SXSW Film Festival 2012
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THE MICRO-BUDGET CONVERSATION: SXSW AND ITS EMOTIONAL TOLL
I am not cut out for big festivals…film or otherwise. Let’s take away the fact that large crowds disturb my calm, on top of that I am a person of extremes. I either jump in all the way, or abstain from the activity entirely. Take a person like that and just feed them beer and films…and you get the worn-out mess that is myself. Two days after the experience I’m still sick, tired, and working hard to gain a foothold on what the festival meant to me and what it means to our industry. Industry is a great place to […]
by John Yost on Mar 21, 2012 -
SXSW: Tchoupitoulas vs. Beasts, Battle for the Innocents
Bill and Turner Ross’ new documentary Tchoupitoulas premiered in Emerging Visions this year at SXSW. The film was eagerly anticipated by fans of their debut feature, 45365, the Documentary Jury Prize winner a few years ago. Three young brothers in Louisiana take a ferry into New Orleans, observe and engage in everything from transvestite clubs to street musicians Mardi Gras floats to an abandoned ship yard on the outskirts of town. Pretty soon the youngest brother, William, a sensitive kid who plays the recorder at school, starts to get tired. “I’m just a child,” he insists, to the jeers of his brothers, who want to stay up […]
by Alicia Van Couvering on Mar 16, 2012 -
10 Tips On Producing And Financing From SXSW
Troublemaker Studio’s Aaron Kaufman hosted a panel titled “Making it Happen: Financing an Independent Film” at SXSW this year, gathering together fellow execs Katie McNeill (V.P. of Production, Electric City Entertainment, the new venture between producers Lynette Howell and Jamie Patricof) and Garrick Dion, Senior Vice President of Development at Bold Films, and a co-producer of Drive (pictured). (Troublemaker, of course, is the production company of Robert Rodriguez.) The three offered thoughts on how to develop and put together projects able to financed in today’s independent film marketplace as well as tips on keeping that development on track. Here are […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 15, 2012 -
MORGAN SPURLOCK’S MUSTACHE
Our friends at the National Film Society hit SXSW this week and nabbed this interview with director Morgan Spurlock. Discussion topics include mustaches, Ryan Gosling, Das Racist and more. (And if you think these guys at the National Film Society are a bit silly here, just remember one thing: they’re now PBS hosts!)
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 14, 2012 -
Ten Tips on Shooting Low-Budget Movies from SXSW
At SXSW a panel titled “The Great Cinematography Shootout” gathered a group of directors and cinematographers to discuss independent film lensing in an age of proliferating formats and lower-cost, high-quality cameras, like the Canon 5D. The directors of photography were Jody Lee Lipes (Girls, Tiny Furniture, and also the director of Opus Jazz), James Laxton (Medicine for Melancholy, Leave Me Like You Found Me), Clay Lifford (Gayby, and also the director of such films as Wuss and Earthling), PJ Raval (Trouble the Water, Sunset Stories, and also the director of Trinidad); and filmmaker, editor and d.p. David Lowery (Pioneer, and, […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 14, 2012 -
“GIMME THE LOOT,” “BEWARE OF MR. BAKER” WIN TOP PRIZES AT SXSW
Gimme the Loot (pictured), Adam Leon’s entirely winning story of two young graffiti artists discovering their own relationship as they seek to tag Shea Stadium (er… Citi Field), picked up the top Narrative Jury Prize at tonight’s SXSW awards ceremony. The Documentary Jury prize went to Beware of Mr. Baker, Jay Bulger’s portrait of famed rock drummer Ginger Baker. The jury gave Special Recognitions for three outstanding performances in dramatic features: Jamie Chung’s starring role in Eden; Nico Stone’s in Booster; and Besedka Johnson’s debut in Starlet. The 85-year-old Johnson, who plays a bitter widower forming an unlikely friendship with […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 14, 2012 -
Kate Lyn Sheil Discusses Acting at SXSW
With a focused, intense, and somewhat mysterious screen persona, actress Kate Lyn Sheil has stood out in a number of recent independent films, including Silver Bullets by Joe Swanberg and Sophia Takal’s Green. At SXSW this year she arrives with four titles, including Amy Seimetz’s Sun Don’t Shine and Bob Byington’s Somebody Up There Likes Me. Here I talk with Sheil about how she got into acting, being a movie fan, her influences and the particular pleasures of independent film.
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 10, 2012 -
Five Questions with In Our Nature Director Brian Savelson
Brian Savelson’s feature debut In Our Nature focuses on a young couple whose weekend getaway takes a u-turn when the young man’s father and his girlfriend show up to their vacation home un-expectedly. Coming off the success of his animated short Counting Water, Savelson’s drama not only boasts an intriguing premise but also an impressive cast including Zach Gilford (Friday Night Lights), Jena Malone (Donnie Darko), Gabrielle Union (Bring It On) and John Slattery (Mad Men). Filmmaker: What inspired the story for this film? Savelson: Everyone on set was constantly making fun of me, calling me by the character’s name and teasing that […]
by Byron Camacho on Mar 10, 2012 -
5 Questions for Gimme the Loot Director Adam Leon
Writer-Director Adam Leon’s feature debut Gimme the Loot is an urban drama about two teenage graffiti artists from the Bronx who hatch an elaborate plan to get back at a rival gang for defacing one of their latest creations. Gimme the Loot was part of IFP’s/Lincoln Center’s Emerging Visions program and follows the director’s hugely successful short film Killer which premiered at the New Directors/New Films festival. Filmmaker: What inspired you to make a film about teen graffiti artists from the Bronx? Leon: I grew up in the city surrounded by graffiti and have close friends who wrote while we […]
by Byron Camacho on Mar 10, 2012 -
Five Questions with Waiting for Lightning Director Jacob Rosenberg
Former skateboarder Jacob Rosenberg’s first feature documentary Waiting for Lightning focuses on the evolution of Danny Way from his rough childhood to his emergence as a world famous skater whose daredevil antics would lead him to jump over the Great Wall of China. The film explores how Danny’s experience coming from a broken home led to his passion for skateboarding and his desire to constantly test his own limits. Judging from the film’s trailer, Waiting for Lightning promises to be an equal parts thrilling and deeply inspirational sports doc. Filmmaker: What sparked your interest in doing a documentary on Danny […]
by Byron Camacho on Mar 10, 2012
