Authors — Scott Macaulay
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The Crowded Stages of the Sundance Film Festival
When I published my piece, “How To Do a Festival Q&A,” there was one word of advice from Trevor Groth that I wondered about: “#5: Don’t bring too many people onstage”: “It slows everything down and tends not to work with the vibe of a good Q&A,” says Groth about long lines of cast and crew marching to the stage after a film’s premiere. “Just bring the key actors and someone who played a crucial role — maybe a production designer or editor.” Apparently many of the Sundance filmmakers didn’t read my article — or heed Groth’s advice — because […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 23, 2013 -
Indieflix’s Scilla Andreen Announces “Royalty Pool Minutes”
Payment models in the digital film distribution world can be surprisingly confusing once you get past the simple straight cut of a Vimeo or iTunes download. Streaming in particular can raise questions. How much should a filmmaker make when his or her film is only viewed partially? Indieflix CEO Scilla Andreen proposes one answer she calls RPM — “royalty pool minutes.” It’s the new artist payment model for her site, and in an interview at Sundance, she argued for its simplicity and clarity. “We take a percentage of the overall monthly revenue coming to Indieflix,” Andreen explains. “We’ve evolved to […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 23, 2013 -
Fall to Grace Director Alexandra Pelosi
From the ascension of George Bush (in Journeys with George) to the crash-and-burn of Ted Haggard (The Trials of Ted Haggard), director Alexandra Pelosi has been fascinated with the rise and fall of the men who comprise our political and social landscape. In her latest documentary, Fall to Grace, she finds elements of both narrative arcs in the story of New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey, who simultaneously resigned his position and announced his homosexuality in 2004, midway into his term. (McGreevey revealed an affair with a man he appointed as New Jersey homeland security advisor.) Following his resignation, McGreevey divorced […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 22, 2013 -
Just Playing
ADAM LEON’s graffiti-scrawled debut film Gimme the Loot crackles with young romance and the energy of the streets.
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 21, 2013 -
Five Questions for Joy de V. Writer/Director Nadia Szold
Writer/director Nadia Szold dubs her debut feature Joy de V. “a dark Bildungsroman,” compressing as it does into a few short days a maelstrom of yearning, confusion and ultimately acceptance. As the film opens, Joy (Josephine de la Baume) abruptly walks out on her young marriage to Roman (Evan Louison), who has been living on government mental disability payments. Roman’s got another problem too, when he learns these checks are being cut off. So, while searching for his wife, Roman decides to perform “a public act of lunacy” that will demonstrate to the world his craziness. Roman crisscrosses the five […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 20, 2013 -
The Outlaw Pleasures of Escape from Tomorrow
Children have no conception of copyright. The words “intellectual property” mean nothing to them. There is just the world, the people and places and things in front of them, and the imprint these things make on their young minds. But as adults, we realize that we don’t own these things that have imprinted themselves on our brains. That’s okay, though. When it comes to the totems of childhood fantasy, we can pay to experience them again — or, more accurately, pay to experience them vicariously through our children. The Walt Disney Corporation has made such a cross-generational feedback loop into […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 19, 2013 -
The Basement Tapes
It’s easy to imagine movies now as mutable data shuffled endlessly between clouds and hard drives — and for some movies, this is at least sort of the case. But the enduring value of original physical media — prints, expensive video masters and even physical screenplays — is being demonstrated in a dispute that is roiling the experimental film and video world. For the last two years, filmmaker Mark Rappaport has been unsuccessfully attempting — via private correspondence, public pleas and a court case — to retrieve needed archival materials he left for safekeeping with film critic and Boston University […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 17, 2013 -
25 Films I’m Anticipating at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival
Here’s the secret to compiling a list of films to see at a festival: go through the catalog and figure out what excites you. And then write down those anticipations. That’s all I’ve done here — given the catalog one pass and pulled out 25 films that will be at the top of my list. A number of these films are ones I’ve known of before, including quite a few from filmmakers who made our “25 New Faces” lists as well as those in the IFP Narrative Lab, where I’m a mentor. But there are others from promising young filmmakers […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 17, 2013 -
David Lowery Talks Ain’t Them Bodies Saints
David Lowery made our “25 New Faces of Independent Film” in 2011 on the basis of his fantastic short film, Pioneer. Now he’s got the most buzzed-about film at Sundance this year with Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, starring Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck. Here he talks about that film and the journey it took to get there.
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 17, 2013 -
Sundance Trailer Watch: Kink
James Franco presents Kink, a documentary about the San Francisco BDSM film studio, Kink.com. Director Christina Voros is one of our 25 New Faces and James Franco is… well, he’s James Franco. From the production notes: If porn were high school, they’d be the goth table. Director Christina Voros and producer James Franco pull back the curtain on the fetish empire of Kink.com, the Internet’s largest producer of BDSM content. In a particularly obscure corner of an industry that operates largely out of public view, Kink.com’s directors and models strive for authenticity. In an enterprise often known for exploitative practices, […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 16, 2013
