 Early Bird Offer
What do films like RESERVOIR DOGS, BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, AMORES PERROS, MEMENTO and DONNIE DARKO have in common?
They were all made by new filmmakers, without stars and for low budgets.
In spite of that, these films succeeded because of the brilliance of their conceits, as well as the originality of their storytelling.
Maverick Screenwriting will teach you how to play with time, fantasy and logic in the service of stories that change the way we look at the world.
For those who want to move beyond 3-Act structure - who see the world in a different way - who want to give their imaginations free rein, or who are just plain tired of naturalism - Maverick Screenwriting is for you.
The first 10 Raindance members to sign up to this course will get it for £235 - that's 20% off.
If you're not a member, then shame on you. All the same, we'll give the first 10 a discount of 15%.
Read more
Read an interview with Josh Golding
Maverick Screenwriting
September 20/21
Central London
£249.69 (£235 to Raindance members)
| Film Club - UK Premiere
Raindance Film Club proudly presents the UK Premiere of WRONG NUMBERS, the debut film from Alex Holdridge, director of the highly acclaimed IN SEARCH OF A MIDNIGHT KISS.
Made on a shoestring budget in Austin in 2001, it was Alex's intention to head to LA to remake the film with a large studio. Unfortunately the deal collapsed, but curiously enough in 2007 that same studio released SUPERBAD, an almost identical film that went on to become a huge international hit. Screwed over? We think so.
Featuring Midnight Kiss' leading man Scoot McNairy, this hilarious indie gem is currently without UK distribution, so for the time being this is the only place you can see it. Please come and support this fantastic and shamefully overlooked film.
Click here for the film synopsis and more details about Film Club
Wednesday 23rd July, 7pm, The Horse Hospital - Colonnade - Bloomsbury - London - WC1N 1HX.
And it's FREE
|  Ask Elliot
Raindance member Ana Atanesyan came to us with this question:
One of the songs on the feature I'm working on is 'London Calling' by Clash. As far as I am aware, Mick Jones has a connection to Raindance and he supports young filmmakers. Would it be possible to ask him for permission to have the tune in the film?
Ah, if only it were that simple...
Read more
| Free Membership
This week, EMI Chairman Guy Hands is in court over claims he was given bad financial advice.
The trial centres on a number of low-budget films he invested in. One was a film called CRUST. You've probably heard of it. It's the one about a bar owner who finds a 7 foot shrimp washed up on the beach and trains it to be a boxer - oh.
It was not a hit.
Another was a 'comedy' called NINE DEAD GAY GUYS.
I want you to come up with an idea for a film. A film that could not possibly ever be made. A film with a premise that is so unutterably bad that not even a giant boxing shrimp could knock it in to shape. A film for Guy Hands to invest in.
The most ludicrous ideas for a film will win a Raindance membership for a year.
I also have Hands' email address and will forward a few of the best to him and ask if he would like to invest some of his enormous wealth in your projects.
Send your entries to competition@raindance.co.uk
|  RDTV
Raindance TV - Summer Version!
Not that you'd know it, but it's the middle of summer and Raindance.tv has three great recommendations on how to pass these long, dreary, wet, bleak, awful, boring, miserable days.
First, travel down memory lane with the documentary Kiss Me Quick: Brighton and the Dirty Weekend. This documentary, shown at the last Raindance Film Festival, explores Brighton's long history of Dirty Weekends.
Next, spend the day with Kath Green, a bored middle-aged housewife, who is given a new medication with unusual (some might even say lucky!) side-effects. In her dull marriage, perhaps these Pleasure Pills are exactly what the doctor ordered.
Lastly, check out the Ken Loach short Happy Ending. Watch Coronation Street's Danny Baldwin star in this feel-good short about a father and son's struggle to agree on a suitable film from a selection of Hollywood's finest. |  Beware the Back-Stabbers
Some say the cost of murder is too high.
Actually, it's surprisingly affordable to chop someone's head off or rip their guts out.
Let Raindance guide you through a comprehensive list of special effects, tailored for low to no budget horror and action films.
By the end of the course you'll be as happy disembowelling your heroine as shooting your hero in the face.
Day 1 - Horror FX; everything gory. Want to achieve a Dr Butcher-style arm impaling? A pouring chest wound? We'll show you how.
Day 2 - Action FX; the Woo side of things. How to modify that prop gun to fire a six-inch muzzle flash. How to make ricochets without hiring an expensive pyrotechnician.
If you're the film maker who balked when told their low budget film could not contain any special effects, or if you yearn for the salad-days of 70's and 80's horror and crime cinema, when inconceivable violence was entirely justified just as long as you had a Euro-funk soundtrack, this course is for you.
SFX For Low Budget Film
19/20 July
Central London
GBP250+VAT (Raindance members get 15% off)
| Something Elliot found
Images created by 5-year-olds in MS Paint of famous historical events. These are so much better than most of the contemporary art that you see in galleries these days.
Visit the gallery
| HorrorFest 2008
Win a holiday for 2, Avid software or an XBOX 360 as part of propellertv's search for the scariest horror short.
Following the huge success of propellertv's first ever short film festival, ShortFest, we are now launching a brand new competition to find the most horrifying short.
To get involved all you've got to do is send in your horror short (no longer than 10 mins) to Horrorfest, Propeller TV, C/O Screen Yorkshire, Leeds, LS2 7EY, UK before Friday 12th September, 2008, along with a propellertv submission form which you can download from www.propellertv.co.uk
All entries to 'HorrorFest' will be broadcast on propellertv over Halloween (subject to terms and conditions).
For more information please contact john@propellertv.co.uk and/or check www.propellertv.co.uk |  Britdoc 08
23 - 25 July, Keble College, Oxford.
BRITDOC is the place to come and be inspired by the best documentary filmmaking in the world and do business with the key international funders and distributors, and it's only two weeks away!
This year boasts a double theme: Comedy and Music. In attendance will be hilarious director Larry Charles (Borat and Curb Your Enthusiasm), while our musician guests include acclaimed composer Michael Nyman and Mercury Prize nominee Nitin Sawhney.
The film competitions have been announced! Highlights include Sundance winners Man On Wire and Trouble The Water, but be sure to visit the website to see the full line-up of the Best British Feature Documentary Competition, the FourDocs Passat Short Film Competition and the Best Of Fests.
Also, don't miss a brilliant pre-festival online system, invaluable surgeries and masterclasses, speed-dating sessions for filmmakers and composers, and much more. Visit the website to grab your pass now.
www.britdoc.org/festival
| Working the Net
The bowler's Holding, the batsman's Willey
cricketwrite.com is the new cricket website devoted to writing on the game. We want to hear from budding authors and established writers - simply anyone who loves the sport - with their thoughts and experiences.
Journeys along Anecdote Avenue are most welcome. Tributes to players, recollections of favourite games and opinions on the issues of the moment - club, county or international - are sought after.
The challenge is to be as creative as you can. The subject can be whatever takes your fancy but cricket has to be the central theme. Our mission is to celebrate the game and the writing surrounding it.
Contributions should be approximately 500 words and we'll publish them free of charge on www.cricketwrite.com. Stories can be accompanied by photographs in JPEG format if possible.
email your cricketing story to editor@cricketwrite.com
******
Live!Animation!
MyToons.com, the world's first animation community to provide HD animation, is streaming crisp, clear, and beautiful HD animation throughout the world.
As well as streaming the highest-quality animation, we hold various contests to recognize and support animators globally.
Our latest contest, Get with the Times!, is all about HD animation. Your filmmakers can enter to win a trip to NYC to see their animation on the big screen in Times Square!
We also have iPod Nanos loaded with animation and several copies of Adobe's CS3 to share, so be sure to check out MyToons.com/contests/TimesSquare for more details!
******
The Comedy Writing Weekend in Bristol
19/20 July 2008
Over the weekend you'll participate in intensive, practical exercises that are designed to develop the basic skills you need to make your material funny in any format or medium you're writing for: film, television, radio, theatre, stand-up, or print.
PRICE: £150 (concessions, including Raindance members, £135)
E-mail: drama-lifelearn@bristol.ac.uk
Telephone: Isobel Pierce on 0117 9545471
Website: http://www.euroscript.co.uk/comedy_bristol.html
|  Competition
Neil Young's 'CSNY DÉJÀ VU' comes to UK cinemas on July 18.
Since their debut in the late 'sixties, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young have functioned as the "town criers" of their generation. With songs like "Ohio" and "Find the Cost of Freedom", CSNY were in the forefront of Vietnam-era protest and anti-war sentiment. Though fondly remembered for their harmonies and love songs, the band has never lost their political edge.
We have three pairs of tickets to an exclusive preview screening of the film on July 14 at 6.30pm to be won.
Click here to enter the competition
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Low budget, short subjects made in the UK in the 1930s. The Cinematographic Films Bill, passed in April 1927 stipulated that all UK cinemas would have to include a proportion of British films in their programmes. The percentage varied, rising to 20% at one time. The "Quota Quickies" were generally of a quite low quality but there are some gems hidden in their midst, notably those by Michael Powell. |  Joe Pearshouse and the Raindance team
Elliot Grove
Suzanne Ballantyne
Will Pearce
Jesse Vile
James Merchant
Natasha Carlos
Katherine Waters
Zoe Carter
Amelie Thille
Abiola Adeniyi
Chris Hill
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