Filmmaking

SUMMER ISSUE ONLINE

Select stories from the Summer issue are now online. Check out our annual 25 New Faces of Independent Film list. Jeffrey Levy-Hinte talks about his doc, Soul Power. And Lynn Shelton, Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard and the rest of the creative team behind the Sundance sensation Humpday talk about the process to make this poignant comedy. Plus, Roberto Quezada-Dardon follows up on his DSLR piece from the Spring issue with a look at the accessories that are bringing video camera functionality to single-lens reflex cameras. Esther B. Robinson looks at the day jobs working filmmakers are doing. And in his […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Jul 20, 2009 Filmmaking
GOING DUTCH AT EL PASO TACQUERIA

On Saturday night an exclusive dinner was hosted for participants to discuss issues involving alternative and arthouse film exhibition. The IFP’s Danielle DiGiacomo was there, and she files this report. On Saturday afternoon, in the sun-drenched backyard of the El Paso Tacqueria on 104th and Lexington, Rooftop Films, Cinereach, and IFF Rotterdam launched both a new partnership and a new form of the “panel discussion.” As white sangria flowed freely and guacamole was savored, several of independent film’s industry leaders and filmmakers and programmers came together to confab about “New Collaborative Models of Film Exhibition.” At least, according to the […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jul 20, 2009 Filmmaking
OSCILLOSCOPE FOUNDER ADAM YAUCH TO UNDERGO CANCER TREATMENT

Oscilloscope Pictures founder, Beastie Boy member, and recent IFP Board member addition Adam Yauch has announced that he’ll be undergoing treatment for cancer of the salivary gland. The group is postponing the release of their next album and tour while Yauch and his doctors address this very treatable form of cancer. Everyone at Filmmaker sends our best wishes to Yauch for a speedy recovery.

By Scott Macaulay on Jul 20, 2009 Filmmaking
THOMAS PYNCHON IN A ’60S KIND OF WAY

I stopped by St. Mark’s Bookshop this afternoon and noted that they are remaining open past midnight on Monday, August 3 (until 12:30) to sell copies of the new Thomas Pynchon novel, Inherent Vice, which goes on sale Tuesday. This new Pynchon has snuck up on me — I knew it was coming out but I hadn’t realized so soon. So, Googling I come across the cover, which at first I thought was a joke. It’s got a real Elmore Leonard ’80s design thing going on, or maybe a Carl Hiassen vibe, or, less charitably, as a poster on at […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jul 19, 2009 Filmmaking
BLOGGING FROM THE SUNDANCE CREATIVE PRODUCING LAB: THOMAS WOODROW

We continue with our series of posts from the Sundance Labs, this time with producer Thomas Woodrow, who is attending the Sundance Creative Producing Lab. For some reason, when I think of the role of the producer, I am always reminded of the role George Martin is characterized as having played for the Beatles in a documentary I saw years ago. It’s not exactly the same in music as in film, obviously, but in that documentary, Martin was ever-present: encouraging, discouraging, masterminding, playing politician, literally writing orchestration at times (for Sgt. Pepper) and at all times moving the process toward […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jul 18, 2009 Filmmaking
ROTTERDAM’S BLIND PIG WHO WANTS TO FLY @ROOFTOP FILMS

The International Film Festival Rotterdam and Rooftop Films has teamed up this weekend for two screenings highlighting titles from the fest. Last night at the American Can Factory in Brooklyn was Edwin’s (yes, first name only) Blind Pig Wants to Fly, which took home the FIPRESCI Prize this year. (Pictured above, left to right: Rotterdam Film Festival topper Rutger Wolfson and directors Eugenio Polgovsky and Edwin.) It was great to see a sold-out house on a rainy night (the screening was moved indoors) for this sweetly unusual film. Brandon Harris was there seeing the film for the third time, and […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jul 18, 2009 Filmmaking
BIG BROTHER IS DELETING YOU

David Pogue on his New York Times blog wrote today about a disturbing situation regarding Amazon, the Kindle and George Orwell: due to some sort of problem with its U.S. publisher, Amazon zapped the previously purchased e-book from the Kindles of its purchasers, apparently crediting their accounts in the process. Writes Pogue: This is ugly for all kinds of reasons. Amazon says that this sort of thing is “rare,” but that it can happen at all is unsettling; we’ve been taught to believe that e-books are, you know, just like books, only better. Already, we’ve learned that they’re not really […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jul 17, 2009 Filmmaking
BLOGGING FROM THE SUNDANCE DOCUMENTARY FILM EDIT AND STORY LAB: CAROL DYSINGER

We continue with our series of guest blog posts from the Sundance Labs with Carol Dysinger, who is a mentor at the Sundance Documentary Film Edit and Story Labs. There is a joke told by the Afghans in Kabul. It goes like this: An American came to Afghanistan. An Afghan asked him “Why have you come?” and the Westerner said, “I am writing a book.” The Afghan said, “Oh, you must have been here for a long time to be writing a book.” and the American said, “No, I just got here yesterday.” “A-ha,” says the Afghan. “Then you must […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jul 16, 2009 Filmmaking
BLOGGING FROM THE SUNDANCE CREATIVE PRODUCING LAB: MYNETTE LOUIE

Over the next few days we’ll have blogs from participants of both the Sundance Documentary and Creative Producing Labs. Up first is producer Mynette Louie. Hello! I’ll try my best to sound coherent here… I’m kinda going nuts right now because I’m packing for the Lab (I leave for it in a few days), prepping for a short film shoot in August, prepping for a feature film shoot starting in October, shepherding a feature through the film festival circuit (and trying to figure out distribution for it), doing post-production duties on another feature, and developing three other features, including my […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jul 15, 2009 Filmmaking
FILMMAKER’S “25 NEW FACES”

Our press release announcing our annual “25 New Faces” feature has just gone up at Indiewire, and you can read our profiles of the selections on our site here. As I wrote in the editor’s letter for the upcoming issue, we looked at a lot of work this year — maybe too much work, actually — and could easily have made a list of “125 New Faces.” Of the people we finally chose, every person on the list was championed passionately within our editorial team, and each person also seemed to us to be approaching their roles as filmmakers, dps, […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jul 15, 2009 Filmmaking

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