Authors — Scott Macaulay

RECESSIONARY FILMMAKING IN GREAT BRITAIN

We’ve envied the Brit’s public funding for feature films, government support for new talent, and innovative tax schemes supporting production. They’ve envied our culture of private equity investment for film. Now we’re both about even… or maybe not. From a worthwhile read by Killian Fox in today’s Guardian entitled “Digital: Take a Short Cut to the Cinema”: In [London Film School Director Ben] Gibson’s view, funding opportunities for first-time film-makers are desperately limited, and the lucky few who receive support are being hobbled by the whims of commissioning bodies, who place more weight on “the availability of a certain actor […]
by Scott Macaulay on Aug 29, 2009
WE LIVE IN PUBLIC Q&A WEBCAST

If you aren’t able to make it to the IFC Center tonight for Ondi Timoner’s Sundance Prize-winning We Live in Public, you can catch the Q&A via a live webcast. The webcast is embedded below, and it’s scheduled to be live at 9:15 and 11:20. Get the Pseudo Button widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox!
by Scott Macaulay on Aug 29, 2009
MARK KERMODE IS SCARED BY PHILIP RIDLEY

I haven’t seen Philip Ridley’s second feature, The Passion of Darkly Noon…. but I am a fan of his debut film, The Reflecting Skin, which I saw at its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival many years ago. On the basis of that grandiose, gothic picture, I’ve been wanting to see more of him. So, like the BBC’s Mark Kermode, I am looking forward to his new one.
by Scott Macaulay on Aug 28, 2009
KILLER AND MASSIFY’S LOOP PLANES WRAPS PRODUCTION

Robin Wilby’s Loop Planes , produced by Christine Vachon, is the first project to emerge from the partnership between Massify and Killer Films, and it has just wrapped production. Brooke Sebold is documenting the process over at Massify, and the first video is now up. It is embedded below, and make sure to visit the page and the site for more on the project and Massify in general. Massify + Killer Films Episode 1 from Massify on Vimeo.
by Scott Macaulay on Aug 28, 2009
TED HOPE ON COMMUNITY AND COLLABORATION

Last year producer Ted Hope gave the keynote address at Film Independent’s Fourth Annual Filmmaker Forum and began a dialogue on the changing face of independent film that he has carried over to regular postings on his Truly Free Film blog. Last week Hope received the Vision Award at Vision Fest 09 from the Filmmaker’s Alliance. Presented by Alan Ball, the award has heretofore only been given to directors. The clips have just gone up on YouTube — check out Hope’s message to the independent community.
by Scott Macaulay on Aug 27, 2009
THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

Over at the new IFP Independent Film Week 2009 blog, Danielle DiGiacomo sits down with Independent Film Week ’08 veteran Bryan Wizemann, who has a number of promising projects that might just be about to go… and then he’s got a short film that questions the wisdom of it all. At Wholphin check out Film Makes Us Happy, a short in which Wizemann interviews on-camera his wife and asks her whether he should give up film. It’s a painful watch, although one with a lot of relevance to many filmmakers trying to balance work and family needs. From the interview […]
by Scott Macaulay on Aug 26, 2009
WHEN PIRACY BECOMES PERSONAL

When I initially talked with producer Jake Abraham about contributing a piece to our Web Exclusives section about his DIY distribution of Kirt Gunn’s Lovely by Surprise, I told him I wanted it to be a two-parter. I wanted him to check back after the release had time to prove itself and let us know how it all worked out. Well, as Abraham notes in the intro to his just-posted new piece, “Tweet This!”, that time has come sooner rather than later. In brief, Abraham was compelled to write when he discovered that the film he’s been tirelessly promoting has […]
by Scott Macaulay on Aug 26, 2009
THE MANY INTERVIEW FACES OF QUENTIN TARANTINO

I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t expect Inglourious Basterds to be as big a hit as it is when we selected it for Filmmaker‘s cover. I love the movie, but I thought it’s more idiosyncratic qualities would take it out of mainstream orbit. I’m really happy to be wrong. And while credit gets passed around to the Weinsteins, the publicists, etc., Tarantino should take some himself. He defied the pundits who opined that he had to cut a half hour or so out of the film after Cannes (the current cut is actually one minute longer), refusing […]
by Scott Macaulay on Aug 26, 2009
SPIKE LEE’S FILM ABOUT STEW’S PASSING STRANGE

Back in 2005 Matt Ross selected STEW for our “25 New Faces” list. STEW is the multi-media art duo consisting of theater artists Stew and Heidi Rodewald, and they had just staged their show Passing Strange at the Public Theater and attended the Sundance Producer’s Lab. Four years later a film version of Passing Strange opens at the IFC Center, directed by Spike Lee. Check it out this weekend and meet Stew and Heidi, who will be appearing in person at the shows. Here’s the trailer:
by Scott Macaulay on Aug 21, 2009
MUSIC VIDEO’S DEFLATIONARY DEATH SPIRAL

I remember being involved in a music video in the 1980s. At the time I was programming director at New York’s The Kitchen and we would rent out the space to video shoots to help pay the rent. The space got rented out to a big video with a budget in the mid-six-figures. They took both floors, built for a few days, shot for a few days, and envelopes of petty cash were handed out like candy. A few years later my partner and I produced a couple of music videos and wondered how we’d pull it off on only […]
by Scott Macaulay on Aug 21, 2009

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