Authors — Scott Macaulay
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THE “PARIAH” TEAM TALK
Just before its Sundance premiere, the team behind Pariah — writer/director Dee Rees, producer Nekisa Cooper, and actresses Adepero Oduye and Kim Wayans — sat down with Jamie Stuart and me to discuss their film’s path to the big screen. Check it out, and make sure to see the film itself, which opened yesterday in limited release from Focus Features. (Note: video contains one mild spoiler.) [jwplayer config=”FM Player” file=”https://filmmakermagazine.com/videos/PARIAH_FINAL_CUT.mov” image=”https://filmmakermagazine.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Adepero-Oduye-Still.jpg”]
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 29, 2011 -
KICKSTARTER: “LEAVE ME LIKE YOU FOUND ME”
Producer Adele Romanski (The Myth of the American Sleepover, The Freebie) is stepping into the director’s chair with Leave Me Like You Found Me, and she is raising post-production funds on Kickstarter. You can read our interview with Adele about Myth this past summer and check out her Kickstarter video below. From the Kickstarter page: A few years back while on a camping trip in California, I had the idea to shoot a film in a national park. The idea was to try and capture something small and intimate and beautiful within the backdrop of something vast and expansive and […]
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 20, 2011 -
Bryce Dallas Howard Directors Canon EOS C300 Short
Here is a just-posted short science-fiction film, When You Find Me, directed by Bryce Dallas Howard and produced by Ron Howard. It’s short on Canon’s new EOS C300 camera. As Koo notes over at No Film School, the short was inspired by a photograph submitted as part of Canon’s Project Imagination contest.
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 18, 2011 -
DID YOU KEEP YOUR 2011 FILMMAKING NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION?
This year on January 1 I posted what become one of our best-trafficked posts of the year: a list of suggested New Year’s Resolutions for filmmakers. This year I thought I’d do a similar post… but I’m not sure I can improve upon last year’s list. So, I thought I’d ask you, our readers, to contribute. Did you make a filmmaking New Year’s Resolution for 2011, either from my list or one of your own? If so, did you keep it? If not, why? If you did, how did it work out? And, finally, do you have a New Year’s […]
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 17, 2011 -
SUNDANCE ANNOUNCES PROJECTS FOR JANUARY SCREENWRITERS LAB
Below is the press release announcing the projects for the Sundance January Screenwriters Lab. Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute has selected 12 projects for its annual January Screenwriters Lab, an immersive, five-day (January 13-18) writers’ workshop at the Sundance Resort in Utah. Participating independent screenwriters – drawn from around the world, including the United States, China, South Africa, and Europe – will have the opportunity to work intensely on their feature film scripts with the support of established writers in an environment that encourages innovation and creative risk-taking. Michelle Satter, Director of the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program, said, […]
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 16, 2011 -
THE BEAUTY OF WASTED LIGHT
A stunning and eerie short video by David Parker about wasted light — the energy that spills from unattended lighting appliances. As he explains at Sunday-Paper: “Light” a short film directed by David Parker, initially began as a project intended to bring awareness to energy waste. Bleeding, crying lights were meant to metaphorically parallel the way in which we invisibly squander our natural resources without much thought. While the original sentiment remains, the film also grew into a poetic statement about a world run amok and the human tendency to exploit that which we hold dear. The film was shot […]
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 16, 2011 -
TRAILER WATCH: “MENTOR”
Filmmaker (The Mark of Cain, Bayou Blue) and Filmmaker contributor Alix Lambert is in production on Mentor, a documentary about teen bullying and suicide in Mentor, Ohio. Here is the just-posted trailer. Mentor Trailer from Alix Lambert on Vimeo.
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 16, 2011 -
SOPA, PRO AND CON
I’ve linked to several articles critical of the Stop Online Piracy Act, which is being debated in Congress this week, and wrote about it in today’s newsletter. Today’s markup hearings were absolutely fascinating, and it was amusing to hear the plight of the low-budget independent filmmaker cited at one point by a pro-SOPA congressman. As you’ve heard from me arguments against the legislation in its current form, I thought I should perhaps link to the other side of the discussion. And then I found this “truth annotated” version of Viacom’s spot lobbying for SOPA. Here, then, in one handy clip […]
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 16, 2011 -
THE PGA RESPONDS TO KARIN CHIEN’S OPEN LETTER
On Monday we published producer Karin Chien’s open letter to the Producers Guild of America about the exclusion of her feature, Circumstance, from awards eligibility due to it being filmed in the Farsi language. Here is their response Producers Guild of America response to Karin Chien’s open letter: We appreciate the passion and commitment behind responses such as Karin Chien’s, who has every reason to be proud of her work and the acclaim her film is receiving. Unfortunately, the Producers Guild has not recognized foreign language films as eligible for its awards because of the unique position the Guild holds […]
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 15, 2011 -
“MARCEL THE SHELL” MAKES HIS NETWORK DEBUT
Congrats to 25 New Face filmmakers Dean Fleischer Camp and Jenny Slate for busting onto Brian Williams’ NBC show, accompanied, of course, by their wonderful creation, Marcel the Shell. Here’s the spot. Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 14, 2011
