List: Blogs That Will Review Undistributed Films v1.0

All of these blogs got recommended to me as being open to reviewing unreleased film.

I have placed the name of the individual who recommended next to the blog.

http://brendonbouzard.com/blog/ Brendon Bouzard

http://cinemaechochamber.blogspot.com/ Brandon Harris

http://wwww.cinematical.com Tze Chun

http://www.cinevegas.com/blog/ Christophe Lepage
http://d2dvd.blogspot.com/ Bill Cunningham action,horror, pulp,sci-fi, thriller

http://www.filmthreat.com/blog/ Christophe Lepage

http://www.filmschoolrejects.com Tze Chun

http://www.hammertonail.com/ Ted Hope

http://iradeutchman.com Christophe Lepage
http:/www.ironweedfilms.com Christophe Lepage
MyFiveYearPlan Brendon Bouzard

http://www.nerve.com/CS/blogs/screengrab/default.aspx Christophe Lepage
http://www.notcoming.com Tze Chun

http://www.sf360.org/blogs Christophe Lepage

http://www.slashfilm.com/ http://www.slashfilm.com/

http://www.spout.com Tze Chun & Christophe Lepage
http://twitchfilm.net/site/ Tze Chun

http://videocrity.blogspot.com/ Dave Nuttycombe

PLEASE NOTE: I have not confirmed this acceptance policy with any of the sites. Please confirm on your own and let me know.

This will be an ongoing to-be-revised list. Check back for updates.

Needed: List of Indie Film Blogs Open To Reviewing Undistrib'd Films

In response to the LOVELY BY SURPRISE post the other day, filmmaker Ashley Meyers wrote in with this suggestion: What Indie Film Blogs will cover undistributed films? Please help us build this list. Let us know which ones you know about. Or better yet, make a whole list and send it in and get the gold star of the day!

I know one, but it will only run the positive reviews. Check out Hammer To Nail (and yes, I did help co-found it).

DIY Distribution Tips: Use A DVD-Rental Store Approved Vendor

There's a good post today on FilmmakerMagBlog by Jake Abraham on LOVELY BY SURPRISE, a film he produced and is now distributing. The only way DIY is going to really ever become a viable model is for filmmakers to do precisely what Jake is doing, and share the experience. You should definitely read the whole post, but I definitely appreciated this nugget:

we worked with Indigenous to make sure that every possible outlet, both retail and online, would carry the film. They set up Netflix, Blockbuster Online, Amazon.com, iTunes and all those other online rental and purchase sites. Also, as they are set up as a vendor with all the wholesalers that distribute to retail rental stores and purchasers like Target, K-Mart, etc., we have orders coming in from those guys as well. This detail can’t be overlooked. Working with an approved vendor is a key step to getting your DVD in rental stores all over the U.S. (yes, they still exist). Don’t wait until your DVD is pressed to do this. It takes months to get all of this set up properly. The consequence of delaying this process is severe, as your film will not be available everywhere you want it to be when your marketing push is on and potential viewers won’t be able to access it.

Of course this brings up the question:

Who are the approved DVD vendors for the remaining DVD rental stores? It would be great to create a list. Anyone know of any? This is the kind of information every filmmaker needs to have and needs to know where to access.

We screened LOVELY BY SURPRISE at our This is that Goldcrest Screening Series and the film went over quite well with our crowd. The most uniform response I heard was that everyone thought the film was unique and they had not seen anything like it. How great is that?!! I wished I lived in a world where this was the most sought out attribute from all filmmakers. To me such praise is gold. There should be a box where you can check that as your preference. I would join a film club in a heartbeat that promised originality on a regular basis.

Reading Jake's column though, it reminds how early into the wilderness we all are. To forge a path requires a huge communal effort. There is so much I don't know, and I would bet I know a hell of a lot more than you do (not to be smug, but...). But it is not intimidating; it is only reality. When I look at the work everyone did demystifying production, development, festival strategy, and initial sales -- essentially the work of the Indie Film movement of the last 15 years, I know that distribution and marketing are conquerable too. Provided we share that is. So what are the next steps?

We should start a regular column here on DIY Distribution Tips. Let me know if you have any.

Like the DVD-Rental Store Approved Vendor List, also let me know of any further lists you think we need to build.

And check out the LOVELY BY SURPRISE website. It's nice. One thing I think they did really well was the placement of the widgets to add the film to you Netflix or Blockbuster queue. Ditto the Amazon pre-order button. The booking link gets a bit lost due to the consistency of the font and structure, but neatness still counts for a lot in my book. Still since any true indie booker or theater will want this film, it would be nice if it popped a tad more for them.

Map Making: Thoughts On Thinking "Free"

I should have known Free would be the mantra of the weekend. We were going to take Hope The Younger to freeload at Vanessa's Dad's pad by the beach for the 4th, but before we left, we had the op to share a cab back from celebrating Strand's 20th with Indiewire's Eugene Hernadez; under his arm, still in it's protective wrapper, was Chris Anderson's "Free". Eugene had shelled out the $27 bucks for the wisdom of the nothing economy. Meanwhile, I was still hoping that Anderson would still take me up on my offer to send copies to the 4 most influential people I know, and thus provide with a copy for the price of the title. I guess heads of Hollywood and Indiewood studios don't rank in his book. Back from the sea, sand still between my toes, I still haven't read the meme of the moment, and now must live vicariously.

I once had a friend who said he preferred reading criticism than seeing or reading the real deal. I just may have to settle for that experience myself on this one, but luckily we all have the pleasure of both Malcolm Gladwell and Janet Maslin chiming in on Anderson's book so we can still participate in the daily chatter.

Just so it's clear -- if it isn't already -- Anderson's "free" is not the same "FREE" of this blog's inspiration (and title). Here on TFF, free is used in terms of thought, execution, and means of distribution. Here I mean FREE in terms of content, not economy. Granted there is a lot of overlap, but basically I am hoping that by changing our economic model to adapt to the reality of our times, what once was mistakingly called Indie Film can be a far more diverse and participatory culture. But more on that later. Back to that other Free...

Generally the question everyone seems to want to know is how do you make money, let alone recoup your time and money, when you are giving the product away for free?

“The way to compete with Free is to move past the abundance to find the adjacent scarcity,” states Chris Anderson in his book. What does that mean for you the filmmaker?

Scott Macauley on FilmmakerMagBlog tipped me to Brian Newman's powerpoint on moving beyond Free, and actually how to make a living with Free. Brian answers that question quite clearly & concisely.

Brian, borrowing from Kevin Kelly's "Better Than Free", points out where the added value comes in:

• Immediacy: Give them something now
• Personalization: To their needs
• Interpretation: with study guide, or commentary
• Authenticity: From you directly, signed by you
• Embodiment: Speaking Fees
• Patronage: Support the artist; Radiohead model
• Accessibility: Make it easy to get
• Findability: Work with partners who make you findable

The powerpoint is without audio, but pretty easy to follow if you have been following this blog.

Filmmakers making a living with Free

View more documents from Brian Newman.

To further answer this Question-Of-The-Moment, Janet Maslin points out in her review:

Mr. Anderson sees that consumers think not only about money but also about intangibles like convenience, access, quality and time.

Maslin, in contrasting Anderson's "Free" with Shell's book "Cheap", also hits upon one of the plagues that runs amok in Indie Filmland:

Ms. Shell’s intangibles are different; she argues that moral accountability and responsibility are often sacrificed for the sake of cheap pricing.

They didn't write a book on that because it would require two words: Bad Behavior. I find that even the filmmakers who adopt the "film-is-war" approach to production (more Bad Behavior), still struggle over these principles. People don't like to exploit others, although sometimes they allow themselves to get distracted to the point such exploitation becomes a tad too convenient. Those that do have started to lose some of those human qualities. Generally I find the creative brigade would love to find ways to get their work made and seen without having to ransom moral accountability and responsibility. People will adopt good behavior if they are reminded or given the opportunity or have a gun held to their head (daily).

I think the gun is there along with the opportunity and the daily reminders.

Yet, the fear of there be no real business model there too, leads a lot to indulge in a less rigid sense of effects. It's funny how survival leads many to cannibalize themselves. And as clearly as Gladwell deconstructs Anderson's model, he too finds it difficult to unearth the money-generating Free model:

There are four strands of argument here: a technological claim (digital infrastructure is effectively Free), a psychological claim (consumers love Free), a procedural claim (Free means never having to make a judgment), and a commercial claim (the market created by the technological Free and the psychological Free can make you a lot of money). The only problem is that in the middle of laying out what he sees as the new business model of the digital age Anderson is forced to admit that one of his main case studies, YouTube, “has so far failed to make any money for Google.”

To makes matter worse, providing for Free, isn't free to YouTube. As Gladwell points out "A recent report by Credit Suisse estimates that YouTube’s bandwidth costs in 2009 will be three hundred and sixty million dollars." And then it gets even worse from there:

...in order to make money, YouTube has been obliged to pay for programs that aren’t crap. To recap: YouTube is a great example of Free, except that Free technology ends up not being Free because of the way consumers respond to Free, fatally compromising YouTube’s ability to make money around Free, and forcing it to retreat from the “abundance thinking” that lies at the heart of Free. Credit Suisse estimates that YouTube will lose close to half a billion dollars this year.

So where does all this leave us? Indie films been losing approximately two billion a year (guesstimate: 4000 features @ $500K avg. budget; all not distributed or recouping).Gladwell's summation essentially comes down to that there are no easy answers -- but that easy answers do sell books (or at least get you a publishing deal, and the 4th of July meme of the moment).

But talented artists still want to make movies. And to make good movies, we all need to focus on the movies first and foremost. But good movies aren't enough in this world to get seen.

1. A good first step is to work harder to make your film better and more distinct.
2. The second step is team up and start to truly collaborate.
3. Try following Kevin Kelly's 8 Generatives for step #3.
4. I think the fourth step is follow those rules via some of the methods we've relayed here.
5. Let's call the fifth step sharing your knowledge with each other in hopes that we will find a way.

Step by step we will get there. Let's make this map together.

As Joe Tripitican commented below, the musicians are dealing with this all straight on. There's a lively debate he tipped us to over on Jonathan Taplin's blog too. Check it out.

And Mark Cuban wants to encourage all business-minded to avoid the freemium model as he believes any successful free-ium play will grow until it becomes to large, expensive, and retro. There will always be a Facebook to replace MySpace, and a MySpace to replace Friendster, a Google to kick Yahoo's ass. Personally speaking I think all companies should plan to make themselves obsolete within five years, or they are not doing the public good.

Social Media For Storytellers

Courtesy of The WorkbookProject, comes a power point overview of how one can use to social media to extend a story and generate a conversation around their work. In case you didn't know already, in the end social media can be an effective way to build an audience / community around a project and / or a body of work.  Lance and his gang lay it out nice and clear.  If you aren't a convert yet, what more do you need?

Social Media for Storytellers

View more presentations from lanceweiler.

And here's the direct link:

http://workbookproject.com/2009/07/resource-social-media-for-storytellers/

Who Can Really Help Indie Film? #3: Small Film Festivals

Today's post is a guest post from Mathew Seig of New York Foundation For The Arts.  We are thankful he's picked up on this question and hope many of you also offer up suggestions.

WHO CAN REALLY HELP INDIE FILM?

Small film festivals, but they need help from larger ones.

Assuming that we care about films playing to a live audience in a dark theater, film festivals are the most likely venue that most independent filmmakers are going to have. For that purpose, the thousand or two thousand small U.S. festivals are as important as the largest. So instead of focusing solely on the large festivals that usually dominate our attention, let’s consider the small local and regional film festivals where independent films get most of their exposure. Large or small, film festivals have an important place in the changing world of independent film discussed by Ted Hope (“The New Model For Indie Film: The Ongoing Conversation”) at New York Foundation for the Arts on May 28, 2009 and then posted on TrulyFreeFilm.

As with so many of the independent films that they show, small festivals (and community micro-cinemas and similar venues) exist thanks to the largely unpaid efforts of serious film lovers. They don’t offer premiers of star-driven films or attract distribution representatives, but we increasingly rely on small festivals to nurture artists and audiences, and to bring personal and specialized cinema of all kinds to out-of-the-way communities. Yet small festivals share with filmmakers an urgent need to adapt to the changing circumstances of the entire business. Unlike the concern we regularly hear for filmmakers, distributors and theaters, there isn’t much hand-wringing about the fate of small festivals, or their quality, or much information about how they can keep up with the times, grow and improve.

Small festivals are largely staffed by people with a strong love of film but often without much knowledge of exhibition. To survive, prosper and grow, they need information, support, encouragement and useful criticism. The people who can best help them are those who have experience managing successful festivals, and who know how to develop relationships with audiences, sponsors, distributors and filmmakers.

Large festivals are some of the most logical places to institute this process. They provide important access to films, filmmakers and distributors, so they are already attended by representatives from smaller festivals. Adding educational programs, festival labs, and networking opportunities for their smaller cousins and for people entering the business would strengthen the entire community. A thousand healthy film festivals will help many thousands of filmmakers.

Matthew Seig
New York Foundation for the Arts

A Really Nice Filmmaker Blog

You know how I feel how important it is to bring your audience early into the process.  You know how I think it is critical to let people know what is that you love and appreciate.  You know that I believe that it is no longer about just the film, but about the ongoing conversation.  And of course it is obvious that I think that none of us can afford to just make good work, but that we need to make better films.

I was really excited to learn of Australian-based filmmaker Rhys Graham's blog The Bouy Archives.  It is simple but great (maybe it is great in part because it is simple).  Beautiful photographs.  Great quotes.  Passionate discussions on the work he admires.  And refreshingly free of business chatter.  It makes me want to see his films -- and isn't that the goal?

I got to read and consult on Rhys' project "The Warmth" at Aurora Script Conference this spring.  It's going to be a good movie.  I had no hesitation "following" this blog.  I suggest you do too.  I am going to follow it right into the theater.

Cheat Sheet #7: Truly Free Film Highlights

Today's post is again brought to you courtesy of Jon Dieringer, and is part of continuing series of cheat sheets from prior TFF posts.

-What a producer does (3 posts)/what the credit means
http://trulyfreefilm.blogspot.com/2009/03/producers-contribution-part-1-of-3.html
http://trulyfreefilm.blogspot.com/2009/06/producer-credit-what-it-means-to-me.html

-38 Indie Film Biz Concerns
http://trulyfreefilm.blogspot.com/2009/05/36-american-independent-film.html

-“The New Model for Indie Film”
http://trulyfreefilm.blogspot.com/2009/05/new-model-ongoing-conversation.html

-The Filmmaker / Exhibitor Collaboration (ArtHouse Convergence Key Note):

http://trulyfreefilm.blogspot.com/2009/01/art-house-convergence-closing-keynote.html

-The Call For A Truly Free Film Culture (Film Independent Key Note Address):

http://letsmakebetterfilms.blogspot.com/2008/09/film-independents-filmmaker-forums.html

-"52 Reasons Why Indie Film Will Flourish"

http://trulyfreefilm.blogspot.com/2009/05/52-reasons-why-american-indie-film-will.html

Cheat Sheet #6: The New DVD Thoughts

Today's post is again brought to you courtesy of Jon Dieringer, and is part of continuing series of cheat sheets from prior TFF posts.

WE NEED TO UNLEASH THE POWER OF THE DVD. 

 There is a great deal more that we can do with the technology.

A few thoughts on what should be included and done differently:

-A Different Cut: usually this is the "Director's Cut" but in TFF this would always be the same version. Sometimes this is an "Unrated" cut when changes are made for ratings purposes. Can more be done with though.

-Commentary: This is often just the director and other crew collaborators. There has been an increased openness to having other directors make commentary too. Sometimes they have been using opposing critics which can get kind of fun.
-Additional Scenes: This is usually limited to scenes that were shot to include in the movie and later removed in the edit process.
-"Added Value" Content: Generally this is elements used in the filmmaking process: script, storyboards, preliminary visual effect mock-ups.
-Publicity & Marketing Elements: Trailers, Posters, Stills, Electronic Press Kits (interviews).
-Behind The Scenes/Making Of Documentary: so-called B-roll of filmmaking process.
-Hyper-chaptering (allowing for tagging and greater commentary).

“Selling just one thing is old hat” http://trulyfreefilm.blogspot.com/2009/03/pricing-diy-dvds-other-fetish-items.html

Cheat Sheet #5: More TFF Publicity Advice

Today's post is again brought to you courtesy of Jon Dieringer, and is part of continuing series of cheat sheets from prior TFF posts.

-A good publicist might still be worthwhile (http://trulyfreefilm.blogspot.com/2008/10/film-festival-plan-still-need-to-hire.html)

-Postcards/business cards are good, can be cheaper than posters (http://trulyfreefilm.blogspot.com/2008/10/film-festival-plan-posters-postcards.html)
(http://trulyfreefilm.blogspot.com/2009/01/printing-posters-postcards.html)

-Target certain blogs and send DVDs of your film out in advance (http://trulyfreefilm.blogspot.com/2008/10/film-festival-plan-getting-word-out.html)

-Tech/Social networking/Web marketing things explained
(http://bethkanter.wikispaces.com/Making+Media+Conference)
(http://mashable.com/2008/12/27/how-to-2008/)

-Link to article on web design trends:
(http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/02/09/movie-website-designs-examples-and-current-practices/)

Cheat Sheet #4:Jon Reiss' Web Marketing List

Today's post is again brought to you courtesy of Jon Dieringer, and is part of continuing series of cheat sheets from prior TFF posts.

Jon Reiss’ web marketing list:

1. Go to Godaddy.com and purchase a domain name. Get one that ends with .com. Get your movie title. If it is unavailable add “movie” or “themovie” or “film” to the end. (You don’t need to purchase any other services during check-out.)
2. Sign up for WordPress.com. Make your blog the title of your movie/ domain. Start posting press releases and other articles, such as reviews.
3. Sign up for Youtube.com. Make your username title of your movie/ domain. Post your trailer, or you can do a video “pitch”.
4. Sign-up for an account on Facebook.com.
5. Sign-up for Flickr. Get your username title of your movie/ domain.
6. Sign up for an account at del.icio.us. Bookmark your domain, facebook page, blog page and you tube page.
7. Sign up for a google account, to use their alerts, place connect with people who talk about you.
8. Sign up for Box Office Widget. Place this on your website and on your blog. Use it as your signature on forums.
8. Sign up for Spottt. Place this banner code on your myspace page, blog, and the thank you page from Box Office Widget.
10. Go to Yahoo! Groups and find all the groups that may have interest to your film and join. Participate in the group, rather than just spam the group.

Open Video Conference: The Evolution Of Storytelling

Watch it and let me know if gives you any good ideas...  Thanks.

If you want the direct link, here it is:

http://workbookproject.com/2009/07/resource-social-media-for-storytellers

The New Rules: An Indie Film Digital Policy

Over in the UK they have a state-backed initiative to try to figure out this new digi-film culture universe.  Here in The States of course we are asked to sink or swim on our own.  

Luckily we can crib some of the insights The Brits generate.

Screen Daily reported today:

The UK Film Council and the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) is calling on the film industry to expand digital distribution, seek new sources of funding and work with online audiences as publishers not just viewers, as part of series of findings from their digital innovation programme.

Some of their initial recommendations are:

• Film companies should see online audiences as participants, authors, contributors and publishers as well as just viewers, and use this to their advantage
  
• Directors, writers and actors should be encouraged to write a blog or Twitter, to engage audiences in the film-making process
  
• Free tools such as Google Blog Search and Twitter should be used to track the performance of campaigns by monitoring site visits and bookmarks. But popularity should not be mistaken for financial success.
  
• Companies should be wary about giving away potential revenue in return for digitisation costs, and instead look into getting it done themselves.
  
• The aim should be to sell content to as many platforms as possible and to keep the deals non-exclusive or for short exclusive periods.
  
• Film-makers should look to new sources of funding. Brands and content creators are potential sources, as in the case of Shane Meadows’ Somers Town, which was financed by Eurostar.
  
• Companies should think about what would make audiences pay for content, and the principle of ‘added value’ in the form of quality of experience.
  
• The whole industry is still learning and there is no perfect online campaign, so experimenting is the key.
  

If you aren't following these recommendations, you are not living in the world of today.  Indie Film culture's survival depends on the majority getting with the program.

Cheat Sheet #3: Profit From Festival Play

Today's post is again brought to you courtesy of Jon Dieringer, and is part of continuing series of cheat sheets from prior TFF posts.

Other ways to profit from festival play (from Jon Reiss)
(http://trulyfreefilm.blogspot.com/2008/11/film-festival-plan-having-film.html)

1. Some festivals will pay you
2. Maybe they can do a PAL dub for you
3. Foreign fests could supply you with translation that you can use later on DVD
4. Connection to local theaters

-With five united filmmakers you have a booking block, a touring film festival of your own making. (http://trulyfreefilm.blogspot.com/2008/10/film-festival-plan-beyond-bonding.html)

-What about using a festival to launch direct DVD sales/promote self-distributed film rather than looking for distribution (see links to other “post-festival” posts: http://trulyfreefilm.blogspot.com/2008/10/post-fest-era.html) 

(will festivals let you sell there? Check in advance)

-Festival Secrets book, download full pdf: http://www.filmfestivalsecrets.com/book/issuu/

Cheat Sheet #2: TFF Film Festival Preparation

Today's post is again brought to you courtesy of Jon Dieringer, and is part of continuing series of cheat sheets from prior TFF posts.

Preparing for a Film Festival

1. make trailer and post on web
   
2. post clips on the web;
   
3. have ongoing blog… start during pre-production?
   
4. maintain blog through and after festival play
   
5. have website
   
6. form simple way to collect email addresses for fans
   
7. set up a way for fans to subscribe to updates about the film
   
8. join multiple social networks, both as an individual and as the film
   
9. create a press kit with press notes for the film;
   
10. identify the blogs and critics you think will help promote your film
    
11. build a study guide for the film for film clubs
    
12. map out a festival strategy that builds to local releases
    
13. make several versions of a poster, and have enough to sell & give away
    
14. make additional promotional items for your film;
    
15. manufacture the dvd, and make great packaging for it
    

Cheat Sheet #1: TFF Festival Goals

Jon Dieringer, my former assistant on ADVENTURELAND -- and who was a lot of fun, did good work and you should hire --, recently did a "cheat sheet" distilling a lot of the information from this blog.   I think he did a very nice job and I will be funneling his work to you over the next few days.  Feel free to provide any suggestions on how to enhance it further.

I am starting if off with what started off the blog: Film Festival Strategy

Festival Goals

1. Plan A has got to be that you will need to be the leading force in the distribution of your film. This is the DIY model.
   
2. Plan B is that various experts will all want to work with you on Co-Distributing your film, albeit for a fee.
   
3. Plan C is that buyers for different media will want your film and you need to be able to evaluate how to mix and match these offers -- or even accept those offers at all.
   
4. Plan D is that someone will make an offer of such an amount that it is worth considering giving up all your rights to your film for the next twenty years.
   

http://trulyfreefilm.blogspot.com/2008/10/preparing-for-film-festivals.html

Most Useful Websites For Filmmakers?

Like most folks out there, I get excited with every new list.  MovieMaker has put together their 50 Best Websites For MovieMakers.  It's a good list and will provide something fresh for virtually everyone out there.

But alas....  I was surprised not to see FilmmakerMagazineBlog on it which I read religiously -- oh wait, they are their competitor.  Now I get it.

And let me admit it, I was truly bummed not to see Truly Free Film there.  Or HammerToNail.  I guess I just have to try harder.  Or you could do me a favor (give me the strength to go on...) and stage a write in campaign to their blog and encourage them to add TFF & HTN to the list!  Thanks!

And if you ever have a thought about what will make this blog more useful, or even what you would like some discussion on, don't hesitate to write in and let me know.

Who Can Really Help Indie Film? #2: The Established Actors

Last month I asked this question, and now I am asking it again: Who can really help Indie Film?

This month's answer is the actors whom have benefited so much by indie film -- which is not to say that the Indiewoodland has not benefited even more by these actors' presence.  It has.  But why were there so many super talented actors in the indie sphere ten years ago, and now the list of "names" seems so depleted or recycled?

We need to come up with ways to promote the work of "undiscovered" actors.  There is probably no better judge of talent than the acting community itself.  Similarly there is no better promotional magnet and promotional bullhorn than the acting community itself.

I am completely confident that there are as many good actors emerging now as there were back ten years ago, but there is a problem when even working filmmakers like myself don't know the new folk.  I have always felt that one of the real draws of indie film was the discovery of new talent, both behind and before the camera.  When we are not as familiar with an actor, it is easier to see them as the character they are portraying than the star they may later turn out to be.  But the joy of discovery would lead you to think that audiences would be served a virtual parade of new faces, yet that parade has not materialized as of late.

Check out what ten years ago had to offer out of NYC alone: Steve Buscemi, Kevin Corrigan, Billy Crudup, Hope Davis, Rosario Dawson, Vince D'Ornofrio, Martin Donovan, Edie Falco, Paul Giamatti, Peter Green, Jared Harris, Phillip S. Hoffman, Michael Imperolli, John Leguizimo, Laura Linney, Julianne Moore, Rosie Perez, Parker Posey, Tim Robbins, Sam Rockwell, Paul Rudd, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schrieber, Campbell Scott, Chloe Sevigny, John Turtoro, Jeffrey Wright.

These are just the actors I thought of off the top of my head.  And I only put the ones that popped first (to my knowledge) in Indie film, not Hollywood, and those that really came of age in the last decade or decade and a half.  And were from NYC.  I know I have left a bunch off and I apologize for the slight.  Remind me who they were and I won't do it again (or I will at least try not to).

But who represents the here and now?  It's hard to have the same legnthy list: Jessica Chastain, Mark Duplass, Jesse Eisenberg, Ryan Gosling, Zoe Kazan, Anthony Mackie, Michelle Williams.    

And I had to cheat to get to seven.  Some aren't really even NYC anymore.  Or ever were.  And some have been working a long time already, not just emerging now.  If I take it back ten years or so I can add Maggie Gyllenhaal, Emily Mortimer, Alessandro Nivola, and Peter Sarsgaard.

I think I had twenty seven on the old school list.  That's pretty much a romp in any book: 27 to 7 (or maybe 11) Whassamattawiddis?  Surely it can be fixed.  I want to know who the new school is.  Where can we find them?  How can we make sure they get the good parts that launch them?  

I think it is going to start with the old school really stumping for the new school.  Not to put pressure on them, but it's time.  The IFP's Gotham Awards has a Breakthrough Performance category, but why doesn't SAG?  How come actors don't suggest other actors when they get cast (okay some do)? I don't think it is bad form; we need to know who will make all of our work really shine.  How come there isn't some sort of organization that promotes the new wave?Damn, it doesn't even have to be organized; it can be personalized.  The whole industry would benefit from this, even Hollywood.   Here's hoping...