AFFP Filmfederation.net

A seminar at the Puck Bldg. Rick discussed, with Ira Deutchman present, etc
September 22, 2000Today being the last day of the market it was pretty frantic with
last-minute showings and contacts being made. We kept running into the lead
actresses from THE CURSE, so it was enjoyable to catch their flick this afternoon.
The lead blond, Amy Laughlin...pictured on the poster), and Sara Elena Knight (lead
brunette) spent days handing out fliers for the movie on the steps of the Angelika, so
I'm sure they were delighted when the audience showed up strong for their 1PM
show. It was an admirable job with tight scripting and fun little ironic twists in the
story. Hopefully they will find a nice TV sale up the road. (Even our posters ran side
by side at the stand that was located in center of downstairs Angelika Theatre lobby,
making people choose between CURSE and CHETZEMOKA'S CURSE!). Movie was
written & directed by Jacqueline Garry, with the tag line "Not another Hollywood Film
(reach them at: notanother@aol.com, www.nahf.com).And since
co-director/co-writer with me and 6 others on CHETZEMOKA'S CURSE, Larry Pado
(his current project, "PETTY THEFT AND VANDALISM, being produced out of St.
Louis, his contact e-mail: lawrence.e.pado@pado3d.com) raved about a little
romantic comedy entitled FIRST TIME CALLER (that I didn't get a chance toi see...but
will look forward to requesting a VHS), I'll plug their movie as well.The handout for
FIRST TIME CALLER states that: He was a pyromaniac. She worked in a papert
mill. The world tried to keep them apart. Their love held them together." Contact the
writer/director Alex Zavaglia or writer/producer Anthony Ciardulli at:
erimusfilms@look.ca, or check out their website www.erimusfilms.iwarp.com.I can't
make a comment on THE CURIO TRUNK movie (www.outsideproductions.com,
SINCE I couldn't get over to the Pioneer Theatre (a secondary screening venue for
IFP Market), but their pressbook cover was among the most amazing
computer-generated graphics that jumped out from the "pressbook table," so that
counts for something.Before our departure from Angelika for the last time this year
(hope to be back in 2001 with a few new DV movies from my Feature Workshops
(www.lightvideo.com/workshop.htm), I ran into the Market Director Milton Tabbot, and
I asked him if he had some kind of wrap up statement, and/or advice for future
filmmakers who might join him in the coming years at IFP Market. Here's what he
said:"Make different kinds of movies...unique movies are what we need!" --Milton
TabbotFor my two cents, I think future filmmakers, whether working in film or DV,
need to forget the standard approaches to moviemaking and concentrate instead on
making works from their heart with the stylistic flourishes that that can bring. The
movies I saw that tried to replicate the Hollywood rules and templates just never got
off the ground. The ONLY protection a filmmaker (moviemaker...) has in the
marketplace is to be ORIGINAL, make original mistakes, follow his/her intuition. I
think the future is bright for those moviemakers who work from real stories that have
personal meaning.At any rate, congratulations to ALL the writers/directors/producers
who jumped into the fray at IFP MARKET 2000. It was a great time to be in New York
City and sharing new work. See you next year!Rick Schmidt lightvideo@aol.com
www.lightvideo.comSept. 20, 2000Before I get to covering my own show of
CHETZEMOKA'S CURSE (happened at 2PM today), I want to add the hot jazz sites
from our CHETZEEMOKA composer Brandon Q. Griffin/Earth Tones Productions
(bqg@pacbell.net). Here are a few of the clubs he's hit since coming to NY for
IFFM:Upover -- Brooklyn -- Monday night jam session where you might catch Vincent
Herring blasting his alto sax among other heavy hitters.Smalls -- jazz club in
Manhattan.Cleopatra's Needle -- jam sessions nightly at 1AM.Nuyorican Cafe --
Poetry, spoken word/Latin scene.OK. There's your road map for some of the best
jazz on the planet!Regarding our show, the digital projector really delivered a quality
image to the screen in theatre #4 at Angelika, telling me and anyone else around
today that super-clean images digitally presented can and will replace all those
expensive print images before too long. It was kind of shocking to see such digital
quality...most video showings looking superior to the films I saw proj ected during
IFFM. Anyway, we're hoping that someone in that audience saw our movie as a
quality work and will contact me www.lightvideo.com with some distribution
possibilities. I feel the feature (DV) ran strong, and got an afirmation of this fact by
one of the audience members Tchavdar Gueorguiev (his movie "KOSHER
MESSIAH" will screen Thursday, Sept. 21 at 1PM at the Pioneer Theatre
tchavik@hotmail.com). He said he was discombobulated (my word) by the
freshness of the innerworkings of CHETZEMOKA'S CURSE, how it felt like a doc to
him but was fictional at the same time. Given the fact that we created it in 10 days
start-to-finish (as we've done with all the FW productions since 1998...WELCOME
TO SERTENDIPITY, LONELINESS IS SOUL, MAISY'S GARDEN, CRASH MY
FUNERAL, and SOMEONE LIKE ME (which screens at 2PM on Thursday, Theatre 5,
as a "work-in-progress" although we have a full 91 minute finished cut), there is an
immediacy there that can't be denied. We are wall-to-wall improvisation, and yet the
scenes are tightly edited together in a structure that has all the dynamics of a
scripted movie. Real-life stories abound. The DV movies are alive and exist in the
present tense. That's what knocked Tchavdar's hat off. It's nice to see our work
having some effect on a well-versed film writer/director (he graduated from USC).
He hopes to get us a special screening for his professor up the road since we are
bending the definition of doc and fiction (he says...). At any rate, I'm especiaally
proud that the film looked so good to all of our group of collaborators who were
present (Maya Berthoud, Larry Pado, Dave Nold, Brandon Griffin, Adam Karagas,
and myself). I'll keep you posted on which festivals and distributors express
interest.For the record, here's the list of companies who took a look at our movie in
the IFFM video tape library:US Comedy Film Festival Artisan Entertainment Fox
Searchlight Indie-Underground Distribution Palm Pictures Shooting Gallery
Proactive Film MarketingAnd should mention that I also have a NY class to run
tomorrow night for The Learning Annex. If you hurry you can register on Sept. 21st
and then join us at the First Hungarian Church, 344 E. 69th St. (bet. 1st & 2nd). The
class is 6:30-9:30 and costs around $40 (call 371-0280 to sign up!). I'll try to help
the participants break down the walls so they can be at IFFM next year with their DV
feature debut!(no column for 9/21...working too hard and late at The Learning
Annex!)Sept. 19, 2000 A big enjoyable surprise today was watching the elegant B&W
movie ECHOES by Atsushi Funahashi, a young writer/director from Osaka, Japan.
The feature is made up of long set pieces, scenes that sit there without cuts, while
various levels and layers of the human experience radiated forth through the life of
"Leslie, a rebellious young woman who moves in and out of a series of empty
relationships until one night she steals a purse which contains a clue to her
mysterious past." It reminded me of my MORGAN'S CAKE with long takes, so again
I have a bias that I'm pushing forth in this column (could anyone really do this writing
any differently?). Do you miss the elegance and subconscious waters of Black and
White photography? I do and did throughout the screenings I've attended. This was
SO refreshing to see!So many filmmakers are trying to make REAL MOVIES, and
forgetting about the muse that awaits when they just jump in an follow their heart
instead of the money trail. Here's a great example of that kind of intelligence and
passion. The scenes are quiet but shout out with emotion. "Nothing" is going on
but everything is alive. Cinematographer Eric Van Der Brulle's shots are amazing,
especially for this being his first 16MM film experience. The lead Eden Rountree is
perfect in her disaffection, exuding complexity while remaining a beautiful and
appealing presence. Male lead Paolo Pagliacolo is also very impressive. And David
Ullmann's () created a score that cements the movie tightly together. The editor
Richard Pepperman also deserves top praise for his fine work.With a true no-budget
of $18,000 for production, $7000 for post, this "little" movie should be granted a long
and prosperous life in the marketplaces and festivals in US and Europe. It is
certainly a credit to The School of Visual Arts in New York where Funahashi studied
(and received the loan of much of the equipment, technical help from fellow
students. etc., plus grants from School of Visual Arts and Kodak).CONTACT INFO:
"echoes" is a Village Productions, 280 East 10th Street #20, NY, NY 10009, .Sept.
18, 2000 This IFFM Monday began with a scramble over to the Puck Building at
Houston and Lafayette for a free continental breakfast of tasty rolls, juices and coffee
and a panel discussion regarding the recent released movie DREAM CATCHER.
The panel, titled THE MARKETPLACE FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENTS included
director of the feature Ed Radtke, the producers Steve Bognar and Julia Reichert,
Producer's Rep Ira Deutchman, agent for foreign sales Ida Martins of Media Luna,
and was moderated by Eugene Hernandez of IndieWire. We were shown the trailer
to the film that appeared at IFFM two years ago and then the panel resumed. At
some point Ira Deutchman mentioned how the Toronto director Kay Armatage
wondered aloud about the lack of quality of recent years American indie movies.
Deutchman thought that might have been because of all the focus on "selling
movies" and the lack of just good old fashioned moviemaking where the art is the
thing. Yes. I think so. All well and good. But sittin! g around listening to a panel
where the filmmakers talk for one and a half hours on all the $ worries and $
dealmaking and $ distribution of their movie ($$$), I had to wonder what I was sitting
there for. $talk just breeds more $talk (when the topic desperately needs to shift to a
discussion of ART instead). Since Sex, Lives, and Videotape hit hard at Sundance
'89 (my MORGAN'S CAKE was competing with it in the Dramatic Competition) , all
the indie scene has been about is MONEY, MONEY, MONEY. Miramax kept upping
the ante, and producers started looking for "commercial" scripts. Who cared if a
movie had artistic intregity, or was daring or unusual. These things were simply not
rewarded. Flash forward to 2000. Who in their right mind would make a movie for
any reason except to (1) become famous, (2) become rich, (3) become rich and
famous?So the panel continued. Ed Radtke brought up the point that public funding
(ie. NEA...) in US has dried up. He and others on the movie used their credit cards to
push the production through. The usual indie dance. But who in their right mind
would do this for a movie even a speck less commercial than DREAM CATCHER?
This may be a good movie (the trailer delivered some intense and interesting
scenes), maybe even a great one (go see it for yourself at the NY Walter Reade
Theatre this week!), but it has little resemblence to what I regard as the "American
indie low-budget feature." I can't help yearning for a crazy, moment-to-moment
surprising, pared down spartan movie by an artist/filmmaker like Jon Jost (any
others?), where the experience is nothing like a "commercial" movie, but one where
you feel different, see different, come away with a special experience that is apart
from normal moviegoing. Maybe this movie does that...and if it does I say HOORAY!
It's time to mak! e some fantastic "uncommercial" kick-ass movies that can't be sold
(but that end up in theatres anyway!), can't be marketed (but make some money for
the poor starving/credit card abusing writer/director/producer), can't be understood
(but are deeply felt by the audience even though those who attend can't readily put
into words what just happened to them by watching the movie...). How can this be
accomplished? Can the internet save us and raise the bar?Ira Deutchman, a major
player in the indie scene for some time, said in clear language that "the US market
is fucked." He was referring to the HUGE PR costs needed to open a movie these
days. Such a big financial risk for distributors translates over to them selecting
ONLY the most viable "commercial" products for the available theatres. He made the
point that a MEAN STREETS or BADLANDS probably wouldn't have been selected
for distribution these days. No Martin Scorsese (goodbye TAXI DRIVER... so long
Jodie Foster....forget Harvey Keitel). Is it really THAT bad? Why are we at a film
market?We're at the Angelika to see movies in progress like SYLVESTER/MIGHTY
REAL about rock/disco sensation SYLVESTER a black gay man who had a voice like
an angel who died of aids, but who's songs and legend lives on thanks to
doicumantarian Tim Smyth. I'm proud that I had some performance footage of
Sylvester from my 1975 shoot of SHOWBOAT 1988-THE REMAKE, which the
filmmakers have added to the mix. If you have access to any concert footage get in
touch with Tim so this tribute can have the shine and glory it deserves
jblotcher@earthlink.net. Yes, this is but another plug for a project that's connected to
me, however slightly.Pardon me for continuing to plug projects I'm somehow
involved with, but here's another one of value. A movie project from Galen Garwood,
PANOM, about the survival of the Asian elephant (300,000 in tyhe early 1900's, only
5000 remaining now...) is a great use of the medium and also deserves some
future funding. It is in support of an elephant hospital operated by Soraida Salwala in
Lampang, Thailand (go to the FRIENDS OF THE ASIAN ELEPHANT FOUNDATION
www.elephant.tnet.co.th). Or visit Galen at Marrowstone Arts
(www.marrowstonearts.com and offer his crusade some support!Also caught a
movie about the black activist MARCUS GARVEY, LOOK FOR ME IN THE
WHIRLWIND, a beautifully crafted doc with feeling and new historical information. I'll
try and supply a website or contact info tomorrow.Anyway, looking forward to another
free breakfast tomorrow (well...free after paying almost $500 per moviee + travel
costs to be in the market). Still, nice of the organizers to offer scads of interesting
panels (marketing, DV, editing, the net, meet the theatrical buyers, etc.) and feed
folks along the way.Sunday, Sept. 17, 2000Well. mentioned I'd be at IFFM party at the
289 club (289 Spring St.), but ended up at THE CLUB (252 W. 43rd St.) instead. The
free champagne (and/or wine) was flowing, as was some type of shrimp gumbo
(didn't partake since I had already had the world's best hamburger at Fanelli's bar
on Mercer..$7.50 for a HUGE and delicious burger three times the size of the biggest
MAC). Am I boring you yet with the menus? Got to keep fed and refreshed to survive
8 days of this film market. Anyway, one person I met was Steve Downey, Executive
Producer of a feature FOLLOW ME OUTSIDE about a woman who "bolts from her
real life." Sounded pretty interesting. He said he is a marketing expert who got into
movies recently and has arranged for a blitze of PR including posters, fliers, VHS
trailer mailing, pre-screenings, follow up follow up letters, the works! We both had a
nice surprise when he suddenly realized that he used my book to get attuned to
moviemaking. In fact he said he had just that morning had "Feature Filmmaking at
Used-Car Prices" in his hand, transporting it and other filmmaking books down to
his production office after his Broadway star wife KT Sullivan asked him to pleaase
make some room for other books in the house! If you want to contact him and the
movie try their website FollowMeOutside.com.Our Chetzemoka's Curse
composer/sax player Brandon Griffin from Oakland joined us at the party and made
us all jealous when he told of hitting the hottest jazz spots in NYC with his
buddy...moving his art up a notch by experiencing those unknowns who haven't
broke through yet, but who are pushing the musical envelope. I'll try to get some
exact names of these underground clubs for this column in next few days.Also
talked to a local (to me) Seattle-ite documentarian, Rustin Thompson, who shot and
cut a DV movie from the WTO riots, entitled 30 FRAMES A SECOND. He's worked as
a network cameraman, but in this case has shot and narrated his own broadcast.
The reviews I've read off of his postcard handout are glowing, so maybe catch the
movie in your town (or e-mail him rustinthom@aol.com and arrange a showing
yourself. Tell him Rick of Chetzemoka sent you!).Another interesting flick in IFFM
seems to be SING IT, TELL IT, by Michael Fried, about America's black musical
pioneers. e-mail him at: mfried@dnai.com for more info. He bills it as "music that
changed America."Got some great response from some of barflies at party over our
Dogme No. 10 status on Chetzemoka's Curse. They said our movie and it's
production location (Washington State) is now listed at official Dogme 95 website
Dogme95.dk so maybe surf over there and check out the VOW OF CHASTITY and
read some of the intense interviews with Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg.I
don't have the latest location of IFFM party for tonight (sitting here in Kinko's Astor
Place ordering last minute postcards and business cards for hand out..), but will get
back tomorrow on what's happened where, to whom, and who's movie is
buzzing!RickSEPTEMBER 16, 2000Coming in to NYC from Figueira da Foz
International Film Festival (I had a full retrospective of my 16MM and DV features
there...), I was jet-lagged but happy to see the friendly faces of my Dogme 95
CHETZEMOKA'S CURSE collaborators waiting for me at the hotel at 5:30PM --
including lead actress/co-writer/co-director Maya Berthoud, plus co-writer/co-director
collaborators Dave Nold and Larry Pado. Anyway. without a break in the gauntlet I'd
been running (7+ hours on plane, airport hikes, baggage claim drama, costly taxis,
prints shipped home by Fed Ex (you know the drill), I traipsed over to kickoff IFFM
flick JUST LOOKING, Jason Alexander's directorial debut and even stayed awake
even though I was running 5 hours ahead. The movie was a period piece about a
young 14 year old coming of age, "looking for sex in whatever form he could witness
it/talk about it to friends." His obsession was set in the 1950's in Brooklyn and
Queens. The scriptwriter who introduced the movie (forgot to take that note on his
name, but you can read it when the movie opens as a Sony Pictures Classic
release), explained how the movie was written from "the heart," basically his
autobiography of growning up and coming of age. While it was entertaining, with
solid performances and lovely production values, it was a questionable choice to
show the hundreds of IFFM participants who are struggling to start careers and
usually don't have access to making a multimilliion dollar "no-budget indie" movie.
It's my feeling that (1) either one of the 48 FEATURE category films/video could be
selected out of a hat to be given this high-profile SNEAK...giving a boost in random
fashion to a total unknown..., or (2) that the IFFM selection committee could select a
movie that was more daring than the kind of complacent movies that have been
picked to kick off the market in recent years. Where is a new Godard movie when you
need one? I'd personally rather see a movie that took some chances and failed,
than be lulled by production values and lighting kits. Hey(!), this is my personal
bias..."INDIE" is supposed to be challenging! Sorry to come out of the gate with
some complaints, but it's hard to watch the indie zone be co-opted by the high end
while a few true no-budgeters keep struggling.On to the party! Hundreds walked and
talked to the reoccuring beat of 2000 disco at the Altman Building, knocking back
black blavod Vodka and wondering who was the buyers and who were the
filmmakers (just ask!). As usual the kick-off party had world class booze and food
enough to get sloshed, making it difficult-to-impossible to get to the first 9AM
screening the next morning. But somehow we of the Chetzemoka arrived in time to
see a great DOC called FULL BLOSSOM about the life and poetry of Hollywood
character actor Roberts Blossom (he was the old man in the church in HOME
ALONE, has appeared in numerous Hollywood flicks including CLOSE
ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ,
SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE, ALWAYS, etc.). I, of course, am bias again here since I'm
on the masthead as an Executive Producer. The movie was co-produced by my son
Morgan Schmidt-Feng and Brih Abee, shot by Morgan, and directed/edited by Brih. It
has been selected for presentation at Mill Valley Film Festival and The Hamptons,
so I expect BIG things for this DV feature. I think the IFFM usually likes to start off the
slate of movies with some strong and fetching programs and this was definitely of
that calibre. Also caught an endearing WIP (work-in-progress) doc YOU DON'T
KNOW WHAT I GOT, about women who live their lives with passion, one woman
starting a record label of her own at age 20, etc. Have to hope this movie gets some
finishing funds!Tonight a party at 289 Bar & Lounge...what kind of story can develop
out of this(?)...is the excitment of just jumping into the swirl of activities at IFFM!More
tomorrow, Rick