The No Film School Podcast

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Erik Luers discuss the union negotiations that might have the Hollywood film industry gearing up for a strike, and ponder what the heck is going on with Moviepass. Jon also shares wisdom from Short of the Week about how to develop a distribution strategy for your short film. In gear news, Liz reviews the Freefly Movi smartphone stabilizer. Aerial cinematographer Randall Esulto joins us to answer an Ask No Film School question about how to get started with drones. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emmy-nominated TV editors A.M. Peters ('Queer Eye') and Tenille Uithoff ('Full Frontal with Samantha Bee’) join Liz Nord to discuss how to break into post-production for TV, what you can expect once you do, and how to make it in the television editing business. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Erik Luers discuss what we should make of James Gunn being fired from the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ franchise over controversial tweets. We also reveal an industry trend worth watching from this year’s massive Comic-Con. Charles Haine joins us for gear news including confirmed rumors of Nikon's new mirrorless camera. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about building a portfolio website for your film work. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jim Cummings career is a case study in DIY Filmmaking. His short film Thunder Road redefined the path of a festival award winner. After earning the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, the short took the internet by storm, bringing Jim and his crew ample exposure and a shot to turn their project into a feature. One would think that having a viral, Grand Jury Prize winning short would be enough to attract the attention of major studios, but despite the fact that they had a whole fifteen minutes of the film they could show off right away, Jim and his producing partner Ben Weissner could not get any big bites from investors. So they took matters into their own hands. The self-produced and largely crowd-funded feature version of Thunder Road premiered at SXSW earlier this year where it, guess what, won the Grand Jury Award for best feature. Now Jim and Ben want to share the knowledge they’ve learned over the course of their experience with young filmmakers across the world and to do so they’ve launched a Short to Feature lab in Malibu. We asked them to give us a rundown of what applicants can expect as well as the skills that they think every filmmaker interested in controlling the entire life of their film should know. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, Erik Luers, and Charles Haine discuss why you might be able to skip having your film on Netflix in favor of launching your own streaming service. We also discuss a new study on film critics and what it means for production funding, and say a sad goodbye to Blockbuster Video. In gear news, the MacBook Pro sort of wins us back. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about why you should buy a stills camera to shoot video. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films.You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s very hard to make a film about music that’s better than actually just listening to music. That’s the challenge co-directors T.G. Herrington and Danny Clinch took on in A Tuba to Cuba, a documentary the revered New Orleans Jazz band as they travel to post-embargo Cuba. NFS writer Oakley Anderson Moore sat down with Herrington and producer Nicelle Herrington, as well as band leader and doc subject Ben Jaffe at the film's SXSW premiere. They talk The importance of knowing your story, whether or not you know where it will take you, how to capture musicality through visuals and recording sound on a music documentary that contains and live concerts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jon Fusco, Erik Luers and Charles Haine are here this week to help you identify a few dozen film festivals that need to be on your radar, go bananas over just how many billions of dollars Netflix is spending in 2018 and Nicolas Winding Refn's shocking accusation about the film industry. In gear news, we get serious about some security measures you could take to ensure the protection of your projects. This week on Ask No Film School we answer whether you should be using a blue, green, or even a red screen to accomplish digital effects in your film. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emmy-winning director Madeline Sackler, Cinematographer Wolfgang Held (BRÜNO, PARTICLE FEVER) , and actor/producer Boyd Holbrook (LOGAN, NARCOS) join No Film School’s Liz Nord to share how they pulled off one of the most amazing behind-the-scenes production stories we've ever heard. Their narrative feature O.G. and documentary IT’S A HARD TRUTH AIN’T IT were both shot simultaneously in an active maximum-security prison. The documentary is co-directed by 13 incarcerated men and the feature was cast with more than 90% real inmates as extras and even as one of the leads. This conversation and the huge steps these filmmakers had to take to get their projects made—including spending an hour each way going in and out of prison security with all their gear every single day of production—will be an inspiration to anyone who has lofty goals but big constraints for their independent films. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, Erik Luers, and Charles Haine discuss how the extension of California’s Production Tax Credits is affecting the film and TV business, and the fate of ‘Supersize Me 2’ in the wake of director Morgan Spurlock’s sexual assault accusations. We also say a sad goodbye to the journalists killed last week at the Capital Gazette newspaper. In gear news, we geek out about 10Gb ethernet. Charles answers an Ask No Film School question about how to find your perfect camera and the best way to invest your gear budget. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Debra Granik is perhaps best known for her casting and direction of Jennifer Lawrence’s breakout role in WINTER’S BONE, which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture in 2011. In her latest, LEAVE NO TRACE, which premiered at Sundance earlier this year and is now hitting theaters, her casting is spot-on once again with a new young actress Thomasin McKenzie and actor Ben Foster of HELL OR HIGH WATER fame. In this episode, Liz Nord learned some of the secrets behind the organic feeling of her films, including fostering an environment throughout casting and production where every cast and crew member has a willingness of to be flexible and adaptive to changes in circumstance. Nord and Granik are joined by LEAVE NO TRACE producers Anne Rossellini and Anne Harrison to discuss how they cultivate this quality among their collaborators, the steps they had to take to shoot in an unpredictable outdoor environment, and lots more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Erik Luers discuss how Instagram’s new IGTV service prompted YouTube to give more benefits to video creators, and other news from the massive VidCon event. We also cover the largest addition to the Academy of Motion Pictures ever, and yet another new addition to the movie theater subscription service arena. In gear news, Charles shares some exciting news in the post-production space. We also answers an Ask No Film School question about fair use, and when you can (or can’t) use news clips in your movie. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you start out as a filmmaker, you think that all you have to do is make a great film. Unfortunately, it’s damn hard to get people to even hear about your film let alone watch it. Even if you play a prestigious festival like Sundance, for most filmmakers, the success of your film depends in large part on a well thought out and executed distribution strategy. Liz Manashil, manager of the Creative Distribution Initiative at the Sundance Institute sat down with NFS' Erik Luers and Oakley Anderson Moore to discuss some possibilities of such a strategy. From the state of distribution for indie films at this past Sundance Film Festival, to how you can get noticed by distributors at a film festival, there’s a wide parameter of useful information to prepare experienced and beginning filmmakers to maximize the life of your film after you finish it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Erik Luers discuss why a recent marketing stunt by MoviePass smells rotten, and what a major theater chain is doing to compete with the ticket subscription service. We also examine where development execs are looking (or listening) for projects today. Charles Haine joins us for gear news, including the results of our ProRes RAW testing. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about how to mark clips while recording without stopping your scene or interview. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Making a movie is like making a good stew. Sure, that may not be the first analogy you’d jump to while racking your filmmaking ethos, but for Robert Schwartzman director of The Unicorn, one of 2018’s best comedies, it just makes sense. Every good stew requires fresh ingredients. Your cast and crew are the meat and potatoes. But that stew can't just be about the ingredients. Without the proper mixture, it would just be a bunch of vegetables. You've got balance them out in a way so the flavors come together as a harmonious whole. And that’s the real job of the director. They’re the head chef. The captain. If you walked onto the set of a truly great chef, you'd find yourself in a sacred place that exudes the right collaborative energy. Perhaps the simplest way to achieve this is by treating everyone with the same level of respect, making sure every actor on set knows every crew member, how they contribute to the cooking process, and vice versa. Schwartzman erases the divide between the cast and crew, and focuses on the fact that everyone is just a person, working together to create something great. When you hear how Lauren Lapkus, Nick Rutherford, Maya Kazan and Darrell Britt-Gibson speak about their director in this podcast, you'll gain a better appreciation for just how important maintaining this type of atmosphere is. No Film School producer Jon Fusco sat down with them at SXSW 2018, for a conversation that is often hilarious and consistently insightful. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord and Jon Fusco discuss the absurd reality that pits a film star against a TV star on the geopolitical stage, and why we will miss Anthony Bourdain. Charles Haine joins us for tech and gear news, including a move from ShareGrid that could change the gear rental market for the much, much better. Charles and Liz also answer an Ask No Film School question about what to do if you’re feeling stuck and having trouble moving forward on your films. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephen R. Morse (AMANDA KNOX, EUROTRUMP) joins Liz Nord to discuss how his education at Oxford Business School changed the way he makes movies, and he breaks down some business school lessons that we can all apply to make our films in the most efficient and cost-effective ways possible. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Erik Luers discuss the unexpected indie hit en route to becoming Magnolia’s highest-grossing film, how cinemas may actually be doing a disservice to great cinematography, and a new platform helping filmmakers make money. Charles Haine joins us fresh off the plane from Cinegear to report on all the latest in video tech from the expo, including some big announcements from Panavision. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about which audio editing software to choose for a documentary.As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For "Hearts Beat Loud", Director Brett Haley wanted to tell a story about people who make music, so he asked his stars, Nick Offerman and Kiersey Clemons to play all the music...completely live. When it comes to actors playing musicians on screen, he made sure not to follow the conventional standard of well, having no standards. No lip synching, no dubs, no inserts of a hairy-knuckled hand double who knows how to play the guitar. Oakley Anderson Moore sat down with Haley and Offerman at Sundance to talk about the orchestration between film crew and musician that would create a set which allows his two professional actors (but amateur musicians) to do justice to both their roles and the music. For this film, the two aspects are intrinsically connected. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of our step-by-step podcast on how to get your first feature made, using No Film School founder Ryan Koo's Netflix Film Amateur as a case study, we answer questions from listeners. This is the final episode! Watch Amateur on Netflix, available now worldwide at netflix.com/amateur. You can find all other episodes of The First Feature at nofilmschool.com/firstfeature. This episode of The First Feature is sponsored by Music Bed. Get 20% off you next on-site license at musicbed.com/new with coupon code "FirstFeature20." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Four-time Sundance filmmaker Tiffany Shlain and her Let It Ripple Studio have made and distributed films that have engaged over 50 Million people in dialogue with a new model that they developed to start global conversations with screenings and discussions across all continents on the same day, with a combination of live and virtual events. Shlain joins Liz Nord to discuss the mechanics behind these events, and how other filmmakers can turn their movies into far-reaching movements. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, Erik Luers and Charles Haine discuss the quiet indie making a loud noise at the international box office and why now is the time to pitch your high-concept horror film, as well as Netflix’s newest independent filmmakers: Barack and Michelle Obama. We also say a sad goodbye to master movie poster designer Bill Gold and literary titan Philip Roth, who both passed away this week. In gear news, RED’s hot streak with three big announcements this week. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about the difference between LUTs, color grading plugins, and dedicated color grading software. Plus, Wim Wenders on narrowing down his 8-hour rough cut of ‘Pope Francis - A Man of His Word.’ As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of our step-by-step podcast on how to get your first feature made, using No Film School founder Ryan Koo's Netflix Film Amateur as a case study, we dive into the final release of Amateur. Watch Amateur on Netflix, available now worldwide at netflix.com/amateur. You can find all other episodes of The First Feature at nofilmschool.com/firstfeature. This episode of The First Feature is sponsored by Music Bed. Get 20% off you next on-site license at musicbed.com/new with coupon code "FirstFeature20." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you've seen a few independent films that have come out of the festival circuit the past year or two, odds are you've seen the work of Sam Daley, Nat Jencks, or Seth Ricart. They are three talented colorists who have graded films like "The Florida Project", "City of Ghosts", and "Beach Rats". All three sat down with No Film School at this past Sundance Film Festival where they premiered their color work on some of the edgiest, loveliest, or grittiest films we've seen this year! How do they work? What are the real lives of an indie film colorist? How can you get your film to look like that? Listen to this conversation to find out! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Erik Luers share loads of news from the 71st Cannes Film Festival, including the biggest acquisitions, what caused Agnes Varda and Ava DuVernay to team up, and Spike Lee’s Oscar contender. Charles Haine joins us for gear news including why a company known for monitors might be making your next camera. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about the best cloud storage for video editing. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of our step-by-step podcast on how to get your first feature made, using No Film School founder Ryan Koo's Netflix Film Amateur as a case study, we dive into the post-production stage of filmmaking. Watch Amateur on Netflix, available now worldwide at netflix.com/amateur. You can find all other episodes of The First Feature at nofilmschool.com/firstfeature. This episode of The First Feature is sponsored by Music Bed. Get 20% off you next on-site license at musicbed.com/new with coupon code "FirstFeature20." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The difference between a film that has some good moments and a full-fledged, unhindered story hinges on how it's treated in post-production. That success starts with the delicate navigation of the editor. Sitting down at this past Sundance Film Festival, a handful of talented post-production artists who worked on some of the most cutting-edge indie films of 2018, discuss how they work to make brilliant, award-winning films. In Part 1 of this podcast, we focus on the role of the editor, their process of working with directors, and how they articulate the nuanced philosophy behind their craft. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Erik Luers discuss the opening of the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival and how Netlifx is playing nice—or are they? We also cover the first results of the Academy’s ethics enforcements, and say a sad goodbye to prolific editor of ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and over 50 more films, Anne V. Coates. Jon also answers an Ask No Film School question about whether or not a short film should be used as an industry “calling card.” Charles Haine joins us for gear news, including a hot take on why 8K is a good thing. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of our step-by-step podcast on how to get your first feature made, using No Film School founder Ryan Koo's Netflix Film Amateur as a case study, we dive into the production stage of filmmaking. Watch Amateur on Netflix, available now worldwide at netflix.com/amateur. You can find all other episodes of The First Feature at nofilmschool.com/firstfeature. This episode of The First Feature is sponsored by Music Bed. Get 20% off you next on-site license at musicbed.com/new with coupon code "FirstFeature20." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Three filmmakers with documentary films in the 2018 Tribeca and HotDocs lineups—Assia Boundaoui of ‘The Feeling of Being Watched’, Nancy Schwartzman of ‘Roll Red Roll', and Cynthia Lowen of ’Netizens'—sit down with No Film School’s Liz Nord to discuss their powerful films and several behind-the-scenes topics like how to gain the trust of subjects who have been exploited by the media or other institutions in the past, how to make uncomfortable issues into conversation-starters, how to tackle films that challenge entrenched beliefs while keeping yourself and your subjects safe, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Erik Luers discuss two of the most important industry events that you might never have heard of, Cinemacon and the Newfronts, along with mayhem at Moviepass. We also say a sad goodbye to photojournalist Shah Marai, who was killed in a bombing in Afghanistan this week. Charles Haine joins us for gear news, including a potentially exciting partnership between RED and Facebook.Charles and Jon also answer an Ask No Film School question about the right audio gear for recording podcasts. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of our step-by-step podcast on how to get your first feature made, using No Film School founder Ryan Koo's Netflix Film "Amateur" as a case study, we dive into the creative and visual side of prep including storyboarding, shotlisting, previz, and creating overheads. He also discusses some common pitfalls to avoid such as why it's challenging to rewrite the script during prep and why locking locations is so important before starting principal photography. Ryan gives us some tips into his favorite tools and apps that helped him through pre-production as well as the cameras and gear that made the production of the film possible. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve discussed many different tactics for getting your short films into film festivals on this podcast, but at SXSW last month we decided to head straight for the source: the people in charge of selecting the films themselves. That’s right we’re talking about the all-powerful festival programmer. And to get the inside scope there’s no one better than SXSW Senior Film Programmer Claudette Godfrey. On today’s program, Claudette and NFS Producer Jon Fusco run through exactly what it is that attracts a festival programmer to a certain short. She also gives us a rundown of the things a filmmaker should focus on when submitting, as well as what they should attempt to avoid when working on a project they hope will be selected. Claudette makes a powerful case for the value of festivals like SXSW for all filmmakers and if you’re in the middle of planning a festival run, you better listen close. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Erik Luers and Jon Fusco share all the news, films, projects, and directors you need to know about from our on-the-ground coverage of the Tribeca Film Festival, and debate Tribeca’s importance for indie filmmakers. Charles Haine joins us for tech and gear news, including the lighting that was designed for Michael Haneke and is now available to you. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about whether or not you really need to shoot at 60fps for broadcast production. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of our step-by-step podcast on how to get your first feature made, using No Film School founder Ryan Koo's Netflix Film Amateur as a case study, we dive into how to cast your movie—and what to expect when you go into prep. This episode covers Ryan's experiences attaching cast to Amateur, including Michael Rainey Jr. (POWER, LUV), Josh Charles (THE GOOD WIFE, SPORTS NIGHT), Sharon Leal (ADDICTED, DREAMGIRLS), and Brian White (RAY DONOVAN, SCANDAL). We then move into the prep process on the film, and touch on: How a short film can help with attaching cast; The two-part process of auditioning Michael Rainey Jr. (who came us to via Jason Berman, who had produced a film with Michael in it, LUV); The value of a casting director (in Amateur's case, Jessica Kelly and Kate Geller; What an "offer" is and why you can only offer the part to one actor at a time; Doing street casting to find "real people," in this case, several basketball players who had never acted before; Location scouting and tax credits; Scheduling and what a "company move" is (and why we needed to avoid them); The challenges of working with a child actor and the resulting limitations on shooting hours; Rehearsing and read-throughs; Tech scouts... and more. Thank you to the Panavision New Filmmaker Program, Sony, G-technology, and Vision Research for their help in providing equipment on the film (which we'll cover more of in our forthcoming production episodes). Watch Amateur on Netflix, available now worldwide at netflix.com/amateur. You can find all other episodes of The First Feature at nofilmschool.com/firstfeature. This episode of The First Feature is sponsored by Music Bed. Get 20% off you next on-site license at musicbed.com/new with coupon code "FirstFeature20." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Three filmmakers with short nonfiction films in the SXSW 2018 lineup—Jury Award-winner Charlie Tyrell, Mohammad Gorjestani, and Leah Galant—sit down with No Film School’s Liz Nord to discuss why this is a golden age for documentary shorts, how they each got their projects made, and how shorts can fit into your filmmaking career’s bigger picture even if you’ve already worked on commercials or features. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord and Erik Luers and discuss whether independent filmmakers ultimately pay the price in the ongoing war between Netflix and the Cannes Film Festival. We also preview the Tribeca Film Festival, which we will be covering in depth over the next two weeks, and say a sad goodbye to influential film director Milos Forman, who passed away last Friday. Charles Haine joins us for gear and tech news, wherein he recaps the best new filmmaking toys and tools that our team discovered over four days at America’s biggest broadcasting expo. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about how to put together a showreel for sound design. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at www.nofilmschool.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of our step-by-step podcast on how to get your first feature made, we dive into the pitching and financing processes on Ryan Koo's Netflix Film AMATEUR. This episode covers his experiences pitching Amateur eighty (!) times and eventually getting it to Netflix, including the following points: Making a pitch into a back-and-forth conversation as early as possible; What goes into a pitch packet other than the script, including a rip-o-matic/multimedia lookbook; Using CRM software to track producers and financiers (Ryan used Streak); How rejection can be a development process unto itself; Why "producer" is an amorphous term and how to identify producers with complementary skill sets; Who his producers were (Jason Michael Berman, Chip Hourihan, and Mark Moran) and what their roles were; and finally, How he got the film to Netflix. Watch Amateur on Netflix, available now worldwide at netflix.com/amateur. You can find all other episodes of The First Feature at nofilmschool.com/firstfeature. This episode of The First Feature is sponsored by Music Bed. Get 20% off you next on-site license with coupon code "FirstFeature20." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The landscape for short films is changing quickly. One might say we're entering a "Golden Age," where content is being taken seriously and you can even make money off of a five-minute video...if you get the right eyes on it. Traditionally, getting those views used to be all about submitting your project onto the festival circuit. This also came with the stipulation that you couldn't exhibit your project online or anywhere else if you wanted to make it in. That's not the case anymore. Many aspiring filmmakers may not know just how valuable a Vimeo Staff Pick can be to your career. The distinction, which celebrated its tenth anniversary at SXSW this year, can lead not only to massive exposure but gigs from brands, producers and even music companies. You can really make a name for yourself if you're one of the 3-4 projects selected every day. Case and point, Jon Fusco's guests on today's show who have a combined 19 video staff picks between them: DANIELS, of Swiss Army Man fame, and Kirsten Lepore who's animated shorts in the style of Hi, Stranger led to jobs like creating an episode of Adventure Time, which later went on to win an Emmy. Together they join Vimeo's Head of Curation Sam Morrill to discuss how to get a Vimeo Staff Pick, what that Staff Pick can do for your career and how to best position yourself for a successful career after creating a short. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this special episode of Indie Film Weekly, Charles Haine, Andy Zou, and Jon Fusco broadcast live from the historic Plaza Hotel in downtown Las Vegas. The trio of No Film School editors come together to discuss their first couple of days of non-stop coverage at the annual NAB Show. And man, did this year's convention come through in a big way. While we've seen less of the sexy lenses and cameras that were abundant earlier in the decade, certain pieces of gear (including major products in the lighting department) signal that we could very well be on our way to a new era of filmmaking. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of our step-by-step podcast on how to get your first feature made, we dive into the screenwriting process on No Film School founder Ryan Koo's Netflix Film Amateur (out now!). This episode covers many screenwriting tips and tricks, including: Tracking your hours to ensure you prioritize screenwriting in your life; Brainstorming out loud and recording yourself so you don't forget a lightbulb moment; Writing your first draft by hand to ensure you finish it and you can't go back and edit; Spending >50% of your time NOT in screenwriting software — researching, outlining, breaking the story; Why applying for grants can be helpful even if you don't win them; The Sundance Screenwriters Lab (which we did an entire podcast on at Sundance); Doing entire drafts from the perspective of supporting characters; Apps like Workflowy, Final Draft, and WriterDuet; and Workshopping your script with actors at table reads. Watch Amateur on Netflix, available now worldwide. You can find all other episodes of The First Feature at nofilmschool.com/firstfeature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What would you do if you were tasked with building an entire universe on an infinitesimally small budget? Where would you even start? This is probably the biggest problem that any independent filmmaker with a science fiction project must solve. Co-Directors Zeek Earl and Christopher Caldwell have found a solution. To put it plainly, you can't separate the money from the creativity. For Earl, Caldwell and producer Brice Budke, this meant that every creative decision was tied with a producing decision. Perhaps the most important of these decisions was to rent a warehouse in Seattle, fill it up with thirty different artists (from bike-makers to carpenters), and go through seven months of pre-production, building the universe of their debut feature "Prospect" as practically and detailed as they could. Their efforts garnered them the Adam Yauch Hörnblowér Award after their premiere at SXSW. This singled out their film as the best in the Visions category. NFS Producer Jon Fusco sits down with Zeek, Christopher and Brice to discuss their old-school, unorthodox methods and what it takes to build a Utopia in pre-production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord and Jon Fusco discuss a new finding on the average length of Oscar-winning short films and what it means for you, which digital companies may be replacing the Hollywood studio system once and for all, and why some audiences in Asia may be missing out on the most popular indie films. In tech and gear news we get in the mood for NAB with some filmmaker-friendly updates from Adobe and more. Filmmaker and editor Josh Granger joins us to answer an Ask No Film School question about using multiple nested timelines in Premiere Pro. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here's Episode Two of our new podcast series The First Feature. This is a step-by-step guide on how to get your first feature made, using Ryan Koo's new Netflix Original Film AMATEUR as a case study. In this episode, we get into: Whether or not your short should be a proof-of-concept for a feature, how to make production manageable and cost-effective for a short film, auditioning, casting, and finding crew for a short without a lot of personal connections, production prep, how much money you need to make your short, and how to distribute it once its done. AMATEUR will premiere on Netflix on April 6, 2018. You can find all episodes of The First Feature at nofilmschool.com/firstfeature Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Director/Writer Olivia Newman, DP Ashley Connor, Editor Tamara Meem, and producers Chanelle Elaine and Bryan Unkeless of ‘First Match’ join No Film School’s Liz Nord to discuss how they took their film from short to Netflix Original feature, how they made a sports movie inside a personal narrative instead of the other way around, and the strategies they used to stretch a limited production budget into creating a very polished final product. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Erik Luers discuss the MoviePass effect on indie films and a whole bunch of ways the industry is throwing shade on Netflix—including promising young upstart Steven Spielberg. Charles Haine joins us for gear news, including Canon’s entry into the Full Frame Cinema market with the C700 FF. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about recording pro-res. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here's Episode One of our new podcast series The First Feature. This is a step-by-step guide on how to get your first feature made, using Ryan Koo's new Netflix Original Film AMATEUR as a case study. In this episode, we get into: The three questions you can ask yourself to help decide which movie to make; when you need an agent; how Koo lied his way into MTV (and New York); Koo's DIY web series with Zack Lieberman, The West Side; how new platforms represent an opportunity because of decreased competition; how failure can be more instructive than success. AMATEUR will premiere on Netflix on April 6, 2018. You can find all episodes of The First Feature at nofilmschool.com/firstfeature Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some would say that Jim Cummings' journey to winning this year's SXSW Grand Jury Prize for best narrative feature started back in 2016 when his short film "Thunder Road" won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. Yes, the short, which many consider one of the greatest of all time, was the source for their feature adaptation, but in reality, Jim's journey to SXSW royalty started long before "Thunder Road." And while he's certainly the star of this film, it would also be unfair to say that Jim made this journey alone. Between Jim, the film's creative director Danny Madden, and producer Ben Wiessner, the tight-knit crew behind the film have worked together on projects at SXSW for the last seven years in a row. In 2018, their production company ORNANA, wasn't only in Austin to represent "Thunder Road", but also for the Vimeo Staff Pick Award-winning short "Krista." Mere hours after winning their respective awards, the team was already at it again, creating a video and launching a Kickstarter for the feature-length version of Krista. Even with a Grand Jury Prize from Sundance at their disposal, Jim and crew found it impossible to find anyone who would produce their feature. But that didn't stop them. It just fueled the fire more. "Thunder Road", which tells the story of an eccentric police officer whose mourning over his mother's death leads to disastrous consequences, is the result of a decade of strong team building, work ethic, and an unrelenting desire to get stories told. Joining Producer Jon Fusco on the podcast today are several members of the producing team that made it happen, Ben Wiessner, Natalie Metzger and Matt Miller. cinematographer Lowell Meyer (who himself had three projects in competition at the festival) and of course: writer, director and actor, Officer Arnaud himself, Jim Cummings. We discuss all aspects of production which surround their mantra: "Don't wait for somebody to make your movie, do it yourself." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jon Fusco and Erik Luers are back from SXSW while Liz Nord has mysteriously disappeared, so get ready for a testosterone-fueled recap of the week's best news from the entertainment world! The resident men of the publication discuss the impact of what could be No Film's Greatest piece of original content ever, an intriguing new cut of Stanley Kubrick's classic The Shining, and how The Weinstein's Company bankruptcy could make things even worse for Harvey's victims. Charles Haine joins us for gear news, including what could be a less expensive new alternative to the Alexa LF. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about the best way to find clean, high quality archival footage for your documentaries. As always, the show also brings news you can use about gear, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, this week’s indie film releases, industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The First Feature is a new in-depth podcast series on No Film School about the making of a single film: in this case, NFS founder Ryan Koo's first feature AMATEUR. AMATEUR is a Netflix Original and premieres April 6; the trailer was released today. Every episode of The First Feature will cover a different phase of production, from screenwriting, to prep, to production, to release. It's meant to be a step-by-step guide to everything Koo did to get his first feature made, and the lessons he learned along the way. Episode one coming soon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can you imagine being pepper sprayed, pelted/bombarded with rubber bullets, or hit with water cannons while still managing to hold on to your camera and record? That’s what filmmaker Cody Lucich took on for eight months to document the Standing Rock protests of the Dakota Access Pipeline. No Film School's Oakley Anderson Moore saw the first screening of Akicita: The Battle of Standing Rock at the Sundance film festival and sat down with Lucich and producer Ginger Shankar to talk about the process of making their feature. If you’ve wondered what it takes to film an uprising of civil disobedience in the face of a militarized police force, this conversation will put you right in the middle of one. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices