Authors — Sarah Salovaara
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Ted Hope Named CEO of Fandor
Fandor, the online streaming service, announced today that indie stalwart Ted Hope would make the transition from board advisor to CEO come January 30th. The appointment follows Hope’s resignation from his role as Executive Director of the San Francisco Film Society last October. In December, Hope penned a highly trafficked post on his blog about how he could no longer produce films for a living. The financial imperatives driving the current film production business, he said, would force him to choose quantity over quality. Those who were left wondering what his new day job would be now have their answer. […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Jan 8, 2014 -
Should Independent Films License Products like Hollywood?
While pitching Like Me at the Dogfish Accelerator Demo Day last month, Go Infect Films’ Jessalyn Abbott remarked that a complimentary clothing line would compound its release. I was — immediately and regrettably — skeptical. Of the substantial batch of independent films I seek out each year, not one in recent memory has touted more than a poster and the occasional t-shirt. I filed Go Infect’s marketing strategy away as “unusual” and “ambitious.” A couple days later, when the internet was astir with slack-jawed admiration for Her, I read that Spike Jonze’s longtime “collaborator,” Humberto Leon of Opening Ceremony, had created his […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Jan 7, 2014 -
Behind the Scenes of All is Lost
The cover story of our 2013 Fall issue, All is Lost proved a herculean exercise in filmmaking. Nearly dialogue free, J.C. Chandor’s sophomore feature plots its arc from the timeless motif of man versus nature, miraculously abstaining from repetition. Chandor exhibits a clear confidence in silence, allowing the surroundings and sun-stained face of Mr. Robert Redford to propel the story forward. Despite its effortless looks, making the movie was surely no cakewalk. In this behind the scenes video from HitFix, key players including underwater d.p. Peter Zuccarini, production designer John P. Goldsmith and editor Pete Beaudreau discuss their experiences in realizing […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Jan 3, 2014 -
The New York Times’ Year in Transmedia
As a tactile person with a Gen Y attention span, my preferred way of ingesting long form news is with a paper in hand. Make no mistake, I am prone to half-hearted cheating attempts: packed in a subway car, I’ll scroll through The New York Times app with one eye trained on the passing station, comprehending every other topic sentence. With the 24-hour news cycle and a tech-friendly public that is increasingly immune to putting up its feet and paging through a periodical front to back, The Times has found a way to fully utilize the electronic format, giving it […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Jan 3, 2014 -
Win a Trip to the Sundance Film Festival
It’s officially January, which means it’s officially almost time for Sundance. General Assembly, purveyor of programs and workshops for the budding technophile, is doing their part by giving away an all expenses paid package for two to this year’s festival. Beyond airfare and accommodations, the prize includes complimentary membership to the Sundance Institute and access to exclusive Park City screenings, panels, parties and so forth. To enter to win, simply fill in your email address at the link. The contest is open till January 6.
by Sarah Salovaara on Jan 2, 2014 -
Film Versus Digital: the Canon 7E and 5D
Despite the rise of the digital medium, its constant comparisons to film are not likely to die down any time soon. In this short video for PBS Digital Studios, Shanks FX produces several animated juxtapositions of images captured by a digital Canon 5D versus a Canon 7E film camera. A few of the results may surprise you: digital filters can render filmic qualities — specifically its grains and imperfections — rather accurately. From the other side of the equation, you may be surprised to see just how deep color schemes appear on film relative to high-quality video. Take a look […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Dec 19, 2013 -
The Top 10 Scenes of 2013 (From One Woman’s Perspective)
Tis the season of the Top 10 list. In what I figured was an out-of-the-box alternative, I decided to compile not necessarily my favorite films of the year, but the scenes that have resonated with me most. Then, Nicholas Rombes had to go and prove that the “great minds” adage is alive and well. Perhaps fortuitously, our lists have nothing in common. Though Upstream Color would likely crack my phantom Top 10, there is no one individual moment from the film that begged my memory for recognition. The same can be said for Inside Llewyn Davis, Bastards, Viola, Like Someone […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Dec 19, 2013 -
Sundance Adds Zach Braff’s Wish I Was Here and a Special Screening of Clerks
10 years after Garden State‘s bow, Zach Braff will return to Sundance with his follow-up, Wish I Was Here. The plot line may sound familiar: Aidan Bloom, a 35-year old struggling actor, father and husband, aimlessly gropes for purpose in his life after the death of his father. If you’ll recall, Braff raised over $3 million on Kickstarter to fund the film this past April, spurring the heated debate over whether or not celebrities should crowdsource. In addition to Wish I Was Here, Sundance also announced a special screening of Kevin Smith’s Clerks, as a “From The Collection” selection, alongside Steve James’ seminal Hoop Dreams. Synopses from […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Dec 18, 2013 -
Trailer Watch: Mitt
A couple weeks back, Netflix announced that it had acquired another “original” documentary, due for a world premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival: Mitt. Filmmaker Greg Whiteley tracked presidential hopeful Mitt Romney from Christmas 2006 up until the night of his concession speech in November 2012. With unprecedented access, Whiteley was with the Romney family through all of the campaign trail ups and downs, to provide what should be a unique and honest window into the mind of Mitt. The film will be available for viewing on Netflix beginning January 24, 2014.
by Sarah Salovaara on Dec 18, 2013 -
12 Years a Slave D.P. Sean Bobbitt on Handheld Cinematography
“You always have to question when a director says, ‘Let’s go handheld.’” At Poland’s Camerimage International Film Festival a few weeks back, d.p. Sean Bobbitt gave an ARRI workshop keynote on the role of handheld cinematography in filmmaking. Far too often, directors, according to Bobbitt, resort to the use of handheld simply because they have no other ideas: “If we do handheld, it will feel kinetic!” and the like. But a knee-jerk instinct is not good enough — Bobbitt believes you should be able to justify every technical decision in the script: “The first and most important consideration is, does […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Dec 17, 2013
