Michael Fleming has a noteworthy story in Variety today reporting that a dozen screenwriters with strong commercial track records have joined together in a collective called Writing Partners which is making a deal at Fox. Offering a stark contrast to the cliche of the abused Hollywood writer, the Fox deal offers the scribes real incentives to bring spec projects to the studio. From the piece: The writers, who’ll take small upfront payments and will only get their usual fees on films that go into production, will also be guaranteed input as producers, and protection from being rewritten without their permission. […]
JULIE DELPY AND ADAM GOLDBERG IN 2 DAYS IN PARIS. COURTESY SAMUEL GOLDWYN FILMS. It is difficult to write about Julie Delpy’s career without rhapsodizing about the multi-talented Frenchwoman. At just 14, she got her breakthrough in Jean-Luc Godard’s Detective, and while still in her teens she worked with such celebrated European auteurs as Leos Carax, Bertrand Tavernier, Carlos Saura, Agnieszka Holland and Volker Schlöndorff. In the early 1990s, Delpy established herself as one of the most promising actresses around with her work in both arthouse successes (Krysztof Kie?lowski’s White and Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise) and more commercial fare like […]
The IFP’s Filmmaker Conference has announced the names of some of the panelists who will be taking the stage at the Puck Building in New York City next month from Sept. 16 – 21. Filmmaker Magazine’s Managing Editor Jason Guerrasio and I will be moderating a number of conversations, including those with producer Jon Kilik (Julian Schnabel’s upcoming The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Babel), former Artisan co-founder Bill Block of QED Intl., an LA-based financing, sales and production company, and former tech investor and entrepreneur Tony Liano of Cracker Content, a streaming entertainment network. Over the course of the […]
Currently in its fifth year, Fast Track, a joint program of the Los Angeles Film Festival and Filmmaker magazine, was created to promote the careers of talented filmmakers over the course of a year, while spreading the word about their newest projects. The filmmakers chosen are alumni of the LAFF as well as alumni of Film Independent’s Talent Development Programs: the Filmmaker Labs, Project: Involve, and the grants awarded at the Spirit Awards. Here are the Fast Track filmmakers of 2007 and their upcoming projects. Robbie Pickering You know you’re in for some trouble when your dutiful Christian wife discovers […]
Great news for those who have been concerned about the proposed new rules regulating film shooting and photography on the streets of New York. The Mayors Office of Film and Television has announced that they will be redrafting these regulations following feedback from the community. You can read their announcement here. Here’s a key passage from the press release: Among other things, the re-drafting phase will focus on meaningfully addressing concerns that sections (b)(ii) and (b)(iii) affected individuals who were not engaged in the type of activities traditionally regulated by MOFTB. These are the sections of the proposed rules that […]
After years of fanboy speculation and internet chatter, Blade Runner: The Final Cut will debut theatrically in New York and L.A. on October 5 and on DVD from Warner Home VideoDecember 18. The slow-burning classic will receive three separate DVD editions: a two-disk Special Edition, a four-disk Collector’s Edition, and a five-disk Ultimate Collectors Edition. I first saw Blade Runner on its theatrical release many years ago. At the time I was underwhelmed. As a big Philip K. Dick fan, I didn’t like the noir tone that replaced the schlubby melodrama and cosmic satire of Dick’s novel. Over the years, […]
Over at her Deadline Hollywood Daily, Nikki Finke has a short post about btewing complications in some of the state film tax incentive programs. As she reports, Texas has a requirement in its program that filmmakers can’t portray “Texas or Texans in a negative fashion.” She also mentions the North Carolina restrictions, which we’ve noted previously, that require films receiving credits to adhere to “general standards of decency and respect for the diverse beliefs and values of the citizens of North Carolina.” Finke concludes by writing that the MPAA is getting involved: The MPAA is warning that not only do […]
If you haven’t checked out the main page recently, please click over there and watch Jamie Stuart’s new short, 12.5 Seconds Later It’s goofy and charming and, to my mind, pretty much a miracle of no-crew production. Jamie shot and edited it himself and then, for the post, used new Final Cut Pro Studio software, including its new compositing program Motion. Jamie did the short at our request — we offered him use of a promo Apple system and in return he wrote a print review based on his experiences actually using the software to make a film. Both Jamie […]
DIANA GARCIA IN GERARDO NARANJO’S DRAMA/MEX. COURTESY IFC FIRST TAKE. Not many people can genuinely claim that cinema is their savior, but Gerardo Naranjo is probably one of the few. Growing up in the small Mexican town of Salamanca, he frequently got into trouble and was forced to move from school to school as a result of his problems with authority, but managed to escape his difficulties while watching movies. He ended up studying at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City, where he founded a cinema club called Zero for Conduct, — named after the Jean Vigo movie, a favorite […]
If you’re in NYC today, come check out the first of three evenings Filmmaker is hosting with the IFC of new work and personal appearances by idiosyncratic documentary filmmakers. The first is tonight and we’ll be screening the work of talking with Bradley Beesley. Here’s more info: Filmmaker and IFC Center are pleased to announce the debut of “Dialogues on Film,” a new series of screenings and discussions with directors, moderated by Filmmaker’s Scott Macaulay; the series launches Monday, July 9 at 7:30pm with “An Evening with Bradley Beesley.” The program includes Beesley’s cult classic documentary OKIE NOODLING, along with […]