Authors — Scott Macaulay
-
Precision Moves: Anna Rose Holmer, Lisa Kjerulff and Saela Davis on The Fits
“Stop thinking as an individual and start thinking as a team,” says Legs (Makyla Burnam), one of the Lionesses — a dynamic Cincinnati high-school drill team — to a group of young recruits, who include the shy, diminutive, but quietly purposeful 11-year-old boxer Toni. Played in writer/director/producer Anna Rose Holmer’s terrific, formally assured dramatic feature debut, The Fits, by the self-possessed and emotionally transparent Royalty Hightower, Toni has been drawn away from the comforting routine of her boxing practice by the sounds, music and movement of the Lionesses and, by extension, the more adult world they represent. But soon after […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 21, 2016 -
Worlds Within
Oculus Rift Just reaching stores is the long-awaited Oculus Rift ($599), the highest-end VR headset presently on the consumer market. Launched in 2012 with $2.5 million in Kickstarter funding and purchased two years later by Facebook for $2 billion, Oculus Rift in this early iteration is focusing on gaming, with EVE: Valkyrie bundled with the kit. The company is developing film applications too. There’s Oculus Video, an app allowing viewers to watch movies in either 2-D or 3-D from within a virtual cinema space. (You can even select your seat and angle of view.) And there are already dramatic VR […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 21, 2016 -
Watch: Living Los Sures‘ Short, Eric, Winter to Spring
The third and final short from UnionDocs’ Living Los Sures project premiering here at Filmmaker is Danya Abt’s Eric, Winter to Spring. UnionDocs describes the project like this: After losing his brother two years ago, cab driver Eric Martine quit using drugs and began a new chapter in his life. Although he still visits some of the same punk-rock haunts and friends, Eric is re-mapping his life onto the city he knows by turning his experiences into prose poems and trying to draw meaning from an extreme past. (2014) The short won Best Short Documentary at the 2015 Brooklyn Film […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 20, 2016 -
IFP Announces Slate for Second Annual Screen Forward Labs
Commencing today at the IFP’s DUMBO-based Made in NY Media Center is the IFP Screen Forward Labs, an intensive program dedicated to the work of creators making story-driven, serialized projects for all formats, including television, web, VR or apps. This year’s selections include an animated and VR piece about the mind of Oliver Sacks; a 35mm-shot horror-thriller set in the world of infomercials; an iPhone-shot horror serial; and a suburban-set comedy about motherhood from indie director Susan Skoog (Whatever). According to IFP, 80% of the creators/writers/directors are women and/or diverse voices. 30% feature predominantly African-American and Latino casts. “We are […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 18, 2016 -
Tribeca 2016: Five Questions for Women who Kill Writer/Director Ingrid Jungermann
After creating, directing and starring in two acclaimed web series — The Slope, a collaboration with Desiree Akhavan, and From F to 7th — Ingrid Jungermann makes her feature debut with the Tribeca Film Festival selection Women Who Kill. It’s a zeitgeist-y murder mystery set in the world of true-crime podcasts, but, like all of Jungermann’s work, it’s also a relationship story drawing inspiration from her own life. Below, Jungermann, one of Filmmaker‘s 25 New Faces, talks about her favorite ’80s serial killer books and movies, why working in genre allows her to be more personal, and now “Serial” inspired the film. […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 17, 2016 -
Tribeca 2016: Five Questions for For The Love of Spock Director Adam Nimoy
Along with Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and James Bond but few others, Star Trek is that rare pop-culture franchise that spans generations. And while Zachary Quinto may have taken over the role of Mr. Spock, the half-human character’s DNA originates from Leonard Nimoy, who played the character in the original TV series as well as early movies. Having its premiere last night at the Tribeca Film Festival, For The Love of Spock is son Adam Nimoy’s tribute to the character of Spock, Star Trek fandom and his dad. The film also happens to be one of the most successful […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 17, 2016 -
Tribeca 2016: Five Questions for The Ticket Director Ido Fluk
The Ticket, premiering today at the Tribeca Film Festival, is Israeli filmmaker Ido Fluk’s first American film, dubbed a “morality fable” exploring all the various behaviors that manifest in a blind man who mysteriously, one day, gains his vision. Dan Stevens plays the suddenly social-climbing, newly-sighted man, and Malin Akerman is the old-model wife who may no longer be enough for him. Writer/director Oren Moverman is one of the film’s producers, and, below, Fluk talks about how that collaboration came to be and how he visualized a movie about a man new to vision. Filmmaker: What inspired this story of a blind […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 17, 2016 -
15 Films to Anticipate at the 15th Tribeca Film Festival
“How to make sense of the Tribeca Film Festival” was the altogether appropriate headline of the New York Times preview of the Tribeca Film Festival. Even as the festival is only a third of the size of most larger festivals — statistic courtesy of Festival Director Genna Terranova at yesterday’s Robert DeNiro and Jane Rosenthal-hosted press lunch — it still unveils itself with a dizzying shock and awe. There are films, but also talks with people you don’t want to miss, from Patti Smith to Emmanuel Lubezki, as well as master classes by filmmakers like Catherine Hardwick. As with most […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 14, 2016 -
Watch: Living Los Sures‘ Short Film, Division Avenue
The second of three short films from UnionDocs Living Los Sures project we’re screening here at Filmmaker, Division Avenue is an experimental film referencing one of the most traveled thoroughfares in New York, the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Opening with a jaw-dropping quote from the BQE’s chief architect, Robert Moses, the film, directed by Anne-Katrine Hansen and Janna Kyllastinen, uses an aggressive cello score by Stanza Vaubel and a series of harshly poetic images to capture the violence of this borough-slicing roadway. Here’s the description of the film from its Vimeo page: Division Avenue (2014) is an experimental short film about one […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 14, 2016 -
Watch: iPhone-Shot Film about Skateboard Sean Malto
Ghost Digital Cinema has just released Malto, a short about pro skateboarder Sean Malto and the year he’s spent recovering from a massive injury in order to skate again. Directed by Ty Evans, the short was shot entirely on an iPhone using a slew of pro gear, including cinema lenses and a $9.99 app, Filmic Pro. Particularly interesting for those into iPhone cinematography is the short behind-the-scenes video, posted below, that shows the lenses, gimbal, use of the iPhone screen as viewfinder and more.
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 11, 2016
