Filmmaking

“I HAVE A DREAM”… ON POWERPOINT

Via Huffington Post comes this link to Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, as rewritten for our Powerpoint era. Writes NYU Economics Prof William Easterly , with tongue firmly in cheek, “While the speech has gained considerable notice already, it would have been even more successful if Dr. King had two things that have vastly improved in the last 47 years: (1) presentation software, and (2) the evocative jargon used by “social entrepreneurs” trying to change things. Using my expert knowledge of these two areas, I was able to improve the “Dream” speech considerably in this Powerpoint presentation.” […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 17, 2011 Filmmaking
SNAG FILMS EXPANDS TO FICTION, HIRES BINGHAM RAY

At All Things Digital’s BoomTown column, Kara Swisher is reporting that the ad-supported streaming service (and owner of IndieWire) Snag Films has hired distribution veteran and October Films founder Bingham Ray to “spearhead its distribution of fictional narrative and foreign-produced independent films.” These announcements accompany news of $10 million in new financing from Comcast’s investment arm and New Enterprise Associates. From the piece: Currently, SnagFilms has 2,000 films in its online library, although [Snag Films founder Ted] Leonsis said the aim is to use the new funds to get 10,000 films on the service as soon as possible. “We’re trying […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 16, 2011 Filmmaking
WHAT’S IN MY INSTAPAPER: SUNDAY MORNING LINKS, 1/16/11

A quick, commentary-lite version… Joseph Conrad wrote a science-fiction novel. “Young and Restless Never Gets Old” — Dennis Lim in the Times on Gregg Araki. Big tech news this week: Google announces that it won’t support the H.264 codec and the HTML5 video tag in its Chrome browser in favor of its own WebM codec. It’s all very complicated and tech-y, but Google’s argument is that they’re supporting “open standards” by backing a codec without royalty issues. Problem is, Apple’s Safari and Microsoft’s IE both use the H.264 format and the short-term victor is likely to be Adobe, whose Flash […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 16, 2011 Filmmaking
LAST VISIT TO UTOPIA

I guess somewhere, in the back of my mind, I knew it could never last. I wanted to make art films. But it was just a matter of time before the realities of life intruded. I am thirty-two now. Most of the people I met in the independent film world are long gone. They are movie stars or cable directors or waiters or teachers. I don’t know them anymore. It was raining and it was hot on the river. I was crashing on my friend’s couch. Me and my fiancé had just split up and I was having a nervous breakdown. In […]

By Noah Buschel on Jan 14, 2011 Filmmaking
Killer Films Teams With Moxie Pictures To Create Killermoxie Management

Over the transom comes this press release from Killer Films and Moxie Pictures, who have combined forces to create KillerMoxie Management. With offices in L.A., New York and London, the company will rep filmmakers, actors and recording artists across various media and branded entertainment ventures. (Interestingly, and appropriately, the announcement makes clear that a broad range of media formats, not just feature films or conventional advertising, will be the focus of the company.) The venture will be headed by Brian Young, who leaves Untitled Entertainment to join KillerMoxie. Here’s the press release: New York-based indie film powerhouse Killer Films (Christine […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 12, 2011 Filmmaking
RECYCLING GTA4: “THE TRASHMASTER”

Via Slash Film is this very cool machinima feature by Mathieu Wechsler that’s entirely comprised of shards from Rock Star Games’ Grand Theft Auto 4. Rock Star has given the film a page on their site, summarizing: The “trashmaster” divides his time between collecting garbage and cleaning up other forms of trash fouling up New York City’s streets: dealers, small-time criminals… When the dancers in his favourite strip club are mysteriously killed, the trashmaster finds himself hot on the trail of a particularly twisted serial killer. Apparently Wechsler spent two years on the project. I have it playing in the […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 11, 2011 Filmmaking
21st Century Man: Abel Ferrara

In person, Abel Ferrara is a whirlwind of gestures and jokes, of quick smiles and vulgar asides, digressions piled upon digressions, even if he’s much sharper and in control of his staccato New Yorkese vernacular than he lets on. Ferrara, who will turn 60 this year, has had one of American indie cinema’s strangest and most fascinating careers, one which has taken the Bronx native from the old 42nd Street’s row of exploitation and porn cinemas to the Croissette in Cannes. Often we talk of middle-aged artists mellowing, but Ferrara maintains a manic, youthful energy that is both infectious and […]

By Brandon Harris on Jan 11, 2011 Directing
ANTONIONI ADAPTED FOR THE STAGE

Those in London the first week of February can witness the Toneelgroep Amsterdam theater company’s stage adaptation of three films by Michelangelo Antonioni. From the Barbican Theater’s website: Love affairs, isolation, heartache. Internationally renowned theatre director Ivo van Hove leads his powerful ensemble in an exploration of award-winning, Italian film director Michelangelo Antonioni’s groundbreaking 1960s film trilogy (L’Avventura, La Notte, L’Eclisse), in this epic adaptation for the stage. Simultaneously performed, filmed and projected onto a giant screen, the show reinvents Antonioni’s portraits of bourgeois relationships in public and private settings. Multiple perspectives provide an intimate and visceral insight into the […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 9, 2011 Filmmaking
WHAT’S IN MY INSTAPAPER: SUNDAY MORNING LINKS, 1/9/11

Here are some articles of interest I’ve sent to my Instapaper this week. At Script Shadow, Carson Reeves lists the 10 ways he knows he’s reading an amateur script. All of these are quotable, but here’s one: BORING ON-THE-NOSE DIALOGUE – This is probably the biggest clue that you’re dealing with an amateur. The dialogue is really straightforward and boring. Characters say exactly what they mean: “You make me so angry!’ Characters get way more specific than people in real life would: “I’m going to head over to get a cheeseburger at Portillo’s and then call my mom.” (instead of […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 9, 2011 Filmmaking
A COME-FROM-BEHIND, 9TH INNING KICKSTARTER WIN

It’s 12:01 as I type this, and Lucas McNelly’s Kickstarter project “A Year Without Rent” has just closed out its successful campaign, raising $12,178 from 243 backers — $178 over the project’s goal. What’s absolutely remarkable about the project’s success is that the great majority of its money — over 75% — was raised in the final days and hours of the campaign. Now, come-from-behind Kickstarter successes are not that uncommon as many filmmakers line up backers ready to cinch their campaigns with large, last-minute donations. But I don’t think that’s what McNelly pulled off. In fact, looking at the […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 8, 2011 Filmmaking

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