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Showing posts from September, 2015

Why Writing High-Concept Comedy is All About Truth, Love and Understanding - Script Magazine

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Why Writing High-Concept Comedy is All About Truth, Love and Understanding - Script Magazine Why Writing High-Concept Comedy is All About Truth, Love and Understanding By:  Jon James Miller  |  June 2, 2015             Jon James Miller is a screenwriter, novelist and frequent online presenter. His first novel, a historical fiction based on an original screenplay, will be published Spring 2015. For more information, go to:  www.jonjamesmiller.com  Follow Jon on Twitter  @jonjimmiller . Click to tweet this article to your friends and followers! Recently, comedian Jerry Seinfeld was asked what he thought the most important ingredient to comedy was, and he responded with one word: structure. And after writing several comedy scripts of my own I couldn’t agree more. This seems especially true of the high-concept comedy. That rare breed of screenplay that lives or dies by a writer’s ability to milk a comedic concept for 90 pages without running out of steam and compl

Industry Legends: Film Editor Michael Kahn

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Uploaded on Feb 15, 2011 Michael Kahn celebrates his 75th birthday with three new films coming out this year coming out of his cutting room. Associated with Steven Spielberg since the started working together on Close Encounters of the Third Kind in 1976, Kahn has taken home 3 Oscars and a parade of other awards an nominations. He & Spielberg are known as the last converts to digital editing and just this last year Kahn gave up his Moviola for an Avid as Spielberg directed his first digital movie, The Adventures of Tintin. 

Submitting to Sundance: 5 Things That Will Help (and 5 That Won’t)

Submitting to Sundance: 5 Things That Will Help (and 5 That Won’t) For about one third of the independent filmmaking community, the last few weeks of September are the most pressure-packed weeks of the year. Why? Because filmmakers are rushing to finish their films before the final Sundance Film Festival deadline. The other two thirds of them either submitted last year or they’re looking to submit next year. To ease some of the stress, Sundance Film Festival Senior Programmer Kim Yutani and Shorts Programmer and Manager of the Native and Indigenous Program Adam Piron sat down with Film Independent Members to answer questions and clear up a few lingering misconceptions about submitting to Sundance. Here are five things they said won’t help your film get into the festival and five things that will.

Finding New Footage for Walt Disney Documentary | American Experience . WGBH | PBS

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Finding New Footage . Walt Disney . American Experience . WGBH | PBS As an Associate Producer for Sarah Colt Productions, my job changes day to day. One day I might be traveling with our Director to an interview shoot and helping our Cinematographer set up lights and camera equipment. Another day I might be scouring books for facts that will be crafted into narration lines. On  Walt Disney , much of my time was dedicated to the enormous task of finding the archival footage that would bring Walt Disney's story to life.

Our film The Baby Cries is headed to Florida!

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Our film The Baby Cries is headed to Florida! Tampa Bay International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival on October 9th 2015!

YouTube Channel: The Baby Cries directed by Mario J. Novoa

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He will go on taking and taking, until one day the World will say, 'I am no more and I have nothing left to give.'" Apocalypto (2006)

"I saw a hole in the Man, deep like a hunger he will never fill. It is what makes him sad and what makes him want. He will go on taking and taking, until one day the World will say, 'I am no more and I have nothing left to give.'" Apocalypto (2006) Storyteller(Esperidion Acosta Cache)

YouTube Channel: The Baby Cries directed by Mario J. Novoa

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William Friedkin & Scott Cooper on 'Black Mass'

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Black Mass is the riveting true story of James "Whitey" Bulger—the brother of a state senator and the most infamous violent gangster in the history of South Boston—who became an FBI informant to take down a Mafia family invading his turf. In this episode of VICE Talks Film, legendary filmmaker William Friedkin (The Exorcist, The French Connection) sits down with Black Mass director Scott Cooper to talk about the complexities of the film's chilling true story and Johnny Depp's acting transformation into the ruthless sociopath. Black Mass hits theaters everywhere on September 19. Click here to subscribe to VICE:  http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE Check out our full video catalog:  http://bit.ly/VICE-Videos Videos, daily editorial and more:  http://vice.com More videos from the VICE network:  https://www.fb.com/vicevideos Like VICE on Facebook:  http://fb.com/vice Follow VICE on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/vice Read our Tumblr:  http://vicemag.tumblr.com Follow us on I

Walt Disney | American Experience | WGBH | PBS

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Walt Disney . American Experience . WGBH | PBS Part One of "Walt Disney" explores the complex life and enduring legacy of Walt Disney, from his early days creating Mickey Mouse through the triumph of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". As dramatist you always want to be able to make the greatest impact through story, and I think that Disney's intuition to introduce these stories to younger audiences was carrying on a tradition through the use of fairy tales and morality tales in a new medium. If you look at the success of these films, it is because the stories of these characters ran so deep, that it resonated with children and adults. Terrifying yes, but always redemptive.I have yet to feel the same about any current slate of Disney produced material...with the exception of UP.

What Everyone Does on a Film Set | Filmmaker Magazine

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What Everyone Does on a Film Set | Filmmaker Magazine For those new to physical production, here is a list of film set departments, with notes on their staff positions, responsibilities, benefits and attractions. (This is a companion piece to  “The Seven Arts of Working in Film: A Necessary Guide to On-Set Protocol. ) Production  Personnel includes: Unit Production Manager, Production Coordinator, Production Secretary, Office PA’s, Assistants to Directors & Producers.  Responsibilities: Organization, preparation, wrap, taking care of actors, producers, director, financiers. Join this department if you like: Working on a movie without being chained to a set, knowing everything that’s going on, solving problems, aka fielding constant complaints.  Favorite game: Choosing a new person to hate every day.