Filmmaking

SUPPORT THE NORTHWEST FILM FORUM!

Recently the Pacific Northwest’s venerable Northwest Film Forum, which has been behind not only the exhibition but also the production of some of our most striking independent features, issued an urgent plea for financial assistance. By August 15, the organization requires $70,000 to forestall severe changes in the organization. With two days left to go, the NWFF is not quite half way there, helped by both its members and audiences but also companies like Sub Pop, which matched donations. There is still time to close the gap, though, in the next 48 hours. Here is executive director Lyall Bush’s latest […]

By Scott Macaulay on Aug 13, 2009 Filmmaking
STEVEN SODERBERGH ON FIGHTING FOR 2.40

Yesterday I took note of a lead item posted by Ray Pride at Movie City News: a Steven Soderbergh-authored piece for the Directors Guild Quarterly on the movement in the HD world to make 16:9 a default format for a theatrically released film when released on video. I saw the headline, meant to click back to it, but then the magazine’s site went down. Fortunately, I was forwarded a link to the cached version this morning. (You have to scroll down the page to get to the article.) Here’s Soderbergh on the crux of the issue: Television operators, the people […]

By Scott Macaulay on Aug 12, 2009 Filmmaking
IFP ANNOUNCES 31st ANNUAL INDEPENDENT FILM WEEK LINE UP

The IFP has announced its line up for the 31st annual Independent Film Week, taking place in NYC Sept. 19-24. In a release the organization has also announced the expansion of its strategic relationship with the Sundance Institute; and new partnerships with B-Side, the four-year-old tech company which runs websites that handle ticketing and mine audience response data for 250-plus fests in North America, and The Good Pitch, a forum produced by Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation which brings together inspiring social-purpose film projects and a group of expert participants from charities, foundations, brands, government and media to form powerful alliances […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Aug 12, 2009 Filmmaking
ALMODOVAR’S BROKEN EMBRACES TO CLOSE 09 NYFF

The line up for the 47th New York Film Festival has been announced. The U.S. premiere of Alain Resnais‘s Wild Grass will open the fest and Pedro Almodóvar‘s Broken Embraces will close. NYFF will run Sept. 25 – Oct. 11. (Click here to watch our video coverage of last year’s fest by Jamie Stuart.) Full line up is below. OPENING NIGHTWild Grass / Les herbes follesAlain Resnais, France, 2009; 113mThe venerable Alan Resnais creates an exquisite human comedy of manners, mystery and romance with some of France’s – and our – favorite actors: Sabine Azéma, André Dussollier, Emmanuelle Devos and […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Aug 12, 2009 Filmmaking
DUBAI FILM CONNECTION DEADLINE, AUGUST 15

As my brief interview with Cherien Dabis in festival coverage of the Dubai International Film Festival (in our Spring, 2009 edition and which I’ve just posted online) noted, some of the financing for her debut feature Amreeka was found at the DIFF’s Dubai Film Connection, a CineMart-like financing market aimed at films from directors of Arab nationality or origin. Producers (who can be of any nationality) have until August 15 (that’s one week from now) to submit projects for this year’s edition. Here’s the official word: The DFC is open for documentary and feature film projects that are currently in […]

By Scott Macaulay on Aug 8, 2009 Filmmaking
WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE SECOND TRAILER

More greatness:

By Scott Macaulay on Aug 7, 2009 Filmmaking
HOPE AND VACHON INTERVIEW GIAMATTI AND ROCKWELL

Last year at Sundance producers Ted Hope and Christine Vachon shot a number of interview pieces for a web series associated with Film Catcher. Film Catcher has since changed direction, but the interviews are online and you can check them out on the site’s YouTube channel. Embedded below is the first part of Hope and Vachon’s interview with actors Paul Giamatti and Sam Rockwell, whose two philosophical science fiction films, Cold Souls and Moon, are in theaters right now. Head over to the channel’s page for the other clips as well as another set of interviews with Alan Cumming, Lee […]

By Scott Macaulay on Aug 7, 2009 Filmmaking
JOHN HUGHES DEAD AT 59

In shocking news earlier today, Variety reports that director John Hughes died of a sudden heart attack while walking this morning in Manhattan. He was 59. The creator of some of the most iconic films of the 80s, Hughes has stayed out of the public eye for the last ten years, and even wrote many screenplays in the 2000s under the pseudonym Edmond Dantès. Along with producing and writing such films as the National Lampoon Vacation films, Pretty in Pink and the Home Alone films, Hughes kept the good ones to direct. This is Hughes’ COMPLETE list of directing credits […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Aug 6, 2009 Filmmaking
TWITTER DENIAL OF SERVICE ATTACK

The lightness and ephemerality of Twitter is such that it feels less an application and more like part of our daily fabric. For a while this morning I thought I must have an internet connection problem but after an hour without Twitter I Googled and discovered that Twitter is indeed offline. In fact, according to the Twitter Status Blog, the microblogging service is defending against a malicious denial-of-service attack. Here’s hoping the opposing forces are soon successful in restoring order to our online world.

By Scott Macaulay on Aug 6, 2009 Filmmaking
…CROWNED IN GLOURY

Just put up on YouTube is this trailer for Nation’s Pride, the film that everyone (including Hitler) goes to see in Quentin Tarantino‘s Inglourious Basterds. The Pride footage was directed by Eli Roth (who plays “The Bear Jew” in the film — and is quite good, I may add). What I love about the trailer is it plays it completely straight (outside of the modern day digital effects and the intentional inclusion of “U” — “…his name will be crowned in gloury”). And for kicks, also below is my favorite part of Grindhouse, Roth’s fake trailer, Thanksgiving. (If they’re going […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Aug 5, 2009 Filmmaking

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