding campaigns Education 6 things we took away from our talk with Mark Duplass Taking Action 12 representation influencers to follow on social media Seed&Spark Updates The New Voice Crowdfunding Rally comes to a winning end at SeriesFest Distribution What to watch: June new releases

June 2017

Film Crowdfunding 8 Great Inclusion Statements Seed&Spark Updates Seed&Spark now available on AppleTV and Roku Distribution Filmmaker Spotlight: Suzanne Schmidt Education #FilmCurious 6/20: Intersectionality in Film & Art Film Crowdfunding Success Story: I Am Thalente and the power of knowing your audience Film Crowdfunding 5 common crowdfunding myths debunked Seed&Spark Updates What to watch: May new releases Film Crowdfunding Great crowdfunding pitch videos

May 2017

Seed&Spark Updates #UntoldStory Update: Next Steps for Building the American Dream Seed&Spark Updates What to watch: April new releases Distribution #FilmCurious 5/23: Navigating Film Distribution (And Surviving) Film Crowdfunding Rewarding filmmakers who embrace inclusion Seed&Spark Updates 100 Days and Counting...

April 2017

Education Diversity with a Capital D Seed&Spark Updates What to watch: March new releases Seed&Spark Updates #FilmCurious 4/11/2017: Filmmaking by New Americans Taking Action Cinema for Justice: A letter from Eric Garner's widow

March 2017

Seed&Spark Updates #FilmCurious 3/28/2017: Muslim Storytelling in America Education For Persian New Year, A Real Post about Real Persians Film Crowdfunding Crowdfunding Activists on Intersectionality and Outreach Education #FilmCurious 3/14/2017: Family on Film + #100DaysOfDiversity Film Crowdfunding #InternationalWomensDay: 5 Films to Fund, 5 Films to Watch Taking Action 3 simple tips to increase gender parity in your films Seed&Spark Updates Gerry Maravilla: "It's Time We Do Better"

February 2017

Modern Love: How to Ensure the Project Doesn't Die When Your Relationship Does Education Getting Your Screenplay Reader-Ready Education #FilmCurious Recap 2/14/17: Black History. Present. Future. Seed&Spark Updates Giveaway alert! Film Crowdfunding Seed&Spark alum "Errata" scores development deal with Fullscreen Film Crowdfunding Working Towards Sustainability: Why I Keep Crowdfunding & Making Shorts Education Pulling Others Up By Your Bootstraps: A Guide to Helping Sistahs Seed&Spark Updates How Will We Be Different After The Women’s March? Education #FilmCurious Recap 1/31/17: Democracy in Action

January 2017

Seed&Spark Updates Stats and Articles: Evidence We Need to Make a Change Distribution #FilmCurious 1/17/17 Recap: Distribution Production REBEL GIRL Education The Filmmaker Dashboard: Using data to build your filmmaking career Production Negotiating The Location Agreement Education #FilmCurious 1/3/17 Recap: Cinefemme

December 2016

Festivals 2017 Film Festival Calendar Seed&Spark Updates We're Stronger Together // #100DaysOfDiversity Film Crowdfunding #FilmCurious 12/20/16 Recap: End of the Year Party with Emily Best and Erica Anderson Seed&Spark Updates A Membership That Matters Film Crowdfunding Optimize Your Campaign's Shareability Distribution #FilmCurious 12/6/16 Recap: Life After Your Festival Run with Smarthouse Creative Film Crowdfunding Black and White

November 2016

Distribution Every Truly Bad Review Has a Silver Lining Education Disability Representation: #FilmCurious Chat 11/22/16 Festivals How I Learned to Take Film Festival Rejections Less Personally Seed&Spark Updates Inclusion is Revolution Education Shadows Seed&Spark Updates White men who oppose Trump: Make yourselves known Seed&Spark Updates Yowl Seed&Spark Updates A Wicked Problem Production Pre-Production: Contracts, Contracts, and Contracts Education How a Simple Mentorship Series is Taking on Sexism in the Film Industry

October 2016

Production We've got spirit, how 'bout you? Distribution How to Get PR for Your Independent Film (By Acting Like a Human) Film Crowdfunding #NewVoiceRally: FINAL WEEK! Production Sound Wisdom: 5 Sound Mistakes to Avoid, Pt 2

September 2016

Production Sound Wisdom: 5 Sound Mistakes to Avoid, Pt 1 Education An Education Film Crowdfunding We Hate to Say We Told You So...

August 2016

Seed&Spark Updates Lessons from SeriesFest: Crowdfunding is for Introverts, Too Education Whose Film is This, Anyway? Film Crowdfunding 10 Harsh (Sometimes Disturbing) Realities of the Indie Lifestyle (Pt 2)

July 2016

Production 10 Harsh (Sometimes Disturbing) Realities of The Indie Lifestyle (Pt 1) Seed&Spark Updates Lessons From SeriesFest: Make It Your Way Development: 6 Ways to Finance Your Film Development: Tips for Protecting Your Intellectual Property

June 2016

Film Crowdfunding Setting Yourself Up for Crowdfunding Success Space Out of Time, part II: An intro to VR philosophy Space Out of Time, part I: An intro to VR technology

May 2016

Film Crowdfunding 3 Ways To Turn Your Fundraisers Into Fans Rock & Roll, Bitches.

April 2016

Development: Breaking Down the Option Agreement Here, there, and everywhere.

March 2016

Film Crowdfunding It's A Nice Day To Start Again Film Crowdfunding Exploring the Dark Side (of Animation) with Custodian Giddy up, partner. Film Crowdfunding Turning a Childhood Dream into a Filmmaking Reality Film Crowdfunding Magic Pills: Finding the Perfect Incentive By Asking Your Crowd Will My Mom Like This? AKA Fear Blows All in.

February 2016

Make A Big Splash Reclaiming Narratives Creative Calls What Turns an Actor Into a Filmmaker? We Hit Our Crowdfunding Goal on Day 1: What Now? You Know You Need a Lawyer When: A Filmmakers Guide to Navigating the Legal Landscape A Feminist Way to Work? Using Film To Bring Outsiders In Hold Onto Your Butts Innovators' Brunch Panels, Sundance 2016 Puzzle Pieces

January 2016

Emily Best at Art House Convergence Moving Forward With Mentors The Ride of Your Life Eye of the Beholder Distribution A Quick Look Back Before We Move Forward

December 2015

What color is Electric Bleau? Identity & beyond. Electric Exposition

October 2015

Indie Line Producing 101 - The Dos, The Don'ts, and the Oh Hell Nos

September 2015

Production May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor: 8 Tips to Make the Most of Film Festival Submissions Production Giving Cancer the Middle Finger: Quality Problems in Fundraising

August 2015

Ten Digital Tips For Filmmakers with Throwing Fruit Six Tech Tools For Filmmakers

July 2015

Seed&Spark Updates Caitlin FitzGerald: What is the space you want to make for your artistry? 9 tips to break crowdfunding records. Seed&Spark Updates How Michelle Kantor’s Cinefemme is Changing the Script for Women Directors What to Do with Your Data My Secret Past as the Writer/Producer of an Indie Film That Absolutely, Positively Did Not Get into Film Festivals.

June 2015

Production 4 tactics for talking to your audience when you run out of things to say A Collective Vision for Distribution Production 10 Things A Filmmaker Should Do At A Festival Towards a Poor Cinema, Part II

May 2015

Production Baby Got Back (Up): Managing Your Digital Footage Workflow Distribution Getting into Bed Production The Big “Crossover” Question: The best way to assess your film’s international appeal

April 2015

Yelling Fire in an Empty Theater Seed&Spark Updates Film of the Week A New Empowered Mythology Seed&Spark Updates Film of the Week Production Foreign Markets: Expanding the web and connecting the dots Seed&Spark Updates Film of the Week Seed&Spark Updates Film of the Week

March 2015

Seed&Spark Updates Film of the Week Towards a Poor Cinema, Part 1 Seed&Spark Updates Film of the Week Seed&Spark Updates Film of the Week

February 2015

Seed&Spark Updates Film of the Week Production Top 5 Misunderstandings about Self Distribution Seed&Spark Updates Film of the Week Festivals Independent Does Not Mean Alone. Seed&Spark Updates Film of the Week Seed&Spark Updates Tales From The List Production Shooting a No-budget Feature in Winter Weather Seed&Spark Updates Film of the Week

January 2015

Seed&Spark Updates Film of the Week Seed&Spark Updates Strength in Union: The Rise of Film Collectives Seed&Spark Updates Film of the Week Seed&Spark Updates Film of the Week Seed&Spark Updates A look waaaaay back at 2014 Distribution Inside the Fishbowl: Wisdom on Windowing Seed&Spark Updates Film of the Week Distribution The Most Important Person on Your Set You Don't Even Know About Production What Sony Can Teach Indies Our New Year's Resolutions!

December 2014

Film of the Week We have some questions about Sony Hack Film of the Week

November 2014

#StayIndieTour Diaries: 3 Lessons, Many Strong Opinions

October 2014

Rethinking Indie Film The Legendary Texas Theatre Activist Film Journalism and the Vitality of Cinema The Plight of the Mid-Career Filmmaker

September 2014

Be Free Where You Are Blackmagic Stirs the Cauldron Production The Writer's Objective The Elusive Filmmaking Entrepreneur

August 2014

8 Tips to Take Away The Crowdfunding Night Terrors Tips and Tricks or Things Not to Do: Your Editor is Your Best Friend Quit Your Bitching and Get to Pitching From Crowdfunding to Community Building Rubber-Necker Special: Diary of a Crowdfunder Adieu, adieu, to you and you and you Crowdfunding is a Scary Thing

July 2014

An Introvert’s Guide to Crowdfunding More Tech Tools for Filmmakers A New Golden Age of Cinema

June 2014

What We Talk About When We Talk About Sharing Be a Social Media Star: 10 Tips for Filmmakers

May 2014

Crowdfunding from a Distributor's Perspective "How to Take a Hollywood Meeting" Applies to You, Too

March 2014

Six Tech Tools to Help Filmmakers Succeed

February 2014

An Open Letter to the SEC on the JOBS Act Rules

January 2014

Selling at Sundance The Print Magazine Impends

December 2013

The Top 20 (+10) Films of 2013 Raising Awareness, One Vagina at a Time. We HAVE What We Need to Create

November 2013

Film Crowdfunding To Win Your Film Audience, Think Like a Content Marketer

October 2013

Help us choose a poster designer! Little House in the Big Woods: Flyway Film Festival Keynote Speech The Best Film of 1964 Sparking a New Film Festival: WestFest Follow Up! How to Crowdfund When You're Not Zach Braff or Spike Lee: The First Time Filmmakers Guide To A Brave New World Princess of the 22 Clark Bus and Why I Made The Dreamers

September 2013

THE IMMEDIACY OF DISTANCE MILLENNIALS THESE DAYS.

August 2013

Long Wait for Short Term 12 How to Navigate a Film Festival The Answer Is in the Questions Like the Water SAY YOU KNEW THEM WHEN

July 2013

FILM IS DEAD. LONG LIVE FILM! The Hero's Journey with Puppets When Opportunity Knocks Making Lemonade Part 1: Filmmaking as Communal Entrepreneurship Why and When We Pay for Content Online

June 2013

Filmmakers: It’s like a trust fall into a dark hole. Try it. I SEND YOU THIS PLAYLIST ...along with some thoughts on audience outreach and the day-and-date release The Price of Participation

May 2013

The Pitch Part 2: The Results! The Pitch Everybody Needs Music

April 2013

Metrics of Success #2 How to Start a Film Festival Mixing Business and Pleasure: Making a movie and staying together

March 2013

Introducing the Seed & Spark Social Media Handbook 5 Steps to Unlocking The True Value of Your Creative Content The Art of the Q&A

February 2013

Our Very First Metrics of Success(es)!

January 2013

Live from Sundance: The Innovators' Brunch Amplify the Message: Social Media at Your Festival Debut Facebook? Twitter? Help! - Social Media Tips&Tricks for Filmmakers Festival Survival Guide for Filmmakers Going Viral With Your Crowdfunding Campaign

December 2012

A Round Up of Bright Ideas 2012 What does independent cinema mean to you? Welcome to Bright Ideas!

November 2012

Campaign Like You Mean It: 8 Ways to Crowdfund Hard Keep it Clean: Chain of Title Documents for Film Getting the Actors You Want: Navigating SAG-AFTRA Connecting Audio with Audience: Expert Tips from a Sound Engineer Ask not "Do I need insurance?" Only: "What kind?"