production | Filmmaker Magazine

STARS OF TOMORROW

Via Defamer comes this odd L.A. Craig’s List talent call which I’m not quite sure speaks for itself: We are looking for the new Vincent Gallo & Chloe Sevigny!!! Independent Feature Film Production Company is casting adult male and female actors as well as experienced traditional actors for a new narrative film that has explicit scenes of sexuality. The film is a cross between “The Brown Bunny” and “Reservoir Dogs.” It’s the romantic and thrilling story of two professional hitmen who fall in love one night and the woman who comes between them. We finished a very successful narrative feature […]

by Scott Macaulay on Dec 29, 2004

PAIN, SUFFERING AND THE AMERICAN WAY

Producer, screenwriter and co-president of Focus Features James Schamus penned this sharp essay in In These Times on one short-term goal progressive citizens can rally around during their post-election blues: oppose the nomination of White House Legal Counsel Alberto Gonzales to the position of Attorney General. Schamus explains: The mainstream media uses the word “torture” to describe those (hundreds of) documented cases of “isolated” incidents, performed by those “few bad apples” at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere. When it comes to the pervasive use of torture at Guantánamo’s Camp X-Ray and scores of other secret military prisons around the globe, the […]

by Scott Macaulay on Dec 7, 2004

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE WORK

I always admire those who are able to lay either their professional and personal lives out online for all to see. One person who does this when it comes to his independent film producing is Muse Production’s Chris Hanley, who has made an entertaining habit of posting on his website copies of business emails he’s received under the apt header of “Scathing Letters.” For a while the letters sections was filled with angry back-and-forths from folks like Vincent Gallo and Don Murphy over older Muse projects, but Hanley has updated the site recently with two choice bits of correspondence, both […]

by Scott Macaulay on Dec 6, 2004

SUNDANCE PREMIERES, SPECTRUM, MIDNIGHT & FRONTIER

The Sundance Institute today announced the Opening Night film and complete lineup of feature films screening in the Premieres, American Spectrum, Frontier, Park City at Midnight, Special Screenings, and Sundance Collection categories of the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. According to a press release received today, “The Film Festival opens on January 20 in Park City with the World Premiere of Happy Endings, written and directed by Don Roos and starring Lisa Kudrow, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Tom Arnold. ‘A discussion of American values is at the forefront of many of the films this year, and the humor and compassion with which […]

by Jason Guerrasio on Dec 1, 2004

CELLUAR ENTERTAINMENT

Via Variety comes this interesting subscription-only piece announcing a new spin-off for Fox’s espionage TV series 24 which reachers viewers via cell-phone. Writes Josef Adalian, “In a first-of-its-kind deal for a U.S. TV studio, 20th Century Fox TV has greenlit production of a live-action 24 spinoff skein that will be produced exclusively for cell phone users. Dubbed 24: Conspiracy, the show — featuring original characters separate from the Fox TV skein — will unfold over 24 roughly one-minute episodes; one seg will be downloaded to subscribers’ phones every week.” Premiering in the U.K., where cell phone use and 3G technology […]

by Scott Macaulay on Nov 10, 2004

KINK IN THE MAINSTREAM

One of the problems independent filmmakers have faced in the last decade has been the studio’s co-option of the specialty film genre. Acquistions have dropped as the mini-majors have set out to make, with bigger budgets, better production values, and real stars, the kinds of quirky character-based stories that in the ’80s and ’90s were largely the province of independent filmmakers. A particularly cruel example of this trend was driven home by a press release, excerpted below, I received from CineKink, an organization devoted to “the recognition and encouragement of kink-positive depictions in film and television.” In order, I guess, […]

by Scott Macaulay on Nov 5, 2004

GIMME A (TAX) BREAK

It’s pretty unusual to wake up in the morning and read entertainment industry news detailing benefits specifically targeted towards independent filmmakers. But that’s what this (subscription-only) Variety piece does as it explains provisions in the just-signed American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 that make it more advantageous for investors to invest in independent film. Writes Susan Crabtree and Ian Mohr, “After years of lobbying, independent filmmakers scored a major victory Friday when President Bush signed a bill that gives a sweeping tax break to movies made in the U.S. Producers believe the measure may draw substantial fresh funds into indie […]

by Scott Macaulay on Oct 25, 2004

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, […]

by Scott Macaulay on Oct 13, 2004

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 […]

by Scott Macaulay on Aug 28, 2004

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 […]

by Scott Macaulay on Aug 22, 2004

Cookie	Duration	Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional	11 months	The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy	11 months	The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.

Cookie	Duration	Description
cfmrk_cic		Used by Cloudflare to route user traffic for this Site.
sparrow_id		Installed by Cloudflare. Used to identify individual clients behind a shared IP address and apply security settings on a per-client basis. It does not store any personal identifiable information.

Cookie	Duration	Description
OAGEO		Installed by the Revive Ad Server. Used to cache geolocation (session, deleted when closing the browser)
OAID		Installed by the Revive Ad Server to distinguish users.

6579 Results for “production”