tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3289856713823310142.post1028978708760006020..comments2024-03-27T04:34:59.958-07:00Comments on Wellywood Woman: Transmedia, & women's feature films in Ireland & in New Zealandwellywood womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13224383638978594862noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3289856713823310142.post-44275849542174928892011-01-25T21:23:13.707-08:002011-01-25T21:23:13.707-08:00I am a woman writer and I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU t...I am a woman writer and I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU the synopsis of the following book as i consider it a very good script for a filmmaker!<br /><br />APRIL CLOUDS (NUBES DE ABRIL)<br /><br />“April Clouds “is a novel of love and heartbreak set in a world of sophistication and privilege. April Tossa, a successful surgeon specialising in facial reconstruction and the pampering of egos, is an intense, irreverent, passionate, strong-willed and witty woman. From the moment she meets Maikol Sade, her life takes off in directions she would never have imagined.<br /><br />Maikol is a compulsive womaniser with an interest in the arts and, paradoxically, in practising extreme sports. He uses every trick, tactic and strategy imaginable in his quest to seduce April and their relationship soon becomes stormy. April’s biggest challenge is to remove Maikol’s masks one by one and reveal his true identity, in this captivating and original novel in which E-mail plays a key role:<br /><br />From: Maikol Sade <br /><br />To: April Tossa <br /><br />Subject: Sade … you can imagine the rest!<br /><br />April, my darling:<br /><br />Do you remember Sade?<br /><br />Sade … the guy with the James Bond kisses, who could walk up to a woman, take her in his arms and kiss her without leaving a single lipstick smudge on his mouth or leaving a single mark on the woman.<br /><br />Sade … the guy you met about 854 days ago and who you’ve recently fallen in love with.<br /><br />Sade … the guy who became the playboy of the Pink Zone because you are the oxygen he breathes and because his heart, although wrinkled like a California raisin, beats vigorously when you are by his side.<br /><br />Sade, the guy who wants you to be his and only his.<br /><br />A thousand passionate kisses, my love!<br /><br />Your Maikol Sade<br />:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::<br /><br />ALEXANDRA MORA HERNANDEZ is A WOMAN WRITER and an ear, nose and throat specialist and a graduate of Rosario University in Colombia and the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Her areas of expertise include facial plastic surgery, laser medicine and non-invasive rejuvenation, and she is the scientific director of Cosmedicals and a specialist at Country Clinic in Bogotá. In 2005, La Nota Económica magazine named her one of the country’s most prestigious doctors, while in 2007 and 2009 the Colombian Association of Facial Plastic Surgery and Rhinology ranked her among the country’s best surgeons.<br />April Clouds is her first novel and was published in November 2009 by Oveja Negra. It is now in its second edition and has reached bestseller status.<br /><br />April Clouds (Nubes de Abril)<br /><br />Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=189359307186&ref=mf<br /><br />My mail is : alexmora99@yahoo.comAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17241008486535542807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3289856713823310142.post-39648604205386350402010-12-23T15:34:18.130-08:002010-12-23T15:34:18.130-08:00I’ve updated the thesis update, at http://www.face...I’ve updated the thesis update, at http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=470430764857, following the latest NZFC newsletter where, again, there’s good and bad news. <br /><br />The good news is that in the 2010-2011 Premiere Shorts shortlist women wrote eight of the nineteen projects, 42%. Let’s hope this translates into a similar proportion of projects that get greenlit. And in the latest round of investment in features, women wrote 36% of the projects and these projects received 34% of the funding, well up on the 23.5% and 21.6% for the fifteen months to September this year.<br /><br />However, women writers and directors are attached to only two of the eleven NZFC features (excluding documentaries) in pre-production, production, post-production, or awaiting release. That’s 22%. Less than a quarter. I’m hoping that 2011 will the year that the NZFC formally commits itself to gender equity in its investments, and allocates its funding equitably across every programme. And that by 2013 (or so) half its features have women writers and directors attached.<br /><br />And when I was establishing the gender of one of the short-listed writers, I found a New Zealand site that listed an ad production company's directors. Three out of the twelve directors were women, and that reminded me that to some extent, the NZFC reflects the wider industry’s gendered view of talent. But, unlike the wider industry, the NZFC is allocating the taxpayer’s money. And I think that makes a huge difference.wellywood womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13224383638978594862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3289856713823310142.post-81348331158760252462010-12-12T15:23:55.351-08:002010-12-12T15:23:55.351-08:00And then reading about Guillermo del Toro’s new Mi...And then reading about Guillermo del Toro’s new Mirada studio reminded me of how much I’d love a) to be a digital native so I could play easily with more mediums; and b) how lack of resources, for most women, limit our transmedia potentials. Will there ever be a Weta or Mirada for stories by, about and for women? <br /><br />http://www.mirada.com/<br /><br />http://www.deadline.com/2010/12/guillermo-del-toro-in-mirada-studio-launch/wellywood womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13224383638978594862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3289856713823310142.post-58037011636828772912010-12-04T17:02:55.109-08:002010-12-04T17:02:55.109-08:00Hello again Anna. I’ve been thinking about this wh...Hello again Anna. I’ve been thinking about this while doing other stuff, including a tiny bit for a panel about creative writing PhDs, which gave me some extra thoughts. It’s really good to have to think more deeply about my views of transmedia and Development, so thank you for the links, and for making me think again. <br /><br />In my view, the primary and transmedia Development project has been about New Zealand women storytellers' participation in feature films. My thesis is the starting point, called “Development: Opening space for New Zealand women’s participation in scriptwriting for feature films?”, written as an autoethnographic narrative that starts thirty years ago and ends just before I submitted the thesis to the examiners. It’s bookended by an introduction and conclusion and each chapter is written in a different form: a memoir; an essay; a report to the industry (which was widely circulated before appearing in the thesis and incorporates feedback); emails and excerpts from my diary; a draft of the Development-the-movie screenplay; and excerpts from this blog and my diary. Each chapter offers a different view of ideas about opening space for NZ women’s participation in scriptwriting for features, with the last chapter about developing Development-the-movie (which is about women developing feature films in an imaginary corner of Wellywood.) <br /><br />The primary project is why I’ve provided a much larger context than Development-the-movie in this blog and in the Development FB, and the @devt Twitter account (though my tweets are as often bookmarks for things that interest me as they are about women and feature films or Development-the-movie). Because the problems I identified in my thesis are global and I love being part of a wider network working for change, another reason for the larger context is to offer support and connection to other women and their (mostly feature) film projects, inside and outside New Zealand, and e.g. to list the bogs whose writers stimulate me and influence my thinking. And as part of the primary Development project I’ve continued post-thesis to track the NZFC stats (really hope someone else starts to do this soon!), and write and speak about them here and elsewhere—on physical platforms where I can see and hear from the audience, in printed publications, and in interviews on radio and podcasts. As I wrote earlier, I see the Development-the-movie elements (the screenplay draft published in the thesis, the footage to date, the treatment, the new draft) as the fictional parts of the primary project. (If not for the non-fictional elements of the project, the film would probably be made by now because I would have developed it very differently.) And if I decided not to realise and distribute Development-the-movie, the transmedia project could/probably would continue, including updates on the FB, this blog, and Twitter and possibly film/game making with other women. The Development-the-movie screenplay, website etc would then become a related, fixed, archive and possibly the basis of a book or second website.<br /><br />In contrast, I wouldn’t argue that the other two features I wrote for my thesis, (which I planned to take through different development paths) were transmedia projects, unless they too became integrated into larger stories or expressed in multiple mediums. Each movie would be itself the primary and only project and any related blog, Twitter and FB account and websites would not exist without its movie. <br /><br />I hope this explains my views better! I think that transmedia can be interpreted in a whole lot of different ways, and hope it will be, and look forward to interviewing you soon, to learn more about your ideas and your project.wellywoodwomanhttp://wellywoodwoman.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3289856713823310142.post-84418798249409921852010-11-27T05:13:53.790-08:002010-11-27T05:13:53.790-08:00Realising that I haven't defined very clearly ...Realising that I haven't defined very clearly what I see as transmedia, I thought I should briefly add a couple of things.<br /><br />Firstly, your comment (of the 19th) for me describes a practice that is transmedial from the perspective of the practitioner (in terms of the creative and development processes used) rather than audience's experience of the project. But, perhaps I'm not seeing the full picture and don't have the correct impression of how the whole project will come together.<br /><br />A short but good definition of transmedia for me comes from Henry Jenkins in Convergence Culture: <br /><br />"A transmedia story unfolds across multiple media platforms with each new text making a distinctive and valuable contribution to the whole. In the ideal form of transmedia storytelling, each medium does what it does best—so that a story might be introduced in a film, expanded through television,novels, and comics; its world might be explored through game play or experienced as an amusement <br />park attraction." (Jenkins 2006, 95–96)<br /><br />I would love to be able to share my own work with you right now, but I'm not far enough into my research to 'go live'. I should have a project website up near the end of February though. In the meantime, an academic and transmedia practitioner who defines and explores transmedia better than anyone I've encountered is Christy Dena. Her PhD thesis on transmedia Practice is available for download here: http://www.christydena.com/academic-2/phd/<br /><br />I also like the blog Dena started "You Suck at Transmedia (http://www.yousuckattransmedia.com/) which is a great forum for questioning what transmedia is/should be.Anna Jacksonhttp://twitter.com/#!/nyujinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3289856713823310142.post-28152667045040038092010-11-27T00:56:09.154-08:002010-11-27T00:56:09.154-08:00Sorry for the slow response. I think I see where y...Sorry for the slow response. I think I see where you're coming from in terms of defining the project as transmedial now. I think though, that by this definition almost all film projects could be described as transmedial in that all filmmakers should have an integrated social media strategy and engage with audiences through various platforms both online and offline and projects have various iterations.<br /><br />However, to me a transmedia project involves storytelling on multiple platforms, with all elements contributing something different to the whole.<br /><br />From the outside I see that you have a project that has evolved in various ways, engages with the audience through social networks and has a strong community aspect. And I see the use of multiple platforms for outreach, publicity and distribution. But I am finding it hard to see the project itself as transmedia. <br /><br />All films projects should have a social media strategy, a website, and online and hybrid distribution is increasing. How does Development go beyond this?Anna Jacksonhttp://twitter.com/#!/nyujinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3289856713823310142.post-32048614687156415852010-11-20T17:37:02.954-08:002010-11-20T17:37:02.954-08:00Another recent and completely different view of th...Another recent and completely different view of the NZFC gave me a fresh perspective: http://www.theinsatiablemoon.com/2010/11/filmmaking-which-way-now/wellywood womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13224383638978594862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3289856713823310142.post-54779458770274327402010-11-19T14:37:32.298-08:002010-11-19T14:37:32.298-08:00PS As I was weeding, I thought that the key Develo...PS As I was weeding, I thought that the key Development-the-project concept for me is the mashup of the fictional and the non-fictional. I found this especially satisfying when we made our PassItOn clip & its text (often obscured by the pop-up invitation to join PassItOn), partly because some of that is from a sequence about scriptwriting, where Viv (Madeline McNamara) is trying to impress a potential lover (Jessica Latton). (Later in the sequence, and not included in the clip Greta (Pinky Agnew) reminds Viv that the conventional, male-influenced script structure is not the only one.) And especially satisfying because PassItOn is associated with the Rugby World Cup (http://www.passiton.co.nz/Discover/Creative-Talent/development-the-movie-promo/). <br /><br />And I love transmedia's generation of day-to-day potential for juxtapositions of the virtual & the real. So one day on the Development FB site I might link to an article about Gaylene Preston, and the next day I might meet her down the road at the New World supermarket. And it was a little strange to be in England last month and know that Campbell X and Lisa Gornick were probably not far away, but even though we're friends online, we were unlikely to meet in the flesh, ever.wellywood womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13224383638978594862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3289856713823310142.post-36279159810094287932010-11-19T13:27:34.983-08:002010-11-19T13:27:34.983-08:00Thanks Anna. It took me ages to write this post an...Thanks Anna. It took me ages to write this post and it's not really resolved yet, so may have to rewrite. But I'm clear about Development & its transmedia elements (I think). As I've come to understand it, the Development PROJECT is much broader than Development-the-movie. The movie, including its in-flux business model, fits within a series of engagements with other women filmmakers I've 'met' during the project, whom I treasure, & with global ideas around women making feature films. The overarching project also includes this blog & readers' emails & phone calls connected with it, on Twitter & its DMs, the Development FB page & DMs, other people's blogs & FBs, my thesis, & other theses that people share. There are some relationships-in-the-flesh, too, including those with audiences when I give seminars, and some pencilled Moleskine notebook notes (pencil & computer such different media, & am fascinated by the different things they generate) that I'd like to incorporate into something online sometime, as well as more visual components. A more-or-less equal commitment to all of these elements as part of the project means that although I thought I had a shooting script for Development-the-movie, it's now changed because of the ideas the other elements have generated (am about to start a new draft). Usually a feature film is the primary focus of a film project, but I've found that with all these other transmedial elements the movie itself has become just another element, one that I love to bits and long to finish, but also, like a much loved child, only one of the children, each of whose gifts and challenges affects the others. Happy to clarify further if you want & to respond to feedback. I'd love to hear more about your ideas, as I know transmedia/multiplatform mean different things to different people, & that's part of its charm. Just let me know where I can read about what you're thinking & doing, but will Google you this weekend anyway! Tx again...wellywood womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13224383638978594862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3289856713823310142.post-16122432134391590782010-11-18T20:14:34.106-08:002010-11-18T20:14:34.106-08:00I'm excited by your enthusiasm for transmedia ...I'm excited by your enthusiasm for transmedia and all the new possibilities new technologies and platforms offer for storytelling in NZ film. I'm currently working on a PhD on documentary production in New Zealand and transmedia/multiplatform production (or the lack of it) is one of my key concerns.<br /><br />I'm wondering whether you could explain in more detail how Development the movie is a transmedia project. You describe it as transmedial in this blog post, but I'm not clear what the transmedia elements are. (Maybe worth a whole blog post, or if you've done this already please point me in the right direction!)Anna Jacksonhttp://twitter.com/#!/nyujinoreply@blogger.com