Originally printed in our Winter 2011 issue, grab a free issue of Filmmaker at Sundance to be a part of Pandemic 1.o. When the phone rings I’m feeling a bit nervous. The voice on the other end is slow and calculated. “We can do 30,000 but it will take 10 weeks. In order to get it in time for Sundance we need to order 500,000 and ship from China… We’re going to have to find another way.” Not quite your normal Sundance prep conversation, especially when the items in question are bottles of water. But these are not regular bottles […]
A year after legendary street artist Banksy’s film Exit Through the Gift Shop premiered at Sundance 2010, it still feels vital and fun upon its DVD release, a great roller coaster ride that is not only an entertaining mystery but a pinpoint observation on today’s art world. The film explores the underground street art scene and its anonymity, then segways into the notions of art vs. vandalism, appreciation vs. random collection, and spontaneity vs. calculated hype. When its screening was announced right before the festival, people either thought, “holy shit, Banksy made a film?!?!” or “what’s street art?” As the […]
Definition of HETERODOX 1: contrary to or different from an acknowledged standard, a traditional form, or an established religion : unorthodox, unconventional 2: holding unorthodox opinions or doctrines — Merriam Webster Dictionary There’s a funny responsibility that comes with inaugurating an award. That’s what I discovered during the creation of the first Cinema Eye Heterodox Award, sponsored by Filmmaker. The award will be announced tonight along with all the other prizes at Cinema Eye’s Museum of the Moving Image ceremony, and if you haven’t heard, here’s an excerpt from the press release: “Filmmakers have always been at the forefront of […]
I first met Zak Mulligan through my DP Sean Donnelly a few years back. After a bit of back and forth on the merits of Kickstarter, I helped him with a little production design on his first feature, and we became fast friends and supporters of each others work. Zak and his directing partner Rodrigo Lopresti were recent participants of IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Labs with their first feature film I’m not me. Zak also won the Best Cinematography award at Sundance last year for his work on the film Obselidia. He’s here to talk a bit about the advantages of […]
Via Huffington Post comes this link to Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, as rewritten for our Powerpoint era. Writes NYU Economics Prof William Easterly , with tongue firmly in cheek, “While the speech has gained considerable notice already, it would have been even more successful if Dr. King had two things that have vastly improved in the last 47 years: (1) presentation software, and (2) the evocative jargon used by “social entrepreneurs” trying to change things. Using my expert knowledge of these two areas, I was able to improve the “Dream” speech considerably in this Powerpoint presentation.” […]
At All Things Digital’s BoomTown column, Kara Swisher is reporting that the ad-supported streaming service (and owner of IndieWire) Snag Films has hired distribution veteran and October Films founder Bingham Ray to “spearhead its distribution of fictional narrative and foreign-produced independent films.” These announcements accompany news of $10 million in new financing from Comcast’s investment arm and New Enterprise Associates. From the piece: Currently, SnagFilms has 2,000 films in its online library, although [Snag Films founder Ted] Leonsis said the aim is to use the new funds to get 10,000 films on the service as soon as possible. “We’re trying […]
A quick, commentary-lite version… Joseph Conrad wrote a science-fiction novel. “Young and Restless Never Gets Old” — Dennis Lim in the Times on Gregg Araki. Big tech news this week: Google announces that it won’t support the H.264 codec and the HTML5 video tag in its Chrome browser in favor of its own WebM codec. It’s all very complicated and tech-y, but Google’s argument is that they’re supporting “open standards” by backing a codec without royalty issues. Problem is, Apple’s Safari and Microsoft’s IE both use the H.264 format and the short-term victor is likely to be Adobe, whose Flash […]
I guess somewhere, in the back of my mind, I knew it could never last. I wanted to make art films. But it was just a matter of time before the realities of life intruded. I am thirty-two now. Most of the people I met in the independent film world are long gone. They are movie stars or cable directors or waiters or teachers. I don’t know them anymore. It was raining and it was hot on the river. I was crashing on my friend’s couch. Me and my fiancé had just split up and I was having a nervous breakdown. In […]
In Hans Peter Moland’s glumly humorous, sneakily moving Norwegian dramedy A Somewhat Gentle Man, a graying, ponytailed ex-con named Ulrik, played with droll aplomb by the always reliable Stellan Skarsgard, fumbles his way back into civilian life after 12 years in prison for manslaughter. He finds a job as a mechanic for a body shop owner (Bjorn Sundquist), who insists he be on time and stay away from oddly alluring office secretary Merete (Jannike Kruse). After finding a room in the basement of an aging, horny matron (a terrific Jorun Kjellsby), the sister of Ulrik’s former boss and petty crime […]
Over the transom comes this press release from Killer Films and Moxie Pictures, who have combined forces to create KillerMoxie Management. With offices in L.A., New York and London, the company will rep filmmakers, actors and recording artists across various media and branded entertainment ventures. (Interestingly, and appropriately, the announcement makes clear that a broad range of media formats, not just feature films or conventional advertising, will be the focus of the company.) The venture will be headed by Brian Young, who leaves Untitled Entertainment to join KillerMoxie. Here’s the press release: New York-based indie film powerhouse Killer Films (Christine […]