Author: Christina Parisi

This is my twelfth blog post for Ms. In The Biz, which marks my one-year anniversary with this lovely group of determined women in the filmmaking business.  Sadly though, it also happens to be my last. (For more information on the evolution of Ms. In The Biz, please visit here.) Life works in interesting ways and timing can have quite an effect on it. A Greek Poet, Hesiod, once wrote “Observe due measure, for right timing is in all things the most important factor.” Timing has played an extremely important role in my life in the past few years, but…

Oh no! You’re still waiting for that last piece of music from your composer, and some of your media has gone corrupted AND your audio engineer wants to record new VO… and you have less than twenty-four hours to get it all done to make a deadline! Sound familiar? I think it’s fair to say many if not all filmmakers have found themselves in an “under the wire” type situation where they have to work around the clock over two days to solve things that need a week ‘s time and make sure it’s perfect for a deadline. It’s these…

I recently returned from a hiking trip in Yosemite and had a wonderful time, but I didn’t do any of the writing I’d thought I’d do. See, I’m currently working on a web series script that I haven’t had enough time to focus on while I’m in post on another film so I thought three nights in the mountains would be great. It would unleash a flurry of story activity in my brain and the scripts would practically write themselves. Yeah… that didn’t happen at all. I didn’t write one word. As someone who has gone camping maybe twice in…

As a filmmaker who prefers to remain behind the scenes, the idea of shooting a documentary where I was one of the main subjects was something both frightening and uninteresting to me. But something changed my mind… When my soon-to-be husband and I planned a two-week road trip honeymoon along the western coast of the United States, I started thinking. We would be leaving from Los Angeles with a first stop in Big Sur followed by exploring Northern California, Oregon and Washington, with a last stop in Puget Sound. The filmmaker in me could not let this scenic adventure go…

Last month, I sat down with the talented VR production coordinator and director, Emily Cooper, and learned a thing or two about her path into Virtual Reality (VR), the immersive technology that is rocking the world right now. Emily works in Live Action Production at the Virtual Reality Company (VRC), a premier VR company that is helping pave the way for VR to come to the masses. This month, Emily helps those of us with limited knowledge of VR as she lays out some basics. Q: Can you describe the basics of VR to someone who knows little to nothing…

There is no denying that Virtual Reality (VR) is the hot new thing in the entertainment industry. It’s making headlines and beginning to wow audiences around the globe. And though VR has been around for years, the technology as a whole and its place in the market is still being figured out. This month, I sat down with rock star VR production coordinator and director, Emily Cooper, who is helping bring VR to the masses through the work she does and the stories she tells. Smart, thoughtful and talented, Emily is one female storyteller to watch out for! Q: Can…

Melanie Wise is the founder of the Artemis Women in Action Film Festival and to use a phrase she uses often, Melanie is one “bad ass” female actor/producer. Her festival aims to bring awareness to action-driven female content and women in action roles and now in its second year, the Artemis Women in Action Film Festival is doing exactly that. I was immediately taken in by the abundance of passion Melanie has for women in action films, which is demonstrated through the work she does. This month, Ms. In The Biz turns the spotlight on Melanie, who generously chatted with…

As an independent filmmaker, there are a few websites that I visit on a regular if not daily basis. They help keep me informed on the filmmaking business and offer resources independent filmmakers can use. Since everyone and their mom knows about IMDB – the Internet Movie Database – I am not going to include it on my list as I think it goes without saying that IMDB is an excellent resource for information on specific people, shows and/or films. That said and without further ado, here are five websites I think every independent filmmaker should know: INDIEWIRE.COM To get…

Being part of the entertainment business means dealing with rejection (and if that isn’t the case for you, congrats because you’re extremely rare.) As an independent filmmaker who has submitted six films and multiple scripts to many film festivals, I’ve received more rejection letters than I care to count. Initially, they stung but by the fourth film, I understood they were part of the deal if I was going to try to get my films made and screened. And while my experience with rejection does come largely from filmmaking, I believe it is part of any endeavor one sets out…

As someone who has worked as a freelance Script Analyst for the past decade, I am often asked this question: “What makes a script great?” While the general answer is “The Story”, it’s not as simple as that. Having read for top film production companies as well as writers themselves over the past ten years, I’ve read hundreds of scripts. And in all this reading, I’ve picked up a thing or two about them and thought I’d share the top five lessons I’ve learned from being a reader, in hopes that it can help others on their screenwriting journey. Lesson…

So you’ve shot your film on whatever was the best camera you could get your hands on and it went, hopefully, as smoothly as possible, which in independent filmmaking means no one got hurt and you got your shots with the money and time you allotted for them, but production is another article. This article is about post-production. For purposes of this one, let’s say principal photography is complete and now it’s you (and your team if you have them!) with a “mound” of footage waiting to be crafted into your masterpiece. But how do you go from raw footage…

Writing is a powerful way to communicate with others and many writers will likely tell you that communicating one’s ideas onto the page is rarely an easy task. So, often times when a writer does create a piece of writing, it can be difficult to hear what others have to say about it. Critical feedback can come from a variety of sources – employers, superiors, co-workers, qualified professionals you pay to critique your work, family, friends– and it can be a difficult pill to swallow when getting it, especially if the feedback critiques something you’re particularly attached to. But oh,…