Members Please Read

[mscherer]

Exciting news for everyone who has been involved with The GITS Club, the peer script review site. Due to the efforts of longtime GITS follower and GITS Club member Sean Harris, TGC will migrate over to a terrific community called OTTfilms. Here is Sean with more background in an open letter to TGC members:

Dear GITS Club member,

If you are a regular visitor to the site, you will have noticed that activity on the boards has slowed considerably of late, despite founder Jeff Messerman’s and Administrator Mike Scherer’s valiant efforts to keep interest flowing.

After talks between Scott Myers, Mike Scherer and OTTfilms founder, John Condon, the decision has been made to fold GITS Club and replace it with the forum over at OTTfilms (http://www.ottfilms.co.uk/forum).

This decision may come as a bit of a shock to some of you, but it was felt that the move would help create new energy and new opportunities for GITS Club regulars, and hopefully revive the ‘spirit of the spec’ mentality that was the initial driving force behind the groups creation.

Scott has agreed to promote OTTfilms on his blog and will replace the current link to GITS Club in due course, and although a date for the closure has yet to be confirmed, said closure will occur imminently, so if you have any threads or posts you wish to print or save, now is the time to do so.

In order to complete this transition, please take a moment to register over at www.ottfilms.com/forum (the register button is top left on the forum page) and sign up using your real name (or a pen name if you don’t want to use your real name – just nothing like N00B1 or the like), and re-post any scripts/ideas/loglines currently on the boards that you wish to receive feedback on. I suggest you copy and paste any feedback you’ve received on the GITS Club boards and post that along with your work for critique.

I also recommend you head over to the ‘Introductions’ section and write a little something about yourself. You’re sure to receive a warm welcome from fellow OTT members, as well as from the helpful and friendly OTT Support Team (which is made up seasoned OTT veterans who are always on hand to offer help and advice to all OTT members).

Mike has already signed up, so both he and I (Sean Z P Harris) will be on hand to answer any queries you may have with regards to the transfer, but please try to contact me instead of Mike in the first instance.

If you feel there are any threads that need to be transferred across outside the ‘Writing Critique’ section, then let me know and I’ll get them copied across to the new forum.

As for OTTfilms, it is a community populated by both experienced filmmakers and beginners, who share time, talent and resources to ensure that its members have a chance to see their films produced to a professional standard. It boasts a thriving writing section dedicated to features, shorts and micro-shorts, and competitions are held for writing and filmmaking on a regular basis.

Since its inception in 2005, OTT has helped its members shoot over 100 films. These films are documented on the site, screened at OTT events, and hosted on OTT's website (via the OTT VIMEO page) to promote the filmmaker, the film and OTT. The films are still owned by the filmmakers, but they allow OTT to use them for promotional purposes.

OTT also acts as the official forum for Raindance (http://www.raindance.co.uk/site/), an organisation dedicated to fostering and promoting independent film in the UK and around the world. It has operations in London, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, New York, Budapest, Brussels and Berlin.

So, I hope you understand the underlying reasons behind this decision. Mike, myself and the rest of the OTT community look forward to meeting you on the boards as we continue to help and support each other on our respective creative journeys.

Warm regards,

Sean Z P Harris

[oz]

Hello, old friends. Thought I'd pop my head in one last time on the GITS board before the switch and say it's been an honor to work with everyone here. I don't know what to expect from the new board and although I'm certain it will be a great site, this was a nice little place for a devoted few trying to figure out their craft, their vision, their dream. For that, I'll always be grateful to Scott, Jeff and, especially Mike for creating and sustaining this place. I know I haven't been active for a while due to health issues, but this place and these people will always have a place in my heart.

To all who contributed, interacted and shared, thank you. Hopefully I'll see you on the other side ; )
donna

[LF]

It's been fun over here Thanks for keeping it going guys and I'll see y'all on the other side. (With the name L Fernando).

-L

Oz, hope you'll be better soon.

[napolyphonic]

This should be an interesting merger. I the GITS community needs to be jolted or something, and this is the way to do it, but I worry about OTTFilms since they're more oriented toward MAKING films. It's nice to have the support of filmmakers, but I think it's going to be a strange world for anyone trying to get in to hollywood.

Mike already posted a script to the boards over there and received strange feedback, all in the vein of trying to get it MADE. They said he should change the setting to UK and that there were some strange choices for an indie movie. I worry that these folks are very willing to sacrifice story and concept in the name of production. Of course I have yet to post anything over there, but I will be doing so shortly, and what I want is story, not production, feedback.

But as I said, the life of that board is much fuller than this one, so I'm sure it will be a good merger.

-G

[Sean Z P Harris]

Hi Napolyphonic!

I’ve checked out the thread in question and can see how the comments made in it could raise your concerns. I have posted my disagreement with person who suggested re-locating the story, to which OTT founder, John Condon, also added (and nailed it better than I):

I agree with Sean. We are a group designed for all filmmakers and that includes writers. Not everything that a writer produces would suit the filmmakers here, so it shouldn't be expected that everything posted (especially features, as we are currently not geared up to make one) is intended for us to turn in to an indie film…The great thing about having a pool of very experienced and dedicated writers [regarding ex-GITS Club members] is that we can all help each other develop our stories and styles, but whenever an opportunity arises (such as the comp - which starts today) these guys can stretch their fingers and produce stories that we CAN and will turn in to slick little shorts.

Eventually, too, when we are in a position to make a feature, [these] same writers may have something suitable for the group to produce.

Let's just ensure that it's made clear what is intended for each story and we can then tailor our feedback to suit.

So as you can see, OTT tries to encompass all filmmakers. I have been a member for years, and conceder myself to be mainly a writer, so it is the writing section of the site I visit most often.

I, along with most OTTers, would never suggest compromising your work just so it can be produced in the UK. Trust me, none of the writers I know of over at OTT would ever sacrifice story and concept in the name of production! If anything, the fact that GITS members now have experienced filmmakers at their fingertips should be a bonus (if you wish to see any of your short scripts turned into films), not a determent.

It is hoped that eventually, OTT will become a global entity, so all ex-GITS Club members would have the option of using a West Coast or East Coast branch of OTT to get US-centric films produced under the OTT banner and ethos – should you so wish!

The Takeaway: As long as writers make it clear (and this goes for writers on this side of the pond as well) what they are looking for when they post a script (purely critique or the intention of letting it be made into a short film by the group) then we will avoid any incidents like this in the future (to be fair, this is the first time it has happened – typical!).

Also, I would love for all those members who haven’t posted yet to get involved, and help create a greater GITS presence on the board; impart your fantastic knowledge regarding the craft to new and existing OTT members alike.

There is a competition running over there at the moment named Campfire Stories. Here’s the gist:

THE CHALLENGE...

You have the attention of everyone gathered around the glowing embers of their computers and TV screens, so tell us all your creepiest, spookiest, most chilling and terrifying tale. It can be any Horror sub-genre... A ghost story. A slasher story. A monster story. A supernatural story. An Alien Story. It's entirely up to you, as long as it's 'scary'.

You can enter a short script, a short film..or both. However, you may not dig an old script or film out of your drawer. It needs to be created specifically for this competition.

Filmmakers, you can find plenty of willing cast and crew on the OTTfilms forum, so, as soon as you are ready to take part, post a new thread in the OTT Writing And Filmmaking Competitions folder and ask for help.

COMPETITION RULES...

1) You can enter as many scripts or films as you like.
2) You CAN enter a film made from a script that has been entered in to the script section of the comp.
3) All entries (Script and film) MUST be shorts though. No features (this time). Aim for no more than a 15 page script or a 15 minute film. If you go over we won't hold it against you but please try to aim for those targets.
4) All script entries need to be uploaded by 7pm on the following date ( 4th October 2011 ).
5) All Films must be completed and handed in (on DVD) by 7pm on the day of the screening ( 1st November 2011 ).
6) Rule one of the Green-light rules does not apply to OTT competitions, so anyone may enter. However, rules two and three still apply. Please make sure you are familiar withe rules before taking part.

It’s a good time to get involved.

Cheers!

Sean.