Filmmaking
Filmmaking
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THE DUPLASS BROTHERS TALK STUDIOS AND SNUGGLING
Alica Van Couvering’s interview with Mark and Jay Duplass in the current issue of Filmmaker was conducted at the Sundance Film Festival, where their latest film, Cyrus, premiered. Starring John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei and Jonah Hill, the film is a comedy/drama about mid-life romance and the borderline aggro-child that stands in its way. Alicia’s interview was filmed by Zak Forsman, Kevin Shah and the Sabi Pictures team, and here’s an edit of their conversation. See more videos on our YouTube channel. The film opens Friday, June 18.
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Considering The Big Lebowski: A XXX Parody
In retrospect it seems inevitable that some enterprising pornographers in Hollywood’s shadow industry would look to the Coen brothers’ quintessential Venice Beach bum The Dude for inspiration. Not only is southern California the hub of the sex biz, The Dude is SoCal made flesh. And now a company called New Sensations has done just this with The Big Lebowski: A XXX Parody, a passionate, nearly shot-for-shot recreation that shows that cute porn is not an oxymoron. Sure, New Sensations has already tackled pop culture with 30 Rock: A XXX Parody and Seinfeld: A XXX Parody, but The Big Lebowski: A […]
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“THE BEAST PAGEANT” ON KICKSTARTER
Just because it looks kinda nuts… From an email I received: We’re making an independent film called The Beast Pageant, a surreal adventure with giant machines, exploding heads, and a tiny singing cowboy. We’re almost done and we’ve got a trailer up here. We need help getting the word out there so if you know anyone who might be interested pass it on! The Beast Pageant – Trailer from Albert Birney on Vimeo.
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AMICUS BRIEF FILED IN SUPPORT OF JOE BERLINGER
The following letter, drafted from materials provided by Donaldson and Callif, is an update on an amicus brief filed in support of filmmaker Joe Berlinger. If you’re not familiar with the situation regarding his film Crude and Chevron, please read the below and then this editorial by Robert Redford detailing the importance of this case. On June 23, 2010, the IFP joined thirteen other organizations and nine individuals in signing an amicus brief in support of filmmaker Joe Berlinger, who was ordered to turn over 600 hours of outtakes from his documentary Crude to petrochemical company Chevron Corporation. Chevron, threatened […]
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FOREVER CONTRABAND: WENDELL B. HARRIS JR.’S “CHAMELEON STREET”
Perhaps it goes without saying that the world of independent film missed the boat on Wendell B. Harris Jr. No one, especially this author with the same surname as the now fifty-six year old Michigan native, wants to play the woulda, shoulda, coulda game. Yet whenever I think about the career I would have liked to have seen Mr. Harris have, it’s hard not to turn a bit melancholy. I guess being in the right place in the right time with the right people and a large enough sum of money counts for something, but if being at the podium […]
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Revisiting The Topic Of Indie Movies And Youth
This is perhaps the longest gestating blog post in Filmmaker Blog history. Back in December, Ted Hope commented on the graying of the arthouse audience in a post entitled “Can Truly Free Film Appeal to Younger Audiences?” He asked: What is it that new audiences want? What must the indie community do to engage them? It is really surprising how few true indie films speak to a youth audience. In this country we’ve had Kevin Smith and Napoleon Dynamite, but nothing that was youth and also truly on the art spectrum like Run Lola Run or the French New Wave (Paranormal […]
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Connecting your PS3 To your Mac’s Airport Network
This post is half public service for the tech-challenged (like me), and half “note to self” for the next time I change my internet connection settings. Briefly, like the many PS3 owners who have posted all over the internet looking for help, connecting a PS3 to the internet can be a challenge if you’re not quite sure what to do. I remember cursing the Gods of Sony last year when I bought a PS3. Then, through some kind folks on Twitter, I figured out how to do it and all was good. Recently, I changed my home ‘net security from […]
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RICK MOODY’S “FOUR FINGERS OF DEATH”
I don’t need any special encouragement to blog about a new book by Rick Moody…. especially when it has to do with a “blocked writer… whose major success is winning the right to author the novelization of the remake of the 1963 horror flick The Crawling Hand.” And when it has a pretty great trailer that took me back to Saturday afternoons watching Channel 20 in Washington, D.C. when I was growing up. (Hat tip: The Rumpus.)
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The Set Up: Three Pairs of DPs and Production Designers Reveal the Creative Synergies Between These Two Departments
Without an environment to shoot, cinematographers have nothing; without directors of photography to shoot their sets, production designers have no purpose. It takes a lot of people to build a world for the camera to film, and while the director may inspire and supervise its creation, it takes a production designer and a cinematographer to get it in front of the lens. The creative and practical collaboration between these two key crew members often gets personal. It is always co-dependent. We spoke to three such teams about their most recent projects together – Inbal Weinberg and Andrij Parekh of Blue […]
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TILDA SWINTON’S LAUREL & HARDY FLASH MOB DANCE
At the Festival Square in Edinburgh, Tilda Swinton organized and led a flash mob dance yesterday, coinciding the launch of her new charity, the 8 1/2 Foundation. From an article in the Scotsman: Gathering several hundred willing participants under the shadow of Edinburgh Castle, she led them in a soft-shoe shuffle known as At The Ball, by the Avalon Boys, originally performed by Laurel and Hardy, in an effort to create a “flash mob dance”, where a group suddenly and spontaneously start dancing in a public place. The instructions, disseminated online, were simple: watch the Laurel and Hardy clip, turn […]
