Dance with Films at this Week-Long Fest

by Kyle Rupprecht | Published Jul. 21, 2008

The 11th annual Dances with Films, taking place at the Laemmle Sunset 5 Theatre in Los Angeles from July 24 - 31, is a truly independent film festival where what you do, not who you know, is what really matters. Talent trumps connections at Dances with Films; the rules mandate that films in competition involve no established directors, actors, writers or producers. (No comments yet)

Spotlight on Aspiring Moviemakers at the Angelus Student Film Festival

by Kyle Rupprecht

Moviemakers with heart, take note: The Angelus Student Film Festival is awaiting your next film. The 2008 festival, which will be held Sept. 13 at the Directors Guild of America Theater in Hollywood, honors future moviemakers as they create works that respect the dignity and complexity of the human condition. And after 12 years honoring the inspiring works of student moviemakers, Angelus has expanded to include an accomplished jury for their documentary competition.

Roger Ebert Celebrates 10 Years of Overlooked Movies

by Jennifer M. Wood

He may be the world's best-known film critic, but the movies that Roger Ebert is most interested in celebrating at his annual Ebertfest are far from household titles. In fact, "overlooked" is the adjective Ebert himself would use to describe these films, which make up the program of the five-day fest, which kicks off on April 23rd at the Virginia Theatre in Champaign, Illinois.

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Getting to the Next Level in Wilmington

by Lauren Barbato
While no one can say that Hollywood isn’t a great place to be as a moviemaker, with its star power and extensive history, it’s not necessarily the only place to be. In fact, in the past few decades, the thriving film community of Wilmington, North Carolina has been giving Hollywood a run for its money. There may not be a Grauman’s Chinese Theater or Walk of Fame, yet what Wilmington lacks in legendry it makes up in its hunger for independent moviemaking.

From Friday, June 27th through Sunday, June 29th, the moviemakers of Wilmington will be satiated when the inaugural Wilmington Inside the Film Industry Film Conference brings a chunk of Hollywood to the east coast.

(No comments yet)

Kung Fu Panda Drop Kicks the Competition

by Jennifer M. Wood
Seems like all those promos must have paid off—first at Cannes, then the TV commercial onslaught—as Kung Fu Panda kicked some serious butt at the box office over the weekend, out-grossing Adam Sandler's new film, You Don't Mess With the Zohan, by 50 percent. The animated action flick, featuring the voices of Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman and Jackie Chan, took in $60 million over the weekend—while Zohan earned $40 million.

Harrison Ford and Shia LaBeouf's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull held strong in the number three position with $22.8 million, while last year's surprise topper, Michael Patrick King's Sex and the City, saw a more than 62 percent decline in ticket sales, with a weekend total of $21.3 million. (1 comment)

Sneak Peek: Sex and The City

by Jennifer M. Wood

Four years after Carrie Bradshaw bid au revoir to Paris, the sex columnist and her trio of best friends—Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha—are back on the big screen, and women are clinking their cosmo glasses all over. As fans of the TV show gear up for next week’s long-awaited release of Sex and the City: The Movie, MM takes a sneak peek at what all the excitement is about. (No comments yet)

Lights! Camera! Geritol!

by Christian Toto
Today’s stars keep themselves in better shape than ever before, and audiences seem to like that. In fact, box office receipts for recent flicks featuring some of our favorite aging action heroes are so encouraging that studio execs are practically rubbing their hands together in anticipation of the new Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) and Sylvester Stallone (Rambo) vehicles. Stallone certainly didn’t hurt himself when his more famous screen persona—Rocky Balboa—earned critical acclaim and a respectable $70 million in last year’s titular blockbuster, chasing doubts that the actor-director was simply giving himself a starring role in order to slow a career slide.
(3 comments)

Lifetime Movie Networks Contest Gives Female Moviemakers a Voice

by Melissa Rose Kimbler
Of the three women who have been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director, not one has taken home the little golden man. Lifetime Movie Networks has always been known for prizing stories involving women and this year, it is lending its power to help advance the female moviemaker to new heights with the Every Woman’s Film Competition.

Women from all over the globe have the chance to submit their three- to five-minute short non-documentary film to be judged by a selection of powerful women in Hollywood. Last year’s panel included Angela Bassett, Jennifer Lopez, Lauren Shuler Donner, Gale Anne Hurd and Mimi Leder.

(3 comments)

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#74: Spring 2008

These stories were published in the Spring 2008 MovieMaker Magazine.

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From the Archives

Dawn of the Doc | Spring 2004
Adapting to Directing
MM’s Top 10 U.S. Cities to be a Moviemaker 2006 | Winter 2006
Rockets Redglare | Fall 2002
Paradise Falls | April/May 1999
Rebel Director John Boorman | February 1999
The Best of Steve McQueen | November/December 1999
Letters | February 1994
Foreign Genre Titles | Fall 2002
Year of the Indie | Special 2006

Latest from the blog:

Doorpost Awards $300,000 to “Undiscovered” Moviemakers

The Doorpost Film Project, a “contest aimed at discovering and developing moviemakers capable of producing films that inspire and influence rather than simply entertain,” just finished round one and is now left with 15 finalists who are described by Nathan Elliott, the Project's director, as “a globally, ethnically and racially diverse group of filmmakers that have one important thing in common: They're enormously talented."

Posted 07.23.08 | News/Commentary | No comments yet...