This Savage Art

Ted Hope breaks it down.

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If you missed the recent NYC screening of Frownland you have another chance. [via Tully] Matt Zoller Seitz gives a review at The House Next Door.

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Support the WGA East writers on the front lines.

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Part deux in which our hero starts seeing filmmakers all over Columbus Circle.

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Like I promised, here are my notes from the IFP Conference. I’ve attended the Conference in the past and I have to say this was one of the better ones. I’m still not sure if it’s because I’m a little older, a little wiser or the IFP just started tuning in and listening to the attendees more. Some things can improve, they always can. One thought that kept rolling through my mind is here you have a room full of writers, directors and producers with projects in the works or looking for someone to help them get from A to B. It would be a great feature of the Conference if the IFP could arrange some sort of matchmaking scenario for these participants in the future. Another observation was that the average age of attendees seemed to be older where I remember a few years back the age was about twenty-something.

Overall I felt that there is one consistent feeling for the filmmaker attending the Conference — you’re always walking the line of optimism/pessimism. Being wrapped in the climate of this independent world feels empowering. Hearing people speak about projects, running into colleagues. It’s an energy boost for the individual who feels tapped out, disconnected or just temporarily lacking in creative drive. Its a place for intelligent swapping of ideas and an open dialogue.

The downside, we’re all broke. We’re all in the same boat, pushing our projects, saving our pennies and jonesing to make the next or first film. Now with more product, choice and options for exhibition the real estate for new films is harder and harder to attain. Fighting through the clutter has become more of a challenge. It’s a long haul. The obvious thought on everyone’s mind is the validity of internet and how is it going to serve us.

So these are some fast and loose notes regarding the panels I attended. You can refer to the Conference link above for more information on each panel. The panelists listed on the site aren’t all accurate, some speakers were subbed out for others. Like the title says Filmmaker Conference, the following information deals with the world of producing films independently. That word has many different meanings but I think one theme that everyone who attended this Conference agrees upon is we are the driving force, the inertia that will get our films made. Do It Yourself.

There’s a lot of information here and I encourage those who are reading this post and/or attended the Conference to leave comments about what these speakers had to say and/or how it reflects your own experience as a filmmaker. Also, go to the Filmmaker Magazine Blog and CinemaTech and search for more coverage of this event. Continue Reading →

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I went to see Abel Ferrara hold court last night at the Apple Soho store to hear him speak about “how Final Cut Pro helped him get the upcoming Go Go Tales to the screen.” Sorry Apple but your little website blurb can’t contain this man. It’s the day after and I still don’t know if he ever used Final Cut Pro.

He was dressed to the nines in a tux ready to run off and see the opening night screening of The Darjeeling Limited at the New York Film Festival. I would have joined him but my measly Lincoln Center Film Society individual membership didn’t have enough pull to get me that ticket — I’m still waiting for my tickets to come in the mail. Still waiting…

The truth is it’s hard to convey what it’s like to be around the man. He’s a combination of, well, damn I can’t even come up with an amalgamation. Abel’s an original let’s put it that way. You could tell he was a little nervous talking about the technology. He spoke of how he cut this film by using two Avids [like I said, I thought this was an Apple event?] side by side and compared and contrasted the versions the closer they got to completion. That’s a new workflow to me. Interesting.

Once Abel felt a little loose by opening up questions to the audience he had his forum. It’s both heartbreaking and endearing to hear him speak about his films because you know so much has gone wrong with them in the past. Financing and distribution woes have taken their toll on his body of work and yet he perseveres like a stand-up comedian whose been batted around the club scene for too long.

He spoke of how all of his core group of collaborators all dropped off one by one in the last decade. I can imagine money had a lot to do with this and if you watch A Short Film About The Long Career of Abel Ferrara on the King of New York DVD you’ll see my point. The long rumored break-up of Ferrara with his number one guy and close friend, screenwriter Nicholas St. John, came down to this — “he had to get out, he couldn’t take the business anymore.”

As the alloted hour wound down Abel took a call on his cell phone, the man had somewhere to be — to see the new Anderson film but more importantly to hit up some of the philanthropist in the Lincoln Center audience for some cheech for his next project. All I know is we could have hung around and talked with him all night which he would have been more than happy to oblige. I still wanted to ask him about the recent news of the Bad Lieutenant remake/update/reimagining. Maybe next time.

Go Go Tales will be at the New York Film Festival October 5th and 7th.

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One thing that I and many other’s who attended the IFP Conference¹ [ending today] got slapped in the face with constantly was how the film watching experience has changed and will continue to change. With new platforms for exhibition and distribution [my head is still spinning] the future is surely up for grabs. I don’t think theaters are going anywhere but a change in New York would definitely be welcome. Thing is, I live next a great theater, technically speaking. Audio is up to par, video projection is available. Films that play there, well, that’s another issue.

I’ve been hearing about the wonders of the Alamo Drafthouse for a couple of years now even though I haven’t been there and have myself had fantasies of building the ultimate film experience for discernible tastes. Feeding the masses has been catered to by the multiplexes but this corner of the market isn’t really getting served properly. I have been enjoying what the IFC Center has been doing. I’ve always been a big supporter of the Film Forum and even the Angelica whose been kind of slacking off lately. But, this is New York City! Cinephile capital of the world!

Just days after I was asserting this opinion [bitching] to a couple of collaborators of mine at the Conference about the shitty state of movie going it looks like Texas has come to save the day for New York.² The Alamo is looking to open up a theater in New York by 2008.

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1. At some point next week I will post an entry on all my notes and musings on what I got from the IFP Conference this time around.[↩]
2. I’m not even going to touch that one.[↩]

It begins tomorrow September 16th and runs through the 21st. Looks like a solid lineup of panelists. I’ll be there Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

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Go to The Museum of the Moving Image website to buy tickets for a September 13th screening at the DGA theater on W. 57th Street. David Cronenberg will be in attendance.

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The Film Forum is launching a New York City noir series from July 27th – August 30th.

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