| Filmmaker Magazine

“A BLUESMAN IN THE LIFE OF THE MIND”

On my “best of ’08” list is a sub-category for the best films I saw on the fest circuit that have distribution in ’09, and one of my favorites of these is Astra Taylor’s Examined Life. It’s a documentary in which the director takes eight philosophers to the streets and explores the way in which their ideas bleed back and forth between the world and their consciousnesses. It’s a smart, heady film that is also an especially warm, engaging, and high-spirited viewing experience. Here is the just released official trailer.

by Scott Macaulay on Jan 6, 2009

JOHN AUGUST ON iMOVIE POST MAC WORLD

One of the questions Apple’s filmmaker fans had going into today’s Macworld conference was whether the rumored changes to the iLife suite of programs would include an upgrade to iMovie that bring the program’s functionality back to where it was before it was disastrously retooled as iMovie HD. Unfortunately, based on screenwriter and director John August’s opinion, it doesn’t sound like this happened today. From his blog: Among the products Apple announced today is iMovie 09, an update to their entry-level video editor that I currently find completely unusable. They have demo videos up showing some of the new features, […]

by Scott Macaulay on Jan 6, 2009

CINEVEGAS CHECKS IN WITH DENTLER

Cinetic’s Matt Dentler, who is part of the roundtable discussion on the current state of the biz in the current Filmmaker (“as discouraging as it was galvanizing” one indie director called it in an email) is interviewed on the CineVegas blog by Roger Erik Tinch. Check it out.

by Scott Macaulay on Jan 5, 2009

PRIDE’S FESTIVAL PHOTOBLOGS

Ray Pride has coverage of the Thessaloniki Film Festival in the upcoming issue of Filmmaker, but over the past few days he’s uploaded a bunch of his fantastic fest photography to our Festival Ambassador section. In addition to the Greek festival he’s got snaps from Sheffield and True/False as well as embedded clips featuring directors and writers like Azazel Jacobs, Diablo Cody and Michael Ondaatje. There’s even a shot of Peter Broderick in a swami hat and, here, Emir Kusturica leading his No Smoking band.

by Scott Macaulay on Jan 5, 2009

NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR INDIE FILMMAKERS

CinemaTech’s Scott Kirsner has been collaborating with ITVS on a series of case studies focusing on filmmakers who are using new technologies to connect with their audiences and achieve distribution. The first seven case studies, featuring filmmakers like Hunter Weeks and Josh Caldwell, Tiffany Shlain and Kate Chevigny, are up now as is Kirsner’s “Top Five Digital Strategies for Social Issue Filmmakers.” Check them out at the links above.

by Scott Macaulay on Jan 4, 2009

THE GOOGLE BOOK SETTLEMENT AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR ONLINE VIDEO

I’ve posted a couple of times about the Google Book Settlement, more from a general interest in intellectual property issues than anything else. The relationship between the settlement’s engagement with the publishing industry and its possible application to the world of film are not direct by any means. The Google Book Settlement applies to library collections containing copyrighted but out-of-print works as well as orphan works. But, I did suspect that at some point the issues involved would become relevant to the world of film. (Remember, Google owns YouTube.) Now comes a piece critical about the proposed terms of the […]

by Scott Macaulay on Jan 4, 2009

BLU-RAY VS. THE DEATH OF PHYSICAL MEDIA

I was kind of perplexed by Michael Glitz’s piece on The Huffington Post entitled “DVDS — How and Why You Should Switch to BluRay.” He runs through all the standard arguments — they look better, that’s the way the industry is heading, you can play your standard-def DVDs on a BluRay player, and if you have a 1080p flat-screen you’re getting the most out if it with BluRay. All reasonable arguments, and, in fact, while I don’t have a BluRay player I spent an evening with a friend the other day who has one and the picture quality of remastered […]

by Scott Macaulay on Jan 4, 2009

KORINE, ALMEREYDA AND EGGLESTON

I just came across on the Interview magazine site this talk between director Harmony Korine and artist photographer William Eggleston, whose “William Eggleston: Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961- 80” is up now and essential at New York’s Whitney Museum. (A slide show of some of his images is above.) An excerpt: HK:?Would you take photos of a Kroger today? WE:?Certainly. HK:?And do you think it would have that same effect looking at it 20 years from now? WE:?I think so. HK:?So you think time makes things more exotic? WE:?I don’t think exotic is the word. HK:?So what do you […]

by Scott Macaulay on Jan 3, 2009

REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL

Ted Hope has been running on his blog an upbeat series of posts in which he finds reasons to be optimistic about change in the independent film business. Check out his first post here , his most recent post ((22-25) here, and scroll in between for the rest. And here’s one sample: 22. Financiers are collaborating with each other. Groups like Impact Partners that provide regular deal flow, vetting, and producerial oversight for investors with common interests lowers the threshold number for investors interested in entering the film business. IndieVest is another model based on subscription, deal flow, and perqs. […]

by Scott Macaulay on Jan 3, 2009

SWALLOWING THE FUTURE

Via Boing Boing and Constant Seige comes this fun YouTube clip with Andy Warhol, Steven Spielberg and Bianca Jagger talking about tv static, ghosts, and the future.

by Scott Macaulay on Jan 3, 2009

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