IFP Screen Forward
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IFP Film Week: Gabo Arora and the UN’s First Virtual Reality App
“We’re great with empathy, but we really want action because we’re the UN. We need to shift the needle on things,” said filmmaker and United Nations creative director Gabo Arora about the UN’s first virtual reality app, UNVR, which launches today. The app launches with four VR films, including Clouds Over Sidra, which was created by Arora and filmmaker Chris Milk as a collaboration between the UN Millennium Campaign and UNICEF Jordan. Shot at the Zaatari refugee camp, Clouds Over Sidra tells the story of life inside the camp through the eyes of a 12-year-old girl named Sidra. The Sidra Project, which uses the […]
by Paula Bernstein on Sep 15, 2016 -
IFP Announces Slate for Second Annual Screen Forward Labs
Commencing today at the IFP’s DUMBO-based Made in NY Media Center is the IFP Screen Forward Labs, an intensive program dedicated to the work of creators making story-driven, serialized projects for all formats, including television, web, VR or apps. This year’s selections include an animated and VR piece about the mind of Oliver Sacks; a 35mm-shot horror-thriller set in the world of infomercials; an iPhone-shot horror serial; and a suburban-set comedy about motherhood from indie director Susan Skoog (Whatever). According to IFP, 80% of the creators/writers/directors are women and/or diverse voices. 30% feature predominantly African-American and Latino casts. “We are […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 18, 2016 -
Cancer and Video Games: Malika Zouhali Worrall and David Osit on Thank You for Playing
A video gaming experience therapeutic for both players and its grief-stricken creator, That Dragon, Cancer can currently be purchased for use on your Mac/PC and other devices. Created by Colorado-based developer Ryan Green, the independent video game serves as a reflection of a tragedy he and his family recently experienced: the death of Green’s young son, Joel, who passed away after a sustained battle with cancer. Working on the project as Joel was receiving treatment, Ryan and his family incorporated very real moments of personal history into That Dragon, Cancer, even going as far as to sample Joel and his family’s actual voices […]
by Erik Luers on Mar 18, 2016 -
Pavan Moondi and Brian Robertson on Diamond Tongues, Working with Tim Heidecker and Shooting Quickly in Toronto
Striving to become a professional actress is a lifestyle choice accompanied by feelings of extreme competitiveness and inadequacy. Each waking hour is a moment you could be attempting to improve your craft or desperately trying to secure more work. As endless auditions make way to too few callbacks, you may begin to reconsider the professional hell you’ve chosen for yourself, being judged as much for your skills as for your facial features and body type. It’s enough to make anyone grow a little bitter. Diamond Tongues, a dark Canadian comedy that premiered at last year’s Slamdance Film Festival, finds its […]
by Erik Luers on Feb 19, 2016 -
A Suburban Megachurch in John Hughes Territory: Stephen Cone on Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party
Simultaneously a rebellious yell against Christian authority and an appreciation for growing up with evangelical values, Stephen Cone’s Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party is neither religious condemnation nor agitprop. Its title character is a gay teenager celebrating his birthday with friends and family; the film, unfolding over 24 hours, keenly observes how temptation and buried secrets can rise to the surface when theological and political debates make their presence known. A rather sexy movie — in part because premarital sex is presented as something risqué or taboo — Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party is a beautifully rendered, impeccably scored experience that makes a profound, heady impact. There’s an interesting moment featuring a conversation […]
by Erik Luers on Jan 8, 2016 -
Nine Tips for Pitching Your TV Series
With the arrival of the Golden Age of Television, many indie-slanting stories are finding a home in episodic series. And if you’re one of these independent filmmakers with a hot series concept, you might find yourself in the least “indie” situation possible: pitching a network executive. But don’t be intimidated — as more and more non-traditional TV formats become runaway hits, networks’ doors are wide open to new ideas and innovative visions. If you can find a way onto the network exec’s couch, the following tips — culled from recent industry events, like the IFP’s Screen Forward, as well as […]
by Christianne Hedtke on Dec 16, 2015 -
Shaking the Digital Money Tree for Awkward Celebrity Encounters: Caveh Zahedi at the Screen Forward Lab
I was stoned one night when I had the idea to do a podcast called Awkward Celebrity Encounters. My idea was to record myself telling 52 of my awkward celebrity encounter stories and then release one a week for a year. My friend Peter works at a sound recording studio dedicated to making audio books for the blind and was able to get me in after hours. That night, I recorded 52 stories, all true, most of which were between two and three minutes in length. As soon as I uploaded them to iTunes, a friend who heard one suggested […]
by Caveh Zahedi on Dec 1, 2015 -
IFP Announces 10 Web Series Projects for Inaugural Screen Forward Labs
IFP, Filmmaker‘s parent organization, announced today ten projects for its inaugural Screen Forward Labs, which are dedicated to serialized, story-driven web content. Encompassing a series of intensive workshops modeled after the organization’s Narrative and Documentary Labs, the Screen Forward Labs provide mentorship and year-round support for those looking to develop, market and finance their original online work. The Screen Forward Labs are led by Amy Dotson, IFP Head of Programming, and Holly Kang, IFP Screen Forward Labs Producer. Commented Joana Vicente, Executive Director of IFP and the Made in New York Media Center, “We are excited to introduce the first […]
by Scott Macaulay on Nov 9, 2015 -
“A Documentarian Needs to be Disarming”: Khalik Allah on Field Niggas
Filmed throughout the summer of 2014 on the warm, sweat-drenched streets of Harlem (between 125th Street and Lexington Avenue to be exact), Khalik Allah’s Field Niggas is an all-out sensory experience, gonzo journalism that’s a visceral call-to-action. Placing himself amongst the socially ignored and maligned inhabitants of Harlem’s famous cross streets, Allah takes a nonlugubrious approach to documenting the men and women who frequent the area and suffer from poverty, addiction and a hunger to have their voices heard. Both stylistically and narratively innovative — the subjects’ stories often told via non-sync sound and invasive close-ups — Field Niggas’ attention-getting title is only the tip of the […]
by Erik Luers on Oct 16, 2015 -
IFP Announces Fall and Winter Slate for the Theatrical Screen Forward Series
IFP has announced the complete lineup for the Fall and Winter season of their Screen Forward series. The four films, Field Niggas, Funny Bunny, Cronies and Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party, will each receive a weeklong theatrical run at the Made in New York Media Center by IFP in Dumbo. Read up on the films below. October 16 – October 22 FIELD NIGGAS, directed by Khalik Allah A wise-cracking, probing urban flaneur, Khalik Allah paints an impressionistic portrait of the loiterers and denizens in and around 125th Street and Lexington Avenue in Field Niggas. Beneath the bright lights of a corner convenience store, Allah […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Oct 5, 2015
