Filmmaking

AFTER LAST SEASON VIDEO REVIEW

Courtesy of Mike Mohan, here’s a video review of After Last Season from several viewers who caught it on its premiere this weekend. (Hat tip: Todd Sklar.)

By Scott Macaulay on Jun 6, 2009 Filmmaking
INTERVIEW: AFTER LAST SEASON’s JASON KULAS

After Last Season director Mark Region is as mysterious a presence as his film is within today’s independent moviemaking community. After Filmmaker wrote about the film a couple of months ago, I’ve tried to get more info on him and his film. However, after the trailer went viral and the film seemed a new cult hit, the production company, Index Squared, has taken a very low-key approach to promoting the movie. But I was able to get in touch with one of the lead actors, Jason Kulas. I asked him some questions about the film over email, and he sent […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jun 5, 2009 Filmmaking
"I’VE NEVER BEEN TO THAT TOWN, BUT I’VE BEEN THROUGH IT."

You may recall Scott’s post in late March where he showed the trailer for a bizarre film called After Last Season which included an MRI machine that looked like it was made out of cardboard (pictured) and perplexing lines like “They’ve got printers in the basement you can use.” Since then the debate has raged if this is a real movie. Well, the time has come. After Last Season opens today in Lancaster, CA, North Aurora, IL, Rochester, NY, and Austin, TX. Michael Tully earlier this week on Hammer to Nail said he may take a drive from the Newport […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Jun 5, 2009 Filmmaking
BYRD STEPPING DOWN AS IFP EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

The IFP has announced today that executive director Michelle Byrd will be stepping down when her contract expires on Dec. 31. Byrd has been with the organization since 1992 when she was in charge of a number of membership and programming responsibilities before being promoted to deputy director in February 1996 and then executive director in April 1997. The IFP is the publisher of Filmmaker Magazine. From the release: In her role as Executive Director she has overseen the strategic direction and growth of all of IFP’s activities, including:– re-positioning the founding program (now called Independent Film Week™) and its […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Jun 5, 2009 Filmmaking
DAVID CARRADINE FOUND DEAD

Very sad news is sweeping through the blogshpere of actor David Carradine‘s suicide in a Bangkok hotel room either late last night or early this morning. He was 72-years-old. Variety reports here. UPDATE: The Associated Press reports the Thai police are now saying Carradine’s suicide may have been accidental.

By Jason Guerrasio on Jun 4, 2009 Filmmaking
SAWING A LADY IN HALF AND THE DIVISION OF LABOR

When it comes to the visualization of gender imbalance in the workforce, a woman being sawed in half is perhaps the ultimate metaphor. And that’s not due to any judgement on the imagery inherent in such a presentation but a simple truth regarding the labor involved: while the magician spins the boxes and takes his bows, it’s actually the assistant who, during the performance, does most of the physical work. Writer/producer Blaire Baron-Larsen and directors Harry Pallenberg and Phil Noyes have spun an entire documentary, Women in Boxes, from this observation. From the movie’s Facebook page: Women In Boxes is […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jun 3, 2009 Filmmaking
IFP ANNOUNCES 10 PROJECTS FOR NARRATIVE LAB

Today IFP announced the projects selected for this year’s Independent Filmmaker Lab, taking place next week. In it’s 5th year, the Lab is a highly immersive, free mentorship program for low-budget ($1 million) first feature films that have shot all or a substantial amount of footage but have not completed post-production. The goal of the program is to connect mentors with projects before they are submitted to film festivals. Past participants include The New Year Parade (2008 Slamdance Grand Jury Narrative Prize winner) and Half-Life (2008 Sundance Film Festival and Tokyo International Film Festival). The 2009 Narrative Lab leaders are […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Jun 1, 2009 Filmmaking
RETHINKING STORY FROM FILM TO GAMES

Ben Fritz has an interesting interview with Gore Verbinski up at the L.A. Times in which the director, whose film adaptation of Bioshock is stalled over budgetary issues, discusses his company’s foray into game development. He’s hired game designer Will Stahl to work on staff, is in development on five titles, and seems dedicated to rethinking Hollywood’s traditional relationship to the game space: It’s a mistake for Hollywood to impose themselves on the gaming space. Not only is it arrogant, but it hasn’t really worked. The presumption that we have a better understanding of narrative that we can bring to […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jun 1, 2009 Filmmaking
47 SHORT FILMS ABOUT CANNES

You could read all the blogs, all the coverage… or you might just watch the 47 delightful micro-shorts that Red Bucket Films (Go Get Some Rosemary filmmakers Josh and Benny Safdie and colleague Alex Kalman) made while attending the Cannes Film Festival this year. By way of introduction, they write, “With these small observations from a place and time where most of the humanity exists on a screen in a dark room, we (Alex, Benny and Josh) thought we’d find comfort in our pocket sized cameras. The little bits of people, moments, absurdity, glamor, humor and mistakes are for our […]

By Scott Macaulay on May 31, 2009 Filmmaking
WRITE YOUR BUSINESS PLAN FOR THE FUTURE, NOT THE PAST

On his 401st Blow blog, Noah Harlan unfurls a lengthy and detailed (charts and all!) post entitled “This is the Right Time to Make Movies.”. He’s not referring to creative issues, like the wealth of things in the world that contemporary filmmakers can be reacting to or be inspired by, but rather the evolving media economy and how viewer trends, monetization potential, and distribution efficiencies may make this moment a good one for sharp-eyed movie investors. I particularly liked these two paragraphs: In a business plan for a traditional company you will have sections that deal with barriers to entry […]

By Scott Macaulay on May 31, 2009 Filmmaking

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