Filmmaking
Filmmaking
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NEW VS. OLD AT INDEPENDENT FILM WEEK
IFP invited a number of us to blog our experiences at Independent Film Week, and we were supposed to contribute three posts. But with a whirlwind of meetings, events, and networking opportunities to try to take advantage of, I haven’t had much time to sleep, much less time to blog. So here’s my one post wrapping up our experiences pitching our transmedia project 3rd Rail (pictured) during Independent Film Week, which will have to do in lieu of three progress reports. For a great general description of the Project Forum and how it is configured, see Marc Maurino’s post. Marc […]
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JOHN SLOSS: “I COULD BE BANKSY!”
Cinetic Media powerhouse John Sloss took to the stage on Wednesday morning at the Independent Filmmaker Conference in a conversation moderated by indieWIRE’s Eugene Hernandez (who announced today that he is leaving indieWIRE to take a new role as Director of Digital Strategy at the Film Society of Lincoln Center). Sloss began the conversation by acknowledging that we all stand on the shoulders of giants, pointing to the influence of John Pierson on his career, “His heart wasn’t in the business side of things but mine was.” Everyone should read Pierson’s book Spike, Mike, Slackers and Dykes he declared. He […]
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NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL
Like a bitch-slap to those who have accused it of excessive reverence for French fare over the past 48 years, the 2010 New York Film Festival is bookended and centered on American movies—oddly enough, all from the big studios. David Fincher‘s The Social Network (pictured above) opens the event September 24; Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter is the October 10 Closing Night selection; and Julie Taymor’s The Tempest, the Centerpiece. I’ve seen none of them, but early reviews of The Social Network have been very positive, not surprising from the director of Se7en and Fight Club. Evaluations of Hereafter have been much […]
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Eugene Hernandez Leaves Indiewire for Film Society of Lincoln Center
Eugene Hernandez, the editor-in-chief/co-founder of indieWIRE will be joining the Film Society of Lincoln Center as their director of digital strategy, according to an announcement sent out today by FSLC. Hernandez is one of the most respected voices in indie film, starting indieWIRE in 1996 and building it to become the prominent site that it is today through tireless news and film festival reporting, and most recently bringing on marquee names to blog for the site like Anne Thompson, Todd McCarthy and Leonard Maltin. FSLC describes Hernandez’s newly created role as overseeing all digital initiatives of the nonprofit, including working […]
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Things That Seem Real, Part 3 : Catfish And Fakery
Editor’s Note: Part one of this essay, “Things That Seem Real: A Three-Part Essay on Catfish and Other Movies,” appeared Tuesday on the site and can be read here. Part Two appeared yesterday and can be read here. These essays contain major spoilers regarding the film Catfish. Catfish and Fakery. Catfish has some major truth-problems. Major. Like, plot holes big enough to drive a truck through. The stirrings of suspicion began instantly after its Sundance 2010 premiere. On January 30th, reporting from Sundance, Indiewire’s Bryce Renninger wrote that “Over the week since its premiere, though, many critics and audience members […]
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DOCUMENTARY HEAVYWEIGHTS TAKE TO THE STAGE
Tuesday was a day dedicated to documentaries at the Independent Filmmaker Conference, starting off with a conversation with Sheila Nevins from HBO, fielded by Toronto Film Festival documentary programmer Thom Powers (also well known in NYC for his Stranger Than Fiction doc series at the IFC Center). Nevins brought the biggest crowd yet to the conference, despite speaking first thing in the morning. She talked cheerfully about how difficult it is to get people to care about tough issues and how documentaries are always a struggle. “We’re very lucky because we’re the Off Off Broadway of HBO. People don’t subscribe […]
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INDEPENDENT FILM WEEK UPDATE
Hello again, Marc here reporting from three days of meetings. It’s been an exciting whirl, and in hopes that some future IFP Emerging Narrative participant might read this (or just the IFP-curious at home), I think I’ll share a bit of what my last three days have been like. As aforementioned, prior to arrival, we received a schedule of meetings, all of which were scheduled between 9 AM and noon in the Emerging Narrative part of the Project Forum space, which is a huge room bisected; one side has a lounge-type area with chairs, wifi, helpful IFP staffers, and lots […]
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“TWELVE WAYS TO SUNDAY” COMES TO ROOFTOP FILMS
In this time of economic peril, many Americans have begun to shed frivolous spending for small but rich pleasures. With less nights of take-out or cineplex movies, they’ve learned that it’s the homemade things that count in this world. Filmmaker Anna Farrell portrays a tight-knit community in her documentary Twelve Ways to Sunday, one that always knew about the basic and organic things in life. Fixing up motorcycles, dishing up meals at the local diner, and canning fruit preserves, the people of Allegany County, New York, have always sustained through the good and bad times. Playing this Wednesday at Rooftop […]
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Things That Seem Real, Part Two: Catfish and Fantasy
Editor’s Note: Part one of this essay, “Things That Seem Real: A Three-Part Essay on Catfish and Other Movies,” appeared yesterday on the site and can be read here. These essays contain major spoilers regarding the film Catfish. Part Two: Catfish and Fantasy Over the course of an eight-month relationship that contained no physicality, Nev and Megan stayed in touch constantly. Using email, Gchat, Facebook walls, text messaging and phone calls, they pushed the boundaries of what are commonly understood to be the limits of an online-only relationship. Megan tells Nev about her family and the horses she takes care […]
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Am I a Filmmaker or a Brand? Why Not Be Both?
A year ago, I brought the preview copies of Think Outside the Box Office to sell at Independent Film Week, straight off the press. This week in addition to being a lab leader and mentor of the new IFP Filmmaker Labs, I have the honor of being paired in a Cage Match on Thursday with Michael Tully from Hammer to Nail, and Michelle Satter from the Sundance Labs on the subject: “Am I A Filmmaker or Brand”. I thought I would throw down some thoughts on the subject. I don’t think that “filmmaker” and “brand” are exclusive of one another. […]
