Aloha,

Lots of cool stuff with members this time.

I mentioned last time that I'd do a followup article breaking down the
dozen or so youtube type sites. Well, I found out that there are over
200 of those video sites – probably more now that Google bought
youtube for $1.6B. So, don't hold your breath for that.

If you're in Wichita Falls, TX (or have friends there) this weekend
come by the http://www.iffyntx.com Film Fest and check out a few of my
films. I'll be at the fest from 10/27 – 10/31.

Then I'm off to NYC for the www.iaac.us Film Fest to go support
"Necessary Illusions" screening with Sundance Selection "Punching at
the Sun" at 6pm at the Anthology Archives on 2nd Ave at 2nd St.

I forgot to mention the serious kudos last time to ROB GIRONDA (.com -
composer & audio engineer) and CHAD ZUBER (cinematographer) who helped
me out with "Terrorist TV":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJbRQGtHndI

Til next time, keep the real world out.

Happy Filmmaking!
Anup


_________________________________________________________________________



NO INSURANCE? NO PROBLEMO!


Just found this interesting piece of advice from
http://www.myspace.com/filmmakersalliance

However, always watch out when you're giving away production credits,
because it means that they kinda own part of the film and it can get
very messy. Check all the fine print.
-Anup



Tip of the month: SHORT TERM PRODUCTION INSURANCE

When making an independent low budget film, whether it's a short or a
feature one of the most difficult and costly things a production needs
is short-term production insurance. Often times the rates for the
insurance are more expensive than the budget of the film itself.

So how does one go about finding production insurance that is
necessary in order to rent equipment, secure locations and get permits
without breaking the bank?

Believe it or not there are actually places out there that understand
what low budget filmmaking is and are willing to help by giving you
the lowest possible rates. These are typically NOT insurance companies
or insurance brokers. They are production companies that will
"co-produce" your film and allow you to use their insurance package.
For this (and other services) they take a production fee. Although not
technically prohibited from doing this, but insurance companies hate
that they do it. Too bad. Filmmakers (especially small and short
films) can't always afford insurance carriers and brokers ridiculous
premiums.

We can't predict which company will give you the best deal, as that
will depend on the budget, scope and shooting schedule of your film.
Be sure to call all of them to ensure that you find something that
works for your particular project.

Wildcard Productions: 818-237-5630
Film Emporium: 323-464-5144
Filmmakers Resources: 323-822-2060

Good luck and worry not, low cost insurance is out there!

Best,
FA

_________________________________________________________________________

iTunes + Myspace = BURN LOUNGE

Are you a musician or band looking to sell your music online?

Are you looking to make more royalties than the 10% that most
retailers pay?

Are you looking to reach hundreds of thousands of people?

Well, Burnlounge is your answer!

Selling your music through BurnLounge is really simple.
Just follow the links below to download the .pdf that tells you all
the information you need in order to license your music through
Burnlounge (view links at site below):

An Instant Audience: Licensing and
Marketing Music Through BurnLounge

License Request Form

BurnLounge Licensing FAQ


This information is all you need to get your music on Burnlounge. Let
us know when you have submitted the licensing materials (request form,
CD, & artwork).

Once submitted, you will receive a licensing agreement with royalty
details, etc. Sign and return the agreement and within 2-3 weeks, your
music will be available through more than 40,000 BurnLounge Digital
Stores.

If you have any additional questions, or want more information on
promoting music through YOUR OWN Burnlounge, please let us know.

We look forward to working with you and promoting your music!

Burnlounge Entertainment Team

http://www.burnlounge.com/shopentertainment
http://www.myspace.com/burnlounge_entertainment
_________________________________________________________________________

CASTING CALL

Project Name:
The Indian Wants the Bronx

Project Type:
Theatre

Union Status:
Non-Union

Union Contract:
AEA - 99 Seat Plan

Contract Status:
Pending

Submissions Due By:
10/27/2006

Note:
SUBMIT ASAP

Rehearsal Dates:
TBD

Preview Dates:
TBD

Run(Usage):
Dec. 1,2 & 8,9

Rate:
Deferred

Director:
TBD

Production Company:
Groove Entertainment

Audition Dates:
TBD

Audition Location:
4735 Sepulveda Blvd.
Sherman Oaks CA

Shoot/Performance Dates:
Dec. 1,2 & 8,9

Shoot/Performance Location:
The Complex Theatre

Shoot/Performance Address:
6476 Santa Monica Blvd
Hollywood CA 90038

Shoot/Performance Dates Note:
Possibly extended to a 4-week run.

Casting Company:
Groove Entertainment

Casting Directors:
Nick Richey

Casting Associates:
Phoenix Vaughn

Audition Note:
Will contact actors individually for auditions.

Mail Submissions To:
4735 Sepulveda Blvd.
Sherman Oaks CA 91403



Synopsis An East Indian gets lost on his first day in New York as two
teenage punks find him waiting at a lonely bus stop. He cannot
understand English, and the boys have some fun with him...But little
by little, as the minutes go by and the bus doesn't come, the punks
get bored then annoyed and then vicious. It is the very pointlessness
of their brutality that makes the play so disturbing. It explores how
close beneath the surface of all men lurks the primitive impulse to
hurt and humiliate those whose very helplessness and inability to
communicate can only frustrate and enrage.


Project Notes: There will be a very strong industry presence for
exposure.



Casting Note Will contact actors individually for auditions.

GUPTA (EAST INDIAN) / Lead / Male / East Indian, Middle Eastern,
Multi-Ethnic / 30-60
Gupta is anwhere from 30 to 60 years old. Although he is swarthy in
complexion, he is anything but sinister. He is, in fact, meek and
visibly frightened by the city. ACTOR MUST SPEAK HINDI DURING THE PLAY.
Wardrobe: Traditional East Indian garb.
Rate: Deferred

CONTACT: GROOVEENTERTAINMENT@...
OR SCOTT DOUGLAS (818)605-5858

Casting notice courtesy of our very own funny-man Sid Veda(.com).

_________________________________________________________________________


SAN DIEGO FILM COMMISSION NEEDS YOUR HELP!

Dear Friends of the San Diego Film Commission:

The San Diego Film Commission has barely survived severe budget cuts
from the City of San Diego, making it difficult to operate day-to-day.
To stay afloat, we have set up a Foundation, which is a 501(c)3
charitable organization, to raise funds to pay for some of the
services the San Diego Film Commission performs but is not funded by
the City to do. The Foundation now pays for the student intern program
for film students, educational opportunities, workshops, displays,
exhibits, and the care and establishment of archival materials.

We appreciate donations big and small. Now every time you go grocery
shopping you can help us with no personal expense involved. By using
your Ralph's Club Card when you shop at Ralph's you are donating to
the San Diego Film Commission Foundation. This does not harm your
personal credits at the store for coupons, etc.

All you need to do is register your current Ralph's Club Card online
(or apply for one at any Ralph's customer service desk). Here's how:

1. Go to www.ralphs.com and click on "community contributions" then
click on "participants."
2. Be sure to have your Ralph's Club Card available and register your
card with the San Diego Film Commission Foundation by following the
easy online directions. The Foundation's NPO number is 83542.
3. If you use your phone number at the register, call 800-660-9003 to
get your club number to register.
4. You must swipe your registered Ralph's Club Card when shopping for
each purchase to count.

We would appreciate you passing this request to your friends to help
us. Thank you for helping us continue our educational outreach to the
San Diego region.

Cathy Anderson
Film Commissioner & CEO

_________________________________________________________________________

MEMBER UPDATES



GRETA & FUJI MINX

To all my friends, family, & associates:

HEY EVERYONE!! WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Please help us win You Tube's Unsigned Band Music Video Contest!!

If we win, there is a good chance we will get signed and we will
finally get the break we need. You can help us quit our dayjobs and be
artists full-time.

Make sure you click on the "Thumbs Up" icon (after logging in /signing up)
http://www.youtube.com/contest/youtubeunderground?goto=2123

Dreaming away.
Love, Greta & FUJI MINX.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

ROOPASHREE JEEVAJI

"Independence Day" screening (Sun 11/5 @ 12pm) at the www.iaac.us
Film Fest in NYC (2nd St @ 2nd Ave). Roopa will be at the fest.

http://www.youtube.com/user/roopajeevaji

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

RITA RANI

It's an onslaught from this group at the www.iaac.us Film Fest.
Rita's film "Bombay Skies" will screen at Sat Nov 4th at 2:30pm. She
will be at the fest.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

ANNIE & ANGIE LEE

Hello loves! (Read below for parties…)

As you all know we've been waiting a LONG ass time for this moment!
CLOSE CALL is finally on DVD! And I need your help spreading the word!!!

If you could be a super nice angel & just take a minute to forward
this message or tell even 1 friend to buy it that would mean the world
to us & we'd love you forever!!! Seriously!!!!!

Indies only succeed with the help of friends like you! Word of mouth
is a small effort that makes a big impact for films like ours. Thank
you for caring!!!

And don't forget to buy it for your collection! I promise you you
won't regret it. It's an awesome DVD that we worked really hard on.

SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE:
-Cool BEHIND THE SCENES Footage!
-DELETED SCENES Never Before Seen!

THANK YOU!!!
Annie
www.CloseCallmovie.com

BUY IT HERE IF YOU CANà: www.walmart.com, then we can get it into the
stores!

Here are a few other links you can buy it from:
www.amazon.com
www.blockbuster.com
www.target.com
www.circuitcity.com
www.bestbuy.com

Also available @ HOLLYWOOD VIDEO & mom & pop video stores all over the US.

ADD ME ON MYSPACE!:
www.myspace.com/annielovelee

VIEW TRAILER & LINK IT ON YOUR SITE!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =7rg9ZYtggj0


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

KALETI WILLIAMS


Check out Kaleti Williams here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPjH8tKi1n0
and here:
http;//www.killerpadmovie.com
and of course in Interminal (screening at IFFYNTX.com this weekend):
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=725140355


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------



DAEG FAERCH


Hi Anup.
That is great about Interminal. I added our names to the cast.
Daeg is working on his 4th film now and he has a Mac now to do his own
editing.
Thanks for your support and hope to work with you again sometime.
He just got a new agent as well. KSA in L.A.
He is in rehearsals for both Club Shuga and Grapes of Wrath as well as
a production of his newest script that someone else is directing.
He is directing someone elses work at the playwrites festival.
I am haveing a hard time keeping up!!
hugs and luck and again, hope to work with you again soon.
New!!*
Daeg is everywhere in this video....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7En9uIDdc50&mode=related&search=
MORE INFO:
www.nowcasting.com/daegfaerch
IMDB: www.imdb.com/name/nm1698761/
Frank: http://www.monster-effects.com/reel/
Outlier: http://outlierthemovie.com/
Life Ride: www.lancelance.com/film.html
Dance: www.fourthproject.com/letsdance.html
He writes and directs too:
Vampire:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPfp5xEac08
French:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oZCSnFq8B4


_________________________________________________________________________


ARTICLES


HOLMES & CRUISE CONFIRM ITALIAN WEDDING PLANS

Ha – just kiddin'. Like I really care.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


SONY PROJECTORS TO BE INSTALLED IN THEATERS

Sony said Tuesday that it's ready to begin installing its SXRD
high-definition digital projectors in theaters across the country. The
system boasts 8.8 million pixels, or four times the resolution of
systems already in place in U.S. theaters. The 4K systems have
recently been tested in 12 Landmark Theater screens. Now, Sony says,
it is ready to begin turning out 100 projectors a month beginning in
December. Sony said it had received commitments from four major
studios to release films on digital files in the 4K format.

http://imdb.com/news/sb/#film5


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


WHAT IT TAKES TO BE GREAT

Fortune on CNNMoney.com
By Geoffrey Colvin


Research now shows that the lack of natural talent is irrelevant to
great success. The secret? Painful and demanding practice and hard work

What makes Tiger Woods great? What made Berkshire Hathaway (Charts)
Chairman Warren Buffett the world's premier investor? We think we
know: Each was a natural who came into the world with a gift for doing
exactly what he ended up doing. As Buffett told Fortune not long ago,
he was "wired at birth to allocate capital." It's a one-in-a-million
thing. You've got it - or you don't.

Well, folks, it's not so simple. For one thing, you do not possess a
natural gift for a certain job, because targeted natural gifts don't
exist. (Sorry, Warren.) You are not a born CEO or investor or chess
grandmaster. You will achieve greatness only through an enormous
amount of hard work over many years. And not just any hard work, but
work of a particular type that's demanding and painful.

Buffett, for instance, is famed for his discipline and the hours he
spends studying financial statements of potential investment targets.
The good news is that your lack of a natural gift is irrelevant -
talent has little or nothing to do with greatness. You can make
yourself into any number of things, and you can even make yourself great.

Scientific experts are producing remarkably consistent findings across
a wide array of fields. Understand that talent doesn't mean
intelligence, motivation or personality traits. It's an innate ability
to do some specific activity especially well. British-based
researchers Michael J. Howe, Jane W. Davidson and John A. Sluboda
conclude in an extensive study, "The evidence we have surveyed ...
does not support the [notion that] excelling is a consequence of
possessing innate gifts."

To see how the researchers could reach such a conclusion, consider the
problem they were trying to solve. In virtually every field of
endeavor, most people learn quickly at first, then more slowly and
then stop developing completely. Yet a few do improve for years and
even decades, and go on to greatness.

The irresistible question - the "fundamental challenge" for
researchers in this field, says the most prominent of them, professor
K. Anders Ericsson of Florida State University - is, Why? How are
certain people able to go on improving? The answers begin with
consistent observations about great performers in many fields.

Scientists worldwide have conducted scores of studies since the 1993
publication of a landmark paper by Ericsson and two colleagues, many
focusing on sports, music and chess, in which performance is
relatively easy to measure and plot over time. But plenty of
additional studies have also examined other fields, including business.

No substitute for hard work

The first major conclusion is that nobody is great without work. It's
nice to believe that if you find the field where you're naturally
gifted, you'll be great from day one, but it doesn't happen. There's
no evidence of high-level performance without experience or practice.

Reinforcing that no-free-lunch finding is vast evidence that even the
most accomplished people need around ten years of hard work before
becoming world-class, a pattern so well established researchers call
it the ten-year rule.

What about Bobby Fischer, who became a chess grandmaster at 16? Turns
out the rule holds: He'd had nine years of intensive study. And as
John Horn of the University of Southern California and Hiromi Masunaga
of California State University observe, "The ten-year rule represents
a very rough estimate, and most researchers regard it as a minimum,
not an average." In many fields (music, literature) elite performers
need 20 or 30 years' experience before hitting their zenith.

So greatness isn't handed to anyone; it requires a lot of hard work.
Yet that isn't enough, since many people work hard for decades without
approaching greatness or even getting significantly better. What's
missing?

Practice makes perfect

The best people in any field are those who devote the most hours to
what the researchers call "deliberate practice." It's activity that's
explicitly intended to improve performance, that reaches for
objectives just beyond one's level of competence, provides feedback on
results and involves high levels of repetition.

For example: Simply hitting a bucket of balls is not deliberate
practice, which is why most golfers don't get better. Hitting an
eight-iron 300 times with a goal of leaving the ball within 20 feet of
the pin 80 percent of the time, continually observing results and
making appropriate adjustments, and doing that for hours every day -
that's deliberate practice.

Consistency is crucial. As Ericsson notes, "Elite performers in many
diverse domains have been found to practice, on the average, roughly
the same amount every day, including weekends."

Evidence crosses a remarkable range of fields. In a study of
20-year-old violinists by Ericsson and colleagues, the best group
(judged by conservatory teachers) averaged 10,000 hours of deliberate
practice over their lives; the next-best averaged 7,500 hours; and the
next, 5,000. It's the same story in surgery, insurance sales, and
virtually every sport. More deliberate practice equals better
performance. Tons of it equals great performance. The skeptics

Not all researchers are totally onboard with the myth-of-talent
hypothesis, though their objections go to its edges rather than its
center. For one thing, there are the intangibles. Two athletes might
work equally hard, but what explains the ability of New England
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady to perform at a higher level in the
last two minutes of a game?

Researchers also note, for example, child prodigies who could speak,
read or play music at an unusually early age. But on investigation
those cases generally include highly involved parents. And many
prodigies do not go on to greatness in their early field, while great
performers include many who showed no special early aptitude.

Certainly some important traits are partly inherited, such as physical
size and particular measures of intelligence, but those influence what
a person doesn't do more than what he does; a five-footer will never
be an NFL lineman, and a seven-footer will never be an Olympic
gymnast. Even those restrictions are less severe than you'd expect:
Ericsson notes, "Some international chess masters have IQs in the
90s." The more research that's done, the more solid the
deliberate-practice model becomes.

Real-world examples

All this scholarly research is simply evidence for what great
performers have been showing us for years. To take a handful of
examples: Winston Churchill, one of the 20th century's greatest
orators, practiced his speeches compulsively. Vladimir Horowitz
supposedly said, "If I don't practice for a day, I know it. If I don't
practice for two days, my wife knows it. If I don't practice for three
days, the world knows it." He was certainly a demon practicer, but the
same quote has been attributed to world-class musicians like Ignace
Paderewski and Luciano Pavarotti.

Many great athletes are legendary for the brutal discipline of their
practice routines. In basketball, Michael Jordan practiced intensely
beyond the already punishing team practices. (Had Jordan possessed
some mammoth natural gift specifically for basketball, it seems
unlikely he'd have been cut from his high school team.)

In football, all-time-great receiver Jerry Rice - passed up by 15
teams because they considered him too slow - practiced so hard that
other players would get sick trying to keep up.

Tiger Woods is a textbook example of what the research shows. Because
his father introduced him to golf at an extremely early age - 18
months - and encouraged him to practice intensively, Woods had racked
up at least 15 years of practice by the time he became the
youngest-ever winner of the U.S. Amateur Championship, at age 18. Also
in line with the findings, he has never stopped trying to improve,
devoting many hours a day to conditioning and practice, even remaking
his swing twice because that's what it took to get even better.
The business side

The evidence, scientific as well as anecdotal, seems overwhelmingly in
favor of deliberate practice as the source of great performance. Just
one problem: How do you practice business? Many elements of business,
in fact, are directly practicable. Presenting, negotiating, delivering
evaluations, deciphering financial statements - you can practice them all.

Still, they aren't the essence of great managerial performance. That
requires making judgments and decisions with imperfect information in
an uncertain environment, interacting with people, seeking information
- can you practice those things too? You can, though not in the way
you would practice a Chopin etude.

Instead, it's all about how you do what you're already doing - you
create the practice in your work, which requires a few critical
changes. The first is going at any task with a new goal: Instead of
merely trying to get it done, you aim to get better at it.

Report writing involves finding information, analyzing it and
presenting it - each an improvable skill. Chairing a board meeting
requires understanding the company's strategy in the deepest way,
forming a coherent view of coming market changes and setting a tone
for the discussion. Anything that anyone does at work, from the most
basic task to the most exalted, is an improvable skill.

Adopting a new mindset

Armed with that mindset, people go at a job in a new way. Research
shows they process information more deeply and retain it longer. They
want more information on what they're doing and seek other
perspectives. They adopt a longer-term point of view. In the activity
itself, the mindset persists. You aren't just doing the job, you're
explicitly trying to get better at it in the larger sense.

Again, research shows that this difference in mental approach is
vital. For example, when amateur singers take a singing lesson, they
experience it as fun, a release of tension. But for professional
singers, it's the opposite: They increase their concentration and
focus on improving their performance during the lesson. Same activity,
different mindset.

Feedback is crucial, and getting it should be no problem in business.
Yet most people don't seek it; they just wait for it, half hoping it
won't come. Without it, as Goldman Sachs leadership-development chief
Steve Kerr says, "it's as if you're bowling through a curtain that
comes down to knee level. If you don't know how successful you are,
two things happen: One, you don't get any better, and two, you stop
caring." In some companies, like General Electric, frequent feedback
is part of the culture. If you aren't lucky enough to get that, seek
it out.

Be the ball

Through the whole process, one of your goals is to build what the
researchers call "mental models of your business" - pictures of how
the elements fit together and influence one another. The more you work
on it, the larger your mental models will become and the better your
performance will grow.

Andy Grove could keep a model of a whole world-changing technology
industry in his head and adapt Intel (Charts) as needed. Bill Gates,
Microsoft's (Charts) founder, had the same knack: He could see at the
dawn of the PC that his goal of a computer on every desk was realistic
and would create an unimaginably large market. John D. Rockefeller,
too, saw ahead when the world-changing new industry was oil. Napoleon
was perhaps the greatest ever. He could not only hold all the elements
of a vast battle in his mind but, more important, could also respond
quickly when they shifted in unexpected ways.

That's a lot to focus on for the benefits of deliberate practice - and
worthless without one more requirement: Do it regularly, not sporadically.

Why?

For most people, work is hard enough without pushing even harder.
Those extra steps are so difficult and painful they almost never get
done. That's the way it must be. If great performance were easy, it
wouldn't be rare. Which leads to possibly the deepest question about
greatness. While experts understand an enormous amount about the
behavior that produces great performance, they understand very little
about where that behavior comes from.

The authors of one study conclude, "We still do not know which factors
encourage individuals to engage in deliberate practice." Or as
University of Michigan business school professor Noel Tichy puts it
after 30 years of working with managers, "Some people are much more
motivated than others, and that's the existential question I cannot
answer - why."

The critical reality is that we are not hostage to some naturally
granted level of talent. We can make ourselves what we will.
Strangely, that idea is not popular. People hate abandoning the notion
that they would coast to fame and riches if they found their talent.
But that view is tragically constraining, because when they hit life's
inevitable bumps in the road, they conclude that they just aren't
gifted and give up.

Maybe we can't expect most people to achieve greatness. It's just too
demanding. But the striking, liberating news is that greatness isn't
reserved for a preordained few. It is available to you and to everyone.

http://biz.yahoo.com/weekend/great_1.html