Writers know it’s not easy to launch and sustain a career. The odds aren’t necessarily stacked in your favor. But what exactly are your chances of making it? The answer might surprise you. The first thing we need to know is the size of the competition. If we were to ask how many people want to be professional screenwriters or TV writers, the number would be astronomical. But also irrelevant....
In fact, no less of an authority than Kurt Cobain himself often referred—albeit derisively—to Singles as “the grunge movie,” according to the late Nirvana leader’s friend and sometime opener, Bobcat Goldthwait. But there’s whole lot more to Crowe’s film than just the sum of its Mudhoneys and Pearl Jams. The film is actually a top-tier rom-com ensemble—as insightful about young adults and their relationship (and career) dynamics as anything by Nora Ephrom....
Brimming with energy and enthusiasm, onstage the 54-year-old filmmaker discussed her work with passion and humor, generously sharing a bevy of insights gleaned from her too-short 15-year filmmaking career, which began in her native Seattle in the mid-2000s. Originally adjacent to the then-booming “mumblecore” indie film wave, Shelton’s work quickly established itself as a world unto itself; a place for likeable, flawed Average Janes and Joes to trip over each other, make mistakes, laugh and—ultimately—grow (somewhat) wiser....
For his part, Arteta is no stranger to the Film Independent family, winning a Film Independent Spirit Award (the John Cassavetes Award) for 2000’s Chuck and Buck. Since then Arteta has enjoyed a diverse career, toggling back and forth between indies (Youth in Revolt, Cedar Rapids), television (episodes of The Office, Enlightened and American Horror Story) and family fare (Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day). Arteta joins such previous Spirit of Independence recipients as Ava DuVernay, David O....
Op-Docs is the newspaper’s online video channel showcasing short films: “the editorial department’s section for short, opinionated documentaries, produced by independent filmmakers and artists with wide creative latitude, covering current affairs, contemporary life and historical subjects.” The eight films screened at the Bing represented some of the most memorable and lively Op-Docs to have premiered on the site in the last 12 months, including: When Loud Music Turned Deadly by Orlando Bagwell; Daredevil on a Snowmobile by Oscar-nominee Lucy Walker; the comedic performance film Verbatim by Brett Weiner; the Peabody Award-winning A Short History of the Highrise by Katerina Cizek, Slomo directed by Joshua Izenberg and the international hit 35 and Single by Paula Schargorodsky....
Guest director Patton Oswalt kicked off last night’s Live Read of Raising Arizona by admitting that though he’s a huge Coen brothers fan, he’s never been in a Coen brothers film. For A Serious Man, Oswalt says he auditioned for the role of the obnoxious brother and lost out to Richard Kind, who he praised for his portrayal. “I auditioned for Fargo—and the role went to Frances McDormand. Huge mistake,” he quipped....
Earlier this week, as part of the Los Angeles Film Festival’s special presentation of Disney-Pixar’s new film Inside Out, writer-director Pete Docter (Monsters Inc., Up) gave a master class full of anecdotes from his 20-plus years at Pixar. Doctor regaled the audience with stories of his beginnings as an animator (as a kid, he didn’t think he could draw), his first encounter with Steve Jobs (that day, Jobs laid off half the Pixar staff), and his admiration for The Muppets (For Inside Out, he even cast Muppets luminaries Frank Oz (Fozzie Bear and Miss Piggy) and Dave Goelz (Gonzo), reuniting them on screen for the first time in 16 years)....
The latter quote was how Stu Pollard, whose credits include True Adolescents and Ira & Abby, started his “Producer’s Etiquette” panel at the Film Independent offices in Los Angeles on February 23. In the barest terms, a producer’s job is to make sure a film gets made—and then watched—by any means necessary. Almost any means. Throughout the night, Stu illustrated how, aside from being in charge of the production from start to finish, it’s important for the Producer not to forget the little social niceties that make talent relationships hum, like wedding notes and good Southern manners....
This year’s participants will engage in five days’ worth of workshops, guest speaker sessions, and one-on-one mentorship with leading professionals in the nonfiction film space. including Doc Story Lab Lead Creative Mentors Chris Shellen (Steve! (Martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces) and Anayansi Prado (Paraiso for Sale) and Editing Mentors Christy Denes (Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult) and Sara Newens (Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields). Not to mention plenty of networking opportunities with advice on the craft and business of documentary film....
Four months in, the most consistently fun part of researching each Someone We Watched entry is viewing two films back-to-back, separated by years or even decades, and picking out the similarities that wouldn’t necessarily be so obvious in standalone viewings. In that sense, this month’s entry proved especially revealing. On the surface, a science fiction-tinged domestic drama and a dark comedy about an aging porn star with anger management issues seem miles apart....
Of course, this is especially true if you happen to be one of the lucky (not to mention outrageously talented) folks whose movie is actually playing at the Festival—and this year, those sporting the elite Sundance “filmmaker” lanyard include a very impressive 42 Film Independent Fellows representing a whopping 29 different projects spanning virtually every Festival category, from incisive documentaries about social justice to irreverent hip-hop comedies, gory revenge thrillers, graphic novel adaptations and much, much more....
The world of “XR”—the all-encompassing term for the sprawling new frontier of works created across virtual, augmented and mixed reality platforms—is rapidly growing, but accessing the best new works that the field has to offer isn’t always easy. But luckily for those within a (digital) stone’s throw from LMU’s Playa Vista Campus, September 20-22 marks the return of The Portal—Film Independent’s new VR and immersive storytelling showcase—including geo-located AR—now in its second year....
Gilroy was on the panel for last night’s Directors Close-Up, which focused this week on screenwriting. Joining him at the Landmark Theatre were Big Eyes co-writer Larry Karaszewski and Beyond the Lights writer-director Gina Prince Bythewood, and moderator Robin Swicord (screenwriter, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). “Screenwriting is deceptively hard,” Gilroy said. “It’s an extraordinarily difficult, compressed, formalized way of writing.” Karaszewski’s advice was rather cheerier: “Write a movie that you want to see,” he said, “don’t write a movie that you think you can sell....
Lending his expertise to shed some light on the process, longtime location manager Rick Surad joined Film Independent Members to discuss his work for indies such as Behaving Badly and as key assistant location manager for films such as The Purge: Anarchy and TV shows including Sons of Anarchy and Ballers. Film Independent Associate Director of Film Education Paul Cowling moderated. Generally speaking, being a location manager means finding the right locations to compliment an authentic story....
What we really want—aside from a sweet Baby Yoda Chia Pet—is a better, sustainable and more equitable future. For the world in general, obviously, but certainly as applied to our own embattled media and entertainment industry. And while studio mega-mergers and the ongoing erosion of the theatrical movie-going experience continue to paint a gloomy forecast for creators, time and time again independent film has found ways not to survive but to thrive during times of sweeping changes in the way our stories are made, told and received....
What I mean by “short-gap historical fiction” are older films from any previous era in film history that are themselves set only 20 or 30 years prior to their own production. Like, say, a movie from the 1950s set in the 1930s, or movie from the 1980s that takes place in the 1960s—that sort of thing. I obviously have no mental issues properly placing any sort of movie set in the distant past, like a gladiator epic set in ancient Rome or a down-the-line Shakespeare adaptation....
FRANK & LOLA When: December 8 Where You Can Watch: Theaters/VOD Director: Matthew Ross Starring: Imogen Poots, Michael Shannon, Justin Long Why We’re Excited: Matthew Ross makes his feature film debut with this psychological noir set between Las Vegas and Paris. Ross’s tale of love, obsession, betrayal and revenge premiered at Sundance, where audiences were seduced by the fiery romance between leads Michael Shannon and Imogen Poots. Two-time Film Independent Spirit Award nominee Shannon plays a chef who becomes obsessed with the luminous Lola (Poots), soon finding himself in Paris on a mission seeking revenge on an enemy from his new love’s past....
The Fits When: June 3 Where: Theaters Director: Anna Rose Holmer Cast: Royalty Hightower, Makyla Burnam Why We’re Excited: Last year, emerging writer/director Anna Rose Holmer was named one of Filmmaker magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film.” Holmer makes her narrative feature debut with this dramatic portrait of an 11-year-old tomboy named Toni (Royalty Hightower, in her very first role) and the trials and tribulations she faces when she decides to join a highly competitive dance troupe....
We spoke with Amiel Morris, Film Traffic Manager for the Los Angeles Film Festival, AFI Fest and Palm Springs International Film Festival, among others, and he gave us eight steps every filmmaker needs to take as they prepare their films for festivals. Make a DCP, but don’t do it yourself In his 15 years coordinating print traffic for major festivals, Morris has seen formats change from almost entirely 35mm film to almost entirely digital....
The LA Film Festival’s 2016 Diversity Speaks discussion featured three separate June 4 panels focused on different aspects of what it means to work in the entertainment industry while ostensibly being labeled an “other”. First up was actress Issa Rae, creator of the YouTube web series The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl. Rae confessed that Black Girl was initially a project she imagined only her family and friends would watch, but that it soon became something much bigger....
