Filmmakers Get A New Social Network

Movidiam

Pronounced: Mo-vid-ium 

Over the past few years there have been several apps and websites popping up to streamline the filmmaking process. Some organize scripts and storyboards, while others help distribute the film once it's completed. There are even sites like Filmkin, which markets itself as "The Social Network for Filmmakers". Although the functionality of Filmkin is all there, the overall design is clunky and there is a serious lack of users.

Movidiam (pronounced mo-vid-ium) takes on a fresh new approach to film networking, and aims to tackle every aspect of the filmmaking process from inception to creation to completion. Take a look at the video below to see what it's all about.

Before you get too excited to hop on and join, I should tell you that the network is not live yet. You can enter your email to get the latest updates on when it does go live, but for now all we can do is gawk at the fancy graphics and videos on their website. We can't know what kind of impact this will have until it does actually go live, but the professional feel of the website may attract professional filmmakers and brands. Aside from the networking side of it, there also seem to be additional helpful features like call-sheet creation and budget management.

Movidiam will be free to use when you first sign up, although to access all of the features there is a hefty $25/month price tag. I'm not sure if I'll be able to afford that, but we'll see how instrumental this new social network can be. 

Ithaca Casting: A Social Networking Site for Casting

While majors in the Park School are notorious for the minimal amount of gen-ed's they require, we Television/Radio majors need to take a business class in order to graduate. Having forgot this and scrambling to find a half-way decent course to take last minute this semester, I picked up "Intro to Business." For the final, we are required to get into groups and come up with a business proposal. For my project, we decided to create a proposal for an Ithaca-based casting social network site. I figured this might be of interest to this audience and would welcome any idea for improvement.

One of the biggest issues we as student filmmakers face is finding and organizing actors. I know on my own productions, actors have created huge problems in the time management and scheduling of projects. While holding individual auditions, trying to steal the illusive casting DVDs that keep changing hands, and begging friends to make time in their own schedules to act in our films have worked out in the past, I have always felt there should be a more reliable and structured way of getting decent actors to commit to film projects. And I am sure I am not alone in this feeling.

Ithaca Casting (a tentative name) would be an Ithaca-based social networking site, created to connect local filmmakers with local actors. Both student and local filmmakers can create project pages where they can describe their needs and schedules. Actors can create profiles where they can upload their reels, describe their experience, and include their availability. Actors will also be able to post audition tapes and comments on filmmakers' project pages. Think of Ithaca Casting as the beautiful love child of Craigslist, LinkedIn, and Kickstarter.

There are a few big projects that have used similar approaches to find talent. The Queen Extravaganza is looking for talented musicians to perform with the surviving members of the band for the celebration of Queen's 40th anniversary. Interested performers can post auditions tapes to their website to win a chance to perform in the show. Fox's Glee is using a similar format to find new talent for their show as well.

While my project is proposing that members pay a monthly or annual fee to be able to access the website, it's still up for debate. Are there any other elements you would like to see in such a site? Any other features you would think that would make the casting experience a little friendlier?

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An interesting article on this sort of idea: Social Media is Changing TV Casting - thedefectorsblog.com