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BRANDON HARRIS’S SEMINAL INDIES

Yesterday on the blog we asked what films inspired young viewers (in their 20s or below) to identify with the independent film movement. Here are responses from filmmaker, critic and Filmmaker Contributing Editor Brandon Harris. Short Cuts (1993) – Saw it on cable TV sometime in 1994. I was too young to understand its significance at the time, but I believe it was the first American Independent film I ever saw. The fact that I watched it all at that age probably explains alot about me. Clerks (1994) & Chasing Amy (1997) – Saw both of these during winter break, […]

By Brandon Harris on Jul 7, 2010 Filmmaking
“THE BEAST PAGEANT” ON KICKSTARTER

Just because it looks kinda nuts… From an email I received: We’re making an independent film called The Beast Pageant, a surreal adventure with giant machines, exploding heads, and a tiny singing cowboy. We’re almost done and we’ve got a trailer up here. We need help getting the word out there so if you know anyone who might be interested pass it on! The Beast Pageant – Trailer from Albert Birney on Vimeo.

By Scott Macaulay on Jul 6, 2010 Filmmaking
NAME THIS BRET EASTON ELLIS SHORT FILM

Filmmaker (and former Filmmaker Managing Editor) Matt Ross made this short film updating the European trip montage from Rules of Attraction to material taken from and inspired by all of Ellis’s books, including his new Imperial Bedrooms. It stars Kip Pardue, James Van Der Beek and Tara Summers, and it was conceived of, shot, and edited in ten days. And, oh yeah, it has no name. You can take part in a contest by naming the film at the Knopf website.

By Scott Macaulay on Jun 25, 2010 Filmmaking
VIC SKOLNICK, R.I.P.

I was saddened to hear of the death of Vic Skolnick, an influential co-founder of Long Island’s first major art house movie theater, The Cinema Arts Center, in Huntington, N.Y. Passing away at 81 on June 10th, Skolnick, along with his wife, Charlotte Sky, founded what was originally known as the New Community Cinema in 1973. Skolnick, a teacher for twenty years at N.Y. public schools, combined his passion for history with a lifelong love of films. His ambition was to show as many diverse films as possible and educate his loyal audience in innovative cinema. The cinema went through […]

By Melissa Silvestri on Jun 24, 2010 Filmmaking
13 TAKEAWAYS FROM THE IFP NARRATIVE LAB

The recently concluded IFP Narrative Lab was a dense week of study and mentorship as our participating filmmakers, all with films somewhere between rough and fine cut, were given guidance about picture lock, sound design, scoring and music licensing, festival strategy, distribution deals, and DIY, self and hybrid distribution efforts. Amy Dotson and Rose Vincelli from the IFP did a fantastic job of putting the program together. Susan Stover, Jon Reiss and I were the lab leaders. In addition, an inspiring group of editors, filmmakers, producers and industry vets came in to lend their expertise. At the end of the […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jun 17, 2010 Filmmaking
NEW CHANCE FOR OLD MOVIE : ANTONIONI’S LE AMICHE

Literally translated as “The Girlfriends,” Michelangelo Antonioni’s Le Amiche was made in 1955, but never given a proper US release. A restored print by Cineteca di Bologna arrives at Film Forum next week in New York and will play DC, LA and beyond, courtesy of an exquisitely curated new distribution company, The Film Desk. Reported features of the movie: a picnic by the sea that foreshadows L’Avventura; a collection of deep, and deeply troubled, female characters; a tea party — this is much more than a completionist’s dream come true!

By Alicia Van Couvering on Jun 11, 2010 Filmmaking
NEISTAT BROTHERS TV SHOW SHOW

Though it’s become a ubiquitous descriptor of anything short, visual, funny or shocking, setting out to make a “viral” video is like trying to make a “hit” movie. Videos go viral because they make people freak out a little bit. 2006 25 New Faces Casey & Van Neistat have made hundreds and hundreds of videos, earning their infectiousness the old-fashioned way: by getting forwarded, blogged, cited in court cases, covered on CNN, and — beginning this month — turned into a TV show on HBO. “I hate the word ‘viral.’ Any successful online short is ‘viral.’ A short that no […]

By Alicia Van Couvering on Jun 2, 2010 Filmmaking
BOB BERNEY EXITS APPARITION

At Deadline New York, Mike Fleming is reporting that Apparition head Bob Berney, a popular figure in the indie community who previously headed distribution arms at IFC, Picturehouse and Newmarket, has resigned. From Fleming: In a pre-Cannes bombshell, Bob Berney tendered his resignation from the top post of indie distribution company Apparition to its owner, River Road’s Bill Pohlad. I hear Pohlad was blindsided by the move, especially since Berney and his staff were about to get on planes to travel to Cannes and look for pictures to acquire. Pohlad has abruptly cancelled those plans, and now Apparition won’t be […]

By Scott Macaulay on May 10, 2010 Filmmaking
“PIN GODS” AT STF

It may be hard to imagine, but there was a time when documentaries about off-brand sporting events and competitions were a rare thing. In this pre-Spellbound era, Pin Gods managed to make a small bowling-ball sized splash at the Toronto festival, only to fall through the cracks of the distribution system (a fact bemoaned last night by one of Pin Gods’ biggest fans, Stranger Than Fiction programmer Thom Powers). A film about what its director Larry Locke calls, “the small dream,” Pin Gods is an endearingly humane look at four men, each one trying to make a life out of professional […]

By Mary Anderson Casavant on May 5, 2010 Festivals & Events

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