duplass brothers
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“…Liz was Isolated as a Felon on the Run, Transitioning Alone”: Nick Cammilleri and Zackary Drucker on Their HBO Docuseries The Lady and the Dale
Binge-worthy doesn’t even begin to describe The Lady and the Dale, Nick Cammilleri and Zackary Drucker’s four-part, one-of-a-kind docuseries, premiering January 31 on HBO. Produced by the Duplass brothers, this twist-and-turning saga stars a three-wheeled car called the Dale (that may or may not have been viable) and its marketer extraordinaire, a visionary female entrepreneur (and longtime serial con artist) named Elizabeth Carmichael. With a promise of 70 miles to the gallon at a time when the 70s oil crisis was leaving Americans to linger at gas stations in Soviet-long lines, the Dale seemed to many a dream come true. And […]
by Lauren Wissot on Feb 5, 2021 -
Pre-Course Work
With most incoming film students being required to make shorts during their undergraduate or graduate studies, what exemplars of the form should they look to for inspiration? Filmmaker asked a number of friends—all filmmakers—who teach filmmaking at a cross-section of institutions to list the short films they think all incoming students should check out and be inspired by. Howard A. Rodman, professor, USC School of Cinematic Arts: I consistently recommend to my students—whose films often lead with cinematography, visual effects and sound mix—that they see Andrea Arnold’s Academy Award–winning 2003 short film Wasp. Adequate direct sound, wobbly cam, minimalist VFX, yet […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jun 11, 2018 -
Short Film Confessions Redux
Thirteen years ago, I wrote an article for Filmmaker: “Confessions of a Short Film Programmer.” In my introduction, I hinted at the most brutal clichés filmmakers should avoid (uncleared movie posters on the walls, a protagonist drinking from a Jack Daniel’s bottle, revealing a character to be a mime), but I didn’t want to completely wallow in the negative. After all, as a programmer of short films at Sundance, I’m fortunate to have such a cool job, even if it also happens to be the only job I’m capable of doing professionally. Since the publication of that article, the world […]
by Mike Plante on Mar 8, 2018 -
“Every So Often a Train Would Come Rumbling By and the Set Would Shake”: DP Doug Emmett on Shooting HBO’s Room 104
An octogenarian couple returns to the hotel room where they spent their first night together — it’s a logline that would typically preface an elegiac rumination on love and mortality. But by the time that set-up arrives in the season finale of HBO’s new anthology series Rooms 104, it seems just as likely to give way to horror or violence…or interpretive dance. That’s the joy of the newest Duplass Brothers creation — each episode begins as a blank slate capable of unexpectedly evolving into any genre or tone. The 12-episode series — which debuted last Friday night — unfolds entirely […]
by Matt Mulcahey on Aug 1, 2017 -
Is TV Killing Indie Film?
Is TV usurping independent film? That was one of the main takeaways in a recent Filmmaker Magazine article written by producer Mike S. Ryan (“TV is Not the New Film”). With veteran producers, writers and directors heading to HBO, Netflix and Amazon in droves; with audiences affixed to the latest show recaps; and with film festival programmers dedicating more slots to episodic storytelling, it sure seems so. But if you talk to working indie-film professionals, the question appears to be slightly off the mark. Maybe we shouldn’t be asking whether long-form storytelling is supplanting indie film, but how it’s enabling […]
by Anthony Kaufman on Oct 28, 2015 -
Hannah Fidell’s A Teacher To Be Adapted At HBO
While the internet wages on about whether or not the cinematic True Detective is fit for the small screen, HBO is pressing ahead on the ever-thinning gap between film and television. Yesterday, the premium cable channel announced that 25 New Face Hannah Fidell’s A Teacher would be getting the adaptation treatment. Michael Costigan, upon seeing the film at 2013 Sundance, enlisted Fidell and Daniel Brockhurst, former showrunner of the UK Shameless, to executive produce and write the series. Mark and Jay Duplass, who are gearing up to shoot their own HBO series Togetherness, will also executive produce, with Fidell directing the potential pilot. This […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Feb 11, 2014 -
Five Questions with Jeff, Who Lives At Home Writer/Directors Mark and Jay Duplass
Last year Mark and Jay Duplass ventured into the world of studio filmmaking when they made the dramedy Cyrus for Fox Searchlight. At this year’s TIFF the Duplass brothers and Searchlight will premiere their next effort, Jeff, Who Lives at Home, starring Jason Segel, Ed Helms and Susan Sarandon. Filmmaker: Tell us a little about what your film is about? Duplass Bros: It’s about a 30 year-old guy named Jeff (Jason Segel) who believes, heavily, in fate. He bides his time in his mom’s basement, eagerly awaiting the day that the universe will deliver his destiny upon him. When his […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Sep 7, 2011 -
The Microbudget Conversation: Blake Eckard Has Questions Without Answers
This week we hear from the Micro-Budget Filmmaker Blake Eckard. After I had put my first feature up on the web for free downloading, Blake contacted me and we began a three-year conversation on the highs and lows of micro-budget filmmaking. I think Blake’s take on the subject is one of importance and it needs to be shared. “Orson Welles, by his own admission, didn’t believe in artists so much as “works.” He also hated (or liked people to believe he hated) talking about himself and his films. Although it may be fashionable to say it, I don’t think there’s […]
by John Yost on Jan 11, 2011 -
PUFFED UP
The Duplass Brothers have launched a website for their new movie, The Puffy Chair, which was one of the films spotlighted at the DIY distribution panel I moderated a couple of weeks ago. Their film will be out this summer in a unique deal in which Netflix partnered with the filmmakers and Roadside Attractions. The film’s trailer is below.
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 30, 2006
