Filmmaking

SOFT VOICES

For all the talk this past week about mumblecore — what it is and how these films are similar — it should also be noted how different the aesthetics of its various directors are. A case in point is this week’s opening at the IFC Center, Quiet City, directed by Aaron Katz, which boasts some of the trademarks of the genre — 20-something protagonists, a focus on transitory lifestates, relationship issues, an extreme naturalism — but which also has its own very distinct sensibility that’s quite different from some of the genre’s other filmmakers. As its title suggests, the film […]

By Scott Macaulay on Aug 29, 2007 Filmmaking
SHIT HAPPENS

Police Beat writer Charles Mudede pens a curious ode to Stanley Kubrick in Seattle’s The Stranger. After opening by saying that Kubrick’s contempt for mankind was “deep,” he moves on to a fuller explication of his worldview: “I’m in a world of shit,” says Private Joker at the end of Kubrick’s unremittingly dark Vietnam War film, Full Metal Jacket. That is what Kubrick has to say about the state of everything: The world is shit, humans are shit in shit, life is worth shit, and there is nothing else that can be done about the situation. In Kubrick’s movies, progress, […]

By Scott Macaulay on Aug 25, 2007 Filmmaking
WHAT WOULD THE COMMUNITY THINK?

Over at his blog, filmmaker A. J. Schnack thinks about the whole mumblecore thing with tons of links to all of this week’s NYC press coverage and more (including the filmmaker’s own piece on Swanberg and DIY distribution in February, 2006). Schnack, a doc maker, considers the phenomenon and takes the right lessons away from it: And perhaps the biggest thing that we should learn from these filmmakers is that we can and should work together. And I mean that literally. Although the doc community is a pretty tight-knit bunch, we should continue to find ways of collaboration, on screen […]

By Scott Macaulay on Aug 24, 2007 Filmmaking
WE ARE CURIOUS… AND YELLOW

Our friends at MySpace have just launched their new Film page. It’s wider, with more features and info, and Filmmaker has even more real estate on it. And over on the Filmmaker MySpace site, we’ve changed our color scheme, away from our undeniably impressive but eye-straining backdrop of past covers to a stylish yellow/orange. The MySpace site will have more on it in the days ahead, but, for now, here’s something I found: a clip from Lynch, the doc on David Lynch Nick Dawson wrote about in a posting below.

By Scott Macaulay on Aug 24, 2007 Filmmaking
WELCOME TO THE BLOGOSPHERE, MIKE!

Filmmaker‘s former Managing Editor, Mike Jones, who is also a working screenwriter and director, has been tapped by Variety to head their new film festival blog and online section. Welcome, Mike, to the blogosphere and look forward to seeing you on the fest circuit this fall!

By Scott Macaulay on Aug 22, 2007 Filmmaking
I’M NOT THERE RELEASE DATE AND TRAILER

I’ll admit that it initially seemed a little weird when news broke that Todd Haynes’s I’m Not There would be opening on two screens at the Film Forum and also at Lincoln Plaza in late November. Decently budgeted (reportedly $13.5 million) and starring Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger, Richard Gere and others, it hardly, as this piece by John Anderson in The New York Times points out, seems a likely candidate for a small arthouse opening. But, it is a Todd Haynes film and the Film Forum is a great venue that carries cultural weight. I think, then, in the end […]

By Scott Macaulay on Aug 21, 2007 Filmmaking
SUPERBAD’s GREG MOTTOLA SPEAKS

If you’re not in the habit of regularly checking out the main page, head over there now for this interview by Nick Dawson of Superbad director Greg Mottola. His debut feature, Daytrippers, was a great no-budget indie, and now, years later, he’s having a spectacular second act with the number one movie in America (and a smaller indie film just about to shoot). While you’re there, click on the RSS feed so all of Dawson’s interviews are sent directly to your feed reader. A brief excerpt: Filmmaker: You worked closely with Judd on Undeclared, but at what stage did he […]

By Scott Macaulay on Aug 20, 2007 Filmmaking
DENTLER INTERVIEWS HANNAH TAKES THE STAIRS DIRECTOR SWANBERG

Matt Dentler came up with a great concept to help get the word out about Joe Swanberg’s Hannah Takes the Stairs, which begins a theatrical run Wednesday, August 22 at New York’s IFC Center. He’s done interviews with Swanberg and the film’s other principal collaborators and parceled them out to a number of different film bloggers. Here’s the Filmmaker segment, and thanks, Matt, for including us. JOE SWANBERG INTERVIEWED BY MATT DENTLER On the eve of the theatrical debut of Joe Swanberg’s SXSW 2007 hit, Hannah Takes the Stairs, I wanted to check in with each of the film’s principal […]

By Scott Macaulay on Aug 17, 2007 Filmmaking
IFP DOC ROUGH CUT LAB CALL FOR ENTRY

IFP Documentary Rough Cut Lab – November 6 – 9, 2007, NYC The IFP Documentary Rough Cut Lab is a national program connecting mentors and projects before they are submitted to festivals. The Lab aims to identify 10 high quality independently produced documentaries each year that can benefit from the support and expertise of experienced film professionals. The key creative teams of these projects receive feedback from a range of professionals in editing, scoring, post delivery, outreach, marketing and publicity, sales representation and festival strategy. The 2007 Documentary Lab Leaders: the documentary production team of Arts Engine, Inc.: (Election Day, […]

By Scott Macaulay on Aug 17, 2007 Filmmaking
IS THE BARTENDER HERE?

Over at Movie City Indie, Ray Pride posts a long interview with Tim Kinsella, a musician with dozens of albums under his belt who is turning to filmmaking using the same DIY energy he previously applied to the recording business. His debut feature, Orchard Vale, premiered at the Chicago Underground festival yesterday. Two excerpts: RAY PRIDE: Is the disintegration of the music industry because of evolving technology one of the reasons you decided to explore filmmaking? TIM KINSELLA: I don’t get the impression it was ever very easy to make a living as a musician. By the late nineties, I […]

By Scott Macaulay on Aug 16, 2007 Filmmaking

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