We’re pleased to announce the From Here to Awesome 2008 Showcase. Special thanks to all who submitted to the fest and big thanks to all the volunteers who have helped to make the fest possible. We’re going to be making some exciting announcements in the coming weeks. In the meantime we’ve just re-launched www.fromheretoawesome.com with all the showcase films. The films will hit outlets on July 26th which is also the kick off to the fest and the date for DIY DAYS LA.

Variety covered the fest today - From Here to Awesome: Alternative Film Fest

Amid a tough economic climate for indie films, Lance Weiler, a guru of the open-source DIY indie film movement, is launching on July 26 a new-model open-source film fest, From Here to Awesome.

Melding social networking and viral Web marketing, the “discovery and distribution festival” showcases twelve micro-budgeted features selected from 115 submissions via a complex online process…

…From Here to Awesome and sponsor Current TV are also staging a series of live events called DIY Days in Los Angeles, Boston, New York, San Francisco and London where Weiler and other DIY filmmakers including Arin Crumley (Four Eyed Monsters) and M dot Strange (We Are the Strange) will discuss new models of funding, production, distribution and sustainability.

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DIY DAYS
The site for the DIY DAYS events is now live. www.diydays.com stop by and check it out. If you live in LA or SF all the details are set. We’ll be at Under Spring on July 26th in LA and at the 111 Minna Gallery on August 17th in SF.

LINE UP
Next week the showcase will be announced and we’re very excited to share the full lineup. The audience taking control of the programming has resulted in the selection of a diverse group of films from various parts of the world.

IN THE PRESS
FHTA gets some coverage: Digital Content Producer Magazine has a feature article about FHTA in its June issue on newsstands now. Click here to read the online version.

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS
Since FHTA is an open source project we are in search of folks who would be willing to help with the festival and the live events. So far the project has people pitching in from various parts of the world.

Here’s what we could use:
If you live in LA or SF we are in search of people to lend a hand with setup, shooting, and recording of the DIY DAYS

Do you have some time to help us spread the word about the festival and live events? We’re in need of some online support to help get the word out.

Always looking for the help in the following areas:
Legal (are you a lawyer or firm willing to provide some time to the festival and filmmakers)
Tech (can you code and do you love film? We are looking for those willing to share their skills)

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In addition to discovery and distribution, FHTA has a special FREE educational section entitled DIY DAYS. The DIY DAYS events are a joint effort between FHTA and Current TV and will consist of workshops, case studies, panel discussions, and screenings. LA and SF are locked and we’re working on events for Boston and NYC. All the activities will be recorded and “embedding and spreading” of the materials will be encouraged. There will also be some live streaming as well.

DIY DAYS are shaping up here’s a partial list of speakers:

Tommy Pallotta - producer of A Scanner Darkly and Waking Life
Mark Pellington - director of Henry Poole is Here, Arlington Road and Mothman Prophecies
Lance Weiler - The Last Broadcast and Head Trauma
Arin Crumley - Four Eyed Monsters
M dot Strange - We Are the Strange
Saskia Wilson-Brown - Current TV
Jon Reiss - Bomb It
Alex Johnson - digital media strategist / filmmaker
Christy Dena - cross-media strategist and designer
Matt Hanson - filmmaker and founder of A Swarm of Angels
Timo Vuorensola - director of Space Wreck and co-founder of wreckamovie.com

More details coming soon.

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On June 6th we are going to begin the process of locking down the top 10 feature films and top 10 short films to showcase starting at the end of July all over the world.

Please spread this video wide and far so we can get this film revolution underway.

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FINAL DEADLINE - JUNE 6th
JUNE 6th is the deadline for voting. So this is a good time to start making your final pushes across various outlets. Remember that a number of factors our weighted to determine the showcased films - did the film create a submission video, how many people awesomed the film on FHTA, how many people favorited, viewed, commented and linked to the videos on youTube and myspace. And finally how has the film done in terms of spreading the word about their film online and off.

STEPS TO THE SHOWCASE:
The top 10 feature and short films will be contacted and 2 DVDs of the film will be requested. These will be used for the legal vetting process to ensure that films can be distributed through all outlets. Filmmakers will be asked to sign a wavier that states that they own the rights to the film and have all the necessary clearances and release forms in order.

Attached is a spreadsheet that lays out the materials that will be needed by the various outlets. NOT all the FHTA distribution outlets are listed but we wanted to provide some materials to help you start thinking of what will be needed. This is known as delivery and it is the steps that a filmmaker needs to take to prepare his or her work for various forms of distribution. Not all things will be needed but they could. Before incurring any costs please consult with FHTA staff to ensure that you need to. The last thing we want is for a filmmaker to spend money that they don’t have to. BUT we wanted to share this to give you an idea of things that could be required for the showcased films.

TIMING ISSUES:
VERY IMPORTANT - from the time the films are notified of inclusion in the showcase IMMEDIATE delivery of all materials will be key to a film staying in the showcase. So if a film doesn’t provide the materials that are requested they will be replaced by the film that is next in line. We realize that this is a very quick turnaround but in order to take advantage of all the distribution outlets and promotional opportunities (over $500,000 in promotional placements for festival films across Amazon, myspace, youTube and other partner sites) all materials will need to be delivered within in 14 days of acceptance.

QUESTIONS
If you have any questions please let us know. It could take a couple days for a response but we will make sure to answer all your questions.

WORKBOOK PROJECT
The workbook project is an excellent free filmmaker resource http://workbookproject.com that covers many issues regarding the business side of DIY filmmaking. A lot of the questions that you might have can be found there.

Good luck and we look forward to showcasing your film,

Lance Weiler, Arin Crumley, M dot Strange
Filmmakers and FHTA founders

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JUNE 6th
Festival films will have until June 6th to build audiences around their work. So if you’re a festival filmmaker the clock is ticking. Checkout what your fellow FHTA filmmakers doing to promote their work. The more you spread the work the more it is likely that people will find it. Consider possible groups, sites, bloggers or other filmmakers who could help you reach a wider audience. One of the driving goals of the festival is discovery, so we encourage you to think creatively about how you can use the web to build your audience.

DIY DAYS
We’ve teamed with Current TV to produce two live events around FHTA. DIY DAYS will be held in LA on July 26th and in SF on August 2nd. The events will consist of screenings, panel discussions, case studies, and workshops. For those not in LA and SF fear not we will be documenting the whole affair so that it can easily be embed and spread.

Distribution outlets - this is what everyone wants to know - where will the showcased films be shown?

Theatrical - special screenings in LA, SF, London, Melbourne, Montreal, and Paris to name a few. We’re also working on 25 other screening locations.

Living room - VUDU, Amazon Unbox via TiVO, other outlets include AT&T, TVN, and NetFlix.

Online - FHTA miro player, Amazon Unbox, Myspace, YouTube, IndieFlix, BlipTV, OurStage, Joost, and Hulu

Mobile - we’re working on a couple deals here that would have films playing on mobile devices in the US and Europe

For certain films there could be additional retail and online outlet possibilities.

*Outlets subject to change and some outlets require that films can meet clearance and have E&O.

ON THE WEB
Independent Films Direct an excellent new filmmaking resource and news site has decided to feature a number of FHTA films weekly for the next six months! So if you’re a festival filmmaker make sure to spruce up your film page and include those links to myspace, youTube, myspace, OurStage, twitter and delicious.

Spout.com is one of our festival partners and they’ve established a new section to their site just for FHTA. On the section their featuring projects that they feel that they’re community will find interesting. If you’re not a member of spout make sure to join. Drop by the discussion to introduce yourself . It is a place to discuss filmmaking, the festival and films. Special thanks to spout for setting up the dedicated space. Festival filmmakers make sure to drive your audiences there. Not only is it a great way to promote your work it is also a way to introduce your projects to Spout’s community of film lovers. To visit the special FHTA spout group click here.

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Later this week we will make some announcements about new events, outlets and partners so stay tuned. In the meantime make sure you checkout the FHTA submission vids.

Thanks for your continued support.

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FINAL DEADLINE APRIL 14th - four days and counting!
Four days and counting until the final submission deadline. And for all those who have been emailing with various deadline questions this is it and there will be no additional extensions. So pick up those cameras and shoot an intro for your submission video. Those that take the time to create submission videos will not only have a great promotional piece for their work (see how the Auteur’s submission vid was included in a story about the film playing Tribeca next month) but videos with introductions from the filmmakers and that follow these guidelines will receive more value per “this film seems awesome” selection by an audience member. Special note films that create placeholder film pages will not be included if the submission videos are not uploaded by the 14th.

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The website is still scheduled for an April 7th launch and all the submissions are now being turned into new film pages so if you’ve gotten your submission in we’ll be creating your page in the order that it was received.  If you didn’t respond to the email about sending in your film details that we sent out or if you didn’t receive one drop us a line and we’ll resend it.

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The submission videos we’ve received from all over the world have had us completely entertained. We all crowd around and check them out every time a new one comes in.

The deadline for submission videos is March 31st so get some friends together to help you this weekend and finalize yours. Remember to talk about why you made your film and what you think makes it unique and awesome.

After your submission video is done you should then upload to YouTube, Blip, MySpace and Ourstage. Make sure to copy your direct video URL cause you’ll need them during the submission process.

When joining OurStage, do so through this link

Then you should log in http://fromheretoawesome.com/login.html and fill in all the info about your film including links to your submission video. Make sure to click the “create a submission link”

Couple quick announcements:

We are going to be launching a new site that will provide all the submissions that have completed entries a film page. Completed entries must have all the proper info filled out within their submissions. If you have questions or need assistance please send an email to info@fromheretoawesome.com with “submission help” in the subject line. Make sure to include the name of your project, your username and password.

SPECIAL THANKS:

Thanks to everyone who is helping to make this discovery and distribution experiment possible. FHTA is a volunteer based operation and attempt to create an open source type of film festival. We are working hard to create opportunities for all the films that submit.

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