Filmmaking
Filmmaking
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“Apply To Everything, Even If You Don’t Think You’re Ready”: Elan Bogarin at the IFP Documentary Lab
To paraphrase E. L Doctorow: Making a film is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way. Two weeks ago, I was lucky enough to drive with more than headlights. My film 306 Hollywood was one of ten films chosen for the IFP Documentary Lab, and participating is like driving on a well-lit highway. With five days of presentations and workshops with industry insiders and peers you get a blast of clarity on how to finish your film and get it out into the […]
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There is No “Right” Way: 14 Things Directors Need to Know about Directing Actors
For many directors, the thought of “directing actors” can instill panic. Directors who were once cinematographers, say, or who have worked on film sets, might be at ease working with crews or blocking shots but will freeze up when challenged to give notes to actors. Such performance anxiety is not surprising. Unlike the crew, with whom directors have the whole shoot to develop working relationships, many actors are only on set for a few days. So it’s understandable that directors may worry about “getting it right” when it comes to guiding them in their performance. But the thing is: there […]
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Paula Eiselt on Birthing Her Hasidic EMS Documentary 93QUEEN at the IFP Documentary Lab
I came out of hiding on May 9th, literally and figuratively. After starting production on 93QUEEN three years ago — and giving birth to my third child three months ago — I walked into the IFP Documentary Lab armed with my breast pump and a 10-minute trailer, ready to present both of my “babies.” While Libbie, my actual baby, did stay home, I was finally able to share my project with the film world; my acceptance into the Lab marked a seminal turning point in the life of 93QUEEN and my career. 93QUEEN follows a group of Hasidic women […]
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How We Raised $27,000 on Kickstarter for a Film About Black Teen Identity, First Love and Islam
My name is Nijla Mu’min and I’m an award-winning writer/filmmaker from the East Bay Area. In March, I launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $25,000 for my first feature film, Jinn. Jinn is a coming-of-age drama about a teenage black girl named Summer whose life is turned upside down when her mother abruptly converts to Islam and becomes a different person, prompting Summer to reevaluate her life and identity. It’s a fun, fresh exploration of millennial culture, Islam, and first love. Since the campaign ended, fellow independent filmmakers and colleagues have reached out to me for insight on how to […]
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Jan Švankmajer Crowdfunds His Final Film Insects
Jan Švankmajer, the 81-year-old surrealist Czech animator, along with his longtime producer Jaromír Kallista, has launched an Indiegogo campaign to fund the filmmaker’s final project, Insects. Švankmajer, known for his dark but playful satirical works, has directed over 30 short and feature-length films throughout his career including Alice, Little Otik, and Dimensions of Dialogue. As a pioneer of stop-motion animation, he has had a direct influence on the works of Terry Gilliam, Tim Burton, David Lynch, and the Brothers Quay, among many others. Švankmajer wrote the screenplay for Insects, which is loosely based on “The Insect Play” by the Čapek brothers, an allegorical comedy from 1922 […]
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From NYC to Ukraine and Back: A First-Time Filmmaker Brings Julia Blue to the IFP Narrative Lab
First-time narrative filmmaker Roxy Toporowych, who previously directed the documentary Folk! and who has worked in the art department of films ranging from Safe Men to Captain America, is one of the ten filmmakers taking part this week in the IFP Narrative Lab. Here, the NYU Tisch graduate describes the genesis of her film, which sprung from a Fulbright Award she received to visit Ukraine as the Maidan protests were occurring and just before the revolution of 2014. Return later in the week for parts two and three of her story. A BADASS TAKE-OVER The statue of Lenin that stood […]
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How to Build Your Documentary’s Distribution Strategy
Gone are the days when if you were lucky enough to sell your documentary to a single distributor, they would take care of the rest. Though a select group of established documentary filmmakers still operate along those traditional lines, the majority of independent filmmakers working in documentaries today rely on a hybrid distribution plan in which theatrical, festivals, broadcast, educational, non-theatrical, and VOD rights are split. The upsides of a hybrid plan are that it potentially enables filmmakers to earn more revenue and also to develop a long-term audience. The downside? It means more work for filmmakers. A workshop at the recent Oregon […]
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“Going Beyond the Norm”: Theodore Collatos and Christopher Jason Bell on Making New Work, Going Beyond Hybrids and New Platforms
[Editor’s note: this conversation between filmmakers Christopher Jason Bell and Theodore Collatos is primarily about the making of their short films: Collatos’ Albatross and Time, and Bell‘s One Times One. You can watch Time at the bottom of this interview. We’ll be posting the online premieres of Albatross and One Times One over the next few days.] While I often disagree with who the majority of the micro-budget filmmakers taste-makers decide to anoint as One To Watch, I’ve found plenty of directors worth talking about in the few years I’ve been “in the game” (my debut feature The Winds That Scatter premiered last year). Theodore “Teddy” Collatos is one of those […]
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Venice Production Bridge Announces Gap Financing Market to Take Place During the Venice Film Festival
The Venice Production Bridge, a platform connecting European and international producers with potential sales agent, distributors and financiers able to provide final financing for their projects, announced today a new Gap Financing Market to take place during this year’s Venice Film Festival. Running September 2 – 4, the initiative will curate a selection of 25 European and international projects seeking the final 30% of their financing. Projects can be at any stage, from development to post-production, but must prove that the 70% of their existing financing is secure. Significantly, the initiative is open to both documentaries as well as fiction […]
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Werner Herzog to Teach Online Filmmaking Class
Traditional film school is overrated, according to Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Werner Herzog, who has signed on to teach an online filmmaking class. “You spend way too much time in film school. It costs way too much money. You can learn the essentials of filmmaking on your own within two weeks,” said Herzog in the (above) trailer for his class. The new class, which will focus on the art of both feature and documentary filmmaking, will be offered as part of the online education platform MasterClass. Pre-enrollment is open to everyone and the class will become available this summer. “Werner Herzog vibrantly and charismatically […]
