Filmmaking

SUNDANCE ANNOUNCES PROJECTS FOR THE JUNE DIRECTORS AND SCREENWRITERS LABS

The Sundance Institute has announced 12 projects for its annual June Directors and Screenwriters Labs, which take place at the Sundance Resort in Utah from June 2- 26. Congrats to all the directors and writers, including the two on the list — Benh Zeitlin and Andrew Okpeaha MacLean, who appeared on our 2008 “25 New Faces” list. From the press release: Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute today announced the 12 projects selected for its annual June Directors and Screenwriters Labs, taking place at the Sundance Resort in Utah from June 2-26, 2009. Under the leadership of Michelle Satter, Director […]

By Scott Macaulay on Apr 28, 2009 Filmmaking
KATIE HOLMES HOSTS IFP SPRING EVENT

It was a really nice evening last night at the new Cooper Square Hotel where actress Katie Holmes hosted an IFP 30th Anniversary Spring Event. The event was co-chaired by producer Hunter Gray (Memorial Day, Zero Bridge, Momma’s Man, Half Nelson, pictured at right) and producer Anthony Bregman (Synecdoche, New York, Sleep Dealer, Friends with Money, and Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini’s upcoming The Extra Man, which stars Holmes, pictured at left). In his remarks, Bregman talked about Holmes’s long history with independent and specialty films, including roles in The Ice Storm, Go, Thank You for Smoking and Pieces […]

By Scott Macaulay on Apr 27, 2009 Filmmaking
IFP ANNOUNCES ENVISION, COLLABORATION WITH THE U.N.

The IFP is announcing today Envision, a two-day forum jointly produced by the IFP and the U.N. in which film and both live and virtual discussion will be used to address significant global issues. There will be 12 screenings, presentations and panel discussions, according to the press release, “rooted in the UN’s Millennium Development Goals.” The release goes on to say, “In our debut year, there will be a special focus on the MDG’s impact on women. The UN’s Millennium Development Goals are to: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce […]

By Scott Macaulay on Apr 27, 2009 Filmmaking
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEARN ABOUT IN FILMMAKER?

In the current issue of Filmmaker we feature the last of Bomb It director Jon Reiss’s fantastic three-part series on DIY distribution. In part one he outlined an alternative vision of DIY theatrical distribution; in part two he discusses DIY DVD distribution; and in part three in the current issue he discusses DIY web marketing. This third part will most likely be Jon’s last in the series — he’s writing a book about all of this that should be out later in the year — and I’m curious what practical articles you, our readers, would like to read about next. […]

By Scott Macaulay on Apr 26, 2009 Filmmaking
THE UNKINDEST CUT

I’ve been meaning to blog about this interview with director Ti West by Karina Longworth over at Spout for a couple of days now. (I missed it when I first posted but caught up with it through Karina’s Twitter feed when she tweeted that after the interview director West was forbidden from doing press.) You should check out the piece, but, in a nutshell, West alleges that the version of his new The House of the Devil, screening this week at Tribeca, is “not my version,” and that the financiers, Dark Sky Films, excised a four-minute scene in order to […]

By Scott Macaulay on Apr 25, 2009 Filmmaking
INTRUSIVE ELEGANCE

At Filmmakermagazine.com, we just put up our first skyscraper ad, so we are inching out of the Dark Ages when it comes to internet advertising. Intrusive advertising is the rage now, but not the intrusive advertising of old in which window after window would take over your screen. Today’s advertisers are savvier and more creative. Take this Honda ad for its new hybrid vehicle which morphs its Vimeo page into a beautiful light show in the desert. I’m embedding the making of here, but to get the full effect go to the link above. Honda Insight – The Making of […]

By Scott Macaulay on Apr 25, 2009 Filmmaking
BRONSTEIN AND SAFDIE, STATESIDE AND ABROAD

Earlier I posted about the screenings of Ronnie Bronstein’s Frownland and Josh Safdie’s The Pleasure of Being Robbed this weekend in Los Angeles. As Brandon Harris noted in a blog post below, Josh Safdie and his brother Benny are premiering their new title, Go Get Some Rosemary, at Director’s Fortnight in Cannes this year. That film stars Frownland‘s director, Bronstein. So, seeing their two films back to back this weekend is something of a stateside prep for their appearance along the Croissette. Filmmaker contributor Mike Plante has just interviewed Bronstein over at his CineMad blog. Below, he talks about working […]

By Scott Macaulay on Apr 24, 2009 Filmmaking
TRIBECA QUICK TAKE: GUY AND MADELINE ON A PARK BENCH

Walk in a few minutes late and you’ll miss the set-up and most of the actual plot of Damien Chazelle’s lovely debut feature, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench. Guy’s a young, handsome, somewhat taciturn jazz musician who seems to move from one short-lived romantic encounter to another while saving his real passion for his trumpet. Madeline is a pretty, shy, somewhat directionless young woman who meets Guy, is affected by him and his music, and then is abruptly cut loose as Guy’s eye wanders. And yes, that’s all in the first few minutes and told mostly without dialogue. […]

By Scott Macaulay on Apr 23, 2009 Filmmaking
NATALIE PORTMAN CHAT @ APPLE STORE

As part of the Apple Store’s Meet The Filmmakers series during the Tribeca Film Festival, I’ll be sitting down with Natalie Portman and business partner Christine Alyward tomorrow @ 3:30 to talk about their website, MakingOf. They’ve been hush-hush about it, so all I can really say is what’s been posted by Apple, “a site that promises to transform the way people view, enjoy, and participate in entertainment.” Having seen the site I can tell you it’s certainly something aspiring filmmakers should take note of. So if you’re in SoHo (103 Prince St.) tomorrow come by and check it out.

By Jason Guerrasio on Apr 23, 2009 Filmmaking
CANNES ’09 LINE UP ANNOUNCED

The 2009 Cannes Film Festival lineup was announced in Paris today. Opening the fest will be Pixar’s latest, Up. Notable titles in competition for the Palme d’Or include Lars Von Trier’s Antichrist, Gasper Noe’s Enter The Void, Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds, Ken Loach’s Looking For Eric, Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock and Michael Heneke’s The White Ribbon. Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Sam Raimi’s Drag Me To Hell and Lee Daniels’s Sundance winning film Precious (formerly titled Push) will screen out of competition. The full line up is below. Competition Line Up Abrazos Rotos (Broken Embraces), directed by Pedro […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Apr 23, 2009 Filmmaking

Cookie	Duration	Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional	11 months	The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy	11 months	The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.

Cookie	Duration	Description
cfmrk_cic		Used by Cloudflare to route user traffic for this Site.
sparrow_id		Installed by Cloudflare. Used to identify individual clients behind a shared IP address and apply security settings on a per-client basis. It does not store any personal identifiable information.

Cookie	Duration	Description
OAGEO		Installed by the Revive Ad Server. Used to cache geolocation (session, deleted when closing the browser)
OAID		Installed by the Revive Ad Server to distinguish users.