Authors — Filmmaker Staff
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Two Questions: Producers on Net Profits and Sharing Their Personal Lives
In this new series of articles, Filmmaker poses two questions to producers, directors and other filmmakers. One question is directed toward the nuts and bolts of filmmaking—questions having to do with terms, practices, legal issues, technology and so on. The second question deals with topics that are softer or more amorphous—questions that necessarily can’t have right or wrong answers and whose replies are based on the personalities and practices of the individual participants. This issue, we directed our questions to producers, both fiction and doc, and asked them: What are points, or backend, and how do they work? What’s your […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Dec 15, 2022 -
After the Tide Went Out: Isabel Sandoval Interviews Saint Omer Writer/Director Alice Diop
“Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent” is how the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein closes his early work The Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. In Alice Diop’s Saint Omer, Laurence Coly (played by Guslagie Malanda) is a Senegalese immigrant to France on trial for the murder of her 15-month-old daughter, who she left on a beach to be washed out to sea by the outgoing tide. A student, Coly is writing her thesis on Wittgenstein, an academic detail she’s shamed for at the trial. (Why didn’t she write on the work of “someone closer to her own culture,” a professor wonders […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Dec 15, 2022 -
Outsmarting the Disruptors: Greg Mottola Interviews Rian Johnson on Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
In August, Rian Johnson was among the directors with Netflix projects invited to show works that inspired them at the company-owned Paris Theater in New York City. Among the movies Johnson selected were two whose influence is directly perceptible on Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, the first of two sequels to his 2019 hit the writer-director is making for the streamer. From his 1973 favorite The Last of Sheila, Johnson borrows the opening set-up: A dangerously wealthy man invites a group of friends (or are they just parasites?) to join him for a week of elaborate games amidst beautiful […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Dec 15, 2022 -
Trailer Watch: Kelly Reichardt’s Showing Up
Watch the first trailer for Kelly Reichardt’s Showing Up, which premiered at Cannes earlier this year before screening at the New York Film Festival. The film stars Michelle Williams as a ceramic artist named Lizzy who’s preparing for an upcoming show, but is constantly thwarted from working by mundane inconveniences. Hong Chau also stars as Jo, Lizzy’s landlord/colleague/artistic rival, who is currently thriving in her career. The film also features Maryann Plunkett, John Magaro, André Benjamin, James Le Gros and Judd Hirsch in supporting roles. During his Cannes coverage, our Vadim Rizov wrote: “Showing Up is a comedy of frustration […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Dec 15, 2022 -
Projectr Partners With Educational Institutions to Launch New Streaming Service Projectr EDU
Projectr, the independent film-focused streaming service, has announced the launch of its new streaming branch Projectr EDU. Partnering with public libraries, universities and educational institutions across North America, the free streamer presents a curated selection that encompasses acclaimed films, archival restorations and award-winning documentaries. The streamer kicks off its educational initiative by partnering with the New York Public Library, meaning that any New Yorker with a library card can access Projectr EDU’s extensive library, which at present includes over 1,000 titles. It is also the only streaming service currently partnered with the NYPL. “With Projectr EDU, we’re delighted to be […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Dec 14, 2022 -
Sundance Film Festival Announces 2023 Short Film and Indie Episodic Lineup
Today, the nonprofit Sundance Institute announces the lineup for the Short Films and Indie Episodic programs ahead of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. This comes shortly after the feature lineup announcement, which we covered last week. Notably, Sundance will resume in-person attendence in 2023, with screenings being held in Park City, Salt Lake City and the Sundance Resort for the entirety of the Festival, which runs from January 19-29. A selection of films, including all short and episodic works, will be available to stream from January 24-29 through the Festival’s online platform. “Short films and episodic projects are an integral […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Dec 13, 2022 -
Trailer Watch: Carla Simón’s Alcarràs
Watch the trailer for Spanish director Carla Simón’s Alcarràs, which won the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlinale (the first Catalan-language film in the festival’s 72-year history to do so) and is now Spain’s official Oscar selection for Best International Feature. The film is a follow-up to Simón’s 2017 semi-autobiographical feature debut Summer 1993. Alcarràs follows a rural family living in present-day Catalonia that must grapple with the changing landscape of their collective livelihood. The cast predominantly features non-actors from the Lleida region, which includes the titular village of Alcarràs. Per the official synopsis: “As far as they can remember, the Solé family […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Dec 12, 2022 -
Trailer Watch: Pete Ohs’s Jethica
The trailer has dropped for director Pete Ohs’s microbudget horror film Jethica, which premiered at SXSW earlier this year. Ohs is also credited as the film’s cinematographer, editor and producer. Additionally, he co-wrote Jethica with cast members Callie Hernandez, Ashley Denise Robinson, Andy Faulkner and Will Madden. Acquired by Cinedigm today, the film will begin its theatrical run on January 13 at LA’s Lumiere Music Hall. Editor Scott Macaulay wrote of Jethica‘s premise in an interview we published with Ohs and the cast/co-writers out of SXSW: “Jethica is framed as a kind of post-coital campfire tale — Callie Hernandez’s Elena […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Dec 8, 2022 -
Columbia University Launches New Film MFA Concentration: Writing for Film & Television (Sponsored Post)
Columbia University School of the Arts Launches New Film MFA Concentration: Writing for Film & Television Columbia University School of the Arts is proud to announce a new addition to the Film MFA Program: the Writing for Film & Television concentration. This three-year program is designed specifically for students whose main focus is writing. “Columbia is known around the world as ‘the story school.’ We believe storytelling should underpin every aspect of filmmaking—because platforms and technology may change, but story is eternal,” said Associate Professor of Professional Practice and Chair of the Film Program, Jack Lechner. “Writing For Film & Television is […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Nov 29, 2022 -
Everything Everywhere All At Once Leads 2023 Independent Spirit Awards Nominations
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert‘s Everything Everywhere All At Once leads with eight total nods among the nominations for this year’s Independent Spirit Awards, which were announced today. They’re not the only former 25 New Faces of Film included: Charlotte Wells‘s engrossing debut Aftersun tallies five total noms; Ricky D’Ambrose‘s The Cathedral receives three; kogonada is lauded in the Best Director and Best Screenplay categories for After Yang; Dean Fleischer Camp (alongside Nick Paley) is nominated in the Best Editing category for Marcel the Shell with Shoes On; Lena Dunham‘s Catherine Called Birdy snags a Best Screenplay nod; Nikyatu Jusu […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Nov 22, 2022
