Filmmaking

STEVEN BACH, R.I.P.

William Grimes in the New York Times reports that Steven Bach, former U.A. studio executive and author of Final Cut: Dreams and Disaster in the Making of Heaven’s Gate has died of cancer at the age of 70. As an exec he was associated with such films as Annie Hall, Cutter and Bone, and True Confessions, but he is perhaps best remembered for Final Cut. Says critic David Thomson in the Times obit: “It is the best book ever written about the making of a movie. It gives you an understanding of the battles, the egos, and how a film […]

By Scott Macaulay on Mar 29, 2009 Filmmaking
IS TWITTER PUBLIC OR PRIVATE SPEECH?

Mark Cuban asks on his blog the question, “Are Tweets Copyrighted?” Wondering whether republishing a tweet violates copyright law, Cuban puts a legal spin on something that I wondered when I joined the service recently. In fact, the first day I was on I tweeted (?) the following: “Wondering: is Twitter quotable outside the Twitterverse? Or is that bad nettiquette?” The response I got was that tweets are public speech and yes, people can quote them. Funnily, this made sense to me even though I do think copyright law generally prevents people from quoting in full. In other words, I […]

By Scott Macaulay on Mar 29, 2009 Filmmaking
DO YOU PAY BY THE WORD?

At GreenCine Aaron Hillis spies a freelance opportunity for some kind of film critic and relays this ad on Craigslist: Hi, We just finished a film and need to buy a one sentence quote from someone who calls himself a film critic. Thanks. Hillis writes: Now, in my relatively brief tenure as a full-time journalist, I’ve had my share of unprofessional favors asked of me, including one that permanently estranged a years-long camaraderie because I refused to watch a friend-of-a-friend’s movie with the explicit purpose of giving a pullquote for their forthcoming DVD. Yet while I laugh at the above […]

By Scott Macaulay on Mar 29, 2009 Filmmaking
THE SKOLL WORLD FORUM ON SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP, DAY THREE

Here’s the third of our guest blogs from Sundance Lab-supported filmmaker Gayle Ferraro, who is blogging from the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship. Day 3 No sleeping in after the late night, this is the last day and a short day at the forum so we have to get moving. The morning sessions were again a great offering. I opted for one called “We are the government and we are here to help,” which had a funny ring to it even though I had no real idea what it would be about. At the session, Barry Coleman from Riders […]

By Scott Macaulay on Mar 28, 2009 Filmmaking
IFP NARRATIVE LAB DEADLINE APPROACHING

Just a quick note to let the filmmakers in our readership know that the IFP Narrative Lab, which I am leading along with Gretchen McGowan, has a deadline of April 17. The lab is a five-day intensive series of workshops, roundtables and presentations for filmmakers whose works are at the rough cut stage and who are seeking guidance about editing and reaching picture lock, sound design, festival strategy, distribution and legal issues, and DIY releasing strategies. It takes place in New York June 8 – 12. A number of past participants have blogged about their experience over at The Workbook […]

By Scott Macaulay on Mar 28, 2009 Filmmaking
FAIL FORWARD FAST

I previously blogged Clay Shirkey’s “Newspaper and Thinking the Unthinkable”, which is an essential article about the media business in this time of transition. Via Keeyool.com I just came across this short interview with Shirkey that is also tremendously thought provoking not just for media outlets and companies but for anyone in the content business. Key quotes: “The transition is going to go to the people who have the lowest cost of experimentation for the highest value.” “Digital lowers the cost of failure.” “The heightened ability to experiment means that you have to embrace the idea that instead of reducing […]

By Scott Macaulay on Mar 28, 2009 Filmmaking
THE WORLD’S MOST BAFFLING MOVIE TRAILER

Thanks to Jamie Stuart for the heads up about the trailer for After Last Season, which is in the early stages of going viral by virtue of its genuine oddness. Michael Tully at his Indiewire blog writes, “It’s like Todd Haynes lost his mind after Safe and was hired to direct a series of cable access sci-fi infomercials,” while David Lowery writes, “I’ve watched the trailer about ten times now, and have yet to tire of it. It is so beyond logic in its construction that it essentially reinvents itself anew upon each viewing.” In addition to being featured on […]

By Scott Macaulay on Mar 27, 2009 Filmmaking
THE SKOLL WORLD FORUM ON SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP, DAY TWO

Here’s the second of our guest blogs from Sundance Lab-supported filmmaker Gayle Ferraro, who is blogging from the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship. Day 2 The days keep getting better and I am feeling like I have known my fellow filmmakers and the Sundance folks for a long time. It is funny how that happens before you know it. We filmmakers all have code names, an affectionate shorthand, for the people we have all spoken with — the rat guy, the French guy with the cell phones, the water guys…. For the first part of the day I was […]

By Scott Macaulay on Mar 27, 2009 Filmmaking
THE SKOLL WORLD FORUM ON SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP, DAY ONE

Here’s the second of our guest blogs from Sundance Lab-supported filmmaker Gayle Ferraro, who is blogging from the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship. Day 1The first day was amazing. Our opening Sundance filmmaker Meet and Greet session, which was more like a panel presentation, went very well; it was a great opportunity to learn about my fellow filmmakers and find out where their game is at. Sundance really picked a seasoned group of wonderful people with Joe Berlinger, who talked about Crude; Robert Kenner, who just premiered Food, Inc.; Greg Barker, who talked about his latest, Sergio; and Jon […]

By Scott Macaulay on Mar 26, 2009 Filmmaking
THE INVASION OF BAGHDAD, FIVE YEARS LATER…

We are still putting up our SXSW features, and the latest to go up on our SXSW page is Alicia Van Couvering’s interview with Kristian Fraga and Mike Scotti of the Iraq war doc Severe Clear. Fraga is the director and editor, and Scotti is both subject and cameraman as the film follows him and his fellow soldiers of the 1st Batallion, 4th Marines as the 2003 invasion of Baghdad begins. Writes Van Couvering: We first meet Mike and his unit in a desert camp, where they drink too much, curse too much, make gay jokes and fart jokes, shoot […]

By Scott Macaulay on Mar 25, 2009 Filmmaking

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