Spike Lee
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21st Century Man: Abel Ferrara
In person, Abel Ferrara is a whirlwind of gestures and jokes, of quick smiles and vulgar asides, digressions piled upon digressions, even if he’s much sharper and in control of his staccato New Yorkese vernacular than he lets on. Ferrara, who will turn 60 this year, has had one of American indie cinema’s strangest and most fascinating careers, one which has taken the Bronx native from the old 42nd Street’s row of exploitation and porn cinemas to the Croissette in Cannes. Often we talk of middle-aged artists mellowing, but Ferrara maintains a manic, youthful energy that is both infectious and […]
by Brandon Harris on Jan 11, 2011 -
FILMMAKER FLASHBACK: WINTER, 1996
Spike Lee was our cover in Winter, 1996, and there were two tie-ins. First, his movie Girl 6 was about to be released. And, second, John Pierson’s Spike, Mike, Slackers and Dykes was just being published. For Filmmaker, Pierson gave us an expanded version of a talk he had with Lee and Kevin Smith that includes this interesting note from Lee. I had forgotten that Lee’s intended first feature was Messenger, an autobiographical tale about a young bicycle messenger. The film collapsed in pre-production when financing was pulled. Kevin: I want to do goofy young filmmaker questions, the kinds of […]
by Scott Macaulay on Aug 15, 2010 -
Revisiting The Topic Of Indie Movies And Youth
This is perhaps the longest gestating blog post in Filmmaker Blog history. Back in December, Ted Hope commented on the graying of the arthouse audience in a post entitled “Can Truly Free Film Appeal to Younger Audiences?” He asked: What is it that new audiences want? What must the indie community do to engage them? It is really surprising how few true indie films speak to a youth audience. In this country we’ve had Kevin Smith and Napoleon Dynamite, but nothing that was youth and also truly on the art spectrum like Run Lola Run or the French New Wave (Paranormal […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jul 6, 2010 -
WEEKEND LINKS, 5/2/2010
Most of the time when I come across interesting articles or video on the web I clip them to my Evernote reader and check them out later on my Blackberry or iPad. Here, then, are a few things I’ve clipped that might interest you too. From CNN Money: “One in eight to cut cable and satellite TV in 2010.” What are the implications for online content creators? In Spring 2008 I wrote about Alix Lambert’s Crime book for Filmmaker. (The piece is not online, but you can check it out on her site.) Here, at The Graveyard Shift, she discusses […]
by Scott Macaulay on May 2, 2010 -
Ellen Kuras, The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
THAVISOUK PHRASAVATH AND ORADY PHRASAVATH IN DIRECTOR ELLEN KURAS’ THE BETRAYAL (NERAKHOON). COURTESY CINEMA GUILD. Since she first came to prominence almost twenty years ago, Ellen Kuras has established herself as one of the most talented directors of photography working today. Film was not Kuras’ primary focus when she was younger; the New Jersey native initially attended Brown to study anthropology but became interested in photography after taking a class at the nearby Rhode Island School of Design. Though she won a Fulbright Scholarship to go to the esteemed Lodz Film Academy, Kuras instead began working in film, taking numerous […]
by Nick Dawson on Nov 21, 2008 -
THIS IS YOUR PILOT SPEAKING
Borys Kit has a good article in the Hollywood Reporter discussing the influx of feature directors to the TV world, noting that this pilot season Spike Lee, Jim Mangold, F. Gary Gray and others are completing small-screen work. “The perception that TV was a sitcom world and that features provided a more intellectual medium — that distinction is not necessarily the case anymore,” said attorney Gregg Gellman of Barnes Morris Klein Mark Yorn Barnes & Levine, whose crossover clients have included directors like Gavin O’Connor (“Miracle”). With more and more scripts tackling concepts that challenge traditional formats and genres, feature […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 14, 2006
