Ultimate Mash-up Live? Three Of My Fave Bands Sort Of Together

/

I moved to NYC because of Lou Reed and Martin Scorsese. They were my young man gods of creation.

Yo La Tengo first album came out my second or so years ago. I think I have listened to all of them and have most of them. I've put their songs in my films. I did one video for them back in the day (with Hal Hartley). They scored ADVENTURELAND (which featured the idea of Lou Reed along with some of his songs).
And through all that Alex Chilton, Big Star, and The Box Tops played consistently on my stereo(s).
This definitely sits in the "wish I could've been there" bin of my time on this earth. I should've and could've but... well you know how the song goes.
hat tip: Neil Marks

Adventureland: What We Wanted From The Script

/

Part 3 (of 3) of the NY Film Academy Discussion on Greg Mottola's ADVENTURELAND is predominately on the script and what we wanted to do with it. Towards the very end I get around to talking about a new micro-budget culture that is emerging and the hopes I have for it.

Adventureland: Working With The Team

/

Pt 2 (of 3) of my NY Film Academy discussion on Adventureland. Mostly about the release, and what it was like about working with the various cast and crew. There is a fair amount on working in the studio system, at least what little I know about it...

Talking About The Early Days: Hartley, Gondry, Field, Puccini & Berman, and Motolla

/

Okay, this is also about talking these days too, but I didn't know how to put that into the headline.

I was interviewed on Wednesday by Aaron Aradilis for his BlogTalkRadio show "Back By Midnight" on the occasion of the DVD release of ADVENTURELAND. Martin Starr precedes me so that give you ample reason to tune in, but if you need more Anthony quizzed me on the big questions like why I wanted to make me movies in the first place. We cover Hal Hartley's early films, and the current state of indie film of course. We go into why it was obvious that Michel Gondry, Todd Field, and Puccini & Berman were obvious artists to back for their first narrative features. We even hit the state of film criticism and the crisis in print media. I guess we go on for awhile.. but of course you get to enjoy my nasal honk for most of it (and a couple good tunes off the Adventureland soundtrack).

Twitter Posts: Another week gone by

/
  1. @nathanwrann I am glad you thought Adventureland was excellent. I guess now I can offer you the $ back guarantee. Thx 4 not stealing it!
  2. Rob Zombie grew up in Haverhill, MA I blv. I grew up next door. How come we make such dif movies? We drank the same h2o but dif koolaid..
  3. Intnl Panl on Climate Chg (IPCC) predicts up to 30% of species worldwd r @risk of extinctn @a glbl temp increase of a few degrees Celsius.
  4. @FrontAve I recommend you contact an Indie Film mag or blog and offer to cover it for them if they can get you press credentials.
  5. Throw out ystrdy's papers & reYer yr brain: IndieFilm v3.o is blossmg right now & if u aren't participatg in http://bit.ly/11hC60 u r 2late
  6. Wow. My A Thousand Phoenix Rising speech for Film Indep. has just been translated into Spanish: http://bit.ly/4fHbV
  7. Hey, whoever sent me the box set of LoveTrain: The Sound Of Philadelphia, thank you! But it seems an intern threw away any note that went w/
  8. RT @prachman: the more we learn things on our own through inspiration, the more we own them.
  9. Even when it is more questions than answers, it is worthy. It is part of our process of discovery.
  10. Great co Adventureland is in! Goodbye Solo, Life Is Hot in Cracktown, Nights & Weekends, Rudo y Cursi, Sunshine Cleaning, Trouble the Water
  11. With this I pass Babe Ruth's HR ttl & Quaalude's ID# in # of tweets. Old Good Machine office was 417. What is it all about? GadDagGodDog?
  12. Forget about exhib glut, what about DVD glut. So many great DVDs came out on Tuesday!
  13. @vdovault min wkly amount of intros is bcz IndieFilmBiz crumbling needlessly. We have tools content & knowhow but every1 is solo. Why?
  14. the P2P user attends 34% more movies in theaters, purchases 34% more DVDs & rents 24% more films than avg Internet user.http://bit.ly/3XO51I
  15. What would happen if we all introduced 10 of our associates, friends,comrades, contacts to each other every wk? This wk I've done >20.
  16. Qualities Of Better Film #29 of 32: LEAVING SOME THINGS UNEXPLAINED now up at: http://www.hammertonail.com/
  17. I used RSS feeds to gather info but my mailbox just filled up unread. Now I use Twitter for the same thing & I like it better.
  18. @chlotrudis U R right! "COLD SOULS was really good! Witty, funny, moving, visually stunning and original." Everyone MUST see this film.
  19. @JavianAshtonLe Thanks 4 help on Adventureland. Still wondering how many others optd to help t artist vs stealing (& thus how to survive).
  20. Mike Goodridge is going to moderate conversation w/ Thomas Mai & me at Toronto Intl Film Financing Forum 9.13.09 I hope you can come.
  21. I am a fan of t "my mind's been blown by the life I've chosen" genre of film. There's been a bunch, but WeLiveInPublic does it really proud!
  22. My wife just said (lovingly) that in the Adventureland bts featurette my hair looks like PeeWeeHerman's, only sideways! & she's right...!
  23. Bordwell: Storytllg is * all about control. It smtmes obliges t viewr 2 take advntrs she couldnt imagine. http://trulyfreefilm.blogsp...
  24. @prachman Ah, don't go looking for the brightside. It's one of the reasons why most films are redundant and dull. Same thoughts retold.
  25. Thx @SportaboutSarah! Thx @dom_lefebvre Thx @CineVegas I love that you love Adventureland! The world should follow all of you!
  26. Avg Studio director? male, 93% white, prev directed 6.1 films, age 45.62. Hmmm... Ready for a change? http://bit.ly/6v5Tp
  27. Big Fan opens 8/28. I loved it. Patton Oswald & Kevin Corrigan are the best screen team since, since, since... just the best period.
  28. @filmstudiesff Thanks & I dig your stuff 2. Here's to more thoughtful mindful film consideratn! Btw check out http://www.hammertonail.com/
  29. Want to help out a struggling IndieFilm producer? Tweet; "I love Adventureland". Also "Buy the Adventureland DVD now!" Thanks muchly.
  30. Completed my Adventureland Tweet Sentiment check with http://twitrratr.com/ Gives clearest presentation of 3 but still more to be done w/.
  31. We need to put "love" next to Adventureland more often. Just checked http://twendz.waggeneredstr... and many mentions w/o sentiment.
  32. “The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams shall never die.” ~Ted Kennedy
  33. September 4th at 8pm, Alec Baldwin hosts WILLIAM KUNTSLER: DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE at Guild Hall in East Hampton. http://bit.ly/2TCRzq
  34. Here is something I really like about some films: http://thesearethosethings....
  35. Want to see a whole lot of great stuff? Check out: http://marcschiller.postero...
  36. RT @MarcDSchiller "This fan created vide for Grizzly Bear's "Two Weeks" is absolutely lovely http://post.ly/2roW " I 100% agree!
  37. Wondering what's the best way for composers & musicians to break into FilmScoring? Surely there is some easy way to access filmmkrs.
  38. The best thing to do when you don't have the money is work on the script. But what's the second best thing to do?
  39. Our next Goldcrest Screening is Wed Sept 2nd. NY Premier of Pastor Brothers' CARRIER starring Chris Pine & Lou Pucci. A Likely Story Prod.
  40. Tweetfeel says 71% of TwitterUniverse feel the right way about Adventureland -- they love it! What did I do wrong that its not higher?
  41. I wonder how many ppleare going to race out & buy the ADVENTURELAND DVD when it hits the shelves today? How soon until it is on BitTorrent?
  42. Adventureland DVD hits the streets tomorrow. I am definitely putting this one in my collection.
  43. Just met with my IFP MADE IN NY mentoree -- who's great. You can't SAVE INDIE FILM without being a mentor or 2 or 3. Better get yours asap.
  44. @kvpi print is a different sort of attentn & commitmt, & thus pleasure. We lose much with its loss. We gain w access & speed but lose more
  45. Fantastic! Harvey Pekar has a new comic up for free over at Smith: http://www.smithmag.net/pek... & follow him at:@PekarProject
  46. No News IS bad news. I nvr thought that havg a hometown newspaper was a privilege. I hope the NYTimes nvr goes bust: http://bit.ly/1JWP1x
  47. "The tree of crazy is an ever-present aspect of America's flora.": Rick Perlstien on Birthers, HealthCareHecklers etc: http://bit.ly/cJcUL
  48. @alisap27 tipped me to Poland's Why Twitter Doesn't Matter (Much) To Film Marketing: http://bit.ly/RDzqQ
  49. How great Costume Designer Arianne Phillips got started (& why she's successful): http://bit.ly/18uP91
  50. Top Indie Distribs this yr? First Run & Zeitgeist. Then: Argot, IFC, Koch Lorber, Regent & Strand - @indigochameleon http://bit.ly/ZblWc
  51. RT @gflahive By Michael Erard: A Short Manifesto on the Future of Attention http://bit.ly/4SGYr #filmmakers MUST READ
  52. Bordwell: "Storytelling is artistic tyranny, and not always benevolent." http://bit.ly/dICOz
  53. RT @noahharlan Bordwell on transmedia, specifically work of @lanceweiler and @tedhope (& HT's @filmmakermag) http://is.gd/2sTxg - Must Read
  54. Bordwell: Storytelling is crucially all about control. It sometimes obliges the viewer to take adventures she could not imagine.
  55. Chris Jordan AGAIN does some great art that dramatizes the real story well:http://bit.ly/phIk5
  56. 90% Americans don't listen to music on cell: http://bit.ly/Wscdj but Blkbstr puts movies on some cells: http://bit.ly/OOAQX
  57. @powertothepixel 's position on digital innovation should be adopted by all: http://bit.ly/gSDnu
  58. American consumers looking for less exp alt to local cineplexes (click twice to enlarge: http://bit.ly/SqYPG (thanks to Reed Martin)

Why I Started Blogging

/

Yesterday, Matt Dentler fired five questions at me on his blog.  A couple were on ADVENTURELAND (opening Friday!).  Another was one what to consider on your first feature.  And yet another was on what gave me the initiative to embrace the worlds of social networking and the blogosphere.  Check out the whole interview, but here's what I had to say yesterday about the latter.

I have always been a bit of an internet junkie, but have an aversion to personal information and for that reasons had steered clear of social networking; I don’t have enough time for my friends as it is. Meanwhile, I had been growing restless watching the indie infrastructure wither away, but had frankly felt comfortable in my seat of privilege—i.e. we were getting our movies made.

When Mark Gill made his “Sky Falling” speech, it was clear to me that no one was speaking for the filmmakers, for the real indie community. I had read and met with a slew of good thinkers and innovators and felt the picture Gill painted was only for the business side of the establishment. Someone needed to get the word out about the new model that was emerging for filmmakers. When Dawn Hudson asked me to speak at Film Independent last fall, I felt I need to put up or shut up.

The state of things needs not be looked at only with despair. We are at a major time of transition and the possibilities are huge. Collaboration has always been what has improved our movies and enhanced our potential and the tools for collaboration have never been better. Social networking and an open source attitude offers filmmakers the freedom from an entertainment economy structured around scarcity and gatekeepers. We are all owners but we have been acting as slaves. We allow ourselves to corrupted by wealth and ego instead of strengthened by the wisdom of the community. The pursuit of instant gratification and success leads most to foolish choices that sacrifice opportunity for all along the way. Greater participation & focus on building a better system will greatly increase everyone’s power and improve their art and process. That is, in my humble opinion, and the social networking blogging open source stuff is the means.

Making A Movie... the right way with the right people

/

Isn't it nice how sometimes everything seems to go right?

Years back, we were given a script by a director whose work we admired. He was committed to getting it right and luckily we all worked well together. He kept making the script better and better. Yet, times are always tough and a period youth movie is never high on buyers must -have list. Still, we were prepared to make the film at any budget even if you needed more than a little just to license the period songs that punctuated every page of the script. One of his TV buddies then offered him a gig on a flick without any stars, making it seem like a Direct-To-DVD assignment. But it wasn't -- not even close.

By the time Greg Mottola was done with that little film, it was SUPERBAD, and now he wanted to make some more changes to what now felt like our script. Summer was almost over and our project had to shoot when it still looked looked hot & sweaty. With a month or so left in the season, we went out with the script, and found financing partners who believed in our vision and wanted to go right away, happy to cast whom we wanted.

We assembled a great team to make the movie, some old friends, others that became new friends. Everyone was talented. Everyone had a good attitude. Everyone worked really hard and had a good time in the process. The prep was short, the hours longs, but it still was a great time. Kinda like the film we made, but with less drama and less ball taps.

Our partners gave us enough money, encouraged to keep making things better, and when we were done, they worked incredibly hard and with tremendous passion to promote the film to the fullest. Even more, they believed that whomever saw it would dig it just as much, and they've been willing to screen it over and over just to get the word out.  Fortunately, the reviews do everyone's efforts proud.

So this Friday night, our good fortune and everyone's hard work is offered up to you, albeit for the price of a movie ticket.

Harry Knowles' rave: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/40374
David Edelstien's New York Mag rave.
Oh, and Matt Dentler threw five questions at me about the film, sucky jobs, social networks, and first features.  Check it out here.

Who Is Making Additional Material For Their Features?

/

I am not even talking about true transmedia work with developed story lines and expanded narratives; I am just wondering what examples are out there of additional material that has been used by filmmakers, mainstream and the indie DIY side both, to help bring audiences to the films.

Rainn Wilson tweeted about the shorts he did with Slash for The Rocker a few days ago, and I checked them out, but at that time, six months after the release less than 300 people had watched them on YouTube.
We have the videos s that Arin & Susan did for Four Eyed Monsters and set the bar for indie film promotion.  We have Judd Apatow's Knocked Up skits, and Wes Anderson's short for Darjeeling Express.  But what else is there?  Why isn't everyone doing it?  I would think that it is by now standard practice, but no.  It's not truly a money issue because there are lots of ways to do work on the cheap.
On Adventureland, we came up with a couple of short pieces that will soon debut on iTunes and elsewhere, but that was the first time that a studio "let" us do it.  I want to do it on every film now, and hopefully scripted well in advance.
Let us know what other examples you've found.

Who Is Really Prepared For Sundance?

/

If only I had more hands.  And more time.  And less things that really got me excited -- like movies I want to make.

Anyway, I have been wondering what films and what filmmakers had gone ahead and made a trailer, built a website, had been blogging, placing clips on line.  You know: all the sort of stuff that needs to be done so you can truly launch at Sundance.  
It currently looks like the list of Those Who Are Prepared is not surprisingly dominated by those that have the most funding (and thus the most hands).  But it really doesn't have to be so (I know that's a lot easy to say, than do, but still...).  
Cinematical has run with a good opening list of the trailers for Sundance films.  I hope someone does a list of websites soon too.
Create a PlaylistRemixView Playlist