Chris Jones's Blog, page 5

Crowdsourcing Your Movie… A First Hand Guide and Top ten Tips

Crowdsourcing is not for everyone. But it can work, for the right project. Equally it can work brilliantly with a specific stage in a project too.

I have crowdsourced two feature films now and have perhaps more experience than anyone I know when it comes to corralling very large groups of creative people to come together to make something.

My biggest piece of advice is this. Don’t do it.

Well OK maybe that’s a tad downbeat, but there’s no doubt, while crowdsourcing sounds like a great idea, it’s akin to herding cats.

Through Create50 I have shepherded two feature films and six books, all of them to completion. The bigger projects like the feature films would involve thousands of people.

It’s fair to say that the books are easier than the films because they really have just one step with much less complexity – essentially, write a short story, we will collate the best ones and publish a book. With this model we have found some success with our Twisted50 brand, with four books now published.  

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The films have more steps and clearly much greater complexity as they include filming and editing and wider distribution.

We have made two films like this, 50 Kisses and right now, we are premiering The Impact (aka Impact50).

The logic has always been, if we can get hundreds, if not thousands involved, then the outreach when completed, could be enormous. In essence, if we get lots of people to make little bits of a thing, so that we collectively make a big thing, that then gets seen widely BECAUSE so many people will share about it on social media… well that’s a good idea right?

With all of these projects I have also been supported by amazingly hard working people within a core team. Then there are some extraordinary people in the ‘crowd’ too, who support the projects enthusiastically. Their collective contributions are essential.

So that’s the plan… But how does it work in the real world? Here’s my top ten tips if you want to involve the crowd in your productions…

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The big idea MUST be compelling enough to motivate people to get involved. Famously Iron Skies was at least part crowdsourced for the visual effects. Why do it? It’s about Nazis living on the dark side of the moon. And they have flying saucers. OK yeah. I am in on the big idea. An early teaser trailer is above that showcases the bonkers nature of the vision.

Then there’s the smaller steps that a person can help you with must also be compelling, or at least it must play into their passions or skills clearly. Does someone know a specific visual effects tool? Do they love crazy SciFi? Do they want to do a cool camera move on a Nazi flying saucer tonight? Specific and with something in it for them.

There’s lots of reasons of course. Working on a big project where they can learn new skills, showcase their talent, collaborate with new people, or even to just be part of something amazing. Bottom line, they are gracing you with their resources, so don’t treat them badly, like staff, or even give them a hard time if they drop the ball. Be clear about credits too, be it on the end roller of your film, the website, IMDb, the acknowledgements in a book.  We all love to see our name in lights. Remember that.

Be Brief And Ask For The VERY Do-able

The idea behind Create50 was to always ask people to contribute maybe a day of their life. More if they want, but not so much as it interferes with their lives. Many would commit more. Some would commit but not deliver. Bottom line, you can’t ask much of people at the start. Some will inevitably become stars in the process and help enormously. It’s usually people who don’t have much time too, the old saying ringing true… Want something done? Ask a busy person. Most people will want to help but just drop the ball at some point. So keep it brief and doable. If they achieve it, go back until they either prove themselves a rockstar or drop the ball or just fade away.

Move fast… people WILL move on…

Most people will help for a limited amount of time. Sometimes VERY limited. A few will give you a much longer period but pretty much everyone moves on. They have lives, careers and their personal benefit from being involved can quickly diminish. This is why moving in stages is so important, so you can focus on a defined and do-able chunk of the project.

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Having a bite-sized bit of the project will help people not regret getting involved or feel overwhelmed. It will also mean they can achieve a task fast, and see results quickly. This process also helps weed out those who mean well but just cannot deliver, versus those who you will see that they begin to shine. Be clear in communications about the parameters of the project bump, what’s needed and by when? For instance we began adding 1,500 people to IMDb recently for Impact50. A small team began this clearly defined tasks, with a target of one week to complete, but Cera Rose-Pickering completed it herself and to this day is the one who will still makes amendments if needed. Cera is a diamond. More on her and this kind of helper later.

Communicate

Having regular group meetings via Zoom will really help. This will keep the core group engaged as well as exciting the less engaged who may occasionally turn up. But keep meetings short and on point, people are giving up their free time for this. Follow up with short emails and stay in touch via email, WhatsApp, Facebook messenger, whatever THEIR preferred method of comms may be. Clear goals, achievable steps, realistic timelines, technical support… all should be clearly communicated so they can do what you have asked them to do.

Where Are They On Their Journey?

…and also in relation to the duration of the project? People starting out in any new field will often throw themselves into a project only to outgrow it quickly – people learn FAST in the beginning – and can move on because of this. Equally they may also decide this life is not for them and drop out. Knowing where an enthusiastic person is on their journey will mean you can better leverage their offer to help. For instance, don’t offer super talented and experienced people jobs that are way below them. They too will leave in tat case. Most people are getting involved to learn something new, sharpen existing tools, get a credit (or get community kudos), make new friends, and be a part of something super exciting. Try to deliver on these needs. And you can only do this if you know where a person is on their own personal journey. So get to know people.

Avoid Project Management Hell

I have seen others use sophisticated project management tools which clearly will work for them. I have found most of these tools too complex for my needs, so a spreadsheet for each step or stage is enough for me. Facebook groups, WhatsApp groups are all good, but ultimately people respond best to a simple email comms. As much as you need to keep it simple for those offering help to do it, you also need to keep your tracking of progress simple too. Simple systems to see where you are at and what is being done by who is essential for me.

Happily, there will usually be some diamond level helpers here, and you MAY be lucky enough to delegate the management of some specific groups and tasks to them. But be sure your helpers are bullet proof and check in on them.

KEEP IT CLEAR AND SIMPLE.

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Inevitably people achieve stuff. But how do you track and manage that? For instance, the contracts and credits for Impact50 needed collating from many different sources. That data once complete, would end up on the website, on IMDb and also integrated into an end credit roller. We could use Google sheets for this, but personally I have had issues with people making blunders or losing access (as someone creates their own version, then leaves the project and becomes uncontactable for instance).

I tend to use Dropbox with folders I create and therefore control, then MS Word and Excel docs. Yes there’s issues of syncing and multiple copies there too, but we manage that internally. When it comes to bigger things like large image files, artwork, video files etc, we use all manner of tools like WeTransfer to get files between us. Everything is ultimately consolidated into a Dropbox folder though. Or for massive amounts of data, external drives backed up to the cloud in Google Drive work well for us.

What you REALLY need to protect against is loss of assets over the dimension if TIME… What you think will take six months may take three years. People leave the project. Assets get lost. Workflows get forgotten. So build your process to last, keep it logical and simple, and force people to use it. Then backup backup backup, name folders and files logically, keep folders tidy… and did I mention backup?  

Know The Sinks and The Radiators

Within the group there will be people who elevate you and the process. There will be many who are neutral. And there may be a handful of those who begin enthusiastic, but who later turn on you. And if they do turn on you, they may turn others against you too. In my experience, it’s better to rapidly remove those people from the process. If you cannot win them back in a single heartfelt conversation, you will likely never win them back. Impact50 was very nearly sunk by a group of nay-sayers and it’s one reason it took many more years to complete than it should have done. Because I attempted to win back hearts and minds, valuable time was lost, windows missed and the clear blue water of the project was polluted with toxic personalities. Only time could heal these wounds, including my own. At one point I really could not face the negative backlash from some people on a daily basis and so I ended up having to shut down for a good 12 months.

Cut out the naysayers right away.

Creative Climax

One thing I have noticed is that once a creative person has had their moment, they have achieved the thing they wanted to achieve – write a script, make a film, write a short story – they tend to leave the project, certain in their mind that others will do all the other steps.

This shows up in the most pronounced way when it comes to getting the thing out there in the world. You would think people would be happy to share on social media, leave reviews on Amazon, give it a rating on IMDb… but it’s REALLY hard to get people to re-engage after they have had their creative climax AND time has passed.

It’s one of the flaws in the Create50 process that we could only fix if we could compress the whole process into months. And that would need serious funding.

In my view, what it really boils down to is this. People get focussed on the thing they want to do. They may think, I want to write for instance. I want others to do all the other stuff for the project, I don’t want to do that. This is stuff like marketing, checking things, voting, testing etc. That’s cool fo course.

But. If I am honest, I can see clearly that those who engage in all of the other stages tend to be the ones who find success faster in their career.

Why? Because they know that the creative climax will birth a baby that will need loving, nurturing and guiding. And they are prepared to do their little part in that process. People like KT, Joa, Dee, Michael, Ben(s), Richard… and so many more who I cant fit here. All have gone the distance and have benefited more from that difficult choice to continue to carry the burden with me.

Ultimately there is a quote from screenwriter  Cynthia Whitcomb that really nails it for me… ‘Professionals work, amateurs hope’.

My advice? Involve yourself in the whole process, especially those parts you are not good at, don’t understand or if truth be known, you may be a little afraid of. THAT is where success will likely show up for you, as someone wanting to get more out of a crowdsourced project.

Expect to fail… kinda… not really…

So all of these tips are SUPER DIFFICULT to achieve in the quite literal chaos of a crowdsourced project. There will be days where you will decide to do a job yourself as it will be faster. Equally, paying someone of Fiverr.com say $10 to do something may be better use of time and resources. I have done that lots. Don’t be put off by that feeling that somehow you just aren’t succeeding on the promise of a crowdsourced project, it is the nature of the beast. Try to keep focus on completing those bumps in the overall journey, and nudging the elephant up the mountain to the completion of the project. Notice the diamonds in your team and community and strengthen those bonds.

Crowdsourcing is not fer everyone. But it can work for the right project. Equally it can also work brilliantly with a specific stage in a project too. Crowdfunding – raising money – is a clear example here. Or a small team helping with social media marketing etc.

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I have so much more I could say. Remember to elevate and celebrate the people who have proven themselves essential. Celebrate the community too, it’s their efforts that makes a project work. Engage with social media and publicly share success and failures. Stay the course, especially on the bumps between stages. Shore up your assets and data management – there are films that were not included in The Impact as the filmmakers had lost their source files.  

Crowdsourcing sounds like a great idea, but ask yourself first. Is it really better to do it yourself? Or to leverage one or two existing relationships that have proven excellence? Or to find a freelancer on a freelancer site? Or to focus your crowdsourced elements on one single stage?

I wish you luck!

Chris Jones
My movies www.LivingSpiritGroup.com
My Facebook www.Facebook.com/ChrisJonesFilmmaker
My Twitter @LivingSpiritPix

Sign up to my mailing list for updates on
events, books and free film making tools
 

PS – Tickets for the premiere are now on sale at www.Impact50film.com

The post Crowdsourcing Your Movie… A First Hand Guide and Top ten Tips appeared first on Chris Jones Filmmaker Blog.

And it was all going so well… Or was it? Filmmakers, Screenwriters, Creatives… Are you operating in a Red Sea or a Blue Sea?

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The last three years have been brutal for me. As I know they have for so many others too. I am not unique in this regard.

While smarter people may have chosen to allow their companies to go under during the pandemic, I chose to fight through bankruptcy and have emerged from the other side. Not so much victorious, but alive, battle weary, scarred but stronger and with greater clarity about the future.

Looking back at my life I can see different era’s, epochs or chapters. They roughly fit into decades (though not that smoothly TBH). But let’s go with it for narrartives sake.

There was my transition from child to young man that culminated in my making a super 8mm zombie film. In the space of an hour when I premiered it one lunchtime at college, my path became clear. I wanted to be a filmmaker. One that made films for audiences.

The nineties are where I began making feature films when there was no real independent film sector. Action thriller The Runner, serial killer White Angel, paranormal chiller Urban Ghost Story.

After the millennium and we entered the naughties, the Guerilla Filmmakers Handbooks and brand really took off and took me to extraordinary places, resulting in seven books and serving thousands through workshops. And remember that live TV show over the internet that we started in 2009? We were in the Blue sea there, but now that’s a deep red vermillion sea.

Then, as we entered the 2010’s I pivoted once more into the London Screenwriters’ Festival, building the biggest and most empowering scriptwriters gathering this side of any damn place you choose! And then there is also Create50, my attempt to fuse the screenwriters festival and filmmaker communities. Through Create50 we made two films and published six books, including 50 Kisses, and the books in the Twisted50 series.

And through these times I colaborated with amazing people. Some of who became lifelong friends, others who were the right fit for the right time. All of them AMAZING. You know who you are. We did something amazing together. And that’s a thing. Gen, Jon, Cara, David, Lucia, Linda, MTB, Judy, Simon (s), Maureen, Gail, Bob, Savannah and so mony others.

Now in the 2020’s, in an actual post apocalyptic world, I stand at yet another crossroads… or more accurately for me, I find myself in the Red sea.

The Red Ocean and Blue Ocean analogy is one I heard recently that really resonated with clarity. It felt bang-on for where I found myself. Though I prefer to call it a sea than an ocean.

Google it, it’s an actual business theory.

In short, the Red sea is where there is massive competition and it’s cut throat. Hence the blood red sea.

The Blue sea is where innovation happens. A place where, at first at least, if you can build something that works, competition is minimal or even irrelevant. For a time at least.

As I look back at the three major era’s or my life, I can see I began each of these in the blue sea, and over time, those seas became bloodier with increased competition.

It’s a distinction and pattern that fits the way I have operated my entire life. I wish I had understood it two decades ago, I could have avoided so many dead ends.

It’s not like I have abandoned those adventures from the past too, I still make films, write books, run events…

But deep down know that I need a new exploration and adventure into the unknown. The blue sea that is beyond the horizon of the Read sea beckons me. The Blue sea where I am usefully out of my depth.

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As May 31st approaches and the premiere of The Impact, of which I am immensely proud, I am aware that afterward I will be able to take a breath. A break to consider which odyssey I could choose next.

It’s something I think we should all do every so often, lest we discover ourselves trapped in the comfort of our well evolved patterns. Patterns that so often lead us down pathways away from adventure and risk.

We are all living into a new era in 2022.

Crypto. Web 3.0. Twats (a lovely term I heard for a new employee who insists on only working Tuesdays, Wednesdays And Thursdays – their term of course, and I don’t endorse, but it’s the ‘work less’ and ‘work from home’ cultural shift that I recognise), the impact of climate change, Facebook and other social media in decine, and so much more.

Looking back at the 2010’s I am staggered at how I thought everything would kind of, you know, just carry on.

That’s the myth of permanence right there. Yesterday was like today, and will be like tomorrow. And before you know it, a decade goes by.

For most of us, we need to engineer daily changes, small as they may be, to make consistent change.

Some of us are bold enough to self inflict radical change.

All of us at one time or another will experience unexpected catastrophe that will cause radical change. Covid was that on a global scale for many of us. And radical change has occurred.  

I guess I am inviting you to your own exciting new journey too. To consider what the next era could be for you? To not fall back into old, safe and mundane patterns. Maybe just be a bit more like Christiopher Walken and dance with destiny a little more.

I get it, that’s kinda scary. No, really, not kinda. VERY scary.

I feel it too.

So for me, what will this new journey look like? Well I have some ideas up my sleeve. And I also need a rest first (I remind myself here that the journey ahead rarely allows a rest, or it would not be an adventure!).

For now though, I am enjoying the much awaited summer sunshine and the feeling of the blood red tides as they wash over my feet. I am no longer participating in these blood sports.

The boat is being built, my colours firmly nailed to the mast. And I contemplate what awaits in the blue seas beyond the horizon.

Footnote: I realise after reading this, I have experienced my call to adventure on a classical heros journey. As such I have also been consulting with all my trusted mentors already, and I can sense the crossing of the threshold ahead… My heart is begining to race…

Chris Jones
My movies www.LivingSpiritGroup.com
My Facebook www.Facebook.com/ChrisJonesFilmmaker
My Twitter @LivingSpiritPix

Sign up to my mailing list for updates on
events, books and free film making tools
 

PS – Tickets for the premiere are now on sale at www.Impact50film.com

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The Final Draft Meteor Award Has Arrived… and it’s OUT OF THIS WORLD!

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And yes, sorry for the strong of clichés, but it is out of this world. An award for a shooting star. Star stuff and Carl Sagan would call it.

It’s formed from the fusion crust as the dense, mainly composed of iron, super heated and burned as it entered the atmosphere. You can see and feel the texture of that superheating and burning in the surface of the meteorite.

It’s heavy. It’s massive. And as soon as anyone sees it and knows what it is, they want to hold it. And when they do, their face lights up in a kind of awe. They are holding a visitor from space!

Like I said. Magic.

On May 31st the screenwriter who wins the Best Script Award at the world première of Impact50 will walk away with what I consider to be the best screenwriting prize on planet earth.

You can still get tickets for the red carpet premiere and awards on May 31st HERE. Please do join us and bring a friend or six.

Reviews of the film are now starting to appear and I will be sharing what reviewers are saying about the film soon as I can. And Impact50 MUST be seen on a huge screen with HUGE sound too.

OK… Onwards!

See you on the red carpet!

Chris Jones
www.Impact50film.com

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Want a copy of the Impact50 Poster?

After a HUGE amount of debate within the team and community, we have decided to use the poster with the meteor for all online presence.

It works really well in the fast-paced environment of social media, such as account headers or thumbnails and square posts.

But for the HUGE and permanent movie poster, we have opted for the one without the meteor.

We felt that this was a piece of art, and artefact of the whole project, as much as it is an advertisement for the film.

This poster will sit MUCH better when framed and mounted on our office walls. It leaves the viewer asking deeper and profound questions, which is in fact, what the film has ended up doing. Seen bigger, it is bolder.

Everyone who comes to the premiere will get a poster free. Tickets HERE.

But if you can’t make the premiere, we are making the posters available for £20 (for two posters), including shipping (in a cardboard poster tube). You can grab yours below… or better still, join us for the premiere on May 31st!

Once we sell out that’s it, we won’t print any more. And 100% of the revenue is going toward the costs of the premiere, awards and festival run for Impact50.

Get your poster with the button below…

 

AMAZING and thank you to the brilliant creative team at WhatIsBobo.com at Ealing Studios for this work.

We will start sending posters out once we get them back from the printers in a few weeks.

Thank you for your continued support!

Chris Jones
www.Impact50film.com

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Create50: How this all began and the magical throughline of creativity…

It all began with a riot. Four nights or rioting across the UK actually, but mainly in  London. It was August 2011 and walking through Ealing on my way to the office at Ealing Studios reminded me of a war zone.  

This was the start of Create50, though right now, it was just a simple idea.

Why not run a competition with our screenwriters to examine the issues around these riots? Keep it to one page. And then offer up the winning scripts to filmmakers via the internet. See what people make? Get writers writing, filmmakers filmmaking, and most of all, filmmakers and writers collaborating, getting writers produced.

It became known as Four Nights in August and was a huge hit.

The winning script was written by Milethia Thomas and the resulting film made by Anil Rao. It’s called ‘Why?’ and you can watch below (both pictured here after they received their awards).

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Following the success of Four Nights in August, we decided to expand the scope of the concept into 50 scripts featuring a kiss on Valentines. And 50 Kisses was born. And this time it would be a feature film.

Once again, Anil entered a film, and ended up winning! It’s an amazing film and showed his creative flare in imaginative storytelling. I recall him showing up with his mum and the passionate speech he gave at the end. 50 Kisses ended up in the Guinness Book Of Records and we had many screenings around the UK. Anil was often at these screenings giving a talk afterward. His film, Neil is again a visual tour-de-force.

Sadly in 2018 we lost Anil. I had been in touch with him just before and knew his health was failing. He had also wanted to get involved in Impact50, but his health just prevented him from doing so.

Milethia Thomas, from Four Nights, did get involved in Impact50 and her winning script resulted in a film that is included in the final edit of Impact50, titled ‘Francis of Fell End Farm’. Again, it’s a story with no dialogue. Just pictures. Pure cinema.

On May 31st we will be revealing the Award Winners in Impact50 and to honour Anil and his extraordinary creative spark, we will be re-naming the Best Film Award in The Anil Rao Best Film Award. I personally feel this is a brilliant way to remember him, and if he is out there in the cosmos looking down, I know for a fact this would make him smile.

I will be thinking of Anil when I walk the red carpet and I invite you to do the same. Anyone can join us at the premiere and you can find out more here… www.Impact50film.com

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones
My movies www.LivingSpiritGroup.com
My Facebook www.Facebook.com/ChrisJonesFilmmaker
My Twitter @LivingSpiritPix

Sign up to my mailing list for updates on
events, books and free film making tools

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Grading The Impact with DaVinci Resolve

Last week we began the final grade for The Impact.

This is where we adjust colours, contrast and even add subtle visual effects like shadows or flares, to polish the look of all the films.

Aside from the obvious creative element we can address, the grading also helps make the films all look like they belong together. It also ensures that the video levels are ‘legal’ (as in meeting industry specifications).

My old buddy Jon Walker is helping do this and we are using Davinci Resolve.

The post workflow has been challenging for sure as so many films came from different sources, with differing frame rates and editing platforms. We mastered the final edit in Avid and Jon was able to access the media from the Avid project via Resolve. It all works in real time and it’s brilliant to see so many films get that extra sheen, or moodiness, or whatever is needed. Having the films professionally graded is such a bonus.

A few films have been more work than others, like Life’s a Beach which was shot on an iPhone. We ended up going back to the original footage and rebuilding it after we achieved a better frame rate conversion than the one the filmmakers managed (going from 30fps to 25fps). It was kicking every 25 frames or so and now that is smoothed out.

One issue we keep bumping up against is just the quantity of the media. Moving around terabytes of data just takes time. Sometimes a LOT of time. Sometimes it ends up being overnight. It’s one reason I ultimately chose to master in 1080p rather than 4k. The data overhead would just be soul destroying. And remember, many of the films we shot on lower end kit, so the overhead would really not make any difference.

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The example above is undgraded on the left and graded on the right. Not all the films needed such a bit grading tweak.

Of course I have already broken some of my own rules.

We shouldn’t really start the grade until the picture is locked – and it was – until I had some ideas about how to include some extra bits. And now I am also dealing with the running time possibly being too long so some further trims may be needed.

One thing shines through though.

It’s an amazing film. It’s quirky, narratively diverse, often profoundly emotional and occasionally laugh out loud funny… most of all, it makes one think about what we have been through and what we are now going through.

I can’t wait to see it on a huge screen and hear on whopping great big speakers. That’s one reason we HAD to do the premiere in person.

Chris Jones
My movies www.LivingSpiritGroup.com
My Facebook www.Facebook.com/ChrisJonesFilmmaker
My Twitter @LivingSpiritPix

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PS – Tickets for the premiere are now on sale at www.Impact50film.com

Watch the NEW trailer for The Impact and grab your premiere tickets…

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Announcing The World Premiere of Impact50!​May 31st, The Genesis Cinema, London​

Join us to celebrate in style and party like it’s the end of the world…​ ‘cos it just might be!​

Nearly a decade from conception to World Premiere, The Impact is a stunning feature film like no other.

Prophetic? Yes.

Ambitious? Absurdly so.

Did we pull it out of the bag? HELL YES!

The Impact is getting its London Premiere on May 31st (Tuesday). And this film deserves to be seen on a HUGE screen with IMMENSE sound!

Where: The Genesis Cinema, 93-95 Mile End Road, London E1
When: Tuesday May 31st
How Much: £19.95 (includes a The Impact cinema poster for your office!)
Dress Code: Posh frocks and dickie bows, we will have a red carpet.

 

Let’s do this in STYLE baby!

It’s a red carpet do also, with photo opportunities galore, the Awards ceremony, the official Guinness World Record attempt and of course the post premiere VIP after party.

Without doubt this is the best night out in London this side of the actual apocalypse. Let’s come back together and celebrate this extraordinary feature film in style and network like rock stars.

Over 2,000 creative people have been involved in the making of The Impact. With film-making teams from all four corners of the world.

We are expecting 600 guests at what we are certain will be sell-out event.

 Order of business7:00pm Arrive at the cinema to walk the red carpet and enjoy pre screening drinks with the cast, crews and writers of ’The Impact’.Get your photo taken on the red carpet with your team or family by our professional photographers (shared freely on social media)7:30pm Attend The Impact Awards Ceremony8:10pm The BIG SCREEN Film premiere10:15pm After party and collect your Impact cinema poster when you leave

Please don’t leave it too late as the premiere WILL sell out. We will send you links to all the professional photos after the event, including your red carpet ones, and you can share them on social media.

The film is not yet BBFC certified but we expect either a 12 or 12A. There’s no nudity, no violence and not even coarse language. But don’t let that fool you. It’s emotional and intense and it will profoundly resonate.

We will see you on the red carpet!

Chris Jones
My movies www.LivingSpiritGroup.com
My Facebook www.Facebook.com/ChrisJonesFilmmaker
My Twitter @LivingSpiritPix

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The Impact Premiere Is Postponed AND Rebooted!

OK we are going LARGE and it’s SUPER EXCITING!

Say goodbye to an online premiere and HELLO DARLING to a red carpet, BIG AWARDS ceremony and HUGE SCREEN premiere with VIP after party.

I have taken the decision to GO MASSIVE.

It was a simple choice really. We made a movie and this movie deserves to be premiered on a HUGE cinema screen.

Plus, if we do not screen in Cinema’s we cannot get the TWO world records we are going to get if we do screen in cinemas.

So the March the 19th online premiere is now postponed until after the ‘in-real-life’, yes in actual real life, world premiere some time in May or June in London. I had hoped to announce the date and venue now, but we are still talking to cinemas and cutting deals.

SO if ever there were an extraordinary event to come and join in, to kick the Covid apocalypse into the past, this is it!

We will expect over 500 guests, many from the industry, to come and celebrate, as well as witness TWO, yes TWO World Record Attempts on the night (most screenwriters on a feature film and most film directors on a feature film).

There will be photographers to take pix of you and your loved ones on the red carpet which you can share. Everyone will also get a movie poster too. And the whole event is funding both itself and the cost of festival submissions later this year. And there’s the awards too!

And if you can’t make it to London, we will of course still be running an online premiere later, dates TBC.

Tickets will likely be £19.99 and as I said, all proceeds go to covering the costs of the venue hire, awards, posters, BBFC classification and the subsequent festival run.

So go on, dust of your tux, dry clean your best frock and get ready for the most FABULOUS celebration and movie of 2022!

Expect updates on then date and venue VERY soon!

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones
My movies www.LivingSpiritGroup.com
My Facebook www.Facebook.com/ChrisJonesFilmmaker
My Twitter @LivingSpiritPix

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Impact50: The Final Cut

I say the final cut. I am of course still cutting. But it’s close. Very close.

So close that I finished it last week. Then I realised I knew I had to do yet another recut.

With the premiere looming, the vice is tightening. There’s nothing like a good deadline to get the creative cogs spinning and the creative soul innovating new ideas.

But let’s back up a bit.

No-one, least of all me, thought that Impact50 would take nearly eight years from conception to completion. There will be time after the premiere to dissect and analyse why it took so long, but Covid clearly stole the last two of those years as I found myself completely dominated with the London Screenwriters’ Festival.

The final cut has also passed through three editors before I finally bit the bullet myself and committed to completing it. Vicky Tolidou, Giovani Todeschini and McKayla Cox all spent time battling with the edit.  

At each round of editing we would bump up against all manner of challenges.

I had wanted to intercut the films but it became increasingly clear that because almost all films featured beats from the beginning, middle and end of the movie, it would be impossible for audiences to remember or connect with characters they may see only three times and with 45 minutes separating each clip.

Finally I relented and I decided just edit the films together, one after another with no intercutting. That was finished last week. And it was good.

Earlier this week though, I had an idea.

To go back to the plan I had with McKayla Cox where we take 15 minute chunks and make kind of mini acts from them. Each act with a beginning, middle and end.

And it worked!

It’s not a rigid formula, sometimes there are three films just played in order, sometimes two intercut, sometimes four. But it works. It’s about pace and rhythm way more than attempting to stick to a linear timeline. Something that had really halted myself and all three prior editors.  

Breaking out of the mindset of ‘it has to be linear’ was key to getting it completed.

I am so excited to share the film with the world. So much talent is on show.

OK back to the cutting room for me.

Get your tickets here…

www.Impact50film.com

Chris Jones
My movies www.LivingSpiritGroup.com
My Facebook www.Facebook.com/ChrisJonesFilmmaker
My Twitter @LivingSpiritPix

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Facebook and Instagram Jail… A Cautionary Tale…

About three weeks ago my Facebook account was hacked.

I don’t want to go into details of the ‘how’ as it was a sophisticated hack, and I am still unsure of how they did it. The bottom line is that the platform is very far from secure.

Tumbling from this I then also lost my personal Instagram and London Screenwriters Festival Instagram accounts.

How? Again, I just don’t know for sure. I have different emails and long passwords on both accounts and I change them regularly after major projects.

I am not naïve too, we live in a world of cyber threats.

What has REALLY irked me is that absolute contempt in which Meta (aka Facebook) holds its users.

It’s clear that we users are not human beings. We are simply data to Meta. To be exploited for gain. I should not be surprised.

I had been on and off Facebook for about a year before the hack, but I did use it for three main reasons…

1. The businesses
2. Personal updates that I wanted to share
3. Contacting people that I don’t have an email for

So yeah, Facebook was pretty useful and I was happy to pay the devil for that value… Their advertising and within reason, my data, in return for the platform.

But it seems the devil has no use for me now.

Most recently my mum died as well as an old friend. Many people had commented on those two posts and now they are gone into the black hole. I had planned to circle back and re-read and send ‘thankyous.’

And having just announced Impact50 is being premiered, I can’t update the Create50 page as I was the sole moderator. So now it’s an orphaned page. No owner exists. It will never be updated ever again (unless my account is reinstated).

So this is a cautionary tale. Not so much about cyber security, which I take very seriously. And most people do.

But about platforms and their indifference to us as human beings.

I had been on Facebook for around 15 years now. I had over 4,000 relationships. And many tens of thousands of other relationships on pages and groups (some of which I may be able to recover as there are multiple admins.)

In all of that time I have never had a post questioned by Facebook.

And yet, three weeks ago at 2:30am, someone or something posted TEN times in TEN MINUTES and by 2:49am the account was suspended. Spotted by an AI or algorithm I suspect.

The next morning, I had a simple message.

Your account is suspended for community violations. You have 30 days to appeal.

Would you like to appeal? Yes or no?

I clicked yes.

And that’s it. Logging in now just shows the message below…

I have a few days left before time runs out and my account is permanently deleted.

It was pretty much the same deal on Instagram.

Could I see the offensive posts that got me banned? No.

Could their super mega brilliant AI figure out at this might not have been me posting? No.

Is there anyone, anything, anywhere that I can ask questions? No.

It’s just ‘speak to Meta the hand’.

No matter what I do or where I go, I get the same short messages saying your account is suspended and there’s nothing you can do.

While I do used Facebook for business, I am glad that I don’t have a Facebook Business. If I did, I would be screwed.

So what to do?

It’s possible my old account could be resurrected, but with every day that feels less likely.

But beyond that, there’s nothing I can do aside from what I have done. Create a new account.

Maybe it’s a sign. To really step away from Social Media. I choose to see it that way.

And if you rely on Facebook or Instagram for business, build yourself some backup accounts now, so that every page or group that you moderate, has secondary access.

Still, all of this feels like so weird digital betrayal of trust.

So yeah. Tighten your security.

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones
My movies www.LivingSpiritGroup.com
My Facebook www.Facebook.com/ChrisJonesFilmmaker
My Twitter @LivingSpiritPix

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