One year on... Anne Flournoy

Anne Flournoy is the writer/director/producer/editor of The Louise Log, a 34 episode (so far) series of internet shorts detailing the life of a New York City wife and mother. The webseries has been running for over five years now.

We interviewed Anne last year. She had agreed to conduct a twelve month follow-up interview, when Hurricane Sandy blew into Manhattan. The power went off and stayed off for days. During that time Anne remained in touch by texting on the smart phone she was able to keep charged by walking eighteen blocks to a coffee shop where she could access electricity. 

What follows is a mix of some notes typed during the blackout and texts she sent. As you'll see, and to my everlasting amazement, Anne was determined to keep her part of our agreement.
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Today...
I want to preface this light-hearted post, written in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, by saying that I'm only talking about my extremely limited experience in parts of Manhattan. I haven't seen a television since the storm hit, but know from Twitter that there are people in parts of Brooklyn, Queens, especially Staten Island, and possibly even Manhattan, whose situations are actually dire and make what I call our 'have-not' situation look like the lap of luxury.

12:47pm 1 November 2013

Thanks Henry! Am on it. It s dark and cold w/o power but mercifully there's power 18 blocks away and wifi cafes where u can find an outlet not much further. We're lucky to b dry. Counting my blessings on that front. Thank u for this opportunity and should have something within 48 hours. Best, Anne

This just in from a cold, dark apartment in a blacked-out neighborhood which feels more like the John Carpenter movie Escape From New York than Louise's Greenwich Village.

Since Hurricane Sandy, Manhattan (known to people in the other boroughs as 'the city') has become two cities: the 'haves', who are above 30th Street where there is power, business as usual, and the worst traffic jams I've ever seen, and the 'have-nots' who are 'downtown' (roughly) below 30th Street.

Downtown, there are no street lights or traffic lights, there are few cars and only occasional bands of people with, or without, flashlights. The only businesses open are the occasional 'candy stores' selling newspapers from a darkened storefront and a few mirthless bars lit by tea candles.

Because the subways are down, the city put free buses on the streets to try and help people get around. The buses were taken off the downtown routes at night because the 'roving bands' in the streets were too hard to see in the dark. 

The place feels scary. Once safe inside, it also feels great. Time seems to move more slowly. I haven't slept for eight hours, or more, in years.

10:44am 2 November 2012

Henry I 'm not going to have it ready in 12 hours as l'd hoped. Sorry. Everything is taking longer and this hiking around with the refugee bag: the laptop, power strip, flashlight (extra batteries) , sandwich - you get the picture -- it's kinda fun but my back is in revolt. Furthermore l've succumbed more often than l'd like to admit to the temptation of *social media* once l hit wifi. This has cut into my productivity rather seriously.

But now l m humbled and will really
Knuckle down.
Ever,

Anne

We're lucky to have a dry apartment (in a dry building), running water, a working gas stove for cooking and even a fireplace. So in spite of the vacated 5-story, single-family house across the garden that's been running a very loud generator day and night, (a house, I might add, which has a functional wifi, but with a secret password) I have nothing to complain about. I'm able-bodied and can lug my laptop, power strip, flashlight with spare batteries, and a sandwich out of the dead zone and up a mile to a store with free wifi. That's where the fun begins: jockeying for twelve square inches of standing room and an outlet in someone else's power strip, I balance my laptop and phone on the corner of a display and get back to work. I'm one of the fortunate.

The last year...
But to get to the progress report about The Louise Log, my number one priority since we shot Season 2 (in the late summer of 2010) has been to crank out the best episodes possible, generally one a month. In the past year we released ten, eight new and two remastered ones. Giving the audience something new every month seemed like the best thing to do. And actually the most I could do. By the time I needed a break, I really needed one.

And, it seemed like time to bask in the glories of the past year: Eve Ensler, playwright of The Vagina Monologues, saw and raved about the series ("brave, funny, real, deep and original"). The Independent named me "One of Ten Filmmakers To Watch in 2012", some blogs, including a National Public Radio blog, wrote wonderful things about The Louise Log: "brilliantly funny", "hilarious comedy" and "it could be a web sensation".

It was time for a break.

Or so I thought. Unfortunately, I thought wrong. Stepping off the treadmill allowed me to wake up to reality: as of this past May, 72 hours of video are reportedly uploaded to YouTube every minute. And oh, as you already know, every star in Hollywood is making or planning on making a web series. Well it does sound like a lot of competition but A) I'm very competitive and B) I have an old pet theory: "the cream will rise".

I went to some conferences of bloggers and 'vloggers'. I listened to smart and not-so-smart people and I had the wind taken out of my sails. Generally, the people on the panels, the 'comers' everyone wants to talk to, are the ones who have a high Alexa ranking, lots of followers, and lots of other websites linking to their blogs. Some of these people are brilliant. Some of them are hacks.

When one successful blogger heard me say that, to reach our audience, "I post on Facebook and Twitter—sporadically," her face started twitching involuntarily. Another put it to me bluntly: "Success on the internet is like winning the lottery. Otherwise it's all about promotion." I guess I'd been banking on the lottery option because, under my marketing guidance, The Louise Log has been living under a rock. It was becoming clear that, in this digital world, cream does not necessarily rise. All of this put me in a really bad mood, as I got back to the work of editing episode #34, a fun episode which hardly felt fun.

After uploading it, I couldn't bear to dive back in to edit #35. My heart was broken. My ego was enraged. How could I have spent FIVE YEARS virtually abandoning the promotion of my life's work? How could I continue to sit on the sidelines watching others get recognized and have their work become self-sustaining? On the other hand, how could we have made this very personal and quirky series on very little money without doing it in this completely single-minded way?

The year to come...
In spite of misgivings that we owe it to the actors and to our loyal fans to continue releasing episodes, I'm following my heart. For the immediate future, with our skeletal crew, we can either produce episodes or we can promote episodes. We can't do it all at once. The solution is that we're not posting any more episodes until we've done everything we can to get word about The Louise Log out to the world.

I've taken detailed notes from Jon Reiss' excellent book Think Outside the Box Office. I'm working with Jacki Schklar of Funny Not Slutty on facebook ads. My niece @NatalieGrillon (MBA) is giving me marching orders on how to put tactics and objectives under the overarching goal of making The Louise Log the GIRLS of the online world. And we're posting on Facebook and Twitter a lot more often than 'sporadically'.

I expected to feel frustrated and blocked doing this kind of work. Instead, I'm like a lion on the hunt. The biggest problem is finding balance in doing the social media and not having entire days swallowed up by the distractions of social media. (I would be grateful for suggestions on how others handle this...) 

I'm scared out of my wits about starting a weekly vlog in which I'll talk to the camera about the process of making the series. But as with the production and post-production phases, I'm going to give this marketing and promotion my all.

If you're interested in helping, there's a list of suggestions at the very end of this: (http://thelouiselog.com/october-2012/). If you know of anyone who might want to be an intern/"Producer of Marketing and Distribution", whether they're in New York or far away, please get in touch. Thank you in advance!
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"Dog Cartoons"

Now for something completely different. 

Here's the New Yorker's first collection of animated dog cartoons. Henri Le Chat Noir almost insisted we run it. He's into ironic humor.

Henri 4, L'Haunting

Here's another installment from Henri, Le Chat Noir.

This is a difficult time of the year for a black cat who doesn't suffer fools gladly. Halloween, and all its foolishness, falls under the stern gaze of Henri, as he evaluates the nonsense decorations and superficial costumes.

No one ever dresses as crippling self-doubt.

Thanks to Will Braden of Seattle.

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Tricks of the Trade, by Scott Rosenberg

Scott Rosenberg is a screenwriter who wrote ten spec scripts before he sold one. It was his fourteenth spec script, Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead, that put him on the map. Since then he's written Beautiful Girls, Con Air, Disturbing Behavior, High Fidelity, Gone in Sixty Seconds, among others.

In this interview he talks about how he got started and how he goes about writing a screenplay.

"True Skin"

True Skin is a short film about a cyborg on the run in Bangkok. In this neon metropolis, normal human beings are at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder. Most people, from street vendors to prostitutes, have received some form of mechanical upgrade.

Written and directed by Stephan Zlotescu, and produced by N1ON.

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The Truth about filmmaking

The film industry is pretty simple to break into if, first, you understand some basic concepts. The basic concepts can be learned pretty quickly, despite what industry moguls tell you.

However, there is some basic bullshit that surrounds the industry that keeps first-timers away from writing, directing, producing or starring in a movie.

1st Lie: Filmmaking Is An Art

If filmmaking was an art, you would go get some film stock, rent a camera, make your 'art', and then line up on Piccadilly on a Sunday morning with the other buskers and try to sell your art to a passers-by, or give it away for free for others to enjoy. But we both know that it doesn’t work like that.

To make a movie you need to write cheques—and lots of them. When your movie is finished, you will want to negotiate the best possible deal for the greatest amount of revenue. Therefore, filmmaking could be discussed as writing cheques, negotiating and revenue potential. To me, that sounds like a business. And everything in the British film industry is about business. The sooner you realise this, the sooner you are likely to succeed.

2nd Lie: Filmmaking Is A Filmmaking Industry

The film industry spends more money marketing a film than making it. You have probably heard about the way a distributor 'opens', 'releases' or 'markets' a film. So if it costs so much to open, release, or market a film, then surely the film industry is more concerned with this, than with the actual making of a movie. Technically, in the film industry, the marketing budget is called 'the P&A budget' (prints and advertising). And the two elements of a movie that the industry markets are: Who is in the film, and What is the budget.

When you make your first independent feature film, you should know what it costs to strike a print and what ads (print, radio, TV, etc.) cost. At the very least you must know this to market your film to distributors at a film festival. But please, always remember that the film industry is a marketing machine that creates perceived values every weekend.

Hint: You’ve made a film. A film has no value. No one pays for a film.

Everyone pays for a movie. When does a film become a movie? The answer is, “when it’s in a cinema”. When it’s in a cinema, you see newspaper ads and movie reviews in newspapers. When you see a newspaper ad you think "It’s a movie." It’s in a movie theatre. Are movie theatres free? Answer, “No!” Thus, movies cost money to see. Films you can see for free.

When your film is picked up by a distributor and they put in their “P&A” money, it now has a value of $10. This is the normal cost of buying a ticket at a movie theatre. In America there are 280 million people. If only 1 out 100 people see the movie it translates into 2.8 million ticket sales, times $10, for a GROSS of $28,000,000.

Distributors and filmmakers don’t see that $28,000,000. That’s what cinema owners collect. Box Office Gross! Do filmmakers see Box Office? Of course not. But the moviegoer has now been taught that your free film is now worth $10. What do the other 99 out of 100 potential ticket buyers now do? At least half of them, when they see the newspaper ads, say “I’ll rent it”. Is it free to rent at Blockbuster. No, that costs money too. When you walk into a video store and see a piece of plastic you know you could buy blank from a stationer for 40 cents, yet now with the wrapper on it it is worth $10-20.

That’s how Hollywood works. Hollywood takes a film that has no value, puts in newspaper ads, and gives it a $10 value, knowing that, at the most, 1 out of 100 will see it at the theatre. However, the other 99 people—thinking it’s worth $10—will now rent it at the video store where it only costs $4. The Film Industry is a film marketing industry, not a film making industry.

3rd Lie: What The Budget Is

Is there any industry that tells you the cost of manufacturing the product you want to buy? Why is it that in the film industry we always seem to know what the budget is? Do you think the film industry really tells you the truth? And if anyone asks you what the budget of YOUR film is, tell them to mind their own business!

There are only 4 budgets in the movie industry. (1) the Blockbuster Budget, (2) the Hyphen Budget, (3) the Million Dollar Budget and (4) the Micro Budget.

The Blockbuster budget is a budget so big that it is marketed as the most expensive film in the history of cinema. The first was Gone With The Wind, the next one, the first million-dollar film ever, was Cleopatra. Films like the Titanic, Waterworld, etc., are marketed as hugely expensive so we, the punters, will go to see what 100+ million looks like on the screen.

The Hyphen budget is marketed as between 40 and 45 million, as if the anal accounting department can't remember what happened to five million dollars! Can you believe that? It is the budget of a standard Hollywood film, and the actual production costs on a thirty-to-seventy million dollar film are at most a few million, with the balance spent on stars and promoting the film.

The Million Dollar budget is your typical entry-level independent film and the budgets are expressed as: 1.4 mil (sex, lies and videotape) or 800 thou (Lock Stock) 1.1 mil (Shallow Grave) 1.1 mil (Blood Simple) These films don’t usually have stars, and are story driven.

The Micro budget is broken down into three sub categories:
Under a million = Low budget
Under 500 thousand = Micro Budget
Under a hundred thousand dollars/euros/pounds = No budget. Films like Pi, Blair Witch, Clerks, and the brilliant Following by Raindance alumni Christopher Nolan, fall into this category.

The budget of your feature film is going to be one of those four categories. For more information and details on how to make a $1,000,000 Feature Film by spending $200,000 then check out the Lo-To-No Budget Filmmaking book offered by Raindance. But stop thinking that you know what the true budget of a film is. The film industry lies!

4th Lie: The Film Industry Makes Deals With Filmmakers

The problem with all filmmakers that want to make a film is that they are perennially attempting to Make-a-deal to get the money to Make-a-film. This will never happen. You are putting the horse before the cart. You must first Make-a-film to Make-a-deal. I know this is confusing, so allow me to use some numbers to explain the concept.

If you desire $20million to make a feature film, you must go to one of the seven major distributors (Warner, Paramount, Sony, Disney, etc.). And all they ask you to do, to get their $20million, is to first Make-a-film with a $2million budget... that makes money. Because Hollywood (Lie #2) is a film marketing industry and the distributors want to be able to market "From the Producer Of," "From the Writer of," "From the Star of," on the poster and ads.

Thus, if you want $20million, make a $2million Feature Film... one that makes money. Now, how do you get $2million to get started? It’s simple. First Make-a-film! Make a $200,000 feature film... that makes money. Are you getting the point? And how do you get $200,000? You first make a $20,000 Feature Film!

First, Make-a-film! And, if that film makes money, then you’ll get to make a deal!

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The Truth about filmmaking first appeared as "Hollywood's 4 Biggest Lies" by Elliot Grove, on the Raindance website.

Screenwriter Online "Communities"

Screenwriting is a lonely business, and it helps to have friends who want to write screenplays, friends with whom you can discuss things.

It’s important to find a group of like-minded people who are on the same wavelength, who wanna write screenplays as badly as you do, who aren’t selfish, who support you. If you’re sinking or you’re drowning, it’s nice to have someone else in the boat. — Shane Black

The internet is a wonderful device for linking up those like-minded people wherever they are around the planet. Back in 1998, Francis Ford Coppola established a website for writers, which quickly became the focus of an enthusiastic community. In 2000 he converted the website into something he calls the Zoetrope Virtual Studio.

"The Virtual Studio is a submission destination and collaboration tool for filmmakers—a community where artists can meet, polish their craft, and perhaps get their stories published, their screenplays produced, their music heard by a wide audience."

In 2002, Kevin Spacey started another online writer community, Trigger Street. It's a place where you can have other writers critique your screenplay, once you pass the Review and Credit Process.

"Trigger Street Labs provides a platform for exposure and discovery. No matter if you're an aspiring filmmaker or writer, established professional already in the business, or just an enthusiast with an interest in film and story, there is most likely something here for you."

Then, in 2010, Ben Cahan started yet another writer community. This one is called Talentville. Once again, it is a place where you can have other writers critique your screenplay, once you pass their test.

"The method of getting your work noticed is by receiving reviews from the other Residents as well as Industry folks we will get involved as time goes along. That is done via our Review and Rating system. However, just uploading your script does not necessarily mean anyone is going to read it. ... Before you can get your own script reviewed, rated and ultimately ranked, you are going to have to do a bit of work to earn the bucks that you will then spend to have others review your work."

Now, in 2012, Franklin Leonard of The Black List has announced that it will host screenplays by amateurs, right alongside those by respected professionals... for a fee. This is a straight deal. Money for potential exposure to genuine industry professionals who are actively looking for a gem among the mountains of dross. No more loitering while you read other poorly written scripts, and an assurance that the person reading your script actually knows something about the business.

"... anyone who has written a screenplay to pay $25 a month to have their script hosted and indexed as part of our database. For a writer’s $25 a month, we make their script available to our industry professional membership so that they may download it, rate it, and contact writers directly if they so choose. All of these reads are 100% free. ... Writers can also pay an additional $50 per read to have their script read by readers we have hired who have expressed a specific interest in the genre that they are evaluating. "

So, which one is 'best'? I think that depends on your personality, your emotional needs, and what stage you're up to in your screenwriting career. This much I do know: the higher the caliber of the person reading your screenplay, the faster you're going to improve.