Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/100015
OUTLOOKMEDIA NEW GABRIEL CARMONA Co-Founder Nac Film Theory www.nacfilmtheory.com Nacogdoches, TX OUTLOOK FOR 2013: ���The quality on the phones can get better, and I think we���re starting to see that. I also think about the space in which to watch a movie. The bathroom? People seem to have time for two-minute or three-minute episodes.��� JAN MAITLAND Nac Film Theory is a collection of Texas-based artists that come together to write, direct, shoot, post and distribute short films and documentaries. Gabriel Carmona and Branden Selman are two of the collective���s founders and take on much of the work, which has included production of the Caballero series of two-minute Web shorts. The collective has been operating with the goal of producing one short film a month, regardless of the challenges the concept imposes. STRENGTHS: ���If you have a camera or an iPhone, filmmaking is open for everybody now. A few years ago, when there was only film, Examples of Utopic���s online work. 40 Chicago���s Utopic is comprised of a group of integrated digital experts that employ a trans-media approach, using skills in traditional production, it was hard to get that kind of equipment. But now, there are phones out there that are able to meet high standards of quality. And [you can] produce things really fast. What new media allows us to do is make the film and post it. Sometimes people send us pointers about where they believe the story is going. It allows people to see our work, be intrigued and keep coming back. Some send me messages like, ���This would be a good idea to see.��� It helps us to whittle down the story. You have a relationship with a lot of people you don���t really know.��� WEAKNESSES: ���The weaknesses would be that people think it���s easy. People talk my ear off about how I should shoot a scene, or how it should have gone. You know what, when you can get three or four people and have your schedules aligned and find a camera and microphone and editor, you can shoot ���that��� movie. Right now we are shooting this one. The ���one short film a month��� idea happens really fast and what people don���t realize is it���s a lot of work. There���s that one thing that you can���t buy or download, and that���s desire. You have to have that passion.��� OPPORTUNITIES: ���The opportunity I see are with people. Robert Rodriguez���s book, ���Rebel Without a Crew��� was a big inspiration. After I read it, and my friends read it, we said, ���If he can do it, so can we.��� I see opportunities with the cameras that we are able to use now. It opens up [filmmaking] to a broader audience.��� THREATS: ���YouTube is flooded with videos. We have a tag that mentions The Twilight Zone. People were clicking on it thinking it���s a vampire movie. That���s a disadvantage. Anyone can make a movie but whether or not it���s good is another thing.��� post, audio, Web, design, mobile and interactive production. The company has worked with clients that include Allstate, Advil, Kellogg���s, McDonald���s, Nintendo, Samsung and HP. STRENGTHS: JAN MAITLAND: ���What I hear and experience the most is clients being able to quantify the impact of that particular media. There is realtime engagement with their consumer base that they just can���t get with broadcast.��� HEATHER MITCHELL: ���I think reach and number of people can be similar. But the way that you can target your market is much more [efficient] in the online world, where on TV it���s just people who might watch a type of show. When it���s online, you can really reach your target much more efficiently. There���s no telling how many people are going to see it.��� MAITLAND: ���I think the device is a gateway for interaction with a brand or consumer less so than a viewing platform. I hear a lot about dual screens, where you���ve got your television on, but you���re also engaging in social media, so you have two screens in front of you. There are tons of analytics out there on tablet usage. I think the last thing I heard was that 62 percent of tablet users are on the couch with the TV on.��� WEAKNESSES: MAITLAND: ���It seems that a couple of years ago, there was so much static and so much content being rushed out to the Web, that [saturation] might have been the case. What���s happened now is that marketing dollars that are behind that content helps to separate the weak [content]. There is a better-educated consumer base. We���re at an interesting point in time for marketers or advertisers where, when someone doesn���t skip their ad on YouTube, that is far Post���������December���2012��� www.postmagazine.com President HEATHER MITCHELL Executive Producer, Post Utopic www.utopic.net Chicago