Filmmaking

PLAY PING PONG WITH SUSAN SARANDON FOR THE IFP

As the IFP’s annual Gotham Awards approach, the organization has launched a charity auction containing, I have to say, some pretty cool items to bid on. Visits to the sets of True Blood and Bored to Death, for example, including meetings with their creators, Alan Ball and Jonathan Ames. A Boardwalk Empire set visit with Steve Buscemi. Tickets to Spider-Man on Broadway and a backstage meet with Julie Taymor. Theater going with Philip Seymour Hoffman. Fishing with Ed Burns. And, yes, ping pong with Susan Sarandon. Of course, proceeds support the IFP and its mission of supporting independent filmmakers through […]

By Scott Macaulay on Nov 23, 2010 Filmmaking
VOTE FOR GOTHAMS’ AUDIENCE AWARD

Earlier in the month we told you about the Gotham Independent Film Awards doing their first-ever Audience Award. With the show around the corner on Nov. 29 here’s a look at the five nominees. Go here to cast your vote. Voting closes at 5pm EST on the 29th. 9000 Needles Brotherhood Waiting for “Superman” White Irish Drinkers Winter’s Bone

By Jason Guerrasio on Nov 23, 2010 Filmmaking
BILLY BOB THORNTON ON TODAY’S SCREENPLAYS

Billy Bob Thornton steps off the road and learns what’s been going on in Hollywood for the last few years….

By Scott Macaulay on Nov 23, 2010 Filmmaking
THANKS BE TO “MARLENE” AT STRANGER THAN FICTION

As inflatable stars arrive in Manhattan ready for their Macy’s close-up, one of the biggest stars in the history of film won’t be at the parade — she’ll be at the IFC Center. Tonight, Stranger Than Fiction will feature its penultimate screening, Marlene, a revival of the 1984 documentary about the reclusive film star Marlene Dietrich, directed by Maximilian Schell, an actor who appeared with Dietrich in Judgment at Nuremberg. Presented by John Walter, the director of How to Draw A Bunny and Theater of War, Marlene is partly the story of Dietrich and partly the story of Schell’s dogged […]

By Mary Anderson Casavant on Nov 23, 2010 Filmmaking
SPIKE JONZE ARCADE FIRE VIDEO, “THE SUBURBS”

Taken from the short film “Scenes from The Suburbs,” this is shot by Greg Fraser and edited by Jeff Buchanan with additional video editing by Patrick Colman. Produced by Vince Landay and Arcade Fire. Directed by Spike Jonze. Watch until the end.

By Scott Macaulay on Nov 22, 2010 Filmmaking
Thoughts On Amazon Studios

As most of you know, I write a weekly newsletter that contains a letter that’s not usually posted on this blog. Sometimes it consists of thoughts that coalesce into an article or blog post down the line, and sometimes it consists of of-the-moment reactions to events just hitting the news. Often the newsletter poses questions that I’d like our readers to comment on. Yesterday I wrote about the newly announced Amazon Studios and solicited feedback. I hope to, in the next few days, write about the provocative new venture, which has good elements (a new financing source for independent filmmakers […]

By Scott Macaulay on Nov 19, 2010 Filmmaking
OSCAR DOC FEATURE SHORTLIST: WHICH TITLES SHOULD HAVE MADE THE CUT?

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed today the 15 films that have made their shortlist for the Best Feature Documentary category in the 83rd Academy Awards. They include: Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer, Alex Gibney, director (ES Productions LLC) Enemies of the People, Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath, directors (Old Street Films) Exit through the Gift Shop, Banksy, director (Paranoid Pictures) Gasland, Josh Fox, director (Gasland Productions, LLC) Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould, Michele Hozer and Peter Raymont, directors (White Pine Pictures) Inside Job, Charles Ferguson, director (Representational Pictures) The […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Nov 18, 2010 Filmmaking
A SHORT TRIP TO CPH:DOX

Invited to deliver a master class seminar on doc/fiction hybrid films at the CPH:DOX Labs, I attended the festival for the first time this year. At the Labs, now in its second year, filmmakers from the Nordic countries and around the world were brought together in teams and charged with collaborating on a film. Because I was teaching the day-long seminar, which took place days before the well-attended Forum (a market for docs seeking financing) opened up, I missed the great majority of the festival’s programming as well as business activity. So, I can’t offer a detailed roundup of the […]

By Scott Macaulay on Nov 18, 2010 Festivals & Events
New from CGI Genius Alex Roman

Remember The Third and the Seventh, that amazing piece of architectural CGI by Alex Roman that I blogged about in January? If you don’t, don’t worry — I’ve reposted it below. Just up is a new piece by Roman that’s a stunning one minute of slow-motion images that are pure CGI. Titled “Above Everything Else,” it’s a spot for kitchen countertop manufacturer Silestone. Writes Motiongrapher: Although this spot is 100% CG, the beauty of the shots distract the viewer from this amazing fact. Each composition is elegantly balanced: light counterweights dark, chaos challenges order. The sparse soundtrack creates a sense […]

By Scott Macaulay on Nov 17, 2010 Filmmaking
“12TH AND DELAWARE” AT STRANGER THAN FICTION

When I was in a high school in Tennessee, a classmate of mine started crying while discussing a short story about Vietnam. Through her tears, she explained that the soldiers battling for their lives reminded her of all the unborn babies who’d been killed that week. What those of us not on the frontlines of the abortion battle often forget is that for those who feel passionately on the subject, abortion is not just an issue, it’s the only issue. In 12th and Delaware, last night’s entry into the Stranger than Fiction canon, directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady take […]

By Mary Anderson Casavant on Nov 17, 2010 Filmmaking

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