Filmmaking

Director Darren Lynn Bousman on Repo! The Genetic Opera

Back in 2004, director Darren Lynn Bousman was taking his violent horror script The Desperate to a number of studios, only to be told it was too grisly for mainstream viewers. Enter Saw creators James Wan and Leigh Whannell, who loved The Desperate and immediately contacted Bousman about reworking the script into a sequel to their Saw franchise. This began a partnership that saw Bousman direct three successful Saw films in a row. Taking a break from the infamous horror series, Bousman returns with a long gestating labor of love: Repo! The Genetic Opera, a futuristic horror musical based on […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Nov 6, 2008 Directing
OBAMA, 181, AND FILM PRODUCTION

Submitted with the caveat that he’s not an expert on tax law, producer Noah Harlan sent the below comment about possible effects of the Obama election on film production incentives. From Harlan: It might be worth noting one of the interesting implications of the election for the film business. The bailout package passed last month included an extension of the section 181 provisions of the federal tax code that allowed investors in qualifying US films to take their investment as an expense against income. For most investors (except those that were full-time film investors) it is specifically against passive income […]

By Scott Macaulay on Nov 6, 2008 Filmmaking
PRINT LIVES… FOR A DAY

Before driving back to New York from Ohio I thought I’d pick up a November 5 Cleveland newspaper for posterity’s sake. It’s something my parents used to do — collect “day of” Washington Posts on all the major election and historical event days. No such luck. Everything was sold out. Oh well, I thought, I’ll just grab a New York Times when I’m back in New York. Again, a strike-out. With declining newspaper circulation recently forboding “the end of print,” November 5th was a one-day counter-cyclical moment. At his Indiewire blog, Eugene Hernandez comments in the form of a video: […]

By Scott Macaulay on Nov 6, 2008 Filmmaking
MORNING AFTER BLOGGING

I’ve been slack on the blogging because I’ve had the good fortune for the past week to have been part of a great group (The Trip2008) campaigning in Ohio for Obama. It was a diverse, smart and charismatic group with quite a few people from the indie film community involved. Among many good things, it was inspiring for me to witness at street-level the Obama campaign’s blend of old-fashioned grass-roots organizing and 21st century internet-driven civic empowerment, and I look forward to carrying some of these thoughts with me in future ponderings about our independent film community. I’ll be more […]

By Scott Macaulay on Nov 5, 2008 Filmmaking
ENJOY FESTIVAL AMBASSADOR

To better cover the festial circuit we’ve created a sidebar in our Festival Coverage section called Festival Ambassador. There you’ll be able to get not only our take on the festivals we attend but news and notes on fests from around the world as well as deadline alerts and video shorts. Up now is Justin Lowe‘s first post from AFI and stay tuned for more to come.

By Jason Guerrasio on Nov 4, 2008 Filmmaking
SPC GETS SOUL POWER

Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they’ve acquired Jeffrey Levy-Hinte‘s doc Soul Power. Having gotten great reviews at this year’s Toronto Film Festival, I had the privileged of seeing the film at a private screening a few weeks ago and if you’re a fan of R&B of the ’70s and documentaries like Michael Wadleigh‘s Woodstock and Leon Gast‘s When We Were Kings (which Levy-Hinte was an editor on and where the Soul Power footage originated from) then go see this movie. Highlighting the music festival to coincide with the Muhammad Ali-George Foreman “Rumble in the Jungle” in Zaire in 1974, […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Nov 4, 2008 Filmmaking
GET YOUR POPCORN READY (EARLY)

Hopefully you went to the polls this morning because according to The New York Times, who has mapped out your whole Election Night here, networks could be jumping the gun to call the race as early as 8pm(!) Eastern time. An excerpt from the piece: A senior vice president of CBS News, Paul Friedman, said the prospects for Barack Obama or John McCain meeting the minimum threshold of electoral votes could be clear as soon as 8 p.m. — before polls in even New York and Rhode Island close, let alone those in Texas and California. At such a moment, […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Nov 4, 2008 Filmmaking
THE FILMMAKER GUIDE TO ASIA ARGENTO

Filmmaker has been a big fan of Asia Argento — as an actress and a director — over the years, and on the occasion of her BAM retrospective, “Sexy, Scary and Often Naked: Asia Argento,” which opens today, I thought I would throw up some links to our coverage of Argento over the years. Back in 2000 Travis Crawford interviewed Asia about her directorial debut, Scarlet Diva, and the article was illustrated by original Richard Kern photos (one of which I’ve included here). In 2005 Crawford interviewed Asia again in 2005 for her second feature, The Heart is Deceitful Above […]

By Scott Macaulay on Nov 1, 2008 Filmmaking
SHORTSNONSTOP AWARDS BAD HEAD DAY

The Canadian Film Centre and SHORTSNONSTOP Mobile Festival announced this week that this quarter’s best short film is Mexican filmmaker Karen Weiss‘s Bad Head Day. Weiss will be awarded a $1500 cash prize. Launched in 2007, SHORTSNONSTOP is in its second year and awards a $1500 cash prize each quarter to the best short film selected by an international jury. Learn more on how to submit your film, here. Next deadline is Jan. 15. Weiss’s Bad Head Day can be found here.

By Jason Guerrasio on Oct 31, 2008 Filmmaking
TOURIN’ WITH RANGELIFE

You may recall Scott’s “Midwestern Rhapsody” post in mid Oct. about Todd Sklar and the other filmmakers who are doing a DIY tour with their film. Here’s another video diary from the guys.

By Jason Guerrasio on Oct 30, 2008 Filmmaking

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