SXSW Film Festival
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SXSW BLOG: ANNA HIGGS, DAY FOUR
Today’s has been one of those days when juggling the demands of a festival and work back at the office is the big challenge. Particularly tough when the office is on a different time zone and you wake to a jammed Monday morning inbox that needs clearing before the day starts here in Austin! But that’s the joy of working in teams if you keep communication and delegation going in clear and effective ways. My business partner Gavin and I caught on up a video Skype chat and went through everything we needed to cover, fellow producer Vanessa went with […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Mar 16, 2010 -
SXSW IS ALL SMILES
Hangin’ at the Austin Chronicle party at Lazona Rosa last night, everyone was in fine spirits: …tall person Zachery Levy, a panelist this year whose Strongman played the festival last year, towering over short person Ben Kasulke, DP of Humpday, The Freebie, Nights and Weekends and more… … A New York minute: Greencard Pictures’ Nick Kadner, here supporting IFC TV’S Food Party, Olivia Thirlby of Juno fame, David Call of Tiny Furniture, and Catfish director Henry Joost… …Gabriele Caroti of Bam Cinematek, who is approaching his deadline to lock the program for BAM Cinemafest, enjoying the rainy evening with Jim […]
by Alicia Van Couvering on Mar 16, 2010 -
CAMERON YATES’ “THE CANAL STREET MADAM”|
By Alicia Van Couvering
What’s it like to get out of jail and try to rebuild your life when that life was running a hugely successful brothel in the middle of New Orleans and the Lifetime movie of your experience is about to air? Cameron Yates’ new documentary, The Canal Street Madam, asks that question of Jeanette Maier and generates even more questions than answers. Was Maier a dangerous criminal, transporting women across state lines for the purposes of her own profit and their vicitimization as sex workers, or was she herself the victim of a hypocritical system that convicted and exposed her but […]
by Alicia Van Couvering on Mar 15, 2010 -
GEOFF MARSLETT’S “MARS”|
By Alicia Van Couvering
Geoff Marslett’s Mars is a whimsical rotoscoped space exploration romance starring Mark Duplass, the kind of film whose possible existence may never have occurred to you, but one that you are very glad to have discovered. Marslett, an Austin native and much-lauded teacher of animation at UT Austin, studied mathematics, philosophy, art, science and languages before arriving in Texas to get his degree in narrative filmmaking. Gradually, he began to get interested in animation, taught himself the process and started inventing new techniques for his short films, now numbering over a dozen. Monkey vs. Robot, for instance, has screened at […]
by Alicia Van Couvering on Mar 15, 2010 -
SXSW BLOG: ANNA HIGGS, DAY THREE
Day Three at SXSW This morning it was pretty hard to wake up after just a few hours sleep when we were all already running on empty. But we rallied the troops (just us this time – no Imperial forces!) and made our way over to the Kodak Filmmakers’ brunch. Sadly we didn’t do much networking as we had precious little time to plan the day ahead and catch up on the all-important social media buzz on the film’s first showing last night. We did find 5 minutes for Alexandre to have a quick massage in the Filmmakers’ Lounge though […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Mar 15, 2010 -
SXSW BLOG: ANNA HIGGS PREMIERE DAY, PART TWO
So as we walked down the lines of people hoping to get into our screening — all there well before the screening was due to start — it was quite the feeling. It was great to see the Austin Fan Force roaming the crowds and having pictures taken with fans. As we were running through the tech check the theatre and festival staff had put their heads together and decided to put on an extra screening at midnight — in place of a surprise screening — to accommodate the people they already knew wouldn’t get in thanks to the long […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Mar 14, 2010 -
SXSW BLOG: ANNA HIGGS’ PREMIERE DAY, PART ONE
So, it’s day 2 of the fest and D-Day for THE PEOPLE VS. GEORGE LUCAS. It’s our world premiere tonight and we’ve got a day packed with final preparations, the premiere, party and hopefully not too much panic! The day started well with the news that our screening sold out on the Xpress pass tickets in less than 20 minutes. Some people were in line from 8am. The booths don’t open until 10am. Could we be creating a mini STAR WARS phenomenon here?! Then it was time for Alexandre’s Studio SX interview with Lewis Wallace from Wired Magazine. There was […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Mar 14, 2010 -
Matt McCormick’s Some Days Are Better Than Others
Matt McCormick may be premiering his first feature here in Austin this week, but he has long been a major figure within the Pacific Northwest’s independent film scene. For over 15 years he has made work that is both experimental and humorous, formally challenging and beguilingly poetic. His 2002 film, The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal, is something of a short-film masterpiece, a wildly clever riff on art criticism that is also an ode to changing face of the modern city. In addition to his film work, which he presents in film venues but also bars and rock clubs, McCormick […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 13, 2010 -
FILMMAKERS SQUARED
Love was in the air at the Filmmaker Brunch on Friday afternoon, where the top shelf tequila ran rampant. Against the backdrop of the soon-to-be-retired Troublemaker Studios green screen — where almost every Robert Rodriguez film has ever been shot — filmmaker pairs mixed and mingled. They were implored to hold this moment dear, because “this is the moment,” in an actually very moving speech by Up In The Air director Jason Reitman, who got into his car the day after the Oscars and drove straight to Texas. Jody Lee Lipes, co-director of NY Export: Opus Jazz and DP of […]
by Alicia Van Couvering on Mar 13, 2010 -
SXSW BLOG: ANNA HIGGS, PRODUCER, “THE PEOPLE VS. GEORGE LUCAS”
Swinging in to SXSW This is my first SXSW, which feels odd for me as I’ve worked as a producer in digital media & film for more than a decade, but shoots & life got in the way of coming before. But this year I’ve got a great reason to be here – I’m one of the producers of the innovative feature documentary The People Vs. George Lucas, here with director Alexandre O. Philippe, fellow prods Kerry Roy & Vanessa Philippe and DOP Robert Muratore. I’m based in the UK, so it was a long flight over here, and I […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Mar 13, 2010
