The Sundance Institute has announced 12 projects for its annual June Directors and Screenwriters Labs, which take place at the Sundance Resort in Utah from June 2- 26. Congrats to all the directors and writers, including the two on the list — Benh Zeitlin and Andrew Okpeaha MacLean, who appeared on our 2008 “25 New Faces” list. From the press release: Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute today announced the 12 projects selected for its annual June Directors and Screenwriters Labs, taking place at the Sundance Resort in Utah from June 2-26, 2009. Under the leadership of Michelle Satter, Director […]
It was a really nice evening last night at the new Cooper Square Hotel where actress Katie Holmes hosted an IFP 30th Anniversary Spring Event. The event was co-chaired by producer Hunter Gray (Memorial Day, Zero Bridge, Momma’s Man, Half Nelson, pictured at right) and producer Anthony Bregman (Synecdoche, New York, Sleep Dealer, Friends with Money, and Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini’s upcoming The Extra Man, which stars Holmes, pictured at left). In his remarks, Bregman talked about Holmes’s long history with independent and specialty films, including roles in The Ice Storm, Go, Thank You for Smoking and Pieces […]
There comes a time in every star’s career when he or she has to come to terms with the fact that they may not be relevant anymore. Most often actors don’t have to come to this career roadblock as quickly as actresses because, frankly, it’s a sad fact no one wants to write roles for a 30-plus women, though they have no trouble finding roles men that age — except if they are action stars. In the time Jean-Claude Van Damme was roundhouse kicking his way into the worshiping teens in the 90s he was as big a box office […]
The IFP is announcing today Envision, a two-day forum jointly produced by the IFP and the U.N. in which film and both live and virtual discussion will be used to address significant global issues. There will be 12 screenings, presentations and panel discussions, according to the press release, “rooted in the UN’s Millennium Development Goals.” The release goes on to say, “In our debut year, there will be a special focus on the MDG’s impact on women. The UN’s Millennium Development Goals are to: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce […]
In the current issue of Filmmaker we feature the last of Bomb It director Jon Reiss’s fantastic three-part series on DIY distribution. In part one he outlined an alternative vision of DIY theatrical distribution; in part two he discusses DIY DVD distribution; and in part three in the current issue he discusses DIY web marketing. This third part will most likely be Jon’s last in the series — he’s writing a book about all of this that should be out later in the year — and I’m curious what practical articles you, our readers, would like to read about next. […]
I’ve been meaning to blog about this interview with director Ti West by Karina Longworth over at Spout for a couple of days now. (I missed it when I first posted but caught up with it through Karina’s Twitter feed when she tweeted that after the interview director West was forbidden from doing press.) You should check out the piece, but, in a nutshell, West alleges that the version of his new The House of the Devil, screening this week at Tribeca, is “not my version,” and that the financiers, Dark Sky Films, excised a four-minute scene in order to […]
At Filmmakermagazine.com, we just put up our first skyscraper ad, so we are inching out of the Dark Ages when it comes to internet advertising. Intrusive advertising is the rage now, but not the intrusive advertising of old in which window after window would take over your screen. Today’s advertisers are savvier and more creative. Take this Honda ad for its new hybrid vehicle which morphs its Vimeo page into a beautiful light show in the desert. I’m embedding the making of here, but to get the full effect go to the link above. Honda Insight – The Making of […]
Earlier I posted about the screenings of Ronnie Bronstein’s Frownland and Josh Safdie’s The Pleasure of Being Robbed this weekend in Los Angeles. As Brandon Harris noted in a blog post below, Josh Safdie and his brother Benny are premiering their new title, Go Get Some Rosemary, at Director’s Fortnight in Cannes this year. That film stars Frownland‘s director, Bronstein. So, seeing their two films back to back this weekend is something of a stateside prep for their appearance along the Croissette. Filmmaker contributor Mike Plante has just interviewed Bronstein over at his CineMad blog. Below, he talks about working […]
TONI SERVILLO IN WRITER-DIRECTOR PAOLO SORRENTINO’S IL DIVO. COURTESY MUSIC BOX FILMS. If Paolo Sorrentino represents the future of Italian cinema, then the country’s filmic output certainly should be exciting in years to come. The highly accomplished writer-director was born in Naples in 1970, and first became involved in filmmaking in the mid-90s when he was an assistant director on a couple of films, The Gas Inspector and Drogheria (both 1995). Finding himself poorly suited to production work, Sorrentino transitioned into screenwriting, jointly penning Polveri di Napoli with the film’s director Antonio Capuano in 1998. The same year, he wrote […]
Walk in a few minutes late and you’ll miss the set-up and most of the actual plot of Damien Chazelle’s lovely debut feature, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench. Guy’s a young, handsome, somewhat taciturn jazz musician who seems to move from one short-lived romantic encounter to another while saving his real passion for his trumpet. Madeline is a pretty, shy, somewhat directionless young woman who meets Guy, is affected by him and his music, and then is abruptly cut loose as Guy’s eye wanders. And yes, that’s all in the first few minutes and told mostly without dialogue. […]