Authors — Scott Macaulay
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Director Maiko Endo on Kuichisan
Easily the most out-there film I saw at last year’s CPH:DOX was one touted by the programmers as “the discovery of the festival”: Maiko Endo’s Kuichisan, receiving its New York debut tomorrow as part of the LaDiDa Festival. Previously, Endo was a vocalist in the band Battles and co-produced Jessica Oreck’s documentary Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo. Now, Oreck has produced Endo’s debut picture, with Beetle Queen d.p. Sean Price Williams behind the camera. Stunningly shot in both black-and-white and color, Kuichisan is a tumbling collection of images, organized as much by feeling, sensation and the rhythms of its experimental soundtrack […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 13, 2012 -
PAUL FEDERBUSH NAMED SUNDANCE INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR, FEATURE FILM PROGRAM
Distribution veteran Paul Federbush has been named International Director, Feature Film Program, at the Sundance Institute. Through his work at a number of companies over the years, Federbush is well known in the independent community. Most recently, Federbush formed the distribution company Red Flag Releasing with Laura Kim, and previously he was Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Production at Warner Independent, where he developed such projects as Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, and Hany Abu Assad’s Paradise Now. From the press release: In his new role, Federbush is responsible for the planning and execution of the international work of Sundance […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 11, 2012 -
FACTORY 25 ACQUIRES CASSIDY AND SHATZKY’S “FRANCINE”
Factory 25 has acquired North American rights to Brian Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky’s Francine, a bold and mysterious drama starring Melissa Leo as a paroled convict who finds solace in caring for animals. The film premieres this week, on September 12, at MoMA in a theatrical release by The Film Sales Company, and it will continue to play across the country this fall. Factory 25 and The Film Sales Company will co-release the film on VOD and digitally beginning November 1. DVD and non-theatrical screenings will begin in Spring, 2013. Francine premiered this year at the Berlin Film Festival, and […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 10, 2012 -
Should Filmmakers Be Financially Accountable to their Kickstarter Supporters?
A recent NPR story, “When a Kickstarter Campaign Fails, Does Anyone Get Their Money Back?”, raised the issue of failed crowdfunding campaigns and financial restitution to supporters. It’s a relevant topic as Kickstarter is increasingly acting as a pre-sale, customer-financing platform for sundry consumer, tech, and design goods. iPod wristwatches, RAW-shooting cameras, tripods and remotes, aquariums — many projects, some from creators with manufacturing backgrounds and some without, are bypassing the angel investor round and raising start-up capital directly from their customers. And while these are creative projects, they’re different from the short films and features we highlight on our […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 10, 2012 -
JORGE HINOJOSA ON “ICEBERG SLIM: PORTRAIT OF A PIMP”
Premiering in Toronto this year is Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp, director Jorge Hinojosa’s portrait of the legendary black author and pimp, whose work influenced generations of rap artists as well as urban fiction — or Street Lit — writers. Making his directorial debut, Hinojosa has been Ice-T’s manager for the past 28 years and previously executive produced the features Urban Menace, The Wrecking Crew and Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap. In the below video, offered by Hinojosa to Filmmaker, he discusses the origins of the film, his interest in Slim and how he and his collaborators […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 7, 2012 -
SYRIAN FILMMAKER ORWA NYRABIA ARRESTED AND MISSING
Last Thursday, August 23, Syrian filmmaker Orwa Nyrabia was arrested by Syrian security forces at the Damascus airport while on his way to Cairo. Since then, he has not been heard from. Lawrence Wright of the New Yorker wrote about Nyrabia and his disappearance in a blog post last week. I had the good fortune at the time to meet Orwa Nyrabia (also transcribed Nairabiya). He is a big, ironic, bold spirit, whose jolly nature seemed perversely at odds with the grimly repressive atmosphere inside that country. With another producer, Diana el-Jeiroudi, Orwa started Proaction Film, the only independent documentary-film […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 2, 2012 -
CHAIR FIGHTING TIPS FOR CLINT EASTWOOD
Clint, here, via Harmony Korine and Mark Gonzalez, is how you fight a chair. (The clip, of course, is from Gummo, which I co-produced.)
by Scott Macaulay on Aug 31, 2012 -
“BIG RIVER MAN” BENEFIT SCREENING SEPT. 4 AT IFC CENTER
Along with Jonathan Caouette, Ingrid Kopp, Thom Powers, Esther Robinson, Morgan Spurlock, and John Vanco I’ll be co-hosting a benefit screening of John Maringouin’s Big River Man on Tuesday, September 4, at the IFC Center at 7:30PM. All proceeds will go towards the filmmaker’s surgery fund and an urgently needed lung operation. Additionally, IFC will be donating an additional 50% of the box towards the fund as well as 100% of all income from membership sales and renewals purchased that evening. I’ve posted about Maringouin’s situation previously, and, with days left, the fund still needs monies to reach its $60,000 […]
by Scott Macaulay on Aug 30, 2012 -
Kubrick’s One-Point Perspective
From Kogonada is this supercut of scenes from Stanley Kubrick’s films showing his fondness for symmetrically composed wide shots. Check it out, and follow the comments thread at the Vimeo link, where the conversation continues. (Hat tip: Text of Light.) Kubrick // One-Point Perspective from kogonada on Vimeo.
by Scott Macaulay on Aug 30, 2012 -
OTHER PEOPLE TURNS 100
Congratulations to Brad Listi’s Other People podcast, which reached a centenary today with a big get: author George Saunders. If you read the print edition of Filmmaker, you will have heard about the podcast as I featured it in our Super 8 a while back. (My blurb is embedded here — Brad, thanks for the scan!) Other People is a twice-a-week podcast in which Listi interviews authors about… well, just about anything. Their books are discussed, of course, but also their biographies, their writing processes, their child-raising habits, their obsessions, their quirks… It’s always a deeply human conversation, and the […]
by Scott Macaulay on Aug 29, 2012
