Filmmaking
Filmmaking
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RADIOHEAD: “THE NATIONAL ANTHEM”
From last night’s remarkable appearance on The Colbert Show.
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Far From Afghanistan: U.S. Filmmakers Agitate on 10th Anniversary of the War
“Though I don’t have any children,” says John Gianvito, “I imagined a child someday saying to me, ‘You regard yourself as a political filmmaker, did you do anything during the longest war in U.S. history?’” Gianvito, the Boston-based director of the acclaimed feature The Mad Songs of Fernanda Hussein, recalls this thought coming to him earlier this year as the 10th anniversary of the U.S. war in Afghanistan approached. On Thursday, October 6, in honor of that day of infamy, Gianvito and a team of filmmakers will unveil an ambitious omnibus project to raise awareness about the enduring conflict. […]
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EXPERT ADVICE
I watched a 14 second ad for this? Unintentionally hilarious screenwriting advice from a “motion picture expert and experienced executive producer.” How to Format a Three-Act Structure for Movie Scripts — powered by ehow
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TRAILER WATCH: HBO’S “LUCK”
Michael Mann, David Milch, Dustin Hoffman, Nick Nolte… count me in. (Hat tip: Hollywood Elsewhere.) Season 1 Tease
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IFW: AS WE GO ALONG…
Dear Gentle Reader, Tommy Minnix here again, after our first day of meetings at the No Borders section of Independent Film Week. Firstly, a big thanks to John Sylva, Susan Wrubel, and the IFP team and volunteers for their amazing coordination of dozens (hundreds even?) of industry and filmmakers, all shuttling from one table to the next to spend a brief but critical 25 minutes getting to know each other. From inside the elevator before the doors opened, it sounded like a beehive. And when you walked into the room, it could have been with all the activity. Writer/director Dean […]
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IFW: EAVESDROPPING
I am writing this from the crowded “lobby” area at the New York Society for Ethical Culture, where the Spotlight on Documentaries forum is going hot and heavy. The noise in this room is beyond description. It is such an overwhelming cacophony that try as I might, I can’t eavesdrop at all. This is disappointing, because eavesdropping is one of my most favorite pursuits and would surely have given me great material for you, dear readers. Alas. As promised, now I will share some key lessons from the original self help masterpiece, Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence […]
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IFW: INSOMNIA AND STEAM
Independent Film Week, the first day. Clearly I should have gotten more sleep last night. But to be honest, the insomnia wasn’t my fault. I was indeed in bed by 10pm but the Sandman refused to pay a visit so after a few hours of work, you can’t blame me for joining my fellow Transatlantic Partners for a nightcap in the hospitality suite. The morning came quickly as my flight from Halifax to Newark was at 8am. Unfortunately the flight was delayed two hours and I had to go directly to Manhattan for IFP industry meetings upon arrival. I’d arranged […]
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IFW: A NOTE TO SELF
Note to self: do not start meetings by asking, “Have you ever had a dream that you were in outer space and you weren’t like, this is insane, but rather, it felt somewhat familiar?” Silence. Needless to say, the poor woman across the film-pitch-as-speed-date table had, actually, not had that dream. But, well, the meeting progressed in an orderly, casual, if not excellent fashion. While a tad forced (a tad?) these meetings have been really worthwhile. From International Film Festival Rotterdam and Cannes Critics Week to Cinetic, Visit Films, and Elephant Eye, I’ve been able to show the Pavilion trailer […]
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IFW: 17 IN…
Are audiences ready to spend 85 minutes immersed in the lives of conservative Muslim women in Syria? That’s the big question this week. 17 meetings in, and a box of band-aids later and we think things are going well. So far we’ve met with POV, HBO, Impact partners, Sundance, SXSW, foreign co-producers, other funders, and a few sales agents. People seem interested, and often enthusiastic. Everyone wants to see the rough cut. And as soon as we think it’s ready to show them we will. We were hoping more broadcasters would have come from Europe, since we met with many […]
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IFW: NOT ALONE
I suspect that just about everyone who is at IFW this week applied for the chance to meet with buyers, distributors, and financers, and so I expected that I would spend my midweek blog focusing on those meetings and letting prospective Spotlight on Documentary participants know what a great opportunity this is. Well the good news is: it is true! IFW is a great chance to meet one-on-one with people you may otherwise only be able to contact through the abyss of their “info@____.com” company inbox. That is what makes IFW unique, and, particularly for New York-based filmmakers, many of […]
