Two Hollywood insiders have gotten together to develop an online studio and community, built to discover and cultivate the next wave of directors in the film industry.
Deepak Nayer, who was the producer or executive producer of films like "City of Ghosts," "The Million Dollar Hotel," 'Bend It Like Beckham" and "Buena Vista Social Club," along with Sandy Grushow, who was formerly head of Fox Television Entertainment, have partnered to launch the new Web site called Filmaka.
"We are in the business of getting behind the talent and building their careers," Chief Executive Nayar told Reuters in an interview. "This is a place for anybody from anywhere in the world to have that opportunity."
How the site has been working and will continue to work, is to ask for short-form video clips to be presented to a group of industry judges, along with Web visitors as well. Judges participating include Wim Wenders, Werner Herzog and Paul Schrader.
The winner of the film contest will be announced next week, and will be rewarded with a feature film to direct, which will be produced by Filmaka.
What Filmaka gets out of it as a business is the discovery of a pool of new talent which they can represent. They also want to discover and license entertainment for various entertainment platforms; including TV, film, advertising and the Web.
As far as representation goes, it will be done through the William Morris Agency, with whom new directors will have the opportunity to be introduced to and potentially work with.
The site has been in beta for over a year, and so far has gathered about 3,600 filmmakers from 95 countries.
Grushow said that with the new entertainment realities in a slowing economy, there is a growing need for a marketplace to offer talented directors new outlets for their work, which would be high-quality but low-cost.
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