Authors — Scott Macaulay
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Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, The Wolf Pack Top 2015 Sundance Film Festival Awards
In a ceremony tonight hosted by Tig Notaro and filled with special jury awards, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl and The Wolf Pack took home the two top prizes — the Dramatic and Documentary U.S. Grand Jury Prizes. The former is an Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s adaptation of Jesse Andrews’ young adult novel, a film that picked up steam throughout the festival as word spread about its fusion of slacker comedy and heartfelt emotion. Fox Searchlight won a bidding war for the film. The Wolf Pack is Crystal Moselle’s bizarre and troubling documentary about six kids who find escape through […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 31, 2015 -
Short Film: Hot Beach Babe Aims to Please, by Jillian Mayer
Filmmaker and Borscht co-honcho Jillian Mayer literalizes herself into a piece of internet clickbait in Hot Beach Babe Aims to Please, a witty short that screened in December as part of Miami’s Borscht Film Festival. Check it out above, and read more about Mayer in our 25 New Faces profile of her and partner Lucas Leyva.
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 31, 2015 -
Cinematographer Peter Donahue on Shooting Sundance Documentary Prophet’s Prey
PROPHET’S PREY – Peter Donahue I first got involved with the Prophet’s Prey project after meeting Amy Berg. Her work has always been something I have admired since seeing her “Deliver us From Evil.” To shoot a documentary, you first have to know that you are in good hands and feel passionate about the subject. So when Amy said she was going to make another film about the abuses of power within an organized religion — and it involved John Krakauer –I was in! Like all documentaries, our first challenge was budget. We first thought we should stay away from […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 28, 2015 -
Cinematographer Bradley Stonesifer on Shooting Bobcat Goldthwait’s Sundance Competition Doc, Call Me Lucky
Call Me Lucky is Bobcat Goldthwait’s documentary portrait of fellow comedian Barry Crimmins, who is not as famous as he should be for his barbed political satire — and whose outsider activism led him to dark places, as this documentary reveals. To visually capture Crimmins on and off stage, Goldthwait turned to his frequent cinematographer Bradley Stonesifer, who previously screened at Sundance with Lee Toland Krieger’s dramatic feature, The Vicious Kind. Below Stonesifer answers questions about that collaboration and doing big theatrical lighting on a shoestring budget. Call Me Lucky premieres January 27, 2015 in the Sundance Documentary Competition section […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 27, 2015 -
Cinematographer Rob Givens on Shooting Sundance Premiere I’ll See You in My Dreams
Rob Givens reteams with The New Year director Brett Haley with I’ll See You in My Dreams, a drama starring Blythe Danner as a retired widower suddenly adjusting to the loss of her dog. The film screens in the Premieres section beginning Tuesday, January 27, and below Givens discusses his ongoing collaboration with Haley, why he chose to shoot on the Sony F55, and getting out of the way of the actors. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 27, 2015 -
Cinematographer Matthias Grunsky on Shooting Andrew Bujalski’s Sundance Competition Film, Results
Austrian-born cinematographer Matthias Grunsky has been a steady collaborator of director Andrew Bujalski from his 2001 debut, Funny Ha Ha to the more recent Computer Chess, for which Grunsky was nominated for Best Cinematography at the Independent Spirit Awards. From grainy black-and-white to what appears to be a slicker look for their latest, Results, Grunsky has adapted his technique to Bujalski’s desire for small crews and low-key environments. Below, Grunsky discusses that process as well as the detailed testing process he undertakes on his pictures. Results premieres Tuesday, January 27 in the Dramatic Competition of the Sundance Film Festival. Filmmaker: […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 27, 2015 -
Five Questions for Directors Bryan Carberry & Clay Tweel of Finders Keepers
An eccentric Southern tale that feels like a Harry Crews-scripted edition of Storage Wars, Finders Keepers tells the story of two men battling — in courts of law and public opinion — over the ownership of a severed foot. The foot belonged once to John Wood, amputated following a small plane crash that also killed Wood’s father. When Wood failed to make payments to his storage unit, it became the property of local North Carolina huckster Shannon Whisnant, who parlays his contested ownership of the foot into a roadside tourist attraction. Directed by Bryan Carberry and Clay Tweel, collaborating for […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 27, 2015 -
Cinematographer Thomas Scott Stanton on Shooting Matt Sobel’s Sundance NEXT Picture, Take Me to the River
Director of photography Thomas Scott Stanton comes to Matt Sobel’s Sundance NEXT button-pusher Take Me to the River from a diverse background. Born in Maine, he spent much of his childhood in Guam and the South Pacific. In Washington D.C. he founded the Green Barrel skate shops, and he still directs skate videos in addition to acting and working as a photographer. When it comes to Sobel’s film, which tells the unsettling story of a gay teenager confronting family secrets at an annual reunion, Stanton connected with the first-time director over Skype and, using the RED Epic M, brought a […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 26, 2015 -
Cinematographer Tom Garner on Shooting Sundance Feature The Strongest Man
Making their feature film debuts at Sundance are director Kenny Riches and cinematographer Tom Garner for the offbeat and ingratiating Miami-set buddy movie (of sorts), The Strongest Man. Artist and metalworker Robert Lorrie plays Beef, a Cuban construction worker set out on a small-scale spiritual odyssey across the streets and into the apartments of Miami. He’s accompanied by his pal Conan, played by YouTube star Freddie Wong, and their adventures have a shambling charm reminiscent a bit of Rick Linklater’s Slacker. The considerable appeal of the on-screen performers is echoed by Garner’s cinematography, which sees contemporary Miami in a way […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 26, 2015 -
Sundance Announces Groundbreaking Transparency Project at #ArtistServices Workshop
Data — it’s the most coveted property in independent film. While studios base their greenlight decisions on finely-honed models derived from the financial performance of numerous other pictures, many independent filmmakers perilously based investor pitches and distribution decisions on anecdotes and hearsay. What used to be simple extrapolation (“If that film grossed X, it probably did Y on home video”) has become a near impossible exercise in the age of digital distribution, in which paltry box-office returns hide “the real numbers” — a dizzying matrix of VOD stats, download figures, Netflix license fees and more and more obscure sub-categories of […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 26, 2015
