Filmmaking

LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST AXIUM

The Axium saga continues, now appearing that Defamer’s headline, “Axuim: The Enron of the Payroll Services World,” was less of an overstatement than it initially appeared. (Props to Defamer for continuing to cover a story that has resulted in hardship for thousands of entertainment industry employees and which has been relatively underplayed by the trades.) Axium’s financier, Golden Tree Asset Management, has filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit in California court against Axium principals John Visconti and Ronald Garber; their subsidiary companies, and their wives and ex-wives. I will try to have the full PDF of the lawsuit posted for your […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 17, 2008 Filmmaking
MANN ON WIRE

Seith Mann’s short film five deep breaths is one of the best we’ve seen in recent years, and it got the New York filmmaker selected to our 25 New Faces list — in 2003. And now that Mann has made a name for himself directing episodes of HBO’s hit The Wire, his short has surfaced again, this time via Bilge Ebiri at New York Magazine. Click here to both read about and see the film. Here’s Ebiri on Mann and his work: The tale of two friends who get in too deep when they decide to help out a battered […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 14, 2008 Filmmaking
WINTER ISSUE AND SUNDANCE AROUND THE CORNER

For those who just read the blog, check out the main page all this week as we’ll be highlighting the responses we got from many of the filmmakers with features at this year’s Sundance Film Festival as they answer the question: if you had 10 percent more of anything, what would it be and why? The responses are also in our Winter issue, which will premiere at Sundance (hits newsstands a week later) and also includes interviews with Paul Thomas Anderson on There Will Be Blood, Alex Gibney talks about his latest doc Taxi To The Dark Side and author […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Jan 14, 2008 Filmmaking
STRANGER IN A STRANGE AWARDS CEREMONY

With the Golden Globes having seemed to have been beamed in from some alternate universe, the timing is right for Jamie Stuart’s latest short, in which a friendly space alien tries to grok that red-carpeted human ritual known as the awards show.

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 14, 2008 Filmmaking
WEEKEND BLOG ROUND-UP

Here are some posts that have caught my eye this week. Jon Taplin, probably the only professor at the Annenberg School for Communication who can also lay claim to producing one of the seminal films of the ’70s (Mean Streets), has a great blog that mixes his commentary on politics, economics and the film business. (Hat tip: Ted Hope.) The former Dylan tour manager and Merrill Lynch v.p. has written a two-parter entitled “Memo to Hollywood: Stop Making Movies.” He compares Hollywood’s battle for market share to players locked in the classic example of game theory, The Prisoner’s Dilemma. From […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 13, 2008 Filmmaking
NOTHING BUT ‘NET

Joseph Menn has written an article for the Los Angeles Times demonstrating that the hype about new internet content start-ups during the WGA strike is more than just talk. From the piece: At least three start-ups, each with a different business approach, are unveiling their corporate monikers and the names of their founders as they intensify the search for venture capital and top management. With names such as Hollywood Disrupted and Virtual Artists Inc., these new ventures have lured investors such as the Oscar-winning writer of “Rain Man” and the Emmy-winning scribe behind “Homicide,” along with prominent software developers and […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 13, 2008 Filmmaking
THE HERMENEUTICS OF THE MYSTERY BOX

Lost creator and Cloverfield producer J.J. Abrams spoke at the TED conference about his creative process, which he symbolizes at one point by displaying a “mystery box” from New York’s Tannen’s Magic. Last April Abrams spoke to the New York Times about the “mystery box” and described it thusly: Prized possession: I have a mystery box from Tannen’s Magic in New York. It’s a cardboard box with a question mark printed on it. It’s one of those things you buy for $15 and they advertise that it has at least $20 worth of stuff inside. I’ve never opened it. I […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 10, 2008 Filmmaking
AXIUM FUNDS: ‘NOT IN THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE"

The Los Angeles Times has a good follow-up to the Axium story today that spells out the ramifications of the company’s closure on those who have payroll funds deposited there. From the piece: “It’s a mess,” said writer-producer Jody Savin, who with her writer-director husband, Randall Miller, had “tens of thousands” of dollars frozen in an Axium payroll account for their upcoming feature film, “Bottle Shock.” Still, they consider themselves better off than some other Axium clients who were required to deposit a percentage of payroll amounts to be processed by the Los Angeles company. “We have a friend who […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 10, 2008 Filmmaking
SIGHTS SKYWARD

Filmmaker Lance Weiler, whose Workbook Project has, in a short while, become an indispensable source of information on independent film production and marketing, is launching a new event that employs his expertise in online distribution to help emerging filmmakers. Entitled “From Here to Awesome,” it is a multi-exhibition-platform film festival created in collaboration with two other filmmakers well known to the Filmmaker audience: Arin Crumley and M dot Strange. Here is more information about the festival from the press release, and look forward to news of its progress on the blog in coming weeks. NEW DISCOVERY AND DISTRIBUTION FESTIVAL “FROM […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 10, 2008 Filmmaking
THE AXIUM PAYROLL STORY UNFOLDS…

In my initial post on the sudden bankruptcy filing of Axium Payroll Services, I commented on the potentially huge effect it would have on independent films currently in production and using Axium for their payroll. Typically, a small film will have posted some kind of payroll bond or advance that payroll monies are being drawn down against. Now, news is coming in from the production community about all of this. I received this email from NYC production accountant Joe Lombardi, currently working on a production affected by Axium’s shutdown, which I am reprinting with his permission: I have to say […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 9, 2008 Filmmaking

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