Authors — Scott Macaulay
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Short Film: Spark and Light, by So Yong Kim
Commissioned by the designer Miu Miu as part of a series of seven films, “Women’s Tales,” Spark and Light is a lovely and wonderfully executed short by Treeless Mountain director So Yong Kim. Riley Keough, in a sensitive, affecting performance, plays a motorist stranded in snowy Iceland as she’s on her way to visit her dying mother in the hospital. Dreams, memory and reality all merge as Keough’s character turns her moments alone into a hypnotic emotional journey. Special mention to Eric Lin’s subtly expressive cinematography.
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 13, 2014 -
Filmmaker is Seeking a Managing Editor
Filmmaker is seeking a Managing Editor. This full-time, New York-based position oversees the production of Filmmaker‘s print issue and provides administrative and managerial support to the operations of our daily website. Our ideal candidate will have strong writing skills, superior administrative and copyediting abilities as well as a sincere interest in the world of independent film. Nick Dawson, who has been our fantastic Managing Editor for the last two years, is leaving to pursue an exciting new opportunity, which I will let him tell you about shortly. (Congrats, Nick!) If you think you or someone you know would be interested, […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 12, 2014 -
John August Launches iPhone Screenplay Reader, Weekend Read
Screenwriter and director John August and his colleagues at Quote-Unquote Apps have launched Weekend Read, a full-featured screenplay reader for the iPhone. The app imports scripts in Final Draft, PDF, Fountain, Markdown and text formats and then creates an “optimized view” that’s perfectly sized for the iPhone’s 4″ screen. Fonts can be increased, decreased or changed; there’s a “night mode”; and scripts can be imported from Dropbox, a URL, email or any app that has an “Open in” option. I read screenplays on my iPad using Goodreader to narrow the margins and thus increase the font size. It’s a decent […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 12, 2014 -
Can You Explain Your Work to Your Parents? Dan Fox’s Audience Appreciation
Who is your audience? For all of us, argues Frieze co-editor and art critic Dan Fox, it starts with our parents. Soon, though, it — or, perhaps, our conceptions of it — change. In this video, based on a talk he gave at The Kitchen, Fox “…presents a personal perspective on how we think about audiences as we grow older, and as our responsibilities evolve.”
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 9, 2014 -
Ira Glass and Daniel Sax: on The Gap Between Your Ambitions and Your Work
The gap between your creative ambitions and your creative output — that’s the subject of a new video by Daniel Sax based on 2012 interview by Ira Glass. Sax was actually inspired by another video, one by David Shiyang Liu, which used animated typography to illustrate the same interview. Sax writes that he watched Liu’s video over and over again, letting Glass’s advice about getting through that period where your work just isn’t good enough ease him past his own disappointment in his endeavors. Glass’s words became motivation, and the result is this clever and, yes, inspirational piece of work. […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 9, 2014 -
From Madrid and Berlin Comes Fever: Nothing Stays
Fever is a recently formed group of photographers and video artists hailing from Berlin and Madrid. As their blog, We Are the Fever, exhibits, their work consists of photo essays and videos, often dealing with youth culture amidst Europe’s economic crisis — two themes present in the group’s new short film, a startling, poetic and beautifully shot evocation of personal and social change titled Nothing Stays. It is produced by the group’s three members — Borja Larrondo, Daniel Eceolaza and Luis Guijarro — and written and directed by Eceolaza. Guijarro shot the short and did color correction. Check it out […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 3, 2014 -
“To Hell with Your Honor and Dignity…”: James Schamus’ Rousing WGA Award Speech
Screenwriter and producer James Schamus was honored with the WGA East‘s Evelyn F. Burkey Award, which celebrates those “bringing honor and dignity to writers.” Gratefully accepting the award, Schamus ponders the meaning of “honor” and “dignity” with regards to screenwriters in today’s working environment and delivers a rousing call to arms. Watch above.
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 3, 2014 -
“The Minute You Walk Out the Door You’re Risking Something”: Philip Seymour Hoffman on the Challenge of Acting
In a free-flowing interview with June Stein in the Spring, 2008 issue of BOMB Magazine, Philip Seymour Hoffman discusses the insights into acting he gleaned from his experience as a director. Early on there is the following remarkable exchange, in which Hoffman says that acting is not about embracing one’s first instincts: PS: … Actors’ first instinct is to make themselves feel comfortable, to do things to make themselves feel like they’re in it, they’re truthful; I’m moving over here and that feels right, blah, blah, blah…. That’s what I do; so when I see another actor doing that, I […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 3, 2014 -
Filmmaker’s Top Ten Posts of January, 2014
Here are our most-read posts of January, 2014. 1. Why Your Film Needs a Good Gaffer: How Lighting Changes a Face. This hypnotic video featuring a pretty model whose face morphs from seductive to menacing to funny based on the lights that hit it went viral. It’s a great watch that prompted a lengthy dialogue about the relationship between D.P and gaffer on our Facebook page. 2. The Women of Sundance 2014. There has been a lot written about the underrepresentation of women directors, but I think filmmaker Danielle Lurie knocked it out of the park with this 5,000-word piece […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 31, 2014 -
Mark Cuban Blasts Patent Troll’s Movie Download Lawsuit
The absurdities of the U.S. patent system were brought into focus yesterday by Mark Cuban, whose Magnolia Pictures, along with Amazon, Apple and the Weinstein Company, has been hit by a bizarre lawsuit involving movie downloads. The title of Cuban’s blog post summarizes the suit: “So I Got Sued By A Patent Troll Who Thinks They Own Downloading Movies (only before they are released in theaters) over Cellular.” The suit has been filed in Illinois Northern District Court by Red Pine Point, a so-called patent troll, which is a company that files, holds but does not base its business around […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 29, 2014
