Filmmaking

STRIKING OUT

Jamie Stuart emailed a question about the upcoming writer’s strike, wondering whether it will provide opportunities for independents looking for both work and to expand the boundaries of network programming. He wrote: Since the last TV strike (or was it threatened strike?) brought about reality TV, what’s the probability that the studios and networks will simply dive into the pool of cheap online talent to fill out their rosters? I dunno… discuss.

By Scott Macaulay on Jul 12, 2007 Filmmaking
MUST SEE TV

If you missed it, below is Michael Moore’s outraged appearance on Wolf Blitzer’s CNN show. After watching, check out Moore’s web site for his rejoinder to the report by Dr. Sanjay Gupta on Sicko that CNN preceded Moore’s appearance with.

By Scott Macaulay on Jul 12, 2007 Filmmaking
YOU’RE NO DUMMY

BoingBoing documents an eccentric patent war in this post about two companies facing off over the right to rent inflatable dummies for movie crowd scenes. It starts with this story on CNN by Elizabeth Wright: You’ve seen them in Million-Dollar Baby, Be Cool, and Ocean’s 13: stands crammed with spectators cheering for the hero. But in the movies, sometimes not even the extras are real. To cut costs, filmmakers dress up inflatable vinyl torsos to intersperse among real people in crowd scenes. Now the two startups in the market are squaring off in court. Crowd in a Box (crowdinabox.com), which […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jul 11, 2007 Filmmaking
WHAT THE BOYS DO

Mary Pols has assembled some good directors who have offered some great quotes in her piece entitled “They’re Women, Directors and Few.” It’s another piece on why there are so few working female directors in Hollywood, and Pols has brought together indies like Hilary Brougher and Nicole Holofcener with studio vets like Mimi Leder to discuss why. She also talks with Kasi Lemmons, whose Talk to Me (pictured) opens this week. Here’s a section in which Sherrybaby director Laurie Collyer talks about the differences in approach that men and women have: But women in the film industry aren’t held back […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jul 11, 2007 Filmmaking
Renew Media Celebrates 20 Years

Initially it might appear that filmmakers Godfrey Reggio (Koyaanisqatsi) and Jonathan Caouette (Tarnation) have little in common with directors Kelly Reichardt or Rob Epstein. Caouette’s intensely self-referential experimental documentary footage or Reggio’s dreamlike visual-image essays differ considerably from Reichardt’s well-received narrative feature Old Joy or Epstein’s award-winning political documentaries. Behind the scenes, however, these filmmakers and nearly 500 more have obtained funding and support from the nonprofit organization Renew Media (formerly known as National Video Resources), established in 1990 by the Rockefeller Foundation to administer the annual Media Arts Fellowships. In 2003 Renew Media assumed full responsibility for managing the […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Jul 10, 2007 Filmmaking
FILMMAKER HOSTS BEESLEY AT THE IFC

If you’re in NYC today, come check out the first of three evenings Filmmaker is hosting with the IFC of new work and personal appearances by idiosyncratic documentary filmmakers. The first is tonight and we’ll be screening the work of talking with Bradley Beesley. Here’s more info: Filmmaker and IFC Center are pleased to announce the debut of “Dialogues on Film,” a new series of screenings and discussions with directors, moderated by Filmmaker’s Scott Macaulay; the series launches Monday, July 9 at 7:30pm with “An Evening with Bradley Beesley.” The program includes Beesley’s cult classic documentary OKIE NOODLING, along with […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jul 9, 2007 Filmmaking
HERZOG’S INDEPENDENCE DAY

In the issue of Filmmaker we just put to bed, James Ponsoldt interviews Werner Herzog, whose Rescue Dawn opens today in theaters. It’s the dramatically realized story of prisoner-of-war Dieter Dengler, whose story was previously told by Herzog in his doc, Little Dieter Learns to Fly. Here’s an excerpt: Filmmaker: As Dengler died in early 2001, do you think that people might interpret “Rescue Dawn” as a commentary on America’s current geopolitical relationship with the rest of the world? Herzog: That always will happen with a film because an audience sees it with its own background, which is the immediate, […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jul 4, 2007 Filmmaking
THE iPHONE, THE ’90S and WEB. 2.0

Over at his blog, tech writer Peter S. Magnusson posts a thorough critique of the iPhone, celebrating its hardware and design before ID’ing what he views as its current flaw: it’s non-adoption of various web 2.0 platforms. He thinks Jobs made the iPod great because he’s a music fan and knows what consumers want in a portable music device. He’s not sure Jobs has his finger on the pulse of the current mobile user who is looking not just to download movies but also to chat, social network, etc. An excerpt: I was actually in the room when Steven Jobs […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jul 3, 2007 Filmmaking
RADIO ALERT

If you happen to check this blog in the next, oh, half hour or so… tune in to WNYC’s “The Brian Lehrer Show” where he’ll be interviewing director Alison Maclean (Jesus’s Son) and screenwriter Tiara Bennett about their short film The Choices We Make, which was produced for the Scenarios USA series. The interview begins at 11:40 and lasts until noon.

By Scott Macaulay on Jul 2, 2007 Filmmaking
APPRECIATING EDWARD YANG

Ray Pride has commentary and an excellent round-up of links about Edward Yang, who died last week. He includes YouTube clips as well as comments from Larry Gross and a downloadable PDF of an essay about Yang referencing commentary by Frederic Jameson.

By Scott Macaulay on Jul 2, 2007 Filmmaking

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