Film Strategy

Overnight | Tony Montana & Mark Brian Smith | 2003 | USA | Format: 16mm, Super 8, Video | 82 min Overnight  should be required viewing for every film student, not because it is the pinnacle of documentary filmmaking but because it is an eye-opening lesson in the dangers of hubris. In addition, it's a glimpse into the business, how political it can be and why you should read the contracts before signing (or have your lawyer read it for you). It's not just a lil luck and a lot of talent that you need to make it, you need a work ethic, some charm and a flexible strategy. The filmmaker is an artist and some vanity is to be expected when you are dealing with expressing a powerful and unique vision but film is also a collaborative art that requires the OTHER people to make that powerful and unique vision a reality. Too many directors forget that as they go into diva mode a la Troy Duffy. You can be eccentric but don't be an asshole. Besides as the history* of this docum

Good news for filmmakers and producers in the NY area. I'm teaching 2 workshops at Bronx Community College this spring. The first one is one for entrepreneurs: "Starting a Business in New York" - April 7, 9, 14 and 16  (p.25) The second one is also for entrepreneurs plus artists, writers and inventors, a primer on "Copyrights, Trademarks and Patents" - May 5, 2015  (p. 24) Since filmmakers are BOTH entrepreneurs and artists, these workshops will be very fruitful for you to take if you can. ~~ Danny Jiminian To learn more and register, check out the Spring 2015 catalog HERE .

Yesterday, March 23, 2015, Akira Kurosawa would've turned105. Since it's never too late to learn from a master, here is famed novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez interviewing Akira Kurosawa about the art and craft of cinema, filmmaking and screenwriting and most importantly, humanity. On June 23, 1991, a uthor Gabriel Garcia Marquez spoke with 81-year-old Japanese director Akira Kurosawa in Tokyo last October when the film maker was shooting his latest movie, "Rhapsody in August." The film, which is scheduled for release in this country in December, was recently shown at the Cannes Film Festival where, Marquez reports, it received public and critical acclaim but annoyed some U.S. journalists "who considered it hostile to their country." Marquez, a former film critic in Bogata, Colombia as well as the author of "A Hundred Years of Solitude," spoke with Kurosawa on a diverse range of topics for more than six hours. Gabriel García Márquez: I do

Filmmakers sacrifice alot for their art; their sleep, their bank account, their time, their family, their sanity, even their health. That is understandable to a degree since the need and desire to express yourself trumps the more rational necessities of life. But while filmmakers, as artists, might believe there is no limit, there really is and that is when you take someone's life in your hands. It feels morally repugnant to risk someone's life for art or money. But it happens in film. And the reality is that it has to happen. It has to happen because without taking risks you can't "get that shot" or "finish the film" or "make the fight scene look amazing." But because there are risks to making movies, the filmmaker has a sacred duty to do all within their power to minimize the risks.   What is truly morally repugnant is when a filmmaker risks someone's life without doing all in their power to minimize the risks. Accidents will alwa

SXSW Film 2015  currently underway from March 13-21, 2015. Check out their lineup: NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION  - 10 world premieres in competition 6 Years Director/Screenwriter: Hannah Fidell A young couple bound by a seemingly ideal love begins to unravel as unexpected opportunities spin them down a volatile and violent path and threaten the future they had always imagined.  Cast: Taissa Farmiga, Ben Rosenfield, Lindsay Burdge, Joshua Leonard, Jennifer Lafleur, Peter Vack, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, Molly McMichael, Jason Newman.  (World Premiere) THE BOY Director: Craig Macneill, Screenwriters: Craig Macneill, Clay McLeod Chapman THE BOY  is an intimate portrait of a 9-year-old sociopath's growing fascination with death.  Cast: David Morse, Rainn Wilson, Jared Breeze, Bill Sage, Mike Vogel, Zuleikha Robinson, Aiden Lovekamp.  (World Premiere) Creative Control Director: Benjamin Dickinson, Screenwriters: Benjamin Dickinson, Micah Bloomberg In near future Brooklyn, an