Jaja, dat zit ie dan, Gerrit Zalm (VVD)! Met de gebakken peren! Zijn ‘betrouwbare’ reputatie schopte hem hoger de maatschappelijke ladder op, en was hij eens minister van Financiën, nu is het de Big Brother van Wouter Bos bij een van de banken die een ‘bijstandsuitkering’ kreeg van …tig miljard euro! naar alle waarschijnlijkheid wordt hij binnenkort van de lader afgedonderd want ‘bankiers’ die niet te vertrouwen zijn daar weten we in Nederland raad mee!

Wat blijkt, onze lachebek-van-het-kabinet-van-toen heeft zich nogal ‘verkeerd’ uitgedrukt in een brief aan de AFM, toen Zalm nog een vetbetaalde directeur was bij Dirk Scheringa’s bank, de DSB.

Zonder te blikken of te blozen ontkende hij tegenover de Autoriteit Financiële Markten dat DSB-bank te hoge leningen verstrekte aan klanten, wat neerkomt op dat Zalm de AFM een rad voor d’ ogen draaide… (Moet u eens doen bij de Belastingdienst, iets doelbewust verzwijgen… met kennelijk een bepaald oogmerk!) Het is gewoon de tactiek geweest van Scheringa om een ‘betrouwbare’ politicus, nota bene een oud-minister van Financiën op die post te zetten, zodat problemen op voorhand konden worden getackeld door Zalm, als de AFM aan de deur zou bellen. Zalm was ooit zelf de ‘baas’ van die cententellers! Die zouden Zalm grif op zijn woord geloven en kon Scheringa gewoon voort met zijn gekloot-met-andersmans-geld, anders kun je het niet noemen! En dat Zalm zich hiervoor liet betalen!!! Schandalig!!! Dat is blijkbaar de manier waarop neoliberalen aan winst komen!

De positie als waakhond voor Wouter Bos is niet langer houdbaar als dat inderdaad zo is. Hoe kun je de man nog vertrouwen als hij de AFM met een kluitje het riet ingestuurd heeft e en onderwijl de DSB-klanten uitzoog tot op de laatste cent!

Nee, Zalm móet zelf vertrekken, nu het nog kan… Mensen die niet te vertrouwen zijn móeten gewoon op-don-der-den! Nu niet klagen over het taalgebruik wat wij hier bezigen, maar even de moeite nemen om te laten weten dat zulke raddraaiers in het gevang moeten… Laat zulke gasten maar een jaar of wat bij TBS’ers in de schoonmaak meewerken!

Als Zalm eerlijk was geweest dan was de bank misschien nog te redden geweest, had de AFM wellicht mogelijkheden geboden voor verbetering, waren de klanten niet gedupeerd, was er nog volop werk en werd er niet massaal een uitkering aangevraagd. Maar het liep anders af, Zalm bedroog de AFM… U zal maar een van de gedupeerden zijn!!!

Maar ja, dit zal wel weer met een sisser aflopen: ik dek jou, jij dekt mij, …zoals het in de politiek eraan toe gaat, ook al ben je er niet meer in actief.

‘Gerrit Zalm verdedigde beleid DSB’

AMSTERDAM (AFN) -  Oud-minister Gerrit Zalm (VVD) verdedigde als financieel directeur van DSB het kredietbeleid van die bank tegenover de Autoriteit Financiële Markten (AFM). Dat schrijft de Volkskrant zaterdag nadat de krant inzage had in een brief met die strekking.

Foto: ANP

In de brief zou Zalm hebben ontkend dat DSB klanten met te hoge leningen opzadelt.

Zalm was tot december 2008 een jaar lang financieel directeur van DSB Bank. Zalm heeft tegenover de Volkskrant verklaard niet te willen reageren op de brief zolang er onderzoeken lopen naar zijn rol in de ondergang van DSB.

We just returned from the film market in Santa Monica flush with empowering information on self-distribution from panels moderated by Peter Broderick (Paradigm Consulting), Thomas Mai (Festival Darlings), and others.  While the AFM is geared for indie film theatrical distribution, the message that became clear to us was that traditional theatrical release platforms are dead or dying and that independents, given their lower budgets, can do better on their own in large part because of the internet.  The gatekeepers can stay behind their walls and we can walk, run, or tunnel around them.

Look for a KDOG website, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter pages coming soon!

On Monday, November 9, 2009, TRIAGE (2009) starring Colin Farrell had its first industry screening for potential US buyers as part of the annual American Film Market week. This year’s AFM will screen a total of 445 independent films.

From Erik:

What an interesting day! I attended a great panel discussion titled “The New Rules of Indie Marketing” that discussed a lot of new media approaches to marketing independent films using web tools, social networking, etc. It’s interesting to see that not only are these tools so new that no one quite knows what to do with them yet, but that there is actually even a little bit of panic about whether or not people will be able to effectively monetize these new distribution outlets.

However, the main focus on the discussion wasn’t really about these distribution methods, but using new tools to reach your audience (after all, this was a marketing panel). They talked about Facebook, Twitter, blogging, and stuff like that.

My favorite part of the discussion was all the talk about self-distribution and limited, market-specific, theatrical releases. I think I got a TON of information from people in the trenches that would otherwise be difficult to come by. Obviously, a solid distribution deal would be best for Narrow Road, but I feel confident that if we had to release the film on our own, we could do a great job and make some money!

In other seminar news: a scuffle broke out near the end of the marketing discussion…and in my row! It started with two people in front of me whispering to each other a little too loudly for a little too long. Easy enough for me to ignore, but apparently not the man next to me. There were a lot of explicatives and some name calling in the whisper fight that ensued, “let’s take this outside!”, and a torn vest. Pretty crazy.

Off to prepare for some big meetings tomorrow, which is my last day in L.A. Thanks for reading!

From Erik:

Well, today was another productive day in Santa Monica. This morning, Sunny attended the Genre Writing seminar with his buddy Ed Portillo. I got to meet Ed for the first time, but of course I recognized him from 305 in which he plays the character Shazaam. Ed is a great guy and is writing a script with Sunny that I would like to produce and shoot in Tucson (a low budget film).

The three of us met up with Mike Dohrmann for lunch. Mike is my friend from Tucson: a filmmaker from Tucson here at AFM to sell his first feature film, Mattie, starring Kaylee DeFer. Mike is the one who told me about this whole AFM thing in the first place, and I wish him the best of luck. From what I’ve seen of Mattie, I think that he’ll find a buyer soon. I can’t wait to see the finished film!

Mike also runs Chosen Film Works out of Tucson, and has been a HUGE resource for our production team. You can expect to hear more about Mike and Chosen Film Works as The Narrow Road progresses.

Lastly, I ended the day by having the great privilege of meeting with Jason Mellerstrig, Director of Business Affairs at Mpower Pictures! Mpower Pictures has produced films such as Bella and The Stoning of Soraya M. I’m a HUGE fan, in fact Bella is currently my favorite movie of all time! Jason was incredibly generous with his time and even invited me to come back with Sunny later this week. We’ll be meeting with Todd Burns, COO, as well. Todd has been a great resource for me over the last several months, allowing me to bounce ideas off of him and offering advice. I’m looking forward to meeting him in person. Mpower is the best!

Until tomorrow, goodnight!

From Erik:

No meetings today, although it was the official start of the conference for those of us with “half-market” badges. I attended a first-timers orientation in the morning (with my new friend and forum buddy, Allen) and picked up tons of material to help me zone in on which people we should set meetings with.

I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning updating our print material to include our new star, DOUG JONES, and headed over to the fine folks at FedEx Business to print lobby cards (basically large marketing post cards, as recommended by Bill Whitacre), updated Production Financial Offerings, and even a handful of scripts. I don’t know what I’ll need over the next few days, but now I’m prepared.

Tomorrow should be another busy day as I move through my list of target executives and attempt to schedule meetings for the rest of the week. I already know that Sunny and I have two BIG meetings awaiting confirmation, which could even lead to the attachment of ANOTHER STAR! We need more meetings though, so I better get to it.

Sunny has a Genre Writing seminar tomorrow put on by the Writers Guild of America, so I’ll try to get his thoughts and post them for you guys on tomorrow’s blog. Thanks for reading!

From Erik:

Well, Day Two was definitely slower than Day One but still very productive. Sunny and I attended the Pitch Me! seminar and got to hear about a dozen groups of filmmakers practice their project pitches on stage and get a FREE critique…in front of everyone. It was great fun and a great way to see what works and what doesn’t when speaking with potential investors, production partners, distributors, etc.

Basically, what I walked away with was that pitching is common sense (which is easy to overlook when you’re nervous…think job interview where you almost feel like you’re interviewing yourself). Here are my thoughts and observations about pitching:

-Know your material (after all, it’s your project) but be able to explain it quickly and concisely.
-DON’T sound too rehearsed!!! This is a double negative because: 1.) it sounds like a canned speech that you’ve given a hundred times…almost door-to-door salesman-like, and, 2.) you’re more likely to rush through the pitch, delivering your “lines” too quickly to be understood.
-Remember that movie executives are just people too. Explain your project like you would to anyone else who is not involved, like your mom, friends, or the neighbor kid that you want to impress. If you try to cover too many bases at once, you’ll confuse people and they’ll lose interest in the project.

And my personal advice…

People like to say that you’ll only ever get ONE chance to meet with an important executive. I think that this is crap if you treat people (all people) fairly and respectfully. Sure, you may be able to pitch them each project only once, but what about your next project? If they like you, they’ll be willing to meet with you again and again and again until, maybe one day, you pitch them a project that they’re looking for. Keep your foot in the door, take a genuine interest in the people on the other side of the table, and help when you can without expecting an immediate return.

More Meetings

A high point of the day was getting to meet some forum buddies from my favorite Christian Filmmakers forum. Sunny and I got to meet Allen and Calix, and had lunch with Calix. It’s great getting to meet people face to face that I know only through the Web. They are both working on selling exciting finished (or nearly finished) projects here at AFM, including my friend Ryan Dunlap’s neo-noir thriller film, Greyscale, now in the final stages of post production. (Ryan Dunlap is also the guy who helped our meeting with Doug Jones happen, and he is also being STRONGLY considered for a supporting role in The Narrow Road.)

Now I’m off to update all of our print material (that I spent days and days perfecting) to include our NEW STAR, Doug Jones. Worth it. Luckily I’ve procrastinated on getting the printing done so I don’t have a stack of unusable lobby cards and handouts…

Check back tomorrow for the next update. Thanks everyone!!!

From Erik:

Well, I’ve been in the City of Angels less than 24 hours but it’s been a productive day! The morning started with the AFM Finance Conference, which was actually a series of two panel discussions: Current State of the Independent Film Industry and Foreign Investment: A Growing Source of Film Financing.

Current State of the Independent Film Industry

Honestly, this first seminar was a bit of a letdown, though reaffirming. Don’t get me wrong, the information was great, just nothing new. Focusing on the film industry while getting my MBA introduced me to all of the material that was discussed today. I was just hoping to get deeper insight from some of the top minds in independent film finance. However, like I said, it was certainly reaffirming for me to see that my understanding of the industry is accurate rather than purely academic.

Here are some noteworthy points from this panel discussion:

-Digital distribution shouldn’t be seen as a threat to the industry but as an opportunity for expansion. Figure out how to monetize the next generation delivery platform.
-This economic climate is a much needed film industry house cleaning that has “[cleared] out the suckers” (Modi Wiczyk, Co – Chief Executive Officer, Media Rights Capital).
-The traditional studio habit of getting rich at the expense of investors is a tired and dying model. “Construct products at a price that makes sense” (Wiczyk) and focus on returning a profit to investors (duh). Profit margins within the studio system have been shrinking…this trend is reversing.
-Banks still have money to lend to viable projects; there are just fewer banks in the game now.

Foreign Investment: A Growing Source of Film Financing

Honestly, this panel discussion was essentially a repeat of the first discussion with a new panel of experts. The information was equally insightful, but nothing new. They didn’t discuss foreign investing in much depth except to say pretty generally: emerging markets (such as India and China) are bringing new money to the table, when seeking foreign investment money relationships are key, etc.

Admittedly, I did leave the panel discussion about 15 minutes early to make another appointment, so maybe it got more interesting in the last 1/4 hour…?

All-in-all, the Finance Conference was worth the money spent to attend…if only they were giving away money…

And now, for the MAIN event…our first MOVIE STAR!!!

A Meeting with Doug Jones

Hands down, the highlight of my day was getting to meet THE Doug Jones! Don’t get me wrong, it was great getting to meet with Sunny face-to-face for the first time since High School (let’s just say it’s been over a decade for those counting), but come on, it’s DOUG JONES. Doug’s credits include: Pan’s Labyrinth, the Hellboy movies, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Adaptation, Men in Black II…the list goes on and on and on.

Doug read the script and loved it (a HUGE complement!) and, schedule permitting, would LOVE to play the role of JOHN!!! We’re thrilled that he has decided to become a part of this ever-growing project and can’t wait so spend more time with Doug, who is probably the warmest, most cordial person I have ever met!

Since I was too dumb to take a photo of Doug today and I’m not sure which pictures I’m allowed to pull from the web, just click on this link to Doug’s official site and have a look around.

Not that any news could really top this new addition to our team, but we’re going to try before the week is out! We’re planning another meeting to hopefully rope in another star for our lead role. We’ll keep you posted.

Check back tomorrow when I’ll be blogging about the Pitch Me! and Produce and Sell Your Film seminars. Thanks!

(By the way, thanks Ryan Dunlap for helping with the introduction!)

We are now midway through AFM, and things are looking up from last year. Buyers are buying, but very specific in their wants.  I had a chance to catch up with John Foster, CEO, of Odyssey Pictures who recently acquired 31 hours of animated children’s content from DPM, a French-based specialty distributor of entertainment and how-to programming.  Having scored this superb catalogue of cartoon classics (Superman, Casper, Bugs Bunny) at Cannes, John is shopping AFM before heading on to other markets like NATPE in January.  ”We are looking to acquire content libraries for the children’s market as well as for specialty markets like health, finance and education.  We are in talks with ION for television distribution, Limelight to power distribution online, and working with Spelling Communications to secure US sponsors.  Odyssey already has several European sponsors signed up.  Backed by a $10mm acquisition fund, Odyssey is on a tear analyzing mobile marketing opportunities as well as those with connected devices.  ”Odyssey soon will be launching 1-3 hours sponsored programming via satellite and on the web.  We’re starting with established content but plan to showcase outstanding original programming in time.” Interested sellers can contact John at info@odysseypix.com.

For the weekend, AFI Fest has moved to the Laemmle at 1332 2nd close to the Loews.  Rush Lines are still getting into screening for free so stop by.  And the price of admission to AFM drops significantly as the market opens up to half-market badgers on Sunday.

There are also several excellent seminars still being offered:  Sa 11/7 at USC is Distribution U with Peter Broderick, Steve Kirsner, Jon Reiss, Adam Chapnick.. and Su 11/8 at Le Merigot is Changing Indie Distribution Strategies. At both events, Jon Reiss will be signing his timely new book:  Thinking Outside The Box Office: The Ultimate Guide to Film Distribution in the Digital Era.  He sent me a copy to review earlier this week and I am still deeply immersed.  Written in a light conversational tone and beautifully organized over 354 pages, Jon, a noted filmmaker (Bomb It, Better Living Through Circuitry) and CalArts teacher, passionate about connecting filmmakers to their audiences, arms filmmakers with the arsenal needed for a killer DIY direct to fan film marketing campaign.  This book drills down to specifics that allows the reader to form an actionable strategy, and is destined to become required reading for all filmmakers.   Some of his points are similar to what we’ve been covering:

- Budget as much for marketing and distribution as you do on production upfront, e.g. $100,000 production budget = $100,000 P&A budget (Jon provides detailed budgets with links to websites where assistants, publicists, bookers, sales reps/distribution consultants can be hired, and cost information to help filmmakers decide which path to take for theatrical release)

- Consider festival circuit as theatrical release, eventize screenings with cast and crew, reach out to traditional press as well as tastemaker/niche blogs for coverage, connect with fans, collect emails and zips, get venue/alcohol sponsors to throw after-parties, handout out stickers other pocketable schwag with website url, sell tees, merchandise, DVDs, CDs

The book also includes steps to create better engagement on WordPress, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube, and then in the next breath puts a call out to festival directors to see themselves as distributors, aggregators of quality indie content for traditional and new media.  It seems so complete I’m still reading on hoping he addresses ways not to trip up Oscar qualification with day and date online screenings.  An incredibly valuable resource.  $5 off if you order through this link.  Free if you’re a filmmaker who fills out the filmmaker survey (see page 17 of the book).  The companion website will be up soon at www.ultimatefilmguides.com. Enjoy!

A favorite feature of the American Film Market will be absent for a second straight year as public screenings are cut again from one of the world’s largest business conferences for the movie industry.

The advanced general audience showings were long considered a community perk for an annual week-long event that draws thousands of producers and distributors who attend hundreds of screenings in theaters across the city, taking over about two dozen screens. The conferences started on Wednesday and will go through Nov. 11. Read More @ AFM

Just nine days away, there is still time to attend this wonderful event!  Tableau is held by International Furnishings and Design Association at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort in Scottsdale, AZ.  All proceeds go to support Ryan House (see previous post for more info).   Here is what you get for your support:

Public Preview/Day Event 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 11/14/09:  A chance to view approximately 18 over-the-top, lavish tablescapes by some of the Valley’s best designers!  Do you need ideas for your holiday tables?  Do you want to support a local nonprofit?  Then come on down!  The tables are highly secret and will be a surprise to all.  Only $25 per person with a chance to enter a raffle to win fabulous prizes.  Here is an award-winning example from last year:

Kaleidoscope - Best Use of Color by Adrienne Hart & Maggie Anderson of H2Originals

If  you want even more fun, join the festivities in the evening!  For $150, you will get to view all the tables, dine at one of them, enjoy a fun Monte Carlo night of playing games casino style, and another chance to win great raffle prizes.   Additionally, there will be a Hollywood glam type of fashion show–not kitschy Hollywood,  but really truly glamorous vintage gowns and dresses will be modeled.   Fashion by Robert Black will be presenting this sophisticated fashion show.  Here is a dress from his extensive vintage collection:

Madame Gres White Silk Crepe Dress - circa 1950s

If you want day event tickets, you may contact me directly.  However, the easiest way is to go to IFDA’s dedicated website, www.ifdatableau.com.  Click on the “Attend Tableau” button and it will walk you through the steps to attend either the day event or evening event.

Sponsors of this wonderful event include:  Arizona Foothills Magazine, Sources & Design, Forty, Rustic Stuff,  Repps, Fashion by Robert Black, Ford/Robert Black Agency AZ, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Scott Sandler Photographic, Southern Wine & Spirits of Arizona,  Steinway of Phoenix, Inside/Out, Dunn-Edwards, EuroDream Kitchens, and The Cookson Company.

Be sure to support these wonderful companies!

The AFM in Santa Monica, CA is an inaugural fixture in film business calendar. This year, it will screen 445 films and 73 world premieres. In terms of the state of play, well… things aren’t getting worse. There is movement at the station and a few glimmers of hope. The US is officially out of recession so the time for the slow, painful upturn has begun. Although we writers function at the other end of the filmmaking spectrum, try and attend at least one film market to get an insider’s view of industry trends. After all, a successful writer is an informed one.

Variety Magazine has reported the following positive trends so far:

• More buyers - including substantially more producers and non theatrical buyers. This suggests further fragmentation of the exhibition market, but like all good businesses, we must evolve and innovate.

• Higher prices – after price depression over the last few years, it’s nice to see filmmakers not being offered as many low end “take it or leave it” deals.

• More foreign films - the number of English language films sold has dropped from around three quarters to two thirds. It’s refreshing to see diversity enter the marketplace. Since we are all storytellers from around the globe and beyond, we know that people have similar needs everywhere. Therefore we can confidently enter the market with the motto “local flavour, global favour”.

The number of buyers has stabilized, while the number of exhibitors has fallen. So don’t drink all the champagne yet. It’ll probably need to last until next year. At least we have cause to pop the cork.

Busy, busy week!!! Prep work for AFM is keeping me REALLY busy but I wanted to let you all know that I plan on blogging daily from AFM, so please check back regularly to see what’s going on in the independent film world! I’ll also keep you up to date on any exciting Narrow Road news.

I’ll leave you with some Narrow Road graphic novel concept art by the super-talented Jayaraj Paul! You rock, buddy!

-Erik

What did it take to not feel like I was totally crazy? Running into these two articles yesterday:

• “Anne-Flore Marxer: Pro-Spotlight,” TW Snow, Nov. 09
• “A Girl’s Take: Missing-Females on the Silver Screen,” Powder, Nov. 09

In September I was wondering where all of the ladies parts were in the latest snowboard videos. I’m not alone. Both articles talk about the challenge women have faced both getting in front of a camera and not getting left on the cutting room floor.

In the TW Snow article, Anne-Flore recounts that she was finally allowed to go on a magazine trip after a lot of persistence and paying for the trip out of her own pocket, while everyone else had the trip covered. And its not like AFM doesn’t know how to kill it. She can destroy the backcountry. According to the article, the editor didn’t want her along because it would “break-up the guys’ atmosphere.” How does she push through this kind of attitude? Anne-Flore noted,

The only thing I can do is shred the best I can and hope that my riding will outshine my gender. I also try to work with people who don’t blame me for being a woman.

Women skiers are also MIA. According to Powder, much of the women who can rock it have been left out of the biggest films of the season. Skier Sarah Burke stated,

It seems like they are dying to throw the big name guys on trips. But I really have to keep after them and make sure they aren’t forgetting me.

Film producers explain that the lack of women in big-scale productions is lack of content. If women don’t have enough good shots to include in the film they will get cut, just like their male counterpart would. The only problem, the author points out, is that when one guy gets cut there is another to take his place. When a woman gets cut, there aren’t many females standing in the wings.

Grete Eliassen, who won the 2007 Best Female Performance award at Powder Video Awards, is considered the “most versatile female skier” and her last appearance on the big screen was in a 30-second shot in the 2008 all-women film “Uniquely.”

How is Grete planning on getting more face time in 2010? Creating her own film. A film featuring both genders. She commented,

Most ski movies take the male formula and put it on women. . . We started by asking the best female athletes in the world what they want in terms of being part of a film and, ultimately, what they’d be interested in seeing on the big screen.

Grete didn’t ask me, but what I’d like to see next year is girls and guys in films together . . . None of that separate but equal BS. I love to see the guys shred, but I’d love to see more ladies in the mix too. Here’s a breakdown of a few films that came out in 2009:

• The B- 2 women out of 28 total riders
• Neverland- 2 women out of about 20 total riders
• Cool Story-0 women out of 17 total riders
• Black Winter-1 woman out of 12 total riders
• Forever-0 women out of 11 total riders (yeah, I know its a team film and they only have guys on their team)

Granted, there are some all-women films out there. Two in fact:

• Stance-features 7 women
• Peep Show-features 16 women

As good as some of these films are, I’d love to see everyone working together. Can’t we all just hang out and have fun?

What do you think? What would you like to see in shred flicks? Or is it OK the way it is?

Much of LA becomes consumed with the buying and selling of features this week as 8000 gather at the American Film Market which kicks off W 11/4 and runs through W 11/11 concurrently with AFI Fest. Ground zero is the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel where 400 distributors are getting ready to rumble.  As the distributors are there to sell, the first half of AFM belongs mostly to the buyers.  You need a full market badge ($895) for access to the upper floors during this time, but its free to linger to the lobby and lounge by the pool putting together target lists which many do in prep for half badge face time ($345) starting Su 11/8.  Day badges $275.  To see the market in action check out these videos from Film Specific’s Stacey Parks, UpsideDownTV’s Johnny Neurotic and Variety’s Michael Jones.

Here is the list of IFTA members where you can dig deep for contact information, slate and budgets. You can also pick up free in the Loews lobby the AFM directory in the bumper copies of Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Screen International and The Business of Film.

On the Variety & THR list of AFM targets are Akin Gump ($600mm for 60 films), Endgame (3-5@$10-40mm), Exclusive Media ($100mm for 2-3 films), Incentive Filmed Entertainment ($100mm for 10@$15mm each), Liddell (3-4 films@$5-20mm each), Magnet Media (Jeanette Buerling & Magie Monteith), Natural Selection ($100mm for 20 films@ $5mm+ each), Overnight Prods (3@$10-40mm), Sheppard Mullin ($65mm), Social Capital (2-3@$2-20mm each), Stroock Stroock ($5-100mm), Tic Tock (2-3 films@$10mm each), WestEnd Films (Maya Amsellem & Eve Schoukroun), Winchester Capital (3-4 films@$10-40mm each), plus those in bold above.

Some are speaking at the AFM seminars:

F 11/6 9-12:30
AFM Finance Conference
with Media Rights Capital, Hyde Park Entertainment, NatGeo..
Fairmont Miramar, 101 Wilshire
2008 Videos

F 11/6 4-5:30
FILMART/HK Co-Production Partners
with Screen International, Distribution Workshop, Imagi Studios
Le Merigot, 1740 Ocean
2008 Videos

Sa 11/7 9-12:30
Pitch Me!
Producers for Bee Season, Capote, Nurse Betty
Fairmont Miramar, 101 Wilshire

Sa 11/7 9:15-5:30
Distribution U
9:15 Breakfast/Introductions
10:15 Fans, Friends, Followers – Scott Kirsner
11:15, Break
11:30, New World of Distribution I – Peter Broderick
12:30, Lunch with Adam Chapnick, Distribber.com, Thomas Mai, Festival Darlings, Jon Reiss, Thinking Outside of the Box (Office), Adrian Belic, Beyond the Call, Genghis Blues, Justine Jacob, Ready Set Bag
2, New World of Distribution II – Peter Broderick
3, Case Studies/Anvil!, Good Dick
4, Booksigning/Thinking Outside the Box (Office)
4:15-5:30, Pitch Workshop
USC, Davidson Conference Center, 3415 South Figueroa

Sa 11/7 2-5:30
Produce and Sell Your Film with Dov S-S Simens
Topics include: Theatrical Deal Memo Points, 7 Major Revenue Sources, Profit Participation Scenarios, Cable/TV/DVD Licenses, Publicity & Festivals, On-Demand vs PPV, Global Revenues, Foreign Sales, Private Placements, Investor Offerings, Gross vs Net, Split Rights & 50-50 Deals, Production-Distribution Agreements, plus Producer’s Workbook/Directory
Fairmont Miramar, 101 Wilshire

Su 11/8 11-12:30
Changing Indie Distribution Strategies
Ted Mundorff, Landmark Theatres, Jon Reiss, Think Outside the Box (Office)…
Le Merigot, 1740 Ocean

Su 11/8 2-3:30
DIY Distribution Playbook
with Adam Chapnick, Distribber.com, Matt Tyrnauer, Valentino, Sacha Gervasi, Anvil!, Scott Hamilton Kennedy, The Garden, Lisa Smithline, Trouble The Waters
Le Merigot, 1740 Ocean
2008 Videos

Su 11/8 4-5:30
SAG/A Filmmaker’s Resource
Le Merigot, 1740 Ocean

M 11/9 11-12:30pm
WGA/Writing for the Genre World
Mick Garris, Larry Cohen, Juliet Snowden, Stiles White, Stephen Susco
Le Merigot, 1740 Ocean

M 11/9 2-3:30
DGA/Online Piracy
Brad Beutlich, DtecNet, Darcy Antonellis, Warner, Jonathan Dayton, Little Miss Sunshine, Andrew Horton, Mark Monitor, Alann McNeil, Deluxe’s Web Watch
Le Merigot, 1740 Ocean

M 11/9 4-5:30
PGA/Package and Finance Indies Oversees
Aurora Productions, Akin Gump, Endgame Entertainment, The Film Department, Paradigm
Le Merigot, 1740 Ocean

Tu 11/10 11-12:30
Indie Marketing with Ondi Timoner, We Live In Public…
Le Merigot, 1740 Ocean

Tu 11/10 2-3:30
WIF/New Hollywood Movie Studio & Social Networking
Le Merigot, 1740 Ocean

Tu 11/10 4-5:30
ASC/Film or Digital
Le Merigot, 1740 Ocean

Sa 11/7 – Tu 11/10 9:30-5
Favorite Film Pitch
Le Merigot, 1740 Ocean

For newbies, there are AFM first-timers guides on working the market at:
IFTA , FilmSpecific, and IndieGoGo.

As for AFM Hotels, many were booked by 10/2 but feel free to try:
- Georgian, 1415 Ocean 90401 ($242-384) 310-395-9945
- Ocean View Hotel, 1447 Ocean 90401 ($224-272) 310-458-4888
- Hotel California, 1670 Ocean 90401 ($260,299+) 310-393-2363
- Hotel Shangrila, 1301 Ocean 90401 ($319-489) 310-394-2791
- Le Merigot Marriott, 1740 Ocean 90401 ($365+) 310-395-9700
- Viceroy, 1819 Ocean 90401 ($348+) 310-260-7500
- Fairmont Miramar, 101 Wilshire 90401 ($324+) 310-576-7777
- Hotel Casa del Mar, 1910 Ocean 90405 ($459+) 310-581-5533
- Sheraton Delfina, 530 Pico 90405 ($267-320) 310-399-9344
- Doubletree, 1707 4th 90401 ($270-$282) 310-395-3332
- Holiday Inn, 120 Colorado 90401 ($248-258) 310-451-0676
- Hotel Carmel, 201 Broadway 90401 ($175-232) 310-451-2469
- Ambrose, 1255 20th Street 90404 ($192-227) 310-315-1555
- Best Western, 1920 Santa Monica Blvd 90404 ($170) 310-829-9100
- Shutters, One Pico 90405 ($575+) 310-458-0030
- Huntley, 1111 Second, 90403 ($350) 310-394-5454
*There is a shuttle for the AFM hotels, parking lots and screenings.

Film Catalogue/445 screenings, 73 premieres including:
- American Sunset (Global Universal) – Corey Haim, Frank Molina
- Blue Seduction (Global Universal Pictures) – Estella Warren*
- Bobby Fischer Live (Amadeus)
- Chloe (StudioCanal, budget $10-25mm) – Julianne Moore
- Dorian Gray (Ealing Studios, budget $10-25mm) – Colin Firth
- From Time to Time (Ealing Studios, budget $5-10m) – Maggie Smith
- Get Low (K5) – Bill Murray
- Glorious 39 (The Works International) – Julie Christie
- Harry Brown (HanWay) – Michael Caine
- Hawaii A Voice For Sovereignty (ITN)
- Junkyard Dog (Epic) – Vivica Fox**
- Kill Speed (Epic) – Nick Carter, Tom Arnold**
- Life During Wartime (Fortissimo) – Ally Sheedy & Paul Reubens
- Love & Other Impossible Pursuits (Essential Ent) – Natalie Portman
- Mama I Want to Sing! (Vision Films) – Ciara & Billy Zane
- Mao’s Last Dancer (Celluloid Dreams) – Kyle MacLachlan, Joan Cheng
- Rounds (Global Universal) – Billy Drago, Mark Attenza
- Saint John of Las Vegas (E1) – Sarah Silverman & Steve Buscemi
- Snowmen (MPower) – Ray Liotta, Christopher Lloyd
- Stay Cool (American Cinema) – Wynona Ryder, Hilary Duff
- The Making of Plus One (New Films) film market wheeling and dealing
- The Meaning of the 21st Century (WWFilmEnt, bud $3-5m) – Michael Douglas
- The Next Three Days (Mandate Intl) – Russell Crowe
*no screening, ** got picked up by Independent Feature Films

And more:
- AFI Fest - free tx to screenings, red carpet events, details here
- IBM/USC Imagine The World in 2050 invite-only event
- TromaDance Film Festival press conference
- 8th Samurai screening at the Consul General of Japan

Events that recap AFM:
- 12/1 Distribution U, San Francisco
- 12/8 DMW/Variety’s Future of Film, Sheraton Delfina

We worden met z’n allen belazerd door banken en financiële instellingen! Die conclusie mag je zo langzamerhand wel stellen als je het nieuws op dit onderwerp volgt.

Inmiddels zijn er al heel wat gerenommeerde banken en financiële bedrijven de revue gepasseerd die de klant van alles aansmeerden om er uiteindelijk zelf driedubbel dik aan te verdienen. Het begon met de Dexia-bank, die polissen verkocht waarmee je driedubbel zou terugkrijgen van je inleg. In de praktijk kwam het hierop neer dat je alles vrijwel kwijt was toen het opeens een stuk minder goed ging met beleggingen. Mensen kwamen vreselijk in knoei omdat ze opeens moesten bijbetalen omdat de waarde van hun woekerpolis fors negatief uitpakte.

Ondertussen kregen de topmedewerkers flinke bonussen!

Van de week ging AFAB overstag die torenhoge rentes in rekening bracht, niet te vergeten de DSB-bank. Aegon werd ook voor de rechter gesleept door benadeelde klanten. De ING werd door de toezichthouden onlangs op de vingers getikt om het bedrijf onvoldoende informatie verstrekt aan klanten. Kassa maakte duidelijk dat een hypotheek met variabele rente een melkkoe is! Klanten hebben nog een appeltje te schillen met de ING over de rentes die ze (niet) verstrekken bij een Toprekening!

Maar ook telecombedrijven weten waar ze het geld vandaan moeten halen: niet voor niets worden de kosten voor het bellen vanuit het buitenland onder de loep genomen door de Europese Commissie.

Volgens Peil.nl (Maurice de Hond) vindt een meerderheid van de respondenten dat de politiek verantwoordelijkheid draagt voor het feit dat er hele hoge provisies berekend werden voor koopsompolissen.

Hoe zou het met andere banken en financiële instellingen gaan?

Ondertussen kregen de topmedewerkers van banken e.d. flinke bonussen!

Schikken woekerpolissen nadelig

AMSTERDAM -  De woekerpolisschikking die Aegon in juli sloot, levert de honderdduizenden gedupeerde klanten een schijntje op vergeleken met wat een vonnis van de Utrechtse rechtbank de verzekeraar voorschrijft. Het gat is gemiddeld 2000 euro per klant. Dit blijkt uit een rekenkundig onderzoek van Stichting Koersplandewegkwijt.

De Woekerpolis-compensatie uitgelegd

Bij woekerpolissen betaalden klanten elke maand een bedrag om na 15 tot 40 jaar een leuk beleggingskapitaal te krijgen. De kosten bleken echter zo hoog dat vrijwel alle verzekeraars met schikkingen over de brug moesten komen. Aegon sloot in juli een akkoord met de gedupeerdenstichtingen Verliespolis en Woekerpolisclaim. Koersplandewegkwijt, een derde stichting die zich in eerste instantie richt op de 650.000 woekerpoliscontracten onder de naam Koersplan, procedeert door.

Een voor gedupeerden positieve uitspraak van de Utrechtse rechtbank in mei biedt de basis voor het verschil.

Koersplandewegkwijt heeft financieel adviseur Kapé Breukelaar het verschil tussen de megaschikking en het Utrechtse vonnis laten doorrekenen. „We wisten al dat dit vonnis een stuk verder ging, maar de uitkomsten zijn erg verrassend”, stelt Breukelaar. Van 28 onderzochte, inmiddels afgelopen Koersplan-contracten komt Breukelaar op een gemiddelde eindopbrengst van 15.847 euro.

Het vonnis zou echter gemiddeld 2206 euro extra hebben opgeleverd (13,9 procent extra). De Aegonschikking blijft steken op gemiddeld 315 euro, een tegemoetkoming van 2%. „Dit toont onomwonden aan dat Aegon gedupeerden met een schijntje wil afkopen. Ik betwijfel of de gedupeerden in Verliespolis en Woekerpolisclaim het akkoord zouden hebben goedgekeurd als ze dít hadden geweten.” De financieel adviseur stelt overigens dat de meeste gedupeerden nog steeds rechten kunnen ontlenen aan een eventueel succes in de procedures tussen Aegon en Koersplandewegkwijt.

Voordat bezitters van een Koersplan of andere Aegon-woekerpolis zich rijk rekenen: Aegon is tegen het Utrechtse vonnis in hoger beroep gegaan.

Woordvoerder Jan Driessen van Aegon plaatst bovendien vraagtekens bij de aannames in het onderzoek van Breukelaar. Hij wijst erop dat elke polis anders is; daaruit een gemiddelde compensatie afleiden zou niet kunnen.

„De ene klant krijgt 8000 euro compensatie, de andere niets. Aegon heeft zich met deze schikking keurig aan de Wabeke-norm gehouden, waarop ook andere verzekeraars hun schikking hebben gebaseerd. Hebben zij dan ook te laag uitgekeerd?”

Een andere gedupeerdenstichting, Stichting Verliespolis heeft er weinig vertrouwen in dat het vonnis in hoger beroep gehandhaafd wordt. „Een versimpelde uitspraak”, oordeelt woordvoerder Rob Okhuijsen. „Mensen wordt een worst voorgehouden die vooralsnog niet kan worden waargemaakt.”

Excellente présentation vendredi passé au Microclub [1] par Sandor Kasas, du Laboratoire de Physique de la Matière Vivante (LPMV) de l’EPFL. Il nous a expliqué comment les microscopes à force atomique permettent d’observer, de filmer voire de palper les “briques de la vie” (protéines, enzymes, ADN) en plein action.

Il a commencé par nous expliquer comment fonctionne un microscope à force atomique, AFM pour les intimes. C’est une évolution du microscope à effet tunnel (STM) inventé (en Suisse) en 1981 par Gerd Binnig et Heinrich Rohrer. Ils ont obtenu pour ça le prix Nobel 5 ans plus tard seulement (un record récemment battu par Obama).

Le principe du STM consiste à promener une pointe ultra fine au dessus d’une surface à observer, et à mesurer le “courant tunnel” produit par les électrons passant de l’échantillon à la pointe, ce qui permet de mesurer la distance entre les deux et de produire des images avec une résolution sub atomique. Plus fort encore : en appliquant une plus forte tension entre la pointe et l’échantillon, on parvient à coller un atome à la pointe, puis aller le déposer à un endroit précis, pour réaliser des choses incroyables comme celle-ci:

cercle de 48 atomes de fer déposés sur du cuivre chez IBM. Diamètre = 14 nanomètres. les vagues au centre sont produites par la superposition des fonctions d'onde des atomes, preuve que la mécanique quantique n'existe pas que dans les livres.

Le STM souffre toutefois de quelques limitations: il ne fonctionne que dans un vide très poussé, avec des échantillons conducteurs d’électricité refroidis bien en dessous de 0°C.

poutre flexible de microscope à force atomique, et sa pointe

Ces inconvénients n’existe pas avec l’AFM, qui “palpe” la surface en mesurant avec un laser la nanométrique flexion  d’une minuscule poutre portant la pointe, sous l’effet combiné des forces  de Van der Waals (attractive) et électrostatique (répulsive). Avec un AFM, on peut observer des échantillons dans l’eau, à température ambiante. On peut observer de la matière vivante !

Sandor Kasas nous a ainsi montré de spectaculaires images de brins d’ADN  comme celle-ci, qui sera expliquée en détail plus bas:

image LVPM-EPFL

Mieux encore : on arrive à  appliquer des forces très précises sur l’échantillon, en appuyant les quelques atomes de l’extrémité de la pointe dessus.  Après avoir déposé  des microtubules sur un substrat percé, l’équipe du LPMV est ainsi parvenue à mesurer les modules d’élasticité et de cisaillement de ces constituants de la paroi cellulaire [2]!

ADN Topoisomérase II (image : Wikipedia)

Plus fort encore : l’AFM permet de mesurer la force avec laquelle des protéines se lient entre elles, et de mieux comprendre des phénomènes biochimiques inaccessibles jusqu’ici. Sandor Kasas nous a ainsi présenté une étude sur le “complexe snare” , la membrane cellulaire du bout des axones où les neurotransmetteurs sont libérés pour transmettre l’influx nerveux entre les neurones. En mesurant les forces d’adhésion entre les protéines syntaxin 1 (sx1), SNAP-25 (S25) et VAMP 2 (V2), les chercheurs sont parvenus à  comprendre comment elles étaient agencées et comment  la toxine du tetanos (TeTx) perturbe le fonctionnement de ces protéines. [3] Wow !

Mais la recherche qui m’a le plus excité est celle qui a produit les images d’ADN plus haut. L’ADN est une très longue molécule : chacune de nos cellules en contient environ 1 mètre, super enroulée en une minuscule pelote, ce qui cause inévitablement des noeuds. Mais des “têtes de lecture” se promènent le long des brins d’ADN pour les décoder ou les répliquer, et les noeuds risquent de bloquer ce mécanisme vital.

Heureusement, il y a la topoisomérase II. C’est la présence de cette enzyme qui permet à la pelote de la première photo de se dénouer complètement en un petit quart d’heure. On n’est pas encore certains de comment elle fait, mais les chercheurs du LPMV aimeraient bien poursuivre leurs travaux [4] et prouver qu’elle triche en coupant un brin et en le raccommodant après avoir croisé l’autre! Un éviteur d’axe biologique ! incroyable, non ?

Cette présentation fait partie des 10 meilleures auxquelles j’aie assisté, toutes catégories confondues. Merveilleusement multidisciplinaire, on naviguait en toute confiance entre mécanique quantique et biologie, entre chimie, optique et dynamique. Un régal. Merci Dr. Kasas !

Références:

1. S Kasas, “Presentation Microclub 2009″, (pdf des slides avec encore plus d’images)
2. A Yersin et al “Interactions between synaptic vesicle fusion proteins explored by atomic force microscopy“, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), July 22, 2003 vol. 100 no. 15, p 8736-8741
3. A. Kis, S. Kasas et al “Nanomechanics of Microtubules”, Physical Review Letter, 2002, Vol. 89, Nr 24
4. Erika Ercolini “Scaling Properties of DNA Knots Studied by Atomic Force Microscopy”, EPFL Thèse No 4041, 2008

Téléthon 2009

Pour le Téléthon 2009, tous ensemble nous serons plus forts que tout !

Plus forts contre l’indifférence, plus forts pour partager, plus forts pour avancer, plus forts pour mobiliser, plus forts que la maladie, plus forts pour guérir.

Téléthon 2009

C’est le message que feront passer les 200 000 bénévoles qui se mobilisent déjà partout en France pour que ce 23ème rendez-vous du 4 et 5 décembre 2009 soit une fête sans précédent.

Téléthon 2009

Un grand message d’encouragement à Lulu qui est responsable du secteur Charente Maritime,
N’hésitez pas à lui laisser un commentaire sur son blog.

Be the first to know on Manin’s Blog

November is approaching, and so is the AFM!! This year Sunny Peabody and Erik Yeager will be present to spread the word about The Narrow Road, and if we’re lucky, round up some investors as well!

We’re still weeks away and already have several appointments set up with other people in the industry. Rest assured that we’ll be working hard to push this project forward, and hopefully have a lot of fun and meet a lot of great people in the process.

Going to be attending? Go to our movie site and find out how to contact us. We’d love to meet you! Of course, you can always leave us a message here, too.

See you in Santa Monica!