Filmmaking
Filmmaking
-
Keith Gordon, During The Sundance Directors’ Lab
Here’s actor, writer and director Keith Gordon’s (pictured) second post from the Sundance Directors’ Lab. For his first post, click here. OK, so the weather isn’t great so far (lots of rain), and the food is, well, it’s kinda like being at summer camp. (That’s why I always bring some cereal and cans of soup from home). And that’s all I can come up with to complain about. This place is magic, and I’m thrilled to be back in it’s grip. I unpacked in my cozy little condo, and headed down to the Sunday reception for us “new folk.” I […]
-
CLAY SHIRKY ON OPEN SOURCE AND CREATIVE PRACTICE
I’ve been slow on the blog and behind on posting my notes on day two of the Open Video Conference because we’re trying to finish the Summer issue and get it off to the printers before the July 4th holiday. It’s our annual “25 New Faces” issue, so it’s a tougher one to pull together than usual. Anyway, one person I won’t be writing about when I get that OVC Day Two post up is keynote speaker Clay Shirky — because he wasn’t there. Travel difficulties derailed his presentation but for those who want to hear him anyway, here’s his […]
-
THE FIND FILM FINANCING CONFERENCE
At last year’s FIND Film Financing Conference in Los Angeles, Mark Gill told us the sky is falling. This year’s keynote speaker, Endgame Entertainment CEO James H. Stern, had a more optimistic message. Referencing Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers, Stern reminded the crowd, “We are lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time for great opportunities.” Stern encouraged the crowd of filmmakers to not just make better movies, but smarter ones that keep a film’s audience — and how to reach it — in mind well before the cameras roll, not just after the film is complete. […]
-
AUGMENTED CONTENT IN THE NEW FIREFOX BROWSER
I’m still typing up my thoughts on day two of the Open Video Conference, but in the meantime, here is an example of open video in action. At his Mind Flip blog, Jay Cousins writes about “augmented content” as being a potential driver for video monetization on the web. He gives an example of the technology at play by embedding the below video which demonstrates some of the functions of Firefox’s new version 3.5, which supports Ogg video. Check it out.
-
BIGELOW TALKS ABOUT HURT LOCKER @ APPLE STORE
Tonight our first Filmmaker/Apple “Meet The Filmmaker” event takes place at the Apple Store in SoHo at 8pm (103 Prince St.). Nick Dawson will be interviewing our Spring cover director Kathryn Bigelow about her new film, The Hurt Locker, which opens this weekend. The event is open to the public. Following the first 38 days of army bomb expert Sgt. Will James (Jeremy Renner) in Iraq, The Hurt Locker (pictured) is a trademark Kathryn Bigelow film. Like Near Dark, Point Break or Strange Days the action is non-stop and includes a breakout performance by Renner. Check out what we mean […]
-
PETER SUNDE ON THE PLIGHT OF INDIE CONTENT CREATORS AT THE OVC
The surprise guest at the conclusion of this weekend’s Open Video Conference was Peter Sunde of The Pirate Bay, which bills itself as the “world’s largest BitTorrent tracker.” As many of you know Sunde and three of his colleagues were recently convicted in a Swedish court and were sentenced to a year in jail and a $3.6 million fine. They have accused the judge of bias and are now battling the verdict on appeal. The Open Video Conference organizer introducing Sunde, who appeared via Skype from Sweden, acknowledged the controversial nature of his activities, particularly for the content creators in […]
-
COLUMBIA PICTURES PUTS SODERBERGH’S PITT-STARRING MONEYBALL IN TURNAROUND
In a “things are tough for everyone” reminder, Peter Bart and Michael Fleming in Variety report that Columbia Pictures’ Amy Pascal has put the new Steven Soderbergh movie, Moneyball, starring Brad Pitt, into “limited turnaround” just three days before it was due to begin filming. From the piece: The move came after Pascal read the final draft delivered last week by Steven Zaillian and found it very different from the earlier scripts she championed. Pascal was uncomfortable enough with how Soderbergh’s vision had changed that she applied the brakes. Soderbergh and Pitt’s CAA reps spent the weekend attempting to get […]
-
THE OPEN VIDEO CONFERENCE, DAY ONE
Yesterday wrapped up the first day of the Open Video Conference, a two-day event being held at New York University Law School featuring speakers, screenings and events all centering around the topic of Open Video. The conference, which can be livestreamed on its website, is produced by the Participatory Culture Foundation, the Yale Internet Society Project, the open source video platform Kaltura, iCommons, and the Open Video Alliance. What is Open Video? Quoting from the website: Open Video is a broad-based movement of video creators, technologists, academics, filmmakers, entrepreneurs, activists, remixers, and many others. When most folks think of “open,” […]
-
KEITH GORDON BLOGS FROM THE SUNDANCE DIRECTORS’ LAB
It’s June, so that means it’s time for the Sundance Labs, where emerging writers, directors and composers hone their skills in preparation for their next films. This year, we’ll be featuring a number of Lab participants blogging from the Sundance Institute, and to launch the series we’re really happy to have actor and writer/director Keith Gordon (A Midnight Clear, Mother Night, Waking the Dead) conveying his experiences as an advisor to the Directing Fellows. In this first post, penned in the middle of his drive from L.A. to Utah, he writes about the reasons he goes back to Sundance year […]
-
IRANIAN FILMMAKER BAHMAN GHOBADI COMMENTS ON HIS COUNTRY
In the upcoming issue of Filmmaker, Howard Feinstein covers the Cannes Film Festival and has high praise for Bahman Ghobadi’s No One Knows About Persian Cats (pictured), which played in the Un Certain Regard section. He calls the film, which is about two musicians trying to form a band after being released from prison, “a love/hate letter to Tehran itself.” Ghobadi, who now lives in Berlin, has recently seen his fiance, journalist Roxana Saberi jailed (she was recently released) and he himself was imprisoned for a week when he returned to the country recently to visit his mother. He speaks […]
