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Roy W. Dean Grant Winner Helen Hall Awarded Puzzle Theory Grant

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Filmmaker Will Have 3 Years Use of Innovative PR and Marketing Platform for her Documentary on Nicola Tesla

From the Heart Productions has awarded Helen Hall 3 years of use of Puzzle Theory which will assist her in building a marketing and PR campaign for her Roy W. Dean Grant winning film “Pictures of Infinity”.   Valued at $5,000, the Puzzle Theory Grant is made possible by a donation from Puzzle Theory and its creator Ina Sofia Kalo.   The award will not only help Helen create buzz for her in progress documentary on Nicola Tesla, it will provide an example to show other independent filmmakers how Puzzle Theory will revolutionize their marketing.

Puzzle Theory Grant“I am so grateful to receive this grant from Puzzle Theory, and excited to begin working with such an innovative and inspiring platform!” said director Helen Hall upon learning of her being chosen for the award. 

“Puzzle Theory is everything I could have hoped for, and have been missing, until now – a way to document films as they are being made, and a place to create a ‘behind the scenes’ story about the making of the film.  I have been doing this on different social media platforms, but in pieces.  This platform brings all those pieces together in one place, and there are still many more dimensions to explore. 

“Thank you Ina Sofia Kalo and Carole Dean, for this generous gift, and I look forward to sharing all that I learn from this experience.”

About Puzzle Theory

Developed by Ina over two years, Puzzle Theory is an exciting tool for independent filmmakers.  With it, Ina has created a way for filmmakers to attach to their audience while making their film. 

“You or your production company can register a film at any stage of production,” Ina explained on a recent The Art of Film Funding Podcast. “It can be any genre. Our categories are fiction, documentary, TV series or animation. You build your own page. It will have your unique URL and you can post the link anywhere.

“You have different modules that give information about you, you but basically you start curating your film using storyline. You combine original pictures and video or production shots and video with hand selected content from your existing social media accounts and pages.

“Using our proprietary technology, you can tag and extract any information from current content of your existing social media. We give you the tools to hand select only the most special pieces that you want to include with the making of your storyline.”

At this point Puzzle Theory is by invite only.  The company is curating their own platform with a lot of attention to detail, and though some films may contain some nudity and violence, the staff has to make sure that such content is not inappropriate.  She has a brilliant website and best of all she has a question-and-answer session monthly.  You can find that on her site and get to hear her personally. 

About “Pictures of Infinity”

Recipient of the Roy W. Dean Grant for Spring of 2013, “Pictures of Infinity” is a feature documentary about Nikola Tesla’s discovery the Earth produces an unlimited reservoir of natural electricity and the system he invented to harness it to provide an infinite, nontoxic and renewable resource for the shared benefit of all humankind.

More than 100 years ago the great scientist, engineer and visionary Nikola Tesla predicted the current environmental crisis and knew we would need a radical solution. He devoted the last part of his life to providing one, with his discovery that the earth produces an unlimited reservoir of natural electricity and his invention that harnesses it, based on an entirely new understanding of physics. Tesla’s ideas were so advanced for that time, and challenging to mainstream science, that all funding for his projects was withdrawn, his name seemed to disappear from the history books, and since then all of this visionary work has remained veiled in mystery.

What Nikola Tesla discovered is a natural form of electricity produced by the spinning earth, within stars, in the cosmic vacuum of space, and Tesla found a way to produce it with his invention known as a ‘Tesla coil’. The film follows the events in Tesla’s life, and reproduces the groundbreaking experiments that led to the discovery he called his ‘greatest achievement’. Independent scientists and engineers provide solid scientific evidence to confirm it. In the process Pictures of Infinity reveals the soul and spirit of a true scientist and humanitarian whose passionate quest for knowledge was always at the service of humanity.

About the Roy W. Dean Grant

Now in its 30th year, the Roy W. Dean Grant has awarded over $2,000,000 in cash and donated film services to independent films. The grant is awarded to films budgeted under $500,000 that are unique and that make a contribution to society.  It has been an important lifeline for independent filmmakers that help to get their projects started or finished.  Without assistance from the grant, many excellent and important films may never have been made. 

Past winners of the grant include the Emmy winning Mia: A Dancer’s Journey,  2019 Sundance Film Festival selection Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins, and the acclaimed documentary Kusama-Infinity which is now in distribution showing in theaters around the US and world.

About From the Heart Productions

From The Heart Productions is a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to helping filmmakers get their projects funded and made.  Besides providing funding through the grant, they offer film fiscal sponsorship to filmmakers.  This allows donations made to films they sponsor to be tax deductible.  From The Heart has helped independent filmmakers raise over $10 million through its fiscal sponsorship program.  President Carole Dean is the best-selling author of The Art of Film Funding: 2nd Edition, Alternative Financing Concepts.  

Puzzle Theory: A New Way to Attach and Connect with Your Audience

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By Carole Dean

A technologist, a linguist, and a cognitive psychologist. Ina Sofia Kalo is also the creator of Puzzle Theory (PT) for independent filmmakers.  Developed by Ina over two years, Puzzle Theory is an exciting tool for independent filmmakers.  With it, Ina has created a way for filmmakers to attach to their audience while making their film.   As you know, finding and engaging your audience early is important because many of them will fund your film. 

“Less than one percent of films reach a distributor via film festivals.” Ina shared with me in a recent interview on my The Art of Film Funding Podcast.  “However, let’s say you get a distributor, their goal is to spend lots of money for PR and marketing, recoup their expenses, make some profit and then quickly move to the next film because you’re already an old product.  I think the entire system has become completely unsustainable.

“I wanted to build a humane technological system, which allows for real deep, meaningful human engagement, the way humans truly engage over time with ups and downs, with multiple points of connection, with inspiration and curiosity.”

How Puzzle Theory Works

“You or your production company can register a film at any stage of production,” Ina explained. “It can be any genre. Our categories are fiction, documentary, TV series or animation. You build your own page. It will have your unique URL and you can post the link anywhere.

“You have different modules that give information about you, you but basically you start curating your film using storyline. You combine original pictures and video or production shots and video with hand selected content from your existing social media accounts and pages.

“Using our proprietary technology, you can tag and extract any information from current content of your existing social media. We give you the tools to hand select only the most special pieces that you want to include with the making of your storyline.”

Build it Like a Puzzle

Perhaps you start with a shot of your first day of shooting. Then, you have that one Facebook post that you selected because this post is the one that people love and you had the most response.  Or include what everyone thought was very funny, put that in. Then you have let’s say some video that you produced, put that in. You have Instagram that you want to post, perhaps something on your lead actress.

What you are doing is putting different social media views about your production, and information on your crew and your storyline in one place in a timeline. This can be your most valuable promotional asset. It will be one coherent narrative that can be accessed at any time, and even after the film is completed it can stay online for a small $38.00 fee per year.

How Puzzle Theory Can Benefit Filmmakers

Ina told me a story about a Swedish filmmaker who entered a Film Festival. When the festival asked him to send his materials, they expected to get a one sheet, a bio, etc. Instead, he sent them his Puzzle Theory that he’d created.

The organizers of the Film Festival were shocked. They called to talk to him about what he was doing because he had over 75,000 people who were watching the making of his film and they were in 12 different countries! The Film Festival was impressed and excited because he knew his audience and he was in constant contact with them. This gives you an idea of what you can do with Puzzle Theory.

Connecting and Finding an Audience When You Start Developing Your Film

Ina says people connect to ups and downs, to blood, sweat and tears, to real human moments way more than a packaged product. So, they are getting a look at the backstory of the film that brought you to where you are now.  They feel connected and if they like the subject materials in your film, they are even more connected to you.

You can share the link to your film page with anyone over the world or people can search for your film on Puzzle Theory. You can also keep your film page private and share only a private link. This is up to you.

People may find you from being on PT where they can search by genera and find your film.  PT is used by distributors to see what is being made.  People share this link all over the world and you may have people find you from around the world.  You can keep it private until you want to open it up to the world.  This is up to you.

By posting often people can see your movement with the film.  They can log on to PT day or night.  Since we know the average time to make a documentary is six years and a feature is from 3 to 8 years you will have an interesting story history for your audience to connect with you.

You can link your PT information to your crowdfunding page.  This way people can see the entire story of making the film and the inside information long after donating.

How to Get Puzzle Theory

At this point Puzzle Theory is by invite only.  Ina is checking content and does not want violent films or nudity.   She has a brilliant website and best of all she has a question and answer session monthly.  You can find that on her site and get to hear her personally. 

She is most enthusiastic about this brainchild of hers and rightfully so.  This can be a major asset for you in your Public Relations, Marketing and Distribution.  This is a place that you can proudly sit back and look at what you have achieved.

You can hear the entire interview here and get more specific information and costs. https://www.blogtalkradio.com/the-art-of-film-funding/2021/03/10/puzzle-theory-is-the-answer-to-marketing-distribution-for-indie-filmmakers

Contact for Ina and PT is contact@puzzletheory.com

 

Carole Dean is president and founder of From the Heart Productions; a 501(c)3 non-The Art of Film Funding Podcastprofit that offers the Roy W. Dean Film Grants and fiscal sponsorship for independent filmmakers. She hosts the weekly podcast, The Art of Film Funding, interviewing those involved in all aspects of indie film production. Her new class “How to Fund Your Film” is available on Vimeo on Demand.  She is also the author of  The Art of Film Funding, 2nd Edition: Alternative Financing Concepts.  See IMDB for producing credits.