Authors — Scott Macaulay
-
David Doernberg, 1967 – 2012
Production designer David Doernberg, who brought a sensitive, finely crafted and observant touch to many excellent independent films, died in New York on Friday after a battle with cancer. Doernberg began his career in the late ’80s/early ’90s working on music videos for bands like Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo and Superchunk. He quickly moved into independent features as a propmaster for films by Hal Hartley (Amateur), Daisy von Scherler Mayer (Party Girl) and Eric Schaeffer (If Lucy Fell). Soon after he became a production designer, bookending his career with films by Kelly Reichardt. He designed her 1994 debut film, […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 5, 2012 -
Ridley Scott Teases Prometheus with TED Talk from the Future
Now this is transmedia! Ridley Scott has created a TED Talk from the future for his forthcoming Prometheus. (Actually, here are the credits: “Conceived and designed by Ridley Scott and Damon Lindelof and directed by Luke Scott.”) The talk is by “Peter Heyland,” who looks quite a bit like Guy Pearce and is introduced on the TED page like this: Peter Weyland has been a magnet for controversy since he announced his intent to build the first convincingly humanoid robotic system by the end of the decade. Whether challenging the ethical boundaries of medicine with nanotechnology or going toe to […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 29, 2012 -
FILMMAKER READERS RECEIVE DISCOUNT TO ONLINE SCREENING OF “RETURN”
The IFP and Focus World are hosting a screening of the highly recommended drama Return, by Liza Johnson, on the online screening platform Constellation tonight. Filmmaker readers receive 25% off, and Johnson will be participating in a post-screening Q&A. From last week’s newsletter, here are the details. (And if you haven’t subscribed to our newsletter, why not? It’s free, and I write something special for it most weeks.) On the heels of its theatrical release earlier this month, IFP will be co-presenting with Focus World a special interactive screening of the feature film Return on Tuesday, February 28th – presented […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 28, 2012 -
NATIONAL FILM SOCIETY HOSTS PBS ONLINE FILM FESTIVAL
Wow, that was quick. At Filmmaker we’re used to spotting and promoting young filmmaking talent and, within a few years, seeing them graduate to studio blockbusters whose press screenings we aren’t invited to. But when we partnered this Sundance with the nascent National Film Society, we figured we had at least 24 months before they busted out of this joint. Just five weeks after we ran the National Film Society’s Park City spots, though, the duo of Patrick Epino and Stephen Dypiangco have gone network…. Well, they’ve gone PBS, and that’s a network in our book. From February 27 – […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 28, 2012 -
RECAPPING THE 27TH ANNUAL FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS
Actress Penelope Ann Miller took the stage early at the 27th Film Independent Spirit Awards to accept the first of four awards Michel Hazanavicius’s The Artist would receive Saturday afternoon. It was for cinematography, and when it was announced d.p. Guillaume Schiffman was on a plane to Los Angeles along with the rest of the film’s contingent following their wins (six awards, including French Film of the Year) at France’s Cesars just a night before. (Befitting a movie that traffics in self-aware nostalgia, The Artist was shot on film, not digitally, although it was lensed in color and converted to […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 27, 2012 -
ETERNAL COPYRIGHT: A MODEST PROPOSAL
At the Daily Telegraph, Adrian Hon, Founder of the online games company Six to Start, writes a modest proposal providing an answer to the controversies over copyright, remixing, piracy, filesharing, etc: eternal copyright. In 1710, the Statue of Anne decreed that the term of copyright last from 14 – 28 years. In the 300 years since, that term has only increased to 70 years from the death of the author. Swift implementation of an eternal copyright law would not only spur creative innovation but redress societal wrongs. From the piece: Imagine you’re a new parent at 30 years old and […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 20, 2012 -
Director Jeff Kusama-Hinte on Charlotte
We are filmmakers. We are artisans. Or so we forget. With filmmaking so often abstracted from the actual work of making a film, so enmeshed in conversations about new models and plans and strategies, we sometimes lose touch with what should be the main reason we make movies in the first place: to take pride in works of art made beautifully and with love. It is precisely the love of artisanal creation that is celebrated in Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte’s Charlotte: A Wooden Boat Story, a verite doc chronicling the making of a 50-foot gaff rigged schooner, “Charlotte,” by a team of […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 20, 2012 -
MUST SEE: KIRBY FERGUSON’S CONCLUSION TO “EVERYTHING IS A REMIX”
Kirby Ferguson’s epic and informative web serial, Everything is a Remix, comes to an inspiring conclusion with part four, to my mind the best of the series. In “Part Four: System Failures,” he looks at the historical roots of copyright and patent protection and examines how today’s system has drifted so far away from the original goals of furthering the public good while still protecting creators. I can’t recommend Ferguson’s series more highly, and if you find yourself in an argument with someone about legislations like SOPA, PiPA and ACTA, point them towards these videos for a succinctly argued treatise […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 17, 2012 -
“THE TESTED” SCREENS AT BAMcinematek’s NEW VOICES IN BLACK CINEMA SERIES
As part of its New Voices in Black Cinema series, BAMcinematek will screen tomorrow The Tested, Russell Costanza’s debut feature that was developed as part of the IFP Narrative Lab. The film is tough and ambitious New York drama, the kind of film Sidney Lumet might have made at one point, and it deals with both institutional racism and the struggle to achieve forgiveness. It also boasts an amazing performance by Aunjanue Ellis (pictured). This is a film that has flown a bit too much under the radar and is well worth checking out. The trailer is below, and tickets […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 16, 2012 -
CASSIDY AND SHATZKY’S “FRANCINE” DEBUTS IN BERLIN
David Rooney’s Hollywood Reporter review of Brian Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky’s tough, piercing American independent character drama Francine, which premiered this week in Berlin, is masterful. As noted also by Jeffrey Wells, Rooney approaches the film on its own terms, and distills in his prose strengths that would be ignored or misconstrued by another critic. From the review: A minimalist, image-based character study that is almost impossibly fragile and yet emotionally robust, Francine is a legitimate discovery. It’s propelled by Melissa Leo’s remarkable title-role performance, rigorous in its honesty and unimpeded by even a scrap of vanity. Made on a […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 15, 2012
