“In Production” is a regular column which focuses on notable independent films that are currently shooting. Daniel Radcliffe is stuck in the friend zone in Michael Dowse’s The F Word. Resuming his post-Harry Potter career, Radcliffe stars alongside Zoe Kazan (Ruby Sparks) in this romantic comedy about a young man who meets the love of his life only to discover that she is already spoken for — not the most uncommon circumstance. The cast also includes Rafe Spall (Prometheus), Megan Park (ABC Family’s The Secret Life of the American Teenager) and the terrific Adam Driver (HBO’s Girls). Written by Elan Mastai (The Samaritan), […]
“In Production” is a regular column which focuses on notable independent films that are currently shooting. After four documentaries (three of which were produced by HBO, the other by Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh), the story of the West Memphis Three gets the narrative treatment courtesy of director Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter). Devil’s Knot focuses on three young men, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr. who were wrongfully accused of murdering three children as part of a satanic ritual. Appearing in the lead roles are newcomer James Hamrick (a Wesleyan drama student) as Echols, Seth Meriwether (Trouble with the Curve) as […]
“In Production” is a regular column which focuses on notable independent films that are currently shooting. Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford), Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and Ben Foster (Here) are among the impressive cast members assembled for newcomer David Lowery’s second feature, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints. Currently shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana, the drama-thriller has been described as a modern day Bonnie and Clyde. Coming off the success of his short film Pioneer (which got him on Filmmaker‘s “25 New Faces” list in 2011), Lowery developed Ain’t Them Bodies Saints at the Sundance […]
Our friends at the National Film Society sent over this video interview with the filmmakers who go by the name of Wong Fu Productions. If you don’t know them, what’s wrong with you? They have 1.2 million subscribers and over 190 million views. Here, they give us tips on audience building and navigating the waters of the video sharing giant.
“In Production” is a regular column which focuses on notable independent films that are currently shooting. Shooting from mid-July in Eastern Indiana, Scalene director Zack Parker’s Proxy is a suspense thriller about Esther (Alexia Rasmussen), a pregnant woman who joins a support group after being attacked one night and strikes up a dysfunctional relationship with a fellow victim (Alexa Havins). Parker’s last feature Scalene, which is set for release on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD on July 31st, received glowing reviews for its clever use of the fractured narrative – potentially one of the most over-used cinematic devices of the past three decades. Parker has […]
“In Production” is a regular column which focuses on notable independent films that are currently shooting. After dropping out of the Ben Stiller-produced comedy The Apostles of Infinite Love, Richard Ayoade is busy directing The Double, his follow-up to his 2010 debut Submarine (also produced by Stiller). Described as a comedic take on Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novella, The Double is about an insecure young man (Jesse Eisenberg – shocker) whose life turns upside down when he encounters his more confident doppelganger. The film also stars Mia Wasikowska (The Kids Are All Right), Wallace Shawn (My Dinner with Andre) and Noah Taylor […]
Director Mark Raso, whose short film Under won a Student Academy Award earlier this year, will be writing a series of blog entries about making his feature debut with a microbudget movie shot in Copenhagen, Denmark. This is his first dispatch. After watching an inspiring Q&A with director Mike Cahill at an IFP screening of Another Earth in February of this year, my colleague and the producer of our film Mauro Mueller turned to me and said, “Let’s do it, no matter what.” I agreed. Five months later, I find myself in Copenhagen, Denmark, two weeks out on principal photography on my […]
You don’t have to be British royalty to find a cure for a speech impediment through film. High school senior Daniel Altman wrote the below account of his work on an independent feature as his college essay. It was subsequently published on the Stuttering Foundation website, where it has attracted thousands of hits, and Altman has been accepted at his top choice school for the Fall. We’re reprinting it, with permission, because it’s a great reminder that the practice of filmmaking brings many rewards, many of which often go unsung. — Editors I stutter. I stutter like Porky Pig. Sometimes […]
The mixture of risk-taking, cost-cutting and pure enthusiasm that is independent film production can lead to great movies but also, all too frequently, poorly thought-out productions. Here, from producer Maureen A. Ryan (Man on Wire), is a list of 12 mistakes often made by new filmmakers and their producers as well as many who should know better. It originally appeared in our Winter, 2012 issue. 1. Decide to shoot before you have the best script possible. You’re dying to shoot your first feature but don’t start prepping until your script is ready to be shot. It doesn’t matter if your […]