Authors — Scott Macaulay

IFP ANNOUNCES ENVISION, COLLABORATION WITH THE U.N.

The IFP is announcing today Envision, a two-day forum jointly produced by the IFP and the U.N. in which film and both live and virtual discussion will be used to address significant global issues. There will be 12 screenings, presentations and panel discussions, according to the press release, “rooted in the UN’s Millennium Development Goals.” The release goes on to say, “In our debut year, there will be a special focus on the MDG’s impact on women. The UN’s Millennium Development Goals are to: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 27, 2009
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEARN ABOUT IN FILMMAKER?

In the current issue of Filmmaker we feature the last of Bomb It director Jon Reiss’s fantastic three-part series on DIY distribution. In part one he outlined an alternative vision of DIY theatrical distribution; in part two he discusses DIY DVD distribution; and in part three in the current issue he discusses DIY web marketing. This third part will most likely be Jon’s last in the series — he’s writing a book about all of this that should be out later in the year — and I’m curious what practical articles you, our readers, would like to read about next. […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 26, 2009
THE UNKINDEST CUT

I’ve been meaning to blog about this interview with director Ti West by Karina Longworth over at Spout for a couple of days now. (I missed it when I first posted but caught up with it through Karina’s Twitter feed when she tweeted that after the interview director West was forbidden from doing press.) You should check out the piece, but, in a nutshell, West alleges that the version of his new The House of the Devil, screening this week at Tribeca, is “not my version,” and that the financiers, Dark Sky Films, excised a four-minute scene in order to […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 25, 2009
INTRUSIVE ELEGANCE

At Filmmakermagazine.com, we just put up our first skyscraper ad, so we are inching out of the Dark Ages when it comes to internet advertising. Intrusive advertising is the rage now, but not the intrusive advertising of old in which window after window would take over your screen. Today’s advertisers are savvier and more creative. Take this Honda ad for its new hybrid vehicle which morphs its Vimeo page into a beautiful light show in the desert. I’m embedding the making of here, but to get the full effect go to the link above. Honda Insight – The Making of […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 25, 2009
BRONSTEIN AND SAFDIE, STATESIDE AND ABROAD

Earlier I posted about the screenings of Ronnie Bronstein’s Frownland and Josh Safdie’s The Pleasure of Being Robbed this weekend in Los Angeles. As Brandon Harris noted in a blog post below, Josh Safdie and his brother Benny are premiering their new title, Go Get Some Rosemary, at Director’s Fortnight in Cannes this year. That film stars Frownland‘s director, Bronstein. So, seeing their two films back to back this weekend is something of a stateside prep for their appearance along the Croissette. Filmmaker contributor Mike Plante has just interviewed Bronstein over at his CineMad blog. Below, he talks about working […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 24, 2009
TRIBECA QUICK TAKE: GUY AND MADELINE ON A PARK BENCH

Walk in a few minutes late and you’ll miss the set-up and most of the actual plot of Damien Chazelle’s lovely debut feature, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench. Guy’s a young, handsome, somewhat taciturn jazz musician who seems to move from one short-lived romantic encounter to another while saving his real passion for his trumpet. Madeline is a pretty, shy, somewhat directionless young woman who meets Guy, is affected by him and his music, and then is abruptly cut loose as Guy’s eye wanders. And yes, that’s all in the first few minutes and told mostly without dialogue. […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 23, 2009
DO FILM FESTIVALS MAKE YOU HAPPY?

Over at The New Breed, which is a section of the Workbook Project, a number of filmmakers are engaging in an interesting virtual video panel that discusses the issue of managing expections while traversing the festival circuit. There’s been a lot of talk recently about how film festivals are the new theatrical for many filmmakers whose work will not otherwise see the darkened inside of a movie theater. But is just showing your film at a festival enough? What about a deal? Or about networking? And should one worry about all of these things or simply visit festivals with an […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 22, 2009
JAMES FRANCO, CLEAN UP YOUR ROOM!!!

FilmInFocus has nabbed an exclusive excerpt of The Room Before and After, a Wholphin Original Short that appears in its entirety on the new Wholphin #8, which has just been released. The concept: the same room is trashed three times by three different actors, each of whom bring their own destructive style and inner backstory to the process. Part One, excerpted here, stars James Franco, recently seen in Milk and Pineapple Express. There’s also an interview between Dave Eggers and Franco, in which Franco discusses some of his performance’s art-world inspirations. An excerpt: Wholphin: No, that was great, that was […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 22, 2009
WHAT ARE THE TRENDS OF 2009?

In the current issue of Filmmaker we feature an excerpt for Scott Kirsner’s new book, Fans, Friends and Followers. Now, HDFilmTools.com has produced a conversation with Scott in which he discusses some of the macro trends affecting production, distribution and audience consumption in our business right now. Part One is here, and you can follow the links for Part Two and Part Three.
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 21, 2009
CATALOGUING THE WOES OF INDIES ABROAD

In addition to all of challenging economic factors, one adversary indie film has had in the last year is the press. Gone are the puff pieces about filmmakers “making it” by gambling their mortgage on their indie film and then scoring big. Those human interest-type stories have faded away in the last year as the financing of the indie sector itself became the story. There’s not a lot new in Lauren A.E. Schuker’s Wall Street Journal piece, “Indie Films Suffer Dropoff in Rights Sales,” but when it comes to independent film foreign sales, the piece impressively catalogues all the bad […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 19, 2009

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