The writer of Con Air and the writer of The Fighter walk into a bar and take a seat next to an aspiring writer with no credits, no agent, no manager and no connections. The aspiring writer strikes up a conversation. This is neither the set up for a cruel joke nor a channel surfing induced fever dream – it’s just one of the many scenes I witnessed at the Austin Film Festival & Conference, one of the few festivals dedicated to celebrating the screenwriter both fledgling and legendary. In addition to its film competition, Austin holds a contest for unproduced writers, […]
Indie-Current is a monthly heads-up tracking developments effecting the indie film scene. It’s a big — and forever getting bigger – world out there, so readers are encouraged to e-mail me stories I’ve missed or something you believe is important for others in the indie community. I can be reached at drosennyc@verizon.net. * * * Occupy Wall Street rocks To shouts of “We Are the 99%,” the Occupy Wall Street movement is spreading throughout the country and the world. Indeed, the whole world is watching. FCC latest scam On October 27th the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced a plan to reform the […]
Originally posted on Aug 4, 2011 in our Director Interviews section of the website. Gun Hill Road is nominated for Breakthrough Actor. Rashaad Ernesto Green’s stirring Puerto Rican tranny drama Gun Hill Road concerns a Bronx teenager in the midst of transitioning from Latino to Latina whoseworld is turned upside down by the return of her long absent father. Green gives us a fully developed familial antagonist in Esai Morales’ patriarch, fresh out of Rikers, who is adjusting to civilian life. His masculine self-image (already assailed by sexual assaults while incarcerated) is quickly hindered by the realization that his […]
I interviewed Zoe Lund for the second issue of Filmmaker, back when we put Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant on the cover.She was the screenwriter, and she also appeared in one of the film’s most memorable scenes. Previously, Lund starred in a number of films, including Ferrara’s breakthrough, Ms. 45. Lund was fascinating, beautiful, talented, and she had a unique and powerful charisma.She died in Paris in 1999. Recently I ran into filmmaker and Slamdance co-founder Paul Rachman, and he told me about the series of short documentary films he’s making about Lund. He agreed to answer a few questions about […]
Sundance announced today the lineup for their annual New Frontier program, taking place Friday, January 20 through Saturday, January 28 as part of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. This year’s lineup features installations from multimedia artists such as Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then director Brent Green, 0100101110101101.org creators Eva & Franco Mattes, and indie gaming company Molleindustria. Now in its sixth year, New Frontier provides a venue for innovative media installations, multimedia performances, transmedia experiences, and panel discussions. For the first time, the program will be taking place simultaneously at two locations: The Yard (1251 Kearns Blvd.) in Park City […]
Almost as if they knew today was Halloween, NPR has offered up a free stream of Crazy Clown Time, the much anticipated debut album from director David Lynch. Eleanor Kagan writes: “To those familiar with (Lynch’s) tendencies, the content of Crazy Clown Time should come as no surprise. Written, performed and produced by Lynch with engineer Dean Hurley, Lynch’s first solo album finds him meandering through a series of dark dreams and visceral meditations on modern life and society.” Indeed, the album is a beguiling, often unsettling listen. In other words, it’s unmistakably Lynchian. Many of the songs call to […]
Second #1692, 28:12 “Ladies and gentlemen, the Blue Lady. Miss Dorothy Vallens.” And so Dorothy is introduced by the Master of Ceremonies, played by Jean-Pierre Viale, in what appears to be his only movie role. As one hand touches the vintage suspension-mount microphone, and one hand beckons Dorothy, the frame captures the tipping point of the film, as darkness is about to spill into Sandy’s and Jeffrey’s world as Dorothy takes the stage. Those curtains, otherworldly in the way they echo the blue velvet curtains from the film’s opening credits, signify a range of electrified meanings, none of them happy. […]
“The Making of a Grassroots Movement” is a series of posts that are meant to serve as a case study on transmedia marketing and social engagement and distribution for an independent film called Grassroots. This is blog number 2 — for introductions and context, check out blog 1. To meet our transmedia marketing and outreach goals for Grassroots, we divided our strategy into four areas of focus: Exhibition, Education, Opportunity and Partnerships. The first area – exhibition – was the segment that we needed to address right away: We needed a release date so we could gear everything else (marketing, […]
Thursday night EditShare sponsored a seminar with Oscar-nominated film editor Tariq Anwar at the Florence Gould Hall on East 59th Street in Manhattan. Despite rain the evening was well attended by writers, directors, and especially editors, and Anwar’s presentation — basically a low-key Q&A session moderated by Manhattan Edit Workshop’s Josh Apter — was fun and informative. Here are a few thoughts he shared. Anwar got into filmmaking somewhat accidentally, starting by driving a truck then getting work as an assistant director. After doing a great deal of yelling at crews, he decided “the cutting room was the most civilized […]