DVD Film School. Dov Simens contact email does not work!!!

V

vipermesh

New member
Hi my fellow film makers.
It's been about 2 months now since I've been trying to contact Dov Simens about his DVD FIlm School course. I have no idea why he will not respond to my 10 emails. Also i've contacted that number on the website and some guy answerd had no idea what i was after. I'm certain it wasn't Bush. All I'm wanting to know is if its free post etc if i make an order to be sent to Australia? If not, how much extra would it be..?
If this is totally off topic, please forgive me.
If anyone has any idea how to contact this man, can you assist me in anyway.

Thank you.

Cheer
Ged
 
Let's go to the clipboard! Why do you want to know what Dov S.S.Simon has to say anyway. The man has never made a movie. Besides, it's all in his book "From Deal to Reel" ...and it's much much cheaper.
 
1. Dov SS Simens may not exist, and is a CGI creation of 10 film students who've never made a movie.
2. He may exist, is busy on tour and doesn't personally handle orders and shipping.
3. I took his course when it was only $50 at a 20th Century Fox soundstage . He did show up, but who knows, it could have been an actor?!!
4. His book was free at the library!
 
I'm getting a kick out of some of the replies you've received...there are some funny cats on this board.

My recommendation is that if you paid for the DVDs with a credit card, call the credit card, explain the situation and have them issue a chargeback. I can assure you that someone will contact you then.

I'd also write a brief letter explaining all the efforts you made and send them to the attorney general and BBB for your state and his. Make sure you send them a copy as well.

And if that doesn't work, perhaps you can craft a Dov SS Siemens Voodoo doll...
 
Also, there are tons of free tutorials at Creative Cow and Video Co-Pilot that are made by people who are actually working on movies. They don't cuss and prance around as much as Dov, but lots of good info if you want to put in the time.
 
i second buying the book. i'd have to say it's easily in my top five of indy production books. plus it's a lot cheaper than the dvds.

i would also recommend checking out lynda.com. $25/month. granted, it's more about learning software vs. learning how the biz works, but some great classes are there.

i can't speak on it first hand, but i have a few friends who also rave about fxphd.com. i'd check that out as well.

not that this in any way answers your original question. :)
 
vipermesh said:
...All I'm wanting to know is if its free post etc if i make an order to be sent to Australia?...
Click to expand...

Australia? You can get his book for like twelve bucks on Amazon. Sounds like someone is borrowing his name and pulling a scam if Australia is involved since his stuff has operated out of the U.S. for years.
 
Thanks guys... So Dov DVD's must be a scam. He would only have time for you if you possibly have an agent etc. It is weird that the advice he gives on his blog and all those youtube vids he preachers allot about what he's selling. Maybe he's giving away too much info. But the book's he recommends i know are very useful and do plan to get.
Thanks again for your help.
 
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WHAT!??!! What are you talking about? Dov is no scammer, he's been offering this seminar for years and years and has hundreds of thousands of happy graduates.

I've met Dov, I've taken his course, I even sponsored an expo in las Vegas where I hired Dov to give an abbreviated version of his course. There's absolutely nothing "scammer" about him.

If you're wanting to save bucks, get the book, from what I understand it's got most of the same info (if not more) at a very cheap price.

It's been over a decade since I took his class, so I don't know if some of his info is outdated or not, but it was a brilliant experience and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to get in the film business.
 
Ummm... I wish it was true Barry. Believe you me. I realy wanted to do his DVD film school course. But i cant seem to get a reply from him or any of his contact's i've found on the net. All i want to do is order the DVD. But other's on this forums recommend to use creative cow, video co-pilot and books like dov's book etc.
 
I was in the same boat as you, I have decided to order the book. There are also a ton of resources online. IE creative cow and video co pilot. So we will just see how this goes.
 
vipermesh said:
Ummm... I wish it was true Barry. Believe you me. I realy wanted to do his DVD film school course. But i cant seem to get a reply from him or any of his contact's i've found on the net. All i want to do is order the DVD. But other's on this forums recommend to use creative cow, video co-pilot and books like dov's book etc.
Click to expand...
You've tried the link here?
http://dovsimensfilmschool.com/dvd.html

Or you could order from here:
http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=2541

Or here:
http://www.showbizsoftware.com/Hollywood_Film_Institute_DVD_p/1228.htm

Try contacting those folks about their shipping policies.
 
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Thanks for the heads up Barry. I will be sure to check those last two links out. I will let you know how it goes and give them two weeks or so to reply.. hahaha.

It's great to hear somebody else has had the same problem -zergtherobot- also wanting to know more info about the DVD WebFilmSchool. I know what your saying concerning the wealth of information on sites such as creative cow etc. But i seem to cant find information on the business side of things related to show business. I was suckered in on those cheeky vids from Dov speaking about the business side to the industry that i've never heard of before. I've learnt allot about the art of story telling but not the business side. It's the first time i've heard anybody mention that you cant make money on shorts. Nobody buys shorts. It's easier to have a film invested if the film can be shelved in video stores as a 90min feature film. Shorts are an excellent starting block if you have resources to large amounts of funds etc.

Look at Kevin Smith, Rodriguez, Tarantino and Scorsese god forgive me if I've left anybody out, but they started there first feature as a low budget film. Distributors only buy feature's. If i'm getting a bit of track here in my knowledge is because i need to learn more about the business side. I hope others feel the same way concerning "how can i get distributors to realize that i have a film to sell but how?" I know you must litrualy write a business plan to attract an investor so he can profit in the ROI as much as possible. I'm very certain you cant do that with shorts. If you can make money on shorts, i would love to know how the easy way, without winning awards.
Anyway, thanks for your help.
 
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I think it is possible to make money from shorts, I also think it's a great business card. I think, correct me if im wrong, Zak Forsman might be getting or in the process of getting some money for his short, I F**king hate you.

As far as information on the business goes? I agree, which is why I went and purchases the book. I got it for $7 dollars on amazon and im hoping it has all the info I need. There are some other resources in some of the other books I have, such as the filmmakers hanbook and filmmaking for dummies. However, I am thinking that the Dov is going to be much more informative as far as producing and business is concerned.

The one thing I have learned thus far, is that independent arts films are probably not going to get you noticed. You need to either A make something generic (IE someting thats going to sell to the mass audience) or you need to do a creative genre peace that isn't a hearfelt drama, IE Reservoir dogs, clerks, El Mariachi...

This is something that has taken me sometime to wrap my head around, but until you are at least semi established, it will be hard to get anyone to notice the hearfelt coming of age drama.

My 2 cents.
 
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Its a real difficulty Zerg - but i wouldnt rule out independent art films - and neither would i count on genre films (i presume you mean that by generic) as automatic sells.

Genre films do sell more - but its intensely competitive - however a lot of filmmakers it would seem use genre elements to make their film marketable while 'under the radar' slipping in elements of artistic originality.

for example, check out the movie 'The Vanguard' recently signed by Lionsgate. I watched it - its a zombie flick, and hell it ended up being the first civil rights zombie movie ive seen lol - interesting!

I think a lot of yanks have a different perspective on what an indy art film is to europeans (ok talk about generalising.) A lot of US 'arty indie' films seem to be in actual fact, quirky drama's while in europe they can be quite a bit more exploratory. (in the artistic sense.)

Of course for such a bigotted opinion lol ive got nothing to back it up (too tired) and its probably untrue but worth considering momentarily (the time it takes to eat two crisps or 'chips' from one bag.)

In Britain we make really **** hot short films (i think superior than shorts made in the US) but theres a reason for this... we ONLY seem to make blooming shorts!

When i entered the usa storyteller challenge for FoxTV i got a promo short (for a tv series) 3rd (Written/produced by Marvin Estrellado.)

Then i check some short film contests in the UK and there like all produced on s16mm or very nicely done hd and im like holy crap!

They have not helped to spawn careers in feature films (for most) as the limited UK and (in my case nasceant scottish film industry) can testify.

Dov Simmons in his amusing classes touts the idea its better to make a feature (even a rubbish one) before making a great short. Id go with that from my experiences but don't consider genre the $$$ route. It's just one of many double edged swords to choose from.
 
I feel your pain! There simply is no established workflow on how you create the product (your movie), and then how you sell your product. There are no realiable numbers you can show to an investor to create a business plan that may realistically present a profit plan. I've been making movies for over 30 years and have been researching the "art" of the distribution deal for the last 3 years. Actually it's rather depressing and began to take the fun out of filmmaking for me. That said, I am bound and determined to find a path...because I can sense it's there somewhere. Specifically, today you can make some money on a short. It's called the Internet...Amazon, CreateSpace, etc. Not much money, but that's about it.
Dov is very entertaining. His book is good...it's in my bookcase. But his advice is for a particualr level of filmmaking few will ever start at, so I take it as not very realistic...but sells dreams and course sales.
 
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I almost worked for Dov a few years ago. Met him for a while, seemed like a real nice guy. He had a office in Santa Monica. I drove past a few months ago and it was closed down. Not sure what happened. I had been in email contact with him a few times but haven't heard from in a while.
 
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