The Sundance Institute has just announced that its executive director, Ken Brecher, has resigned but will continue to play a role with the organization as a strategic advisor. The press release: LOS ANGELES, CA — Wally Weisman, Chair of the Board of the Sundance Institute, today announced the resignation of Ken Brecher, Executive Director of the Institute, effective April 30, 2009. Weisman stated that Ken Brecher had led the Institute for nearly 14 years through a period of significant growth, productivity and global impact. Brecher will assume the role of Strategic Advisor for the Institute for the next two years. […]
The trailer for Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are is so incredibly great that posting this satirical knock-off that just isn’t on the same level of brilliance feels almost sacrilegious. I decided to put it up for a vote to the interns in my office who said… post it. So here then, via AdRants, is an imagining of Jonze directing another children’s classic… Everyone Poops.
According to an email alert from The Incentives Office, the new New York State film and TV credit was approved by the legislature as part of a new budget, which is awaiting signature from Governor Patterson. However, there are notable changes to the way in which the credit will be dispersed. From their email: The $350M is an additional allocation to their state tax credit program which ran out of funding last month, and the percentages (state – 30% and city – 5%) remain the same. The major change is the manner in which the rebates will be paid out. […]
If you are a filmmaker looking for cheap Accutane, or to have your penis enlarged, then, in the last couple of weeks, our message board has been for you. If you are anyone else, it has been rendered unusable by an automated spambot attack that has filled up every category with horrible junk. Accordingly, we’ve disabled posting on the site and are embarking on revamp that will involve upgraded software to prevent this from happening in the future. We will also have more coherent and useful forum headers and we’ll be more actively moderating the boards. First, though, we will […]
Andy Bouve — up 600% on iMDB’s Star Meter! — directed this satirical take on today’s Web 2.0 business models. As a recent Twitter convert, I did get a kick out this video’s send up of the different assumptions regarding business models and consumer behavior that are dominating the internet world right now.
Here’s the last of our guest blogs from Sundance Lab-supported filmmaker Gayle Ferraro, who blogged from the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship. Back in NYC Reflecting while recovering from jet-lag – it was quite the trip. It was extremely full and Sundance took wonderful care of us filmmakers. Now sitting in one place to review the collection of business cards I gathered and process some of what went on I realized what an unusual event it was for filmmakers and social entrepreneurs to come together that way and share. Surely, the dedication of the social entrepreneurs was matched by […]
A condolence register has been established for Wouter Barendrecht, who passed away suddenly this past weekend. You can post your thoughts and memories of Wouter, who was a real force in international cinema, and you can also find details about a newly formed Wouter Barendrecht Film Foundation. Here is the statement found on the page: To honour Wouter’s memory, a foundation has been established today, the goal of which will be to discover and support new filmmaking talent around the globe. While Wouter loved flowers, we would ask that if you want to honour him, a contribution to the Wouter […]
I was stunned to receive a call from a friend this afternoon telling me that Wouter Barendrecht, co-chairman of the top arthouse international sales and production company Fortissimo Films, died suddenly this weekend in Bangkok. Wouter has been a bedrock of international art film distribution as long as I have been in the film business. His exquisite taste, championing of auteurs new and established, business savvy, uncanny networking ability and indefatigable good cheer at the festivals he seemed to effortlessly navigate were all things anyone who worked in world cinema strived to emulate. This is a devastating loss, for both […]
With Adventureland hitting theaters today, here’s a reminder that Nick Dawson’s interview with director Greg Mottola is up now on our home page and in our Winter, 2009 issue, which leaves newsstands in about a week. Here’s an excerpt: Filmmaker: The main character is very sexually inexperienced, and in a way this is almost like The 40-Year-Old Virgin except that, unlike Judd Apatow‘s movie, James being a virgin is something we sympathize with rather than make fun of. Motolla: It was a somewhat different time 20 years ago, obviously, but there was a lot of discussion about whether to keep […]
Atonement director Joe Wright and star Keira Knightley have teamed to create a powerful ad attacking domestic violence that will premiere in U.K. theaters April 6. The film, entitled Cut, was produced by the British charity Women’s Aid and is part of a new U.K. domestic violence awareness campaign. As The Guardian reports, the agency that produced the clip, Grey London, is still negotiating with British broadcasters over inclusion of the film’s violent content. Commented Knightley: “I wanted to take part in this advert for Women’s Aid because while domestic violence exists in every section of society we rarely hear […]