Snake Pit at BCM Horror Film Festival

Snake Pit screened on October 25 at BCM Horror Film Festival. As part of the Viscera 2007 compilation DVD, Snake Pit has found a way to hit a much bigger audience.

Here are some of the reviews about the Viscera 2007 compilation DVD. 

"The Viscera Film Festival is one that not only has a unique vision but the strength of the entries to back that vision up and that terrifying combination makes the project a very thrilling prospect for horror fans...of both sexes." Bloody Disgusting

"...the films on Viscera are stand-alone and awesome, each with a very distinct flavor and tone.  This proves that women's interests in horror are as varied as Shannon Lark's wacky and colorful creations and Brandy Rainey's chilling story of traditional horror survival." Pretty Scary

"It's about time someone showed that women can do horror just as well as the good ol'boys, and this grouop of women filmmakers definitely represent the "new wave" of horror." Fatally Yours

I just love getting emails from Fangoria Magazine's 2009 Spooksmodel, Shannon Lark informing me of Snake Pit's screenings across the US. She coordinates the Viscera Film Festival and the Chainsaw Mafia which put together the compilation DVD and has been the driving force for it's distribution. 

I highly recommend submitting your horror shorts to the Viscera Film Festival. (Deadline is December 31, 2008.)  They are obviously serious about helping women filmmakers hit the target market. 

Official Launch of OurSpiritualAdventure.com

It is official!!!!  OurSpiritualAdventure just launched.  

Our Spiritual Adventure is a community of storytellers who inspirationally journal and vote their favorite stories and characters into screenplays, webisodes, and feature films that will awaken the World. 

Our Spiritual Adventure empowers grassroots storytelling with cutting edge, Web 2.0 technology to deliver inspirational stories from its community to the a world-wide audience.

Free membership allows a user to share their personal stories and inspire the fictional character and plot development of Skye and her friends as they travel their spiritual journey to real world places of power. "Reality is often best explored through fiction."

Check out the 1st Webisode. 

Our Spiritual Adventure was birthed out of the collaboration of the 1st Bootstrap Film Festival. Fellow Bootstrap filmmaker/entrepreneur, Jason Howell and I discovered a synergy when putting together the festival.  In preparation for the event we talked for hours about Bootstrapping, Films, Distribution and how it all comes together. We began to compile our ideas into a book titled, Bootstrap Film, which we are continuing to build upon.  

We shared ideas about projects that we wanted to work on and between my creative vision and his web solution skills, OurSpiritualAdventure was born.  We both understand that distribution is one of the most important pieces of the filmmaking process and it is the part that most often leads to the failure of most independent film projects.  

We felt that it was critical to build an audience first, provide value for them, and get their input and have them involved with the process. Once an audience is established then the funding and the distribution will be much easier. It will also put us in a more powerful place when ready for distribution, if we can say that we have a particular number of fans willing to see the film.  

I recently heard a talk at a Reel Women meeting with guest speaker, Sarah Green. She is the producer for Terrence Malick's most recent film, Tree of Life.  She shared with us that the key to independent film was about minimizing the risk.

Dead Channels Film Festival

Dead Channels Film Festival showcased all of the Viscera 2007 Films in San Francisco on October 8th, 2008.

Shannon Lark, Fangoria's spokes model and fellow filmmaker, was in attendance for the Q&A afterwards. 

Heidi Martinuzzi writes about Viscera 2007 at Dead Channels Film Festival. 

1st Bootstrap Film Fest

The 1st Bootstrap Film Fest on June 26, 2008 was a huge success. Five films by Bootstrap Film members were featured:  Little Dove, Open House, Snake Pit, Mystic Cab, and Art Erotica.  Bootstrap member, B-side powered the film fest website.

We had a great turnout, people loved the films, people learned about the bootstrapping process and how it applies to film and we turned a profit.

Can't beat that. With the success, you can be assured that there will be a 2nd Bootstrap Film Festival.

You can check out the Q&A session on the podcast which was sent out to BD Tech Daily.  This BootRap Podcast includes an introduction by Bootstrap Film Subgroup lead, Brandy Rainey Amstel and a dialogue with the filmmakers: Nils Juul-Hansen (Mystic Cab - director), Jason Howell (Art Erotica), James Mays (Mystic Cab - actor) and Bijoy Goswami (Mystic Cab - writer/actor).

The bootstrap filmmakers share their stories of bootstrapping their films, leveraging social capital with an effective value 10x more than the cash budget, how constraint creates innovation, demo/sell/build, the difference between a "bootstrapper who makes films" vs a "filmmaker who bootstraps", Bootstrap vs Indie filmmaking, stages of bootstrap, and distribution.

Pictures from the festival on Facebook. 

Click below to hear podcast.

Austin.com Launches and Snake Pit Makes the News

Austin.com was launched and writer/filmmaker Steve Muccini made an announcement about Snake Pit. 

It is really cool that there is a place for Filmmakers to be heard in the Austin Community at large.  It seems too often that people think of Austin as a arts/film town, but don't really know what goes on.  Austin.com has done a fabulous job of informing Austin residents of a few of the projects that the local film community has going on.

Kudos to Austin.com and Steve Muccini. 

Entrepreneurs Take Filmmaking to the Next Level

In the age of digital convergence and emerging long-tail economies, Bootstrap filmmakers have a greater opportunity to produce innovative content, find their own audiences, discover alternative distribution, and clear profits on their own terms. Nowhere is that more promising than in Austin, Texas. In 2008, MovieMaker magazine ranked Austin as the #1 city to live and make a movie. "As a hot spot for innovation and film, Austin is an incubator for the future of film. Creative talent and technological vision converge with entrepreneurial drive to explore new ways for independent filmmakers to succeed." - Brandy Rainey Amstel, Writer/Director and Chair of the Bootstrap Film Group.

Entrepreneurs forging paths in the film industry are celebrated at the Bootstrap Film Fest. This innovative film festival is on Thursday, June 26, 2008, 6-10:15 PM at Regal Arbor Cinema, Austin, Texas. Taking inspiration from innovation icons, like Apple's Steve Jobs, Virgin's Richard Branson, and Whole Food's John Mackey, Bootstrappers use ingenuity to bypass the constraints of the establishment. The featured bootstrap films, Q&A with bootstrap filmmakers Nils Juul-Hansen, Brandy Rainey Amstel, and Jason Howell, and a bootstrap workshop including Bootstrap Network's founder, Bijoy Goswami, will give the audience a deep understanding of bootstrapping techniques that they can use on their film projects, start-ups, and existing companies.

"Bootstrap offers a fresh perspective to the constraints of traditional models. As a serial entrepreneur, I was able to take the bootstrapping concepts I learned from my start-up and apply them to film making. The Bootstrap workshop that follows the film programming, will truly empower the audience with greater possibilities." - Jason Howell, filmmaker.

To step beyond the bootstrapping buzz and discover your own hero's journey, purchase tickets and view trailers at Bootstrap Film Fest.

Viscera 2007 - Snake Pit

I am so excited that Snake Pit was an official selection for the 2007 Viscera Film Festival and just today they announce the Viscera 2007 DVD is available. It is a compilation DVD of 9 short films made by women filmmakers in the horror genre. The pack is led by Fangoria's own spokesmodel, Shannon Lark.

Over an hour of short films with Special Features including: Full length bios of all Filmmakers, Sponsor information, Slideshow featuring Sponsors and Filmmakers, First VISCERA Film added-"Go Ask Alice", and information on VISCERA and the Chainsaw Mafia.

Check out the trailer below and pick up your copy of the Viscera 2007 DVD today.



I will keep you posted on more exciting news about Snake Pit.

Bootstrap Filmmaker Leveraging the latest in Web 2.0 Technology

Technology just keeps providing more and more opportunities for filmmakers. I am still learning new stuff everyday about how to use the internet to expand my thinking around traditional ways of doing business. Today I added a Donation button to my website requesting that people interested in inspirational content in the world contribute to my next film project, Ten Thousand (working title).

This came out of several brainstorming sessions that I recently have had with some fellow bootstrappers from Bootstap Austin. I have found that it is always a good idea to surround yourself with super smart, creative entrepreneurs and to always keep an open mind to what others have to say. Great things can come from someone with a fresh perspective.

Many of the bloggers out there today have added Donation buttons to their site to generate a little money to cover expenses. Not everyone is fortunate enough to get the advertising dollars like the big blog sites. They feel that if the people are getting value by continually coming to the site, then there shouldn’t be anything wrong with requesting people make a donation. After all, it is only a request.

I agree. I think ultimately it is all about producing value and getting paid for it. The people that believe this way are the people that actually click the donation button and make a contribution to something that they believe in or that they got value from.

Now… how can I apply that to what I am up to?

Well, I know that there are a lot of people that are tired of the mainstream films that are coming out today. More and more people are turning to REAL independent films to wet their thirst for thought-provoking, moving content. They want films that make them laugh or that make them cry. Often those are hard to come by though and many just give up watching movies altogether and turn to reality tv shows. Crap. Crap and more crap. They buy in that they can’t make a difference and that is all there is.

I actually believe that people should be given the opportunity to contribute to the types of content that they want to see. Maybe a donation button is just the thing to have people feel like they do have a say in the types of content that are created and they can feel good knowing that they contributed to something that would actually be worth watching.

I would like to encourage you to come find out more about bootstrapping your film at the 1st Bootstrap Film Fest on June 26, 2008. We will continue to explore how constraints cause innovation and who knows maybe with a fresh perspective you will create something even better.

Bootstrap Film Fest gets listed in BD Tech Daily

I am very proud to announce the 1st Bootstrap Film Fest. It will be held this month on June 26 at the Arbor Cinema.

You might ask yourself, "What is Bootstrap?", which is a great question to have. At the Bootstrap Film Festival we will be screening several short films created by Bootstrap filmmakers and we will also be having an entrepreneurial workshop where we delve into that exact question of "What is Bootstrap?" as well as explaining how bootstrapping applies to film and how you can use these ideas to move your project to the next level.

The announcement just came out on BD Tech Daily from the Business District Magazine and in
Tech Bytes from the Austin Chamber of Commerce. Seems like an unlikely place to find an announcement about a film festival; however, in the press release below you will discover why this innovative festival is encompassing a larger audience than the traditional film festival.

Here is the press release:

Awaken the entrepreneur within you at Bootstrap Austin's first Bootstrap Film Fest. Step beyond the bootstrapping buzz and discover your own 'hero's journey'.
“As a hot spot for innovation and film, Austin is the incubator for the future of film. Creative talent and technological vision converge with entrepreneurial drive to explore new ways for independent filmmakers to succeed.” – Brandy Rainey Amstel, writer/director. Brandy is the leader of the Bootstrap Austin Film Subgroup, where participants delve into this conversation.


Entrepreneurs forging paths in the film industry are celebrated at this innovative film festival on Thursday, June 26, 2008, 6-10:15 PM at Regal Arbor Cinema, Austin, Texas. Taking inspiration from innovation icons, like Apple's Steve Jobs, Virgin's Richard Branson, and Whole Food's John Mackey, Bootstrappers use ingenuity to bypass the constraints of the establishment. The featured bootstrap films, Q&A with bootstrap filmmakers Nils Juul-Hansen, Brandy Rainey Amstel, and Jason Howell, and a bootstrap workshop including Bootstrap Network's founder, Bijoy Goswami, will give the audience a deep understanding of bootstrapping techniques that they can use on their film projects, start-ups, and existing companies.

“Bootstrap offers a fresh perspective to the constraints of traditional models. As a serial entrepreneur, I was able to take the bootstrapping concepts I learned from my start-up and apply them to filmmaking. The Bootstrap workshop that follows the film programming, will truly empower the audience with greater possibilities.” – Jason Howell, filmmaker.

To step beyond the bootstrapping buzz and discover your own hero’s journey, purchase tickets and view trailers at bootstrap.bside.com/2008.

Caught in the Act Magazine

Check out what Caught in the Act Magazine had to say about the Strapped Entertainment Launch Party. We were very excited that Adam and Courtney were able to join us for the evening. And thank you Adam for the very generous blog. We appreciate your support and look forward to seeing your new website.

'Open House' Premier & Strapped Entertainment Launch Party

Saturday March 22, Strapped Entertainment officially kicked off the company in partner with Set It Off! Productions at the US Art Authority.

We premiered our newest short 'Open House' and also screened 2 previous shorts, 'Little Dove' and 'Snake Pit'.

Cast and crew were in attendance, which made for a very momentous Q&A following each film!

With well over 100 people in attendance the night was a success! We'd like to thank everyone who came out and helped make the night successful!

A special thanks to our sponsors, Avenue Five Institute, who provided a team of exceptional makeup artists and hair stylists to service the actors with the royal treatment! Thank you to everyone at the US Art Authority, the location was so unique and memorable. Also, thank you to Ciao-Chow Catering, who provided the delicious appetizers for the evening!

Strapped Entertainment is the new branch of Set It Off! Productions. Both groups have created and partnered to produce a slate of feature films. We are passionate about the film making process, have completed many powerful projects, and are deep into the pre-production on several features from the new slate of films. The films include Thrillers, Comedies, Children’s films, and even a dash of Horror to round out the intention of a commercially successful group of projects. We invite you to join us in creating these new films.

Thanks to everyone who came,
-B