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Anne Thompson writes in Variety this week about the marketing challenge facing indies hoping to distribute their films online. In a piece headlined “Frustrated indies seek we distribution,” Thompson looks at all the unsold films out of Sundance this year and then talks with some of the current players in the online distribution space and wonders whether the needs of the former can be met by the current powers of the latter. A passage: The key question is, when will an alternative distribution outlet for indie films emerge — an outlet that can interest enough viewers to bring in meaningful […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 15, 2008Since this seems to have been a blog day of embeds and videos, I’ll add one more: this link to Kate Stables’ piece in The Guardian providing links to six online videos all themed for Valentine’s Day. There’s work by Duane Hopkins, Anastasia Kirillova and others, and you’ll find the sweet and romantic as well as the brooding and unexpected. (Hat tip: GreenCine.)
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 14, 2008Here’s the new red-band trailer for David Gordon Green’s Judd-Apatow-produced comedy Pineapple Express.
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 14, 2008Sent “in the spirit of Valentine’s Day,” Filmmaker 2007 25 New Face filmmakers Brian Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky passed along this excerpt from The Patron Saints, their doc-in-progress about “faith, uncertainty and sainthood.” For more about their work and their project, visit their blog, Pigeon Droppings and their company website, Pigeon Projects.
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 14, 2008Here’s “Flashing Lights,” a strange and violent video for the Kanye West song directed by West and Spike Jonze.
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 14, 2008Ninety-nine percent of interviews with directors and cast members about working on a film fall into the “everyone was so wonderful, it was like a family, I had such a great time” mold. But the opposite can sometimes be a better sell, or, at least, can more effectively cut through marketplace noise. And sometimes filmmakers don’t have a choice — if they want to promote a film that seems like it’s in trouble, they’ve got to spill the beans about what went wrong. A case in point is this article by Missy Schwartz in Entertainment Weekly about the straight-to-video release […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 13, 2008Indiewire and Daily Motion cover the premiere of Filth and Wisdom, Madonna’s directorial debut which has just unspooled in Berlin. From the Indiewire report by Brian Brooks and Eugene Hernandez: Her first feature may have been made relatively under the radar — at least for a woman of her stature — but iconic actress/author and all around uber pop star, now turned filmmaker, Madonna nevertheless made quite a splash in Berlin today. She landed on the cover of local tabloids ahead of the world premiere of her directorial debut Filth & Wisdom at the Berlinale tonight and huge crowds gathered […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 13, 2008One of NYC’s most enjoyable screening series returns this week with what looks like a great line-up of films. Film Comment selects begins tomorrow at the Walter Reade theater, and The House Next Door has an exhaustive preview compiled by no less than four critics. (Thanks to GreenCine for the links.) Head over to the Film Comment link and mark U.S. premieres by Grant Gee, Olivier Assayas, Lucas Moodysson (whose Container is pictured) and others in your datebook.
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 13, 2008Anthony Kaufman has a very nice piece in the current Village Voice about producer Paul Mezey, who was involved with two acclaimed Sundance films — Azazel Jacobs’ Momma’s Man, and Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s Sugar (picture). Kaufman calls the group of directors who orbit around Mezey, a group that also includes Joshua Marston and Jim McKay, a “filmmaking family,” and includes some quotes from the producer about the challenges of making “new American realism” within the current climate. It’s really nice to see a producer singled out in the Voice for his great work.
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 13, 2008Variety reports today on the expected launch of The Auteurs, a new online film distributor. From the story by John Hopewell and Charles Newbery: Film producer Eduardo Costantini and computer scientist Efe Cakarel are launching the Auteurs, a Silicon Valley-based global online cinematheque that will stream high-definition independent and classic films. The Auteurs’ main content provider is Celluloid Dreams…. The site will be curated by established programmers: the Latin America section, for example, is curated by Peter Schumann, recipient of the Berlinale Camera, who worked for the Berlinale for 35 years. In consumer terms, the Auteurs will deliver feature-length films […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 9, 2008