Filmmaker Videos
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Trailer Watch: Hannah Fidell’s A Teacher
Just released is this fine trailer for the debut feature of 2o12 “25 New Face” Hannah Fidell, A Teacher. (It was also produced by another 2012 alum, Kim Sherman, and shot by Andrew Droz Palermo, who was just selected for our 2013 “25 New Faces” list.) I first saw the film in rough cut over a year ago, and I’m excited to see it go out into the world when O’scope release it in September.
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The Canyons Star James Deen Tests Google Glass [NSFW]
It’s often been said that the porn industry pioneers practices that independent film later adopts, so it’s not too surprising that adult film star James Deen, who stars opposite Lindsay Lohan next month in Paul Schrader’s The Canyons, has taken part in “The 1st Porn Shot on Google Glass.” (I shouldn’t have to tell you that this video is NSFW.) How soon before indie filmmakers follow suit?
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Trailer Watch: Lana Wilson and Martha Shane’s After Tiller
Lana Wilson and Martha Shane’s After Tiller is one of my favorite films of the year, a profoundly moving, compassionate portrait of late-term abortion providers. It’s a film that is incredibly difficult to encapsulate in a trailer, so even if the above doesn’t grab you I’d strongly suggest you see it anyway. Subscribers can read my interview with Wilson and Shane from the Summer issue of Filmmaker here.
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Trailer Watch: Bryan Cranston and Alice Eve in Tze Chun’s Cold Comes the Night
Tze Chun, a 2007 25 New Face based on his great short, Windowbreaker, appears to have done a 180 follow-up to his first feature, the low-key, character-based drama Children of Invention. Cold Comes the Night stars Breaking Bad‘s Bryan Cranston, rising star Alice Eve and a missing bag of cash. But, note that I wrote “appears” in the above sentence. Last year, Kishori Rajan spoke to Chun about this movie while it was in production, and the director says it’s not entirely unlike his previous work: When his manager sent him as a writing sample a psychological thriller script by […]
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Trailer Watch: 21st Century
With dozens, sometimes hundreds, of press releases landing in my in-box every day, what makes me click on a link to learn more? Usually, it’s not overuse of superlatives. Nonetheless, there was something about this letter from Manhattan Project Films that made me want to watch the trailer: Manhattan Project Films is set to release its latest movie “21st Century”. We invite you to be part of our celebration and witness first hand the beauty and joy of our new cinematic masterpiece. The event promises you the opportunity to enjoy the charming atmosphere of the movie industry, food and drinks, […]
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Trailer Watch: Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity
Long single takes are some of the most thrilling shots in cinema, and many would argue their thrills are reliant, in part, on the audience’s knowledge that they are choreographed and filmed in real time. But CGI-enabled single takes can be thrilling too, as this amazing trailer for Alfonso Cuarón’s upcoming Gravity proves. The film opens October 4.
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Music Video: Fiona Apple’s Hot Knife, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
For his first music video in 11 years, Paul Thomas Anderson reunites with his ex, Fiona Apple, for “Hot Knife,” from the singer/songwriter’s The Idler Wheel…. Mixing black-and-white and color, split screen and tight close-ups, the video was, Apple said in an earlier interview, developed with Anderson prior to his shooting of The Master. It’s just been released today; check it out above.
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How Not to Make a Kickstarter Video
As some of you may know by now, I am running a Kickstarter campaign for my new film Bomb It 2, which is the follow up to my global graffiti and street art documentary Bomb It. I have consulted on a number of campaigns, but never run one of my own, and I wanted to experience the complete process for myself. I am now personally more obsessed with checking for new backers when I wake up (and every 10 minutes) but what I found to be one of the hardest things to do is to make my own crowdfunding appeal […]
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Jessica Oreck on her new Web Series, This Working Man
Less than three months since she premiered her documentary, Aatsinki: The Story of Arctic Cowboys, at the Tribeca Film Festival, Jessica Oreck is both on the road and back with new work. This Working Man is a web project combining video portraiture, travel, and crowdsourced curation. From the project’s website: This Working Man is a series of short portraits of men at work. It is about practiced motion, kinetic movement, bodies, and forms. It is about a particular type of man: exceedingly capable, strong, confident, and diligent. The project is a search for humble masculinity and an unapologetic admittance of […]
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Trailer Watch: 12 Years a Slave
Set in the years leading up to the Civil War, and based on Solomon Northup’s 1853 autobiographical memoir, Steven McQueen’s new 12 Years a Slave tells the story of a free New York State black man kidnapped and travelled down South, where he is sold into slavery. The film chronicles his attempts to stay alive and maintain his spirit as he dreams of the day when he can be reunited with his family. Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Northup, Michael Fassbender a harsh slave owner, and Brad Pitt a Canadian abolotionist. The film was shot on 35mm by Sean Bobbitt and opens […]
