Authors — Scott Macaulay

THE GOTHAM AWARD NOMINATIONS LIVE, HOSTED BY A.O. SCOTT

Today at 1:00PM, A.O. Scott, film critic at The New York Times and co-host of “At the Movies,” will announce the 2009 Nominees for the IFP’s annual Gotham Awards. Watch here and learn who will be competing for Best Feature, Best Documentary, Breakthrough Actor, Breakthrough Director, Best Ensemble Performance, and the Filmmaker Magazine/Museum of Modern Art-sponspored Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You will be announced live from IFP’s Official Club, the Norwood. Watch here:
by Scott Macaulay on Oct 19, 2009
TAPLIN ON WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

I saw Spike Jonze’s exquisite Where the Wild Things Are weeks ago, long before articles over its budget and whether or not it kids would see it hit the press. We tried to get it into the magazine but scheduling didn’t work out. (If you follow my Twitter stream, you know that I’m a fan of it.) Apparently, Kanye West had something to do with it. In any case, I’m thrilled it opened big and that kids apparently are digging it. And, that dialogue about it is rippling beyond the film blogosphere. Jon Taplin is a movie producer who teaches […]
by Scott Macaulay on Oct 19, 2009
IN EGYPT AND LEBANON WITH THE CANON 5D MKII

Each week I hear from more and more filmmakers who are shooting professional pieces on the new Canon, Nikon and Panasonic still cameras. This footage from 23-year-old filmmaker Khalid Mohtaseb of Next Level Pictures is some of the most gorgeous I’ve seen. It’s shot on the Canon 5D MKII using the Magic Lanterns Firmware Update as well as a Kessler Pocket Dolly. Egypt / Lebanon Montage from Khalid Mohtaseb on Vimeo. For more on these cameras, see here at Filmmaker “Shutterbugs” and “Pimp Your DSLR,” both by Roberto Quezada-Dardon.
by Scott Macaulay on Oct 18, 2009
TALKING ABOUT FILMS THAT WILL LAST

If you’ve taken a look at our Web Exclusives section, you’ll see that we’ve just posted a new essay, “5 Things You Should Do If You Want Your Movie to Last.” It’s written by Gareth Higgins and Jett Loe of The Film Talk, which is, at the moment, my favorite film podcast. Each week Higgins and Loe review a new film that’s hitting the theaters, and occasionally riff on other topics such as director retrospectives (like the recent Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Ang Lee series) as well as interview directors themselves (recent guests have included Francis Ford Coppola and […]
by Scott Macaulay on Oct 18, 2009
PREPARING FOR A NEW WORLD AT THE FIND FILMMAKER FORUM

Here is director Zak Forsman’s second post from the FIND Filmmaker Forum, which took place in Los Angeles last weekend. In the men’s room of the DGA, I overheard a conversation by two gentlemen who had sat through two full days of panels at Film Independent’s Filmmaking Forum. One in particular was mentally exhausted, “I don’t know, should I hire a producer’s rep or a publicist? Should I be blogging? Tweeting?” He joked, dismissing them with a laugh. The man standing with him simply answered, “Yes.” And it reminded me of the post-event murmur I heard at DIY Days LA […]
by Scott Macaulay on Oct 17, 2009
HOPE URGES FILMMAKERS TO ADOPT A NEW "BEST PRACTICES" FOR A NEW CINEMA

“Cinema is a driving force in my life. I don’t want it to leave us, nor do I want to have to leave it behind; it’s provided me with hope and inspiration, and an incredibly fulfilling livelihood. It is also a one hundred year old industry, and, in my opinion, damn close to both a perfect art form and a perfect entertainment, but is also one whose applicability to our lives and livelihoods must now be completely reevaluated.” That’s Ted Hope delivering his keynote address at Power to the Pixel. Yesterday in my Filmmaker weekly newsletter I suggested that rather […]
by Scott Macaulay on Oct 16, 2009
ON INDEPENDENT FILM DISTRIBUTION: A RESPONSE FROM THE PRESENT

My posting of a strange letter from the future I received from an independent filmmaker has prompted a diverse group of reactions throughout the blogosphere. Ted Hope kindly called it “brilliant” over at his blog while an Anonymous poster here said he was “revolted” by it and hoped it was a Jon Reiss parody. One producer/distribution executive accused us of revealing his business plan. And at Film Utopia, filmmaker Clive Davies-Frayne called it “one of the most depressing articles” he’s ever read and posted a response not to the author (who, after all, is both redacted and from the future) […]
by Scott Macaulay on Oct 14, 2009
PREVIEWING THE PROJECTS AT POWER TO THE PIXEL

The following is our first report by Lance Weiler from Power to the Pixel. I’ve just arrived in London for the third annual digital innovation forum Power to the Pixel which consists of a conference, project pitch forum, day of workshops and a think thank. Tomorrow the conference phase of the event kicks off. I’ll be taking part in each of the phases of the event. Starting tomorrow with a presentation on Story Architecture — a look how storytelling is evolving in the age of connected devices and the real-time web. I look forward to Power to the Pixel each […]
by Scott Macaulay on Oct 14, 2009
KICKSTARTING OPEN INDIE

As you may have read, Four-Eyed Monsters co-creator Arin Crumley has launched a new project, OpenIndie, that aims to create a new model for the distribution of independent film. I’ll let Crumley explain it: As Crumley notes, OpenIndie is using Kickstarter to fundraise towards its goal of $10,000. With 17 days to go, OpenIndie needs just over $7,000. If you’re intrigued after seeing the video, please consider heading over there and contributing. A $100 contribution gets you a one-hour consulting session with Crumley on the distribution of your own film. Also, check out this latest podcast from Lance Weiler and […]
by Scott Macaulay on Oct 11, 2009
HOW DRAMA DIED AT THE FILMMAKER FORUM

Film Independent‘s Filmmaker Forum is underway this weekend, and we asked writer/director Zak Forsman to attend and report back. Here’s the first of his posts. I’ve just locked picture on my first feature-length motion picture and it seems I couldn’t be entering the world of distribution at a worse time. I strolled into the DGA in Los Angeles for day one of the Film Independent Filmmaker Forum optimistic and eager. I left it determined to batten down the hatches in preparation for stormy seas ahead. Veteran producer Jeremy Thomas (Creation, The Last Emperor, Crash) keynote opened with the concession that […]
by Scott Macaulay on Oct 11, 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.