Filmmaking

THE FUTURE OF FILM

Because it was in the “Small Business” section, some of you may have missed this piece in the New York Times on the future of film. An excerpt: A WEDDING, as the saying goes, is the beginning of a new life. But for Paul and Kristine Korver, it was also the start of a novel business. Soon after they married, they founded Fifty Foot Films, a Hollywood-based company that is dedicated to fixing major life events on film — a medium that many videographers regard as too risky, sensitive and pricey to be profitable. In the last four years, the […]

By Scott Macaulay on Nov 15, 2006 Filmmaking
DOC SHORT LIST

Over at The Hot Blog David Poland gives us some Oscar hopefuls for Best Doc. Though I haven’t seen all of these I would have to say one of my favorite docs of the year so far is Deborah Scranton‘s The War Tapes. When I saw it at Tribeca (where it won Best Doc) I was drawn not only by its originality of looking at the war but how Scranton stays with the soldiers as they return home and start a whole new battle: adjusting to civilian life. In some ways that’s harder than surviving the war.

By Jason Guerrasio on Nov 15, 2006 Filmmaking
ADRIENNE SHELLY FOUNDATION

I received the following press release about a foundation formed in the memory of director and actress Adrienne Shelly. The Adrienne Shelly Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the memory of Writer/Director/Actress Adrienne Shelly, is being founded by her husband, Andy Ostroy. Plans include a Womens’ Filmmaking Scholarship Fund, with a particular emphasis on awarding film school scholarships and helping women make the transition from acting to directing. “I know what Adrienne would want most would be to help women get a chance to pursue their dream,” says Ostroy. More initiatives from the foundation will be announced at a later […]

By Scott Macaulay on Nov 14, 2006 Filmmaking
’70s FASHION

Via Monika Bartyzel at Cinematical is this YouTube link to Francesco Vezzoli’s Trailer for a Remake of Gore Vidal’s Caligula. Starring Karen Black, Milla Jovovich, Courtney Love, Gore Vidal, and Oscar-bound Helen Mirren, the short film, which was exhibited at both the Venice Biennale and the Whitney Biennial, campily critiques the periodic influx of fashion designers and promoters into the art world. And, from the link on both Cinematical and GreenCine, I learned a new abbreviation — NSFW. As in, “not safe for work.”

By Scott Macaulay on Nov 14, 2006 Filmmaking
STRANGERS ON DVD

Out on DVD today is the raunchy and hilarious Strangers With Candy. Even if you weren’t a big fan of the TV show this movie is still worth checking out. If not for the handful of A-list cameos, watch it for the absurd scenes between Amy Sedaris and Stephen Colbert. Priceless. Created by Sedaris, Colbert and Paul Dinello (who also directed the film), GreenCine dug up this Q&A Andy Spletzer had with the trio when it played at Sundance.

By Jason Guerrasio on Nov 14, 2006 Filmmaking
SHAREWARE

Back in 1995 producer Ted Hope wrote a seminal piece for Filmmaker entitled “Indie Film is Dead,” in which he listed quite a few reasons why independent filmmaking was getting tougher and tougher. Go back and look at the piece and you’ll see that many of Hope’s industry criticisms hold true today. Here’s one: “The film industry, like all others, mystifies by design. All industries create their own vernacular, keeping the have-nots clouded in confusion. Variety takes this talent to an art form. The neophyte needs a class in how to read the trades, let alone understand them. Where is […]

By Scott Macaulay on Nov 14, 2006 Filmmaking
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

There was an excellent piece on Steven Soderbergh‘s The Good German in yesterday’s New York Times (Warner Bros. opens the film next month). Channeling the 1940s era of filmmakers like Michael Curtiz (Casablanca), Soderbergh has created a film that according to Dave Kehr has the look and feel of old Hollywood. An excerpt: During the production Mr. Soderbergh was committed to remaining as true as possible to the technique of the era. By reproducing the conditions of an actual studio shoot from the late 1940s, he hoped to enter the mind of a filmmaker like Mr. Curtiz, to explore the […]

By Jason Guerrasio on Nov 13, 2006 Filmmaking
FLAMING OUT

Last year director and d.p. Patryk Rebisz wrote in Filmmaker about making his short film Between You and Me entirely with a still camera in burst mode. He just emailed about his next project, a lovely music video for the band Plus/Minus in which he uses the same way of shooting and 170 burning Polaroids to capture the emotions of a crumbling relationship. Here’s the rough cut of “Let’s Build a Fire.”

By Scott Macaulay on Nov 12, 2006 Filmmaking
GOING MOBILE

Click here for the press conference in with Robert Redford announced a new partnership between the Sundance Institute and the GSM Association to commission six filmmakers to create short films for the mobile platform. From a piece by James Allan Miller in Smart Phone Today: Six filmmakers have been commissioned by the GSM Association and the Sundance Institute to create five short short films just for mobile handsets. The purpose of what’s called the Sundance Film Festival: Global Short Film Project is to extend independent filmmaking to what the institute’s president and founder Robert Redford refers to as “the ‘fourth […]

By Scott Macaulay on Nov 11, 2006 Filmmaking
GOT MILK?

Via Defamer, the following report sent it by one of its readers: “David Lynch RIGHT NOW is sitting on the corner of Hollywood and La Brea with a cow on a leash and a picture of Laura Dern that says For Your Consideration. He also has a sign that says “without cows there would be no cheese in the Inland Empire”. This is one of those things that a person needs to see. I wish I wasn’t chained to a desk.” And here, via YouTube, is a live view from video bloggers. Nate and Matt:

By Scott Macaulay on Nov 10, 2006 Filmmaking

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