Filmmaking
Filmmaking
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THE PGA RESPONDS TO KARIN CHIEN’S OPEN LETTER
On Monday we published producer Karin Chien’s open letter to the Producers Guild of America about the exclusion of her feature, Circumstance, from awards eligibility due to it being filmed in the Farsi language. Here is their response Producers Guild of America response to Karin Chien’s open letter: We appreciate the passion and commitment behind responses such as Karin Chien’s, who has every reason to be proud of her work and the acclaim her film is receiving. Unfortunately, the Producers Guild has not recognized foreign language films as eligible for its awards because of the unique position the Guild holds […]
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Sleepless Nights Stories — A Hammer to Nail Review
(Sleepless Nights Stories opens theatrically at the Anthology Film Archives on Thursday, December 15, 2011. Visit their website to learn more.) December can be perverse, especially in New York. Underneath the jingling bells, cinnamon, and pine, the promises and obligations to keep, there’s a pervasive anxiety about the dying light. Time flattens the remaining days like a steamroller as we frantically categorize our memories into lists of ten and wrap it all up in colored paper and ribbons. This can create a hectic, merry numbness that doesn’t subside until January’s hangover, when the cold is undeniable. Perhaps the timing is […]
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“MARCEL THE SHELL” MAKES HIS NETWORK DEBUT
Congrats to 25 New Face filmmakers Dean Fleischer Camp and Jenny Slate for busting onto Brian Williams’ NBC show, accompanied, of course, by their wonderful creation, Marcel the Shell. Here’s the spot. Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
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2012 SLAMDANCE FILMS IN COMPETITION ANNOUNCED
The Slamdance Film Festival announced today the films screening in their narrative and documentary competition programs for the 2012 edition. From nearly 5,000 submissions 10 narratives and 8 docs were chosen. The complete list of titles are below. The festival will take place in Park City, Utah from Jan. 20-26. NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION PROGRAM BINDLESTIFFS – Director: Andrew Edison, Screenwriters: Andrew Edison, Luke Loftin. (USA) World Premiere Three smart-mouthed high school virgins, suspended from school on a graffiti charge, flee to the inner city to live out the plot of The Catcher in the Rye. Cast: Andrew Edison, Luke Loftin, […]
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The Blue Velvet Project, #54
Second #2538, 42:18 Frank has arrived, banging on the door. The fact that we anticipated his arrival makes it no less terrifying. Jeffrey—naked—has been shuttled into the closet, while Dorothy ditches the knife behind the radiator, in one of Blue Velvet’s many sly, tension-breaking references to Eraserhead. In Art and Fear, Paul Virilio reminds us that the coming of sound in film in the late 1920s effectively transformed silence into something alien, almost a special effect: Yet one crucial aspect of this mutation of the seventh art has been too long ignored and that is the arrival of the talkies. […]
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TITLES FOR 2012 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL USA ANNOUNCED
Below are the titles that will be screening as part of the Sundance Institute’s Sundance Film Festival USA screening series. Designed in 2010 to bring the festival experience to movie-goers nationwide, nine films and their filmmakers will travel from Utah to one of the following cities: Ann Arbor, MI; Boston, MA; Brooklyn, NY; Chicago, IL; Houston, TX; Nashville, TN; Orlando, FL; San Francisco, CA; and Tucson, AZ. during the Sundance Film Festival. The films and cities they’ll be playing in are listed below. Tickets will be available through the theater’s box office. Attendees of screenings at Sundance Film Festival USA […]
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SETH ROGEN TO HOST SPIRIT AWARDS
In a release sent out today by Film Independent, Seth Rogen will be taking the hosting duties for the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards. The daytime event will take place Sat. Feb 25 (the day before the Oscars) in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica. It will air on IFC that evening. Rogen’s latest film, 50/50 is nominated at the Spirits this year for Best Feature, Best First Screenplay (Will Reiser) and Best Supporting Female (Anjelica Huston). See the full list of nominees here.
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LOUIS C.K. OFFERS $5 DOWNLOAD, ANSWERS QUESTIONS ON REDDIT
As one of Filmmaker‘s “Best of 2011” posts, Dan Schoenbrun hailed Louie as one of the year’s best TV shows. And now, as the year closes, the comedian has launched one of the year’s best DIY distribution and marketing efforts. As John Biggs wrote at Techcrunch, Louis CK is offering his Live at the Beacon Theater concert film for $5 as a DRM-free download or stream. And while the Hollywood studios are currently fighting piracy by borrowing a page from the firewalls of authoritarian regimes (see the SOPA legislation currently before Congress), C.K. is taking a more human approach. He […]
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IFP LABS: VARIANCE FILM’S DYLAN MARCHETTI OFFERS MARKETING ADVICE
Dylan Marchetti, founder of Variance Films, donated his afternoon Wednesday to mentoring filmmakers at IFP’s Marketing & Distribution Labs. Variance, a distribution company that has overseen the releases of niche indies and foreign imports like Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench, Littlerock, and Elite Squad: The Enemy Within, has built a reputation very much in line with the trailblazing, DIY-attitude that many of IFP’s lab filmmakers hold dear. And it was a great match, as Marchetti spent the afternoon listening to these filmmakers discuss their marketing and distribution strategies, offering tailored advice about the distribution paths that he felt […]
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IFP LABS: HOW TO MERCHANDISE EFFECTIVELY
A recurring topic all last week at IFP’s Marketing and Distribution Labs was how indie filmmakers can get the most out of their film’s release, both monetarily and in terms of marketing. Friday morning the conversation turned granular (but no less interesting) with lab leaders Jon Reiss, Amy Dotson, and Milton Tabbot discussing the pros and cons of various forms of merchandising. Stressed repeatedly – the key thing to remember is that each film requires a distinct merchandising campaign. Think about your film’s core audience, and what kinds of products they would most likely be interested in. Then plan accordingly. […]
