Filmmaking

TRAILER WATCH: “FLY AWAY”

Janet Grillo, a producer (Autism: The Musical, Searching for Paradise), former New Line executive, and writer/director (the short, Flying Lessons), has directed her first feature, Fly Away. From the film’s website: Based on the award-winning short Flying Lessons, Fly Away tells the moving story of a single mother, Jeanne, grappling with the challenge of raising her autistic teenage daughter, Mandy. As Mandy becomes more and more unmanageable, so too does Jeanne?s life. Over the period of two weeks, Jeanne is confronted with the most difficult decision a parent can make: to let go, allowing her child to grow, but also […]

By Scott Macaulay on Dec 22, 2010 Filmmaking
SODERBERGH ON STORYTELLING AND EARLY RETIREMENT

In an interview with the L.A. Times, Matt Damon, currently shooting Contagion with Steven Soderbergh, says the director is seriously considering retiring from the film business within a couple of years. For anyone who watched the director’s world-weary interview in the extras to the Criterion Che set, this might not come as a surprise. Around the same time, he told Esquire that he wanted to retire by 51. In the L.A. Times piece, Damon elaborates on Soderbergh’s thinking with quotes that also provide a nice corrective to the indie-film bromide that “it’s all about the story.” For many of our […]

By Scott Macaulay on Dec 22, 2010 Filmmaking
HOW TO GIFT FILMMAKER MAGAZINE

During our current Holiday Sale, which ends December 24, Filmmaker Magazine makes a great gift for filmmakers and just regular film fans in your circle of friends and family. Here’s what Koo wrote when he included Filmmaker in his 2010 Holiday Gift Guide: FILMMAKER Magazine Subscription – This great quarterly magazine is on sale until Xmas — get one year for $10 or two years for $18. The digital subscription is just $6, which is a ridiculous bargain, especially considering magazine subscriptions make for great gifts: every time an issue shows up the recipient thinks of you…. FILMMAKER is an […]

By Scott Macaulay on Dec 18, 2010 Filmmaking
DON VAN VLIET, R.I.P.

By Scott Macaulay on Dec 17, 2010 Filmmaking
Obama-Republican Tax Bill Includes Extension Of Film Tax Break Section 181

Filmmaker Justin Eugene Evans forwarded me news that an extension of Section 181, the film production tax break, was included in the bill signed by President Obama today. Here, reprinted with permission, is an email containing the news. Dear Film Professionals – Section 181 has finally been renewed! The new Tax Bill was signed into law by President Obama earlier today. The tax law includes Section 744, which includes language that replaces IRC Section 181’s expiration date of December 31, 2009 with December 31, 2011. Here is what this means: 1.) Any money spent on qualifying domestic film production* in […]

By Scott Macaulay on Dec 17, 2010 Filmmaking
SXSW ANNOUNCES DUNCAN JONES’ “SOURCE CODE” AS OPENING NIGHT FILM

Moon director Duncan Jones’ second feature, Source Code, will open the 2011 SXSW Film Festival, it was announced today. Excerpted from the press release: The smart action thriller is the second feature from SXSW Alum Duncan Jones (Moon), and stars Jake Gyllenhaal (Love and Other Drugs, Brokeback Mountain), Michelle Monaghan (Eagle Eye, Due Date), Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air, The Departed) and Jeffrey Wright (Quantum of Solace, Syriana). The South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival runs March 11 – 19, 2011 in Austin, Texas. When decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens (Gyllenhaal) wakes up in the body of an […]

By Scott Macaulay on Dec 16, 2010 Filmmaking
TRAILER WATCH: TERRENCE MALICK’S “TREE OF LIFE”

Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain. Written and directed by Terrence Malick. Way better quality than that bootlegged clip floating around the ‘net last week. Can’t wait.

By Scott Macaulay on Dec 15, 2010 Filmmaking
MAHONEY, JULY SELECTED FOR BERLIN COMPETITION

Several of the films that will appear in Competition at this year’s Berlin Film Festival were announced today, and I couldn’t be happier to see two anticipated films by two of our “25 New Face” filmmakers on the list. Miranda July will be traveling from Sundance to Berlin with her new movie, The Future, and first-time filmmaker Victoria Mahoney will be debuting with her Yelling to the Sky. I’m particularly thrilled to see Victoria’s film there because the project was part of the IFP Narrative Lab this year, for which I was a mentor. I saw the film at the […]

By Scott Macaulay on Dec 15, 2010 Filmmaking
DON’T PIRATE GAY FILMS!

That’s the message of “Pay to Play,” a PSA campaign by Wolfe Video that adds an LGBT twist to the studio-style anti-piracy campaign. The socioeconomics of pirating are perhaps a little more complex than the campaign acknowledges, but I agree with the central point that non-mainstream communities are particularly hurt by a migration of audience financial support. So, really, if you enjoy work by today’s gay and lesbian filmmakers online, make sure that they are compensated.

By Scott Macaulay on Dec 15, 2010 Filmmaking
MASHING UP 2010’S YEAR IN CINEMA

270 of this year’s movies, mashed up into one eye-popping trailer of cinematic uplift. Kudos to Gen I., who writes, “This year’s movies have legitimately transformed my idea of what is creatively possible.” Make sure to note the mid-clip David Lynch appearance and, later, the Lena Dunham/Alex Karpovsky fist bump. Here’s also a list of all the films used. (Hat tip: Kottke.org.)

By Scott Macaulay on Dec 15, 2010 Filmmaking

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