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May 12, 2008

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NYC Horror Film Festival Takes a Bite of the Big Apple

Festival is scaring up horror fans in its sixth year

When it comes to Halloween in New York City, there are certain spine-tingling traditions that don't change, including the New York City Horror Film Festival, which will celebrate its sixth year when it kicks off a five-day event on October 24th. (No comments yet)


Alex Rodriguez’s International Language of Editing

The Oscar-nominated editor of Children of Men gets the final cut

With a recent Oscar nomination for Children of Men and his latest film, Gael García Bernal's Déficit, playing major festivals like Toronto and Cannes, French-born editor Alex Rodgriguez has become a vital part of the new wave of Latin American cinema. (4 comments)


Kasi Lemmons Finds the Voice to Speak Out in Talk to Me

For writer-director Kasi Lemmons, making movies has never been a question of black or white, but rather varying shades of gray. "The gray area is so much more interesting and so much more realistic and valid to our experiences,” says the 46-year-old multi-hyphenate. “People are not all good or all bad. They’re complicated. Complicated characters are what interest me." (2 comments)


Chicago’s Hidden Hollywood

Rachel Weisz and Vince Vaughn star in <i>Fred Claus</i> (2007).

It’s the Windy City—home to Oprah and presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama. But to moviemakers big and small, the city of Chicago is so much more says resident Ruth L. Ratny. Ratny also happens to be the editor and publisher of ReelChicago.com, an online magazine dedicated to uncovering the city’s hidden movie world. (3 comments)


Mill Valley Film Festival Celebrates 30 Years of Cinema

Since the Mill Valley Film Festival came to exist in 1977, it has managed to remain a cornerstone of the film festival circuit, encouraging the careers of once-beginners like Ang Lee and offering great programming for movie aficionados, selling approximately 40,000 tickets each year for its 11-day event, which kicks off its 30th year on October 4th.
(No comments yet)


Killer Script

James Vanderbilt goes back in time for David Fincher's Zodiac

Selling a spec script is no easy task. Selling a spec script about a real-life serial killer who was never caught is slightly harder. So how did writer James Vanderbilt manage to do just that with Zodiac? By writing a cohesive, suspenseful and surprisingly humorous screenplay about one of the most fascinating manhunts in U.S history. (It didn't hurt to have David Fincher attached to direct.) (2 comments)


Around Every Corner

Forget your best friend, neighbor or Uncle Larry. Finding a professional actor for your project is as easy as S-A-G.

SAGIndie ads seem ubiquitous of late. They're on billboards throughout U.S. cities and popping up in all sorts of national magazines (including MovieMaker). Often featuring a neophyte moviemaker with a recognizable actor, the ads make it appear as if casting a "name" is relatively easy. (No comments yet)


Leave Your Inhibitions at the Door

The Reeling Film Festival celebrates 25 years as Chicago's foremost gay and lesbian film festival

With an influx of gay and lesbian themed films making their way into mainstream America, you would think that running a gay and lesbian film festival in this country would be a money-making breeze, right? Well, sort of. As the second largest LGBTQ film festival in the country, Chicago's Reeling Film Festival is truly a groundbreaking event. (No comments yet)


Henry Jaglom: Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker

Tell the truth. (1 comment)


Guillermo Navarro: Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker

Experiment with commercials. I have shot commercials between features since the beginning of my career. They can be experimental, both technically and in the visual language, which contributes to telling stories. I once shot a commercial in the Yukon Mountains where dusk lasted for hours. That gave us an extraordinary opportunity to dig deeper and explore the photographic variables of the location. (No comments yet)


Guillermo Navarro’s Filmmaking Fairytale

Cinematographer Guillermo Navarro displays his much-deserved Oscar for Guillermo del Toro's <i>Pan's Labyrinth</i>. Photo: AMPAS

Celebrated cinematographer makes history with Oscar for Pan's Labyrinth

Cinematographer Guillermo Navarro, ASC made history when he earned an Academy Award for Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth in 2007, as it was only the second time that a foreign-language film with English subtitles claimed top honors in the Best Cinematography competition. (No comments yet)


Mike Binder: Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker

1. Take a nap at lunch. The A.D and producer will always beg you to have some meeting or scout something, or talk through another scene, but always say no. They'll learn to find other times for your attention. You need time alone in your trailer or on a walk or a drive for yourself, or hang out with a buddy. Get a half hour where no one's asking you something at the very least. The second half of the days dailies will thank you for it. (No comments yet)


Amy Vincent: Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker

I was a camera loader, assistant and camera operator on crews with Bob Richardson, Bill Pope, John Lindley and Darius Wolski. All of them are master cinematographers. They were my mentors. I saw up close how they made decisions and dealt with the cast and crew. That was a big part of my education. (1 comment)


James Vanderbilt: Things I’ve Learned as a MovieMaker

There are a lot of smart and intelligent people working in this business who are excited to make challenging films. (No comments yet)


Christopher Rouse: Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker

Story comes first. And last. (No comments yet)


One Day in September

Oscar-nominated editor Christopher Rouse reunites with director Paul Greengrass to retell the events of September 11th in United 93

From bringing the world's last pregnant woman to safety in a post-apocalyptic London to sniffing out a rat in Boston's Irish mob, this year's collection of Oscar-nominated editors were faced with a host of tough obstacles. But no editor had as difficult a challenge as Clare Douglas, Richard Pearson and Christopher Rouse, the trio of editors who were tasked with the delicate duty of cutting Paul Greengrass' United 93. (No comments yet)


Michael Ballhaus: Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker

You never stop learning. I'm still learning every day, on every picture. (No comments yet)


A Lesson in Collaboration

The Departed marks the seventh collaboration between acclaimed cinematographer Michael Ballhaus and legendary director Martin Scorsese

As he approaches his fiftieth anniversary in the movie business, cinematographer Michael Ballhaus sat down with MM for a candid discussion of his life's work-from Beware of a Holy Whore to The Departed-giving plenty of insight into the fine art of writing with light. (No comments yet)


Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker

The budget doesn't matter. $5,000 or $50 million, there's always someone to tell you "there's not enough money." (No comments yet)


Bridging the Gap

David Paterson brings his mother's famous novel to life in the big-screen adaptation of Bridge to Terabithia

Most screenwriters will tell you they feel a personal connection to the scripts they write, but David Paterson has a whole other layer of attachment. His most recent effort, Bridge to Terabithia, is based on the Newbery Medal-winning novel written by his mother, Katherine. (No comments yet)


Things I’ve Learned as a MovieMaker

I know from being on the other side of the lens how important it is for the director to be able to communicate and earn everyone's trust. The first few times I directed, I only thought about recording the actors' performances. Every once and a while I would get an idea about how framing a shot could have an impact, but I didn't really understand that part of filmmaking in the beginning. I'm always prodding myself and whatever cinematographer I'm working with to try to encourage me to think of ways to assist the actor with the composition and cinematic choices. (No comments yet)


Happy Days Forever

After 50 years in Hollywood, actor-writer-director-producer Ron Howard admits that he's still got a lot to learn

Though the role of cinematographer is not one he's ever tackled directly, actor-writer-producer-director Ron Howard's behind-the-camera prowess has been impressive enough to earn him the 2007 American Society of Cinematographers Board of Governors Award, which is presented annually to an individual who has made extraordinary contributions to advancing the art of moviemaking. (1 comment)


Film Arts Foundation Still Growing Strong

After 30 years, Film Arts Foundation more relevant than ever in digital age

In 1976, the Film Arts Foundation opened in San Francisco with 15 original members. Today it's still growing-servicing more than 2,400 members-and changing with these digital times. Veteran and independent moviemakers find assistance through the foundation in all aspects of the industry, from education to distribution. (No comments yet)


Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker

Stick to your guns. I got a lot of pressure from the studio heads [shooting the pilot for "Scarface"], who wanted me to "brighten it up." I'd tell them that 'the director doesn't want it bright.' The studio barred me from timing the TV show, but I went into the suite at 5:00 a.m. and did it anyhow. I wasn't invited to shoot another film for that studio for more than 20 years. (No comments yet)


Donald Morgan is Still Making Movie Magic

Cinematographer Donald Morgan. Photo by Ken George.

For veteran DP Donald M. Morgan, the best is yet to come

In a career spanning more than 30 years, cinematographer Donald M. Morgan has worked with Robert Zemeckis, John Carpenter, Roger Young and Joseph Sargent, among others, pulling in six award nominations from the American Society of Cinematographers and nine from the Emmy Awards along the way, all the while maintaining a moxie that pushes the boundaries of his art form. (No comments yet)


Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker

Only a madman would sit down to write a script believing that it will one day become a successful movie. Be a madman. As the Book of the Samurai notes, "Nothing great was ever accomplished through common sense. One must become insane and desperate." (No comments yet)


Family Values

Screenwriter Michael Arndt gives the family road trip a whole new meaning in Little Miss Sunshine

For a screenwriter, there's no greater risk than throwing in the towel of a life of secure employment and handing yourself over to the writing trade. And there's no greater payoff than writing a hit movie the first time out. As the awards season kicks off, MM chatted with Little Miss Sunshine scribe Michael Arndt about risking it all for Hollywood. (No comments yet)


Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker

You can't be fatalistic. You can't sit down and let it roll downhill. You can't say films are all about fantasy, and meanwhile we destroy the planet. (No comments yet)


Fighting Irish

Ken Loach takes on the Irish resistance in The Wind That Shakes the Barley

Although the storyline of Ken Loach's new film, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, seems somewhat forced, the movie succeeds in making the subject vibrant and visual for viewers today. MM caught up with Loach and The Wind That Shakes the Barley screenwriter Paul Laverty to get to the bottom of the matter. (No comments yet)


Things I’ve Learned As A Moviemaker

Don't ever let them see you panic or lose your composure. (No comments yet)


Luck of the Irish

Brad Gann trades in his pen for a director's chair with two back-to-back films, Invincible and Black Irish

With a hit movie just barely out of theaters, it's hard to believe Brad Gann's second feature film is already in the can. But as his script for Invincible, starring Mark Wahlberg and Greg Kinnear, was being shot in Philadelphia, Gann was already busy on the set of the 24-day shoot for Black Irish, a movie he wrote, produced and directed. (No comments yet)


Things I’ve Learned As A Moviemaker

It's a good thing to be frightened. In fact, you should be scared every day you go to work. There should be something that is daunting to you that you haven't eliminated all doubts about. There should be something that keeps you awake at night. (No comments yet)


Picture Perfect

Allen Daviau celebrates almost 40 years in the cinematography business

Allen Daviau worked his way up the Hollywood food chain by providing lighting for high school stage plays, working the graveyard shift in photo labs and shooting a live television show for $100 per week. These days he's best known as the cinematographer behind some of cinema's most beautiful photographic moments in such films as E.T., The Color Purple, Empire of the Sun and Bugsy. In the course of his career, Daviau has earned five Academy Award nominations and, in February of 2007, he will receive the American Society of Cinematographers Lifetime Achievement Award. (No comments yet)


Things I’ve Learned As A Moviemaker

Follow through with your word. People give a lot of false promises in this business. Fight that temptation. (No comments yet)


Mr. Roboto Revisited

Actor Tony Hale is living life after "Arrested Development" to the fullest

He's voiced a pope, rocked out to Mr. Roboto and lost his hand to a dolphin. Now he's playing best friend to an almost-serious Will Ferrell. After rising to fame as Buster Bluth on the tragically short-lived series "Arrested Development," Tony Hale is taking Hollywood by storm, with a slate of new films in various stages of production--including Paul Feig's Unaccompanied Minors and Marc Forster's Stranger Than Fiction. (1 comment)


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This weekend at the box office saw Iron Man holding steady for the second week in a row despite anticipated competition from the newly-released Speed Racer, starring Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci and Susan Sarandon. The first movie from Marvel Studios took in over $50 million dollars this past weekend, bringing its total gross up to $175 million. Speed Racer finished second with a cool $20-plus million.

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