Business Model of Film Theory & Film Criticism Publication THE AUTEUR
The Auteur: An Independent Filmmakers Publication
Click here for: The Auteur: An Independent Filmmakers Publication INTRODUCTION
(NOTE: This essay on Independent Filmmaking was written on November 14, 2019, so before COVID-19, but the message stands even stronger now. It will be published in April, 2020. All Rights Reserved)
The Auteur: An Independent Filmmakers Publication
The Auteur: An Independent Filmmakers Publication, to be launched shortly on Medium at medium.com/@theauteur, will be a Film Theory & Film Criticism Publication by Film Organization The Auteur.
The investigation into the State of Independent Filmmaking, and the fact that it is still relevant as an Art Form today, is the main reason why I am launching my Film Publication The Auteur.
I’d like to contribute a few potential solutions to ensure its’ survival.
I am launching the Film Organization The Auteur as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, with a website, theauteur.org, which will also feature some videos I made on independent filmmaking.
A small book of Film Theory articles titled ‘Film Notes for a New Independent Film Movement’ will also be published in 2020, including a 4-Point Film Manifesto for a new Independent Film Movement.
And a related, untitled Feature Documentary project is in early development stages.
However, the absolute main feature of the film organization will be a Film Publication on the writing platform Medium, called The Auteur, with the subtitle An Independent Filmmakers Publication.
The film publication The Auteur: An Independent Filmmakers Publication will launch on medium.com/@theauteur, under the Medium Partner Program. I have a Medium account under medium.com/@gabriellabregman, and will launch the Publication from there.
This means that the articles accepted for the publication will be published behind the Medium Paywall, and writers will be paid according to the Medium Partner Program.
All rights remain reserved for the original writers, and I will definitely post more details on how all of this works, and you can also read about yourself at medium.com under Medium Partner Program.
I use the word FILMMAKERS, because I still believe in the Art and the Power of Filmmaking and Filmmakers, and I desperately want the Independent Filmmaking Industry to survive, to keep existing alongside other forms of media and to thrive the way it has done so many times before.
This does not mean you have to be a known Filmmaker or Writer in order to contribute to the Medium Publication, or that you even have to have a finished film or anything like that.
Anyone who’d like to Review a (New or Older, American or International) Independent Film would at least be considered for publication in The Auteur.
And anyone who has something meaningful to say about the State of Independent Filmmaking in general, American or International, and who can write a good piece on it, is encouraged to submit to the Medium Publication.
The Film Publication’s Nonprofit Film Organization THE AUTEUR is Los Angeles-Based to Cater to the Specific Needs of the Los Angeles Independent Film Industry.
Note on Personal Identities:
I, the Founder of the Film Publication THE AUTEUR: AN INDEPENDENT FILMMAKERS PUBLICATION, moved to the US from the Netherlands, in 1992 by myself at age 19, on an International Student Visa to go to Film School in Los Angeles.
I identify as trans-masculine and gender nonconforming, and as lesbian, and as bi-racial, white and Asian, and am from the Netherlands.
My pronouns are: they/them/theirs.
And I go by Gabriella Orlando Bregman, and am okay with being called by either my birth name Gabriella or my chosen name Orlando, as long as people have some basic understanding of my gender and sexuality and respect those basically. I personally have no need to transition medically, and have primarily transitioned socially. They are only my personal identities, and my personal views towards them.
I obviously do not speak for the entire LGBTQ community, but as a human rule in general one should simply not assume another person’s sex or gender, nor race or nationality for that matter, and just politely ask if one really must know. People will make assumptions privately either way because we can’t help but form opinions, including of things and people we don’t understand, but there’s no valid reason to really project those assumptions onto people.
And while this is not a Film Publication specifically geared at only People Of Color, POC Writers and Filmmakers are especially encouraged to join, and everyone’s film and queer and female opinions will be taken absolutely serious, and there is room for many people’s Point-Of-View, except for hateful people and hateful opinions.
There will plenty of room for angry opinions however, as there is a lot to be angry about in the world, and for contradicting opinions, as there is validity in a wide range of POVs but there will be absolutely No Room for HATE SPEECH, reductive pieces, racist, misogynist, homophobic, etc., narrow-minded writing. There will not even be room for fluff pieces, or mindless self-promotion.
Promote yourself through your actual writing, and do feel free to include links to, and examples of, your own writing and filmmaking work but there will be a few simple, specific guidelines to follow for article submissions.
The Film Organization The Auteur, founded by Gabriella Orlando Bregman and Mario Luza, is a “parent company” of the Publication The Auteur: An Independent Filmmakers Publication.
The Publication is Owned by the Film Organization The Auteur, and does not operate independently from it.
Also, the Nonprofit Film Organization The Auteur and its’ Publication will always be Independently Run and never Corporately (Co-) Owned.
No Corporate Funders or Sponsors, No Add Revenue, No Paid Subscription or Paid Membership required directly, (only through Medium itself.)
In order to keep this Publication Independent I have to keep the Costs very Low-Budget.
Yet I absolutely want for Writers to Get Paid for their Work, so the Medium Partner Program on Medium seems like the Ideal Solution to host this on.
The Film Organization behind the Film Publication The Auteur will be a 501(c)(3) Nonprofit, in order to qualify for Grants, and to be able to offer Tax Deductions as part of the Rewards Programs on Crowd-Funding Sites.
The overall maintenance for the Film Organization The Auteur, including the Production Office and the Official Website for the Publication, and any eventual Self-Publishing of Collected Essays for In-Print Editions of The Auteur (with the Writers involved always retaining the Rights to their work) would be primarily sustained through these Grants and Crowd-Funding Campaigns.
While I have a creative business partner, Mario Luza, to run the Nonprofit Film Organization from a Los Angeles-based office with, (and who will oversee more financial and administrative functions,) I, Gabriella Orlando Bregman, will be the sole Founder of the Publication.
I will initially also be the sole Editor, until I am hopefully able to staff (on a freelance basis or otherwise) the publication with other editors and writers.
And I will actively write Reviews of Independent Films, and will publish articles on Independent Filmmaking in the form of mostly Film Theory.
In the event that I should have published sufficient quality material in the Digital Publication, I would like to be able to collect some of the best articles, and self-publish them as an In-Print Anthology, a published book of film reviews and film theory, not unlike the French New Wave’s Cahiers du Cinema.
The writing platform medium.com exists as a free site, and was started as such in 2012, but most articles, or Stories as Medium calls them, are behind a paywall by now, so writers can get paid for their work.
Anyone who wants to read Medium Stories that are published behind a paywall can do so for only $5 a month. Some stories can still be read for free.
Anyone who wants to write on Medium can do so by opening an Account, which is free but if you want to maximize your experience on medium, do not just open a free account but bother to pay the $5 a month for an actual Membership.
This is what a Medium membership goes for on a monthly basis, ($50 for a whole year,) and it is worth every penny of it, and you are supporting the supreme cause of keeping writers and writing alive.
I want to be able to pay writers and believe writers should be paid for their work, even if I’ve published all my own articles for free on Medium so far.
I cannot afford to pay writers myself however, and so am choosing for this happy compromise I’m thankful exists.
Medium is really a great website and opportunity for both new and established writers to get noticed, and get paid.
I am not affiliated with Medium, nor am I part of the Medium Partner Program currently, and only have an account with the site. So any positive I have to say about Medium I say specifically because I believe in the art and the importance of writing in general, and Medium just happens to provide a perfect online publishing platform for writers.
The best I can do, as an independent, low-budget filmmaker and writer myself, is to attempt to build a strong foundation for a meaningful Film Publication focusing on Independent Filmmakers.
My deep wish is to establish a high quality Film Publication for Independent Filmmakers, and I personally take my cue from the French New Wave film movement, and their film criticism and film theory magazine publication Cahiers du Cinema.
I would love for the writers involved in this Film Publication to have a place to hone their skills, build community, and gain publicity, through co-creating a great Film Publication online, (and like I mentioned maybe even eventually in print as a book of “collected film essays” or so.)
And I would absolutely love for them to use this Film Publication as a stepping stone to to become established Film Critics of their own.
Lastly, an even greater wish beyond this Film Publication is to create an actual Film Movement, not unlike the French New Wave, of creative people who make conscious and sustainable film art, and who help keep an art form and an artistic community alive this way.
Thank you for reading,
The Auteur: An Independent Filmmakers Publication
The Auteur will launch shortly as a Los Angeles-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit Film Organization (2020)
Brief Bio
