Filmmaking

IFP ANNOUNCES DOC LINE-UP FOR LABS

The IFP has announced the ten projects selected for its Documentary Lab. The Lab will take place April 12-16 in New York City and will include five-days of intensive workshops and mentorships from working professionals. The list of projects are below. Lear more at ifp.org. 25 To Life William Brawner was infected with HIV before he turned two and kept it a secret for over twenty years. Now he seeks redemption from the women of his promiscuous past and embarks on a new phase of life with his pregnant wife, who is HIV-negative. Fellows: Michael L. Brown (Director, Producer); Yvonne […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Apr 13, 2010 Filmmaking
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF “TREME”?

Most of the TV reviewers who reviewed David Simon’s new HBO series Treme were shown the first three episodes. I only caught the first, last night, on its premiere. Directed by Agnieskza Holland, the post-Katrina series set in the world of New Orleans musicians was undeniably gorgeous to look at and listen to. It took the fairly bold approach of not kickstarting with any huge central incident but rather sketching a tableaux of characters defined, in part, by their attitude toward a city that has been irrevocably changed. If The Wire was about characters defined by either their resistance or […]

By Scott Macaulay on Apr 12, 2010 Filmmaking
BETWEEN THOUGHT AND EXPRESSION LIES CONVERSATION

Before this post, a full disclosure: I have sat on numerous panels in the last year, including Woodstock, SXSW, the Conversation NYC, and the IFP’s Script to Screen. Many of these panels have had something to do with “new models” or “the future of independent film.” My panel at Script to Screen was different because it was simply a one-on-one with writer/director Terry George, and it gave me some of the best advice: when trying to write seriously, disconnect your internet router and pack it away. In my experience sometimes panels can be really stimulating and provocative, and sometimes they […]

By Scott Macaulay on Apr 12, 2010 Filmmaking
STICKY SEATS AND THE ORIGINS OF NYC DIY

I got a kick out of Bette Gordon’s blog post “Remembering the Past, Segueing into the Future” over at Truly Free Film. Gordon remembers the 1983 premiere of her feature Variety, for which she and producer Renee Shafransky rented the now-demolished and condo-ized Variety cinema, a porn house, on 3rd Avenue and 13th St. I attended that premiere and one of my memories was of the woman who sat next to pulling out her New York Times and placing it underneath her as she sat down. So, of course, I laughed when I read this: In the 80’s, there was […]

By Scott Macaulay on Apr 10, 2010 Filmmaking
CINEMA IS WHERE LIFE IS

Fassbinder and Herzog from Wim Wenders’ 1982 documentary on the future of cinema, Chambre 666.

By Scott Macaulay on Apr 10, 2010 Filmmaking
B-SIDE’S FESTIVAL GENIUS GOES TO IFP

In a release sent out moments ago, the IFP has announced that B-Side, the recently shuttered Austin-based technology and distribution company that provided Web site services to film festivals, will be handing over it’s “Festival Genius” technology to IFP. Slated, a company that provides film and market research services to producers and distributors, has acquired B-Side’s intellectual property and will be licensing the service to IFP. According to the release, key members of the B-Side staff will be joining IFP while founder Chris Hyams and senior executives from the company will be joining Slated. As you read on the blog […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Apr 8, 2010 Festivals & Events
How To Write A Screenplay On An iPad

Husband and wife producers Joke and Biagio have a highly useful post today up on their blog. (Useful, that is, if you own an iPad and are a screenwriter.) Titled “How To Write a Screenplay on the iPad,” it is the result of a bout of insomnia that has wound up adding functionality to the iPad’s Pages application. From their blog: If you have an iPad, chances are you’re going to buy Apple’s iWork app Pages sooner or later. At $9.99 it’s not a break-the-bank piece of software, and it’s sort of a must-have for iPad owners, anyway. The full, […]

By Scott Macaulay on Apr 8, 2010 Filmmaking
“COLLATERAL MURDER”

I of course had read about the U.S. military video decrypted and released by WikiLeaks documenting a helicopter attack that killed two Reuters journalists as well as a number of other people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad, but I hadn’t watched it until tonight. Titled “Collateral Murder,” it is available in a 17-minute edited and titled version and then the unedited 38-minute tape. From the “Collateral Murder” page: Reuters has been trying to obtain the video through the Freedom of Information Act, without success since the time of the attack. The video, shot from an Apache helicopter gun-site, […]

By Scott Macaulay on Apr 8, 2010 Filmmaking
EXPLAINING “SCARFACE SCHOOL PLAY”

When I posted the initially shocking “Scarface School Play” I was dubious about its authenticity while others were outraged. Now, Marc Klasfeld, the writer/director, explains the point behind it: “I have two children myself, and my wife and I guard our daughter from various television commercials about violence or sex, so I think there’s a message about that.” A rep from Share Group adds, “It’s very satiricial about viral videos… and by taking it to the next level, what Marc does well here is question the reality behind these videos. There’s a constructed reality, a perceived reality, and a real […]

By Scott Macaulay on Apr 7, 2010 Filmmaking
BANKSY’S STREETS ARE OURS

This was was favorite film at Sundance this year — pretty much from the opening notes of the Richard Hawley song that adorns its opening credits. See it here. (Hat tip: Movie City Indie.)

By Scott Macaulay on Apr 7, 2010 Filmmaking

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