Filmmaking
Filmmaking
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PULLING THE TRIGGER AT THE PRODUCED BY CONFERENCE
The 2009 Producer’s Guild “Produced By” Conference wrapped up on Sunday after two days of back-to-back panels discussing the past, present and future of the film business. Attendance was beyond capacity (begging the question, who was left to wait tables at Marix?) and while the information delivered wasn’t exactly groundbreaking, the conference did serve as a summation of the State of the Industry. In a nutshell, here’s where we are today: find alternate ways to squeeze money out of your product (not just ticket sales and ad dollars), and focus only on content with a pre-existing audience, i.e. sequels, adaptations, […]
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Interview : After Last Season’s Mark Region
At the end of March, an exceedingly odd trailer for a feature film showed up on Apple’s trailer page. For a film titled After Last Season, the trailer was a collection of almost random moments and conversation between students, researchers and a doctor seemingly involved in some kind of science experiment involving perception and telekinesis. The sheer mysteriousness of the whole endeavor — the fact that the trailer conveyed so little information about the film itself as well as its low production values (an MRI machine seemed clearly made from cardboard) — spawned an instant internet cult, with fans debating […]
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THE YOUNG PERSON’S GUIDE TO NASH EDGERTON
Below I posted Nash Edgerton’s new Bob Dylan video and a couple of people told me they didn’t know much about his work. So, here’s a primer: First, his bio from the The Directors Bureau: Nash Edgerton knows his craft from both sides of the camera from his work as an actor, stunt performer, editor, producer, writer, and director. Since his short DEADLINE, which took out the top prize at Tropfest in 1997, Nash has directed a number of award-winning short films, music videos and commercials. The action packed trailer for Tropfest called THE PITCH was followed by the horror […]
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A FIGHTING CHANCE
Pitchfork has launched a new column called “Director’s Cut,” in which video directors talk about their latest clips. Their most recent installment features the Australian director Nash Edgerton, whose short film Spider was one of my favorites at Sundance last year and whose music videos I’ve long been a fan of. His latest is for Bob Dylan’s “Beyond Here Lies Nothin,” and it’s characteristically intense and violent, riffing, perhaps, on the infamous motel room scene in True Romance. In the interview, Edgerton says he never met Dylan and got a call offering him the video but he could only listen […]
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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.)
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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 […]
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"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 […]
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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 […]
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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.
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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 […]
