Documentary
-
SUNDANCE PREVIEW: INTERVIEW WITH SENIOR PROGRAMMER DAVID COURIER
For the independent film industry, January isn’t just the start of a New Year, it’s also exam season. At this very moment, documentary filmmakers around the world are in edit rooms deep into the night, hoping to ace the Sundance finals. The reward for those late night cram sessions is certainly worth it: the most gifted alumni of previous festival’s have been awarded the best graduation gift of all — a career as a working filmmaker. To find out more about this year’s class, I spoke to David Courier, Senior Film Programmer at the Sundance Institute. Filmmaker: I noticed a lot […]
by Mary Anderson Casavant on Jan 18, 2011 -
My Year Of DIY — The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
Gregory Bayne shoots Jens Pulver. Photo courtesy Alex Couey. A short collection of observations from my year of DIY. My name is Gregory Bayne, and in 2010 I stumbled into a full time “DIY” film career without a back up, without a net, and without, in many respects, a clue. And, though over the course of 2010 I ran two successful crowd-funding campaigns (http://bit.ly/drivenks, http://bit.ly/poiks), made a fully fan-funded documentary feature (that people really seem to love), and released, with my collaborator, a narrative feature…I made less than enough money to scrape by, and currently find myself about to start […]
by Gregorybayne on Jan 3, 2011 -
DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
It’s all in the mix. I’m going to borrow from the overly quoted urban sociologist Jane Jacobs, who maintained that for a city to be vital it requires a blending of old and new neighborhoods, cultural sites, and areas of commerce. For Jacobs, Lincoln Center was poisonous, a large, concentrated collection of arts facilities that is usually lifeless and could have worked better spread out around New York City. As far as I know, Jacobs never got to Dubai. Almost everything there is new, oversized, and sanitized; the scale is not human. After all, the Emirate boasts the world’s largest […]
by Howard Feinstein on Dec 27, 2010 -
Obama-Republican Tax Bill Includes Extension Of Film Tax Break Section 181
Filmmaker Justin Eugene Evans forwarded me news that an extension of Section 181, the film production tax break, was included in the bill signed by President Obama today. Here, reprinted with permission, is an email containing the news. Dear Film Professionals – Section 181 has finally been renewed! The new Tax Bill was signed into law by President Obama earlier today. The tax law includes Section 744, which includes language that replaces IRC Section 181’s expiration date of December 31, 2009 with December 31, 2011. Here is what this means: 1.) Any money spent on qualifying domestic film production* in […]
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 17, 2010 -
Criterion: America Lost and Found: The BBS Story
In a recent edition of his ongoing online column “Movie Answer Man,” Roger Ebert was faced with the following reader-submitted query: “Since good movies can now be cheaply made, why aren’t we seeing more of the kind of arthouse films that were so influential in the ’60s and ’70s?” Ebert’s response, while relatively curt, was two-fold. “1.) It is very expensive to release, promote, and advertise any movie,” he began. Fair enough — as any independent filmmaker knows, simply getting your movie made is just one small initial hurdle…and as any viewer who watches contemporary independent films can sadly attest, […]
by Travis Crawford on Dec 16, 2010 -
FILMMAKER PRESENTS PETE SILLEN TONIGHT AT THE IFC CENTER
If you’re in New York, come out tonight for an evening with Pete Sillen at the IFC Center. Filmmaker is hosting a screening of Pete’s short-form work, and I’m moderating the Q & A. The evening begins at 7:00, and here’s the description: Tonight at 7:00pm! We’re proud to welcome critically acclaimed director Peter Sillen Tuesday December 14 discussing his works with Filmmaker Magazine Editor-In-Chief Scott Macaulay. Sillen will present screenings of a number of his short films, including Speed Racer: Welcome to the World of Vic Chesnutt, Grand Luncheonette, Branson: Musicland U.S.A., and a short working cut of his […]
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 14, 2010 -
WHAT’S IN MY INSTAPAPER: SUNDAY MORNING LINKS
I haven’t done one of these in a while, so a few of these links are less than current. In any case, here are some links of interest from my Instapaper archives. First, Instapaper itself, and its founder Marco Arment, got some love from today’s New York Times. In The Paris Review, filmmaker Michael Almereyda collects largely unseen and uncollected photographs by William Eggleston. He writes: William Eggleston’s color photographs are among the most widely viewed, and widely admired, in the medium. But I wanted to survey Eggleston’s unseen, unpublished work—his B-sides, bootlegs, unreleased tracks—and to that end I made […]
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 12, 2010 -
The Perfect Swan
(Editor’s Note: This essay contains spoilers.) In literature or in oratory, where rhetoric arose from, it’s somewhat difficult to separate the argument’s mode of persuasion from its substance. In order to make an entirely skilled rhetorical point, the writer or speaker will have to present a series of assumptions and assertions, facts and hypotheses, in such a way that makes the argument’s substance apparent. That’s why literature lends itself to the intellectual: it’s founded upon a progression of ideas. Cinema is often referred to as a different kind of linguistic medium (the “language of film”), but a linguistic one nevertheless, […]
by Zachary Wigon on Dec 10, 2010 -
SUBMISSIONS OPEN FOR “THE ECONOMIST FILM PROJECT”
The Economist magazine and PBS NewsHour have teamed to create The Economist Film Project, an initiative that will “showcase independent documentary films from around the world,” according to its website. Segments from selected films will air regularly on PBS NewsHour in a national primetime feature through 2011-2012. Thompson on Hollywood spoke to The Economit‘s deputy editor, Gideon Lichfield, who says the project “will bring viewers new perspectives and insights in the form of films they might not otherwise see on the kinds of issues that The Economist itself covers.” The Economist Film Project is currently seeking submissions of completed documentary films […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Dec 6, 2010 -
SUNDANCE ’11 SHORT FILMS ANNOUNCED
The Sundance Institute has announced the short films that will be screening at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. The full list of titles are below. See the complete list of competition titles here and out-of-competition titles here. The festival will take place Jan. 20-30, 2011 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. U.S. NARRATIVE SHORTS After You Left (Director: Jef Taylor; Screenwriters: Jef Taylor and Michael Tisdale) – A man in his mid-thirties searches for meaning in the aftermath of a relationship. Andy and Zach (Director and Screenwriter: Nick Paley) – When Zach decides to move out, […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Dec 6, 2010
