Authors — Sarah Salovaara
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Watch the Michael Cera-Starring Sundance Short Gregory Go Boom Online
With the instant gratification and popularity that can accompany a YouTube upload, filmmakers are questioning whether the internet or the traditionally prestige festival circuit is the ideal forum to premiere a short. As Ryan Koo suggested back at the IFP/DCTV “Short Takes” panel last summer, why choose? Indeed, while some festivals rule out previously seen shorts, others welcome online buzz with open arms. One of those festivals, it so happens, is Sundance. Three shorts that will screen in Park City within the coming days were all originally available on YouTube, including Janicza Bravo’s Gregory Go Boom, a black comedy starring a […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Jan 15, 2014 -
2014 MacArthur Grants Announced
In our imminent Winter 2014 issue, Joy Dietrich penned a helpful piece on grant writing for documentarians, in which she surveyed recipients of Cinereach, Creative Capital, Sundance, MacArthur, ITVS and Tribeca funding. Fortuitous timing then that MacArthur released its 2014 grants this morning to the tune of $2 million for 18 different documentary projects. The films tackle such disparate hot button issues as immigration, health care, carbon trading, elderly care and the drug trade. Keeping up with the times, there’s even an interactive web platform designed around global youth communities. Said MacArthur President Robert Gallucci, “This year’s documentaries illuminate serious issues […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Jan 15, 2014 -
Vimeo on Demand Announces 13 TIFF Acquisitions
Shortly before the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, Vimeo issued an offer to attending filmmakers. Let us have exclusive digital rights to your film for 30 days via our distribution platform, Vimeo on Demand, and we’ll give you a $10,000 advance. After that window — or until we recoup the $10,000, whichever comes first — we’ll provide our standard 90/10 revenue split, and you’re free to take your film elsewhere. I remember thinking it was a bold move, ripe for the “best of both worlds” scenario so many modern independent filmmakers desire. But would anyone be game? Turns out, more than […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Jan 14, 2014 -
New Directors/New Films Announces First Titles in 2014 Lineup
Perhaps my favorite festival of the year, The Film Society’s New Directors/New Films has just announced its first seven titles for the 2014 edition. Immediate notables include Richard Ayoade’s The Double, which bows at Sundance this week following its well-received Toronto premiere, and Albert Serra’s Locarno Golden Leopard prize winner, Story of My Death. (Death was recently the cover story in a strongly recommended issue of Cinema-Scope.) As ever, there are still obscure debuts to be found in Of Horses and Men and Trap Street, ensuring the festival’s spirit of discovery is alive and well. This year’s ND/NF is set for March 19-30 at Lincoln Center, and […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Jan 14, 2014 -
Jerry Lewis’s The Total Film-Maker Available Online
The Total Film-Maker, that invaluable manuscript culled from 480 hours of Jerry Lewis lectures at the University of Southern California, made its way online last week, courtesy of Cinephilia and Beyond. The out-of-print book, which can fetch up to $500 a copy, is now available in PDF form, free of charge, for anyone interested in ingesting every pace of the directorial process from the definitive filmmaker-comic. Conversational and anecdotal, Lewis relates advice and observations that often demonstrate that though the years may change, the times stay the same. His chapter “The Money Man” concludes, “There is a trend back toward low-budget films […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Jan 14, 2014 -
The Wolf of Wall Street’s Seamless Visual Effects
The Wolf of Wall Street is chockfull of successes. With its performances, pacing and formality resting comfortably on the more transparent end, a new video demonstrates that its visual effects department is no slouch either. Seamless, just the way they should be, the VFX renderings transform Aunt Emma’s probable American brownstone into a white-washed London flat, and hangar siding into the waterways of Venice. Watch above.
by Sarah Salovaara on Jan 13, 2014 -
Test Footage from Letus’ GoPro Anamorphic Adapter
Since Leviathan, I’ve been more curious than ever about the functionality of GoPros. Often categorized as toys and far more prevalent on ski slopes than sets, it took Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel strapping the pocket-sized gizmo to the underside of a fishing vessel to illustrate its cinematic advantages. A little while back, Letus announced the release of a 1.33X Anamorphic Adapter for the camera, to be known as the AnamorphX-GP. Scheduled for shipment on January 31st, the first wave of test footage has arrived from Jared Abrams at Wide Open Camera. Though the characteristic fish eye traces remain intact, the wide aspect […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Jan 13, 2014 -
Joseph Gordon-Levitt Premieres Collaborative Show “Hit Record on TV”
A streamlined extension of his open collaborative site, Joseph Gordon-Levitt will premiere “Hit Record on TV” on Pivot, next Saturday at 10 pm. The first episode, which is currently available online, promises an amalgam of forms and tastes, as “Regular Joe” and his merry band of global collaborators stitch together short films (featuring Elle Fanning), musical interludes and animated sequences. Being that it is the inaugural affair, the episode centers on the number one, its connotations and translations, as told through said media and its fair share of webcams. The hitRECord address is one well worth visiting, as it encourages artists […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Jan 13, 2014 -
Manohla Dargis to Indie Distributors: Be More Discriminating
In advance of Sundance, the unofficial birthplace of the annual independent film calendar, Manohla Dargis has something to ask of the attending distributors: “stop buying so many movies.” Or at least, stop offering so many theatrical deals. “It’s hard to see how American independent cinema can sustain itself if it continues to focus on consumption rather than curation,” she writes. “There are, bluntly, too many lackluster, forgettable and just plain bad movies pouring into theaters, distracting the entertainment media and, more important, overwhelming the audience.” Her claim comes from a kind-hearted place. She ventures that the wonderfully singular Computer Chess could […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Jan 9, 2014 -
SXSW to World Premiere Veronica Mars, Jon Favreau’s Chef
The SXSW Film Conference and Festival has announced the first batch of premieres for its 2014 edition, including Jon Favreau’s Chef, the Veronica Mars movie, and acting-screenwriting ventures from Jeremy Sisto and Mark Duplass. Joining the aforementioned narrative titles are Doc of the Dead, which charts the evolution of the zombie genre; Leave the World Behind, a portrait of Swedish House Mafia; and Fox’s series remake Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey, as hosted by astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson. Said Janet Pierson of Chef, the opening night film, “Jon Favreau’s wonderfully entertaining return to independent filmmaking works beautifully as our 2014 Opening Night Film, with his sharp […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Jan 9, 2014
