Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? It was a long process to get Paul Reubens comfortable appearing in front of the camera for the documentary. Paul had been an avid home videomaker since the 1970s, and a huge amount of his own footage appears in the documentary. With that in mind, I bought Paul a new camcorder, and I asked […]
Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) examines the life and legacy of legendary funk act Sly & The Family Stone. Rather than biography, the film opts as an examination of legacy that combines archival footage with discussions among friends, family and other musicians. The film is Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s follow-up to the award-winning Summer of Soul. For the new film, he reteamed with editor Joshua L. Pearson, who explains how his background in music and long history with music videos prepared him for the job. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did […]
Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? The day I will remember the most ten years into the future took place on the last day of my very first shoot for this film on location in Toronto. I had gotten the job only a few weeks before. On the plane there, I was still trying to figure out what the film […]
Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? I remember switching off the news the night before and hoping for the best. Instead, I woke up to the news that Trump had won the election—again. One would think that I would be more prepared for this the second time around, but I wasn’t. I was anxious, sad, frustrated and really, really scared. […]
Each year, Filmmaker sends all Sundance feature film or series editors a questionnaire to complete ahead of their film’s festival screening. We also send out a single question for feature directors to answer as well as questionnaires for cinematographers and first-time Sundance feature producers. Below, find links to individual editor responses, which will be updated daily during the festival. “Paring the Story Down to Its Bare Essentials”: Editor Joshua L. Pearson on Sly Lives “What Paul Was Saying Was Very Reflective of Who He Was”: Editor Damian Rodriguez on Pee-wee as Himself “It Was an Ambitious Project From the Get-go”: Editor Bryan […]
This year, Filmmaker sent all first-time Sundance feature film producers a questionnaire to complete ahead of their film’s festival screening. We also sent out a single question for feature directors to answer as well as questionnaires for editors and cinematographers. Below, find links to individual first-time Sundance feature producer responses, which will be updated daily during the festival. “Budget a Worst-Case Scenario and Then Do Better”: Producers Ivan Unkovski and Ivana Shekutkoska on DJ Ahmet “Don’t Be Afraid to Speak Up and Set the Tone”: Producer Pierre M. Coleman on Ricky “It Came Down to Me Not Wanting to Miss […]
Each year, Filmmaker asks all the incoming feature directors at Sundance one question. (To see last year’s question and responses, click here.) We also send out cinematographer, editor and first-time producer questionnaires. This year’s question: Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? Below, find links to each director’s individual response to the prompt. Keep checking back here during the festival, as […]
Each year, Filmmaker sends all Sundance feature film or series cinematographers a questionnaire to complete ahead of their film’s festival screening. We also send out a single question for feature directors to answer as well as questionnaires for editors and first-time Sundance feature producers. Below, find links to individual cinematographer responses, which will be updated daily during the festival. “We Wanted a Visual Language That Was Both Filmic and Intimate”: DP Guy Mossman on Speak. “A Feeling of Endless Night”: DP Arseni Khachaturan on April “With Each Location We Embraced Its Essence”: DP Matthew Chuang on Jimpa “It Was the Movie I’d […]
Every Tuesday Tyler Coates publishes his new Filmmaker newsletter, Considerations, devoted to the awards race. To receive it early and in your in-box, subscribe here. This is the most important week of Oscar campaigning, the conclusion to what we collectively refer to as Phase 1: A slew of guilds announce their nominees this week (including the DGA, PGA and SAG, plus sound editors and mixers, art directors and cinematographers), and the Academy opens nominations ballots on Wednesday before closing the voting window on Sunday. (As such, campaign spending pauses from the end of voting until the nominations are announced on […]
Two new documentaries — The Alabama Solution from Andrew Jarecki and The Stringer from Bao Nguyen – have been added to the Premieres category of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, the Sundance Institute announced today. Both directors have histories with the festival. Each of the projects are directed by filmmakers who have presented their works at previous editions of the Sundance Film Festival. Nguyen premiered Be Water in 2020 and The Greatest Night in Pop in 2024, while The Alabama Solution director Andrew Jarecki’s previous Sundance titles are Capturing the Friedmans (2003), Just a Clown (2004), and The Jinx: The […]