Filmmaking

SUNDANCE: PASTS, PRESENT AND FUTURE

I was about half way through my monster preview of this year’s Sundance Film Festival when I stopped. There’s just an awful lot I’m looking forward to this year — way more than I’m able practically to see and perhaps more than you want to read about. Also, I was having a hard time writing about the individual films because, in many cases, I know too much about them. There are a ton of “25 New Faces” in the fest, people we’ve been following for years. Several filmmakers who went through the IFP’s Narrative Lab, of which I’m a part, […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 21, 2011 Filmmaking
BANKSY WINS TOP PRIZE AT CINEMA EYE HONORS

At an awards ceremony at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, Cinema Eye handed out honors to the best of this year’s documentary films. The top award, the Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Filmmaking, when to Banksy’s Exit Through the Gift Shop, produced by Jaime D’Cruz. Laura Poitras was named Outstanding Director for The Oath, and Jeff Malmberg Outstanding Debut for his Marwencol. Matt Porterfield’s Putty Hill won the first Filmmaker-sponsored Heterodox Award. One of the most moving moments of the night was a tribute to editor Karen Schmeer, who was killed last year in a hit-and-run, and one […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 19, 2011 Filmmaking
I Melt With You Freakout Clips

Save a few careful trailers and some hushed pre-festival press screenings, most producers are iffy about letting any actual footage into the world before their Sundance premiere. Music video veteran and ARLINGTON ROAD director Mark Pellington’s new movie is making a small and tantalizing exception with very brief clips of normally kind and comic actors losing it. JEREMY PIVEN RUBS HIS FACE IN ANGUISH THOMAS JANE ROLLS DOWN A HILL AND SCREAMS ROB LOWE SPEAKS POETRY, MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE A TERMINAL ILLNESS?

By Alicia Van Couvering on Jan 19, 2011 Filmmaking
THE CINEMA EYE/FILMMAKER HETERODOX AWARD

Definition of HETERODOX 1: contrary to or different from an acknowledged standard, a traditional form, or an established religion : unorthodox, unconventional 2: holding unorthodox opinions or doctrines — Merriam Webster Dictionary There’s a funny responsibility that comes with inaugurating an award. That’s what I discovered during the creation of the first Cinema Eye Heterodox Award, sponsored by Filmmaker. The award will be announced tonight along with all the other prizes at Cinema Eye’s Museum of the Moving Image ceremony, and if you haven’t heard, here’s an excerpt from the press release: “Filmmakers have always been at the forefront of […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 18, 2011 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

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