WMM BLOG

How To Copyright & Protect Your Script

We Make Movies has provided venues and platforms for independent filmmakers of all ilks to share their work in a safe, constructive, positive environment. All of the labs in our lab pipeline provide opportunities for artists to bring in their work (at whatever stage they are in)  with the hopes that our audience of creatives will share feedback for how to improve and optimize the project. Our Writers Lab allows writers to bring in fresh pages (from portions of their scripts) for actors to stage read so the writers can hear their ideas, dialogue, and craftsmanship come to life, but this means that there is a room full of others who are also privy to these new ideas, dialogue, and craftsmanship as well. So how can writers protect their intellectual property and safeguard their originality? What constitutes a script or screenplay? What is copyright and why do writers need it? We explain it all below!

A script is a written blueprint of a play, show, or movie. A screenplay...

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Filmmaker Allen Cordell Takes Indie Comic to the Festival Circuit

Allen Cordell's narrative debut The Lizard Laughed enjoys its world premiere at the Oscar-qualifying Florida Film Festival this week (April 8-17). Hailed as "a breathtaking love letter to New Mexico’s backcountry," the 21 minute film tells the tale of an awkward, confrontational reunion when Harvey gets an unexpected visit from Nathan, his son he hasn’t seen since abandoning him years ago. A comedy about feeling disconnected from the people who should be most important to us in life, the film is based on Noah Van Sciver's acclaimed indie comic of the same name.

The film stars cult comedy gem Sky Elobar (Greasy Strangler, Tropical Cop Tales, Under the Silverlake, Don Verdean and Lady Dynamite) as Harvey, and longtime WMM member and award winning actor Jared Boghosian (The Channel, The Witch Files, Jane the Virgin, SWAT) as Nathan. Cordell's previous projects includes music...

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Oscar-Qualifying Filmmaker Clare Cooney Strikes Again

The Oscar-qualifying Cleveland International Film Festival welcomes Chicago filmmaker / actor Clare Cooney for the world premiere of her short film After: A Love Storyan intimate story of a couple trying to bridge the space that has emerged between them after surviving a violent event, this week. Cooney previously wrote, directed, edited, and starred in Runner, a chilling short film that played at 15 film festivals, collected six awards, and garnered her a “Filmmaker to Watch” nomination from the Oscar-qualifying Atlanta Film Festival. Her followup Pick Up made its festival premiere at the Oscar-qualifying Indy Shorts Film Festival  last year after already having received a half a million views on Omeleto. Detect a pattern?

The 15 minute short, filmed with a skeleton cast and crew, is about ex-lovers who reconnect on a car ride during the pandemic. Then their masks come...

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META ACQUIRES WMM

events industry marketing Mar 31, 2022

American media magnate, internet entrepreneur, and philanthropist Mark Zuckerberg wants to help you make the movies you want to see. Known for co-founding the social media giant Facebook, Zuckerberg has acquired WMM through parent company Meta Platforms. We Make Movies will now operate under the moniker We Make Metaverse, as the team prepares to implement innovative strategies envisioned by Zuckerberg, ushering in a new generation of technological advances to enhance the essence of community. 

What exactly is the nebulous concept of the metaverse? The term can can be traced back to Neal Stephenson and his canonized 1992 dystopian cyberpunk novel Snow Crash. "Like any place in Reality, the Street is subject to development. Developers can build their own small streets feeding off of the main one. They can build buildings, parks, signs, as well as things that do not exist in Reality, such as vast hovering overhead light...

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Tyler C. Peterson's "Copper & Wool"

 

Director, producer, screenwriter, and editor Tyler C. Peterson found We Make Movies through the inaugural We Make Movies International Film Festival where his award-winning short film Summer Hill  (Best Narrative Short - North Beach American Film Festival, Audience Choice for Narrative Short - Cecil County Film Festival) was screened. Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, he graduated from Towson University with a Bachelor's Degree in film and "a thirst for challenging industry ideologies." Exploring his own queer identity led him to place diversity as a priority both in-front of and behind the camera and found his own indie production company Lux Daze Media in 2015.

Based in Los Angeles, Peterson co-produced memorable documentary feature Mom & M, which screened at WMMINTL 2021 alongside several other festivals, including the prestigious Bentonville Film Festival founded by Geena Davis. He is...

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Finding Snow White w/ Fiona McDougall & Jonathan Villet

Congrats to WMM members, producer/director Fiona McDougall and writer/interviewer Jonathan Villet of OneWorld Communications for landing a special selection designation at the Sonoma International Film Festival! Their short documentary Finding Snow White screens at the festival (celebrating its 25th anniversary!) from March 23rd until March 27th. The film is an incredible contribution to the field of mental health. A powerful message around resilience, the human spirit, and the ways in which we can train ourselves to live life in the face of adversity. Beautiful and poignant.

We had a moment to catch up with the filmmakers - take a read, watch the trailer at the bottom of the piece, and catch the film at the festival if you can. 

WMM: What compelled you to make this film?

JV: I was compelled to make this film for a few reasons – the amazing personal journey of Ditta Oliker after the tragedy of her son’s murder, demonstrates how people can...

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Point Of View w/ Brie Eley of Here and Ready

* Mark your calendars for Sunday, March 31st - WMM Community Director Tehana  Fatima Weeks will be hosting an orientation for Here and Ready! *
 
We Make Movies is proud to be an ally to and partner with the casting database for Black actresses HERE AND READY, helmed by powerhouse Brie Eley. While cultivating her own career, actress, writer, producer, director, voice-over artist, and comedienne Eley founded  Here and Ready in an effort to increase POC visibility and opportunity. A private networking collective servicing more than 1,200 Black actresses across the U.S. and Canada, the platform is positioned to shift the landscape of casting. Through this endeavor, Eley has produced educational seminars, hosted networking events for the Casting Society of America (CSA), and launched a free and public talent database website, all while creating solidarity and connection amongst Black female talent.
 
Originally from Sugar Land,...
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We Make Movies Introduces The Lab Mixtape

events Mar 14, 2022
It has been a dizzying couple of years, but even as the bulk of humanity endured the stalemate of the virus that shall not be named, We Make Movies almost seamlessly transitioned to the virtual. We maintained and even expanded communities of support, while providing our membership and beyond with opportunities to share, engage, and collaborate with fellow creatives. Just over two years later, we have bolstered filmmakers in San Francisco, New York City, Florida, and over the pond in the UK through our lab pipeline, establishing ourselves as the indie hub for all things filmmaking.
 
On Wednesday, March 23rd at 7pm, the original Los Angeles chapter of We Make Movies is safely returning to an in-person format for our labs. We're kicking off the season with a bang – a special hybrid lab we're calling our Lab Mixtape, showcasing elements of our signature Writers Lab, Performance Lab, and Rough Cut Lab all in one...
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A Legend Goes Indie - Point of View w/ Rah Digga

When We Make Movies greenlit filmmaker Mars Roberge's film Stars through the Make Your Feature Competition last November, little did we realize it would involve collaboration with hip hop royalty. Mars is nothing if not ambitious, so in casting the role of "Oprah" in his tale of homelessness, hope, and everything in between, he set the bar high. His vision was rapper, writer, actress, and activist Rashia Tashan Fisher – known to most as Rah DiggaBursting onto the hip hop scene at first through Twice Da Flavor and then under the umbrella of New Jersey collective Da Outsidaz (alongside heavyweights like Eminem), she was plucked by A Tribe Called Quest's Q-Tip and then Busta Rhymes, who positioned the unparalleled talent as the singular female MC of his own groundbreaking Flipmode Squad.
 
A decade into her tenure as one of rap's most distinguished and valued MC's (female or otherwise), she had collaborated on multiple hip...
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Make Your Feature Competition Film "Stars" Is In Production - POV: Mars Roberge

Award-winning director, producer, screenwriter, editor, and recent recipient of 25K through our We Make Movies' Make Your Feature CompetitionMars Roberge is many things. Canadian-American dual citizen. Creative shapeshifter. Industrious Complex of One. WMM VP of Content Eric Michael Kochmer refers to him as, "an infrastructure mastermind when it comes to logistical obstacles and understanding how to cope and get through them. He has six plans of attack prepared for each scenario, so to say he is intensely organized is an understatement." As the film Stars heads into production this week, Mars and company have already instituted "plan C" in several instances, from securing brand new locations that fell through at the eleventh hour to replacing key crew members who became the latest casualties of Omicron. Seemingly impervious to last minute revisions being made, Mars sets foot in New York City poised to roar "ACTION." 

Stars
, as are Mars' other...
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