Words and pictures
by Tampa indie film expert C. A. Passinault, filmmaker for Tampa film
production company Dream Nine Studios
I am not a crazed film
fan. I am an indie film professional. I have a backbone. I have professional
opinions backed up by experience and credibility. I don't play politics.
I don't kiss ass. I respect my readers enough to tell it how it is, and
that's exactly what I am going to do.
This is Tampa Bay's best, and most professional, Tampa indie film blog!
I am going to inform Tampa indie film professionals about what they need
to know. I wouldn't have it any other way, and neither would you.
Sunday, June 28,
2009 - 8:00 AM - Tampa Indie Film Log for Filmmaker C. A. Passinault
Some
Down Time For 2009 - Preparing For 2010
Some of you are going to love
this. Others, not so much.
I’m taking a break from Tampa indie film, for the most part, for
the next six months. That knocks out the remainder of 2009.
The reason? I have to work to do with my photography business, as well
as sales and marketing. This will take up
most of my time. This is a critical step, and it is needed, however, because
there are some protocols which I am developing which will support what
I am doing in Tampa indie film. The catch is that the benefit will not
be right away.
When my photography business gets to where it is needed, the sales and
marketing efforts supporting it will be translated to support my Tampa
event planning and stage production companies. Those service companies
have to be up to speed, because I won’t be able to do a single Tampa
film festival without them, let alone four different Tampa film festival
properties. Eventi Events and Eventi Stage should be getting to where
they need to be sometime in 2010, which will keep my current Tampa film
festival schedule on schedule.
Of course, there are other complications, too. I’m also working
on a video game festival, which is a lot different than a film festival.
The video game festival should have no bearing on the film festivals,
and may even serve to enhance their marketing. I do plan on cross promoting
other events with each of my events, even if they are not directly compatible.
As long as the target audience is served, that would be the rule of thumb.
So, I’ll have limited time to cover Tampa indie film this year.
This will be much like the lull before the storm, while I use the downtime
to build my resources. Sure, I’ll make some time to attend, and
to cover, a few film festivals, events, and happenings, but it won’t
come close to the scale of my future endeavors.
So, for now, I’ll keep updating the Tampa Film Blog whenever I get
the chance. I’ll also post news about Tampa indie film here, and
will allow professional Tampa filmmakers to post announcements and news
here. So, Andy Lalino, if you wish to promote your efforts here, you are
more than welcome to. Unlike some people, I won’t stop you from
promoting yourself on here, or on my web sites. I am sincere about supporting
Tampa indie film and the efforts of genuine Tampa filmmakers.
At any rate, I’ll be investing in two more Tampa indie film-relevant
domain names shortly, although it will be a few years before either one
of them will see much use (isn’t that the usual when it come to
me and my thousands of projects). I will also take the time to work on
some other Tampa indie film-relevant things. I have a few reviews in the
can (some films and film festival reviews), and will be overhauling Tampa
Bay Film in the next few weeks. I will also spend some time adding more
indie films to the Tampa Bay Film Online Film Festival and activating
the rest of the films in the online film festival first generation archive
(current rules state that every film available for selection on the online
have a screen-grab thumbnail for the menu selection system). Oh, and progress
on the online film festival is good. The third generation Tampa Bay Film
Online Film Festival will debut in the spring of 2010, using the current
one as a foundation (same site, same directories, same menu interface,
and a fully operational second generation indie film archive). The third
generation Tampa Bay Film Online Film Festival will be a revolution compared
to what we have now. It will use PHP and databasing elements, and will
eventually host indie films with our own custom flash-based delivery system.
At first, however, it will use PHP databasing and embed codes, which will
eventually give way to us hosting indie films.
Oh, and did you know that the fourth generation Tampa Bay Film Online
Film Festival is also spec’ed out and is in development? The fourth
generation Tampa Bay Film Online Film Festival will be incredibly advanced,
and will make video sites like YouTube look primitive in comparison (the
only thing holding me back from doing it right now is having the technical
skills to execute the idea, but that will only take time to learn more
advanced flash and databasing applications). The fourth generation Tampa
Bay Film Online Film Festival will be like comparing night and day when
compared to the current second generation one now in use. Don’t
expect to see it until at least 2011, and it could, realistically, launch
in 2012.
That said, let me say that I am very proud of the current second generation
Tampa Bay Film Online Film Festival, which has been very successful, and
will serve as the foundation for what it to come. It is very effective,
and is far from obsolete. The third generation online film festival will
add functionality and make it easy to add films by utilizing databasing,
using a refined version of what we have now, and the fourth generation
will further build on the massive foundation by adding a new interface,
as well as further improve the existing interface and add a ton of new
features.
Oh, and changing subjects, adding to my previous Star Trek post, I did
manage to see more Star Trek: New Voyages / Phase II episodes, and the
latest were very impressive. James Cawley is now a passable Kirk, and
the Sulu Episode, “World
Enough and Time”, is a must-see. The series really has legs
now, and that episode is one of the best Star Trek episodes that I have
ever seen, counting all of the series. Impressive stuff, and I recommend
that all Tampa filmmakers watch it immediately. Forget the J.J. Abrams
reboot Star Trek movie, which is an insult to the franchise and insults
the intelligence of the fans. This series is the real deal, and it adheres
to Canon; it’s almost like all of the people who worked on the television
Treks rebelled and are now working together to do this underground series
so that they can continue the story of Star Trek and keep it true. I respect
these people and what they are doing, as it is really good work. Hell,
I wouldn’t be surprised of Paramount/ CBS were to give these guys
a deal and commission a new original series Star Trek for television.
Wouldn’t that be ironic?
Oh, and where is the Tampa Star Trek series? Who knows. I am still hearing
rumors, and with the latest rumor that my friend Chris Woods is going
to play Chekov (not true, it turns out), I really don’t know what
to think.
We can all hope, however.
Click on the links below to
download the Star Trek: New Voyages episode "World
Enough and Time". The downloads are in a weird type of zip file,
and you will also have to download the WinRAR program from the supplied
link to decompress the files so that you can play them (there is a FREE
EVALUATION VERSION of the WinRAR program that I used, and you do not have
to buy it or anything else). If you cannot play the files using your normal
media player, use this media
player program (the ultra-cool VLC
Media Player, which is free and open source!), which
plays most video codecs (My friend, model and actress Harmony Oswald /
Harmony Layne, was happy when I sent her this program in an e-mail. She
was finally able to view a video file for a movie that she was in, after
all other media players failed. Trust me- the program works. Also, use
at your own risk. I assume no liability for use of any
programs or playing any files linked to from this blog or any
of my other sites. This is more as a courtesy to you, and does nothing
for me, so I assume no liability. Always run a scan with your updated
and current anti-virus program before unzipping or running any files that
you download!).
Star Trek New Voyages
Episode 3 WORLD ENOUGH AND TIME (MPEG4/AVC H.264) Part
1Part
2Part
3Part
4 (4 * 100 Mb, use WinRAR
to reassemble the original MPEG4 file)
Watch it. It's some of the
best Star Trek ever created. It's well worth the download and set up (if
they would run it using an embedded viewer, I would proudly play it on
my online film festival). Sorry that it's not simple to watch the episode.
Monday, June 22,
2009 - 11:00 AM - Tampa Indie Film Log for Filmmaker C. A. Passinault
Tampa
Star Trek Production Rumors
This post contains speculation about
unconfirmed rumors. Officially, there is no Tampa Star Trek production,
but the author wanted to explore the possibility, and the potential.
The past few weeks, I’ve
been hearing a lot of rumors regarding a new Star Trek series, set in
the original series, that
is preparing to enter production in the Tampa Bay area. The series, which
would consist of an ongoing number of episodes produced, would start filming
sometime later in 2009, and would pick up where the original series left
off.
It’s been done before. There are several Star Trek fan series in
production in the United States, mostly produced by trekkies. The assorted
series are produced on shoestring budgets, much like traditional indie
films, and are distributed on the Internet. Of them all, however, the
top series would have to Star Trek: New Voyages / Star Trek: Phase II.
Although the online series had a shaky (but ambitious and promising) start,
the series, starting with the episode “To serve all my days”,
is actually getting as good as the original series. In my opinion, New
Voyages co-creator James Cawley, who portrays Captain James T. Kirk, is
not a good actor, but recent episodes have cast some talented actors with
good performances. I was impressed with the performance of actor
Andy Bray (no relation to my friend Sarah Bray, obviously), who portrayed
Pavel Chekov in the episode To serve all my days, and did a much
better job playing the character than the original actor, Walter Koenig,
who was shoe-horned into the episode as “old Chekov”, reprising
his original role; that was impressive, and speaks volumes about the acting
ability of Mr. Bray. So, could anyone out-Shatner William Shatner, and
nail the Jame T. Kirk character better than Shatner? Unlikely, so far,
and in my opinion, James Cawley created this series to “role play
Star Trek”, and doesn’t even come close to doing a passable
job as an actor, let alone approach the acting ability of Shatner (as
controversial as that acting is, as well). Well, at least the Star Trek
role playing project is coming to life on its own as one of the best works
of Star Trek (independent of the IP owners) to come along yet.
To Cawley’s credit, he did built a damn fine recreation of the Enterprise
bridge in a barn, and the sets look good. He even got the attention of
Wired a few years back, and the series has a substantial fan
following and press coverage to date.
Which brings us to the Tampa Star Trek Rumors. To date, I have heard several
interesting stories about this project, and
although I am unable to verify that it actually exists, the potential
is much too interesting to pass up reporting. Among the rumors, I heard
the following.
Please note that these
are unverified rumors, and are not facts. I am merely speculating and
expressing opinions here, and nothing more.
Rumor: The
Tampa Star Trek series, much like New Voyages / Phase II, would be set
in the original series, picking up where it left off. The rumor goes on
to say that a group of Tampa indie filmmakers were behind the production,
much like the Tampa Film Network produced the ill-fated Quiet Place a
few years ago.
Rumor: A U.S.S.
Enterprise bridge set is being built in an abandoned building in Ybor
City. Several other interior sets are being built at another Tampa film
location. I would love to see these sets, if they exist.
Rumor:
Tampa actor Joe Davison is supposed to be cast as “Scotty”.
To be honest, I would love to see this, although I am uncertain if Joe
can fit in Scotty's uniform.
Rumor: Paul
Guzzo is supposed to make his acting debut in the pilot, playing an Enterprise
red-shirted security crewman in a landing party scene, and the Cardassian
leader (I’d love to see that!). After Paul's groundbreaking performance
as a heartbroken security guard in his highly acclaimed feature film 99,
I suppose that he was perfect for the part of a red-shirt. As for Cardassians,
they are noted to be arrogant assholes in Star Trek canon, so no acting
ability is required there.
Rumor: The
Enterprise beams down a landing party to a chaotic planet which is in
a state of anarchy. They are quickly attacked. The planet is portrayed
by a Ybor City location, which fits, in my opinion, and also in my opinion
they could do this scene without any stunt people. All that they would
have to so is hang around Ybor with a film crew and a group of actors
dressed in Star Trek uniforms, and the attack would happen naturally from
all the drunks and criminals who hang out in Ybor.
Rumor: The
story involves the Enterprise encountering a Cardassian warship from the
future. The Enterprise subsequently
gets hammered and has to retreat, no match for a Galor-class Cardassian
warship from the Next-Generation era. My question is: Wouldn’t the
Borg be more fun, and less work for makeup?
Fact: Someone
forwarded me the story for the pilot and some screen grabs that they claimed
were from the effects team (the picture of the Cardassian and the New
Voyages screen grabs were not in those samples). The story is excellent,
and the special effects / CG work is incredible (if that’s indeed
what it is- check out the pictures for yourself).
Rumor: This
is will be ongoing series, released on the Internet much like New Voyages.
Well,
take it for what it is. This is interesting stuff. Some have brought up
that a “fan series” couldn’t be sold, because the production
team would be creating works based on the original intellectual property
owned by another company. That’s a given, but there are still some
intriguing things about such a project which would make it worth doing.
For example, such a project would attract a lot of attention (and controversy),
because it is a creative work for a property which has a massive fanbase.
It would serve as a great marketing vehicle for actors and filmmakers.
What about the legality of producing such derivative work? Well, New Voyages
already solved that issue.
From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_New_Voyages):
CBS (and previously
Paramount Pictures), which owns the legal rights to the Star Trek franchise,
allows the distribution of fan-created material as long as no attempt
is made to profit from it without official authorization, and New Voyages
enjoys the same tolerance.
Can you see the buzz potential
for this? I certainly can.
As a filmmaker, and a writer, I can say that I have plenty of my own intellectual
property to keep me busy. I own enough original material right now to
keep me busy for the rest of my life. This said, I would be open for a
fan-series, which I could never actually sell, as long as I had an expert
knowledge of the source material and it would serve as a marketing/ promotional
project. Although I am not a Trekkie /Trekker, I do have expert knowledge
of the property and Star Trek canon (much like other works of fiction
which I get into), and I could do Star Trek justice (even New Voyages
has technical flaws which go against canon- in a recent episode, for example,
there is an accident in engineering, and one of their “engines”
is out, leaving them the use of “only” one engine. Sorry,
guys, you meant “nacelles”. The Constitution-Class Enterprise
only has one engine, which drives warp coils housed in two nacelles).
If these turn out to be rumors, and it doesn’t turn out to be a
real project, I would be open to doing a Star Trek series myself. I’ll
just leave it at that for now, and I’ll see how this pans out. At
any rate, this should make a lot of Tampa filmmakers think.
Friday, May 22, 2009
- 8:00 AM - Tampa Indie Film Log for Filmmaker C. A. Passinault
Certain
Tampa Filmmakers Having Trouble Casting Films
It came to my attention today
that certain Tampa filmmakers are having trouble finding actors for their
films. First, allow me to be the first one to say that I am very sorry
for the inconveniences that you are experiencing. I could imagine how
frustrating the casting process can be when no one seems to take you seriously.
For myself, I don't seem to have those issues. I currently have the largest
roster of professional actors, talent, and models in the Tampa Bay market.
It's too bad that my refusal to refer any of them to you is only the beginning
of your problems.
If it is on the Internet, I
am aware of it. I am also able to address it quite effectively if I decide
to.
What's that? Having problems
keeping your casting notices online? Tips? Well, first of all, stop using
a freebie networking profile as your "business" web site. Invest
in a professional web site. Maybe, then, more of the actors who you are
soliciting will take you seriously. How do they know that you are not
some creepy guy with a video camera looking to exploit them in the name
of "art" when your credibility is in question because you obviously
have not made any investments into your career? Isn't it depressing when
you realize that many of the people who are working to remove your ads
are the actors who you are trying to solicit for your films? There are
a lot of scams and con artists posting on certain free web sites, and
how can anyone tell you apart from the scams? Also, did you piss someone
off, by doing something underhanded toward them and proving how unprofessional
you are, who has the capability to undermine what you are doing?
Today is the beginning of phase
two. It will be an ongoing operation to bring balance to the Tampa indie
film scene.
Karma is a mysterious thing.
So is the credibility of anyone who takes shortcuts. There is no use crying
over the milk dribbling from the broken bottles in the crates. You made
the mess, and now you simply must drink what you can before it soaks into
the dirt; down in the dirt where you belong.
Oh, and in a related note,
I will be launching two more indie film-relevant web sites in the next
month. They will become fully operational by 2011 to support what I have
planned.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
- 11:00 AM - Tampa Indie Film Log for Filmmaker C. A. Passinault
No
More Actors For Selected Tampa Indie Films
For some reason, I tend to
meet and network with the top actors, models, and talent in Florida. I
have a roster of the very best actors and talent in the Tampa indie film
scene. I've demonstrated this over the years by referring several top
actors to Tampa film projects. I referred actress Roxanne Kowalska (Evensen)
to The Pledge (which was not a direct referral, but the filmmakers
met the actress, through me, at one of my auditions), "actress"
Lowie Narvaez to The Pledge (Lowie, like Roxy, was one of my
best models from 2001-2002, although I had issues with her ability as
an actress. Again, some filmmakers met Lowie and Roxy through me, and
after I they became involved with a film the parents of both of the then-17
year old actresses wanted to give me a power of attorney regarding their
participation with certain film projects, which I declined due to it being
a conflict of interest on my part- especially since it was never a direct
referral. I ended my friendship, and my professional ties, to both girls
due to some conflicts regarding participation with film projects which
I did not wish to get involved with; it was their mistake and loss, and
certainly not mine), actress Harmony Oswald as the lead in The Quiet
Place and actress Sarah Bray as the lead in Spaventare.
I've had mixed experiences
referring actors to Tampa indie films. Lowie and Roxy proved to be disastrous
referrals, since I never directly referred them and had no control over
what was going on (although The Pledge wasn't as bad as I feared;
it is the principle of the matter). Harmony was a good referral for The
Quiet Place, but the film itself was a disaster, in my opinion, and
certain people tried to take advantage of my trust by trying to discredit
me and by attempting to get Harmony to work on other films. Harmony and
I are good friends, and she is well aware of the issues that I have with
certain filmmakers and the full story on what is going on. Sarah, too,
was a good referral, as Chris Woods is one of the best filmmakers in the
Tampa indie film scene, and he has earned my trust. I did not have much
enjoyment working on Spaventare, and I actually hated the experience,
but it really had nothing to do with Sarah or Chris. Let's just say that
others brought their attitudes (Terence), and misconceptions, to the set,
and I left that night in a rather annoyed mood. I'm sure that Sarah, who
is one of my best friends, knew that I was annoyed as we drove back to
Tampa. Ahem- I don't forget anything. Suffice it to say, I will no longer
be working on film sets where I am forced to work with certain people.
I really don't have the problem on the sets, and I really try to get along.
They are the ones who are determined to make things far more difficult
than they have to be.
Now,
I still have no problem referring actors to good indie film projects (as
few good films as there currently are) and filmmakers who have earned
my trust (as short as that list is). The list, however, is short. I would
not hesitate to refer actors to Chris Woods, Andy Lalino, Shelby, or Marcus,
but I would have serious reservations on referring actors to anyone else.
I've heard a lot of complaints about a lot of Tampa filmmakers. Many so-called
Tampa filmmakers don't respect actors, and a lot of so-called Tampa filmmakers
are only out to exploit actors in their films.
I've seen a lot of poor judgment,
too. I've seen actors who get involved with films which do not do their
careers any favors (actors only have to ask me, and I will give my opinion
regarding whether a Tampa film is worth being cast in or not. Many actors
now do, and many listen to what I have to say, and follow-through on what
I recommend). I've also seen Tampa filmmakers who don't have a clue how
to evaluate actors in an audition, and who can't cast their films. Many
roles go to their friends or to girls who sleep with them when they are
promised a starring role in their film. So, you have miscast films with
aspiring actors, bad acting, and a lot of issues surrounding the production
of the films.
Recently, I have been meeting,
and networking with, an increasing number of professional actors who are
everything that a Tampa filmmaker would want, or need, to make a good
film. Since I don't run a talent agency, and I am not an agent, I don't
make a dime from referring anyone to any film projects, but that does
not matter because I would refer actors to good film projects as a professional
courtesy, and I meet these actors through other means (not by promising
them auditions or roles in films, by the way). One large part of meeting
great actors has been my Tampa headshot photography company. The actors
find me. They get the headshots that their careers need (and my headshots
are the best in Florida, in the opinion of many of my clients), and we
talk- a lot. Just about every actor who I work with stays in touch, and
uses my resource sites. Many of them, too, become professionally associated
with me, and we become good friends.
This is a very good reason
why is doesn't pay for a filmmaker to get on my bad side. If I don't know
you, I give the actors the tools that they need to evaluate you and for
them to make up their own minds. If I know you, and experience has helped
me form a qualified opinion about you, the actors are informed, and many
of them take what I have to say very seriously.
I'm busy with some things at
the moment, but this summer, I will be mobilizing my actor resource web
sites to help actors address Tampa films. Actors will become educated
about the Tampa film scene. I will also be friends with more and more
actors. At this moment, I have several actors on my speed dial who many
filmmakers have been inquiring about. My advice? Don't bother. I will
only refer actors to the best Tampa indie films, and for now, there are
not that many. Don't bother trying to go around me and bother them by
contacting them directly, either. The actors will ask me about you (I
they already don't know), and I'll tell.
I will also have a team monitoring
the Internet and working to undermine any audition notices or casting
solicitations which we determine are not in the best interest of actors
(don't even try to post on my audition boards, either). For many of you,
it's going to be very tough to get the word out on your crappy film projects.
Many actors will be spared the inconvenience of working with you because
they simply won't ever be aware of you to begin with. My people and I
have this capability, the ability to edit certain corners of the Internet,
and we will be working to make things better for professional actors.
Many Tampa filmmakers, obviously,
have lost my respect, and it's going to have dire consequences on their
ability to cast. I am concerned that, if these unprofessional filmmakers
slander me, discriminate against me, and try to rip me off, that they
will do it to actors, too. If they try to do it to me, they will certainly
do it to you.
This said, my lack of support
for certain filmmakers will hurt their projects and their careers. That,
alone, is a nightmare. When I have people actively working against you,
however, it makes in much worse. Let the talent boycott begin. Within
two years, my allies and I will have full control of the Tampa casting
market, and many Tampa filmmakers are going to find it difficult to find
good actors for their mediocre films.
Friday, May 15, 2009
- 9:00 PM - Tampa Indie Film Log for Filmmaker C. A. Passinault
Film
Projects Begin
I bought another DV camera
today. It is a 480P standard resolution camera. I was able to procure
it early because I’ve been booking actor headshot photography shoots
and modeling portfolio photography shoots a lot lately, and
was easily able to buy it. It has a true 16:9 aspect ratio mode, but no
24p. It shoots in 30p at DVD resolution. I wouldn’t shoot a feature
film with it (although it is possible), but it will be great for experimental
filmmaking and building my portfolio of short films. The portfolio of
short films, which will be featured on the Tampa Bay Film Online Film
Festival, will be critical for investor pitches so that we can obtain
funding for more ambitious feature films with the latest technology. At
any rate, I should be able to make this entry-level DV sing, just like
I was able to work the first digital camera for my photography business.
I’ll be testing it this weekend. I have a shoot with an actress
/ model on Monday who could possibly be one of the best actors in Tampa
Bay (who is unknown to Tampa filmmakers because she acts on the stage).
I’ll get with her and see if she can help me test it out. It’s
been a long week, dealing with my media contacts, working on service contracts
for my photography services company (the contracts that my clients signed
last week will probably be the last time that those versions are used).
I opened more youtube accounts today to use as channels/ video file storage.
I am also obtaining four more domain names shortly, and will be deploying
seven more web sites over the summer. This will be a good year for web
site, especially with development of my second generation flash-enhanced
and database driven web site classes underway.
Ah, this weekend, I also have to do a lot more. I have to import my Dream
Nine Studios graphic sets into Premier and start working on stock title
sequences for films. I have to proof the latest copy of my Frontier 4
novel (which is almost done), work on the layout of my modeling book,
finish some service contracts, and get ready to redo some of my computers.
What I really need to do, next week, is to get my main C. A. Passinault
blog back online, because I’m starting to ramble on about things
that are not really relevant for my specialized blogs, such as this Tampa
Film Blog.
Back to indie films. My first experimental film shorts should start appearing
next month. Reverence should be filming at the end of summer, and will
be finished by fall. Films like Reverence are showcase shorts, so I can’t
tell you when I will release them and make them available. Reverence may
not be debuted until next fall! First, however, I need to put together
a boom, build a steadycam, and obtain some lights.
Ok. I need to go now. Oh, regarding the It List on the last post, it’s
about to be expanded and adjusted. I’ve received a lot of feedback
lately, and some changes need to be made.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
- 5:00 PM - Tampa Indie Film Log for Filmmaker C. A. Passinault
The
2009 "It List" and A Potential Tampa Film Future Prediction
Moving on. I’d like to
become more constructive with this blog. Sure, I have my share of people
in the Tampa indie
film scene with whom I will always have differences, but I do not see
the point of stating the obvious or attacking anyone. They’ve been
defeated.
I will, however, reserve the right to evaluate anyone or any project done
in the name of Tampa indie film. That means that Experiment 7
is on my agenda as a film to review, as soon as my network of contacts
secure me a copy. I will also be writing up a review for the 2009
Tampa Film Review film festival (the single one that they had in
January), a review covering the entire run of The Tampa Film Review,
a review of 99, a review of The Quiet Place, and I may
even publish the behind the scenes article about The Quiet Place
(Which I finished last year, and it’s around here somewhere).
Currently, the hot war in the Tampa indie film scene is over. It began
in December of 2007, and lasted until early this year as the Tampa India
Film Clique unraveled and became fragmented. We are now entering a cold
war in the Tampa India film scene, with remnants of the old order being
largely ineffective, and mostly annoying, and Tampa Bay Film and our Indie
film allies now dominant. Even Tampa film clique propaganda sites such
as a certain film blog have been rendered ineffective, and this Tampa
Film Blog is now over ten times the size, with a hundred times the web
traffic and growing. There is no way that anyone in the Tampa film scene
can approach our Internet dominance, or our influence. Perhaps a certain
blogger should abandon word press and learn now to design a real web site.
It’s sad when people realize that they have been beat, and give
up. It’s hard to respect a quitter. Their loss is the Tampa film
scene's gain, however, and this is a victory for everyone. We all deserve
to celebrate.
We have paved the way to the future by undermining the negative agendas
and the politics holding back the Tampa indie film scene.
We paved the way with conflict. We will conquer, however, with peace.
I am thankful that I entered the Tampa indie film scene as a lowly photographer
(so it seemed), helping out with projects, and that no one realized who
I was and what resources I commanded, not the least of which were a powerful
fleet of web sites and the thousands of people who read the content that
I write. With my cover, I was able to figure out who was real, and who
was not, in the Tampa indie film scene. The cover may have worked too
well, too, as the unethical people in the indie film scene, and their
misguided friends, underestimated what they were going up against when
they started the fight with me.
They started the war? Indeed they did, and I have proof. They started
it, I finished it, and many of them paid with their careers. It’s
just a pity that people will slander you and tell others that you are
crazy when they discard the facts, and the only thing that you are guilty
of is standing up for yourself and fighting back when someone violates
your rights. I didn’t roll over and go way like so many others did
when the Tampa indie film clique ganged up on me and started a fight.
I took them all on and put them all in their place.
As a result of the conflict, a war of ideas and words, I now sit here
with the most powerful resources in the Tampa indie film scene, and I
am investing in more. We now have the way paved to a new future, where
a self-serving, lying clique cannot undermine progress. Progress. This
is what we have ahead of us, now.
Alrighty. On to more positive things.
I had a talk yesterday with Nolan (before a certain film festival organizer
frustrated me and set me off), and invited him to join with me in speculating
on what the future of Tampa indie film will be like. Since study of the
past is a good indicator of the future, I spent some time reviewing what
has happened in Tampa indie film until now. At this time, I will do two
things. The first is my first “It List”, a list of
the movers and shakers of the Tampa indie film scene. I will be doing
this every year at the start of summer, kind of like a middle-of-the-year
progress report. I will also be publishing The Year In Review
of the Tampa Indie Film Scene, at the end of the year, on
Tampa Bay Film, much like Chris Woods used to do on his Icon web site.
This will occur every year, starting this year, and will serve to document
the history of Tampa indie film, beginning from the aftermath of the great
Tampa indie film war of 2007-2008 (I will also work on a historical document
covering Tampa indie film from 2000 to 2006, which should close the gap,
as there really wasn’t much of a Tampa indie film scene to speak
of in the 90's, or before that.).
The second thing will be “Tampa indie film in 2014",
which is what I predict the Tampa indie film scene will be like five years
from now. I invited Nolan to participate with the speculation of what
where Tampa indie film is going, since he is well versed in what is going
on to date, and he is more than welcome to compile his own “It
List”, too, if he wishes. If he does a write up, I will be
more than happy to publish what he comes up with here on the Tampa Film
Blog, on Tampa Bay Film, or both.
For now, here is my take.
The “It List”
for 2009
The following are who I consider to be the main players in the Tampa indie
film scene for 2009. They are the ones to watch, and who are accomplishing
a lot. This is not necessarily a 1-10 list, and could be updated at any
time. These are merely the top people at their game, and who are on the
radar in the Tampa indie film scene. These are the ones who have earned
my professional respect, and the respect of the Tampa indie film scene.
1. Andy Lalino and
Andew Allan, The Film Ranch.
Andy Lalino and his filmmaking partner Andrew Allan are,
in my opinion, at the top of the Tampa indie film scene this year. They
have accomplished some amazing things, and currently stand a good chance
of putting Tampa indie film on the map.
Lalino was the filmmaker behind the award-winning short film Filthy,
which blew me away, as it was was a brilliant film. After taking a few
years off, Andy and Andy teamed up to form The Film Ranch, and
began making some ambitious, and incredible, feature films. Last year,
they made Brain Jacked. This year, they made another feature
film using state of the art equipment. These guys are talented, skilled,
and may just be the main players of the Tampa indie film scene of tomorrow.
Oh, and Andy Lalino, any time that you want to promote your projects on
the Tampa Film Blog or on Tampa Bay Film, let me know. Send me your write-up,
and I’ll publish it. I have absolutely no problem allowing people
to promote worthy projects. I support Tampa indie film.
2. Shelby Mcintyre
The king of documentaries, Shelby does some incredible
work. Strip Club King, made with the help of editor and filmmaker
Chris Woods, is a great piece of work. I look forward to seeing what else
Shelby has in store for the future.
3. Marcus Koch
Marcus Koch is pretty much the best makeup effects artist
in the Tampa indie film scene. He is also a great filmmaker. Marcus Koch
is the one responsible for the brilliant 100 Tears. 100 Tears
is one of the best horror films ever done in Florida. As it stands, I
will gladly add to my indie film library.
I saw a music video that Marcus did, too, and it was the best music video
that I’ve ever seen come out of Florida.
4. Chris Woods, Icon
Film Studios
What can I say about Chris Woods? Chris Woods is one of
the most talented, and one of the best, indie filmmakers in Tampa. His
feature film Bleed was an accomplished film. Sever was
brilliant (despite reminding me of the hours that I spent playing the
first Resident Evil on the Playstation). To live
is to die is one of my favorite Tampa short films, and it would have
been one of the best had it not been for a new Chris Woods classic short-
the film Spaventare. Chris Woods is back, after taking a few
years to work on other projects, and Spaventare is one of the
best short Tampa films of all time!
Chris Woods recently told me about a treatment that he had for a new feature
film. He told me the story. Trust me when I say that I really want to
see that film made, and that Chris Woods is a filmmaker to watch as he
is currently planning a feature film which will turn heads and set a new
benchmark in Tampa feature filmmaking. It's going to be one of the best
Tampa films ever made, and it's already on its way with an incredible
story.
5. Rod Grant
A really, really talented actor, I consider Rod Grant
to be the best male lead in the Tampa film scene. He’s done some
excellent films, and has demonstrated impressive range with the characters
that he portrays. He has come a long way since his role in 99,
which he told me was one of his first roles. Rod played the lead in Film
Ranche’s Brain Jacked, and I hear that he did a great job.
He also proved to be impressive in the Chris Woods short film, Spaventare.
6. Somali Rose
Somali is a great actress and a model. She has done a
lot of interesting, and varies, feature film roles. She’s also been
a great help for my projects, and did a great job with some television
news stories that I referred her to. Somali, who was recently featured
in Brain Jacked, is an “it” actor who will go far.
7. Bridget Stahl
Bridget Stahl is a talented actress who is also my good
friend. I met her several months ago when she booked me to do her actor
headshots. I seem to meet a lot of professional actors through my job
as one of the top headshot photographers in Florida.
Bridget has done a lot of solid roles as a featured actor. I am looking
forward to working with her in some of my films, including the upcoming
Reverence short film.
8. Sarah Bray
Sarah Bray is another actress friend who met me when she
booked me to do her actor headshots back in 2004. We’ve been friends
ever since.
Sarah has been on MTV television series and has a degree in theatre. She
is a professional thespian who is a qualified acting instructor. She was
absolutely brilliant in her leading role in the recent Chris Woods film
Spaventare, opposite actor Rod Grant, showing actors just how improv should
be done in film.
Sarah is very talented. She is also a model and a writer. I consider her
to be a better writer than I am, as she is very witty and expressive,
able to compose some of the best articles that I have ever read
In my opinion, Sarah is a better actress than Amanda Beck was in the Chris
Woods film Bleed, and that’s high praise, because I also respect
the ability of Amanda as an actress.
9. Krista Grotte
I first met Krista when she auditioned for the original
Reverence feature film in 2002. As a casting director, I remember reading
about her film Filthy on her headshot resume, and wondering what kind
of film that was. I remember being impressed with her acting ability back
then, but my auditions were long, and she had to leave early.
Since then, Krista had done quite a few films. I was particularly impressed
with her performance in Alarum, a short film that she did with Rick Danford
and Enigma Films.
Krista, who was recently a lead in The Film Ranch film Brain Jacked, is
another “it” actress, and one who should go far.
These are the best of the best,
my friends. They are the very best that the Tampa indie film scene has
to offer. Want to be on the “It List” next year? Do well in
the Tampa indie film scene, and you just might make the cut in 2010! I
probably won’t make the cut then, but I could be a contender in
2011. I have a lot of work to do.
Now, while we are on the subject
of the future, here are my predictions for the Tampa indie film scene
of 2014. Nolan, are you there? You are more than welcome to add your predictions,
too!
The Tampa Indie
Film Scene
May 2014
1. There will finally be a professional Tampa
indie film community, leading the Tampa film scene and making progress.
Many of the current Tampa filmmakers will not be involved, and some new
faces will take active leadership roles. I will have a prominent position
in that Tampa indie film community as one of Tampa’s best and most
influential filmmakers.
2. Big Tampa film festivals will finally
respect Tampa filmmakers instead of humoring them and using Tampa filmmakers
as cheap labor and token figurehead sell-outs. Tampa film festivals will
finally feature Tampa films over big-budget Hollywood films and films
made elsewhere.
3. My film festivals will set the standard
for Tampa film festivals. The Tampa Film Showcase monthly film festival
and professional networking event series will be the best place for the
Tampa film scene to go throughout the year. My annual film festival will
be among the top film festivals. The Tampa Bay Film Online Film Festival
will be a standard, too, with a massive indie film library and “attendance”
which will still beat out all the Tampa film festivals combined (if not
in the United States).
4. The main players in the Tampa indie film
scene will be the Andy’s and their Film Ranch, Chris Woods, Shelby
Mcintyre, Marcus Koch, myself, and many filmmakers which are currently
unknown.
5. Hollywood companies will come to Tampa
to look for films to buy and distribute, not to use Tampa as a location
for one of their film productions. Tampa films will be as respected as
the larger budget films made in Hollywood.
6. Online film distribution will be mainstream.
Many Tampa filmmakers will sell their films as downloads, and some will
market and distribute their films themselves.
7. The Tampa Film Blog will still be the
dominant Tampa film-relevant blog. Other blogs from the past will be gone.
8. New types of films will be made, and not
films which are defined as indie films today. New, creative types of films
genres will emerge, and new ways of marketing films will benefit Tampa
filmmakers.
And that, my friends, is the
future. At least, the future, in my opinion.
Saturday, May 09,
2009 - 11:00 PM - Tampa Indie Film Log for Filmmaker C. A. Passinault
Why
Tampa Film Festival Organizers Need To Promote Effectively
I actively search for information
about Tampa film festivals. If I cannot find the information, it is highly
unlikely that others
will be able to, also. No wonder attendance is so low with certain Tampa
film festivals!
Well, I won't be making that
mistake with my own Tampa film festivals. Any film festival organizer
who specifically markets to local filmmakers and cliques of "fans"
on Myspace handicaps themselves. A film festival should also be marketed
well to the general public, with the target market being fans of the indie
films that you have selected for your play list. My film festivals are
not dependent upon the small Tampa film scene to support them. They are
marketed to the general public with real web sites and other marketing
investments. My target audience will easily, and instantly, be able to
get the information about what is going on. While information will be
published on Myspace for maximum promotion, Myspace will be an afterthought,
as it should never be used as a primary way of marketing. The real deal
will be the web sites that my film festivals have.
As you can guess, I am (still)
very annoyed right now! I tried to get a hold of Danford (again), and
once more I had to leave a message on voice mail. What I am particular
displeased about is the lack of courtesy where he did not return any of
my calls in the past month and let me know what is going on. It really
messed up my schedule for June, and I had no way of checking up on the
film festival which I had scheduled my time to attend. I am also annoyed
that it takes longer, and takes more work, to prepare to cover film festivals.
I cannot pick up and go at the last minute any more. I have a busy schedule,
often scheduled out as far as a month, and I now have certain, um, security
protocols to address each and every time. People have to know where I
am going and when I will check in. I have to have people with me as well
as people with me who are not obvious. These things take planning, and
time. It's no longer simple to be a free spirit and to simply do what
I want to. I have some serious responsibilities.
As I told Paul Guzzo once regarding
the now-defunct Tampa Film Review in my film festival reviews: If you
fail to plan your film festival and do not make it into a worthwhile endeavor,
you disrespect your guests. This is the golden rule of event planning.
Respect your target audience, and demonstrate that you respect them, by
planning an effective event, and by doing everything possible to promote
it and to make it a success. What's next? Do professional event planners
have to invade and demonstrate how Tampa film festivals should be done?
Also, let it be known that,
if any Tampa film festival series is discontinued, then I will be inspired
to write a review about the film festival as a complete series, in addition
to the reviews which I have already done on individual film festival events
or years. I will be doing a review of the 2009 Tampa Film Review, which
was only one event. I will also be doing a review of the Tampa Film Review
covering the entire event series, with all of the film festival events.
The score of the Tampa Film Review series as a whole will be lower than
the 2009 Tampa Film Review event, because it ended on a high note.
It will be so much better when
film festival standards are set in the Tampa market, because it will displace
the chaos of poorly planned, ineffective film festivals.
I also like one of my slogans
that I found tonight on the Tampa Bay Film site, which I had forgotten
about. "Is that film festival any good? We tell you if it's worth
it". Food for thought.
Saturday, May 09,
2009 - 5:34 PM - Tampa Indie Film Log for Filmmaker C. A. Passinault
WTF
Is Up With This Film Festival Schedule And Switch Branding?
@#$@#$&&#$ RICK DANFORD!
Great promotion and marketing of your film festival! His latest film festival
schedule pisses me off! I called him TWICE in the last month about the
next Ladies Of The Night film festival on June 6 (which he told
me about a few months ago, with Roderick securing the venue at USF and
the date set), and he didn't bother calling me back. Then, I go onto his
Enigma Films web site, and I see this teeny, tiny, easy-to-miss link on
his news section for something called "Dark
Delights" (Rick, please stop using Myspace for
your film festival "web sites". Myspace is full of malware,
and I am rarely on it- those freebie web 2.0 networking sites SUCK, and
are no substitute for a real web site; you get what you pay for, and the
credibility usually goes with your investment.), and any legitimate business
should focus on professional web site, as well as professional maketing
(I suppose it is ok to maintain an annex presence on such sites if you
have the professional web site already covered). When are you people going
to learn that if it is worth doing, it is worth investing money and effort
into? Start by building real web sites for your film festivals! At least
Rick has a web site for Enigma, and one for the Halloween Horror Picture
Show film festival). What's this? A debut on Wednesday, May 13, 2009,
4 days from now? The Beach Theater, 45 miles away over the Skyway? THANKS
FOR THE HEADS-UP! I can't cover that, without any warning, and my June
6 calendar RSVP is now useless. I also cannot cover June 5. What's this?
Friday, June 5, at 11PM? 11PM? A cash bar for a film festival? Who drinks
at a film festival? I certainly don't- I don't drink at all, as I like
to stay sharp. Count me out................ what happened to USF, Ladies
Of The Night 2, and June 6?!?!?
......... 6:10 PM - Ok, it
just so happens that my friend, actress, model, acting instructor, and
entertainment industry expert Sarah Bray (The lead in Chris Wood's latest
short Tampa
film Spaventare) called me mid-blog post, just now
(and so did another actress, Daliah, looking for head shot photography
services during my thirty minute talk with Sarah- and yes, another head
shot shoot booked). I told Sarah what I was venting about on my blog,
and we discussed it. I'm sending her and her friend to cover it, instead,
but I can't do it. It'll work for me quite well, however, because Sarah
is very smart, and very witty, having worked, and thrived, in the competitive
Hollywood film industry (she is also on my "It List" for this
year, which should be posted here tomorrow night- I was writing it last
night, but ran out of time this morning). I also consider her to be a
better writer than I am. So, Danford, if I finally get a hold of you,
can you get them on your list?
This is turning out
to be a crappy year for Tampa film festivals, and it looks like,
while Tampa Bay Film will have coverage, that there is a good chance that
I physically won't be able to attend any due to scheduling conflicts,
and a lack of film festivals in general. At least I have one of my best
people on this one, which almost fell through the cracks. Delegation is
the key, people.
I pretty much wrote off the
large Tampa film festivals this year, because of the multi-day and multi-venue
schedules (I've since come up with a strategy to cover these festivals),
opting to cover the smaller Tampa film festivals, which seem to be vanishing.
Next year, we will be covering the Gasparilla International Film
Festival, LIGLFF/ CLIP (Is this the same film
festival? Maybe we'll cover it/ them, or maybe not, since I really don't
understand gay and lesbian cinema, and don't see the point of one which
exists to show such specialized films. Are there really enough gay and
lesbian movies to support a film festival dedicated to that genre, or
do they show other types of movies?), the Sunscreen Film Festival
(I've heard through my contacts that several modeling scams attended this
year, and I find that unacceptable, but, hey, they can't control who attends
their film festival. My models will be there next year to counter the
modeling scams and show people the light; I'll attend with a team from
Tampa Bay Film, and I'll send in a team from Tampa Bay Modeling and Tampa
Bay Acting. Regarding my film festivals, I would never allow unethical
people to promote their services at any event of mine, because I would
be responsible. Ugh, modeling scams - opportunistic bastards! These modeling
scams have been getting very aggressive in their marketing lately, and
I see it as a sign of desperation over of all the money that they are
losing because of my modeling resource sites.), Ybor Festival
of the Moving Image, the Motion Film Festival
(I was going to attend this year, but something came up), and others that
may occur. This may be a slow year for Tampa film festivals and film festival
coverage, but we'll be able to use the downtime to assemble some
highly organized resources, and cover everything starting
next year. The reviews will be accessible on Tampa Bay Film annex
site Tampa Film Review,
published on Tampa Bay Film,
and referenced from the Tampa
Film Blog and my other web site resources (as well as the
two brand-new Tampa film support web sites that I will be obtaining this
summer, which will make an armada of six Tampa film-relevant sites; I'll
be adding three more Tampa film festival sites next year, and that will
make a fleet of NINE Tampa film-relevant sites- Yes, I am very serious
about Tampa indie film). We'll also be covering my own Tampa film festivals,
which should start debuting and running late next year. With, or without,
the cooperation of these film festival organizers, we will be covering
Tampa film festivals, and we will be giving them fair reviews. If you
don't want to have a review of your film festival done, just don't bother
having one. The Tampa film scene deserves to know what is going on, and
how well things are being done. They deserve to know if a film festival
(or any film festival, regardless of name, done by a particular film festival
organizer), is worth their time to attend. Filmmakers also deserve to
know if a film festival is worth submitting to and supporting. In the
grand scheme of things, however, film festival solutions are coming. I
have four Tampa film festival properties in development with my event
planning and stage production companies, and my film festivals will set
the standard for which all film festivals will be judged by.
I gave the last Ladies
Of The Night Film Festival a good review, I think. Oh, and
Danford, what's up with the 2009 Halloween Horror Picture Show? Are you
going to have one this year, and if so, are you going to allow the Gasparilla
International Film Festival to jack your branding? Last year, there was
only a Gasparilla Film Festival banner (the producing sponsor, I suppose-
are they buying up all the smaller film festivals? If so, NOT GOOD! Gasparilla
will not buy my film festivals out, because I'm not selling), and no Halloween
Horror Picture Show branding that I could find! Check out my review for
Halloween
Horror Picture Show 2008 for more. Hmmmmmm..... Halloween
Horror Picture Show 2009.... You know, if Danford decides to give up (and
I am against him giving up on something with so much promise), and he
doesn't do one this year, I'm going to give it one hell of a write up.
I'll even review it. I'll get together with some models and some of my
other friends, and we'll have our own Halloween Horror Picture Show 2009.
I'll review that. And no, most of you can't come. It's invitation only;
a private parody of an extinct film festival, if you will. Hmmmmm....
I may be onto something here. Maybe we can spoof the Tampa Film Review,
too, now that it is over, and it's a failure. I can get a small group
of Tampa entertainment industry experts together with models, actors,
and talent, and do private "Tampa Film Review" film festivals
(I already have the site, too!). We can then review indie films and our
own film festival viewing parties, and make it a monthly get-together.
Ahem, that's invitation only, too, and not a public gathering; we won't
market it, and most of you can read about them after they happen. At any
rate, I may be onto something. I will have to consider it.
God. I'm going to acquire a
reputation as a complainer. Whatever. If people in the Tampa film scene
would do things right, they may find that I wouldn't complain so much.
Hey, I'm the outspoken one, the one who doesn't play those fake politics,
and who writes what I am thinking. I'm being real, and you always know
who you are dealing with when it comes to me. Don't worry about me, though.
Worry about the thousands of others who come to the conclusions that I
do on their own, who aren't obvious because they don't write and they
don't publish web sites, and who remain unseen as they tell their friends
what they think. Those people won't complain, at least as far as you can
see, but they will vote with their feet and stay away, and that should
be what you should be concerned about. Please take my criticism as constructive,
as it is not my intention to attack, or to trash, anyone. In this case,
I am extremely frustrated with all of this, and the lack of communication
is simply inexcusable. I actively look for film festival information and
indie film information, and if I can't find it, how in the hell is your
target audience, who isn't quite as good using the Internet, supposed
to? Get the word out, and let me do my job. The reality of the situation
is that, ultimately, I am very supportive. Just give me something worth
supporting, and market it properly.
It's now 6:50 PM.
My phone quit ringing for now. It's time to run into Brandon and get some
errands done. Later tonight, I will finish composing the Tampa Film Blog
post that I started last night, and will then work on Independent Modeling.
Tomorrow, it's mothers day, and later, I am planning on checking out the
new Star Trek with some model friends. Oh, and I have some shoots on Monday,
too, and another television interview to do later this week (I need to
call the reporter back on Monday). Gotta run. Lates.
Saturday, May 02,
2009 - 10:40 AM - Tampa Indie Film Log for Filmmaker C. A. Passinault
Lisa
Fan Grrl .Com?
Hmmmmm.... My web peeps just
sent me some info which I find very interesting. It seems that Lisa has
snagged another domain name, a domain name that I released a few weeks
ago.
Why did she .com it? What is her motivation? I told Joe at a film festival
not long ago that I was not going to renew it, and that he was welcome
to it. Is she holding it for him, or is she collecting domain names for
some other reason?
Lisa, if you keeping it for Joe, please forward it to his 100 Tears Myspace
profile so that it retains the search engine boost that I gave it. It’s
losing value the way that you have it now. Please give it to Joe or Marcus.
That’s why I let it go.
I wonder what other domain names in my possession that she wants. Well,
I’m keeping TampaFilmReview.Com. It’s mine. Mine, I tell you!
Oh, and it has nothing to do with The Tampa Film Review, either. Read
the disclaimer if you don’t believe me. Um.... I still believe that
I am going to hell for that one.
LOL..... Funny drama around here.
Lisa also .commed my name, which is..... well, weird, to put it simply.
She is either my greatest secret fan (doubtful, because she thinks that
I am evil), or took it for some other reason. Someone told me that she
.commed my name to keep the peace because she heard of a scheme surrounding
it, so that’s cool is she did it for that reason. Perhaps she is
.comming domain names to keep another Tampa indie film war from breaking
out. I suppose that is cool.
Lisa, if you keep collecting domain names, keep in mind that you’re
going to need some serious cash flow to keep them. I know, because I have
some BIG Internet bills for my armada of fifty powerful, industry-crushing
web sites. It’s expensive, but - bwa ha ha ha haaaaaa - it’s
worth it.
Oh, and if anyone wants to but TampaModelingAgency.Com and TampaTalentAgency.Com
(like all the agencies and their web masters do), I’ll sell them
for $120,000.00 - EACH. I own lots more like that, and they are valuable
properties. Who needs stocks when you have a strong portfolio of domain
names?
Anyway, I was just wondering what was up. I would have called Lisa, but
she would have probably screamed “You are the evil one!” and
slammed the phone down on me, silencing me forever, I guess. Well, for
now, I am left wondering.
Oh, yes.... Experiment 7 (Experiment7Movie.Com .... God,
Joe sucks at web sites. You can't run movie sites off of Myspace, buddy!).....
It could be mine! Someone had better .com it before I snag it! Then again,
I could be joking, but can anyone risk finding out? (Note 06/27/09:One week after this post, Joe finally bought the domain name. At any
rate, if I were a bad guy, I could have snagged it easily, and Joe would
not have it today. Joe, I don't hate you and I am not out to get you.
The proof is that you were able to buy a domain name that I predicted
a week before you got around to obtaining it. I just want to see Joe pay
attention to detail and do things right. Also, this served as another
example that certain people are reading my blog; it's well-known that
a large group of people monitor this blog and share their opinions about
every post among themselves. This private group discussion is forwarded
to me, which greatly amuses me, and it's obvious that I'm not popular
with those people. That's cool; at least I'm real about who I am and voice
my opinion).
It’s good to be evil, or at the very least, to be perceived as such.
P.S. I was offered $10,000.00 for Independent Modeling once, but that’s
not for sale. I’ve been spending a lot of time getting that up to
speed lately, and it is a very important project right now. Bwa ha ha
ha!
Thursday, April 30,
2009 - 4:00 PM - Tampa Indie Film Log for Filmmaker C. A. Passinault
Weeding
It’s been a busy month.
I’ve been working on infrastructure and have spent a lot of my time
on Independent Modeling. I will be doing a lot with the Tampa indie film
scene and with Tampa Bay Film in May, however, and will return to form.
As I ponder what needs to be done, I am thinking of different things.
For starters, about how weak most of the Tampa indie film scene is, and
how this is going to change.
Now, I really don’t want to go bashing anyone, but there are some
things which need to be said, and there are things which need to be done.
I’ve been involved with the Tampa indie film scene since late 2005.
Since then, I have met most of the people who make up the scene, and know
just about everything which is going on (many people talk to me, and I
am a damn good listener). I was smart about how I became involved with
the Tampa indie film scene, and over the years, I cut through a lot of
the B.S., and know how all the players really are. I’ve experienced
discrimination, and have been slandered. Unlike most, however, I fought
back, and had the resources to do so. Just about everyone who started
trouble with me have come to regret it, and they will continue to regret
it in the future, not because of what I will do to them, but because I
won’t have anything to do with them. Hey, they did it to themselves,
and have only themselves to blame.
Those who backstabbed me, and who caused me trouble, are idiots. They
certainly messed with the wrong person.
You see, I’m going to be the best thing going on in the Tampa indie
film scene. I’m still working on completing the foundation of what
is to come, and, unlike others who have claimed that they are helping
the Tampa indie film scene, I actually am sincere about my motives. What
is most amusing to me, however, is that many of these so-called Tampa
filmmakers screwed themselves. They underestimated me and what my people
are working on. It’s a lot like meeting someone at a party and disliking
them because you are jealous of them for some reason or you are intimidated
by them because you perceive them to be competition. Because you don’t
like them, you are rude to them and spread rumors about them. You regret
it later, however, because you realize that you made a mistake by attacking
someone who is a potential employer, and you messed up the job interview
without realizing that you were being evaluated the entire time.
I’m not going to go out of my way to do anything to anyone who was
unprofessional with me. I’m not going to go out of my way to help
them, either, even when they are begging for my help. I’m a firm
believer that you reap what you sow. Although many of these Tampa filmmakers
don’t realize it yet, they need me a lot more than I need them.
As a matter of fact, I’ve evaluated them for a while now, and have
determined that I’m better off without them. I have not been impressed
with them, and am convinced that, if the Tampa indie film scene were to
continue on without some serious intervention, that it would not be any
better off in the next five years. You will still have the same crappy
films being made, and the lack of progress because so-called filmmakers
play politics and work to undermine each other.
For the most part, it is time to reboot the entire Tampa indie film scene
and cut our losses. It is time to cut off all the trouble makers and discourage
their efforts as filmmakers by leaving them on the outside. It is my dream
to see these fakes fail and give up, because they are only out to help
themselves at the expense of others, and are making the Tampa indie film
scene look bad.
That’s not to say that everyone needs to go. I have a list, and
although that list is a short one, those on that list have earned my respect,
and will receive my full support, as well as the support of the infrastructure
that is being built.
Now, I am sure that most Tampa filmmakers will not have a clue about what
I am about to publish here, especially with the lack of business skills
that they have exhibited over the years, but they will not be able to
compete against what is coming. This market is about to expand, and the
filmmakers who don’t have what it takes will find themselves outnumbered.
They will be outnumbered by a new generation of filmmakers who will learn
by the examples set by me and my people. This new generation of indie
filmmakers will use the Tampa Bay Film site as their bible, and they will
be unstoppable. It is inevitable, and new blood must be brought into the
film scene; revolution and growth is impossible with the current dead
wood clogging up the Tampa indie film scene.
I have no desire to sell them film classes or to run a film school. I
will be too busy making films and working indie film to teach it, and
I will teach by default by leading by example. I will also ensure that
this new generation of Tampa indie filmmakers will be independent, and
they won’t be dependent upon me to succeed.
Some of you may be wondering how this is possible? Allow me to explain.
I am going to expand the Tampa film scene by revolutionizing it and the
way that it works. I will inspire new filmmakers to get involved by utilizing
Blue Ocean business tactics (look it up, if you are able to comprehend
business).
One of the complaints that I often receive about the Tampa Bay Film Online
Film Festival is that many of the indie films featured on it are not from
Tampa. Currently, that’s unavoidable. If I were to stick to “Tampa
films only”, it wouldn’t be much of a film festival, and it
would cripple it as a indie film marketing and promotion platform. While
is does put an emphasis on Tampa films, and this will work well in the
future, at the current time, there just aren’t enough Tampa indie
films available to carry a film festival. Also, of those Tampa films that
are available, few of them are any good. This will change, but not without
a lot of work. Not without revolution.
So, what’s up with all of those indie films on the online film festival
from all over the world? Well, for the most part, many of them can be
done here in Tampa. The primary reason for including them is to inspire
Tampa filmmakers to make great films, and to open their eyes to the possibilities
of filmmaking.
I’m going to say it now. Indie filmmaking is no longer expensive,
if you know what you are doing and you are smart about doing it. I’m
even going to prove it. In a few short weeks, I will be ready to do what
I’ve been planning on doing for the past ten years. It will only
cost me pocket change, too. For less than $1,000.00 in equipment, I am
going to put together some short films which will be of higher quality
than most Tampa indie films that have been done up to this point, and
they will be impressive enough to land some investors in the future and
enable feature films to be made with the best equipment available. This
strategy has served me well in my photography business, and I sell a lot
of shoots based on the work in my photography portfolio. Want to know
a secret? When I first went pro in my photography career, back in 2001,
digital cameras were expensive. I invested in a 3.3 Megapixel Nikon, a
consumer camera, for $1,600.00 (the camera was $1,000.00, 64 meg CF flash
cards were $150.00, and the other accessories were also expensive). In
just over a year, I paid off my investment and shot circles around just
about every Tampa photographer. As a matter of fact, there were photographers
who were shooting with $5,000.00 pro SLR digital cameras, and they were
pissed off when they found out what I was using to take their business
away. I not only took better pictures than they did, but I outsold them.
Today, although digital cameras are now cheap and photographers seem to
be a dime-a-dozen, I still dominate the Tampa photography services market,
although my consumer camera wore out long ago, and I am using pro-level
cameras.
I have a feeling that history is about to repeat itself.
I’ve done the research. I’ve paid my dues long ago. I have
the resources, such as the best actors (as I have demonstrated several
times by referring top actors to Tampa film productions). I now have the
equipment that I need, and surprise, it wasn’t as expensive as they
say that it is. As a matter of fact, I will be doing some revolutionary
film projects for less than I invested with my digital photography equipment
all those years ago.
I have other things in the works. Interesting things that I cannot go
into detail over, yet. I have two more Tampa film-relevant web sites in
the works, and have four film festival properties in development (all
of the film festival properties are being designed with the Blue Ocean
strategy in mind, and are not dependent upon the current Tampa film scene
at all; current being the clue word. They will all succeed even if everyone
in the current Tampa indie film scene did not support them). Just like
photography, I will seize the Tampa indie film scene, and will dominate
in every category. I will help filmmakers who deserve my help. I will
assist with the creation of the first professional Tampa indie film community.
I will own the best film festivals in Tampa. I will inspire other filmmakers
by producing some of the most creative films ever done in the Tampa indie
film scene. I will also support these efforts with the full resources
of all of my companies and business assets.
I am serious about Tampa indie film, and supporting a film scene which
demands respect. Would you rather have Hollywood come here to do their
motion pictures, and to compete with Tampa filmmakers for resources, or
would you prefer to have Hollywood distributors come to Tampa looking
for Tampa indie films to buy?
I thought so. The irony, however, is that, despite my claims that “I
will be the one”, that most of this will come about by the efforts
of others, inspired by some things that my people and I do. I can’t
do this alone. I’m going to need the help of talented filmmakers
to put the Tampa indie film scene on the map. It’s just that I don’t
need the help of most of the filmmakers currently in the Tampa indie film
scene. Most of the current filmmakers have mismanaged and sold-out the
Tampa indie film scene, and have no place in the future market. The future
belongs to a select few now present, and filmmakers who have yet to begin.
What do I want? What everyone should want. I want the Tampa film commission
to respect Tampa filmmakers. I want large film festivals who use Tampa
filmmakers as cheap labor, and which exist to attract the competition
of those filmmakers to the Tampa Bay market, to go away. I want to see
a variety of innovative, and quality, Tampa indie films which inspire
respect. I also want to see the Tampa indie film scene grow and stand
on its own two feet. I believe that the Tampa indie film scene should
innovate and create its own Hollywood East, and not to depend upon others
to make it happen. We don’t need Hollywood to come here. We need
to build our own Hollywood East, and attract those who are looking for
films to buy instead of selling out to attract our competition here.
The Tampa indie film scene, so far, has failed. It’s time to do
something different. It is time to get rid of the self-serving fake filmmakers,
and to attract new talent for the upcoming revolution.
It’s time for change.
I’m weeding. You should be weeding, too. Choose who you work with
carefully.
At any rate, it’s back to work for me. I’ll be adding more
films to the online film festival in May. I also have the money to invest
in the best marketing material for Tampa Bay Film. My photography and
design services company will be creating some new marketing material for
Tampa Bay Film (the same resources that go into the best modeling composite
cards in the modeling industry will be used to create the best marketing
cards ever seen in the Tampa indie film scene). I will also be stepping
up efforts to cover, and review, Tampa film festivals, and will be attending
with teams to add interviews at those festivals, much like Scream @ The
Wall has done. Expect those video interviews to be available on Tampa
Bay Film in the near future. We will have that interview capability at
the end of May, 2009.
Sunday, April 26,
2009 - 6:00 PM - Tampa Indie Film Log for Filmmaker C. A. Passinault
Take
Two
Alright. I now have enough
cash to invest in an HD camera and then some. It’s just that my
computers can’t edit the HD footage.
The issue that I had with my computers before, with hard drives full of
pictures, has been solved. I invested in a large hard drive, and I am
moving all of the files to it. In a few days, I will wipe that computer
and redo it, preparing it for editing work. I’m also buying a huge
hard drive to archive footage.
I’ll be doing experimental films in May. I’ll have a boom,
and everything else that I’ll need to shoot Reverence and the other
shorts. I’ll be in position to tackle Reverence in the fall. For
my first indie film projects, I’ll probably do some nature documentaries.
I’ll take my gear on long hikes and make some interesting short
films out of it. I have an extensive knowledge of plants, animals, and
nature, in general, so it should come naturally.
The catch is that I am going to buy the camera that I already had and
took back. I’ll be buying the 480P standard resolution camera, again.
Obviously, it won’t be the exact same camera that I had before,
but I did love it (maybe I can get this one in black, instead of the silver
that I had). I did footage tests, and the footage from this type of camera
is excellent (see the test footage on the Tampa Bay Film Youtube channel
if you’d like to see for yourself). I even did some footage tests
at night for a scene in The Point, and the results were impressive.
I may even invest in a nice tripod, too, which I’d be able to use
with my other cameras (oddly, I’ve never used tripods with my photography
cameras on location. I shoot as well as I do without such things, but
it would be useful for things such as landscape photography and long exposures-
for filmmaking, you do need a tripod, or at least a monopod). Oh, and
I will be building a steadycam mount, too.
At any rate, my computer, once redone, can easily edit the footage, and
storage of the video files is no longer an issue. With my film portfolio-building
strategy, this set up is all that I need, and it is still feasible to
do feature films with a standard definition camera- it’s just that
I’m going to miss the 24p that the high definition camera would
have had.
I have two screenplays for short films which are almost done. I have an
army of actors and others waiting to help out. I have even more projects
on the way, too. It looks like when I am not doing photography, business,
and web sites, that I will be working on indie films. These are good times.
I especially look forward to what can be accomplished with the bare minimum
in equipment.
I’ll be using my filmmaking gear for other projects, too, and not
just indie films. Keep an eye on my resource sites this summer, and you’ll
find out what some of those projects are.
Gotta run. I have to buy a book on Premier tomorrow and finish working
on this computer. After I set things up, I have a lot of editing to practice.
Wednesday, April
22, 2009 - 9:00 AM - Tampa Indie Film Log for Filmmaker C. A. Passinault
When
Will It Happen?
I always hear this question.
The question which I have to counter with is “Do you know enough
about business to
comprehend the importance of building a foundation to support the continuing
ende