Category Archives: finance

Is big Hollywood a thing of the past? Or is Speilburg’s history just unpopular?

In a joint pep-talk to impressionable young filmmakers, Speilburg and Lucas put on a sour face and predicted the “implosion” of the film business.  That’s a way to encourage them kids! They weren’t the first filmmakers to go curmudgeon when … Continue reading

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Is the Middle Class disappearing? Who is middle class anyway?

The Huffington Post and Forbes Magazine agree on something.  The Middle Class is Shrinking. Kenneth Rapoza for Forbes puts it short in the title to his article from 9th of November, 2012: “America’s Middle Class Shrinks Further. Now, Blacks And … Continue reading

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How crowdfunding is changing the way we make films.

Big budget movies have long been about gimmicks.  Since the success of Star Wars, it seems that nearly every children’s movie starts with how well the character would play out as a toy. But the micro-budget movies we grew up … Continue reading

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Ceredigion County Council gives Ptara staff “10 out of 10″

In a score for a recent tender, the Ceredigion County Council rated the CVs of Ptara staff at “10 out of 10.” We didn’t get the tender, and the council has not gone into detail about why they didn’t like … Continue reading

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When will we learn that sanctions just don’t work?

“North Korea is already tied up in layers of sanctions. They don’t seem to have have any impact. ” Says Lucy Williamson for the BBC. Little does she know, the sanctions do have an impact, and a big one. The … Continue reading

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Crowdfunding Project: Dara Says

Dara Says is a Romantic Comedy set it Wales. Working on this film for the past six months has been fun and funny. When I wrote the script a few years ago, I didn’t feel like the character at all.

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Historical documentary up for award, after failing to get its budget

The first time I heard of “To Say Goodbye“, it was looking for money for its all-or-nothing Kickstarter Campaign. I wrote an article about writing history before it’s too late when it their campaign was in its final hours.  Time … Continue reading

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The creativity of writing a budget

Creative accounting is wrong, but it’s not wrong to be creative when accounting. We were putting together some numbers for a project, and the budget started looking, well, bloated.  We hoped to keep total costs down below a certain threshold.  … Continue reading

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Are our movies supported by the Chinese government? What about the Californians?

If you look at the box of a Mac, it’ll probably say “Made in China” and “Designed in California.”  That might seem insignificant, until you realize the same kinds of labels are being used to justify a war with Iran. … Continue reading

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Are we different from the Conquistadors of 500 years ago?

According to Survival International, we may not be. Now, Survival International has a campaign to promote, but their message got me thinking.  How have our motivations changed over the past half a millennium?  What makes us different today than the … Continue reading

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