Here’s the funny thing about an article on second jobs in filmmaking: It’s always relevant. The last piece I wrote for Filmmaker on this topic is still referenced: people continue to call me up to talk about it, and nearly as often as they did when it first appeared. But it’s been five years since I wrote it. So, as part of our ongoing look at the financial lives of artists, we thought it would be a good idea to revisit some of the filmmakers we interviewed in 2009 and see how their relationships with their second jobs have evolved […]
by Esther B. Robinson on Jul 17, 2014In an article by Esther Robinson in our upcoming Summer issue, Barry Jenkins speaks to the delicate work-work balance incurred by many a filmmaker — that is to say, what he does to financially support his filmmaking career, and how that job tends to detract from passion projects. Jenkins is fortunate enough that his particular day job, as ringleader of the production company Strike Anywhere, allows him to regularly create content, even if of the branded and not feature-length variety. Over at Fandor, resident video essayist Kevin Lee takes a look at Strike Anywhere’s catalogue, and the work Jenkins has produced in the six […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Jul 16, 2014The Borscht Film Festival does great work, not only playing films already on the circuit but also specially commissioning shorts by Miami-based filmmakers for the event. Amy Seimetz’s When We Lived in Miami was the most notable of these from last year’s fest, and from the previous year that distinction arguably went to Barry Jenkins’ Chlorophyl. The short by the Medicine for Melancholy dirctor is, finally, online. And for a little background, check out Borscht collective member Andrew Hevia’s post for Filmmaker‘s own The Microbudget Conversation about how the film came about.
by Nick Dawson on Nov 12, 2013Last summer, at about the same time I was shooting Orphaned, Columbia Pictures was shooting second-unit/chase scenes for Salt here in Albany, NY. Apparently we have a really dope set of off-ramps and bridges that made it necessary to shoot one scene in Upstate New York. They brought in all their own people and all their own gear. Many of the actors that worked on Orphaned got day-play extra roles and stand-in gigs, and downtown was a mess for a week. The film community of Albany was pissed and ecstatic all at the same time, and the experience acted as […]
by John Yost on Jul 19, 2011This week I leave you in the capable hands of our editor Scott Macaulay. One of the exciting aspects of this gig is learning from a fella like Scott. A producer of some of my favorite indie films, he has been a great mentor and producer of this column. I asked him to just go nuts and write what was on his mind. Voila! Last fall, I posted a call for new columnists for this website, and the first to respond was John Yost with the idea for this “Micro-Budget Conversation.” I liked John’s proposal for a number of […]
by John Yost on May 12, 2011One of the discoveries of the 2010 Cannes Film Festival was a film that actually premiered at SXSW: David Robert Mitchell’s Myth of the American Sleepover. Receiving its international premiere in the Critics Week section, Myth of the American Sleepover is a dreamy, romantic, and wistful take on the amorous longings of our teenage years. It’s set during one night in which Mitchell’s various teen characters crisscross their Michigan town between several sleepovers, all-night slumber parties, and general hang outs. Without stooping to farfetched plot elements or melodramatic contrivances, the film compels our viewing by nailing just the right tone […]
by Scott Macaulay on May 22, 2010The San Francisco Film Society and the Kenneth Rainen Foundation just announced the ten finalists for the third SFFS/KRF Filmmaking Grant. The grant (up to $190,000) will be awarded to the feature film that best exemplifies a social justice theme with a potentially significant economic or social effect on the Bay Area filmmaking community. Over the next five years SFFS and KRF plan to give out a number of grants that will total $3 million. The Filmmaking Grants give support to films that, through plots, themes and character work, explore human rights in a thought-provoking and meaningful way, in addition […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Mar 12, 2010In “A Filmmaker’s Glamorous Life,” online and in our latest print edition, Esther Robinson surveyed a number of filmmakers about the jobs they’ve taken to support themselves when they are not making films. In this blog series we’ll run the unedited responses we received that were then condensed for the piece. Below: Barry Jenkins. Filmmaker: How did you support yourself during the production of your last movie/movies? Jenkins: I had this job at Banana Republic that was more or less essential to getting my last movie done. Was a great job, I was the shipment supervisor at the largest Banana […]
by Scott Macaulay on Aug 4, 2009