Screen Your Short, Free

Free Screening Space For Short Films Offered

The IPG has been asked to reach out to filmmakers who have completed short films they want to promote at a screening. One of my colleagues will arrange a small screening room at their cost, and possibly even take care of ticketing for you. They are not charging for this - they are simply helping to promote independent film. You can sell the tickets and keep the revenues. Here are some details:

When: over the next 4-6 weeks

Where: Los Angeles

Room - 60 or 80 seat screening room

Genre, etc: Any, but must be done now.

Running time: minimum 30 minutes, max 40 minutes.

If you have such a movie, or you know who does, contact me at [email protected] and we can get your connected.

AI Tool Marketing & What Tools Are Useful?

The last year has seen a dramatic rise in the marketing efforts of people who want to sell you AI tools. I use AI daily in once aspect or another, and have had to become very sophisticated about it’s applicability to the film production process, and in general. What tools are useful and what are not? One thing you should understand that the vast majority of AI tools designed and marketed to you are created by people with no knowledge of film production at all - none. They themselves don’t know what is important, or why we actually do something that AI “could do better or faster.” This is the basis of an exchange I had today on Stage 32. An is marketing a set of AI services and as a way to engage, listed 5 of the types of tools that filmmakers can use. Here I list those tools and my responses.

If you have a different experience or a different opinion, I would love to hear from you.

The tools: 1. Script analysis 2. Virtual location scouting 3. Automated editing 4. Enhanced CGI and 5. Personalized marketing with AI.

My commentary: At Diamond Shadow Productions, we use AI for what it is good for, throughout the production and post process.

There are invaluable AI tools developed over many years, of use to the professional industry. Some of the types of applications you list here are aimed at, and marketed to, a consumer level filmmaker. They are not really capable of adding value to the professional production process.

We use AI applications at Diamond Shadow Productions for:

(a) deep directed research on various things including specific market analysis, financial analysis of studio returns and strategies, and technical matters. Some AI systems - to the extent they have the capability to analyze statistics and access to actual data - are getting good at this, but only if you are good at it yourself. It can save weeks of research and can locate and summarize reliable studies, published data on audience reactions, assess the truth of claims on certain industry websites, and much more. (Ironically, I ran a deep analysis of a venture capital funding site that made specific claims about its AI tools - The AI was able to determine the specific kind of AI algorithm and methods needed to do the job claimed, and concluded that those tools could not be created without breaching a host of laws and having access to a ton of private organizations at a cost running into the hundreds of millions. Not an uncommon thing in the AI marketing bubble right now). But you have to understand the difference between Large Language Models, Small Language Models and other methods of machine learning that the AI might have been trained on - because this impacts the inherent accuracy or inaccuracy of results.

(b) enhanced editing tools - as I have mentioned before, chromakey is going the way of the dodo. AI can track and mask out objects, including humans, without green screen and on unbelievably difficult backgrounds. This has reduced certain post tasks from weeks to days or even hours. AI color matching, audio level matching, audio cleanup, etc. - these tools have been developing for a very long time and are already part of the standard editing platforms (Avid, DaVinci, Premiere/After Effects). Automated transcription and subtitling is a boon and we use it in production constantly.

Of the five types of tools you list, here's my take having worked with and around them and similar AI applications:

1. Script analysis - adds nothing to the value of the process except perhaps saving the time of an outside reader. Outside readers are a large volume studio thing, not necessary at the end of the day even for them, except as a filter. The concept that audience reactions to a completed feature can be predicted at all, especially based on a script which has to go through years of evolution and change to get to market, is dubious at best. Script analysis processes are trained on LLMs or SLMs with no real way to access or process hard data, especially speculative data.Therefore, the results might be interesting but you rely on it at more risk than a human assessment. Slated.com has been selling AI script analysis for near a decade now with, to my observation, no results useful to an independent producer.

2. Virtual location scouting - a natural extension of the process. Cannot replace the in-person scout by any means and for a lot or production reasons, but certainly helps rule out locations that are not worth visiting. So saves much time and expense.

3. Automated editing. These tools are either integrated in the standard editorial toolsets already, or are in process of being integrated. They cannot create an actual edit, never will be able to. However they do automated scene detection, and deletion of visual and audio dead spots, etc, so that the logging process is reduced or gone. They can also create an assembly of shots having removed all that dead space - this may or may not be useful depending on the footage. Basically, the role of a junior assistant editor and the transcription department can be reduced or wiped out.

4. Enhanced CGI - refer to (b) above. These are very valuable, but what is really happening with these tools is that the goalposts of what is commercially acceptable and marketable are being moved down the field. What was good a couple years ago, is now considered almost amateur. So while these tools absolutely save time, and properly used can create better looking cgi - expectations are now higher and you must exceed those expectations in the professional world. An example is a recent discussion here on the use of point cloud generation to quicken the process of creating CGI environments and integrating live action or other 3D models within that environment. This process has been developing with advances in AI for a decade at least. However, now that the process is reaching down to a broader range of productions, the expectations for final results are getting higher. This will continue, so that the results will never be achievable by the amateur filmmaker or consumer. Instead of helping those sectors compete, AI actually ensures they will never be able to.

5. Personalized Marketing. This I must confess I am not sure how useful it is or where it will land, legally on the one hand, and for effect, on the other. There are so many variables in marketing that have nothing to do with the filmmaker, and everything to do with the integrity of datasets, adapting to a evolving AI-based search engines, and access to traffic (currently de facto controlled by Google). But tat it is a thing currently is without doubt.

What are your thoughts?

SSI Status

We have had lower response than hoped for, and far lower than needed, in support of SSI’s current and ongoing programs. In fact nothing at all in the last week. Obviously, as a registered charity, it has to be supported by individuals and other sponsors. We have a lot of participatory support, and growing, by people contributing to the actual results the programs are working towards - developing talented and empowered producers. Six very dedicated aspiring producers are creating real productions that will affect people, and which will get them somewhere in their careers. But once again, with the exception of a small number of financial supporters (you know who you are, and I thank you again here), there are only two of us who fund the entire SSI process out of our own pockets - as well as IPG expenses when membership dues cannot cover them. Websites, course materials, courses, production funds, marketing, and much more. SSI does not meed much at this time- but we don’t have it and as you know, grants are both difficult at this time and slow at all times. We are training people who in turn will change the landscape with thoughtful new expressions and ideas. It is a vital task. So please consider what you can do today. Contact Shadow directly or go direct to https://stagescreen.org/support-arts