Authors — Scott Macaulay

LEARNING GOOGLE WAVE FROM PULP FICTION
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 20, 2009
A 70-MINUTE TAKEDOWN OF THE PHANTOM MENACE

A while back I blogged in response to all the lamenters of the decline in the number of film critics, writing that critics will have to find new forms of reviewing aimed at new online audiences. One critic who has just done that is, um… a serial killer named Mike from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. And he has done so not by crafting some kind of 30-second quick hit that you scan amidst flashing banner ads but with a hilarious, detailed, fan meta-critical 70-minute takedown of a film that most of you have probably already forgotten: George Lucas’s Star Wars Episode One: […]
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 19, 2009
SIGISMONDI DEBUTS WITH THE RUNAWAYS

A lot of people are excited to see Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett in The Runaways. I am — I think she’s the real deal. But I’m even more interested in seeing the film because it’s Floria Sigismondi’s directing debut. Sigismondi is an artist, photographer and music video director whose well-known clips include videos for the White Stripes, Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, David Bowie and many others. I think Jett, Cherie Curie et al are a great match for Floria’s sharp eye and smart sensibility. More on this film in the days ahead, but, for now, the trailer.
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 17, 2009
THE NEXT GENERATION OF AFRICAN FILMMAKING TALENT

Africa First is a program started by Focus Features in which the specialty distributor identifies promising new directorial talent from continental Africa, provides them grant money for the creation of short films, and then brings them to New York for a summit weekend of mentorship, feedback, and discussion with the program’s advisory board. Read about the 2009 award recipients here, and check out this video documenting this year’s summit, which just concluded. About half-way through you’ll see clips of the award films, which are a fascinating look at the diversity of work being developed in Africa these days.
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 16, 2009
SUPPORT THE AURORA PICTURE SHOW!

I received a Facebook message from Andrea Grover of the essential Houston cinema space Aurora Picture Show. Like all non-profits, they are operating within a stressed economy, and recently they experienced a financial setback: their office was robbed and, after years of premiums and no claims, their office insurer denied them over a technicality. I’m taking the liberty of forwarding a blog post detailing ways to support them. If you live in Houston or just want to help a great film art space, please consider becoming a member. Memberships start at $30 and go as high as $5,000. You can […]
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 16, 2009
TARANTINO’S 2009 TOP TEN LIST… SO FAR

Quentin Tarantino posts his top ten list for 2009 as a work-in-progress. He’s got eight here while he lists the films he hasn’t seen yet. Interesting that he’s on the fence about District 9 — says he needs to see it again to determine what he thinks about it.
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 16, 2009
PARAMOUNT GOES DIGITAL WITH tallhotblond

Several days after Paramount surprised the indie world with the announcement of a new division aimed at producing $100,000 micro-budget films, the studio’s Paramount Digital Entertainment (PDE) arm announced the pick-up of Barbara Schroeder’s indie doc, tallhotblond, Best Doc winner at the Seattle Film Festival. The film was repped by New York-based Submarine Entertainment and, reports Jeremy Kay in Screen Daily, the deal “is the first of its kind for the division.” He continues, PDE “will make the film available through download-to-own digital distributors including iTunes and Amazon following the broadcast premiere on MSNBC on December 13.” More: “talhotblond is […]
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 13, 2009
DON’T TELL FOX: THE GUARDIAN LIKES AVATAR

With the rush to be first with entertainment news and critical opinion, publications everywhere are figuring out ways to flaunt the review embargoes that studios are just as quickly rushing to put in place. One particularly bold strategy is that of The Guardian’s Mark Brown, who writes about Avatar pre-embargo deadline with a post-modern, or perhaps just legalistic, twist: Rumours that the budget was double the stated amount, more like $500m. Rumours that the 3D effects were making people nauseous. Rumours that the film, two hours and 40 minutes long, was a complete car crash. The Guardian can reveal that […]
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 10, 2009
THREE IN THE KEY OF SUNDANCE

A while back I posted a call for Sundance and Slamdance filmmakers to send me information about their own DIY marketing and release plans. After the Sundance selection this week, many of its filmmakers are scrambling for publicists (Ted Hope has published a helpful list of indie film publicists here at his Truly Free Film blog) but others are also building up their own marketing infrastructure. One of those filmmakers is Mike Mohan, whose One Too Many Mornings is premiering in the new Next section. The film has an excellent blog containing posts from Mohan and his actors, including a […]
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 6, 2009
So You Didn’t Get Into Sundance…

So you didn’t get into Sundance…. I’m sorry. Trust me, I feel your pain. As a producer I’ve received both the acceptance calls as well as the rejection ones. (Actually, the rejection call is sometimes not even a call, but a form email or letter.) In some cases, I’ve known that the film probably didn’t have much of a shot, although in others, the rejection came as a shock — one that threw our director and production team into a quandary over the film’s future direction. So, what do you do if your film didn’t get into Sundance? The first […]
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 5, 2009

Cookie	Duration	Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional	11 months	The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy	11 months	The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.

Cookie	Duration	Description
cfmrk_cic		Used by Cloudflare to route user traffic for this Site.
sparrow_id		Installed by Cloudflare. Used to identify individual clients behind a shared IP address and apply security settings on a per-client basis. It does not store any personal identifiable information.

Cookie	Duration	Description
OAGEO		Installed by the Revive Ad Server. Used to cache geolocation (session, deleted when closing the browser)
OAID		Installed by the Revive Ad Server to distinguish users.