My HUGE list of filmmaking & video production resources/tools/apps

Hi guys,

I own a video production business and I've been working on a list of resources for the filmmaker / video production freelancer. I created a similar list about 4 years ago. This is the new and improved, updated list. I finally did it!

These are links to resources that have helped me with different aspects of my business - everything from technical filmmaking information, right through to things that help me physically run my business, fund projects, find staff, etc.

If you have any more links/resources to add to the list, please mention them in the comments!

I hope you get as much out of these resources as I have!

FILMMAKING EDUCATION RESOURCES

Philip Bloom: “Philip Bloom is a world-renowned filmmaker who, for the past 7 years of his 25-year career has specialised in creating incredible film-like images with low-budget video. His most iconic work is created with Canon DSLRs. His site now regularly has over 1,000,000 visitors a month.”

Vincent Laforet: “I’m a filmmaker, photographer, producer, teacher, advisor, innovator and very, very proud father of two. Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to witness extraordinary news events, the evolution of story-telling technologies and work alongside many people who have inspired me.”

Video Business Guides: "Whether you’re just starting out in video production, or if you already have a video production company, these guides will help put you on the path to running a successful and profitable video production business."

Ultimate Filmmaking & Video Production Training: "Huge online filmmaking training that will take you through all stages – beginner to intermediate to advanced. Also includes videos on video production, music videos, corporate videos, etc."

F-Stop Academy: “Den has worked in the industry for over 20 years and in every major TV genre conceivable, including Music, Documentary, Travel, Sport, Factual & Entertainment. His site features filmmaking education of all kinds.”

No Film School: “No Film School is the leading worldwide community of filmmakers, video producers, and independent creatives. No Film School is where filmmakers learn from each other — “no film school” required.”

creativeLIVE: “CreativeLive empowers you to unleash your potential by bringing the world’s greatest experts directly to you, live. Featuring workshops in photography, video, design, business, etc.”

The Black and Blue: “Tips and tricks for camera assistants and filmmakers who want to know what really happens on set”

YOUTUBE TUTORIAL CHANNELS

Film Riot: “Film Riot is a how-to trip through filmmaking from the hyper-active mind of Ryan Connolly. From how to make great effects to following Triune Films through production, Film Riot explores the art of filmmaking in a way you’ve never seen.”

Indy Mogul YouTube Channel: “Fun, cheap, filmmaking. Indy Mogul is the webby-award winning filmmaking network, circa 2007. Home of “Backyard FX,” “Reel Good Show” and more.”

Every Frame a Painting: “I like movies. I don’t take requests. Every Frame a Painting is dedicated to the analysis of film form. Pictures and sound all the way, baby.”

FILM FUNDING

Think Outside the Box Office: “Considered one of the best film funding resources out there.”

Sherri Candler: Marketing and Publishing: “Sheri Candler is an inbound marketing strategist who helps independent filmmakers build identities for themselves and their films.”

Without a Box: “Submit to film festivals and get noticed.”

Film Freeway: “Enter the world's best film festivals and screenplay contests. FilmFreeway makes it easy to discover, submit and get tickets to thousands of events.”

FILM / VIDEO JOBS

Mandy: "We have a detailed directory of 100,000+ production companies, film makers, production crews and equipment."

Creative Cow Career: "List of available jobs and also the ability to post your resume and go job hunting!"

Film & TV Pro: "The #1 networking and jobs resource for film and TV professionals."

ProductionHUB: "ProductionHUB connects you with professional content creators. Find & hire local film and production crews for video, digital media & live events."

Shooting People: "A vibrant community of independent filmmakers. We connect and collaborate to get films made and seen."

GEAR & EQUIPMENT

B&H Photo Video: "B&H Photo Video is an American photo and video equipment retailer founded in 1973, based in Manhattan, New York City and online."

Adorama: "Shop the best photography equipment, digital cameras, lenses, pro audio & video, professional gear & musical instruments from top brands - Canon, Nikon, Sony, etc"

Rentorlend: "Rent or Lend Cameras, Lenses & more. From local, trusted members."

STOCK VIDEO

Pond5: “Search the world's largest video collection plus millions of music tracks, sound effects, motion graphics and images. Over 20000 new videos added daily.”

VideoHive: “At VideoHive you can buy and sell royalty-free footage and motion graphics as well as After Effects Project files starting at just a few dollars.”

AudioJungle: “At AudioJungle you can buy and sell royalty-free music and sound effects that are completely Podsafe for just a few dollars, which includes a Buyer Fee. The site is home to a bustling community of audio composers and producers.”

VideoBlocks: “With a Storyblocks Video subscription, you can download unlimited stock HD & 4K video. Browse our extensive library of clips and sign up to start downloading.”

STOCK AUDIO

Premium Beat - "Unlimited perpetual license, so for between $40 - $60 you can get music and use it in as many projects as you want.

AudioJungle: “At AudioJungle you can buy and sell royalty-free music and sound effects that are completely Podsafe for just a few dollars, which includes a Buyer Fee. The site is home to a bustling community of audio composers and producers.”

PHOTOS, IMAGES & GRAPHICS

iStockPhoto: “Royalty free stock photos, vector art illustrations, stock footage and audio for print and use on websites and presentations.”

GraphicRiver: “At GraphicRiver you can buy and sell royalty-free, layered Photoshop files, vectors, icon packs, Adobe add-ons and design templates for just a few dollars.”

Unsplash: “Free (do whatever you want) high-resolution stock photos. Download 10 new free stock photos every 10 days.”

Pixabay: "Finding free images of high quality is a tedious task - due to copyright issues, attribution requirements, or simply the lack of quality. This inspired us to create Pixabay - a repository for stunning public domain pictures."

[Alamy] (https://www.alamy.com): "Awesome site for stock photos."

[Creative Commons Search] (https://search.creativecommons.org): "Awesome way to search for music, videos and images that are creative commons."

CINEMATOGRAPHY TOOLS

CameraSim: "Online DSLR camera sim that allows you to test focal length, lighting, etc."

RED Cinephotography Tools: "Use this tool to preview how a given focal length will appear depending on resolution setting and sensor type."

VIDEO EDITING PLUGINS, ETC

Red Giant: "Red Giant delivers Production-proven special effects tools for digital video & film professionals. Plug-ins built for Adobe After Effects, Premiere & more."

Pixel Film Studios: "Pixel Film Studios presents Final Cut Pro X Plugins, Effects, Transitions, Themes and Motion 5 Special Effects. Specifically designed for FCPX."

Motion VFX"FCPX Plugins, Motion Templates, Final Cut Pro X Plugins, Motion 5 Templates, mFlare, mObject, etc."

FCP Effects"Our FCPX plugins & effects are incredibly powerful & easy-to-use. Download today & see why so many editors choose FCPeffects.com!"

PRESENT CLIENT WORK

Vimeo Business: "Join the web's most supportive community of creators and get high-quality tools for hosting, sharing, and streaming videos in gorgeous HD and 4K with no ads."

Mediazilla: "Present professional videos with online interactive menus created in minutes. Easily export projects to DVD, Blu-ray and USB/offline formats.”"

BUSINESS DOCUMENTS / CONTRACTS / LEGAL

Docstoc: “Docstoc provides the best quality and largest library of documents, videos and resources to start and grow small businesses.”

Yumpu: "Yumpu offers a digital platform for publishing your magazines, brochures or catalogs. Communicate your message and grab the attention of new readers."

DocuSign"Why settle for less? Get the security, mobility, reliability, and ease-of-use you need to digitally transform your business with DocuSign eSignature solutions."

VIDEO HOSTING PLATFORMS

Vimeo: "Join the web's most supportive community of creators and get high-quality tools for hosting, sharing, and streaming videos in gorgeous HD and 4K with no ads."

Wistia: "Wistia's brand affinity marketing software turns passive viewers into loyal customers. Join 500K other businesses using Wistia to grow their brands with video."

YouTube"Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube."

GRAPHIC DESIGN – ONLINE

Canva: "Create beautiful designs with your team. Use Canva's drag-and-drop feature and layouts to design, share and print business cards, logos, presentations, etc."

Pixlr X: "Discover free and premium online photo editor! Effects, filters, overlays, simple to expert tools. You'll find a Pixlr image editor just for you!"

Pixelmator Pro"Professional image editing tools that anyone can use."

VIDEO EDITING TRAINING

Larry Jordan: "Larry Jordan is an Apple-Certified Trainer in Digital Media, specializing in DVD Studio Pro, Final Cut Pro, and Motion."

Ripple Training: "Professionally produced, highly focused online video training that will teach and inspire. Ripple Training plugins help you animate, add effects, and accomplish."

LEARN SOUND DESIGN / POST ENGINEERING

JWSound Group: “Best in the biz in there. Yeah, they’re cranky, but they know their stuff.”

Gearslutz Post Production Forum: “Many top shelf post pros still talk about stuff in there.”

Designing Sound: “The de-facto front page of the sound design community.”

WRITING & NOTE TAKING

Evernote: “From short lists to lengthy research, no matter what form your writing takes, Evernote keeps you focused on moving those ideas from inspiration to completion.”

Scrivener: “Scrivener is a powerful content-generation tool for writers that allows you to concentrate on composing and structuring long and difficult documents.”

DISCUSS / COLLAB WITH YOUR TEAM

Skype: “Skype (stylized as skype) is an application that provides video chat and voice call services. Users may exchange such digital documents as images, text, video, etc.”

Slack: “Slack brings all your communication together in one place. It’s real-time messaging, archiving and search for modern teams..”

FILMMAKER / CREATIVES NETWORKING

Stage 32: “Stage 32 is the world’s largest social network and educational hub for film, television & theater creatives.”

Meetup: “Find Meetups so you can do more of what matters to you. Or create your own group and meet people near you who share your interests.”

SCREEN WRITING

Final Draft: “Final Draft is a screenwriting software for writing and formatting a screenplay to meet the screenplay submission standards set by theater, television and film industries.”

Celtx: “Combines full-feature scriptwriting with pre-production support and also enables online collaboration.”

TIME MANAGEMENT

Pomodoro Technique: “The Pomodoro Technique teaches you to work with time, instead of struggling against it.”

My Life Organized: “Create new tasks and checklists easily. An elegant To-Do list view will help you to focus on the most important items and act immediately.Clean and simple drag-and-drop interface allows you to rearrange tasks within a plain list or organise them into a tree.”

Remember The Milk: “Managing tasks is generally not a fun way to spend your time. We created Remember The Milk so that you no longer have to write your to-do lists on sticky notes, whiteboards, random scraps of paper, or the back of your hand. Over 5 million awesome people now use our apps to stay organised!”

ClockSpot: “Clockspot’s online time clock makes timesheets and payroll painless. No more paper, messy spreadsheets, or manual calculations.”

TIME TRACKING

RescueTime: “With so many distractions and possibilities in your digital life, it’s easy to get scattered. RescueTime helps you understand your daily habits so you can focus and be more productive.”

Toggl: “Toggl’s time tracker is built for speed and ease of use. Time keeping with Toggl is so simple that you’ll actually use it. Toggl drives a stake in the heart of timesheets.”

Harvest: “Whether it’s from the web, your smartphone or another application, it’s never been so easy to track time. With a simple, intuitive interface, getting you and your team on board is fast and easy.”

ONLINE ADVERTIZING

Yell: “We are in the business of helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) be found by consumers.”

Google Adwords: “Be seen by customers at the very moment that they’re searching on Google for the things you offer. And only pay when they click to visit your website or call.”

OUTSOURCING WORK

Upwork: “Upwork is where businesses go to find, hire, collaborate with and pay leading freelancers from more than 180 countries.”

Fiverr: “Fiverr is a global online marketplace offering tasks and services, beginning at a cost of $5 per job performed, from which it gets its name. The site is primarily used by freelancers who use Fiverr to offer a variety of different services to customers worldwide.”

Freelancer: “Post any project you need done and receive bids from our talented freelancers within minutes. Compare their proposals and price, then select the best freelancer to complete your project. Easy!”

SETTING UP AN LLC

LegalZoom: “Our founding vision was for an easy-to-use, online service that helped people create their own legal documents.”

INVOICING

Freshbooks: “FreshBooks is a cloud-based accounting software service designed for owners of the types of small client-service businesses that send invoices to clients and get paid for their time and expertise.”

Wave: "More than a million small business owners have trusted Wave to track $60+ billion in income and spending, for free."

SYNCHRONIZING / SHARING FILES

Dropbox: “The Dropbox client enables users to drop any file into a designated folder. The file is then automatically uploaded to Dropbox’s cloud-based service and made available to any other of the user’s computers and devices that also have the Dropbox client installed.”

Google Drive: “Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.”

CONTACT MANAGEMENT / CALL SHEETS

Highrise: “Highrise is a flexible contact management tool that helps you stay organised. It’s easy to import your contacts from any email system and get started with Highrise right away.”

StudioBinder: “Web-based film & TV production management software. Manage talent & crew contacts, send & track call sheets, backup production files in the cloud.”

Think Crew – Casper: “Casper is an Excel workbook that contains a Call Sheet, Production Report, Exhibit G and Hot Cost Report.”

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Asana: “Easily organize and plan workflows, projects, and more, so you can keep your team's work on schedule. Start using Asana as your work management tool today.”

Basecamp: “For over 10 years, millions have relied on Basecamp to help them get their projects done on time, on budget, and on point.”

Trello: “Infinitely flexible. Incredibly easy to use. Great mobile apps. It's free. Trello keeps track of everything, from the big picture to the minute details.”

WEBSITE DOMAINS & HOSTING

SIteground: “SiteGround is a web hosting company founded in 2004 in Sofia, Bulgaria. In most recent data, it reports servicing more than 1,800,000 domains worldwide. It provides shared hosting, cloud hosting and dedicated servers as well as email hosting and domain registration..”

Namecheap: “We make registering, hosting, and managing domains for yourself or others easy and affordable, because the internet needs people.”

Hostgator: “Whether you are a seasoned Internet pro, or just starting out with your first website, our professional staff is here to assist you every step of the way.”

Godaddy: “Life online starts with a domain name. That’s where domain name registrars like GoDaddy come in. Over 12 million people trust us to make them look like rock stars on the web, starting with fast, efficient domain name registration. Then we load them up with everything they need to build and manage an online business. Everything.”

Weebly: “Weebly gives millions of people a surprisingly easy and affordable way to create a site that is as unique as they are. With a Weebly site, people can start their own business, communicate with their clients, showcase their achievements, and be an authority on personal and professional interests.”

WEBSITE CREATION

WordPress.org: “WordPress is web software you can use to create a beautiful website or blog. We like to say that WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time.”

ThemeForest: “The #1 marketplace for premium website templates, including themes for WordPress, Magento, Drupal, Joomla, and more. Create a website, fast.”

Squarespace: “Squarespace is the all-in-one solution for anyone looking to create a beautiful website. Domains, eCommerce, hosting, galleries, analytics, and 24/7 support.”

Clickfunnels: “ClickFunnels Gives You EVERYTHING You Need To Market, Sell, and Deliver Your Products and Services Online! Without having to hire or rely on a tech team!”

BUSINESS CARDS

Vistaprint: “Vistaprint is an online supplier of printed and promotional material and marketing services to micro businesses and consumers, specializing in print on demand products.”

Moo: “We love great design and believe it can work wonders for every business. That’s why we make it simple to create beautiful, expertly crafted business stationery and promotional materials that’ll help you start conversations, open doors and strengthen relationships.”

LOGOS

99Designs: “99designs pioneered the design contest, where designers submit competing designs in response to a customer’s design brief—and the winner receives a cash payment for their work.”

Crowdspring: “Effective, easy, and affordable. Name your price, watch dozens of talented participants submit their ideas and choose your favorite.”

BOOKKEEPING

Quickbooks: “QuickBooks is Intuit Inc’s set of software solutions designed to manage payroll, inventory, sales and other needs of a small business. The software’s features include marketing tools, merchant services, product and supplies, training solutions.”

PRESENTATIONS

Prezi: “Prezi is a cloud-based (SaaS) presentation software and storytelling tool for presenting ideas on a virtual canvas.”

SCREEN CAPTURE

Camtasia: “Camtasia gives you the tools you need to record on-screen activity, edit and enhance your content, and share in high-quality to viewers anywhere.”

ScreenFlow: “With ScreenFlow you can record the contents of your entire monitor while also capturing your video camera, iOS device, microphone and your computer audio.”

DOCUMENT COLLABORATION

PBWorks: ““Millions use PBworks each month for partner/client collaboration, new business development, project management, social intranets, and knowledge management. “

Google Docs: “Google Docs brings your documents to life with smart editing and styling tools to help you easily format text and paragraphs. Choose from thousands of fonts, add links, images, drawings, and tables. All for free.”

ONLINE STORAGE / BACKUPS

Dropbox: “The Dropbox client enables users to drop any file into a designated folder. The file is then automatically uploaded to Dropbox’s cloud-based service and made available to any other of the user’s computers and devices that also have the Dropbox client installed.”

Google Drive: “Google Drive is a file storage and synchronization service developed by Google.”

Mozy: “Mozy is the industry-leading solution for online cloud backup and data recovery. Sign up now and sync your most important files securely to the cloud!”

CrashPlan"Protect your critical small business data with automatic cloud-based backups from CrashPlan for Small Business."

ONLINE PAYMENT / COLLECTION

PayPal: “Discover PayPal, the safer way to pay, receive payments for your goods or services and transfer money to friends and family online.”

Stripe: “Stripe is the best software platform for running an internet business. We handle billions of dollars every year for forward-thinking businesses around the world.”

SURVEYS / ONLINE FORMS

Survey Monkey: “SurveyMonkey is the world’s most popular online survey software. We make it easier than ever to create polls and survey questionnaires for learning about anything from customer satisfaction to employee engagement.”

Wufoo: “Wufoo’s HTML form builder helps you create online web forms. Use our web form creator to power your contact forms, online surveys, and event registrations.”

OPT-IN FORMS

OptinMonster: “OptinMonster is the best lead-generation plugin for WordPress that allows you to create attention grabbing optin forms that convert.”

Leadpages: “Generate leads and increase revenue using the industry-leading landing page creator with accompanying suite of lead generation and opt-in tools.”

PHONE & WEB CONFERENCING

Skype: “Stay in touch with your family and friends for free on Skype. Download Skype today to chat and call on desktop and mobile.”

GotoMeeting: “Work can happen anytime, anywhere. GoToMeeting’s HD video conferencing software is a simple yet powerful way to collaborate in real time.”

REMOTE COMPUTER ACCESS

GotoMyPC: “Web-based remote-access service that lets you access and control your computer from any web browser.”

LogMeIn: “It’s time to take control of your schedule, reclaim your free time and work the way you want. With remote access from LogMeIn, all your computers are just a click away.”

TeamViewer: “PC remote control/remote access software, free for personal use.”

FAXING

EFax.com: “eFax, fax to email, Internet fax service, email fax, electronic fax, Internet faxing, fax software, paperless, virtual, toll free. Using email to fax has never been easier and more cost efficient than with eFax’s online fax service.”

MAILING

Stamps.com: “Stamps.com’s online postage service enables small businesses, enterprises and online retailers to print U.S. Postal Service-approved postage with just a computer, printer and Internet connection, right from their home or office.”

WEBINARS

EverWebinar: “The world's most powerful automated webinar platform.”

Zoom Webinar: “Broaden your reach with Zoom's reliable and scalable webinar solution. Webinar capabilities that help you reach more people and grow your business.”

Stamps.com: “Stamps.com’s online postage service enables small businesses, enterprises and online retailers to print U.S. Postal Service-approved postage with just a computer, printer and Internet connection, right from their home or office.”