DIY DAYS - PHILADELPHIA

On a steamy, hot Saturday in August I can think of a lot of places I'd rather be . . . floating in cool swimming pool or at the shore. And after spending the last week on the road shooting corporate pharma work in Boston the last place I thought I'd spend this Saturday, August 1st was in the warm, dark Chaplan theater at the University of the Arts attending DIY Days Philadelphia. And yet, here I am.

The day started off with a keynote from the energetic author, teacher, documentarian Douglas Rushkoff. Rushkoff's take on "How capitalism killed narrative and how to grow new ones" was an inspiring and witty way to wake up. Unfortunately the follow up talk I attended in the Black Box Theatre put me back to sleep. Maybe it was the hypnotic fireplace video played on a big screen in the back ground, though more likely it was the low drone of Lance Weiler and Chuck Wendig speaking softly into microphones that needed to have been kicked up a notch to be heard clearly in the back row. Bottom line, what was billed as "The Evolution of Storytelling" and specifically technology's impact on the art and craft of storytelling was more DIY-the Lance & Chuck show and storytelling as it applies to gaming and not enough concrete information about how one can develop stories that travel across screens and devices.

I caught the last couple minutes of Esther B. Robinson's (film producer and founder of ArtHome) talk about "Building a Creative Foundation" and was sorry to have missed it.

Next up . . . "What You Need to Know - Fair Use" which is all about the line between remix culture becoming more fuzzy and thus it's more difficult to consider what is Fair Use by Nina Paley (filmmaker "Sita Sings the Blues"). This is the "FREE SPEECH" part of the program . . . hello, Dad--are you listening? (FYI-my father was the photographer of the most iconic photographs of the Berkley Free Speech Movement).

Days We Will Remember

With increasing frequency, I see Tweets requesting referrals and recommendations for social media coaches and consultants. Daily, I'm asked by colleagues, friends and family about social networking – what is it, how do you do it, what’s the point . . .

Until recently, many of my own colleagues were late adopters of any form of social media and while a few have begrudgingly joined Facebook, most continue to refuse to join Twitter and only lamely at best use professional services such as LinkedIn or Namyez with anything resembling seriousness, let alone organized, purposeful approaches.

The advent of recent events in Iran have fueled the fire of curiosity about social networking as the supreme leader’s crack down on the traditional media forced the world to rely on CNN's iReports, YouTube videos, and Tweets as our main source of information on news about Iran's civil unrest. It has been inspiring to witness the Iranians boldly defy their government, deftly using social media to communicate their message and actions to the world

This is social media as news delivery system, as an organizing tool, as a way to move and inspire mass groups of people.

As the Iranians have courageously taken to the streets defiantly chanting the name of the young martyred woman, Neda, how many of us will they inspire to pick up the tools of social media and give voice to our own self expression? What a strange twist of fate it is, that the example of a nation defined by oppression should be the catalyst that awakens us to the power of social media. If there were any doubt as to the importance of social media and to the powerful role it could play in communications the Iranian’s have put it to rest.

These will be days to be remembered.

Learning is FREE! And it's can't be repossessed once you have it!

I guess everyone loves free stuff. I know I love getting a gift bag full of goodies, I love swag and I especially love free workshops. I know we are all watching our money these days and many of us just aren't working as much as we'd like and consequently have a little more free time on our hands. I'm of the opinion that even if you aren't working at a paying job that you need to keep a schedule and engage in work related activities. Whether it be up dating your demo reel & resume and looking for work, networking, or doing what ever you can to keep current on the industry - we all need to be keeping busy.  So I've found some free or nearly free workshops that you should consider.

The first should be obvious to most of you since the majority of us in this industry are Mac owners . . . 

Your local Apple store has free hour long workshops on everything from how to use your new iPhone to iDVD and iMovie. Now I know that most of your think you know how to use this stuff but I also know that most of you don't really use all the features on your iPhone, your Mac, etc - here's an opportunity to make sure you really know how to use the tools of the trade. You've paid a lot of money for this stuff - ask yourself, "how dumb is it that you don't fully know how to use them efficiently?" And how dumb is that when there are free workshops you could take advantage of?

So go onto the Apple site and find your nearest local Apple store and sign up. 

Once you've run through the free one hour workshops, most Apple stores offer advanced workshops for cheap. You can take Final Cut or Photoshop or other workshops for around a $100 bucks. Trust me, that's cheaper than just about any where else that offers them. 

Next, is B&H Photo - yes, I know they are in NYC and you are in Philly or the Philly burbs. You certainly have a lot of excuses, don't you? Get off the sofa and stop watching Court TV - after all, I've already wrapped out how you can take The Bolt Bus or China Town Bus up and back to The Big Apple for cheap. 

B&H Photo is offering free workshops -go to  www.bhphoto.com/eventspace to check out the current offerings. You'll find workshops covering everything from still photography, directing, screenwriting, producing and more. Not only are they FREE (are you listening to me? I said, "FREE!") but you'll be hangin' with other folks and you can network - who knows who you'll meet. Don't forget to RSVP to reserve your space!

If you are hell bent on "keeping it local" there are some great options here in the Philly metro area as well . . . 

While the offerings aren't as frequent as I'd like to see, the Greater Philadelphia Film Office often has free (or nearly free) workshops and events worth attending - www.film.org

Free, nearly free (or at least relatively cheap) workshops:

Scribe - www.scribe.org - workshops are film and video related and based in Philly.

MiND TV (formerly WYBE channel 35) is offering the following workshops: MiND Bootcamp "How to make a 5-minute TV Program" (FREE), Camera Training (March 24th) and Video Pre-Production (April 7th) and Audio Recording (April 13th) - www.mindtv.org

And for those who want to break out of a rut, get their creative juices going and need a little hand holding on getting the inspiration mojo back there is always, Landmark Education - www.landmarkeducation.com - their introductions are free and there is NO OBLIGATION to sign up for future programs. They have a center in Philly and most other major cities. I've took the basic core curriculum( The Forum, The Advanced Course and The Self-Expression and Leadership) seminars last year and found it to be an effective way re-energize myself, re-focus my energies and re-discover what is possible. 

Know of other free, nearly free or cheap workshops? Let me know. Email me at palmer@redmaiden.tv and I'll add them to the blog.

And as a last suggestion - Mandy.com posts workshops on their "Noticeboard" and ShootingPeople.com also frequently lists free or cheap workshops on their email newsletter. You can sign up to get the basic newsletter for free - you'll get it a day or so later than the paying members or for a couple of bucks you can join and get the daily newsletter. I get it and have found it to be an excellent resource for everything from jobs to workshops, and then some.

2008 Rates for NYC Producers, Etc.

Hi folks,
Everyone always wants to know what the other guy or gal is making. Some of us are more willing to share our day rate information than others. I'm a big believer that sharing this information keeps all of us from undercutting each other and weakening the system. So on that note, here is some information that was recently posted on WIFNY. Happy holidays.

Producer for Commercials:

$1000/day - non union producer with a union crew.

Producing with non union crews sometimes pay less then $1000/day.

For very long term jobs I have gone as low as $500/day but won't go below that.

Post Producing for Commercials:

$600/day though I believe the going rate for freelance commercial post-producers is in the $700-800 range.

advertising agency in-house post-producing job for $450/day seems the going rate.

++++

AP:
Inexperienced/Low rate: $800/week.
Experienced & basically a producer with an AP title: $1400/week
Average: $1000

Producer:
Inexperienced/Low rate: $13-1400/week (although I have heard of people taking lower to get the credit)

Experienced: $2500/week (this is the highest I have seen - it was for a couple of the producers on the Carrier project, which involved a big sacrifice: living on an aircraft carrier for 6 months).

Good solid average rate: $1600 (maybe $1800 for field?)

+++

AP for Public TV non fiction:
$225-$275/day (without benefits) maybe more for someone truly wonderful or verging on full producer

Producer for non-fiction:
usually $300 - $350/day depending on skill, extra-special or producer/manager might get more, up to $400/day

Producer for NY local news-based video or talk freelance:
$300/day. Good Morning America about the same.

Producer for Reality shows:
producers may get $450-$500/day.

Information provided by WIPNY (Women in Production New York)
To sign up for the WIPNY newletter, send and email request to: avidyvette@yahoo.com

Going West! LA Bound.

I'm about to head out to Los Angles to establish myself as bi-coastal. I love working on the east coast. NYC is great and Philadelphia continues to be a well-kept secret . . . though the secret is getting out thanks to the great works of the GPFO (Greater Philadelphia Film Office) . . . while I'll maintain my east coast roots, this awesome, woman director needs a bigger pond to swim in!

For years I've been told I should "Go West!"

So I'm taking off on what given the current rising gas prices maybe the last great cross country road trip of a lifetime and heading to LA to establish a west coast base on July 19th and I'll be there by July 30th.

As a fellow filmmaker friend said,

"L.A. is where the work is! If you fancy yourself a salmon fisherman, you go where the salmon are."

NYC and Philly friends, colleagues and clients--don't worry . . . I'm not leaving, I'm just going to L.A. I'll still be maintaining my east coast base and going back and forth between the coasts as needed. As always, I'll be reachable via my cell phone and email.

L.A. friends, colleagues and prospective clients--I could use some help and advice on establishing myself in L.A. I'd love to get some referrals to production companies looking to add an awesome, emerging, woman director to their roster. If anyone needs a house sitter or knows of an expensive housing option in the west side/Santa Monica/Venice/Marina Del Rey areas, please let me know. I'll need networking opportunities, party invites, work, friends, and so on. So please keep me in mind.