April 2008

Case Study No. 3: "On Broadway"

mike — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 22:31:10 -0500

On Broadway, a movie about a working-class Bostonian’s attempt to stage a play in the back of an Irish pub, has received such a good response from film festival audiences around the country that the producers decided to self-release the film in Boston last month.

Case Study No. 2: "Buddy"

mike — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:51:35 -0500

Cherry Arnold didn’t know what she was in for when she started filming Buddy: The Rise and Fall of America’s Most Notorious Mayor. “If I had known all the work involved…,” Arnold says. “Pure ignorance kept me going. I underestimated by months at a time how long each step would take.”

Case Study No. 1: "The Sensation of Sight"

mike — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:16:36 -0500

It’s no wonder Buzz McLaughlin feels some pride and relief. His New Hampshire-based film production company, Either/Or Films, just signed a distribution deal for its first movie, The Sensation of Sight, during the last week of March.

Adventures in Self Distribution: Three Case Studies

mike — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 20:58:07 -0500

Long after they wrap their films, independent filmmakers struggle to get their projects seen by as many people as possible. A distribution deal with a mainstream distribution company is, of course, the Holy Grail. And in the quest for a deal, a filmmaker's family ties will often get strained, their bank accounts will dwindle, and their stress level will surge.

The Doc Doctor's Anatomy of a Film: "The Longing"

mike — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 12:03:25 -0500

About this new column: Many filmmakers ponder in anguish, How do other people—celebrated people—do it? Am I taking too long to make this documentary? Does everybody spend as much money as I am spending, or am I spending too little? And when filmmakers share their lessons learned in interviews in the glossy trade magazines, their tales seem to follow the arc of otherworldy heroes rather than real documentary makers, i.e. human beings like you and me. So each month, the Doc Doctor will go out into the world (this real world) of filmmakers who are successful and find out how they made it. The "Anatomy of a Film Column" is a chance to learn from filmmakers' hits and misses in real life examples. —Fernanda Rossi, story consultant a.k.a. the Documentary Doctor

The Peabody Award Winners: Watch Trailers and Clips

mike — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:51:27 -0500

The full list of 2007 George Foster Peabody Award winners was released on April 2. The winners include films such as Taxi to the Dark Side and To Die in Jerusalem, as well as popular television programs such as Dexter, 30 Rock, and Project Runway.

The Trailer for "The Lost Colony"

mike — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 23:29:57 -0500

The Trailer for "Seaview"

mike — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 23:11:19 -0500

The Trailer for "The English Surgeon"

mike — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:46:30 -0500

The Trailer for "Wild Blue Yonder"

mike — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 20:00:51 -0500