Picture New York, the group mobilizing to oppose the new regulations restricting the right of filmmakers, photographers, and amateur videomakers to shoot on the streets of New York, has launched their website. The site includes information about the proposed changes as well as details of an upcoming rally and other events staged to demonstrate the community’s opposition to the rules. They also have an online petition you can sign to register your own opposition. So far, the petition has drawn a great cross section of people, from documentarians to IA d.p.’s to people from the tourism industry. The site also […]
For those looking to do something later this week in New York, Emerging Pictures will be holding a special screening for their upcoming film Laura Smiles Thursday, July 26th @ 7:30 at Tribeca Cinemas (54 Varick St.). To RSVP call 212-245-6767 or email distribution@emergingpictures.com. Here’s a brief synopsis: The film tells the story of one woman’s attempt to reinvent her life after a personal tragedy. It takes many years, but finally the dormant emotions that this tragedy has inspired find their way to the surface, causing Laura’s life to spiral out of control. Violence, sex and other forms of self-destructive […]
If you’re in New York tomorrow night come and check out an evening we are co-hosting with the IFC Center that’s dedicated to one of the most vital film artists working in New York City today: Jem Cohen. Here’s what the press release says: “An Evening with Jem Cohen” features the acclaimed filmmaker of Chain, Benjamin Smoke, and Lost Book Found in person to present the New York premiere of his new documentary BUILDING A BROKEN MOUSTRAP, a portrait of the Dutch band The Ex, which Cohen describes as “Concert film. City film. Protest film.” With a stylistically unique but […]
Over at her Deadline Hollywood Daily, Nikki Finke has a short post about btewing complications in some of the state film tax incentive programs. As she reports, Texas has a requirement in its program that filmmakers can’t portray “Texas or Texans in a negative fashion.” She also mentions the North Carolina restrictions, which we’ve noted previously, that require films receiving credits to adhere to “general standards of decency and respect for the diverse beliefs and values of the citizens of North Carolina.” Finke concludes by writing that the MPAA is getting involved: The MPAA is warning that not only do […]
Filmmaker Errol Morris is blogging for the The New York Times. His first piece, “Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire,” takes the form of an essay on the concept of truth and fiction as it pertains to photography. Here’s how he begins: Pictures are supposed to be worth a thousand words. But a picture unaccompanied by words may not mean anything at all. Do pictures provide evidence? And if so, evidence of what? And, of course, the underlying question: do they tell the truth? I have beliefs about the photographs I see. Often – when they appear in books or newspapers […]
The New York Mayor’s Office of Film and Television provides such great support for independent filmmakers that its weird to have to write a post slamming one of their new initiatives. If you haven’t heard about their new proposed rules requiring insurance and permits for an expanded group of filmmakers, however, take note. Ray Rivera wrote about the rules on June 29 in the New York Times: Some tourists, amateur photographers, even would-be filmmakers hoping to make it big on YouTube could soon be forced to obtain a city permit and $1 million in liability insurance before taking pictures or […]
NATALIE PORTMAN AND JAVIER BARDEM IN MILOS FORMAN’S GOYA’S GHOSTS. COURTESY SAMUEL GOLDWYN FILMS. It is something of a tragic irony that after escaping the restrictions of Communist Czechoslovakia in 1968 — where he had made five films in five years — in the subsequent 40 years Milos Forman has worked in America, he has only made a further nine features. Taking Off (1971) was a transition between the looseness of his Czech films, such as the classic Loves of a Blonde (1965) and The Firemen’s Ball (1967), and the more conventional Hollywood style he would later adopt, and was […]
I was forwarded the below email written by Elena Paul, Executive Director of Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, that I thought should be reposted here: Dear VLA Friends and Members, We’re sending this to all VLA members because of the nationwide importance of this New York legislation. The New York State Assembly and Senate adjourned their regular sessions yesterday without taking action on the “Dead Celebrities” bill. This is good news. This legislation would give heirs of anyone who died after January 1, 1938, the right to sue for unauthorized use in “advertising” or “for the purpose of trade” the […]
If you haven’t checked out the main page recently, please click over there and watch Jamie Stuart’s new short, 12.5 Seconds Later It’s goofy and charming and, to my mind, pretty much a miracle of no-crew production. Jamie shot and edited it himself and then, for the post, used new Final Cut Pro Studio software, including its new compositing program Motion. Jamie did the short at our request — we offered him use of a promo Apple system and in return he wrote a print review based on his experiences actually using the software to make a film. Both Jamie […]
IFP announced today that the 17th Annual Gotham Awards will be held on Tuesday, November 27th in New York and have moved the location to Steiner Studios. They also announced three of this year’s Gotham Awards Tributes: actor Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men, Love in the Time of Cholera, Before Night Falls), filmmaker Mira Nair (The Namesake, Monsoon Wedding, Salaam Bombay!) and film industry veteran Jonathan Sehring, President of IFC Entertainment. IFP will also collaborate with some of New York’s leading cultural organizations for the first time to present retrospectives of the Tribute individuals in the two weeks […]