Authors — Scott Macaulay

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
BRENT HOFF EXPLORES THE SCIENCE OF LOVE

Screenwriter and director Brent Hoff, who we selected for this year’s 25 New Faces list, has a short out today that’s perfectly timed for Valentines Day. Called The Love Competition, it’s included as part of the next issue of Wholphin, will play at SXSW, but is now online courtesy of Wired and Wholphin. The Love Competition looks at the neurochemistry of romance, pitting a group of contestants against each other as their brains are scanned while they are thinking of their lovers, their ex-lovers, or perhaps just the concept of love itself. Hoff, who won a Tribeca Sloan Prize for […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 14, 2012
THE BAD BOY ROMANCE OF “MOVING TAKAHASHI”

Jason Sondhi, along with Short of the Week partner Andrew Allen one of our “25 New Faces” this year, handpicked today’s Valentines Day selection, “Moving Takahashi.” Directed by Josh Soskin and well acted by rising star Boyd Holbrook and newcomer (at least to me) Kristin Malco, the Kickstarter-funded short is part of what Sondhi calls the “bad boy romance” genre. It’s about a young mover (Holbrook) who discovers that the daughter of the family whose house he’s moving has, in a suicide attempt, swallowed pills that will kill her in 20 minutes. What’s the bad-boy element? You’ll have to watch […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 14, 2012
DEADLINE NEARS FOR THE 2012 VIMEO AWARDS

February 20 is the deadline for submitting to the 2012 Vimeo Awards, which will be presented during this year’s Vimeo Festival + Awards, June 7 – 9 in New York City. Filmmaker Magazine is a sponsor of the awards, which go to original works in 13 different categories that premiered July 31, 2010 and February 20, 2012, or which never premiered at all. For 2012, Vimeo has assembled a pretty amazing group of judges, including actor and director James Franco; Parks and Recreation Star Aziz Ansari, 2012 Oscar Nominee Lucy Walker; documentarian Steve James; Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood; Scott Pilgrim vs. […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 14, 2012
Paul Dano And Stoya Trailer Flatscreen

One way to break into directing has always been to find a young, unsigned band and offer to do a music video. A new way: make a trailer for a book. These days, there are more and more trailers for books, and many of them take the form of short films. All you need is one hot independent film actor (Paul Dano) and one hip crossover porn star (Stoya). Case in point: the mumblecore-meets-porno stylings for Adam Wilson’s debut novel Flatscreen, forthcoming from Harper Perennial. Wilson is the Associate Editor of the New York Egoist, a blogger for BlackBook Magazine, […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 10, 2012
INTERVIEWING MALDIVES PRESIDENT MOHAMED NASHEED

While at the Toronto Film Festival this year I interviewed Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed and director Jon Shenk about their climate change doc, The Island President. The film is focused entirely on Nasheed’s efforts combating climate change and greenhouse emissions, showing how his stewardship of the environmentally fragile island state can be a model for others looking to enact more progressive policies. One question I had while watching the doc was how well his environmental activism played at home. The domestic policies of the Maldives are largely absent from the doc. Today, reports the BBC, Nasheed has resigned amidst widespread […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 7, 2012
“BOOSTER,” “PAVILION” HEAD TO SXSW VIA KICKSTARTER

I’ve added some new projects to Filmmaker‘s curated Kickstarter page, including two IFP Narrative Lab projects selected for premieres at SXSW in March. The first is Tim Sutton’s gorgeous Pavilion, an eerie tale of adolescence that is breathtakingly shot and hauntingly directed. (It also has one of the most gorgeous websites around.) The second is Matt Ruskin’s intense character-based thriller Booster. Both films are well on their way to completion but are short the final finishing funds that will allow them to make their premiere dates. And, of course, both have some decent rewards. For $750, Sutton will give a […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 7, 2012

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