I am please to announce that my short film "Feather Warrior" is now for sale in the online store. This is one of my most enjoyed stories and I would like to say it's all due to my writing and directing skills. But, I think it has more to do with the cuteness factor of the kids in this movie.
This short film was recently showcased in the RebFest online Film Festival and I am proud to say, got rave reviews all around.
Running Time: 5 min.
Rated PG for some action and silly violence.
I hope you enjoy it.
If this film doesn’t strike your fancy you can visit the online store and see what else we have to offer.
Thank you,
- M
I’m sure by now you’re asking yourself “What is this filmmaking 2.0 thing he’s always going on about?”
I can assure it isn’t just social networking or a way to raise money. It’s a philosophy. A new way of thinking.
It’s both audience building and community building. It’s a testing ground to see how a group of people responds to your story, film, book, or idea.
For several years I have been a huge fan of podcasts and new media programming. To be quite honest, with the exception of NPR, I’ve been “off” terrestrial radio for about five years. If I want to hear a song or album, I buy it and put it on my MP3 player of choice (those who know me know exactly which MP3 player that is). Podcasting provided a way for me to find original content…from real people, like me.
Podcasters, for the most part, neither speak for one specific product, nor work for one specific company. They can (and do) speak for anything they want. Their loyalty lies with their intended audience. And no matter how narrow the niche, an audience is out there.
As many of you may know, out of podcasting came Podcast Novels, which were serialized audio books, traditionally released chapter by chapter. There are a lot of writers and storytellers out there with an unpublished book, some with entire series of books that they have written. These writers want to tell their story, but don’t want to wait the sometimes years it takes to grab an agent or publishing company’s attention.
The podcasting of fiction became a huge success and authors such as Scott Sigler, J.C. Hutchins, Seth Harwood and James Melzer have all been able to turn that success into actual book deals with big Publishing companies. How did they do it? In every instance the author took the time and did the leg-work to build theiraudience. It’s no secret that having an audience makes selling your story much MUCH easier. It’s why “Zombie Ninjas from Outer Space 2” has a much better box office return than the first installment, even though true critics know the first one remains the best Zombie Ninja movie of all time.
So, this is where Filmmaking 2.0 comes in. I started thinking about how I could build an audience for a film that does not exist? At first it seemed impossible. It seemed like even trying would be a waste of time. So, I thought long and hard about it…and it hit me. Not just a light bulb over my head, but a lightning bolt to my brain. I kept seeing and hearing it over and over in my mind’s eye.
Filmmaking 2.0…Let’s Make This Thing…Filmmaking 2.0…can it work?
Hell yes, it can work!
And in the next blog post, I will explain how…
Before I go, I want to thank all of you for reading and for your heart-warming encouragement and support. To every one that has donated money to this cause, or bought one of my short stories in the store; it is YOUR overwhelming response that has convinced me that this project can and will work.
Thank you for everything,
M
Greetings from Let’s Make This Thing Headquarters. I have been workinng tirelessly this past week trying to get the website up and running. It may not look like much to you, but let me just say that I’m a writer, not a coder and this we design stuff makes very little sense to me. So, having explained how daft I am at web design, I don’t have to reiterate it took massive amounts of brain power for me to get this online store working. Right now we only have two items in the store, but I will be adding more things that you can buy to support the Let’s Make This Thing cause.
Both of these stories below are offered in an e-book/PDF format and the are both just $1.00. Enjoy!
- Feather Warrior – Short Film
Synopsis:
After she is humiliated at a sleepover, a young girl’s innocent summer plans are transformed into a quest for revenge. The story centers on a humorous stand off between the Feather Warrior and her oppressor.
Rating: PG – for some action and silly violence .
Running Time: 4:35
- Philip the Great – Short Story
When a fry cook and writer named Philip buys a photograph from a street vendor, he is thrust in to the adventure of his life. The photograph pulls Philip into a strange, but vaguely familiar place. In the mystical world, Philip meets a ragtag clan of people who confuse him as their leader. Purchase in [...]
- The Lonliness of the Long Distance Space Traveller – Short Story
When Skyman Philip Anderson escapes from his deteriorating mother ship, he had know idea it would be his last voyage. In the lonely days and weeks to follow, he finds himself reflecting on how hie has lived his life, all the while drifting aimlessly through deep dark depths of outer space. Purchase in e-book/PDF format [...]
Greetings! I hope everyone is getting excited about Let’s Make This Thing. I know I am. What I have for you today is just a quick, little teaser video I put together so I could get the Let’s Make This Thing podcast up and running. You can’t subscribe to the podcast through iTunes, just yet. But you can subscribe by clicking RSS Podcast button in the right hand sidebar of this page. Once you have copied the RSS info, you can just paste it in to the podcast catcher of your choice. I just submitted to iTunes today and it will most likely be a while.
I hope everyone subscribes so the can stay up to date with all the stuff that is going on and all the things I have planned. I hope you enjoy the video.
This is only the beginning…
Thanks,
M
Hello, my name is Michael Bekemeyer. If you’ve found this site, either we follow each other on Twitter, or you follow someone who posted this link for me. One way or the other, I would like to welcome you to Let’s Make This Thing, a venture I am calling Filmmaking 2.0.
As an independent filmmaker I am always searching for new stories, ideas and concepts that connect people. I’m hoping to build an audience and perhaps gain financing for my next feature film using social networking as a platform. My plan is to have a totally open stage, where the audience has a front row seat to the entire process of making a movie.
So, what you see here is page one of our story together. True, it’s just a simple web page. But, this is merely the start of something that is going to be wonderful and amazing. I invite you to join me on the journey. Getting a movie made isn’t always a smooth path and it is rarely easy, but making something from scratch, from begining to end, is the some of the most rewarding work one can do.
If you don’t already follow me on Twitter, please feel free to do so. Send me an email, let’s get to know each other. And be sure to let me know how you found me. I can’t wait to meet you, can’t wait to see what happens next.
Let’s do it. Let’s make this thing…together.
Stay tuned in the coming weeks and months as this project grows. I promise, this is just the begining. I have a lot planned to keep this project exciting for everyone.
Thank you,
Michael Bekemeyer
