John August

International

Aliens abroad

Follow Up, International

[This story](http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118001615.html?categoryid=13&cs=1) in today’s Variety seems to run counter to [last week’s post](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2009/cams-rips-and-release-dates) about how studios often delay releasing movies overseas in an attempt to reduce piracy:

> Russia and Ukraine aren’t the usual launching pads for Hollywood event pics, so it came as a surprise when Paramount and DreamWorks Animation decided to open 3-D toon “Monsters vs. Aliens” in those markets first.

Why would they do that? Wouldn’t that make it more likely to get bootlegged?

Ah, but wait:

> In a precautionary move to ward off pirates, Paramount supplied only dubbed prints of “Monsters” to Russian and Ukrainian theaters.

Animation works well dubbed, and most crucially, a cam in Russian or Ukranian is not particularly useful worldwide.

Fansubbing

International, Projects, The Nines

This [Flickr photostream](http://www.flickr.com/photos/insubs/) consists of nothing but photos of DVD collections, which seems like a pretty pointless thing to photograph. But it’s all to make the point that users who download subtitling files aren’t necessarily pirates. In many cases, they have legitimate DVDs — but in the wrong language.

Hollywood has gotten much more aggressive about releasing blockbusters in theaters “day-and-date” — a movie like Transformers will appear pretty much everywhere worldwide simultaneously. But for home video, and particularly for less-than-blockbusters and television series, the disparity in release dates is maddening. My movie came out in Australia one full year after the U.S release. Australia, people.

That’s the point behind “Queremos Cultura” (“We Want Culture”). There is a worldwide audience that wants to watch American movies and TV shows, but because of bureaucracy and myopia, there is no legal way for them to do it.

I was [sympathetic about this on The Nines](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2008/more-on-the-torrents), but sympathy accomplishes nothing. There’s not going to be a filmmaker-driven solution. The studios are all now international corporations, and need to take more leadership in letting the global audience see movies and TV shows in a timely fashion.

Going to France

International, Travel

Along with nine other WGA writers, I’ll be [headed to France](http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117994393.html?categoryid=13&cs=1) in November to get a backstage tour of Paris and Marseille, in the hopes of finding cinematically interesting people and places. It’s all sponsored by Film France in the hopes of getting more big Hollywood movies shooting there.

It’s a clever idea, one I suspect other countries may follow. ((My wish list would include Turkey, Greece, Spain and Iceland.)) Tax breaks and film incentives are great. But when a country has distinct and unreproducible assets like France, it’s smart to get them embedded in the script. And screenwriters are the ones to do it.

Of my movies, Big Fish is the only project that shot in France.

From Russia with Questions

Education, International, QandA

questionmarkMy name is Nerses, I am from Moscow, Russian Federation. I have two questions and I hope you will find time to answer on some of them.

I am 16 and next fall I’m going to apply to US universities as an international applicant. But before getting into film school (like USC or UCLA), I want to receive my bachelor in something not connected with filmmaking. That’s one of my problems, as I haven’t yet decided what other specialization I can be good at. Right now I am thinking about undergraduate Advertising and Public Relations in Chapman University (by the way, it also has very good film programs). But my question is, can I get into Screenwriting or Producing program of graduate film school, if I already have BFA in Film Studies (a.k.a. Critical Studies) or Television & Broadcast Journalism?

And, my second question is, did any of your friends from USC get into Hollywood film industry and become successful filmmakers being international alumni? I am asking this question, because I didn’t hear much about famous people, who had similar situation to mine (kid from another country trying to find his way to get noticed)?

— Nerses

Advertising is a great and relevant degree to choose for undergraduate studies. You’ll learn a little bit of production (probably shooting some commercials on video), but most of your time will be spent writing and pitching, which are skills you’ll be using a lot of in the film industry. Having some marketing classes under your belt will also be a help.

I speak with first-hand experience: I was an undergrad Advertising major, with a minor in English.

However, if you find an undergraduate film program that appeals to you, don’t dismiss it out of hand. I strongly believe you should pursue what fascinates you at every stage in your education (and life). I don’t think it would affect your chances of getting into a film graduate program regardless.

As for your second question, yes, we had several international students in my film school class who went on to be quite successful. For instance, [Miles Millar](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0587692/), the executive producer of Smallville, hails from England. In my class of 25 students, four were international students, and three of them are still working in the industry.