Authors — Scott Macaulay

"FROM BUSINESS PLAN TO BOX OFFICE"

The 8th Annual IFP Independent Producers Conference will be on April 21st, 9:00-5:00 pm at Minneapolis Community & Technical College in Minneapolis. Guest panelists include Christine Vachon, Jeff Lipsky, Scott Z. Burns, and Lance Weiller. Titled, this year, “From Business Plan to Box Office,” the event is a day-long conference ending with a mentoring session. From the press release: A successful independent film producer knows the important elements of the business of filmmaking and how to utilize them to their full advantage. In financing a film, the producer must show potential investors that there is a strong producing team in […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 1, 2007
STATE PLANNING

The folks at Axium, one of the leading film payroll companies, recently sent an email updating its mailing list of changes and new developments in the various state film rebate programs. With their kind permission, here it is: COLORADO is planning to again fund its incentive, originally called the “Defense against Canada Act.” Details will be available soon. FLORIDA’s legislature is evauating proposed major changes to its incentives, which will switch from a rebate to a transferable credit of 15% or 20%, with $75 million available over the next three years. Details to follow. IDAHO is considering a bill which […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 1, 2007
TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE

Director Matt Manahan, who is finishing up post-production on his feature The Book of Caleb, recently attended the Head Trauma screening/concert/experience in Philadelphia I blogged about last week and sent this report. I went to see Head Trauma finally in Philadelphia. I can be pretty cynical when it comes to some indi films, but Lance is doing something genuinely cool, innovative and different. It was the first screening I’ve ever been to where the director of the film reminds you before the show to keep your phones turned ON, as you would need them to call a number that would […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 1, 2007
AH-CHOO!

If you were in Times Square last weekend and thought of sitting down in one of those red sofas that signify a Kleenex ad, you might have found yourself in a Greenpeace campaign. From Gothamist:: Perhaps you’ve seen the Kleenex commercials where an actor playing a therapist sits with a red couch in a busy public space, ready for people to share their thoughts and feelings – and maybe have a good cry. Well, the Kleenex “Let It Out” campaign was in Times Square over the weekend, where cameras were rolling for passers-by to add their experiences to the reel. […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 31, 2007
FRANK AND BIER

On the main page: Nick Dawson’s interview with The Lookout‘s Scott Frank and Howard Feinstein’s talk with Susanne Bier, director of After the Wedding. Both films open today.
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 30, 2007
KILLER OF SHEEP LIVES

Today in New York at the IFC Center Charles Burnett’s Killer of Sheep receives its U.S. theatrical premiere… 30 years after its completion in 1977. Made as the writer/director’s UCLA thesis film, Killer of Sheep went on to win awards at the Berlin Film Festival and Sundance, and it was declared a “national treasure” by the Library of Congress. The story of a slaughterhouse worker, an insomniac, struggling to raise his family in ’70s Watts, the film blended the work of non-actors and poetic visuals with a deeply humane sensibility that contrasted sharply with the blaxploitation films that appeared in […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 29, 2007
HAWK IS DYING MONEY BACK GUARANTEE

Ted Hope, who produced Julian Goldberger’s The Hawk is Dying with Jeff Levy-Hinte and Mary Jane Skalski, sent the below email out to his personal list regarding the film’s opening this Friday at the Cinema Village in New York. In it, he makes a bold and honest offer that he decided to open up to readers of this blog. I’m glad he did. In addition to his no-risk offer to see a provocative film that finds a new visual language to apply towards cinematic narrative, Hope makes a great argument. I especially was struck by his equation of today’s specialty […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 28, 2007
RECURRING TRAUMA

In Philadelphia this weekend Lance Weiler is staging an innovative event based around his movie Head Trauma. Weiler describes it as a “collision of movies, music and gaming — a new cinematic experience.” After its premiere this Saturday, the event will travel to London, New York and other cities. More on the event: WHAT: Street parking and two parking garages in walking distance HOW MUCH:$14 for all seats – seating is on a first come first serve basis FOR MORE INFO:Show info and advance tickets and click here for more info on the movie. And for a little bit more […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 28, 2007
ON THE MARK

In the current New Yorker, David Denby reviews Shooter and articulates a possible new action movie formula for the post-BushCo age: On the surface, the movie offers liberal ideological sentiments: it condemns covert overseas operations controlled by oil interests; it’s angry at the higher-ups who escaped blame for Abu Ghraib; it exhibits a clear distaste for the person and values of Dick Cheney. But it places these sentiments within a matrix of gun culture and lonely-man-of-honor myths. Swagger is the latest incarnation of Rambo, the anti-government crazy. The filmmakers may be trying to appeal both to liberals and to the […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 27, 2007
BEFORE THE FALL

Over at Alternet, Joshua Holland interviews James Scurlock, director of Maxed Out, a documentary on debt and the debt industry in America. Completed in 2006 when it made the festival rounds and now available on Netflix, the pic is unfortunately all too timely given the current collapse of the sub-prime lending market. Here’s Scurlock from the interview: When I started the project a lot of people didn’t even know what bankruptcy reform was, but most do now. A few weeks ago, nobody knew what “subprime” meant and now because of this whole mortgage fiasco I think everyone knows what that […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 26, 2007

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