Filmmaking

BEST FILM NOT PLAYING AT A THEATER NEAR YOU @MOMA THIS WEEKEND

Contributing Editor Brandon Harris has posted on his blog a new preview of Filmmaker and MoMA’s annual “Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You” program, which unspools at the museum this week. Screening will be the five films that will be competing for the Gotham Award we sponsor on December 1. (For schedule and film descriptions, visit MoMA’s site.) Brandon writes that this year’s program is the strongest we’ve put together in the six years of doing this series, and I agree. This isn’t to say that previous years haven’t been strong, but in the past we’ve always […]

By Scott Macaulay on Nov 20, 2009 Filmmaking
THIS WAS MTV IN THE ’90s

It didn’t used to be all reality shows. In 1990 MTV aired Buzz, an experimental video art collage show by director Mark Pellington. Genesis P-Orridge, William Burroughs, RU Sirius, David Byrne, and other transgressive thinkers (oh yes, and Jon Bon Jovi) were all featured in the debut show, which was openly inspired by Bruce Conner and other experimental filmmakers. Boing Boing noticed that the first episode has been been posted to YouTube, and I’ve embedded the clips below.

By Scott Macaulay on Nov 19, 2009 Filmmaking
OSCAR DOC SHORTLIST: THE COVE & FOOD, INC. IN; TYSON & CAPITALISM OUT

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have announced the 15 films that have made the shortlist for Best Documentary. Two of the most prised docs of the year made the list: Louie Psihoyos‘s The Cove and Robert Kenner‘s Food, Inc., as well as a few lesser known titles like Anders Ostergaard‘s Burma VJ and Matt Tyrnauer‘s Valentino: The Last Emperor. But surprisingly excluded were Michael Moore‘s Capitalism: A Love Story and James Toback‘s Tyson. The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced on February 2. Best Documentary Shortlist: The Beaches of AgnesAgnes Varda, director Burma VJAnders Ostergaard, director […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Nov 18, 2009 Filmmaking
READY TO RECord

The Sundance Institute announced today the 13 artists selected for the New Frontier section at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. These works will be shown at New Frontier on Main, open to the public Thursday, January 21 through Saturday, January 30, 2010. (The full list of artists are below.) One of the artists chosen this year is actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt (pictured), who we discovered last year has an interest in the new media/digital artists on the Web as he’s created the site hitRECord.org. In the Spring 2009 issue we talked to him about the site, which at the time was […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Nov 18, 2009 Filmmaking
TWO TAKEAWAYS FROM JON REISS @ THE IFC CENTER

Thanks to everyone who came out tonight for the first in our series, “A New World: A User’s Guide for Filmmakers and Audiences” at the IFC Center. The speaker was Jon Reiss, who gave listeners an accelerated yet detailed overview of his thoughts on DIY distribution and what a theatrical release means today. (Some of these thoughts can be found in this article in Filmmaker.) There was a lot to take away, but here are a couple of things that impressed themselves on me. 1. During the development of your project, think of five specific audiences your film will appeal […]

By Scott Macaulay on Nov 17, 2009 Filmmaking
Indie Film Ink Pirated, Filmmakers Pleased

When I attended the Future of Music Conference this year I heard a lot of talk about all of the opportunities that exist today for indie musicians to create and distribute their products via digital media on the web. Later, at the Flyway Film Festival I heard former Tribeca CEO Brian Newman speak on similar topics in relation to indie filmmakers. The central theme to all of it is that indie artists can be successful without a major label contract or major studio distribution. In the end though talk is cheap and what looks good on paper doesn’t always translate […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Nov 17, 2009 Distribution
JON REISS AT THE IFC CENTER TONIGHT

After a great week of discussions on our Weekly Player forum, Jon Reiss will be at the IFC Center tonight in NYC to conduct our first in a series of events at the Center on new, digital-era ways of financing, distributing, marketing and building an audience for independent films. Reiss’s seminar will teach how to create unique distribution and marketing plans for independent films. He will also be selling copies of his new book Think Outside the Box (Office): The Ultimate Guide to Film Distribution and Marketing in the Digital Era. Over at indieWIRE today the site has published a […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Nov 17, 2009 Filmmaking
The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Filmmaker

I’m at the Edinburgh Film Festival, jetlagged bad, and I’m asked for emerging filmmaker advice by some kid. He says, in particular, he wants to know about making art films and being a writer/director. Oh boy. I try to find something to say, but it’s disingenuous and the kid knows it. I go back to the hotel room and roll around in the bed, can’t sleep. The only thing on the T.V. is Michael Jackson’s body bag. I go to the window and look at the ancient castle and the ancient fog and I think about what I would tell […]

By Noah Buschel on Nov 17, 2009 Directing
FILMMAKER/APPLE PRESENTS MEET THE FILMMAKER: JOHN HILLCOAT

Tonight at 7pm we will continue our Meet The Filmmaker series at the Apple Store in SoHo (103 Prince St) with a discussion with The Road director John Hillcoat. Based on the Cormac McCarthy best-selling novel, the film stars Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee as a father and son trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. For the Fall 2008 issue we were granted an exclusive visit to Hillcoat’s edit room to talk to him as he put the finishing touches on the film. “The material doesn‘t shy away from the worst aspects of humanity, yet what‘s unusual about it […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Nov 17, 2009 Filmmaking
I CAN DIE NOW

Forget the Oscars, as a producer, I can die now. (You need to watch both clips, and the first one especially to the end.) Original Video– More videos at TinyPic Seriously, when Harmony Korine forwarded me these links, I thought they were great and couldn’t stop laughing. And then I thought about what we producers go through when trying to obtain music for our films. I can’t remember how much we paid for the music rights for the Roy Orbison version of the Patsy Cline song “Crying” that closes out Gummo, but I’m sure it was a lot less than […]

By Scott Macaulay on Nov 15, 2009 Filmmaking

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