Filmmaking

2007 GOTHAM AWARDS NOMINEES ANNOUNCED

IFP‘s 17th annual Gotham Awards nominees were announced this morning. Among the hopefuls are some of the most talked about films of the year, many of which are certain to find more recognition as awards season builds. Highlights include Craig Zobel (one of our “25 New Faces of Independent Film” this year) receiving three nominations for his debut Great World of Sound (Best Feature, Breakthrough Director and Breakthrough Actor for Kene Holliday); a strong list of noms for Best Doc that includes The Devil Came on Horseback and Sicko; and some worthy performances are vying for the Best Ensemble Cast, […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Oct 22, 2007 Filmmaking
HEARTS OF DARKNESS REDUX

I walked into the Filmmaker office yesterday and Ben Crossley-Marra and Jason Guerrasio were bent over a computer monitor, excited to come across the news that Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper and Eleanor Coppola’s documentary Hearts of Darkness is set for a DVD release from Paramount Home Entertainment. As our post didn’t include the studio and director Hickenlooper is a friend of Jeff Wells and a regular poster at Hollywood Elsewhere, Wells posted a skeptical post about the release, wondering why he hadn’t heard it about from George first. Hickenlooper posts in the comments thread below Wells’s piece the news that […]

By Scott Macaulay on Oct 19, 2007 Filmmaking
DOLL PARTS

I’m Not There director Todd Haynes couldn’t be at the Northwest Film Center in Portland for a retrospective screening of his classic film Safe, so he sent the film’s heroine, Carol White, instead. (Hat tip: Film Experience blog.) And here is the trailer for the actual movie:

By Scott Macaulay on Oct 19, 2007 Filmmaking
WILL FILM FOR FOOD

Ed M. Koziarski in the Chicago Reader posts a piece about mumblecore auteur Joe Swanberg in the months following his breakthrough film Hannah Takes the Stairs. He goes with the hook of Swanberg still struggling financially despite his mini-stardom (“It hasn’t changed my life at all,” Swanberg says. “I’m still sitting in Chicago wondering how I’m going to buy groceries. I’m not getting phone calls from agents or studios saying, ‘What are you up to?’”), but there are other observations in the piece worth noting. Like this one: Hannah Takes the Stairs grossed a respectable $6,000 on one screen its […]

By Scott Macaulay on Oct 18, 2007 Filmmaking
STRIKE TO THE DEATH!

As the Wall Street Journal pointed out recently, if you want to know what’s going on with the possible Writers Guild of America strike, check out The Artful Writer, the blog published by screenwriters Craig Mazin (Scary Movie 3) and Ted Elliott (Shrek). It’s a great blog with information for writers not just on the strike but also on copyright law, the WGA Minimum Basic Agreement, and lot of other news and info. And it’s most likely seen its traffic spike as the October 30 strike deadline looms. Mazin has been posting a blow-by-blow of the negotiations that’s relatively even-handed. […]

By Scott Macaulay on Oct 15, 2007 Filmmaking
Feeding Frency

From commercial crab fishing in Alaska, to learning how to become a filmmaker in Peru, Aaron Woolf’s worldly experience makes him an ideal documentarian for PBS. His previous films — Dying to Leave: The Human Face of Global Trafficking, Greener Grass Cuba and Baseball and the United States — all aired on public television, but Woolf is proud to have his latest film, King Corn, get theatrical distribution. “I never wanted to be anything,” Woolf says. “I only knew things I wanted to accomplish in my life. I wanted to build a house, drive cross-country, run for office, shoot a […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Oct 15, 2007 Directing
NYFF.45 #3

Head over to Filmmaker Videos to check out the latest NYFF short by Jamie Stuart, starring Todd Haynes.

By Jason Guerrasio on Oct 15, 2007 Filmmaking
A DOCUMENTARY CHORUS

Josh Welsh over at Film Independent forwarded me this info about a cool new documentary project that’s unfolding on YouTube. Two filmmakers, Eric Byler and Annabel Park, are making a film about the politics of immigration in Northern Virginia. They are posting short clips of their film on a channel they have set up on the site and are soliciting viewer feedback about the future direction of the project. “We will respond to viewer feedback, including requests for more coverage on certain storylines, contextual clarifications, and even perhaps on-site production excursions,” the filmmakers write on their YouTube page. Here’s a […]

By Scott Macaulay on Oct 13, 2007 Filmmaking
THE ONION TAKES ON INDIE FILM

An independent filmmaker in post on his new feature forwarded me this link to the satirical weekly The Onion and this story: “Independent Film Made by Dependent 27-Year-Old.” “Hit a little too close to home on this one,” he wrote in his email. Here’s the lede: Independent filmmaker Craig Rivers, still financially dependent on his parents at 27, announced Monday the completion of his feature-length debut, the locally produced, parentally financed Far Above The Jiffy Lube, The Stars Of Phoenix Shine. Shot on a tight budget of $75,000 of Marv and Elaine Rivers’ money, the film chronicles the lives and […]

By Scott Macaulay on Oct 11, 2007 Filmmaking
THE PEN IS MIGHTY

In the upcoming Fall issue of Filmmaker (which is literally at the printers as I type this), Anthony Kaufman investigates the constant struggles documentary filmmakers are going through to qualify for the Oscars. Well, unbeknownst to Anthony, and us, the Academy was in the process of revising the guidelines, remedying the filmmakers’ criticisms. Read Anthony’s thoughts on his blog about the newest development in this ongoing saga.

By Jason Guerrasio on Oct 9, 2007 Filmmaking

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