Lights Film School Blog

Trying to Market Your Independent Film?

Lights Film School is currently looking for independent filmmakers who want to share their filmmaking experiences with our students and blog readers. We’ve interviewed filmmakers in the past (example) who have helped shed light on some very interesting ideas and creative solutions to the problem of not having access to large sums of production money. With the democratization of both the production and distribution process filmmakers are increasingly curious to know how to create and distribut...

How to Create Film and Documentary Trailers

Creating a trailer for your documentary or film is a great way to expose your story to the world. Essentially a trailer is a short montage of the text, audio and visual components of your film that act as an advertisement for the longer format version. This usually means that the most exciting footage is used in condensed format in the hopes of stimulating audience interest in your film. Everybody’s style, of course, is different and part of the joy of filmmaking is putting your stamp on your...

Independent Filmmakers Discuss Self Distribution

Lights Film School recently had the privilege of interviewing Tao Ruspoli, the director of FIX, an independent feature length narrative film. The film is currently in the festival circuit having gained entry into prestigious film festivals such as the Warsaw Film Festival and Slamdance Film Festival to name only two of many. We interviewed Tao about his production and distribution strategies in the hopes that it not only inspires other independent filmmakers, but also helps provide insight in...

Film Distribution: Hope in Emerging Markets

In the following Video a seasoned film distributor discusses buying trends in the emerging markets that filmmakers should be aware of. The main idea behind the video is that population expansion and access to technology have expanded the markets in India, China, Eastern Europe and Latin America. This had led to an increase in the demand of Cable shows, DVD's and V.O.D. Foreign sales prospects are looking more hopeful than ever. Countries in these emerging markets are now seeking all rights d...