Filmmaking
Filmmaking
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Hulu Dives into Documentaries with Beatles Doc from Ron Howard
Looking to compete with Netflix in the documentary arena, Hulu announced this morning at its upfront presentation for advertisers in New York that it has launched Hulu Documentary Films, a destination for original and exclusive documentary film titles. Hulu Documentary Films’ first acquisition is The Beatles: Eight Days a Week (working title), a feature documentary directed by Ron Howard. Hulu has acquired U.S. streaming rights to the documentary, which will premiere in theaters in the fall before heading to Hulu. The documentary, which will explore the early years of The Beatles’ career, is produced with the full cooperation of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko […]
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What is a Video Essay? Creators Grapple with a Definition
Perhaps video essays are like pornography in that, as the saying goes, you know it when you see it. But what distinguishes a video essay from a short film and what are the ground rules for this relatively new form? Finally, how much creative leeway can a video essayist take with a filmmaker’s work without being disrespectful or misrepresentative? These questions arose last month when we published a video essay from Kevin B. Lee, chief video essayist at Fandor, about the spaces in Chantal Akerman’s final documentary, No Home Movie. Initially, Lee edited the video to music. But after receiving some complaints, including from the distributors […]
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Trailer Watch: Zachary Treitz and Kate Lyn Sheil’s Independent Civil War Drama, Men Go to Battle
Written by Zachary Treitz and Kate Lyn Sheil, and directed by Treitz, Men Go to Battle is an ambitious independent historical drama that tells the story of two quarreling brothers whose back-and-forth are interrupted by the Civil War. Here’s how the filmmakers synopsize the film, which stars Tim Morton, David Maloney and, from Spring Breakers, Rachel Korine: While most Americans predict that the Civil War will end by Christmas, Henry (Tim Morton) and Francis Mellon (David Maloney) are more concerned about braving another winter on their struggling rural Kentucky farm. The brothers have become suffocatingly close. Francis’ practical jokes become […]
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Vimeo Acquires VHX With Plans to Boost Video Subscription Business
Vimeo, the ad-free video platform, today announced it is acquiring VHX, the OTT (over-the-top) video distribution platform which allows creators to sell videos in forms ranging from individual downloads to subscription channels. In fact, VHX’s subscription technology, which includes the ability to build apps for the web, mobile and set-top boxes, is what drew Vimeo to the startup. Kerry Trainor, Vimeo CEO, told Filmmaker, “With the addition of VHX, Vimeo now offers a complete streaming ecosystem for individual creators, niche programmers and major media partners to offer subscription video on demand (SVOD) channels. Only Vimeo offers partners the ability to build […]
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Film Comment Appoints New Editor, Film Society of Lincoln Center Creates New Editorial Director Position
Big news from our friends over at the Film Society of Lincoln Center with two new appointments. Having served as interim editor of Film Comment since Gavin Smith’s departure, Nicolas Rapold will assume the editorial mantle full-time. Michael Koresky — perhaps best-known as the co-founder of Reverse Shot, which he’ll continue to edit — will be joining him as Editorial Director, a position that’s new to the organization. This position calls for overseeing all manner of content both within the magazine and as part of FSLC’s overall strategy. First up on the docket: the launch of a Film Comment app. For slightly more, […]
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Nine Years in Nine Minutes: The Guardian’s 6×9 VR Look at Solitary Confinement
One of the most powerful pieces at Tribeca’s Storyscapes program this year was a nine-minute evocation of the experience of solitary confinement produced by The Guardian. Now available for Google Cardboard or simply viewed as a web video on The Guardian‘s site, 6×9, directed by Lindsay Poulton and Francesca Panetta, is both a masterful exploration of VR’s promise as well as a penetrating look at the corrosive psychological effects of solitary confinement. Overused in the American prison system — to say nothing of being simply inhumane — solitary confinement becomes, as 6×9 succinctly demonstrates, a form of torture. On an […]
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Watch: Which Movies Have the Greatest Cinematography?
Over at Fandor Keyframe, Scout Tafoya muses about what makes a great cinematographer. “None of us seems to quite have the same definition of great photography,” he intones. “It seems that none of us agree what a cinematographer is supposed to do, what their relationship is with the image, the camera itself.” He asked dozens of critics to select ten films that feature their version of ideal photography in order to see if there was any common ground among them. He then created a video essay (above) analyzing the films that received the most votes, including The Tree of Life, The […]
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The Refugee Crisis: How to Help With a $9,000 Budget, a Canon 5-D Mark III and One Woman’s Incredible Story
Hamsa, a short film on the Syrian refugee crisis by first-time documentary filmmakers Caroline Spearpoint and Miriam Thom, is the focus of an event next Monday, May 2 at the IFP’s Made in New York Media Center. Hamsa: A Documentary and Educational Platform features the two filmmakers along with Benjamin Lowe (US Senior Campaigner at Change.Org), Rebecca Heller (Director at the International Refugee Assistance Project) and will focus on not only the making of the film but the collaboration with IRAP and Change.org as well as the use of film in social impact campaigns. In the guest post below, Spearpoint […]
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How Who the F*@% is Frank Zappa Broke Crowdfunding Records
Raising over $1.1 million on Kickstarter, Who the F*@% is Frank Zappa (working title) recently shattered the crowdfunding record for a documentary project, previously held by the Bill Nye film. Directed by Alex Winter (Deep Web), the film is an authorized exploration of the iconic musician’s life and work. Of course, the project benefited from Zappa’s name recognition and hardcore fan base. But that alone isn’t enough to carry a crowdfunding campaign. In order to drive engagement, the filmmakers extended the campaign far beyond Kickstarter itself with coordinated benefit screening events of Zappa’s concert film Roxy: The Movie around the world, additional “Add On Rewards” including […]
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Watch: Weiner, Set to Kick Off Rooftop Films Summer 2016 Series
New York’s Rooftop Films will kick off its 20th annual summer series on May 18 with a screening of Weiner, the winner of the Sundance Film Festival’s 2016 US documentary grand jury prize. Directed by Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg, Weiner will open in theaters May 20 and hit VOD on May 26 via Sundance Selects. As the trailer (above) shows, the documentary follows the now infamous former New York congressman on the 2013 mayoral campaign trail following a sexting scandal. In addition to Weiner, Rooftop Films will present the documentaries Don Juan and Life, Animated, as well as narrative titles Hunt for the Wilderpeople and White Girl. […]
