I read a few interesting news and articles this week about film distribution and financing. First about actor and director Zach Braff who turned towards Kickstarter to finance his next feature film and keep control over its final cut. He follows Veronica Mars' success on the crowdfunding platform which raised 2 million dollars in less than one day last month. As I'm writing this, after only 2 days, he's not far from his $2 million goal. Read more about it in the Industry Newsletter or here if you want to support his film.

Then, I read a 2-part blog by one of our animation filmmakers Jeff Chiba Stearns about online film monetization. He talks about his experience on Film Annex and compares with other online film platforms. I remember when I watched the first videos he uploaded on his profile and sent him an email to welcome him on the platform and explain how the website works. Given the quality of his films, his interest in our platform, and the fact that he has been referred to us by one of Film Annexers, Jonathan Ng, it was clear that he would become another of our filmmaker success stories. Check out his blog (part 1 and 2) and Web TV. Those two news and articles reflect the constant changes that the film industry has been going through lately. Directors try every new way they can to distribute and finance their movies, whether they are famous or on their way to be.

As discussed in last week's blog, I started the Social Media Film Promotion 101 blog series, with a first article on Twitter. It is considered by many filmmakers as the best platform to share their work and connect with people from the industry, so I started with a set of tips on how to promote films using all its possibilities. More next week with a focus on another social media platform.

Now for the new content. We believe in Balloons uploaded a new video interview in their series about Afghan artists, this time with Qasem who is part of the first heavy metal band in Afghanistan. Mark Kuczewski added to his Web TV several short films for his early filmmaking days as, a good way to see how he evolved as a filmmaker throughout the years.

- Jennifer