About Indie Film Blogger Road Trip

In the feature length documentary Indie Film Blogger Road Trip independent filmmaker & blogger Sujewa Ekanayake (Date Number One, DIY Filmmaker Sujewa blog) travels to several U.S. East Coast cities in the Summer of 2008 and discusses the thriving world of indie film journalism on the web, related Internet writings & other matters relevant to the indie film community with over a dozen bloggers who write about indie film and or media professionals who rely on indie film blogs to accomplish their daily work. Subjects discussed in the film include: professional development and breakthroughs as film journalists, the intersection of race and indie filmmaking, the role blogs play in keeping indie film fans & writers who do not live in major cities connected to the scene, several takes on the amount of participation by women in both the indie filmmaking world & indie film blogging world, debates regarding the value of blogs when compared to traditional/print media reviews and articles, the effect of digital production on minority filmmaking, several view points on whether the indie film blog world is an actual community in a traditional sense, motivations for blogging about indie films, benefits of blogging about indie films, difficulties involved in being an independent blogger or journalist, questions and many answers regarding whether blogs are ultimately a positive thing or a negative thing for the indie film world, promotional & distribution strategies adopted by makers of independent horror movies, the role blogs play in supporting work done by media production organizations, screening events, film festivals, and museums, what the near future may hold for both indie filmmakers and indie film bloggers.

Indie Film Blogger Road Trip features: Anthony Kaufman (indieWIRE, Village Voice, Anthony Kaufman's blog), Brandon Harris (Cinema Echo Chamber, Hammer to Nail, Spout, Filmmaker Magazine), Stu VanAirsdale (The Reeler, Defamer), Melissa Silverstein (Women and Hollywood), Erica Ginsberg (Docs In Progress, Docs Interactive), Chuck Tryon (The Chutry Experiment, Newcritics, Fayetteville State University), Gabe Wardell (Atlanta Film Festival, Gabe's Declaration of Principles, ATL 365 blog), Paula Martinez (Atlanta Film Festival, Paula's After Thoughts), Tambay Obenson (The Obenson Report, Beautiful Things), Noralil Ryan Fores (ShortEnd Magazine), Armando Valle (Horror 101, Armando Valle blog), KJ Mohr (National Museum of Women in the Arts, My World Bank Lunches), and Brian Geldin (The Film Panel Notetaker). Film was produced, directed, videotaped, edited by Sujewa Ekanayake, and features music by Kevin MacLeod. Indie Film Blogger Road Trip is a warm, multi-faceted, reflective introduction to - and a celebration of - a young, influential 21st century creative community.

Screenings

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World Premiere - 2/17/09 - Anthology Film Archives, NYC

Indie Film Blogger Road Trip now available to view from Atlanta Film Festival's site

Go here to get all the details or go here to watch the entire film - free from the Atlanta Film Festival's site (once at ATLFF's IFBRT page you'll have to register with B-Side in order to watch the film, but it's a fast & easy registration process). Enjoy!

- Sujewa

Indie Film Blogger Road Trip on Blip.TV - Episode 1: Visiting Obenson & Harris in Brooklyn

Get the video embed, description here.

Or go directly to the Blip.TV's Indie Film Blogger Road Trip page!

(i am not crazy about how blip's flash conversion is creating some artifacts/blur when subjects move, so, perhaps vimeo or another site will offer better image quality, further research necessary)

- Sujewa

IFBRT director in Atlanta on 4/18 for a discussion on film criticism

Get all the info. about the Atlanta Film Festival event here.

Distribution update

The latest re: a film festival participation, another NYC screening, web availability & DVD availability of IFBRT at this post at DIY Filmmaker blog.

IFBRT on Blip.tv starting near mid-2009

I plan on releasing IFBRT in the form of several episodes (each visiting one or more cities & one or more bloggers) through Blip.tv starting near mid-2009 (at some point in May or June most likely, after a possible 2nd screening in NYC in March or April, & a possible screening/streaming/on-demand presentation in April through/with the Atlanta Film Festival). Here is the IFBRT page on Blip.tv site.

Photos from World Premiere in NYC!

Go here to see photos from IFBRT's World Premiere at Anthology Film Archives in NYC on 2/17/09.

Notes on IFBRT premiere at One Way Community blog

Check out a blog post about two audience members' experience at the IFBRT premiere on 2/17 - at One Way Community blog.

World Premiere of Indie Film Blogger Road Trip on 2/17 in NYC!

Indie Film Blogger Road Trip
World Premiere
Tuesday February 17, 2009
8 PM
Anthology Film Archives
32 Second Avenue
New York, NY 10003
(map/directions, Subway directions: F & V trains to 2nd Avenue, walk two blocks North on 2nd Avenue to 2nd Street. #6 to Bleecker St., walk one block North on Lafayette, two blocks East on Bond St. (turns into 2nd St.) to 2nd Avenue. Bus directions: M15 to 3rd Street)
* For event info. contact Sujewa Ekanayake at wilddiner@aol.com or
240-354-3394, and get updates regarding the event at:
http://indiefilmbloggersmovie.blogspot.com/
$9 ($6 for Anthology members)
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Indie Film Blogger Road Trip description:

In the feature length documentary Indie Film Blogger Road Trip independent filmmaker & blogger Sujewa Ekanayake (Date Number One, DIY Filmmaker Sujewa blog) travels to several U.S. East Coast cities in the Summer of 2008 and discusses the thriving world of indie film journalism on the web, related Internet writings & other matters relevant to the indie film community with over a dozen bloggers who write about indie film and or media professionals who rely on indie film blogs to accomplish their daily work. Subjects discussed in the film include: professional development and breakthroughs as film journalists, the intersection of race and indie filmmaking, the role blogs play in keeping indie film fans & writers who do not live in major cities connected to the scene, several takes on the amount of participation by women in both the indie filmmaking world & indie film blogging world, debates regarding the value of blogs when compared to traditional/print media reviews and articles, the effect of digital production on minority filmmaking, several view points on whether the indie film blog world is an actual community in a traditional sense, motivations for blogging about indie films, benefits of blogging about indie films, difficulties involved in being an independent blogger or journalist, questions and many answers regarding whether blogs are ultimately a positive thing or a negative thing for the indie film world, promotional & distribution strategies adopted by makers of independent horror movies, the role blogs play in supporting work done by media production organizations, screening events, film festivals, and museums, what the near future may hold for both indie filmmakers and indie film bloggers.

Indie Film Blogger Road Trip features: Anthony Kaufman (indieWIRE, Village Voice, Anthony Kaufman's blog), Brandon Harris (Cinema Echo Chamber, Hammer to Nail, Spout, Filmmaker Magazine), Stu VanAirsdale (The Reeler, Defamer), Melissa Silverstein (Women and Hollywood), Erica Ginsberg (Docs In Progress, Docs Interactive), Chuck Tryon (The Chutry Experiment, Newcritics, Fayetteville State University), Gabe Wardell (Atlanta Film Festival, Gabe's Declaration of Principles, ATL 365 blog), Paula Martinez (Atlanta Film Festival, Paula's After Thoughts), Tambay Obenson (The Obenson Report, Beautiful Things), Noralil Ryan Fores (ShortEnd Magazine), Armando Valle (Horror 101, Armando Valle blog), KJ Mohr (National Museum of Women in the Arts, My World Bank Lunches), and Brian Geldin (The Film Panel Notetaker). Film was produced, directed, videotaped, edited by Sujewa Ekanayake, and features music by Kevin MacLeod. Indie Film Blogger Road Trip is a warm, multi-faceted, reflective introduction to - and a celebration of - a young, influential 21st century creative community.
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Director & several bloggers featured in the film will attend the screening. There will be a brief Q & A session/discussion following the screening.
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Media & Event Management Contact: Sujewa Ekanayake (wilddiner@aol.com, 240-354-3394)
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:. To see the opening 9 minutes of the film visit this YouTube page:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WW70Y8My8Kc
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Indie Film Blogger Road Trip website & blog: http://indiefilmbloggersmovie.blogspot.com/
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Indie Film Blogger Road Trip Copyright 2008 Sujewa Ekanayake/Wild Diner Films

Recent mentions of IFBRT & its 2/17 premiere

(note: this post should be dated 2/15 - but is dated 2/10 keep the 2/17 premiere event announcement as the top post, after 2/17 this post will be moved to the top/its proper place date wise)

Week of Wonders

Black Box Office

The Film Panel Notetaker

more links coming after 2/17

Talking about IFBRT on The Obenson Report podcast

Check out the 2/9 Mon podcast episode here at The Obenson Report.

IFBRT & Atlanta Film Festival

Here's the latest on Atlanta Film Festival's plans for Indie Film Blogger Road Trip.

IFBRT director on a podcast Mon 2/9 at 8 PM

I'll be on The Obenson Report podcast tomorrow - Mon 2/9, at 8 PM - read about it/get the links here.

UPDATE: And here's the official post re: the podcast show at The Obenson Report.

Some film festival directors vs. IFBRT featured blogger Tambay Obenson

Read about & follow the links to the minor controversy at DIY Filmmaker. Or go directly to this post at The Obenson Report.

Some big & interesting festival related IFBRT news soon

A fest is planning on doing a few interesting things with IFBRT & hosting an event about film writing - details are still being worked out, but, in a few weeks, I'll have all the info. about this upcoming Spring '09 event. The entire thing is a very exciting idea (the event, & using IFBRT to launch the event) - can't wait/looking forward to it.

- Sujewa

Resist Edison Trust blog mentions Indie Film Blogger Road Trip

Check out the mention here. Thanks RET blog!

- Sujewa

The Daily mentions IFBRT premiere

Not only did David Hudson at The Daily blog link to info about the premiere, he posted the awesome poster for it too - check it out. Thanks David!

A 2nd US screening of IFBRT is in the works

Read about it here. But do plan on coming to the 2/17 screening at Anthology - 'cause that's the World Premiere & it's gonna be a fantabulous event.

Will be on Obenson Report podcast discussing IFBRT on 2/9

Get all the linkage here & tune in on 2/9.

IFBRT & film festivals

My current approach to film festivals (effective starting now), re: IFBRT, is:
1 - if a festival is interested in taking a look at IFBRT then they can contact me,
2 - if I think the festival will be useful for IFBRT I will send them a screener DVD,
3 - if the festival wants to program IFBRT then I will pay the submission fee, fill out the paperwork, etc. (unless the submission fee is waived, which would be good)
4 - when IFBRT screens at a fest I will promote the event through my blogs & other available means, and also will try to attend the screening if at all possible

This approach is slightly different than the typical way indie filmmakers deal with festivals. Usually it is a gamble - filmmakers pay the submission fee, fill out the paperwork, mail in a screener DVD & hope that the festival accepts the film. Since I am a DIY/self-distributing filmmaker I do not have to take that route (so far I've produced or co-produced close to 50 screenings of my movies - in Maryland, Washington, D.C., New York City, Seattle - playing the films to over 2000 audience members). And I am totally comfortable with releasing films - both at theatrical screenings & on home use formats - w/out any festival play, if need be.

However, IFBRT would be a good film to screen at festivals, if we can work out a mutually beneficial arrangement, as described at top.

- Sujewa

Kevin B. Lee will introduce the doc on 2/17 :: new poster for the event

Lee will also moderate the post-screening Q & A. More here.
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Also, pictured above is the new poster for the 2/17 premiere - UPDATED 1/21 at 1:16 AM w/ final version of the poster.
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1:52 PM 1/19 UPDATE: The Obenson Report mentions the 2/17 screening - thanks Tambay!

IFBRT's opening 9 minutes on Internet Archive

In light of the recent Kevin B. Lee situation, it is probably a good idea to have video clips hosted at several sites, so, I posted the opening 9 minutes at Internet Archive.

Blogger doc premiere mentions from around the web

Hollywood Is Talking recently mentioned the 2/17 World Premiere of Indie Film Blogger Road Trip. Thanks H.I.T!

The Chutry Experiment mentioned it recently also, thanks Chuck!

Same at One Way Community blog. Thanks Princeton!

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If the event gets mentioned at your blog or site, let me know, will link to it from here. Here's the page with all the info. on the event. Thanks!

- Sujewa