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Heidi Wicks asked me some questions about PEI Screenwriters’ Bootcamp.

Can you tell I liked it?

Read the whole interview:Wanna buff up? Screenwriter’s Bootcamp should do it.

Just read this report on Digital Media Wire that says “Comedy Overtakes News As Most Popular Web Video.”

Comedy videos rose in viewership from 31% of the audience in 2007 to 50% today, leading all categories.

That’s what comedy writers like myself like to hear.

Been busy busy busy at my new job as creativ director of  Book Trailers for BookShorts.com. Just the next logical progression in a long line of association with BookShorts and their book loving ways.

Book videos or video book trailers aim to do what movie trailers do for film, or music videos do for song – aim to get your message out there using video, the all powerful captivating moving image.

With the rise of the video on the web, the Internet is a natural medium for book trailers, and a great way for authors to promote their books, their art, their speaking abilities…and build relationships with their fans.

Book videos can take many forms:

• Author Biographies
• Video Book Trailers
• Themed Book Series
• Book News
• BookShorts Films – fully realized short films meant for the festival and/or TV broadcast.

What do you do with your book video? You distribute it and spread it around. Put it on your author web sites, your Facebook fan pages, YouTube and MySpace pages. Use Tubemogul to distribute to up to 20 other video and social networking sites.

Ask your fans to put it on their blogs.

Put it up beside your Amazon page. Ask your local book retailer to set up a kiosk in their store and play it.

Book trailers  can also help you build relationships with your readers, and grow your legion of fans.

In this era, authors are ever more responsible for their own publicity and promotion. Luckily with web tools and social networking this is becoming more and more accessible.

Ink Canada Facebook Edition is a Facebook Group and community for Canadian screenwriters and filmmakers. The Group is edited with uber-love by Karen Walton, Canada’s A-list screenwriter and industry activist and is a ridiculous font of goodness. It is brimming with tips and information offered by seasoned writers and industry players on all aspects of the craft and business of writing for film, TV or new media, befitting newbie and pro writers, directors, producers alike.

I am an intern on Ink Canada this year, along with 6 other smartypants, and am just blown away by all the really useful advice on the Facebook Group – especially the Discussion pages. That is also why I am distraught at not being able to “search” it to find threads or topics. Yup – Facebook’s search is non-functioning and has been broken for months now. Also, the threads do not seem to get indexed by Google, so you can’t use that search method either.

This sucks on quite a few levels. It makes it hard to go back and easily find a post you’d like to reread when there is over a year’s worth of discussion spread across hundreds of threads. Every new thread that is added pushes older discussions further and further back into a mire of uncategorized archive pages.

Because newbies generally ask the same questions over and over (in any field mind you), telling them that that question has been answered before and that they need only to find it in the ink archives is just a bit evil.

So, until the Facebook search is fixed, here are a few of my favorite threads. Email me to let me know if I’ve missed some.

• ink FAQ – how to use the Facebook site – an irreverent guide
• canadian writers, writer-hyphenates, story editors & intl screenwriters online
• i write *films* in & from canada: one-liners covering things i am contractually permitted to acknowledge
• for everybody who asks us older-types about agents…
• Agents
• Ink Canada Exclusive: FQU with Anthea Foyer
• Ink Canada Exclusive: FQU With Jim Henshaw
• FQU: screenwriter TONY ELLIOTT
• FQU: JACOB & KEVIN TIERNEY on THE TROTSKY
• Intern assignment – Telefilm Atlantic Region
• Intern Assignment – Writer’s First
• those in/interested in writing in the US of A…
• Intern Irene here with my first question: How do you BE a writer?
• How many scripts?
• What would you Spec and why?
• What is the best way for new writers to get their work (film scripts) noticed in the Canadian market?
• Book options
• Fun with Pitching!
• Selling that elusive first script
• advanced writing issues: your producers’ development budget runs out before the script is ready – what do u do?
• ladies, women & girls – the joys of scribbling when you’re like, so not a guy

Tis true. I’ve moved to Newfoundland – lured by the call of the puffin – sound appreciation, like music, being very subjective.

I luvs it here.

I luv the sound of the fog horns blowing loudly right in my backyard, now that I am accustomed to them and know that a ship will not be crashing through my picture window. I love the view of the narrows that astounds no matter how many times I see it – or not – depending on the fog.  I even love the slugs that I find under my desk, or more frequently,  the slug trails on the carpet that just start and disappear – with nary a critter in site.

Maybe if I could learn how to do a slug call – I could call them out.

But I am here.  Hanging with the St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival, the musicians, comedians, and other arty members. And my new friend BABS! of moovy.ca.

Yeeha. I’m an Intern at Ink.Canada Facebook Edition – Karen Walton’s screenwriter’s group built to foster and nurture writers, community and a Canadian filmmaking industry.

Check it out. Join. Participate. Make great film.

How can you not be depressed upon returning?

Cod tongues are a regional specialty and I make it my habit to try local food.

Post Festival Depression Hits Hard After the St. John’s Intl Film Fest.I was the Official blogger of the St. John’s Intl Film Festival. Rachel Peters and I shot this mockumentary 2 weeks after the festival, about our struggle coping being back in the “centre of the universe.” That’s what St. John’sers affectionately call Toronto.

Yes, this video is full of inside jokes. So here’s a little glossary that may help.

Kelly Davis – is the unsinkable festival director

NIFCO – the Newfoundland Independent Film Coop

Snowball – the amazing dancing cockatiel that became our mascot at the fest

Noreen Golfman – is the festival CEO/founder

Panfried cod tongues – are a delicacy – and are very yummy. You missed out Megan!

“The Song” – is the theme song of the festival’s 2007 animated trailer, which was animated by Rachel Peters, and opened every screening.

Rosemary House – is a producer/director in St. John’s. She hosted a lovely luncheon at her home for all the delegates of the fest, which until we got there, we thought was the name of the Organization ( like Ronald McDonald House”. )

Barbara Doran – “Random Passage” producer whose latest film opened up the film fest.

Rachel did really eat fire.

And we hula-hooped at the closing party.
Sorry for the bad sound. We shot fast and dirty.

My three short films based on Mireille Silcoff’s book Archetypes screened at The St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival
this past October 19th.

I also sat on the panel for the Film Byte Workshop: Artists Crossing Platforms, which was moderated by Judith Keenan with Filmmakers Sherry White, Mary Lewis, Katerina Cizek

I was also the Official Blogger of the festival. Catch up on this shenanigans at bittertonic.com.