Filmmaker Angelo Bell commented on the thread about Ted Hope’s “38 American Film Problems/Concerns,” calling it an “overexaggeration of the challenges” and responding to several of Ted’s points by saying that what is really happening now is not that business models are failing but that there is a “power shift” from studios/producers to individual filmmakers committed to exploring DIY approaches. As I said in my blog post, what Ted did was write an amazingly comprehensive list on which every filmmaker will find several points to agree with. That said, many of the points will be ignorable by each individual filmmaker […]
Stacy Peralta uses his knack for dissecting counter-cultures to highlight the two most violent gangs in America with Crips and Bloods: Made in America. Since his breakout Sundance hit Dogtown and Z-Boys, about the iconic skateboarders who revolutionized the sport (Peralta was one of the Z-Boys), Peralta has stayed in the alt-sport realm as his second doc, Riding Giants, looked at the history of surfing (it was also the opening film at 04’s Sundance). Now Peralta leaves his comfort zone to look at a world he’s not directly a part of. In telling the story of the Crips and Bloods, […]
Premiering in Cannes in Un Certain Regard, Anne Aghion‘s penetrating and transfixing documentary, My Neighbor, My Killer, is the culmination of a decade-long filmmaking quest to address one of the most difficult questions facing citizens, communities, tribes, religious groups and ethnic factions around the world today: “Could you forgive the people who slaughtered your family?” In 1994 hundreds of thousands of minority Tutsis were slaughtered by Rwanda’s Hutus, with villager killing fellow villager, cousin killing cousin. The Rwanda genocide has been well covered in the media, but less focused upon has been the Gacaca Tribunals, open air citizen hearings instituted […]
Here’s another report from producer Noah Harlan recounting the business news he’s hearing in Cannes: An additional update. I had dinner tonight with a major European Foreign Sales agent and then later was talking with an indie packaging & sales agent at a big agency and both echoed the same thoughts about the sales environment. The top end is doing pretty well but there are few films at the top. There are pockets of niche product that are moving. Everything else is totally flatlined. All the so-so films or B+ films are dead in the water and no one’s buying. […]
Ted Hope, who in the past has assembled lists of reasons to feel good about independent film, has posted the sobering opposite: a comprehensive list of “38 American Independent Film Problems/Concerns.” They include: Lack of access — outside of NYC & LA — to films when they are at their highest media awareness (encourages bootlegging, limits appeal by reducing timeliness). Distrib’s abandonment (and lack of development) of community-building marketing approaches for specialized releases (which reduces appeal for a group activity i.e. the theatrical experience). Emphasis on upfront compensation for star talent creates budgets that can’t reasonably recoup investment. HP&W fringe […]
A report in Screen Daily by Geoffrey McNab details problems independent producers and sales agents are having with Russian buyers as a result of the financial crisis. I’m not surprised to know that the below is happening, but it’s a little unusual to hear it discussed by the buyers themselves at a public panel. From the article: Russian distributors have issued a stark warning to U.S. sales agents – renegotiate deals on films acquired before the economic crisis or else they will stop buying altogether. Their fiercely worded remarks came during a panel discussion at the RussianPavilion in Cannes today […]
Producer Noah Harlan is in Cannes taking part in the Atelier with Jake Mahaffy’s new project, and he sent the following report on the business and marketplace vibe there (along with comments on two films). Cannes is slow. No question about it. Last year I heard how the pace of coffees in the market was slow. This year these are my unofficial barometers of how crowded it is here? 1) Everyone agrees there are about 1/3 as many yachts in the bay off of the Croisette. (Admittedly that’s probably fewer rich sightseers than actual participants but it’s noticeable) 2) Tonight, […]
ADRIEN BRODY, RACHEL WEISZ AND MARK RUFFALO IN DIRECTOR RIAN JOHNSON’S THE BROTHERS BLOOM. COURTESY SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT. When his first film was released in 2005, Rian Johnson became an overnight sensation; but, as is so often the case, that “overnight” success took many years of work to achieve. Johnson was born in 1973 in Silver Spring, Maryland, and grew up in Denver, Colorado, and San Clemente, California. He came from a family of film lovers and by the time he was in seventh grade he was making movies, taking his Super 8 camera with him whenever he could. When he […]
Just launched earlier today on FunnyOrDie.com, the trailer for Armando Iannucci‘s biting satire and Sundance fav In The Loop (the film opens in the U.S. July 24) cleverly nods to A Clockwork Orange, which I feel is one of the greatest trailers ever created. As Kubrick’s trailer highlights the debauchery and horror of the film in one minute, the Loop trailer superbly captures the film’s wittiness as well as putting the spotlight on the debut of Peter Capaldi (pictured top right) in an unbelievably disgusting role that’s so vile you can’t help but enjoy every second he’s on screen. IN […]
In a release sent out today at Cannes, World Cinema Foundation’s founder and chairman Martin Scorsese announced that the organization, dedicated to the preservation and restoration of neglected films from around the world, has formed separate partnerships with B-Side Entertainment and virtual cinematheque The Auteurs to market, promote and distribute a slate of restored WCF titles (Criterion will also be involved). Former New York Film Society associate director of programming, Kent Jones, has come on as the WCF’s new executive director. From the release: The films that the WCF restores every year will now have their festival premiere in Cannes […]