DIY 2017 film movement - definition/how to do it (this is our version of the Dogme 95 manifesto :) )
9/15/17
- written by sujewa ekanayake
(about the weird part - make it unusual - subject matter wise - surreal, a monster movie maybe, sci-fi perhaps, undefinable cult weird perhaps - something other than a romantic comedy set in the real world or a drama set in the real/normal world. we'll know weird when we see it)
(this list is mostly to encourage people - specially artists, minorities, women - people who are not favored by the established film business in various countries - to make movies. if we limit the development process, keep it small, keep it art making focused/based, we may be able to make more movies more often and distribute them - each movie like an unusual piece of art)
if the director, on a fiction feature film (only applies to fiction films, not documentaries)
1 - writes the script
2 - produces the movie
3 - directs the movie
4 - shoots the movie (or plays a very significant role in capturing the images, designing the images)
5 - edits the movie
6 - fundraises, including fully or partially self-funding
7 - creates the promotional material, and does some or all promotional work
8 - distributes the movie (either self-distributes or has a significant role to play in all distribution decisions)
9 - makes the movie for a very low budget
10 - uses relatively unknown actors
- using famous actors is OK if the director organically knows them - friends from the neighborhood, social media friends, etc. or if the actors just come out and audition for the roles. or if the actors want to help produce, market, distribute the movies.
then it is a DIY 2017 movie
why? this is to encourage more diverse voices from around the world to make and distribute movies
and to encourage people to practice filmmaking as an art form that can mostly (most important decisions and work) be made by one artist
the film must be feature length (72 mins or over, ideally 90 mins) - it’s a greater challenge
- ideally the films will have a diverse cast
- and a diverse crew
- and will largely ignore critical opinion, public opinion, industry opinion, including film festivals
- - it is fine to participate in the film criticism world, go after a large audience, and go after film festivals, etc - but those things are not necessary to be considered a success within this new genre
- should be interesting to some people besides the director - from 100 to 10K to 100K to 1 million people or more
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