Filmmaking
Filmmaking
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The Editor’s Signature
Alex Saks remembers the process of producing Thoroughbreds, the dark suburban teen thriller written and directed by Cory Finley, as a whirlwind. At the time, Finley was a hot up-and-coming playwright making his first foray into filmmaking, and he didn’t have an established team of collaborators. With a limited window of actor availability, production launched shortly after Finley delivered a script, which meant there was a tight window to hire key crew. Among the most important decisions the team had to make was who would edit the movie. “[An editor] really is the department head on the movie, other than […]
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Subtle Inconsistencies: Filmmakers and Generative AI in 2024
In Orhan Pamuk’s novel The Black Book, there’s a story about a mannequin maker and his underground workshop. The craftsman believes that after the introduction of cinema, people began to lose their natural gestures and now simply imitate the movements and behaviors of actors they see on the big screen. To preserve natural and native mannerisms, he undertakes an immense archival project: He makes mannequins of people performing small gestures in great detail. I’m curious what the craftsman would do faced with generative AI. AI film festivals and competitions are growing in popularity. Last May, the second annual Runway AI […]
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Chicken & Egg Pictures Announces 29 Grantees for Year Two of Research & Development Grant
Chicken & Egg Pictures announced today the 29 grantees for its second Pictures Research & Development Grant. From the press release: Chicken & Egg Pictures, which provides support and funding to women and gender-expansive documentary filmmakers, announced today the 29 film projects supported by its second Chicken & Egg Pictures Research & Development Grant. The grants provide directors with $10,000 USD for research or $20,000 USD for development of a new documentary project. These critical stages in the life of a documentary are often unpaid and unsupported. Grantees will also have access to the Chicken & Egg Pictures’ team and […]
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Film in San Antonio, Texas: A Diverse & Vibrant Undiscovered Gem (Sponsored Post)
Looking for the most competitive film incentives in Texas? Searching for a treasure trove of unique locations? On the hunt for a filming destination that will prioritize your project and welcome you with open arms, while providing untold added value, famous hospitality and film friendly support every step of the way? Look no further than San Antonio, Texas—a best kept secret among filmmakers where history shines just as brightly as the city’s boundless future. Enjoy rolling Hill Country landscapes just a quick drive from the city’s European-influenced downtown or trek a few hours in either direction to access coastal or […]
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Jessica Oreck Kickstarts a Traveling Museum
Back in 2021, filmmaker Jessica Oreck (Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo), who appeared on Filmmaker‘s 25 New Faces list in 2009, launched her Office of Collecting and Design, which she describes as “part wonderland, part library, and part nostalgia machine, devoted to the diminutive, the misplaced, the unusual, and the forgotten.” A truly unusual endeavor, the Las Vegas-based tiny museum is exhibition space, animation studio and prop house — in short, a physical extension of the enthusiasms that have powered Oreck’s filmmaking. From my print issue profile of the project: A cinematic sensibility permeates the whole endeavor, not just in the […]
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Ten Takeaways from Hundreds of Beavers‘ Success
Each Friday I send out a free email newsletter with an original Editor’s Letter along with viewing recommendations and festival deadlines. The Editor’s Letter is usually not reposted here on this site. As a way of encouraging sign-ups — you can join for free here — I’m posting here a slightly edited version of last week’s edition, in which I draw some production and distribution conclusions from the success of the Mike Cheslik’s independent hit Hundreds of Beavers, drawing info from linked interviews, now unpaywalled, from our current print edition. — Editor Because I edit Filmmaker and am supposed to […]
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David Lynch on (Just) Making the Day
“Did you make the day?” That’s the first question financiers and production execs will ask after a first day — or, really, any day — of shooting. “Making the day” means completing all the scenes on the call sheet so that the production isn’t falling behind, something that can led to dropped scenes, budget overruns and more. But beyond the “making the day” question lies a deeper one: how is a production making the day? Rushed scenes, abandoned coverage and quickly made decisions can result in an on-time shooting schedule but diminished artistic results. That’s why this behind-the-scenes video of […]
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Navigating the Feedback Maze: How Greenlight Coverage Transformed My Screenwriting Journey (Sponsored Post)
Screenwriters know the feeling all too well: you complete a draft of your screenplay (yay!), now you need someone to read it (boo!). It’s a rollercoaster. Because let’s face it, your friends are tired, and how objective are they going to be, really? You’re saving your industry contracts for a later draft, and how detailed can they be, with their schedule and fifty other scripts to read? There are loads of script readers and people you can pay for coverage and feedback, and, who knows, they may offer valuable advice, or they might give a sentence or two of vague, […]
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Oxbelly Announces the Fellows and Advisors of Its 2024 Oxbelly Retreat
The Greek nonprofit Oxbelly announced today the participants of its 2024 Oxbelly retreat, which was held June 22-30, 2024 in Costa Navarino, Greece. Thirty fellows broken into three strands — screenwriting, episodic writing and fiction writing — received mentorship from an illustrious list of advisors, who included Charlie Kaufman, Chigozie Obioma, Miguel Gomes, Marielle Heller, Barry Jenkins and Michael Almereyda. Leaders and program directors for the three programs were Guardians of the Galaxy screenwriter Nicole Perman (Screenwriting); Jen Blake (executive producer, Joyland) and Deutschland 83 producer Jörg Winger (Episodic); and An Orchestra of Minorities author Chigozie Obioma (Fiction). As the […]
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A Cinema of Gestation: On Returning to Filmmaking After a False Start, Multiple Life Changes, and 14 Years of Motherhood
A Bird Came Down is both a short and a feature-to-be by Heather von Rohr, produced by Nick Dawson, Editor of the Talkhouse and Filmmaker‘s former Managing Editor, and Emmett Kerr-Perkinson. In the guest essay below, von Rohr discusses the film’s themes within the context of its long gestation period. Von Rohr, Dawson and Kerr-Perkinson are currently crowdfunding the short’s post-production. To learn more, visit the project’s fundraising page at the New York Foundation for the Arts. — Editor In mid-June, I shot my first film in more than two decades. It’s called A Bird Came Down, and will be […]
