Authors — Scott Macaulay

“MY PERESTROIKA’”S ROBIN HESSMAN | By Alicia Van Couvering

Robin Hessman’s My Perestroika is a documentary that shows modern-day Russia from the inside out. Five Russian adults reveal their personal histories through interviews and home movies, talking us through their childhood in school together during the die-hard communist Brezhnev years of the 1970s, through Gorbachev, the collapse of the USSR, and, finally, the coups, oligarchs and wealth transfers that are shaping Russia today. Borya and Lyuba, a married couple, teach history at School #57, which their teenage son also attends, and the film begins in their modest apartment, the same one Borya grew up in. Olga, the prettiest girl […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 21, 2010
LARRY GROSS ON MARK RUFFALO’S SYMPATHY FOR DELICIOUS

Over at MovieCityNews, David Poland posts Larry Gross’s thoughts on three Sundance films he’s seen. One of them — Mark Ruffalo’s — we haven’t. A key graph is below, but read the whole article at the link. The film makes a dizzying and largely successful turn toward social commentary and religious allegory, always done with a mixture of realism and dark humor worthy of some of the most interesting movies written by Paddy Chayefsky, like Network and Altered States. That has me doubly excited to see this.
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 21, 2010
ASTRA TAYLOR ON INTERNET SERFDOM

Okay, I promised Sundance posts only for the duration of the festival… but that was before I got grounded in Phoenix. I hope to make it to Sundance tonight, but the weather is not being hospitable. In the meantime, I started reading on the plane the new issue of The Baffler, a beautifully produced journal of arts and ideas that is taking a valiant stand against the technocratic pressures that are dumbing down print journalism. In fact, that process is partially the subject of documentary filmmaker Astra Taylor’s “Serfing the Net,” an essay in which she argues that the ideologies […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 21, 2010
NIGHT CATCHES US PRODUCER RON SIMONS BLOGS FROM SUNDANCE

When I was first approached to blog for Filmmaker, I thought: “I’m too new at this to say anything anyone would want to read.” It turns out that my naiveté and fresh perspective are the very things that Scott was looking for. So here goes… My name is Ron Simons (commonly misspelled Simon or Simmons), and I’m producer of the film Night Catches Us, which premieres in the Dramatic Competition at Sundance 2010. I am new to the field of indie films as a producer as this is my first film. What a trip so far! At every stage of […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 21, 2010
THOUGHTS ON THE NEW N.Y. STATE FILM TAX CREDIT REGS?

I’m trying to keep the blog Sundance/Park City/Slamdance-focused for the next ten days, but I want to take note of the new New York film tax incentive regulations proposed in Governor Patterson’s new budget. From Georg Szalai’s article in the Hollywood Reporter: New York film and TV industry executives on Tuesday lauded Gov. David Paterson’s budget proposal that includes $420 million per year in state money for the continuation of a 30% tax credit for productions in the Empire State through 2014. The governor’s 2010-11 budget proposal calls for spending cuts in various areas but for production incentives worth $420 […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 21, 2010
OUR 12 MOST ANTICIPATED FILMS AT SUNDANCE 2010

As we pack our bags for the Sundance Film Festival, all of our correspondents this year have weighed in on the premieres that we’re most excited to see. Check back daily throughout the festival for features, reviews and commentary. 3 Backyards, Eric Mendelsohn. (pictured) I’ve heard from crew who worked on this that it’s great, and I’m a Judy Berlin fan. It’s a domestic drama with Edie Falco and Elias Koteas, and I really hope this is a film that can get suburban-disconnectedness — the bread of butter of Sundance movies — right. — Alicia Van Couvering The Company Man, […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 20, 2010
GOT 100K? YOU CAN BUY A FILM AT SUNDANCE

From the online store of Mike Mohan’s One Too Many Mornings, playing in the Next section of Sundance. Are you an acquisitions executive at Focus, Miramax, Fox Searchlight, Sony Pictures Classics, IFC, or Magnolia? Or are you just an independently wealthy entrepreneur that wants to get into theatrical distribution? The first person to click this button will get the rights to theatrically distribute our film across the USA. **Purchaser also agrees to pay for all legal fees and deliverables that the filmmakers may incur. You need an Amex, Visa, Master card, Discover, or a PayPal account that can handle the […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 20, 2010
BLUE VALENTINE EDITOR JIM HELTON CHECKS INTO THE ACE HOTEL

While going back through old emails I came across one from filmmaker Jim Helton, who made this cool video detailing artist Chris Rubio’s process making four paintings for New York’s Ace hotel. As Helton edited Derek Cianfrance’s Blue Valentine, one of Sundance’s most hotly anticipated films, it seems like a good idea to post this for all of you to check out. Ace Hotel x Chris Rubino from Jim Helton on Vimeo.
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 20, 2010
SUNDANCE, LONELY SUNDANCE

Before we all head off to the Sundance Film Festival, I think it’s useful to remember that there can be a dark and lonely undercurrent to the Park City experience, one perfectly captured by Jamie Stuart in the video he made for us at the 2007 festival. Here, with a guest appearance by Sienna Miller, is “White Plastic Flower.”
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 20, 2010
D.P. ED LACHMAN ON THE MAKING OF HOWL

Here’s the great director of photography Ed Lachman on the roots of his career and the making of Sundance’s Opening Night film, Howl.
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 19, 2010

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