Making Drama with the help of my friends :)

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The first film I watched as a child was ET.   I can vividly remember as an eight year old crying at the end of the movie.  I couldn’t believe a film could take over my emotions so powerfully. What happened to ET mum?  It’s just a movie dear.  Steven Spielberg had a lot to answer for!  ET started my big fat dream of becoming a filmmaker.  I wanted to be Steven. Well if I’m honest I didn’t know who Steven was but I knew I wanted to meet ET.  Dreams are fun, reality is harder.  Three decades on I finally shot my first short drama film ‘Liv’.  After years of writing comedies I felt it was time to be taken seriously.   I’d proven I could make people laugh – easy. What would be really interesting would be to make people cry…you guessed it – just like Steven.   People choose to cry right?

So what would I write that would involve people’s emotions?  We all remember what it’s like to be an awkward teenager, yes?  So I set about writing a film about a teenage punk that is cyber bullied. Cyber bulling in the digital world made me angry, which gave me the fuel to get the engine of my story going.  The script’s written now we need to shoot the film. How hard could it be? After all I’d put on a play in the West End.   As it turns out – after four funding rounds over two years – VERY hard.

Here starts the upward climb.  As determined filmmakers Tracey Savage my producer and I turned to crowd funding – which I might add two years ago wasn’t sexy and wasn’t happening much in Australia. We reached out to our networks via Facebook and Linked In for help.   Tracey found Philip Hancock who could build us a website for LIV.   This would be our main portal to raise the money.  I had a serendipity moment over dinner with my friend  Vanessa Liell in the same week.  It only turns out that her agency n2n was head PR agency for Facebook in Australia!   What a coup! At the time Facebook was getting a lot of bad press on bullying so they were determined to get some good PR for Facebook.  What better way than to help filmmakers spread the word on their film about cyber bullying via the Facebook Blog. So there started a beautiful relationship that ended up with us getting 4245 likes.   We raised $80,000 in-kind from friends, family and local businesses and enough cash to feed our cast and crew.

In January 2011 we took the RED camera out of the box and shot our first scene, almost two years after first conceiving the idea.  I hope my first feature doesn’t take 27 years! There is no doubt in my mind without crowd sourcing we wouldn’t have a film with high production values that is now doing the International Film circuits.

Oh and the tissues have been used more than once!

The harder the climb the better the view :)

©Pauline Findlay 2011.   This is an image from LIV.

by admin Posted on May 10, 2012
Posted in Film | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

e-readers have passed traditional books!

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OMG who thought we would see the day e-books would surpass traditional books!  Are libraries going to be something we only see in the movies? Will the next generation of kids ever know what a hardback is?  Publishers should be worried, actually they should be more than worried they should be pounding the net to find the next generation of writers and be negotiating fair deals.  It’s only a matter of time before someone becomes the first independent novelist.  Breaking all records without a publisher or agent.  It will happen, it will just take a brave person and a great story to draw the masses to them.

Everyone is watching JK Rowling but really she arrived a few decades ago (well almost) and is very well established.  Pottermania isn’t going anywhere anytime soon and she is smart to extend her brand and keep the Potter fans close. I’m talking about the person like me sitting in their office writing their novel with dreams of reaching millions.  Most writers don’t write for themselves they write to entertain, well the ones I know.  Most writers dream they will get the opportunity to make a career. This of course means selling lots of books, films, plays or articles.  Maybe not for the writers of the future.  If they are able to manage their copyright and sell without the middle men they just might be able to make a living selling less but get greater returns.  They will have Amazon and the Internet to thank if this is possible.

As a writer that has been writing plays, films and currently my first novel I watch the internet space with excitement.  Who will be the first writer to break through the internet surface and float to the top smiling?

In the digital world it’s the best time ever to be an artist and retain our IP to exploit as we see fit!  

With that said I will get back to my laptop to complete Chapter four :)

 

by admin Posted on April 30, 2012
Posted in Digital, Film, ipad, Novels, Palm Technology, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Baby Facebook! Who calls their kid Facebook?

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Yes you heard it right, the name is Facebook ‘Facebook Jamal Ibrahim’.  A father in Egypt feels so grateful for the part Facebook played in the revolution he had to make a statement and call his daughter Facebook.  I’m not quite sure if Facebook is a male or female name but I’m sure Facebook (the girl in this story) will be the first to be named after the social media site.  Who would have thought eight years ago a child would come into the world and be called Facebook?  Not even Mark Zuckerberg could predict such heights of fame, even with 901 million users.

This begs the question who will be the first Yahoo?  Oh that’s right we already have Yahoo Serious.  Or perhaps Google?  Surely a cool boy’s name!  Will Facebook ever get to have her own Facebook page?  Will Facebook still be around in 13 years time when she can finally legally create her own page?  Let’s hope she has lots of ‘friends’ otherwise things could get quite embarrassing for Facebook – the girl that is. All these questions can’t be answered today but I don’t think Facebook is going anywhere, anytime soon.

So it’s probably safe to say we will see the first Facebook on Facebook!  Will she say Facebook me?  Will guys be saying I Facebooked Facebook!  Oh it’s too much. Stop!

I think I will go Facebook my friends. :)

 

 

by admin Posted on April 30, 2012
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Kony 2012 a global revolution? Or just a rooster?

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After reading the opinion piece in Mumbrella today by Adam Ferrier I thought yes why hasn’t anyone talked about the fall out of Kony 2012 before now?  The world has gone silent on the biggest viral phenomenon ever.  It showed us how powerful the internet really is.  I mean the dude was caught with his pants down and sent to a psych ward only two weeks after the video went viral!  His family said due to exhaustion, dehydration and malnutrition. Too many interviews and not enough time to eat!  Please!   Jason Russell is a good example of what not to do when you get your moment in the sun.

Jason Russell managed to pull off the biggest viral campaign ever.  An amazing achievement that advertising agencies would kill to be able to recreate.  He got every celebrity worth their salt to either talk about Kony 2012 or tweet about it.  Angelina Jolie was talking about the video on the red carpet.  Oprah tweeted about her support on the video.  Justin Bieber re-tweeted the video and according to Jason, who isn’t such a reliable source now,  Harvey Weinstein called him to buy the video.  Quite what Harvey intended to do with the film when it had already been seen by 58 million people is anyone’s guess.

At last count today 88,896,443 people had watched the video. Any filmmaker on the planet (me included) would kill for that many people to see your work.  It’s why we make films. Unfortunately Jason Russell was unable to cope with his moment in the sun. He got burnt and turned to charcoal in less than three weeks.

While Kony 2012 was making the rounds in early March I was locked away writing a script for my shot at the Sundance Writers’ Lab.  I was head down butt up for 8 days straight writing 90 pages which turned into ‘Lola’.  It makes my blog look like child’s play.  What I couldn’t quite believe was that switching off all technology to crawl into my script would mean I would miss the biggest viral phenomenon to date.  I went to my Multi Platform Producing course in the evenings as the only person to not know about Kony 2012.  I rushed home that evening to watch  the video and to be honest I couldn’t get past the first 15 minutes.  I found it boring, badly shot, manipulated editing and the story telling, well quite frankly awful.  How could people get past the first 15 minutes to get to the end?  Did they get to the end? It did make me reflect on what was needed to captivate a mass audience and it didn’t seem to be much.  If you can hook people emotionally you have struck storytelling gold (if we can really call Kony 2012 that).  Jason Russell managed to get people annoyed, shocked and motivated to do something.  And he made that something simple: push a button to let more people know.  Let the viral campaign begin…

What are the take aways from Kony 2012 mess:-

  • People act fast when they are emotionally engaged.
  • The story doesn’t have to be the whole truth just some of it.
  • Momentum happens quickly, the fall off is faster.
  • Most of the hits for Kony 2012 were in the first few days.
  • Have something to say.  Make it something important, moving or great.  The audience is waiting, it’s massive and you can really make a change. Try for the better.

Hopefully in the future we will be talking about something that is as big as Kony2012  for the right reasons.

To cut Jason some slack, I don’t doubt his intention and passion to start were as misleading as the press have made him out to be.  I think unfortunately he wasn’t emotionally able to cope with the media tsunami that came his way and I don’t think he had a clue how powerful the internet could be period.  We can all learn from Jason Russell in more ways than one.

 

by admin Posted on April 30, 2012
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My Pretty Woman moment… $20,000 on wine!

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I’ve recently returned from the Hunter Valley.   It was a wonderful relaxing weekend away.  I love the place!  What not to love!  Wine, fresh air and rock concerts:) Well that’s my Hunter. I’ve seen Elton John there twice!  Let me tell you the guy rocks.  The sound of ‘Bennie & The Jets’ reverberating off the Valley is pure magic .

My husband can’t drink wine anymore so he is the skipper!  Lucky for me I get to taste wine and not worry about driving.  I’ve travelled around most of Australia and have tasted at almost every wine region.  I’d say I know a little about wine.  I’m always happy to learn more.  I certainly know what I like.  I don’t think there is any greater memory than a bottle shared with friends over a great meal.

I’ve found visiting vineyards to be really amazing experience.  You meet the winemakers and become infected by their passion.   This then of course means you take home that warm fuzzy feeling.  Then when you see the wine on a menu, back in Sydney or anywhere else in the world, you normally can’t help but want to relive the moment.  It can take you back to the lush green vines, kookaburras and fun times. MAGIC :)

Of course this can lead you back to not such great memories.  I was shocked to be snubbed by De Iuliis on my first visit.  It was  my first ‘Pretty Woman’ moment.  We walked into the vineyards gorgeous grounds before our lunch date at Cracked Peppers. I thought I would taste some wines before our meal, so I knew the glass I would have over lunch.  What is the wine you are most well know for? I asked with enthusiasm.   I was shot down with “People that ask that question really don’t know about wine!”  Then she quickly disappears out the back and that was the start of the downward spiral.  My husband rolls his eyes as I sip the wine that is placed in front of me.  ”Lovely, could I try a Shiraz?” A second glass is poured and over walks the woman who mind you is the owner – this shocked me even more but maybe she was having a bad day.   Trying desperately to make more wine conversation and show I do actually know wine  I continue.   “How long would you cellar this wine for?” At least 15 years she replies most Shiraz will last at least that long.  ”Yes but we really don’t cellar our wines for that long in Australia,  a shame really isn’t it.  I guess it’s something to do with the space, not everyone has cellars.”  To which the reply was “People are just impatient, most people I deal with do have cellars actually.”  ”Oh really I guess they would but we live in Sydney.” (before I could say a tiny flat).  ”Most people that I organise wine for that have cellars buy $20,000 worth a wine in one go and they are from Sydney.  ”Really!” I’m now looking at my $20,000 car and thinking wow they spend that much on wine.  By this stage we were made to feel so small I was embarrassed and my husband appalled.  He is British and should be used to being talked down to,  the British class system loves to remind you what bracket you are in.  In Australia I’m always shocked when people remind you that you just don’t have enough money to play with the big guys.  The funny thing about this conversation was everytime she said $20,000 on wine she started by saying $20 which I found quite amusing because that is probably really the average spend of people buying a bottle of wine for a Friday night at home – even in Sydney!

Would I recommend or buy their wine again?  No.  The memory is too powerful and I felt too awful after the experience.  If I did suddenly come into money and was able to spend $20,000 on wine I won’t be spending it there.  But I also wouldn’t spend $20 either even if the wine was exceptional.   I was so steaming after the experience I tried several places in the Valley to see if we could change our lunch booking.  The only good thing to come out of this experience was the food at Cracked Pepper was exceptional.  They had the most amazing Gluten Free bread I’ve ever tasted and the food was incredible made with love.  A complete contrast to my experience in the tasting room.

Just so you know I had the Pinot by another vineyard over lunch!  So I guess the lesson learnt from this experience was don’t punish someone else (the Chef) for one persons rudeness.  Not all of us can spend $20,000 on wine but most of us can spend $20.  I’m sure over time the $20 bottles add up to quite a bit to the bottom line.  The power of the masses is still something to be considered.

A Quote from Pretty Woman “People aren’t nice to people they are nice to credit cards.” from memory I think that’s right.

One last thing, even the guy next to us with his Rolex watch didn’t get much better service, which did put a smile on my dial as I left.

PW Blog

by admin Posted on April 24, 2012
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Originality sells…just ask Gotye

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Gotye tops the US Billboard charts!  Go Gotye! Really I’m not that surprised he’s the real deal.  An artist first everything else second.  Just look at the music clips they are always interesting and he never sells out.   He’s an inspiration to young musicians around the world, if you can write the lyrics go create your songs.

In 2007 I 1st AD‘d on a Gotye music video ‘Coming Back’.   He was this cool artist just starting to gain momentum in Australia.  To his die hard fans he was known simply as Wally.   To everyone else  he was the musician with the unpronounceable name, which as we all know is always a sign they are going to be HUGE.  Back then Gotye wasn’t so keen on being in his music videos, amazing what five years can do.

Now everyone wants a piece of Gotye from Glee to the Belgians,  who of course have adopted him as their own!  Well he was discovered in Australia first,  we can always have that claim, can’t we?

I’d hate to be the girl written about in the song, she can’t possibly get away from him…

Originality really is the oxygen of artistic life…

Coming Home – music video :)

by admin Posted on April 19, 2012
Posted in Film, Music | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Living in the palm of your hand.

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How often have you been to dinner with a friend only to be interrupted by them texting or taking a call? “I’ll just be one minute this really can’t wait.” We have all been there and at least once, been that annoying person.  With technology allowing us to live our lives in the palm of our hands; it begs the question, should we?  Last week I discussed life before technology now it seems we can’t live a normal life without technology.

When I went to visit a friend in London several years ago, it was at the time when Blackberry was the dominate player.  I remember travelling 16,900km for 24 hours straight, in cattle class next to a guy who smelt and it wasn’t my husband!  On arrival I was faced with the top of my friends head as she keenly played ‘instant messenger’ with her niece.  She thought this was amazing!  “How cool is it to be able to instant message on your mobile!”  I thought wow I’m real alive and in front of you and a text message is more fun.  This went on all through dinner.  Call me old fashion but manners seem to have gone out the door the minute the mobile arrived!  To say I was angry was an understatement.

As it turned out it wasn’t just her.  It seemed everyone in London had caught the ‘instant techno cold’. Everything that happened in your palm seemed so much more exciting than real life.   I often think have we really moved on?  No not really, we still spend way too much time looking down,  just now the toys are a whole lot more shiny. I’d go out on a limb and say we have the ‘techno flu’.  We are always complaining that we have too many devices and networks to manage but no one has come up with the right jab yet.

palm phone

©Pauline Findlay 2012
by admin Posted on March 2, 2012
Posted in ipad, Palm Technology, Technology | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Is multi-tasking bad for us?

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I prided myself on being a woman who can multi-task.  Is this bad for me?  Should I be just sitting back chilling doing one thing at a time smelling the roses?

When I was studying at AFTRS our producing teacher Peter Herbert said multi tasking is bad for a producer – don’t do it!  I thought, well that’s some call, it made me lean forward, listen and take notes. My thought then was that a producer is supposed keep all the balls in the sky.  It’s normally thought a great producer is a multi-tasking extraordinaire. His argument was, do one thing at a time and finish it.  Then move onto the next task.  Don’t get distracted by the overall work load, the noise of people yelling at you and technology distracting you.  If you adopt this approach apparently it keeps your stress levels low and your mind relaxed and in a ‘floppy state’ which enables us to stay focused.  The end game right?

If you looked around our classroom on that evening we all had iPhones, laptops  and blackberries (it was a while ago). I remember thinking is this guy for real?  So it begs the question is technology making us more stressed by allowing us to multi task?  The iPhone, iPad, laptop and internet allow us to be in many places at once, virtually.  This means we are doing much more than we ever did before.  Think about life before the mobile phone – if you are old enough.  We finished a phone conversation on a landline that old bedrock of communication, hopped in our car and drove to the meeting. Parked the car then took the lift to the board room.  No distractions on route just time with our thoughts. Just thinking about it is relaxing.

Since this class I’ve had his agrument validated over and over.  One by watching  ’out of control, high on stress’ people not function and using their iPhone like it’s their life line.   And secondly by testing the theory, when I’ve felt my of stress levels rise.  I would step back and think ‘brain please go floppy’ and finish the task at hand.

And guess what? It works.  Have a happy floppy day :)

To Do list

 

 

by admin Posted on March 2, 2012
Posted in ipad, Palm Technology, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Are you underperforming? You’re not alone

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I couldn’t help but comment on this SMH article today after posting my previous blog is multi tasking bad for us?  It appears that most of the ‘top dudes’ in town are suffering from underperformance anxiety! Shame I hear you say, but this could be affecting more than the CEO’s and Managers in the CBD.  It’s brought on by being a slave to your iphone, ipad or Blackberry.  Of course it has an acronym ADT – Attention Deficit Trait!  Not sure if there have been any clinical trails but I’m sure there are a lot of candidates ready to line up and see if they have it.  Apparently ADT comes on gradually until the poor sod crumples and feels like a miserable failure.

So if we know that our mobile devices are causing us stress, why can we not put them down? Why do we feel we have to always be ‘plugged in’? Have the makers of these devices made us addicted to the shiny colourful screens?  There’s a thought, just like gambling, except it’s with our minds not our money.  What will it take for us to put away the toys/devices and chill and get back to the centred life we once had?

I’m guessing if you are thinking of changing your profession think about becoming an ADT psychologist.  I’m sure by the time you graduate you will have queues around the street to sit on your sofa.  It doesn’t look like the mobile device is going anywhere anytime soon.  Unfortunately our ability to control it and it not control us is a battle we are still losing.

Have a happy floppy day :)

by admin Posted on March 2, 2012
Posted in ipad, Palm Technology, Technology | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

iPad3 Do you need it? Do you want it?

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It’s out and it’s part 3.  I’m talking the ipad3 of course.  Do you need it?  Do you want it? How different can it really be? You will know from my last blog I’m an iPad whore :)

Well if you listen to the Apple and watch the video, it’s resolutionary.  Yes you read that right I didn’t forget to hit spell check.  Apparently it has the best resolution of any tablet on the market due to the breakthrough Retina display. We have moved from 3 to 4G and the display is 2048×1536!  That’s bigger than HD which is 1920×1080.  It’s positively bursting to be seen!  Then the new camera looks to give the user depth of field that’s never been possible before. I’m a filmmaker am I hooked? TOTALLY :) Will I upgrade?  Hell yeah when I get my next freelance gig.

iPad first came into the market on April 3 2010.  It’s still a toddler but it’s already in its third suit sitting at the table with CEO’s!  Not bad in under two years, it’s a serious over achiever.  For a must have product with adoring fans and not just Apple fanboys, it’s hard to believe we ever lived without it.What makes grown adults weep, quiver and stand in  queues all around the world for days? Is it Steve Jobs? If so then what will be the outcome of Apple over the next five years? Will it just become another faceless company selling cool stuff?   I’m guessing it’s not just Steve.  He was a major part of the cool factor and the main priest of Church Apple but really Apple has become bigger than Steve. Apple have this amazing way of giving us something we didn’t know we needed then can’t possibly live without.  It’s the opposite of marketing and it’s the way of the future.  At present other companies can only watch from the sidelines wondering how did they do that?

I’m always in awe at how much the ipad pops up in everyday life. It’s used everywhere from restaurants displaying their menus, the travel guide that comes to life when you reach your destination, animated books etc.  The list is endless and will only become more integrated in the years to come.  I think without a doubt the ipad is here to stay and will surpass the laptop and desktop computer in the not so distant future.  I’m sure Steve is watching from an iCloud somewhere.

 

by admin Posted on March 1, 2012
Posted in ipad, Palm Technology, Technology | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments