LADY VENGEANCE: INTERVIEW WITH SUNDANCE FILMMAKER EVE SUSSMAN

By Farihah Zaman

Although Sundance is predominantly known for indie dramas and social issue documentaries, the New Frontiers section provides a loving home for particularly odd ducks. Unlike many projects in New Frontiers, which are presented as installations or other new media formats, Eve Sussman’s whiteonwhite:algorithmicnoir was screened in a conventional theater. However, the film’s text, 300 bits of voiceover, 150 pieces of music, and 3,000 images are live-edited by an algorithmic computer dubbed the Serendipity Machine that creates a randomized sequence, meaning each screening is entirely unique. Not only does Sussman’s piece turn the idea of the mystery genre on its ear, it plays with the very idea of genre itself, as well as chronology, and convention, and every other building block of narrative as we know it.

Fresh from a successful three-show run at Sundance 2012, Sussman spoke with Lady Vengeance about storytelling and the nature of human perception.

LADY VENGEANCE: How did you conceive of whiteonwhite?

SUSSMAN: Well the title is named after a Malevich painting; White on White and Black Square are the two seminal pieces of Suprematist work, which is about transcendence through art, and pure feeling in art—getting away from representation. But as I was becoming interested in trying to make a piece about that painting, the actor I worked with, Jeff Wood, who was also at Sundance with us, became really interested in space travel. So his literal interest in space converged with the sort of conceptual, theoretical ideas of White on White. Malevich used these sort of megalomaniac theoretical concepts where he would call himself the chairman of space, and he would talk often about the idea of space, whether it was the space of the picture plane, or literal space as in the cosmos; you could sort of read it as a double entendre. And so we started conflating those two ideas, the idea of space and the idea of Suprematism and White on White and pure transcendence.

LV: How did this idea lead you to shoot in Central Asia?

SUSSMAN: Because Jeff kept talking about space I said, … Read the rest

MEDIA CURRENT: END TO CROSS-OWNERSHIP RULES?

By David Rosen

In December 2011, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted 3-2 to propose loosening media cross-ownership rules relating to a television or radio station and a newspaper.

Under the new rules, cross ownership of a newspaper and either a television or a radio station would be allowed in the top 20 markets such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, Dallas-Ft. Worth and Boston. The FCC isn’t expected to vote on the final rules in April 2012 at the earliest.

Cross ownership rules were originally intended to limit media concentration particularly with regard to broadcast stations, cable stations, newspapers and websites.

In 2007, the FCC attempted to revise the 35-year-old ban on companies owning TV stations and a local newspaper in the country’s top 20 markets, saying it was no longer needed.  However, a federal appeals court lifted in the FCC plan, sending the back to the FCC for more consideration. Last year, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski defended the agency’s earlier attempt to loosen cross-ownership rules, so the recent proposal did not come as a surprise.

According to the FCC, “the public interest is best served by these modest, incremental changes to our rules.” It believes the proposed rule strikes a proper balance to restrict media consolidations by including two limitations. First, it limits TV station participation to stations not among the top four ranked in the market. Second, it requires that there be at least eight independently owned and operating major media outlets remaining after the transaction is completed.

The FCC plan does not propose lifting what is know as the “duopoly rule” that limits the number of local TV stations a company can own in a single market. (However, in December 2011, the National Association of Broadcasters [NAB] appealed to the Supreme Court to take a case in an effort to strike down the duopoly rule.)

The FCC’s decision raised the ire of many Democrats in Congress. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) led a bipartisan group of 25 senators to have the FCC delay its vote, insisting that the public hadn’t had enough time to consider the … Read the rest

MEDIA CURRENT: YOUR TV FUTURE

By David Rosen

Internet Video (IV) will play an increasingly important role in the distribution of independent “film.” Even for the few who still shoot, edit and distribute on 16mm or 35mm stock, your future – if only for marketing and promotion — is tied to the digital 1s and 0s that are redefining media and communications.

IV distribution is restructuring release “windows” and revenue recoupment.  Revenue opportunities through DVD sales are shrinking; the TV market (with the exception of HBO, PBS and some made-fors) is evaporating; international commitments are tougher to snag; and the once higher mark-up on educational sales is a thing of the past.

For indie makers, IV distribution promises a new opportunity to reach viewers, recoup the production investment and go on to make one’s next film. However, the IV market is like the 1848 California Gold Rush – everything was possible, but few found gold.

It is impossible to predict the future of indie film distribution, but three conferences on how the commercial television business are addressing the disruptive impact of the Internet offer some useful insights. They paint a dismal picture of what’s coming and how indie filmmakers might be able to take advantage of these changes.

The Social TV Summit focused on how the industry has been adapting to “out-of-the-box” changes; the Future of TV Forum focused on the industry’s efforts to keep technological disruptions “inside-the-box”; and the TV of Tomorrow sought to thread the needle between the two approaches.  As one industry wag proclaimed, the old “www” for “World Wide Web” now means video “whatever whenever wherever.”

Broadband Internet is a disruptive technology challenging established ways of doing business for movies and television. It challenges the TV business in three critical ways: (i) it represents a new way to distribute programming content through either Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) or Over-the-Top (OTT) methods; (ii) it offers a new, more interactive or social media experience through services like Twitter and Facebook; and (iii) it is spawning the incorporation of second (and sometimes third) interactive devices (e.g., computer, smartphone or tablet) as part of the viewing experience.

Three additional factors are adding … Read the rest

THE MICROBUDGET CONVERSATION: WHAT IS OUR END GOAL?

By John Yost

As the editor of this column it is my job to choose the contributors, shape the voice, and move the column in a forward direction. The last post really struck up a good conversation, and it is now clear that my decision to move the blog in a new direction would be a welcome change. This does not mean, however, that we will stop talking with micro-budget filmmakers on timely topics and take the time to check in on their latest projects. Despite what some people feel, one of the functions of this column is to help contributing filmmakers get the word out about their latest endeavors, fundraising, and upcoming releases. This is not a thinly veiled attempt at advertising — this is just good form. I will be working hard to add new voices like genre, documentary, and perspectives of industry professionals, as well as more diary entries from filmmakers in different stages of production and distribution. These new topics and subjects will hopefully spark a large amount of chatter that I hope to put back into the conversation as well. So if you have something you just have to say…write it up and email it my way.

In an effort to close this season and move into the New Year, I’d like to take a moment to look back, reflect, and give my opinion. Think of this as a “Letter from the Editor” post.

Authenticity.

This has been the year of the honest, transparent filmmaker. The large majority of contributors I’ve met talk about being honest about your limitations and how to use them to your advantage. The real debate in my mind is, will this last? Will we continue to be more open about fundraising? Will we search our hearts for what we really want as a filmmaker and move towards that? Will we work harder to make content that truly reflects who we are as opposed to what festivals and foreign markets like? Will we be brave enough to forge a new industry that relies on community, honesty, and hard work to carry us through tough … Read the rest

LADY VENGEANCE: LAST MINUTE GIFT GUIDE FOR GENRE BUFFS

By Farihah Zaman

Still not sure what to get your comic-book-obsessed little brother? Forget to pick up something for mom that satisfies her cinematic blood lust? The following gifts are Lady Vengeance approved, and most arrive just in time for December 25th.

For the Low-Brow Art Lover:

Crazy4Cult: Cult Movie Art (Gallery 1988/Kevin Smith, $25)

The currently out-of-fashion but undeniably hard-working Kevin Smith has teamed up with the LA-based Gallery 1988 to collect the best in good, pulpy, sometimes downright dirty artwork inspired by cult films. The aesthetic style and subject matter is fairly diverse, meaning there’s something for everyone.

For the High-Brow Art Lover

Stanley Kubrick Photograph (Stanley Kubrick, $250)

From 2001: A Space Odyssey to The Shining, Kubrick was the master of thoughtful, witty, and unnervingly beautiful genre film. VandM and the Museum of the City of New York show us he was also a damn good photographer, exhibiting that penchant for the bizarre, the menacing and the secret as he did in his beloved films.

For Those who Didn’t Mind the Revised Spelling of Syfy:

Sharktopus Double Bill: DVD (Declan O’Brien, $8) and T-shirt (NBC Store, $26)

In honor of the DVD and Blu-Ray release of another fantastic low budget Syfy original revolving around a crazy beastie hybrid, give that special someone a one-two punch with a copy of the film (thanks, Anchor Bay!) and the graphic t-shirt they should obviously be wearing while watching it.

For the Thoughtful Comic Book Collector:

MetaMaus: A Look Inside a Modern Classic, Maus (Pantheon, $25)

Art Spiegelman’s all-mouse graphic novel about the holocaust is legendary, and his reflections on the book and its influence are equally sharp and articulate. This behind-the-scenes book is also unique in that it comes with a DVD-R with related historical documents, audio interviews with Spiegelman’s father, the artist’s sketches, and more.

For the Politics Buff who Has Everything:

On the Art of Cinema (Kim Jong … Read the rest

LADY VENGEANCE: THE GENRE FAN’S GUIDE TO JIM HENSON

By Farihah Zaman

By now many have experienced the clever, goofy, unfiltered joy of The Muppets, a film whose  success reflects the plight of its characters – out of the spotlight for far too long and working their way back into the the public consciousness. While the film’s potent mix of charm and nostalgia is undeniable (if you didn’t tear up during the performance of Rainbow Connection, you’re inhuman), it might leave some of us hungry for more, and I don’t mean the soft stuff. While the film is true to one facet of Henson’s work, he was a mad, prolific genius who got involved with many projects in which the touches of the dark or surreal that only made the occasional appearance on his most populist fare like The Muppet Show and Sesame Street were allowed to fully develop.

Below, ten of the most wonderfully weird works from the sometimes-twisted mind of Jim Henson.

VISUAL THINKING (1960s)

In some of his earliest work Henson seemed fascinated by brain function and found creative, comical, but seriously strange ways of exploring it visually. Embedded in this episode of the very kid-friendly series Sam and Friends is not only an early Kermit, but a bit that imagines what it would be like if we could give words, thoughts, and music physical shape, a sophisticated joke in addition to being a pretty meta- meditation on what Henson does; make imagined creatures, fictional worlds, and abstract ideas a physical reality.

TIME PIECE (1966)

An experimental short combining live action, archival footage and animation that was nominated for an Academy Award, Time Piece is a highly rhythmic journey through time via the explosive moments contained within the quotidian, such as the instant a bowling ball hits the pins, the spark of a lighter jolting to life, or the freefall that occurs after the “boing” jumping up from a diving board. Henson connects seemingly disjointed images through his protagonist, who runs  back through the history of human culture, and single elements such as a distinctive color, sound, or type of action.

 … Read the rest

THE MICROBUDGET CONVERSATION: THE JOURNEYMEN

By John Yost

As most of us receive our early morning Sundance rejection email (which literally makes us the 99 percenters…again.) we should all take a moment and reflect: what drove us to this? What brought us to this moment where a single email is either enormously heartbreaking, or just another bump on the dirt road of DIY/micro filmmaking? I’ve asked fellow columnist, and bi-coastal filmmaker, Gregory Bayne to shed a bit of light on his practice of treating each project as the first uphill battle of many, and how that journey is essential for the career independent filmmaker.

We have an almost perverse obsession with the idea of overnight success in this country. It permeates the network television line-up, which provides an un-ending stream of opportunities for under prepared, starry-eyed dreamers to embarrass themselves on a national (perhaps international) stage. In creative communities we constantly talk of getting that “big break,” and if the numbers are correct — 11,700 submissions this year — it appears we filmmakers still believe that a birth at Sundance is the end-all to launching our very lucrative filmmaking careers.

This obsession is like some strange disease for which the only cure, truly, is staying the course long enough that you finally realize there is no “one big success,” only a series of little successes and small triumphs, intermingled with some failures and the occasional tragedy. The brass tacks are, if you are going to make your way as an independent artist, you are committing to a life’s work that will always be, in one way or another, a sustained campaign.

I know this all too well, as I currently embark on my next film and with it another public funding-campaign to get it off the ground. The film is BLOODSWORTH: An Innocent Man (http://kck.st/vpqcgc), a feature documentary about Kirk Noble Bloodsworth, who after being charged, convicted and sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, became the first death row inmate to be exonerated by DNA evidence in the US. Even though I begin this work with some level of track record behind … Read the rest

THE MICROBUDGET CONVERSATION: FORM AND CONTENT

By John Yost

As we wind down “Season One” of the conversation we take a look back and discuss what might have been overlooked. When I first started this column my hope was that filmmakers and tastemakers would use this forum as a way to debate, raise questions, and challenge one another. For the most part I’ve been happy with the subjects raised by this column and the subsequent conversation that has started in the comments section of some of the posts. However, as we push forward in the new year I would like if we didn’t just talk at you, but with you. We will still use this as a place to raise questions and to present a topic, but I would love it if we were to add more of an answer to the question, or a thread of discussion outside of the comments section. Perfect example…today’s post. Alex Barrett is a filmmaker from the U.K. and one of our avid readers. His entry is a perfect example of a well thought-out response to the “questions” we’ve been asking, and the future of this column.

When I started thinking about ideas for this article, the first thing that occurred to me was the use of the word ‘conversation’ in the series title. Assuming it to be carefully chosen, I decided that rather than writing my piece in a vacuum – and therefore creating a monologue – I’d go back through some of the previous articles in the hope that they might spark something closer to the start of a dialogue. Many interesting points have been covered, and I wanted to use my response to them as the seeds for discussing my own ideas of filmmaking – ideas shaped while working on my microbudget debut feature, Life Just Is.

Going through the articles, I was struck by Nicole Elmer’s piece on Script v. Story, which promotes a mode of microbudget filmmaking that eschews traditional scriptwriting in favor of capturing “magical moments” brought about through improvisation. Elmer’s argument appears to be that filmmakers often “forever tweak scripts for which they keep … Read the rest

MEDIA CURRENT: THE IP WARS

By David Rosen

After the Thanksgiving recess, Congress is expected to vote on two bills that will influence the future of online Intellectual Property (IP).

The Senate bill (S. 968) is dubbed the “PROTECT IP Act” (PIPA) which stands for the “Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act”; it was adopted by the Judiciary Committee in May. The House bill (H.R.3261) is the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and is currently being deliberated.

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the music industry and a handful of digital rights holders, including games companies Sony and Nintendo, are pushing the bills. (Forbes published a strong defense of the Senate bill.)

The fight against this new effort to police IP on the web is being led by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), a coalition of free-speech advocates including the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EEF), Reporters Without Borders and Human Rights Watch as well as an growing assortment of tech and financial services companies like American Express, eBay, Google and Yahoo!

The bills are ostensibly intended to enable the U.S. Department of Justice to secure a court order to shut down a website accused of copyright infringement. These are designated as “rogue websites dedicated to infringing or counterfeit goods.” The bills are designed to halt websites (particularly those outside the U.S.) from offering bootlegged movies, knockoff Louis Vuitton handbags, fake Viagra and other questionable merchandise.

The bills essentially complement each other. PROTECT-IP is aimed at sites “dedicated to infringing activities,” while SOPA goes after sites that apparently don’t do enough to track and police infringement. In addition, SOPA expands U.S. enforcement powers to take down foreign sites and not just those claiming to be a “U.S. authorized version.”

Most alarming to web businesses, SOPA would allow the U.S. government to establish a blacklist of sites that it claims are infringing copyright claims. Such a blacklist would violate the due process rights of site owners, but would also require Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to shut down access to a site on the blacklist. In addition, web payments companies (like Paypal and Visa) as … Read the rest

THE MICROBUDGET CONVERSATION: “EX-GIRLFRIENDS”

By John Yost

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to take a master class with Ted Hope and Christina Vachon.  Now out of respect to them I will not reveal all that was discussed, but what I can tell you is that my perspective of things has been altered quite a bit. I first started this blog with the intention of showcasing microbudget work as the passionate filmmaking it is…and fuck the rules. (The whole series of manifestos is evidence of that.) We were making cinema fast and cheap, and we needed to completely re-write the rules; a message that can be exhilarating if not short-sided. Don’t get me wrong, the old way of making films will soon be gone forever, but there are just some tent poles that can’t be taken down. I don’t think the goal of this column has changed, but the amount I have learned from our readers and the wonderful folks I’ve met because of this column cannot go unabsorbed. This is a time for learning and growth in this industry, and my time waiting for the ground to stop shifting is over…it’s time to embrace the future with new ideas built over the skeleton of tradition. One of those beams is Authenticity. A wonderful byproduct of a collapsing industry, like the new elements formed from an exploding star, and if embraced could lead to a community of artists, audience members, and gatekeepers that could spell nothing but Renaissance.

This week our contributor is Alexander Poe, a recent Columbia graduate and filmmaker with plenty of experience under his belt. In this play by play of how he was able to “just go out and shoot” his first feature Ex-Girlfriends, Alex shows us that the “go get’m” attitude has to be mixed in with the foundations of good cinema; story, collaboration, and professionalism.

When I set out to write and direct my first micro-budget feature, Ex-Girlfriends, I tried to find out as much as I could about how other filmmakers had done it. To some degree each film requires a unique approach, but still … Read the rest