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Category: Management

Dec102010

How Do You Take Your Film Industry News?

You can pick up a copy of a trade mag in the store. You can have it mailed to you. You can access them on your mobile. You can subscribe to their newsletters. You can like them on Facebook. You can follow them on Twitter. The choices seem to go on and on. How do you access the film industry news? Do you even know the options available? Here’s a rundown on the majors for you.

Legend of current rates:
$ = less than $100
$$ = $101 to $200
$$$ = $201 & up
free = uh… you should know what this one means!
– = I couldn’t find the option for this trade mag

DELIVERY OPTION Variety Hollywood Reporter Screen Daily (UK)

Playback Online (Can.)
Email newsletter Free Newsltr Free Newsltr Free Newsltr Free Newsltr
RSS Free RSS Free RSS Free RSS Free RSS
Online full access – $$ – $$
Print (by mail) – $ – –
Print & online $$$ $$ – $$$ $$$ –
Facebook page Free FB page Free FB page FB friend Free FB page
Twitter Free Twitter Free Twitter Free Twitter Free Twitter
You Tube Free You Tube Free You Tube – –
Other(s) iPhone, Widget, WAP iPad – –

And to confuse things even more, the options change and evolve all the time. Companies are setting up “company pages” on LinkedIn now, for example (company pages are still in beta). And what was once free becomes a paid subscription… and then a few months or a year later it becomes free again, or free in a new format. Ahhh… the speedy evolution of modern delivery channels!

Festive cheers & happy reading – in whatever format(s) you prefer,
Deb

Nov52010

Hour Changes & Midnight Call Times

The Dilemma: Call time for the first day of the shooting week is at midnight on Sunday and daylight savings ends this weekend… how do you ensure the crew shows up for set on the right day and at the right time?

The Answer: Well, it’s a 2-part answer.

(1) How to Set a Midnight Call Time –
First of all… do not use 12:00 a.m. as your call time. Though the crew will understand the time to show up, they’ll find the date confusing: “Do they mean 12 midnight between Saturday & Sunday…. or… 12 midnight between Sunday and Monday??” Use a call time of 11:59 p.m. or 12:01 a.m. and then both time and date will be clear. Considering you’ll probably also have a number of pre-calls, I recommend using 11:59 p.m.

(2) How to Set a Call Time Around the Daylight Savings Time Change –
DST time changes happen at 2:00 a.m. so give clear notice on the call sheet (that the crew receives the night or day before) that there is a time change, exactly when it happens (2am), and what happens to the hour (clocks back or clocks forward):

**REMEMBER – CLOCKS FALL BACK 1 HOUR AT 2AM SUNDAY MORNING**

If your shoot day takes place during the time change (like when you  have a midnight call), then things get a little tricky. In the spring you lose an hour springing forward – that’s not as confusing as in the fall where you “repeat” an hour. If you call someone to set at 1:30 a.m… which 1:30 a.m. is it?

The easiest solution in the fall is to declare the time change to happen at least 1 hour before your shoot starts that night and so you can have consecutive hours for the entire night’s shoot.

**REMEMBER – CLOCKS FALL BACK 1 HOUR AT 10PM SATURDAY NIGHT**

Alternatively, you could declare the time change on your set will happen 1 hour after wrap. In either case, you’ll have to be very clear on the call sheet and message this unique “set time zone” to all involved. Considering, however, you’re shooting at night, you should know every single person who will be showing up to set anyway!

Cheers & a good shoot to you!
Deb

P.S. Oh yes… don’t forget to change your clocks this weekend. 🙂

Oct152010

ALT Currency Symbols for International Film Shoots

Sometimes you don’t want to use the 3-digit currency code when typing references to money. If you only need to refer to your own country’s currency – that’s easy – because your currency’s symbol is bound to be easily found on your keyboard.

Here are some keyboard short cuts for other currencies too:

While holding down “Alt” (on a PC), type the number next to it (using the number keypad), and then release.

$ ALT 36 USD, CAD, AUD… Dollar (various countries)
£ ALT 156 GBP Pound Sterling 
€ ALT 0128  EUR Euro
¥ ALT 157 JPY Yen

For symbols not included in the reference lists above, look for the “insert a symbol” or “insert a special character” menu to find a complete list of international symbols available to you on the software of your computer.

Cheers & a great international shoot to you,
Deb

– – – – – – – – – –

“Film Production Management 101:
Management & Coordination in a Digital Age”
** SECOND EDITION IN BOOKSTORES NOW **

UPCOMING EVENTS: (more details at www.debpatz.com ):
* Booksigning/USA launch at the Writers Store in Burbank – 11am Sat.Oct.23

Oct82010

7 Things Writers Need to Know About Production Budgets

1. Writing A Budget = Making Production Decisions
2. Where Is The Story?
3. Budgeting Starts With The Bottom Line (Financing)
4. Drafts of Budgets are like Drafts of Scripts – as Input is Incorporated
5. Where Are the Expensive Elements?
6. You Need E&O Insurance… and the Changes it Demands
7. There Will Always be Costs that are Out of Your Direct Control or Influence

These points come from an article I wrote for the Writers Store Expert Series. A bit cryptic, maybe? Visit the Writers Store site to read the whole article and all will be clear:

http://www.writersstore.com/7-things-writers-need-to-know-about-production-budgets

Also… I’ll be at the Writers Store in Burbank on Saturday, October 23 for a special appearance with my new book; if you’re nearby, I hope to see you there!

Cheers & good writing to you,
Deb

– – – – – – – – – –

“Film Production Management 101:
Management & Coordination in a Digital Age”
** SECOND EDITION IN BOOKSTORES AUGUST 2010 **

UPCOMING EVENTS: (more details at www.debpatz.com ):
* Booksigning/USA launch at the Writers Store in Burbank – 11am Sat.Oct.23

Sep242010

ALT Accents for International Film Shoots

Ah, the international flavour of film festivals – from the movies themselves to the filmmakers and fans! When producing an international copro, communication and courtesy are essential to working successfully with business partners. A small (but appreciated) detail is to use the correct accents in those communications – especially when those accents are on someone’s name.

Typing accents on an English keyboard with Windows is a challenge. Pin a reference chart near your computer screen of keyboard short cuts for many of the accents you may use. For event faster reference, highlight the ones you’ll use the most.

Laura K. Lawless at About.com has a great list of ALT keyboard short cuts for accents that I refer to all the time. Here’s a modified chart of some of the ones I use the most.

While holding down “Alt,” type the number next to it (using the number keypad), and then release.

á ALT 0225 Á ALT 0193
à ALT 133 À ALT 0192
â ALT 131 À ALT 0194
ä ALT 0228 Ä ALT 0196
       
é ALT 130 É ALT 144
è ALT 138 È ALT 0200 
ê ALT 136 Ê ALT 0202 
       
í ALT 0237 Í ALT 0205
î ALT 140 Î ALT 0206
       
ó ALT 0243 Ó ALT 0211 
ô ALT 147 Ô ALT 0212
ö ALT 0246 Ö ALT 0214
       
ú ALT 0250 Ú ALT 0218
û ALT 150 Û ALT 0219
ü ALT 0252 Ü ALT 0220
       
ç ALT 135 Ç ALT 128
ñ ALT 0241 Ñ ALT 0209 
     ß ALT 0223
       
« ALT 174  » ALT 175 
 ¿ ALT 0191 ¡ ALT 0161

 For even faster typing, some programs allow you to add accents using CTRL with the logically similar punctuation mark (like an apostrophe for an accent grave), but not all programs acknowledge these CTRL commands. ALT commands take a little longer to type, but tend to work in all programs (on a PC).

For accents not included in the reference lists above, look for the “insert a symbol” or “insert a special character” menu to find a complete list of international symbols available to you on the software of your computer.

Cheers & a great international shoot to you,
Deb

– – – – – – – – – –

“Film Production Management 101:
Management & Coordination in a Digital Age”
** SECOND EDITION IN BOOKSTORES NOW **

UPCOMING EVENTS: (more details at www.debpatz.com ):
* Booksigning/USA launch at the Writers Store in Burbank – 11am Sat.Oct.23