Three more filmmakers share insights for marketers
To be a successful marketer, you have to master the art of storytelling. And in today's fragmented, social media fueled marketplace, you have to develop a brand story that can be told across channels, authentically and in real-time. No pressure.
We think brands can learn a lot from filmmakers about weaving together a powerful story. That's why we sat down with all nine of our talented Yahoo! Audience Award short film finalists. In this three-part series, we share their approach to the creative process and unearth keyu storytelling tips to help you connect with audiences in richer ways in 2012.
Tip #1: Be observant.
From Alex Lora, Odysseus' Gambit
YAS: What inspired you to become a filmmaker? 
AL: I've always had delicate health. I couldn't play too many street ball games with my classmates so I spent half of my childhood watching movies, playing a tiny Casio keyboard and trying to convince my parents to buy me a tuba (that never happened). My mother was also very protective so I was always trying to find ways to have fun safely. That meant using your imagination rather than your body, I guess.
The year that changed everything though was the one that my parents bought a video8 handycam. I was around 9 years old and I discovered a lot of things that summer, observing silently through that camera.
YAS: Tell us about your short film---why are you passionate about the story?
AL: The film is basically a short observational documentary made with fragments of one day in a street chess player's life. Every moment of the day is related with a chess rule, giving the sense that life is not that far from a game. For me, it is a story that shows daily sacrifice and deals with the contradictions of the human condition.
Saravuth [the main character] encourages you to keep playing… sometimes with love, other times with anger… but to never give up. For me, it was very important to meet him and also to shoot this film by myself. Because I only have one arm, I can relate to the main character's feeling like a pawn, willing to get all the way until he reaches the end of the board.
YAS: How do you think the Internet/social media is changing storytelling?
AL: I think Internet can be viewed as something positive for the film industry and especially for the independent filmmakers. For me, it's the ideal place to watch and tell stories. Furthermore you can also reach a potentially larger and more diverse audience, and it gives a great opportunity to get your work noticed without spending a lot of money in promotion.
Tip #2: Find a new angle to an old story.
From Jill Soloway, Una Hora Por Favor
YAS: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
JS: I've been writing TV for about ten years and felt like I needed to push myself to the next level. I've felt like a director since I was eight years old, bossing people around while playing dolls. Becoming a director---telling people what to say and where to stand---I felt like myself for the first time in my life.
YAS: Tell us about your short film---why are you passionate about the story?
JS: My film is a comedy about a single chick who picks up a day laborer to help her for an hour and ends up falling in love. It stars Wilmer Valderrama and my friend Michaela Watkins who is quite hilarious. She and I are thrilled to add to the current canon of "Hey, Girls Are Funny Too!" TV and movie stuff.
Beyond that it's great to make a comment about objectification and using people. Much like the rose ceremonies of "The Bachelor" and the line-up of the hookers on HBO's "Cathouse," the male immigrant workers of LA are available daily to choose from, like a buffet. This film pushes that idea to an extreme when Michaela's character chooses someone who not only refuses to be used but also insists on showing her a part of herself she never wanted to see.
YAS: How do you think the Internet/social media is changing storytelling?
JS: I think it's still hard to tell. People don't want to leave the house as much because they have everything they need in a glowing pad of masturbatory joy on their laps. Yet when people DO find something that resonates with them, they can be instantly connected to thousands of people who not only feel like community but are also, potentially willing to show up to a venue, party or screening. We're both more and less connected at the same time.
Tip #3: Look to other storytellers for inspiration.
From Craig Macneill, Henley
YAS: What inspired you to become a filmmaker? 
CM: Growing up, my friend's parents had a VHS camera that over the years I became pretty attached to. We developed and shot a bunch of narrative films. We'd shoot after school and on the weekends. I had my first and only concussion shooting a karate film in my basement. We'd edit all our work in-camera and hold screenings for our friends and families. I pretty much learned the process that way.
YAS: Tell us about your short film---why are you passionate about the story?
CM: "Henley" is about a nine-year-old (Ted Henley) roadkill entrepreneur who lives with his father in their run down motel on a rural stretch of Virginia highway. He earns his tiny allowance by collecting the roadkill that litters the road. But when his dad can no longer afford to pay him, Ted devises a clever scheme to get new customers---he lures deer into the middle of the road as people drive by, wrecking their cars and forcing them to spend the night.
I was inspired to make "Henley" while attending a reading by author Clay McLeod Chapman. He was reading the chapter The Henley Road Motel from his novel, "Miss Corpus." It only took a couple minutes before I knew that I wanted to turn that story into a film. Clay and I had previously collaborated on, "Late Bloomer," a short film that screened at Sundance in 2005 and we wanted continue that relationship.
YAS: How do you think the Internet/social media is changing storytelling?
CM: I think it is helping empower the filmmakers. It's providing us with the opportunity to interact with our audiences directly without necessarily having to go through an intermediary. It is helping filmmakers retain control of the creative process.
---Dianne Molina
