this savage art...

Please Update Blogroll For [This Savage Art...]

2006-05-08T22:16:00.000-04:00

I have a new address for [this savage art...]

The new site can be found here:

http://www.thissavageart.com/

Simple right? Please make note to bookmark and add address change if I'm on your blogroll. There is also an RSS feed available to subscribe to. I will no longer be posting here in the future.

Thanks.

The Management.

Moving

2006-05-04T18:08:00.000-04:00

I'm moving. No, not out of New York. Out of the Blogger neighborhood and into the WordPress one. I've been doing a lot of things behind the scenes and I think I'm ready to give you 20 or so visitors a heads up. I will be tweaking until the end of time but the domain is secured and parked so if you feel compelled you should bookmark. I'm probably going to transfer all posts to the new blog but if I don't I guess this will stay right where it is unless I decide to just off it. I'm not one for looking back.

With that spirit you will notice a stripped down look. I'm cutting the fat. Something you should know about the new site, it will be an overall filmmaking site. Not specific to any one aspect of the process, this version has been very screenplay oriented so I hope to make it a fuller experience for the person interested in writing and directing their own films, taking advantage of the technological advancements that happen while at the same time never forgetting about craft. I will try not to just regurgitate what I've seen around the net but try to give perspective. And of course I will give you the play by play on any advancements in my miserable little career.

One thing this weblog has done is make me understand what I'm trying to create or maybe even better, not trying to create. I'll elaborate later with a full entry on the new site. Check it out and tell me what you think of the design, text size and color, functionality and all that. So without further ado....v2.0

Full Week

2006-04-27T23:32:00.000-04:00

I haven't been posting too much this week due to a full schedule. Today I mailed out my screenplay to the Nicholl people. This being the first year they put up an online application proved to be a challenge. After numerous tries I finally got myself in the system. It's all okay because there is something so satisfying about binding up your script. Physically putting it together with a cover and brads. Feeling the paper in your hands. I mean sure you could stack up a pile of 108 blank pages but it doesn't have the same "weight".

This week is also the beginning of the Tribeca Film Festival. I've been living downtown for a couple of years now and I have to admit it is pretty nice walking out your door and there is a major film event going on in your neighborhood. Last night I went to the screening of Civic Duty and just got back now from seeing Kettle of Fish. I'll try to do one big recap of the festival at the end. Maybe I'll actually be able to enjoy some of it now that the weekend is coming up. I have to say it's an interesting week when you are in the same proximity of Norman Mailer, Peter Krause and Gina Gershon, oh yeah, how can I forget seeing Mandy "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die" Patinkin sitting outside of Odeon after getting a haircut.

On the work front, I got a call from a production company looking to get some new blood into there place. So I have make a new editor reel for 2006 which is probably good anyway. I had to do it this just gave me a reason to. I've acually been juggling it all. I even found the time to start building a new site for this savage art.... I'll be switching over to WordPress in the next week or two. Right now I'm building and tweaking. I think it's coming along nicely. I'll post the new address here when it's fully up and running.

What's next? A new screenplay. After I cut the new reel I'll start to work on breaking a new story. Figuring out what you want to spend the next six months and beyond writing about is a challenge. You have to give yourself enough time to get the story and the beats in your head and live with it for a while otherwise you are setting yourself up for a nightmare later on.

Ever feel like you have homework for the rest of your life?

Wes Anderson, It's His Life, His Card

2006-04-26T07:28:00.000-04:00

Who thought using American Express would be this cool?

Dyre Avenue Complete

2006-04-24T18:35:00.000-04:00

You almost killed me. You drove me to drink but I got you. You are done!

I just completed my screenplay. I feel spent and I should because I put a lot into it. Flesh and blood. Just numb right now like I've been sleeping on my arm all day. It gets a spelling/grammar polish tomorrow then off to the printer to be sent out to Nicholl.

Yes, I am already thinking about the next one.

Still Here

2006-04-19T20:38:00.000-04:00

Just busy. Hammering the script out for the May 1 deadline and playing with a new website for all my junk. I consolidated, moved things around and got a new host, Dreamhost. So far pretty happy with it. I'll be blogging with WordPress. It's great. Real clean look. Dig it. I "might" attempt to transfer all the Blogger posts over to the new WordPress blog. There is a tool that allows you to do just that but who knows if it makes a clean transfer. If anyone has had experience doing this please let me know how smooth it went or didn't. Like I said, I "might".

Here is a little preview [update:replaced with the newest, latest] of the main index page I designed. Nothing is linked, just a background for now. It will be the launching pad for the blog and other works. Thoughts?

The Circus Is Coming To Town

2006-04-08T16:24:00.000-04:00

I got my tickets. This morning The Tribeca Film Festival allowed poor slobs like me to buy individual tickets instead of the all access Hudson pass which goes for $1,000. I tried to mix them up and get an ecclectic choice of films like I've done in the past. The box office got slammed, took me over an hour to order online. These are my picks (descriptions are from the site):

Civic Duty - A seemingly well-adjusted American accountant loses his job and becomes obsessed with terrorist plots and cable news propaganda. When an Islamic student moves in next door, the accountant's suspicions lead to shocking conclusions in this post-September 11 thriller starring Six Feet Under's Peter Krause.

Kettle of Fish - The human species is a strange one, especially when it comes to mating rituals. It seems so much simpler and more organic with goldfish or frogs. Writer/director Claudia Myers' winsome romantic comedy Kettle of Fish features a lifelong bachelor, Mel (Matthew Modine), and a British biologist, Ginger (Gina Gershon), that might just learn a few things from our aquatic friends.

American Cannibal: The Road To Reality - In this unflinching, behind-the-scenes look at a doomed reality show, a pair of novice TV writers team up with the distributor of the Paris Hilton sex tapes to create a reality show in which contestants are starved on a desert island. More than just gripping entertainment, this documentary poses important questions about how far people will go in pursuit of fame and fortune

First Snow - When destiny bullies us, do we fight back? Fergus never stoops to psychological-thriller film cliché in his chilling debut feature, in which salesman Jimmy Starks (Guy Pearce) is gripped by panic after a psychic warns him of his impending death.

Colour Me Kubrick - John Malkovich gives a hilarious tour-de-force as Alan Conway, a conman who successfully passed himself off as the famed and notoriously reclusive director for the last decade or so of the filmmaker's life.

Animated New York - Welcome to the wonderfully warped world of New York City independent animation. To the surprise of many, New York is the center of one of the largest and most acclaimed groups of independent animators in the world. While L.A. is the center of corporate animation, New York has spawned a colony of maverick animators that create films that they want to make and thrive in the exploding indie film culture despite eschewing public funding.

The Treatment - Jake Singer is a frustrated, confused, and recently dumped New York schoolteacher who enters into therapy in an attempt to find guidance in his life. The treatment appears to be working, but when he suddenly falls in love with a beautiful widow, Jake is forced to battle his therapist's alarmingly strong influence. Starring Chris Eigeman, Ian Holm, and Famke Janssen.

West Side Highway - This year our NY, NY shorts program travels from downtown to uptown, with a couple of emotional stops in between.

Brothers of the Head - London, 1975. Conjoined twins with a creepy, crypto-erotic bond take the burgeoning glam/punk scene by storm in this wrenching adaptation of Brian Aldiss' novel. Luke and Harry Treadway deliver searing performances as two very different parts of one fatally compromised whole, and the film and its music will stick with you for days.

Open Invitation For You

2006-04-05T12:39:00.000-04:00

April is the month when all the cool stuff happens. The funk of winter ends. The Tribeca Film Festival starts which is like the circus coming to town for me. NAB unleashes all the new gear that I can't afford but drool over.

So what are you doing from April 25th to May 7th? If you read this savage art..., consider yourself a writer/director/producer or any other hyphenate (or not) involved with the film world and will be in NYC during the Tribeca Film Festival let's schmooze. Send me an e-mail with "TFF" as the subject and if there are enough participants I'll set a date, pick a place and we can all burn our business cards, talk shop and drink some liquor.

Craig Mazin Does HD

2006-04-05T00:07:00.000-04:00

I'm cross-pollinating here. Check out The Artful Writer for screenwriter Craig Mazin's take on the new Panavision Genesis HD System that was used on Scary Movie 4.

I Am Jack's Unfinished Screenplay

2006-04-04T09:27:00.000-04:00

The Constipated Writer has some words of wisdom via Tyler Durden.

Keane, Cut And Re-Cut

2006-04-02T13:36:00.000-04:00

I recently signed up for Netflix and the Lodge Kerrigan film Keane was my first choice. It's a film about a young man who wanders through New York's Port Authority bus terminal searching for his daughter who may have been abducted the year before. We're not even sure if he had a daughter because as the film advances we find out that he suffers from schizophrenia. The film has garnered much attention at a number of film festivals and is now available for home viewing. Steven Soderbergh, aka the busiest working film director in the world, is credited as producer on this film but he doesn't stop there. He offeres up an edited version of his own. So what you have is two uniquely different films available on the DVD release. To see the real power of the edit at work check out Keane, both versions. Damian Lewis is raw and intense as the lead character William Keane.

More on Keane and Kerrigan can be seen on Cinematical and IndieWIRE

Nicholl Fellowship Application Available

2006-04-01T11:00:00.000-05:00

There are downloadable PDF and Word applications available now on the website. An online application is also in the works and is encouraged. According to site you will, for the first time,

...have the ability to fill-in and submit your application form via your computer, pay by credit card, track your entry so that you'll know it has been received and entered into the competition and update your contact information online at any time during the competition.

Note: you will still need to submit a hardcopy of the screenplay even if you apply electronically.

Now would be the time to get that screenplay in shape if you're thinking of entering. Postmarked deadline is May 1st.

"The Pin's On It Now..."

2006-03-31T15:03:00.000-05:00

Brick opens today in Los Angeles and New York. Go.

Sorry Man, It's A New York Thing

2006-03-29T17:53:00.000-05:00

Nor should they be viewed outside of New York City, Brooklyn or the Bronx. Watching Abel Ferrara west of Staten Island should be punishable by law.

--Flickhead speaking of Abel Ferrara films in reference to the recent Abel Ferrara Blog-a-Thon coordinated by Girish Shambu.

photo by Rose Serra

99% And The Line Painter Dilemma

2006-03-28T17:42:00.000-05:00

The progress bar can go to hell ya hear me!!! I'm killing this draft!!! It's either you or me!!!

I'm not angry with my screenplay, really I'm not. I just want to finish it. Being in the final rewrite stage feels good but also tense. It's right there in front of my face. The feedback has been good. I'm this (holding my thumb and forefinger together) close and I know it. I also know that it can't be a sloppy run through. It can't. So I'm being very brutal to make this a clean, polished screenplay that I can walk away from satisfied. The progress bar will not inch it's way up to gauge where I'm at. It will remain at 99% until I do the final grammar/spelling polish pass that symbolizes all is well in screenplayland.

This morning I read John August's latest blog entry where he lists ten things he hates about his own work. I guess if you can find at least one thing that you share with him, consider yourself in good company. This is mine:

9) WHAT’S YOUR WORST WORKING HABIT?

Particularly when I’m re-writing a script, I suffer from what my friend John Gatins refers to as the line-painter dilemma. Here’s the short version:

A guy is hired to paint the yellow line down the middle of a country road. The first day, he paints five miles. His supervisor is impressed. The second day, he only paints two miles. His supervisor thinks, “Well, maybe he had a bad day.” But the third day, the guy only paints half a mile. The supervisor asks the guy what’s wrong — why is he getting so much less done?

“Well,” the guy says, “I have to keep walking back to the paint can.”

The screenwriting equivalent, of course, is that at the start of each day’s work, one’s instinct is to go back to page one and read-slash-revise up to where you left off. Which is a very counter-productive habit.

It's truly a bad habit. You start to put more attention on the front end and the back end suffers. Here's a different approach; when rewriting, start from your last page and read your way back. It will give you a totally different perspective of your story. Things might take on new meaning.

Check here for all ten.

The Internal Goals

2006-03-28T17:30:00.000-05:00

As I trudge forward to get this bitch of a screenplay honed real nice for the Nicholl Fellowship I found this interesting article regarding your character's internal goals. If you want to follow that up with what goes on externally check this.

Dyre Times

2006-03-23T17:05:00.000-05:00

So here I am, adjusting the progress bar yet again for my final pass on my current screenplay. This time hopefully for good with regards to what was Where Are You Seventeen? but is now Dyre Avenue. I got comments from those who have read it that the title reminded them of some sort of teenage dramedy. I can be one to say with confidence that it's not. The street is located at the end of the 5 train line to the Bronx. This is the area where my story takes place and it blows my mind that I didn't think of using this title before. I mean, Dyre Avenue, end of the line. Duh! I don't think it could be more appropriate considering the tone of this story.

Props to Matt for pushing me in that direction.

MeMeMeMe

2006-03-20T09:04:00.000-05:00

Been tagged by MaryAn at Fencing With The Fog

Four Jobs I've Had

Film/Video Editor
Livery Cab Driver
Liquor Store Salesman
Data Entry Drone

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over Again

Office Space
Fight Club
The Conversation
Taxi Driver

Four Places I've Lived

New York, NY
Brooklyn, NY
Old Brookville, NY
Pelham, NY

Four TV Shows I Love

Lost
Rescue Me
The Sopranos
The Wire

Four Places I've Vacationed

Aruba
Italy
Amsterdam
Los Angeles

Four of My Favorite Dishes

Don't know if I have a favorite dish, I'm easy. Just push a full plate in front of me and I is happy.

Four Blogs I Visit Every Day

Gothamist
Cinematical
DV Guru
The House Next Door

Four Places I'd Rather Be Right Now

Where I am is the place I want to be

Four Bloggers I'm Tagging

The Constipated Writer
One Slack Martian
Adventures In Storytelling
Chris Soth

Wait, What Is This Movie About?

2006-03-18T12:54:00.000-05:00

Sam Jackson is gonna fuck up some snakes! Hilarious.

No Outline, No Index Cards

2006-03-18T11:01:00.000-05:00

Nicole Holofcener has made her way in and out of the "system" over the past ten years as a busy writer/director. I think her first feature Walking and Talking is a fine example of one of the 90's more relevant independent romantic comedies that had heart without being vapid and cliche. In this Hollywood Reporter interview she talks about the power of the "shitty first draft" and writing her new feature Friends With Money for Nicole the Director. It's a nice little piece that rarely taps into that battle one has with writing a screenplay for oneself to eventually direct. I don't know about you but I'm a sucker for process. I really like reading about how other people "do it" especially those who are "doing it".

Tribeca Film Festival 2006 Selections Released

2006-03-16T08:33:00.000-05:00

Schedule announced

Whoooooooooaa!!!!!!!

2006-03-12T22:19:00.000-05:00

Can A Leopard Change His Spots?

2006-03-12T18:18:00.000-05:00

For five seasons now David Chase has told you the way it's gonna be. You're gonna wait for episodes. You're gonna watch storylines hit a wall and character motives escape into the ether. You're gonna come back for more and guess what? You're gonna like it.

Tonight is the beginning of the end of The Sopranos. The sixth season to be followed by a final mini-season in January 2007. It's time to tie up all the loose ends. It's a grim reality, like the show itself, that we will need to face.

The thing that makes the show so special for me is what secretly makes it special for all viewers who grew up in the tri-state area. You know the language, the nuance and all the conflict found in that family. You chuckle at certain gestures or a piece of dialogue or something you remembered from your childhood. All of it and beyond. At the same time it taps into the universal everyman, like good drama does, and elevates him to Shakespearean heights. They are us and we are them.

Besides the walk down memory lane it is pure, conflict and craft. Some moments capture the distasteful aspects of life. Others make you laugh at your own mortality. The fact that it is so unapologetic for it's black humor and pessimistic view is the icing. Each season always explores theme with razor sharp teeth so why should this one be any different. Tony, here we are again; Can a man change? Can a man undo what he has done before it's too late?

Since television has turned into a virtual junk heap of reality shows (that I do admit to watching from time to time) and forensic procedural drama spin-offs, this is the stand-out. You wait because you know it's worth it. Above anything else there is something about the show that I always find more unbelievable than the writing, more unbelievable than the acting. Just the mere fact that it actually is.

Check out The House Next Door for journalist and filmmaker Matt Zoller Seitz's regular feature, Sopranos Monday, he's got the inside dope (being a critic for the Star Ledger of Newark he gets screener tapes of season six, damn that's juice!).

Rested

2006-03-12T18:12:00.000-05:00

Went away for a little vacation but now I'm back. Just in time...

Into The Darkness

2006-03-03T15:53:00.000-05:00

Call me a sucker for the underworld. The shadowed reality. That's why if you've gotten to know me through this savage art... you know that I likes me some noir. Old school, new school. Jim Thompson, James Ellroy. Every shade in between, doesn't matter. If you know that then you know I'm looking forward to the advent of these two new projects in the near future...

Brick

Writer/director Rian Johnson's six year quest to bring this quirky film to the screen paid off nicely as it won a Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision at Sundance in 2005. Check the trailer and tell me if the sight of Lukas Haas as a teen drugpin aptly named "Pin" doesn't give you a chuckle.

My other pick is based on the Dennis Lehane short story, Until Gwen. It was just announced this week that Josh Olsen will write and direct the screenplay based on the short story. I mean if either one of these storylines don't get you, you're already cold and stiff...

"Your father picks you up from prison in a stolen Dodge Neon with an 8-ball of coke in the glove compartment and a hooker named Mandy in the back seat." From here, Lehane slowly reveals the events that preceded the narrator's prison sentence, a past replete with murder, greed, lost love, and—if you're not hooked yet—stolen diamonds. -from The Atlantic

Centers on the relationship between a father who is a con man and a son who has been raised on the edges of society, without going to school and without a Social Security number. The relationship turns complicated when the son falls for a woman who helps him find his own identity. -from Done Deal

Done Deal Pro Added To WSF

2006-03-03T13:27:00.000-05:00

If getting a subscription to IMDb Pro, Variety.com and the Hollywood Creative Directory for $25 wasn't enough, the Wisconsin Screenwriters Forum just added Done Deal Pro to sweeten the pot. I'm waiting for the Feds to break in, this can't be legal.

Crash And Burn

2006-02-28T12:01:00.000-05:00

Matt Zoller Seitz body slams Crash on his blog The House Next Door. See what the noise is all about, weigh in.

Don't Fix It In Post

2006-02-27T14:02:00.000-05:00

Regardless of how you approach post-production one thing is definite, you must plan ahead. The world inside an editing suite can be extremely confusing for the novice so be prepared and willing to ask a lot of questions and do a lot of research. Even if you are going to cut your opus on your iBook in your parents basement you will, at some point, need to deal with a post-production house or a post professional if you want your film to be seen by the masses. This article from MovieMaker Magazine list ten rules to get you through the post process without losing your shirt or your hair, which ever comes first.

My Sentiments Exactly

2006-02-22T10:50:00.000-05:00

"I would hate that to be the main question about the movie, though I sense that is what's going to happen... I'm not in the business of knowing whether America is ready. You just hope it will be... I'm not the only director who has had to deal with rejection, failure and defeat... But either you get a gun, load it and shoot yourself in the head, or you carry on doing what you love."

More from Oliver Stone on World Trade Center.

Dave's Back

2006-02-15T09:29:00.000-05:00

This might just be the film event of the year if there is any justice in the world.

Advice From Bluecat

2006-02-15T09:08:00.000-05:00

Since I submitted to the Bluecat Screenplay Competition last year I signed up for their newsletter. Some good articles on the process of screenwriting from Gordy Hoffman.

Their 2006 competition deadline is March 1st. Grand Prize: $10,000.

Great Deal

2006-02-12T15:42:00.000-05:00

What would a New Yorker want with the Wisconsin Screenwriter's Forum? Well, probably the same thing you will want. I came across this great offer. With a $25 membership fee you get access to the Hollywood Creative Directory, Daily Variety Online and IMDb Pro. Collectively would cost over $500. Give it a look...

Full

2006-02-10T16:41:00.000-05:00

Oooooooooo

2006-02-09T13:30:00.000-05:00

Punching Through

2006-02-07T17:21:00.000-05:00

Repeat in Shatner speak...Must..Finish..Screenplay.

Update: Looks like the screenplay is going to come in at around a tight 118 pages if my estimations are correct. Hey, I'll take it either way.

The One To Watch

2006-02-02T09:08:00.000-05:00

I was waiting until our man in the field, Mike over at HD4ND's, was all over this item. As expected, he was. There's been a buzz about this insanely dynamic camera that is being developed by Jim Jannard, the founder of Oakley sunglasses. It's called the Red Digital Cinema Camera. The specs are out of reach but in this interview Jannard says it's happening. Give it a read.

Cold Heaven

2006-01-30T22:10:00.000-05:00

No, not the 1991 Nicolas Roeg film. Here is the brutal reality of making the small, personal low-budget digital film, Puccini For Beginners.

It begs the question, why do you need a production company at all?

Independent Filmmakers Speak

2006-01-30T13:13:00.000-05:00

CinemaTech has some great coverage of a filmmaker panel, Creative Independence at Sundance. Names like Ted Hope, Christine Vachon and Todd Haynes speak of the importance of final cut, why digital is giving us more choice then we know what to do with and why simultaneous release will do more harm than good for the rising independent filmmaker.

And The Winner Is...

2006-01-29T13:56:00.000-05:00

Sundance Film Festival 2006 winners announced.

Bubble Up

2006-01-27T13:15:00.000-05:00

Today is the memorable day. It marks the release of the Steven Soderbergh film, Bubble. It's being released in theater, on cable with DVD to follow in a couple of days. Do I think Bubble is going to shake the rafters? Probably not. It's a small experimental film BUT it will set a precedence.

Cinematical has an interview with Mark Cuban and his thoughts on this. Keep in mind when reading this that Cuban is a theater owner. So if the creation and distribution of smaller, more challenging films is something you want to see, participate in this experiment by supporting this film and films like it.

Oh yeah, also released today, Big Momma's House 2. You could go see that too.

Some more thoughts from Cinema Tech.

It's Called Acting!

2006-01-27T13:10:00.000-05:00

In my attempt to include more blog entries related to the craft of acting I came across this article via the Association for Psychological Science. It reveals how actors train themselves to memorize entire scripts effortlessly.

Anyone with links to interesting sites about the craft of acting please leave links in your comment.

Chris Penn, RIP

2006-01-25T08:19:00.000-05:00

This one took me off guard. Usually cast as the heavy in almost 60 films, Penn turned in solid performances in Reservoir Dogs, At Close Range, Short Cuts and what I think was a totally underappreciated one in The Funeral.

Chris Penn's cause of death is unkown.

Related from Cinematical.

New Self-Distribution Pilot Program

2006-01-24T14:05:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, IFC Entertainment announced that it was going to release a group of at least 24 films theatrically and on demand -- day and date -- this year under the new distribution banner First Take. Later this week 2929 Entertainment will be launching Steven Soderbergh's Bubble in the theater and on DVD along with screenings on HDNet.

With this being the week that cracks the present distribution model in half, let's add one more log to the fire. Withoutabox, the online film festival submission service, announced the launch of The Distribution Lab,

"a new program that will offer a suite of services to support filmmakers who plan to release their films themselves in various ways, including theatrical, DVD and on demand distribution. As part of the new program, participants will have access to ticketing, catalog management, accounting and online social networking and marketing solutions. A plan to offer DVD fulfillment and download distribution is also in the works."

I have used Withoutabox and if these future services are up to par with it's bread and butter service it could be a good thing for filmmakers around the world.

Let The Games Begin

2006-01-19T09:50:00.000-05:00

Sundance Film Festival 2006 begins today. Here's some early coverage from around the net:

Cinematical
The Reeler
IndieWIRE
The New York Times
Wired

MovieMaker Hands-On Interviews

2006-01-18T08:18:00.000-05:00

From MovieMaker Magazine, a nice collection of interviews from all positions of filmmaking. Worth a look.

More On Celtx

2006-01-11T17:16:00.000-05:00

A more detailed look at the features of Celtx can be found here. The more I read about and play with it the more excited I get about using this application. The future looks bright for this self-contained friend of the independent filmmaker.

Been Tagged

2006-01-10T09:37:00.000-05:00

Fun Joel did it. He reached out to the scribosphere and it responded. Dave over at Man Bytes Hollywood tagged me. This is what my monkey brain could come up with on the spot. If you have no idea what I'm talking about check the links.

ONE (1) earliest film-related memory: I would have to say this would be the 1974 film The Towering Inferno. Disaster movies were all the rage in the mid-seventies and this was one of the better ones. The cast included, well, everyone not to mention The Juice in one of his first powerhouse roles as Harry Jernigan, the building maintenance/security guy. Irwin Allen really knew how to blow shit up and at seven years old, what could else could a young boy want? Like Dave, Jaws was a big one for me too.

TWO (2) favorite lines from movies: I knew this wasn't going to be easy. Sorry Joel, there is no way I can stop at just one with this:

"The jew is using the negro as muscle. What are you going to do about it, whitey?"
"Who wants an orange whip? Orange whip? Orange whip? Three orange whips. "
"I bet these cops got SCMODS. " - Blues Brothers
"You'll get nothing, and like it." - Caddyshack
"Lee Harvey, you are a madman." - Stripes

THREE (3) jobs you’d do if you could not work in the “biz”:

Chef
Guitarist for Kiss (1977)
Chocolate Tester

FOUR (4) jobs you actually have held outside the industry:

Cab Driver
Bartender
Wine/Liquor Store Clerk
Office Drone

THREE (3) book authors I like:

Hubert Selby Jr.
Don DeLillo
Jim Thompson

TWO (2) movies you’d like to remake or properties you’d like to adapt:

Because I'm a total freak for 60's and 70's Sci-Fi:
Soylent Green
The Last Man on Earth

Also, What Makes Sammy Run? by Budd Schulberg. Everyone in the business of movies should read it.

ONE (1) screenwriter you think is underrated:

You're right Dave, this is a tough one. I would have to follow up Fun Joel's nod to the writer/director with another; Francis Ford Coppola. He will forever be known as the director of probably the most popular and well executed films in American cinema history but Sir Francis is a pure storyteller at the core of it all. The Conversation is a chilling screenplay about paranoia, the theme of privacy and the invasion of it is explored by the flesh and blood characters Coppola creates with a great human touch.

Paul Attanasio comes to mind for Quiz Show. He's done the "writing gig" thing with films like the atrocious Sphere but don't hold that against him.

I will counteract that choice with a writer who also directs his own material and who writes great dialogue and character, Dylan Kidd. I saw both Roger Dodger and P.S. at film festivals and was really impressed, hoping to see more from this writer/director.

THREE (3) people I’m tagging to answer this meme next:
Adam, Bill, Jason, you're up!

I know, more information than was asked of me. I never could follow instructions.

Celtx - A Second Look

2006-01-10T08:30:00.000-05:00

I've used a couple of screenplay formatting programs since I started this whole writing thing. Starting out with Scriptware way back when and then succumbing to peer pressure by switching to the widely industry endorsed favorite, Final Draft. Both are alright for what they do. Scriptware has nonexistent support and hasn't had an update since 1997, useless. Final Draft can be really frustrating and not very intuitive. Enter Celtx.

I found out about Celtx when John August did a review back in February 2005. An update was released recently so I thought I would take a second look. This FREE open source pre-production tool is actually pretty unique. I know Sophocles takes a similar approach to the interface of screenplay formatting and development design but they don't have a Mac version so...Screenplay formatting is really just Word for screenwriters. You can tab up any text editor and there you go, write your masterpiece. What Celtx has is development tools. If you are anything like me and suffer from the occasional bout with AADD you need your project materials in one place not scattered all over a room, tucked away in drawers, written on little scraps of paper. Celtx organizes your thought flow for your project by way of different tabs.
The character tab allows the user to fill in character traits and background info so you never lose track of who you are writing about. It also does the same for scene details by forcing you to answer important questions like how does this event affect the overall plot? or what is the goal of the protagonist in this scene?.

Regarding importing screenplays from another format, gotta convert to .txt files to get them into Celtx. I did a test and except for some minor editing, it formatted correctly. When you are all done with the screenplay you can create reports for actual production. Collaboration online is also an available feature. Celtx allows you to upload your screenplay online to collaborate with other writers on your team. I would only be using the offline features more than anything and don't think I'll be switching mid-project but I'll give it a chance on my next one. Celtx is very easy to use and I think it's worth a look if you haven't already.

We Don't Want No Queer Cowboy Movies

2006-01-08T22:59:00.000-05:00

It seems that management at a Utah megaplex pulled Brokeback Mountain and reneged on their licensing agreement with Focus Features.

I don't want to alarm anyone out there but homosexuals do live among the heterosexual population, get over it.

BAMdance

2006-01-06T10:20:00.000-05:00

Looks like something is brewing in Brooklyn. Robert Redford and his brainchild, the Sundance Institute have partnered up with the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The Reeler, always on the scene, gives us coverage of the announcement and New York-based filmmakers something to look forward to. If this entry gives away any indication about the future of a screenwriter/filmmaker lab just across the East River I would be a very happy individual. Redford seems to always have had a fondness for New York City, Brooklyn in particular with regards to Sundance and this venture;

"It all started there, from the very first day," he said. "The bulk of the artists who have come there have been from New York and Brooklyn, and it's been that way all through the 25 years. You get some from San Francisco and a few from L.A., but most of the people from L.A. started in New York anyway."

You mean I might potentially be able to partake in a lab with the likes of Tim Roth and Philip Seymour Hoffman for the price of a Metrocard swipe and a trip on the 2 train? Nice.

Oh yeah, I have to get accepted first.

Check out what's coming up in the Creative Latitudes: Sundance Institute at BAM press release (.pdf)

photo courtesy of STV

Mindless Remake Prediction

2006-01-04T15:30:00.000-05:00

The very funny and classic The Owl and the Pussycat to be remade with J.Lo and Paul Giamatti. The original starred George Segal and Barbra Streisand. Thoughts? Just remember, if and when it happens you heard it here first.

Final Cut Extreme?

2006-01-04T15:17:00.000-05:00

Go to my editing blog zeroes and ones for details.

Rewind/Fast Forward

2006-01-03T11:46:00.000-05:00

I guess now is the time for reflection and resolution. Where do I begin? I guess the this time last year would be a good place:

Edit

2005 was a year of growth for me in a lot of ways. I started my own post-production company, Right Brain Edit that turned out to be very exciting and nerve-racking at the same time. I built a system from the ground up and based it out of an office in my apartment. It's always a struggle as a freelancer in New York trying to stay competitive and at the same time upgrading your system to not get left behind. It's a challenge to say the least.

The Short

I was at the end of the promotional line with a short film I wrote and directed, The Face of the Earth. It got no love from the festivals I submitted to. That was kind of a heartbreak but hey, what's this business with out a little heartbreak? I learned a great deal and wouldn't change it for the world. This is the more typical syndrome for a filmmaker, to look back like a soldier looks at his battle scars. Instead of sulking (I did that already) I decided to put it here on this savage art... not for a fee but for the patience it takes to download. I got some good feedback, mostly pointing to the flawed nature of the film but looking forward to future work. A recent e-mail from a fellow filmmaker made me feel better about my choices. He wrote:

What I can not stand is almost every short, with the exception of a few, have a beginning, middle and end (the punch-line). Your's feel like the story is of something bigger than a short and it opens and closes that way. Your short is one of the few I can literally say, "thank friggin' god" it feels unfinished. Truly. Most of the shorts have the build up and ending of a "punch-line", be it a dark, funny, dramatic...some sort of..tah-dah. Most shorts are built upon that. For whatever reason I find shorts are just as formula in their structure as most features. Your's was not. And Thank God.

The Blog

I started this blog in May of 2005 to promote my work and also create a place where others could come and get helpful info on filmmaking and give opinions. The community of bloggers is growing by the day. Everyone is documenting their progress along with giving the latest info on new technology. These blogs, in my opinion, are extremely helpful resources to the screenwriting and filmmaking community. I have found many out there to be great people who are very generous with their knowledge and experience. Joining this community was one of the smartest things I did this past year. As time goes by, this savage art... will evolve as I evolve as a writer/director.

Writing

I guess 2005 was a productive year for me. My writing became more focused as I learned craft. I dusted off an old screenplay with the help and tough love of a fellow screenwriter. I though it was destined to be in limbo but I tore apart and reworked Where Are You Seventeen? A refreshed outline, a new draft and 1/3 of the way into the current draft I'm still pushing forward to making it the screenplay I know it can be.

2006

This is the section I approach with caution. Making predictions and resolutions can bite you on the ass. Let me just put this all in terms of projections for the new year. I'm projecting that I will finish Where Are You Seventeen? and write another screenplay this year. Originally, I pushed for a total of three screenplays by the end of this year. Now I guess that is possible but it's all the way you look at it on the timeline. If we are talking about fully-realized, rewritten, honed, ready-for-market spec screenplays, probably two. If we are talking about completing the one I am working on now and two new first drafts, sure it can be done. Either way, I said it. I'm damned to live up to my own hype. I guess you'll all have to check here next year to see if I'm for real or not.

One thing I am pushing for is to make the Nicholl Fellowship deadline of May 1st, 2006. It's one of maybe three fellowship/contests I would consider entering. I know the competition is heavy and the bar is high for this one. Not winning I could live with. Not entering, I don't think I can.

Lean and productive is what I predict for 2006, everything else is up for grabs. Finally, a thanks for reading this long boring summation and thanks to all the visitors of this savage art..., I wish you the best in 2006.

Also a quick acknowledgment, none of this could have been possible without the support of my girlfriend, Linda. What I've put her through would have shaken most women to the core but for some reason, I have yet to figure out, she seems to feel compelled to stay with me and make it possible for my dreams to become a reality.

Where Is All This Going?

2006-01-03T11:45:00.000-05:00

With all the blathering about new distribution models via 2929 Entertainment (who am I kidding, I'm all over the big day) are we missing the bigger picture? The Reeler gives us some insights into what we might expect in 2006 for the independent filmmaker from such film pundits the likes of Hollywood Reporter's Gregg Goldstein and Salon's Andrew O'Hehir.

I Heard Things

2005-12-27T15:36:00.000-05:00

There is an interesting entry on One Slack Martian's blog that discusses the altered dialogue from Raging Bull. Yes, it is true that Scorsese, DeNiro and Pesci did a lot of tooling with Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin's screenplay. One Slack Martian noted from the dialogue passage on his blog:

I'm not sure if this accomplished anything, but I enjoy reading "authentic" dialogue. But we need to remember that we want the "illusion of authentic dialogue" in our scripts.

He makes a great point here about "authentic dialogue". When writing there is a strong pull to make characters "talk the way people talk". That can be misleading. Part of making dialogue feel real is crafting it in a way that is still rooted in who the characters are. In the case of this film and others like it I think there is a misconception that profanity=authenticity. Anybody can put a few thousand "fucks" in their screenplay but that doesn't mean it will amount to anything authentic. Profanity is not an "authenticator". It just means you can write the word "fuck". After reading the passage you will see that the scene is all about verbal jousting coming from the mouths of the working class. It's neighborhood talk from neighborhood people. There is a lot to gain and a lot to lose for all of the characters involved. This is something I am dealing with now with my characters because they are working class and they have the same stakes on the table. You want it to ring true so you can't ever forget who these characters are, what they want and where on the food chain the exist. Knowing that is always a good start.

Reading about the background of Raging Bull I got some insights into the techniques they used to get this level of authenticity. When working through the scenes, Pesci and Scorsese would work out a "trigger" to get a reaction from DeNiro. When Scorsese was getting DeNiro's angle Pesci would be playing off him telling him to "go fuck your mother" or something to that effect to get the angered reaction Scorsese wanted. This combined with the screenplay and intense rehearsal before production and on the set is what created that level of authenticity. Who owns the dialogue? They all do. Film is a collaborative effort and this is where the collaboration really paid off.

A personal note: this film is the reason I wanted to make films for a living. When I first saw it, yes, in the theater at the age of 13 (which would probably explains a lot), I was mesmerized. No, I didn't know what a director really did but I knew my head was spinning after I saw this film. It was brutal, nihilistic and visceral. That is what a great film should make you feel, spent. It should take you on a journey no matter how hellish or fantastical. No matter how deep and personal or light and wacky. It should take you to a place and never apologize for putting you there. This is what film meant to me after I saw it. I haven't been the same since.

Tags: screenwriting, writing dialogue, Raging Bull

Scene Checklist

2005-12-27T15:05:00.000-05:00

Also courtesy of One Slack Martian.

Updated, one more time: From Adventures in Storytelling

More of an overall screenplay checklist from Wordplay.

Works For Me

2005-12-23T17:32:00.000-05:00

This being the end of the year I thought instead of a recap (who knows, I might do that later) I would offer up a little wisdom I learned while tackling a rewrite of Where Are You Seventeen? This was the first screenplay I wrote years ago and I thought I would try to update it and breath some new life into it. I also took a writing workshop this year and these are some of the things I learned from watching myself and others read their work to other writers. This is kind of a simple screenplay workflow that might save me and maybe you some headache in the future so here goes. This is by no means an absolute way to do it, just works for me:

Get The Idea

Pretty simple, I mean where else can you go but up. This is the spark that will lead to a screenplay. If it really excites you and feels special there is a good chance other people will feel the same. It might be a storyline or a character. Play with it and see where it goes. Write down a storyline in one or two sentences. Now go to sleep. Wake up the next day and read that storyline. Does it still grab you? Is it worth developing? Can you see yourself six months from now still working on this screenplay?

Develop The Idea

This means carrying the idea for the screenplay around for a period of time. This is the stage where you form the idea and find out if it's even worth the effort of becoming a full-length screenplay. You need to understand what it's about, create a collection of scenes that flow. It doesn't need to be perfect. Play with ideas and take as many notes as possible. When creating notes try to be organized by numbering each note so you can make reference to it when creating the outline. Build character profiles if it helps. This is the time to make sense of it all before you commit anything to an outline. Figure out the story you want to tell and how you are going to tell it. I repeat, figure out the story you want to tell and how you are going to tell it.

Outline

Create a scene by scene list of the screenplay in the order in which it will play out, simple descriptions with references to notes if necessary. DO NOT RUSH INTO THE OUTLINE IF YOU ARE NOT READY. This can turn into a cluster-fuck and cause headaches and rewriting nightmares later. Feel good about the story in your head before you outline.

First Draft

After living with your notes and an outline for a period of time where you feel confident you are ready to put it down on paper, vomit a draft out so you have a solid interpretation of your story. It is important to just lay it down as fast as possible. It will suck and we all know that but just understand that everything gets better with a rewrite. The real point here is to get it out. Now let it sit.

Future Drafts

How many? The number is endles. Well, not endless but if you are on the 25th draft you might want to rethink the whole writing thing. It’s really up to you and your story. This is where the real work comes in. These are the drafts that you can kick and beat into submission in order to make them work for you. You may need to totally dismantle sections or entire acts of the screenplay for it to make sense. You will always be coming up with better ideas as you go along. This is about refining your original ideas and pulling out some new, better ones. The process is like a funnel. Starting out wide and becoming narrow. Push your scenes and characters until you feel they have arrived and you have an original, unique story. Show these drafts to trusted people, workshop it. Get feedback and take that feedback into consideration. You will learn a great deal about your story from hearing what other people think of it. You don't have to agree with them but you will never know what someone elses words will do to the way you see your story. I find it invaluable. If you want to take this even further, when you feel you are close to a final draft, have a reading with actors. You will hear the screenplay in an entirely different way. Your brilliant dialogue might not be so brilliant. Remember, you are writing characters for actors to play. Do not read any stage direction or characters yourself just listen to the reading and the reactions.

Final Draft

This is the point where it is done. You've rewritten and gotten feedback and feel satisfied that you've taken the material as far as you can take it. Now pat yourself on the back, celebrate and put it in a drawer. Repeat from the beginning asap.

If They Move, Kill 'Em

2005-12-20T18:08:00.000-05:00

In the midst of this bitter cold transit strike I heard some really great news. By way of Google Alerts I got an e-mail announcing the release of the Sam Peckinpah Box Set I've been waiting for. So I went over to Amazon to see if it was for real and sure enough, there it was. Ready for release on January 10th. If you want to see an amazing director do his thing with these four great films pre-order this set now!

Along with featurettes and commentary we finally get to see The Wild Bunch in all it's uninterrupted glory (the previous release does the unthinkable. It stops in mid-film for the viewer to flip the DVD to the other side for continuation. I mean, come on!!!)

Here are the DVD specs courtesy of reviewer on Amazon:

This upcoming release from Warner Brothers will contain the following:

-The Wild Bunch Two-Disc Special Edition, Disc 1:

* Commentary by Peckinpah biographers/documentarians Nick Redman, Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons and David Weddle
* New digital transfer (16x9 2.35:1)
* Peckinpah trailer gallery
* Languages: English and French
* Subtitles: English, French and Spanish

Special Features Disc 2:

* Never-before-seen The Wild Bunch outtakes
* Additional scenes
* 3 documentaries
o Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade - A feature-length biography of the legendary director, featuring rare film clips, interviews with family and colleagues, and narration by Kris Kristofferson.
o 1996 Oscar Nominee The Wild Bunch: An Album in Montage
o A Simple Adventure Story: Sam Peckinpah, Mexico and the Wild Bunch

-Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid Two Disc Special Edition, Disc 1:

* 2005 Special Edition: (115 Mins.)
* Commentary by Special Edition Producer Nick Redman, Supervising Editor Paul Seydor and fellow Peckinpah biographers/documentarians Garner Simmons and David Weddle
* Peckinpah trailer gallery
* Languages: English and French
* Subtitles: English, French and Spanish (Feature Films Only)

Special Features Disc 2:

* 1988 Turner Preview Version: (122 Mins.)
* Commentary by Nick Redman, Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons and David Weddle
* 2 new featurettes:
o One Foot in the Groove: Remembering Sam Peckinpah and Other Things
o Deconstructing Pat and Billy
* One for the Money: Sam's Song
* Languages: English and French
* Subtitles: English, French and Spanish (Feature Films Only)

-The Ballad of Cable Hogue:

* Commentary by Peckinpah biographers/documentarians Nick Redman, Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons and David Weddle
* New featurette: The Ladiest Damn'd Lady with Stella Stevens
* Peckinpah Trailer Gallery
* Languages: English and Spanish
* Subtitles: English, French and Spanish

-Ride The High Country:

* Commentary by Peckinpah documentarians Nick Redman, Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons and David Weddle
* New documentary: A Justified Life: Sam Peckinpah and the Hogue Country
* Peckinpah trailer gallery
* Languages: English and French
* Subtitles: English, French and Spanish

Tags: Sam Peckinpah

Transit Strike Blues

2005-12-20T15:57:00.000-05:00

I can't take it anymore. I've been forced to put a link to the SNL short, Lazy Sunday from Chris Parnell and Andy Samberg. I know it's all over the internet but I've watched it three times today without any signs of letting up. What do you want from me? My city's in lock down. These two sell the hell out of it. Maybe this will put a smile on your face in these trying times.

"Snack Attack Mother Fucker!"

Tags: Transit Strike, Lazy Sunday, Parnell and Samberg

Woody Gets All Serious

2005-12-19T13:47:00.000-05:00

At 70 years old, Woody Allen finally gets his way. In past interviews he always spoke of his admiration for serious dramatic filmmakers like Ingmar Bergman and now it looks like he may be in the same category. Past attempts like Another Woman and Interiors resulted in luke warm responses. Could this be different?

After seeing the trailer for Match Point, Woody's latest, I have to say I'm intrigued. I mean, a trailer is a trailer. It could resemble everything a film is or absolutely nothing depending on what demographic the studio is trying to hit up (e.g. King Kong with the ladies, paahhleeeze). The Match Point trailer is a little amped up for any Allen film but it looks like it has the markings of a new direction for him. It might be worth a look.

Tags: Woody Allen, Match Point

The King Is Alive, Long Live The King

2005-12-16T10:23:00.000-05:00

Today was Howard Stern's last broadcast on terrestrial radio in New York. He says goodbye to this world and goes to satellite radio next year. I've been a fan for many years and regardless of what your feelings are towards his style of entertainment I don't think you can deny the importance of a move like this. Hear me out...

Stern has relentlessly been at the mercy of the FCC over the past couple of decades and he finally had enough. His move to Sirius radio was motivated by frustration. Not only is censorship an issue here but so is the future. I personally don't like to be told, like a child, what I can and cannot watch or listen to and neither should you. As a filmmaker, what I can create? Don't get me started, too late. We are moving into a new era of customizable everything. They want our dollars so we have the say. Pick, choose, download. Get what you want, when you want it, no matter what the content. We tell you, you don't tell us... that's what is important here.

So here is to Howard, they didn't break you. A true inspiration in a world that is so bent on homogenization. A battle hard fought and won by a man who is truly a dying breed. Ahhh, now I finally feel proud to be an American. You can hear Howard on Sirius radio on the other side January 9th. Good luck to him and the crew. I've got mine and I can't wait to hear him speak his mind all day long but hey, that's just me.

Tags: Howard Stern, Sirius Radio

It's Over

2005-12-15T12:51:00.000-05:00

A computer program now has the ability to let us know if that miserable little screenplay we are all writing has a chance in hell of making Titanic numbers. So unless you're working on the next Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia or King Kong maybe you should reassess your life up to now or you could just go back to what you were doing.

Where is HAL when you need him?

Tags: film marketing, marketing software

Why Would You Pay Rate Card?

2005-12-12T21:13:00.000-05:00

Check this article on how not to pay the rate card (c'mon, no one pays rate card) for your production gear.

Tags: film equipment rental, production gear

L.A. Doubles For Lower Manhattan On 9.11

2005-12-12T18:19:00.000-05:00

Oliver Stone depicts the tragedy of September 11th in his highly sensitive, tentatively titled film, World Trade Center. Check the Times article that covers the recreation of the site in Los Angeles.

photo by Monica Almeida/The New York Times

Tags: Oliver Stone, World Trade Center, 9/11

A Tragic Bronx Tale

2005-12-12T16:38:00.000-05:00

A strange turn of events have put actor Lillo Brancato in harm's way. The 29 year old actor of A Bronx Tale and Sopranos fame attempted to break into a Bronx home with another man early Saturday, police say. An off-duty police officer, Daniel Enchautegui, confronted the men and was shot to death. Brancato was wounded in the gunfight. In this Times article, residence of the Bronx reflect on A Bronx Tale's poignant message of wasted talent and what this news meant for some residents who hold the film close to their hearts.

Tags: Lillo Brancato, Bronx

A Pound Of Flesh

2005-12-08T11:39:00.000-05:00

You think Hollywood is a tough town to catch a break in, try to "gift" there. The holiday season is a power play to the nth degree that can cripple your career if you get it wrong. Check out The Business podcast for this week and see why it's so hard to be a giving person. How about a pound of Kopi Luwak instead, Charlie Brown?

Tags: hollywood, gifts+holidays, gift+giving

The Way Of The Future

2005-12-07T00:02:00.000-05:00

The way of the future...the way of the future...the way of the future

Leo goes off in a fade to black mumbling those words at the climax of Martin Scorsese's ambitious biopic The Aviator. So what is the way of the future?

Why is it that whenever I read about the future of the movie industry I feel like there is news of a deadly virus sweeping across the country and only few will survive? An article from the L.A. Times continues the reign of terror by shouting the apocalyptic cry,"embrace the future or die!". Announcing the death of Hollywood is nothing new, we've heard it before. With the ever widening gap between small and gigunda budgets it's no surprise that a sure bet isn't really a sure bet anymore.

One thing that is a sure bet when choosing what film an audience wants to throw down their hard earned money for is, why should I care? That screenplay you wrote that I might give you $1-$3 million to make, why should I care about that story? Seems that audiences are asking that very same question. The answer is, I don't. Theater revenue is down, Sony is in the throws of a serious upheaval. Technology is having it's way with how everything from games to films to music will be distributed now and in the future. All this effecting the way we make films and how an audience sees them.

I know you have your calendars marked for December 14th, I do. Another date you should mark down is January 27th. That's the day Steven Soderbergh's indie budgeted digital experiment Bubble gets the multi-tier treatment by being released to theaters, DVD and HD cable simultaneously on the same day. How that film does will probably have an effect on that distribution model. That's a lot of pressure to put on one small film but it will be interesting to see how it all shakes out. Anything that will give studios a second thought to releasing a DVD then re-releasing a newer, more amped up version months after I bought the previous edition aka double dipping. Read Soderbergh's thoughts on piracy, self-distribution and video mash-ups in this Wired article.

The future just isn’t what it used to be.

Tags: hollywood, movie+business, filmmakers+business

Surviving In The Jungle

2005-12-02T12:18:00.000-05:00

After my writing workshop last night I shared a 6 train ride downtown with my workshop teacher. While waiting on the platform we got on the subject of films (of course) as a big gorilla stared us down preparing us for his arrival on December 14th. The subjects went from gorillas to the Discovery Channel to The White Diamond to Werner Herzog. Herzog seemed to be the right filmmaker to focus on. With Fitzcarraldo and Aguirre, The Wrath of God being major stops on the foreign film/art house rotation we both agreed that his type of filmmaking is what true filmmaking is, storytelling with images. He is a purist. Take that opinion for what it's worth.

Another thing we agreed upon was that there are a lot of films being made, tons of films, large and small. One of the films he did some script doctoring for comes out today. It's a small film that might get some recognition in the independent world here in New York because of its unflinching portrayal of heroin addiction. It's almost amazing that a film like that could even get made in this climate. What's a filmmaker to do? Well, what kind of filmmaker are we talking about here? This was a labor of love that will have a small draw in certain circles unless it gets a lot of attention outside of those circles. But obviously, it wasn't made so the filmmaker could bathe in the adulation of the masses. It had to get made.

So what is the other side of that coin? The big, fat bag of money waiting on my doorstep after I sign that three picture deal with The Tribeca Twins? Right. In order to survive, filmmakers are selling themselves as brands that produce product. Kevin Smith is a perfect example of this. You know what you are getting with him. Dick jokes, ad nauseam. No apologies from Smith, this is what he does and I can respect that. Go to View Askew and you can buy yourself a Big Ass Silent Bob Inaction Figure (I want my cut from this link mother fucker...snootchie bootchies!)

But there are thousands that you haven't heard of that are taking the same route, advertising by way of branding. They are getting there names out there with websites and blogs (present company included), peddling their t-shirts and action figures (present company excluded). Do what you have to do to survive I guess. Has the quality of films increased because of the efforts of these filmmakers using this approach to have their voices heard or is this just adding to the ever increasing garbage heap of flotsam that we have to wade through to find that quality motion picture?

Coming to the end of our train ride my teacher and I had no real answer not that we were really looking for one. I can say we weren't very satisfied with the state of the industry and the choices that are out there. We just left with a parting look that said, "Welcome to the business of making movies".

Imagine that, dick jokes and Fitzcarraldo all in the same breath. Man, I am one well-rounded son-of-a-bitch.

Tags: branding, filmmaking, filmmakers+business

Zero

2005-11-30T08:16:00.000-05:00

So here I am, back to zero. If you take a look at the progress bar on Where Are You Seventeen? you'll see the tank is empty again. The next draft is upon me. After taking a few weeks to wrap my head around the changes I made I took some inventory you could say. I read Linda Seger's book Making A Good Script Great which I highly recommend. She includes something that I really don't see a lot of and that is what are the building blocks of a great scene. There are many helpful insights in the book but like all schooling there is a point where you have to trust your instincts and go for it. The downtime did get me thinking about how I write.

One thing I really got to understand is the power of the rewrite. As much as it can seem like an uphill battle it really is your greatest asset as a writer. If you are writing a spec screenplay it does not go out until you think it should. That freed me up in a lot of ways thinking that everything I was writing can and will eventually change but only for the better.

I'm also finding the value in economy. Lean and mean is the way to go. Write what you mean and mean what you write. Be as colorful as you want on the page but don't bog down the screenplay by writing miles describing the look and smell of a car interior. Unlike writing a novel where you can do many things like recapture something for the reader in five pages of dense description, we are dealing with screen time. Compression and expansion.

During my break I collected a source of go to notes in case I get in trouble and need a refresher course. I'm going to break down Seger's book into a checklist for the end of this current draft. Each section will ask relevant questions regarding the topic discussed. For example, under Creating The Scene I'll list questions like, Do all my scene's have a reason for being in my story?

Another thing I'm doing is reading then printing out all the columns from Wordplay and binding them up for easy reference. Seems that those two might know a thing or two about writing for the screen.

This may all seem a little insane to some but it's something I'm taking seriously. The words of Seger, Rossio and Elliot are not gospel. They are guidelines that you can follow if you choose to and really good ones at that. Just don't allow all this advice to turn you inside out. I think the minute you start freaking out about a plot point falling on page 24 instead of 27 you are going to be freaking out about other things that in my opinion have little relevance to storytelling. After hearing a podcast of Stuart Beattie speaking about his career he made it clear that at some point you need to throw it all out and write your story. The only rule, don't be boring.

This is the draft that's going out to a small group of confidantes. This one has to be on the money or at least pretty damn close. My plans are to write this draft, work on an outline to a new screenplay while waiting for and absorbing the feedback for Seventeen?, make changes accordingly.

So for now I leave you all, it's time to fill up that tank.

Ahoy

2005-11-28T16:28:00.000-05:00

Directing a film takes nerves of steel. If you don't have nerves of steel you better learn to fake it. You are the captain of the ship and one thing a crew cannot get behind is a wishy-washy captain. Mutiny is just around the corner for the ill-prepared director so be the ultimate expert on the film you are about to make. This is by no means bullshit. Here are some hands-on golden rules from director Atom Egoyan on how to make the gig work for you.

Mann On Fire

2005-11-22T11:47:00.000-05:00

If there every was a television show that deserved the film treatment this is it. Cinematical reports on the upheaval from the Miami Vice set. It seems that the rigorous demands director Michael Mann put on the film crew proved to be too great, 120 crew members have left since since filming began about six months ago. I hope it's just industry hype because if any writer/director deserves a pass, it's Mann. Look at the incredible rumor mill that followed Apocalypse Now! while it was filming and what an amazing spectacle that turned into. Hey, the guy has a vision...

The Burden Of Dreams

2005-11-20T09:04:00.000-05:00

Rule #1: Never use your own money. That rule applies to all endeavors financial. And filmmaking. What are rules made for, class? There has been a long line of filmmakers who have had careers launched from the fruits of their labor along with their credit cards but at what cost? What about the thousands of others who have reels of negatives or stacks of video tapes in their closets as a cold reminder than no one really cared enough about their vision or opus or whatever you call it?

With the democratization of the process, making a film and launching a career can be done for less but it still needs to be done whether it's $2,000 or $20,000. No matter how you break it down it still costs money and the consequences of a loss are not always financial. The New York Times ran an article yesterday profiling a couple of young filmmakers, Arin Crumley, 24, and his girlfriend, Susan Buice, 27 and their film, Four Eyed Monsters.

The film follows the journey of how they met online and sparked a romance, documenting it as they lived it. I've seen the diary video blogs of the filmmaking journey on My Space and it's truly heartbreaking maybe because it’s so close.

There’s a quote from the article from director Sydney Pollack about his understanding of the modern film industry landscape; "The minute everyone is allowed in, something changes in terms of standards of excellence," he said. "I don't know whether that is good or bad." Standards? Wasn’t the same thing said when rock’n’roll came into the fold? Punk? I can’t think of anything the film industry needs more right now than a shot in the arm. Not another DVD format. Not another iPod. Not another tired remake. What’s needed is some vitality, some vision. Shame on you Sydney.

Hover

2005-11-19T10:55:00.000-05:00

I just added a product preview feature from Amazon. Whenever you see a product link or display on this savage art... just hover over the link and a pop-up window will appear with product info you can check out. Ahhhh, commerce.

Reality Check

2005-11-16T10:57:00.000-05:00

Search Dictionary:

vit·ri·ol
NOUN:
2. Bitterly abusive feeling or expression.

Haven't made it yet? Join the club. The club of thousands of screenwriters who still write despite the reality of rejection. Here is an article that was published in Written By about Michael Traeger, a 45 year old writer who was mad as hell and couldn't take it anymore. So what did he do? He suffered silently and wrote and wrote and wrote. A stack of unproduced screenplays that are endulging something inside of him. Something cathartic, something filled with bile (kind of like this entry). Something that can't be produced. Well, maybe not. He has written and directed The Moguls and now has the likes of Kevin Bacon and George Clooney checking out his work. Does this mean if you stick your middle finger up the ass of Hollywood long enough you will get produced? Who knows but you should read the article, if only to convince yourself that you should stick by your guns and write what you need to write, regardless of the outcome or the sale. If it's good writing it will find a place. And if you want to find out if Traeger can actually write you can download a .pdf of his screenplay Vikings from that article. Oh yeah, he's on Variety's 10 director's to watch list.

Figures, he's a New Yorker. Hey, I'm 38 and I still have my health, cough. Thanks to Emon for the link.

Photo by Deverill Weekes

Scene Construction

2005-11-14T16:38:00.000-05:00

So you have your structure air-tight, your plot points all fall in the right place but what about the scenes? What makes for good scene writing? There are a few resources out there that go into this, Making A Good Script Great is one of them. A recent post on The Thinking Writer has some of the basics of scene construction with some supporting information on dialogue, very helpful.

The Movie Issue

2005-11-13T12:56:00.000-05:00

Something you might want to check out today, The New York Times Sunday Magazine Edition: The Movie Issue. With a handful of politically charged films coming out soon we all get a glimpse of what it takes to get a war film made in Hollywood now.

Photograph by Dan Winters for The New York Times.

Short Films Have A New Home

2005-11-09T18:45:00.000-05:00

A new short film collection is available on DVD from The Journal of Short Film. The NYC release/screening party is November 12th at Columbia University. Submit your film for Volume II by November 15th. Get the lowdown on The Reeler.

Update: The original date I had for the release party wasn't correct, it is November 12th.

Fin...For Now

2005-11-08T15:33:00.000-05:00

I just finished a rewrite of Where Are You Seventeen? and it feels...okay. I mean, yes, it's very rewarding to finish something but there is that nagging feeling that it's never really done. So here is the ??? draft of this screenplay. I hesitate to put a number on it at this point because in a lot of ways it seems that the drafts before were really just one big messy draft. If anything, this could be considered a second draft. I had structure issues with the last one and that was the goal of this draft, to make it an actual screenplay not a collection of scenes. So mission accomplished. A lean 109 pages.

Now the real work begins. I'm going to let this draft sit for a little while so I can go into the next one with some perspective and freshness. It's going to need it. I know there are problems. Holes that need to be filled. Scenes that need work for it to make sense to someone other than myself. Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on myself and just accept this small victory on the screenwriting battlefield. For now I will celebrate...progress bar full!

Quote

2005-11-07T12:08:00.000-05:00

"If my film makes one more person miserable, I'll feel I've done my job." Woody Allen

Declare Your Independence

2005-11-07T10:46:00.000-05:00

Not everyone knows who the Polish Brothers are. They are responsible for making quirky, sometimes surreal films that have slipped under the radar in a world filled with bombast. Films that have starred the likes of solid talent like James Woods and Nick Nolte. I have only seen Northfork and found it to be a deliberately, well crafted film. From these twins comes a book that follows an already stacked section of how-to's on filmmaking. The Declaration of Independent Filmmaking, written by the Polish brothers, does something different. It doesn't try to sell you the withered, false dream and generally bad advice of making a film financed by the selling of your home. That method, while admirable, will serve no one, especially the filmmaker. The book also seems to counteract the thought that a $7,000 film is all you need to make it in the biz. That was a great marketing trick but anyone who knows anything knows it takes a LOT of work and planning. This book takes a real world approach to making films without studio money by example, all coming from credited filmmakers. I'm not praising it because I haven't read it yet but I have just ordered the book and will do a review on this savage art.... In the meantime you can check this review and go rent their films.

Related: I just got it in the mail after ordering it last night. Damn that was fast! Thanks Amazon!

Hack

2005-11-02T13:04:00.000-05:00

I have a special place in my heart for the hack. No, not somebody who particularly sucks at their given occupation but the taxi driver. This entry does tie into this savage art... because my screenplay, Where Are You Seventeen? lives in that very world, the world of a car service driver from the Bronx. I drove for a car service for over a decade and it's something you just can't get out of your blood. It shapes your perspective and in some odd way gives you the tools you need to survive in this sad and beautiful world. Not to mention the fact that it's a way to study the human animal while putting much needed coin in your pocket on a daily basis. Think of it as paid research. Ahh, The Way of the Hack. So I'm dedicating this entry to the New York City Taxi Driver. Those soldiers of the street who gain much wordly wisdom by the end of every shift.

This profile on the Gothamist is what inspired this dedication. A hack who shares some of that wisdom.

photo courtesy of New York Hack

Are You Good In A Room?

2005-11-01T17:49:00.000-05:00

Check out the recent podcast of KCRW's The Business. I've been listening for a while now and look forward to each new podcast as it comes out. This week, Claude Brodesser talks to LA Times film critic Ken Turan about his new book, Never Coming to a Theater Near You. Also discussed is why writers crash and burn when it comes to pitching their work and what can be done about it. You can start by cutting a check for a couple grand for consultation from Good in a Room. While you are digging ditches for that bankroll go to free article for ten free tips for better pitching.

It Pains Me So

2005-10-25T17:35:00.000-04:00

Whenever I hear of a filmmaker going through some horrendous experience with their film, whether it be at the hands of the money people or the weather or even because of their own inexperience, it weighs heavy on my heart. The current podcast of The Business talks about actor and filmmaker Adam Goldberg's hell ride to get his film I Love Your Work to the screen. Likable guy, bad luck.

Alfredo Garcia And The Cinematic Ghetto

2005-10-24T09:09:00.000-04:00

Steven Boone over at Big Media Vandalism gives us some great insights into the savagely strange world of Sam Peckinpah's film, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. Relentless, gutsy and totally bizarre, Alfredo Garcia goes into some untested waters of the action genre. Oh, let's face it, it's a western...on peyote washed down with some tequila. So why are all you up-and-comers watching Scarface on a loop for all your cinematic inspiration? Read this instead.

Full Metal Modine

2005-10-20T08:42:00.000-04:00

To say that shooting Full Metal Jacket was something like the experience of Vietnam itself is an understatement. While working tireless hours Matthew Modine happened to be documenting that experience and has transformed it into a scrapbook filled with gorgeous photographs and journal entries. Full Metal Jacket Diary is now available.

The Wildman

2005-10-19T16:14:00.000-04:00

In the recent issue of Filmmaker Magazine outspoken cinematographer/traveler Christopher Doyle checks in on politics, Asian Cinema, Marty and the shitpile that American filmmaking has become. Read the interview here.

Courtesy of Making the Movie

Digital Cinema Society

2005-10-19T09:57:00.000-04:00

For all the digital filmmakers out there and let's face it, we will all be one day, I came across this great resource to keep you informed with new advancements in digital technology, production through post. If you will be in New York on November 13th you can come to their first east coast meeting. All info can be obtained from the Digital Cinema Society website. Make sure you check out the Tech Tips section.

2929 Entertainment Unveils Truly Indie

2005-10-18T12:13:00.000-04:00

Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's company 2929 Entertainment spin off with Truly Indie to offer an alternitive to the broken distibution model that has plagued so many independent filmmakers.

Truly Indie will enable theatrical distribution funded by filmmakers themselves, mainly through 2929's Landmark Theaters, the country's biggest arthouse theater circuit. Offering a twist on the service deal model, a filmmaker pays an up front fee that covers all distribution costs (marketing, advertising, and publicity). Securing a one-week run in at least five markets (or as many as twenty markets), the filmmaker keeps 100% of box office receipts and retains all rights to their film.

I have to say Wagner and Cuban are making some bold moves in the world of filmmaking and distribution. It's a gamble and I'm a gambling man so I'm keeping my eye on how this all unfolds. Hollywood might want to also because if all of 2929's new enterprises blow up they will be looking to xerox the blueprints.

Check here to read more.

Tip Of The Day : Active vs Passive Dialogue

2005-10-17T09:46:00.000-04:00

I haven't been blogging all that much lately because I've been working on my new draft but I did want to add something to the blog that I thought would be helpful to myself and readers of this savage art... Whenever I come across some information in my travels whether it be by my own finding or someone else's I will encapsulate it into a tip.

I found this helpful tip in Karl Iglesias' column in this month's Creative Screenwriting, volume 12,#5. The scope of the column covers how we all strive to create crisp, believable dialogue but can sometimes fall short of this task. In the pursuit of great dialogue one thing must be understood, the character wants something and is having a difficult time getting it. Words need to become action, after all that is what makes an effective screenplay.

Characters negotiate, exploit, coerce, inquire, seduce, irritate, provoke, impress, blackmail, warn or create a power struggle through forceful and confrontational dialogue rather than being sympathetic, aggreeable or conversational. This is what conflict is all about.

And, as we all know, story is about conflict so conflict, in one form of another, must be expressed in your dialogue. One way this can be achieved by having the character ask questions. Questions create a verbal jousting match. It can create a confrontational tone or a coercive one, that's up to you depending on your characters motivation. Ask yourself what they want and what they are not getting when you start writing a scene and your dialogue will improve and flow greatly.

Bloody Sam And Theme Explored

2005-10-11T10:24:00.000-04:00

This weekend was kinda shitty. Weather was miserable so I was destined to staying inside watching The Ballad of Cable Hogue. It is a real flawed gem from wildman director Sam Peckinpah. Let me just say this up front, I am a big admirer of his work. Peckinpah might be the most misunderstood genius in the world of cinema. The first time I saw this film was at Lincoln Center a few years back when they did a retrospective of his work including a new director's cut print of The Wild Bunch. I was in heaven. On the schedule was this film. Forgotten and worn maybe like the man himself, I believe The Ballad of Cable Hogue was Peckinpah's way of exposing how he felt about his own life in the film biz. It deals with an old coot in the west who is on the cusp of the industrial revolution in America. Always authentic, Peckinpah takes us through this heartfelt journey of American ingenuity from the lone loser's point-of-view. He creates fortune from nothing and finds his life turned around only to be crushed by the inevitable, technology. As Cable Hogue, Jason Robards gives us insight into a man that just wants to be worth something in this world and in the end he is, to himself and the people around him. If you want to see how theme and character are skillfully intertwoven this would be a solid example along with most of Peckinpah's better works.

Right now it's only available on VHS and you might find some film techniques to be antiquated and some just plain laughable making Cable Hogue uneven but it still does not take away from it's overall power. There have been rumors of Warner Brothers giving his catalog the serious treatment by way of a box set in the not to distant future. He will probably always be remembered as being responsible for creating the most violent films in Hollywood history but one thing you will always walk away with after seeing a Sam Peckinpah film, as Tom Petty says, even the losers get lucky some times.

I Feel So Used

2005-10-10T18:03:00.000-04:00

Ya got me Rob McKittrick but you don't have my $10.50.

County Of New York Pays For Screenplay Development

2005-10-04T20:55:00.000-04:00

My new adventure this week was jury duty. I postponed the last time around to do an editing gig so here I was spending two days in a holding pen waiting for my name to be called. Seems like the County of New York couldn't get their shit together because Day One consisted of drinking coffee, reading Linda Seger's book, Making A Good Script Great, being entertained by a great stand-up/jury clerk named Walter (thanks for making the time go a little quicker) and going over my outline for Where Are You Seventeen? I've been away from it for a while and now I'm ready to dive back in full force except after going over my outline I realized how disconnected I was from my own material. It kind of freaked me out because the last time around I was INTO the story. Creating an entirely new outline made sense and it worked except perusing it this time around made me see some holes, things were not coming together.

By Day Two I felt like I was getting closer to the original narrative thread I had but I have to say I was shook up by how lost I was. More coffee, more stand-up except not from Walter. A new clerk announced this morning that all the computers were down due to a water leak. After about two hours the repair wasn't coming together like they expected so we all got dismissed. I'm off the hook for a couple of years and $80 bucks richer. Whooo hooo!!! Thanks County of New York.

Short Script Coming Together Though

2005-10-04T20:47:00.000-04:00

Today I finished the first draft of a short script I've been working on. It was one of the reasons I wasn't so ready to dive head first into the feature, Where Are You Seventeen? (for the other reason, read above) I wanted to get at least a first draft under my belt for my workshop on Thursday nights. I'm due to read my pages on the 20th so by then I should have taken another stab at it to work out the kinks. Reading your work to strangers is tough enough. Reading your bad work to strangers is about as appetizing as swallowing your own fist.

How True

2005-10-01T10:24:00.000-04:00

Last night my girlfriend and I had dinner with a friend. I call him that now because of what friends do for each other. Sometimes they give you tough love when you need it. A slap in the face and a little shake up about what you need to be doing with your life. This friend happened to read an earlier draft of The Face of the Earth and for some strange reason saw something in it. That was a while ago and he wanted an update. Noticing that my progress bar hasn't budged at all since we spoke last perturbed him.

"Got an outline!"

"Okay, when ya gonna write the script?"

"Well, I'm in this workshop."

"That's great, when ya gonna write the script."

All this in a serious but well-intentioned tone. All this to beat me into realizing the now. You have the now and it's fleeting. You know, the get busy living or get busy dying thing. No truer words spoken. A theme that's been all around me lately. After all, this is coming from a guy who got me to reinvest all this time back into this screenplay. Call it an intervention. If my girlfriend told me that it was planned all along I really wouldn't have doubted it. But it wasn't. Coming off a trip from the Toronto Film Festival, just a guy in town to do some business and then off to the Woodstock Film Festival to gracefully float about the room being the man. Screenwriter. Provocateur.

So here's the assignment. Five pages a day, new draft in forty-five days. Looks like I'm back in the twelve-step program.

Sincerely,

A friend of Bill

Do You Want That On DVD, Cable Or In The Theater?

2005-09-25T17:03:00.000-04:00

Like death and taxes there is another certainty in life, technology and the hunger for it will never cease, ever. Recently, there is a lot of hub-bub over the simultaneous release of films theatrically and on DVD. Add cable to the mix like in the case of Steven Soderbergh's Bubble, his new experimental film under the Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner banner 2929 Productions, and you have a three-pronged approach that might produce some serious returns. Cuban and Wagner also own HDNet and Landmark Theaters. Soderbergh is signed to direct two more features for 2929. The argument is that the industry will eventually cannibalize itself by utilizing this business model. It has yet to be seen.

photo credit courtesy of Donald Weber for the New York Times

I got a glimpse of how this might play out by seeing a banner ad on IMDB recently for Carlito's Way:Rise To Power, the prequel to the Brian DePalma film starring Al Pacino. That DVD is to be released 9/27 with a theatrical release 9/30. That is an example of how a built in audience might actually go the extra mile and buy the DVD if they walk out of the theater satisfied. Take this one step further. I went to see A History of Violence on Friday night (more on that later) and Saturday my girlfriend and I started talking about the whole DVD distribution thing. Yeah, she's good like that. What if they offered the DVD in the theater? As an impulse buy, if you were that into that film would you buy the DVD on the way out? I think you would. If Lord of the Rings offered a DVD at the door after ever film do ya think fans would have walked out empty handed? I don't think so.

For some more thoughts on distribution check out CinemaTech and Blog Maverick and a New York Times article on Soderbergh's approach to Bubble.

Dramatic Writing Workshop: Day 2

2005-09-23T12:37:00.000-04:00

Michael Lombardi as Michael Silletti aka "Probie" on Rescue Me

So this was the day of introductions. "Hi, my name is Monkey Brains and I am a hack writer/director who needs to be weighted down with an anvil long enough to finish anything due to this affliction called ADD that I wholly blame on the internet". Around the circle, this is my name and this is my project. You get the picture. Like I mentioned before, I'm the new guy. The probie if you're into Rescue Me. About a dozen or so in the Thursday night workshop. When it got to me I freaked out. I had a total meltdown. Maybe it was not being in this kind of vunerable situation for such a long time. Maybe just the usual fears of being a fraud. I felt sick to my stomach. So what occured next will be no suprise. Two tables joined together with tables all around I was centered outside the gap between them. I couldn't keep it together and when it was my turn to speak up I just gagged and well, without going into too much detail, released. Let's just say I was totally mortified and will not be returning next week or the week after that.

Gotcha! It didn't go down like that but maybe one day it will. Everyone went through the projects they will be working on. I'm working on a short and The Face of the Earth. I have committed to reading a draft of the short on October 20th. I'll make sure I don't eat anything before class.

Short Script

2005-09-21T13:23:00.000-04:00

I know, you're looking at my progress bar for The Face of the Earth and you're seeing nothin'. Nothing! I'll be workshopping that but before you think I'm a total lazy slob I've been working on a short script that hopefully will become my next short film. There. Now I'm responsible. First draft, coming up!

Google Alerts For Research

2005-09-20T17:42:00.000-04:00

Using Google as a research tool is nothing new but to strengthen it's power you might want to incorporate it's e-mail alerts feature. Google Alerts will send you e-mail alerts when you set up the criteria you need and where you need it to come from. Comes in handy when you have to know the newest, latest.

RESFEST Wrap-Up

2005-09-20T10:09:00.000-04:00

Here is the wrap-up I promised for RESFEST: Something I did this year that I didn't last year was the Studio Tour ( photo of the studio Honest ). Departing from the Tribeca Arts Center we took a tour of five Manhattan based studios. All different sizes and levels. Just a little view of the process of going from concept to finished product, ya know, in the big city. Throw in a little swag. Loves me that swag! Bus driven, check. A/C, check. No lunch, blech. For $75 a pop, you think they could spring for a pastrami sandwich over at Katz's. I walked over at the end of the tour from Rivington to help myself. I loves me some pastrami. Very cool overall to see how these studio operate. I have my own editing studio and was curious to see how the big boys do it.

I attended two short film programs, 1 and 3. What stood out from both? Flesh was the obvious attention grabber from the first program proving that art sometimes has to shock to grab your attention. It did. Images of planes flying into a pornographic Manhattan skyline screening only a few blocks from that actual reality four years prior almost to the day left some people taken back. Not speechless though. An audience member who had a brother lost in the falling of the towers spoke up and was outraged. I guess that's the price of art.

Shorts Program 3 consisted of the more surreal. The latest from Chris Cunningham called Rubber Johnny proved to be as disturbing on the big screen as the little. Another excellent short that I found just as unsettling was Le Régulateur, an animated piece about child adoption in the future.

On the tech side I checked out some of the latest and greatest from Panasonic and Canon. They both marched out their new cameras. The HVX-200 Panasonic's tapeless HD camera looked promising as did the XL-H1 from Canon. Observations of both cameras can be seen at zeroes and ones, my editorial blog.

All around good fun and a chance to see some cutting edge filmmaking. Check the tour schedule, there's a good chance it will be coming through to a city nearby.