It appears that even when you’re Spielberg you struggle for autonomy from the big bad studios in Hollywood. After years working under Paramount, Spielberg is taking Dreamworks, along with some hefty Indian indie financing, out on his own again.  David Geffen will be leaving Dreamworks and Jeffrey Katzenberg will still be involved with Dreamworks Animation and Paramount.


Skip to the 23second mark of this video for a report on this story:

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Red Digital Cinema has announced they are changing everything about the Epic and Scarlet cameras.

“Just like Scarlet, Epic has changed completely. Throw out everything you thought before. We’ll reset the deck at the same time we announce about Scarlet.”


I’m very curious to see what they are intending to do now with these cameras, and specifically where the price points are going to be.  I doubt I’ll be in the market for the Epic, but if the Scarlet is anywhere near where they originally said it would be in terms of what it can do and what it will cost, then I may want one : )  Does anyone have any thoughts as to what they might be doing?

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This article was written by Jeremiah Daws from Daws Brothers Studios

One of the most important things a filmmaker needs to do is interact with people doing what they want to be doing.  For years I said I wanted to direct but until I got on a real set, spoke with a real director, and watched him work I didn’t really know what it meant.  My brother and I have been fortunate enough to meet some really cool people in the industry, both directors and writers. This helps to make the whole thing real.  If they can do it, so can you.  (And it’s also a really good idea to expand your network.)

My brother and I recently returned from LA.  We were out there for a filmmaker’s workshop.  There were several accomplished producers, directors, and screenwriters who spoke on various panels.  It was a wonderful time to hear from people who actually work in the industry about how the industry works and how they do what they do.


My favorite panel was about TV writing.  There were two writers on the panel.  Daisy Gardner is a screenwriter who has won an Emmy for her work on 30 Rock.  She has written for South Park and now writes for Californication.

Tim Minear was the show runner on Firefly (one of my favorite shows) as well as Angel.  He has written for several other shows including X-Files and Lois and Clark.  He also directs TV.

The biggest thing that struck me about these two writers is that they were normal people.  They were helpful and encouraging.  The panel was great.  My brother and I dominated the session with questions about the writing process in television.

We were excited to hear that shows LOVE to hire writing partners.  They get two people for one paycheck.  Not such good news for us but still, being writing partners does not disqualify us from writing for TV and may actually help our chances.

The question of breaking in to the industry came up.  Their best advice is to write spec scripts from shows that you either want to write for or are similar to the shows you want to write for.  Then send those out to everyone you know in the industry and hope one lands in a show runner’s office.  It seems like that might be easier than getting people to read your big-budget action script.

After the Q and A, we approached Mr. Minear and asked him a few more questions regarding directing.  The first “How do we break into directing for TV?”  His answer was to write for TV.  He said it is so easy to transition from writing a show to directing a few episodes here and there.

The next question I asked – What is your advice for working with actors?  He just shrugged and said, “It’s intuitive.”  I take that to mean, “Don’t overcomplicate it”  (Which sounds very much like advice David Mamet would give.)

The last question I asked him – What advice do you have for directing a scene?  His advice was to spend time in the editing room.  Listen to the editors cursing the director for not getting a certain shot that they really needed and make sure to get that shot.  He said it’s nice to do fancy shots but at the end of the day, just cover it.  Get the wide, the 2-shot, and the close-ups.

As a director, I always compare myself to Steven Spielberg and come up short.  But here was a working director in the business with TONS of experience and he seems to be saying keep it simple.

Check out Tim and Daisy’s IMDB.com pages

Tim Minear

Daisy Gardner

Directing, Screenwriting | 1 Comment »

I stumbled across some comments from someone suggesting that the Toronto International Film Festival wasn’t international enough.  They criticize the festival for placing the majority of their emphasis on the Canadian, American and British films.  Honestly, I don’t think it matters where the films are from, as long as the best ones are getting the most attention as opposed to the ones that just have the biggest marketing budgets.

It’s an interesting topic though, film festivals were originally meant to be a way for smaller independent productions to get noticed.  Now they’re hot spots on the calendars of celebrities and socialites.  Either they’ve sold out, or they’ve just become so successful at doing what they were meant to do, I’ll go with the former.  Right now I’m watching a Canadian celebrity show “E-Talk”, they are covering the festival and the emphasis is definitely on the fashion and Brad and Jen being in the same city, and Ryan Gosling being back with Rachel McAdams.

What do you think?  Are film festivals too pimped out now?  What’s the best way for independents to get noticed now if film festivals are just for the mini-majors?

General Announcements | 2 Comments »

I just stumbled across this resource very much by accident, and really I have not spent a moment looking into it, except for the demo video on the front page.  The concept as I understand it is like an online video dating service for directors and actors, or rather casting directors and actors.  I like the idea so far, have any of you heard of this?  Can some people leave their impressions in the comments for everyone else to see, thanks : )

ps click the image to go to their site

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While I was at NYFA I met my buddy Neil Champagne.  Neil is a Saskatchewan, Canada native who moved to NYC to pursue his filmmaking dreams and had the misfortune of running into me.  We quickly made a Canadian alliance and although I ended up dropping out and leaving NYC because I didn’t think NYFA was for me, Neil and I have remained friends and have kept in contact ever since.  Neil still lives in NYC and was recently working at the Producers Guild as an intern.  In this guest article Neil talks about his experiences with NYFA and how it has set his course for the future.  Neil’s production company is Pop The Cork Productions.

Film school is an interesting question for most, especially if you are interested in becoming a part of one of the largest, and most illustrious businesses in the world. Is film school right for me? What school do I attend? Or do I even need to attend film school to be a filmmaker? Well all the answers to these questions are circumstantial to your situation. Paul Thomas Anderson dropped out of NYU film school to go on to be nominated for an Oscar. While Eli Roth used his time at NYU to build relationships and go on to make multi-million dollar films. I can’t answer those questions mentioned earlier no more than you can, nor can I speak on an experience at NYU, but what I can do is speak about experience at an alternate film school and my experiences starting out in this business.

Being Canadian, and more so being from the middle of nowhere Canada I needed to venture to a larger market to encourage the filmmaking habit. After attending a mediocre Canadian film program that I will leave nameless, I ended up in New York at the New York film Academy. The four year more expensive alternate New York film school was not an option for my bank account. So there I was learning hands on filmmaking as the poster says. Now I know Nyfa has had received a bad rap in the past, and I am here to give my opinion (not right nor wrong just a opinion). Now NYFA has things wrong with it like any other school or business. I guess that is the question school or business? It says school in all of there adds and has a course calendar, but don’t be fooled it is run like the cash grabbing business that it is. I’m sure with the emerging times where everyone wants to be a filmmaker the wise owner thought, “Shit this is a great way to make money”. He was absolutely right and money he makes. With that said, there is part of the problem. There is zero screening process to attend other than a bank statement. This leaves your classmates up to chance. You may get a dedicated filmmaker, or just a rich kid who needs an American Visa and wants to fuck off for a couple of years. To be honest with you and whoever is reading this the school is filled with more rich kid fuck-offs than not.

The administration is run very business like as well. It is very hard to get a straight answer for whatever you need when you need something. A lot of people are there for their paycheck and paycheck only. It is a very chaotic place, where you have to have a repoir and personality to benefit or get any of your needs taken care of. Now don’t let me paint this awful picture because I enjoyed NYFA and it has been very beneficial for me. Not all admin are awful. Some are the most helpful people I have met in the city and I have become good friends with many of them. It is this handful of people who make things a pleasant experience and a good place to be. Take into mind though you have to build relationships with people in order to get anything you need. Let’s say it is good training for the real world where you have to sharpen your social skills. This business is all about relationships and ability to Network and NYFA in a backwards kind of way prepares you for that.

The teachers in my opinion are your most useful asset. Like anywhere else some are morons and are there for the paycheck, but others are working professionals who are getting a paycheck between gigs. It is these working people who have helped me and made me a better filmmaker as well as gotten me work. I’m a believer in latching on to people who know more than you, and NYFA once again has a handful of teachers who are the perfect people to learn from.

I have heard complaints about equipment in past reviews and yes once again your not working with top-notch gear. But let me ask you this; are you ready to use a techno crane? The equipment they have are excellent starting tools to show you the basics and to help you learn. Now yes like everything else in life, if there was only more to go around it would be a better place, but I think making do with decent supplies helps you get started and this is what NYFA is; A starting block.

Now like I have said earlier everything is circumstantial. There are some awful things about NYFA and some truly amazing things. It is a gamble when you enroll if you will hit the jackpot or lose all your money. It is what you want to get out of it, if you work hard and are smart, and use the opportunities the city and school gives you like I did then you’ll be fine. But if you’re a floater you can join the rest of the pack and best stay away to let the real serious people work  (trying to help you dedicated people . I can say my experience was not perfect, actually far from it, but it did give me the opportunity to build relationships with professionals, as well as to learn. I would not say it was bad because I still got a lot out of it and it put me in a better position today. I am still far from where I want to be, but coming from the middle of Nowhere I am a lot better off because I attended a film school.

School Life | No Comments »