6560 Results for “production”
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FILMMAKER LAUNCHES CURATED KICKSTARTER PAGE
With thanks to the good folks at Kickstarter, today we debut our curated page on the crowdfunding platform. At Filmmaker Magazine on Kickstarter you’ll always find a half dozen or so projects that we believe deserve your support. These will be projects by filmmakers we support through the magazine or site (like, for example, those from our annual “25 New Faces” list), those whose work has impressed us in the past, or perhaps just those whose project descriptions are particularly compelling. And while film and video projects will, naturally, comprise the bulk of our recommendations, I hope to sprinkle in […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 16, 2012 -
Listen as Your Story Talks to the Internet
Without a doubt, this is an amazing time to be a storyteller. We have moved beyond the simple democratization of storytelling and production tools. Funding, marketing and distribution solutions are commoditized, providing filmmakers numerous opportunities to bring their work to an audience. And now a new phase is arriving, one that merges technology with the creative process. Filmmakers will soon be able to take advantage of a world of connected objects in what has been termed the “Internet of things.” And in this environment, as always, there will be a need for good storytelling to provide a level of understanding, […]
by Lance Weiler on Jan 15, 2012 -
The Art of First Impressions: How to Cut a Movie Trailer
Stephen Garrett on crafting a winning trailer
by Stephen Garrett on Jan 13, 2012 -
RECAPPING THE 2012 CINEMA EYE HONORS
The backlash against the Academy’s recent changes to its nomination policies for documentary films contrasted with the casual atmosphere of last night’s Cinema Eye Honors. In an intimate theater at the Museum of the Moving Image, the pillars of the documentary community gathered to celebrate the breadth and diversity of their craft. In attendance were Frederick Wiseman, Al Maysles, Steve James, Alex Gibney, Michael Moore, Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky and many more. Founder and co-host AJ Schnack spoke of the Cinema Eyes evolution prior to the awards: “Some things about Cinema Eye are the same as they were that first time that we gathered […]
by Daniel James Scott on Jan 12, 2012 -
Super 8
1 Webdocs With the official partnership of entities as ahead-of-the-curve as IDFA DocLab and Power to the Pixel, among a dozen others, Belgian director Matthieu Lietaert (whose own online project We R Democracy nabbed the BIPS at Sunny Side of the Doc 2010) has put together an offline guide to navigating the field of Web-based documentaries. Titled Webdocs, it covers everything from crowd sourcing to storytelling in a format that includes interviews with 30 cross-media makers and producers, as well as in-depth analysis of six highly successful webdocs. The book is jam-packed with practical information and advice from those on […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 10, 2012 -
Thessaloniki International Film Festival
Rome fell. Athens fell. Unelected representatives of European banks were installed in Italy and Greece, elections distant down the road. Interesting times in the south of Europe, with a rush of drama in the outside world to match the 100-plus films slated during 10 eventful days of November’s 52nd edition of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival. The event was trim, yet taut, light wind in its sails from a two-year budget infusion from the European Regional Development Fund. Photo exhibits, publications, masterclasses and retrospectives still accompanied the international competition, the Balkan Survey and Open Horizons programming sections. If one weren’t […]
by Ray Pride on Jan 10, 2012 -
Hits & Misses
Will 2011 be remembered as the year the indie film biz rebounded after nearly two years of contraction, consolidation and caution? Or was it merely a brief minor upsurge, hardly enough to sustain the numerous companies, executives and filmmakers trying to make a go of it? The beginning of the year started bright, even dazzling. Independent films like Black Swan, The King’s Speech, The Kids Are All Right and Winter’s Bone were big at the Oscars and the box office. And at Sundance, more than 40 films were acquired during and immediately after the fest. It looked like independent films […]
by Anthony Kaufman on Jan 10, 2012 -
Strategic Planning
With conventional theatrical distribution deals harder to come by, independent filmmakers are increasingly looking towards DIY, or do-it-yourself, releasing strategies for their movies. But the truth is that there is no one, sure-fire way to distribute a movie. Certain platforms accessible to self-distributing filmmakers work beautifully for some movies while being terrible for others. Each film possesses its own specific DNA, and to determine its most appropriate strategy requires an analysis of a film’s goals, assets and realistic potential. For some, a goal will be to recoup investments. For others it will be to get a modicum of renown, and […]
by Saskia Wilson-Brown on Jan 10, 2012 -
Rewind
One year ago in this spot I cautiously heralded “signs of life” in the independent film world, citing, among other things, all the independently financed features (Black Swan, Winter’s Bone, The Kids Are All Right) headed for the Oscars. A month after I wrote my piece, Sundance 2011 concluded with a record number of acquisitions, which included films like the tough, defiantly independent Martha Marcy May Marlene and the no-budget Another Earth by none other than Fox Searchlight. And while American independents didn’t sweep the Oscars, they did figure prominently, with a Best Actress win for Natalie Portman. But, as […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 10, 2012 -
Let Me Out: Ti West on The Innkeepers
The problem with so many horror films today is that you feel like you’ve seen them before. I’m not talking about their plots or characters because ghosts, vampires and serial killers have been and will be dramatized again and again. No, I’m talking about the feeling of watching these films, the internal clock that prepares you for this jolt by minute three, that one by minute 10 and a final shocker just before, or after, the closing credits. Among the many excellent qualities of writer-director Ti West’s filmmaking is its refusal to be straitjacketed by the more programmatic notions of […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 10, 2012
