Filmmaking

FILM TAX BREAKS INCLUDED IN BAIL-OUT BILL

Nikki Finke points to this Los Angeles Times piece that reveals that pro-movie biz breaks are included in the bail-out bill that just passed the Senate and which is headed for the house. Specifically, the bill extends the film production cost deduction included in the 2004 Jobs Creation Act to December, 2009, and it lifts the budget cap on eligible films. Now, instead of being limited to films budgeted at up to $15 million, the deduction is capped at $15 million for any single film no matter what the budget.

By Scott Macaulay on Oct 2, 2008 Filmmaking
APPLE: TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY…

The Fortune article entitled “Digital Music Showdown” is linked all over the web today as it contains a seemingly bombshell-like piece of news: that Apple is threatening to shutter the iTunes music store over the Copyright Royalty Board in Washington, D.C.’s proposal to increase the royalty rates for digitally-sold music by six cents a song. The story is grabber, and it grabbed me — I playfully lifted a page from Keith Olberman to protest what I called Apple’s “preposterous piece of brinksmanship.” Of course, the devil is always in the details, and as a number of posters to the original […]

By Scott Macaulay on Oct 2, 2008 Filmmaking
APPLE… WORST COMPANY IN THE WORLD!!!

I’ll steal a page from Keith Olberman as I link to this CNN article on Apple’s threat to shut down its iTunes movie store over a dispute over artist royalty rates. From the piece by Devin Leonard: The Copyright Royalty Board in Washington, D.C. is expected to rule Thursday on a request by the National Music Publishers’ Association to increase royalty rates paid to its members on songs purchased from online music stores like iTunes. The publishers association wants rates raised from 9 cents to 15 cents a track – a 66% hike. Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) declined to discuss […]

By Scott Macaulay on Oct 1, 2008 Filmmaking
TRUST NO ONE

The plot thickens in Jamie Stuart‘s second episode, NYFF6 Part 2, from the New York Film Festival. In this short, Jamie finds his contact at the festival, sits in on the Steven Soderbergh press conference and rescues a woman being harassed in a dark alley with some slick Bourne Identity moves. Tune in next week for Part 3.

By Jason Guerrasio on Sep 30, 2008 Filmmaking
QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Examining the record of past research from the vantage of contemporary historiography, the historian of science may be tempted to exclaim that when paradigms change, the world itself changes with them. Led by a new paradigm, scientists adopt new instruments and look in new places. Even more important, during revolutions scientists see new and different things when looking with familiar instruments in places they have looked before. It is rather as if the professional community had been suddenly transported to another planet where familiar objects are seen in a different light and are joined by unfamiliar ones as well. Of […]

By Scott Macaulay on Sep 29, 2008 Filmmaking
TED HOPE ON A TRULY FREE FILM CULTURE

Over on our Web Exclusives page I’ve posted Ted Hope’s just-concluded keynote address at the Film Independent Filmmaker Forum. Please read at this link and post comments if you have them. Here’s how he opens: I can’t talk about the “crisis” of the indie film industry. There is no crisis. The country is in crisis. The economy is in crisis. We, the filmmakers, aren’t in crisis. The business is changing, but for us –us who are called Indie Filmmakers — that’s good that the business is changing. Filmmaking is an incredible privilidge and we need to accept it as such […]

By Scott Macaulay on Sep 27, 2008 Filmmaking
PAUL NEWMAN, R.I.P.

With so many great performances to choose from, I’m selecting this late-career classic: The Verdict, written by David Mamet and directed by Sidney Lumet.

By Scott Macaulay on Sep 27, 2008 Filmmaking
DECONSTRUCTING THE POLITICAL AD…

… or, what you hear in the political ad.

By Scott Macaulay on Sep 26, 2008 Filmmaking
BUSH’S DARK NIGHT

Here’s mash-up commentary on last night’s Bush speech titled “The Dark Bailout.” Nolan’s The Dark Knight continues to resonate. Hat tip: Hollywood Elsewhere. Source: Matthew Belinkie at Overthinking It.

By Scott Macaulay on Sep 25, 2008 Filmmaking
SILENT LIGHT OPENS IN NEW YORK

I completely missed notice that Carlos Reygados’s third feature, Silent Light, is opening today in New York. I think this film is a flat-out masterpiece, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. Manohla Dargis writes about the film in today’s New York Times. An excerpt: I’ve seen Silent Light three times — it had its premiere at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival — and find it more pleasurable and touching with each viewing. After having wowed and appalled international audiences with bravura technique in his first feature, Japón (2002), and assaultive provocations in his second, Battle in Heaven (2005), which […]

By Scott Macaulay on Sep 23, 2008 Filmmaking

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