Guerrilla Filmmaking

GOTHAM INDEPENDENT FILM AWARDS Announced!

Ballast Trailer

There's actually no award ceremony for Guerrilla Filmmakers, we're working on that. For now, the closest event that honor Guerrilla Films is the Gotham Awards, that this year swifts to "Gothan Independent Film Awards". Guerrilla Films on red.

IFP announced today the nominees for the 18th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards™ which will take place on Tuesday, December 2nd at New York City’s Cipriani Wall Street. It also announced the new name for the awards, making the subtle shift from the Gotham Awards to the Gotham Independent Film Awards™.

Presented by IFP, the nation's oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers, the Gotham Independent Film Awards™ is one of the leading awards for independent film and the first major honors of the film awards season. The awards provide critical early recognition for worthy independent films, such as past winners Juno(2007), Half Nelson (2006), and Junebug (2005).

Garnering four separate nominations – the most for this year – is Ballast, Lance Hammer’s directorial debut and multiple-award winner from festivals as diverse as Sundance, Berlin, Deauville and others. The film is currently being self-distributed by Hammer’s Alluvial Film Company with the help of marketing consultant Steven Raphael’s Required Viewing. It was nominated for Best Feature, Breakthrough Director, Breakthrough Actor and Best Ensemble Performance.

THE BEAUTIFUL OBSESSION: Exclusive Interview with Filmmaker Cutter Hodierne

The Screw Up

Cutter Hodierne is a 21 years old sensation, he's working commercially and was recently signed for representation with Buck Boys, hello? at  21. He was recently commissioned to produce & direct the hit film and music video The Party Roll, for Washington, DC's legendary Chuck Brown. The project featured Mya, George Clinton, Marion Berry, and Grammy-nominated Raheem Devaughn. The piece aired heavily on MTV, VH-1, & BET and had a six-month run on Music Choice and Comcast On-Demand.

I would say the best thing about Cutter it's that he is very humble. I know a lot of people that at his age get their heads filled by success and they just start loosing it, but Cutter keep everything real, he has fun with every piece, because if there's no fun what's the point? He's very passionate about filmmaking and he remembers with nostalgia his days at 8th grade when he started doing short films with his pals to try to understand puberty, "doing films was my obsession" - he said.

He's working in this amazing concept "A Short Film Album", just like a music album but with short films instead. His site CutterShorts.com is plagued with his works and you can see his music videos here.

I have to stop myself, I would like to write more, but I don't want to spoil the interview, but I can say it was very inspirational and I'm not 21.

The interview right here.

SLACKER FOR FREE! via Hulu

Watch it here

It's not often that a movie can keep you guessing from beginning to end. Slacker is the movie that will stretch your mind past the boundaries of traditional thought. If you are able to fully immerse yourself into the story, you will begin to think like the characters.  You will start questioning governmental activity, development conspiracy theories of your own, and possibly give up all hope in the realm of collective action.

Made with $23,000 it's one of those Guerrilla Classics that you must see. From Academy Award Nominee Richard Linklater (Before Sunset, Fast Food Nation, A Scanner Darkly). Brought to you by Cinetic Rights Management, via hulu.com

NIGHT & WEEKENDS in Theaters tomorrow!

I'm sorry I've been a little distant from the blog lately, I've been really busy with the pre-production of my next feature subHysteria, but I couldn't pass the chance to let you know that Night & Weekends, the new film from director Joe Swanberg, this time co-directing with actor Greta Gerwig, it's opening tomorrow at IFC Theaters. This is the 4th no-budget film from Swanberg since 2005, his previous works are: Kissing on the Mouth, LOL and Hannah Takes the Stairs.

STORY

Mattie and James are in love. But too many mornings and too many miles apart have taken a toll on them. As they struggle with the distance between New York and Chicago, their visits become reminders of the difficulties, not the pleasures, of their relationship. Joe Swanberg and Greta Gerwig follow Hannah Takes the Stairs with this intimate portrayal of longing and confusion. This time Swanberg co-stars with Gerwig, and Gerwig co-directs with Swanberg, creating a film that resonates deeply and leaves scars that fade but can’t heal.

INVENTING THE MOVIES a must read! (PART II)

CHAPTER 10. COMING TO TERMS WITH THE NET.

"In a suburb south of Los Angeles, it looked as though a band of cell-phone-obsessed nomads had set up camp in the parking lot surrounding an office complex: a small village of tents had sprung up overnight, and white trailers were parked in neat rows.

A yellow AMC Gremlin was being towed slowly around the neighborhood by a truck; inside the car were the actors Morgan Freeman and Paz Vega, and a movie camera was mounted on the bed of the truck to capture their conversation.

The movie they were making, 10 Items or Less, tells the story of a famous actor (Freeman) who enters and then alters the life of a convenience store cashier (Vega). It was fairly typical for a low-budget movie made without studio support: costs were being kept under $10 million, the shoot would be completed in just fifteen days, and the script didn’t call for any flashy visual effects or elaborate sets. (In 2006, when 10 Items was made, the average cost of producing a studio movie was $65 million.) It was also being shot on 35-millimeter film, like most movies of its vintage."

INVENTING THE MOVIES a must read!

Scott Kirsner is a journalist who writes about innovation, with a special focus on the ways that new technologies are changing the entertainment industry.

He writes regularly for Variety and The Boston Globe, and has been a contributing writer for Fast Company, BusinessWeek, and Wired. He edits the blog CinemaTech (est. 2005), and is the author of The Future of Web Video, one of the first books about the business and creative possibilities of online video, originally published in November 2006 and updated in March 2007. Scott’s writing has also appeared in the New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, Salon, the San Jose Mercury News, and Newsweek, among other publications.

This is so far, the book of the year for me! Scott makes you understand the future of filmmaking, a lot of the stuff that's in the book is not new, but the way he analyzes the different phases of cinema starting from 1894 untill tomorrow it's simply fascinating.

He's been generous enough to share the introduction of his book with everybody, but also he's sharing one of the best chapters, the number 10th: Coming to Terms with the net.

Today I'll be sharing the introduction of his book that you could find in the next page. Tomorrow the amazing chapter 10th, so stay tuned.

THE POWER OF THE AGGREGATOR. Exclusive Mini Interview with Erick Opeka, Senior Marketing Manager of New Video

Erick Opeka is full of spirit when he talks about his company.  You can see how he breathes passion for his work, which in this industry is becoming more rare everyday.

New Video has been around for seventeen years.  They were one of the first video aggregators on iTunes back in 2005. They are very savvy with their marketing, and by just listening to the interview you'll notice how they care about filmmakers.

I've been trying to get a few films on iTunes since January this year, and it's been virtually impossible.  Two months ago they recommend that I contact New Video... Do you want to know why? Just listen to the interview.

Learn more about New Video's plan for the rest of the year here.

DECONSTRUCTING "IN SEARCH OF A MIDNIGHT KISS"

In search of the midnight kiss is so far, my favorite guerrilla film of the year, and it is definitely in my top 5 of 2008. It is also one of the few films I've seen that expose male and female points of view, in a very truthful, believable and funny manner. The photography is beautiful, the actors are stellar in their roles and the direction is superb, their budget was $25,000 but I could say that it was 2 millions and you wouldn't feel the difference.

Joe Utichi from Rotten Tomatoes prepared a great interview that came to us via Josh Horrow, thank you very much Josh this is great material.

A little excerpt from Alex Holdridge, director of the film:

"When I read the first review I cried. My last two films have had attention but they never got a chance to survive outside of the festival world and so I knew how critical it was that it was well received. It is the type of film that needs to be championed by critics because otherwise it will never see the light of day. Distributors won't take the time to take a chance on a black and white movie without name recognition in it. I was scared shitless that I was going to have to go back and wait tables again, which I've had to do after every movie. After the last one the paper even did a write-up on "Alex Holdridge will not have to take out the trash anymore," but sure enough, two days later I'm back waiting tables, you know. The manager of the restaurant even put it up on the wall out back so I'd walk past it every time I was taking out the trash".

The whole Interview in rottentomatoes.com