This year we have two very talented filmmakers from UCLA showing their shorts at SXSW. One is a drama, the other a comedy, one is 10 minutes long, the other is 48 seconds long. It’s a great reminder of the diversity of films that some festivals show. I conducted an interview with the two filmm[...]
Author Archive
February 15th, 2011 - 2:25 pm § in Opportunities for Filmmakers
Opportunities for Filmmakers: FIND Screenwriters Lab
Film Independent’s Screenwriters Lab is an intensive five-week program running two to three evenings a week in Los Angeles in August and September. The Lab is designed to help screenwriters improve their craft, develop their voices as writers, and take their current scripts to the next level. [...]
January 30th, 2011 - 4:43 pm § in Film School
Great Directors And Their Early Films
I’m in pre-production and a bit too swamped to write a longer post, so I thought I’d share some early works by some now very notable directors. Everyone starts somewhere. For your viewing pleasure. Rian Johnson USC Directed “Brick”[...]
Short Film Festival Strategy
I recently attended a seminar held at UCLA on festival strategy and thought I would elaborate on my own. At this point in my career I’m near completion on two short films, gearing up for shooting another, and am searching for financing for my first feature, which I’m developing with a wr[...]
January 9th, 2011 - 5:38 pm § in News
January Cinema 2011
Welcoming in the new year, sorry this one’s a bit late. From fellow UCLA MFA Director Richard Parkin, a monthly list of classic, independent and art-house screening in Los Angeles. January 2011 is dedicated to Kyle Laursen and his new home at the New Beverly Cinema. ___________________________[...]
Students and Alums @ Sundance 2011
There were over 6,400 short films submitted this year. This is a new column looking at American film school student and alumni representation at major festivals. Sundance is the first major festival to start the year, so I’m going to take a look at the US Narrative feature and short film categ[...]
Mamet’s Three Questions
When I write, I have these three questions above my computer, which I initially found in David Mamet’s “Bambi Versus Godzilla.” He also kindly repeated these notes to his writing staff in his famous rant: QUESTION:WHAT IS DRAMA? DRAMA, AGAIN, IS THE QUEST OF THE HERO TO OVERCOME TH[...]
December 5th, 2010 - 11:34 pm § in Film School, Filmmaking
Sweat Equity
Recently I was in a discussion with some film students in the hallway. The conversation revolved around a recent graduate from the undergraduate program who had sold a feature screenplay and was directing another feature that he’d written. The jist of what was said is that some people just see[...]
November 24th, 2010 - 9:10 pm § in Filmmaking, News
5 LA Events To Help You Make Your Feature
I’ve been attending a lot of events in LA in preparation for putting together my first feature, which I’m developing with a UCLA screenwriter. These are five that I have found extremely helpful in understanding the process of making a feature film. The name of the game in independent fea[...]