Authors — Scott Macaulay
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See No Evil 2 Directors The Soska Sisters on Collaborative Directing
In the upcoming issue of Filmmaker, Esther Robinson writes about directors who work in pairs. Robinson’s focus is on how two directors is better than one when it comes to navigating the development and financial aspects of being a director, and she surveys a number of them on how they structure their work. But then there’s the also the basic question: how do they actually do it? Is everything discussed jointly? Does one talk to the actors and the other direct the camera? Is one more dominant in production and the other in post? In this short clip, Jen and […]
by Scott Macaulay on Oct 17, 2014 -
Five Questions for St. Vincent Writer/Director Ted Melfi
With his debut feature, St. Vincent, Ted Melfi may seem like one of those out-of-nowhere independent sensations that pops on the scene a few times a year. But as he explains in the interview below, he has actually been behind the camera for years — shooting all styles of commercials and music videos — and has been producing independent films for even longer. (And, as he further explains, all those out-of-nowhere people — they didn’t come from nowhere either.) For St. Vincent, Melfi drew on his own family experiences — and star Bill Murray’s unique mixture of irreverence and poignancy […]
by Scott Macaulay on Oct 17, 2014 -
“We’re Doing All the President’s Men, and Then We’re Doing The Parallax View“: Michael Cuesta on Kill the Messenger
Although it is a ’90s-set story dealing with an ‘80s political cover-up, Michael Cuesta’s Kill the Messenger, the true story of journalist Gary Webb, couldn’t be more of the moment. When filmmaker Laura Poitras is documenting the work of a new breed of crusading journalists, it’s enlightening to revisit the work of a writer like Webb and to remember the opposition he faced from not only the U.S. government but his fellow scribes in the mainstream press. In Kill the Messenger, Jeremy Renner delivers a quietly gripping turn as the San Jose Mercury News reporter who comes across information revealing […]
by Scott Macaulay on Oct 15, 2014 -
Little Accidents Director Sara Colangelo Wins Tangerine Juice Award at the Hamptons
Congratulations to Filmmaker 25 New Face Sara Colangelo, who was awarded today the Tangerine Juice Award at the Hamptons International Film Festival. Created to honor a female first- or second-time narrative feature director, the prize comes with $1,000 cash and five hours of consultation with Tangerine Entertainment. Starring Elizabeth Banks, Boyd Holbrook and Chloe Sevigny, Little Accidents is a drama set in the aftermath of the disappearance of a teenager in a small American coal-mining town. It premiered at Sundance 2014 and will be released by Amplify. “The competition for our award was tough this year,” said Tangerine co-founder Anne […]
by Scott Macaulay on Oct 11, 2014 -
Trailer Watch: I’m Not Patrick
Independent publisher Two Dollar Radio recently launched a microbudget filmmaking arm, and tonight they’ve dropped their first trailer. I’m Not Patrick is a black comedy about teen suicide directed by the press’s founder, Eric Obenauf. Watch the trailer above. Below is an excerpt of the press release from this Ohio-based publisher. I’m Not Patrick is a black comedy that follows Seth, a teenager whose twin brother, Patrick, has suddenly, tragically, committed suicide. Seth doesn’t know how to react, but everyone is eager to suggest what they imagine to be typical reactions to monozygotic suicide. Whether it’s the rival twins’ landscaping […]
by Scott Macaulay on Oct 8, 2014 -
Trailer Watch: Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice
Paisley, mutton chops and “It’s a Wonderful World” — here’s the brand new trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson’s eagerly awaited Inherent Vice, adapted from Thomas Pynchon’s novel. Joaquin Phoenix, Benicio del Toro, Katherine Waterston, Owen Wilson and Reese Witherspoon all star in PTA/Pynchon’s woozy comedy about the end of the ’60s.
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 29, 2014 -
“Even If It’s a Bad Movie, You Get a Good Running Commentary”: Slavoj Zizek at the Criterion Offices
Philosopher and critic Slavoj Zizek stopped by the Criterion offices the other day, resulting in this video in which he talks his way through some of the titles in the stockroom. In just five minutes he tosses off tons of quips and instant analyses about films like Louis Malle’s Murmur of the Heart (“It’s one of those nice, gentle French movies, where you have incest”), Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo (“a pretentious fake” but with a good commentary track), and Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock, which he compares to Tarkovsky’s Stalker.
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 29, 2014 -
Kirsten Dunst on Celebrity Fandom in the Age of Instagram
Director Matthew Frost and actress Kirsten Dunst team up for this short film, Aspirational, about celebrity fandom in the age of the selfie. A tag is worth more than a moment as Dunst encounters two fans outside her house. Via VS Magazine.
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 29, 2014 -
Thom Yorke Explains Value of BitTorrent Bundles by Releasing a New Album
At the Sundance Artist Services Day at the IFP Filmmaker Conference, I witnessed — and wrote about — the confusion and sometimes anger that erupted during the panel discussion on BitTorrent Bundles. BitTorrent Bundles use the peer-to-peer file sharing protocol of BitTorrent to package, give away and/or sell digital goods. Some vocal members of the audience challenged the panelists to justify why filmmakers should lie down with a site many associate with piracy. Replied BitTorrent’s Director of Brand Marketing, Straith Schreder, “It is a separate website and has nothing to do with the pirate ecosystem. As for monetization, one way […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 26, 2014 -
Creatures and Class Politics: Travis Knight, Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable on The Boxtrolls
The latest animated feature from Laika, the Portland-based studio that delivered Coraline and ParaNorman, is a surprisingly idiosyncratic blend of children’s adventure and political satire. Based on Alan Snow’s novel, Here Be Monsters, Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable’s The Boxtrolls is set in the steampunk-inspired British town of Cheesebridge, a ruthlessly classist society where, you guessed it, cheese is the unifying luxury good. The boxtrolls — little creatures who live in cardboard boxes — are the literal lower class. (They live underground.) The story kicks into gear as a human boy, Eggs, raised by the boxtrolls ventures above ground, meets […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 26, 2014
