Authors — Scott Macaulay
-
“The Hardest Thing Is To Get Out of Your Own Way”: Lady In The Lake‘s Y’lan Noel, Back To One, Episode 300
Y’lan Noel played Daniel in the HBO series Insecure starred in The First Purge, and now he plays Officer Platt in Lady in The Lake, Alma Har’el’s eagerly anticipated new series for Apple TV+ that drops on July 19th. On this episode, he discusses his unique approach to the work, which starts with, and centers on, daydreaming and the avoidance of aiming to do “the right thing.” He talks about allowing for “an energy that’s not me to make certain decisions;” the importance of solitude, space, stillness; how Har’el’s willingness to leave room for the mystical served his process; and […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jul 16, 2024 -
“I Could Do a Dynamite Directors Cut, Because I Know Where All the Best Stuff is, But That Would Defeat the Whole Purpose of the Project”: Gary Hustwit on ENO
What used to be known, literally, as “the cutting room floor,” now exists as a digital bin, an assortment of deleted scenes, unused (and in today’s mode of industrial documentary production, perhaps even unviewed) footage — material that, through its absence, haunts any finished audiovisual work. Often when this material is revealed, on a Blu-ray supplemental features disc, for example, the director’s elisions affirm the strength of their initial creative editorial decisions. Other times, particularly in biographical documentaries, the unused material becomes a kind of lacuna, suggesting not only paths unexplored but a failure to engage with all that’s messy, […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jul 12, 2024 -
Oxbelly Announces the Fellows and Advisors of Its 2024 Oxbelly Retreat
The Greek nonprofit Oxbelly announced today the participants of its 2024 Oxbelly retreat, which was held June 22-30, 2024 in Costa Navarino, Greece. Thirty fellows broken into three strands — screenwriting, episodic writing and fiction writing — received mentorship from an illustrious list of advisors, who included Charlie Kaufman, Chigozie Obioma, Miguel Gomes, Marielle Heller, Barry Jenkins and Michael Almereyda. Leaders and program directors for the three programs were Guardians of the Galaxy screenwriter Nicole Perman (Screenwriting); Jen Blake (executive producer, Joyland) and Deutschland 83 producer Jörg Winger (Episodic); and An Orchestra of Minorities author Chigozie Obioma (Fiction). As the […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jul 10, 2024 -
BlackStar Projects Releases Full Schedule of Programs for 2024 Film Festival
BlackStar Projects, the organization celebrating visionary Black, Brown and Indigenous film and media artists, announced today the full program for its 2024 BlackStar Film Festival. This 13th edition of BlackStar takes place August 1 – 4 at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, with additional screenings, parties and events at various venues in Center City Philadelphia. Among the highlights are the Opening Night selection, Dreams in Nightmares, writer/director Shatara Michelle Ford’s feature follow-up to their acclaimed Gotham and Spirit Award-nominated debut, Test Pattern. Dreams in Nightmares tells the story of three Black queer femmes on a Midwestern road trip […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jul 9, 2024 -
Trailer Watch: Christina Kallas’s Paris is in Harlem
As I wrote when sharing an exclusive clip from the feature upon its festival premiere, Christina Kallas‘s Paris is in Harlem “takes place the night before New York’s infamous Cabaret Law was repealed. In a historic Harlem jazz bar, a shooting alters the lives of several strangers who have gathered for the final night of ‘no dancing.’” With the film premiering on digital platforms July 4, check out the new trailer above. Comments Kallas, ““As a European filmmaker making films in America, I’m somewhat obsessed with guns ending up in the wrong hands. In Paris is in Harlem, I am […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jul 2, 2024 -
Reality Checks: How Film Schools are Adapting to Entertainment Industry Changes
Scan the entertainment business press and everywhere you’ll see the phrase “the great contraction.” The aftermath of COVID shutdowns, labor strikes, the wind-down of zero-interest-rate policies, the end of peak TV, changes in the competitive streaming landscape, the rise of TikTok—all have conspired to make the ever-perilous path toward a career in feature film and television even more uncertain. The economic laws of supply and demand, as they pertain to the labor market, would indicate, then, that film schools must be feeling an enrollment pinch, but talking to various graduate and undergraduate chairs and professors from across the country, that’s […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jun 27, 2024 -
Editor’s Letter
As I type this editor’s note, Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference, which I’ve had on YouTube in the background, has just ended. As many of you already know, the flagship announcement this year had to do with AI. Apple has dubbed its use of artificial intelligence “Apple Intelligence,” which refers to its systemwide integration across Apple operating systems and apps, use of in-house tools and privatized cloud servers. Its rebranding of the term “AI,” which didn’t even require them to change the initials, is a clever marketing move, as it elides the fact that Apple has shunned the use of […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jun 27, 2024 -
“It Is Like a Palette Cleanser, In a Way…”: Yorgos Lanthimos on Following Poor Things with the Sardonic Portmanteau Film, Kinds of Kindness
The organizing principles of portmanteau films are often quite simplistic. A group of directors tackling a particular genre, for example, or films united by geography. An example of the latter is the straightforwardly-titled New York Stories, of which only Martin Scorsese’s “Life Lessons” is remembered much these days. Jim Jarmusch has made a few united around theme and setting — Coffee and Cigarettes, where famous actors sit down over a brew and a smoke; Night on Earth, where famous actors take cab rides in production-friendly cities around the world; and Mystery Train, where the stories are linked by a setting […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jun 21, 2024 -
Sundance Announces 10 2024 Producers Lab Fellows
The Sundance Institute announced today the 10 producers, and their projects, selected as Fellows for the 2024 Producers Lab. The Lab begins today and runs through June 22 at the Ucross Foundation in Wyoming. From the press release: The Producers Lab nurtures emerging independent film producers with project-specific support through one-on-one meetings and intimate group sessions with veteran producer advisors. The lab encourages fellows to hone their creative instincts and problem-solving skills and to develop strategies for pitching, financing, production, navigating the marketplace, and sustainability. The 2024 cohort includes five fiction film producers and five nonfiction film producers. Fellows in […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jun 10, 2024 -
“It’s Not ‘Punk Rock’ To Not Have an Intimacy Coordinator”: Writer/Director/Actor Kit Zauhar on Her Airbnb Relationship Drama, This Closeness
A recent addition to Airbnb is the “Host Passport,” an enhanced information panel for those who’d like to let those who rent rooms in their places know a little bit more about them. The host’s profile picture is placed more prominently, and, if you’re hosting, the site writes, “… new sections of your profile let you share things like where you live, your hobbies, pet’s name, fun facts, and what makes staying at your place special.” Finally, hosts taking advantage of the new profile category can let renters know “how much social interaction to expect.” “Guests often enjoy spending time […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jun 7, 2024
