A while back, I posted some thoughts on ways to expand the reach of film festivals. One of the examples I pointed to was an announcement that Sundance would be screening films in cities across the country as their festival was happening as something they call Sundance Film Festival USA. On January 11, Brian Newman writes about his experience attending the IFFS Summit in Las Vegas on his blog SpringBoardMedia. Apparently he had great ideas about what the festivals should be doing for the future, but the audience seemed hesitant to embrace change. Not incredibly surprising. Most people, most companies ...
February 5th, 2010
Mandalay Creates Specialty Film Division
by NoName
Mandalay Entertainment has announced a new specialty division, headed by Celine Rattray formerly of Plum Pictures. This news is a couple weeks old but still worth pointing out. It has been rare to find good news in the world of specialty film this last year or two. Original report in this article at Variety. The focus will reportedly be on financing pics up to $16 million.
February 2nd, 2010
Sony laying off 450 is GOOD news for the Indie Filmmaker
by NoName
While the news of yet another major studio cutting hundreds of jobs is news, it is the side stories around it that make all these studio cuts, bankruptcies and failures interesting. I could probably point to any number of sources for those who need proof. Take this article at deadline.com. It reports the news and you get a look at come internal announcements. Or here at Variety. The facts are the same: 450 laid off, 6 1/2% of Sony Pictures workforce. But for those who don't read comments, take another look at deadline.com. There are some great discussions about ...
January 27th, 2010
Spider-Man going the way of Twilight?
by NoName
I was all for the idea of re-booting Spider-Man. After the debacle of #3, it was time to switch it up. Sorry Raimi, but you screwed up. Move on. However... This latest description of where they are headed is scary to say the least. "The plan for the movie is to be in the $80 million range and feature a cast of relative unknowns (so you can quash those Rob Pattinson or Gordon-Levitt rumors at this point). And the story will be pared down to center on a high school kid who is dealing with the knowledge that his uncle died even ...
January 26th, 2010
YouTube Enters the Video Rental World
by NoName
I first heard about this from /Film, in this post. YouTube will be jumpimng into the online video rental world, with five Sundance films: The Cove, One Too Many Mornings, Homewrecker, Children of Invention, and Bass Ackwards. This is just the latest step towards making distribution a reality for lower budget films. With YouTubeXL, YouTube is becoming more and more available straight to home systems, similar to Netflix. But this announcement makes them a real competiitor and a viable option for the future of indie film. Filmmakers have already benefited from just the ability to promote a short and have it hosted ...
January 26th, 2010
Big Box Office Eqauls Oscar for Best Picture?
by NoName
I was disturbed to see the follwoing headline from /Film: The Hurt Locker Wins Best Picture from PGA; Is Avatar No Longer An Oscar Sure Thing? Avatar has made lots of money is breaking Box Office records left and right. But I have not read one glowing review of it anywhere. The effects are amazing, mind-blowing, even game-changing, revolutionary. Say what you want. But please, someone point out a review anywhere that thinks this was a great story, a great script (WGA win notwithstanding , ugh). Great acting? Great dialogue? Anything? Anyone? This is a direct quote from the article: ...while the Avatar ...
January 25th, 2010
Incredible peek at 3d Immersion technology
by NoName
Not sure when movies will incorporate this but I can see video games going here in the very near future: Amazing 3D immersion technology from IDEO Labs on Vimeo.
January 25th, 2010
Stanley Kubrick Filmed the Fake Moon Landing!
by NoName
This is awesome: The Secrets of The Shining
January 25th, 2010
James Cameron and Peter Jackson delude themselves
by NoName
Newsweek recently posted a totally bizarre interview, actually more of a conversation between James Cameron and Peter Jackson. These are two men who have made billions of dollars on some the most epic, CGI enhanced films of all time. Personally, I love most of their work. James Cameron to this day is the best director of action out there - he just needs to do it more than once every 12 years. The Lord of the Ring films are just amazing, epic storytelling at its best. But for these two guys to sit there and discuss the importance of actors connecting ...
December 20th, 2009
The Future Film Critic’s Way
by SickOfCrap
It's about time we start getting intelligent critics and with a sense of humor. Below is a link to an article I accidentally came across. But that's not the point, it's the video slam of the movie THE PHANTOM MENACE that has me excited. Any film enthusiast, writer, film maker, or anyone with a brain will appreciate this thorough slam of the film. With it's entertaining media supported, droll rant, the critic manages to make me laugh and feel as if I'm at a lecture by an accomplished academic in the field of storytelling. Let us all be honest, we don't ...