Filmed in Exile

I am worried the title comes off pretentious, so let me be clear about this, I am not the revolutionary – you are.  I kept the pretentious title because I think it is important.  We need to change the way movies are made and who they are made by.  In this blog, we will discuss what the digital revolution is, why it needs to happen, how we can make it happen and why there are those who conspire to stop it from happening (and this is not some bullshit Da Vinci code conspiracy theory, this is simple matter-of-fact reality.  We need to band together as independent filmmakers and force Hollywood to open their doors.  This blog belongs to anyone who believes in this cause.  If you have something to add, e-mail me at m@exilemovies.com and I will add your post with links to your own personal website.  This will also be a place where we will share the tools of the trade, give technology updates and tricks and tips, links to relevant sites, etc.  

Why “In Exile”? One reason is my shameless attempt at self-promotion (www.exilemovies.com), but other than that, I think it fits.  We are all, as Independent filmmakers, Exiled from playing the game by bullshit rules and an unreasonable bias toward movies shot on film.  Anyone involved with distribution will tell you that most distributors will not look at a movie shot on DV or HD.  Hell, I was recently told a distributor would not look at my film even if it was shot on RED instead of film (if it is good enough for Soderbergh, it is good enough for me).  Is this bias based on the needs of the audience?  Of course not.  We all know an audience member does not care what you shoot your film on as long as it looks good.  And when one of the Hollywood elite uses digital, like Robert Ropdriguez (and this is not a shot at Rodriguez, he is the REAL cinema revolutionary and I am certain he would agree with everything I am saying) it is cool, but if it is somebody with no cash and no connections, it is unacceptable.  Does this make sense to anyone other than a distributor?

We are also Exiled by a bias held by film festivals.  Most film festivals require a blow-up to 35 mm for entry.  That is a fifty thousand dollar entrance fee.  Does this sound like they want us to play in their reindeer games?  I will answer my own rhetorical question.  NO.  (I will post more about the conspiracy later).

All of this leads me to believe we are all Exiled from an industry desperately trying to maintain its stranglehold of creative power.  Take for instance, the early nineties, when a string of self-financed n0-budget features were made and sold to Hollywood.  Movies like, The Brothers McMullen, Pi, In The Soup, Go Fish, El Mariachi & Clerks had low production values and low budgets and still went on to get major distribution deals.  Even though these movies were shot on 16mm film, they do not look as good as HD video shot with a Letus.  So why have we not heard similar stories in recent years?  (of course there are a few, Puffy Chair, Primer, etc.)  Can they honestly expect us to believe that there has not been a low-budget, HD/DV movie as good as The Brother’s McMullen in the past ten years?

Let’s make it the mission of this blog to find them.  If you have made a no budget (Under 150,000) feature we want to see it.  We will review it on this blog.  Just e-mail me and I will send you instructions on where to send a copy.  It is our goal to discuss movies made in the low/no budget genre and tell the stories of how they were made.

This also the place for you to advertise your exiled movie. We will review and post about no budget features here.  If you want your low budget feature hyped or reviewed, e-mail us.  If we hate it, we will not trash you, because that is not the point.  If we love it, it will be proof that no-budget filmmakers are still making movies as good or better than they were in the early nineties, and Hollywood is ignoring them on purpose.

This is certainly not meant to trash Hollywood, I love many Hollywood movies and I will never try to pretend I do not want to make them, I do.  Having said that, many Hollywood movies are stale. They are stale because they are the same stories told by the same people from the same part of the world.  The digital revolution has promised to bring democracy to movie making.  Why has it not worked yet?  This is the question we will search to find the answer for here.  I hope I can count on your help.

Written from Exile,

Mark Fogarty

www.exilemovies.com