Online Film Festivals and COVID-19: Festival Transition to Online Formats

In this webinar we will explore the challenges the Entertainment Industry is currently facing as a result of the shift to online formats for the most popular film festivals. The panel is composed of notable jurors with prolific careers in the film industry. During the webinar, the panelists will focus on the current challenges film festivals are facing as a result of the ongoing pandemic and how it has a forced shift to online formats for them while simultaneously exploring solutions to resolve them.

If you have questions concerning this topic, or other areas of entertainment, business or corporate law, please visit www.entlawpartners.com or email us at Asst@entlawpartners.com.

f you would like to view the video version of this webinar, please click the following link:

https://youtu.be/PVDLC4zzr70

Speakers:
-Stacey Reiss, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, Tribeca Film Festival juror.
-Ryan Saul, prolific talent agent at Paradigm Talent Agency and juror at the Austin Film Festival.
-Skizz Cyzyk, award-winning director and juror at the Kansas City Film Festival.
Moderated by Tifanie Jodeh of Entertainment Law Partners.

Tifanie Jodeh: Hello everyone. Welcome to this very special webinar. We will be discussing online film festivals and the trend of the festival business in the wake of this pandemic. As of quick note of administration before starting this portion of this webinar, please be sure to ask your questions in the Q and A box and not in the comment box so we can make to answer as many questions as we can. So now that is out of the way, I am your host Tifanie Jodeh of Entertainment Law Partners and the moderator of this most distinguished panel: Stacey Reiss, Skizz Cyzyk and Ryan Saul. So thanks everybody for joining us. I will start by having each panelist introduce themselves and we will start with Stacy.

Stacy Reiss: Hi everyone. Thanks for joining us and thanks for inviting me. I am a producer. I produce documentaries and narrative films. I recently served as a juror of Tribeca Film Festival in the new documentary director category. I have also been a juror on the Montclair Film Festival, as well as a filmmaker with a number of films that have premiered in festivals around the world. I recently produced a film called Spaceship Earth, which was at Sundance Film Festival this year. One of the few festivals that happened in person and it was acquired by me on and was released in the middle of the pandemic on May 8th.

Tifanie: All right. Great. Thanks, Stacy. Let's start next with Skizz.

Skizz Cyzyk: I am Skizz. I am a filmmaker from Baltimore and I have had a long history of working for film festivals starting in the early 90s. I founded… or co-founded MicroCineFest and ran it for ten years. I have been involved with the Maryland Film Festival since 1998, serving as the programming manager for nine of those years. I was involved with the Atlanta Film Festival Slamdance, and I have been on jury set of most of those and several others including Sidewalk in Alabama, Oxford in Mississippi, Memphis, and Bandon, Oregon and that is pretty much it.

Tifanie: All right. Thanks, Skizz. And next and last.

Ryan Saul: Hello, I am Ryan Saul. I am an agent. Most particularly agent over at Paradigm. I have been an agent now for twenty-two years with a specialty in directors. I have been a judge for a number of screenplays. The screenplay portion of a member of film festivals in the juror with Austin, but I have worked with Sundance and South by Southwest, a lot with the Austin Film Festival and a lot with the Cleveland Film Festival as well, and sort of film festival over the years. So yeah, and right now is a really interesting time in this business to be an agent. You know, we are learning the mistakes of putting eggs all into the live events basket now. Before it was like, hey, let's- we are afraid of writers strike. Now, there is another issue that the agencies have to deal with. And I think we are going to see what this business looks like in the next six months that is going to be something that we have never seen before. Former film school brat from Florida State University, I went and got my MFA there and I am a former theater director. So that is it in a nutshell.

Tifanie: Well, thanks. I think, Ryan, that really leads us into definitely, then start off with the first question is:  basically, you all have contributed in this current film festivals that setting, so how was your experience different before from the norm?

Ryan: Who should we want to start with?

Tifanie: Let us start with Ryan.

Ryan: Well, I still think we are trying to figure out what the norm is. You know, things are changing daily. When are we going to open back up? Are there going to be theaters to be opening up back to? When will production start? How is production going to start? What are the projects that are going to start first? I represent who is directing Planet of the Apes and they are starting production, but they are doing most of it through the Unreal Engine, which is the Epic game engine. So I think you are going to see a lot of effects driven projects going first. And you are also going to see smaller productions that can shoot, which I think is going to be good for the independent business. As far as how that affects you guys and film festivals, I really think- Stacy and Skizz, we were talking about this before that -  I really think we are in unknown territory. You know, it is not just about, can we all go to Sundance? I mean, is Park City like the best place to have a Sundance? Is Toronto a better place because there is more wide open spaces? What does this mean for theaters? How are we going to screen these movies before they even go to festivals? There is just a lot of unanswered questions and I really do not know what the answer is right now. I think people are talking every day about trying to figure it out. So I have no answer to that question, but no one knows.

Tifanie: Okay. Stacy, what are your thoughts on that?

Stacy: I mean, I recently was a juror at Tribeca Film Festival which happened virtually. One thing I will say is I watched sixteen movies to judge and I have plenty of time to watch sixteen movies in like a ten-day period which is not normally the case. But I think the way that festival handled it, it is not a festival that was open to the general public but they kept the jurors and they kept these categories for competition knowing that if you are a filmmaker and a director that is awarded an award at a festival, that helps you with distribution. And I thought that that was really a great experience that those directors that you know, one in the different categories in the documentary category I was part of, I know that those films do not have distribution and I imagine that having that Tribeca Film Festival award is going to help them as they go out into the marketplace. And I think if you think about film festivals, they kind of function in two ways. For filmmakers there either a place to showcase or premiere a film that already has distribution or there a place to gain distribution and gain an audience. And so I think that you know, as much as we can if we can not have them in person, how can we still have that experience right now? And that is something to think about.

Tifanie: Skizz, you served on many film festivals. What do you think about it? 

Skizz: Well, it is funny because you were asking about the jury experience and I have only juried one festival so far this year and that was Kansas City Film Fest International, and it really was not much different because they always have you watch the films in advance or usually have you watched the films in advance. And this time I was the only juror in my category so I did not really get together with any other jury members to deliberate. So I just watched a bunch of films here at home and I told them who I thought who would get the awards. I guess the biggest difference is I did not get to go there. You know, I did not get to be there and meet people and see films that were not in the category I was judging. And that was kind of sad because I was really looking for- I love traveling to film festivals. It is kind of why I do it. So, to not get to go is kind of a letdown.

Tifanie: Right. No, I think we are all feeling and suffering that. So leading into that, Stacy, you would just mention this a little bit, but obviously some festivals or one of the biggest supporters and platforms for independent films: How will festivals like Tribeca be able to continue such support in this online format?

Stacy: You know, that is a good question. You know, in terms of this format, I do not think you can replicate the in-person experience. I mean, to add a little bit more to my experience with the Tribeca, they did try to make it an exciting experience even if we were all at our homes. Like the kickoff Zoom call had Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro on the call. So it was like, you know, fun to be on a Zoom with Robert De Niro. And my group of five jurors, we met a couple of times in that screening process. Like we broke up the films into groups and then we kind of met online and kept talking about them just so we could feel like we were having that kind of in-person experience that all of us really love about being part of a film festival. I think that the important thing is, if you can not replicate the in-person experience, how can you support filmmakers and these films otherwise? And I think, that one great thing that film festivals have is they have huge mailing list. So I know with Spaceship Earth, we did a lot of panels for different film festivals around the country and we did Newport Film Festival and Martha's Vineyard Film Festival and Utah Film Center and email blast went out to all of their groups talking about our film, talking about this panel. And I think just in terms of creating a buzz around a film and creating an audience. If you can not do it in person, maybe you can capture people's eyeballs in their inbox and try to get them to know about your film and watch your film. So as film festival sort of moved online, I think that there should be some consideration into how can you build an audience, how can you help filmmakers with distribution and how can you showcase these great films that were not doing in person and use that as kind of a way to think about what your plan is going forward.

Tifanie: Right. Stacey, you mentioned like a flooding people's inboxes with different content and just stay on the subject for a second. Do you think then there are different variety of ways, instead of just being one of many emails in somebody's inbox to help support these filmmakers in such an online presence? Is there like potential press that you have seen been done or anything that is maybe a little bit out of the box that these film festivals are trying to do?

Stacey: I mean, I think it is about offering something different. So what is different about it? Often it is having a conversation like this. I mean, many people do not get to go to film festivals. They do not get to be in the audience and see the director and producers or film subject stand in front and answer questions. But in this Zoom virtual world we live in, anyone can attend a film festival. There is not really this barrier to entry. And so, I think in some ways like I was saying before the colloquy, we were able to be in many places in a given week, where normally we would have had to travel to all these different places to show our film. So I think that if you can offer something; a conversation or a takeaway, I think that is a way of attracting people rather than them just going on iTunes or figure out another way to watch it.

Tifanie: Right, right. So going through that then in general, do you think online film festivals maybe can ultimately replace the physical ones? Skizz, what do you think starting there? 

Skizz: I do not think so because there is no replacement for being in a group of people when meeting people and hanging out with them and watching moving discussing it afterward. Yes, you can watch the movie together online and then have a conversation afterwards, but just not the same as actually being there and going to get a drink or a meal with some people you just met. I do think though that a lot of festivals will probably continue this online thing, even after we are all allowed to be in the same room together because- well, for one thing is somebody that started a film festival. I can remember some years where it was really hard to find a venue and now the venue is whatever platform on the internet your festival chooses to use and if it works keep doing it. I do not think it will be a replacement but I also do not think that festivals will stop doing it when they are allowed to.

Tifanie: Right. Ryan, what do you think there?

Ryan: Well, I think there is a short term which is now, and I think for the next year this is maybe going to be our reality. Eventually, it is going to end and we are going to be going back to Toronto. We are going to be back to Sundance. We are going to be going to Baltimore and Texas. But I think the lessons that we can be gaining from this is what can we take from this experience, like Stacy had said. I mean, is there a part of South by Southwest where if I can not buy a plane ticket or a ticket to go there, can I pay to have access to these films from Zoom? Can I be a member of the community and take place in some of these online Q and As? And I think that is only going to add to the festival experience for the future. I think we all something to look at economically what is going to happen once we get through this too. You know, you look from an agency perspective, are the agencies going to be able to afford- I mean, not afford, but are they going to want to pay for travel to some of these film festivals to Scott new talent. And if there is a way to have the film festival experience- Yes, it is great live, premieres, red carpets. That is awesome. But if there is another way to do it where we can also see the films in a virtual way and interact with the community in a virtual way, I think there is something to be learned from that, because there should be no more borders economically where if I am a young filmmaker shooting something in Topeka, Kansas, and I want to have that film festival experience because I am a film of file, well, the economic limitations should not preclude me from experiencing that festival in a way. Maybe it is not live but still you feel part of that film community. I think that is where we are going. I think it is going to be a hybrid of all of these things that were talking about. And access to independent film I think will be also greater than it has ever been before.

Tifanie: That is interesting and just to touch on that- you know, you represent directors and there is a very important part of that for talent and getting talent to travel and being comfortable with them attending in festivals. It is ultimately a ripple effect. What are you telling your clients as far as like should they be doing these film festivals or should they be waiting? How does that work for your client base?

Ryan: Well, you know, I have a couple of projects and looking at it from both the production end of things and now distribution and film festivals because I have a couple projects that were in post cut clients projects that were imposed when all of this started happening and we were shooting for Toronto. Now we would be shooting for Sundance. And as those dominoes fall, we are trying to figure out where do we get placed or is the strategy then- well, lets shoot the film festivals and lets go right to finding distribution. Is that going right to Netflix? Is that going away to Amazon? Is that going right to Hulu or HBO Max or any number of these streaming platforms? I think more of these streamers are going to come out of this. I think you are going to see some independent streaming companies. I do not know if you guys know Brian Guilbert. He is putting something together this kind of an alternative to a Netflix, Amazon, Hulu that that is going to focus on the independent films that maybe have not been able to find distribution and he has the money behind it to launch it. Now from a production standpoint, we are telling clients is, "Look. I have projects ready to go in production independent project that they are going to shoot in July in Louisiana. Another one wants to start shooting in October in Vancouver." So, you know, but we are all in a wait-and-see. I think production is going to start up sooner than a lot of people think and I am telling clients to pray right now and stay positive because no one really knows. We can only control what we can control. And Lionsgate and all of these other places can put out there treatises on, this is how we are going to go back in the production, but it is going to come down to two things- and film festivals by the way, to come down to insurance and it is going to come down to the unions. And when they say we are okay and ready to go, that is when we are going to go. And talent by the way, because they are going to be sequestered.

Tifanie: Right. The comfort of the talent is always the ripple effect. That is for sure. So leading into that, Skizz, as we all know, you have served as a juror before. Do you think the shift right now to the online edition is blown out of proportion? Do you think people are just making too much of a big deal about it? Or are they really that different? Is it still beneficial right now?

Skizz: I mean, I think festivals are doing what they have to do in order to keep giving their audiences something. And I am starting to see more festivals doing a lot of online stuff, but at the same time, they are starting to do drive-ins, their actions starting to do outdoor screenings where there are social distancing and it is a start to getting people back together. I do not think it has been blown out of proportion at all. I think we are just doing what we have to do.

Tifanie: And the drive-in theaters is that- obviously a place like New York, you are not able to do that. But maybe for some, you know, like Kansas City or what, you have a lot more land that that might be an opportunity. Are you seeing a lot of interest in that? That is something that may be a trend or just maybe a band-aid right now?

Skizz: I hope it is a trend. I mean for one thing I love drive-in movie theaters. The one what we have left here in Baltimore, the Benji's has just given the 'okay' to open to the public this week. They just reopened last night. But I have been seeing some of the festivals that I go to frequently; Oxford in Mississippi and Sidewalk in Alabama. They have been doing this driving thing. It looks really fun. I mean, I kind of wish I was there. I wish I was there anyway, but I am not near anybody that is actually doing film festivals as a driving. But if I were driving distance, I would definitely go to them. 

Stacey: We did a special screening for Spaceship Earth in LA at the drive-in. That was a way that we could have a premiere and have people come and watch the film in person before it was available on Hulu and iTunes and everywhere else. [crosstalk] And it is fun to see it that way. 

Tifanie: How many people did you have? Did you have press there? Or what was the purpose of the screening? 

Stacey: I think there is a sneak peek screening. I was not there because it was in Los Angeles and I was not in Los Angeles, but I saw photos and it was quite full and there was some press and some regular cinephiles that wanted to go out and see the movie and it is still playing at some drive-ins. I think drive-ins are having a bit of a revival right now, obviously.

Tifanie: Yes, that is for sure. That is definitely for sure. Ryan, going back to you..

Ryan: Real quick, Tifanie. I also think- and this is not film related. I think we are going to see that in the music industry very soon as well; these drive-in concerts. You know, maybe we are not going to go see you two at a drive-in, but I think there will be independent bands that are maybe- you know, the traditional bands that would do- not stadiums but arenas for popular local bands. You are going to start seeing a lot more of using the driving as a way to at least re-enter the live entertainment scene.

Tifanie: Ryan, do you think that is a new business plan? Or do you think again, that is just like a band-aid?

Ryan: I think a lot depends on where we are with this virus or any potential viruses or civil unrest. You know, we are in uncharted territory here. So I do think and I thought this for a decade that these streaming services- you know, when we first started getting into talking about online. We are going to change independent film for the better and people around the world are going to have more access to independent film than ever before from their living room. You know, how many movies now are made directly for? Originally, like DirecTV, it is replacing the home video market. But now you are seeing things on HBO Max or- what was this movie? The woman from Black Edge. I can not remember. It is now being advertised all over the post to direct. Like that is something that you probably would never go see in the theater, but people are watching it from home right now. I think people would love to get out but people also love the kind of stay in and have a personal experience with their films and their entertainment. Again, I think it is going to be a combination of both moving forward. But do I think drive-in concerts are going to replace going to the troubadour if the troubadour even exists anymore or going to an arena to see fish or something like that? No, because you have to be there to have that experience. I think film festivals are going to be the same way. Although I do think the online portion of it, the virtual portion of it is going to help smaller film festivals. You know, some of these film festivals that- I do not go to as an agent but have local films or local filmmakers, like I am more apt to tap into the online version of the Alabama Film Festival than I would flying to Alabama. I do not have the time to do that. I think that is the thing that some of these smaller film festivals and independence are going to benefit from what we are learning today.

Tifanie: Right. Okay. So thanks on that. That is a lot to think with and we have gotten a lot of chat going on about that. And there is I guess Ticketmaster and some Live Nation is trying to make plans for that. So that is a really interesting subject matter as well. But leading into the next question, this one's for Stacy and Ryan. So one concern for producers and filmmakers like yourself is whether participating in the digital film festival may adversely affect your distribution offers. What do you think?

Stacey: I honestly do not know. I have not heard that it has affected distribution. So I can not really speak to whether someone if they premiered it online film festival. I mean, film festivals have always been separate than distribution. So I have not heard that anyone has not gotten distribution because they have decided to play in an online film festival. You know, I know that with Tribeca they were saying to filmmakers that participated, that they did not need to count this as like premier status. It is like sometimes a lot of these film festivals, especially some of the top tier ones, they all want to be the world premiere or the US premiere and a lot of these festivals were sort of removing those premier restrictions and sharing more around these films. So that was exciting to me that if a film premiered at Tribeca as part of this online festival, but then let us say Toronto happens, they could still say it was a world premiere at Toronto because there was no audience at least for Tribeca. But in terms of distribution, I do not know. Maybe Ryan has more to say about that. I have not really heard about that.

Ryan: I have a couple things to say. I think independent film distribution with the exception of if you think about how many independent films there are in any given year and if you think about the percentage of those that actually get wide distribution, and the theaters of actually show independent films have been shrinking as well. I think we have had a problem with independent distribution for a long time. How does showing your film in a digital Tribeca or digital Toronto affect distribution? I think the answer is a little unclear because we do not know what distribution is going to look like at least over the next couple of years. I mean, is it distribution to theaters? Or is it going to be, "Hey, here is our digital window and we are going to reserve the right to do twenty-five cities, if we can distribute in those twenty-five cities."? And the first thing we got to do when it comes to distribution is actually get people back into theaters, and I do not know if that is going to happen anytime soon, as far as like the way it was happening. And we had a problem getting people in the theaters long before this, you know. This is only going to make it worse and theaters were operating in very very thin margins. I think it can go one of two ways where the last time we had a pandemic in 1918. That was when- I can not remember who it was, but one of the studios and I think it was MGM. I can not remember. It started buying up all the independent mom-and-pop theaters and began what is now our current distribution model, where you have giant theater chains in conjunction with the studios. I think you are starting to see it now with- well, yes. I know that I guess. The last pandemic was 1968. Thank you for correcting me. However, there are 60 million people died and it changed the way we distribute filmed. I think in 1968 people were still got- I am sorry. I got distracted by someone correcting me on the last pandemic. So I think we are heading that way. I think Netflix is going to start buying theaters. I think Amazon is going to start buying theater chains and bailing them out. I think Saudi Arabia is going to start buying our theater chains. How is that going to affect independent film? I think remains to be seen. You know, as someone who looks for talent, it does not change the way that I find directors. It is not. I signed most of my directors off of screeners. Anyway, I like the visual experience of watching a movie with an audience. But also I have learned that watching a movie with an audience can also skew my opinion of what I think of a film. And so I personally would much rather watch a film in my world rather than let an audience dictate to me whether something is good or not from a director standpoint. Did I answer your question? I intended. [crosstalk]

Tifanie: I mean, you know, at least [inaudible] with my clients just from a lawyer's point of view doing these deals, there is a lot more questions from these streamers about what was the distribution platform of this festival? Can you go play online now to view it or was it only temporary during the time of the festival? So there is a lot more query on it because these streamers are very concerned that they are going to pay a lot of money for these films and find out that they can find another one on some other link or the festival has been able to distribute it publicly and stays that way. So it is really a question of value and really more in-depth conversations about how the film festivals supporting the film during the time of the festival. But what happens to the film afterwards? Where is it at? How is it out? So that is definitely something to consider when my clients and I look at potentially accepting premiering our film on these different platforms. So it is a very different conversation. At least for me as a lawyer, it is not like I can go down and look at a book or a standard industry answer. So it is really has to be a lot of communication and making sure to protect clients and really the success of the film. So cool. So let us talk, Skizz, as you mentioned this earlier. So I will let you take this one to start out with. Obviously, a really big incentive to going to a film festival is that those free drinks and that networking opportunity, and a lot of us are really struggling with that. I mean, I am sure I will still drink wine a lot at home. But how are you getting out there? How are you seeing people networking right now?

Skizz: That is a tough one. I tend to make a lot of enemies when I say that I do not like the network and I do not like to be networked. I tend to distrust people that are sucking up to me thinking that I can pull a string and help them in the future. I like to make actual friends. So the whole thing in networking- I think the alternative is already been happening, which is social media. I am sure we all experiences every fall. I start getting an
influx of friend requests from people that I do not know and then after I accept their from request I get a message asking if I can pull a string and get their film in the Sundance. I am like, oh this again. I do not expect that to go away. I actually expect to get more of it. And actually this year, I have a feeling there is going to be a lot of filmmakers thinking that the bigger films are going to sit it out and that is going to make it easier for the smaller films that get in. So I expect that I am going to get a lot more of those messages in the fall.

Tifanie: Stacey, what was your experience?

Stacey: Well, I think taking maybe like a little bit of a different in terms of looking at it not as networking, but maybe more as like career building or trying to learn, do maybe a little bit more education around parts of the business where you might want to have like a more in-depth conversation around something. I mean, one of the things that has been interesting is lots of organizations like this panel today are hosting things every week. So like in the Documentary Space, IDA, and the Documentary Producers Alliance and who else? Women in Film. They have been all hosting these different panels and like Hangouts and talks, and a lot of people have more time on their hands now than ever before because they are stuck at home and people are more accessible. So I think in a professional way if you want to join some of these conversations and listen in and learn a little bit more about how to produce, how to get your films and festivals, and look at it from a networking from that point of view, I think you are able to kind of sign into some of these things, get your questions answered, people are more available and it is not the same thing as like sitting next to someone in a theater. I mean, I have made friends at Sundance, sitting next to someone on an airplane or in a theater and there is nothing that is ever going to replace that experience. But, you know, at festivals people are also like, "I am off to the next screening. I am off to the next party." You have two minutes here and there and right now people are spending an hour talking to people, answering questions and I think it is a way that you can make connections with people, like meaningful connections and learn a little bit more about the business if you are interested.

Tifanie: Do you think that the networking opportunities are better for those people who cannot make it to these festivals and/or may be able to take advantage of this current landscape that we are working in right now?

Stacey: Yeah, I definitely think for- you know, up-and-coming producers and directors, people who are making their first film. I think there is sort of this wealth of resources right now, that people can tap into and people with a lot of experience that are willing to share some of their experiences. So I certainly think for that sort of subset of the population. You know, there is a lot to tap into for sure.

Tifanie: Right, right. All right. So kind of building on what we had mentioned earlier about different formats and how success can come on the small screen, and this is for Skizz and Ryan. We will start with Ryan. Do you think different genres benefit better from being online versus other genres? And why should they or should they not? Who should just hold back and wait and potentially wait for the audience?

Ryan: I do not think anyone should wait. I do not- I mean, I think- and this is only my perspective and I am not looking at it totally from the film festival experience. I am looking at it from looking for new talent perspective. I think the one thing that is coming out of all of everything that is going on right now is the search for new voices, diverse talent, different types of storytelling are more important than ever. And also, I think you are finding the breakup of some of these agencies, are also going to help on people search for talent as well. You look at what is happening at WMA. You look at what is happening at my place at least the next forty-eight hours. You look at what is happening there. You know, agents are now segueing into management companies are managers because we are getting tired of being told what to do, especially the people who film a files at heart. If you would have told Grateful Dead following Ryan Saul, he would be wearing a suit everyday to work and you know, that was going to be your life. He would like, "FU, man. I never wear a suit." Well, you know, twenty-five years later. I find myself doing that but I have never lost my passion for the art of film making and I think there are other agents out there like that. So I think right now is probably one of the best times to be a independent filmmaker or a writer or to tell stories that we have not seen before because all of this upheaval, everything that you are seeing and it always comes after upheaval. Some of the best art and some of the best films are created out of that. So I know that I am telling clients, "No, do not wait. Do not wait to write that screenplay, that story that you always wanted to tell. Do not wait to go shoot that movie." If you can somehow shoot that movie now in isolation, go do it because that is going to be a story. I do not know how many covid or this is what I did during the riot stories, were going to be able to handle, but you know, go at it because the whole goal for all of you guys out there whether you are filmmakers or distributors or independent producers is you have to make film. If you were doing anything else you would do it because this business, it kind of sucks as a business, you know, but it is better than something insurance, you know. So I just think like, no, do not stop. You know, in working with one of my directors using post right now, I am looking at cots with her like every other week. We are taking this time to find the right cot even though the cot was supposed to be picture locked a month ago. Who gives a shit? Because we are not going to sell it right now. So lets just keep going, you know. Make it as good as we can. Lets start talking about what the next project is because people are getting hired, materials being sold. This business is not stopping because we all have to do it virtually. We will find a way to keep going and find a way to survive. So you guys have to do it too creatively, right? That is my soapbox.

Tifanie: Skizz, what do you think? Do you think one genre over another two or-?

Ryan: Holy shit! I do not even answer the question. No! [laughter] No, there is no genre. You guys are right. Dude, do it. Like studios want it. Netflix what do you want from it? I am sorry, Skizz. Netflix is really come from romantic comedies right now, but that is going to change in two weeks. Yeah, we really need animation. If you are in animation right now, Holy shit! Like call me because that is what is being made. Everything is in production. All right. Sorry, Skizz. Go. My bad.

Skizz: I was thinking of so many different things to say based on things that Ryan was talking about, that I completely forgot what the question was. One of the things that he said about how many films are going to see with covid-19 as part of the subject-matter. I have actually been working on a documentary following around an artist and you know, it was supposed to be from last April till this April. and of course by the time, this April rolled around, we are all quarantine and I have really struggled with, do I even include that? Because, I mean, I was at film programming when Katrina happen and we had like four years worth of Katrina films coming in the pile of entries every year. It is like, "Oh man, I do not want to make one of those films." But anyway, that is one thing. Another thing Ryan said was watching a film with an audience can skew your opinion of that film and it reminded me of all the times as a screening entries as a programmer or screening films as a juror. Comedies just are not as funny when you are alone watching them on a laptop as they are when you are in a theater with an audience that is laughing at. I mean, that is the whole rule of the laugh track and it is one of the reasons why a lot of the late night comedy shows these days are not as funny because the audience is not there laughing. So I would say comedies is one of the genres that is probably hurt most by not being seen by an audience in the same room at the same time. I do not know, I keep hearing that there are comedy TV series that are doing really well streaming. So what do I know?

Tifanie: Right, right. Okay. Well, I think what we are going to do is we are going to jump into these Q and As because we have gotten quite a few of them. So I am going to read them and Stacy, Skizz, and Ryan, just raise your hand or jump in because of this is from our audience. So the first one is from Reverie. Okay, being a judge of fun work what qualities do you look for considered award-winning material of subject matter address- Oops. Sorry. It went away. Sorry, Reverie. Sorry, your question went away. I am so sorry. Can you rewrite it? So I will just jump to the next one. Sorry about that. So from Christina: So the panel in a landscape of heightened security for films and anti-piracy. How do you think the distribution company in studios will be showing their films to an online audience with certain DRM in place? Anybody want to take that?

Stacey: I am not a security expert. I have no idea.

Tifanie: I only answer it to my general understanding. Again, it is a conversation. This is all new stuff and it is just a question of whether or not these film festivals are able to secure these films, passwords being taking them off, one view only situations. But again, this is something that I think the studios are still dealing with even more now because there is so much more content being consumed online. So that is really a very hard one to answer in light of you know, everyone is really trying to have the best intentions with these different premieres of these films. And so it is just up to a conversation on how these films are being distributed and what these studios may need in order to feel comfortable themselves to distribute them.

Tifanie: Okay, so we are back to Reverie again. They write: already this lockdown has decreased air pollution globally. The homestead has already solved certain aspects and will continue to create a quality of life improvements. Do we keep this up?

Ryan: Wait a second. Hold on. I thought Reverie question was-

Tifanie: This is a second one. 

Ryan: Okay. Being a judge of fun work, what qualities do you look forward to consider award-winning?

Tifanie: Right. On mine it went away. So but if you have it, Ryan, you answer it. You take the fun.

Ryan: All right. So Reverie's question was, being a judge of fun work, what qualities do you look forward to consider award-winning? Material of subjects address script or visual aspects of the film work, which specifically interest you?

Tifanie: Anybody?

Stacey: I know that one I screened a lot of work both as a juror and also for other awards like guilds and things that I am part of and I know I am always looking for originality. Like is there a fresh take on a story that may have been told before but a different point of view? Is it a story I have never heard before? Is it visually beautiful? Because I think that matters. Is the access when it comes to a documentary something that is so unique and I have never seen before?.I know that the film that won the award at Tribeca, it was just such an incredible access and the director has spent years shooting this Verity Film with her subjects and clearly gained so much trust that it just came through so clearly in this relationship. So those are some of the things that I look for when I am looking at work.

Skizz: Yeah, I would agree with all of that. I have been asked this before like, "How do you know which ones are the winners?" And it is like, "Well, you know, when you see them." Like it is kind of hard to pinpoint but Stacy just did pinpoint a lot of it. I remember I was on a jury once where there were 12 of us. It was a big jury and it got ugly and there were two films in particular. One was about the small-town girl who moves to the big city to make it in show business and she gets robbed and all these awful things happen and she almost turns around and goes home and blah-blah-blah. In the end her play is a hit. And then the other one was about the guy that gets out of prison. He is trying to go straight, but all the people from his past are trying to pull him back into a life of crime. And the jury wanted to give these films awards and you know, I admit they were well made awards, but I had to keep saying we have seen these films like this. This should not be an arts and crafts show. You know, these filmmakers have proven they know the craft of filmmaking, but do they know the art of filmmaking. And I really argued for an experimental film, an experimental feature and we had a big compromise. All those films got awards that year, but I feel like, man, if I had not been there that wonderful feature like the experimental film would still- well, I was going to say, would still be unknown. It is still unknown, but at least they have an award, you know on their website.

Tifanie: Right. Okay. Thanks, Skizz, for that.[crosstalk] Go ahead, Ryan. Go ahead.

Ryan: For me, it is just really about the storytelling. It is, you know. I look at these things as like, it is a story I can tell around a campfire and that is a comedy or that is a drama or that is- I do a lot where I represent a lot of documentary directors in transitioning them into narrative. And you know, what I look for even the docs, people like, I do not know, Kim Snyder who just did as kids, that was in Sundance this year and Kim with the Newtown documentary. You know, she makes me cry in her docs. She inspires me. So it gets me moving or like, you know, these guys, they would ever saw in Todd Hughes who did the Pierre Cardin documentary. I mean, it is poppy and jumped off the screen and you just go, "Okay." Like these guys could be doing narrative if they want women if they want to. I also look for animation directors who I think can make the transition to live action if they can tell a good story. It is really across every genre and if it moves you, then that is the one that I am going to go, "That made me cry." And I cry. I am a crier. So it has to be a really make me ball. Like there was a movie in Toronto two years ago that when- Oh my God. I can not remember her name. It was just a twenty one-year-old director. I cried for ten minutes at that movie and I have been trying to sign that director ever since although a punk. It was called Clara and it was a really unique idea about a guy who is- he is a scientist. He is trying to kill himself, but then he discovers this planet that did not exist before. And in doing so, he finds his muse, he finds his love. I have never seen a story like that but it is a classic story. You know, boy loses girl, boy trust and kill him, boy gets down in the dumps and boy needs to find girl again. My screenwriting teacher told me, "There are seven stories to tell. It is just how you tell them." And Skizz is right. You know, when I hear about the redemption story of prison or like the person moves out to Los Angeles and tries to get- like that movie has to be really freaking good because I have seen that story. I read that story a zillion times. But if there is a unique way to tell a love story with science fiction, you know, or whatever like the script I just sold. It is the Parisian Get Out, like with a Sci-Fi twist. Have not seen that. I was like, "Okay, I can sell this and it is a blacklist script and now Ben Stiller is involved in the whole thing. So it is the uniqueness. It is storytelling. It is character. It is all about character in my opinion.

Tifanie: Thanks. Okay, thanks Ryan. All right, so just a quick [inaudible]. Hi Steve. He just wanted to make a comment for everybody, that the Sonoma International is doing an online concurrent to their postponed Festival, which is July 30th, and they will have drive-ins and outdoor social distance screening. So there we go, Skizz. That that is definitely going to kind of make things a little bit better. Yeah.  And Martin. Hi Martin. I think we answered your question about possible security. She just says apparently the film is from South by Southwest for a week and it became a mess. Do you agree? I think we just had talked about it earlier that it is just going to be have to be a conversation with the distributor and find out how best to figure it out and I am sure Southwest did not purposely do that and it is. It is all about security, but I think that is always been a problem even when even outside. of this pandemic. Does anybody else have an input on that?

Tifanie: Okay, next one Ylona. Where is the quality of the image now if someone go online? Will it make even film to be shot on tablets? Ryan, you had mentioned just the quality of films earlier-

Ryan: Oh, [inaudible] the entire movie on his iPhone. That seem to do okay. I mean, I do not think it was his best work, but from a filmmaking standpoint to be honest with you from a quality standpoint, it looked like a sixteen millimeter or old thirty-five millimeter film, but it was the storytelling. Here is where quality of looks in movies that you know are going to be projected on the big screen that are giant action type projects. Like, you know, JoJo rabbit is something you might want to see on a big screen. But do I need to see- I think of some of the academy award-winning films or nominated films that you do not need to see on a big screen. I think what it looks like is important but what is more important is what it is that you are trying to say. What is your story? You know, you can shoot something on your iPhone. You can shoot something on a- you know, we used to shoot sixteen millimeter movies and if it told a good story, you watched. I do not know. I do not think it affects how it is that we watch movies.  I look at what- Used Mouse Car is an example. So you might know about this project. But it was a project that got abandoned two weeks before production was supposed to start even though they used some forty million into it. It was all being done in this unreal game engine, the Epic. And so, up until that point was used as a gaming device or a gaming way of visually putting games together. But the output of that- and this is how you are going to previous movies with big action sequences or big visual effects. The previous output is so good that it is broadcast quality. Now, is it something we can show at the ArcLight on a giant screen? No, you are going to have to treat it. But the output from this game engine now, it is broadcast ready right out of the box. You know, so I do not think it is about the visuals, much of this is about the story that you are telling.

Tifanie: Okay. Thanks. And I am going to do one more. Sorry for those people that I did not get to. Henry, Roy, Hayek, hi there. Let us see if Stacey take this one. This is from Carlos. l will read it out loud. Cinemark CEO does not foresee a return to normality its core of movie theaters before 2022. Another recent survey evaluated that less than thirty percent of frequent moviegoers would consider going back to theaters to watch a movie before a vaccine for covid-19 become available. OTT services are exploding in sales and being film festivals such as an essential part of the film ecosystem. I would like to ask if a merging process of both online and presidential events should be highly incentivized by community turning this into a point of evolution rather than a temporary alternative to film festivals all over the world? Woo! Okay go for, Stacey. 

Stacey: That is a lot to think about. I mean, I know I have seen many filmmakers. I know like Spike Lee on Instagram a week ago posted something about you know, he was not going to go back to movie theaters until there was a vaccine. I think that movie theater is obviously will not be full until there is a vaccine or there is some solution. You know, again, I think that disruption often changes things and sometimes changes things for the better. So I think that we are going to come out of this. I do not know what it is going to look like to have an experience where you go to the movies, but I think people are going to want to go out or they going to want to go to, like an Alamo Drafthouse tape movie theater because you can have dinner and a movie. So it is more of an experience. Are you going to want to offer more things that are kind of like film festivals where you invite participants, directors and producers to do talks? Or do you have live music if the films about music? I think people are just going to have to be inventive about how to get people out of their homes experiencing cinema outside again. And I just know as a filmmaker I have had movies that have been in in theaters and I have had movies that have premiered on Netflix and all I want is for people to watch my movies and talk about them and catalyze a conversation. So at the end of the day, it is about creating great work and telling great stories and people will find them, whether it is in theaters or at their home or some platform that we do not even know about yet.

Tifanie: All right, great. And we have reached the end of this amazing panel. I am sure we can talk about this for a lot longer but we probably need to go back to you know, surfing the web and watching these amazing films that are coming out online. So thank you Stacey, Ryan and Skizz. I really appreciate your participation. And of course, we at Entertainment Law Partners are here to help and answer any questions further based of this webinar or anything else. You can find Entertainment Law Partners at Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. Ryan, Stacy and Skizz, if you would like to give our audience a way that they can find you. Just let us know here really quick.

Skizz: www.skizz.net

Stacey: I have a website, that is www.staceyreiss.com. 

Ryan: Well, check the trade. You will be able to reach me to new place hopefully next week. 

[laughter]

Tifanie: Okay, great.

Stacey: Congrats. 

Tifanie: Congrats. Yeah, everything is changing new. And one other quick note, special thank you and much appreciation to my producer and director and law clerk Kelmer Messina. Thank you so much, Kelmer. And just one last note. I just want to take them all say that together we will make change in our entertainment business. We have the biggest voices and obviously with everything going on, we want to be positive and make sure that our influence comes across in many other ways. So take care everybody. Be safe. Bye.

Stacey: Thank you. 

Tifanie: Thank you everybody.

Ryan: Bye.

[end]

COPYRIGHT; DISCLAIMER: Tifanie Jodeh is Partner at Entertainment Law Partners dedicated to corporate, business and entertainment affairs. You may contact her at Asst@entlawpartners.com.

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