Authors — Jason Guerrasio

GOTHAM AWARDS NOMINEES ANNOUNCED

If you missed the announcement of the nominees live on USTREAM, below are the list of nominees for the 19th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards. Best Feature AmreekaCherien Dabis, director; Christina Piovesan, Paul Barkin, producers (National Geographic Entertainment) Big FanRobert Siegel, director; Jean Kouremetis, Elan Bogarin, producers (First Independent Pictures) The Hurt LockerKathryn Bigelow, director; Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier, Greg Shapiro, producers (Summit Entertainment) The MaidSebastian Silva, director; Gregorio Gonzàles, producer (Elephant Eye Films) A Serious ManJoel Coen and Ethan Coen, directors/producers (Focus Features) Best Documentary Food, Inc.Robert Kenner, director; Robert Kenner, Elise Pearlstein, producers (Magnolia Pictures) Good […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Oct 19, 2009
FALL ISSUE ONLINE

Over on the main page check out select stories from our Fall issue. (mag hits stands next week) There’s interviews with Lars von Trier on his latest film, Antichrist (which opens this weekend), Oren Moverman talks about his much anticipated directorial debut, The Messenger and we profile Larry Fessenden‘s Glass Eye Pix company. Also, Esther B. Robinson tells us how filmmakers can be successful during a recession, Anthony Kaufman learns how filmmakers are turning a profit with VOD and I look at the mammoth book about the greatest movie never made: Stanley Kubrick’s film on Napoleon. And remember, you can […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Oct 19, 2009
Five Things You Should Do If You Want Your Movie to Last

For the past three years, we’ve been pursuing a noble goal: to try to talk about movies and meaning in a way that might interest someone other than ourselves. We do this over at The Film Talk, and want our work to be an ongoing conversation about the movies and how they intersect with our lives. You’re welcome to join the conversation. Sometimes it’s difficult enough for us to interest each other, so that can be a pretty tall order. But thankfully there is sometimes also serendipity in talking about cinema – one of us has insights into the human […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Oct 18, 2009
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

Monty Python fans rejoice, airing on IFC beginning Sunday is Monty Python: Almost The Truth (Lawyer’s Cut), a six-part documentary on the legendary Brit comic troupe. A very thorough examination of the six members (with new, refreshingly frank, interviews from all five living members) directors Bill Jones, Ben Timlett and Alan G. Parker leave no stone unturned as they examine everything from the troupe forming while writing sketches for David Frost, how they came up with the name Monty Python, their fights with the BBC, George Harrison fronting the money to make Life of Brian, and finally what they’ve done […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Oct 16, 2009
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY EARNS RECORD NUMBERS OVER THE WEEKEND

Paramount‘s grass-roots Internet marketing of Oren Peli‘s low budget horror Paranormal Activity looks to be working. According to Variety, the film pulled in $7.1 million over the weekend at 160 screens, beating the 22-year-old record of the highest weekend grosser at 200 locations or less, held previously by Platoon ($3.7 million at 174 locations). The film also grossed the weekend frame’s highest per screen average of $44,163, edging out An Education ($40,595 per screen). Without question the film has turned into the hottest ticket for not only the horor fan but college kids who’ve been constantly clicking the DEMAND IT […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Oct 11, 2009
Sets and the City: On the History of Smithereens

Susan Seidelman’s landmark 1982 debut feature, Smithereens, recently made its Cable VOD debut on Cinetic’s FilmBuff channel. It will soon be made available on iTunes, Amazon VOD, and more. Seidelman reflects on the origins of her Manhattan indie classic as it finds new audiences today. I moved to New York City in the mid 1970s, to go to NYU film school. At that time the grad school was housed in a funky building on East 7th street and Second Ave — a space it shared with a rock club called the Fillmore East. The mid-to-late ’70s was a transitional time […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Oct 8, 2009
Transart Film Express

Filmmaker, critic and Filmmaker magazine writer Shari Roman died in Manhattan on Wednesday, September 9. The following is a reprint of the last piece that Shari wrote for us, published in Summer, 2007. In the piece she surveys a number of young visual artists using film and film installation as a medium. For more on Shari and her life and work, visit the blog post on her passing. When Matthew Barney kicked off his five-part Cremaster film cycle in 1994, perforating the barrier between the art world and independent cinema, the multidisciplinary artist took some hard knocks from purists who […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Oct 4, 2009
THE TRUTH: WANTED AND DESIRED

In a week of stories surrounding Roman Polanski’s arrest in Zurich on a warrant for his three decade old conviction on a sex charge involving a 13-year-old girl in the U.S. and retired prosecutor David Wells‘s sudden admission that he fabricated the comments he made in Marina Zenovich‘s documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, it got me thinking of Zenovich’s answer to our yearly question to Sundance directors the year she screened the film there in 2008. The question: “If you had 10 percent more of anything, what would it be and why?” I wish I’d had a 10 percent […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Oct 2, 2009
Tweet This!

In my last post on our distribution strategy for Kirt Gunn’s Lovely by Surprise I mentioned that I’d try to write a follow-up post when appropriate. It seems that time has come sooner than expected, and for one particular reason. Part of our DIY release for Lovely By Surprise has been focused on digital messaging platforms, particularly Twitter and Facebook. They have been great tools for aggregating fans and followers and keeping them informed about various topics, from trivia about our actors and crew, to release dates and special screenings. Twitter in particular has proven to be a great device […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Sep 26, 2009
TOM ORTENBERG LEAVING WEINSTEINS

According to indieWIRE’s Eugene Hernandez, The Weinstein Company’s president of theatrical films Tom Ortenberg has asked to be released from his contract after eight months on the newly created post. Ortenberg tells iW that his last day at the company will be Sept. 30. He had no other comment on his decision. Ortenberg came over from Lionsgate where he had spent the last 12 years.
by Jason Guerrasio on Sep 25, 2009

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