Authors — Scott Macaulay

SUNDANCE VIDEO: “ROBOT AND FRANK”‘S FRANK LANGELLA

One of the hits of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival has been Robot and Frank, Jake Schreier’s tale of a retired jewel thief and the caretaker robot his kids purchase to assist him in his final days. In addition to Frank Langella, the film costars James Marsden, Susan Sarandon and Liv Tyler, and it was jointly acquired at the festival by Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions and Samuel Goldwyn in a deal reported at over $2 million. In addition to being a great actor, Langella is a great sport. Here he is being interviewed by the National Film Society.
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 26, 2012
REMEMBERING BINGHAM RAY, 1954 – 2012

I first met Bingham Ray in 1992, when I interviewed him and October Films partner Jeff Lipsky about their company’s expansion and move to New York. It was for Filmmaker‘s second issue, and in our talk, Bingham was all the things he’s now being remembered for — committed, combative, intelligent and garrulous. He was pitching me on his upcoming slate, a diverse lot that included Alain Corneau’s Tous Les Matins Du Monde, Mike Leigh’s Life is Sweet, and a shorts package that included Michael Moore’s Pets or Meat. The ostensible hook for the article, though, was Ray and Lipsky’s move […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 24, 2012
THE IFP ON BINGHAM RAY

The following statement was issued by Joana Vicente, Executive Director of the IFP: The board of directors and the staff of the IFP are shocked and extremely saddened by the death of indie veteran Bingham Ray. Bingham was a stalwart champion of independent film throughout his lifetime. He was an honorary board member of the IFP and was honored with a career tribute at the 2002 Gotham Awards. Bingham brought the independent film community together and always reminded us of the highest standards we should pursue as filmmakers with vision. He was not only an extraordinarily passionate figure, with an […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 23, 2012
Learning from Your Peers at the Sundance Producers Brunch

“Work from your most generous place,” producer and keynote speaker Sarah Green advised during today’s annual Sundance Producers Brunch at the Sundance Film Festival. Green has had an amazing year, producing the works of masters old and young (Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life and Jeff Nichols’ Take Shelter), but her speech focused not on her accomplishments but on the sustenance provided by her web of professional associates and collaborators. She laughingly described her own beginnings, watching “Maggie Renzi get City of Hope financed over lunch. I thought it was easy.” She talked about mentoring the producer Georgia Kacandes from APOC […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 22, 2012
BLOODY DISGUSTING FOUNDER BRAD MISKA ON SUNDANCE HORROR PIC “V/H/S”

“When we started Bloody Disgusting back in 2002, we were the only ones doing it daily,” says Bradley Miska about the origins of his all-horror site. Sites like Ain’t It Cool News, Dark Horizons and Jo Blo were around too, but as its name would suggest, Bloody Disgusting hammered a wooden stake in the burgeoning field of online horror coverage and now, 10 years later, it is reaping the rewards. Management company The Collective “bought into” Bloody Disgusting five years ago, says Miska, and today the co-owned website is just one part of a gory mini-empire that also includes a […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 22, 2012
TRAILER WATCH: STEPHEN ELLIOTT’S “CHERRY”

Here’s the just-posted trailer for Stephen Elliott‘s Berlin-bound Cherry, the debut feature of the author (The Adderall Diaries, Happy Baby) and Rumpus website founder. It stars Ashley Hinshaw, James Franco, Lili Taylor, Jonny Weston, Dev Patel and Heather Graham. From the film’s website: Cherry is about Angelina (Ashley Hinshaw), an 18-year-old girl on the verge of finishing high school. Angelina’s family life is difficult. Her mother (Lili Taylor) is an alcoholic and her step-father is violent and unpredictable. One morning her boyfriend (Jonny Weston) suggests she take naked pictures for money. She balks at first but then does the photo […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 22, 2012
SUNDANCE VIDEO: MIKE BIRBIGLIA ON “SLEEPWALK WITH ME”

Yesterday I posted Ira Glass’s amazing rant about producing Mike Birbiglia’s debut feature, Sleepwalk with Me, premiering here at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Now, here’s Birbiglia himself discussing the medical condition that prompted the film, the challenges of transferring material from his comedic monologues to film, and pizza…
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 22, 2012
SLAMDANCE VIDEO: KEITH MILLER ON “WELCOME TO PINE HILL”

I was riveted by Keith Miller’s Welcome to Pine Hill when I first encountered it last year in the IFP’s Narrative Lab. The story of former drug dealer attempting to go straight while battling health challenges, it features a scene that is among the most gripping I’ve seen in any film recently. A man, played by Miller, walks his dog late at night and… well, I’ll let Miller explain. Here, Miller discusses the origins of that scene, working with the man he met that night, Shannon Harper, and the influences on the film, who include Andrei Tarkovsky. (I’d also throw […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 22, 2012
WRITER/DIRECTOR CRAIG ZOBEL ON “COMPLIANCE”

Following the adventures of two mismatched salesman hawking vanity recording deals for a small Southern recording label, Craig Zobel’s 2007 Sundance picture Great World of Sound is a beautifully crafted debut feature, emotionally rich and with a sagacious perspective on America’s escalating obsession with fame. And in the months following its release, the banter between the two men, and the hapless vocalists aiming for an America’s Got Talent-style brass ring by way of a cheaply-produced studio single, must have made the film seem like a comedy to those who missed its lacerating moral critique. That’s because, as Zobel notes below, […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 21, 2012
Ira Glass On The Strange Life Of The Producer

When Mike Birbiglia asked This American Life‘s Ira Glass to produce his first feature, Sleepwalk with Me, premiering here at Sundance, Glass thought it sounded like it might be fun. “I’d read a couple of scripts, look at a couple of rough cuts,” he remembers thinking. Glass’s presumption was far from the truth… very far. In this short interview, shot before Sundance while Glass was in the sound studio with Birbiglia, he ponders — hilariously — the job of the producer.
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 21, 2012

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