PHOTOS AND NOTES FROM THE MARYLAND FILM FESTIVAL

The Maryland Film Festival, which wrapped its 2012 edition on Sunday, is one of the East Coast’s most intimate and engaging film events. With 40 features, over 70 shorts and an amazingly healthy contingent of loyal filmmakers annually making the trip to Baltimore, Maryland functions as both a discovery festival and friendly pit stop for directors on the independent circuit. John Waters hosts a movie — this year Barbara Loden’s seminal and still influential Wanda — and takes the audience out partying afterwards; the Opening Night consists of shorts, not some star-bloated, sub-standard mini-major feature; and, for the second year in a row, replacing a day of panels is “Filmmakers Take Charge,” a private event gathering filmmakers, industry and press for a discussion of the state of our business. Among the attendees I got a chance to talk with in Baltimore last week were the Zellner brothers, Sophia Takal and Lawrence Levine, Shane Carruth, David Lowery, Matt Porterfield, Kate Lyn Sheil, Visit Films’ Ryan Kampe, the New Yorker‘s Richard Brody, Indiewire‘s Ann Thompson, and the Washington Post‘s Ann Hornaday. Pictured above are four more: from left to right, Maryland Film Festival director Jed Dietz; director (Sun Don’t Shine) Amy Seimetz; director of photography Nandan Rao (The International Sign for Choking); and director Joe Swanberg (V/H/S).

Joe Swanberg, Heidi Ewing and Craig Zobel were the organizers of this year’s “Filmmakers Take Charge,” the day-long summit meeting at which issues of vital interest to attending filmmakers were tossed around and debated in a candid, spin-free setting. Filmmakers were encouraged to share budgets and revenue statements, to discuss both their ambitions and frustrations, and to address directly their issues with the attending press and members of the industry. With food and coffee on the side, the event took place in a tent opposite the Charles Street Theater, and the chairs were set up in a circle, avoiding the speaker/audience divide that turns so many industry events into utter snooze-fests. The conversations were off the record, so I can’t write specifically about what was said. … Read the rest

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR “THINK OF ME” DIRECTOR BRYAN WIZEMANN

By Scott Macaulay

Bryan Wizemann’s recommended Think of Me, which boasts an amazing performance by Lauren Ambrose, is tomorrow night’s opening feature for the Rooftop Films 2012 season. The following interview was originally published on the eve of its Toronto Film Festival premiere.

One of the more sobering and even painful short films of recent years is Bryan Wizemann’s Film Makes Us Happy. In the 12-minute documentary, Wizemann argues with his wife about his obsession with filmmaking, with her challenging him to give up on his dreams in order to focus on his family — including his new baby. Wizemann’s synopsis simply states, “Film Makes Us Happy documents the last fight my wife and I will ever have about making films.”

I have no idea the aftermath of that film on Wizemann’s family life, but I am happy to report that the writer/director is successfully making films. Think of Me is his debut, the story of a single mom in Las Vegas fighting to stay above water while raising a child in our no-growth economy. It stars Lauren Ambrose, and, as Wizemann relays below, is inspired by elements of his own childhood. We talked about class, poverty, drugs, and the light in Las Vegas.

Filmmaker: What was important to you about the way Las Vegas was depicted in your film? I’m thinking of everything from the way the film represents a particular community that lives there as well as its landscapes, buildings, etc?

Wizemann: I grew up in Las Vegas, so many of the locations in the script were inspired by locations I wanted to film. It’s intentionally not an aesthetic that involves the strip, because that’s not really the experience of those who live there. Some of the great things you do get are slot machines in the 7 Eleven’s, strip clubs, large patches of desert, gun stores, casino diners, and the Freemont street motels. It was always a fight to keep this set in Las Vegas, given that Nevada has no tax incentives for film. Even though this project was years in development and I had to make … Read the rest

WHY IS YOUR SCRIPT BORING?

By Scott Macaulay

My blog post last week on 15 Things to Do After You Finish Your Script dances around the issue of quality, but my approach was fundamentally affirmational. Over at Script Shadow, Carson Reeves is blunter with his 10 Possible Reasons Your Script is Boring. All ten points are pretty dead-on, meaning that I’ve encountered each one more times than I want to remember. Reeves does a good job of identifying the reasons why a script read could produce just a “meh” reaction, but the short diagnosis is, it all comes down to quality. A script shouldn’t be just good these days — it should be great. You’ve written one or two or ten scripts; the person reading it has read hundreds or thousands. What makes yours stand out?

Below are two items from Reeves’ list of script problems. Go to the link to read the rest.

Not understanding the phrase “stuff needs to happen” – Stuff needs to HAPPEN in your screenplay. The problem is that young writers don’t know what the word “happen” means. They think it means your character going to bars and talking with their friends or going to work for yet another boring workday. Yeah, technically something is “happening” in those scenes, but nothing INTERESTING is happening. In order to make something of interest happen, have the scene push your story forward. So instead of plopping two characters down in a location to discuss their lives, have them trying to figure out something that has an impact on the story. Maybe one of them is thinking of moving to a new city. Maybe one of them is thinking of asking their dream girl out. Now there’s an actual purpose to the conversation so we’ll be invested in how it ends. “Happening” basically means writing a scene where you’re pushing the story forward. If you’re not doing that, your scene’s probably boring.

You’re not putting enough effort into your choices – Recently I read this script I felt could easily be a movie. It was very marketable and the kind of thing a studio would want to

… Read the rest

SHORT FILM: “CLICHE,” A DEATH-OF-CELLULOID NOIR

By Scott Macaulay

The death of celluloid is a terrifying concept for many filmmakers. That nightmare, of a cinematic dystopia where film stock is contraband, inspired this witty short by Vincent Lacrocq and Thierry De Clermont. It stars the filmmakers along with Mika Zimmerman, and director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire also makes an appearance. Check it out below.

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TRAILER WATCH: MARTIN DONOVAN’S “COLLABORATOR”

By Scott Macaulay

“A writer fading into irrelevancy…” Yikes! That is the scary premise of Martin Donovan’s directorial debut, starring Donovan, Olivia Williams and David Morse. The movie is about a failing playwright and his “explosive run-in with a right-wing ex-con.” It hits theaters in early July, but for now, check out the trailer.

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SUNDANCE ANNOUNCES PROJECTS FOR JUNE DIRECTORS AND SCREENWRITERS LABS

By Scott Macaulay

The Sundance Institute announced today the roster for its June Directors and Screenwriters Lab. The complete press release follows.

Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute today announced the 13 projects selected for its annual June Directors and Screenwriters Labs, taking place at the Sundance Resort in Utah from May 28 through June 28. Under the leadership of Michelle Satter, Founding Director of the Institute’s Feature Film Program, and the artistic direction of Gyula Gazdag, the projects selected for this year’s program include emerging filmmakers and projects from the United States, Italy, Romania, Australia, Algeria, France, Chile and the UK.

Directors Lab Fellows work with an accomplished group of Creative Advisors, professional actors and production crews to shoot and edit key scenes from their screenplays. Through this intense, hands-on process, the Fellows workshop their scripts, collaborate with actors and find a visual storytelling language for their films in an environment where experimentation and risk-taking is encouraged. Fellows also join in the week-long Screenwriters Lab with five additional projects to participate in individualized story sessions under the guidance of established screenwriters.

Projects supported through the Directors or Screenwriters Labs receive continued tailored support from the Feature Film Program, which can include ongoing creative and strategic advice, significant production and postproduction resources, a Screenplay Reading Series, a Work in Progress Screening Initiative and direct financial support through project-specific grants and artist fellowships.

Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, “For independent artists in particular, it can be challenging to receive specialized support and encouragement. As our offerings for artists continue to grow our hope is that filmmakers have added incentive to remain true to their visions throughout the creative process.”

Michelle Satter, Founding Director of the Feature Film Program, said, “Our Directors and Screenwriters Labs are a creative hotbed for innovation and collaboration, and we appreciate the opportunity to work with emerging artists on the leading edge of independent filmmaking. We look forward to helping their unique visions unfold in the inspired setting of the Utah mountains, as we have done for more than three decades.”

Gyula Gazdag returns as the Artistic

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APP REVIEW: VIDEO TIME MACHINE

By Scott Macaulay

Video Time Machine, free this weekend on the App Store for both iPhone and iPad, is one of the most entertaining apps I’ve played with in a while. Like all good video viewing apps, it’s based around one simple curatorial concept. In the case of VTM that concept is — yep, you guessed it — time. Dial up a year and the app pulls from YouTube videos produced during that year. You can further drill down by category, browsing TV, movies, music, sports, news and advertisements. And, there’s a curatorial element: the videos are “hand-picked” and always seem to strike a nostalgic sweet spot. The app is tremendously fun to play with, but it’s also of use to writers, directors, art departments and other researchers looking for quick visual reference points for their scripts and films. And, of course, you can tweet and Facebook your results.

Check out their commercial.

The app also has a Tumblr blog and a couple of sister apps, including Political Time Machine, which finds moments from throughout candidates’ careers. Opposition researchers take note of this one.

Here’s a find of mine from playing around with the app: a commercial for the NBC series Then Came Bronson, from 1969 — a time when network television and The Brown Bunny were not so far apart.

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REMEMBERING ADAM YAUCH, 1964 – 2012

By Scott Macaulay

“Where is Cooky Puss at?!?” I still remember breaking up over that line from “Cooky Puss,” the single from the Beastie Boy’s second EP. A recorded prank phone call to Carvel Ice Cream about their inexplicable dessert treat set to sleazy electro-funk and streaming over my college dorm room speakers via WNYU’s New Afternoon Show, it was my introduction to a group that swiftly went from novelty item to cultural force. “Cooky Puss” may not be the group’s highest moment, but it made me laugh then and it makes me laugh now even as it throws me back in time. Writes Sasha Frere-Jones in The New Yorker today, “The single is about as commercial as a bag of dead spiders. It also represented the New York we grew up in, where a club like Danceteria would show loopy homemade videos on C.R.T. monitors and dance records were whatever records the d.j. decided to play while you were dancing.”

While “Cooky Puss” and their anthemic early hit, “Fight for Your Right to Party!”, were the essence of stoopid, the Beastie Boys, whose Adam Yauch, MCA, passed away yesterday from cancer, have always been very, very smart, a trait nailed by Bob Lefsetz in his newsletter obituary. He wrote:

And despite succeeding with a hedonistic party anthem, the Beastie Boys radiated intelligence. Stupid was an act, which was quickly cast aside. Entertainment has too often sold dumb, and too much of our country embraces ignorance, the Beastie Boys wanted no part of that.

And they took a stand. Musical stars have power. But those with stature have abdicated it. They’re afraid of turning off potential audience members. Whereas the Beastie Boys didn’t care. Furthermore, they led their audience, they educated fans on issues. There’s a direct line from the Beatles to San Francisco to the Beastie Boys. And MCA was an integral part.

When remembering today Yauch and his role in the Beastie Boys, Frere-Jones’s piece at The New Yorker, quoted from above, is essential reading. As simple as it seems, stoopid can be a complicated stance, and Frere-Jones recalls … Read the rest

KICKSTARTER IS PEOPLE!

By Scott Macaulay

A filmmaker asked me, “Do you think I can raise $400,000 on Kickstarter?” I told her that that sounded like a lot. Start-up technology companies using Kickstarter as, essentially, a customer-financed pre-buy platform, are raising in the seven figures. But $400,000 would be on the high-end of a feature film raise. Blue Like Jazz raised about $350,000, and that was based on a New York Times best-seller. Koo did great with Man-Child, scoring about $125,000, but he spent a couple years seeding his campaign by building an audience at No Film School.

But as I was talking, I realized the question really is, how big is your network? After all, Kickstarter is not a funder, an entity; to borrow a line from Soylent Green, “Kickstarter is people!”

So, how many people do you know? How many friends, and then how many friends of friends? When you send out a fundraising plea, how far will it ripple? How many times will it be posted, and reposted, and forwarded? And how many people can your film meet on its own once it’s exposed on Kickstarter? I was at the Maryland Film Festival this weekend and a director introduced me to a guy at a party. “He’s one of my Kickstarter supporters,” the director said. The guy smiled and shook my hand. I asked, “How did you decide to back this project?” The guy told me he had just moved to the area, came across the film on Kickstarter and thought it would be cool to contribute to something made in his own neighborhood. He had just introduced himself to the director for the first time only moments before.

Kickstarter is people!

We’ve added some people to our curated Kickstarter page, including the latest project from Jessica Oreck as well as a new feature by Paul Schrader based on a script by Bret Easton Ellis. Check them all out below.

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15 STEPS TO TAKE AFTER YOU FINISH YOUR SCRIPT

By Scott Macaulay

A Filmmaker reader recently emailed me with a simple question. After going to film school, making some shorts and working conspicuously within his means, he’s now written a script purely from the imagination — not censoring himself by thinking of things like money and production requirements. The resulting project, I take it, is too big for his usual DIY methods. He asked, “What do I do now?”

A tough question, not knowing the filmmaker very well and not having read the script. There are easier-said-than-done answers: “Find a producer! Get an agent!” But just sending out a bunch of PDFs, sitting back and hoping someone else will make your movie (or tell you why they won’t) is only one approach. For those who want to be more proactive, here are 15 things that can be done starting now. (If you’re a GTD junkie, consider these all possible “next steps.”) Keep in mind that this list, which is by no means inclusive, was written with a first-time writer/director in mind, someone who may necessarily be working outside the system to get his or her film made.

1. Proofread your script. Do it yourself, and then have an eagle-eyed friend do it again. Seriously.

2. Get it out for feedback from people you trust. Be patient. It can take people a while to read things. Patiently follow up, and after they do read it, encourage them to give you honest advice. Ask them specific questions about what works for them and what doesn’t. Consider putting together a reading and then soliciting feedback after — both in a Q&A session and through follow-up emails. (I actually hate going to readings, but admit that they can sometimes be helpful.) And, if you’re hoping for industry finance, get it covered. All studios and most production companies hire readers to do coverage — a synopsis, comments, and grid rankings of its various elements (concept, characters, etc.). You can hire these people too. Just ask a contact at a company who their best reader is and if that person would be willing to take on a freelance … Read the rest