Filmmaking
Filmmaking
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TALK — NO LONGER CHEAP
Producer Ted Hope e-mailed me this New York Times article by Anne Thompson which is mandatory reading for all producers, writers and development executives. The article concerns the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and its recent ruling in the Jeff Grosso v. Miramax Film Corporation case. In the case, Grosso, a freelance writer and high-stakes poker player, sued Miramax claiming that the John Dahl film Rounders lifted story details and characters from his own spec script The Shell Game, which he had submitted unsolicited to a production company that had offices in the Miramax building. As quoted in the Times, […]
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HD, XXX And Indie Film
Variety has a short article up (sorry, subscription only) on Island Fever 3, the first hardcore porn movie to be shot on HD and released on a high definition DVD. Writes Variety‘s Claude Brodesser, “Much has been made about the changes ultrasharp HDTV will wreak on newsdesk anchors — every nick and blemish magnified, foundation that looks like pancake makeup — but no one spared a thought for the plight of porn stars — until now.” The piece goes on to note the sudden importance of highly skilled makeup artists when shooting in HD, and ends with some cryptic comments […]
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EVERGREEN GOES DIGITAL
In a promising sign for indies, the Sundance ’04 feature Evergreen will premiere theatrically September 10 on 115 AMC theater screens via a satellite link and digital projection. Via Movie City News comes this press release in which AMC Film Group Chairman Dick Walsh says, “This engagement also showcases the capability of AMC’s DTDS system to bring quality programming directly to our theatres on a national basis.” Says the release, “Written and directed by promising newcomer Enid Zentelis and screened at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, Evergreen tells the story of Henri, a teenage girl who lives in poverty with […]
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GENIUS QUOTE OF THE MONTH
Vincent Gallo in Sunday’s New York Times: Q: “Why aren’t you married?” A: “Intimacy always creates an urge in me that I am missing out on something.” Speaking of Gallo, via his Drowning in Brown Web site comes news that he will be performing live on August 25th at Rothko in New York. Gallo will be performing with Sean Lennon in a rare live performance that will include music from Gallo’s album “When.” Tickets are $18 advance, and $22 day of the show. Tickets include a ticket to a screening of his latest film, The Brown Bunny.
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MORE THAN A GAME
The last time I linked to the Cyan Pictures Web site it was to make fun of founder Josh Newman’s constant posting of new film sales and starts that never seem to quite happen. So it’s only fair that I eat some crow and link to the site again now that a new film, a doc called More than a Game has gone into production. From the site: “Late this may, B’nei Sakhnin became the first Arab-led soccer team to win the Israeli national cup. Now the team heads off to Europe to represent Israel on the world stage of […]
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THE CINEMATIC BLOGOSPHERE
There’s been a bunch of cool stuff popping up in the film blogosphere lately. Below are a couple of links that have caught my attention; the sites these links are from should be immediately bookmarked! The Movieblog, subtitled “The Official Home of Correct Movie Opinions,” actually isn’t a compendium of hastily scribbled film “reviews” but rather a sharp assortment of interesting movie links with a particular emphasis on Asian horror and art films. Click over there now for stuff like a stylish Japanese website for Wong Kar-Wai’s 2046 and a giant Quicktime trailer of Wes Anderson’s new The Life Aquatic. […]
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COPYRIGHT UNCONTROLLED
In Jeff Levy-Hinte’s piece, “The Digital Divide,” in the current issue of Filmmaker, Levy-Hinte discusses the major studio’s battle against new technologies like the file-sharing services which, while they enable the free distribution of copyrighted materail, also have legitimate uses. Levy-Hinte’s fears of expanding governmental control over legal technologies were abated this week by a federal appeals court ruling stating that two file sharing services, Grokster and Streamcast, weren’t liable for the distribution of copyrighted works on their networks. Judge Sidney R. Thomas wrote, “History has shown that time and market forces often provide equilibrium in balancing interests, whether the […]
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HELLHOUND ON OUR TRAILS
Filmmaker Alison Murray emailed to say that she’s launched her new Web site, The Hellhound, which contains a trailer from her forthcoming debut feature Mouth to Mouth as well as short films and other info. Says the Web site, Mouth to Mouth, executive produced by Atom Egoyan, “features Alison’s signature choreographic style, woven into a powerful narrative about a search for belonging. Sherry, a teenage goth, runs away with a bizarre collective called SPARK (Street People Armed with Radical Knowledge) losing her lip ring, her virginity and her family in one road trip. Cast include Natasha Wightman (Gosford Park), Eric […]
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GERALDINE PERONI MEMORIAL SERVICE
I received sad news from my friend Claire Best today. Geraldine Peroni, one of New York’s top film editors, died unexpectedly at her home yesterday. Peroni has long been associated with the films of Robert Altman — she cut The Player, Short Cuts, Pret-a-Porter, Kansas City, Dr. T and the Women, and The Company — but she also contributed her considerable skills to a number of other great independent films by a wide range of directors. She cut Alison Maclean’s Jesus’ Son, Rose Troche’s The Safety of Objects, Tom DiCillo’s Johnny Suede, and Sande Zeig’s The Girl, among others. At […]
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LEFT JOYSTICK
The British newspaper The Guardian has long been a daily read for its left-leaning political coverage. Now they’ve added a Gamesblog, so you can check them out for smart takes on gaming played on platforms ranging from PCs to phones. Amid the obvious — like links to the new Doom 3 demos — the blog discusses a game featuring an s/m virtual world, a forthcoming game in which one can hunt Osama Bin Laden, and the poltical potential of quickly conceived and rendered downloaded Java games.
