In a week of stories surrounding Roman Polanski’s arrest in Zurich on a warrant for his three decade old conviction on a sex charge involving a 13-year-old girl in the U.S. and retired prosecutor David Wells‘s sudden admission that he fabricated the comments he made in Marina Zenovich‘s documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, it got me thinking of Zenovich’s answer to our yearly question to Sundance directors the year she screened the film there in 2008. The question: “If you had 10 percent more of anything, what would it be and why?” I wish I’d had a 10 percent […]
Nick Dawson at FilmInFocus picked up on this Levi’s commercial directed by Sin Nombre director Cary Fukunaga. Writes Dawson: Susan Hoffman, the executive creative director of ad company Wieden + Kennedy, described the campaign as aiming “to refresh and reinvent the idea of a pioneering spirit for the times in which we live.” Fukunaga’s commercial, entitled “America,” uses the Walt Whitman poem of the same name and juxtaposes the rousing, patriotic words of the poem with lyrical images of a young and untamed country. Fukunaga has great eye for detail and a strong sense of style, and his black and […]
Terence Nance was in the IFP Rough Cut Lab with his very original How Would You Feel in 2008. Now he’s raising finishing funds using a crowdsourcing approach. He only needs five grand. Donate up to $40 and you get a DVD of the film. From $40 – $250 you get a DVD and T-Shirt. From 250 – $1,000, all of the above, a “Special Thanks” credit, and a one-night stay at the filmmaker’s home. More than a grand? All the above, a producer credit and your investment treated as an equity investment. Here’s how Nance describes the movie: HOW […]
The New York Times reports that former Nixon speechwriter and columnist William Safire has died. While I disagreed with most of his politics, he had a great run at the Times with a column that was always witty, well-reasoned and well-written — a far cry from much of current right-wing discourse. I thought his final column was spectacular, and I saved a copy on my hard drive to refer to periodically. It’s called “Never Retire,” and it’s about the necessity of keeping the synapses active and continuously adapting to and participating in cultural change. Obviously, it’s even more relevant today […]
In my last post on our distribution strategy for Kirt Gunn’s Lovely by Surprise I mentioned that I’d try to write a follow-up post when appropriate. It seems that time has come sooner than expected, and for one particular reason. Part of our DIY release for Lovely By Surprise has been focused on digital messaging platforms, particularly Twitter and Facebook. They have been great tools for aggregating fans and followers and keeping them informed about various topics, from trivia about our actors and crew, to release dates and special screenings. Twitter in particular has proven to be a great device […]
Indiewire and MoMA jointly organized a summit at MoMA on September 25 to discuss independent film and its future direction in a time of economic crisis and technological change. That the two groups could assemble a fairly astonishing collection of about 70 distributors, producers, directors, festival reps and others from the community at one place at one time is testament to the strength of the organizations but also the widespread sentiment that our business is changing and that what is yet to come will be defined by our collective actions — or, possibly, non-actions. Some of the attendees, listed here […]
Earlier this week I wrote about Werner Herzog’s Guerilla Film School, which consists of a long weekend soaking up the wisdom of the great German director. Well, here’s another chance for one-on-one auteurist mind meld. The Pablove Foundation, which raises money for and awareness of children’s cancer, is auctioning off a visit to the set of Chris Nolan’s next film and lunch with the director. You and a guest can watch him film and ask him stuff about The Dark Knight, Memento, or for a little more clarity on the ending of The Prestige. The set visit will occur the […]
According to indieWIRE’s Eugene Hernandez, The Weinstein Company’s president of theatrical films Tom Ortenberg has asked to be released from his contract after eight months on the newly created post. Ortenberg tells iW that his last day at the company will be Sept. 30. He had no other comment on his decision. Ortenberg came over from Lionsgate where he had spent the last 12 years.
From Jon Taplin’s blog, his conversation with Peter Chernin, former President of News Corp and Gordon Crawford, the Managing Director of Capital Group, “the most important media investor.” It’s titled Art of the Long View; The Media Company of 2020. ‘ Some notes on the presentation are available at Paid Content. Their lede: For investors wondering if there are still any opportunities in media, former News Corp (NYSE: NWS). COO Peter Chernin has some advice: focus on digital and look to developing countries. In a panel discussion with Gordon Crawford, managing director of The Capital Group Companies, at the USC […]
The IFP have announced that Kathryn Bigelow, Natalie Portman, Stanley Tucci and Working Title’s Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner will receive career tributes at the 19th Gotham Independent Film Awards on Nov. 30th at Cipriani Wall Street in NYC. All the Tributes have either had big years already or are lined up to have them by the end. Bigelow has received rave reviews and Oscar buzz for The Hurt Locker, Tucci starred in Nora Ephron‘s Julie and Julia and will be in Peter Jackson‘s The Lovely Bones, Portman stars in the Jim Sheridan remake of Brothers and Bevan and Fellner […]