All About Indie Filmmaking

Indie Film Press Break: Sundance Institute Selects 13 Projects for 2013 June Directors and Screenwriters Labs

2013-05-09T13:25:00.001-07:00

For Immediate Release
May 9, 2013

Sundance Institute Selects 13 Projects for 2013 June Directors and Screenwriters Labs

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 27 through June 27. Under the leadership of Michelle Satter, Founding Director of the Institute’s Feature Film Program, and the artistic direction of Gyula Gazdag, the Fellows selected for this year's program include emerging filmmakers and projects from the United States, Europe, Mexico, Peru and Somalia.

At the 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. Directors Lab Fellows join five additional projects for the week-long Screenwriters Lab, where they participate in individualized story sessions under the guidance of established screenwriters.

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

Since its founding in 1981, the Feature Film Program has supported an extensive list of award-winning and ground-breaking independent films. This year alone, four Feature Film Program-supported films have been selected for the 2013 Cannes Film Festival including Ritesh Batra’s The Lunchbox (Critics Week), Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station (Un Certain Regard), Amat Escalante’s Heli (Competition) and David Lowery’s Ain't Them Bodies Saints(Critics Week).

“Removed from the pressures of production and with the guidance of an accomplished group of Creative Advisors, the 2013 Lab Fellows will be immersed in an intense, hands-on process to hone their filmmaking skills,” said Keri Putnam, Executive Director, Sundance Institute. “The June Lab is the centerpiece of a year-round system of creative and strategic support which begins with script development and continues all the way through to engaging audiences.”

Michelle Satter, Founding Director of the Feature Film Program, said, “We are very excited to support such a rich selection of projects that reflect the diversity of stories, artistic vision and innovation in narrative form that embraces the next generation of independent filmmakers. The support we provide through the Directors and Screenwriters Labs will allow each artist to develop the tools and confidence to more fully realize the promise of their first and second features.”

Creative Advisors for the Directors and Screenwriters Labs include Sundance Institute President and Founder Robert Redford, Gyula Gazdag (Artistic Director), Michael Almereyda, John August, Walter Bernstein, Kathryn Bigelow, Scott Burns, Steve Chbosky, Joan Darling, Caleb Deschanel, Suzy Elmiger, Deena Goldstone, Keith Gordon, Randa Haines, Ed Harris, Michael Hoffman, Azazel Jacobs, Pablo Larrain, Josh Marston, Doug McGrath, Andrew Mondshein, Walter Mosley, Jose Rivera, Walter Salles, Jennifer Salt, Susan Shilliday, Peter Sollett, Wesley Strick, Chris Terrio, Joan Tewkesbury, Stanley Tucci, Audrey Wells, Alfre Woodard, Doug Wright, and Mauricio Zacharias.

The projects and participants selected for the 2013 June Directors Lab (May 27 – June 20) are:

Pamela Romanowsky (writer/director) / The Adderall Diaries (U.S.A.): Writer Stephen Elliott reaches a low point when his estranged father resurfaces, claiming that Stephen has fabricated much of the dark childhood that that fuels his work. Adrift in the precarious grey area of memory, Stephen has to navigate the unstable terrain of truth and identity, led by two sources of inspiration: a new romance, and a murder trial that reminds him more than a little of his own story. Based on the memoir by Stephen Elliott.

Pamela Romanowsky is a New York-based writer and director. Her short films Live Girls andGravity have played at festivals nationwide, including Slamdance, Woodstock, and the Maryland Film Festival. In 2011, Romanowsky won the National Board of Review’s Student Grant Award and NYU’s prestigious Wasserman/King Award for excellence in filmmaking. In 2012, she wrote and directed a piece for Tar (James Franco, Mila Kunis, Jessica Chastain, Zach Braff), a multi-director narrative film based on the life and poetry of CK Williams, which premiered at the Rome International Film Festival and is awaiting a U.S. theatrical release. She studied documentary filmmaking with Barbara Kopple, and narrative filmmaking at New York University’s MFA film program.

Jan Kwiecinski (writer/director) / The Incident (U.S.A.): When a young man decides to cover up an accidental murder, his whole life comes into focus in ways he never expected.

Jan Kwiecinski graduated from the filmmaking departments of the London Film School and the Wajda's Master School of Directing. He also holds an MA degree in Theatre Studies from the Theatre Academy in Warsaw. His award-winning short film, The Incident, screened internationally at many festivals including the Shanghai International Film Festival and the T-Mobile New Horizons Film Festival. Recently, Kwiecinski directed the segment entitled Fawnsof the omnibus feature The Fourth Dimension, co-directed by Alexey Fedorchenko and Harmony Korine. The film premiered in the Narrative Competition at the 2012 San Francisco Film Festival.

Eva Weber (co-writer/director) and Vendela Vida (co-writer) / Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name (UK/Germany/U.S.A.): Twenty-eight-year-old Clarissa discovers on the day of her father's funeral that everything she believed about her life was a lie. She flees San Francisco and travels to the Arctic Circle to uncover the secrets of her mother, who mysteriously vanished when Clarissa was fourteen. Based on the novel by Vendela Vida.

Originally from Germany, Eva Weber is a London-based filmmaker working in both documentary and fiction. Her award-winning films have screened at numerous international film festivals, including Sundance, Edinburgh, SXSW, BFI London, and Telluride; and have also been broadcast on UK and international television. Her documentary short film The Solitary Life of Cranes was selected as one of the top five films of the year by critic Nick Bradshaw in Sight & Sound’s annual film review in 2008. Earlier this year, she received the Sundance Institute Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award to further support the development ofLet the Northern Lights Erase Your Name.

Vendela Vida is the author of four books, including the novels Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name and The Lovers. She is a founding co-editor of the Believer magazine and co-writer of the film Away We Go, which was directed by Sam Mendes.

Russell Harbaugh (co-writer/director) and Eric Mendelsohn (co-writer) / Love After Love(U.S.A.): Love After Love is a messy and desperate love story about grief, sex, and the separation of a family.

Russell Harbaugh's short film Rolling on the Floor Laughing played the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and many other festivals around the world including the FSLC/MoMA co-curated New Directors/New Films, Maryland Film Festival, Sarasota International Film Festival, Milano, Warsaw, and others. Harbaugh received his MFA from Columbia University in 2011 and is originally from Evansville, Indiana. He lives in New York.

Eric Mendelsohn's feature film Judy Berlin, starring Edie Falco and Madeline Kahn, was an Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival, won Best Director at Sundance, Best Independent Film at the Hamptons Film Festival and was nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards. His short film, Through An Open Window, premiered at Sundance, was an Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival and garnered him a guest spot on The Tonight Show. Mendelsohn’s most recent feature, 3 Backyards, premiered in 2010 at Sundance and garnered the Best Director award, making him the only person in the festival's history to have received the award twice.

K’naan (writer/director) / Maanokoobiyo (Somalia/U.S.A.): In war-torn Somalia, an artistic orphan named Maano joins the mercenary killing squad of a notorious warlord, only to discover his adoptive father and gang leader is responsible for wiping out his family.

K'naan is a Somali poet, rapper and singer, songwriter. He spent his childhood in Mogadishu, Somalia and was on one of the last commercial flights out of the country before its collapse. He rose to prominence with the success of his song “Wavin' Flag” after it was chosen as the anthem of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He lives in New York.

Ian Hendrie (co-writer/co-director) and Jyson McLean (co-writer/co-director) / Mercy Road(U.S.A.): Based on true events, Mercy Road traces the spiritual odyssey of a small town housewife and mother, as she becomes willing to commit violence and murder in the name of God.

Ian Hendrie is a San Francisco–based filmmaker and the co-founder of Fantoma, a production company and independent DVD label which has been releasing premium edition DVDs of films by such famed auteurs as Francis Ford Coppola, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Samuel Fuller, Fritz Lang, Kenneth Anger and Alex Cox, among others, since 1999.

Jyson McLean has been a commercial director for over nine years. His work includes spots for Bud Light, Career Builder, and Quaker Oats. He has won the ITVA PEER award three years in a row, and has worked with numerous award winning advertising agencies including DDB Los Angeles, BBDO London and Fred & Farid, Paris. He is currently signed at Contagious LA and Magali Films, Paris for commercial representation in America and Europe respectively.

Hendrie and McLean are recipients of a Fall 2011 SFFS/KRF Filmmaking Grant and SFFS FilmHouse residents.

Meredith Danluck (writer/director) / State Like Sleep (U.S.A.): Under the surreal cloud cover of northern Europe, a young American widow reluctantly revisits her past when her mother is hospitalized in Brussels. While coping with the bleak reality of parental loss, Katherine explores her deceased husband's secret life of underground sex clubs and finds comfort in a relationship with a stranger as equally broken as she is.

Meredith Danluck is an artist and filmmaker. Her work has screened at major art institutions internationally including MoMA, PS1, Venice Biennale, Liverpool Biennial, and Reina Sofia, as well as various film festivals including SXSW, TIFF, Doc NYC, Margaret Mead and Hamburg International. Her four-screen film installation North of South, West of East recently screened as part of the New Frontier exhibition at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

Miguel Calderón (writer/director) / Zeus (Mexico): Sporadically employed and still living with his mother, Joel finds his only joy in falconry in the flatlands outside Mexico City, until an encounter with a down-to-earth secretary forces him to face reality.

Miguel Calderón works in various mediums but has focused mostly in photography, video and writing. He was a co-founder of the non-profit art space, “La Panaderia,” which helped promote new tendencies of art in Latin America beginning in 1994. His exhibitions include the Rochester Art Center, the Sao Paolo Biennial, Museo Tamayo, The Yokohama Triennial and Museo Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. His book projects include Thumbs Down (onestar press, 2012), Backstabbing Gemini (Rochester Art Center, 2012), Eden is a Magic World (littlebigman books, 2011), and Miguel Calderón (Turner, 2007). He lives in Mexico City.

The projects and participants joining the Directors Lab Fellows for the 2013 June Screenwriters Lab (June 22-27) are:

Ray Tintori (writer/director) / Untitled Cabal Project (U.S.A.): Young revolutionaries in love take on the world and each other in a kaleidoscopically complicated universe that's coming apart at the seams.

Ray Tintori is an American director, screenwriter, and founding member of the Court 13 filmmaking collective. His directorial credits include Death to the Tinman and the music videos off MGMT's first record. Besides directing, he's worked in various capacities on Court 13 productions, including production designer and story co-writer on Glory at Sea, and Aurochs and Special Effects Unit Director on Beasts of the Southern Wild.

Bart Layton (writer/director) / The Heist (U.K.): This fiction/documentary hybrid tells the unlikely but very true story of four privileged Kentucky students who, seeking an escape from mundane middle America, hatch a plan to steal millions of dollars of rare books from their university library.

Bart Layton is a multi-award winning director and producer. His most recent documentary film,The Imposter, received almost unanimous critical acclaim after premiering at Sundance, won the Grand Jury Prize at Miami, the Golden Eye in Zurich and the Filmmakers' award at Hotdocs before winning a BAFTA and being shortlisted for the Oscars. Layton lives in London and is the Creative Director of leading British production company, RAW.

Andrew Ahn (writer/director) / Spa Night (U.S.A.): Struggling to escape his crumbling family life, a closeted Korean-American teenager follows his desires and finds more than he bargains for at the Korean spa.

Andrew Ahn is a Korean-American filmmaker born and raised in Los Angeles. His short filmDol (First Birthday) premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and received the Outfest Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Short Film. He graduated from Brown University with a degree in English and received an MFA in Film Directing from the California Institute of the Arts.

Nikole Beckwith (writer/director) / Stockholm, Pennsylvania (U.S.A.): When a young kidnapping victim is reunited with her family after 19 years, her mother discovers she has to work harder than ever to find her daughter, at any cost.

Nikole Beckwith is from Newburyport, Massachusetts. Her plays have been developed with The Public Theater, Playwrights Horizons and The National Theatre of London among others.Stockholm, Pennsylvania (2012 Nicholl Fellowship, 2012 Black List) is her first screenplay, adapted from her stage play of the same name.

Alvaro Delgado-Aparicio (writer/director) / Story Box of Dreams (Peru): In a rural community outside Lima, a young boy escapes from home to become a story box artisan, a sophisticated craft practiced only by a select group of families who have passed their skills down over generations.

Alvaro Delgado-Aparicio is an organizational psychologist and filmmaker from Peru. He received his BSC and MSC from the London School of Economics and Political Science and attended film directing workshops at the London Film Academy. He wrote and directed the award-winning short film El Acompañante (The Companion), which played at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and many other festivals around the world including Rotterdam International Film Festival, La Habana, Palm Springs, Miami, Cork, Leeds, Atlanta, Indie Lisboa, Nashville, and Maryland, among others.

The 2013 Sundance Institute June Directors and Screenwriters Labs are made possible by generous support from The Annenberg Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Cinereach, DCM Productions, Mumbai Mantra Media, LTD., National Endowment for the Arts, Philip Fung – A3 Foundation, RT Features, Indian Paintbrush Productions, Time Warner Foundation, NHK Enterprises 21, Inc., SAGIndie, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Ray and Dagmar Dolby Family Fund, Sundial Pictures, LLC, and the Zygmunt & Audrey Wilf Foundation.

Sundance Institute Feature Film Program

Since its founding in 1981, the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program has supported an extensive list of leading-edge independent films. FFP films making their theatrical premieres this year include Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station (winner of the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival), David Lowery’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, Haifaa Al Mansour’s Wadjda, and Andrew Dosunmu and Darci Picoult’s Mother of George. Additional notable films supported over the program’s history include Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild, Andrei Zyvagintsev’s Elena, Craig Zobel’sCompliance, Sally El Hosaini’s My Brother the Devil, Sean Durkin’s Martha Marcy May Marlene, Dee Rees’ Pariah, Maryam Keshavarz’s Circumstance, Cary Fukunaga's Sin Nombre, Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden’s Half Nelson, Andrea Arnold's Red Road, Miranda July’s Me and You and Everyone We Know, Hany Abu-Assad’s Paradise Now, Debra Granik’s Down to the Bone, Josh Marston’s Maria Full of Grace, Peter Sollett’s Raising Victor Vargas, John Cameron Mitchell’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream, Kimberly Peirce’s Boys Don't Cry, Lucrecia Martel’s La Cienaga, Walter Salles’ Central Station, Chris Eyre and Sherman Alexie’s Smoke Signals, Nicole Holofcener’s Walking and Talking, Allison Anders' Mi Vida Loca, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Hard Eight, Tamara Jenkins’ Slums of Beverly Hills, and Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. www.sundance.org/featurefilm

Sundance Institute

Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram,Twitter and YouTube.

Loving Jeff Goldsmith's Screening Series in LA and He's a Cool Guy - Plus The Big Wedding Thoughts

2013-04-29T22:55:00.004-07:00

I just got back from another screening in Jeff Goldsmith's screening series here in LA. I feel like I'm a bit of a stalker. I see him at these series and then I see him at Sundance and most recently at the gas station. He must think I'm insane. I think he's embarrassingly smart about movies - that's my embarrassment btw.

It's ridiculous how little I know about the history of film. I am trying to improve - I am trying to not fill my brain with only schlocky studio crap but it's so hard to pull myself away sometimes and watch what is good for me. I know Jeff's stuff is good for me so I want to give him some props here.

Jeff is a former editor of Creative Screenwriting and now publishes Backstory Magazine. He hosts a very popular podcast: The Q&A with Jeff Goldsmith. After each film he screens, he hosts and records a Q&A with the writer. He then posts it as a podcast for everyone to hear. It's very cool and super interesting. And the screenings are free, open to the public once you join his site, and he screens some great films.

Tonight we saw Justin Zackham's new film The Big Wedding. It's a big ass rom com with a ridiculously talented cast. Yes, during the Q&A Justin did discuss how he got the cast - with LUCK being the operative word. I'm sure it helped that he wrote The Bucket List - maybe a little.

The opening weekend for The Big Wedding was a bit painful - some called it a bomb - ouch - sorry Justin, that hurts to hear, I know. So I was curious to see what a "bomb" looked like these days. It actually didn't stink like a bomb. It was raunchy and funny a lot of the time. I laughed out loud in spots and that's not easy to do these days. You could tell a guy wrote it - who else would open a rom com with a cunnilingus scene? But I can appreciate that - truly.

Overall it was a fun romp and the cast, again, was ridiculously talented. Justin joked that with a cast like that, you're putting a bullseye on your back. And he's right. You kinda are. People roll their eyes at such a cast because it feels like a stunt - almost like the studio is loading the film with great actors because the script isn't all that great. But that actually wasn't the case here.

It was actually written to be a much smaller film - more of an indie if I dare say it. The budget was supposed to only be about $20 million (only I say..) but it ballooned to over $30 mill due to that amazingly talented cast. Did I say how amazing the cast is? I can get away with only listing last names (because they're so famous), right?

DeNiro, Keaton, Sarandon, Seyfried, Heigl, Grace & Williams - Did I forget anyone?

If it weren't for Jeff's screening series, I probably wouldn't have seen this film in the theater. The opening weekend reviews kind of killed it for me. But you know what? It's a fun film and I laughed - it's raunchy for a rom com, which was refreshing - and if you're a rom com junkie like me, why the hell not see it on the big screen?

So thanks Jeff for the enjoyable night and the great Q&A. Thanks Justin for making a funny movie and telling us your story. I really liked The Bucket List so I'm a fan. I didn't know you wrote that film until tonight. It might help in the marketing of The Big Wedding. You might want to mention that.

Oh and did I tell you, my readers? My husband and I write a wine blog too and we just won a scholarship to attend the wine bloggers conference. Yes, there is such a thing. British Columbia wine country here we come! I am aiming to do some filming there and I'll share some of the footage here on this blog. If you're so inclined to check out our wine blog, we'd love to have you: www.2hollywoodwinos.com - Where Hollywood Meets Wine. Yes, of course, even my wine blog features some movie stuff.

So long story short, if you live in LA, you should join Jeff Goldsmith's screening series: http://www.unlikely.com/screenings.html. They're great and you'll be cooler for it.

Oh and here's the trailer for The Big Wedding if you're interested - damn that cast is good:

I'm Okay with Zach Braff Using Kickstarter to Fund His New Film "Wish I Was Here"

2013-04-27T22:32:00.000-07:00

When Zach Braff started his campaign, I thought, well, here we go again. Another Veronica Mars-type campaign. I rolled my eyes knowing he would get his funding pretty fast and probably a few mill above what he's asking for. That was just me being jealous as I'd love to fund one of my movies for multi-millions in just a few days. But then, I shrugged my shoulders and thought maybe some day I can once I am as successful as Zach and I moved on to my own projects staring me in the face.

I was then reeled back into Zach's campaign by all the "controversy" that is now being stirred up by his use of Kickstarter to finance his next film. Some people are hating the fact that he would use Kickstarter because he's a celebrity and should have the means to either find the money or pay for the film himself. And he's making Kickstarter even richer.

I'm a little surprised by this controversy. Zach Braff is an indie filmmaker. He made a well-received indie film for $2.5 million and now he wants to make another indie film. It's true he has had a lot of success with his acting career and with his first indie feature. But I don't see how that's a valid reason for not using a fundraising tool for making his next indie film. Haven't we always been brow-beaten to never use our own money to fund our films? Why should Zach?

Not to mention, fans who contribute to his film are his fans, cultivated by him from his solid work as an indie filmmaker. It's not like he's stealing fans or their money away from other filmmakers, as some have implied. In fact, I bet the exposure Zach's campaign brings to crowdfunding will lead to a greater comfort level for the masses to contribute to films through crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter.

Plus, he's giving an opportunity to his fans to be involved in his film. This is huge for people who are not in the film industry. He's giving access to those who want to be part of film. And that's awesome. I bet the person who gets to watch the film with Zach and give his/her thoughts to him will remember that day for the rest of his/her life. He's offering a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Now, I get that people are annoyed that someone with his celebrity and finances would take the "easy" route to funding. And I understand the fear that Kickstarter and IndieGoGo etc are going to turn into celebrity havens where the little guys are once again kicked to the curb. I see the perceived injustice of it all but I'm just not seeing it in this case with Zach's project.

He's an indie filmmaker trying to make an indie film. It's not like he's making a broad comedy for the studio system. I think we should support a fellow indie filmmaker and be proud of his success. We would all love to be in his shoes and you know what? Some day you just might and wouldn't you want to know the indie film community has your back?

Indie Film Press Break: 2013 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES AWARDS

2013-04-25T17:30:00.000-07:00

2013 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES AWARDS

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THE ROCKET, THE KILL TEAM, WHITEWASH AND OXYANA

WIN TOP AWARDS IN JURIED WORLD COMPETITIONS

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SANDY STORYLINES WINS FIRST-EVER BOMBAY SAPPHIRE AWARD FOR TRANSMEDIA

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FESTIVAL AWARDS $155,000 IN CASH PRIZES

[April 25, 2013 – New York, NY] – The 12th annual Tribeca Film Festival, co-founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff, and presented by founding sponsor American Express, announced the winners of its competition categories tonight at a ceremony hosted at the Conrad New York in New York City. The Festival runs through April 28, 2013.

The world competition winners for narrative and documentary films were chosen from 12 narrative and 12 documentary features from 14 countries. Best New Director prizes were awarded to a first-time director for both narrative and documentary films, selected from a pool of 24 feature films throughout the program. Awards were also given for the best narrative short, best documentary short and student visionary films in the short film competitions. This year’s Festival included 89 features and 60 short films from 38 countries, programmed by a team led by Tribeca’s Chief Creative Officer Geoff Gilmore, Artistic Director Frederic Boyer, Director of Programming Genna Terranova, and Programmer Cara Cusumano.

This year the Festival introduced a new award, the Bombay Sapphire Award for Transmedia, for the new juried Storyscapes section, created in collaboration with BOMBAY SAPPHIRE® gin. Also announced at the awards were the Tribeca Online Festival feature and short film winners selected by the online audience. The winners of the Heineken Audience Awards, determined by audience votes throughout the Festival, will be announced on April 27.

“It is a pleasure to share a diverse range films with our audiences at Tribeca and to introduce new storytellers from every corner of the globe,” said Jane Rosenthal, co-founder, Tribeca Film Festival. “We are grateful to the incredible group of talented filmmakers who shared their work with us and with the New York and film communities.”

“With such a wonderful and diverse selection of films in our competition sections, the jury has had quite the challenge in awarding just one per category,” said Frederic Boyer, TFF Artistic Director. “Their selection recognizes films depicting worlds that are seldom seen on screen and to which we are given the rare opportunity to experience through unforgettable characters and remarkable subjects.

Screenings of all winning films will take place throughout the final day of the Festival, Sunday, April 28, at various venues. Specific times and ticketing information are available on the Festival website,www.tribecafilm.com.

In addition to cash awards and in-kind services provided by sponsors including American Express,

AKA, Bombay Sapphire, Citizens of Humanity, Company 3, Kodak, Persol, and Sony Electronics, the Festival presented the winners with original pieces of art created by acclaimed artists, including Joyce Pensato, Dustin Yellin, William Wegman among others.

Following are the winners, awards and details on the jury who selected the recipients:

WORLD NARRATIVE COMPETITION CATEGORIES:

The jurors for the 2013 World Narrative Competition were Bryce Dallas-Howard, Blythe Danner, Paul Haggis, Kenneth Lonergan, and Jessica Winter.

· The Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature – The Rocket, directed by Kim Mordaunt (Australia). Winner receives $25,000, sponsored by AKA, and the art award “Two Voices #1” by Angelina Nasso. The award was given by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal.

Jury Comments: “The Rocket is a spectacular achievement that is powerful and delightful in equal measures. Artfully structured and gorgeously shot, it chronicles the struggles of a displaced family while steering well clear of either sentimentality or despair. Complex in its tone and characterizations, the film takes an unflinching – and edifying – look at the suffering caused both by a legacy of war and the new status quo of economic globalization. And yet, while never losing sight of those grim realities, it also offers us a transcendent tale of hope and perseverance in a world that few Westerners ever have the chance to see.”

-Special Jury Mention -- Stand Clear of the Closing Doors, directed by Sam Fleischner. The announcement was made by Kenneth Lonergan.

· Best Actor in a Narrative Feature Film – Sitthiphon Disamoe as Ahlo in The Rocket, directed by Kim Mordaunt (Australia). Winner receives $2,500. The award was given by Blythe Danner.

Jury Comments: “One of the great pleasures this year was the discovery of this young, non-professional actor, who plays his role with an irresistible blend of pluck, stoic determination and vulnerability. Sitthiphon Disamoe carried a big, ambitious production on his small shoulders, with charm and grace to spare.”

· Best Actress in a Narrative Feature Film – Veerle Baetens as Elise Vandevelde in The Broken Circle Breakdown, directed by Felix van Groeningen (Netherlands, Belgium). Winner receives $2,500. The award was given by Bryce Dallas Howard.

Jury Comments: “We’ve selected a woman who shows herself to be a totally committed and fiercely versatile actress. Veerle Baetens’ character goes from a sunny free spirit to grieving wife and mother, and no matter where we are in the course of that journey, this actress shows us the light burning inside her character, one that both sustains and destroys. She is the heart and soul of the movie, and her performance is nothing short of a tour de force.”

· Best Cinematography in a Narrative Feature Film – Cinematography by Marius Matzow Gulbrandsen, for Before Snowfall, directed by Hisham Zaman (Germany, Norway). Winner receives $5,000, sponsored by Sony Electronics; a Sony Alpha A99 Full Frame Camera and a Sony NEX-VG900 Full Frame Camcorder; and $50,000 in post-production services provided by Company 3. The award was given by Blythe Danner and Alec Shapiro, President, Sony Professional Solutions of America.

Jury Comments: “Before Snowfall packs a visual punch to match the force and ambition of its story about a teenage boy who pursues the honor killing of his own sister. Shot in four countries and capturing everything from a rural village to multiple European cities, from intimate domestic scenes to teeming street life, from a harrowing border crossing to a bleakly beautiful Nordic landscape in winter, it invites us into many vivid worlds and fulfills many possibilities for cinematography as an art form.”

· Best Screenplay for a Narrative Feature Film – The Broken Circle Breakdown, written by Carl Joos and Felix van Groeningen and directed by Felix van Groeningen (Netherlands, Belgium). Winner receives $5,000. The award was given by Paul Haggis.

Jury Comments: “The Broken Circle Breakdown is a true original, starting with the eclectic ingredients in its dynamic screenplay: a romance of opposites, a battle between spiritual faith and secular humanism, triggered by unthinkable tragedy, a Flemish bluegrass band. With dialogue that spans the sweetly flirtatious and the operatically confrontational -- and with dollops of humor and a pure, deep love of music – the film leaps nimbly back and forth in time to conjure vivid characters who face down literal life-or-death issues. They win both our rapt interest and our greatest empathy; they make us both think and feel.”

BEST NEW NARRATIVE DIRECTOR:

The jurors for the 2013 Best New Narrative Director Competition were Naomi Foner, Tony Gilroy, Ari Graynor, Radha Mitchell, and Stu Zicherman.

§ Best New Narrative Director – Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais, director of Whitewash (Canada). Winner receives $25,000, presented by American Express; $50,000 in post-production services provided by Company 3; and the art award “New Elands Bay” by Erik Parker. The award was given by Tony Gilroy, Radha Mitchell and Deborah Curtis from American Express, Vice President, Entertainment Marketing & Sponsorships.

Jury Comments: “Whitewash is funny, strange, emotionally honest, tense, pathetic, and ultimately haunting -- a broad canvas for even the most experienced director to paint. It quickly became clear that we were in the hands of a filmmaker with the intelligence, imagination and bravery to carry off this very tricky piece of material. The ability to mix tones and the guts to stage odd, random moments and make them inevitable is one of the least-appreciated tools in a filmmaker’s skill set. The taste and attention to detail required to deliver a story this unsettled and delicate is the work of a director -- and a team -- that this jury hopes will continue for many movies. Their story is so credibly and invisibly constructed -- and the filmmakers have such control of the material and trust in the audience -- that the film reaches for metaphor without ever having had to ask for the privilege. It is a remarkable first feature, and we extend our congratulations to all involved, including two spectacular lead actors in Thomas Haden Church and Marc Labrèche.”

-Special Jury Mention: Harmony Lessons, directed by Emir Baigazin (Germany, France). The announcement was made by Naomi Foner and Ari Graynor.

WORLD DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION CATEGORIES:

The jurors for the 2013 World Documentary Competition were Joe Berlinger, Sandi DuBowski, Whoopi Goldberg, Mira Sorvino, and Evan Rachel Wood.

· Best Documentary Feature – The Kill Team, directed by Dan Krauss (USA). Winner receives $25,000, sponsored by Citizens of Humanity, and the art award “Harley Before the White Prom” by Gillian Laub. The award was given by Mira Sorvino and Gareth Baxendale from Citizens of Humanity.

Jury Comments: “The Kill Team examines the fundamental flaw in the preparation of young soldiers for war that allows them to see people as targets without humanity, a culture of killing that looks to express itself even in times of peace. It masterfully combines verite' footage, talking head interviews and a private look into one family's desperate fight in a seamless cinematic undertaking. As the drama unfolds we are faced with issues of both institutionalized responsibility and culpabilty within the military itself, the extreme importance of individual acts of courage, cowardice or allegiance to authority, and an expiation of guilt of one tormented soldier's decision to blow the whistle, too late. We feel it raises questions that demand to be answered by our military and society at large, so that these ever enumerating acts of senseless violence cease.”

-Special Jury Mention: Oxyana, directed by Sean Dunne (USA). The announcement was made by Joe Berlinger.

· Best Editing in a Documentary Feature – Let the Fire Burn, edited by Nels Bangerter, directed by Jason Osder (USA). Winner receives $5,000. The award was given by Whoopi Goldberg and Sandi DuBowski.

Jury Comments: “Let the Fire Burn tells a story we were stunned to realize we didn’t know. It offers a time capsule, taking us to a horrific moment in our nation’s history with a masterfully structured edit that vividly mines a trove of blistering period archive images without voiceover narration. The film ensures that a criminal and senseless destruction that cost eleven deaths -- five children, six adults -- shakes us to our core and is remembered with utter visceral power.”

BEST NEW DOCUMENTARY DIRECTOR COMPETITION:

The jurors for the 2013 Best New Documentary Director Competition were Jared Cohen, Taraji P. Henson, Riley Keough, Jason O’Mara, and Josh Radnor.

· Best New Documentary Director – Sean Dunne for Oxyana (USA). Winner receives $25,000, presented by American Express; and the art award “Untitled (#5), from the Men in the Cities Photo Portfolio” by Robert Longo, courtesy of the artist and Metro Pictures. The award was given by Taraji P. Henson and Deborah Curtis from American Express.

Jury Comments: “Sean Dunne's Oxyana is a major accomplishment, deeply sad without being sentimental, fearless, unblinking and deft in the filmmaker’s ability to coax harrowing stories from his subjects. It is not an easy film to watch. It could be read as hopeless, but by the end, something of the light of each person shone through. It presents an acute awareness of the severity of their situation mixed with an inner battle to not let this film be the final story of them or their once-proud town. We will never forget the faces of these people, their stories and their struggles.”

-Special Jury Mention -- Let the Fire Burn, directed by Jason Osder. The announcement was made by Riley Keough and Jason O’Mara.

SHORT FILM COMPETITION CATEGORIES:

The 2013 Best Narrative Short Competition jurors were Christine Baranski, Kassem Garaibeh, Jessica Hecht, Chris Milk, and Sheila Nevins.

· Best Narrative Short – The Nightshift Belongs to the Stars, directed by Edoardo Ponti (Italy). Winner receives $5,000, sponsored by Persol; 10,000 feet of film stock donated by Kodak; and the art award “Study: Northern City Renaissance, Mauve Dawn (Mass MoCA #79-R)” by Stephen Hannock. The award was given by Christine Baranksi and Andrea Dorigo, President of Luxottica, North America.

Jury Comments: “The Nightshift Belongs to the Stars expresses love in its many dimensions and literally gets to the heart of the matter.”

-Special Jury Mention: Yardbird, directed by Michael Spiccia (Australia). The announcement was made by Christine Baranski.

The 2013 Best Documentary and Student Short Competition jurors were Abigail Breslin, Bobby Flay, Eva Longoria, Jason Silva, John Skipper, and Danny Strong. (John Skipper recused himself from the final vote in the Documentary category.)

· Best Documentary Short – Coach, directed by Bess Kargman (USA). Winner receives $5,000, sponsored by Persol, and the art award “Psycho” by William Wegman. The award was given by Jason Silva and Andrea Dorigo, President of Luxottica/Persol.

Jury Comments: “In just 15 minutes, Coach brilliantly shows us a world in which pain and tragedy can lead to triumph and success. It takes us through a national scandal that was handled by the film’s subject with her signature passion, grace and dignity. All together, it shows us why C. Vivien Stringer is a hall of famer and one of the great college basketball coaches of all time.”

-Special Jury Mention: Royal American, directed by Michael Scalisi (USA). The announcement was made by Jason Silva.

· Student Visionary Award – Life Doesn’t Frighten Me, directed by Stephen Dunn (Canada). Winner receives the art award “Platonic Haircut” by Dustin Yellin. The award was given by Danny Strong.

Jury Comments: “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me is a sweet coming-of-age story that displays its writer/director’s unique voice through humor, drama and whimsy, in a way that brings true depth to his charming yet conflicted characters. Effortlessly shifting from comedy to drama, this work definitely showcases a young director with a skilled hand and a bright future ahead of him.”

-Special Jury Mention -- Reporting on the Times: The New York Times and the Holocaust, directed by Emily Harrold (USA). The announcement was made by Danny Strong.

BOMBAY SAPPHIRE AWARD FOR TRANSMEDIA

The 2013 BOMBAY SAPPHIRE Award for Transmedia jurors were Thomas Allen Harris, Jeff Gomez, and Frank Rose.

· Bombay Sapphire Award for Transmedia: Sandy Storyline, created by Rachel Falcone, Laura Gottesdiener, and Michael Premo (USA). Winner receives $10,000, presented by BOMBAY SAPPHIRE gin, and the art award “Study For Austin Courthouse” by Clifford Ross. The award was given by Thomas Allen Harris and Ned Duggan, Brand Director, Bombay Gins.

Jury Comments: “We were treated to five extraordinary, transmedia works, and the winner stood out for its powerful demonstration of the potential of communal storytelling. Sandy Storyline, created by Rachel Falcone, Laura Gottesdiener and Michael Premo, leverages the innovative Cowbird storytelling platform, creating a fully realized transmedia account that demonstrates both the therapeutic power of storytelling and our responsibility to bear witness. This project will be of use not only to people today but also to future generations seeking to understand a signal moment in our stewardship of the planet. Moreover, thanks to its admirably simple user interface, its elegant design both online and in physical installations and its effective yet unobtrusive curation, this project serves as a model for narratives surrounding future moments of crisis.”

TRIBECA ONLINE FESTIVAL CATEGORIES:

The 2013 Tribeca Online Festival winners were voted on by visitors to tribecafilm.com.

· Tribeca Online Festival Best Feature Film: Lil Bub & Friendz, directed by Andy Capper and Juliette Eisner (USA). Winner receives $10,000 and the art award “Blk. Candy Series 5”, by Curtis Kulig The award was given by Geoff Gilmore.

· Tribeca Online Festival Best Short Film: A Short Film About Guns, directed by Minos Papas (USA, UK). Winner receives $5,000. The award was given by Geoff Gilmore.

FULL LIST OF ELIGIBLE 2013 TFF FILMS IN EACH CATEGORY OF COMPETITION:

World Narrative Feature Competition:

· Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature: 12 films

· Best Actress in a Narrative Feature: 12 actresses

· Best Actor in a Narrative Feature: 12 actors

· Best Cinematography in a Narrative Feature: 12 films

· Best Screenplay for a Narrative Feature: 12 films

World Documentary Feature Competition:

· Best Documentary Feature: 12 films

· Best Editing in a Documentary Film: 12 filmmakers

All feature sections, first time directors with films making their North American, International, or World Premiere

· Best New Narrative Director: directors selected from 12 films

· Best New Documentary Director: directors selected from 12 films

Short Films in Competition:

· Best Narrative Short: 38 films

· Best Documentary Short: 17 films

· Student Visionary Award: 5 films

Storyscapes Projects in Competition:

· Bombay Sapphire Award for Transmedia: 5 projects

For more information on all of the films in the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival, please visit tribecafilm.com.

Tickets for the 2013 Festival:

Tickets for the Festival are $16.00 for evening and weekend screenings, and $8.00 for all late-night and weekday matinee screenings and can be purchased online, by telephone, or at one of the Ticket Outlets, with locations at Tribeca Cinemas at 54 Varick Street, Clearview Cinemas Chelsea at 260 W. 23rd Street, and AMC Loews Village 7 at 66 3rd Avenue. The 2013 Festival offers ticket discounts for evening and weekend screenings for students, seniors and select downtown Manhattan residents. Discounted tickets are available at Ticket Outlet locations only. Additional information and further details on the Festival can be found at www.tribecafilm.com.

About the Tribeca Film Festival:

The Tribeca Film Festival helps filmmakers reach the broadest possible audience, enabling the international film community and general public to experience the power of cinema and promote New York City as a major filmmaking center. It is well known for being a diverse international film festival that supports emerging and established directors.

Founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff in 2001 following the attacks on the World Trade Center, to spur the economic and cultural revitalization of the lower Manhattan district through an annual celebration of film, music and culture, the Festival brings the industry and community together around storytelling.

The Tribeca Film Festival has screened more than 1,400 films from more than 80 countries since its first edition in 2002. Since inception, it has attracted an international audience of more than 4 million attendees and has generated an estimated $750 million in economic activity for New York City.

About the 2013 Festival Sponsors

As Founding Sponsor of the Tribeca Film Festival, American Express is committed to supporting the Festival and the art of filmmaking, bringing business and energy to New York City and offering Cardmembers and festivalgoers the opportunity to enjoy the best of storytelling through film.

The Tribeca Film Festival is pleased to announce the return of its Signature Sponsors: Accenture, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Bloomberg, BOMBAY SAPPHIRE® Gin, Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), Brookfield, Cadillac, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, ESPN, GE FOCUS FORWARD (in partnership with cinelan), Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Heineken USA, JetBlue, Magnum® Ice Cream, NBC 4 New York, NCM Media Networks, The New York Times, and OppenheimerFunds. The Festival is also honored to welcome the following new Signature Sponsors: AT&T, IWC Schaffhausen, PepsiCo, and Sony Electronics.

Check Out Our New Short on So Natural TV (www.sonatural.tv): Teen Queens!

2013-04-18T17:49:00.001-07:00

Super excited to announce that I have recently partnered with the incredibly talented writer/director Leena Pendharkar on her Web channel So Natural TV (www.sonatural.tv) or on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/sonaturaltv.

We are putting together a slate of new Web series and short films for the channel which features sharp-witted short films and series about women.

Check out our new video and subscribe to the channel so you can see what we're up to! Stay tuned for a new series and a vlog about fashion, beauty and DIY by the beautiful Taryn Horacek (http://www.chictopia.com/stylephenomenon).

Indie Filmmakers, I Say Share Your Contact Information

2013-04-03T17:32:00.000-07:00

Indie Filmmakers, I am sending out a call to everyone to try to be more approachable. I had a question that I wanted to pose to some of my producer colleagues and I realized that I had no way of reaching some of them.

IMDb and Studio System and even your own Web site should be a place of networking. And if you aren't sharing your contact information - at a minimum, your email or some sort of email address - then no one knows how to reach you.

Trust me, most people will give up trying you if you are too hard to reach. And some of those people might have new projects you are missing out on or some great info that helps sell your current products.

Now, I understand that celebrities should have a layer between them and the public. But they are all repped and we know how to reach them through their agents or managers.

If you aren't repped, you really should have your contact information available on the internet - unless you have a known stalker. In that case, you're forgiven.

I highly doubt that random people will start bombarding your inbox. You may get a few unsolicited emails here or there but, in that case, don't respond. Or block any spammers.

Normally something like this wouldn't phase me - that is, until I had an important reason to reach someone and his or her contact info was nowhere to be found. And it hit me that being hard to reach is likely contributing to the downfall of our industry. We filmmakers are not communicating enough with each other.

We should be talking all the time, sharing resources, advice, referrals, experiences. Imagine how much we can learn from each other? How many trial and errors we can all be avoiding? We wouldn't have to reinvent the wheel! We could lean on and partner with each other on great projects. Haven't we all learned that to give is to receive?

So log into your IMDb account or email Studio System and make your email available and let's start communicating! If you don't, you just might be missing out...

Pulling Back the Curtains: Being an Independent Film Producer Is F'ing Hard!

2013-04-02T12:05:00.001-07:00

There I said it. I probably think it every few minutes each day.

I am starting a feature on this blog of pulling back the curtains on independent filmmaking. I will try to provide really honest insights into this maddening world of independent producing.

I'm really not sure why indie filmmaking has to be so difficult. You would think that if you find a script that you enjoy and you hire a talented crew and cast to make it that you would be able to find a few hundred thousand in this huge world of ours to watch it. Well, I'm sure we can find people to watch it, but to actually pay for it is another story.

And then there are those distributors who did get money from your film and don't pay you. Ehem.

The other day I wrote this long diatribe on why I'm so pissed right now at the industry I so love, but I decided not to post it. It was just too negative - even for me. I figure I got it out of my system and it can sit in my Drafts folder as a therapeutic entry. I can just pretend I posted it and re-read it periodically so I can vent to myself.

Even this entry is getting a little dark for me. But it's the truth. Independent film producing is hard.

I am constantly wracking my brain for ideas that I think will make a splash. Will it have legs to be a festival darling? Or is it a straight-up genre flick that we can sell to the hungry genre audiences? Or is it really castable and a great actor will really eat up the part.

And then the journey to find these scripts is even harder. Man, it truly is like searching for a needle in the haystack. Choosing a script to produce is soooo subjective so finding a script that speaks to you on a very personal level when you haven't been part of developing the idea is nearly impossible.

What's even more difficult is finding that script you love and then thinking about, well, who is going to want to finance it? But first, I need to schedule and budget it so I know what kind of budget I need. From there, I will need a business plan so I can approach investors. Schedules, budgets and business plans are a lot of work!

And meanwhile, let me hit up my manager and agent friends and see who is willing to read it for their clients when I have no money. And let me bug sales agents for sales projections and who means what these days to the deteriorating box office. Don't even get me started on the Web productions that are blowing up. And TV is where it's at these days. It's mind-boggling to navigate it all.

Okay, so let's say you make it through all of these benchmarks, you have your script packaged and you have enough money to make the film. Next you need to find crew and vendors willing to work for indie rates and pray you make your days so you don't go over your unrealistic 18 day schedule.

Then you finish your film and suddenly you find out that you weren't accepted into Sundance or Toronto or Cannes - if you are, that's awesome, but you're still not off the hook. Next you land that sales agent who then tells you that you will be lucky if you find any deals to fully pay back the investors, especially if you didn't get accepted to a major festival - and forget about getting a return in a timely manner. It's gonna take years!

All the while, you deferred most or all of your fee so you're essentially working for free on this film that is kicking your ass. And you're scraping by on production gigs or a day job or consulting fees and thinking what am I doing? I'm smart. I'm talented. Hell, I am a CEO of multiple businesses (as each film is a business). So why am I not a multi-millionaire in my mansion? Producers are wealthy, right?

And then you smack yourself and realize that independent producers are not wealthy unless they come from money or they have had that elusive hit that everyone dreams of and even then, the distributor probably took most of the money earned by that hit for their expenses. Totally jaded right? But it's a harsh reality, which is why it's so important to learn how to protect yourself in this industry. You need a good attorney, a great support system who will give you lots of hugs, and a savviness and confidence about what you're worth and what you're creating.

Okay, why am I working the hardest I have ever worked for the smallest pay of my life? Some days, I'm not sure, but it makes me sick to think of bagging it all and walking away. It's not in me to give it up. There's always that fire burning right below the surface - sometimes it's just a pilot light - but it's that fire in my belly that keeps me going. It's that desire to have creative and financial freedom some day that I believe indie producing can one day provide.

Why do I believe that indie producing can bring me freedom? Well, I have seen it with my own eyes. Friends and colleagues who have found a niche that works for them. I just need to find that niche. And I firmly believe that risk-takers are the ones who really have the ability to build a career on their own terms. And if you fail, it's not because you didn't try. The greatest rewards come with the greatest sacrifice. It also helps that I have a very entrepreneurial soul. I can thank my grandparents for that.

What do I say after all this introspection? Throw some fuel on that fire and get back to work! We are creators and we have an audience to serve. All it takes is that one YES! Buck up bitch! You can do this!

The Indie Filmmaker Nightmare Does Happen: Royalties Being Delayed

2013-03-26T14:15:00.000-07:00

Indie filmmakers and indie film lovers, a distributor of one of our titles is claiming they can't pay our royalties to us when owed. Our title made them (is making them) a lot of money on which their company is surviving (they're still getting their paychecks), leaving us to struggle yet again. They are paying the debt off their other titles with the money our title has earned and saying they will give us money when they are able in drips and drabs. This is happening - despite having contracts in place.

Indie film lovers, whenever you can, please buy films direct from the filmmakers or support them when crowdfunding so the filmmakers are assured of getting some funds to live. This is why indie filmmakers can't make livings and why we need to really invest deeply in distributing our films ourselves!

We need to figure out proper monetization on self-distribution and effective forms of indie film marketing. Please be aware of the struggles of indie filmmaking and hopefully try to buy or rent direct from filmmakers whenever you can.

Please don't be afraid of sites like Distrify.com or IndieReign.com or Vimeo.com or CreateSpace.com and buying or renting titles from them. They are legit and helping indie filmmakers survive! Thanks all! Wish us luck as we go up against Goliath...

Affordable Script Consultation from a Producer's Perspective Provided by All About Indie Filmmaking

2013-03-18T09:27:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I have started a new service in association with my blog. I am now offering script consultation from a producer's perspective. I have read thousands of scripts through my career and have always thought it would be great to provide the producer's perspective on a script. I want to help filmmakers develop stronger projects.

As a film producer, I am on the eternal search for a produceable script. One that has the following essential elements:

*Great Structure
*Engaging Plot
*Strong Dialogue
*In-Depth Character Development
*Castable Lead Characters
*Budget That Makes Sense for the Genre and Any Creative Attachments
*Commercial & Marketable Premise
*Clear Audience

If a script has the above elements, I know I can feel comfortable introducing it to financiers and cast and crew and spend the rest of my life marketing the project to distributors and audiences worldwide.

It's a big decision for a producer to take on a project. Therefore, you want your script to be ready for a producer's eye - because you usually only get one chance submitting your script to a producer.

I read a lot of scripts each week and know that many do not include the above elements. And if these elements are not in your script then you will have challenges in getting your script sold or made into a film.

After reading a screenplay, I'd love to have the opportunity to have a detailed dialogue with the screenwriter and be able to tell her or him a producer's opinion on the script. And then I realized I could! So I have decided to start offering script consultation from a producer's perspective. I have added a new page to my blog offering this service.

Most script consultation services only focus on the writing of the screenplay and not on whether or not the screenplay is actually producer-friendly. I can look at your script with an eye to what a producer will be considering upon assessment. This can help you tackle any trouble areas before you begin submitting your project to producers.

If you have a project you are interested in making but you'd like a producer's opinion on how produceable your script is, please contact me at the following email address and I will be happy to read your script and provide a written assessment of each element at which I personally look when assessing whether or not to take on a project.

My perspective is my own. I can't guarantee that your film will get produced even if your script has all of the above elements. But I can provide you with insight into what a working producer may think and give you the opportunity to try to make your script even stronger prior to exposing your script to producers, and even agents and managers.

My rates are very reasonable too. Please take into account that just reading your script can take 2 hours, just like watching a film can. I will then take time to write up my assessment and send it to you. I am keeping my rates low as I would like to make this service affordable for my readers who tend to be low budget independent filmmakers.

Feature-length script: $100
Short script (under 20 pages): $30

If you would like your script evaluated by a working film producer (I have produced over a dozen short and feature-length projects) who will provide you with a producer's perspective, please email me at allaboutindiefilmmaking@gmail.com.

Turnaround will average 1 week, depending on my schedule. All reading and assessments will be done by me. I do not outsource to readers. Thanks everyone! I look forward to reading your work!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2013-03-17T20:21:00.003-07:00

I'm Irish so we love to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Had a great day in Hollywood. Hope yours is just as good! Cheers!

Citizen Hearst plays the Hearst Castle and Theaters Nationwide Too!

2013-03-15T22:30:00.003-07:00

On Friday, March 8th, our new documentary Citizen Hearst had the honor of playing in the former media mogul William Randolph Hearst's personal screening room at the Hearst Castle. This was made possible by the wonderful San Luis Obispo Film Festival. What a memorable evening!

The film is released in theaters now! Check your local listings at the Citizen Hearst Web site: www.citizenhearst.com.

Here are some images of the event held at the Castle in San Simeon, CA:

And here we are on the last day - spent in Paso Robles wine country - what a great group and a great time :)

That's a Wrap! on Our New Short Plain Clothes

2013-03-06T19:32:00.003-08:00

We spent this last weekend filming our new short film Plain Clothes. It was a great time. Much of the crew came from either our last film Take Me Home or Sam Jaeger's show Parenthood. It was like friends coming together to make a movie. In fact, I believe I heard Sam and Howard (our DP) at one point say they felt they were back in high school making a movie when we were in Sam's front yard stealing some shots.

Actually, it's this shot in particular:

And from another angle:

We had an amazing stunt crew with us coordinating the stunts:

Our prop team rocked the firearms and thanks to our friend Les who let us use his Jeep as our picture car:

We had an awesome grocery store:

And lovely home (and bed) in which to film:

The best caterer ever - Amber Jaeger! Here we are scarfing down her food:

And here's to the best cast and crew - love you guys!

We're makin' a movie and lovin' it! To track our progress, check out our Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/plainclothesmovie.

A Crowdfunding Campaign Success for Our New Short Film Plain Clothes!

2013-02-12T16:08:00.003-08:00

I LOVE crowdfunding. It allows us direct access to our fans and supporters. We can build awareness of what we are working on and get our audience involved at the inception of the idea. And the funds can be raised quickly and used within a week after the campaign is over.

One of the most appealing aspects of crowdfunding is that we don't have the added pressure of investors who are looking for a return on their investment. It's complete freedom to be creative and service our audience. That is huge!

We just ran a new campaign for our short film "Plain Clothes." And it was a success! We wanted to raise $5k to make the film and we did it! We chose to use IndieGoGo as our crowdfunding site because they have an option whereby you can keep whatever you raise even if you don't hit your goal. I think that's essential.

It's so awesome to get this support for "Plain Clothes" - it's a huge infusion of positive energy. And now we're moving on to prep for the film.

To learn more about our little film, check out our Plain Clothes Tumblr site here, LIKE us on Facebook here, and follow us on Twitter here.

Thanks all!

Location Scouting for Plain Clothes - My New Short with Writer/Director Sam Jaeger

2013-02-06T10:22:00.000-08:00

Writer/director Sam Jaeger and I and our cast and crew are prepping for our new short film "Plain Clothes." One of the best parts of prep is scouting locations. It's usually a silly time filled with hope and excitement for a new story about to be told. We like to have fun throughout the process as you will see in this video.

Location scouts are also a reminder that the film will soon be a reality so let's get crackin!

Below is an uncut, super raw, silly video from the scout. Just a little taste of what it's like to work with us. Please excuse the lack of professionalism er, I mean professional sound design etc :)

Featured in the video is writer/director Sam Jaeger, DP Howard Newstate and our other actor Chris Weir. I am doing the amazing camera work. I think the sun flare off the car adds a tremendous look (haha).

What you aren't seeing here is all the serious planning that's going on. Location scouts are a very important part of the process. Here are a few questions, we always ask ourselves:

How are we going to shoot here?
Do we need a permit?
How will the light look throughout the day (thanks to some awesome smartphone apps)?
Do we need electricity and where will it come from? On site? Generator?
What are the dangers for the cast/crew in this location?
Where are the bathrooms?
Where will we eat? Etc etc.

And then you go home with all this information and try to make it all work in your schedule. That's a whole other bit of fun. We're making a movie - and that's the best fun of all!

If you're interested in being involved in this new short film, check out our IndieGoGo Campaign at: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/316830/x/6178

See you at the movies!

Road to Sundance 2013: KARAOKE! (short), directed by Andrew Renzi

2013-02-06T09:32:00.000-08:00

Andrew Renzi

KARAOKE! Production Still

Tell us about your film.

The film I have playing at Sundance this year is a short film called, KARAOKE!, and it is playing in the Shorts Competition.

What inspired you to make it?

KARAOKE! was built from a deeply personal experience of losing my father to cancer 5 years ago. When he was diagnosed with multiple-myeloma, he was told that he had no more than one month to live if he was lucky. Then, defying the odds, he ended up living for three more years. The film is a fictional representation of that three year time period, my anxieties associated with potentially missing the "big moment", and somehow being unavailable when the time were to finally come when he could no longer fight. I spent much of my early 20s battling my responsibilities to my family, while also falling into traps of denial, and escapist behavior that would allow me to avoid the inevitable moment when I would lose my father…my best friend. For me, KARAOKE! explores that denial and the anxiety associated with having something cloudy and omnipresent in your mind that you just don't always want to deal with or confront. Fortunately, the experience of my father's passing was serene, peaceful, and I was blessed to be beside him in bed the entire time, but creating this film so many years after the fact has allowed me to explore those issues of denial and avoidance that I dealt with, and that I feel are universal in all of our lives.

What do you love about your film?

I suppose I am most proud of the fact that we were able to make a personal film that was not simply executed as if its sole purpose was to "tell a personal story." Shooting widescreen anamorphic, with lenses from the 1960s, and embracing flares and long steadicam shots, allows the film to exist beyond the framework of just a simple family drama, and makes it a cinematic event. Working with such an insanely talented crew like my DP Joe Anderson, and my producers Garrett Fennelly, McCabe Walsh, and Borderline Films, allowed me to justify telling a personal story, while pushing it to an extremely lush, cinematic, and at times even slightly fantastical place.

How long did it take you to make your film?

It took a little over 2 days to shoot the film.

How did you finance your film?

Support from vendors, personal credit cards, and producers who are willing to work as hard as they possibly can to get you the tools no matter what budgetary constraints may exist.

What was the most challenging part of the filmmaking process and how did you overcome it?

The most challenging part of the process for me was making the decision to truly personalize the film. I think the idea of a young person avoiding his problems is something that we can all relate to, but in order for the film to actually mean something more to me, I had to be unabashed about making it a love letter to my father. That was a difficult and daunting decision, because I absolutely didn't want to make something that would appear to exist only on some sort of self-serving level, but at the same time, I had the overwhelming urge to honor him in this way, at this precise moment. Once I shed that fear, the filmmaking process opened up quite a bit more for me. My father is not in the film, there is no actor playing him, but in the end of the film a picture comes on screen, and that is the way I want to remember him. Through the picture of my father, at my age…28...brushing his teeth.

Tell us about your experience getting into Sundance.

Throughout 2012, I had also been writing a feature film that I knew I wanted to apply to the Sundance Labs with, so I actually sent my short film to the Sundance Film selection committee, and my feature film to the Lab selection committee at the same time. So, when I found out my short film got into the festival, I was overjoyed, and couldn't help but feel as though making this personal film on such a whim was not for nothing, it really made me feel like it meant something more than that to whoever had watched it. Then, when I heard I got into the Screenwriter's Lab as well, I pretty quickly stopped thinking about all that sappy personal junk, and just celebrated like any normal person would.

If you had to make the film all over again, would you do anything different?

Yes. I would've paid my crew as if they were working on Transformers 3, because they all deserved it.

What’s next for your film? Do you have distribution? If so, when and how can people see it and if not, what are your hopes for the film?

I hope to have a nice festival run with this film, that's most important for me. I'd like to put this film out there to as many places as possible while I prepare to shoot my feature.

Can you provide any advice to other filmmakers who dream of getting their films made and into Sundance?

Align yourself with other artists. My collaborators on this film are my family…Josh Mond, Antonio Campos, Sean Durkin, Brady Corbet, Garrett Fennelly, McCabe Walsh….and so many others in NYC that didn't work on this particular project…and without them, I would just be treading water.

Watch the teaser for KARAOKE! here:

KARAOKE! Teaser from ActZero Films on Vimeo.

Road to Sundance 2013: GUN, directed by Spencer Gillis

2013-01-30T10:52:00.002-08:00

Spencer Gillis

Poster

GUN Production Still

Tell us about your film.

The film is called GUN and was part of the shorts competition at Sundance (Shorts Program 4). It is a character study about a young father named Roy who buys a handgun to protect his home and family after they experience a terrifying break-in. The newfound sense of power that Roy feels when carrying the gun becomes an obsession that leads him down a path that may have serious consequences.

What inspired you to make it?

Two things inspired GUN. First, I grew up in the small town in Kansas where my mother was a police officer. She used to take me with her to the pistol range to watch her practice shooting. Eventually I learned to shoot, and I've always been impressed with the sense of empowerment and responsibility that comes with handling a handgun. The second thing was my own personal experience one night when I thought someone was breaking into my suburban home. My pregnant wife was asleep next to me and my primal instinct to protect kicked in. Thankfully it was a false alarm, but it got me thinking about what I would do if someone was breaking in. Those two ideas collided, creating the concept for GUN.

What do you love about your film?

I love that it doesn't push a political agenda. Instead, it challenges the audience to re-examine the way they look at the issues surrounding gun ownership. In fact, the film isn't really about guns - it's about the influence of power on the human mind.

How long did it take you to make your film?

We shot the film over three days about 14 months ago. Our entire post-production process took about a year because we all had full time jobs and personal responsibilities that made the editing, coloring, sound design, and mix a slow process. But we got it done in time for Sundance - so it was a happy ending.

How did you finance your film?

I used my own personal savings to shoot the film, then we raised about nine-thousand dollars on Kickstarter to cover the post production, festival run, and publicity costs.

What was the most challenging part of the filmmaking process and how did you overcome it?

Overall, the shoot went very well. The most challenging part of the process was post production - finding the time and the resources to get it done was a struggle. The editors and myself have day jobs, and we asked a lot of favors. We are extremely grateful for the favors we were able to get, but part of the deal with favors is that you are subject to when facilities are available if you want a discount.

Tell us about your experience getting into Sundance.

When I got the call I thought it was a friend playing some kind of sick joke. I truly didn't believe it at first. Even after going to the festival and having the most amazing time of my life, I don't think the fact that my film was in Sundance has completely settled in. It’s something you work for your entire career, so it's a bit surreal when it happens.

If you had to make the film all over again, would you do anything different?

I wouldn't change a frame of the film, but there are always little things during the shooting or in post I could have done to be more efficient. The entire process was an incredible learning experience that will make me better next time around.

What’s next for your film? Do you have distribution? If so, when and how can people see it and if not, what are your hopes for the film?

We plan to run the festival circuit for the next year to play the film in a theatrical setting as much as possible. We've been approached by a few different online distribution channels, which we'll pursue after the festivals have run their course.

Can you provide any advice to other filmmakers who dream of getting their films made and into Sundance?

Tell a great story that you are passionate about and surround yourself with good people who are great at their jobs. Be fearless and don't give up. 90% of getting a film made is perseverance.

Watch the trailer for GUN here:

My New Short Film with Sam Jaeger: Plain Clothes

2013-01-26T16:32:00.000-08:00

Writer/Director Sam Jaeger

Writer/Director Sam Jaeger (also known as Joel on the TV show Parenthood) and I are teaming up again to make a movie! I am so excited. This short film will be the first film I am producing under my new banner Meritage Pictures.

Our new short film is called "Plain Clothes." It's the story of a 35-year-old cop trying to make sense of the brutality he sees at work and the struggle not to bring it home. Inspired by accounts from real police officers, "Plain Clothes" is an unflinching look at the emotional toll paid by the men and women in blue.

Ever since Sam and I made Take Me Home together, I have been looking forward to our next project together. Sam is such a talented and kind person and his positive attitude permeates the set. It's such a joy to work with him. And now I can do it again!

Of course it's never easy to afford to make new films so we have started an IndieGoGo campaign to help afford to make it. We hope any of you who enjoy my blog would be willing to contribute toward the making of this new film. It would mean a great deal to me, Sam and the film. Thank you for any support you can provide.

You can click on the below IndieGoGo widget to contribute. Keep on reading as Sam has answered a few questions I posed to him about the project below. Cheers!

Our IndieGoGo Campaign:

Questions for Sam Jaeger:

What inspired you to write Plain Clothes?

Initially, various conversations I've had with officers. I know being a father also played a role. There's something strange that went off in my brain when my son was born. I felt like I had to "man up", so to speak. Which I took to mean stuffing my emotions down in an effort to be the great protector. And even though that's kind of horse shit, I see it happen to new dads. We end up pushing things way down. And so I thought, "If I'm holding back like this, what must it be like for someone in a really harrowing line of work?" And so in these discussions, I saw that, sure enough, there's a lot of emotions that these men and women struggle to make peace with. PTSD doesn't just affect soldiers. And it surely does affect spouses.

So the idea of an officer at some sort of impasse in his life, where he can't keep all he's dealing with bottled up, finds himself in a life threatening situation. And how does it change him, and how does it change his wife? That was fascinating to me.

Why have you decided to make a short film instead of a full feature?

I've tried to sit down to write with fewer expectations on myself lately, and so I wrote the first draft of this in an afternoon. And then I let it sit for a while because I had this sense after Take Me Home that I wasn't going back to shorts. That they were in my past or some nonsense. But I think that was actually a way of keeping myself safe. Because getting back on the horse after making a feature can be a pretty daunting task. But if it's a story that moves me, that I think will move others, then the only thing standing in my way is fear. And the most worthwhile things in my life have often been the most terrifying.

You wrote and directed the feature film Take Me Home (www.takemehomemovie.com). What did you learn from making that film that you want to apply to this new project?

I learned how many remarkable people there are in this business. It's kind of an industry of gypsies, in a good way. We're all trying to find our way, from paycheck to paycheck. But the good ones, and there are a ton of them, the good ones make time because they love being a part of something greater. And I really love to see how those collaborations, like Take Me Home for example, affected us all in such a positive way.

What is your hope for the future of this film and your future as a filmmaker?

Well, I hope to keep making films like this throughout the rest of my career. I think there's something to be said for making a kind of film that isn't Transformers. I think if you make movies that don't cost a third world country, and if you fill them with vivid characters in dire situations, you can build a long career. Of course, that means never getting to work with Optimus Prime, but I hear that guy's an asshole anyway.

How can people contribute to Plain Clothes?

I feel like this film is an expansion of what Take Me Home is. It's a growing community of people who want to help tell a good story. And just committing whatever they can, twenty bucks or whatever, that goes a long way. Maybe passing along our story to others. It's been fun to share Take Me Home with the people who made it happen, and now I just want to expand that family of storytellers.

Our IndieGoGo Campaign Video (what do you think?):

Road to Sundance 2013: Circles (Krugovi), directed by Srdan Golubovic

2013-01-26T16:11:00.000-08:00

Srdan Golubovic

Tell us about your film.

Circles (Krugovi) is screened in World Dramatic competition. Circles is film about consequences of one heroic act. About the struggle of people who were witnesses and participants of one tragic event and their need to step out from the shadow of the accident which changed their lives. The film is inspired by true event.

What inspired you to make it?

The fact that there was no many positive stories from the bloody wars in ex Yugoslavia. Six years ago I read the story about Serbian soldier Srdjan Aleksic who saved life of his neighbor Muslim civilian and was beaten to death by other Serbian soldiers. Then I started to think together with my scriptwriters Melina Pota Koljevic and Srdjan Koljevic how to build up the story around that human act. We decided to tell the story that happens today and is talking about forgiveness, redemption, sacrificing and private catharsis of the characters of the movie. During the war I lived 100 kilometers from the war frontline and I wasn’t directly involved with it. I was demonstrating against all crimes and madness that happened near to us. We did nothing to stop that bloody war and probably we couldn’t do anything. That’s why I felt that working on this film is my private reconciliation with the time I lived in and my private catharsis.

What do you love about your film?

I love simplicity of the film language, which is totally focused on characters and their destinies. I love very much how actors brought with authentic and lively performance the world to which their characters belong to and how silence and emptiness is coloring the atmosphere of the film.

How long did it take you to make your film?

Very long. We started to develop the idea almost 6 years ago. It was very hard and challenging process.

How did you finance your film?

Circles is co-production between Serbia, Germany, France, Croatia and Slovenia. Film is also supported by European film fund Eurimages and Arte France and Zdf Arte. Total budget was 2 mil euros and the money that we got from Serbian film fund was 350.000 euros. With German coproducer I worked on my previous film The Trap (2007). It was very important and challenging to have ex-Yugoslav countries Croatia and Slovenia in this film. Story about Srdjan Aleksic is something what united all ex-Yugoslav countries in feeling that his heroic act is something what is above war conflicts and misunderstandings. That’s one of the stories that is opening the way for reconciliation and forgiveness.

What was the most challenging part of the filmmaking process and how did you overcome it?

To make the story that is connected with war in ex-Yugoslavia and which is universal and not political. The film that is honest and is a private piece of my world.

Tell us about your experience getting into Sundance.

I'm very happy and proud to be at Sundance. The atmosphere of the festival is great. It's one of the rare festival where directors and programmers are in everyday and close communication with the authors. I like very much audience at Sundance who are very opened and curious.

If you had to make the film all over again, would you do anything different?

Making the film is the thing of moment. Probably many things would be different in the way how I would make it. The idea and intention why I wanted to make this film would stay the same.

What’s next for your film? Do you have distribution? If so, when and how can people see it and if not, what are your hopes for the film?

Next is Berlinale Forum. I am very happy to be at Berlinale again, my previous film The Trap (Klopka) from 2007 was there. I hope that audience from all over the world will understand and emotionally connect with this movie. Circles is universal story that can happen everywhere.

Can you provide any advice to other filmmakers who dream of getting their films made and into Sundance?

To put in their films their own dreams and never ever to step out from that.

Road to Sundance 2013: Google and the World Brain, directed by Ben Lewis

2013-01-26T15:43:00.002-08:00

Ben Lewis

Tell us about your film. What inspired you to make it? My film is called "Google and the World Brain" and it is in the World Documentary competition in Sundance 2013. I was really looking for a subject through which I could explore the dreams, dangers and dilemmas of the internet. The various projects to create a universal digital library, of which Google Books is the biggest, just struck me as such a fantastic story - it was at once an ancient dream, to create a universal library with every book ever written by man, and a very contemporary technological story - it was only now that it could be done thanks to the internet. Google had scanned ten to twenty million books, but six million of them had been in copyright - here we had something which juxtaposed the themes of the common good against the rights of the individual. And it was a totally international story.

What do you love about your film?
I love the way I was able to realise the film visually by shooting in some of the world's most futuristic libraries, places which few people really know much about like the National Library of China, which looks like a massive circuit board, and the Vasconcelos Library in Mexico City, where the book shelves seem to float in the air, as if they were in a zero-gravity spaceship. I love the fact that this is a story which brings together one of the world's most ancient technologies of knowledge, the library and book, with the world's lastest, the internet and scanner. I love the fact that this is a story not many people know about. I love the fact that it is a totally international story and I switch locations as fast as in a James Bond movie, from a Spanish monastery to a Chinese book scanning factory to a panorama of Silicon Valley. And I just love libraries.

How long did it take you to make your film?
It took three years to make this film. Two years to develop the idea and raise finance from many TV channels in Europe, and then a little less than a year in production.

How did you finance your film?
In Europe, there are all these amazing TV channels like BBC4 in Britain and Arte in France/Germany, DR in Denmark and VPRO in Holland and they invest money in documentaries. What one does is one goes round pitching the film at documentary festival pitching forums, trying to persuade these TV channels to invest in ones film proposal. Then one gets an additional grant from the European Union media fund, which is a complete lifesaver! That way we raised half a million dollars, €400k, and then we made the film.

What was the most challenging part of the filmmaking process and how did you overcome it?
There were so many challenges - one of the greatest is how to make a film about the internet visually interesting - that was why I chose a story about libraries and scanning, because I immediately had unusual images to play with. Another big challenge, as usual, was persuading people to take part in the film, especially the internet thinkers like Lanier and Kelly. These people are soooooo busy and get so many requests for media stuff, and at first they didn't reply to me - only when I wrote that I had read their book 3 times and that I would happily exchange any body part of which I owned two for an interview, did I catch their attention!

Tell us about your experience getting into Sundance.
Well that was a huge deal. We were sitting in IDFA, the A'dam documentary festival in November and we knew they had rejected our film. And we were sitting around thinking our film willl be a flop, we haven't heard from Sundance, we're not going to get anywhere - and the invitations to Sundance were already in the spam folder of one of our producers. We just leapt for joy when I started getting emails and text messages from the programmers of Sundance asking us why we hadn't replied to them

If you had to make the film all over again, would you do anything different?
No. If I could do it all again, I would do it all again. I got everything I wanted into this film. I crossed and recrossed the globe on cheap flights, shooting some interviews myself, when we ran short of money. I had an amazing DOP for the libraries and many interviews - Frank Peter Lehmann. I had producers who placed an enormous amount of trust in me, when I went over-budget, and supported every decision I made. I couldn't have done this film better or done it with better people.

What’s next for your film? Do you have distribution? If so, when and how can people see it and if not, what are your hopes for the film?
Well, our film will be shown in around 40 festivals and on TV channels all over Europe. Film Transit are handling the distribution and we are looking for a fantastic US broadcaster to pick up the film and for theatrical release in America and elsewhere if possible.

Can you provide any advice to other filmmakers who dream of getting their films made and into Sundance?
Plenty of advice - no room to put it here. Do half an hour of yoga everyday, because this is a very stressful way to live, earn money and make art. Make sure you have a good story. Remember you are story-teller. Tell new stories in interesting ways. Film-making is not about guesswork and genius - it is about structure and hard work.

Road to Sundance 2013: "In Hanford' (short), directed by Chris Mars

2013-01-21T16:01:00.001-08:00

Tell us about your film. What inspired you to make it?
It is an animated short film, 2- and 3-D augmented with live action called “In Hanford”. It is inspired by the true story of nuclear contamination in the area of Hanford, Washington from a cold-war era munitions site, or rather is inspired by the true story of the residents of Hanford and the horrors they have had to - and still – endure. While the plant is now closed, the grounds of the factory remain highly contaminated with radio active waste. I was inspired to tell the story of this little known man-made disaster.

What do you love about your film?
I work primarily as a visual artist, and I feel my particular visual language of surrealism mixed with expressionism tells the tale effectively, emotionally. I created it from my heart, and am pleased the film has seen recognition that will get this story out there.

How long did it take you to make your film?
I completed it over the course of about a year.

How did you finance your film?
I financed it myself. It was created on my fairly powerful home computer with various programs - and a lot of hours.

What was the most challenging part of the filmmaking process and how did you overcome it?

It was also challenging researching the story, learning of all the suffering people were going through – their loss of loved ones, of health; of faith...their battle for retribution was fought with the government for years and years and years. They continue to fight a battle to clean up the area, to let others know what happened there. The other challenges were the technical ones - keeping track of over one hundred layers of information in After Effects, an Adobe Software program.

Tell us about your experience getting into Sundance.
I received a call on Thanksgiving Day from the festival - I was beside myself when I learned that "In Hanford" had made it in. I wasn’t sure if I had heard correctly. What a great holiday! I am very appreciative to have my work and this story recognized.

If you had to make the film all over again, would you do anything different?
No, I believe it turned out the way I intended it to.

What’s next for your film? Do you have distribution? If so, when and how can people see it and if not, what are your hopes for the film?

My hope is if the film can create awareness about the disaster that still persists - perhaps the light can stay on it, more can be done, and we as a culture can learn from it. It was also made in remembrance of all who suffered through the fallout, and those who still have to deal with the contamination and its perils.

Can you provide any advice to other filmmakers who dream of getting their films made and into Sundance?

Keep creating and never ever give up whether you make it to Sundance or not. Express yourself with your unique voice. Art is its own reward.

Watch the trailer of "In Hanford" here:

Road to Sundance 2013: Jiseul, directed by O Muel

2013-01-20T22:21:00.001-08:00

O Muel

Jiseul Production Still

Tell us about your film.

The film Jiseul is selected at World Cinema Dramatic Competition in Sundance. This film is made by the needs of re-consideration for the ineffaceable historical pain in Jeju Island and also by my personal trauma based on my originality.

This film is based on the true story of the townsfolk that took sanctuary in a cave during an uprising on the island in April 1948. The Jeju 4.3 Incident, as it later became known, was sparked when the American military regime incited social strife and subsequent conflicts that lasted until September 1954. Almost 30,000 people are estimated to have been killed–most of them civilians. This film reenacts some part of the incident and reveals the hidden history to the World.

What do you love about your film?

I am proud of having been able to complete this whole film only with the support of the Jeju residents to show the history of Jeju Island which has been ignored by country. Also I feel moved since some of the actors in this film are descendants of the people who actually experienced this history. I also have the relatives who experienced it, so this film could be very true in regards to reenacting our tragedy in history.

How long did it take you to make your film?

One year and 7 months

How did you finance your film?

I made the half of production cost, and some part of the rest was made by the support of citizens and local film committee.

(I am running troupe in Jeju Island, so I borrowed some money from the management, and it still needs to be returned.)

What was the most challenging part of the filmmaking process and how did you overcome it?

Since the tragedy of Jeju 4.3 Incident, more than 60 years have been passed without any opportunity to re-consider due to the ignorance from Korea and the world.

To bring the terrible memories up into the film caused huge pressure in regards to many things. As well as getting the financial support, the biggest pressure was that I had a duty to make great film enough to satisfy the local residence in Jeju Island.

This tragedy is still ineffaceable pain to them and the period of Jeju 4.3 Incident was the era of huge grudge for them so they wanted this film to show their anger in the most effective way. So it was the biggest pressure for me. However, to describe the history with anger is very dangerous way so I had to find another method to release it. It was the most important mission.

To make the financial support and to complete this film, the individual supporters have contributed with essential help. And this help, in other words, means their hope to bring this history out to public.

Tell us about your experience getting into Sundance.

I feel the prestige of Sundance by the expectations from my surrounders. And due to the aftereffect of over-cost of production, I feel pressure on the expense for Sundance trip.

If you had to make the film all over again, would you do anything different?

No. I don’t want to make the film again. I don’t regret.

What’s next for your film? Do you have distribution? If so, when and how can people see it and if not, what are your hopes for the film?

The next film will be about female diver called ‘Haenyeo’ which is very exclusive culture of Jeju Island. For the film, there is no distribution or production company yet, but I would like to try to make it with my own. I plan to shoot it by early next year and the screening could be made at later next year. I have a hope to build the base for the independent filmmaking not having commercial filmmaking system.

Can you provide any advice to other filmmakers who dream of getting their films made and into Sundance?

I didn’t make the film for the purpose of Sundance. Going to the film festival is another story. It should follow with a fortune. I hope the filmmakers make a film for film itself not for film festivals.

Watch the Jiseul trailer here:

Road to Sundance 2013: Palimpsest (short), directed by Michael Tyburski

2013-01-19T10:48:00.003-08:00

Michael Tyburski

Palimpsest Production Still

Tell us about your film.

"Palimpsest" (Shorts Program 5) is a film about the subtle forces at play in relationships and the tangible remnants of memory. Peter, a successful house tuner in New York City, meets Ellen while consulting on her apartment. As a house tuner, Peter offers his clients a unique form of therapy that examines minute details in living spaces that sometimes reveal more about a person’s past than they intended.

What inspired you to make it?

Ben originally wrote an outline for a much longer story involving a character in New York who has many different unique jobs. The house tuner being one of them. We took that one aspect of the character and turned that into the working draft for our short story. We're both very fascinated with the mostly subconscious audio landscapes that make up our daily routines, and building a story around that idea was very intriguing to us.

What do you love about your film?

There's a fair amount of ambiguity in our story, and I like the idea of it opening up more questions than answers. In a good way.

How long did it take you to make your film?

We shot the film over 7 days during a not so rare July heat wave in New York. We prepped the script for several months prior, and edited throughout the fall.

How did you finance your film?

Ben and I both work together on commercial jobs, and we both set aside a portion of our personal funds to finance our fiction piece.

What was the most challenging part of the filmmaking process and how did you overcome it?

Honestly we didn't really hit any real roadblocks with the film. Ok, we did all get ticketed once for shooting in the subway without a permit, but in terms of real challenges it was probably more in the writing process, and just trying to tie together loose ends. Once you wrangle a talented group of people together, it's mainly just about getting everyone on the same page creatively and then just keeping everyone hydrated and cool in the summer heat.

Tell us about your experience getting into Sundance.

We did everything people warned us against…we submitted to the VERY LATE deadline, and also submitted a short film with a longish running time. The odds were against us, but I guess we should put the credit to the programmers for being so thorough with their selection process (and liking our film).

If you had to make the film all over again, would you do anything different?

I don't think there's ever been a scene or a shot that I've looked at after months of editing and not wished that I could do it a little bit better or change one small detail. But at the end of the day, I think it's important to walk away at a certain point and be satisfied with what you were able to make under the war like circumstances that is typically film production.

What’s next for your film? Do you have distribution? If so, when and how can people see it and if not, what are your hopes for the film?

Right now we're just going to ride out the festival run for a bit and try to get as many people to see it in theaters while it's still possible. We're developing the story into a feature script. People finish the film wanting to know more about our characters, and that seems like a solid indication that the project has some authenticity and resonance. We want to explore this further.

Can you provide any advice to other filmmakers who dream of getting their films made and into Sundance?

That's a difficult question. We'll tell you in about 10 days.

Road to Sundance 2013: Catnip: Egress to Oblivion? (short), directed by Jason Willis

2013-01-19T10:35:00.000-08:00

Tell us about your film. What inspired you to make it?

My film is a 7 minute short entitled "Catnip: Egress to Oblivion?" and it will be playing in the Shorts: Documentary section of Sundance this year. Informationally speaking, it's a fairly straight documentary about the effects of catnip, but it's done in a faux late 1960's/ early 1970's classroom drug educational film style which allows me to play with a lot of the conventions of that era.

Ever since I was a little kid, I've been a fan of "metal hygiene" films (I was actually IN one when I was 7 years old -- a short called "Halloween Safety" made in my hometown of Lawrence, KS by Centron Films back in 1977), and I really enjoy the earnest and "functional" approach those filmmakers brought to their work. There's something there that I can't quite put my finger on that just always works for me. I mean, for sure, the people behind these films were generally very well intentioned, but because they made their work outside of the dominant film centers of the time (or with alternate talent behind their output) the results are pretty singular while also often seeming charmingly outdated/ histrionic sounding today. From the direction to the motion graphics to the musical cues to the acting, I swear that I can sit and watch those things for HOURS.

What do you love about your film?

It was really a ton of fun to do, so I'm not sure what I would leave out from the whole experience. The whole thing came together quickly and easily, and I got to work with a bunch of my friends and their cats when it came to shooting the footage for my script, so really all of that was just a great time from start to finish. I also really enjoyed mocking up the paperback books and black light poster type graphics to use in selling the whole "catnip scare" as a parallel to LSD or marijuana.

Oh! And I got a chance to write, sing & record a late 60's raga-rock influenced pseudo-psych song, which I tried to make as corny as possible (figuring that the ersatz band I cooked up, "The Electric Manx", would probably be a pretty low-rent outfit if they were willing to lend their talents to an industrial film of that era). So *that* was pretty fun for sure.

How long did it take you to make your film?

I got the idea over the May 28 Memorial Day weekend and uploaded the finished short on June 26, 2012, so just a little shy of that timeframe. The writing came together pretty quickly, shooting was about 2 and a half weeks and, over the course of it all, I was plugging away on the graphics and post production work using programs like Final Cut Pro X, After Effects, and Photoshop.

How did you finance your film?

Well, I did most of the technical type work myself and the folks in it are all friends, so the entire budget for my film was $25 (which I spent getting catnip for the feline cast). So, you know, financing wasn't all THAT rough for me.

What was the most challenging part of the filmmaking process and how did you overcome it?

Heh, well these aren't trained felines or anything, and I foolishly wrote the script around actions and notions that I naively just assumed would be easily gettable, so there was a lot of "creative solution" work going on around that.

It, uh, also turns out that even the most talkative cat will tend to clam up when a DSLR is pointed at their face, so getting the "user testimonials" was way more of a challenge than I had counted on. But hey! They're cats! They came through for me in the end.

Tell us about your experience getting into Sundance.

Hah! I honestly am still having a hard time believing that it happened and the shadowy ways in which things like that go down remain a complete mystery to me. I can tell you about my REACTION though: total giddiness and stupefied jaw dropping, followed closely by a call to my parents, followed by several agonizing days where I couldn't tell anybody else and half assumed I'd be getting a "whoops, we sent you that email by mistake" follow-up. Seeing as how I still haven't boarded the plane for Utah as I type this, I am holding on to that possibility.

If you had to make the film all over again, would you do anything different?

Well sure! But since I'm guessing that most of my impulses (More cats! More "period specific" trippy effects! More heavy-handed dialogue!) are probably pretty misguided, the world will probably be better off for now without that going down.

Oh, and I'd probably spring for an extreme fisheye lens. In fact, I really oughtta do that anyway.

What’s next for your film? Do you have distribution? If so, when and how can people see it and if not, what are your hopes for the film?

I've got some stuff happening for digital distribution that seems pretty swell to me, I'll be working with a cool startup called "Elevision" who plan to create hand curated collections of shorts online. The guys behind it are really good dudes so I'm really looking forward to seeing what shakes out there.

Can you provide any advice to other filmmakers who dream of getting their films made and into Sundance?

Even without something as amazing as this Sundance opportunity, I can say that the entire experience here (putting it together, seeing the reactions from strangers after I uploaded it online, etc.) was just so much fun. The basic tools are really non-cost prohibitive right now as well, and so many aesthetic styles are now accepted as choices rather than compromises. The whole thing feels very wide open in 2013 and it seems as though almost everyone has reached the consensus that this is just an amazing time to be able to play with almost ANY kind of media.

Hmm. I think that I might be saying "Holy crap everyone, if you want to do it you should totally just make stuff!" (but, you know, feel free to pretend that I was much more eloquent about it all).

WATCH CATNIP: EGRESS TO OBLIVION here:

Road to Sundance 2013: Irish Folk Furniture (short), directed by Tony Donoghue

2013-01-19T10:05:00.000-08:00

TELL US ABOUT YOUR FILM.
Irish Folk Furniture (Ireland) 2012. Commissioned as an animation (Irish Film Board: Frameworks Scheme) Selected as a documentary (Sundance) and playing in Shorts Program 5.

INSPIRATION
I saw people in rural Ireland were still (even in 2010) discarding furniture that had been part of their family for up to 150 years. I decided to investigate this. The investigation showed that there was a strong historical association of this furniture with poverty and general hard times.

The film is a piece of pure pro furniture propaganda: an attempt to show the beauty and social significance of this rural furniture.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT YOUR FILM?
The people and their stories. I was shocked by the beauty of the personal histories associated with every single item.

HOW LONG DID IT TAKE TO MAKE THE FILM?
3 years. we restored 16 pieces of furniture and all of these needed 3-6 months to dry out before they could be worked on.

FUNDING
Irish Film Board Frameworks Animation Scheme.

MOST CHALLENGING PART
Animation outdoors in the Irish weather. The Irish weather is so inconsistent and windy in that many shots took 4-5 days to get in the can.

HOW DID WE DEAL WITH THIS?
Stuck with it till it was right.

IF FILMING AGAIN WOULD YOU DO ANYTHING DIFFERENT?
Probably not.

WHAT'S NEXT FOR YOUR FILM/ DISTRIBUTION/ HOPES?
It has just started its festival life but so far has been selected for 37 festivals and screenings in 14 countries. Hopefully this run will continue.

I'd primarily like it to continue playing in small rural festivals and communities and hope it encourages other people to record their aunt, their granny, their neighbor talking about everyday life and events.

ADVICE FOR GETTING INTO SUNDANCE?
Less than 1% of short film applicants succeeded in getting into Sundance this year (65 out of 8,102). I would say the most important thing is to be bold, brave and inventive in your filmmaking and to risk failure in your techniques and approach. I think mimicking what has gone before is of no interest to Sundance. I think Sundance is very interested in bold and inventive approaches to any subject .

WATCH IRISH FOLK FURNITURE here:

Road to Sundance 2013: Girl Rising, directed by Richard Robbins

2013-01-19T00:54:00.001-08:00

Tell us about your film. What inspired you to make it?

We're only showing a few sneak peeks of my film, Girl Rising, at Sundance. We weren't quite ready for a full screening as the film is still in post-production, but we were eager to be part of the festival. The film is a unique blend of both documentary and fiction filmmaking. We have real girls from around the world playing themselves in scripted stories based on their own lives. The stories focus on each of these girls, who live in the developing world, striving to get an education. The underlying message is really about the power of education for girls. It is an unusual film in the way it was made, but I hope feels very organic for the audience.

I was really inspired by the girls I have met in my travels, and their unfailing determination to make better lives for themselves and their families. When I started reading the reports coming out of the development community about how powerful an intervention education was for girls and their communities, I knew I had to try and make a film. The most important thing people need to know about educating girls is that it is incredibly effective. It works. I hope these stories will spread that message to a much wider audience.

What do you love about your film?

I'm proud of the fact that we told stories about girls who live in very difficult conditions, but never looked at them as victims. We wanted to tell stories about their world as they see it, not the way an American visitor would see it. I hope audiences will love with these girls as I do, as real people - not people in need of our charity.

How long did it take you to make your film?

I'm slightly embarrassed to say that we began working on the film six years ago. I've done a lot of other projects in the meantime, but this was always my passion. We began our pre-production travel about two and a half years ago.

How did you finance your film?

Most independent documentaries these days probably have an epic story behind the financing - just as complicated as the stories in the film, although far more tedious. This was an expensive film, primarily because it involved so much travel. I count myself as one of the luckiest doc filmmakers around because I had incredible executive producers who raised the money for this film. The money came from foundations, corporations, individuals, and the extra money under all my friend's sofa cushions.

What was the most challenging part of the filmmaking process and how did you overcome it?

The most challenging part was raising the money. But since I didn't do much of that, I can't complain. I think the hardest part for most documentary filmmakers is the determination to keep going when you lose your way, which of course we all do. For fiction filmmakers, you can always fall back to the script or the story. In documentary you're trying to find the story during the process of making the film, so it often feels like you are wandering in the wilderness. At some point, or at many points, you will find yourself completely lost and you have to find a way to keep moving forward. To me that is always a bigger challenge than the long days, lousy hotel rooms, difficult subjects, and all the other problems documentary filmmakers encounter.

If you had to make the film all over again, would you do anything different?

I could never make this film again. It almost killed me. But that's the beauty of filmmaking, the experiences are unique to who you are in the moment you are making it. Partly I couldn't make this film again because I know so much more and have learned so much in making this. I hope I'm smart enough to bring all those lessons to my next film. Maybe the most lasting lessons are about appreciating how fortunate I am to be doing this kind of work at all. I wish I could have enjoyed the process more, without all the angst and hand-wringing.

What's next for your film? Do you have distribution? If so, when and how can people see it and if not, what are your hopes for the film?

The film will be released nationally through Gathr on March 8th. By working with Gathr we're hoping to make this film available to anyone who wants to see it, regardless of where they live. It's essentially crowd-sourced distribution. I think Gathr's model is the future of independent film distribution because it is so much more focused and targeted.

And then in June we will be broadcast internationally as part of CNN's new venture CNN Films. We think CNN is an amazing home for the film, especially when it comes to reaching an international audience which is crucial to this project.

Can you provide any advice to other filmmakers who dream of getting their films made and into Sundance?

You can't make films because you want money, glory, fame, success, or a trip to Sundance. You can only do it because you can't do anything else. People will discourage you. Tell you what a thankless job it will be. Tell you how hard it will be. Tell you how unlikely you are to ever make real money. And all those things are true, so if they bother you, reconsider. If you don't care and want to do it anyway, you'll be just fine. The true key to success as a documentarian is a combination of moderate talent and pathological persistence.