Earlier this year, The New Yorkermagazine hosted a panel discussion titled, “Is Television the New Cinema?” In his opening remarks, The New Yorker’s editor, David Remnick, posed the question, “Television is in the process, in many ways, of eclipsing cinema: True or false?” While the panelists didn’t give a definite answer, it was generally agreed that the TV medium — once considered a mainstream form of “junk storytelling” — has recently blossomed. Journalist Emily Nussbaum noted the rise, beginning in the late ’90s, “of a breed of irascible, aggressive and auteurist TV makers,” and the creation of shows like Buffy […]
“A linear story had a linear workflow, but now we’re in a nonlinear immersive space,” explained production designer Alex McDowell at a recent Flux 5D event titled “Digital Design and World-building in the Narrative Media Landscape” held at the University of Southern California March 13, 14 and 15, 2012.
Jumping from social-issue documentary films — like her new Last Call at
the Oasis — to independent narrative to network television, director JESSICA YU has one of the most multi-faceted careers around. By NICK DAWSON. Photograph by Henny Garfunkel
Following her acclaimed bromantic comedy Humpday, LYNN SHELTON travels to a cabin on a secluded island to examine female relationships in the insightful Your Sister’s Sister. Writer/director RY RUSSO-YOUNG learns more from the Seattle-based filmmaker.
TV FOR FILM Original characters. Unlikely relationships. Undiscovered locations. The purview of independent filmmakers is increasingly the stuff of television, and filmmakers are making the small screen a bigger part of their careers. Creative crossover is not breaking news, of course; shows like Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire, In Treatment, Enlightened and dozens more regularly hire directors from independent film and have for a long time. But now more and more independent film writers and writer/directors are making the leap — pitching, developing and producing original series. Meanwhile, reliable outlets like Netflix and IFC/Sundance Channel have slowed down their […]
The first day of NAB and it appears that this year Panasonic has nothing to say to indie filmmakers. Going in to the show, Canon and Sony had already pre-announced several new cameras, yet there had been nothing from Panasonic. And now the show has opened and Panasonic has only three things to talk about; the first is the AG-HPX600 2/3 CMOS P2 HD camcorder with 10-bit 4:2:2 AVC-Intra recording. At seven pounds, it’s described as the lightest professional shoulder camcorder, but it’s not really an indie filmmaker camera. They also announced the microP2 card and microP2 card adaptor. With […]
How the JOBS Act will transform independent film financing. By Matthew Savare, Esq. and Richard Jaycobs
Over the last few years, actor Alex Karpovsky has slowly grown into one of the most recognizable faces in American indies. And with a recurring role on Girls, Lena Dunham’s upcoming HBO series, he stands poised to break through to a wider audience. As if he wasn’t busy enough, Karpovsky has found time to migrate behind the lens for Rubberneck, his directorial followup to 2009’s Second City improv documentary Trust Us, This is All Made Up. A psychological thriller about an unhinged scientist (Karpovsky, directing himself) who grows increasingly obsessed with a co-worker he’s recently had a one-night stand with, […]
About 18 months ago I blogged about the new Amazon Studios venture, in which screenwriters submit their projects to the internet commerce giant for crowdsourced development and possible production. There was a lot of initial interest in Amazon Studios when it was announced, but I, like many other observers, found the terms shockingly poor for writers. I asked, why would you give “a company with a $74 billion market cap an 18-month free option on your original project?” Especially when, according to Amazon Studio’s original terms, there were scenarios in which that original work could have been exploited with you […]
Signs are everywhere. ARRI’s ALEXA swept TV series production in the U.S. Canon harnessed Hollywood pomp to launch its C300. RED placed an eight-page glossy fold-out to tout EPIC in April’s Vogue (“The camera that changed cinema is now changing fashion”). Sony shipped no less than 100 F65s, the first Super 35 camera with an 8K sensor. A year ago, in “Does Size Matter?” I surveyed the still budding field of large-sensor cameras for Filmmaker and described the industry’s growing embrace of the 120-year-old Super 35 format. Not only were existing cine and SLR lenses given a new lease on […]