Bootstrap This!

Everyone here knows how I  (incessantly?) harp on the fact that you need to balance the creative with the business side of media making. If you want to make a career out of this - you need to know what you're getting into, how much things actually cost and how that affects what you do and how you do it.

Here's something that will help you as you get started and don't have the cred to spend money to solve your problems (something I never advocate). So embrace your inner entrepreneur and give this Bootstrapper's Bible a read. [PDF download]

It is truly inspirational, especially in this era where many of the opportunities out there are right at our fingertips.

No Need to be Depressed

As I was doing a little bit of research today, I found yet anther parallel between today's depressing economy and the "Great Depression" of the 1930's.

But what's fascinating (to me) are the political and cultural responses today that mimic the 1930's.  I tend to use Pulp 2.0 rather haphazardly when describing this new movement that is taking over the internet, but in looking at the many sites that came up in my Google search and reading the postings, I'm convinced that we are in Pulp 2.0.

The general populace is again looking toward fiction media (film, television, print, games, e-print) that is both low cost and high entertainment value - a distraction from the drudgery of the economy and the politics.  They are getting rid of those high end cable packages and using the lower-cost internet services as part of their entertainment time.

We're also focusing on heroes - strong, forceful types - and villains - terrorists, corrupt officials who've violated our trust.

This is exactly what happened in the 1930's. Not only in print, but on radio and at the movie theater. The popular culture exploded.

I'm sorry the economy is taking a tanker, but I have to say I'm pleased that the cultural response is to "create something." This spirit and bootstrapping know-how combined with a cost-effective delivery system (order on the web or IPhone and it comes to your door or computer or reader device) is going to change everything...

And that means opportunity. 

That's what the country was looking for in the dark days of the Great Depression - opportunity - and that's what everyone is looking for right now. The opportunity to earn money and provide for your family. The opportunity to show what you can do. The opportunity to do better. 

I'm looking forward to this 2010.  Lots of hard work ahead...but boy, think of the opportunity!

Wire Yourself In...

Recently Ted Hope over at TRULY FREE FILM posted his 38 Problems with Indie Film, and it's a good list. An excellent list even...but as I pointed out to him in the comments, he makes the mistake of thinking that we can recapture the 'glory days' of indie film.

As I pointed out, in my usual blunt MPB manner, that train has left the station.

And while I am far too young and way too sexy for my shirt to ever be called a curmudgeon(cough, cough), I also have to agree with many of the things in Jim McKay's guest post here.

Okay, Indie Film as we know it is screwed... good. It wasn't a good business anyway. Too whimsical, too full of itself to be a real business.

(and if any of you starts yelling out, "It's art, not business," you're an idiot. Any time you ask people for money for goods or services - it's a business)

So where do we take this business we call show?

Fortunately, there are many brilliant people out there, smarter than me even (cough, cough), who are rethinking how things are done in this digital age, and what promise that holds for each and every one of us of getting a ticket on the better, less expensive, train that takes your content to every place in the world there's wifi.

And they are Wired.

First off (H/T to Cousin Trevor up in the 'Peg) is David Byrne who discusses survival strategies in this new age.

Chris Anderson discusses this fundamental shift and what it means.

And while this article discusses automobiles, take out that word (or car, or vehicle) and substitute the word movie, tee vee, or series . You begin to see the possibilities of where media production is going.

Anderson puts it into focus:
(emphasis mine)

To all the usual reasons why small companies have an advantage, from nimbleness to risk-taking, add these new ones: The rise of cloud computing means that young firms no longer have to buy their own IT equipment, which helps them avoid having to raise money or take on debt. Likewise, the webification of the supply chain in many industries, from electronics to apparel, means that even the tiniest companies can now order globally, just like the giants. In the same way a musician with just a laptop and some gumption can accomplish most of what a record label does, an ambitious engineer can invent and produce a gadget with little more than that same laptop.

And while my Canadian brethren fight the good fight, I have to say the one thing they are ignoring (or at least not speaking of out loud):

"Only a fool fights in a burning house."

(Quote from Kang. Lesson learned by James T.)

So what does all this mean when taken as a whole? It means change. It means not thinking of media in the same way. It means doing different things outside your normal niche. It means pushing boundaries. It means you can stand on your own two feet.

It means Bootstraps don't chafe like Corporate or Government chains.

And there are those that will shout out, "But how do I make money at this?" Know that you aren't alone. Your own are questioning the old ways and coming up with new ones.

So connect the wires:

-- How DO you make money at this?
-- How can you MAKE it more efficient -- not only for yourself, but for others too?

You and your work are your business. Make it a good one, not one you have to tolerate because that's the way it's always been.

Read. Rethink. Let's discuss. Comments are Open as is the Bar.

Entrepreneurship on a Sunday

Been working hard on the business plan today.















4 hours straight and I'm only now getting out of my chair for an ass-stretch. I like that I'm so excited about this that I put in the time to try and get it all right - all the ducks in a row and so forth.

I've got bids out there for certain services I can't do myself due to time restrictions , but everything else is going to be based on the free tools available on the web, our chutzpah and our cadre of like-minded pulpsters who want to give this a kick in the pants and get it going. (or maybe just give me a kick in the boys -- Enthusiasm is hard to gauge.)


For those of you who know already - don't say a word. (Okay, you can tease a bit if you want) To the rest of you - the following pictures all mean something (at least to me). That's really all I can say at this moment.


(Oh and I don't no where I got all of these illustrations on the web. I thank the artists for allowing me to use them to illustrate my point. No rights are implied by my using them)

I Have Issuus...

No, that's not a misspelling. Issuu (pronounced "Issue") is a new website where you can convert your PDF document into an interactive online magazine. You upload your document for free and create a magazine that is page-turning, embeddable and in looking at some of this stuff -- really cool.

This is Pulp 2.0, folks. Pure entertainment delivered digitally everywhere.

Hear that print comics? That is your freaking death cry. Seriously, you should be freaking wetting yourselves now.

(found by Warren Ellis, who manages to write 50 million comics a year and still comes up with this stuff from trolling the web)

Edit to add: This is the spike that will stop the bloodsucking distribution problems of print media. Digital magazines are being monetized.

Hollywood Turns to Silicon Valley

The LA Times has a great article here on Aaron Mendelsohn's Virtual Artists and other companies sprouting up during the strike.

Stay tuned, er... logged on.

Post Tryptophan Hangover...

So, still feeling stuffed after the big bird blowout yesterday. Now as the serotonin levels in my brain begin to lower I am left with a desire to get to work on some projects that I've been juggling lately, and yet here I am blogging...and here you are reading.


(You enablers! Damn you all)


The holidays are now officially in full swing and we will be addressing this in an upcoming Geekerati podcast with our "What I want for Christmas this year" episode. I am taking suggestions now.


John Rogers (who is experiencing the cold up north for the first time in a long time I wager) has a discussion about short online fiction and the death of the anthology following a post by Warren Ellis on the same subject. I'm also wondering what happened to our series paperback characters that seemed to dominate the drug store spinner racks when I was a kid. Does anyone here besides me remember the Richard Blade series of books?


Warren Ellis reminded me the other day about Createspace - a division of Amazon - where you can publish on demand and videopost on demand and monetize the whole thing - including selling DVDs on demand. This is an excellent step toward self-sufficiency for filmmakers. It's possible that there could be a shift toward "regionalism" with something like this set up. Imagine a group of mediamakers who aren't in LA, New York or Chicago who have their own local programs and "stars" and are able to create content for a local market that pays the bills. Possibly similar to where Quebec is in the Canadian market - separate and distinct, but accesible to those who look for that programming. Then, as an afterthought the rights to the programming is sold elsewhere as added revenue not necessary for financial solvency.


(Yes, these are the things that run through my head as the serotonin dips)


Congrats to Denis McGrath whose THE BORDER premiered in Canada last night. I will be searching the webs for it.

I've been searching the web looking for a new blog template that reflects my pulp, movie-making and new media sensibilities. If anyone has a suggestion that seems to fit the bill, please send me a link. The template must be compatible with Blogger, easily adaptable and rockin'. I'm going to be breaking things up into better categories for navigation's sake as well as providing links to my other digital shadows - message boards, networks, business related matters.

I set aside my short story for Astonishing for a week so I can go back to it over the holidays and polish it up. I wrote down a lot of notes and put the file away so I can read it with fresh eyes right before I polish it. The twist doesn't work yet as I haven't set it up properly in the story. It has to be obvious when it happens, but not so obvious that the reader gets it before I give it to him in the story. A delicate touch to be sure and I'm a freakin' sledgehammer...

Later...

Studios! Your Attention Please!

I know this is hard for you to fathom, what with you having a chokehold on most everybody's entertainment choices for decades, but I really have to let you know:

You're not the only game in town.

Now some of you own pieces of this new media. Good for you. However if you insist on not paying people for their intellectual property and craft, you surely have to understand that the creatives are going to go find venture capital and...

DO IT ON THEIR OWN.

(Just like Marvel Entertainment, or Sacha Baron Cohen or Zwick & Herskovitz or Eisner or Iron Sink Media...)

Welcome to your future. We really don't need you.

Run along now.

Must I Shout...

That the future is already here? Must I rant and jump up and down on the furniture of the DISContent Headquarters telling everyone that the new media has been within everyone's grasp for awhile now?

No. Not anymore.

TV Guide is doing it for me.

An official consumer-oriented magazine is holding a contest for best web series. In other words:

Web Video Entertainment has arrived.

Granted, many of the nominees are webisodes based on content created to promote regular television series, but the fact remains that original content and creators have been nominated.

Look over the nominees. Screen samples of their work.
But more importantly - vote.
Let TV Guide know that web entertainment matters to you.

Then, get inspired to do your own stuff.
We need ownership right now.

The Times Are A - Changin'

If you haven't heard already there is a pending Writer's Strike here in Los Angeles. That means that for the most part, those writers who belong to the WGA will soon be manning the picket lines, and spending the rest of their time working on spec scripts and other writing work.

I was reading Kay this morning and "Anonymous" commented on what other sorts of work he/she should be pursuing...

And here's where the axe falls on some writers' necks.

See, there's ton of work out there that's available if you are entrepreneurial enough to pursue it. No one is going to hand you a contract for a first novel. No one is going to say, "Come write a graphic novel. Here's a check." You aren't going to be flooded with people saying, "You're a tv writer so you can write for me while the strike is on."

That is unless you already have experience in these fields. (Hello Messrs. Whedon, Straczynski, Grillo-Marxuach, Vaughn).

But all is not lost. There are opportunities out there, but you'll have to set them up yourself. Be your own producer or publisher, your own marketing director, your own cameraman, director, art director and publicist.

The great thing is that the tools are already available. Free blogs. Free photo archives. Free editing software. Free publishing services. Free merchandising and marketing.

You could do this, and create an online novel series.

Or just create the novel.

You could create a web serial.

You could create a podcast.

And you can create all the merchandise for free.

You CAN do all this stuff, and the cool part is:

YOU OWN IT. YOU CONTROL IT.

I think this is the opportunity that many of the "lower earning" writer's in the union have been looking for - the opportunity to be their own boss. To own the store. To quit just being an employee. To quit having to take a stupid note because your job's at risk.

And that's when the studios are going to be afraid. That's when they are going to understand that the rules are changing and they HAVE to change with it. They are going to have to understand and look at this with new eyes...

As will all the writers.

Times are changing. Wear a cup.