Author Archives: Dennis Toth

Recent box office may be slow, but it was a hot summer for the Feds. In June a series of major arrests were made against fraudulent film companies. In each case, the federal indictments read like a primer on boiler room flimflam. The cases are also a sharp reminder that sometimes the smartest people can ... Read more

Making a movie is often compared to crawling through broken glass. Trying to exhibit a movie is the same only worse. Often, it feels as if you are on your hands and knees in an exploded glass factory and it’s a long way to the exit door. Most indie filmmakers find themselves in a classic ... Read more

The 3rd quarter reports are coming in, and it has been a great year for the major studios. Too bad they’re all still stuck making movies, because that has been the consistent downer to the biz. Disney had a net income rise of 11 percent thanks to the theme parks and TV systems. OK, the ... Read more

As Ronald Reagan once said, facts are stupid things. In light of this, the impending release of the faux documentary Apollo 18 and the viral advertising campaign surrounding it is a pretty good reminder about the slippery post-modernist nature of facts in the virtual universe. Much like The Blair Witch Project, Apollo 18 claims to be ... Read more

There are two ways to raise money for a movie. Dumb luck is one way. It is certainly preferable to the other method, which involves lots of hard work and a high tolerance for failure. A wistful hope for dumb luck can be found in the numerous “comments” peppered on every social networking site by ... Read more