Today I read a very interesting quote coming from the journalistic efforts taking place during the 2013 Cannes Film Festival currently featuring actors, filmmakers, musicians, buyers and celebrities on the largest red carpet in entertainment and films projected on the most coveted film festival silver screen to much fanfare yet very little panache.

The quote reads something like this, "The third installment of the phenomenally popular series." However it is a motion picture, a film a Hollywood movie which the writer is referencing and not a television serial. So, I ask: When did movies become series? For some time now Hollywood has exhibited more creativity in sucking out all thing creative and artistic while raising artistic license to wring out the ROI (return-on-investment) on any project or actor; however, labeling a film or a movie a series is downright comedic with an element of perfect timing.

And here lies and makes the perfect need for independent film. Independent filmmakers primary goal is to tell a story. Independent filmmakers are not seeking 15 minutes of fame nor to develop the latest billion dollar film branded serial.  The indie filmmaker wants you to feel something and not necessarily the same thing you felt taking in the last branded film production you saw via your smartphone, I-visual, car head rest, airplane ride, mammoth home flat-screen TV or mega-cinemaplex.

We are headed to a place in the not so distant future and right here in our human galaxy where every film will fly, explode and fuck. Audiences will escape for 120 minutes and return to their I-places and E-worlds without any real human investment - just another serial viewer.

Crowd funding platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo got a significant visibility bump from the Veronica Mars campaign, which has collected a record-setting $4.4M and counting. Now one financing company is looking to cash in on the fundraising mania. BlueRun Media launches BlueRun Crowdfund, created to help filmmakers manage crowd funding campaigns and handle the fulfillment of reward prizes for backers.

Flickeria sees this as the beginning of the end of true independent filmmakers using these platforms to raise funding for their films – as our celebrity obsessive culture may side with the likes of name recognition rather innovative stories and projects for which crowd funding platforms are for. What next – Steven Spielberg launches a Kickstarter campaign for his next film? That’s not what Kickstarter is for.

Over the past two months I have seen two (2) heavy Oscar contenders. Both films, Lincoln and Argo, are based upon US history. While most Americans know Abraham Lincoln as the 16^th US President and the emancipator of slavery in the United States of America, what do we really know about the man behind this historic action?

Argo a pseudo action-thriller from actor Ben Affleck “loosely” unfolds the story of the US Embassy raided by Iranians in 1979 and really our first entre into what is now classified and labeled as “terrorism.” Oddly enough, the first 3 minutes of Argo is an informative and powerful, if brief, photo journalistic presentation with voice-over telling the “true” history of Iran and super petroleum user nations USA and UK pleasant “terrorists” behavior and involvement in Iran and most oil-producing nations around the globe.

Like any Steven Spielberg production the elements of filmmaking are stunning. He is able to acquire the highest level of talent: from Sound to Editing and from Cast to Locations. However, just as there is no E.T., this Lincoln only exists in Hollywood and it’s screenplays. As for Argo, it also ends with a photo journalistic collection of actual portraits next to actors’ photos of the rescued.

History books often depict historical events and people in a one dimensional cloth while Hollywood and scripter’s seem to make the person and language relatable rather than focusing on the actual – also known as the truth or the facts. You should know, no Black soldier approached President Lincoln while dressed in pristine US issue military attire, spoke perfect English and then recited one of Lincoln’s orations back to him. Presenting untruths (aka propaganda) such as this sets the nation back to the Civil War and Blacks/African Americans even further back because the presentation is brazenly false. The Hollywood image is enlightenment for the typical American and seeing these images often makes the masses numb to the reality of man’s plight.

I have yet to see Kathryn Bigelow’s action thriller Zero Dark Thirty about America’s efforts to capture – or kill – Osama bin Laden, but it has already collected a few Best Picture awards. With the rapid nature of news today, we are getting information via a multitude of platforms and translatable language. In the end there seems to be (1) What actually happened; (2) What was reported; (3) What was texted or social-media’ed; (4) What Hollywood created; and (5) What the audience interprets.

Thus, whilst most historical movies are far from accurate in displaying the people or events, if this leads the masses to bookstores and online to learn the true, may be one day in the near future the real history will not have to exist in the background.

Take a gander at the Top Grossing Indie films of 2012 - thus far.  As we meet the pivotal and lucrative Independence Day Weekend summer mark, here is a look at films outside-the-box and quite worthy of your viewing pleasure. Some are in theaters nearby you, while other films are available to stream online or on DVD. Whatever the case may be for you, pick a few and view for yourself.

1. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Fox Searchlight) - $40,619,000
2. Moonrise Kingdom (Focus Features) - $19,173,220
3. Salmon Fishing In The Yemen (CBS Films) - $9,047,981
4. Bernie (Millennium) - $7,359,976
5. Friends With Kids (Roadside Attractions) - $6,861,102
5. Casa De Mi Padre (Lionsgate) - $5,909,483
6. October Baby (Samuel Goldwyn) - $5,157,886
7. Jeff, Who Lives at Home (Paramount Vantage) - $4,269,426
8. The Raid: Redemption (Sony Pictures Classics) - $4,104,909
9. Bully (The Weinstein Company) - $3,495,043
10. Albert Nobbs (Roadside Attractions) - $3,014,696
11. The Intouchables (The Weinstein Company) - $2,624,080
12. Girl In Progress (Lionsgate and Pantelion) - $2,609,412
13. Jiro Dreams of Sushi (Magnolia) - $2,480,095
14. Footnote (Sony Pictures Classics) - $2,004,736
15. Monsieur Lazhar* (Music Box Films) - $1,851,675
16. We Need To Talk About Kevin (Oscilloscope) - $1,738,692
17. Safety Not Guaranteed (FilmDistrict) - $1,736,000
18. 2012 Oscar Nominated Short Films (Shorts International) - $1,702,415
19. Hysteria (Sony Pictures Classics) - $1,556,519
20. The Kid With a Bike (IFC Films) - $1,389,524

Scientists in Japan have created a mathematical model they are calling, “The Hit Phenomenon.” By calculating the advertising film budget, the running duration of the campaign and its social media word of mouth quotient, a team from Tottori University have worked to predict the success of such films as Spider-Man 3 and Avatar and then compared their findings to actual box office receipts.

Research findings appearing in the New Journal of Physics offer, “They appeared to match very well, meaning the calculations could provide a fairly good prediction of how successful a movie could be even before it is released.” The scientists used the model to calculate the likelihood of an individual going to see a movie in a Japanese theater over a period ranging from 60 days ahead of a movie’s release to 100 days after the opening.

Although the study was based on the Japanese market, its lead author, Akira Ishii, told Agence France Presse he thinks the model is “very general. It will work in other countries as well.” Ishii pointed out a key benefit of the formula is that companies can calculate the best time to spend advertising dollars. The next step is getting the model to Hollywood. Ishii and team hopes to make "The Hit Phenomenon" commercially available in the future. Hollywood may soon be able to plug into the formula but will American movie ticket buyers behavior be predictable remains to be forecast.

Smoking has long been a great source of cinematic stylistic magic. During the Golden Age of Hollywood and cinema one would be hard pressed to find a movie or movie star that did not light up. This afternoon during my midday reading session, I read a wonderful little featurette in my brother Vincent's favorite magazine Robb Report. The Robb Report is luxury from a man's man's point of view and this article on "Hot Spots" has nothing to do with technology, shopping nor the female anatomy. A Robb guy is beyond such pedestrian activities.

Hot Spots are the new evolved cigar lounge trend.  The first cigar lounges appeared in the 19th century. And in spite of Queen Victoria’s disapproval of tobacco, it became a cherished bonding ritual for like-minded gentlemen to puff and unwind over cigars in a well appointed space. The tradition soared to new levels during Wall Street and technology boom in the late 1980s and 1990s. However by 2008 cigar clubs and bars were largely snuffed out due to escalating cigar prices, tobacco shortages, and the economic downturn.

Over the past two years, there has been a new take on the cigar lounge around the country. Partly, it is a development related to the cocktail trend coupled with reaction to modern-day Queen Victorias: 27 states and countless municipalities enforcing antismoking laws, thus a growing need for puff havens.

Today the cigar lounge is being rekindled by a combination of classic clubs and creative new sparks. Robb Report puffed through them, eliminating the ordinary, the smoking rooms attached to cigar shops, the lone bench in a hotel garden, to find the best spots around the country for a smoke. Each of these places offers something exceptional: exceedingly rare cigars or spirits, or the chance to have a smoke on a bluff above the Pacific, in an under-the-radar airport lounge, after a relaxing spa treatment or with a finely prepared meal. Check it out: Robb Report.

Flickeria came across this wonderful and inspired feature on Mused from Drew-Shane Daniels about supporting Black gay projects. In the piece, Daniels starts out: Declaring there is a lack of positive gay portrayal in the media would be an understatement.  Truth be told, if we were to make a list of things we’re lacking in our {Black gay} community, the list would be even longer. Our actors, directors, writers and businesses merely go unnoticed by mainstream media and often by the very community it creates for, exists to serve and lift up. The lack of funding from sponsors quickly turn into the same brands bringing us an ‘Absolut’ moment. We want to see change, but often find it hard to support even the smallest platforms where change can foster.

Economic power equates to respect. The Black gay community has much economic power. There is much wealth inside of our homes and right in our wallets; yet our dollars and economic strength goes largely unnoticed as we trickle and pour our support into businesses, films, travel, brands, services, clubs and bars that have no value or mission in advancing or even supporting our well-being. Every dollar and cent we spend is potential influence, change and power. Placing your cash into the correct coffer will help us achieve social and political justice regardless acceptance. With confidence comes empowerment and finally with empowerment comes success. It is your duty to identify businesses in your community and to support them -- just as you would the latest clothing and shoes trends. And encourage your friends, family and colleagues to support them too.

I read this terrific article "How to Introduce a Character." Although it was written for novelists, the same character development strategies apply to screenplays. Try these tips:

1. Provide the character with a solid background study.

2. Have them carry an obsession or two.

3. Emotional crutches.

4. A chance to be ‘one of the guys’.

5. Be adversarial.

6. Sharp wit. Sharp Tongue. Pretty self-explanatory.

7. Healing relationship.

8. Secrets. Plenty and big.

9. Career.

Check out the entire article on Black Literature Magazine.

Here are some successful tips to successfully funding your indie film project from producer Jim Jermanok ("Passionada", "EM"):

1. State Film Commissioners. Sometimes city film commissioners are aware of the equity investors in their region, particularly in those areas where there are tax incentives or rebates.

2. Entertainment Lawyers. Entertainment lawyers who specialize in independent film are aware of dozens upon dozens of executive producers, investors or angels.

3. Startup Investors. Tech and entrepreneurial meet-ups and conferences gather in every major city treat your film project like the next big start-up.

4. Restaurant/Bar/Nightclub Investors. These peeps are used to risky and collaborative investments.  They also like fun or glamorous investments. Also it can be promotional for their spot.

5. Philanthropists. Every community has them, Philanthropists, who have a history of contributing to the arts.

6. IMDB. Target "Executive Producer” or “Co-Executive Producer” titles as these are usually the investors.

and I will add:

7. Kickstarter. It's the world's largest platform for creative projects funding.

8. Indie Go-Go. A global funding platform to get your project funded.

REF: http://www.indiewire.com/article/6-techniques-to-research-and-locate-film-investors