Citygate Films

Jun 17

Lessons Learned: Filming in South Korea

Continuing the Lessons Learned series on Citygate’s blog, I now have the pleasure of focusing on shooting in Seoul. I took a four-person crew in June 2010, and hired a local gaffer and his lighting gear to join us. We traveled with minimum gear (three Canon T2i cameras, three-mic sound gear and mixer, RedRock camera support and grip gear), but still had to deal with a carnet and excess baggage fees. I set a land-speed record prepping for this shoot.

May 18

The Documentary Forum at Hot Docs

There are two diverse crowds at Hot Docs. The first is the loyal film fanbase in Toronto–the people who queue up in sunshine or rain for more than an hour to see new films. The second are the imports–the broadcasters, distributors, and filmmakers who “speed date” to find willing matches for their varying agendas. As a filmmaker, I was at the bottom of the social strata. I’m not the money. But hey, I’m potentially the content and that’s got to count for something.

Apr 29

International Markets

Toronto’s Hot Docs film festival/conference/market kicks off this weekend and Citygate Films will be there. I am participating in The Documentary Forum next week, as well, and plan to blog some insights from my participation in the 11-day Hot Docs festival shortly after my return.

Earlier this month, Citygate’s film, A NOTE OF HOPE, was represented in Cannes at the 2010 MIPDoc/MIPTV international film market by Stacey Parks of Film Specific.