Split Down the Middle: M. Night Shyamalan’s Split Balances Studio Know-How With Indie Innovation

Like the endings of several of his films, the trajectory of M. Night Shyamalan’s career contains a shocking twist. After devoting the last decade of his career to big budget films like...

First Draft: Give Your Characters Well-Defined Paths and Choices and Your Audience Can Believe Anything

In partnership with Creative Screenwriting and ScreenCraft, “First Draft” is a series on everything to...

The Art of the Tease: Reel ’Em In With A Trailer That Looks the Very Best Your Film Can Look

A trailer is an audience’s first glimpse at what a movie will...

Two Against the World: Watch the Mothers and Sons of J.A. Bayona’s Films Face Life’s Hardships Side By Side (Video)

Since he burst onto the international moviemaking scene in 2007, J.A. Bayona...

Team-Directing: What We Learned By Making Our Feature Drama Claire in Motion as a Pair

Many years ago, two friends who had been film school classmates decided...

Don't Miss

Moviemaking
Getting A+ VFX: How Top-Notch Visual Effects Can Make Your Indie Feature Dazzling
Ian Failes | January 4, 2017
The average indie moviemaker: “Visual effects? Not on my budget.” Not so fast. Independent features can make the most of visual effects by using them in smart ways. We...
- Paula Schwartz | January 3, 2017
  Children in Peril: Why A Monster Calls Director J. A. Bayona is All About Intensity
- Dennis Ho | January 2, 2017
  The Perfect Match (Cut): Why An Extra Set Of Eyes (and Scissors) Could Be The Key To Editing Your Indie
- Carlos Aguilar | December 29, 2016
  Laughing With Pain: Director Maren Ade and Sandra Hüller on Their Hilarious Father-Daughter Dramedy Toni Erdmann
- Paula Schwartz | December 27, 2016
  Charlotte Bruus Christensen: Why the Danish DP Was the Surprisingly Perfect Choice to Lens Fences
- Max Weinstein | December 23, 2016
  Frame of Mind: Darren Lynn Bousman Takes You Behind the Scenes of Abattoir (Video)
Videos
Wisdom
By Richard Ayoade
“A New Manifesto for F(i)lm:” A (Satirical) Excerpt from Ayoade on Ayoade

Richard Ayoade is a cinephile. That much is made abundantly clear in Ayoade on Ayoade: A Cinematic Odyssey, his book of essays, interviews with himself and general cinematic musings....
- Paul Schrader | November 7, 2016
  Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker: Paul Schrader
- Mira Nair | September 25, 2016
  Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker: Mira Nair
- John Turturro | August 8, 2016
  Things I’ve Learned As a Moviemaker: John Turturro
- Susanne Bier | February 18, 2016
  Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker: Susanne Bier
Gallery

Latest Blogs
- August 19, 2016
  Film School Alumni Advice: Abortion: Stories Women Tell Director Tracy Droz Tragos
- August 9, 2016
  What’s in Your Kit? The Shell Collector Cinematographer Akiko Ashizawa
- July 14, 2016
  Flowchart: So I Went to Film School. Now What?
- June 6, 2016
  Film School Alumni Advice: Now You See Me 2 Director Jon M. Chu
- June 2, 2016
  Film School Alumni Advice: The Fits Director Anna Rose Holmer
Best Of

Motion Picture Production Guide 2017: 25 Resources to Get Your Film Made Faster, Cheaper, Better
MM Staff | November 28, 2016
“Who and what can I use to make my movie? Where do I even begin?” You may remember, if you’ve been reading MovieMaker for a while, an annual directory...

ICYMI: The Best of October 2016 on Moviemaker.com
MM Staff | October 31, 2016
Take a break from crafting that last-second DIY costume to revisit the best articles of October 2016 on moviemaker.com. We’ve picked out our favorite 10 posts from the past month for...

The 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World, 2016
MM Staff | September 7, 2016
In case you’ve forgotten, sometimes movies can just be about fun. Welcome to the 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World. A companion list to our definitive “50 Film...

6

MovieMaker Presents: Austin Film Festival’s 25 Screenwriters to Watch, 2016
Austin Film Festival and MM Editors | July 19, 2016
Screenwriters are, of course, the perennially overworked, underappreciated artists whose heart, soul and lifeblood the movie world depends on. Since its inception in 1993 the Austin Film Festival (AFF)...

My Top 10: Brad Furman’s 10 Favorite Romance Movies
Brad Furman | July 12, 2016
With The Take (2007), The Lincoln Lawyer (2011) and Runner Runner (2013), director Brad Furman has staked out a place in the crime thriller genre, showing off his instincts...

Year in MovieMaker

Inside the Issue: Acting

How to Get More From Actors: Rainbow Time’s Linas Phillips Asked Jay Duplass, Melanie Lynskey and More
Linas Phillips | November 3, 2016
Don’t actors know that you have a million other things to do on your movie? They’re not the center of the universe! Wrong—they are. Or rather, you need to...

1
Inside the Issue: Distribution

MovieMaker’s 2017 Guide to DIY Digital Distribution: Our Fifth Annual VOD Overview
Erin Trahan | November 7, 2016
While it’s still churning, the digital distribution dust has settled just enough to bring good and bad news to indie moviemakers. Often these are two sides of the same...
Inside the Issue: Screenwriting

Train Yourself to Be Open to Ideas: Jeff Nichols on Screenwriting
Jeff Nichols | November 2, 2016
I’ve made five films now and written all of them. I’ve been fortunate enough to keep creative control over my work, and that’s because I’ve kept control of the...

1