Film Class at Homeboy Industries

We've started our film class at Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, the country's largest gang outreach. My hope is that a few cast and crew members for Zola will emerge from the class. But at the very least, all of us involved will learn a lot and have a great time. Also, I think the experience will help me deepen the script's authenticity. I'll certainly share the script with at least some of the students and get their suggestions.

The students are Latinos and African-Americans, mostly teens but some a couple young adults. They really want to learn. At least a couple seem serious about a career in film. One wrote in his survey that he's hoping to get "wisdom" out of the class.

The first week, they interviewed each other on camera. Two of the females took charge in their groups and once they learned how to operate the camera they showed the others! The second week, they each wrote a short scene then shot them in groups. Next week, we'll have an acting exercise which they'll shoot. Also, they'll do 1-minute pitches of their class projects.

-dominic

Developing: Marketing, Distribuition and Crew

The work on Zola Jumped In continues. During the past month, we've made some good contacts, following our strategy of generating a buzz in order to prep, fund and make our film. Both organizations are in our niche: one deals with street violence abatement and the other one is a Christian film production company. We found one of these organizations through Twitter. As a non-profit company producing an ultra-low-budget film, it is very important for us to pitch our project to our affinity groups and get donations to fund our film.

We have come up with a funding plan. Because our film could be considered as Christian, we are going to apply to some grants for Christian Related Media or Art, like the Roy W. Dean LA Grant or the Catholic Communication Campaign. We also intend to get donations and sponshorships from our affinity groups. In order to keep as much creative control as possible, we want to rely on investors as little as possible. 

As far as Marketing and Distribution, we are following the indications of Jon Reiss in his book Think Outside the Box Office, where he mentions the title of Producer for Marketing and Development. That's why we signed Connor T. Johnson up to take care of Marketing and Distribution. Connor is a filmmaker from Chicago that shot a documentary about HIV in Kenia, and has had experience with new marketing and distribution techniques. If his performance meets our expectations, he could step up to the position of Producer for Marketing and Development. Our intention is to self-distribute the film in DVD and through the internet and have public screenings in schools, churches and Festivals. We will focus on Christian, Urban or Dance related festivals to reach our target audiences. We will also attend these festivals during development to network and pitch our idea to potential collaborators.