The documentary shorts presented at the Tribeca Film Festival included both human stories and New York’s past. The films delved into themes of chaos, survival, and a glimpse into a life of the city that forever evolves but a time past that cannot be forgotten. After the screening, the filmmakers joined in for a Q&A.
About the Film: "Joe's Violin"
A 91-year-old Holocaust survivor donates his violin to an instrument drive, changing the life of a 12-year-old schoolgirl from the Bronx and unexpectedly, his own.
About the Director: Kahane Cooperman is the director/producer of "Joe's Violin." She has also directed several other documentaries. She is currently the showrunner/executive producer of "The New Yorker Presents." Prior to that role, she was a co-executive producer of ‘The Daily Show’ with Jon Stewart. She began her career at Maysles Films.
Kahane Cooperman talks about "Joe’s Violin"
Cooperman began by introducing the two subjects of her film who were seated in the audience, the violin owner Joseph Feingold and Brianna.
“The way I got this idea was very simple. My car radio was on and I tuned on the classical radio station Wqxr and I heard a promo for their instrument drive; it said donate your instruments and the instruments are going to New York City school kids. They mentioned the donations they already had gotten and one of the instruments was Joseph’s violin. I just thought, 'I wonder if there's a story there with this violin and if the student who gets the violin will know the story.' I got in touch with the radio station and they allowed me the privilege of pursuing the story and this film is what unfolded. It was a very moving experience. I do love music but I don't play an instrument. I think music is incredibly powerful but I'm also moved by the idea of how a small gesture can make you dream and change someone’s life. Somehow the idea of this was very compelling to me and that it might play out in the context of this one instrument shared by two people who were born 80 years apart.
About the Film: "Mulberry"
This cinematic portrait of Little Italy explores how a working class neighborhood of tenement buildings transformed into the third most expensive zip code in the United States. Part funny, part sad, the film investigates how gentrification and rent control are affecting the neighborhood’s long-term residents.
About the Director: Paul Stone
Brooklynite Paul Stone started his directing career in the edit room at Ridley Scott & Associates. In "Tales of Time Square," Paul recreated 1980’s Time Square. The footage was often mistaken for stock and went on to be screened at over 50 festivals in the U.S. and abroad. His previous short ‘Man Under’ (Tff 2015) explored the rise in NYC subway suicides.
Paul Stone talks about "Mulberry"
“I saw my neighborhood disappearing, changing. I have no problem with gentrification, but it’s gotten to a point of hyper gentrification. Little Italy in New York is known for its soul and its people, and it was rapidly disappearing. I wanted to tell the story about who inspired me in terms of my friends and that Little Italy is still alive and well, and that there are still a lot of characters left.
About the Film: "Starring Austin Pendleton"
Austin Pendleton is that quintessential character actor you might recognize. We follow Austin as he reflects on his life and craft, while his A-list peers discuss his vast influence, dogged determination, and what it means to be an original in today's celebrity-obsessed world.
About the Directors Gene Gallerano and David H. Holmes
David H. Holmes has studied and acted under the direction of Mr. Pendleton. His film and television credits include ‘Birdman’, ‘Law and Order’, ‘Girls’, ‘Mr. Robot’, and ‘The Following’. Gene Gallerano is the co-founder of The Neboya Collective, and has produced and starred in works including, Occupy’, ‘Texas’, ‘Fireworks’, and ‘The Talk Men’, which he also directed.
Holmes and Gallerano talk about "Starring Austin Pendleton"
The directors met ten years ago in an Off-Broadway show and studied with Austin Pendleton for about five years. They consider him a big mentor. “We look up to him a lot and we wanted to make sure in the end that we could look him in the eye. He was very happy we made the film. At the Tribeca Talks the other day it was the first time Austin saw it. Someone asked him if he had any input into the film and he said no because then you start manipulating it and controlling it; particularly his stutter, he said I would have told them ‘cut that’.” He wasn’t preventing us from making art.”
About the Film: "Taylor and Ultra on the 60s, The Factory and Being a Warhol Superstar"
Warhol superstar Ultra Violet (Isabelle Colin Dufresne) and Lower East Side icon Taylor Mead (poet/actor/artist) share their stories of Manhattan in the 1960s.
About the Director: Brian Bayerl
Brian Bayerl's documentary work includes ‘8: The Mormon Proposition’ (Sundance 2010), and ‘For Once in My Life’ (SXSW Audience Award Winner 2010). This is his third collaboration with producer Michael Huter, including ‘Datuna: Portrait of America’ (London's Raindance Winner 2015) and Full Circle.
Brian Bayerl talks about "Taylor and Ultra on the 60s, The Factory and Being a Warhol Superstar"
“Our producer came across photographs of Robert Indiana, Andy Warhol, Taylor Mead and Ultra Violet and a lot of other figures of the sixties Pop Art. When documenting those photographs we met Taylor Mead and Ultra Violet and instantly fell in love with them; they were just so captivating and charismatic and fun that over the next four years we had opportunities to interview them and gather footage. When we lost both of them, we were approached by the Warhol Museum about putting something together and that's exactly what we wanted to do. We put this film together as an homage to both of them.”
About the film "Dead Ringer"
There are only four outdoor phone booths left in all of New York City—this is a late night conversation with one of them.
About the Directors: Alex Kliment, Dana O’Keefe, and Michael Tucker
Alex Kliment is a filmmaker and musician from New York. He is also a talking head. Dana O'Keefe is a filmmaker based in New York and Stockholm. Michael Tucker is a documentary filmmaker who lives in upstate New York.
Alex Kliment, Dana O’Keefe, and Michael Tucker talk about "Dead Ringer"
“Our film started with learning about the statistic that there were only four outdoor telephone booths left in New York City. The city's replacing them with Wi-Fi hotspots, We thought, ‘What's a fun way to dramatize the changing urban landscape that also reflects a lot of other changes of the human landscape and how we relate to each other. We thought about how to impersonate and put ourselves in the mind of a pay phone. This film was an opportunity to visit with very tragic heroes of our sidewalk -- the payphones of New York City.”
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
About the Film: "Joe's Violin"
A 91-year-old Holocaust survivor donates his violin to an instrument drive, changing the life of a 12-year-old schoolgirl from the Bronx and unexpectedly, his own.
About the Director: Kahane Cooperman is the director/producer of "Joe's Violin." She has also directed several other documentaries. She is currently the showrunner/executive producer of "The New Yorker Presents." Prior to that role, she was a co-executive producer of ‘The Daily Show’ with Jon Stewart. She began her career at Maysles Films.
Kahane Cooperman talks about "Joe’s Violin"
Cooperman began by introducing the two subjects of her film who were seated in the audience, the violin owner Joseph Feingold and Brianna.
“The way I got this idea was very simple. My car radio was on and I tuned on the classical radio station Wqxr and I heard a promo for their instrument drive; it said donate your instruments and the instruments are going to New York City school kids. They mentioned the donations they already had gotten and one of the instruments was Joseph’s violin. I just thought, 'I wonder if there's a story there with this violin and if the student who gets the violin will know the story.' I got in touch with the radio station and they allowed me the privilege of pursuing the story and this film is what unfolded. It was a very moving experience. I do love music but I don't play an instrument. I think music is incredibly powerful but I'm also moved by the idea of how a small gesture can make you dream and change someone’s life. Somehow the idea of this was very compelling to me and that it might play out in the context of this one instrument shared by two people who were born 80 years apart.
About the Film: "Mulberry"
This cinematic portrait of Little Italy explores how a working class neighborhood of tenement buildings transformed into the third most expensive zip code in the United States. Part funny, part sad, the film investigates how gentrification and rent control are affecting the neighborhood’s long-term residents.
About the Director: Paul Stone
Brooklynite Paul Stone started his directing career in the edit room at Ridley Scott & Associates. In "Tales of Time Square," Paul recreated 1980’s Time Square. The footage was often mistaken for stock and went on to be screened at over 50 festivals in the U.S. and abroad. His previous short ‘Man Under’ (Tff 2015) explored the rise in NYC subway suicides.
Paul Stone talks about "Mulberry"
“I saw my neighborhood disappearing, changing. I have no problem with gentrification, but it’s gotten to a point of hyper gentrification. Little Italy in New York is known for its soul and its people, and it was rapidly disappearing. I wanted to tell the story about who inspired me in terms of my friends and that Little Italy is still alive and well, and that there are still a lot of characters left.
About the Film: "Starring Austin Pendleton"
Austin Pendleton is that quintessential character actor you might recognize. We follow Austin as he reflects on his life and craft, while his A-list peers discuss his vast influence, dogged determination, and what it means to be an original in today's celebrity-obsessed world.
About the Directors Gene Gallerano and David H. Holmes
David H. Holmes has studied and acted under the direction of Mr. Pendleton. His film and television credits include ‘Birdman’, ‘Law and Order’, ‘Girls’, ‘Mr. Robot’, and ‘The Following’. Gene Gallerano is the co-founder of The Neboya Collective, and has produced and starred in works including, Occupy’, ‘Texas’, ‘Fireworks’, and ‘The Talk Men’, which he also directed.
Holmes and Gallerano talk about "Starring Austin Pendleton"
The directors met ten years ago in an Off-Broadway show and studied with Austin Pendleton for about five years. They consider him a big mentor. “We look up to him a lot and we wanted to make sure in the end that we could look him in the eye. He was very happy we made the film. At the Tribeca Talks the other day it was the first time Austin saw it. Someone asked him if he had any input into the film and he said no because then you start manipulating it and controlling it; particularly his stutter, he said I would have told them ‘cut that’.” He wasn’t preventing us from making art.”
About the Film: "Taylor and Ultra on the 60s, The Factory and Being a Warhol Superstar"
Warhol superstar Ultra Violet (Isabelle Colin Dufresne) and Lower East Side icon Taylor Mead (poet/actor/artist) share their stories of Manhattan in the 1960s.
About the Director: Brian Bayerl
Brian Bayerl's documentary work includes ‘8: The Mormon Proposition’ (Sundance 2010), and ‘For Once in My Life’ (SXSW Audience Award Winner 2010). This is his third collaboration with producer Michael Huter, including ‘Datuna: Portrait of America’ (London's Raindance Winner 2015) and Full Circle.
Brian Bayerl talks about "Taylor and Ultra on the 60s, The Factory and Being a Warhol Superstar"
“Our producer came across photographs of Robert Indiana, Andy Warhol, Taylor Mead and Ultra Violet and a lot of other figures of the sixties Pop Art. When documenting those photographs we met Taylor Mead and Ultra Violet and instantly fell in love with them; they were just so captivating and charismatic and fun that over the next four years we had opportunities to interview them and gather footage. When we lost both of them, we were approached by the Warhol Museum about putting something together and that's exactly what we wanted to do. We put this film together as an homage to both of them.”
About the film "Dead Ringer"
There are only four outdoor phone booths left in all of New York City—this is a late night conversation with one of them.
About the Directors: Alex Kliment, Dana O’Keefe, and Michael Tucker
Alex Kliment is a filmmaker and musician from New York. He is also a talking head. Dana O'Keefe is a filmmaker based in New York and Stockholm. Michael Tucker is a documentary filmmaker who lives in upstate New York.
Alex Kliment, Dana O’Keefe, and Michael Tucker talk about "Dead Ringer"
“Our film started with learning about the statistic that there were only four outdoor telephone booths left in New York City. The city's replacing them with Wi-Fi hotspots, We thought, ‘What's a fun way to dramatize the changing urban landscape that also reflects a lot of other changes of the human landscape and how we relate to each other. We thought about how to impersonate and put ourselves in the mind of a pay phone. This film was an opportunity to visit with very tragic heroes of our sidewalk -- the payphones of New York City.”
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 5/5/2016
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
At the Tribeca Talks series at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival, filmmaker Ira Sachs ("Love is Strange") interviewed U.K. writer and director Andrea Arnold about writing, filmmaking, and surrendering.
In 2005 Arnold’s short film, Wasp, earned an Academy Award. She also received two BAFTA awards and two jury prizes at Cannes, as well as a multitude of festival accolades for her films, "Milk," "Dog," "Red Road," "Fish Tank" and "Wuthering Heights." On television she has directed two episodes of "Transparent." Arnold's latest film, "American Honey" starring Shia Labeouf and Riley Keough (recently acquired by A24) about a crew of teens who sell magazines across the Midwest is her first to be filmed in the U.S. "American Honey" is one of just three films from female directors in the 2016 Cannes Film Festival’s main competition and one of two from the U.K.
On Filmmaking
In Andrea Arnold’s films many of the actors are non-actors and they employ street casting.
Sachs: The shooting process has surprises, dangers, and risks.
Arnold: I love that. It brings life. I don’t like knowing everything that’s going to happen on the shoot.
Sachs: What frightens you in filmmaking?
Arnold: I like the obstacles. In the last one (‘American Honey’), I think I pushed it. It was very tough, there were days I had scenes with loads of non-actors, and there were a few days I really pushed it. What are you frightened of?
Sachs: I’m burdened by everything.
Arnold: The money?
Sachs: Yes, the money. It’s fear and fearlessness. You navigate between the two; I don’t panic in it.
Arnold: I remember before starting the film, I was taking a lot of risks that definitely entered my head. I try not to let the money stop me, you worry too much then you don’t push it. I do feel responsible for the money.
Sachs: Do you think your filmmaking has changed?
Arnold: I feel like the last film I made was the most me I’ve ever been. I trusted myself totally, the most I’ve ever done. In that way it has changed.
About Screenwriting
Sachs: How do your ideas for film begins?
Arnold: Usually what starts driving me is an image I have that won’t go away. For ‘Fish Tank’ I had an image of a girl pissing on the floor in someone’s house, it wasn’t her house. And I thought ‘What is this girl doing?’ and then I start thinking about what that means and who she is, where she comes from, why she’s doing that, and so I start a mind map.
Surrendering
Arnold: Sometimes when you’re filmmaking things don't always go the way you were expecting. You know, I have such a beautiful vision in my head in my head before the shoot, and then we get there and of course it's different.
On Improvising
Sachs: With your screenplays, does the dialogue or the action ever change when you're shooting? Is there any improvisation? How concerned are you with preserving what you've written?
Arnold: I always have this romantic idea about improvising but then we go on set and there's no time to get the same coverage. I think it's sometimes valuable when you have scenes that might not be working. And this last film (‘American Honey’) we did more than normal. I let them put in some of their own words but it's definitely my story but they did do it in their own kind of way.
Sachs: I never liked improvisation. I want it restrained.
Using Film
Arnold: We did start with film, but it was way too difficult; we had to keep changing magazines. I like film a lot. Somebody said the other day, which I thought was a very good way of describing it; “When you see a shot of a man in an empty room, on video, you think someone has left the room, and when you see it on film, you think someone is about to come in.” There’s nothing like film.
On Rehearsing
Sachs: Do you give actors the whole script? Rehearse?
Arnold: I haven't rehearsed in a long time. I don’t like to rehearse. In ‘Fish Tank’ I gave them pages once a week and they learned it bit by bit. On this last one, ‘American Honey’ I gave them pages every day -- they didn’t know what was coming!
Final Words
Sachs: Advice for first-time directors?
Arnold: Be yourself. There's only one of you. Be unique, trust that.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
In 2005 Arnold’s short film, Wasp, earned an Academy Award. She also received two BAFTA awards and two jury prizes at Cannes, as well as a multitude of festival accolades for her films, "Milk," "Dog," "Red Road," "Fish Tank" and "Wuthering Heights." On television she has directed two episodes of "Transparent." Arnold's latest film, "American Honey" starring Shia Labeouf and Riley Keough (recently acquired by A24) about a crew of teens who sell magazines across the Midwest is her first to be filmed in the U.S. "American Honey" is one of just three films from female directors in the 2016 Cannes Film Festival’s main competition and one of two from the U.K.
On Filmmaking
In Andrea Arnold’s films many of the actors are non-actors and they employ street casting.
Sachs: The shooting process has surprises, dangers, and risks.
Arnold: I love that. It brings life. I don’t like knowing everything that’s going to happen on the shoot.
Sachs: What frightens you in filmmaking?
Arnold: I like the obstacles. In the last one (‘American Honey’), I think I pushed it. It was very tough, there were days I had scenes with loads of non-actors, and there were a few days I really pushed it. What are you frightened of?
Sachs: I’m burdened by everything.
Arnold: The money?
Sachs: Yes, the money. It’s fear and fearlessness. You navigate between the two; I don’t panic in it.
Arnold: I remember before starting the film, I was taking a lot of risks that definitely entered my head. I try not to let the money stop me, you worry too much then you don’t push it. I do feel responsible for the money.
Sachs: Do you think your filmmaking has changed?
Arnold: I feel like the last film I made was the most me I’ve ever been. I trusted myself totally, the most I’ve ever done. In that way it has changed.
About Screenwriting
Sachs: How do your ideas for film begins?
Arnold: Usually what starts driving me is an image I have that won’t go away. For ‘Fish Tank’ I had an image of a girl pissing on the floor in someone’s house, it wasn’t her house. And I thought ‘What is this girl doing?’ and then I start thinking about what that means and who she is, where she comes from, why she’s doing that, and so I start a mind map.
Surrendering
Arnold: Sometimes when you’re filmmaking things don't always go the way you were expecting. You know, I have such a beautiful vision in my head in my head before the shoot, and then we get there and of course it's different.
On Improvising
Sachs: With your screenplays, does the dialogue or the action ever change when you're shooting? Is there any improvisation? How concerned are you with preserving what you've written?
Arnold: I always have this romantic idea about improvising but then we go on set and there's no time to get the same coverage. I think it's sometimes valuable when you have scenes that might not be working. And this last film (‘American Honey’) we did more than normal. I let them put in some of their own words but it's definitely my story but they did do it in their own kind of way.
Sachs: I never liked improvisation. I want it restrained.
Using Film
Arnold: We did start with film, but it was way too difficult; we had to keep changing magazines. I like film a lot. Somebody said the other day, which I thought was a very good way of describing it; “When you see a shot of a man in an empty room, on video, you think someone has left the room, and when you see it on film, you think someone is about to come in.” There’s nothing like film.
On Rehearsing
Sachs: Do you give actors the whole script? Rehearse?
Arnold: I haven't rehearsed in a long time. I don’t like to rehearse. In ‘Fish Tank’ I gave them pages once a week and they learned it bit by bit. On this last one, ‘American Honey’ I gave them pages every day -- they didn’t know what was coming!
Final Words
Sachs: Advice for first-time directors?
Arnold: Be yourself. There's only one of you. Be unique, trust that.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 4/26/2016
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
At the 2016 Athena Film Festival held at Barnard College in New York City, writer and director Karyn Kusama presented a Master Class in directing. Offering honest and often humorous anecdotes about working and surviving in the film industry, (it took her ten years after graduating from Nyu film school to find representation), Kusama shared insightful advice to the audience of screenwriters and filmmakers.
Kusama wrote and directed her first feature film, "Girlfight," in 1999, which won the Director’s Prize and shared the Grand Jury Prize at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. In 2004, Karyn directed the science fiction love story "Aeon Flux" for Paramount Pictures and her third feature, comedy-horror film "Jennifer’s Body," written by Diablo Cody, was released by Twentieth Century Fox. Her latest feature, "The Invitation," won the Grand Prize at the Sitges Film Festival, among other awards, and will be released in March 2016 by Drafthouse Films. Kusama’s television directing credits include "Billions" and "The Man in High Castle."
Emphasizing the importance of being authentic and bringing something different into the room (a meeting, on a film set), Kusama stated, “Know how to say no and be specific on what you need. All these things take practice. ”
About “Girlfight”
“I was open and willing to sit with studio heads. I kept hearing the words ‘No’ and ‘Why’? People couldn’t wrap themselves around the story. ‘Why does this Latina need to be a boxer? Can she be a grownup white girl?’ I was more interested in the girls I rode the subway with every day. I started boxing myself in a well-known gym called Gleason’s, and saw a lot of guys who found so much family and serenity in the ring, and I thought what an incredible opportunity it was giving them. What about their sisters and girlfriends? Boxing is almost its own trope. “
The Studio’s Genre Shift for “Jennifer’s Body”
“It was a horror film and a girl comedy. My pitch to the studio was: ‘It’s a horror movie about toxic female friendships and when they get too close it’s monstrous.’ As I was shooting the film, Screen Gems Studios released a remake of "Prom Night." It was #1 of the weekend and I got a call from the Fox executives -- they said ‘We want to be sure you understand your film is a horror film.’ If your movie is framed as a lie, people smell a rat. And I was like -- my movie is not a rat. I couldn’t communicate that; I was just the director.”
Film Marketing
“The notion of marketing, the expense of getting films out to the public is as big a part of the conversation itself. It’s disheartening to have to talk about how you frame something, and how essentially you reduce something in meaning, but ultimately, the better you can be at saying, ‘This is what this thing is. This is how it reaches people. This is who it reaches,’ -- the more you can articulate that to another person, the better. It makes them feel like they’re in good hands and also it helps you understand the thing you’re making.”
Directing for Television
“I don’t feel any sense of snobbery anymore directing for television. There’s value in all stories and in all sorts of forms. As the director, you are executing a vision that is the vision of the show. As much as you’re given some freedoms, you’re still working in that vision. “
Getting Screenplay Feedback
“If you feel that there’s some truth to what others are saying, listen. There’s no shame in walking away from something (a script) that’s going to pull you down to the bottom of the ocean and make you drown. Perseverance is key.”
Working in and Surviving the Film Business
“If you don’t have the stamina for it and you can’t enjoy the process itself, and can’t find an interesting challenge in what feels like getting punched in the face routinely or having a sense of failure, then this isn’t the job for you. Because what you’re facing all the time are obstacles and people saying “no” to you. ‘No, terrible idea. No, hasn’t been done. No it has been done.’ All of these reasons. You just have to get used to people saying “No.” It’s part of the process. I understand that No is part of the process. I have to learn when I want to say, ‘No not for me.’
It’s important what stories you want to tell and not about who you want to be. There’s a lot of aspirational language; look at your gut and look into your heart about what you enjoy.
Find your creative tribe and work with others who share your sensibility.”
To learn more about the Athena Film Festival: http://athenafilmfestival.com/
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
Kusama wrote and directed her first feature film, "Girlfight," in 1999, which won the Director’s Prize and shared the Grand Jury Prize at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. In 2004, Karyn directed the science fiction love story "Aeon Flux" for Paramount Pictures and her third feature, comedy-horror film "Jennifer’s Body," written by Diablo Cody, was released by Twentieth Century Fox. Her latest feature, "The Invitation," won the Grand Prize at the Sitges Film Festival, among other awards, and will be released in March 2016 by Drafthouse Films. Kusama’s television directing credits include "Billions" and "The Man in High Castle."
Emphasizing the importance of being authentic and bringing something different into the room (a meeting, on a film set), Kusama stated, “Know how to say no and be specific on what you need. All these things take practice. ”
About “Girlfight”
“I was open and willing to sit with studio heads. I kept hearing the words ‘No’ and ‘Why’? People couldn’t wrap themselves around the story. ‘Why does this Latina need to be a boxer? Can she be a grownup white girl?’ I was more interested in the girls I rode the subway with every day. I started boxing myself in a well-known gym called Gleason’s, and saw a lot of guys who found so much family and serenity in the ring, and I thought what an incredible opportunity it was giving them. What about their sisters and girlfriends? Boxing is almost its own trope. “
The Studio’s Genre Shift for “Jennifer’s Body”
“It was a horror film and a girl comedy. My pitch to the studio was: ‘It’s a horror movie about toxic female friendships and when they get too close it’s monstrous.’ As I was shooting the film, Screen Gems Studios released a remake of "Prom Night." It was #1 of the weekend and I got a call from the Fox executives -- they said ‘We want to be sure you understand your film is a horror film.’ If your movie is framed as a lie, people smell a rat. And I was like -- my movie is not a rat. I couldn’t communicate that; I was just the director.”
Film Marketing
“The notion of marketing, the expense of getting films out to the public is as big a part of the conversation itself. It’s disheartening to have to talk about how you frame something, and how essentially you reduce something in meaning, but ultimately, the better you can be at saying, ‘This is what this thing is. This is how it reaches people. This is who it reaches,’ -- the more you can articulate that to another person, the better. It makes them feel like they’re in good hands and also it helps you understand the thing you’re making.”
Directing for Television
“I don’t feel any sense of snobbery anymore directing for television. There’s value in all stories and in all sorts of forms. As the director, you are executing a vision that is the vision of the show. As much as you’re given some freedoms, you’re still working in that vision. “
Getting Screenplay Feedback
“If you feel that there’s some truth to what others are saying, listen. There’s no shame in walking away from something (a script) that’s going to pull you down to the bottom of the ocean and make you drown. Perseverance is key.”
Working in and Surviving the Film Business
“If you don’t have the stamina for it and you can’t enjoy the process itself, and can’t find an interesting challenge in what feels like getting punched in the face routinely or having a sense of failure, then this isn’t the job for you. Because what you’re facing all the time are obstacles and people saying “no” to you. ‘No, terrible idea. No, hasn’t been done. No it has been done.’ All of these reasons. You just have to get used to people saying “No.” It’s part of the process. I understand that No is part of the process. I have to learn when I want to say, ‘No not for me.’
It’s important what stories you want to tell and not about who you want to be. There’s a lot of aspirational language; look at your gut and look into your heart about what you enjoy.
Find your creative tribe and work with others who share your sensibility.”
To learn more about the Athena Film Festival: http://athenafilmfestival.com/
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 3/1/2016
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
Read More: Sundance Announces Competition and Next Lineups, Featuring Returning Favorites and a Secret Director The upcoming Sundance documentary "Uncle Howard" delves into the life and legacy of New York filmmaker Howard Brookner, who passed away from AIDS in 1989. Independent cinema enthusiast and industry jack-of-all-trades Jim Jarmusch joins Howard's nephew Aaron as Executive Producer on this expedition. Brookner's body of work, which captured the late 70's and early 80's cultural revolution, was buried in William S. Burroughs' bunker for 30 years. Now, Aaron takes it upon himself to unearth the films of his uncle in an attempt to understand the man behind the camera. "Uncle Howard" is premiering at Sundance this week. Watch the trailer above. Read More: Susan Kouguell Interview with Aaron Brookner...
- 1/21/2016
- by Bryn Gelbart
- Indiewire
In January 2014, I spoke with Will Scheffer about his HBO series "Getting On" for this publication:
You can read that interview Here
And now we fast forward almost two years later and the show is in its third and final season. In our interview, Scheffer looks back at his experiences with the show and talks about collaborating with his husband, Mark V Olsen – creator, executive producer and writer of "Getting On" and their other shows, including "Big Love."
In addition to the HBO American cable channel, "Getting On" can be seen on HBO Latin America and HBO Europe and Asia, and through Sky (France, UK, Spain, and so on.)
Kouguell: With the increase of the global cable markets and increasing platforms, reaching a broader audience, how has this affected your shows?
Scheffer: It was gratifying to have read about "Getting On’s" reception in Paris (where they love the show) before the recent attacks and to know that this show speaks particularly to issues of loss and wounding and grief but in a way that enables laughter to mix with heartbreak. This season has so much more resonance to me as it is a comedy. It’s not escapist. It’s healing comedy. You can laugh and cry in the darkest of hours and to me, that’s the greatest service to provide as an artist. To allow people to experience their common humanity. Without self-importance. Experiencing and accepting the fragility of life, of being human, is a wonderful place to begin from.
Kouguell: Looking back at the three seasons of "Getting On," what were some of the most poignant and/or memorable moments for you working with the actors and writers?
Scheffer: We felt that by choosing "Getting On" to adapt we were entering into “stewarding” function with our British team. We wrote all of the episodes and the first two seasons had a lot of material from the original series to adapt, but the final season was all original story. Still, we went to London and ran our ideas by the original creators and worked with them. That relationship, receiving their input bonded us in a way that was unique to most adaptations. The fact that Vicki Pepperdine and Joanna Scanlan appear in Episode 4 as their original characters and meet their American counterparts, and vice versa— felt so amazing. It’s something we’d never seen before and it speaks to the way the British show and the American show are so different but like siblings, so connected. We share the same blood. So that’s a long-winded way of saying, going to London for a week to work with “the girls’ was a high point.
It’s hard to single out moments because working with our actors was the greatest experience of my career. Watching Niecy Nash bloom, seeing Mel Rodriguez and Alex Borstein prove how brilliant they are. Experiencing Laurie Metcalf’s genius (I mean she is a national treasure — beyond, beyond) and then all of our guest and co-stars. Just this season alone: Harry Dean Stanton, Mary Kay Place, Francis Conroy, Rhea Perlman, June Sqibb, Kristen Johnson, Jonathan Silverman, Jayma Mays, Daniel Stern, Rita Moreno, Grant Bowler, Janis Ian!!! Meeting Didi’s family -- Marsha, Corey, Gloria and Scott -- they felt like a real family. Anne Guilbert as Birdie. Not to mention the other great women we were able to work with like Betty Buckley, Tsai Chin, Jean Smart, Irma P. Hall, Alia Shawkat, Carrie Preston, Molly Shannon— I can’t even list them all, I know I’m forgetting people and not even mentioning the supporting cast who were brilliant. These diverse, brilliant actors in just 18 episodes.
Kouguell: This is the second show you have created for HBO, "Big Love" ran for 5 seasons and like "Getting On," pushed the envelope in its examination of timely, hot button issues. For Big Love, the show was not just about polygamy and the power of the church, at its core it was about family. In "Getting On," some of the major topics/themes you tackle are ageism and the health care system. While "Getting On" is very funny, it also strikes a major chord of realism. Truth is stranger than fiction.
Scheffer: I think I mentioned already the theme of human frailty. And I just can’t stress enough how I believe it is an “undervalued” value in our society. I mean we all get old and die. It’s not sexy but it’s part of life. And it doesn’t have to be shoved out of our consciousness or romanticized or treated sentimentally or “importantly.” It’s life. And I wish people knew what they were missing by avoiding dealing with their fears about it. It’s like, do you wanna deal with those fears now or do it later when it’s gonna be a real drag?
It was such a privilege for Mark and me to both be with our moms when they were dying. Sure it was hard, but it was incredibly layered and sometimes funny and of course heartbreaking -- but it was like I wanted to tell everyone: “Hey, you really should experience this, because it’s so amazing, even though it hurts, too.”
Kouguell: The main characters (with the exception of the brilliant Patsy) focus mainly on women and their relationships with their patients and with their colleagues. There is so much talk in the industry now about the lack of women’s roles particularly in the ‘over 40’ category. What are your thoughts on this?
Scheffer: Yeah. Well. That’s always been the case. And I think it’s finally changing. The volatility in the business is palpable and I think that finally that really big ugly fact about Hollywood is going to change. It has to. I know we’re going to keep writing great roles for women because, lucky for us, we’re good at it, I think.
Kouguell: What can we expect from this final season?
Scheffer: Well. It’s the final season. So expect big stories, some big reveals and I’d say that I think the finale is one I will always be very proud of.
Learn more about "Getting On": http://www.hbo.com/getting-on
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
You can read that interview Here
And now we fast forward almost two years later and the show is in its third and final season. In our interview, Scheffer looks back at his experiences with the show and talks about collaborating with his husband, Mark V Olsen – creator, executive producer and writer of "Getting On" and their other shows, including "Big Love."
In addition to the HBO American cable channel, "Getting On" can be seen on HBO Latin America and HBO Europe and Asia, and through Sky (France, UK, Spain, and so on.)
Kouguell: With the increase of the global cable markets and increasing platforms, reaching a broader audience, how has this affected your shows?
Scheffer: It was gratifying to have read about "Getting On’s" reception in Paris (where they love the show) before the recent attacks and to know that this show speaks particularly to issues of loss and wounding and grief but in a way that enables laughter to mix with heartbreak. This season has so much more resonance to me as it is a comedy. It’s not escapist. It’s healing comedy. You can laugh and cry in the darkest of hours and to me, that’s the greatest service to provide as an artist. To allow people to experience their common humanity. Without self-importance. Experiencing and accepting the fragility of life, of being human, is a wonderful place to begin from.
Kouguell: Looking back at the three seasons of "Getting On," what were some of the most poignant and/or memorable moments for you working with the actors and writers?
Scheffer: We felt that by choosing "Getting On" to adapt we were entering into “stewarding” function with our British team. We wrote all of the episodes and the first two seasons had a lot of material from the original series to adapt, but the final season was all original story. Still, we went to London and ran our ideas by the original creators and worked with them. That relationship, receiving their input bonded us in a way that was unique to most adaptations. The fact that Vicki Pepperdine and Joanna Scanlan appear in Episode 4 as their original characters and meet their American counterparts, and vice versa— felt so amazing. It’s something we’d never seen before and it speaks to the way the British show and the American show are so different but like siblings, so connected. We share the same blood. So that’s a long-winded way of saying, going to London for a week to work with “the girls’ was a high point.
It’s hard to single out moments because working with our actors was the greatest experience of my career. Watching Niecy Nash bloom, seeing Mel Rodriguez and Alex Borstein prove how brilliant they are. Experiencing Laurie Metcalf’s genius (I mean she is a national treasure — beyond, beyond) and then all of our guest and co-stars. Just this season alone: Harry Dean Stanton, Mary Kay Place, Francis Conroy, Rhea Perlman, June Sqibb, Kristen Johnson, Jonathan Silverman, Jayma Mays, Daniel Stern, Rita Moreno, Grant Bowler, Janis Ian!!! Meeting Didi’s family -- Marsha, Corey, Gloria and Scott -- they felt like a real family. Anne Guilbert as Birdie. Not to mention the other great women we were able to work with like Betty Buckley, Tsai Chin, Jean Smart, Irma P. Hall, Alia Shawkat, Carrie Preston, Molly Shannon— I can’t even list them all, I know I’m forgetting people and not even mentioning the supporting cast who were brilliant. These diverse, brilliant actors in just 18 episodes.
Kouguell: This is the second show you have created for HBO, "Big Love" ran for 5 seasons and like "Getting On," pushed the envelope in its examination of timely, hot button issues. For Big Love, the show was not just about polygamy and the power of the church, at its core it was about family. In "Getting On," some of the major topics/themes you tackle are ageism and the health care system. While "Getting On" is very funny, it also strikes a major chord of realism. Truth is stranger than fiction.
Scheffer: I think I mentioned already the theme of human frailty. And I just can’t stress enough how I believe it is an “undervalued” value in our society. I mean we all get old and die. It’s not sexy but it’s part of life. And it doesn’t have to be shoved out of our consciousness or romanticized or treated sentimentally or “importantly.” It’s life. And I wish people knew what they were missing by avoiding dealing with their fears about it. It’s like, do you wanna deal with those fears now or do it later when it’s gonna be a real drag?
It was such a privilege for Mark and me to both be with our moms when they were dying. Sure it was hard, but it was incredibly layered and sometimes funny and of course heartbreaking -- but it was like I wanted to tell everyone: “Hey, you really should experience this, because it’s so amazing, even though it hurts, too.”
Kouguell: The main characters (with the exception of the brilliant Patsy) focus mainly on women and their relationships with their patients and with their colleagues. There is so much talk in the industry now about the lack of women’s roles particularly in the ‘over 40’ category. What are your thoughts on this?
Scheffer: Yeah. Well. That’s always been the case. And I think it’s finally changing. The volatility in the business is palpable and I think that finally that really big ugly fact about Hollywood is going to change. It has to. I know we’re going to keep writing great roles for women because, lucky for us, we’re good at it, I think.
Kouguell: What can we expect from this final season?
Scheffer: Well. It’s the final season. So expect big stories, some big reveals and I’d say that I think the finale is one I will always be very proud of.
Learn more about "Getting On": http://www.hbo.com/getting-on
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 11/21/2015
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
In the lively and informative morning panel The Changemakers: Tactics for Equality and Diversity in Film and Television at the Produced By Conference at the Time Warner Center in New York, the conversation focused on the importance of taking action and concrete ideas to ensure that more people of color and women find opportunities in all levels of the film and television industry.
The speakers:
Effie T. Brown
Founder, Duly Noted, Inc.; "Project Greenlight," "Dear White People."
Charles D. King
Founder & CEO, MacRo
Mynette Louie
President, Gamechanger Films
Pete Nowalk
"How to Get Away with Murder"
Lindsey Taylor Wood
Founder & President, Ltw
Moderator Michael Skolnik (President, Global Grind Civil Rights Organizer) opened with several statistics from the 2015 UCLA report on diversity from the Bunch Center: Here
The report looked at 175 films, and 1,015 television shows over two years.
Lead actors: 75 % men, 25 % women
Directors: 94 % men, 6 % women
Writers: 87% men, 13% women
Television show creators: 71% men, 29% women
Lead actors: 83% white, 17% people of color
Directors: 82% white, 18 % people of color
Writers: 88% white, 12% people of color
Show creators 94 % white, 6 % people of color
Cable television show creators: 89 % white, 11% people of color
And perhaps what drew the loudest audience gasp from Skolnik’s last statistic:
CEO and chairs of the 18 studios: 94 % white and 100% men.
Skolnik : The good news is, if there is good news, is that the audience is demanding much more of us, and certainly on television there has been an explosion of diverse audiences on and off screen.
Skolnick asked the panel about some proud moments in their career.
Brown: In ‘Project Greenlight’ you are actually able to see an inclusive crew that looks like America. So, people watching in Middle America, for example, could see that they have a voice and place in film.
Nowalk : I’m proud of lead actress Viola Davis. We created the role together of Annalise Keating. The character is not perfect. The same is true for the gay character, who is also not perfectly perfect. That’s not real or interesting. Viola plays the anti-hero – a character which men always do. She’s a character people love to hate. It’s so nice not to write perfect boring people.
Skolnick asked the panel how their work has changed and how their art changed as the energy in this country has changed.
During his 15 years as an agent at Wme agency days, Charles D. King recounted, “I was always the guy in the room saying, ‘Why can’t the role be this way?'” King also emphasized the importance of making sure talent does not get pigeonholed, citing examples of director Tim Story going from directing “Barbershop” to “Fantastic Four” and how he worked with his clients, including Terrence Howard, Michael Ealy and Paula Patton. “It was almost like the Underground Railroad for a while.”
Nowalk: I don’t write ethnicity into characters. We cast colorblind. In the past, we ignored the race issue; we didn’t speak to it in the script. Viola Davis encouraged me that the world is not colorblind. We got positive feedback for the show. We do address race and use it in strange, manipulative ways that fits the tone in the show. The new PC is let’s talk about it (race).
Louie: What’s changed is my courage and mindset, and not accepting the status quo as gospel. When I started 10 years ago, I was told by companies; ‘Black people don’t sell overseas’ but now I question that a lot more. That attitude is part of a system that is a self-perpetuating racist institution.
Brown: I don’t feel so alone anymore. I remember growing up in New Jersey, looking at images on television. I just wasn’t there. I wasn’t in Three’s Company, Charlies Angels, Give Me a Break -- that was a mammy trope. Good Times wasn’t reflecting my experience. I want to reflect the image of the other.
Later on, Brown added how the aftermath of the Project Greenlight flap was ‘shocking…It started a conversation. I’m grateful, it set a tone. Black Twitter is real. Everyone kept strong.”
Wood: We need to learn how to be better allies and know when to ask questions. We’re not all done addressing these issues. We need to have honest conversations and understand the solutions that are working in other industries.
Concluding the discussion, Skolnick asked the panel for one take away tactic to increase diversity.
Wood: I would love to have conversations over alternative distribution models.
Nowalk: Think about the interns and the assistants you’re hiring. That’s the way to mentor people; hire a diverse group of people. It starts there.
King: Live by what you’re preaching.
Brown: Stop talking about it, be about it. Whatever you’re doing, make sure it’s inclusive otherwise we don’t have any right to bitch about it
Louie: Learn the marketplace and learn the statistics. Read ‘The Ms. Factor: The Power of Female Driven Content Toolkit.’ It puts all the statistics together about women-driven films. It will help you pitch your projects. It shows all the numbers that are in support of women driven films. Be armed with this. If you’re armed with this, you have a better chance of getting your film made.
For more information visit Here
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
The speakers:
Effie T. Brown
Founder, Duly Noted, Inc.; "Project Greenlight," "Dear White People."
Charles D. King
Founder & CEO, MacRo
Mynette Louie
President, Gamechanger Films
Pete Nowalk
"How to Get Away with Murder"
Lindsey Taylor Wood
Founder & President, Ltw
Moderator Michael Skolnik (President, Global Grind Civil Rights Organizer) opened with several statistics from the 2015 UCLA report on diversity from the Bunch Center: Here
The report looked at 175 films, and 1,015 television shows over two years.
Lead actors: 75 % men, 25 % women
Directors: 94 % men, 6 % women
Writers: 87% men, 13% women
Television show creators: 71% men, 29% women
Lead actors: 83% white, 17% people of color
Directors: 82% white, 18 % people of color
Writers: 88% white, 12% people of color
Show creators 94 % white, 6 % people of color
Cable television show creators: 89 % white, 11% people of color
And perhaps what drew the loudest audience gasp from Skolnik’s last statistic:
CEO and chairs of the 18 studios: 94 % white and 100% men.
Skolnik : The good news is, if there is good news, is that the audience is demanding much more of us, and certainly on television there has been an explosion of diverse audiences on and off screen.
Skolnick asked the panel about some proud moments in their career.
Brown: In ‘Project Greenlight’ you are actually able to see an inclusive crew that looks like America. So, people watching in Middle America, for example, could see that they have a voice and place in film.
Nowalk : I’m proud of lead actress Viola Davis. We created the role together of Annalise Keating. The character is not perfect. The same is true for the gay character, who is also not perfectly perfect. That’s not real or interesting. Viola plays the anti-hero – a character which men always do. She’s a character people love to hate. It’s so nice not to write perfect boring people.
Skolnick asked the panel how their work has changed and how their art changed as the energy in this country has changed.
During his 15 years as an agent at Wme agency days, Charles D. King recounted, “I was always the guy in the room saying, ‘Why can’t the role be this way?'” King also emphasized the importance of making sure talent does not get pigeonholed, citing examples of director Tim Story going from directing “Barbershop” to “Fantastic Four” and how he worked with his clients, including Terrence Howard, Michael Ealy and Paula Patton. “It was almost like the Underground Railroad for a while.”
Nowalk: I don’t write ethnicity into characters. We cast colorblind. In the past, we ignored the race issue; we didn’t speak to it in the script. Viola Davis encouraged me that the world is not colorblind. We got positive feedback for the show. We do address race and use it in strange, manipulative ways that fits the tone in the show. The new PC is let’s talk about it (race).
Louie: What’s changed is my courage and mindset, and not accepting the status quo as gospel. When I started 10 years ago, I was told by companies; ‘Black people don’t sell overseas’ but now I question that a lot more. That attitude is part of a system that is a self-perpetuating racist institution.
Brown: I don’t feel so alone anymore. I remember growing up in New Jersey, looking at images on television. I just wasn’t there. I wasn’t in Three’s Company, Charlies Angels, Give Me a Break -- that was a mammy trope. Good Times wasn’t reflecting my experience. I want to reflect the image of the other.
Later on, Brown added how the aftermath of the Project Greenlight flap was ‘shocking…It started a conversation. I’m grateful, it set a tone. Black Twitter is real. Everyone kept strong.”
Wood: We need to learn how to be better allies and know when to ask questions. We’re not all done addressing these issues. We need to have honest conversations and understand the solutions that are working in other industries.
Concluding the discussion, Skolnick asked the panel for one take away tactic to increase diversity.
Wood: I would love to have conversations over alternative distribution models.
Nowalk: Think about the interns and the assistants you’re hiring. That’s the way to mentor people; hire a diverse group of people. It starts there.
King: Live by what you’re preaching.
Brown: Stop talking about it, be about it. Whatever you’re doing, make sure it’s inclusive otherwise we don’t have any right to bitch about it
Louie: Learn the marketplace and learn the statistics. Read ‘The Ms. Factor: The Power of Female Driven Content Toolkit.’ It puts all the statistics together about women-driven films. It will help you pitch your projects. It shows all the numbers that are in support of women driven films. Be armed with this. If you’re armed with this, you have a better chance of getting your film made.
For more information visit Here
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 10/29/2015
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
The first ever Writers Lab, a program targeting female screenwriters over 40, took place at Wiawaka on Lake George, New York from September 18-20, 2015.
The group of mentors included Caroline Kaplan ("Boyhood," "Time Out of Mind," "Personal Velocity"), Kirsten Smith ("Legally Blonde," "Ten Things I Hate About You"), Jessica Bendinger ("Bring It On," "Aquamarine"), Mary Jane Skalski ("Win Win," "The Station Agent"),Gina Prince-Bythewood ("Secret Life of Bees," "Beyond the Lights"),Lydia Dean-Pilcher ("The Lunchbox," The Reluctant Fundamentalist"), Meg LeFauve ("Inside Out," "The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys"), and Darnell Martin (“Cadillac Records” and “I Like It Like That”).
Launched by New York Women in Film and Television (Nywift) and Iris, a collective of women filmmakers dedicated to championing the female voice in narrative film, was funded in part by Academy Award-winning actress Meryl Streep, and with the collaboration of the Writers Guild of America East.
Motivated by its screenwriting members who were frustrated with the paucity of development opportunities, Iris founders Elizabeth Kaiden, Kyle Ann Stoke, and Nitza Wilson approached Nywift to support a screenwriting Lab exclusively for this demographic and The Writers Lab came into being.
I spoke with Iris cofounder Elizabeth Kaiden to follow up about the first Writers Lab.
Kouguell: How many screenplays were submitted for consideration?
Kaiden: There were approximately 3,500 screenplays submitted. The selected participants were Sarah Bird ("Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen), Vanessa Carmichael ("The American"). Tracy Charlton ("Raised Up"), Kellen Hertz ("Ashburn"), Anna Hozian ("Anchor Baby"), Lyralen Kaye ("St John the Divine in Iowa"), Jan Kimbrough ("The Glastonbury Cow Party"), Billie Jo Mason ("The Cargo"), Peres Owino ("Basketweaver"), Gretchen Somerfeld ("Face Value"), Janet Stilson ("Jaguar Trail"), and Kim Turner ("It Goes Like This").
Kouguell: What were some highlights from the three-day Lab?
Kaiden: Highlights included the chemistry, warmth and enthusiasm of the group, the bucolic setting in which serious and thoughtful individual meetings between writers and mentors took place, the outstanding, locally sourced, group meals presented by Wiawaka chef Meg, and evening conversations around a bonfire. Oh, and the weather was fabulous.
Kouguell: What is the next step for these writers selected for the Lab?
Kaiden: Writers are all revising their work and communicating with each other. They will use the feedback, resources, references, and friendships they took away from the Lab to further develop their scripts and their opportunities.
Kouguell: In addition to the one-on-one meetings, what other events took place?
Kaiden: There were three panel discussions in which the mentors addressed specific craft issues and general industry insight, informal conversations, group meals, as well as small, directed group conversations led by Nywift Board President Alexis Alexanian to address the challenges writers face in navigating the film world.
Kouguell: What do you feel were some of the most positive outcomes from the weekend in Lake George?
Kaiden: The most exciting outcome of this venture, for me, is uncovering and bringing to public attention the field of women screenwriters, particularly its enormous breadth and depth. The most positive outcomes of the weekend Lab, for me, include the sense of empowerment I believe the Lab gave the writers to continue their work and develop their projects, and the supportive community of writers we all discovered, which can only further our goals of ensuring that more of their stories will reach audiences.
Kouguell: Will the Writers Lab take place again next year?
Kaiden: Yes.
Kouguell: Anything else you’d like to add?
Kaiden: We were excited and delighted by the energy and enthusiasm at the Lab. It felt like an important event. It Was an important event. We discussed and debated issues of theme, tone, craft, structure, character, as well as production, representation, and target markets. The mentors were unbelievably focused, supportive and encouraging. Serious work was done. The writers left feeling, I think, that their voices had been heard, and that they should all continue to tell their stories. I think you will be hearing more from these writers and about these projects. And, although that would have been enough, everyone had a blast.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
The group of mentors included Caroline Kaplan ("Boyhood," "Time Out of Mind," "Personal Velocity"), Kirsten Smith ("Legally Blonde," "Ten Things I Hate About You"), Jessica Bendinger ("Bring It On," "Aquamarine"), Mary Jane Skalski ("Win Win," "The Station Agent"),Gina Prince-Bythewood ("Secret Life of Bees," "Beyond the Lights"),Lydia Dean-Pilcher ("The Lunchbox," The Reluctant Fundamentalist"), Meg LeFauve ("Inside Out," "The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys"), and Darnell Martin (“Cadillac Records” and “I Like It Like That”).
Launched by New York Women in Film and Television (Nywift) and Iris, a collective of women filmmakers dedicated to championing the female voice in narrative film, was funded in part by Academy Award-winning actress Meryl Streep, and with the collaboration of the Writers Guild of America East.
Motivated by its screenwriting members who were frustrated with the paucity of development opportunities, Iris founders Elizabeth Kaiden, Kyle Ann Stoke, and Nitza Wilson approached Nywift to support a screenwriting Lab exclusively for this demographic and The Writers Lab came into being.
I spoke with Iris cofounder Elizabeth Kaiden to follow up about the first Writers Lab.
Kouguell: How many screenplays were submitted for consideration?
Kaiden: There were approximately 3,500 screenplays submitted. The selected participants were Sarah Bird ("Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen), Vanessa Carmichael ("The American"). Tracy Charlton ("Raised Up"), Kellen Hertz ("Ashburn"), Anna Hozian ("Anchor Baby"), Lyralen Kaye ("St John the Divine in Iowa"), Jan Kimbrough ("The Glastonbury Cow Party"), Billie Jo Mason ("The Cargo"), Peres Owino ("Basketweaver"), Gretchen Somerfeld ("Face Value"), Janet Stilson ("Jaguar Trail"), and Kim Turner ("It Goes Like This").
Kouguell: What were some highlights from the three-day Lab?
Kaiden: Highlights included the chemistry, warmth and enthusiasm of the group, the bucolic setting in which serious and thoughtful individual meetings between writers and mentors took place, the outstanding, locally sourced, group meals presented by Wiawaka chef Meg, and evening conversations around a bonfire. Oh, and the weather was fabulous.
Kouguell: What is the next step for these writers selected for the Lab?
Kaiden: Writers are all revising their work and communicating with each other. They will use the feedback, resources, references, and friendships they took away from the Lab to further develop their scripts and their opportunities.
Kouguell: In addition to the one-on-one meetings, what other events took place?
Kaiden: There were three panel discussions in which the mentors addressed specific craft issues and general industry insight, informal conversations, group meals, as well as small, directed group conversations led by Nywift Board President Alexis Alexanian to address the challenges writers face in navigating the film world.
Kouguell: What do you feel were some of the most positive outcomes from the weekend in Lake George?
Kaiden: The most exciting outcome of this venture, for me, is uncovering and bringing to public attention the field of women screenwriters, particularly its enormous breadth and depth. The most positive outcomes of the weekend Lab, for me, include the sense of empowerment I believe the Lab gave the writers to continue their work and develop their projects, and the supportive community of writers we all discovered, which can only further our goals of ensuring that more of their stories will reach audiences.
Kouguell: Will the Writers Lab take place again next year?
Kaiden: Yes.
Kouguell: Anything else you’d like to add?
Kaiden: We were excited and delighted by the energy and enthusiasm at the Lab. It felt like an important event. It Was an important event. We discussed and debated issues of theme, tone, craft, structure, character, as well as production, representation, and target markets. The mentors were unbelievably focused, supportive and encouraging. Serious work was done. The writers left feeling, I think, that their voices had been heard, and that they should all continue to tell their stories. I think you will be hearing more from these writers and about these projects. And, although that would have been enough, everyone had a blast.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 10/26/2015
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
At a private screening at the Director Guild of America Theatre in New York City on October 10, Academy Award nominee Alison Owen (producer), Golden Globe Award nominee Faye Ward (producer), BAFTA Award winning director Sarah Gavron and Emmy-Award winner screenwriter Abi Morgan spoke, following the screening of their new film "Suffragette."
The four women met when working together on the 2007 film "Brick Lane," and soon after began discussing making a film on the suffragette movement and the women’s fight to win the right to vote in Britain a century ago.
"Suffragette" centers on Maud, a working wife and mother, who is secretly recruited to join the U.K.’s growing Suffragette movement. Galvanized by the outlaw fugitive Emmeline Pankhurst, Maud becomes an activist for the cause alongside women from all walks of life. When increasingly aggressive police action forces Maud and her dedicated fellow Suffragettes underground, they engage in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with the authorities, who are shocked as the women’s civil disobedience escalates and sparks debate across the nation.
Morgan: “ I had done a number of biopics before and it’s so hard to squeeze in a whole life --it’s so difficult; you’re trying to find a prism.”
Gavron: “Maud, a fictional character, played by Carey Mulligan, was a composite character based on three women we read accounts on.”
Morgan: “We wanted to capture the moment when the suffragettes move from pacifism to activism and as a result there were four of five amazing historical events, such as the Night of Broken Panes. Then we started reading about the testimonies of the working women and that’s when it profoundly changed for me.”
Owen: “The subject of the film was less fashionable when we started out with the project six years ago. It’s a sexy subject now. As we were preparing during the past year for the release of "Suffragette," suddenly Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Emma Watson and others were and saying, ‘I’m a feminist’ and they were making it a sexy subject -- which is great.”
Family Connections
Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith, a key target for the suffragettes, was the great-grandfather of star Helena Bonham Carter. The team commented on Bonham Carter’s serious yet light-hearted remarking on having posthumous arguments with him about his negative stance on the suffragette movement.
The Look of the Film
Gavron: “We felt the film should feel visceral and connected to today. We talked with the production designer to create a 360 set and we had two cameras rolling all the time. The clothes were actual stock; we used clothes of the time. That was the aesthetic of the piece. We shot in 16mm in the daytime to give it that gritty grain. We developed a reel of film from the archives and saw the close-ups of those women in the funeral; the faces at the end of our film.”
One Message of the Film
Morgan: “At the core of this film: Hoping to empower all women to fight for equality and to use our vote. In the UK we have a very complacent and very ambivalent voting public and we have a dwindling youth vote. We want this film to encourage people to please use your vote.”
The Team Addresses the Suffragette Protests and How Media Attention Can Make Or Break a Movement
“We found in the archives the police surveillance operation and the police violence as well. Sexual abuse in the workplace. Issues that echoed today. It seemed very relevant.”
Owen: “After 50 years of peaceful protests, the media ridiculed the women in the press for being ignored -- erased. One of the things that was very poignant, was that the suffragettes were all about getting attention; their emphasis was non loss of life. When Emily Wilding Davison throws herself in front of horse, she did so in front of Pathé newsreels and cameras. It was a strategic move.”
(Davison stepped in front of King George V’s horse Anmer at the Epsom Derby in June of 1913, suffering fatal injuries. Her funeral, organized by the Women’s Social and Political Union (Wspu) was attended by thousands of suffragettes and thousands of others, marking a turning point for the Suffragette movement.)
Media Attention Today
For their cover, Time Out London invited the film’s stars Carey Mulligan, Meryl Streep and Anne Marie-Duff to wear t-shirts with the slogan: 'I’d rather be a rebel than a slave' - a partial quote taken from a 1913 speech given by Emmeline Pankhurst. This quote has sparked outrage in the U.S.
Pankhurst’s entire quote was: 'I know that women, once convinced that they are doing what is right, that their rebellion is just, will go on, no matter what the difficulties, no matter what the dangers, so long as there is a woman alive to hold up the flag of rebellion. I would rather be a rebel than a slave.'
The Suffragette Team: “The original quote was intended to rouse women to stand up against oppression -- it is a rallying cry, and absolutely not intended to criticize those who have no choice but to submit to oppression or to reference the Confederacy, as some people who saw the quote and photo out of context have surmised.”
Owen: “We all acknowledge and are aware of how acutely sensitive that slogan was in the U.S. We need to keep having the conversation. I hope it’s about diversity in front of and behind the camera. If it becomes a narrative about a film that is so sincerely meant to promote all women all over the world, then it’s a misstep and unfortunate.”
Ward: “ We need more diversity in every respect in filmmaking. We need an industry that’s going to want to make that work.”
The Suffragette Team: “Meryl Streep recently said at a press conference about the film, how female voices are hard to be heard: ‘People read ‘Rotten Tomatoes’ and less than a fifth who rate the movies are women.’ The quartet of women chuckle: “We thought about doing ‘Equal Tomatoes.” Their tone more serious now: “Something that reflects the diversity of our society equally and properly.”
"Suffragette" opens in the U.S. 23 October.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
The four women met when working together on the 2007 film "Brick Lane," and soon after began discussing making a film on the suffragette movement and the women’s fight to win the right to vote in Britain a century ago.
"Suffragette" centers on Maud, a working wife and mother, who is secretly recruited to join the U.K.’s growing Suffragette movement. Galvanized by the outlaw fugitive Emmeline Pankhurst, Maud becomes an activist for the cause alongside women from all walks of life. When increasingly aggressive police action forces Maud and her dedicated fellow Suffragettes underground, they engage in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with the authorities, who are shocked as the women’s civil disobedience escalates and sparks debate across the nation.
Morgan: “ I had done a number of biopics before and it’s so hard to squeeze in a whole life --it’s so difficult; you’re trying to find a prism.”
Gavron: “Maud, a fictional character, played by Carey Mulligan, was a composite character based on three women we read accounts on.”
Morgan: “We wanted to capture the moment when the suffragettes move from pacifism to activism and as a result there were four of five amazing historical events, such as the Night of Broken Panes. Then we started reading about the testimonies of the working women and that’s when it profoundly changed for me.”
Owen: “The subject of the film was less fashionable when we started out with the project six years ago. It’s a sexy subject now. As we were preparing during the past year for the release of "Suffragette," suddenly Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Emma Watson and others were and saying, ‘I’m a feminist’ and they were making it a sexy subject -- which is great.”
Family Connections
Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith, a key target for the suffragettes, was the great-grandfather of star Helena Bonham Carter. The team commented on Bonham Carter’s serious yet light-hearted remarking on having posthumous arguments with him about his negative stance on the suffragette movement.
The Look of the Film
Gavron: “We felt the film should feel visceral and connected to today. We talked with the production designer to create a 360 set and we had two cameras rolling all the time. The clothes were actual stock; we used clothes of the time. That was the aesthetic of the piece. We shot in 16mm in the daytime to give it that gritty grain. We developed a reel of film from the archives and saw the close-ups of those women in the funeral; the faces at the end of our film.”
One Message of the Film
Morgan: “At the core of this film: Hoping to empower all women to fight for equality and to use our vote. In the UK we have a very complacent and very ambivalent voting public and we have a dwindling youth vote. We want this film to encourage people to please use your vote.”
The Team Addresses the Suffragette Protests and How Media Attention Can Make Or Break a Movement
“We found in the archives the police surveillance operation and the police violence as well. Sexual abuse in the workplace. Issues that echoed today. It seemed very relevant.”
Owen: “After 50 years of peaceful protests, the media ridiculed the women in the press for being ignored -- erased. One of the things that was very poignant, was that the suffragettes were all about getting attention; their emphasis was non loss of life. When Emily Wilding Davison throws herself in front of horse, she did so in front of Pathé newsreels and cameras. It was a strategic move.”
(Davison stepped in front of King George V’s horse Anmer at the Epsom Derby in June of 1913, suffering fatal injuries. Her funeral, organized by the Women’s Social and Political Union (Wspu) was attended by thousands of suffragettes and thousands of others, marking a turning point for the Suffragette movement.)
Media Attention Today
For their cover, Time Out London invited the film’s stars Carey Mulligan, Meryl Streep and Anne Marie-Duff to wear t-shirts with the slogan: 'I’d rather be a rebel than a slave' - a partial quote taken from a 1913 speech given by Emmeline Pankhurst. This quote has sparked outrage in the U.S.
Pankhurst’s entire quote was: 'I know that women, once convinced that they are doing what is right, that their rebellion is just, will go on, no matter what the difficulties, no matter what the dangers, so long as there is a woman alive to hold up the flag of rebellion. I would rather be a rebel than a slave.'
The Suffragette Team: “The original quote was intended to rouse women to stand up against oppression -- it is a rallying cry, and absolutely not intended to criticize those who have no choice but to submit to oppression or to reference the Confederacy, as some people who saw the quote and photo out of context have surmised.”
Owen: “We all acknowledge and are aware of how acutely sensitive that slogan was in the U.S. We need to keep having the conversation. I hope it’s about diversity in front of and behind the camera. If it becomes a narrative about a film that is so sincerely meant to promote all women all over the world, then it’s a misstep and unfortunate.”
Ward: “ We need more diversity in every respect in filmmaking. We need an industry that’s going to want to make that work.”
The Suffragette Team: “Meryl Streep recently said at a press conference about the film, how female voices are hard to be heard: ‘People read ‘Rotten Tomatoes’ and less than a fifth who rate the movies are women.’ The quartet of women chuckle: “We thought about doing ‘Equal Tomatoes.” Their tone more serious now: “Something that reflects the diversity of our society equally and properly.”
"Suffragette" opens in the U.S. 23 October.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 10/15/2015
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
At the New York Film Festival press screening, Hou Hsiao-Hsien spoke with Dennis Lim about his new film "The Assassin" for which he won Best Director at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.
Filmed on location in Japan and on set in Taiwan, "The Assassin" centers on the story of Yinniang, who, abducted at age 10, is now a Tang Dynasty assassin dedicated to the art of killing until memory transforms her course of action.
The Story
Hou Hsiao-Hsien: “There is a lot of information from the Tang Dynasty -- tales, legends and novels. I first came across this story in college. I wanted to bring this realism into the film. The story is based on historical facts and then I fleshed out the characters.
I wanted to do this film in the wuxia genre. I wanted to draw inspiration from Samurai movies from Japan as a long tradition of this martial arts practice that would be more in line of how I see the wuxia genre; it should be based on the realistic depiction of human capacity.”
Working with Actors
Hou Hsiao-Hsien : “I work with actors and actresses I have worked with together before; they know my style and how I work on set. They will know the script and know the mood I want to create. There is no rehearsal. They come to the set prepared. They know what the scene is about. I have to set up the lights and camera, and I set up the dolly and tracks, and then I ask them to go onto the set I created for them. Hopefully they will be inspired by this mise-en-scène, and the location. The actors immerse themselves and embody the characters. Things happen naturally. Sometimes they do take after take, and when they get too comfortable, they get mechanical and unnatural. I want to somehow change the scene for them, to really act. The long takes go with that particular way of directing.”
The Dagger and Action Sequences
Hou Hsiao-Hsien explained how the main character Yinniang has a strategic advantage, using the short dagger; it allows her to swiftly outmaneuver her opponents’ unwieldly swords.
Hou Hsiao-Hsien: “To utilize such a short dagger, timing is so important. That burst of action. That’s how I design action sequences. These actors are not trained in martial arts. There was a lot of training. What I did was divide all the action sequences into small fragments one at a time, and they (the actors) have to complete it in that short fragment. Still, it takes a long time -- to find their weapons, they get injured, they have to rest, and if they shoot the scene over and over, we have to change location. It’s time-consuming and painstaking.”
Jiaxin, the princess-turned-nun and Yinniang’s abductor, criticizes Yinniang for not following through with an assassination:
“Your skill is matchless, but your mind is hostage to human sentiments.”
“Your heart lacks resolve.”
These two lines are at the heart of the conflict found in Yinniang’s journey in this intimate and powerful wuxia drama.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
Filmed on location in Japan and on set in Taiwan, "The Assassin" centers on the story of Yinniang, who, abducted at age 10, is now a Tang Dynasty assassin dedicated to the art of killing until memory transforms her course of action.
The Story
Hou Hsiao-Hsien: “There is a lot of information from the Tang Dynasty -- tales, legends and novels. I first came across this story in college. I wanted to bring this realism into the film. The story is based on historical facts and then I fleshed out the characters.
I wanted to do this film in the wuxia genre. I wanted to draw inspiration from Samurai movies from Japan as a long tradition of this martial arts practice that would be more in line of how I see the wuxia genre; it should be based on the realistic depiction of human capacity.”
Working with Actors
Hou Hsiao-Hsien : “I work with actors and actresses I have worked with together before; they know my style and how I work on set. They will know the script and know the mood I want to create. There is no rehearsal. They come to the set prepared. They know what the scene is about. I have to set up the lights and camera, and I set up the dolly and tracks, and then I ask them to go onto the set I created for them. Hopefully they will be inspired by this mise-en-scène, and the location. The actors immerse themselves and embody the characters. Things happen naturally. Sometimes they do take after take, and when they get too comfortable, they get mechanical and unnatural. I want to somehow change the scene for them, to really act. The long takes go with that particular way of directing.”
The Dagger and Action Sequences
Hou Hsiao-Hsien explained how the main character Yinniang has a strategic advantage, using the short dagger; it allows her to swiftly outmaneuver her opponents’ unwieldly swords.
Hou Hsiao-Hsien: “To utilize such a short dagger, timing is so important. That burst of action. That’s how I design action sequences. These actors are not trained in martial arts. There was a lot of training. What I did was divide all the action sequences into small fragments one at a time, and they (the actors) have to complete it in that short fragment. Still, it takes a long time -- to find their weapons, they get injured, they have to rest, and if they shoot the scene over and over, we have to change location. It’s time-consuming and painstaking.”
Jiaxin, the princess-turned-nun and Yinniang’s abductor, criticizes Yinniang for not following through with an assassination:
“Your skill is matchless, but your mind is hostage to human sentiments.”
“Your heart lacks resolve.”
These two lines are at the heart of the conflict found in Yinniang’s journey in this intimate and powerful wuxia drama.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 10/14/2015
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
The 2015 Woodstock “Fiercely Independent” Film Festival celebrated its Sweet 16, and came to a close on October 4.
The awards went to:
Best Feature Narrative: "Oliver’s Deal" directed by Barney Elliott
Honorable Mention: "It Had to be You" directed by Sasha Gordon.
Best Feature Documentary: "Incorruptible" directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi.
Honorable Mention: "The Babushkas of Chernobyl" directed by Holly Morris, co-directed by Anne Bogart.
Best Animation: "The Five Minute Museum" directed by Paul Bush.
Honorable Mention: "Religatio" directed by Jaime Giraldo.
Best Short Narrative: "Stanhope" directed by Solvan "Slick" Naim.
Honorable Mention: "Welcome" (Bienvenidos) directed by Javier Fesser.
Best Short Student Short Film: "Against the Night" directed by Stefan Kubicki.
Best Short Documentary: "All About Amy" directed by Samuel Centore.
Honorable Mention: "Naneek" directed by Neal Steeno.
The Haskell Wexler Award for Best Cinematography: "Bob and the Trees" directed by Diego Ongaro with cinematography by Chris Teague and Danny Vecchione.
James Lyons Award for Best Editing of a Feature Narrative: "Oliver’s Deal" directed by Barney Elliott and edited by J.L. Romeu and Roberto Benavides.
Honorable Mention: "Touched With Fire" directed by Paul Dalio and edited by Paul Dalio and Lee Percy.
James Lyons Award for Best Editing of a Feature Documentary: "The Babushkas of Chernobyl" directed by Holly Morris and edited by Michael Taylor, Richard Howard, and Mary Manhardt
Honorable Mention: "I Will Not Be Silenced" directed by Judy Rymer and edited by Paul Hamilton.
Ultra Indie Award: "Lamb" directed by Ross Partridge.
Honorable Mention: "Bob and the Trees" directed by Diego Ongaro.
The World Cinema Award: "Meet Me in Venice" directed by Eddy Terstall.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Roberta Petzoldt ("Meet Me in Venice").
Tangerine Entertainment Juice Award for Best Female Feature Director: Linda-Maria Birbeck director of "There Should be Rules."
Carpe Diem Award Andretta Award for Best Film: "Waffle Street" directed by Eshom Nelms and Ian Nelms.
Fiercely Independent Award was presented by Atom Egoyan to Guy Maddin
Honorary Maverick Award was presented by Guy Maddin to Atom Egoyan.
For more information about the Woodstock Film Festival: http://www.woodstockfilmfestival.com/
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
The awards went to:
Best Feature Narrative: "Oliver’s Deal" directed by Barney Elliott
Honorable Mention: "It Had to be You" directed by Sasha Gordon.
Best Feature Documentary: "Incorruptible" directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi.
Honorable Mention: "The Babushkas of Chernobyl" directed by Holly Morris, co-directed by Anne Bogart.
Best Animation: "The Five Minute Museum" directed by Paul Bush.
Honorable Mention: "Religatio" directed by Jaime Giraldo.
Best Short Narrative: "Stanhope" directed by Solvan "Slick" Naim.
Honorable Mention: "Welcome" (Bienvenidos) directed by Javier Fesser.
Best Short Student Short Film: "Against the Night" directed by Stefan Kubicki.
Best Short Documentary: "All About Amy" directed by Samuel Centore.
Honorable Mention: "Naneek" directed by Neal Steeno.
The Haskell Wexler Award for Best Cinematography: "Bob and the Trees" directed by Diego Ongaro with cinematography by Chris Teague and Danny Vecchione.
James Lyons Award for Best Editing of a Feature Narrative: "Oliver’s Deal" directed by Barney Elliott and edited by J.L. Romeu and Roberto Benavides.
Honorable Mention: "Touched With Fire" directed by Paul Dalio and edited by Paul Dalio and Lee Percy.
James Lyons Award for Best Editing of a Feature Documentary: "The Babushkas of Chernobyl" directed by Holly Morris and edited by Michael Taylor, Richard Howard, and Mary Manhardt
Honorable Mention: "I Will Not Be Silenced" directed by Judy Rymer and edited by Paul Hamilton.
Ultra Indie Award: "Lamb" directed by Ross Partridge.
Honorable Mention: "Bob and the Trees" directed by Diego Ongaro.
The World Cinema Award: "Meet Me in Venice" directed by Eddy Terstall.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Roberta Petzoldt ("Meet Me in Venice").
Tangerine Entertainment Juice Award for Best Female Feature Director: Linda-Maria Birbeck director of "There Should be Rules."
Carpe Diem Award Andretta Award for Best Film: "Waffle Street" directed by Eshom Nelms and Ian Nelms.
Fiercely Independent Award was presented by Atom Egoyan to Guy Maddin
Honorary Maverick Award was presented by Guy Maddin to Atom Egoyan.
For more information about the Woodstock Film Festival: http://www.woodstockfilmfestival.com/
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 10/6/2015
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
Twenty-six years ago -- (Michael Moore reminded me how long ago it was) -- I was an acquisitions consultant for Warner Bros. and discovered a new documentary at the Independent Feature Film Market. I ran to the payphone (yes, pre-cell phone days) downstairs at the Anjelica Film Center and called my boss to tell her she must see it. The film was "Roger & Me." Warner Bros. picked up the film.
Since then, Moore continued making provocative and impassioned films, including the Academy Award-winning "Bowling for Columbine," "Sicko," "Fahrenheit 9/11," and "Capitalism: A Love Story." Moore’s latest film, "Where to Invade Next" explores the current state of the nation.
Moore: “My film is about us. I just decided to tell a story about America without shooting a single frame of the movie in the United States.”
Former Radius Founders and Co-Presidents Tom Quinn and Jason Janego are teaming with Alamo Drafthouse Founder and CEO Tim League to form the yet-to-be-named distribution label and will distribute "Where to Invade Next."
Here are highlights from the New York Film Festival press screening.
The idea for the film
“I was 19 and I just dropped out of college. I got the Eurail pass and youth hostel card and spent a couple of months going around Europe. I was in Sweden and broke a toe, and I was sent to a clinic. I went to pay the bill and there was no bill. I never heard of such a thing. And all through Europe I kept running into things like that. And I thought why can’t we do that? The idea grew organically as most of the things do in my films.”
Planning ahead
“Don’t give me too much credit for thinking this out a whole lot in advance. We don’t think it would be really cool to sit down at the lunch table with a can of Coke and see what the kids do.
The best stuff is what I don’t plan out. What my field producers do in terms of research -- I have them tell me only the basics, I don’t want to know any of the research. When the Italian couple (in the film) tells me about the 15 days paid vacation, this is the first time I’ve heard it, even if the field producers know it. I don’t want to act. We don’t do a second take. If the sound guy says we didn’t get it, you can’t ask them (the subjects) to do it again. We’ve seen too many documentaries like that. It has to happen with them and me in the moment.”
No, Michael Moore is not running for office
“…to say that you have the right to regulate a woman’s uterus but not guns? It’s like, I think the only safe place for guns is in a woman’s uterus. Then they would be regulated by our Republican congress!
I talk politically a lot, but if I really just wanted to make political speeches, I would run for office or give sermons.”
“I went to pick the flowers and not the weeds.”
A line from Moore’s film, which he further details: “Every country has a lot of problems. I didn’t go there to make a film about your countries. There are a lot of things you’re dealing with, but that’s not my film. My film is about us, not about you. I just decided to tell a story about America without shooting a single frame in the United States.”
About Michael Moore’s Happiness
“The difference about this film (compared to his others), some people say it’s not so angry, (that) I’m happier. I’m angrier than ever. Maybe I came up with a more subversive way to deal with that anger with the condition of this country.”
In closing
“We’re filmmakers. We love the art of cinema and we love what it can do to move people through fiction or non-fiction.”
The New York Film Festival runs from September 25 – October 11. http://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2015/
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
Since then, Moore continued making provocative and impassioned films, including the Academy Award-winning "Bowling for Columbine," "Sicko," "Fahrenheit 9/11," and "Capitalism: A Love Story." Moore’s latest film, "Where to Invade Next" explores the current state of the nation.
Moore: “My film is about us. I just decided to tell a story about America without shooting a single frame of the movie in the United States.”
Former Radius Founders and Co-Presidents Tom Quinn and Jason Janego are teaming with Alamo Drafthouse Founder and CEO Tim League to form the yet-to-be-named distribution label and will distribute "Where to Invade Next."
Here are highlights from the New York Film Festival press screening.
The idea for the film
“I was 19 and I just dropped out of college. I got the Eurail pass and youth hostel card and spent a couple of months going around Europe. I was in Sweden and broke a toe, and I was sent to a clinic. I went to pay the bill and there was no bill. I never heard of such a thing. And all through Europe I kept running into things like that. And I thought why can’t we do that? The idea grew organically as most of the things do in my films.”
Planning ahead
“Don’t give me too much credit for thinking this out a whole lot in advance. We don’t think it would be really cool to sit down at the lunch table with a can of Coke and see what the kids do.
The best stuff is what I don’t plan out. What my field producers do in terms of research -- I have them tell me only the basics, I don’t want to know any of the research. When the Italian couple (in the film) tells me about the 15 days paid vacation, this is the first time I’ve heard it, even if the field producers know it. I don’t want to act. We don’t do a second take. If the sound guy says we didn’t get it, you can’t ask them (the subjects) to do it again. We’ve seen too many documentaries like that. It has to happen with them and me in the moment.”
No, Michael Moore is not running for office
“…to say that you have the right to regulate a woman’s uterus but not guns? It’s like, I think the only safe place for guns is in a woman’s uterus. Then they would be regulated by our Republican congress!
I talk politically a lot, but if I really just wanted to make political speeches, I would run for office or give sermons.”
“I went to pick the flowers and not the weeds.”
A line from Moore’s film, which he further details: “Every country has a lot of problems. I didn’t go there to make a film about your countries. There are a lot of things you’re dealing with, but that’s not my film. My film is about us, not about you. I just decided to tell a story about America without shooting a single frame in the United States.”
About Michael Moore’s Happiness
“The difference about this film (compared to his others), some people say it’s not so angry, (that) I’m happier. I’m angrier than ever. Maybe I came up with a more subversive way to deal with that anger with the condition of this country.”
In closing
“We’re filmmakers. We love the art of cinema and we love what it can do to move people through fiction or non-fiction.”
The New York Film Festival runs from September 25 – October 11. http://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2015/
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 10/6/2015
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
I had the pleasure of speaking with writer and director Rosemary Rodriguez in midtown Manhattan two days before her film "Silver Skies" will have its United States premiere at the Woodstock Film Festival on Saturday October 3.
Rosemary Rodriguez wrote and directed the feature, "Acts of Worship, "which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, was nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards, including the John Cassavetes Award for Best Feature. Her episodic TV work includes "Empire," "The Good Wife," (where she is a regular director), "Manhattan," "Rake," "Elementary" and "Vegas." She is currently directing the new Marvel series on Netflix, "Jessica Jones."
"Silver Skies," Rosemary’s second feature, chronicles a group of seniors whose lives turn upside down when their Los Angeles apartment complex threatens to be sold out from under them.
We began our conversation talking about the evolution of "Silver Skies."
Rodriguez : It took about ten years. I ended up going to the MacDowell Colony with an outline for "Silver Skies" and wrote the script while I was there. Then, when I directed a "Law and Order" episode, I hit it off with (star) Dennis Farina and he loved the script. He helped to get the movie made. Fast forward almost two years later I called Dennis and told him we got the money. We picked the start date, and then he passed away two weeks later. I was devastated when he passed away. But then things fell in place. Fred Roos and Arthur Sarkissian came to the reading of the script, and they said, ‘let’s do this movie.’ The movie is dedicated to Dennis. He was my guardian angel.
Kouguell: In "Silver Skies," the theme of ageism is tackled straight on. The characters in this ensemble piece are threatened with the possible loss of their homes and livelihood. You describe "Silver Skies" as very personal and inspired by your parents’ aging. The characters of Nick and Phil are inspired by your father, who was a bookie in Boston, and the character, Eve, by your mother.
Rodriguez : Valerie Perrine’s character always has flowers; that was my mother. I watched my parents get old when I was still young. I saw how their relationships changed. You think logic would say life would get easier when you get older, but the emotional truth is that life still happens on its own terms. I think seniors don’t have a voice in this world. These are people who want to have sex. They want to work. They want to spend money. Make money. Have money.
Kouguell: You don’t shy away from thought-provoking issues, facing this generation, including the sexual assault of one female character and another main character’s choice she made of personal survival that causes the death of her spouse.
Rodriguez : My role model for directors is Robert Altman. His movies were a slice of life. The ironic thing about being a human being on this planet is that you have no idea what is going to happen next. The movie is real life. You’re going on a roller coaster ride; there are parts you’re laughing because life is like that, and then the rug gets pulled right out from under you.
The issues women go through, and with this female character with her husband abusing her, and feeling guilty over surviving, doing whatever she had to survive, whatever way she needed to behave was maybe ‘not as a good girl’ would, and coming to terms with that. Sexual abuse to elders is real. Elder abuse is real. I wanted to bring that issue in, as well as bring in that feminist message in there.
Kouguell: In "Silver Skies," the trepidation and excitement of newfound love is complicated by raw emotion as seen in one character’s personal and financial insecurities with a recent widow.
Rodriguez : Love doesn’t stop people at a certain age, it doesn’t stop their desires. It doesn’t matter what age we are. To work with these wonderful actors and Alex Rocco in particular -- he was just like a teenage boy when doing his scenes with Valerie Perrine, saying: “I’m used to playing killers, I’m not used to playing lovers.”
(Alex Rocco passed away July 18 of this year.)
Rodriguez : The recent memorial for Alex was on the racetrack: “Friends of Rocco” – it was the seventh race, it was dedicated to him. I loved him dearly. I miss him dearly. It was intended as a celebration of this wonderful man. His character reminds me of my dad. As I told my dad when it became clear he had to retire, I told him, “You always wanted to go out a winner.”
Kouguell: The film stars Barbara Bain, George Hamilton, Jack McGee, Valerie Perrine, Mariette Hartley, Howard Hesseman, Jack Betts, and Alex Rocco. Did they have any input into the script?
Rodriguez : They definitely did. They stuck to the script a lot. I’m a big collaborator; I want to hear what people have to say. In the film George Hamilton’s character is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. Jack McGee’s brother, George Hamilton’s mother, and my dad, all had Alzehimer’s and we shared our respective experiences to further develop George’s character. In a way it was a tribute for George to his mother, for Jack to his brother, and mine to my father.
Kouguell: You’ve earned great success as a director on "The Good Wife." How has directing television influenced your work as a director on "Silver Skies"?
Rodriguez : I can work efficiently and quickly, and in television that’s some of the skill set that gets developed. My instincts are very sharp. The idea out there is that we’re less creative working in television, but the real truth is we’re under such pressure that we can make decisions quickly, and also go with your heart and instincts. It’s very quick and very satisfying, and of course millions of people see your work in a shorter window of time and that is opposite of a movie.
Kouguell: Currently, you are the 4th Vice President of the Directors Guild of America. Although there is more media attention on the low percentage of women directors getting work in the industry, the numbers are still not rising fast enough.
Rodriguez : The DGA works very hard and we all work hard to address the issue of diversity. It’s been a problem for many years. My involvement in the DGA is reflective of how much the DGA cares about women directors and minority directors, and wants to get us out there. It’s a benefit to the Guild. There’s a lot of content there now and opportunity for diversity. I want to be meeting with you in a few years when this isn’t an issue any more; where there are not “female directors” – that there are just great storytellers and that we don’t have to separate each other.
Kouguell: Some final words about "Silver Skies"?
Rodriguez: The way these actors enriched my life was unexpected and so profound. These are people with 50 and 60-year careers in a tough industry. These actors showed up and put their hearts in these characters. They’re artists. They were there for the love for what they do. They just loved the characters. They had beautiful chemistry together. We are part of each other’s lives. I never could give back to them what they gave to me.
"Silver Skies" premieres at the Woodstock Film Festival on Saturday, October 3. http://www.woodstockfilmfestival.com/
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
Rosemary Rodriguez wrote and directed the feature, "Acts of Worship, "which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, was nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards, including the John Cassavetes Award for Best Feature. Her episodic TV work includes "Empire," "The Good Wife," (where she is a regular director), "Manhattan," "Rake," "Elementary" and "Vegas." She is currently directing the new Marvel series on Netflix, "Jessica Jones."
"Silver Skies," Rosemary’s second feature, chronicles a group of seniors whose lives turn upside down when their Los Angeles apartment complex threatens to be sold out from under them.
We began our conversation talking about the evolution of "Silver Skies."
Rodriguez : It took about ten years. I ended up going to the MacDowell Colony with an outline for "Silver Skies" and wrote the script while I was there. Then, when I directed a "Law and Order" episode, I hit it off with (star) Dennis Farina and he loved the script. He helped to get the movie made. Fast forward almost two years later I called Dennis and told him we got the money. We picked the start date, and then he passed away two weeks later. I was devastated when he passed away. But then things fell in place. Fred Roos and Arthur Sarkissian came to the reading of the script, and they said, ‘let’s do this movie.’ The movie is dedicated to Dennis. He was my guardian angel.
Kouguell: In "Silver Skies," the theme of ageism is tackled straight on. The characters in this ensemble piece are threatened with the possible loss of their homes and livelihood. You describe "Silver Skies" as very personal and inspired by your parents’ aging. The characters of Nick and Phil are inspired by your father, who was a bookie in Boston, and the character, Eve, by your mother.
Rodriguez : Valerie Perrine’s character always has flowers; that was my mother. I watched my parents get old when I was still young. I saw how their relationships changed. You think logic would say life would get easier when you get older, but the emotional truth is that life still happens on its own terms. I think seniors don’t have a voice in this world. These are people who want to have sex. They want to work. They want to spend money. Make money. Have money.
Kouguell: You don’t shy away from thought-provoking issues, facing this generation, including the sexual assault of one female character and another main character’s choice she made of personal survival that causes the death of her spouse.
Rodriguez : My role model for directors is Robert Altman. His movies were a slice of life. The ironic thing about being a human being on this planet is that you have no idea what is going to happen next. The movie is real life. You’re going on a roller coaster ride; there are parts you’re laughing because life is like that, and then the rug gets pulled right out from under you.
The issues women go through, and with this female character with her husband abusing her, and feeling guilty over surviving, doing whatever she had to survive, whatever way she needed to behave was maybe ‘not as a good girl’ would, and coming to terms with that. Sexual abuse to elders is real. Elder abuse is real. I wanted to bring that issue in, as well as bring in that feminist message in there.
Kouguell: In "Silver Skies," the trepidation and excitement of newfound love is complicated by raw emotion as seen in one character’s personal and financial insecurities with a recent widow.
Rodriguez : Love doesn’t stop people at a certain age, it doesn’t stop their desires. It doesn’t matter what age we are. To work with these wonderful actors and Alex Rocco in particular -- he was just like a teenage boy when doing his scenes with Valerie Perrine, saying: “I’m used to playing killers, I’m not used to playing lovers.”
(Alex Rocco passed away July 18 of this year.)
Rodriguez : The recent memorial for Alex was on the racetrack: “Friends of Rocco” – it was the seventh race, it was dedicated to him. I loved him dearly. I miss him dearly. It was intended as a celebration of this wonderful man. His character reminds me of my dad. As I told my dad when it became clear he had to retire, I told him, “You always wanted to go out a winner.”
Kouguell: The film stars Barbara Bain, George Hamilton, Jack McGee, Valerie Perrine, Mariette Hartley, Howard Hesseman, Jack Betts, and Alex Rocco. Did they have any input into the script?
Rodriguez : They definitely did. They stuck to the script a lot. I’m a big collaborator; I want to hear what people have to say. In the film George Hamilton’s character is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. Jack McGee’s brother, George Hamilton’s mother, and my dad, all had Alzehimer’s and we shared our respective experiences to further develop George’s character. In a way it was a tribute for George to his mother, for Jack to his brother, and mine to my father.
Kouguell: You’ve earned great success as a director on "The Good Wife." How has directing television influenced your work as a director on "Silver Skies"?
Rodriguez : I can work efficiently and quickly, and in television that’s some of the skill set that gets developed. My instincts are very sharp. The idea out there is that we’re less creative working in television, but the real truth is we’re under such pressure that we can make decisions quickly, and also go with your heart and instincts. It’s very quick and very satisfying, and of course millions of people see your work in a shorter window of time and that is opposite of a movie.
Kouguell: Currently, you are the 4th Vice President of the Directors Guild of America. Although there is more media attention on the low percentage of women directors getting work in the industry, the numbers are still not rising fast enough.
Rodriguez : The DGA works very hard and we all work hard to address the issue of diversity. It’s been a problem for many years. My involvement in the DGA is reflective of how much the DGA cares about women directors and minority directors, and wants to get us out there. It’s a benefit to the Guild. There’s a lot of content there now and opportunity for diversity. I want to be meeting with you in a few years when this isn’t an issue any more; where there are not “female directors” – that there are just great storytellers and that we don’t have to separate each other.
Kouguell: Some final words about "Silver Skies"?
Rodriguez: The way these actors enriched my life was unexpected and so profound. These are people with 50 and 60-year careers in a tough industry. These actors showed up and put their hearts in these characters. They’re artists. They were there for the love for what they do. They just loved the characters. They had beautiful chemistry together. We are part of each other’s lives. I never could give back to them what they gave to me.
"Silver Skies" premieres at the Woodstock Film Festival on Saturday, October 3. http://www.woodstockfilmfestival.com/
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 10/2/2015
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
Several days prior to the "The Memory of Justice" (1976) screening of the newly restored film at the New York Film Festival, on September 27, Professor Regina Longo, Cinema Studies faculty at Purchase College, Suny, moderated a discussion with Oscar-winning director Marcel Ophüls.
From the New York Film Festival: "The third of Marcel Ophüls’ monumental inquiries into the questions of individual and collective guilt following the calamities of war and genocide, 'The Memory of Justice' examines three of the defining tragedies of the Western world in the second half of the 20th century, from the Nuremberg trials through the French-Algerian war to the disaster of Vietnam, building from a vast range of interviews, from Telford Taylor (Counsel for the Prosecution at Nuremberg, later a harsh critic of our escalating involvement in Vietnam) to Nazi architect Albert Speer to Daniel Ellsberg and Joan Baez."
Conversation Highlights
On "The Memory of Justice"
Making the film -- it was not sense of mission. I didn’t think I had to teach other people what the Holocaust was about or what other aspects of World War II were about. It was my job to make an audio visual form of storytelling of contemporary events. I don’t want to change the world. I think that’s much too big a job.
On Interviewing
I don’t script in advance at all. I don’t know what people will tell me in advance and they usually know in advance why you want to see them. it’s often the things that surprise me, that tend to surprise the public. I think the films I’ve tried to do, only come to life when the interviews become conversations.
React to what the person has told you as quickly as possible and get away from the prepared questions. If you don’t respond to their thoughts, what he or she has just told you, you never get a conversation, you get only an interview.
I try to get away from the idea of talking to a person (the subject) before the interview otherwise you have to explain too much. Well, you talk to the person on the phone beforehand when you set up an interview, but I don’t talk about the subject matter. You need to communicate minimal information. It’s the details of the answers, even if they go into a tangent. To me, it’s the spontaneity. Anything that interferes with spontaneity is bad.
I’m rather a passive interviewer. I don’t interfere very much.
Role of Editing
The role of editing is really doing all the work that is necessary like when you do a narrative film. The structuring work is done in the editing room on the basis of the rushes. There are some ideas beforehand.
All films should be narratives whether fiction or not. Storytelling is awfully important. A story with a beginning, middle and end.
On Objectivity
I’ve become more and more convinced that objectivity (in documentaries) doesn’t exist. This includes journalists, even in local news, reporters who report about a fire, some of them go to the fire chief for their information, others will tend to try to get a story with the victims. The choices you make, as an observer of events, are based on your own life and your own interests.
The question is, who narrates and from what point of view.
“Why must there be exceptions?” Marcel Ophüls asks one of his subjects in "The Memory of Justice."
The many ways in which Ophüls’ subjects justify their actions in this film allow viewers to draw their own conclusions. The film examines the collective versus individual responsibility, a theme further underscored when Ophüls, an exile from Nazi Germany interviews his wife, a German woman, who recounts her membership in the Hitler Youth.
The New York Film Festival runs from September 25 – October 11. http://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2015/
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
From the New York Film Festival: "The third of Marcel Ophüls’ monumental inquiries into the questions of individual and collective guilt following the calamities of war and genocide, 'The Memory of Justice' examines three of the defining tragedies of the Western world in the second half of the 20th century, from the Nuremberg trials through the French-Algerian war to the disaster of Vietnam, building from a vast range of interviews, from Telford Taylor (Counsel for the Prosecution at Nuremberg, later a harsh critic of our escalating involvement in Vietnam) to Nazi architect Albert Speer to Daniel Ellsberg and Joan Baez."
Conversation Highlights
On "The Memory of Justice"
Making the film -- it was not sense of mission. I didn’t think I had to teach other people what the Holocaust was about or what other aspects of World War II were about. It was my job to make an audio visual form of storytelling of contemporary events. I don’t want to change the world. I think that’s much too big a job.
On Interviewing
I don’t script in advance at all. I don’t know what people will tell me in advance and they usually know in advance why you want to see them. it’s often the things that surprise me, that tend to surprise the public. I think the films I’ve tried to do, only come to life when the interviews become conversations.
React to what the person has told you as quickly as possible and get away from the prepared questions. If you don’t respond to their thoughts, what he or she has just told you, you never get a conversation, you get only an interview.
I try to get away from the idea of talking to a person (the subject) before the interview otherwise you have to explain too much. Well, you talk to the person on the phone beforehand when you set up an interview, but I don’t talk about the subject matter. You need to communicate minimal information. It’s the details of the answers, even if they go into a tangent. To me, it’s the spontaneity. Anything that interferes with spontaneity is bad.
I’m rather a passive interviewer. I don’t interfere very much.
Role of Editing
The role of editing is really doing all the work that is necessary like when you do a narrative film. The structuring work is done in the editing room on the basis of the rushes. There are some ideas beforehand.
All films should be narratives whether fiction or not. Storytelling is awfully important. A story with a beginning, middle and end.
On Objectivity
I’ve become more and more convinced that objectivity (in documentaries) doesn’t exist. This includes journalists, even in local news, reporters who report about a fire, some of them go to the fire chief for their information, others will tend to try to get a story with the victims. The choices you make, as an observer of events, are based on your own life and your own interests.
The question is, who narrates and from what point of view.
“Why must there be exceptions?” Marcel Ophüls asks one of his subjects in "The Memory of Justice."
The many ways in which Ophüls’ subjects justify their actions in this film allow viewers to draw their own conclusions. The film examines the collective versus individual responsibility, a theme further underscored when Ophüls, an exile from Nazi Germany interviews his wife, a German woman, who recounts her membership in the Hitler Youth.
The New York Film Festival runs from September 25 – October 11. http://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2015/
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 9/27/2015
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
In the documentary "De Palma" directed by Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow, iconoclast American director Brian De Palma talks directly to the camera, in an honest recounting of the highlights and low points of his movie-making career. Only De Palma is seen interviewed on camera; no other talking heads, no other voice-over interviews from either Baumbach or Paltrow are seen or heard.
Paltrow: “The film was shot with one camera and one angle on Brian. There are no other people talking about Brian. It was our direct approach to him.”
Intercut with clips from De Palma’s body of work from the 1960s to the present, as well as from other directors, most notably Alfred Hitchcock, the film moves at a rapid pace with honesty and a sense of humor, as it explores how movies get made (and often not the way intended) and how they don’t get made.
Directors Baumbach and Paltrow describe their documentary as an extension of their friendship, having spent time with Brian De Palma over the last ten years.
Paltrow: “We kept it in the same spirit as having coffee with him.”
Baumbach: “Brian was totally open and available. We wanted to talk about filmmaking. We weren’t going to go in areas that were uncomfortable for him. We’d let him guide, knowing that we would let him lead the way.”
Paltrow: “The most surprising for us about Brian was how electric he was on camera; how he told these stories the same as he did with us at dinner. He was so good on camera. So direct. So made for cinema.”
From the success of his films "Carrie," "Dressed to Kill," "Blow Out," and "Carlito’s Way" to the box-office failures, including "The Bonfire of the Vanities" and "Mission to Mars," De Palma is candid about his successes and failures.
Baumbach: “I find the movie for me is about directing. Beyond Brian, it’s about filmmaking, about having a career. He waged so many battles and won. And compromised. Even Brian has to figure out a way to work in the Hollywood system. I find it comforting and interesting to see.”
Brian De Palma tells insightful tales about the inner workings of Hollywood, as well as his relationships in the early 1970s with directors Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola.
Baumbach: “The story is also about the film industry, baked into Brian’s experience, and the fact that he’s worked independently; he’s worked on personal movies within the studio system. He’s worked on big studio films and he’s come on to movies when other directors left. He’s really done so many versions of what can happen professionally in Hollywood.”
The New York Film Festival runs from September 25 – October 11. http://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2015/
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
Paltrow: “The film was shot with one camera and one angle on Brian. There are no other people talking about Brian. It was our direct approach to him.”
Intercut with clips from De Palma’s body of work from the 1960s to the present, as well as from other directors, most notably Alfred Hitchcock, the film moves at a rapid pace with honesty and a sense of humor, as it explores how movies get made (and often not the way intended) and how they don’t get made.
Directors Baumbach and Paltrow describe their documentary as an extension of their friendship, having spent time with Brian De Palma over the last ten years.
Paltrow: “We kept it in the same spirit as having coffee with him.”
Baumbach: “Brian was totally open and available. We wanted to talk about filmmaking. We weren’t going to go in areas that were uncomfortable for him. We’d let him guide, knowing that we would let him lead the way.”
Paltrow: “The most surprising for us about Brian was how electric he was on camera; how he told these stories the same as he did with us at dinner. He was so good on camera. So direct. So made for cinema.”
From the success of his films "Carrie," "Dressed to Kill," "Blow Out," and "Carlito’s Way" to the box-office failures, including "The Bonfire of the Vanities" and "Mission to Mars," De Palma is candid about his successes and failures.
Baumbach: “I find the movie for me is about directing. Beyond Brian, it’s about filmmaking, about having a career. He waged so many battles and won. And compromised. Even Brian has to figure out a way to work in the Hollywood system. I find it comforting and interesting to see.”
Brian De Palma tells insightful tales about the inner workings of Hollywood, as well as his relationships in the early 1970s with directors Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola.
Baumbach: “The story is also about the film industry, baked into Brian’s experience, and the fact that he’s worked independently; he’s worked on personal movies within the studio system. He’s worked on big studio films and he’s come on to movies when other directors left. He’s really done so many versions of what can happen professionally in Hollywood.”
The New York Film Festival runs from September 25 – October 11. http://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2015/
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 9/22/2015
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
I recently sat down with director Isabel Coixet, and actors Patricia Clarkson and Sarita Choudhury at the Crosby Hotel in New York City, to discuss their new film "Learning to Drive." The film, written by Sarah Kernochan, is based on the autobiographical New Yorker short story by Katha Pollit, a long-time political columnist for the Nation.
Wendy is a fiery Manhattan author whose husband has just left her for a younger woman; Darwan is a soft-spoken taxi driver from India on the verge of an arranged marriage. As Wendy sets out to reclaim her independence, she runs into a barrier common to many lifelong New Yorkers: she’s never learned to drive. When Wendy hires Darwan to teach her, her unraveling life and his calm restraint seem like an awkward fit. But as he shows her how to take control of the wheel, and she coaches him on how to impress a woman, their unlikely friendship awakens them to the joy, humor, and love in starting life anew.
My conversation began with Isabel Coixet and Sarita Choudhury
Isabel Coixet’s award-winning film credits include "Demaisiado viejo para morir joven," "Things I Never Told You,""My Life Without Me," "The Secret Life of Words," "Paris, je t’aime," "Elegy," "Map of the Sounds of Tokyo," "Yesterday Never Ends," "Another Me," "Nobody Wants the Night," as well as documentaries, including "Invisibles."
Currently, Sarita Choudhury can be seen on Showtime’s "Homeland." Her film credits include "Admission," "Gayby," "Midnight’s Children," "Generation Um…," "Entre Nos," "The Accidental Husband," "Lady in the Water," "The War Within," "Mississippi Masala," "Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love," "She Hate Me," "Just a Kiss," "Wild West," "High Art," "The House of the Spirits," "Gloria," and "A Perfect Murder."
Susan Kouguell: Tell me about the process of how "Learning to Drive" came about.
Isabel Coixet: We started talking about making this film with Patricia and Ben Kingsley when we were making "Elegy" (directed by Coixet, starring Clarkson and Kingsley) and we got along very well and we wanted to make another film together. Patricia discovered the short story by Katha Pollit, and she gave it to me and I thought it was wonderful. And then we got the screenwriter Sarah Kernocha involved. The film is a comedy but not a classical comedy. It was a very difficult film to pitch because you know financiers and producers want something they can put in one box and you can’t with this film. It was a long process. It took nine years.
Some Words Unspoken and the Intimacy of the Camera
Isabel Coixet: There is always this romantic feeling underneath [subtext], I think there is that possibility. You have to be true to your words. If they are true, you will have to stick to your words.
Sarita Choudhury: That’s what happens with people you meet. No you were my inspiration don’t make me your inspiration.
Isabel Coixet: I love Henry James. There is a possibility of romance in the air. My romantic side is always excited when I see something like this.
Sarita Choudhury: I had so few words in the film. In a way, I kept the words because I had to know not to say them. For us the script -- the situational was also in the script; the languidness. It was because Isabel holds the camera. There was a pace created to it. When you’re acting you can feel where the camera is, but when the camera is at the end of Isabel’s hand and she’s moving it, it almost creates an intimacy between you and the camera, and you and the actor. There’s a pace you normally don’t get in film. You didn’t know when she was on your face; you had to keep acting like acting in the theatre.
On The Lack of Women Directors
Isabel Coixet: There are so many articles about it. I’m always afraid to play the victim, to complain too much. I know there is an inequity with men and women directors. This is an issue in the world. I always say, (Coixet smiles) we have to ask for more salary to make up for all these years and maybe if we ask for more they’ll give us the same as a man.
I want to put my words where my mouth is by producing female directors; they are amazing talented people. I’m producing three short films and a feature documentary. That’s what I do.
Sarita Choudhury: I just did a young woman’s short film; there is something about her that’s brilliant. I’ve done two short films. I can’t change the caste system and I can’t do the voluntary work I need to be doing. Film is no different from the world, like Isabel said. That’s our work, to get every woman involved. And if a man is brilliant, let him in too.
I then asked Patricia Clarkson about her involvement with "Learning to Drive."
Academy Award® nominee and Emmy Award-winning actress, Patricia Clarkson, has worked extensively in independent films. The National Board of Review and the National Society of Film Critics named her Best Supporting Actress of the Year for "Pieces of April" and "The Station Agent." Her many film credits include "The Maze Runner," "Last Weekend," "Friends With Benefits," "One Day," "Easy A," "Shutter Island," "Vicky Christina Barcelona," "Elegy," "No Reservations," "All the Kings’ Men," "Lars and the Real Girl, and "Good Night, and Good Luck."
Susan Kouguell: What attracted you to the project?
Patricia Clarkson: I loved the Katha Pollit story in The New Yorker; it serendipitously came to me. I love Wendy, I love this character. I was nine years younger at the time, but I still felt I knew her. I was relentless trying to get this film made with producer Dana Friedman. I found it an equal dose of funny and tragic. I liked the almost commedia dell'arte aspect; this absurd situation and finding the tragic comedy. A woman who is brilliant who lives a great life -- she has everything, but “forgets to look up,” and then meets a man who has experienced tragic loss. They have disparate worlds. I found it a quintessential New York story, but it’s also universal. It’s an independent film, but it’s not independently-minded.
Some Final Words
The disparate worlds about which Clarkson refers to in regard to her character, Wendy’s relationship with Darwan [Ben Kingsley] -- the life of a financially successful New Yorker compared to the immigrant’s struggle, was a thematic element that I further discussed with Coixet and Choudhury. As Choudhury said to me, Coixet’s visual choices of her character, such as the moment when she watches feet walk by her basement apartment window, feeling trapped, underscore the poignancy of this fish-out-of-water situation. Coixet captures these elements with a delicate balance of both drama and comedy.
It was an inspiring morning to speak with these three powerful and talented women, who are committed to sharing their knowledge with the next generation of female filmmakers.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
Wendy is a fiery Manhattan author whose husband has just left her for a younger woman; Darwan is a soft-spoken taxi driver from India on the verge of an arranged marriage. As Wendy sets out to reclaim her independence, she runs into a barrier common to many lifelong New Yorkers: she’s never learned to drive. When Wendy hires Darwan to teach her, her unraveling life and his calm restraint seem like an awkward fit. But as he shows her how to take control of the wheel, and she coaches him on how to impress a woman, their unlikely friendship awakens them to the joy, humor, and love in starting life anew.
My conversation began with Isabel Coixet and Sarita Choudhury
Isabel Coixet’s award-winning film credits include "Demaisiado viejo para morir joven," "Things I Never Told You,""My Life Without Me," "The Secret Life of Words," "Paris, je t’aime," "Elegy," "Map of the Sounds of Tokyo," "Yesterday Never Ends," "Another Me," "Nobody Wants the Night," as well as documentaries, including "Invisibles."
Currently, Sarita Choudhury can be seen on Showtime’s "Homeland." Her film credits include "Admission," "Gayby," "Midnight’s Children," "Generation Um…," "Entre Nos," "The Accidental Husband," "Lady in the Water," "The War Within," "Mississippi Masala," "Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love," "She Hate Me," "Just a Kiss," "Wild West," "High Art," "The House of the Spirits," "Gloria," and "A Perfect Murder."
Susan Kouguell: Tell me about the process of how "Learning to Drive" came about.
Isabel Coixet: We started talking about making this film with Patricia and Ben Kingsley when we were making "Elegy" (directed by Coixet, starring Clarkson and Kingsley) and we got along very well and we wanted to make another film together. Patricia discovered the short story by Katha Pollit, and she gave it to me and I thought it was wonderful. And then we got the screenwriter Sarah Kernocha involved. The film is a comedy but not a classical comedy. It was a very difficult film to pitch because you know financiers and producers want something they can put in one box and you can’t with this film. It was a long process. It took nine years.
Some Words Unspoken and the Intimacy of the Camera
Isabel Coixet: There is always this romantic feeling underneath [subtext], I think there is that possibility. You have to be true to your words. If they are true, you will have to stick to your words.
Sarita Choudhury: That’s what happens with people you meet. No you were my inspiration don’t make me your inspiration.
Isabel Coixet: I love Henry James. There is a possibility of romance in the air. My romantic side is always excited when I see something like this.
Sarita Choudhury: I had so few words in the film. In a way, I kept the words because I had to know not to say them. For us the script -- the situational was also in the script; the languidness. It was because Isabel holds the camera. There was a pace created to it. When you’re acting you can feel where the camera is, but when the camera is at the end of Isabel’s hand and she’s moving it, it almost creates an intimacy between you and the camera, and you and the actor. There’s a pace you normally don’t get in film. You didn’t know when she was on your face; you had to keep acting like acting in the theatre.
On The Lack of Women Directors
Isabel Coixet: There are so many articles about it. I’m always afraid to play the victim, to complain too much. I know there is an inequity with men and women directors. This is an issue in the world. I always say, (Coixet smiles) we have to ask for more salary to make up for all these years and maybe if we ask for more they’ll give us the same as a man.
I want to put my words where my mouth is by producing female directors; they are amazing talented people. I’m producing three short films and a feature documentary. That’s what I do.
Sarita Choudhury: I just did a young woman’s short film; there is something about her that’s brilliant. I’ve done two short films. I can’t change the caste system and I can’t do the voluntary work I need to be doing. Film is no different from the world, like Isabel said. That’s our work, to get every woman involved. And if a man is brilliant, let him in too.
I then asked Patricia Clarkson about her involvement with "Learning to Drive."
Academy Award® nominee and Emmy Award-winning actress, Patricia Clarkson, has worked extensively in independent films. The National Board of Review and the National Society of Film Critics named her Best Supporting Actress of the Year for "Pieces of April" and "The Station Agent." Her many film credits include "The Maze Runner," "Last Weekend," "Friends With Benefits," "One Day," "Easy A," "Shutter Island," "Vicky Christina Barcelona," "Elegy," "No Reservations," "All the Kings’ Men," "Lars and the Real Girl, and "Good Night, and Good Luck."
Susan Kouguell: What attracted you to the project?
Patricia Clarkson: I loved the Katha Pollit story in The New Yorker; it serendipitously came to me. I love Wendy, I love this character. I was nine years younger at the time, but I still felt I knew her. I was relentless trying to get this film made with producer Dana Friedman. I found it an equal dose of funny and tragic. I liked the almost commedia dell'arte aspect; this absurd situation and finding the tragic comedy. A woman who is brilliant who lives a great life -- she has everything, but “forgets to look up,” and then meets a man who has experienced tragic loss. They have disparate worlds. I found it a quintessential New York story, but it’s also universal. It’s an independent film, but it’s not independently-minded.
Some Final Words
The disparate worlds about which Clarkson refers to in regard to her character, Wendy’s relationship with Darwan [Ben Kingsley] -- the life of a financially successful New Yorker compared to the immigrant’s struggle, was a thematic element that I further discussed with Coixet and Choudhury. As Choudhury said to me, Coixet’s visual choices of her character, such as the moment when she watches feet walk by her basement apartment window, feeling trapped, underscore the poignancy of this fish-out-of-water situation. Coixet captures these elements with a delicate balance of both drama and comedy.
It was an inspiring morning to speak with these three powerful and talented women, who are committed to sharing their knowledge with the next generation of female filmmakers.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 8/21/2015
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
Following the screening of their new film "Mistress America," writer and director Noah Baumbach and writer and producer Greta Gerwig, shared a lively and insightful discussion about their collaborations, writing, "Frances Ha" (in which Gerwig played the titular character), and her new starring role.
Tracy, a lonely college freshman in New York, is having neither the exciting university experience nor the glamorous metropolitan lifestyle she envisioned. But when she is taken in by her soon-to-be stepsister, Brooke—a resident of Times Square and adventurous gal about town—she is rescued from her disappointment and seduced by Brooke's alluringly mad schemes.
About Gerwig’s roles as Frances in "Frances Ha" and Brooke in "Mistress America"
Gerwig: Frances and Brooke share a type of madness. Frances literally stumbled at times. She had this running, loping, falling pace to her. Her fits and starts of conversation, and her flashes of confidence and then going back in. And, Brooke, the way we dressed her, was not really of this time -- like a misguided businesswoman with little heels, her little boots, and her pants were too short. She stomped around, and would keep stomping. She had no real shame register.
Baumbach: Brooke was someone we recognized. Aspects of Brooke are familiar to us. She felt like someone out of the movies. Brooke is in some ways all performance. Brooke is a movie. The movie is going on for her. That felt intuitively right.
Gerwig: With Brooke’s character introduction “Welcome to the Great White Way,” she starts this gesture that she realizes halfway down the stairs was not big enough to cover the whole stairs and has to keep going. She doesn’t have a moment of "What have I done?" She just keeps going. She’s kind of a hair flipper the way she speaks.
Frances was always saying something, some kind of internal joke with herself that she couldn’t share with anyone else. And Brooke would look at you and say, “Did you get the joke? Did you get the joke?” until you would say yes. There are so many things that are different about them. The one thing they share is a touch of madness. And I like that in characters. A different kind of madness.
The Writing and Physical Performing Process
Gerwig: There is no improv. We don’t change anything when we’re on set. We don’t adjust the lines for the people we cast. We cast them because they did the lines well. So it becomes a piece of writing that is unchangeable.
Baumbach: As the director of my material I come to it intuitively on set. Greta will struggle with stuff, get the line wrong, or do a kind of version -- but in the best way. She’s mining it in real time. It’s exciting. And she’s doing it with material she spent months perfecting.
Gerwig: I come at it as an actor -- an internal structure that makes sense to me. If I can’t hear it, it’s very hard for me to actually act it. With the script -- the language is so important to it; there is a sense of rhythm in it, that baseline of speech I understand. In (Baumbach’s film) "Greenburg," I could hear it right away. It’s the kind of writing I respond to.
Baumbach: The physical is important with actors; and what physical actions should accompany the line. You’re helping them to find ways to say it. We never change the dialogue but we changed the physical. It’s about finding the way so the actor can get the line right.
A Few Chuckles About Chekov
Gerwig: I think people don’t necessarily listen to each other. It’s one of my favorite things in theatre and film, with everybody missing each other. (Gerwig laughs) I feel like all of Chekov is that -- someone gives a four-page speech and the other person doesn’t care like in Uncle Vanya someone says: “I’m really worried about the forest” and the other character responds: “Do you have a crush on my friend?” I’m always interested in the ways people miss each other.
On Choreography
Baumbach: When we’re writing, we’re envisioning those scenes up to a point, and then when we’re on set, we’re not changing the script, we’re expanding it by this physical blocking and the actors bringing their own stuff to it. The dialogue stays the same; so much of the physical choreography is part of it. With the house (in "Mistress America") for example -- we could always see outside and inside simultaneously. That way the script is all there, ready to be interpreted.
On Language
Gerwig: As an actor my entry point is through language. It’s like reading sheet music. Language has rhythm in it. Language is physical. It’s part of your body; how you speak, how you present yourself.
Baumbach: The physical and verbal work together. It’s how we see things.
Gerwig: I think all of my favorite directors have a strong sense of language. It feels like this trust that I have that Noah will find the visual language that will underscore everything else.
Final Words
An important ‘character’ of "Mistress America" is New York City -- an aspect that was not lost on this Manhattan audience on a very hot and sunny August evening. Yes, there are a few inside New York jokes, but this character-driven comedy is universal, digging deep into the truth-telling rawness of both new and old relationships.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
Tracy, a lonely college freshman in New York, is having neither the exciting university experience nor the glamorous metropolitan lifestyle she envisioned. But when she is taken in by her soon-to-be stepsister, Brooke—a resident of Times Square and adventurous gal about town—she is rescued from her disappointment and seduced by Brooke's alluringly mad schemes.
About Gerwig’s roles as Frances in "Frances Ha" and Brooke in "Mistress America"
Gerwig: Frances and Brooke share a type of madness. Frances literally stumbled at times. She had this running, loping, falling pace to her. Her fits and starts of conversation, and her flashes of confidence and then going back in. And, Brooke, the way we dressed her, was not really of this time -- like a misguided businesswoman with little heels, her little boots, and her pants were too short. She stomped around, and would keep stomping. She had no real shame register.
Baumbach: Brooke was someone we recognized. Aspects of Brooke are familiar to us. She felt like someone out of the movies. Brooke is in some ways all performance. Brooke is a movie. The movie is going on for her. That felt intuitively right.
Gerwig: With Brooke’s character introduction “Welcome to the Great White Way,” she starts this gesture that she realizes halfway down the stairs was not big enough to cover the whole stairs and has to keep going. She doesn’t have a moment of "What have I done?" She just keeps going. She’s kind of a hair flipper the way she speaks.
Frances was always saying something, some kind of internal joke with herself that she couldn’t share with anyone else. And Brooke would look at you and say, “Did you get the joke? Did you get the joke?” until you would say yes. There are so many things that are different about them. The one thing they share is a touch of madness. And I like that in characters. A different kind of madness.
The Writing and Physical Performing Process
Gerwig: There is no improv. We don’t change anything when we’re on set. We don’t adjust the lines for the people we cast. We cast them because they did the lines well. So it becomes a piece of writing that is unchangeable.
Baumbach: As the director of my material I come to it intuitively on set. Greta will struggle with stuff, get the line wrong, or do a kind of version -- but in the best way. She’s mining it in real time. It’s exciting. And she’s doing it with material she spent months perfecting.
Gerwig: I come at it as an actor -- an internal structure that makes sense to me. If I can’t hear it, it’s very hard for me to actually act it. With the script -- the language is so important to it; there is a sense of rhythm in it, that baseline of speech I understand. In (Baumbach’s film) "Greenburg," I could hear it right away. It’s the kind of writing I respond to.
Baumbach: The physical is important with actors; and what physical actions should accompany the line. You’re helping them to find ways to say it. We never change the dialogue but we changed the physical. It’s about finding the way so the actor can get the line right.
A Few Chuckles About Chekov
Gerwig: I think people don’t necessarily listen to each other. It’s one of my favorite things in theatre and film, with everybody missing each other. (Gerwig laughs) I feel like all of Chekov is that -- someone gives a four-page speech and the other person doesn’t care like in Uncle Vanya someone says: “I’m really worried about the forest” and the other character responds: “Do you have a crush on my friend?” I’m always interested in the ways people miss each other.
On Choreography
Baumbach: When we’re writing, we’re envisioning those scenes up to a point, and then when we’re on set, we’re not changing the script, we’re expanding it by this physical blocking and the actors bringing their own stuff to it. The dialogue stays the same; so much of the physical choreography is part of it. With the house (in "Mistress America") for example -- we could always see outside and inside simultaneously. That way the script is all there, ready to be interpreted.
On Language
Gerwig: As an actor my entry point is through language. It’s like reading sheet music. Language has rhythm in it. Language is physical. It’s part of your body; how you speak, how you present yourself.
Baumbach: The physical and verbal work together. It’s how we see things.
Gerwig: I think all of my favorite directors have a strong sense of language. It feels like this trust that I have that Noah will find the visual language that will underscore everything else.
Final Words
An important ‘character’ of "Mistress America" is New York City -- an aspect that was not lost on this Manhattan audience on a very hot and sunny August evening. Yes, there are a few inside New York jokes, but this character-driven comedy is universal, digging deep into the truth-telling rawness of both new and old relationships.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 8/19/2015
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
In a salute to Agnès Varda at the Film Society of Lincoln Center Art of the Real, Documentary Redefined Series in New York City, Varda’s short films and features were included in the Actualities of Agnès Varda program, featuring the acclaimed filmmaker in person.
I had the honor of speaking with Agnès Varda at the 2014 Locarno Film Festival at two separate events, which I covered for this publication: Conversation with Varda: Here and Highlights from the Locarno Film Summer Academy Master Class : Here
Speaking before and after each of the following short films, Agnès Varda is ever the powerful and poignant storyteller with a provocative sense of humor.
"Black Panthers" (1968, 31 minutes)
Centering on a “Free Huey” rally in Oakland California in 1968, Varda discussed her experience filming this short documentary.
Varda: “Tom Luddy told me I should come to Oakland because of these demonstrations. Every Saturday I flew from Los Angeles to be there. I had a 16mm camera. I shot a lot of it alone; and I had some help from some others. I needed to get their speeches. I needed to understand the mind body theory. So far, the theory of black men was written by white men. This was the first time they were really involved in their own history. I remember thinking about the women, and also for the first time in the sixties women were writing about their history. I was fascinated by the equivalence. It was a precise time in 1968; two years later it was almost gone. It was so important at the time; I thought and everyone thought it would change the history of black people. The documentary bore witness, the testimony of that time of the Black Panthers. The film was not shown in France; they were afraid to wake students. It was not shown in the U.S. then either.”
“I bore witness. I was discreet as much as possible. It belongs to their history. Each time there is a film about Black history, we are asked about it.”
"Women Reply: Our Bodies Our Sex" (1974, 35 minutes, 8 mm)
Varda: “It was the ‘year of the woman.’ A German television channel asked seven women to make films about what it is to be a woman; our different points of views. I went to the boss of the channel and I asked, aren’t you ashamed to talk about this subject in seven minutes? He said how long do you want to make it? I told him eight minutes.”
“The women in this film are people I met, friends, a beautiful mannequin, my neighbors, a worker, a teacher, a pregnant woman -- she was expecting twins and in good shape, and another three. The body of a woman is not just the erotic parts of her body. That was 1975 and 40 years later, I cannot say that situation is totally good. It’s my statement at that time, and now. The cause of women is always important to me. I never became a specialist filmmaker or specialist of feminism of film.”
"Salut les Cubains" (1963, 30 minutes)
At the invitation of the Cuban Film Institute, four years after the Cuban Revolution, Varda visited Cuba, returning with over 2,500 photographs -- more than half of those stills are included in this film.
Varda: “So another jump in time and history. Chris Marker had been invited in 1961 to go to Cuba and came back very excited about what was going on there not only the personality of Castro, but the Revolution was a big thing for everyone in the world. Marker came back and said I was a good photographer and said I should be invited. I went there knowing that I wouldn’t be able to film. I did it with the Black Panthers because I knew I could find help. So I couldn’t take a 16mm camera. I thought I would make enough images and reconstitute the movements. Each shot you had to do twice -- the click click of the camera. So the time between each image is not that short. I thought I should fit these spaces with Cuban music. I edited using the negative tape and put it in the machine and counted the images. I tried to have information and images and understand the incredible energy and joy at the time.
When I had chance to take pictures of Fidel Castro, I was told that at some point he will call you if there is opportunity. I couldn’t choose the place. When I got the call, I asked him (Castro) to sit, and I put the two stones behind him as stone wings because it looks like he has wings, he has a dream, an incredible utopia, but it won’t fly because he has stone wings. The photo touches me. That’s what happened.”
"Ulysse" (1982, 22 minutes)
This essay film centers on a haunting photograph of a naked man, a child, and dead goat taken by Varda in the mid-1950s.
Varda: “The image was the question. I was questioning the image and questioning myself with my own memory. There are so many ways of seeing an image. The date, it was an important date. When I started to investigate it, it didn’t fit together. The emotion of that time.” (It was the day following the Fête de La Victoire, France's V-Day, which was marked by France losing the decisive Dien Bien Phu battle in Indochina, which set the stage for the eventual U.S, involvement in Vietnam.)
“I do the editing. In the editing room, I write the voiceover narration. I try the images. I write it again in the process of editing and try not to speak too much and say things that make sense, and lead the viewers to go in one direction or another. One image can be powerful in question and dreaming and knowing, and related to your own life, what you feel about a dead animal or a dead person, and all these circle of thoughts can be shared. Everyone looks at the photo and at the film with their personal feelings. It’s like proposing things to everybody -- everybody has their own way of thinking. Whatever you ask an image to tell you, you put an image in it what you feel but at the end, it just represents something. The viewer of the photo and the viewer of the film about the photo -- everything is related to your own life. I suggest that, and at the end -- it represents a child, goat and man.”
In the film, Varda interviews the boy Ulysses Llorca in the photograph, who now as an adult and owner of a Paris bookstore, denies memories of that day on the beach, stating, ‘To each his own story.’
"Daguerreotypes" (1976, 80 minutes)
A portrait about the shopkeepers and shops on the small street of Rue Daguerre where Varda has lived for over 50 years.
Varda: “1975. I was already living in the street Daguerre, at the time I was a photographer. I thought it was good to live there.” (Varda laughs, remarking on the ironic name of the street) “I decided to make a film about shopkeepers near me. It was a small block; you could find anything you needed. A tailor, driving school, butcher, baker. I thought I will shoot people who have their door open. I’m not entering their private life even though I asked questions. When I started - they said it will cost us money, so I took a long electrical wire and went through my mailbox and plugged it into my own power. The woman Dp would hide in the shop – she was smaller than me, sometimes we started to shoot before the person came in. We had nice surprises; some people didn’t understand we were shooting, we were so discreet.
I asked them to all come to a café for the show of the magician, and I discovered a lot. Filming is discovering people. I was almost finished when I thought there is something missing. I should ask them about their dreams. I discovered that dreams mean nothing for most of them. We know dream is part of sleep. Like their heart is beating. In some shops there is no language. We speak about things that make sense. You notice the butcher always saying, ‘It’s the weather. How is Jacques? How is the kid? And whatever you responded he said, ‘It’s the weather” Someone said, ‘My husband had a heart attack.’ He would say, ‘It’s the weather,’ and more and more I realized that no one listened. In language we have to trade words. I learned about society.”
At the conclusion of the event, Varda remarked about the discoveries she uncovers when making documentaries: “I always say chance is my first assistant.”
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
I had the honor of speaking with Agnès Varda at the 2014 Locarno Film Festival at two separate events, which I covered for this publication: Conversation with Varda: Here and Highlights from the Locarno Film Summer Academy Master Class : Here
Speaking before and after each of the following short films, Agnès Varda is ever the powerful and poignant storyteller with a provocative sense of humor.
"Black Panthers" (1968, 31 minutes)
Centering on a “Free Huey” rally in Oakland California in 1968, Varda discussed her experience filming this short documentary.
Varda: “Tom Luddy told me I should come to Oakland because of these demonstrations. Every Saturday I flew from Los Angeles to be there. I had a 16mm camera. I shot a lot of it alone; and I had some help from some others. I needed to get their speeches. I needed to understand the mind body theory. So far, the theory of black men was written by white men. This was the first time they were really involved in their own history. I remember thinking about the women, and also for the first time in the sixties women were writing about their history. I was fascinated by the equivalence. It was a precise time in 1968; two years later it was almost gone. It was so important at the time; I thought and everyone thought it would change the history of black people. The documentary bore witness, the testimony of that time of the Black Panthers. The film was not shown in France; they were afraid to wake students. It was not shown in the U.S. then either.”
“I bore witness. I was discreet as much as possible. It belongs to their history. Each time there is a film about Black history, we are asked about it.”
"Women Reply: Our Bodies Our Sex" (1974, 35 minutes, 8 mm)
Varda: “It was the ‘year of the woman.’ A German television channel asked seven women to make films about what it is to be a woman; our different points of views. I went to the boss of the channel and I asked, aren’t you ashamed to talk about this subject in seven minutes? He said how long do you want to make it? I told him eight minutes.”
“The women in this film are people I met, friends, a beautiful mannequin, my neighbors, a worker, a teacher, a pregnant woman -- she was expecting twins and in good shape, and another three. The body of a woman is not just the erotic parts of her body. That was 1975 and 40 years later, I cannot say that situation is totally good. It’s my statement at that time, and now. The cause of women is always important to me. I never became a specialist filmmaker or specialist of feminism of film.”
"Salut les Cubains" (1963, 30 minutes)
At the invitation of the Cuban Film Institute, four years after the Cuban Revolution, Varda visited Cuba, returning with over 2,500 photographs -- more than half of those stills are included in this film.
Varda: “So another jump in time and history. Chris Marker had been invited in 1961 to go to Cuba and came back very excited about what was going on there not only the personality of Castro, but the Revolution was a big thing for everyone in the world. Marker came back and said I was a good photographer and said I should be invited. I went there knowing that I wouldn’t be able to film. I did it with the Black Panthers because I knew I could find help. So I couldn’t take a 16mm camera. I thought I would make enough images and reconstitute the movements. Each shot you had to do twice -- the click click of the camera. So the time between each image is not that short. I thought I should fit these spaces with Cuban music. I edited using the negative tape and put it in the machine and counted the images. I tried to have information and images and understand the incredible energy and joy at the time.
When I had chance to take pictures of Fidel Castro, I was told that at some point he will call you if there is opportunity. I couldn’t choose the place. When I got the call, I asked him (Castro) to sit, and I put the two stones behind him as stone wings because it looks like he has wings, he has a dream, an incredible utopia, but it won’t fly because he has stone wings. The photo touches me. That’s what happened.”
"Ulysse" (1982, 22 minutes)
This essay film centers on a haunting photograph of a naked man, a child, and dead goat taken by Varda in the mid-1950s.
Varda: “The image was the question. I was questioning the image and questioning myself with my own memory. There are so many ways of seeing an image. The date, it was an important date. When I started to investigate it, it didn’t fit together. The emotion of that time.” (It was the day following the Fête de La Victoire, France's V-Day, which was marked by France losing the decisive Dien Bien Phu battle in Indochina, which set the stage for the eventual U.S, involvement in Vietnam.)
“I do the editing. In the editing room, I write the voiceover narration. I try the images. I write it again in the process of editing and try not to speak too much and say things that make sense, and lead the viewers to go in one direction or another. One image can be powerful in question and dreaming and knowing, and related to your own life, what you feel about a dead animal or a dead person, and all these circle of thoughts can be shared. Everyone looks at the photo and at the film with their personal feelings. It’s like proposing things to everybody -- everybody has their own way of thinking. Whatever you ask an image to tell you, you put an image in it what you feel but at the end, it just represents something. The viewer of the photo and the viewer of the film about the photo -- everything is related to your own life. I suggest that, and at the end -- it represents a child, goat and man.”
In the film, Varda interviews the boy Ulysses Llorca in the photograph, who now as an adult and owner of a Paris bookstore, denies memories of that day on the beach, stating, ‘To each his own story.’
"Daguerreotypes" (1976, 80 minutes)
A portrait about the shopkeepers and shops on the small street of Rue Daguerre where Varda has lived for over 50 years.
Varda: “1975. I was already living in the street Daguerre, at the time I was a photographer. I thought it was good to live there.” (Varda laughs, remarking on the ironic name of the street) “I decided to make a film about shopkeepers near me. It was a small block; you could find anything you needed. A tailor, driving school, butcher, baker. I thought I will shoot people who have their door open. I’m not entering their private life even though I asked questions. When I started - they said it will cost us money, so I took a long electrical wire and went through my mailbox and plugged it into my own power. The woman Dp would hide in the shop – she was smaller than me, sometimes we started to shoot before the person came in. We had nice surprises; some people didn’t understand we were shooting, we were so discreet.
I asked them to all come to a café for the show of the magician, and I discovered a lot. Filming is discovering people. I was almost finished when I thought there is something missing. I should ask them about their dreams. I discovered that dreams mean nothing for most of them. We know dream is part of sleep. Like their heart is beating. In some shops there is no language. We speak about things that make sense. You notice the butcher always saying, ‘It’s the weather. How is Jacques? How is the kid? And whatever you responded he said, ‘It’s the weather” Someone said, ‘My husband had a heart attack.’ He would say, ‘It’s the weather,’ and more and more I realized that no one listened. In language we have to trade words. I learned about society.”
At the conclusion of the event, Varda remarked about the discoveries she uncovers when making documentaries: “I always say chance is my first assistant.”
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 4/27/2015
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
“Because so many images already exist, I am discouraged to make new ones; I prefer to make a different use of pre-existing images. But not every image can be recycled; a hidden value must pre-exist.” (Harun Farocki, 2008 interview with the South China Morning Post)
As part of the Repeat as Necessary: The Art of Real at the Film Society Lincoln Center program, German director Harun Farocki’s anti-war film "Inextinguishable Fire" (1969, black and white, 29 minutes) screened first followed by Jill Godmilow’s "What Farocki Taught" (1998, 16 mm 30 minutes) a shot-for-shot remake of "Inextinguishable Fire." Translated from German into English and filmed on color Kodachrome, the backdrops, props, script, costumes and shots are all copies of the original. Every shot is reproduced -- with an occasional superimposition of Farocki’s on set about her project: “We don’t have a name for this type of film… it replaces the documentary’s pornography of the real.”
Filmmaker and video artist Faroki (1944-2014) made over 100 films, many of which were experimental documentaries, often addressing the use of images to instruct and propagandize.
Director Jill Godmilow’s films include the 1974 Academy Award-nominated "Antonia: A Portrait of the Woman" co-directed with Judy Collins, "Far From Poland" (1984), about the Polish Solidarity movement known for its ground-breaking deconstructive approach to the juxtaposition of fact and fiction in documentary, and the Sundance fiction winner "Waiting for the Moon" (1987) about Gertrude Stein.
"Inextinguishable Fire" explores the manufacturing and use of napalm by dramatizing the inner workings of Dow Chemical Company’s Michigan headquarters during the Vietnam War, incorporating only a small amount of actual combat footage. At the beginning of this Brechtian anti-war film we hear the words: "When we show you pictures of napalm victims, you'll shut your eyes. You'll close your eyes to the pictures. Then you'll close them to the memory. And then you'll close your eyes to the facts."
In the Q & A after the screening of the two films Godmilow talked about her decision to remake "Inextinguishable Fire:" “I was moved by Farocki. The Vietnam War wasn’t his war. He was German.” Godmilow went on to talk about “agitprop,” a term often used to describe Farocki’s film. “It is agitprop. Agitate and propagate. That’s what this film does. It agitates. It propagates. There is an essential contract between the audience and filmmaker. The audience watching a documentary is thinking, ‘Thank God that’s not me.’ You sit in horror but continue to watch the film.”
When asked about authenticity in documentary films, Godmilow smiled, responding: “For me? I’m a thief. I steal everything. It’s all up for grabs.”
Repeat as Necessary: The Art of the Real continues through April 26 at the Film Society Lincoln Center in New York. http://www.filmlinc.com/films/series/art-of-the-real
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
As part of the Repeat as Necessary: The Art of Real at the Film Society Lincoln Center program, German director Harun Farocki’s anti-war film "Inextinguishable Fire" (1969, black and white, 29 minutes) screened first followed by Jill Godmilow’s "What Farocki Taught" (1998, 16 mm 30 minutes) a shot-for-shot remake of "Inextinguishable Fire." Translated from German into English and filmed on color Kodachrome, the backdrops, props, script, costumes and shots are all copies of the original. Every shot is reproduced -- with an occasional superimposition of Farocki’s on set about her project: “We don’t have a name for this type of film… it replaces the documentary’s pornography of the real.”
Filmmaker and video artist Faroki (1944-2014) made over 100 films, many of which were experimental documentaries, often addressing the use of images to instruct and propagandize.
Director Jill Godmilow’s films include the 1974 Academy Award-nominated "Antonia: A Portrait of the Woman" co-directed with Judy Collins, "Far From Poland" (1984), about the Polish Solidarity movement known for its ground-breaking deconstructive approach to the juxtaposition of fact and fiction in documentary, and the Sundance fiction winner "Waiting for the Moon" (1987) about Gertrude Stein.
"Inextinguishable Fire" explores the manufacturing and use of napalm by dramatizing the inner workings of Dow Chemical Company’s Michigan headquarters during the Vietnam War, incorporating only a small amount of actual combat footage. At the beginning of this Brechtian anti-war film we hear the words: "When we show you pictures of napalm victims, you'll shut your eyes. You'll close your eyes to the pictures. Then you'll close them to the memory. And then you'll close your eyes to the facts."
In the Q & A after the screening of the two films Godmilow talked about her decision to remake "Inextinguishable Fire:" “I was moved by Farocki. The Vietnam War wasn’t his war. He was German.” Godmilow went on to talk about “agitprop,” a term often used to describe Farocki’s film. “It is agitprop. Agitate and propagate. That’s what this film does. It agitates. It propagates. There is an essential contract between the audience and filmmaker. The audience watching a documentary is thinking, ‘Thank God that’s not me.’ You sit in horror but continue to watch the film.”
When asked about authenticity in documentary films, Godmilow smiled, responding: “For me? I’m a thief. I steal everything. It’s all up for grabs.”
Repeat as Necessary: The Art of the Real continues through April 26 at the Film Society Lincoln Center in New York. http://www.filmlinc.com/films/series/art-of-the-real
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 4/16/2015
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
Held on October 25 in New York City, the panel -- The Ms. Factor: The Power of Female-driven Content -- was held on October 25 in New York City, as part of the Inaugural Produced By: NY event sponsored by the Producers Guild of America.
Panel Description: Audience demographics and buying power are changing. The power of females at the box office reigned supreme this past summer in terms of on-screen presence and audience turnout. A look at the 100 highest-earning movies of 2013 reveals that on average, movies with a female protagonist earned 20% more than movies with a male protagonist. So why the overall shortage of female protagonists and women filmmakers? What hurdles or opportunities does the current environment present for producers seeking to tell stories about girls or women?
The panel moderated by Cathy Schulman ("Crash;" "The Illusionist;" President, Mandalay Pictures & Women In Film La) featured Kelly Edwards (VP Talent Development, HBO), Lydia Dean Pilcher ("Cutie and the Boxer;" "The Lunchbox;" "The Darjeeling Limited;" Vice President: Motion Pictures, Producers Guild of America), Stacy Smith (Director, Media, Diversity, & Social Change Initiative, USC Annenberg), and Lauren Zalaznick ( "Kids;" "Zoolander;" Media Executive Founder & Curator, The Lz Sunday Paper).
The printed information sheet ‘Females in Film & TV Facts: On Screen Behind the Camera, and Career Barriers Faced’ was available to attendees from panelist Stacy L. Smith.
An Overview:
Onscreen Portrayals
Prevalence of Females across 100 Top Films from 2007 to 2013:
Percentage of female characters in 2007: 29.9% and in 2013: 29.2%
Percentage of films with gender parity in 2007: 12% and in 2013: 16 %
Percentage with female lead/co-lead in 2007: 20% and in 2013: 28%
Behind the Camera
Prevalence of Female Filmmakers across 100 Top Films from 2007 to 2013
Percentage of female directors in 2007: 2.7% and in 2013: 1.9%
Percentage of female writers in 2007: 11.2% and in 2013: 7.4%
Percentage of female producers in 2007: 20.5% and in 2013: 19.6%
Gender ratio in 2007: 5 to 1 and in 2013 5.3 to 1
Independent Film Behind the Camera
Prevalence of Females Behind the Camera at Sundance Film Festival 2002-2012
Director: Narrative 16.9% Documentary: 34.5%
Writer: Narrative: 20.6% Documentary 32.8
Producer: Narrative: 29.4% Documentary 45.9%
Cinematographer: Narrative: 9.5% Documentary: 19.9%
Editor: Narrative: 22% Documentary: 35.8%
The Prevalence of Female Filmmaker across 120 Global Films from 2010 to 2013 in the United Sates:
Directors: 0, Writers: 11.8%, Producers 22.7% and the Gender Ratio 3.4 to 1.
For more information on these reports: http://annenberg.usc.edu/pages/DrStacyLSmithMDSCI
Moderator Cathy Schulman opened the discussion with the goal for the panel -- to discuss some of the myth-busting in the industry and the deep set cultural ennui.
Cathy Schulman: How do we break the status quo?
Lydia Dean Pilcher: There is a perception in our industry that female-driven content is not commercial. We see that’s not true. Women are driving the conversation. We have a responsibility to debunk perception. Finance models are driven by foreign sales estimates and the myth is prevalent among foreign sales agents. We have new data for female-driven content internationally.
Cathy Schulman : Statistically 93 percent of foreign sales buyers are men,
Stacy L. Smith: On screen, less than one-third of the speaking characters are girls and women, and if you are trying to appeal to the women audience, you’ve lost proportion. Behind the camera, there’s a fiscal cliff; very few women are attached as directors in narrative films. Women are perceived as less confident to lead a production crew. Internationally, female-driven films made more money. The audience is there, but authenticity is lacking due to who’s behind the camera.
About Television and Cable
Lauren Zalanick: In television there is some movement that may be systemic or cyclical, we don’t know. The most powerful showrunner today is not the most powerful female showrunner, it’s the most-powerful showrunner -- Shonda Rhimes. The heat around television programming now is based on strong female characters.
Cathy Schulman : Kelly, what are you seeing in cable TV, how does it compare? Also, you’ve been involved in diversity, can you speak to those factors?
Kelly Edwards: We (at HBO) are charged with bringing ethnic and gender to our network. I find the ennui comes often with people relying upon who’s in your circle; people hire who’s in their contact list and who’s in arm’s reach. My job is to make sure that list is expanded upon. There is that bias. We keep having the same conversation over and over again. For example, regarding cinematographers, I brought in 10 DPs and maybe five were white directors, the list of cinematographers is so tiny. There are 900 in the local 600 (union) in Los Angeles. What we realized was that they weren’t connected (to the producers and directors).
The Good News and the Other News
Cathy Schulman : Where are the women in power in all this? Who’s making the decisions?
Kelly Edwards: The good news is, in television we do have more power; women are in creative roles, they are strong and not afraid to showrun.
Lydia Dean Pilcher: I produce for a lot of women directors. I feel in my work, pitching female-driven content and female directors, there is institutional resistance. I always understood that women tell stories differently than men do in a positive way, but these (the statistics) are abysmal numbers. This resistance -- this is why we have to debunk the myth of the power of the audience. It translates to money.
Lauren Zalanick : Anyone with the purse strings will dictate.
On the Young Adult Audience
Lydia Dean Pilcher: I’ve produced for teen girls and I became frustrated that there was no distribution; the indie producers don’t distribute teens. I was thrilled when Fault of Our Stars came out. The trend is that the Hollywood model is breaking down. There’s a different methodology with the new platforms, including VOD (video on demand).
I asked the panel: What advice can you give to female film and screenwriting students soon to be graduating and trying to break into the industry when males are still holding the purse strings?
Kelly Edwards: If you’re in college now, you need to be doing an internship. Studios, companies want to see on your resume that you’ve already done something in the industry. All studios now have paid internships year-round. There are always opportunities. When students are just out of college, network.
The other panelists jumped in with additional advice to join and research organizations, including the Women in Film and Television chapters, and the new programs at Sundance and the Independent Feature Project. They all agreed: “Don’t quit. Persevere.”
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
Panel Description: Audience demographics and buying power are changing. The power of females at the box office reigned supreme this past summer in terms of on-screen presence and audience turnout. A look at the 100 highest-earning movies of 2013 reveals that on average, movies with a female protagonist earned 20% more than movies with a male protagonist. So why the overall shortage of female protagonists and women filmmakers? What hurdles or opportunities does the current environment present for producers seeking to tell stories about girls or women?
The panel moderated by Cathy Schulman ("Crash;" "The Illusionist;" President, Mandalay Pictures & Women In Film La) featured Kelly Edwards (VP Talent Development, HBO), Lydia Dean Pilcher ("Cutie and the Boxer;" "The Lunchbox;" "The Darjeeling Limited;" Vice President: Motion Pictures, Producers Guild of America), Stacy Smith (Director, Media, Diversity, & Social Change Initiative, USC Annenberg), and Lauren Zalaznick ( "Kids;" "Zoolander;" Media Executive Founder & Curator, The Lz Sunday Paper).
The printed information sheet ‘Females in Film & TV Facts: On Screen Behind the Camera, and Career Barriers Faced’ was available to attendees from panelist Stacy L. Smith.
An Overview:
Onscreen Portrayals
Prevalence of Females across 100 Top Films from 2007 to 2013:
Percentage of female characters in 2007: 29.9% and in 2013: 29.2%
Percentage of films with gender parity in 2007: 12% and in 2013: 16 %
Percentage with female lead/co-lead in 2007: 20% and in 2013: 28%
Behind the Camera
Prevalence of Female Filmmakers across 100 Top Films from 2007 to 2013
Percentage of female directors in 2007: 2.7% and in 2013: 1.9%
Percentage of female writers in 2007: 11.2% and in 2013: 7.4%
Percentage of female producers in 2007: 20.5% and in 2013: 19.6%
Gender ratio in 2007: 5 to 1 and in 2013 5.3 to 1
Independent Film Behind the Camera
Prevalence of Females Behind the Camera at Sundance Film Festival 2002-2012
Director: Narrative 16.9% Documentary: 34.5%
Writer: Narrative: 20.6% Documentary 32.8
Producer: Narrative: 29.4% Documentary 45.9%
Cinematographer: Narrative: 9.5% Documentary: 19.9%
Editor: Narrative: 22% Documentary: 35.8%
The Prevalence of Female Filmmaker across 120 Global Films from 2010 to 2013 in the United Sates:
Directors: 0, Writers: 11.8%, Producers 22.7% and the Gender Ratio 3.4 to 1.
For more information on these reports: http://annenberg.usc.edu/pages/DrStacyLSmithMDSCI
Moderator Cathy Schulman opened the discussion with the goal for the panel -- to discuss some of the myth-busting in the industry and the deep set cultural ennui.
Cathy Schulman: How do we break the status quo?
Lydia Dean Pilcher: There is a perception in our industry that female-driven content is not commercial. We see that’s not true. Women are driving the conversation. We have a responsibility to debunk perception. Finance models are driven by foreign sales estimates and the myth is prevalent among foreign sales agents. We have new data for female-driven content internationally.
Cathy Schulman : Statistically 93 percent of foreign sales buyers are men,
Stacy L. Smith: On screen, less than one-third of the speaking characters are girls and women, and if you are trying to appeal to the women audience, you’ve lost proportion. Behind the camera, there’s a fiscal cliff; very few women are attached as directors in narrative films. Women are perceived as less confident to lead a production crew. Internationally, female-driven films made more money. The audience is there, but authenticity is lacking due to who’s behind the camera.
About Television and Cable
Lauren Zalanick: In television there is some movement that may be systemic or cyclical, we don’t know. The most powerful showrunner today is not the most powerful female showrunner, it’s the most-powerful showrunner -- Shonda Rhimes. The heat around television programming now is based on strong female characters.
Cathy Schulman : Kelly, what are you seeing in cable TV, how does it compare? Also, you’ve been involved in diversity, can you speak to those factors?
Kelly Edwards: We (at HBO) are charged with bringing ethnic and gender to our network. I find the ennui comes often with people relying upon who’s in your circle; people hire who’s in their contact list and who’s in arm’s reach. My job is to make sure that list is expanded upon. There is that bias. We keep having the same conversation over and over again. For example, regarding cinematographers, I brought in 10 DPs and maybe five were white directors, the list of cinematographers is so tiny. There are 900 in the local 600 (union) in Los Angeles. What we realized was that they weren’t connected (to the producers and directors).
The Good News and the Other News
Cathy Schulman : Where are the women in power in all this? Who’s making the decisions?
Kelly Edwards: The good news is, in television we do have more power; women are in creative roles, they are strong and not afraid to showrun.
Lydia Dean Pilcher: I produce for a lot of women directors. I feel in my work, pitching female-driven content and female directors, there is institutional resistance. I always understood that women tell stories differently than men do in a positive way, but these (the statistics) are abysmal numbers. This resistance -- this is why we have to debunk the myth of the power of the audience. It translates to money.
Lauren Zalanick : Anyone with the purse strings will dictate.
On the Young Adult Audience
Lydia Dean Pilcher: I’ve produced for teen girls and I became frustrated that there was no distribution; the indie producers don’t distribute teens. I was thrilled when Fault of Our Stars came out. The trend is that the Hollywood model is breaking down. There’s a different methodology with the new platforms, including VOD (video on demand).
I asked the panel: What advice can you give to female film and screenwriting students soon to be graduating and trying to break into the industry when males are still holding the purse strings?
Kelly Edwards: If you’re in college now, you need to be doing an internship. Studios, companies want to see on your resume that you’ve already done something in the industry. All studios now have paid internships year-round. There are always opportunities. When students are just out of college, network.
The other panelists jumped in with additional advice to join and research organizations, including the Women in Film and Television chapters, and the new programs at Sundance and the Independent Feature Project. They all agreed: “Don’t quit. Persevere.”
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 11/7/2014
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
On a picture perfect fall day two days before the 2014 Woodstock Film Festival awards ceremony, I sat down with Meira Blaustein, co-founder and Executive Director of the Festival.
Meira Blaustein: “It’s very easy to meet people here at the Festival; it’s casual, and friendly, yet high quality. One can have conversations with those who can potentially buy your film, buy your next film, challenge your creativity and elevate your creativity and push the envelope. The goal of the Festival is to bring together outstanding, thought-provoking, and passionate films. This year we have twenty-two world premieres. We have filmmakers from all over the world. I’m proud we have a spotlight on women in film; eight narratives directed by women is unique -- unfortunately it is unique but it is. These women are smart, talented and strong, and their films are powerful. We have a lineup that dares to ask questions, and dares to be bold. It’s important to put together a tapestry that is reflective of the current state of filmmaking and a reflection of the current state of what is happening in film.”
The Woodstock Film Festival Award Winners
The Maverick Award for Best Feature Narrative: "Patrick's Day," directed by Terry McMahon
The Maverick Award for Best Feature Documentary: "Red Lines," directed by Andrea Kalin and Oliver Lukacs.
The Maverick Award for Best Animation: "My Kingdom," directed by Debra Solomon
The Diane Seligman Award for Best Short Narrative: "Sunday," directed by Iva Gocheva
The Diane Seligman Award for Best Student Short Film: "So You've Grown Attached,"directed by Kate Tsang
The Diane Seligman Award for Best Short Documentary: "Our Course" (Nasza Klatwa), directed by Tomasz Sliwinski
The Haskell Wexler Award for Best Cinematography: "Patrick's Day," directed by Terry McMahon with cinematography by Michael Lavelle
James Lyons Award for Best Editing of a Feature Narrative:
"Patrick's Day," directed by Terry McMahon and edited by Emer Reynolds
James Lyons Award for Best Editing of a Feature Documentary:
"Killswitch," directed by Ali Akbarzadeh and edited by Prichard Smith
Ultra Indie Award "Uncertain Terms," directed by Nathan Silver
Tangerine Entertainment Juice Award For Best Female Feature Director: Caryn Waechter, director of "The Sisterhood of Night"
For more information about the Woodstock Film Festival:
http://www.woodstockfilmfestival.com/
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide.www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
Meira Blaustein: “It’s very easy to meet people here at the Festival; it’s casual, and friendly, yet high quality. One can have conversations with those who can potentially buy your film, buy your next film, challenge your creativity and elevate your creativity and push the envelope. The goal of the Festival is to bring together outstanding, thought-provoking, and passionate films. This year we have twenty-two world premieres. We have filmmakers from all over the world. I’m proud we have a spotlight on women in film; eight narratives directed by women is unique -- unfortunately it is unique but it is. These women are smart, talented and strong, and their films are powerful. We have a lineup that dares to ask questions, and dares to be bold. It’s important to put together a tapestry that is reflective of the current state of filmmaking and a reflection of the current state of what is happening in film.”
The Woodstock Film Festival Award Winners
The Maverick Award for Best Feature Narrative: "Patrick's Day," directed by Terry McMahon
The Maverick Award for Best Feature Documentary: "Red Lines," directed by Andrea Kalin and Oliver Lukacs.
The Maverick Award for Best Animation: "My Kingdom," directed by Debra Solomon
The Diane Seligman Award for Best Short Narrative: "Sunday," directed by Iva Gocheva
The Diane Seligman Award for Best Student Short Film: "So You've Grown Attached,"directed by Kate Tsang
The Diane Seligman Award for Best Short Documentary: "Our Course" (Nasza Klatwa), directed by Tomasz Sliwinski
The Haskell Wexler Award for Best Cinematography: "Patrick's Day," directed by Terry McMahon with cinematography by Michael Lavelle
James Lyons Award for Best Editing of a Feature Narrative:
"Patrick's Day," directed by Terry McMahon and edited by Emer Reynolds
James Lyons Award for Best Editing of a Feature Documentary:
"Killswitch," directed by Ali Akbarzadeh and edited by Prichard Smith
Ultra Indie Award "Uncertain Terms," directed by Nathan Silver
Tangerine Entertainment Juice Award For Best Female Feature Director: Caryn Waechter, director of "The Sisterhood of Night"
For more information about the Woodstock Film Festival:
http://www.woodstockfilmfestival.com/
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide.www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 10/29/2014
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
Film critic Thelma Adams moderated a provocative discussion with filmmakers Courteney Cox (feature directorial debut "Just Before I Go," Friends actress, actress/producer/director Cougar Town), Debra Granik (Academy Award nominated director/co-writer "Winter’s Bone" nominated for four Oscars, "Down to the Bone" Best Director at 2004 Sundance Film Festival), Leah Meyerhoff ("I Believe in Unicorns" her debut feature premiered at SXSW 2014, previous award-winning short films have screened in over 200 film festivals), and Jenna Ricker (wrote, directed and produced her first feature film, "Ben's Plan" awarded Best Drama at the Aof Festival, Distinguished Debut at the London Independent Festival, and honored with the Mira Nair Award for Rising Female Filmmaker).
According to Celluloid Ceiling (the report by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University) only 6% of directors working in the top movies in 2013 movies were women; a 3-point drop from 2012. Only 16% directors, writers, executive producers, producers, editors, cinematographers in 2013 were women. Women directors working independently, outside the Hollywood studio system, are finding more opportunities, but there is still a vast inequity.
Moderator Thelma Adams cited some additional statistics to which the panel commented about their dismay of the reality of these numbers before jumping in on the question:
What is this thing with the title women’s panel?
Granik: There’s always a question whether it’s a ghettoization of women or raising them up by using the word “women” as a gender identifier. Using language that allows a person to be a person without a gender identifier can feel more powerful than using the word “woman”.
Meyerhoff: We all struggle with how to identify as a female director. When I came to film, I felt I didn’t want to be pigeonholed. I founded a female filmmaker collective --Film Fatales (http://www.filmfatalesnyc.com/#!leah-meyerhoff/c14fk) for this reason. There’s strength in numbers.
Cox: I had one man on set of a project I directed, who would go to other people to get their opinions before he would come to me, the director. I called him up so I could understand why he was doing that. And then I told him to get over it.
How do stories live without gender?
Kathryn Bigelow’s name came up in the discussion (the first woman director to win the Oscar) and how Hurt Locker was not categorized in Hollywood terms as a female film. The panelists agreed that there are myths about what audiences want, and wanting to make movies about women was important despite the naysayers; there is indeed an audience for these films – the box office numbers confirm this.
Whining?
I asked the panel their advice to student filmmakers about breaking into the (independent and/or Hollywood) industry, opening my question with the quote from director Agnès Varda: “Stop categorizing us as women filmmakers,” which I cited in an article I wrote about her at the Locarno Film Festival this year, and the vitriolic Facebook post comment I received from a male producer: “Stop complaining and just make movies.”
Granik: We’re going through pushback. There’s often that accusation of complaining, calling women “whiners” when discussing this topic. The reality is that it’s not so easy for women to get a film financed. For students, they need to come to their power and work together as a collective. Their power is not to look at the industry for reasons to make films; go smaller. Work together
Ricker: I was on panel at Sundance and a producer on the panel said: “I won’t trust money with women directors.” The producer was female. For students at college now, they need to start working with their peers -- these are the people with whom you’ll be forming meaningful work relationships, which will continue after you graduate. Take advantage of these relationships at school.
Perhaps using male pseudonyms might further women’s careers
Adams : There was George Eliot.
The directors agreed that their first names were often a hindrance in getting hired, and jokinly added that in order to get the word out about women directors was to start the hashtag: #wheresthecock.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
According to Celluloid Ceiling (the report by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University) only 6% of directors working in the top movies in 2013 movies were women; a 3-point drop from 2012. Only 16% directors, writers, executive producers, producers, editors, cinematographers in 2013 were women. Women directors working independently, outside the Hollywood studio system, are finding more opportunities, but there is still a vast inequity.
Moderator Thelma Adams cited some additional statistics to which the panel commented about their dismay of the reality of these numbers before jumping in on the question:
What is this thing with the title women’s panel?
Granik: There’s always a question whether it’s a ghettoization of women or raising them up by using the word “women” as a gender identifier. Using language that allows a person to be a person without a gender identifier can feel more powerful than using the word “woman”.
Meyerhoff: We all struggle with how to identify as a female director. When I came to film, I felt I didn’t want to be pigeonholed. I founded a female filmmaker collective --Film Fatales (http://www.filmfatalesnyc.com/#!leah-meyerhoff/c14fk) for this reason. There’s strength in numbers.
Cox: I had one man on set of a project I directed, who would go to other people to get their opinions before he would come to me, the director. I called him up so I could understand why he was doing that. And then I told him to get over it.
How do stories live without gender?
Kathryn Bigelow’s name came up in the discussion (the first woman director to win the Oscar) and how Hurt Locker was not categorized in Hollywood terms as a female film. The panelists agreed that there are myths about what audiences want, and wanting to make movies about women was important despite the naysayers; there is indeed an audience for these films – the box office numbers confirm this.
Whining?
I asked the panel their advice to student filmmakers about breaking into the (independent and/or Hollywood) industry, opening my question with the quote from director Agnès Varda: “Stop categorizing us as women filmmakers,” which I cited in an article I wrote about her at the Locarno Film Festival this year, and the vitriolic Facebook post comment I received from a male producer: “Stop complaining and just make movies.”
Granik: We’re going through pushback. There’s often that accusation of complaining, calling women “whiners” when discussing this topic. The reality is that it’s not so easy for women to get a film financed. For students, they need to come to their power and work together as a collective. Their power is not to look at the industry for reasons to make films; go smaller. Work together
Ricker: I was on panel at Sundance and a producer on the panel said: “I won’t trust money with women directors.” The producer was female. For students at college now, they need to start working with their peers -- these are the people with whom you’ll be forming meaningful work relationships, which will continue after you graduate. Take advantage of these relationships at school.
Perhaps using male pseudonyms might further women’s careers
Adams : There was George Eliot.
The directors agreed that their first names were often a hindrance in getting hired, and jokinly added that in order to get the word out about women directors was to start the hashtag: #wheresthecock.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 10/29/2014
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
Highlights from the Locarno Film Summer Academy Master Class with Award-winning Director Agnès Varda
Stefano Knuchel, Head of the Locarno Film Summer Academy, invited me to sit in on his master class with the 2014 Locarno International Film Festival’s Pardo d’onore Swisscom winner French film director Agnès Varda.
Known as the Grandmother of the French New Wave (a term with which she takes issue, as I cite in my Conversation with Varda).Varda’s film credits include "La Pointe Courte" (1955), "Cleo from 5 to 7" (Cléo de 5 à 7, 1962), "The Creatures" (Les Créatures 1966), "Lions Love (…and Lies)" (1969), "Documenteur" (1981),"Vagabond"(Sans toit ni loi, 1985), "The Gleaners and I" (Les glaneurs et la glaneuse, 2000) and " The Beaches of Agnès" (Les Plages d’Agnès, 2008).
Speaking to the group of international students, Varda shared her passion for cinema, photography, and installation work, with humor and honesty. Here are some highlights from Varda’s talk.
I asked Varda about finding inspiration and her writing process
I don’t search for ideas; I find them. They come to me or I have none. I would not sit at a table and think now I have to find ideas. I wait until something disturbs me enough, like a relationship I heard about, and then it becomes so important I have to write the screenplay.
I never wrote with someone else or directed together. I wouldn’t like that. I never worked with (her late husband, director Jacques) Demy. We would show screenplays to each other when we were finished.
When you are a filmmaker, you are a filmmaker all the time. Your mind is recording impressions, moods. You are fed with that. Inspiration is getting connections with the surprises that you see in life. Suddenly it enters in your world and it remains; you have to let it go and work on it. It’s contradictory.
Question from Student: How did you manage to navigate a male-dominated film world?
First, stop saying it’s a male world. It’s true, but it helps not to repeat it. When I started in film, I did a new language of cinema, not as a woman, but as a filmmaker. It is still a male world, as long women are not making the same salary as men.
Put yourself in a situation where you want to make films; whether you are woman or not a woman, give yourself the tools: maybe you intern, maybe you go to school, or read books. Get the tools.
On Filmmaking
We have to capture in film what we don’t know about.
If you don’t have a point-of-view it’s not worth starting to make a film.
Whatever we do in film is searching. If you meet somebody, you establish yourself, who you want to meet, what kind of relationship it is. Our whole life is made up of back and forth, decisions, options -- and then they don’t fit.
When one is filming we should be fragile; listen to that something in ourselves. The act of filming for me is so vivid, it includes what you had in mind, and includes what is happening around you at that moment -- how you felt, if you have headache, and so on. A film builds itself with what you don’t know.
Life interferes. You have friends. Kids. No kids. Then there is a leak on the wall. Everything interferes. It’s how you build the life with others.
Sometimes I go by myself to do location scouting. When I go by myself, something speaks to me in a place I’ve chosen and I know maybe we should take advantage of that. We have to be working with chance. ‘Chance’ is my assistant director.
About Cleo de 5-7
I had to be able calculate the time of speaking, taking a taxi, and so on -- it was very interesting to write what was happening and try the mechanical thing of time, to let emotion and surprise come in.
About Vagabond
I knew people who were on the road. I knew the kind of people she (Mona, the protagonist) would meet. I would write the dialogue the night before. The people I met gave me their attitude and state of mind.
About "The Beaches of Agnès"
It was supposed to be autobiographical. Like a gesture of a painter, when they do a self-portrait and look at themselves and paint. In "The Beaches of Agnès" I am turning the mirror to the people who surround me; it’s not so much about what I did in my past. It is about how you build the life with others. I am turning the mirror to the people who surround me.
Varda on Varda
In the last ten years, I’ve done installations in museums and galleries. I enjoy that other expression of things. I got out of the flat film screen -- to invade the space, using three- dimensional objects. It helps to express other things. You put yourself at risk. I’ve been experimenting in motion, and surprises.I’m naturally curious.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College and presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
Known as the Grandmother of the French New Wave (a term with which she takes issue, as I cite in my Conversation with Varda).Varda’s film credits include "La Pointe Courte" (1955), "Cleo from 5 to 7" (Cléo de 5 à 7, 1962), "The Creatures" (Les Créatures 1966), "Lions Love (…and Lies)" (1969), "Documenteur" (1981),"Vagabond"(Sans toit ni loi, 1985), "The Gleaners and I" (Les glaneurs et la glaneuse, 2000) and " The Beaches of Agnès" (Les Plages d’Agnès, 2008).
Speaking to the group of international students, Varda shared her passion for cinema, photography, and installation work, with humor and honesty. Here are some highlights from Varda’s talk.
I asked Varda about finding inspiration and her writing process
I don’t search for ideas; I find them. They come to me or I have none. I would not sit at a table and think now I have to find ideas. I wait until something disturbs me enough, like a relationship I heard about, and then it becomes so important I have to write the screenplay.
I never wrote with someone else or directed together. I wouldn’t like that. I never worked with (her late husband, director Jacques) Demy. We would show screenplays to each other when we were finished.
When you are a filmmaker, you are a filmmaker all the time. Your mind is recording impressions, moods. You are fed with that. Inspiration is getting connections with the surprises that you see in life. Suddenly it enters in your world and it remains; you have to let it go and work on it. It’s contradictory.
Question from Student: How did you manage to navigate a male-dominated film world?
First, stop saying it’s a male world. It’s true, but it helps not to repeat it. When I started in film, I did a new language of cinema, not as a woman, but as a filmmaker. It is still a male world, as long women are not making the same salary as men.
Put yourself in a situation where you want to make films; whether you are woman or not a woman, give yourself the tools: maybe you intern, maybe you go to school, or read books. Get the tools.
On Filmmaking
We have to capture in film what we don’t know about.
If you don’t have a point-of-view it’s not worth starting to make a film.
Whatever we do in film is searching. If you meet somebody, you establish yourself, who you want to meet, what kind of relationship it is. Our whole life is made up of back and forth, decisions, options -- and then they don’t fit.
When one is filming we should be fragile; listen to that something in ourselves. The act of filming for me is so vivid, it includes what you had in mind, and includes what is happening around you at that moment -- how you felt, if you have headache, and so on. A film builds itself with what you don’t know.
Life interferes. You have friends. Kids. No kids. Then there is a leak on the wall. Everything interferes. It’s how you build the life with others.
Sometimes I go by myself to do location scouting. When I go by myself, something speaks to me in a place I’ve chosen and I know maybe we should take advantage of that. We have to be working with chance. ‘Chance’ is my assistant director.
About Cleo de 5-7
I had to be able calculate the time of speaking, taking a taxi, and so on -- it was very interesting to write what was happening and try the mechanical thing of time, to let emotion and surprise come in.
About Vagabond
I knew people who were on the road. I knew the kind of people she (Mona, the protagonist) would meet. I would write the dialogue the night before. The people I met gave me their attitude and state of mind.
About "The Beaches of Agnès"
It was supposed to be autobiographical. Like a gesture of a painter, when they do a self-portrait and look at themselves and paint. In "The Beaches of Agnès" I am turning the mirror to the people who surround me; it’s not so much about what I did in my past. It is about how you build the life with others. I am turning the mirror to the people who surround me.
Varda on Varda
In the last ten years, I’ve done installations in museums and galleries. I enjoy that other expression of things. I got out of the flat film screen -- to invade the space, using three- dimensional objects. It helps to express other things. You put yourself at risk. I’ve been experimenting in motion, and surprises.I’m naturally curious.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College and presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 9/30/2014
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
Spanish filmmaker Víctor Erice received the Pardo alla Carriera award at the Locarno Film Festival for his extraordinary contribution to film.
The universal themes of time and memory are found in Victor Erice’s poignant and poetic features and short films. Carlo Chatrian, the Festival’s Artistic Director, comments:
“Erice’s films may be few in number, but are all extremely important in the context of modern cinema, and bear the hallmark of an independent and coherent filmmaker, who is able to give a very personal form to his stories, combining private and collective memory. ”
Born in 1940 in San Sebastian, Victor Erice’s first feature-length film "El Espiritu de la colmena" (The Spirit of the Beehive, 1973), is considered one of the masterpieces of Spanish cinema. In 1983, he directed "El Sur" (The South), which as in his first feature, centers on a father and daughter relationship conveyed through memories. Winner of the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Erice’s third feature, the documentary "El sol del membrillo" (also known as The Quince Tree Sun and Dream of Light) (1992) follows the painter Antonio López and the making of his painting.
Adrian Danks writes in Issue 25, March 2003 Senses of Cinema ( http://sensesofcinema.com/2003/great-directors/erice/#film):
“In "The Quince Tree Sun" we are asked, gently, to contemplate the intense, but here somewhat dissipated, connection and difference between painting and cinema. We watch the painter (Antonio López Garcia, himself a profoundly quotidian painter) attempt to capture the play of light upon the leaves and fruit of a constantly evolving quince tree, while the filmmaker (Erice, one assumes, though he is never directly present in the film) attempts to document the dynamic processes of creating and ‘imagining,’ while simultaneously showing us the painstakingly serene activity of still-life painting. Inevitably, the film can’t capture enough detail and can’t crystallize the painter’s activity into a suitable closing or defining image; while the painting loses the dynamic of light (and life) in the process of committing the tree to the canvas (but it also captures something of it as well). Nevertheless, each, painting and cinema, goes some way toward capturing the essence of its subject. This tension between a medium of movement (and thus time) and stillness or permanence (and thus a different concept of time) preoccupies Erice’s cinema.”
The Conversation
The Conversation took place on 13 August at the Locarno Film Festival. Moderator Miguel Marías and Victor Erice discussed the difference between the viewing audiences of the present and of the past -- a shared point of concern that director Agnès Varda also remarked on at her Conversation at the Festival. Both Erice and Varda addressed the fact that viewers (who now have shorter attention spans) don’t watch films as before; films are watched on small screens, laptops, phones, and so on, which changes the film’s aspect ratio and the look of how the film was shot in and in what format, and in turn, the director’s visual intention.
Marías and Erice spoke about the blurred lines of documentary and fiction films, and how fiction can sometimes be more a true accurate account of the subject matter due to the fact that the writer/director has more control choosing the words of the script whereas in a documentary one shapes it by the interviews of people.
Erice also commented about the various choices documentarians must make and how these choices and unexpected events can affect the film. These choices include “characters” who may or may not want to be filmed, and the significance of what happens in the editing room and how that shapes the story the filmmaker wants to tell.
Concluding the Conversation, Erice stated the importance of finding a unique voice and vision in documentaries. “Do not repeat what other documentary films have done on a specific subject matter; shoot from an unexpected character’s point of view rather than repeating images we’ve seen before.”
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College, and presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
The universal themes of time and memory are found in Victor Erice’s poignant and poetic features and short films. Carlo Chatrian, the Festival’s Artistic Director, comments:
“Erice’s films may be few in number, but are all extremely important in the context of modern cinema, and bear the hallmark of an independent and coherent filmmaker, who is able to give a very personal form to his stories, combining private and collective memory. ”
Born in 1940 in San Sebastian, Victor Erice’s first feature-length film "El Espiritu de la colmena" (The Spirit of the Beehive, 1973), is considered one of the masterpieces of Spanish cinema. In 1983, he directed "El Sur" (The South), which as in his first feature, centers on a father and daughter relationship conveyed through memories. Winner of the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Erice’s third feature, the documentary "El sol del membrillo" (also known as The Quince Tree Sun and Dream of Light) (1992) follows the painter Antonio López and the making of his painting.
Adrian Danks writes in Issue 25, March 2003 Senses of Cinema ( http://sensesofcinema.com/2003/great-directors/erice/#film):
“In "The Quince Tree Sun" we are asked, gently, to contemplate the intense, but here somewhat dissipated, connection and difference between painting and cinema. We watch the painter (Antonio López Garcia, himself a profoundly quotidian painter) attempt to capture the play of light upon the leaves and fruit of a constantly evolving quince tree, while the filmmaker (Erice, one assumes, though he is never directly present in the film) attempts to document the dynamic processes of creating and ‘imagining,’ while simultaneously showing us the painstakingly serene activity of still-life painting. Inevitably, the film can’t capture enough detail and can’t crystallize the painter’s activity into a suitable closing or defining image; while the painting loses the dynamic of light (and life) in the process of committing the tree to the canvas (but it also captures something of it as well). Nevertheless, each, painting and cinema, goes some way toward capturing the essence of its subject. This tension between a medium of movement (and thus time) and stillness or permanence (and thus a different concept of time) preoccupies Erice’s cinema.”
The Conversation
The Conversation took place on 13 August at the Locarno Film Festival. Moderator Miguel Marías and Victor Erice discussed the difference between the viewing audiences of the present and of the past -- a shared point of concern that director Agnès Varda also remarked on at her Conversation at the Festival. Both Erice and Varda addressed the fact that viewers (who now have shorter attention spans) don’t watch films as before; films are watched on small screens, laptops, phones, and so on, which changes the film’s aspect ratio and the look of how the film was shot in and in what format, and in turn, the director’s visual intention.
Marías and Erice spoke about the blurred lines of documentary and fiction films, and how fiction can sometimes be more a true accurate account of the subject matter due to the fact that the writer/director has more control choosing the words of the script whereas in a documentary one shapes it by the interviews of people.
Erice also commented about the various choices documentarians must make and how these choices and unexpected events can affect the film. These choices include “characters” who may or may not want to be filmed, and the significance of what happens in the editing room and how that shapes the story the filmmaker wants to tell.
Concluding the Conversation, Erice stated the importance of finding a unique voice and vision in documentaries. “Do not repeat what other documentary films have done on a specific subject matter; shoot from an unexpected character’s point of view rather than repeating images we’ve seen before.”
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College, and presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 9/1/2014
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
A discussion with writer/director Alex Ross Perry, stars Jason Schwartzman and Jonathan Pryce, and cinematographer Sean Price Williams was held on 12 August 2014. In the Concorso internazionale at the Locarno International Film Festival, "Listen Up Philip" was also in competition for the Pardo d’oro prize, the Golden Leopard. The film won the Concorso internazionale Special Jury Prize. On 13 August, it was announced that it will also screen in the New York Film Festival.
"Listen Up Philip" – the story
Philip awaits the publication of his sure-to-succeed second novel. He feels pushed out of his adopted home city by the constant crowds and noise, a deteriorating relationship with his photographer girlfriend Ashley, and his own indifference to promoting the novel. When Philip’s idol, Ike Zimmerman, offers his isolated summer home as a refuge, he finally gets the peace and quiet to focus on his favorite subject: himself.
I ask Alex Ross Perry about his decision to use extensive narration voiced by Eric Bogosian
The narration is a gimmick. We talked about Husbands and Wives pseudo-documentary style and I think a film can have a gimmick like that. It’s an interesting way to provide twice the amount of information. It’s not cheating, for example, to tell how long the characters have known each other, and to see how to give background information about the characters. I thought since it was a film about writers this was the film to do it. I think good writing is letting the situation play out naturally.
On Jonathan Pryce’s character Ike Zimmerman
Pryce: Ike Zimmerman -- he’s everything I want to be. He’s my fantasy world of someone who is nasty to people all the time. I like that he’s a cynic. I enjoyed playing a character who had no filter.
On Jason Schwartzman on his character Philip
Schwartzman: I didn’t see Philip as mean and there is something nice about saying what’s on your mind and it was one of the greatest experiences for that reason. On one hand they (Ike Zimmerman and Philip) speak their mind and they like to be around each other and on the other hand they don’t.
Why cast Jason Schwartzman as Philip?
Ross Perry: He was far and away the best person for the part. Everyone asked if I wrote this for him. I didn’t. I wish I had.
Schwartzman : We spent a month together in New York before the shoot, and we wrote every scene of the movie on notecards.
About the look of the film
Ross Perry: I fetishize the era I was born; I was born in 1984. I am fascinated with the years leading up to and when I was born and the years after that I don’t remember. The film is ostensibly set in the present, but there are no cellphones and computers. The storytelling and writing doesn’t necessitate anything modern.
Sean Price Williams: The phones, the light bulbs - everything looked ugly so it ends up looking like a period piece. We never talked about time. We knew we had more money and people working for us in this film, which was a new thing so we knew we’d have dolly shots and tracking. But then it became clear that it would be almost all handheld but we didn’t want it too unique. We just went ‘tight’; it’s very alive, we didn’t want it to be still. “Organic” is also a word we like use. It’s a little bumpy at times, and there are some soft shots. Alex always wanted to keep moving from room to room.
Ross Perry: I never wanted the actors to stand still. I wanted that New York energy. My experience in the 10 years I’ve been in New York is that one little book can change someone’s life even if no one reads it. New York has a productive energy, not a creative energy; that’s why the film escapes to Upstate for the second half.
Alex Ross Perry: We talked about Woody Allen’s Husbands and Wives, Sean Price Williams (cinematographer) and I studied the camerawork; it was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. That early 90s is the exact era we were interested in recreating and all our references for lighting and wardrobe.
I was influenced by Philip Roth, an author whose work I’m very fond of. I was influenced by his storytelling and narrative and the writing of fiction and blending of merciless comedy with comedy. The script structure was inspired by the William Gaddis novel The Recognitions about an art forger written in 1955-56; the main character disappears from the narrative for about 700 pages.
What happens at the end of the film?
Ross Perry: The three women in the end are all in a slightly better place. For Ike and Philip, I don’t know if things will be okay at the end of the film. I don’t know where Philip would be walking to. It’s not to say that it’s hopeful but that would require of me knowing if people could change. I don’t know what the answer to that is. I don’t see Ike and Philip as two people who could change. The way the film begins for Philip -- this is it for him. He is changing, but not in a way people feel good about, and by the end, he has embraced the way he is.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
"Listen Up Philip" – the story
Philip awaits the publication of his sure-to-succeed second novel. He feels pushed out of his adopted home city by the constant crowds and noise, a deteriorating relationship with his photographer girlfriend Ashley, and his own indifference to promoting the novel. When Philip’s idol, Ike Zimmerman, offers his isolated summer home as a refuge, he finally gets the peace and quiet to focus on his favorite subject: himself.
I ask Alex Ross Perry about his decision to use extensive narration voiced by Eric Bogosian
The narration is a gimmick. We talked about Husbands and Wives pseudo-documentary style and I think a film can have a gimmick like that. It’s an interesting way to provide twice the amount of information. It’s not cheating, for example, to tell how long the characters have known each other, and to see how to give background information about the characters. I thought since it was a film about writers this was the film to do it. I think good writing is letting the situation play out naturally.
On Jonathan Pryce’s character Ike Zimmerman
Pryce: Ike Zimmerman -- he’s everything I want to be. He’s my fantasy world of someone who is nasty to people all the time. I like that he’s a cynic. I enjoyed playing a character who had no filter.
On Jason Schwartzman on his character Philip
Schwartzman: I didn’t see Philip as mean and there is something nice about saying what’s on your mind and it was one of the greatest experiences for that reason. On one hand they (Ike Zimmerman and Philip) speak their mind and they like to be around each other and on the other hand they don’t.
Why cast Jason Schwartzman as Philip?
Ross Perry: He was far and away the best person for the part. Everyone asked if I wrote this for him. I didn’t. I wish I had.
Schwartzman : We spent a month together in New York before the shoot, and we wrote every scene of the movie on notecards.
About the look of the film
Ross Perry: I fetishize the era I was born; I was born in 1984. I am fascinated with the years leading up to and when I was born and the years after that I don’t remember. The film is ostensibly set in the present, but there are no cellphones and computers. The storytelling and writing doesn’t necessitate anything modern.
Sean Price Williams: The phones, the light bulbs - everything looked ugly so it ends up looking like a period piece. We never talked about time. We knew we had more money and people working for us in this film, which was a new thing so we knew we’d have dolly shots and tracking. But then it became clear that it would be almost all handheld but we didn’t want it too unique. We just went ‘tight’; it’s very alive, we didn’t want it to be still. “Organic” is also a word we like use. It’s a little bumpy at times, and there are some soft shots. Alex always wanted to keep moving from room to room.
Ross Perry: I never wanted the actors to stand still. I wanted that New York energy. My experience in the 10 years I’ve been in New York is that one little book can change someone’s life even if no one reads it. New York has a productive energy, not a creative energy; that’s why the film escapes to Upstate for the second half.
Alex Ross Perry: We talked about Woody Allen’s Husbands and Wives, Sean Price Williams (cinematographer) and I studied the camerawork; it was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. That early 90s is the exact era we were interested in recreating and all our references for lighting and wardrobe.
I was influenced by Philip Roth, an author whose work I’m very fond of. I was influenced by his storytelling and narrative and the writing of fiction and blending of merciless comedy with comedy. The script structure was inspired by the William Gaddis novel The Recognitions about an art forger written in 1955-56; the main character disappears from the narrative for about 700 pages.
What happens at the end of the film?
Ross Perry: The three women in the end are all in a slightly better place. For Ike and Philip, I don’t know if things will be okay at the end of the film. I don’t know where Philip would be walking to. It’s not to say that it’s hopeful but that would require of me knowing if people could change. I don’t know what the answer to that is. I don’t see Ike and Philip as two people who could change. The way the film begins for Philip -- this is it for him. He is changing, but not in a way people feel good about, and by the end, he has embraced the way he is.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 8/24/2014
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
Returning to the Locarno International Film Festival after winning for Best New Director in 2012 for his feature "Ape," Joel Potrykus and his Sob Noisse collaborators are receiving quite the buzz in the American independent film scene. I met with Joel Potrykus during the Festival to talk about his films and "Buzzard."
"Buzzard" : Paranoia forces small-time scam artist Marty to flee his hometown and hide out in a dangerous Detroit. With nothing but a pocket full of bogus checks, his power glove and a bad temper, the horror metal slacker lashes out.
Buzzard exists to break genre, give a middle finger to romance, spit on sentimentality, and laugh at the status quo. It’s time to bring punk back to film.
--Joel Potrykus
Potrykus on "Buzzard "
This is the final installment of the "Coyote," "Ape," and "Buzzard" films all starring Joshua Burge. It’s a loose trilogy. Josh does not play the same character. This is my angry young man series, the world is out to get him. Same actor, same setting, which is a dirty Midwest city landscape.
I never want to make a genre film, but I’m interested in making films taken from other genres. When people ask me: Is it is a comedy, a drama or horror? I hate to answer that; it bothers me when I try classifying it. I don’t want it to fit into some mold. I would say it’s funny, but it’s dark, and some of it is really sad. I would hope that it’s more than a dark comedy, an anti-romantic comedy.
On Writing
Some people have a rigorous writing schedule and work as a normal screenwriter. When I write a script, even when I’m not writing, I’m thinking about it. I try to set a goal; I want it done in a month, for example.
I studied film and journalism at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids Michigan. I thought to pay bills I would be a critic.
I start with a character -- I hate to say “character study” that sounds generic -- and then focus on one person and one character. I’m interested in the perspective of one person, and filter story through that perspective. My scripts centers on who that person interacts with.
Inspiration for the trilogy
A long time ago I worked a temp job at a mortgage company. There was no accountability, and I would do things and see how much I could get away with. Like, take a stapler home. Then it escalated, almost borderline criminal. I took that experience and amplified it and took it to new extremes and inserted violence. I’m into horror films, and this character is obsessed with horror films, and lives out his fantasies.
I like to take the mundane and inject some insanity in it and amplify realism. That’s the fun part about writing, I don’t outline. I just write it and discover the movie and surprise myself. I dive in and get sloppy.
Budget
I always write within my means. I know we won’t have access to a castle or blow up a bridge. I feel lucky because those aren’t the movies I want to make. I don’t want to be Spielberg. I like Harmony Corine. When you see "Gummo" or Jarmusch’s, "Stranger Than Paradise" -- that’s what I want to do. Our investors are Michigan people who like what we do and believe it in.
What’s next?
Potrykus: "Buzzard" is the last of the trilogy. We’re at a point right now where we’re getting a little more attention. We’re all thinking about how far we’ll take the next one. We’re fielding offers from both coasts, we want to step up and better things, but concerned about how much control we want to give up. I think we’re ready to take the next step; not Hollywood but on a bigger scale.
"Buzzard" was a big step, with a bigger budget and bigger crew, but still all Michigan. Oscilloscope is our worldwide sales company who is selling outside North America and will release it in 2015.
For more information about Buzzard visit buzzardfilm.com
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
"Buzzard" : Paranoia forces small-time scam artist Marty to flee his hometown and hide out in a dangerous Detroit. With nothing but a pocket full of bogus checks, his power glove and a bad temper, the horror metal slacker lashes out.
Buzzard exists to break genre, give a middle finger to romance, spit on sentimentality, and laugh at the status quo. It’s time to bring punk back to film.
--Joel Potrykus
Potrykus on "Buzzard "
This is the final installment of the "Coyote," "Ape," and "Buzzard" films all starring Joshua Burge. It’s a loose trilogy. Josh does not play the same character. This is my angry young man series, the world is out to get him. Same actor, same setting, which is a dirty Midwest city landscape.
I never want to make a genre film, but I’m interested in making films taken from other genres. When people ask me: Is it is a comedy, a drama or horror? I hate to answer that; it bothers me when I try classifying it. I don’t want it to fit into some mold. I would say it’s funny, but it’s dark, and some of it is really sad. I would hope that it’s more than a dark comedy, an anti-romantic comedy.
On Writing
Some people have a rigorous writing schedule and work as a normal screenwriter. When I write a script, even when I’m not writing, I’m thinking about it. I try to set a goal; I want it done in a month, for example.
I studied film and journalism at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids Michigan. I thought to pay bills I would be a critic.
I start with a character -- I hate to say “character study” that sounds generic -- and then focus on one person and one character. I’m interested in the perspective of one person, and filter story through that perspective. My scripts centers on who that person interacts with.
Inspiration for the trilogy
A long time ago I worked a temp job at a mortgage company. There was no accountability, and I would do things and see how much I could get away with. Like, take a stapler home. Then it escalated, almost borderline criminal. I took that experience and amplified it and took it to new extremes and inserted violence. I’m into horror films, and this character is obsessed with horror films, and lives out his fantasies.
I like to take the mundane and inject some insanity in it and amplify realism. That’s the fun part about writing, I don’t outline. I just write it and discover the movie and surprise myself. I dive in and get sloppy.
Budget
I always write within my means. I know we won’t have access to a castle or blow up a bridge. I feel lucky because those aren’t the movies I want to make. I don’t want to be Spielberg. I like Harmony Corine. When you see "Gummo" or Jarmusch’s, "Stranger Than Paradise" -- that’s what I want to do. Our investors are Michigan people who like what we do and believe it in.
What’s next?
Potrykus: "Buzzard" is the last of the trilogy. We’re at a point right now where we’re getting a little more attention. We’re all thinking about how far we’ll take the next one. We’re fielding offers from both coasts, we want to step up and better things, but concerned about how much control we want to give up. I think we’re ready to take the next step; not Hollywood but on a bigger scale.
"Buzzard" was a big step, with a bigger budget and bigger crew, but still all Michigan. Oscilloscope is our worldwide sales company who is selling outside North America and will release it in 2015.
For more information about Buzzard visit buzzardfilm.com
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 8/22/2014
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
During the Locarno Film Festival I sat down with "Perfidia" writer/director Bonifacio Angius, star Stefano Deffenu, and Sardinia Film Commissioner Nevina Satta. "Perfidia" is the sole Italian film in competition at the Locarno Film Festival where it just had its world premiere.
"Perfidia" : Perfidia Angelo, 35, is unemployed, alone and without passion. He takes comfort in a bar, dreaming of meeting a girl with whom to start a family. On the death of his mother he rediscovers his relationship with his father, Peppino, who had forgotten him.
Locarno Film Festival’s Artistic director Carlo Chatrian describes "Perfidia" “turns the father-son relationship in a provincial city like Sassari not so much into a model of the absence of relationships, but a prism through which we can read a country that has stopped communicating and is contenting itself with survival.” The filmmakers refer to it as a simple and universal story shot in Sassari that could take place in any city of the province of Italy. Bonifacio Angius states, “Knowing the places of the film makes the story even more authentic.”
Nevina Satta describes the project as truly independent with a budget of approximately 300,000 euros, and partially funded by the Sardinian film commission, in-kind donations, free locations, and grants.
Kouguell: What inspired you to make this film?
Angius: It comes from what I experienced myself and the need of telling a story about this moment in history. It was also caused by my own personal fears. I thought about what would be the worst thing that could happen to me, which would be the destruction of my family. The protagonist, Angelo, is my worst nightmare.
I belong to my protagonist’s generation. it’s a very shared and common fear. My generation gets not only moral support from their families, but economic support. The fear of losing one’s family is not only the fear of getting lost; it’s the practical support, so you combine the deep pain of that loss with a total lack of certainty.
Kouguell: The father and son relationship is powerful, painful and believable.
Angius : I didn’t want to cheat; I didn’t want to use any cinematic trick or artifice. This was a painful process in the writing and realization of the film. When you are visualizing your character, this pain had to be kept as real and true as I could. For me authenticity was a necessity.
Kouguell: What is the significance of the film’s title?
Angius : It’s a title that fits perfectly with the story. The title doesn’t refer to the characters; it refers to the world they live in. It’s what’s behind and underneath a controlled situation; the negative emotion. In the beginning of the film, Angelo is very sad, lonely and has a lot of emptiness inside. He is very passive until the final action in the film when he explodes and makes that fateful decision. The Perfidia represented that for the character.
Angius and Stefano Deffenu
Angius and Deffenu were born in Sardinia and they studied at the film school in Florence where they became good friends. In addition to his work as an actor, Deffenu is also a documentary filmmaker and cinematographer, currently working on a film about an Indian tribe of children in Nepal. Angius and Deffenu previously worked together on other projects, including Grace, which Angius directed and the pair co-wrote.
Angius : Our partnership is so tight; we didn’t ‘work’ – when you work with the person you know so well you don’t have to explain things. You don’t have to ask, ‘I want character this way or that,’ with a few words you’re getting what you want. I knew Stefano would be Angelo. I shaped the character from him.
Kouguell: What’s next for "Perfidia" ?
Satta: We are working on distribution deals with both Italian and European distribution. The film is just starting the festival circuit and has just been selected for Montreal and Hamburg. The film was produced by Movie Factory. It was mostly an all Sardinian film below and above the line, which is very important for Angius. You have to give people the chance to work and that’s what their films do.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog.
"Perfidia" : Perfidia Angelo, 35, is unemployed, alone and without passion. He takes comfort in a bar, dreaming of meeting a girl with whom to start a family. On the death of his mother he rediscovers his relationship with his father, Peppino, who had forgotten him.
Locarno Film Festival’s Artistic director Carlo Chatrian describes "Perfidia" “turns the father-son relationship in a provincial city like Sassari not so much into a model of the absence of relationships, but a prism through which we can read a country that has stopped communicating and is contenting itself with survival.” The filmmakers refer to it as a simple and universal story shot in Sassari that could take place in any city of the province of Italy. Bonifacio Angius states, “Knowing the places of the film makes the story even more authentic.”
Nevina Satta describes the project as truly independent with a budget of approximately 300,000 euros, and partially funded by the Sardinian film commission, in-kind donations, free locations, and grants.
Kouguell: What inspired you to make this film?
Angius: It comes from what I experienced myself and the need of telling a story about this moment in history. It was also caused by my own personal fears. I thought about what would be the worst thing that could happen to me, which would be the destruction of my family. The protagonist, Angelo, is my worst nightmare.
I belong to my protagonist’s generation. it’s a very shared and common fear. My generation gets not only moral support from their families, but economic support. The fear of losing one’s family is not only the fear of getting lost; it’s the practical support, so you combine the deep pain of that loss with a total lack of certainty.
Kouguell: The father and son relationship is powerful, painful and believable.
Angius : I didn’t want to cheat; I didn’t want to use any cinematic trick or artifice. This was a painful process in the writing and realization of the film. When you are visualizing your character, this pain had to be kept as real and true as I could. For me authenticity was a necessity.
Kouguell: What is the significance of the film’s title?
Angius : It’s a title that fits perfectly with the story. The title doesn’t refer to the characters; it refers to the world they live in. It’s what’s behind and underneath a controlled situation; the negative emotion. In the beginning of the film, Angelo is very sad, lonely and has a lot of emptiness inside. He is very passive until the final action in the film when he explodes and makes that fateful decision. The Perfidia represented that for the character.
Angius and Stefano Deffenu
Angius and Deffenu were born in Sardinia and they studied at the film school in Florence where they became good friends. In addition to his work as an actor, Deffenu is also a documentary filmmaker and cinematographer, currently working on a film about an Indian tribe of children in Nepal. Angius and Deffenu previously worked together on other projects, including Grace, which Angius directed and the pair co-wrote.
Angius : Our partnership is so tight; we didn’t ‘work’ – when you work with the person you know so well you don’t have to explain things. You don’t have to ask, ‘I want character this way or that,’ with a few words you’re getting what you want. I knew Stefano would be Angelo. I shaped the character from him.
Kouguell: What’s next for "Perfidia" ?
Satta: We are working on distribution deals with both Italian and European distribution. The film is just starting the festival circuit and has just been selected for Montreal and Hamburg. The film was produced by Movie Factory. It was mostly an all Sardinian film below and above the line, which is very important for Angius. You have to give people the chance to work and that’s what their films do.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog.
- 8/20/2014
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
Giancarlo Giannini was honored with the Excellence Award Moët & Chandon on 13 August at the Locarno International Film Festival. The Conversation took place the following afternoon.
Following his successes in the theater, Giancarlo Giannini made his film debut in 1965 in Gino Mangini’s "I criminali della metropoli." In 1967 this talented singer and dancer took on the popular “musicarello” genre in the film "Non stuzzicate la zanzara" directed by Lina Wertmüller with whom he worked on nine films, including "Seven Beauties," which earned both Giannini and Wertmüller Oscar nominations in 1977. Lina Wertmüller was the first woman director to be nominated for an Oscar.
On acting
My acting training started as a stage actor at the Academy of Dramatic Art D’Amico in Rome; one of the oldest schools in the world. I spent 12 years as a stage actor; that’s a profession you have to give your entire self to. I was like a monk.
Each character I play is someone new. When I approach a new character I don’t think about the previous ones I played or awards I won. This is the fun and fantasy part of it. A character must live. What is a character? It is a result of a fantasy; it’s what the audience wants to see that gets into the fairy tale you’ve heard since you were a child.
On the passing of Robin Williams
I’m very sad about Robin Williams I knew him very well. I worked with him on Toys, a very complicated film. I met him in Rome. He knew I had designed a musical jacket for kids, which had many different sound effects and voices; he asked me to build it for Toys, He wore it in the film. He played the role of a toy inventor. I am very sad.
On Working with Lina Wertmüller
We spent many nights writing scenes together. We also shot screen tests with color plates and tried different costumes to see what the best result would be. As an actor I could transform myself using different costumes, make up, and so on.
On starring in "Lili Marleen" directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Fassbinder had the joy of courage to just dare to do something in his films. Fassbinder had courage. If you don’t make mistakes, if you don’t have the guts, you can’t progress.
I ask Giannini about his role in "Seven Beauties" as the complicated, often unlikeable protagonist, Pasqualino, who will do anything he can just to survive
I started working with my own fantasy, asking how to flesh out this character. In creating characters I put two kilos inside my boots to give me a different way of walking, try on different costumes and make up. In this film I created a sort of monster. That was a challenge but I believed in this story.
At the end of Seven Beauties, Pasqualino is first seen just in shadow. It was a strong ending of the film. The final sequence is a close-up of me looking at the audience into the camera, staring at the audience for a long time. It was difficult for us; I was trying to keep my eyes open and never blink while keeping this strong image. This was the first day of the shoot.
On Cinema
Cinema is not reality, you take a camera and you follow the action. In cinema you are given the markers and given clues and the beauty is to make a fable.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog .
Following his successes in the theater, Giancarlo Giannini made his film debut in 1965 in Gino Mangini’s "I criminali della metropoli." In 1967 this talented singer and dancer took on the popular “musicarello” genre in the film "Non stuzzicate la zanzara" directed by Lina Wertmüller with whom he worked on nine films, including "Seven Beauties," which earned both Giannini and Wertmüller Oscar nominations in 1977. Lina Wertmüller was the first woman director to be nominated for an Oscar.
On acting
My acting training started as a stage actor at the Academy of Dramatic Art D’Amico in Rome; one of the oldest schools in the world. I spent 12 years as a stage actor; that’s a profession you have to give your entire self to. I was like a monk.
Each character I play is someone new. When I approach a new character I don’t think about the previous ones I played or awards I won. This is the fun and fantasy part of it. A character must live. What is a character? It is a result of a fantasy; it’s what the audience wants to see that gets into the fairy tale you’ve heard since you were a child.
On the passing of Robin Williams
I’m very sad about Robin Williams I knew him very well. I worked with him on Toys, a very complicated film. I met him in Rome. He knew I had designed a musical jacket for kids, which had many different sound effects and voices; he asked me to build it for Toys, He wore it in the film. He played the role of a toy inventor. I am very sad.
On Working with Lina Wertmüller
We spent many nights writing scenes together. We also shot screen tests with color plates and tried different costumes to see what the best result would be. As an actor I could transform myself using different costumes, make up, and so on.
On starring in "Lili Marleen" directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Fassbinder had the joy of courage to just dare to do something in his films. Fassbinder had courage. If you don’t make mistakes, if you don’t have the guts, you can’t progress.
I ask Giannini about his role in "Seven Beauties" as the complicated, often unlikeable protagonist, Pasqualino, who will do anything he can just to survive
I started working with my own fantasy, asking how to flesh out this character. In creating characters I put two kilos inside my boots to give me a different way of walking, try on different costumes and make up. In this film I created a sort of monster. That was a challenge but I believed in this story.
At the end of Seven Beauties, Pasqualino is first seen just in shadow. It was a strong ending of the film. The final sequence is a close-up of me looking at the audience into the camera, staring at the audience for a long time. It was difficult for us; I was trying to keep my eyes open and never blink while keeping this strong image. This was the first day of the shoot.
On Cinema
Cinema is not reality, you take a camera and you follow the action. In cinema you are given the markers and given clues and the beauty is to make a fable.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog .
- 8/19/2014
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
The Conversation with Agnes Varda moderated by film critic and historian Jean Michel Frodon took place at the Locarno International Film Festival on 12 August. The rain clouds cleared just as Ms. Varda took the outdoor stage. Speaking about her career in photography, filmmaking and as an installation artist, Varda offered honest insights about being categorized both as a female filmmaker and part of the New Wave, as well as anecdotes and words of wisdom about her past and present work.
Frodon: There was an important event in the history of world cinema -- the New Wave. Just before the official opening of the Locarno Festival we screened "The 400 Blows," but actually you started the New Wave with your film "La Point Courte," which was quite original, stunning, and unlike all the others. You were no film buff, you were a woman, not a cinephile and being a woman with quite unique characteristics.
Varda: I’m troubled with the term “New Wave”. The New Wave included a number of young, new filmmakers but to me, there was the group the Cahiers du Cinema critics who loved American films, among them Truffaut. And like me, not knowing anything about filmmaking, were Jacques Demy, Chris Marker, and me. We were farther to the left than the others. These people were grouped in the same category as if we were a group. I felt different from the Cahiers du Cinema movement. I had no knowledge of French and American cinema, and I thought structure was more important than the way the films were shot.
My references were not from film. For example: When people would put their hands on their knees, I called that an “Egyptian shot,” or I would say, “Face” rather than “close up.” I knew nothing about film jargon.
Frodon: You did photography and theatre so you were in an artistic circle.
Varda: The theatre-goers, do not necessarily go to movies and vice versa. Actually the disciplines are quite separate. I watched many theatre plays but I didn’t know about cinema. I went to a lot of museums. I read a lot. I had my diploma. I took a year off just to read. I got up at nine in the morning, and read all afternoon as if I was going to school. I would read great classics. You don’t have time to read at school. This helped me a lot to think.
About "La Pointe Courte"
In those days we didn’t have portable recording devices so I would go home and write down what I heard from the fishermen and the townspeople so I wouldn’t forget it. Philippe Noiret (the star) wanted to express something in films, and I said, “You shouldn’t express anything; you must stand still and do not express anything.” He found this experience quite weird. One day I shot the back of his head and I said, “I love the back of your head” and when I told him, he was a bit frustrated.
I think we should never forget that the fisherman, the actors -- they were never paid for the film. We ate sandwiches, we lived in the same house, a woman would invite us for meals, there were no allowances to get food.
Frodon: Cinema recalls moments and keeps them.
Varda: Real life mixes with my film memories. In "The Gleaners and I" -- those who never talk were given a voice. I wanted to make a film about the homeless, who go and rummage in the rubbage. They (the Gleaners) had a lot to say about society. I would go to festivals and screen "The Gleaners and I" and it was applauded. The audience is applauding the people in the film, not me. It was essentially the gleaners who do glean out of pleasure, out of necessity -- that’s the subject, and you applaud people who decide to share their thoughts. You grasp people in a moment in their lives.
In "The Gleaners and I: Two Years Later," I tried to find the people I had shot. They were hard to find, because many are homeless and others just vanished. I was impressed they were happy to see me again, not just shot and forgotten and that life goes on. Some were in better conditions, some in the hospital. I was impressed by the woman in the camper who lives there with a guy whom she met in a café and I find her in the square. She’s happy to see me. “I feel better; I’m in love.” She said the film changed her life. “I drink less. Because I used to drink 12 rose wines, now two.”
On Making Documentaries
Making documentaries is a school of life. I want to show time passing. People give you amazing surprises. I am sometimes intimidated by actors but less by real people.
Shooting documentaries is important in my life. I think you learn more by making documentary films. My film about the Black Panthers (Huey) is a real document. It happened. I was witness to this.
On "Vagabond"
It is a fiction film but some say they saw Mona (the protagonist) walk by them. I wanted to keep the documentary film texture; this entitles me to break down barriers between documentary and fiction. In documentaries there are people who look like characters.
Frodon: Do you learn new things when you watch your films again?
Varda: No. When a film is released and critics review my films, I learn things. (Varda recounts trying to film near her house and wanting to plug in a cable at a shop, but was turned down because of the cost of the electricity.) “I had a 90 meter long cable and ran it through the mailbox to my home. It was fine it was a small neighborhood; butchers, bakers, hair dressers, green grocers and tailors. A critic wrote that he was quite impressed ‘she had this baby, she would take care of him’ and described the 90 meter cable as an umbilical cord because I didn’t want to be away from my baby. I was very fond of my baby but I never thought about that at the time. It made me think.
Frodon: You’ve been difficult to define. You now do installations for galleries and museums, and make art objects. Is this a second job?
Varda: It is my third life. I had a life as a photographer, then a filmmaker starting in 1954. For the last 10 years I am a video artist -- a visual artist. If you go to museums there’s a different way to invade the space. I created things with a screen. Sometimes the screen shows videos; each chair facing the screen corresponds with a video clip, as if I want to reconcile with cinematography. I had fun making photographs on silver nitrate. Next to that I would show video clips with people moving, cows moving. Now at the end of my life, we have to reconcile movement and mobility; what is digital and analog. That is what I’m doing in my installations; to make peace and reconcile.
On "Documenteur"
I didn’t make "Documenteur" intentionally; I would feel the weight of this city with lots of despair, and this coincided with a negative time in my life. I felt a desire to tell about this woman and child, along with this depressive city. That’s how it happened. It just came about. Maybe it was my desire to express things. To let go.
Varda asks Frodon
When we started talking you said I’m a filmmaker and a woman. I don’t like categories. I’m a woman, but I do not necessarily make women films.
I asked Varda to expand on her feelings about being labeled as a ‘woman’ director.
Varda: That hasn’t to do with feminism it is about what I could do with cinécriture (writing on film), -- the idea I had for cinema. My life as a feminist is more related to facts; fighting for contraception and people who fight for abortion rights. I have been there with women on these battles. In my film "One Sings, the Other Doesn’t" (1978) it was a time when women wouldn’t dare to speak about their problems. It was better for a while but today again it’s not so good with abortion clinics closing, and so on. I fight for that. To make a statement about that. I don’t oblige myself to make feminist films because it’s complex. I cannot make a propaganda film because cinema is more interesting. I would never film something degrading. You can speak about rape, but you cannot film it. It’s very difficult what you can show -- the body of a woman, the body of a man. I give a precise point of view with extreme intensity but it cannot be made against women or men.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
Frodon: There was an important event in the history of world cinema -- the New Wave. Just before the official opening of the Locarno Festival we screened "The 400 Blows," but actually you started the New Wave with your film "La Point Courte," which was quite original, stunning, and unlike all the others. You were no film buff, you were a woman, not a cinephile and being a woman with quite unique characteristics.
Varda: I’m troubled with the term “New Wave”. The New Wave included a number of young, new filmmakers but to me, there was the group the Cahiers du Cinema critics who loved American films, among them Truffaut. And like me, not knowing anything about filmmaking, were Jacques Demy, Chris Marker, and me. We were farther to the left than the others. These people were grouped in the same category as if we were a group. I felt different from the Cahiers du Cinema movement. I had no knowledge of French and American cinema, and I thought structure was more important than the way the films were shot.
My references were not from film. For example: When people would put their hands on their knees, I called that an “Egyptian shot,” or I would say, “Face” rather than “close up.” I knew nothing about film jargon.
Frodon: You did photography and theatre so you were in an artistic circle.
Varda: The theatre-goers, do not necessarily go to movies and vice versa. Actually the disciplines are quite separate. I watched many theatre plays but I didn’t know about cinema. I went to a lot of museums. I read a lot. I had my diploma. I took a year off just to read. I got up at nine in the morning, and read all afternoon as if I was going to school. I would read great classics. You don’t have time to read at school. This helped me a lot to think.
About "La Pointe Courte"
In those days we didn’t have portable recording devices so I would go home and write down what I heard from the fishermen and the townspeople so I wouldn’t forget it. Philippe Noiret (the star) wanted to express something in films, and I said, “You shouldn’t express anything; you must stand still and do not express anything.” He found this experience quite weird. One day I shot the back of his head and I said, “I love the back of your head” and when I told him, he was a bit frustrated.
I think we should never forget that the fisherman, the actors -- they were never paid for the film. We ate sandwiches, we lived in the same house, a woman would invite us for meals, there were no allowances to get food.
Frodon: Cinema recalls moments and keeps them.
Varda: Real life mixes with my film memories. In "The Gleaners and I" -- those who never talk were given a voice. I wanted to make a film about the homeless, who go and rummage in the rubbage. They (the Gleaners) had a lot to say about society. I would go to festivals and screen "The Gleaners and I" and it was applauded. The audience is applauding the people in the film, not me. It was essentially the gleaners who do glean out of pleasure, out of necessity -- that’s the subject, and you applaud people who decide to share their thoughts. You grasp people in a moment in their lives.
In "The Gleaners and I: Two Years Later," I tried to find the people I had shot. They were hard to find, because many are homeless and others just vanished. I was impressed they were happy to see me again, not just shot and forgotten and that life goes on. Some were in better conditions, some in the hospital. I was impressed by the woman in the camper who lives there with a guy whom she met in a café and I find her in the square. She’s happy to see me. “I feel better; I’m in love.” She said the film changed her life. “I drink less. Because I used to drink 12 rose wines, now two.”
On Making Documentaries
Making documentaries is a school of life. I want to show time passing. People give you amazing surprises. I am sometimes intimidated by actors but less by real people.
Shooting documentaries is important in my life. I think you learn more by making documentary films. My film about the Black Panthers (Huey) is a real document. It happened. I was witness to this.
On "Vagabond"
It is a fiction film but some say they saw Mona (the protagonist) walk by them. I wanted to keep the documentary film texture; this entitles me to break down barriers between documentary and fiction. In documentaries there are people who look like characters.
Frodon: Do you learn new things when you watch your films again?
Varda: No. When a film is released and critics review my films, I learn things. (Varda recounts trying to film near her house and wanting to plug in a cable at a shop, but was turned down because of the cost of the electricity.) “I had a 90 meter long cable and ran it through the mailbox to my home. It was fine it was a small neighborhood; butchers, bakers, hair dressers, green grocers and tailors. A critic wrote that he was quite impressed ‘she had this baby, she would take care of him’ and described the 90 meter cable as an umbilical cord because I didn’t want to be away from my baby. I was very fond of my baby but I never thought about that at the time. It made me think.
Frodon: You’ve been difficult to define. You now do installations for galleries and museums, and make art objects. Is this a second job?
Varda: It is my third life. I had a life as a photographer, then a filmmaker starting in 1954. For the last 10 years I am a video artist -- a visual artist. If you go to museums there’s a different way to invade the space. I created things with a screen. Sometimes the screen shows videos; each chair facing the screen corresponds with a video clip, as if I want to reconcile with cinematography. I had fun making photographs on silver nitrate. Next to that I would show video clips with people moving, cows moving. Now at the end of my life, we have to reconcile movement and mobility; what is digital and analog. That is what I’m doing in my installations; to make peace and reconcile.
On "Documenteur"
I didn’t make "Documenteur" intentionally; I would feel the weight of this city with lots of despair, and this coincided with a negative time in my life. I felt a desire to tell about this woman and child, along with this depressive city. That’s how it happened. It just came about. Maybe it was my desire to express things. To let go.
Varda asks Frodon
When we started talking you said I’m a filmmaker and a woman. I don’t like categories. I’m a woman, but I do not necessarily make women films.
I asked Varda to expand on her feelings about being labeled as a ‘woman’ director.
Varda: That hasn’t to do with feminism it is about what I could do with cinécriture (writing on film), -- the idea I had for cinema. My life as a feminist is more related to facts; fighting for contraception and people who fight for abortion rights. I have been there with women on these battles. In my film "One Sings, the Other Doesn’t" (1978) it was a time when women wouldn’t dare to speak about their problems. It was better for a while but today again it’s not so good with abortion clinics closing, and so on. I fight for that. To make a statement about that. I don’t oblige myself to make feminist films because it’s complex. I cannot make a propaganda film because cinema is more interesting. I would never film something degrading. You can speak about rape, but you cannot film it. It’s very difficult what you can show -- the body of a woman, the body of a man. I give a precise point of view with extreme intensity but it cannot be made against women or men.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 8/18/2014
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
The conversation took place on a sunny afternoon in Locarno on 8 August 2014 moderated by Ralf Schenk.
The many notable directors with whom Mueller-Stahl has worked include Costa-Gavras, Andrzej Wajda, Jim Jarmusch, David Fincher, Steven Soderbergh, Ron Howard, David Cronenberg and Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Born in East Prussia, the Oscar-nominated Mueller-Stahl is a classically trained violinist and an acting school dropout. He moved to West Germany at the age of 50, and later made the transition to working on American Hollywood and independent films and television.
Mueller-Stahl: “This year I am 84, which is a long life by the way.”
When asked about the films he feels particularly attached to, his response is "Avalon" and "Music Box."
Mueller-Stahl: “I filmed them in parallel over the same year. In "Avalon" (in the role of Sam Krichinsky) I played a German; I was the head of a Jewish family. And in "Music Box." I played Mike Laszlo a war criminal. The two roles could not have been more different. It was an unforgettable experience. I felt like a kind of Mephistopheles.”
Sam Krichinsky in Barry Levinson’s "Avalon":
“I came to America in 1914 - by way of Philadelphia. That's where I got off the boat. And then I came to Baltimore. It was the most beautiful place you ever seen in your life. There were lights everywhere! What lights they had! It was a celebration of lights! I thought they were for me, Sam, who was in America. Sam was in America! I didn't know what holiday it was, but there were lights. And I walked under them. The sky exploded, people cheered, there were fireworks! What a welcome it was, what a welcome!”
Mueller-Stahl: For Avalon there was a press junket with 12 Jewish journalists. The first journalist asked me, ‘Please tell me about your Jewish heritage.’ I made a long pause. I didn’t answer straight, so I made a curve. ‘My grandfather came from St. Petersburg to Germany – unfortunately he got off at that stop otherwise I would have been an American star and you wouldn’t ask me that question.’ I paused. ‘I’m not a Jew.’ Then another journalist put his hand on my shoulder warmly, ‘You are a Jew’.
When I made Music Box with Costa-Gavras I said to him, ‘Maybe I’m (the Mike Laszlo character) not guilty in the very beginning. I would like to keep the door open to almost the end. This guy is guilty of course, in the end you know he’s guilty. He said, ‘No, it wouldn’t work.’ After three days, Costa-Gavras came to me and said, ‘Let’s do it your way.’
On playing many villains
I played many awful guys. There is always a dark side in a person. I’m always trying to find in a bad character the good in him.”
On Playing Various War Roles
“To live through a war…I have lived it. No war. No more. Period.”
The Actor. The Jester
When talking about the craft of acting, Mueller-Stahl refers to (in German) the ‘gaukler,’ the jester. “The gaukler is a dreamer, but optimistic.” Perhaps one can interpret this as a true reflection of this fine actor.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide.www.su-city-pictures.com , http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
The many notable directors with whom Mueller-Stahl has worked include Costa-Gavras, Andrzej Wajda, Jim Jarmusch, David Fincher, Steven Soderbergh, Ron Howard, David Cronenberg and Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Born in East Prussia, the Oscar-nominated Mueller-Stahl is a classically trained violinist and an acting school dropout. He moved to West Germany at the age of 50, and later made the transition to working on American Hollywood and independent films and television.
Mueller-Stahl: “This year I am 84, which is a long life by the way.”
When asked about the films he feels particularly attached to, his response is "Avalon" and "Music Box."
Mueller-Stahl: “I filmed them in parallel over the same year. In "Avalon" (in the role of Sam Krichinsky) I played a German; I was the head of a Jewish family. And in "Music Box." I played Mike Laszlo a war criminal. The two roles could not have been more different. It was an unforgettable experience. I felt like a kind of Mephistopheles.”
Sam Krichinsky in Barry Levinson’s "Avalon":
“I came to America in 1914 - by way of Philadelphia. That's where I got off the boat. And then I came to Baltimore. It was the most beautiful place you ever seen in your life. There were lights everywhere! What lights they had! It was a celebration of lights! I thought they were for me, Sam, who was in America. Sam was in America! I didn't know what holiday it was, but there were lights. And I walked under them. The sky exploded, people cheered, there were fireworks! What a welcome it was, what a welcome!”
Mueller-Stahl: For Avalon there was a press junket with 12 Jewish journalists. The first journalist asked me, ‘Please tell me about your Jewish heritage.’ I made a long pause. I didn’t answer straight, so I made a curve. ‘My grandfather came from St. Petersburg to Germany – unfortunately he got off at that stop otherwise I would have been an American star and you wouldn’t ask me that question.’ I paused. ‘I’m not a Jew.’ Then another journalist put his hand on my shoulder warmly, ‘You are a Jew’.
When I made Music Box with Costa-Gavras I said to him, ‘Maybe I’m (the Mike Laszlo character) not guilty in the very beginning. I would like to keep the door open to almost the end. This guy is guilty of course, in the end you know he’s guilty. He said, ‘No, it wouldn’t work.’ After three days, Costa-Gavras came to me and said, ‘Let’s do it your way.’
On playing many villains
I played many awful guys. There is always a dark side in a person. I’m always trying to find in a bad character the good in him.”
On Playing Various War Roles
“To live through a war…I have lived it. No war. No more. Period.”
The Actor. The Jester
When talking about the craft of acting, Mueller-Stahl refers to (in German) the ‘gaukler,’ the jester. “The gaukler is a dreamer, but optimistic.” Perhaps one can interpret this as a true reflection of this fine actor.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide.www.su-city-pictures.com , http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 8/12/2014
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
Mia Farrow was honored on 8 August with the Festival’s Leopard Club Award, which pays tribute to someone in film whose work has left a mark on the collective imagination.
Jay Weissberg, film critic for Variety, speaks with Mia Farrow about her career, passions, the art and craft of acting, her upcoming role on Broadway and growing up in Hollywood royalty. An engaging and smart storyteller, she has a self-effacing sense of humor and deep honesty. The hour-long talk was held in Locarno on 9 August in a packed auditorium – the backdrop of which could have reflected a movie scene, as lights flickered during torrential rains and thunderstorms raged.
Weissberg: With your father a director and mother an actress, did you fall into acting?
Farrow: No, I had a lot of other plans as well. I was going to be a fireman. A fighter pilot -- why I don’t know. And I wanted to be a nun. I got all the best parts in plays in high school. I grew up in Beverly Hills, my mother had come from Ireland and all her colleagues had come from across America and Europe too. This town of Beverly Hills was a town of making films not a town of generations who had lived there for a lot of time. All the kids I grew up with were growing up in films. George Cukor was my godfather. My parents for pragmatic reasons -- Luella Parsons was my godmother. It was political…they were buying her praise or silence, as the case was needed.
Weissberg: When you first began acting was it, ‘Oh sure I can do it’ or a concern ‘Oh this is a craft I need to study?
Farrow: Definitely the latter. I was 16, on Broadway, my father just died. My brother had been killed in an airplane crash. I began auditioning and got this part in Importance of Being Earnest. I sat in on many classes; Wynn Hammond, Uta Hagen, the Actors Studio. I didn’t commit to any of them; I sat in on as many classes as I could. I got Summer stock. I learned on my feet.
Weissberg: On "Rosemary’s Baby" there was a clash between John Cassavetes, known for naturalism and spontaneity and Polanski, a rigid filmmaker.
Farrow: Their two styles could not have been more different. With Polanski there was the precision, exactness, mapping out his shots, that he required of his actors. (Farrow demonstrates) If you had a glass that was a little too up to the right - you ruined that shot. Cassavetes did handheld stuff, he was free to say what he wanted, and there was a lot of adlibbing. Cassavetes quickly found he was not comfortable with the confines, the rigidity of these extraordinary shots that Polanski mapped out.
Weissberg: It’s extraordinary over your career your ability to surprise us. Just when we, the public or industry has typecast you, you turn around and do something unexpected. "Broadway Danny Rose" and earlier on in "Rosemary's Baby" and "John and Mary." Let’s talk about change for your characters internally and externally.
Farrow: That’s part of the job. There are actors who didn’t change characters whom I admire like Spencer Tracy and Yul Brynner. Yul said he had a different walk in every film. He thought he was a different character. If you can successfully convey that then you have to find it in yourself to make that person real. In "Broadway Danny Rose" I patterned it after the wife of a friend of Frank Sinatra’s and a woman in a restaurant. I knew how she should look and talk. There was an assistant in one of the offices and I said, ‘Can you read my lines and I can tape you to get that accent right?’ I had to change that timbre. I tried to gain the weight but still had to fake everything. Now you can’t do that part and stay in the part and do "The Purple Rose of Cairo," too (which was shot at the same time). I was in the Royal Shakespeare Academy; you can’t Not change. It’s part of the way of my training.
Weissberg: You’re going back to Broadway next month in Love Letters. What made you want to come back to the stage?
Farrow: I’ve been saying to myself, that I don’t want to act again because drama is enough in life, but I’m still earning a living. Then I wondered if that’s true; that I don’t want to act. It’s only one month on Broadway and I should see before I make definitive statements about anything. One of my sons said, ‘Don’t make these statements; acting is something you can do that can be meaningful. Don’t be so cavalier with something you were given.’
Weissberg: Did your mother give you any acting advice?
Farrow : She gave advice about acting and being truthful. ‘Don’t ever do your hair in the style of the times unless there’s a real point to looking a certain way. Choose simple clothes and hair, so people can see your role ten years from now, unless you’re deliberately trying to convey it.’ I think in "Rosemary's Baby" that was ‘me’ in that situation, I had to imagine myself in that situation and then I tried to have her look not so sixties not so anything in particular.
In response to a question about organizing a full and complicated life while juggling all the balls in the air.
Farrow: It’s better not to think of them as balls in the air otherwise I would probably drop everything. I have multiple interests and I’ve always been like that. You’ll see on Twitter what my interests are. (Farrow talks about Unicef trips to Central African Republic and the genocide there.) I try to bring some attention there to a neglected crisis.
In response to a question about Frank Sinatra
Farrow: I would say in essence a shy man who was extremely empathetic, and a shy man who took pains to cover his shyness with a toughness you saw. There were many aspects of his childhood growing up in Hoboken; his mother’s only son, skinny, he wanted to be singer and the guys in his school were tough, he got a lot of bullying. We all carry our six year-old self, and that self, that essential self, was a very sensitive and essentially shy person. He was fascinated about a lot of things. I am very glad to have known him. He was a good friend. I loved him very much.
Weissberg: Is the legend true that Prudence is your sister from the Beatles’ song ?
Farrow: I wish the song was called Dear Mia. The Beatles wrote the White Album when we were all in India. My sister Prudence was a meditator years before we went to India. Each of us was mired in our own particular nightmares. We get to the Himalayas, and she goes into meditation 24-hours a day and I have a short attention span. You get a mantra from the guru and you learn; you bring flowers and fruit. It’s a ceremony. Well, I have a little bout with hay fever – the guru has a wreath around his neck and he carefully tells me my secret word and I sneezed! I didn’t hear it properly. I asked him, “Would you mind repeating it?” Guru said, “No you have heard it.’ I said, “No really, I don't think so.” He never would repeat the word. That's probably why I never achieved that karmic bliss. The Beatles were outside our door, asking Prudence (and Farrow sings) “Won’t you come out and play?”(Upon hearing the song back in the U.S.) Prudence doesn’t like getting anything that’s prideful. Me -- I would have had Dear Mia tee shirts made!
Weissberg: Hollywood is not a comfortable place for a woman past 40.
Farrow: It’s okay I don’t look 20 anymore. Judi Dench looks like Judi Dench and we love the way she looks. And we love Maggie Smith. We love all the Maggie Smiths of her lifetime. We love all the Sally Fields and we hope she will go on to impress us. There is a residual fear from the olden days, except Katherine Hepburn, women [over 40] disappeared into their mansions because they thought they would disappoint fans. Or went to surgeons. There was a lot of fear of growing old. That’s not on the top of my one millions fears.
I ask Farrow about the disparity of women directors working in the industry
Farrow cites Kathryn Bigelow as a success story and hopes the situation changes.
Farrow: I haven’t worked with women directors yet but I would like to. Women are capable of doing anything. We’ve had some big hits. I hope one day when I do another film if I have the time to work with a woman director. I would love to work with women. We are better communicators.
In response to Farrow’s relationship with social media
Farrow: I love Twitter; my son taught me. It’s a great way to use information, to convey information for me as a human being and as Un ambassador. I told my children, ‘With knowledge comes responsibility.’ I feel if I can convey that information, maybe people can act upon it. It’s about all of us using what is in our arsenal to try to make the world a little more peaceful or compassionate.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog .
Jay Weissberg, film critic for Variety, speaks with Mia Farrow about her career, passions, the art and craft of acting, her upcoming role on Broadway and growing up in Hollywood royalty. An engaging and smart storyteller, she has a self-effacing sense of humor and deep honesty. The hour-long talk was held in Locarno on 9 August in a packed auditorium – the backdrop of which could have reflected a movie scene, as lights flickered during torrential rains and thunderstorms raged.
Weissberg: With your father a director and mother an actress, did you fall into acting?
Farrow: No, I had a lot of other plans as well. I was going to be a fireman. A fighter pilot -- why I don’t know. And I wanted to be a nun. I got all the best parts in plays in high school. I grew up in Beverly Hills, my mother had come from Ireland and all her colleagues had come from across America and Europe too. This town of Beverly Hills was a town of making films not a town of generations who had lived there for a lot of time. All the kids I grew up with were growing up in films. George Cukor was my godfather. My parents for pragmatic reasons -- Luella Parsons was my godmother. It was political…they were buying her praise or silence, as the case was needed.
Weissberg: When you first began acting was it, ‘Oh sure I can do it’ or a concern ‘Oh this is a craft I need to study?
Farrow: Definitely the latter. I was 16, on Broadway, my father just died. My brother had been killed in an airplane crash. I began auditioning and got this part in Importance of Being Earnest. I sat in on many classes; Wynn Hammond, Uta Hagen, the Actors Studio. I didn’t commit to any of them; I sat in on as many classes as I could. I got Summer stock. I learned on my feet.
Weissberg: On "Rosemary’s Baby" there was a clash between John Cassavetes, known for naturalism and spontaneity and Polanski, a rigid filmmaker.
Farrow: Their two styles could not have been more different. With Polanski there was the precision, exactness, mapping out his shots, that he required of his actors. (Farrow demonstrates) If you had a glass that was a little too up to the right - you ruined that shot. Cassavetes did handheld stuff, he was free to say what he wanted, and there was a lot of adlibbing. Cassavetes quickly found he was not comfortable with the confines, the rigidity of these extraordinary shots that Polanski mapped out.
Weissberg: It’s extraordinary over your career your ability to surprise us. Just when we, the public or industry has typecast you, you turn around and do something unexpected. "Broadway Danny Rose" and earlier on in "Rosemary's Baby" and "John and Mary." Let’s talk about change for your characters internally and externally.
Farrow: That’s part of the job. There are actors who didn’t change characters whom I admire like Spencer Tracy and Yul Brynner. Yul said he had a different walk in every film. He thought he was a different character. If you can successfully convey that then you have to find it in yourself to make that person real. In "Broadway Danny Rose" I patterned it after the wife of a friend of Frank Sinatra’s and a woman in a restaurant. I knew how she should look and talk. There was an assistant in one of the offices and I said, ‘Can you read my lines and I can tape you to get that accent right?’ I had to change that timbre. I tried to gain the weight but still had to fake everything. Now you can’t do that part and stay in the part and do "The Purple Rose of Cairo," too (which was shot at the same time). I was in the Royal Shakespeare Academy; you can’t Not change. It’s part of the way of my training.
Weissberg: You’re going back to Broadway next month in Love Letters. What made you want to come back to the stage?
Farrow: I’ve been saying to myself, that I don’t want to act again because drama is enough in life, but I’m still earning a living. Then I wondered if that’s true; that I don’t want to act. It’s only one month on Broadway and I should see before I make definitive statements about anything. One of my sons said, ‘Don’t make these statements; acting is something you can do that can be meaningful. Don’t be so cavalier with something you were given.’
Weissberg: Did your mother give you any acting advice?
Farrow : She gave advice about acting and being truthful. ‘Don’t ever do your hair in the style of the times unless there’s a real point to looking a certain way. Choose simple clothes and hair, so people can see your role ten years from now, unless you’re deliberately trying to convey it.’ I think in "Rosemary's Baby" that was ‘me’ in that situation, I had to imagine myself in that situation and then I tried to have her look not so sixties not so anything in particular.
In response to a question about organizing a full and complicated life while juggling all the balls in the air.
Farrow: It’s better not to think of them as balls in the air otherwise I would probably drop everything. I have multiple interests and I’ve always been like that. You’ll see on Twitter what my interests are. (Farrow talks about Unicef trips to Central African Republic and the genocide there.) I try to bring some attention there to a neglected crisis.
In response to a question about Frank Sinatra
Farrow: I would say in essence a shy man who was extremely empathetic, and a shy man who took pains to cover his shyness with a toughness you saw. There were many aspects of his childhood growing up in Hoboken; his mother’s only son, skinny, he wanted to be singer and the guys in his school were tough, he got a lot of bullying. We all carry our six year-old self, and that self, that essential self, was a very sensitive and essentially shy person. He was fascinated about a lot of things. I am very glad to have known him. He was a good friend. I loved him very much.
Weissberg: Is the legend true that Prudence is your sister from the Beatles’ song ?
Farrow: I wish the song was called Dear Mia. The Beatles wrote the White Album when we were all in India. My sister Prudence was a meditator years before we went to India. Each of us was mired in our own particular nightmares. We get to the Himalayas, and she goes into meditation 24-hours a day and I have a short attention span. You get a mantra from the guru and you learn; you bring flowers and fruit. It’s a ceremony. Well, I have a little bout with hay fever – the guru has a wreath around his neck and he carefully tells me my secret word and I sneezed! I didn’t hear it properly. I asked him, “Would you mind repeating it?” Guru said, “No you have heard it.’ I said, “No really, I don't think so.” He never would repeat the word. That's probably why I never achieved that karmic bliss. The Beatles were outside our door, asking Prudence (and Farrow sings) “Won’t you come out and play?”(Upon hearing the song back in the U.S.) Prudence doesn’t like getting anything that’s prideful. Me -- I would have had Dear Mia tee shirts made!
Weissberg: Hollywood is not a comfortable place for a woman past 40.
Farrow: It’s okay I don’t look 20 anymore. Judi Dench looks like Judi Dench and we love the way she looks. And we love Maggie Smith. We love all the Maggie Smiths of her lifetime. We love all the Sally Fields and we hope she will go on to impress us. There is a residual fear from the olden days, except Katherine Hepburn, women [over 40] disappeared into their mansions because they thought they would disappoint fans. Or went to surgeons. There was a lot of fear of growing old. That’s not on the top of my one millions fears.
I ask Farrow about the disparity of women directors working in the industry
Farrow cites Kathryn Bigelow as a success story and hopes the situation changes.
Farrow: I haven’t worked with women directors yet but I would like to. Women are capable of doing anything. We’ve had some big hits. I hope one day when I do another film if I have the time to work with a woman director. I would love to work with women. We are better communicators.
In response to Farrow’s relationship with social media
Farrow: I love Twitter; my son taught me. It’s a great way to use information, to convey information for me as a human being and as Un ambassador. I told my children, ‘With knowledge comes responsibility.’ I feel if I can convey that information, maybe people can act upon it. It’s about all of us using what is in our arsenal to try to make the world a little more peaceful or compassionate.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog .
- 8/11/2014
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
The Locarno Industry Office has joined forces with the Locarno Summer Academy to launch the pilot project Industry Academy (8 – 12 August), an educational, multi-disciplinary program for young industry professionals.
I met with Nadia Dresti, (Delegate to the Artistic Direction, Head of International of the Locarno International Film Festival), along with Sophie Bourdon (originator of this project; international sales consultant and former director of Atelier du Cinema European) and Marion Klotz (longtime festivals manager and acquisitions executive at Memento Films), to talk about their new program -- the Industry Academy -- a three-day intensive workshop.
When describing how this pilot program came to be, Dresti states, “We were thinking about what changes do we need in the film industry; and how can you reinvent this industry if you project 10 years ahead from now, because it’s changing so fast.”
Dresti, Bourdon and Klotz explained that their impetus for the Industry Academy was born from the fact that very few European film schools offer courses about the industry. Their goal is to fill this existing gap in film schools by offering a very practical shortcut to the international industry world.
Bourdon: “The idea is to share what is going on -- to compare situations and experiences from Latin America, Europe, and so on, such as new ways of showing films.”
Nine young European professionals starting out in distribution, exhibition, sales and marketing, will meet with seasoned industry professionals from six different countries: Belgium (Damien Le Délézir, Europa International; Vanessa Jarlot, O’Brother), Denmark (Peter Ahlén, Trust Nordisk), France (Océane Portal, Under The Milky Way), Spain (Espinar Gabriel Sanz, The Film Agency), Switzerland (Meryl Moser, Cinerive Sa; Frédérick Herren, Cinepel Sa; Yves Blösche, Filmcoopi) and UK (Oliver Charles, Peccadillo Pictures).
Mentors and students will discuss challenges and changes they face, case studies, confront their points of views on specific issues and explore new, innovative approaches in sales, marketing strategies, exhibition and distribution, including new platforms.
Klotz: “It is important to have the participants active. We hope the Industry Academy will be a mini-lab to focus on exchanges and small group discussions rather than academic teaching sessions. We want to nurture our discussions about the future of distribution and sales by ideas, thoughts and experiences of both beginners and experts!”
Among the guests included are Susan Wendt (Trust Nordisk), Nicholas Kaiser (Memento Films International), Anne Delseth (Directors' Fortnight), Lane Kneedler (AFI Fest), Michel de Schaetzen (O’Brother), Pierre-Alexandre Labelle (Under the Milky Way), Yves Moser (Cinerive Sa), Mary Nazari (Pioner Cinema).
Bourdon states: “I sincerely hope this project will be inspiring to these junior professionals, make them realize the important role they play in the career of films and filmmakers and encourage them to join forces and become creative entrepreneurs because their professions have never been so fascinating, open to innovation and new opportunities than today, lucky them!”
Dresti smiles: “We don’t wait to see what will happen in the film industry -- we are taking the bull by the horns.”
To learn more about the Industry Academy:
http://www.pardolive.ch/en/Pardo-Live/today-at-the-festival/2014/day01/New-Pilot-Project-the-Locarno-Industry-Academy.html#.U-M4NKN0xMs
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide.www.su-city-pictures.com , http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
I met with Nadia Dresti, (Delegate to the Artistic Direction, Head of International of the Locarno International Film Festival), along with Sophie Bourdon (originator of this project; international sales consultant and former director of Atelier du Cinema European) and Marion Klotz (longtime festivals manager and acquisitions executive at Memento Films), to talk about their new program -- the Industry Academy -- a three-day intensive workshop.
When describing how this pilot program came to be, Dresti states, “We were thinking about what changes do we need in the film industry; and how can you reinvent this industry if you project 10 years ahead from now, because it’s changing so fast.”
Dresti, Bourdon and Klotz explained that their impetus for the Industry Academy was born from the fact that very few European film schools offer courses about the industry. Their goal is to fill this existing gap in film schools by offering a very practical shortcut to the international industry world.
Bourdon: “The idea is to share what is going on -- to compare situations and experiences from Latin America, Europe, and so on, such as new ways of showing films.”
Nine young European professionals starting out in distribution, exhibition, sales and marketing, will meet with seasoned industry professionals from six different countries: Belgium (Damien Le Délézir, Europa International; Vanessa Jarlot, O’Brother), Denmark (Peter Ahlén, Trust Nordisk), France (Océane Portal, Under The Milky Way), Spain (Espinar Gabriel Sanz, The Film Agency), Switzerland (Meryl Moser, Cinerive Sa; Frédérick Herren, Cinepel Sa; Yves Blösche, Filmcoopi) and UK (Oliver Charles, Peccadillo Pictures).
Mentors and students will discuss challenges and changes they face, case studies, confront their points of views on specific issues and explore new, innovative approaches in sales, marketing strategies, exhibition and distribution, including new platforms.
Klotz: “It is important to have the participants active. We hope the Industry Academy will be a mini-lab to focus on exchanges and small group discussions rather than academic teaching sessions. We want to nurture our discussions about the future of distribution and sales by ideas, thoughts and experiences of both beginners and experts!”
Among the guests included are Susan Wendt (Trust Nordisk), Nicholas Kaiser (Memento Films International), Anne Delseth (Directors' Fortnight), Lane Kneedler (AFI Fest), Michel de Schaetzen (O’Brother), Pierre-Alexandre Labelle (Under the Milky Way), Yves Moser (Cinerive Sa), Mary Nazari (Pioner Cinema).
Bourdon states: “I sincerely hope this project will be inspiring to these junior professionals, make them realize the important role they play in the career of films and filmmakers and encourage them to join forces and become creative entrepreneurs because their professions have never been so fascinating, open to innovation and new opportunities than today, lucky them!”
Dresti smiles: “We don’t wait to see what will happen in the film industry -- we are taking the bull by the horns.”
To learn more about the Industry Academy:
http://www.pardolive.ch/en/Pardo-Live/today-at-the-festival/2014/day01/New-Pilot-Project-the-Locarno-Industry-Academy.html#.U-M4NKN0xMs
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide.www.su-city-pictures.com , http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 8/10/2014
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
On a sunny afternoon in Locarno on 7 August, Boyd van Hoeij from Variety moderated a discussion with short film "Thirst" director Rachel McDonald and its stars Melanie Griffith and Gale Harold. The topics ranged from the making of McDonald’s film, to the actors’ takes on the differences between working with men and female directors, to ageism in Hollywood.
I asked Rachel McDonald about using crowd-sourcing to fund "Thirst".
Rachel McDonald : “We shot a teaser and put it on Kickstarter. I learned a lot about social media in a short period of time. We raised the money in two different rounds and were able to do the shoot. I was overwhelmed by the generosity and people who had faith in us. There are two donors here in the audience today; they drove three-hours from Italy today to be here! I think crowd-sourcing is amazing and people can be a part of telling a story in a different way.”
About Thirst
Rachel McDonald : "Thirst’s" themes are about compassion and about the human connection. There are definitely themes of mercy that reflect on ourselves and on each other. Sometimes that comes in the form of a complete stranger or those already in our lives. With an undercurrent of addiction.”
Melanie Griffith: “My character, Sue, is a down-and-out alcoholic. And this young man comes into her life and they have this sort of understanding and go through a metamorphous together. And Rachel, I must say was an incredible director and allowed what happened without the words, to happen in this world. I’m here because I love the film. I want to support her in many more movies.”
Gale Harold : “My character, “John” comes in about halfway through film; he has an oracle quality, he’s saying things he doesn’t have reason to know about and makes offhand statements that become echoed through the film.”
McDonald: “The movie takes place over a period of three days. The script, written by Michael Albanese, was inspired by a true story that happened to him when he was living in New York City in the 90s, and was broke and disconnected, and got a temporary job in Hell’s Kitchen. We developed the story together.”
Boyd: “You had a screenplay and a great story, but how do you get Melanie Griffith in this movie?”
McDonald : “We are very fortunate to have an amazing cast. We were working with a wonderful casting director and talking to her about the project and she recommended Melanie. Michael Albanese and I wrote an impassioned letter and sent it to her with the script, and she invited us over to her home so generously and we connected instantly.”
Boyd: “What made the script stand out?”
Griffith: “It was the letter, the story, reading the script and meeting Rachel; this made me want to do it. I thought it was a great challenge to play an alcoholic since I am a recovering alcoholic, and it was a good way to get it out of my mind, my psyche. When I met Rachel, I saw something in her eyes that was familiar to me, like meeting a person you’ve known before.”
On Directing
McDonald: “I create a place the actors feel safe and where they can go to vulnerable places and in this story specifically they did so bravely. I’m a very visual storyteller, so I’m prepared with my shot list and what I want to achieve, and help bring the story to life.”
Boyd: “Obviously, Rachel is a female filmmaker. Is there a difference between a male and female director?”
Harold: “I think women and men filmmakers do bring a different perspective. Males can be emotionally-driven as well; some women are more driven though. It’s a different perspective when women and men tell a story.”
Griffith: “There are men who are sensitive with guiding an actor…they are few and far between. I do seem to be gravitating towards more female directors. I feel like -- men directors are amazing though -- with Rachel (and other female directors) they’ll look at a scene or a movie, and say, ‘I feel that the character would be doing this’ while a male director generally says, “I think the character would be doing this.”
Griffith then remarks on the overall disparity of women working in the film industry. “Only a small percent of women, maybe ten percent, are working in the industry. Considering more than half the planet are female – that’s not a good percentage!”
Boyd : “Melanie, you have nothing left to prove as an actor.”
Griffith : “I do have a lot left to prove. I always think if ‘Oh my God, can I do this role?’ It’s beautiful when you do it and make it work.”
Boyd: “Obviously you’re a daughter of a famous actor and your daughter is in "50 Shades of Gray".”
Griffith : “I think that Dakota is going to be better than me and my mom. She is amazing. She watched all the mistakes I’ve made and the things that happened to my mom. She’s a force of nature. I won’t see "50 Shades of Gray;" her father and I agreed we’ll just read the reviews.”
The Conversation concludes with an audience member asking about roles for women in Hollywood as they get older.
Griffith : “When you hit 40 it’s iffy. I did take a lot of time off to raise my kids, and now I’m doing a lot of work and have a couple of movies to shoot. I’m doing Pippin on Broadway in January. I now only have one child at home who will be a senior in high school and then I’m free. And I’m going to do whatever the fuck I want to do!”
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide.www.su-city-pictures.com , http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
I asked Rachel McDonald about using crowd-sourcing to fund "Thirst".
Rachel McDonald : “We shot a teaser and put it on Kickstarter. I learned a lot about social media in a short period of time. We raised the money in two different rounds and were able to do the shoot. I was overwhelmed by the generosity and people who had faith in us. There are two donors here in the audience today; they drove three-hours from Italy today to be here! I think crowd-sourcing is amazing and people can be a part of telling a story in a different way.”
About Thirst
Rachel McDonald : "Thirst’s" themes are about compassion and about the human connection. There are definitely themes of mercy that reflect on ourselves and on each other. Sometimes that comes in the form of a complete stranger or those already in our lives. With an undercurrent of addiction.”
Melanie Griffith: “My character, Sue, is a down-and-out alcoholic. And this young man comes into her life and they have this sort of understanding and go through a metamorphous together. And Rachel, I must say was an incredible director and allowed what happened without the words, to happen in this world. I’m here because I love the film. I want to support her in many more movies.”
Gale Harold : “My character, “John” comes in about halfway through film; he has an oracle quality, he’s saying things he doesn’t have reason to know about and makes offhand statements that become echoed through the film.”
McDonald: “The movie takes place over a period of three days. The script, written by Michael Albanese, was inspired by a true story that happened to him when he was living in New York City in the 90s, and was broke and disconnected, and got a temporary job in Hell’s Kitchen. We developed the story together.”
Boyd: “You had a screenplay and a great story, but how do you get Melanie Griffith in this movie?”
McDonald : “We are very fortunate to have an amazing cast. We were working with a wonderful casting director and talking to her about the project and she recommended Melanie. Michael Albanese and I wrote an impassioned letter and sent it to her with the script, and she invited us over to her home so generously and we connected instantly.”
Boyd: “What made the script stand out?”
Griffith: “It was the letter, the story, reading the script and meeting Rachel; this made me want to do it. I thought it was a great challenge to play an alcoholic since I am a recovering alcoholic, and it was a good way to get it out of my mind, my psyche. When I met Rachel, I saw something in her eyes that was familiar to me, like meeting a person you’ve known before.”
On Directing
McDonald: “I create a place the actors feel safe and where they can go to vulnerable places and in this story specifically they did so bravely. I’m a very visual storyteller, so I’m prepared with my shot list and what I want to achieve, and help bring the story to life.”
Boyd: “Obviously, Rachel is a female filmmaker. Is there a difference between a male and female director?”
Harold: “I think women and men filmmakers do bring a different perspective. Males can be emotionally-driven as well; some women are more driven though. It’s a different perspective when women and men tell a story.”
Griffith: “There are men who are sensitive with guiding an actor…they are few and far between. I do seem to be gravitating towards more female directors. I feel like -- men directors are amazing though -- with Rachel (and other female directors) they’ll look at a scene or a movie, and say, ‘I feel that the character would be doing this’ while a male director generally says, “I think the character would be doing this.”
Griffith then remarks on the overall disparity of women working in the film industry. “Only a small percent of women, maybe ten percent, are working in the industry. Considering more than half the planet are female – that’s not a good percentage!”
Boyd : “Melanie, you have nothing left to prove as an actor.”
Griffith : “I do have a lot left to prove. I always think if ‘Oh my God, can I do this role?’ It’s beautiful when you do it and make it work.”
Boyd: “Obviously you’re a daughter of a famous actor and your daughter is in "50 Shades of Gray".”
Griffith : “I think that Dakota is going to be better than me and my mom. She is amazing. She watched all the mistakes I’ve made and the things that happened to my mom. She’s a force of nature. I won’t see "50 Shades of Gray;" her father and I agreed we’ll just read the reviews.”
The Conversation concludes with an audience member asking about roles for women in Hollywood as they get older.
Griffith : “When you hit 40 it’s iffy. I did take a lot of time off to raise my kids, and now I’m doing a lot of work and have a couple of movies to shoot. I’m doing Pippin on Broadway in January. I now only have one child at home who will be a senior in high school and then I’m free. And I’m going to do whatever the fuck I want to do!”
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide.www.su-city-pictures.com , http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 8/9/2014
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
I met with Stefano Knuchel, Head of the Summer Academy, the afternoon before the Academy and Film Festival began. Now in his second year in this position, Mr. Knuchel is enthusiastic about the students’ talents and the exciting opportunities that await them at the Academy.
Knuchel: “Every continent except for Australia has been represented so far at the Academy. The shape and tradition of the Academy is mixing life with cinema.” Knuchel continues, “The program gives students a sense to be a well-rounded director. It’s difficult to be yourself and in moviemaking …what does it mean to be yourself?” Knuchel smiles, “You film who you are.”
An important goal of the Academy is the exchange of ideas and experiences not only with the filmmakers offering master classes, including Agnes Varda, Roman Polanski and Victor Erice, but also between the students themselves.
Knuchel: “The students’ gain not only knowledge but an exchange with other filmmakers at their level; some of the students from last year are now making movies together.”
Knuchel on Agnès Varda
“What I like about Varda’s work -- it’s like you can’t tell the difference between her movies and her life-- it seems like cinema is the way to go through life and leave some signs of this life.”
The qualities Knuchel looks for in an applicant
Knuchel: “You must have a certain heart and soul to keep making movies. Sometimes it’s difficult; there are lots of obstacles. There are many things against you -- filmmaking is not an easy life. It’s more and more difficult to make money from it. When I look at the young directors’ work I need to feel this kind of urgency from the applicants. I like having different kinds of identities and different approaches to filmmaking.”
Excerpted from the Pardo Web site:
Founded in 2010 the Locarno Summer Academy is dedicated to developing emerging talents with its training program for young filmmakers, professionals, students and film critics. The program includes lectures, round tables, labs, workshops and case studies with well-established names from the film world, offering participants the opportunity to meet professionals and make new contacts.
The Locarno Summer Academy hosts three different initiatives:
Filmmakers Academy: A program for 25 young filmmakers from all over the world. A chance to interact with auteurs, producers, and other professional figures of international renown that will give participants the opportunity to extend their professional network and to broaden their knowledge of the various aspects of being a filmmaker, in the innovative spirit and auteur tradition that Locarno has always embodied. Critics Academy: A training program for 10 young film journalists/critics. Organized by Indiewire’s Chief Film Critic and Senior Editor Eric Kohn and Eugene Hernandez (Deputy Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center). The program includes conversations with critics, roundtables with guests and discussions with professionals, to connect the young critics to the workings of the industry. Documentary Summer School: In its 14th year, the Dss offers places for up to 20 university students in the fields of cinema, media and communication. This year’s program focuses on myriad aspects of documentary cinema; namely, narrative structures and production issues. Knuchel: “The only thing you have is your own life, your identity, your films, and I encourage students to work on that. There’s a lot of potential with young filmmakers, but the filmmaker has to be convinced that they have the potential.”
To learn more about the Summer Academy:
http://www.pardolive.ch/en/Education/Presentation#.U-DqKKN0xMs
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog .
Knuchel: “Every continent except for Australia has been represented so far at the Academy. The shape and tradition of the Academy is mixing life with cinema.” Knuchel continues, “The program gives students a sense to be a well-rounded director. It’s difficult to be yourself and in moviemaking …what does it mean to be yourself?” Knuchel smiles, “You film who you are.”
An important goal of the Academy is the exchange of ideas and experiences not only with the filmmakers offering master classes, including Agnes Varda, Roman Polanski and Victor Erice, but also between the students themselves.
Knuchel: “The students’ gain not only knowledge but an exchange with other filmmakers at their level; some of the students from last year are now making movies together.”
Knuchel on Agnès Varda
“What I like about Varda’s work -- it’s like you can’t tell the difference between her movies and her life-- it seems like cinema is the way to go through life and leave some signs of this life.”
The qualities Knuchel looks for in an applicant
Knuchel: “You must have a certain heart and soul to keep making movies. Sometimes it’s difficult; there are lots of obstacles. There are many things against you -- filmmaking is not an easy life. It’s more and more difficult to make money from it. When I look at the young directors’ work I need to feel this kind of urgency from the applicants. I like having different kinds of identities and different approaches to filmmaking.”
Excerpted from the Pardo Web site:
Founded in 2010 the Locarno Summer Academy is dedicated to developing emerging talents with its training program for young filmmakers, professionals, students and film critics. The program includes lectures, round tables, labs, workshops and case studies with well-established names from the film world, offering participants the opportunity to meet professionals and make new contacts.
The Locarno Summer Academy hosts three different initiatives:
Filmmakers Academy: A program for 25 young filmmakers from all over the world. A chance to interact with auteurs, producers, and other professional figures of international renown that will give participants the opportunity to extend their professional network and to broaden their knowledge of the various aspects of being a filmmaker, in the innovative spirit and auteur tradition that Locarno has always embodied. Critics Academy: A training program for 10 young film journalists/critics. Organized by Indiewire’s Chief Film Critic and Senior Editor Eric Kohn and Eugene Hernandez (Deputy Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center). The program includes conversations with critics, roundtables with guests and discussions with professionals, to connect the young critics to the workings of the industry. Documentary Summer School: In its 14th year, the Dss offers places for up to 20 university students in the fields of cinema, media and communication. This year’s program focuses on myriad aspects of documentary cinema; namely, narrative structures and production issues. Knuchel: “The only thing you have is your own life, your identity, your films, and I encourage students to work on that. There’s a lot of potential with young filmmakers, but the filmmaker has to be convinced that they have the potential.”
To learn more about the Summer Academy:
http://www.pardolive.ch/en/Education/Presentation#.U-DqKKN0xMs
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog .
- 8/7/2014
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
Nadia Dresti, Delegate of the Artistic Direction, Head of International at the Locarno International Film Festival, is passionately dedicated to spotlighting independent filmmakers from countries that face challenges getting their work noticed and distributed. Ms. Dresti and I met at her office a few days before the start of the Festival to discuss the various initiatives that will take place during Industry Days, which runs from August 9-11.
From the Festival Web site:
Industry Days are aiming to play an active role in the support of auteur films: whether launching a new project or extending and optimizing existing services and initiatives, the goal of Locarno’s Industry Office is always to support sales agents, distributors, producers and exhibitors in their respective tasks, ranging from the conception to the release of independent art-house cinema.
The Industry Office of the Locarno Film Festival facilitates networking among world film industry professionals attending the event, supporting producers and agents presenting films at the Festival by connecting them with international sales and distribution professionals and exhibitors.
Dresti: “The difference between Locarno and other festivals, is that here the exhibitors will sit down with others to try to understand each other’s programs. We have more than 200 buyers and sellers attending. The topics include finding the public audience and the home audience.
We understand the challenge of audiences who hardly go to the theaters anymore and watch movies from home.”
Industry Days Initiatives
Step In is an interdisciplinary exchange platform in which international professionals discuss and develop new, promising strategies for distribution, exhibition and sales of auteur cinema.
Dresti: “We will have two panels, one on the South African market and the other on the Brazilian market. This gives the opportunity for an overview of these markets to buyers and sellers in the European industry, as well as to the South African and Brazilian key players from the regions.”
Carte Blanche showcases a number of films in postproduction by emerging talents from a different country in Asia, Africa, Latin America or South-East Europe. This year’s Carte Blanche is dedicated to Brazil.
Dresti: “The idea of Carte Blanche is that since there are buyers and sales companies already in Locarno to buy films at the Festival, they could also buy these Brazilian films that don’t have a distributor yet. It gives the Brazilian filmmakers a good opportunity. At first we were expecting seven producers from Brazil, but thanks to the support of the cinema of Brazil and others, we are very honored that now we have 64 people coming from this country, including buyers from Brazil, producers and journalists. It’s huge.”
Open Doors , a co-production initiative, aims to assist its selected participants, to find support for their projects by offering training and pairing them with potential co-production partners, supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (Sdc).
Dresti: “We want people to see films at the Festival, but still take the time to sit down and talk. Locarno is the right place; all activities are tailor-made for this to happen. They will meet producers from Open Door and others so they can all understand what the other one does.”
The panelists for this year include Eugene Hernandez (Deputy Director, Film Society of Lincoln Center), Sheila de la Varende (Director, International Promotion, Telefilm Canada), Roberto Olla (Executive Director, Eurimages), Marit van den Elshout (Cinemart Manager, Cinemart Rotterdam), and Monique Simard (President & CEO, Sodec, Canada).
Industry Days is organized in collaboration with Europa International, Europa Distribution and Europa Cinemas, and Festival Scope and Fera.
To learn more about Industry Days and the Locarno International Film visit: http://www.pardolive.ch
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog .
From the Festival Web site:
Industry Days are aiming to play an active role in the support of auteur films: whether launching a new project or extending and optimizing existing services and initiatives, the goal of Locarno’s Industry Office is always to support sales agents, distributors, producers and exhibitors in their respective tasks, ranging from the conception to the release of independent art-house cinema.
The Industry Office of the Locarno Film Festival facilitates networking among world film industry professionals attending the event, supporting producers and agents presenting films at the Festival by connecting them with international sales and distribution professionals and exhibitors.
Dresti: “The difference between Locarno and other festivals, is that here the exhibitors will sit down with others to try to understand each other’s programs. We have more than 200 buyers and sellers attending. The topics include finding the public audience and the home audience.
We understand the challenge of audiences who hardly go to the theaters anymore and watch movies from home.”
Industry Days Initiatives
Step In is an interdisciplinary exchange platform in which international professionals discuss and develop new, promising strategies for distribution, exhibition and sales of auteur cinema.
Dresti: “We will have two panels, one on the South African market and the other on the Brazilian market. This gives the opportunity for an overview of these markets to buyers and sellers in the European industry, as well as to the South African and Brazilian key players from the regions.”
Carte Blanche showcases a number of films in postproduction by emerging talents from a different country in Asia, Africa, Latin America or South-East Europe. This year’s Carte Blanche is dedicated to Brazil.
Dresti: “The idea of Carte Blanche is that since there are buyers and sales companies already in Locarno to buy films at the Festival, they could also buy these Brazilian films that don’t have a distributor yet. It gives the Brazilian filmmakers a good opportunity. At first we were expecting seven producers from Brazil, but thanks to the support of the cinema of Brazil and others, we are very honored that now we have 64 people coming from this country, including buyers from Brazil, producers and journalists. It’s huge.”
Open Doors , a co-production initiative, aims to assist its selected participants, to find support for their projects by offering training and pairing them with potential co-production partners, supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (Sdc).
Dresti: “We want people to see films at the Festival, but still take the time to sit down and talk. Locarno is the right place; all activities are tailor-made for this to happen. They will meet producers from Open Door and others so they can all understand what the other one does.”
The panelists for this year include Eugene Hernandez (Deputy Director, Film Society of Lincoln Center), Sheila de la Varende (Director, International Promotion, Telefilm Canada), Roberto Olla (Executive Director, Eurimages), Marit van den Elshout (Cinemart Manager, Cinemart Rotterdam), and Monique Simard (President & CEO, Sodec, Canada).
Industry Days is organized in collaboration with Europa International, Europa Distribution and Europa Cinemas, and Festival Scope and Fera.
To learn more about Industry Days and the Locarno International Film visit: http://www.pardolive.ch
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog .
- 8/6/2014
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
Just steps from the outdoor screen and the 8,000 seats that have been set up on the Piazza Grande where the 67th Locarno International Film Festival will open on 6 August, I sat down with Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian to talk about films of the past and present, the American independent film line-up, Roman Polanski and Agnès Varda.
The Festival
Kouguell: This is your second year as Artistic Director. What changes will we see at the Festival this year?
Chatrian: “Last year, I didn’t want to change the Festival that much because I felt, and still feel, that the structure is good and fits the goals -- to continue on the same path with (both) the history of cinema and new films. This year’s selection of new films will have more surprises than last year. The main competition last year was composed of mainly quite well-known directors; this year there is a good balance of first-time, lesser known and established directors.”
Kouguell: Are there any current trends in filmmaking that you have found in this year’s films?
Chatrian: “Cinema as an art form has more than one direction. Luckily there are filmmakers willing to take different directions and we see this here at this year’s Festival. I’m always a little bit concerned when some critics say, ‘the new cinema will be this or that’ -- what I can say is that cinema -- especially through young filmmakers -- seems quite vibrant and not a dead art form.”
On American Indie Films at the Festival
Chatrian: “We try to provide a complete panorama of American indie cinema but we are not concerned about being exhaustive. Locarno is a good festival to help the career of a director. One of the purposes of the Locarno Film Festival is to discover new talent. I’m happy to have back -- they were discovered by Locarno -- American indie directors Alex Ross Perry ( "Listen Up Philip"), Joel Potrykus ("Buzzard") and J.P. Sniadecki with his documentary "The Iron Ministry".”
The other American films include "Single Stream" directed by Ernst Karel, Toby Kim Lee and Pawel Wojtasik, "Songs from the North" by Soon-Mi Yoo, the "Tony Longo Trilogy" directed by indie cinema veteran Thom Anderson, "Creep" (Patrick Brice’s first feature- length genre film), "Thirst" a short narrative film directed by Rachel McDonald, and the fiction feature "Christmas Again" directed by Charles Poekel.
On Roman Polanski
Kouguell: Some might feel that inviting Roman Polanski to the Festival is a controversial choice. What are your thoughts on this?
Chatrian: “I’m aware of this. I don’t want to hurt anyone. When I had the chance to invite him to do a master class for the young filmmakers at the Locarno Summer Academy, it was a chance to gain an inside angle of this director. That’s the purpose of the festival -- we exchange ideas; Polanksi can give his film knowledge to other people. One side is justice and one is the filmmaker. He is a great creator of moving images and for me, not controversial, simple as that. He is willing to share his ideas with young directors. If anyone else wants to take him and bring him to justice this is not the right place to do it because we are a film festival.”
On Honoring Agnès Varda with The Pardo d’onore Swisscom Award
Chatrian: “It is important to pay tribute to her as a woman director, and as a major figure in modern and independent cinema. Varda and I discussed the titles to choose to screen at the Festival. As you see there are well known films -- and others not as known [like] the 2011 documentary television series Agnès de ci de là Varda.
“What is interesting in her work is that she is absolutely free to choose topics, format, length, and style. She is free to switch from documentaries to fiction -- to work with big stars or not, to reflect on her own experience. Through her work we can see and experience a number of important movements in the 20th Century -- the American Blank Panthers (Huey), the women’s movement, "The Gleaners and I," " Les cent et une nuits de Simon Cinéma," and more. Varda allows me and the Festival to watch cinema as language; she allows the festival to retell important stories of the past years. At age 86 she is full of energy and willing to exchange her experience with the audience.”
The Locarno International Film Festival offers a vast range of work from the past and present, a diverse selection of shorts, feature-length, narrative and documentary films, and a window onto the future of cinema around the globe.
The Locarno International Film Festival runs from August 6-16, 2014. For more information visit: www.pardo.ch
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide.www.su-city-pictures.com , http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
The Festival
Kouguell: This is your second year as Artistic Director. What changes will we see at the Festival this year?
Chatrian: “Last year, I didn’t want to change the Festival that much because I felt, and still feel, that the structure is good and fits the goals -- to continue on the same path with (both) the history of cinema and new films. This year’s selection of new films will have more surprises than last year. The main competition last year was composed of mainly quite well-known directors; this year there is a good balance of first-time, lesser known and established directors.”
Kouguell: Are there any current trends in filmmaking that you have found in this year’s films?
Chatrian: “Cinema as an art form has more than one direction. Luckily there are filmmakers willing to take different directions and we see this here at this year’s Festival. I’m always a little bit concerned when some critics say, ‘the new cinema will be this or that’ -- what I can say is that cinema -- especially through young filmmakers -- seems quite vibrant and not a dead art form.”
On American Indie Films at the Festival
Chatrian: “We try to provide a complete panorama of American indie cinema but we are not concerned about being exhaustive. Locarno is a good festival to help the career of a director. One of the purposes of the Locarno Film Festival is to discover new talent. I’m happy to have back -- they were discovered by Locarno -- American indie directors Alex Ross Perry ( "Listen Up Philip"), Joel Potrykus ("Buzzard") and J.P. Sniadecki with his documentary "The Iron Ministry".”
The other American films include "Single Stream" directed by Ernst Karel, Toby Kim Lee and Pawel Wojtasik, "Songs from the North" by Soon-Mi Yoo, the "Tony Longo Trilogy" directed by indie cinema veteran Thom Anderson, "Creep" (Patrick Brice’s first feature- length genre film), "Thirst" a short narrative film directed by Rachel McDonald, and the fiction feature "Christmas Again" directed by Charles Poekel.
On Roman Polanski
Kouguell: Some might feel that inviting Roman Polanski to the Festival is a controversial choice. What are your thoughts on this?
Chatrian: “I’m aware of this. I don’t want to hurt anyone. When I had the chance to invite him to do a master class for the young filmmakers at the Locarno Summer Academy, it was a chance to gain an inside angle of this director. That’s the purpose of the festival -- we exchange ideas; Polanksi can give his film knowledge to other people. One side is justice and one is the filmmaker. He is a great creator of moving images and for me, not controversial, simple as that. He is willing to share his ideas with young directors. If anyone else wants to take him and bring him to justice this is not the right place to do it because we are a film festival.”
On Honoring Agnès Varda with The Pardo d’onore Swisscom Award
Chatrian: “It is important to pay tribute to her as a woman director, and as a major figure in modern and independent cinema. Varda and I discussed the titles to choose to screen at the Festival. As you see there are well known films -- and others not as known [like] the 2011 documentary television series Agnès de ci de là Varda.
“What is interesting in her work is that she is absolutely free to choose topics, format, length, and style. She is free to switch from documentaries to fiction -- to work with big stars or not, to reflect on her own experience. Through her work we can see and experience a number of important movements in the 20th Century -- the American Blank Panthers (Huey), the women’s movement, "The Gleaners and I," " Les cent et une nuits de Simon Cinéma," and more. Varda allows me and the Festival to watch cinema as language; she allows the festival to retell important stories of the past years. At age 86 she is full of energy and willing to exchange her experience with the audience.”
The Locarno International Film Festival offers a vast range of work from the past and present, a diverse selection of shorts, feature-length, narrative and documentary films, and a window onto the future of cinema around the globe.
The Locarno International Film Festival runs from August 6-16, 2014. For more information visit: www.pardo.ch
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell presents international workshops and seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide.www.su-city-pictures.com , http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...
- 8/6/2014
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
Susan Kouguell speaks with director Aaron Brookner on his journey of re-mastering and re-leasing the documentary on William Burroughs, Burroughs: The Movie (1983) directed by his uncle, Howard Brookner, and Smash the Control Machine the feature documentary that tells the story of Aaron Brookner’s investigation into the mysterious life and missing films of Howard Brookner, who died of AIDS at age 34 in 1989 on the cusp of fame. Howard Brookner’s films also include Bloodhounds on Broadway (1989) and Robert Wilson and The Civil Wars (1987).
Born in New York City, Aaron Brookner began his career working on Jim Jarmusch’s Coffee and Cigarettes and Rebecca Miller’s Personal Velocity before making the award-winning documentary short The Black Cowboys (2004). His first feature documentary was a collaboration with writer Budd Schulberg (On the Waterfront), and his film, The Silver Goat (2012) was the first feature created exclusively for iPad, released as an App and downloaded across 24 countries, making it into the top 50 entertainment apps in the UK and Czech Republic.
The re-mastered print of Burroughs: The Movie will have its premier University of Indiana’s Burroughs 100th birthday event on February 6th, 2014.
Susan Kouguell: On your Kickstarter site you wrote:
“Howard Brookner directed three films before his death in 1989 from AIDS at the age of thirty-four. In the final year of his life he wrote:
If I live on it is in your memories and the films I made.
It was this quote that inspired me, Howard's nephew and enthusiastic Burroughsian, to search for the missing print of his first film, Burroughs: The Movie. After a long search I found the only print in good condition and embarked on a project to digitally remaster it and make it available to the public.”
This has been both a personal and artistic journey for you. When did this journey begin?
Aaron Brookner: It probably began when Howard died, originally. My lasting memories of him were of watching him make his final movie Bloodhounds on Broadway on the set, hanging out together and rough-housing, walking around downtown, the secret handshake and spoken greeting we had, the cool toys from Japan he brought me, messing around with video cameras, trips down to Miami, and oddly enough the Rolling Stones 3D halftime show during the 1989 Super Bowl.
But I also had seen him in a hospital bed. I had been to the AIDS ward. I was over at his apartment quite a bit during his final few months of life. Watched his funeral. And I was seven. Kids know everything that’s going on around them even when they don’t. I guess this was the case and that making Smash the Control Machine is some sort of way to articulate my childlike perspective on the story, as an adult. It’s also a way to satisfy my curiosity.
Howard, I’ve found out, in some weird cinematic way, left clues all over the world really, which show how he lived, and what he lived. He documented everything.
A few years ago when I started the search for the Burroughs: The Movie print, I started to find all these pieces to his puzzle. Not to mention his films! So I went all the way and committed to gathering up everything and telling his story, which has brought me into contact with the people who knew him best -- and survived him -- who each knew a completely different yet same Howard. It’s amazing to watch Howard come to life in the eyes of someone that knew him, through the stories they recall.
It’s been a very interesting journey, and still is. It was a hard one to start, obviously, because of the awful tragedy looming at the end, and I was sensitive to not want to stir this back up for the people who really suffered his death, but the feeling has really changed. There is so much life and joy of living and making movies that transcends through Howard’s work which I’ve discovered, and in the people who knew him best; that this feeling of life and art really trumps death and AIDS, and a lot of the political bulls--t that fueled that fire, and this is a good feeling, and sort of what I hope to bring out in my film.
Sk: You successfully raised more than the requested budget with Kickstarter to fund your film. Talk about the pros and cons of using this crowdsourcing resource.
Ab: A big pro is that you skip all the gatekeepers, which saves a lot of time. You go straight to the audience and in the case of remastering Howard’s Burroughs: The Movie film there was pretty straightforward thinking behind it. I thought if enough people know about this film and want it back, or if they want it for the first time, they’ll help me deliver. If not, so be it.
A con, and I don’t know if I’d call it a con or just the reality, is that you’re never getting something for nothing; you’ve got a lot of work to do to run a crowd-funding campaign. It’s great if there’s an audience for your project, but how are they gonna hear about it?! My partner, Paula Vaccaro, and I spent months working on this day and night, not knowing if we’d even succeed. A little stressful...but overall I think it’s amazing that crowd-sourcing exists, and that it can work. It’s also a pretty great exercise in clearly communicating what you want to do and why, and what’s the plan for how.
Sk: Smash the Control Machine, the film you are making on Howard’s story and the search for his lost work was selected in its early stages for the Berlinale. What was that experience like for you?
Ab: In a lot of ways it was like the Burroughs: The Movie Kickstarter experience, in that first of all, it was a great endorsement and support to have, and that it certainly helped to streamline the concept and see what worked and what didn’t.
We were specifically selected to the Talent Project Market at Berlinale as the only documentary of 10 total films from around the world. It was a few very intense and focused days like a workshop on all the different angles around your film, that as a creator you might not be thinking about -- like what your pitch is going to be and how to pitch for that matter -- to what are the comparable going numbers around and how an international co-production might work. It’s great to learn this because then, after the workshop days, you’re sitting at a table where film market people are coming to meet you and talk to you, and you kind of understand where they are coming from, so you’re confident in talking about your project, and knowing what’s good or not good for it.
Sk: Do you have any international partners with whom you are working?
Ab: The main production company for the film is Pinball London, which is mainly based in London, UK, our other partners are of course the executive producer of the film, Jim Jarmusch, producer Sara Driver in New York City, the Berlinale Talent Campus and the Talent Project Market, (who have been invaluable allies of the film) the Jerome Foundation, Media Program (the European Union’s main audiovisual development program (http://ec.europa.eu/culture/media/index_en.htm), the Independent Filmmaker Project in NYC, which runs our fiscal sponsorship campaign and supports the film with knowledge and an amazing network, and the generous support of other partners, such as the Arnie Glassman Foundation and private individual donors. We’re currently having conversations with other co-producers, distributors, transmedia partners, as well as sales companies from Us and EU but I can’t go into more details at this stage.
Sk: Film director Jim Jarmusch, who worked with Howard, is your executive producer. His features Permanent Vacation and Stranger Than Paradise, were influential works not only to the downtown New York City art film scene, but to the wider independent/art film movement. You mentioned that through this filmmaking process you have been exposed to the art and film created during this time and its staying power. Please elaborate.
Ab: New York City in the late 1970s was really the last place and time where two generations of artists overlapped and met and fed off each other. They lived in the same neighborhood, did the same drugs, went to the same clubs, and in some cases slept with the same people. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, much as they were artistic innovators for the way they completely broke the rules of literature, were also pioneering in the way they were open about their homosexuality and the way they put in their work.
Writer Brad Gooch, Howard’s long-time partner, told me that his and Howard’s was the first generation who really got to live openly when they got to New York. All the first love straight people get to experience in high school, gay men (and women) were experiencing at age twenty-five in downtown NYC against this epic backdrop of all sorts of art and space and time to create it. This sexual liberation really fed into the art scene. It was political without having a message, just by being.
The films that Jim Jarmusch and others were making at this time, they sort of applied the total lack of respect for rules that Burroughs and Ginsberg had laid in literature, and applied it to cinema. They took what they saw around them and put it in their work. And in the case of Howard making Burroughs: The Movie, with Jim and also Tom Dicillo who was doing camera, he went straight to the source. Howard decided not only am I going to apply the lack of rules, rule to movie-making, I’m gonna turn the camera on this moment in time as it’s really happening. I mean it’s incredible. They’re filming Burroughs at home, working out his speech to protest Proposition 6 in 1978, which Burroughs then incorporates into his reading at the Nova Convention -- to a packed-to-the-rafters theatre filled with 20 and 30-year-olds. Howard and his crew actually shot this.
There is just so much truth that shines through this work, and the work of that time like in Jarmusch’s films, and I think it’s because you had new artists’ energy directly side by side with the source. It was exceptionally rare, I think, historically, where one generation of artists so directly influenced another, only with the newer generation using a different medium, which of course was film.
Sk: You discovered more than 35 hours of film Howard shot from 1978-1983 that was stored in Burroughs’ bunker for 30 years. These reels include footage of Andy Warhol, Burroughs and Howard in the Chelsea Hotel, Allen Ginsberg, Frank Zappa and Patti Smith. How did you learn about this footage?
Ab: James Grauerholz, who was very close friends with my uncle and co-produced Burroughs: The Movie, who is William Burroughs’ heir, early on when I was looking for a print of the film sent me a detailed inventory of everything Howard had stored in the bunker (Burroughs’ NYC residence). I looked at the list and my jaw dropped. Howard had finished Burroughs: The Movie with the BBC (who provided completion funds) in 1983. Sometime later they shipped back these giant trunks of all of Howard’s rushes, outtakes, workprints, and negative rolls. Howard didn’t have a permanent residence at that time because he was traveling the globe making his next film on theatre director , who was preparing six different international plays around the world to all come together for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. So Howard got these trunks of his films and asked Burroughs if he could stash it in the back room of the Bunker. And there it sat undisturbed for 30 years! After Burroughs died, John Giorno, who lived above the bunker, decided to keep it as a sort of museum to William. And of course along with Burroughs’ hat, canes, and spices from 1978, are Howard’s films.
Sk: What condition are the reels?
Ab: The negatives look great. The work-prints are all kind of pink, which happens to color film over time, but this is fixable with a good colorist as per example:
There’s a tiny bit of shrinkage, as photochemical film will shrink over time, but it is very minimal considering 30 years with no climate and humidity control. Only one roll was lost completely to severe water damage. It’s very fortunate really so much of it survived. It was a race against the clock. Film is a living breathing organic material.
Sk: How were you able to access them? Where was/is the bunker?
It was a complicated battle. I fought, with support, a dedicated fight that lasted for well over a year. It was extremely anxiety-provoking, as every day there was a potential risk these precious films could have been destroyed. For all I knew there could have been vinegar in the cans, which happens to deteriorated film. There was a lot of faith involved, a bit like the Kickstarter campaign. You can image what Hurricane Sandy did to my nervous system. It was indeed a race against the clock with all sorts of obstacles, and so stressful I had to document it to cope, and because it really illustrated an issue that’s central to my film, which is: What happens to the work created by artists when they are gone? And this is key to artists who died of AIDS as they generally did not have the time or resources to prepare for their legacy. So, now that is a part of my film. There was a more or less happy ending. But you’ll have to see the film to get the story! The Bunker is on the Bowery in NYC.
Sk: With some of the clips you’ve shown me, this is quite a treasure trove that captures an important history.
Ab: There is a definite staying power of the art from that time because of its authenticity, and also because of New York City; these film rolls capture what New York City was like! So much space. Desolate downtown streets. Gritty details. It’s just pure beautiful decay. No one watching you. It looks like artistic paradise. And I’ve seen Howard’s rental contract for his loft on Prince and Bowery: $100/month!
Sk: Film preservation is vital, and as you mentioned, it’s a race against the clock before more films are lost.
Ab: This is a huge issue. Hundreds of thousands of films that maybe aren’t necessarily directly on the Hollywood radar are really in danger of being lost forever. You got time working against you because film deteriorates. You got money working against you because it costs a lot to keep climate and humidity-controlled vaults. Traditionally, labs all had vaults, but labs are closing. If not very nearly all closed. So it comes down to institutions and their funding, space and ability. You also got technology working against you. How many people out there know how to fix a film splice or thread a projector, or read camera roll code? And how many people will know this in 30 years? Who’s going to know how to fix the old film machines that stopped seeing use decades ago? It really needs attention because we’re looking at a century of film facing extinction.
Robert Wilson is a majorly important figure in the theatre and art world. Most people don’t know about Howard’s second feature documentary, which took the audience inside Robert Wilson’s creative process, and emotional process of making his work. I know this because I found part of these original film rolls packed into unmarked Igloo picnic containers stashed in the supply room behind the toilet in an archive in Hamburg.
Sk: When and where will Smash the Control Machine have its premiere?
Ab: The film is currently in early production and there is a very strong element of unpredictability in this story, making deadlines pretty impossible. But, Berlinale really gave us great support at a very early stage, and it would be a very nice honor to premier the film with them in 2015. But we will need to keep working and see what unfolds. There is a long year ahead.
Sk: What are the distribution plans for Burroughs: The Movie and Smash the Control Machine ?
Ab: For Burroughs: The Movie, we’ll be unveiling the remastered Dcp (Digital Cinema Package) of the film at University of Indiana’s Burroughs 100th birthday event on February 6th, followed by other Burroughs events throughout the year, such as at the Ica in London and the Photographer’s Gallery for their William Burroughs/Andy Warhol/David Lynch show.
The New York City premier will happen next fall at the New York Film Festival -- where the film first screened in 1983(!) -- possibly followed by a theatrical re-release and DVD/Blu-ray sale towards the end of the year. (Those who pledged for a DVD through our Kickstarter campaign however, will be sent their own copies of the film shortly.)
I’m also putting together a video art/sound installation piece from some of the never before seen material, that will show along with the film at Bafici in April, and likely in New York and London if not elsewhere. And we’re putting together a record with All Tomorrow’s Parties, using much of the never before heard audio from Howard’s Burroughs archive, to be sampled by select musicians.
For Smash the Control Machine: There are various plans I can’t discuss at this stage. What I can say is that our distribution will be tied to other impactful activities and events. I am working closely to build partnerships with those who care about the subjects of the film and the themes. Gentrification, Gay history, art legacy lost to AIDS. There are many great ways to distribute this film along these lines, as well as having a commercial release. My producer, PaulaVaccaro, and I are working hard to make sure this is tied up with whatever the film will do out there.
Sk: What advice do you have for aspiring documentary filmmakers?
Ab: Sometimes the best story for a film is right under your nose!
Breaking News: We are now working together with Janus Films and Criterion Collection for the distribution of Burroughs: The Movie. We are still creating a plan for the film although we know we will do a theatrical run in the Us sometime after the re-launch at the Nyff
See the Trailer Here
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting and film at Tufts University and presents international seminars. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com .
Born in New York City, Aaron Brookner began his career working on Jim Jarmusch’s Coffee and Cigarettes and Rebecca Miller’s Personal Velocity before making the award-winning documentary short The Black Cowboys (2004). His first feature documentary was a collaboration with writer Budd Schulberg (On the Waterfront), and his film, The Silver Goat (2012) was the first feature created exclusively for iPad, released as an App and downloaded across 24 countries, making it into the top 50 entertainment apps in the UK and Czech Republic.
The re-mastered print of Burroughs: The Movie will have its premier University of Indiana’s Burroughs 100th birthday event on February 6th, 2014.
Susan Kouguell: On your Kickstarter site you wrote:
“Howard Brookner directed three films before his death in 1989 from AIDS at the age of thirty-four. In the final year of his life he wrote:
If I live on it is in your memories and the films I made.
It was this quote that inspired me, Howard's nephew and enthusiastic Burroughsian, to search for the missing print of his first film, Burroughs: The Movie. After a long search I found the only print in good condition and embarked on a project to digitally remaster it and make it available to the public.”
This has been both a personal and artistic journey for you. When did this journey begin?
Aaron Brookner: It probably began when Howard died, originally. My lasting memories of him were of watching him make his final movie Bloodhounds on Broadway on the set, hanging out together and rough-housing, walking around downtown, the secret handshake and spoken greeting we had, the cool toys from Japan he brought me, messing around with video cameras, trips down to Miami, and oddly enough the Rolling Stones 3D halftime show during the 1989 Super Bowl.
But I also had seen him in a hospital bed. I had been to the AIDS ward. I was over at his apartment quite a bit during his final few months of life. Watched his funeral. And I was seven. Kids know everything that’s going on around them even when they don’t. I guess this was the case and that making Smash the Control Machine is some sort of way to articulate my childlike perspective on the story, as an adult. It’s also a way to satisfy my curiosity.
Howard, I’ve found out, in some weird cinematic way, left clues all over the world really, which show how he lived, and what he lived. He documented everything.
A few years ago when I started the search for the Burroughs: The Movie print, I started to find all these pieces to his puzzle. Not to mention his films! So I went all the way and committed to gathering up everything and telling his story, which has brought me into contact with the people who knew him best -- and survived him -- who each knew a completely different yet same Howard. It’s amazing to watch Howard come to life in the eyes of someone that knew him, through the stories they recall.
It’s been a very interesting journey, and still is. It was a hard one to start, obviously, because of the awful tragedy looming at the end, and I was sensitive to not want to stir this back up for the people who really suffered his death, but the feeling has really changed. There is so much life and joy of living and making movies that transcends through Howard’s work which I’ve discovered, and in the people who knew him best; that this feeling of life and art really trumps death and AIDS, and a lot of the political bulls--t that fueled that fire, and this is a good feeling, and sort of what I hope to bring out in my film.
Sk: You successfully raised more than the requested budget with Kickstarter to fund your film. Talk about the pros and cons of using this crowdsourcing resource.
Ab: A big pro is that you skip all the gatekeepers, which saves a lot of time. You go straight to the audience and in the case of remastering Howard’s Burroughs: The Movie film there was pretty straightforward thinking behind it. I thought if enough people know about this film and want it back, or if they want it for the first time, they’ll help me deliver. If not, so be it.
A con, and I don’t know if I’d call it a con or just the reality, is that you’re never getting something for nothing; you’ve got a lot of work to do to run a crowd-funding campaign. It’s great if there’s an audience for your project, but how are they gonna hear about it?! My partner, Paula Vaccaro, and I spent months working on this day and night, not knowing if we’d even succeed. A little stressful...but overall I think it’s amazing that crowd-sourcing exists, and that it can work. It’s also a pretty great exercise in clearly communicating what you want to do and why, and what’s the plan for how.
Sk: Smash the Control Machine, the film you are making on Howard’s story and the search for his lost work was selected in its early stages for the Berlinale. What was that experience like for you?
Ab: In a lot of ways it was like the Burroughs: The Movie Kickstarter experience, in that first of all, it was a great endorsement and support to have, and that it certainly helped to streamline the concept and see what worked and what didn’t.
We were specifically selected to the Talent Project Market at Berlinale as the only documentary of 10 total films from around the world. It was a few very intense and focused days like a workshop on all the different angles around your film, that as a creator you might not be thinking about -- like what your pitch is going to be and how to pitch for that matter -- to what are the comparable going numbers around and how an international co-production might work. It’s great to learn this because then, after the workshop days, you’re sitting at a table where film market people are coming to meet you and talk to you, and you kind of understand where they are coming from, so you’re confident in talking about your project, and knowing what’s good or not good for it.
Sk: Do you have any international partners with whom you are working?
Ab: The main production company for the film is Pinball London, which is mainly based in London, UK, our other partners are of course the executive producer of the film, Jim Jarmusch, producer Sara Driver in New York City, the Berlinale Talent Campus and the Talent Project Market, (who have been invaluable allies of the film) the Jerome Foundation, Media Program (the European Union’s main audiovisual development program (http://ec.europa.eu/culture/media/index_en.htm), the Independent Filmmaker Project in NYC, which runs our fiscal sponsorship campaign and supports the film with knowledge and an amazing network, and the generous support of other partners, such as the Arnie Glassman Foundation and private individual donors. We’re currently having conversations with other co-producers, distributors, transmedia partners, as well as sales companies from Us and EU but I can’t go into more details at this stage.
Sk: Film director Jim Jarmusch, who worked with Howard, is your executive producer. His features Permanent Vacation and Stranger Than Paradise, were influential works not only to the downtown New York City art film scene, but to the wider independent/art film movement. You mentioned that through this filmmaking process you have been exposed to the art and film created during this time and its staying power. Please elaborate.
Ab: New York City in the late 1970s was really the last place and time where two generations of artists overlapped and met and fed off each other. They lived in the same neighborhood, did the same drugs, went to the same clubs, and in some cases slept with the same people. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, much as they were artistic innovators for the way they completely broke the rules of literature, were also pioneering in the way they were open about their homosexuality and the way they put in their work.
Writer Brad Gooch, Howard’s long-time partner, told me that his and Howard’s was the first generation who really got to live openly when they got to New York. All the first love straight people get to experience in high school, gay men (and women) were experiencing at age twenty-five in downtown NYC against this epic backdrop of all sorts of art and space and time to create it. This sexual liberation really fed into the art scene. It was political without having a message, just by being.
The films that Jim Jarmusch and others were making at this time, they sort of applied the total lack of respect for rules that Burroughs and Ginsberg had laid in literature, and applied it to cinema. They took what they saw around them and put it in their work. And in the case of Howard making Burroughs: The Movie, with Jim and also Tom Dicillo who was doing camera, he went straight to the source. Howard decided not only am I going to apply the lack of rules, rule to movie-making, I’m gonna turn the camera on this moment in time as it’s really happening. I mean it’s incredible. They’re filming Burroughs at home, working out his speech to protest Proposition 6 in 1978, which Burroughs then incorporates into his reading at the Nova Convention -- to a packed-to-the-rafters theatre filled with 20 and 30-year-olds. Howard and his crew actually shot this.
There is just so much truth that shines through this work, and the work of that time like in Jarmusch’s films, and I think it’s because you had new artists’ energy directly side by side with the source. It was exceptionally rare, I think, historically, where one generation of artists so directly influenced another, only with the newer generation using a different medium, which of course was film.
Sk: You discovered more than 35 hours of film Howard shot from 1978-1983 that was stored in Burroughs’ bunker for 30 years. These reels include footage of Andy Warhol, Burroughs and Howard in the Chelsea Hotel, Allen Ginsberg, Frank Zappa and Patti Smith. How did you learn about this footage?
Ab: James Grauerholz, who was very close friends with my uncle and co-produced Burroughs: The Movie, who is William Burroughs’ heir, early on when I was looking for a print of the film sent me a detailed inventory of everything Howard had stored in the bunker (Burroughs’ NYC residence). I looked at the list and my jaw dropped. Howard had finished Burroughs: The Movie with the BBC (who provided completion funds) in 1983. Sometime later they shipped back these giant trunks of all of Howard’s rushes, outtakes, workprints, and negative rolls. Howard didn’t have a permanent residence at that time because he was traveling the globe making his next film on theatre director , who was preparing six different international plays around the world to all come together for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. So Howard got these trunks of his films and asked Burroughs if he could stash it in the back room of the Bunker. And there it sat undisturbed for 30 years! After Burroughs died, John Giorno, who lived above the bunker, decided to keep it as a sort of museum to William. And of course along with Burroughs’ hat, canes, and spices from 1978, are Howard’s films.
Sk: What condition are the reels?
Ab: The negatives look great. The work-prints are all kind of pink, which happens to color film over time, but this is fixable with a good colorist as per example:
There’s a tiny bit of shrinkage, as photochemical film will shrink over time, but it is very minimal considering 30 years with no climate and humidity control. Only one roll was lost completely to severe water damage. It’s very fortunate really so much of it survived. It was a race against the clock. Film is a living breathing organic material.
Sk: How were you able to access them? Where was/is the bunker?
It was a complicated battle. I fought, with support, a dedicated fight that lasted for well over a year. It was extremely anxiety-provoking, as every day there was a potential risk these precious films could have been destroyed. For all I knew there could have been vinegar in the cans, which happens to deteriorated film. There was a lot of faith involved, a bit like the Kickstarter campaign. You can image what Hurricane Sandy did to my nervous system. It was indeed a race against the clock with all sorts of obstacles, and so stressful I had to document it to cope, and because it really illustrated an issue that’s central to my film, which is: What happens to the work created by artists when they are gone? And this is key to artists who died of AIDS as they generally did not have the time or resources to prepare for their legacy. So, now that is a part of my film. There was a more or less happy ending. But you’ll have to see the film to get the story! The Bunker is on the Bowery in NYC.
Sk: With some of the clips you’ve shown me, this is quite a treasure trove that captures an important history.
Ab: There is a definite staying power of the art from that time because of its authenticity, and also because of New York City; these film rolls capture what New York City was like! So much space. Desolate downtown streets. Gritty details. It’s just pure beautiful decay. No one watching you. It looks like artistic paradise. And I’ve seen Howard’s rental contract for his loft on Prince and Bowery: $100/month!
Sk: Film preservation is vital, and as you mentioned, it’s a race against the clock before more films are lost.
Ab: This is a huge issue. Hundreds of thousands of films that maybe aren’t necessarily directly on the Hollywood radar are really in danger of being lost forever. You got time working against you because film deteriorates. You got money working against you because it costs a lot to keep climate and humidity-controlled vaults. Traditionally, labs all had vaults, but labs are closing. If not very nearly all closed. So it comes down to institutions and their funding, space and ability. You also got technology working against you. How many people out there know how to fix a film splice or thread a projector, or read camera roll code? And how many people will know this in 30 years? Who’s going to know how to fix the old film machines that stopped seeing use decades ago? It really needs attention because we’re looking at a century of film facing extinction.
Robert Wilson is a majorly important figure in the theatre and art world. Most people don’t know about Howard’s second feature documentary, which took the audience inside Robert Wilson’s creative process, and emotional process of making his work. I know this because I found part of these original film rolls packed into unmarked Igloo picnic containers stashed in the supply room behind the toilet in an archive in Hamburg.
Sk: When and where will Smash the Control Machine have its premiere?
Ab: The film is currently in early production and there is a very strong element of unpredictability in this story, making deadlines pretty impossible. But, Berlinale really gave us great support at a very early stage, and it would be a very nice honor to premier the film with them in 2015. But we will need to keep working and see what unfolds. There is a long year ahead.
Sk: What are the distribution plans for Burroughs: The Movie and Smash the Control Machine ?
Ab: For Burroughs: The Movie, we’ll be unveiling the remastered Dcp (Digital Cinema Package) of the film at University of Indiana’s Burroughs 100th birthday event on February 6th, followed by other Burroughs events throughout the year, such as at the Ica in London and the Photographer’s Gallery for their William Burroughs/Andy Warhol/David Lynch show.
The New York City premier will happen next fall at the New York Film Festival -- where the film first screened in 1983(!) -- possibly followed by a theatrical re-release and DVD/Blu-ray sale towards the end of the year. (Those who pledged for a DVD through our Kickstarter campaign however, will be sent their own copies of the film shortly.)
I’m also putting together a video art/sound installation piece from some of the never before seen material, that will show along with the film at Bafici in April, and likely in New York and London if not elsewhere. And we’re putting together a record with All Tomorrow’s Parties, using much of the never before heard audio from Howard’s Burroughs archive, to be sampled by select musicians.
For Smash the Control Machine: There are various plans I can’t discuss at this stage. What I can say is that our distribution will be tied to other impactful activities and events. I am working closely to build partnerships with those who care about the subjects of the film and the themes. Gentrification, Gay history, art legacy lost to AIDS. There are many great ways to distribute this film along these lines, as well as having a commercial release. My producer, PaulaVaccaro, and I are working hard to make sure this is tied up with whatever the film will do out there.
Sk: What advice do you have for aspiring documentary filmmakers?
Ab: Sometimes the best story for a film is right under your nose!
Breaking News: We are now working together with Janus Films and Criterion Collection for the distribution of Burroughs: The Movie. We are still creating a plan for the film although we know we will do a theatrical run in the Us sometime after the re-launch at the Nyff
See the Trailer Here
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting and film at Tufts University and presents international seminars. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com .
- 1/29/2014
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
Will Scheffer speaks candidly with Susan Kouguell about the Getting On series, adapting material, collaborations, and more.
With their fingers on the pulse -- actually ten steps ahead of -- societal happenings and hot button topics, co-creators, executive producers, and writers on their Emmy and Golden Globe-winning HBO series Big Love, Will Scheffer and his partner Mark V. Olsen are fearless when tackling “difficult” subject matters in their television and film projects. With humor and pathos, Scheffer and Olsen continue to confront timely and challenging issues with their new series for HBO’s Getting On.
Will Scheffer is a playwright, writer/producer and filmmaker. His plays have been produced and developed across the country, including Playwright's Horizons, Naked Angels, The Public Theatre and Ensemble Studio Theater, where he’s had four plays in The Marathon. His first screenplay In the Gloaming, starring Glenn Close and directed by Christopher Reeve, was produced by HBO in 1997, and won many awards, including five Emmys. An attorney and member of the New York Bar, Mark V. Olsen has created, written, and produced several screenplays, teleplays, pilots and miniseries. For HBO, he wrote Mary Chesnut’s Civil War, Cabrina USA. In 2010, after being published in Best Plays of 1999, Olsen’s play Cornelia opened at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. Together, Scheffer and Olsen produced the independent feature based on Scheffer’s play by the same name, Easter in 2002, and that same year they created HBO’s acclaimed drama Big Love.
Kouguell: The HBO Web site synopsis describes Getting On: ‘The show follows the daily lives of overworked nurses and doctors as they struggle with the darkly comic realities of tending compassionately to their aging charges in a rundown, red-tape-filled hospital extended-care wing, blending outrageous humor with unexpected moments of tenderness.’ Anything else you would add to this description?
Scheffer: The show is about relationships -- as all our shows are -- the power struggles that come out of marriages between couples, or among small groups of individuals that work together out of choice or necessity. Getting On is about healthy and unhealthy codependence. It’s about love. It’s about how women in largely patriarchal systems learn to take their own power. It’s about class struggle and how it goes largely pushed into unconsciousness in our society and it’s about how the elderly, illness and the death experience is also compartmentalized in our society.
Getting On is largely about how we all deal with the process of aging and how we all care for the elderly. Like taxes and death, Mark and I think eldercare is becoming an unavoidable reality in our lives whether we like to deal with it or not. It’s becoming a shared fact of our existence, and Getting On tries to create a funny, safe place where an audience can find humor and compassion in that reality.
Kouguell: British television series like The Office have been successfully adapted for American TV. Getting On ran in Britain from 2009 – 2012. How did you come upon this show?
Scheffer: Mark and I had seen it in London while we were taking a vacation from our last season of Big Love and we were both dealing with caring for our aging mothers. We fell madly in love with the series and coincidentally had been working up a show of our own, set in the world of American eldercare. When we saw it we thought we should just adapt this series for American television. It’s an easier way to pitch an idea, and of course it gives us all this glorious material to work with.
Joanna Scanlon, Vicki Pepperdine, Jo Brand and Peter Capaldi, created an amazing show about the healthcare system in Great Britain and we felt it docked in perfectly with the kind of dark comedy we had in our heads about managed care in America and all the firsthand experiences we were going through with our moms.
Kouguell: What challenges and inspirations have you found while adapting this series?
Scheffer: The largest challenge, of course, is how to reimagine the characters and situations of the British version for an American audience and not to just “do a translation.” I think it was harder to translate a British show into American English than it might be to translate a Danish format such as The Killing or an Israeli format, such as In Treatment or Homeland.
You can be deceived into thinking you can just Americanize the dialogue and that is a huge trap when you love the original material. We had to fight that impulse. Also, we had to take the style of the British version, which is extremely “jump-cutty” and roughly assembled and improvised, and work backwards, almost to create our own “docu-comedy” style. We knew we weren’t going to do The Office but we didn’t know how challenging it would be to structure a script and a season the way we do and then make it look rougher. We love the result but it was extremely challenging for us as writers and for our entire creative team to discover our own style.
Our inspiration was largely drawn from our own ongoing experiences and then the actors we cast and the creative team we assembled. Adapting for these actors became a sublime treat and working with artists like Migel Arteta, Pam Martin, Tami Reiker, Jim Denault, Heather Persons, and also a lot of our Big Love team also was invaluable. And we had Jane Tranter, Julie Gardner, and Amy Hodge from BBC Worldwide as producing partners and they were incredible to work with. We got so much creative support from them.
This show (more than any other we’ve worked on) was a collaborative effort. Michael Lombardo, Casey Bloys and Francesca Orsi were very involved in our editorial process and I think this (sometimes uncomfortable) creative mix of smart people actually made the show different and better than what our vision alone foresaw. This was a rare instance of a lot of chefs in the kitchen actually producing a better stew.
Kouguell: How have you made it your own?
Scheffer: It was impossible not to make it our own. We lived a lot of what is seen on the show. Mark’s mom was in a small boarding care facility, which we were lucky to land her in when she developed dementia, and we had to bring her out to Pasadena to be near us. The caregivers and women there infuse our show. That was where we found tenderness and compassion. My mom was in the New York City healthcare system. She lived in a great assisted living apartment building, but when she got kicked out of hospitals and into Medicare “Rehabs” or what they call “skilled nursing facilities” the experience wasn’t so compassionate.
We used all of our personal knowledge of hospital life (which is considerable) and researched the hell of American geriatric care. We also imbued the show with our style and taste, which I would call simply: “Laughing and crying is good to do at the same time.” We cast actors who were vivid and real and very un-tv. They were all so talented and fiercely brave. We shot each episode in only three days. It’s unlike any TV show or film we’ve ever done.
Kouguell: Talk about your adaptation process.
Scheffer: We definitely started with all of the original material. We had no scripts though, so we had to first transcribe all the episodes from film (or video, as it were). We then picked and chose the material we knew was gold and worked endlessly on how we could compose a season structure -- knowing we had to compress their first two seasons of nine episodes into our first season of six.
We had some strong ideas of what we needed to do in order to achieve an American version as we had our ‘make someone happy campaign,’ which was based on our research of the Disneyfication of hospitals. We also knew we wanted to shake up the pilot and create a real dramatic reason of why there was a new head nurse (Patsy) coming into the ward and why Dr. Jenna James was stuck over here.
The British show has all these gold nuggets but since they worked in a more improvisational mode and we’re much more scripted, we had to take their nuggets and weave them into our structural considerations. Also, once we saw how the pilot worked with our cast, we identified a kind of idea of what each episode should have in it, to fulfill what we saw as a winning episode structure.
Our cast was so talented we knew we could always have a physical slapstick element and real emotional stakes side-by-side. We wanted each episode to have a laugh out loud scene that played against the dark comedy and realities of what happens in an extended care wing.
Also, the show was rebuilt in the editing room. We actually took more time to edit an episode than we did to shoot it. We had plenty of material but we essentially rewrote the show many, many times from before production, through rehearsals, and then in the editing room. When we completed the first episode I turned to Mark and said, “Oh my God, we actually made a black comedy.” Something which we knew was really hard to do and we made one that had a heart.
Kouguell: How do your characters in Getting On depart from the original British series?
Scheffer: The characters are very similar to the original ones except of course they are completely different. Jenna James is Doctor Moore in principal, but Laurie Metcalfe brings a fierceness and virtuosity to the role that makes the character’s inner life more roiling with insecurity. We began to see that in the world of the show, all the other characters saw Dr. James as imperious and incompetent at the same time, but failed to see what the audience saw -- a woman who is falling apart inside.
Nurse Dawn, as played by the multi-talented Alex Borstein, became more co-dependent, needing to always please Jenna, and also blatantly psychologically immature. Her core is the same as Joanna’s wonderful Den, a woman without an inherent self-esteem but I think our Dawn became more outrageously confused.
All our characters are less constrained and polite than the British cast. I would say that you see “America versus our British cousins” in the way all the characters become more visceral. Didi differs the most. In the British show she’s played by the amazing comedienne Jo Brand, as a retiree coming back into the workforce. Niecey, in what I think is a transformative role for her, is younger and of color. I think she retains what Kim (Jo Brand) is to the show, its tender heart, but somehow Niecey manages to bring her comedy skills yet delivers such a subtle earthiness to her performance; she is the beating heart at the center of the show.
It’s a hard question when I answer it, because in a way I see that the characters essentially are the same but completely different at the same time. It’s in the writing but it’s what these actors brought to all their roles. There was only one right actor for each of these roles and they all give award-worthy performances in my book. They just made the characters their own, which is what you want from an actor and we began to write to who we saw they were becoming in the parts. I think the old saying about casting being 99 percent of a successful production was what we knew we had to achieve for this show. It was really hard to cast, but we held out for the perfect actor for each role and they delivered.
Kouguell: What drew you to this material and why did you feel that it could be ‘translated’ for an American audience?
Scheffer: The British show is about the “National Health” and three women who are “getting on” in years, and also together. Our show translated that into eldercare, a women’s ward. It’s a subtle but profound translation. If you compare the shows they look like -- well sisters.
We just knew that we had to do this show. We wanted to create a place where our friends and family, our audience who we knew was aging and dealing with dementia and death in their loved ones, could come and laugh. Even if they were afraid to watch us, we knew once they did, they would want to be in our world with these characters. It’s scary but it’s life. And it can be funny and sad at the same time. It hits close to home and that’s a good thing.
Kouguell: This is the second HBO series you and Mark have collaborated on as executive producers and writers. Describe your work process and collaboration.
Scheffer: We are a married team so when we do a show we are with each other 24/7 365 days a year. Mark and I talk everything through but don't actually write together. We take turns on drafts, passing them back and forth for multiple revisions. Sometimes I'll write the first draft and he'll revise and sometimes he'll write the first draft. On set it's looser and we'll have to revise together but we prefer to actually write in our own space. The "fantasy" image of having desks facing each other and tossing lines back and forth doesn't work for us.
We definitely complement each other and make a good team. And we’ve survived thus far. The marriage seems to get stronger in the roil of collaboration. It does test our mettle, though.
In production we do everything -- from writing, to casting, to directing, to editing, to selling the show -- we’re there and uber-controlling. But we’re also extremely collaborative. We want to create a “safe set” and work environment where everyone wants to be. When people enjoy coming to work they do their best work. We make sure that condition is met. We treat everyone the same, including ourselves. Even though we get to be the auteurs, as it were, we treat our PAs the same way we treat our Dp, and we submit ourselves to the same conditions we expect from our team. We give ourselves over completely to a show. I credit Mark with expecting a standard of excellence. We depend on each other for different aspects of the work, but Mark’s ability to focus and dig is one of the things that make our collaborations successful. He’s my “closer.”
Kouguell: You describe the show as a ‘docu-comedy’ – please detail.
Scheffer: The British version was so raw and the camera just followed the actors and it was all done 360 degrees, with natural light and there was no worry about continuity and we loved that feel. So in principal, we tried to recreate that. We shot the same way in a real location. We used only two cameras and our Dp’s operated one and moved constantly around a 360 space with natural lighting. We felt that the show’s essence was in that “seed.” It felt like a documentary. We wanted the audience to feel like they were observers of life.
It turned out that we had to do a lot of “reverse engineering” to make our show. It became a different beast. Our show still is very gritty and it jump cuts -- but we learned we had to write in the jumps. We had to structure them. That was really hard to figure out because the British show was more “assembled.” We had to write in those moments when the scene was jumping and we began to have a principal that the jumps furthered the dramatic action of the scene. We did this in the editing room, too.
Our show had to become its own animal, and the “docu-comedy” style that we identified in the original became a different kind of “docu-comedy.” I think the two versions complement each other. In a way, we did with the British show what we do together as writers. We collaborated with it. We make a good team.
“Docu-comedy” is not The Office; it’s not an imposed, hand-held camera style. It’s an ethic. It’s more about trying to capture the truth of what it feels like to be in the midst of the insanity of crisis. What it feels like to be in that world that lives between life and death all the time. It’s about surrendering to it and reveling in the surreal quality of it all. Finding death as being a vital part of life. Not shying away from it. Living into it.
To learn more about Getting On go to: http://www.hbo.com/getting-on
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting and film at Tufts University and presents international seminars. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com .
With their fingers on the pulse -- actually ten steps ahead of -- societal happenings and hot button topics, co-creators, executive producers, and writers on their Emmy and Golden Globe-winning HBO series Big Love, Will Scheffer and his partner Mark V. Olsen are fearless when tackling “difficult” subject matters in their television and film projects. With humor and pathos, Scheffer and Olsen continue to confront timely and challenging issues with their new series for HBO’s Getting On.
Will Scheffer is a playwright, writer/producer and filmmaker. His plays have been produced and developed across the country, including Playwright's Horizons, Naked Angels, The Public Theatre and Ensemble Studio Theater, where he’s had four plays in The Marathon. His first screenplay In the Gloaming, starring Glenn Close and directed by Christopher Reeve, was produced by HBO in 1997, and won many awards, including five Emmys. An attorney and member of the New York Bar, Mark V. Olsen has created, written, and produced several screenplays, teleplays, pilots and miniseries. For HBO, he wrote Mary Chesnut’s Civil War, Cabrina USA. In 2010, after being published in Best Plays of 1999, Olsen’s play Cornelia opened at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. Together, Scheffer and Olsen produced the independent feature based on Scheffer’s play by the same name, Easter in 2002, and that same year they created HBO’s acclaimed drama Big Love.
Kouguell: The HBO Web site synopsis describes Getting On: ‘The show follows the daily lives of overworked nurses and doctors as they struggle with the darkly comic realities of tending compassionately to their aging charges in a rundown, red-tape-filled hospital extended-care wing, blending outrageous humor with unexpected moments of tenderness.’ Anything else you would add to this description?
Scheffer: The show is about relationships -- as all our shows are -- the power struggles that come out of marriages between couples, or among small groups of individuals that work together out of choice or necessity. Getting On is about healthy and unhealthy codependence. It’s about love. It’s about how women in largely patriarchal systems learn to take their own power. It’s about class struggle and how it goes largely pushed into unconsciousness in our society and it’s about how the elderly, illness and the death experience is also compartmentalized in our society.
Getting On is largely about how we all deal with the process of aging and how we all care for the elderly. Like taxes and death, Mark and I think eldercare is becoming an unavoidable reality in our lives whether we like to deal with it or not. It’s becoming a shared fact of our existence, and Getting On tries to create a funny, safe place where an audience can find humor and compassion in that reality.
Kouguell: British television series like The Office have been successfully adapted for American TV. Getting On ran in Britain from 2009 – 2012. How did you come upon this show?
Scheffer: Mark and I had seen it in London while we were taking a vacation from our last season of Big Love and we were both dealing with caring for our aging mothers. We fell madly in love with the series and coincidentally had been working up a show of our own, set in the world of American eldercare. When we saw it we thought we should just adapt this series for American television. It’s an easier way to pitch an idea, and of course it gives us all this glorious material to work with.
Joanna Scanlon, Vicki Pepperdine, Jo Brand and Peter Capaldi, created an amazing show about the healthcare system in Great Britain and we felt it docked in perfectly with the kind of dark comedy we had in our heads about managed care in America and all the firsthand experiences we were going through with our moms.
Kouguell: What challenges and inspirations have you found while adapting this series?
Scheffer: The largest challenge, of course, is how to reimagine the characters and situations of the British version for an American audience and not to just “do a translation.” I think it was harder to translate a British show into American English than it might be to translate a Danish format such as The Killing or an Israeli format, such as In Treatment or Homeland.
You can be deceived into thinking you can just Americanize the dialogue and that is a huge trap when you love the original material. We had to fight that impulse. Also, we had to take the style of the British version, which is extremely “jump-cutty” and roughly assembled and improvised, and work backwards, almost to create our own “docu-comedy” style. We knew we weren’t going to do The Office but we didn’t know how challenging it would be to structure a script and a season the way we do and then make it look rougher. We love the result but it was extremely challenging for us as writers and for our entire creative team to discover our own style.
Our inspiration was largely drawn from our own ongoing experiences and then the actors we cast and the creative team we assembled. Adapting for these actors became a sublime treat and working with artists like Migel Arteta, Pam Martin, Tami Reiker, Jim Denault, Heather Persons, and also a lot of our Big Love team also was invaluable. And we had Jane Tranter, Julie Gardner, and Amy Hodge from BBC Worldwide as producing partners and they were incredible to work with. We got so much creative support from them.
This show (more than any other we’ve worked on) was a collaborative effort. Michael Lombardo, Casey Bloys and Francesca Orsi were very involved in our editorial process and I think this (sometimes uncomfortable) creative mix of smart people actually made the show different and better than what our vision alone foresaw. This was a rare instance of a lot of chefs in the kitchen actually producing a better stew.
Kouguell: How have you made it your own?
Scheffer: It was impossible not to make it our own. We lived a lot of what is seen on the show. Mark’s mom was in a small boarding care facility, which we were lucky to land her in when she developed dementia, and we had to bring her out to Pasadena to be near us. The caregivers and women there infuse our show. That was where we found tenderness and compassion. My mom was in the New York City healthcare system. She lived in a great assisted living apartment building, but when she got kicked out of hospitals and into Medicare “Rehabs” or what they call “skilled nursing facilities” the experience wasn’t so compassionate.
We used all of our personal knowledge of hospital life (which is considerable) and researched the hell of American geriatric care. We also imbued the show with our style and taste, which I would call simply: “Laughing and crying is good to do at the same time.” We cast actors who were vivid and real and very un-tv. They were all so talented and fiercely brave. We shot each episode in only three days. It’s unlike any TV show or film we’ve ever done.
Kouguell: Talk about your adaptation process.
Scheffer: We definitely started with all of the original material. We had no scripts though, so we had to first transcribe all the episodes from film (or video, as it were). We then picked and chose the material we knew was gold and worked endlessly on how we could compose a season structure -- knowing we had to compress their first two seasons of nine episodes into our first season of six.
We had some strong ideas of what we needed to do in order to achieve an American version as we had our ‘make someone happy campaign,’ which was based on our research of the Disneyfication of hospitals. We also knew we wanted to shake up the pilot and create a real dramatic reason of why there was a new head nurse (Patsy) coming into the ward and why Dr. Jenna James was stuck over here.
The British show has all these gold nuggets but since they worked in a more improvisational mode and we’re much more scripted, we had to take their nuggets and weave them into our structural considerations. Also, once we saw how the pilot worked with our cast, we identified a kind of idea of what each episode should have in it, to fulfill what we saw as a winning episode structure.
Our cast was so talented we knew we could always have a physical slapstick element and real emotional stakes side-by-side. We wanted each episode to have a laugh out loud scene that played against the dark comedy and realities of what happens in an extended care wing.
Also, the show was rebuilt in the editing room. We actually took more time to edit an episode than we did to shoot it. We had plenty of material but we essentially rewrote the show many, many times from before production, through rehearsals, and then in the editing room. When we completed the first episode I turned to Mark and said, “Oh my God, we actually made a black comedy.” Something which we knew was really hard to do and we made one that had a heart.
Kouguell: How do your characters in Getting On depart from the original British series?
Scheffer: The characters are very similar to the original ones except of course they are completely different. Jenna James is Doctor Moore in principal, but Laurie Metcalfe brings a fierceness and virtuosity to the role that makes the character’s inner life more roiling with insecurity. We began to see that in the world of the show, all the other characters saw Dr. James as imperious and incompetent at the same time, but failed to see what the audience saw -- a woman who is falling apart inside.
Nurse Dawn, as played by the multi-talented Alex Borstein, became more co-dependent, needing to always please Jenna, and also blatantly psychologically immature. Her core is the same as Joanna’s wonderful Den, a woman without an inherent self-esteem but I think our Dawn became more outrageously confused.
All our characters are less constrained and polite than the British cast. I would say that you see “America versus our British cousins” in the way all the characters become more visceral. Didi differs the most. In the British show she’s played by the amazing comedienne Jo Brand, as a retiree coming back into the workforce. Niecey, in what I think is a transformative role for her, is younger and of color. I think she retains what Kim (Jo Brand) is to the show, its tender heart, but somehow Niecey manages to bring her comedy skills yet delivers such a subtle earthiness to her performance; she is the beating heart at the center of the show.
It’s a hard question when I answer it, because in a way I see that the characters essentially are the same but completely different at the same time. It’s in the writing but it’s what these actors brought to all their roles. There was only one right actor for each of these roles and they all give award-worthy performances in my book. They just made the characters their own, which is what you want from an actor and we began to write to who we saw they were becoming in the parts. I think the old saying about casting being 99 percent of a successful production was what we knew we had to achieve for this show. It was really hard to cast, but we held out for the perfect actor for each role and they delivered.
Kouguell: What drew you to this material and why did you feel that it could be ‘translated’ for an American audience?
Scheffer: The British show is about the “National Health” and three women who are “getting on” in years, and also together. Our show translated that into eldercare, a women’s ward. It’s a subtle but profound translation. If you compare the shows they look like -- well sisters.
We just knew that we had to do this show. We wanted to create a place where our friends and family, our audience who we knew was aging and dealing with dementia and death in their loved ones, could come and laugh. Even if they were afraid to watch us, we knew once they did, they would want to be in our world with these characters. It’s scary but it’s life. And it can be funny and sad at the same time. It hits close to home and that’s a good thing.
Kouguell: This is the second HBO series you and Mark have collaborated on as executive producers and writers. Describe your work process and collaboration.
Scheffer: We are a married team so when we do a show we are with each other 24/7 365 days a year. Mark and I talk everything through but don't actually write together. We take turns on drafts, passing them back and forth for multiple revisions. Sometimes I'll write the first draft and he'll revise and sometimes he'll write the first draft. On set it's looser and we'll have to revise together but we prefer to actually write in our own space. The "fantasy" image of having desks facing each other and tossing lines back and forth doesn't work for us.
We definitely complement each other and make a good team. And we’ve survived thus far. The marriage seems to get stronger in the roil of collaboration. It does test our mettle, though.
In production we do everything -- from writing, to casting, to directing, to editing, to selling the show -- we’re there and uber-controlling. But we’re also extremely collaborative. We want to create a “safe set” and work environment where everyone wants to be. When people enjoy coming to work they do their best work. We make sure that condition is met. We treat everyone the same, including ourselves. Even though we get to be the auteurs, as it were, we treat our PAs the same way we treat our Dp, and we submit ourselves to the same conditions we expect from our team. We give ourselves over completely to a show. I credit Mark with expecting a standard of excellence. We depend on each other for different aspects of the work, but Mark’s ability to focus and dig is one of the things that make our collaborations successful. He’s my “closer.”
Kouguell: You describe the show as a ‘docu-comedy’ – please detail.
Scheffer: The British version was so raw and the camera just followed the actors and it was all done 360 degrees, with natural light and there was no worry about continuity and we loved that feel. So in principal, we tried to recreate that. We shot the same way in a real location. We used only two cameras and our Dp’s operated one and moved constantly around a 360 space with natural lighting. We felt that the show’s essence was in that “seed.” It felt like a documentary. We wanted the audience to feel like they were observers of life.
It turned out that we had to do a lot of “reverse engineering” to make our show. It became a different beast. Our show still is very gritty and it jump cuts -- but we learned we had to write in the jumps. We had to structure them. That was really hard to figure out because the British show was more “assembled.” We had to write in those moments when the scene was jumping and we began to have a principal that the jumps furthered the dramatic action of the scene. We did this in the editing room, too.
Our show had to become its own animal, and the “docu-comedy” style that we identified in the original became a different kind of “docu-comedy.” I think the two versions complement each other. In a way, we did with the British show what we do together as writers. We collaborated with it. We make a good team.
“Docu-comedy” is not The Office; it’s not an imposed, hand-held camera style. It’s an ethic. It’s more about trying to capture the truth of what it feels like to be in the midst of the insanity of crisis. What it feels like to be in that world that lives between life and death all the time. It’s about surrendering to it and reveling in the surreal quality of it all. Finding death as being a vital part of life. Not shying away from it. Living into it.
To learn more about Getting On go to: http://www.hbo.com/getting-on
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting and film at Tufts University and presents international seminars. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com .
- 1/2/2014
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
You’ve written the screenplay, raised the money, shot and edited your film, and your movie is finally ‘in the can.’ Congratulations! But now what? It’s time to get your film seen and distributed. Whether you live in New England or anywhere else on the globe, you must navigate your next steps wisely.
This month I speak to Sydney Levine, president of SydneysBuzz -- whose tagline for her company -- “Pulling Back the Curtain on the International Film Industry” -- precisely does just that. Levine focuses on international film industry developments and analysis of the international film market related to buyers, sales agents, filmmakers, film festivals and distribution. Traveling extensively on the international film market circuit, Levine is a hired panel moderator, educator, consultant for filmmakers, the Cannes Film Market, the Berlinale’s European Film Market and Talent Campus, Deutsche Welle Akademie and others. Her company covers events, panels, buying, selling and educational initiatives at Toronto, Sundance, Berlin and Cannes, regularly reporting on who is buying, who is selling, which films stand out, and how the films were created.
Prior to establishing FilmFinders, she helped start the profitable video rental division of Republic Pictures as Vice President of Acquisitions and Development after having spent three years acquiring such feature films for Lorimar as My Beautiful Laundrette, Letter to Brezhnev, Tampopo, and Sugar Baby as part of a wide variety of international artistic and commercial genres. Levine has worked in international distribution for Twentieth Century Fox in Amsterdam, in Ross Perot’s start up video company Inovision, in marketing for ABC Video Enterprises, at Public Media Inc. the social issue documentary division of Films Inc. and Pyramid Films, the award-winning short film distribution company in Santa Monica, California. During her tenure at all these companies she acquired features and documentaries for international and domestic distribution.
Susan Kouguell: You and your partner, Peter Belsito, are known throughout the international film festival circuit for having the finger on the pulse of independent filmmaking for over twenty-five years. The independent film movement has certainly changed dramatically from the early celluloid days -- American Playhouse, the onset of the Sundance Film Festival, Harvey Weinstein at the ‘original’ Miramax Films -- to digital filmmaking and the increase of ancillary markets and venues, to Harvey Weinstein at The Weinstein Company. One thing that hasn’t changed is the quest for filmmakers to get their work seen and distributed. For filmmakers not living in New York City or Los Angeles, their quest can be even more challenging. What tips can you offer to assist filmmakers on their quest for getting their work seen and noticed?
Sydney Levine: Actually you can make that 38 years. When I started at 20th Century Fox International in ’75, I was the first and only woman in international film distribution except for one Dutch woman living in Germany whose company, Cine International, sold independent German films to distributors around the world but whose films never entered the United States. Theatrical and television were the only platforms in those days.
In this day of digital technology, a filmmaker can reach every corner of the world. That means the filmmaker must create a Persona with a personal digital platform which serves as an integral part of mapping out a curriculum vitae. The films are one part of who the Persona is, and the created website and blog must offer more than just the film in order to create the Persona one presents to the world. Secondly, the target audience for one’s films and for one’s other interests must be located and addressed by the Persona on the many levels of their interests. A film cannot stand alone and be noticed. It must be part of a larger picture, whether personal or affiliated with a larger brand.
Sk: What are the current trends in promoting short and feature films at festivals and markets that you find successful and not so successful?
Sl: Festivals have their own websites and use YouTube channels. The brand your film can distinguish itself by might be a festival, such as Sundance or Tribeca (or many others), which have their own platforms to promote and show films, or Cannes whose platform (called Cinando.com) shows the films of the festival and market as well as films of Sundance, Afm (American Film Market), Ventana Sur (the Argentinean market for Latino films), Busan,San Sebastian, Toronto, Deauville and Karlovy Vary film festivals. Cinando is known to the trade (and is only open to the trade) but still has not caught on as broadly as it is intended. Sundance has experimented with showing its shorts on YouTube where it has a channel, as does Tribeca. Tribeca on Demand is also a distribution platform for features which it takes on for distribution. Other festivals also use YouTube to showcase films or trailers…Karlovy Vary, Cinequest, Locarno has The Pardo Channel on You Tube. Some act as distributors and some are only promoting. Again finding these may be an issue -- or not -- depending on their purpose and how they market.
Definitely social networking is an important way to promote films. Subscription newsletters using mail chimp might work over a long trajectory.
Sk: What are the pros and cons of posting a film on platforms such as Vimeo and YouTube before it gets accepted into a film festival or has distribution?
Sl: On the pro side, it can build up a following which might persuade the distribution company to get on board. I think that if an entire film is posted before a film festival, it will destroy its chances to get in the premiere festivals which insist on premieres and it might degrade the pristine discovery element for any other festivals. Other arguments against showing the entire film, is that if it is free, no one will ever need to pay for it again. The purpose of a film is to be seen, but the purpose of the filmmaker should be to have a commercial success which speaks to the business world of distribution about the ability of the film and filmmaker to make money to repay investors and bring financial gain to the distributor. Film is, after all, a commercial art not a “fine art” which also, in fact, must show some financial gain in the end. Film is public and you must have a public that pays.
Sk: Navigating film festivals and film markets can be overwhelming for those trying to get attention for their projects. What tips do you recommend for filmmakers to make the most of their time there?
Sl: Be sure to choose the first festival as the one with the trade attending and looking to acquire films like yours. Be sure not to disqualify the film because you have it already shown it elsewhere. You can use your film as a passport to travel the world or you can use your film to promote your career in the international or in the domestic market. Be conscious of what your end goal is and then create a smart strategy to reach your objective.
Before you arrive, have a one-sheet or postcard with relevant information on you and the film. Know who from the trade is attending and write to them in a way to persuade them to see your film. Make appointments with them to discuss your film after the screening. When you are there, carry your cards and your promotion. Have a 30-second pitch and a longer pitch ready to deliver in the appropriate moments. Be aware of who you are speaking to and speak to them about them, before pitching your own agenda. Attend workshops if there are any.
Sk: Getting an offer from a film distributor to distribute a filmmaker’s project is exciting and a possible foot-in-the door to success. However, filmmakers need to proceed with caution. What should filmmakers look for before they sign on the dotted line?
Sl: First they need to have an experienced entertainment attorney review the contract carefully with them. Actually that is not the first step. The first step is saying how interesting and exciting the offer is and before saying yes, ask for the contract to review with your attorney. Filmmakers also should know how distributors and sales agents work a film so they can ask the right questions about how they will market the film.
Sk: What advice do you have for aspiring filmmakers?
Sl: Read books on the subject, take courses on the film business, attend seminars, join Ifp or Film Independent or San Francisco Film Society and network, stay abreast of new technology. Read at least one trade every day, preferably one that covers the international as well as the U.S. film business. Get to know who is who, and what role they play in the film business, so that when you meet them, you will be able to hold an intelligent conversation with them about what they do. Learn to pitch your film and yourself.
Sk: Anything you would like to add?
Sl: Proceed with passion and with caution. Take good care of yourself and recognize there is another life beyond film. Exercise, meditate, socialize, don’t take too many drugs or drink too much. In the film business it always seems like success is just around the corner. If you are lucky and meet it, your next film will be just as difficult as the first. If you go around too many corners without getting anywhere, give it up and try something new. If you succeed, don’t believe you have it made; don’t believe you are your Persona. Realize you have a human life with human needs and don’t ignore that blessing.
To learn more about Sydney Levine, SydneysBuzz, their consulting services and more, visit:
http://www.sydneysbuzz.com.
This month I speak to Sydney Levine, president of SydneysBuzz -- whose tagline for her company -- “Pulling Back the Curtain on the International Film Industry” -- precisely does just that. Levine focuses on international film industry developments and analysis of the international film market related to buyers, sales agents, filmmakers, film festivals and distribution. Traveling extensively on the international film market circuit, Levine is a hired panel moderator, educator, consultant for filmmakers, the Cannes Film Market, the Berlinale’s European Film Market and Talent Campus, Deutsche Welle Akademie and others. Her company covers events, panels, buying, selling and educational initiatives at Toronto, Sundance, Berlin and Cannes, regularly reporting on who is buying, who is selling, which films stand out, and how the films were created.
Prior to establishing FilmFinders, she helped start the profitable video rental division of Republic Pictures as Vice President of Acquisitions and Development after having spent three years acquiring such feature films for Lorimar as My Beautiful Laundrette, Letter to Brezhnev, Tampopo, and Sugar Baby as part of a wide variety of international artistic and commercial genres. Levine has worked in international distribution for Twentieth Century Fox in Amsterdam, in Ross Perot’s start up video company Inovision, in marketing for ABC Video Enterprises, at Public Media Inc. the social issue documentary division of Films Inc. and Pyramid Films, the award-winning short film distribution company in Santa Monica, California. During her tenure at all these companies she acquired features and documentaries for international and domestic distribution.
Susan Kouguell: You and your partner, Peter Belsito, are known throughout the international film festival circuit for having the finger on the pulse of independent filmmaking for over twenty-five years. The independent film movement has certainly changed dramatically from the early celluloid days -- American Playhouse, the onset of the Sundance Film Festival, Harvey Weinstein at the ‘original’ Miramax Films -- to digital filmmaking and the increase of ancillary markets and venues, to Harvey Weinstein at The Weinstein Company. One thing that hasn’t changed is the quest for filmmakers to get their work seen and distributed. For filmmakers not living in New York City or Los Angeles, their quest can be even more challenging. What tips can you offer to assist filmmakers on their quest for getting their work seen and noticed?
Sydney Levine: Actually you can make that 38 years. When I started at 20th Century Fox International in ’75, I was the first and only woman in international film distribution except for one Dutch woman living in Germany whose company, Cine International, sold independent German films to distributors around the world but whose films never entered the United States. Theatrical and television were the only platforms in those days.
In this day of digital technology, a filmmaker can reach every corner of the world. That means the filmmaker must create a Persona with a personal digital platform which serves as an integral part of mapping out a curriculum vitae. The films are one part of who the Persona is, and the created website and blog must offer more than just the film in order to create the Persona one presents to the world. Secondly, the target audience for one’s films and for one’s other interests must be located and addressed by the Persona on the many levels of their interests. A film cannot stand alone and be noticed. It must be part of a larger picture, whether personal or affiliated with a larger brand.
Sk: What are the current trends in promoting short and feature films at festivals and markets that you find successful and not so successful?
Sl: Festivals have their own websites and use YouTube channels. The brand your film can distinguish itself by might be a festival, such as Sundance or Tribeca (or many others), which have their own platforms to promote and show films, or Cannes whose platform (called Cinando.com) shows the films of the festival and market as well as films of Sundance, Afm (American Film Market), Ventana Sur (the Argentinean market for Latino films), Busan,San Sebastian, Toronto, Deauville and Karlovy Vary film festivals. Cinando is known to the trade (and is only open to the trade) but still has not caught on as broadly as it is intended. Sundance has experimented with showing its shorts on YouTube where it has a channel, as does Tribeca. Tribeca on Demand is also a distribution platform for features which it takes on for distribution. Other festivals also use YouTube to showcase films or trailers…Karlovy Vary, Cinequest, Locarno has The Pardo Channel on You Tube. Some act as distributors and some are only promoting. Again finding these may be an issue -- or not -- depending on their purpose and how they market.
Definitely social networking is an important way to promote films. Subscription newsletters using mail chimp might work over a long trajectory.
Sk: What are the pros and cons of posting a film on platforms such as Vimeo and YouTube before it gets accepted into a film festival or has distribution?
Sl: On the pro side, it can build up a following which might persuade the distribution company to get on board. I think that if an entire film is posted before a film festival, it will destroy its chances to get in the premiere festivals which insist on premieres and it might degrade the pristine discovery element for any other festivals. Other arguments against showing the entire film, is that if it is free, no one will ever need to pay for it again. The purpose of a film is to be seen, but the purpose of the filmmaker should be to have a commercial success which speaks to the business world of distribution about the ability of the film and filmmaker to make money to repay investors and bring financial gain to the distributor. Film is, after all, a commercial art not a “fine art” which also, in fact, must show some financial gain in the end. Film is public and you must have a public that pays.
Sk: Navigating film festivals and film markets can be overwhelming for those trying to get attention for their projects. What tips do you recommend for filmmakers to make the most of their time there?
Sl: Be sure to choose the first festival as the one with the trade attending and looking to acquire films like yours. Be sure not to disqualify the film because you have it already shown it elsewhere. You can use your film as a passport to travel the world or you can use your film to promote your career in the international or in the domestic market. Be conscious of what your end goal is and then create a smart strategy to reach your objective.
Before you arrive, have a one-sheet or postcard with relevant information on you and the film. Know who from the trade is attending and write to them in a way to persuade them to see your film. Make appointments with them to discuss your film after the screening. When you are there, carry your cards and your promotion. Have a 30-second pitch and a longer pitch ready to deliver in the appropriate moments. Be aware of who you are speaking to and speak to them about them, before pitching your own agenda. Attend workshops if there are any.
Sk: Getting an offer from a film distributor to distribute a filmmaker’s project is exciting and a possible foot-in-the door to success. However, filmmakers need to proceed with caution. What should filmmakers look for before they sign on the dotted line?
Sl: First they need to have an experienced entertainment attorney review the contract carefully with them. Actually that is not the first step. The first step is saying how interesting and exciting the offer is and before saying yes, ask for the contract to review with your attorney. Filmmakers also should know how distributors and sales agents work a film so they can ask the right questions about how they will market the film.
Sk: What advice do you have for aspiring filmmakers?
Sl: Read books on the subject, take courses on the film business, attend seminars, join Ifp or Film Independent or San Francisco Film Society and network, stay abreast of new technology. Read at least one trade every day, preferably one that covers the international as well as the U.S. film business. Get to know who is who, and what role they play in the film business, so that when you meet them, you will be able to hold an intelligent conversation with them about what they do. Learn to pitch your film and yourself.
Sk: Anything you would like to add?
Sl: Proceed with passion and with caution. Take good care of yourself and recognize there is another life beyond film. Exercise, meditate, socialize, don’t take too many drugs or drink too much. In the film business it always seems like success is just around the corner. If you are lucky and meet it, your next film will be just as difficult as the first. If you go around too many corners without getting anywhere, give it up and try something new. If you succeed, don’t believe you have it made; don’t believe you are your Persona. Realize you have a human life with human needs and don’t ignore that blessing.
To learn more about Sydney Levine, SydneysBuzz, their consulting services and more, visit:
http://www.sydneysbuzz.com.
- 12/5/2013
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
I recently sat down with Carlo Chatrian, newly appointed artistic director of the Locarno International Film Festival at his office which is only blocks away from the strikingly picturesque Piazza Grande where the outdoor screen and 8,000 seats are now being set up. We discussed his new position, his vision for the Festival, the American films that will be screened in and out of competition, and some of the many highlights and events that begin on August 7 and run for eleven days.
Of his new role as artistic director of the Festival, Chatrian states: “It was an honor and pleasure to take this position. It is a new adventure for me.”
Chatrian’s passion for filmmakers, cinema and its history is zealously conveyed whether talking about the Festival’s tributes to Christopher Lee, Anna Karina, Faye Dunaway, Sergio Castellitto, Otar Iosseliani, Jacqueline Bisset, Margaret Ménégoz and Douglas Trumbull -- to the Pardi di domani (Leopards of tomorrow) a competitive section that will screen shorts and medium-length films by young independent auteurs or film school students, who have not yet directed a feature -- to the films screened on the Piazza Grande -- to the Festival’s sidebar Histoire(s) du cinéma.
“Films belong to a wider history,” Chatrian further emphasizes when discussing Histoire(s) du cinéma, (a reference to Jean-Luc Godard’s masterpiece). Dedicated to the history of cinema, “this section embodies the identity of the Festival.” These offerings include newly restored prints of rare and important works in film history; (for the George Cukor retrospective an international preview of a remastered 3D version of The Wizard of Oz), documentaries about actors and filmmakers the Festival is honoring, as well as works presented by the Cinémathèque Suisse as part of Swiss Cinema rediscovered.
Chatrian’s Vision
“When you compose a competition you have to work with new films; it’s important to combine various aspects into a wider program. One of the things that is really important in Locarno, here, maybe more than other film festivals, are the films belonging in dialogue with past films to new. To look at cinema in a new way.”
Chatrian describes his vision of the Festival “as a mosaic, composing the puzzle of the story of cinema.” He adds: “Diversity is important.” This diversity is further explored in Chatrian’s Director’s statement in which he writes:
In line with the Festival’s tradition and our own wish to break down barriers, we have tried to establish a dialogue between historic and contemporary cinema, between independent and mainstream productions, documentary and fiction, experimental and essay forms. The only categorical imperative was to work with diversity, take it to extremes, to the point where contradictions emerge. Behind the organization of this year’s Festival lies a concept fed by opposites: not with any intention of molding them into a single line of thought, but rather welcoming them as the different souls that make up cinema and the world.
Reflected in this year’s programs are the connections to past films and how these works are linked to each other, and at times come full circle. Chatrian cites the examples of the Festival’s posthumous tribute to Portuguese director Paulo Rocha, whose films were launched at the Locarno Film Festival fifty years ago -- to the tribute to Anna Karina, “not only a great actress who worked with Godard and George Cukor, there is that connection to Rocha’s films in the Portugal New Wave and Anna Karina’s relationship to the French New Wave.”
Chatrian continues: “It’s like a web that makes different connections. Another example: Joaqim Pinto, Portuguese director of the film in competition, Eagora?? Lembra-Me? (What Now? Remind Me) was just a child when he went on set when Paulo Rocha was shooting his second feature.”
New American Films at the Festival
The five films coming from the United States include SXSW Grand Jury winner Short Term 12 by Destin Cretton and The Dirties directed by Matthew Johnson, which Chatrian describes as “a challenging work of editing. A film within a film. The main characters are supposed to shoot a film, but at the same time they are being bullied by a group of other students because of their identity. The film is funny; sometimes a tribute to Ed Wood, but it also conveys a sort of criticism of the world of school.”
Dedicated to emerging international directors and devoted to first and second features, Chatrian comments on the Concorso Cineasti del presente – (Filmmakers of the Present) “Some of these films raise a lot of questions rather than give answers. They are not straight forward; they are more art-house.”
Chatrian describes Forty Years From Yesterday directed by first-time feature directors Robert Machoian and Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck: “Works with lengths of shots; it’s deeply emotive. It tries to convey something that is difficult; grief, and empathy between camera and character.”
“Two films that challenge cinematic form are Manakamana and The Unity of all Things.” The feature documentary Manakamana is synopsized by its directors Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez: High above a jungle in Nepal, pilgrims make an ancient journey by cable car to worship Manakamana. Chatrian calls it “a contemplative film with powerful sequences of long takes.” On the first feature The Unity of all Things directed by Alex Carver and Daniel Schmidt, Chatrian states: “A very experimental film based on a big subject, a tough subject -- the idea of time; it has a metaphysical point of view.”
The science fiction film Dignity, directed by James Fotopoulos, is described by Chatrian, “like a 1960s trip” and remarks on this film’s connection to Douglas Trumbull, the special effects artist and director, who will receive Locarno’s Festival First Vision Award. “It is a nice tribute to Trumbull and how it relates to his work on 2001: A Space Odyssey and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and as the director of Silent Running.”
Filmmaker as Journeyman – Werner Herzog
Another connection to the United States is from European director, Werner Herzog, (this year’s honoree of the Pardo d’onore Swisscom) who is now living in the states. The Festival will present the world premiere of the four episodes that comprise Herzog’s new mini-series Death Row II, which documents four more cases from death row prisons in Texas. Chatrian says of this work: “a precise look at the American justice system and the American people.”
For cinephiles the world over, the Locarno International Film Festival offers a wide range of work from the past and present, and inspiration for the future of cinema around the globe.
The Locarno International Film Festival runs from August 7-17, 2013. For more information visit: www.pardo.ch
About Susan Kouguell
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting and film at Tufts University and presents international seminars. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com...
Of his new role as artistic director of the Festival, Chatrian states: “It was an honor and pleasure to take this position. It is a new adventure for me.”
Chatrian’s passion for filmmakers, cinema and its history is zealously conveyed whether talking about the Festival’s tributes to Christopher Lee, Anna Karina, Faye Dunaway, Sergio Castellitto, Otar Iosseliani, Jacqueline Bisset, Margaret Ménégoz and Douglas Trumbull -- to the Pardi di domani (Leopards of tomorrow) a competitive section that will screen shorts and medium-length films by young independent auteurs or film school students, who have not yet directed a feature -- to the films screened on the Piazza Grande -- to the Festival’s sidebar Histoire(s) du cinéma.
“Films belong to a wider history,” Chatrian further emphasizes when discussing Histoire(s) du cinéma, (a reference to Jean-Luc Godard’s masterpiece). Dedicated to the history of cinema, “this section embodies the identity of the Festival.” These offerings include newly restored prints of rare and important works in film history; (for the George Cukor retrospective an international preview of a remastered 3D version of The Wizard of Oz), documentaries about actors and filmmakers the Festival is honoring, as well as works presented by the Cinémathèque Suisse as part of Swiss Cinema rediscovered.
Chatrian’s Vision
“When you compose a competition you have to work with new films; it’s important to combine various aspects into a wider program. One of the things that is really important in Locarno, here, maybe more than other film festivals, are the films belonging in dialogue with past films to new. To look at cinema in a new way.”
Chatrian describes his vision of the Festival “as a mosaic, composing the puzzle of the story of cinema.” He adds: “Diversity is important.” This diversity is further explored in Chatrian’s Director’s statement in which he writes:
In line with the Festival’s tradition and our own wish to break down barriers, we have tried to establish a dialogue between historic and contemporary cinema, between independent and mainstream productions, documentary and fiction, experimental and essay forms. The only categorical imperative was to work with diversity, take it to extremes, to the point where contradictions emerge. Behind the organization of this year’s Festival lies a concept fed by opposites: not with any intention of molding them into a single line of thought, but rather welcoming them as the different souls that make up cinema and the world.
Reflected in this year’s programs are the connections to past films and how these works are linked to each other, and at times come full circle. Chatrian cites the examples of the Festival’s posthumous tribute to Portuguese director Paulo Rocha, whose films were launched at the Locarno Film Festival fifty years ago -- to the tribute to Anna Karina, “not only a great actress who worked with Godard and George Cukor, there is that connection to Rocha’s films in the Portugal New Wave and Anna Karina’s relationship to the French New Wave.”
Chatrian continues: “It’s like a web that makes different connections. Another example: Joaqim Pinto, Portuguese director of the film in competition, Eagora?? Lembra-Me? (What Now? Remind Me) was just a child when he went on set when Paulo Rocha was shooting his second feature.”
New American Films at the Festival
The five films coming from the United States include SXSW Grand Jury winner Short Term 12 by Destin Cretton and The Dirties directed by Matthew Johnson, which Chatrian describes as “a challenging work of editing. A film within a film. The main characters are supposed to shoot a film, but at the same time they are being bullied by a group of other students because of their identity. The film is funny; sometimes a tribute to Ed Wood, but it also conveys a sort of criticism of the world of school.”
Dedicated to emerging international directors and devoted to first and second features, Chatrian comments on the Concorso Cineasti del presente – (Filmmakers of the Present) “Some of these films raise a lot of questions rather than give answers. They are not straight forward; they are more art-house.”
Chatrian describes Forty Years From Yesterday directed by first-time feature directors Robert Machoian and Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck: “Works with lengths of shots; it’s deeply emotive. It tries to convey something that is difficult; grief, and empathy between camera and character.”
“Two films that challenge cinematic form are Manakamana and The Unity of all Things.” The feature documentary Manakamana is synopsized by its directors Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez: High above a jungle in Nepal, pilgrims make an ancient journey by cable car to worship Manakamana. Chatrian calls it “a contemplative film with powerful sequences of long takes.” On the first feature The Unity of all Things directed by Alex Carver and Daniel Schmidt, Chatrian states: “A very experimental film based on a big subject, a tough subject -- the idea of time; it has a metaphysical point of view.”
The science fiction film Dignity, directed by James Fotopoulos, is described by Chatrian, “like a 1960s trip” and remarks on this film’s connection to Douglas Trumbull, the special effects artist and director, who will receive Locarno’s Festival First Vision Award. “It is a nice tribute to Trumbull and how it relates to his work on 2001: A Space Odyssey and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and as the director of Silent Running.”
Filmmaker as Journeyman – Werner Herzog
Another connection to the United States is from European director, Werner Herzog, (this year’s honoree of the Pardo d’onore Swisscom) who is now living in the states. The Festival will present the world premiere of the four episodes that comprise Herzog’s new mini-series Death Row II, which documents four more cases from death row prisons in Texas. Chatrian says of this work: “a precise look at the American justice system and the American people.”
For cinephiles the world over, the Locarno International Film Festival offers a wide range of work from the past and present, and inspiration for the future of cinema around the globe.
The Locarno International Film Festival runs from August 7-17, 2013. For more information visit: www.pardo.ch
About Susan Kouguell
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting and film at Tufts University and presents international seminars. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com...
- 8/2/2013
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
Nadia Dresti, Delegate of the Artistic Direction, Head of International at the Locarno International Film Festival talks to Susan Kouguell about Industry Days (August 10-12), Step In and Carte Blanche.
Nadia Dresti: “The film festival’s role has to become more a place to help a film to be released afterwards, and Locarno is a perfect place to put these people together and mix.”
Dresti is passionate about her work, and about spotlighting independent filmmakers from countries who face challenges getting their work noticed and distributed. Nadia and I met at her office this week to discuss the Locarno International Film Festival’s various initiatives that will take place during Industry Days.
Dresti: “We received 1,300 submissions, and Carlo Chatrian and his team saw between 500-700 films around the world, so 2,000 films altogether. Carlo selected 100 new films. What about the other films? Some go to smaller festivals, but more than 1,000 titles don’t go anywhere; they will not find a release. There is a gap with this small release possibility and the gap is getting bigger. I think the system is wrong.”
The Industry Office
The Industry Office of the Locarno Film Festival was designed to support producers and agents presenting films at the festival by connecting them with international sales and distribution professionals, and exhibitors. Their goal is to play an active role in the support of auteur films; whether launching a new project or extending and optimizing existing services and initiatives, the Industry Office aims to support sales agents, distributors, producers and exhibitors in their respective tasks, ranging from the conception to the release of independent art-house cinema.
Nadia Dresti: “Every activity is tailor made. Most important are the films, and around the films – the producers, buyers, and so on – and the types of films that we believe in.”
Industry Days
Launched in 2010, the Locarno Film Festival’s Industry Days offer international film industry professionals the opportunity to participate in a comprehensive series of initiatives designed for them. The goal -- to facilitate networking. By supporting the sales agents and producers who are presenting films at the Festival, they put them in contact with buyers, distributors and exhibitors. Industry Days also develops through specially organized and exclusive screenings, alongside works-in-progress sessions, discussions, round tables and events that take place under the umbrella of the Industry Home Base, encouraging every opportunity for exchange. These are combined with two further initiatives, Carte Blanche and Step In.
Carte Blanche
Nadia Dresti: “We have Carte Blanche, an initiative we started three years ago, showing films in postproduction by emerging talents from a different country in Asia, Africa, Latin America or Southeast Europe. This year Carte Blanche is dedicated to Chile.”
Carte Blanche will screen seven films in postproduction. Each film will be introduced by its producer and director to the various international sales agents, distributors and festival programmers in order to facilitate post-production and sales partnerships. Following each screening, there will be a Q&A session, during which the industry professionals will have the opportunity to connect with the producers. A three-person industry professional jury will select the best film that will receive a cash prize to support the completion of the film.
Nadia Dresti: “There is a lot of emerging talent. We saw 30 films in postproduction, we selected seven and we invited the seven producers to introduce their films, and Chile brings the directors. We have 20 people from Chile to introduce at Locarno. This is great visibility for them; they are honored as a country -- it’s a win-win. We bring filmmakers to producers. It also gives sales companies time to discover new films, to see the seven films, which helps the producers. In Piazza Grande we’re going to show Gloria directed by Sebastián Lelio, who was in competition in 2011 with El El Año del Tigre. Juan de Dios Larraín, producer of both titles, is on our official jury. CinemaChile is hosting the Industry Days opening party.
Step In
Now in its second year, Step In, an initiative designed as an exchange platform in which new promising strategies for distribution, exhibition and sales of auteur cinema are discussed and developed in small, closed working sessions.
Nadia Dresti: “Last year we had a think tank and decided to focus on eastern countries where theaters are closing down and art-house films are hardly released. We invited key players from different countries -- Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic to come to Locarno and sit down with sales companies and other buyers.”
This think-tank initiative, focusing on issues of distribution for auteur European cinema in Central and Eastern Europe, is organized in collaboration with Europa International, Europa Distribution and Europa Cinemas. This year Step In will wrap up last year’s focus on the festivals of the region, giving voice to professionals of the area, including Tallinn’s Baltic Event, When East Meets West in Trieste, Kino Pavasaris in Vilnius, Sofia Meetings, Romanian Days in Cluj, CineLink in Sarajevo, Connecting Cottbus, New Horizons in Warsaw and the Art Film Festival in Bratislava. But we decided to open the think tank to additional European territories as well, to compare experiences. International sales agents, distributors, exhibitors and funders will discuss key issues of distribution. We also invited Us industry people like Eugene Hernandez from Lincoln Center and Ryan Werner from Radius-tw.
Nadia Dresti: “Step In day takes place on Sunday. First, in the morning, there will be a presentation about the Russian market; the state of distribution and exhibition of art-house films in the Russian market. Among the presenters will be an expert from uniFrance, a big exhibitor from Russia, and three distributors from Russia.”
The working session – the brainstorming part of the morning, gathers distributors, sales agents, members of Europa Distribution, Europa International and Europa Cinemas, some funders, festivals, and co-production markets. After an introduction of the key issues, participants will break into groups to work on a specific challenge pertaining to the future of distribution of art-house films in Europe.
Nadia Dresti: “There will be five working tables that will include different buyers and sellers, discussions of anti-piracy, and so on – we want these people to sit down and talk. This is going to last one-and-a-half hours, then the five different moderators will come out with a statement, present their results, and discuss suggestions about how we can work better together to get a particular film released.”
To learn more about Industry Days and the Locarno International Film Festival visit: http://www.pardolive.ch
---------About the author: Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting and film at Tufts University and presents international seminars. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com...
Nadia Dresti: “The film festival’s role has to become more a place to help a film to be released afterwards, and Locarno is a perfect place to put these people together and mix.”
Dresti is passionate about her work, and about spotlighting independent filmmakers from countries who face challenges getting their work noticed and distributed. Nadia and I met at her office this week to discuss the Locarno International Film Festival’s various initiatives that will take place during Industry Days.
Dresti: “We received 1,300 submissions, and Carlo Chatrian and his team saw between 500-700 films around the world, so 2,000 films altogether. Carlo selected 100 new films. What about the other films? Some go to smaller festivals, but more than 1,000 titles don’t go anywhere; they will not find a release. There is a gap with this small release possibility and the gap is getting bigger. I think the system is wrong.”
The Industry Office
The Industry Office of the Locarno Film Festival was designed to support producers and agents presenting films at the festival by connecting them with international sales and distribution professionals, and exhibitors. Their goal is to play an active role in the support of auteur films; whether launching a new project or extending and optimizing existing services and initiatives, the Industry Office aims to support sales agents, distributors, producers and exhibitors in their respective tasks, ranging from the conception to the release of independent art-house cinema.
Nadia Dresti: “Every activity is tailor made. Most important are the films, and around the films – the producers, buyers, and so on – and the types of films that we believe in.”
Industry Days
Launched in 2010, the Locarno Film Festival’s Industry Days offer international film industry professionals the opportunity to participate in a comprehensive series of initiatives designed for them. The goal -- to facilitate networking. By supporting the sales agents and producers who are presenting films at the Festival, they put them in contact with buyers, distributors and exhibitors. Industry Days also develops through specially organized and exclusive screenings, alongside works-in-progress sessions, discussions, round tables and events that take place under the umbrella of the Industry Home Base, encouraging every opportunity for exchange. These are combined with two further initiatives, Carte Blanche and Step In.
Carte Blanche
Nadia Dresti: “We have Carte Blanche, an initiative we started three years ago, showing films in postproduction by emerging talents from a different country in Asia, Africa, Latin America or Southeast Europe. This year Carte Blanche is dedicated to Chile.”
Carte Blanche will screen seven films in postproduction. Each film will be introduced by its producer and director to the various international sales agents, distributors and festival programmers in order to facilitate post-production and sales partnerships. Following each screening, there will be a Q&A session, during which the industry professionals will have the opportunity to connect with the producers. A three-person industry professional jury will select the best film that will receive a cash prize to support the completion of the film.
Nadia Dresti: “There is a lot of emerging talent. We saw 30 films in postproduction, we selected seven and we invited the seven producers to introduce their films, and Chile brings the directors. We have 20 people from Chile to introduce at Locarno. This is great visibility for them; they are honored as a country -- it’s a win-win. We bring filmmakers to producers. It also gives sales companies time to discover new films, to see the seven films, which helps the producers. In Piazza Grande we’re going to show Gloria directed by Sebastián Lelio, who was in competition in 2011 with El El Año del Tigre. Juan de Dios Larraín, producer of both titles, is on our official jury. CinemaChile is hosting the Industry Days opening party.
Step In
Now in its second year, Step In, an initiative designed as an exchange platform in which new promising strategies for distribution, exhibition and sales of auteur cinema are discussed and developed in small, closed working sessions.
Nadia Dresti: “Last year we had a think tank and decided to focus on eastern countries where theaters are closing down and art-house films are hardly released. We invited key players from different countries -- Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic to come to Locarno and sit down with sales companies and other buyers.”
This think-tank initiative, focusing on issues of distribution for auteur European cinema in Central and Eastern Europe, is organized in collaboration with Europa International, Europa Distribution and Europa Cinemas. This year Step In will wrap up last year’s focus on the festivals of the region, giving voice to professionals of the area, including Tallinn’s Baltic Event, When East Meets West in Trieste, Kino Pavasaris in Vilnius, Sofia Meetings, Romanian Days in Cluj, CineLink in Sarajevo, Connecting Cottbus, New Horizons in Warsaw and the Art Film Festival in Bratislava. But we decided to open the think tank to additional European territories as well, to compare experiences. International sales agents, distributors, exhibitors and funders will discuss key issues of distribution. We also invited Us industry people like Eugene Hernandez from Lincoln Center and Ryan Werner from Radius-tw.
Nadia Dresti: “Step In day takes place on Sunday. First, in the morning, there will be a presentation about the Russian market; the state of distribution and exhibition of art-house films in the Russian market. Among the presenters will be an expert from uniFrance, a big exhibitor from Russia, and three distributors from Russia.”
The working session – the brainstorming part of the morning, gathers distributors, sales agents, members of Europa Distribution, Europa International and Europa Cinemas, some funders, festivals, and co-production markets. After an introduction of the key issues, participants will break into groups to work on a specific challenge pertaining to the future of distribution of art-house films in Europe.
Nadia Dresti: “There will be five working tables that will include different buyers and sellers, discussions of anti-piracy, and so on – we want these people to sit down and talk. This is going to last one-and-a-half hours, then the five different moderators will come out with a statement, present their results, and discuss suggestions about how we can work better together to get a particular film released.”
To learn more about Industry Days and the Locarno International Film Festival visit: http://www.pardolive.ch
---------About the author: Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting and film at Tufts University and presents international seminars. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com...
- 7/27/2013
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
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