FilmGo.net
By: Chris Lentz |
Monday March 02, 2009 |
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Bill Bonafanti discusses his unique website for indie films. |
| There have been enough people whose lives have been changed by viewing Star Wars to fill several countries. Plenty – a good portion – of those people were children when the ground-breaking film forced its way into the collective conscious of the world. A lot of those children were inspired to be part of the film industry in some form. One of those kids was Bill Bonfanti, 2 years old when he saw Star Wars for the first time. “Seeing Star Wars at the tender age of 2 allowed me to really escape into my imagination and hone it into a skill,” Bonfanti said. “ It first made me want to be an actor and by the time I was 4 I was auditioning. It is around this time that I discovered I could draw and my love for Star wars helped me tell stories through my drawings which then led to a deep love for comic books which I still love today. This all led me to start writing screenplays and wanting to direct movies.” As long as he can remember, Bonfanti has wanted to be a filmmaker or involved with the industry in any way he could. But, as it has a tendency to do, life got in the way. He chose the wrong film school and dropped out. A full time job meant to be a two-year-stint on Wall Street to save up money for a feature turned into a career. He met his wife, leading to mortgage payments and children, and he found himself ten years into his plan and nowhere near his goal. So Bonfanti decided to write his first screenplay since college. If the screenplay sold well, he was ready to move on with his dream. If not, at least he could be satisfied with trying. “Boy was I wrong,” he said. “Upon completing the screenplay and learning the difficulties that lie ahead with first getting the film made and then getting distribution, I decided to try and produce the movie by myself. I planned to build a website to support the movie and to handle distribution of the film. It was around this time that a bigger light bulb went off in my mind. I realized that there were plenty of talented filmmakers out there who also were having trouble getting their films distributed and thus the idea to build FilmGo, a year round, online film festival was born.” FilmGo.net is a website, free of charge to join, that has everything from blogs to polls to news to full feature length films – that members can purchase online – all on the independent side of the industry. Traditionally, we think of independent films making their premiers in film festivals, some of them rather obscure. With FilmGo, the model we are used to has been completely thrown for a loop, a change many have found to be for the better. Producers have said that the model is perfect, and that FilmGo has opened up their films to a much larger audience.  “It simply comes down to more choices for everyone involved,” Bonfanti said, “from audiences to filmmakers. From the audience perspective, there is no limit to what can be found on the internet. From short videos on You Tube to feature length films like you would find on FilmGo.net to your favorite TV shows on Hulu.com, there is so much to discover and enjoy. For filmmakers, the internet opens up all types of avenues to showcase their work and get recognized. Anyone with a video camera, a computer and the will to do so, can become the filmmaker they’ve always wanted to be.” And that is one of the ultimate goals of FilmGo – to help filmmakers, specifically while waiting for distribution by way of DVDs or theaters. “In most cases,” Bonfanti explained, “if an independent filmmaker is lucky enough to secure a distribution deal, the deal is generally not very beneficial to the filmmaker. Generally the filmmaker sees very little profit (if any at all) and by the time it is all said and done they wind up back at square one. It is my hope that after being featured on FilmGo, the filmmakers can secure a better distribution deal due to the exposure that FilmGo offers. If a filmmaker is already making money on FilmGo.net, they don’t have to feel forced to take a distribution deal that doesn’t work in their favor. This allows them to negotiate from a position of strength rather than one of weakness.” The other goal of the website is to provide audience with award-winning independent films they probably will not be likely to seem without having to leave home. FIlmGo has done all the work by choosing a variety of film genres, everything from drug-use dramas to romantic comedies, so that there is something for everyone. Plus, every time a film is bought on FilmGo, the filmmakers get paid, so the audiences can watch the film knowing that they have helped the indie film community, which is good for the film industry in general. “The more indie films that make it into the marketplace, the better,” said Bonfanti. “Indie films usually stand in stark contrast to their big budget counterparts in that they tell different stories with a unique voice and style. In short, more indies in the marketplaceequals more variety for filmgoers which translates to more money for Hollywood. It is a winning situation for everyone.” Bonfanti has found a winning solution by recognizing this fact, plus being well aware of the influence that the internet has had on filmmaking, and will have in the future: “The internet is the future in that it opens up a world of possibilities for filmmakers. My hope is that FilmGo.net will become the premier destination for filmmakers to gain exposure and make some money. I also want film lovers to know that they can come to FilmGo.net and be sure that they are just one click away from being entertained by a new, unique, indie film.” |
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