In August I co-wrote a short film with a screenwriter from UCLA which I also directed. It was an wonderful experience and I was sad when it was over. About two weeks after we finished shooting he gave me a call. He’d been interning at a film company here in LA that’s been buying up [...][...]
Author Archive
November 3rd, 2010 - 6:37 pm § in Film School
There Is No Excuse Not To Make A Movie
Aaron from Germany writes: i applied to grad film school in 2005(nyu & afi), at the time i was 25 and living in paris. i had 2 interviews at AFI, directing and editing. i didn’t make it into the school or any wait list. i applied last year, with 4 more years of experience and [...][...]
October 31st, 2010 - 5:39 pm § in News
November Cinema 2010
From UCLA Directing student Richard Parkin, a monthly list of classic, independent and art-house screenings in Los Angeles. November Festivals: November 1 – December 18: New Voices from Vietnam Series hosted at the Hammer Museum, sponsored by A.M.P.A.S November 4 – 11: 2010 AFI Fest, hosted at t[...]
October 24th, 2010 - 12:24 pm § in Film School, Filmmaking
8 Tips for Directing Actors
A few things I’ve learned over the years on how to effectively direct actors: 1. Don’t Overtalk The cardinal sin of student directors is overtalking to the actors. Find a simple emotional backstory for the scene and explain it to them. The same with the characters’ objectives in th[...]
Student Film Archetypes: The Magical Stranger
I have seen a lot of student shorts in the last few years. After a while you begin to see recurring storylines, styles and characters. This is about one of those characters. The Magical Stranger narrative proceeds as follows: We are introduced to a protagonist (hopefully) with a problem; be it their[...]
October 10th, 2010 - 7:35 pm § in Film School, Filmmaking
A Student Film Manifesto: What Are Your Thoughts?
This comes from fellow TFT Directing classmate Ben Arfmann. http://jdcopp.blogspot.com/2007/01/francois-truffaut-certain-tendency.html I’ll keep this short guys, but read (hopefully re-read) Truffaut’s attack on the “tradition of quality” in French cinema. We’re in a [...]
October 1st, 2010 - 11:09 am § in News
October Cinema 2010
A monthly list of independent and art-house screenings in Los Angeles from fellow director Richard Parkin. _______________________________________________________________________________ October 1; 7:30pm – Marco Bellocchio Series: Fists in the Pocket and China is Near @ LACMA October 1; 8:00pm â€[...]
September 27th, 2010 - 9:34 am § in Opportunities for Filmmakers
Opportunities for Filmmakers: Tribeca All Access
TRIBECA ALL ACCESS – EARLY DEADLINE NOVEMBER 8TH – FINAL DEADLINE DECEMBER 8TH Tribeca All Access is a program designed to help experienced and emerging filmmakers with grants ($10,000), meetings with industry professionals, and a host of other support. Aleem Hossain (an Alum) mentioned [...]
100 New Directors – Where They’re From – Where They Studied – What They Shot On
I recently had the opportunity to purchase the beautiful book pictured above. From the introduction: We asked the artistic directors of ten prestigious film festivals to nominate ten of the best emerging film directors working today. The participants are: Cameron Bailey and Piers Handling, Toronto I[...]