Filmmaking

SCENE 2257, THE 2006 EDITION

Joe Grat, over at his legal and intellectual property-oriented blog, writes about a setback for the Justice Department in its enforcement of the 2257 regulations, a set of record-keeping requirements designed, many feel, to severely hamper and restrict the adult entertainment industry on the internet. As few have pointed out, however, these regulations also regulate content by all manner of film producers, including independents, and, as I’ve been blogging throughout the last few months, the ramifications of these rules needs to be debated in the indie community. For now, the fight over 2257 is being waged by the adult industry’s […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 11, 2006 Filmmaking
DOLPHINS AND WHALES

The folks at the literary magazine McSweeney’s have launched a DVD zine called Wholphin. The title has something to do with the way we’re supposed to have felt when we learned that “dolphins and whales sometimes, you know, do it.” Anyway, Volume One is included in the latest issue of McSweeney’s that’s on the stands, and it includes a bunch of should-be interesting stuff: a Spike Jonze film about Al Gore, a David O. Russell film about the first Iraq war, a short-film collaboration between Miguel Arteta and Miranda July, Alison Smith’s short film “The Specialist,” and something with John […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 8, 2006 Filmmaking
IT’S NICE TO BE APPRECIATED

Dennis Lim has a great half-page profile of writer/director Andrew Bujalski in the Sunday New York Times. Bujalski, who Matt Ross selected as one of our “25 New Faces” three years ago, has built up a big fan and critical base with his two features, Funny Ha Ha and Mutual Appreciation. Lim uncovers some good stuff — I didn’t know, for example, that Chantal Akerman was Bujalski’s filmmaking thesis advisor at Harvard and that she instructed him to run down the hall one day after a possible performer. Lim ends the piece by discussing what the future could hold for […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 8, 2006 Filmmaking
THE FUTURE IS NOW

First there was inclusion of video in the iTunes music store, an now, with Friday’s announcement by Google, is the new Google Video Store, currently online in a beta version. For those slow to the party, here’s a good Los Angeles Times piece by Chris Gaither explaining Google’s approach, which allows producers to upload their own videos and set their own price for downloads and decide whether or not to allow copy-protection. (The copy-protected works on the site use Google’s proprietary technology and are annoyingly not transferable to video iPods.) Google is launching the service with 5,000 titles, including films […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 7, 2006 Filmmaking
DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER… AND EVER… AND EVER

Via The Reeler comes this link to Jen Cheung’s interview with Brooklyn-based filmmaker Kareem Edouard in The Gothamist. Edouard has recently made a short doc, Bling: Consequences and Repercussions that takes a look at the abuse of young African workers in the diamond minds of Sierra Leone. It’s the subject tackled by Kanye West in his hit of last year, “Diamonds are Forever,” but Edouard fills in more of the blanks, aided by a v.o. from Public Enemy’s Chuck D. The film is downloadable by clicking on the link above, and Edouard’s site even allows it to be sampled in […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 7, 2006 Filmmaking
STREET FIGHT, THE SEQUEL

I missed the event held last night at the Tribeca Cinemas by the makers of Street Fight, the engrossing documentary on the 2002 Newark mayoral race. Director Marshall Curry, one of our “25 New Faces of 2005,” followed Cory Booker as he challenged five-term mayor Sharpe James for the job and was shocked when James not only attacked Booker but also turned his ire on Curry as well. I guess the event must have been a kick-off to Booker’s 2006 campaign, but there’s no word yet on a film sequel. I hope Curry considers it. His films could be the […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 7, 2006 Filmmaking
TIGER BEAT

Cam Archer emailed to say that the website for his feature, Wild Tigers I Have Known is online. It premieres later this month at the Sundance Film Festival in the Frontier section. If you don’t know Archer’s shorts, you can get a glimpse of his style by checking out the site, which has the same hand-etched, artisanal qualities as his very intimate films. His is a film I’m really looking forward to at the festival.

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 7, 2006 Filmmaking
NO BOO-YAH FOR THE INDIES

Here’s Jim Cramer on the video podcasting revolution: “Bloggers may be stealing readers away from newspapers, but when it comes to audio and video feeds, people will go for high production values. Which would you rather spend time uploading to your iPod: An episode of Lost or a grainy feed of someone prattling about their favorite celeb? So, for a few more years, the media we download will be the same stuff you see or hear on old media. The masses will have to wait for cheap, yet sophisticated production technology in order to win a wider audience. Until then, […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 6, 2006 Filmmaking
ISRAEL GOES TO PARAMOUNT

As Indiewire and Anne Thompson have reported, veteran exec Amy Israel, who worked acquisitions for Miramax and then production for the L.A. post house The Orphanage, has been named Executive Vice President of Production and Acquisitions at Paramount Classics by its new head, John Lesher. In a statement, Lesher said, “”Amy’s extensive background and stellar reputation makes her an ideal choice to help us create a wholly new, dynamic production and acquisition-driven film business. Her expertise as a producer, and her involvement in some of the most successful independent films of the last decade speak volumes about her leadership and […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 5, 2006 Filmmaking
THE NEW WORLD’S THREE-PART HARMONY

A poster who calls himself Fuckles over at Ain’t It Cool sends world from a The New World Q&A screening with producer Sarah Green that there will be three cuts of Terrence Malick’s new film. The cut that’s in the theaters now, a likely “trimmed” version that will consist of the same scenes but shorter, and then an extended cut that’s longer than the 155-minute current cut. Green apparently said the current cut will “always exist,” but the poster hypothesizes that it’s soon to fall by the wayside, stranded between the more audience-friendly cut and Malick’s full-blown epic version.

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 4, 2006 Filmmaking

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