After Dark Originals... What You Need to Know and What You Think.

If you click on this link, you'll be taken to the future home page of After Dark Originals. Now, you may be asking yourself, "What, exactly, is After Dark Originals?". Well, let's take a look...

After Dark Films is an independent motion picture studio, formed in 2006, by Courtney Solomon and Hong Kong based real estate magnate, Allan Zeman. Solomon is a filmmaker, most notably having directed both "Dungeons & Dragons" and "An American Haunting". Allan Zeman lives in Hong Kong, is of Jewish decent, and is involved in everything from Wynn Resorts to fashion to film and TV. Their paths must have somehow crossed in Canada, as Solomon is from Toronto and Zeman lived in Canada for most of his life, just recently renouncing his citizenship in 2008. The first film under the After Dark banner was Solomon's "An American Haunting". Shortly after that, After Dark formed a multi-year marketing and distribution deal with Lionsgate for Horrorfest's "8 Films To Die For". After Dark would handle the theatrical marketing and releases, Lionsgate would handle the distribution of all ancillary forms, such as home video, pay TV, pay per view, VOD, etc. Building on the success of Horrorfest, After Dark and Lionsgate are going to team up with NBC Universal's SyFy channel with the new series, After Dark Originals. Basically, instead of acquiring films, they're now going to produce their own - full control from script concept through final editing. Seven of the eight films slated have been shot and they've already green lit the second set of Originals for season two.

Now, let's get to my thoughts. Well, there's a lot of good stuff going on here. I love the fact that they've tapped directors like Brett Simmons, the guy behind "Husk" - a film that took Sundance by storm and Steven C. Miller, who did the low-budget zombie masterpiece, "Automaton Transfusion". It's also great to see NBC and Lionsgate getting involved in bringing some lower-budget horror to fruition. I can only hope that the guys over at Paramount, who are heading up the new micro-budget label, Insurge, are watching closely and taking notes. All of this is great for us and it can do nothing but grow the awareness and prominence of micro-budget and low-budget horror films, but... I'm still weary about how these guys are handling it. So, here's my concerns... My main issue comes from the fact that they're continuing to tap the existing success stories, as opposed to reaching down into the indie trenches and nurturing the potential of up-and-coming talent. I understand that Lionsgate, After Dark, NBC, Paramount and Viacom are all looking for profitability over good will, but there are ways to hedge for success. They have a chance to not only expand and develop an audience for these films, but they also have the chance to introduce new distribution channels and formats that will pave the way for up-and-comers to become those success stories. I can only hope that they keep that in mind... In reality, film talent can be a renewable and growable (is that a word?) resource and if they tap the potential, they can build this small sub-sect of the industry along with building some careers. If they just try to tap the success stories and existing talent, they're treating film talent like a finite resource and, I'm sorry, it's going to dry up. How do you manage all of this successfully? Well, I've got some ideas swirling around in my head... and if anyone from Lionsgate, After Dark, NBC, Paramount or Viacom wants to hear them, just reach down into the trenches and contact me.

Those are my thoughts, what do you think?

STOP THE PRESSES! This just in...

Well, I was going to comment on the how AOL was spun off from AOL Time Warner and then segue into Comcast buying out NBC Universal from GE. I was going to discuss how NBC Universal came to be, how they're a media and entertainment conglomerate powerhouse that was formed in May of 2004 when GE and Vivendi merged them. Then, I was going to get into my thoughts on what this could mean and how it's a bit of a game changer...

Very quickly, I do want to say that the idea that a huge cable and internet provider now has a huge entertainment studio is pretty crazy. I don't think it'll effect Universal and film that much, but it will really effect TV. It'll effect how TV is delivered, how it's consumed and what TV can do. Think about it, this merger could very will be the catalyst that pushes online entertainment past the tipping point. Comcast's "TV anywhere" and NBC Universal's "Hulu" are now, in effect, one. I think this is going to open a lot of doors for indie content makers... and I'm going to have to discuss my thoughts on that later, as I just read something that stopped me dead in my tracks. So, hold the presses...

I just read on Variety that Paramount, the studio that picked up and distributed the micro-cinema smash, "Paranormal Activity", is launching an initiative that will spend around $1Million annually to develop between 10 and 20 micro-cinema films a year... and no individual project will have a budget over $100,000. Here's a link to the article on Variety. Is this it? Is this the point in time when micro-cinema makes the jump to prime time? I only have one question - how do I get in on this?

I'm definitely going to be looking deeper into this and I hope to have more news for you soon!

Linkapalooza - August 25, 2008: The Future is coming... fast.

Usually I try to mix up what the stories are about when I do this Linkapalooza thing, but there was too much going on in the world of online video projects this week. So, this week is dedicated to what's going on out there and what you, as an indie horror filmmaker, should take away from it.

Gemini Division Blasts Off Aug. 18 on Broadcastingcable.com: This is a very short article on NBC Universal Digital Studio's first original web series, "Gemini Division". The project was actually announced a few months back, in April, and it's hit a point where it needs to be talked about. The most important thing about this isn't that it's a studio with money backing a project that's going to be soley distributed online, the most important thing is, it actually has a name actress in it, Rosario Dawson. It's going to be seen on NBC.com, SCIFI.com and on its own site, GeminiDivision.com, as well as on a number of VOD and mobile platforms, Amazon Unbox, Xbox Live Marketplace and Zune. It's a 50 episode series, with each episode only being a few minutes long... check it out, if this catches on, you're going to see a wave of projects like this and if you've got an idea that can fit this format, time to sharpen the pencil and get to work.

Can Comcast Make TV 2.0 A Reality? on multichannel.com: If the fact that the studios are starting to financially back projects like the afore mentioned "Gemini Division" doesn't convince you that the internet is changing the way we watch video, maybe you should take a look at what the cable companies are thinking. This article is about Comcast, their online property Fancast.com and what they think about the future of TV. I actually get lots of emails from Fancast because I signed up for it a while ago, but I never really read them... However, I'm going to start. I didn't realize that it's more than just an online video aggregation site. It's more like Tivo on steroids... it's supposed to "navigate a universe of TV and movie content to find that special show no matter where it lives: online, on a cable network or broadcast TV station, on video-on-demand, on a mobile phone, or even in movie theaters." Now, that's cool. I t's also cool technology for indie horror filmmakers. Why? Because if this kind of system catches on, it's going to make it easier for people interested in low-budget indie horror to find your film. This is why indie-horror is about to explode as an industry. The biggest hurdle has always been finding an audience.... in a few years, that's going to change because the audience is going to find you.

Sony Goes Into 'Coma' Web Series on adage.com: Well, just when I thought that "Gemini Division" was SO groundbreaking, I read about "Coma", Sony Picture's web series that's going to be distributed on YouTube, Hulu and AOL and on AT&T and Verizon mobile platforms. Not only does this project ALSO have name actors in it, George Hamilton and Michael Madsen, but it's got something that "Gemini Division" doesn't. Big time sponsors. Sony Electronics and Microsoft have both given a pile of money to the project, as their products will be heavily showcased in the series. Either way, once again... if these guys are doing, you ought to think about doing it. To reiterate myself, get that pencil sharpened and get to work!

Consumers to Spend $6 Billion on Internet Video Services by 2013 on CEPro.com: Just to wrap this all up, why don't we check out what the industry thinks about where internet based video is heading? Well, if you couldn't tell by the title, they think that consumers in the U.S. are going to spend more than $6Billion on Internet video services by 2013. They admit that "consumption of premium internet video content to date has been low", however "the study is attributing the growth to more people owning connected gaming consoles, networked TVs and alternate video-on-demand settop boxes."

Let's sum this all up. Big companies like Sony and NBC are out making content exclusively for distribution through online properties, consumers are going to start spending piles of money on internet video services and more people are going to own connected gaming consoles, networked TVs and alternate VOD settop boxes. There's only ONE thing missing from the equation... how is the money going to be made? Well, here's my advice: don't worry about it. What YOU need to do is make content and projects that work in this new system, then find a way to use them. Build an audience. Once you have that, the rest will follow.