“Something as revolutionary as the first version of Final Cut Pro when introduced in 1999.” That’s how the new version of Apple’s editing software was announced at the Final Cut Pro User Group Super Meet Up at NAB tonight. The new version of FCP has been hinted at for months, and after several prominent editors were shown a demo — and made to sign NDA’s that apparently only allowed them to leak words like “awesome” — the post production community has been awaiting its official unveiling. Many thought it would appear this summer alongside the release of the new OS, Lion, […]
Last summer in L.A. the Sundance Institute presented their first-ever ShortsLab, a day-long workshop for short filmmakers. The success of the event has led the Institute to expand ShortsLab to three cities this year with the first being Chicago on May 7 (NYC will happen on July 9 and L.A. Aug. 6). The Chicago workshop will include seminars, screenings and panels that focus on story, production and distribution. There will also be a panel dedicated to short film programmers, as they’ll talk candidly about what films they’re looking for and give tips on how to get your short noticed. Some […]
Today launches a new monthly column by director and traveler Lucas McNelly, who will be introducing us to the films and filmmakers he meets through his “A Year Without Rent” project. Ardent readers of the Filmmaker Magazine blog (which should be everyone), might remember that earlier this year, my Kickstarter campaign “A Year Without Rent” made a little bit of noise by raising over $7000, or roughly 60% of the target, in the final day without the help of any rich uncles. Rather, we did it the new-fashioned way — $20 at a time, fueled almost entirely by social media. […]
Okay, I’m not on the road to NAB… but David Leitner is, and he’ll be filing reports from the conference here at Filmmaker. Look for his pieces beginning tomorrow or Monday. There are other sites to follow as well. Koo will be attending NAB for the first time and posting interviews, write-ups and news over at No Film School. Phillip Bloom will be attending as wIll Vincent Laforet. For many, the big news will be (the rumored) announcement by Apple of the new Final Cut Pro. If you’re not following all the tech blogs, here’s the low-down: at the last […]
“By making this movie, David Gordon Green and Danny McBride have done what all of us have dreamed of doing since we too fantasized about making movies as adolescents. They have used their current success to truly test the boundaries of what they can get away with, and they’ve done it at a time when the Hollywood industry is as timid and fearful and insecure as it has ever been (which is saying something). They have caged their inner scaredy cats and swung for the f**king fence to produce something on a grand scale that has no direct precedent (or […]
[Editor’s Note: Spoiler Alert – The ending of Source Code is mentioned in this piece.] “We have only to understand the mirror stage as an identification, in the full sense that analysis gives to the term: namely, the transformation that takes place in the subject when he assumes an image — whose predestination to this phase-effect is sufficiently indicated by the use, in analytic theory, of the ancient term imago. This jubilant assumption of his specular image by the child at the infant stage, still sunk in his motor incapacity and nursling dependence, would seem to exhibit in an exemplary […]
(Meek’s Cutoff is being distributed by Oscilloscope Laboratories. It opens theatrically at the Film Forum in NYC on Wednesday, April 8, 2011. Click on the links to learn more. ) As much as I approve of Kelly Reichardt’s Meek’s Cutoff in every single way, I’ve been finding it incredibly difficult to write a review of it. Not that I don’t have anything worthwhile to say. It’s just that everything I’ve come up with so far sounds like film school pretension. Though term papers could — and hopefully will — be written about how Reichardt revises and revitalizes the traditional Western […]
This column usually focuses on one subject per post that tackles one specific aspect of micro-budget filmmaking. I never wanted it to be a place where we talk about the latest gear or tips on how to get a film done; There are other awesome sites for that. However, after talking with filmmaker Jamie Heinrich, about no-budget filmmaking, he sent me the list of important things to remember below. Jamie recently completed his film I Like You, and after seeing the trailer I can’t wait to check it out. Jamie’s advice is funny, to the point, and no nonsense. I […]
American independent films of the narrative variety are rarely hard art films. But in the case of Alastair Banks Griffin’s Two Gates of Sleep, which bowed at last year’s Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes before finding its way to AFI Fest last Fall, one should be ready to enter a long-take heavy, unspeakably gorgeous dirge that is sure of its influences and even more sure that it has something deeply resonant to express to you. It’s the type of movie that, as the cliche goes, requires the audience to “do some work,” that isn’t going to bend over backwards to entertain […]
In my review of 2010 in film, appearing in the Winter issue of Filmmaker soon to depart newsstands, I predicted controversy in 2011 over state film tax credit and incentive programs. That controversy has today landed on an unlikely target: Sarah Palin. First, here’s what I wrote: In December, Wall Street analyst Meredith Whitney made waves when she predicted a wave of municipal bond defaults, highlighting the perilous financial position of recession-strapped state and local governments. Indeed, independent filmmakers might find their beloved film incentive and rebate programs impacted in 2011. The seeds of this began in late 2010, with […]