When you’re wearing the many hats of an independent filmmaker, the last thing you probably feel like doing is adding social media to your plate, but these days, you just have to.
Below is a sampler of articles, blog posts and resources for you to peruse while creating a social media plan for your film.
1. David Tames has some great tips in his post, Things self-distributing documentary filmmakers can do to integrate social media into their distribution efforts on Kino-Eye.com, including:
Ava Peets, a lifelong artist, became a professional artist in Grants, New Mexico. Ava reflected on her joy of living in New Mexico: “It is such good fortune to live in this wonderful state–with all the beauty, cultures, and history, which serve as constant inspiration for innumerable subjects to paint.”
Ava was encouraged to become an artist at an early age by her parents. She began drawing and cutting silhouettes at six years old. Later, upon entering Southwest Missouri State University, she studied fine art and commercial art. Her plans to become a commercial artist were changed when she married and had children, but she still continued to take various art lessons. She stated, “The desire to pursue my artist interests has never left me.”
Photo Courtesy of Denise Avila
Last week Thomas Friedman came out with another great opinion piece, “The New Untouchables” in which he argues that the “huge ethical breakdown on Wall Street, coincided with an education breakdown on Main Street” and that our middle-class workers are rapidly losing their ability to out-compete middle wage workers in foreign nations. He suggests that The New Untouchables are those who, “have the ability to imagine new services, new opportunities and new ways to recruit work”, those with a creative and entrepreneurial mindset, in other words. Furthermore, he makes the point that,
“Those who are waiting for this recession to end so someone can again hand them work could have a long wait.”
The days of work being handed out to those who happen to be standing nearby are over. Instead we are tasked with using our ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit to seek out new market opportunities and leverage our creative talents into new ventures. And this call to join the Creative Force is being answered loud and clear by cultural entrepreneurs.
Kickstarter helps artists, inventors, and other creative folks crowdsource the funding of their projects—how cool is that?
Project creators ask people to make a “pledge” to fund their project, if they reach their funding goal. They can also offer incentives for people to support their project. For example, The New York Times article, A Few Dollars at a Time, Patrons Support Artists on the Web, tells the story of a music producer who offered an advanced copy of his album to people who pledged $15. Continue reading
Painting “First Light” by Ron Ukrainetz
At GCCE our core tenets are:
We believe talented entrepreneurs drive wealth creation;
Therefore, we are entrepreneur focused.
We believe cultural entrepreneurs have unique opportunities and needs;
Therefore we are experts in building cultural enterprises.
We believe markets drive profit opportunities;
Therefore we build toward growing cultural markets.
We believe enterprise networks increase innovation and speed to market;
Therefore, we build clusters of cultural enterprises.
But, today in Bozeman, Montana, while giving a short presentation to a group at TechRanch, I realized one tenet was missing. Therefore, I am going to add this:
We believe all communities are culturally rich;
Therefore, all communities can thrive in the Creative Age…even communities whose economies have historically not been based on human capital, like the communities of Montana I am visiting this week.
Bozeman, Montana- the land of glacially carved valleys, towering granite peaks, and wild trout-filled rivers.
You can’t beat the yummy smell and bubbly goodness of handmade soap. I love it, don’t you?
According to the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild, Inc.:
“The industry of handcrafted soap is growing and expanding; the number of handcrafted soapmakers has increased exponentially over the last 10 years and the support services for them, including vendors of all types, has become an industry unto its own.”
If you are an aspiring handcrafted soapmaker, or just a lover of handmade soap(!), below is a sampler of soapmakers’ blogs to inspire you to start your own: Continue reading
I find myself unwinding from the week’s activities at The Cowgirl BBQ – a local BBQ joint in Santa Fe started by two entrepreneurs who “came up with the idea of promoting the culture of the American Cowgirl through the foods of the American West and Southwest.” There’s nothing like getting a little American culture with some good ole’ folk music and BBQ. I can’t help to think how cultural entrepreneurs surround us every day and we don’t even realize it.
The patio air is crisp and I know fall is here as I put my jacket on for the first time since spring. I sit with a few friends planning the weekend’s activities: do we head north to Tres Piedras to climb or south to hike the 11,301 ft extinct volcano known as Mt. Taylor? As we weigh the options, I sit and listen to a young but talented fiddler. We opt for Mt. Taylor.
After reading New Hope for Malnourished Mothers and Children in the September 2009 issue of the the Bread newsletter a couple of times I became concerned that we were falling back into our old “silo” approach to development.
The background paper focused on good nutritional ideas for very young folks and then exclusively on agricultural development. What is of concern is that much of the past agricultural development initiatives have focused on heavy use of fertilizers as inputs which have both environmental and economic implications.
In Guatemala, for example, fertilizers were kept in single room houses on the floor and often pesticides were also kept there. Spray cans were washed out in the local water stream. Fertilizers and pesticides often have to be imported into countries which has a very negative impact on the use of local currency and excludes many people from the ag economy because of cost.
Continue reading
Jemez Springs, deep in the heart of the spectacular Jemez Mountains, is a cultural hub that has the potential to become a cultural destination attracting people from all around the world. A rich intersection of culture, history, and natural beauty, Jemez Springs is a place where Native, Spanish, and Anglo cultures mingle and co-exist, creating a unique destination of galleries, restaurants, outdoor activities, and religious retreats. As you explore Jemez Springs you may even find yourself thinking you’re in a high mountain village in the Himalayas with the prayer flags that hang off some of the establishments. And, given the various spiritual centers in Jemez Springs – including the Bodhi Manda Zen Center and the Handmaids of the Precious Blood – you wouldn’t be far off.
And there’s more: the village is located on the Jemez Mountain Trail – a National Scenic Byway, is home to ancient ruins that are now designated as the Jemez State Monument and is just south of the world-renowned Valles Caldera National Preserve. And with the historic Native Pueblo of Jemez bordering the village nearby, Jemez Springs is a cultural tourism mecca.
1. Live Blogging & Live Tweeting
The smArts & Culture blog reported in February about the Portland Center Stage’s Live-Tweeting Theater experiment. “They invited ’30 or so of [their] closest twitter friends’ plus anyone else who cared to join them, to live-tweet the world premiere performance of the play Apollo.”
The Art of Business Blog also used the Portland Center Stage Twitter experiment as an example in their post, How Businesses are Using New Media for Publicity, and noted that, “The Vancouver Opera invited three bloggers to come and live blog and Twitter a performance of their latest Opera, Carmen. The show was a sell-out.” Continue reading