One of the most publicized corporate blunders this year began with Netflix’s realization that consumers still like DVDs. A lot.

Netflix’s response, including raising subscription prices and its failed Qwikster spinoff, severely compromised Netflix’s subscription base, consumer trust and market value. All because people still like their DVDs.

And justly so; DVD chapter browsing and bonus content were such a dramatic improvement over VHS that after their release in 1997 consumers started buying movies like never before.  In 2002 DVD sales finally eclipsed those of VHS, which died for obvious reasons: it was a cropped, low-quality version of a film you had to play end to end. Compared to DVD, VHS obviously sucked.

I myself bought into the DVD craze and own around three hundred of them. Now that I do most of my viewing through streaming on my computer and other digital devices, you would think I would have switched to Download-To-Own (DTO) for recent purchases. But looking now at my collection in the two years since DTO became a viable option I own three VTO titles, or one percent of the movies I own. And I hate them. So much.

Compared to DVDs, DTO sucks. It’s like a digital VHS: pricey, no access to special features and clunky (or impossible) to move between devices. DTO’ing (yes, it’s now a verb) a movie off Amazon or Itunes is like owning a crappy DVD for three times the cost of renting it.

Renting digital make a lot of sense; you can watch the movie once and return it at the click of a button. That’s why people rent movies; to watch them once and return them. People who rent movies aren’t interested in special features; they’re not even sure if they like the movie yet.

Buying movies is a different story; consumers buy DVDs they’ve already seen to re-experience them, and also perhaps to learn about how they were made. DVDs conditioned consumers to expect the added value of special features. which DTO does not provide. This is why DTO, from a consumer standpoint, is not a suitable substitute for DVDs.

In other words, DTO sucks.

If I can rip a DVD onto my computer and play it with special features, why the hell can’t I buy that exact same thing in digital format?

Amazon and Itunes take a sizeable cut for their distribution services (around 30% per download). This is significantly higher than brick-and-mortar stores like Best-Buy, who often sell DVDs at a loss to drive shoppers toward other more profitable items in their stores. My guess is that the revenue discrepancy between DVD and DTO is a major reason for content owners to bet against the latter, even at the cost of consumer satisfaction and potential sales.

One thing’s for sure; as of this writing DTO is a crappy way to own a movie. It makes more sense to pirate or rent than it does to DTO, which right now feels like more of a punishment than anything else.

Also: not being able to screen capture Itunes movies sucks. That’s all.

Francesco Agresti is an abstract painter, teacher of fine arts and a generous donor to my Kickstarter campaign in the fall. I recently sat down with him to discuss his work and his life.

Filmmakers can learn from the experience of artists in other fields. We all go through the same difficulties and resistance. My favorite quote from our interview reflects this: at one point he referenced an old italian saying:

“An artist will never see money and will lose their sight.”

Francesco is one of many who overcame personal and financial obstacles in the daily pursuit of his craft.

Jason Kohl (JK): I was hoping you could start by telling me a bit about your childhood, where you grew up, what your parents did.

Francesco Agresti (FA): I was born and grew up in Itri, Italy and my father owned an olive grove which he took care of and my mother was a seamstress.  Then we immigrated to the Bronx in 1956.  I had just finished 2nd grade.

JK: How did you adapt to your new world?

FA: Well, actually my brother and i were pretty excited although we didn’t speak the language.  We started out by playing in the street with other kids who lured us out.  we were hiding behind the storm door but the kids coaxed us out to play.  the streets became important right away.

JK: When did you decide you wanted to become a painter? Did you draw as a child?

FA: Yes, I drew all the time as a child to the point that i got into trouble in grammar school because I was drawing in the margins of my books.  We had an older lady, Miss Dunn, about 80 who every Friday afternoon would come into the school to give us a drawing lesson.  She would give us beautiful classical art  postcards with Vermeer and other artists work on them.  And then, when the Beatles came out I started doing their portraits in my notebook and the girls all loved that.  Then I started doing tatoos on the boy’s arms (in grammar school).  Always pen, paper, crayons but then other people started to get interested in what I was drawing.

JK: Did you know at that point that you wanted to be an artist? Did you know that there were careers like that?

FA: No. absolutely not.  I just did it for me, I enjoyed it.  Then I stumbled into the art section of the local library and found all these books about the artists on the postcards and got real excited about that.  So I went to the 5 and 10 store and found a water color set and paper and I made a painting for my mother.  She still has it.  It has red sky, blue deer and a black and white horse.  Rather modern in some way.  I was about 15 or 16 at the time.

JK: What did you think you were going to do?

FA: I knew I was going to go to college, the first one in my family.  It was a public university and was free so I could afford to go.  The first two years I majored in literature and then I met a friend in the library with an art book.  Up to that point I didn’t know you could study art and drawing at this level.  What got me was she was taking classes in this with grades and professors.

She told me about the art department and I walked over there that day and there was a lot of activity, painters, etc.  I found the head of the department and that summer I took 3 classes.  My parents were thinking I would study something worthwhile like medicine or engineering.  They just shrugged when they found out I wanted to study art. They were afraid – there is a saying in Italy that says “An artist will never see money and will lose their sight.”

JK: Did that dissuade you for a while?

FA: No.  I remember getting a copy of a Vermeer painting.  I took it to where I painted in the basement.  My next door neighbor happened to see it.  My parents never paid much attention to what I was doing.  The neighbor said “That’s a nice painting” and my mother said to her, You like it, you take it.”  I was shocked she would give it away but what could I do.  Later the neighbor brought back $20 for me and I though that was pretty cool.  Then when I started going to museums like the MET I saw a painting I had copied hanging there and I couldn’t believe how different it was from the ones I saw in books.  I saw how thick the paint was, the accumulated paint.  I thought, now this I can do!  That book stuff I couldn’t do.  The surface has always been important to me.

JK: What did you do after you graduated?

FA: I got my bachelor in FIne Arts and my Masters in Fine Arts.  The Chairman of the Art Department liked my stuff.  He said now Francesco you can teach for us.  This sort of terrified me, I ran away from it and couldn’t imagine I could stand in front of all those people and teach.  I didn’t come around to teaching until much later.

I went back to Italy after two nervous breakdowns.  I had lost my relationships, there was no one in the united States who could help me and I had no family support.  I just wanted to die.  So then, back in Italy I wanted to learn the language so I started teaching myself [Italian].  I started working in the olive grove and slowly started getting sane again.  I met an American soldier,  the sixth fleet was stationed in Gaeta.  And he said the Americans go to this place to learn English so why don’t you go there to learn Italian so I went to school to learn Italian.  I drew a lot, and one day my book fell from my hands when I was walking with a friend and all these drawing fell out.

She was shocked, she didn’t know I could draw, let alone that I had my Masters in Fine Arts.  She said, You have your Masters, then you can teach for us!  She represented LaVerne University in Naples and so I was interviewed by an American girl who went to Fordham U in the Bronx and she hired me and I started teaching in Naples.  That is how I got back to a normal member of society and I was getting paid for it.

Before I went to Italy I was picked up by a Gallery on Madison Ave and the curator liked my work. She bought one of my pieces and began to represent me.  I was sending her drawings from Italy so I still had some validation from the art world but I didn’t know what to do with it.  I had some shows in Italy and a gallery represent me and my art was changing.  Then I came back to the US and taught at the University in North Carolina.

JK: So rediscovering your roots made you able to face your calling.

FA:  Yes, rediscovering my roots was very interesting – it gave me answers.  It was something that had to be taken care of. Then I had to come back and take care of my life in America and was able to teach here.  But I always continued to read and to paint.  I went to Hunter College which is now the City University of New York and began to teach.

JK: How did you continue to pursue painting after you became a teacher?

FA: That was very difficult because I was teaching 4 classes and you never stop.  Lots of preparation.  I would take my students to all the museums.  I was holding on to only  2 to 3 paintings and I wasn’t selling, I didn’t have enough to sell and I didn’t have a gallery.  I started to do small works on paper like wash, water color, pencil.  Then I had a show with this gallery in Germany right outside of Kassel. I was always experimenting with paper because I could get my ideas down right away.

JK: Did you develop a schedule to allow you to fulfill both responsibilities?

FA: I paint full time now.  I only teach one class at the local art center to get out into the community.  I like to get up early in the morning and start about 7.30 am when it is quiet and the light is good.  I stay there till noon and then take a break, a nap (reposo in Italian) and then I go back into the studio till about 6 or so.  This is 7 days a week and it is not enough. I am physically painting a good amount of that time.

JK: What advice would you give to a young person who wants to become an artist?

FA: It was difficult for me but I would say “You have to be a fool for something or you are dead meat”.  I tell my students, paint anything and everything you can even if you don’t feel like it. Read lots of books, look at lots of paintings.  I would tell my students to go to school, even get a PHD if you can.  Try to hang out with people who have the same passion.  You do make yourself vulnerable when you say you are an artist.  You should be painting wherever you are.

JK: And if you could sum up what painting has taught you about life in one sentence?

FA: God have mercy.  To me, it is always about that maybe painting is a metaphor for life.  You take something physical – like paint – and turn it into something spiritual.  There is a fragility about things, because when you are painting you don’t know what it is you will end up with. Otherwise it is an illustration.  Maybe it is not knowing how it will turn out that makes it so elusive, like life.

April, 2011

Needed to take March off. April looks really good. Excited about the Made in Austin screenings at the Cinefamily and the Tindersticks/Claire Denis Concert. LACMA’s schedule looked a little incomplete. Check back in with them throughout the month.
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April 1 – 20; Noir City: Hollywood, 13th Annual Festival of Film Noir @ Egyptian

April 1 – May 28 – David Lynch: New Paintings and Sculptures @ Griffin Gallery in Santa Monica

April 1 – 9 – Gus Van Sant/James Franco Exhibit @ Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills

April 1; 7:30pm – Herzog’s Lessons of Darkness with La Soufriere @ Cinefamily

April 1; 7:30pm – The Big Lebowski with Kingpin @ Aero

April 1; 9:45pm – Herzog’s Fata Morgana @ Cinefamily

April 2; 7:30pm – Richard Brooks Series: In Cold Blood with Mystery Street @ Billy Wilder

April 2; 7:00pm – Herzog’s Wodaabe: Herdsmen of the Sun with Bells from the Deep: Faith and Superstition In Russia @ Cinefamily

April 2; 9:45pm – Herzog’s The Great Ecstasy of the Woodcarver Steiner with How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck @ Cinefamily

April 3; 7:00pm – Herzog’s Land of Silence and Darkness @ Cinefamily

April 3; 9:15pm – Herzog’s Echoes From a Somber Empire @ Cinefamily

April 3 – 7 – Tarantino’s Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair: The Unrated Cannes Print @ New Beverly

April 7; 7:30pm – Peckinpah Series: Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid with Ride the High Country @ Aero

April 8; 7:45pm – Herzog’s God’s Angry Man with Huie’s Sermon @ Cinefamily

April 8; 10:00pm – Herzog’s Jag Mandir @ Cinefamily

April 9; 5:30pm – Made in Austin, Day One: Texas Legends, Before They Were Legends featuring films by Wes Anderson, Tobe Hooper, Robert Rodriguez & More @ Cinefamily

April 9; 7:30pm – Coppola’s The Godfather @ Aero

April 9; 8:00pm – Made in Austin, Day One: An Evening with Richard Linklater (in person) featuring Slacker and subUrbia @ Cinefamily

April 10; 4:00pm – Made in Austin, Day Two: Sunday BBQ featuring Last Night at the Alamo @ Cinefamily

April 10; 7:00pm – Richard Brooks Series: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof @ Billy Wilder

April 10; 7:30pm – Coppola’s The Godfather Part II @ Aero

April 10; 8:00pm – Made in Austin, Day Two: Tobe Hooper’s Eggshells with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre @ Cinefamily

April 10 – 12 – The Deer Hunter @ New Beverly

April 15; 7:30pm – Patricio Guzman Series: Nostalgia for Light @ Billy Wilder

April 16; 2:00pm – Richard Brooks Series: White Savage with Key Largo @ Billy Wilder

April 16; 6:30pm – An Evening with Allison Anders featuring Grace of My Heart @ Cinefamily

April 16; 7:30pm – Richard Brooks Series: Blackboard Jungle with Brute Force @ Billy Wilder

April 17; 7:30pm – Allison Anders in person featuring Gas Food Lodging with Mi Vida Loca @ Cinefamily

April 17; 7:30pm – Wendy and Lucy & Old Joy with Kelly Reichardt in person @ Aero

April 17 – 19 – Minnelli’s Gigi with Billy Wilder’s Love in the Afternoon @ New Beverly

April 20 – 21 – Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere & Lost in Translation @ New Beverly

April 22; 7:30pm – Maria Schneider Tribute: Last Tango in Paris & The Passenger @ Egyptian

April 22; 7:30pm & 9:40pm – Bresson’s Diary of a Country Priest @ LACMA

April 23; 5:00pm & 7:30pm – Bresson’s Diary of a Country Priest @ LACMA

April 23; 7:30pm – Richard Brooks Series: Elmer Gantry @ Billy Wilder

April 23 – Herzog’s Cave of Forgotten Dreams @ Natural History Museum

April 24; 1:00pm – Bresson’s Diary of a Country Priest @ LACMA

April 26; 8:00pm – When A Woman Ascends the Stairs with Yoko Sugi in person @ Cinefamily

April 26 – 27 – Sylvain Chomet’s The Illusionist & The Triplets of Belleville @ New Beverly

April 28 – 29 – Jarmusch’s Down by Law & Coffee and Cigarettes @ New Beverly

April 29; 7:30pm – Patricio Guzman’s The Battle of Chile Part 1 & 2 @ Billy Wilder

April 30; 8:00pm – Tindersticks Perform Claire Denis Film Scores Live @ Luckman Arts Complex at Cal State Los Angeles

April 30; 7:30pm – Peckinpah Series: The Wild Bunch & Convoy @ Aero

April 30; 7:30pm – Patricio Guzman’s The Battle of Chile Part 3 with Chile, Obstinate Memory @ Billy Wilder

January 2011 is dedicated to Kyle Laursen and his new home at the New Beverly Cinema.
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Jan 1; 5:00pm – A Day at the Races and A Night at the Opera @ Aero

Jan 2; 3:00pm – Indiana Jones Triple Feature: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade @ Egyptian

Jan 2; 7:30pm – His Girl Friday and Trouble in Paradise @ Aero

Jan 5; 7:30pm – The Misfits and San Francisco @ Aero

Jan 6; 7:30pm – All About Eve and The Man Who Came To Dinner @ Egyptian

Jan 6; 7:30pm – The Town and Gone Baby Gone with Ben Affleck in person @ @ Aero

Jan 6 -7; 7:30pm – Dietrich/Von Sternberg Double Bill: Shanghai Express and Blonde Venus @ New Beverly

Jan 7; 7:30pm – In A Lonely Place and The Treasure of Sierra Madre @ Egyptian

Jan 7; 7:30pm – The Golden Age of Road Movies: Five Easy Pieces and Play it As it Lays with Karen Black in person @ LACMA

Jan 7 – 13 – Yorgos Lanthimos’s Dogtooth @ Cinefamily
Winner of Prix Un Certain Regard at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. Looks good. Here’s the trailer:

Jan 8 – 9; Claude Lanzmann’s Shoah @ Aero

Jan 8; 5:00pm – The Golden Age of Road Movies: Easy Rider and Zabriskie Point @ LACMA

Jan 11; 7:30pm – Golden Globe Foreign Language Nominee: The Edge @ Aero

Jan 12; 7:30pm – Golden Globe Foreign Language Nominee: The Concert @ Aero

Jan 13; 7:30pm – Golden Globe Foreign Language Nominee: I Am Love @ Aero

Jan 13; 7:30pm – The Golden Age of Road Movies: Harry and Tonto with Paul Mazursky in person @ LACMA

Jan 14; 7:30pm – The Golden Age of Road Movies: Bonnie and Clyde and Thunderbolt and Lightfoot @ LACMA

Jan 14; 7:30pm – Rear Window and Dial M For Murder @ Egyptian

Jan 14 – 15; 7:30pm – The Wright Stuff II: Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World @ New Beverly
Edgar Wright in person to discuss

Jan 15; 1:00pm – Golden Globe Foreign Language Nominee Panel Discussion

Jan 15; 5:00pm – The Golden Age of Road Movies: Electra Glide in Blue and Scarecrow with Vilmos Zsigmond in person @ LACMA

Jan 15; 7:00pm – Bruce Dern in Person: The King of Marvin Gardens and Tattoo @ Cinefamily

Jan 15; 7:30pm – Jodorowsky Series: Santa Sangre and Fando and Lis @ Egyptian

Jan 16; 4:00pm – Bruce Dern in Person: Smile and Silent Running and Diggstown @ Cinefamily

Jan 16; 7:30pm – Jodorowsky Series: El Topo and The Holy Mountain with Producer Robert Taicher in person @ Egyptian

Jan 16; 4:00pm – The Red Balloon and White Mane @ Aero

Jan 16 – 17 – The Wright Stuff II: Brazil and Delicatessen @ New Beverly
Edgar Wright in person to discuss

Jan 18 – 19 – The Wright Stuff II: Dirty Harry and Super Cops @ New Beverly
Edgar Wright in person to discuss

Jan 19; 7:30pm – Douglas Sirk’s There’s Always Tomorrow with Pat Crowley in person @ Aero

Jan 20; 7:30pm – Visconti’s The Leopard @ Egyptian

Jan 20 – 21 – The Wright Stuff II: American Graffiti and Animal House @ New Beverly
Edgar Wright in person to discuss

Jan 21; 7:30pm – Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey @ Egyptian

Jan 21; 7:30pm – The Golden Age of Road Movies: Two Lane Blacktop and Alice’s Restaurant with Monte Hellman in person @ LACMA

Jan 21; 8:00pm – Blood Simple with M. Emmet Walsh in person @ Cinefamily

Jan 21; 7:30pm – Hitchcock’s Vertigo in 70mm @ Aero

Jan 22; 1:00pm – Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Complete Trilogy @ Egyptian

Jan 22; 7:30pm – The French Connection and To Live and Die in L.A. with William Friedkin in person @ Aero

Jan 22; Midnight – The Wright Stuff II: Run Lola Run @ New Beverly
Edgar Wright in person to discuss

Jan 22 – 23 – The Wright Stuff II: Frenzy and Dressed to Kill @ New Beverly
Edgar Wright in person to discuss

Jan 23; 7:30pm – Sorcerer and The Exorcist with William Friedkin in person @ Aero

Jan 23; 7:30pm – Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and The Seven Year Itch @ Egyptian

Jan 24 – 25 – The Wright Stuff II: The Driver and Duel @ New Beverly
Edgar Wright in person to discuss

Jan 26; 7:30pm – Amadeus @ Aero

Jan 26 – 27 – The Wright Stuff II: Wild At Heart and True Romance @ New Beverly
Edgar Wright in person to discuss

Jan 27; 7:30pm – The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and Red River @ Aero

Jan 27; 7:30pm – Polanski’s Knife in the Water and Macbeth @ Egyptian

Jan 28; 7:30pm – Polanski’s Chinatown and The Tenant @ Egyptian

Jan 28; 7:30pm – Rebel Without A Cause and East of Eden @ Aero

Jan 28 – 29 – The Wright Stuff II: The Wanderers and The Warriors @ New Beverly
Edgar Wright in person to discuss

Jan 29; 7:30pm – Polanski’s Repulsion and Rosemary’s Baby @ Egyptian

Jan 30; 7:30pm – Polanski’s Cul-De-Sac and The Fearless Vampire Killer @ Egyptian

Jan 30; 8:00pm – Metropolitan 20th Anniversary Screening with Whit Stillman in person @ Cinefamily

Jan 30 – 31 – The Wright Stuff: Thunderbolt and Lightfoot and Miami Blues @ New Beverly
Edgar Wright in person to discuss

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 categories.

In terms of the feature film section, NYU students and alumni knocked it out of the park with 30% of the features in the US Dramatic Competition.

NYU and Columbia also held strong in the shorts category, with three films from each school in the Dramatic Competition.

Studying the loglines of films in competition always gives you a sense of a festival’s particular bent.

Here they are:

Features:

AFI

Like Crazy (Director: Drake Doremus; Screenwriters: Drake Doremus and Ben York Jones) – A young American guy and a young British girl meet in college and fall in love. Their love is tested when she is required to leave the country and they must face the challenges of a long-distance relationship. Cast: Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones, Jennifer Lawrence, Charlie Bewley, Alex Kingston.

North Carolina School of the Arts

Take Shelter (Director and screenwriter: Jeff Nichols) – A working-class husband and father questions whether his terrifying dreams of an apocalyptic storm signal something real to come or the onset of an inherited mental illness he’s feared his whole life. Cast: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Shea Whigham, Katy Mixon, Kathy Baker.

NYU

Benavides Born (Director: Amy Wendel; Screenwriters: Daniel Meisel and Amy Wendel) – A high school senior in a forgotten town has earned admission to the University of Texas at Austin but can’t afford to go. Her one shot is a scholarship for winning the State Powerlifting Championship. Cast: Corina Calderon, Jeremy Ray Valdez, Joseph Julian Soria, Julia Vera, Julio César Cedillo.

Circumstance (Director and screenwriter: Maryam Keshavarz) – A wealthy Iranian family struggles to contain a teenager’s growing sexual rebellion and her brother’s dangerous obsession. Cast: Nikohl Boosheri, Sarah Kazemy, Reza Sixo Safai, Soheil Parsa, Nasrin Pakkho.

Gun Hill Road (Director and screenwriter: Rashaad Ernesto Green) – After three years in prison, Enrique returns to the Bronx to find his wife estranged and his teenage son stumbling towards a transformation that will put the fragile bonds of their family to the test.Cast: Esai Morales, Judy Reyes, Harmony Santana, Vincent Laresca, Miriam Colon.

On the Ice (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Okpeaha MacLean) – On the snow-covered Arctic tundra, two teenagers try to get away with murder. Cast: Josiah Patkotak, Frank Qutuq Irelan, Teddy Kyle Smith, Adamina Kerr, Sierra Jade Sampson.

Pariah (Director and screenwriter: Dee Rees) – When forced to choose between losing her best friend or destroying her family, a Bronx teenager juggles conflicting identities and endures heartbreak in a desperate search for sexual expression. Cast: Adepero Oduye, Pernell Walker, Kim Wayans, Charles Parnell, Aasha Davis.

SUNY Purchase

Terri (Director: Azazel Jacobs; Screenwriters: Patrick Dewitt and Azazel Jacobs) — Orphaned to an uncle who is fading away, mercilessly teased by his peers and roundly ignored by his teachers, Terri is alienated and alone. When the dreaded vice-principal sees something of himself in Terri, they establish a friendship which opens Terri up to the possibility that life is not something to be endured, but something to be shared, and even enjoyed. Cast: Jacob Wysocki, John C. Reilly, Creed Bratton, Olivia Crocicchia, Bridger Zadina.

UCLA

HERE (Director: Braden King; Written By: Braden King and Dani Valent) – On assignment to create a new, more accurate satellite survey of Armenia, an American cartographer forms a powerful bond with an Armenian expatriate and art photographer. Cast: Ben Foster and Lubna Azabal with Narek Nersisyan, Yuri Kostanyan and Sofik Sarkisyan.

Shorts:

AFI

I’m Having a Difficult Time Killing My Parents (Director: Jeff Tomsic; Screenwriter: T.J. Miller and Jeff Tomsic) – Thirty-two, unemployed, and derailed somewhere on the path to adulthood, T.J. has boomeranged back home. There, his ennui takes the form of increasingly real fantasies about offing his parents and becoming man of the house.

CalArts

Forever’s Gonna Start Tonight (Director and Screenwriter: Eliza Hittman) – A Russian teenager in Brooklyn makes an unimaginable decision to protect her aging father and herself.

Columbia

Babyland (Director and Screenwriter: Marc Fratello) – A woman seeks love and beyond in a small American town.

Crazy Beats Strong Every Time (Director and Screenwriter: Moon Molson) – An African-American twenty-something finds his Nigerian-immigrant stepfather passed out drunk in their project-building hallway and is pressured by a friend into murdering him.

The Strange Ones (Directors and Screenwriters: Christopher Radcliff and Lauren Wolkstein) – A man and a boy, traveling to an unknown destination, find respite in a motel swimming pool. On the surface all seems normal, but nothing is quite what it seems to be.

NYU

Close. (Director and Screenwriter: Tahir Jetter) – One night after a casual ‘visit’, Angela is all but ready to leave Derek’s apartment. Derek, however, is determined not to let her go without a fight.

The Hunter and the Swan Discuss Their Meeting (Director and Screenwriter: Emily Carmichael) – A Brooklyn couple have dinner with a hunter and his girlfriend, a magical swan woman. It doesn’t go well.

sexting (Director and Screenwriter: Neil LaBute) – People are not who they seem when a misdirected text message leads a young woman to meet with the wife of her boyfriend and ask what is really going on in their relationship. Cast: Julia Stiles.

Savannah College of Design

After You Left (Director: Jef Taylor; Screenwriters: Jef Taylor and Michael Tisdale) – A man in his mid-thirties searches for meaning in the aftermath of a relationship.

SUNY Purchase

The Pact (Director and Screenwriter: Nicholas McCarthy) – As a woman struggles to come to grips with her past in the wake of her mother’s death, an unsettling presence emerges.

For a look at the shorts from last year, check out Film School Roundup 2010

1. Film Independent’s Filmmaker Forum

The filmmaker forum is a one night two day event held every year at the DGA theater. It not only has various panels with working indie film producers, directors, agents, publicists and a host of others, it also offers extensive networking opportunities. Indielink is an opportunity to meet with agents, managers and other important industry people. You get 10 minutes each with every person you sign up for. The way to get in on the best tables, which fill up extremely quickly, is to order your passes as early as possible, then send an email to FIND asking for the indielink tables. When the tables are set, about a week before the event, they send you a list of people who will be at Indielink, and you can sign up. There are also networking lunches each day with various industry people to meet with.

You also receive a booklet which is worth the price of the forum on its own. Inside are case studies of most of the major independent releases for the year, including detailed information on their financing, production, festival strategy, distribution, sales and exhibition. It’s remarkable. Also included is a detailed list of grants for documentary filmmakers. The forum itself also has an entire program for documentary filmmakers.

2. The Incentives Office Symposiums

The Incentives Office publishes booklets detailing all of the tax credits, rebates and refunds in the United States. Today I was at their brunch and series of talks. Not only are tax incentives a way to help fund your projects, if they fit your story they can make your project much more attractive to investors. The top four states mentioned today were

1. Louisiana offers a 30% transferrable income tax credit for expenditures incurred within the state, e.g. purchases made from a Louisiana vendor, ATL (above the line), resident and non-resident labor. The credit has no salary caps.
2. Michigan offers a 40% rebate for all materials and services purchased or rented from Michigan vendors, 40% for Michigan crew and all ATL salaries, and 30% for Below the Line (BTL) crew. There is a $2 million cap per hire, but no per-year or per-project cap.
3. Georgia offers a 20% transferrable tax credit for in-state expenditures, with an additional 10% tax credit if an approved placement of a Georgia promotional logo is featured in opening titles or end credits as well as within all promotional trailers and negotiated payments.
4. Connecticut offers a possible 30% transferable tax credit. 10% for a spend between $100,000 and $500,000. 15% for $500,000 ro $1,000,000. and 30% for over $1,000,000.

3. The American Film Market

The American Film Market is the largest film market in the world. For 9 days sales agents, film professionals, and film buyers converge on a series of buildings in Santa Monica every year.

This was my first AFM, and I was only there for a day. The main areas, where sales agents have their suites, is both fascinating and overwhelming. Hotel rooms are filled with posters for all varieties of films. Just walking around can give you a sense of which companies are selling which films.

The AFM also hosts a variety of screenings and events. The only one I made it to was the pitchfest, where fellows from the Film Independent Producers Lab pitch to an industry panel. Watching each of these independent filmmakers try to pitch their projects, and hearing the panel’s response was illuminating about the state of the marketplace and the viability of the projects. The most consistent note was “What is the story?”

4. Variety’s Future of Film Conference

UTA Agent Rena Ronson Discusses Film Finance

Variety’s Future of Film conference is a one day event filled with major industry panels and speakers. Topics range from financing and distribution to specifics on technology. It gives an excellent overview of how major people feel about what’s happening in the movie industry now, and also offers some access to those people. I wouldn’t go hammering away at them to read your script, but there is an opportunity to meet people you otherwise wouldn’t be able to.

5. Distribution U

Peter Broderick lecturing at Distribution U

Distribution U is a one-day seminar hosted by Peter Broderick and Scott Kirsner. Broderick has become a sort of new media guru and is a distribution consultant on innumerable independent features and documentaries. Scott Kirsner wrote the book Friends, Fans and Followers, which looks at new models artists are using to fund their work and their lives.

Distribution U focuses on identifying key audiences. The idea is that you build a fanbase online while in production on your project through Facebook, Twitter, Kickstarter, Blogs, etc. so you have an immediate audience you can go to when your film is done.

There was some very useful advice in the seminar, which was more geared toward documentary filmmakers, whose audiences are more issue-based and thus easier to identify.

For a first-time filmmaker, the Kickstarter to $50,000 feature to festival to self-distribution model is a viable one that should be considered, and there’s no better overview than distribution U.

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 the Egyptian and Grauman’s Chinese in Hollywood
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Screenings:

November 2; 8:00pm – A Tribute to William Eggleston: Stranded in Canton – a film by William Eggleston @ Cinefamily

November 3; 7:30pm – Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maruice Sendak w/ Lance Bangs in person shown with The Beaches of Agnes @ A.M.P.A.S Linwood Dunn Theatre
Free Admission

November 4; 7:30pm – A Tribute to William Eggleston: Hitchcock’s North By Northwest @ LACMA

November 4; 7:30pm – Gillo Pontecorvo’s Queimada (aka Burn!) @ Aero

November 5; 7:30pm – A Tribute to William Eggleston: Jarmusch’s Mystery Train and Davidy Byrne’s True Stories @ LACMA

November 5; 8:00pm – Neo-Noir: Walter Hill’s The Drive with Michael Mann’s Thief @ Cinefamily

November 4; 9:00pm – A Tribute to William Eggleston: Harmony Korine’s Trash Humpers @ LACMA
Screening is preceded by a conversation with Harmony Korine, Director of Photography Ed Lachman (I’m Not There, Ken Park), and other guests to discuss the relationship between photography and film.

November 6; 1:30pm – California State Parks in Film: Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi with Mark Hamill in person @ Paramount Studios
Full Details here: www.calparks.org/join/events/second-annual.html

November 6: 4:30pm – California State Parks in Film: Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H with Elliot Gould in person @ Paramount Studios
Full Details here: www.calparks.org/join/events/second-annual.html

November 7: 1:00pm – California State Parks in Film: Spartacus with Planet of the Apes @ Fox Studios
Full Details: www.calparks.org/join/events/second-annual.html

November 7: 5:00pm – With Great Power – The Stan Lee Story w/ introduction by Stan Lee @ Aero

November 10; 7:30pm – An Academy Salute to Dang Nhat Minh @ A.M.P.A.S Samuel Goldwyn Theatre
Part of the New Voices from Vietnam Series hosted at the Hammer Museum, sponsored by A.M.P.A.S

November 11; 7:30pm – Baraka in 70mm @ Egyptian

November 12; 7:30pm – Hard Boiled Hong Kong: John Woo’s The Killer and Wong-Kar Wai’s As Tears Go By @ LACMA

November 12; 7:30pm – Neo-Noir: Paul Scrader’s American Gigolo and Jim McBride’s Breathless @ Cinefamily

November 12, 13 – Two by Cassavetes: Shadows and The Killing of a Chinese Bookie @ New Beverly

November 13; 5:30pm – Hard Boiled Hong Kong: Johnnie To’s The Mission and John Woo’s Hard Boiled @ LACMA

November 13; 5:00pm – Scorsese and DiCaprio: The Departed and Gangs of New York @ Egyptian

November 14; 1:00pm – Scorsese and DiCaprio: Shutter Island and The Aviator w/ satellite interview with Martin Scorcese and Leonardo DiCaprio @ Egyptian

November 14, 15 – Kobayashi’s Samurai Rebellion with Okamoto’s The Sword of Doom @ New Beverly

November 19; 7:30pm – Hard Boiled Hong Kong: Wong Kar Wai’s Fallen Angels and Tsui Hark’s Time and Tide @ LACMA

November 19; 7:30pm – Alex Cox in Person: Straight to Hell Returns @ Billy Wilder

November 19; 8:00pm – Neo-Noir: John Frankenheimer’s 52 Pick Up and De Palma’s Body Double @ Cinefamily

November 19, 20 – Two by Antonioni: Le Amiche and The Passenger @ New Beverly

November 21; 7:30pm – David Fincher’s The Social Network with Aaron Sorkin and TBA Cast Members in person @ Aero

November 23; 8:00pm – Neo-Noir: Hal Ashby’s 8 Million Ways to Die with Friedkin’s To Live and Die in L.A. @ Cinefamily

November 20; 5:00pm – Hard Boiled Hong Kong: Johnnie To’s Exiled and Tsui Hark’s Once Upon a Time in China @ LACMA

November 20; 7:30pm – Alex Cox in Person: Sid and Nancy with Highway Patrolman @ Billy Wilder

November 26; 7:30pm – Hard Boiled Hong Kong: John Woo’s Red Cliff: Part I @ LACMA

November 26, 27 – Tribute to Tony Curtis: Sweet Smell of Success and Some Like it Hot @ New Beverly

November 27; 4:00pm – Hard Boiled Hong Kong: John Woo’s Red Cliff: Part I and Part II @ LACMA

November 27; 8:00pm – Cinefamily Pajama Party: Labyrinth with Return to Oz @ Cinefamily

November 28, 29 – Two by Corman: Tales of Terror and The Haunted Place @ New Beverly

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Enjoy

Richard

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October 1; 7:30pm – Marco Bellocchio Series: Fists in the Pocket and China is Near @ LACMA

October 1; 8:00pm – Stephen King Series: Christine and Carrie @ Cinefamily

October 1; 7:30pm – Blaxploitation and African American Cinema of the 1970s: Superfly and Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song @ Billy Wilder

October 2; 7:30pm – Marco Bellocchio Series: The Devil in the Flesh and The Nanny @ LACMA

October 2; 10:00pm – Stephen King Series: Dollar Babies Mini Film Fest @ Cinefamily

Professional and Student shorts adapted from King short stories

October 3; 2:00pm – Stephen King Series: Dollar Babies Mini Film Fest @ Cinefamily

Second series of professional and student shorts adapted from King short stories

October 6, 7, 8 – Fellini/Masina Double Feature: La Strada and Juliet of the Spirits @ New Beverly

October 7; 8:00pm – Gaillo Series: Argento’s Deep Red and Opera @ Cinefamily

October 7; 7:30pm – The Usual Suspects @ Aero

October 8; 7:30pm – Tribute to the Film Foundation: The Big Combo and They Made Me a Fugitive @ LACMA

October 8; 7:30pm – Confessions of a Dangerous Mind & Moon @ Aero

October 9; 5:00pm – Tribute to the Film Foundation: Pather Panchali and The Red Shoes @ LACMA

October 10; 8:00pm – American Psycho with Director Mary Harron and Co-Writer Guinevere Turner in person @ Cinefamily

October 11, 12 – Exit Through the Gift Shop – A Bansky Film @ New Beverly

October 13; 7:30pm – Sex, Lies, Videotape @ Aero

October 13, 14 – Diary of a Mad Housewife and A Woman Under the Influence @ New Beverly

October 14; 7:30pm – Elia Kazan’s Wild River @ AMPAS Goldwyn Theatre

October 14; 7:30pm – Visconti’s Rocco and His Brothers @ Aero

October 14; 8:00pm – Gaillo Series: Lenzi’s Paranoia shown with Eyeball and Dirty Pictures @ Cinefamily

October 15; 7:30pm – Carpenter’s Halloween and The Fog @ Aero

October 15; 7:30pm – Tribute to the Film Foundation: Bonjour tristesse and The Barefoot Contessa @ LACMA

October 15; 7:30pm – Blaxploitation and African American Cinema of the 1970s: Cotton Comes to Harlem and Shaft @ Billy Wilder

October 15, 16 – Polanski Double Feature: Rosemary’s Baby and Chinatown @ New Beverly

October 16; 5:00pm – Tribute to the Film Foundation: Leave Her to Heaven and Senso @ LACMA

October 17; 7:00pm – Blaxploitation and African American Cinema of the 1970s: Coffy and Cleopatra Jones @ Billy Wilder

October 19 – The Clonus Horror and The Clones with Myrl A. Schreibman in person (schedule permitting) @ New Beverly

October 20; 7:00pm – The Most Dangerous Man In America: Daniel Ellseberg and the Pentagon Papers @ AMPAS Linwood Dunn Theatre

October 21; 7:30pm – Assayas’ Double Feature: Irma Vep & Demonlover with Olivier Assayas in person @ Egyptian

October 21; 8:00pm – Gaillo Series: Amer shown with Perfume of the Lady in Black and What Have You Done To Solange @ Cinefamily

October 22 – 24; Olivier Assayas’ Carlos: The Entire Epic (5 1/2 Hours) @ Egyptian

October 22, 23 – Carol Reed’s The Third Man and John Boulting’s Brighton Rock @ New Beverly

October 23; 7:30pm – Tribute to the Film Foundation: Beggars of Life @ LACMA

October 25 – 27; 7:30pm – Olivier Assayas’ Carlos: The Theatrical Version @ Egyptian

October 26; 7:30pm – Get Low & Tomorrow with Robert Duvall in person

October 26; 8:00pm – Ken Russell ’80s Horror – Lair of the White Worm and Gothic @ Cinefamily

October 27; 7:30pm – Donnie Darko with Live Commentary by Director Richard Kelly @ Aero

October 28; 8:00pm – Gaillo Series: All the Colors of the Dark and The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh @ Cinefamily

October 29; 7:30pm – Tribute to the Film Foundation: Shadow of a Doubt and Cloak and Dagger @ LACMA

October 29; 7:30pm – Blaxploitation and African American Cinema of the 1970s: Amazing Grace and Cooley High @ Billy Wilder

October 30; 7:30pm – Elia Kazan’s Baby Doll @ Billy Wilder

October 31; 7:00pm – Blaxploitation and African American Cinema of the 1970s: Ganja & Hess and Blacula @ Billy Wilder

Enjoy

Richard

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 International Film Festival
• Trevor Groth, Sundance Film Festival
• Kim Dong-Ho, Pusan International Film Festival
• Li Cheuk-To, Hong Kong International Film Festival
• Frederic Maire, Locarno International Film Festival
• Marco Muller, Venice International Film Festival
• Olivier Pere, Cannes Directors’ Fortnight
• Azize Tan, Istanbul International Film Festival
• Christoph Terhechte, Berlin International Film Festival
• Sergio Wolf, Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival

The book features a synopsis of one chosen film, a review by the  festival director who chose it, and some information on the film’s director, including prizes, format and where they went to school. When I saw that last bit of information, I realized it might be fascinating to examine where these great new directors decide to go to film/theater school (if at all). I also looked at what these filmmakers decided to shoot on, to see whether HD has taken over film (it hasn’t).

The format I have chosen is the following:

Director’s Name – Working Country – Film Chosen – Film/Theater School? – Format

Here they are:

1. Maren Ade – Germany – “Alle Anderen (Everyone Else)” – University of Film and Television, Munich – 35 mm

2. Ashim Ahluwalia – India – “John & Jane” – Bard College – 35 mm

3. Lisandro Alonso – Argentina – “Los Muertos” – N/A (Cinema Studies Degree) – 35 mm

4. Özcan Alper – Turkey – “Autumn” – N/A (Physics Degree) – 35 mm

5. Rabah Ameur-Zaimeche – France – Adhen (Dernier Maquis) – N/A (Social Sciences Degree) – HD

6. Judd Apatow – USA – “Funny People” – (2 years USC screenwriting, dropped out) – 35 mm

7. Andrea Arnold – UK – “Red Road” – N/A – HD

8. Aditya Assat – Thailand – “Wonderful Town” – USC – HD

9. Lionel Baier – Switzerland/France – “Stealth” – University of Lausanne, Switzerland – DV

10. Sophie Barthes – USA – “Cold Souls” – Columbia Film School – 35 mm

11. Aida Begic – Bosnia and Herzegovina – “Snow” – Academy of Performing Arts, Sarajevo – 35 mm

12. Cristoffer Bow – Denmark – “Allegro” – National Film School of Denmark – 35 mm

13. Bong Joon-Ho – Korea – “The Host” – Korean Academy of Film Arts – 35 mm

14. Jan Bonny – Germany – “Counterparts” – Academy of Media Arts, Cologne – 16 mm

15. Serge Bozon – France – “La France” – N/A – 35 mm

16. Andrew Bujalski – USA – “Beeswax” – Harvard – Super 16 mm

17. Yoon-Chul Chung – South Korea – “Marathon” – Hanyang University, Australian Film & TV School, Sydney – 35 mm

18. Denis Cote – Canada – “All That She Wants” – N/A – HD

19. Pepe Diokno – Phillipines – “Clash” – University of the Phillipines Film Institute – HD

20. Quentin Dupieux – France – “Steak” – N/A – 35 mm

21. Jay and Mark Duplass – USA – “Baghead” – (Jay – UT  Austin – Mark – N/A) – HD

22. Nash Edgerton – Australia – “The Square” – N/A – 35 mm

23. Edwin – Indonesia – “Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly” – Jakarta Institute of the Arts – 35 mm

24. Fernando Eimbcke – Mexico – “Lake Tahoe” – Film School in Mexico City – 35 mm

25. Paz Encina – Paraguay – “Paraguayan Hammock” – Universidad del Cine, Buenos Aires, Argentina – 35 mm

26. Pelin Esmer – Turkey – “10 to 11″ – N/A – 35 mm

27. Jim Finn – USA – “La Trinchera Luminosa del Presidente Gonzalo” – N/A – Hi-8

28. Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden – USA – “Sugar” – NYU/Columbia – 35 mm

29. Ari Folman – Israel – “Waltz with Bashir” – Tel Aviv University – 35 mm, 2D Animation

30. Tom Ford – USA – “A Single Man” – NYU/Parson’s The New School for Design – 35 mm

31. Cary Fukunaga – USA – “Sin Nombre” – NYU – 35 mm

32. Chris Fuller – USA – “Loren Cass” – N/A – Super 16 mm

33. Jonathan Glazer - UK – “Birth” – N/A (Theater Design) – 35 mm

34. Miguel Gomes – Portugal – “Our Beloved Month of August” – Escole Superior de Teatro e Cinema, Amadora, Portugal – 35 mm

35. Douglas Gordon – UK – “Zidane: A 21st Centure Portrait” – The Slade School of Fine Art, London, UK – 35 mm

36. Bradley Rust Gray – USA – “The Exploding Girl” – USC, BFI, School of Art Institute Chicago, Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts, Auburn University – 4K Digital

37. Valeska Grisebach – Germany – “Longing” – Vienna Film Academy – 35 mm

38. Lance Hammer – USA – “Ballast” – USC – 35 mm

39. Mia Hansen-Løve – France – “All is Forgiven” – Paris Drama Conservatory – 35 mm

40. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck – Germany – “The Lives of Others” – Munich Film Academy – 35 mm

41. Jody Hill – USA – “The Foot Fist Way” – University of North Carolina – 16 mm

42. Hiromasa Hirosue – Japan – “Fourteen” – N/A – 35 mm

43. Ho Yuhang – Malaysia – “Rain Dogs” – Iowa State University – 35 mm

44. Jiang Wen – China – “The Sun Also Rises” – Central Drama Academy, Bejing, China – 35 mm

45. Rian Johnson – USA – “Brick” – USC – 35 mm

46. Miranda July – USA – “Me You and Everyone We Know” – N/A – HD

47. Huseyin Karabey – Turkey – “Gitmek: My Marlon and Brando” – N/A – HDV

48. Farah Khan – India – “Om Shanti Om” – N/A – 35 mm

49. Eric Khoo – Singapore – “Be With Me” – N/A – HD

50. So Yong Kim – USA – “In Between Days” – School of the Arts Institute Chicago – Digital, 16 mm

51. Ulrich Kohler – Germany – “Windows on Monday” – University of Fine Arts, Hamburg, Germany – 35 mm

52. Eran Kolirin – Israel – “The Band’s Visit” – N/A – 35 mm

53. Isaki Lacuesta – Spain – “The Legend of Time” – Universidad Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain – HD

54. Pablo Larrain – Chile – “Tony Manero” – UNIACC University, Santiago, Chile – Super 16 mm

55. Liu Jiayin – China – “Oxhide II” – Bejing Film Academy – HD

56. Liu Jie – China – “Courthouse On the Horseback” – Bejing Film Academy – 35 mm

57. Lu Chuan – China – “Mountain Patrol: Kekexili” – Bejing Film Academy – 35 mm

58. Lucrecia Martel – Argentina – “The Headless Woman” – National Experimentation Filmmaking School, Buenos Aires, Argentina – 35 mm

59. Raya Martin – Phillipines – “A Short Film About the Indio Nacional” – College of Mass Communication, University of the Phillipines, Diliman, Phillipines – DV, 35 mm

60. Tom Mccarthy – USA – “The Visitor” – Yale School of Drama – 35 mm

61. Steve McQueen – UK – “Hunger” – N/A – 35 mm

62. Brillante Mendoza – Philippines – “The Masseur” – N/A – Mini DV

63. Cristian Mungiu – Romania – “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” – Bucharest Theater and Film School, Romania – 35 mm

64. Radu Muntean – Romania – “The Paper Will Be Blue” – Bucharest Theater and Film School, Romania – 16 mm

65. Gerardo Naranjo – Mexico – “I’m Gonna Explode” – AFI – 35 mm

66. Shriin Neshat – Iran – “Women Without Men” – UC Berkeley – Super 35 mm

67. Ning Hao – China – “Mongolian Ping Pong” – Bejing Film Academy – 35 mm

68. Noh Young-Seok – Korea – “Daytime Drinking” – N/A – HD

69. Veiko Õunpuu – Estonia – “Autumn Ball” – Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn, Estonia – 35 mm

70. Asli Özge – Turkey – “Men On the Bridge” – Marmara University – HD

71. Gyogy Palfi – Hungary – “Taxidermia” – Theater and Film Academy, Budapest, Hungary – 35 mm

72. Ho-Cheung Pang – Hong Kong – “Beyond Our Ken” – N/A – 35 mm

73. Sarah Polley – Canada – “Away From Her” – N/A – 35 mm

74. Corneliu Porumboiu – Romania – “Police, Adjective” – National University of Drama and Film, Bucharest, Romania – 35 mm

75. Cristi Puiu – Romania – “The Death of Mr. Lazarescu” – Ecole Supérieure d’Art Visuel, Geneva, Switzerland – 35 mm

76. Philippe Ramos – France – “Captain Ahab” – N/A – 35 mm

77. Kelly Reichardt – USA – “Old Joy” – School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. – Super 16 mm

78. Carlos Reygadas – Mexico – “Silent Light” – Escuela Libre de Derecho, Mexico City, Mexico – 35 mm

79. Enrique Rivero - Spain – “Parque Via” – Universidad Anáhuac, Huixquilucan, Mexico – Super 16 mm

80. Joao Pedro Rodrigues – Portugal – “Two Drifters” – Lisbon Film School, Portugal – 35 mm

81. Gyeong-Tae Roh - South Korea – “Land of Scarecrows” – Columbia College Chicago, San Francisco Art Institute – Super 16 mm

82. Axelle Ropert – France – “The Wolberg Family” – N/A – 35 mm, Cinemascope

83. Gianfranco Rosi – Eritrea – “Below Sea Level” – NYU – 35 mm

84. Esther Rots – Netherlands – “Can Go Through Skin” – School of Fine Arts, Arnhem, Netherlands – Super 16 mm

85. Wisit Sasanatieng – Thailand – “Citizen Dog” – N/A – 35 mm

86. Jean-Stephane Sauvaire - France – “Johnny Mad Dog” – N/A – HD

87. Liev Schreiber – USA – “Everything Is Illuminated” – Yale University – 35 mm

88. Albert Serra – Spain – “Honor of the Knights” – N/A – 35 mm

89. Zack Snyder – USA – “Watchmen” – Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, California, USA – 35 mm

90. Auraeus Solito – Philippines – “The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros” – Theater Arts, University of the Philippines, Quezon City, Philippines – Mini DV

91. Izumi Takahashi – Japan – “The Soup, One Morning” – N/A – Mini DV

92. Tariq Teguia – Algeria – “Rome Rather Than You” – N/A – 35 mm

93. Syfi Teoman – Turkey – “Summer Book” – Polish National Film School, Lodz, Poland – 35 mm

94. Hugo Vieira Da Silva - Portugal – “Body Rice” – Escola Superior de Teatro a Cinema, Lisbon, Portugal – Super 16 mm

95. Taika Waititi – New Zealand – “Eagle Vs Shark” – N/A – 35 mm

96. Hans Weingartner – Germany – “The Edukators” – Academy of Media Arts, Cologne, Germany – DVCPRO50

97. Henner Winckler – Germay – “Lucy” – University of Fine Arts, Hamburg, Germany – Super 16 mm

98. Jong-Chan Yoon – South Korea – “Blue Swallow” – Syracuse University – Super 35 mm

99. Zhang Lu – China – “Grain in Ear” – N/A – 35 mm

100. Andrei Zvyagintsev – Russia – “The Banishment” – Moscow State Theater School, Russia – 35 mm

Whew! And that’s the new big watching list for this year. Send me any errors/omissions you might find.

I saw Aleem Hossain’s Pinkerton in one of my first writing classes at UCLA. It remains one of my favorite short films, a genre-bending joyride. I sat down this week to talk with Aleem via Skype about the making of the film and life after completing his MFA at UCLA.

Jason Kohl: Tell me about your process creating Pinkerton.

Aleem Hossain: I kicked around a lot of ideas but eventually I figured out that I wanted my thesis to be two things:  Short and a cop movie. I’d seen a few good 25 minute thesis films and a lot of bad ones.

I love cop shows and movies – so I wanted to work in that genre.  But I kept banging my head against the wall when it came to finding an original story. And then I read this New Yorker article by Adam Gopnik where he was talking about his kid’s funny imaginary friend. I read that and suddenly I remembered my childhood imaginary friend.

But my childhood imaginary friend was a rock.  This small piece of stone I found in my backyard. That didn’t seem too cinematic.  And so I added one of my other favorite things, muppets. I started thinking about what my imaginary rock friend would make of my life a couple of decades later. And from there I found my twist on the classic “cop out to avenge his partner” story.

JK: How was the shoot?

AH: I shot for 4 1/2 days with a crew of about 10-15 depending on the day.

JK: And if you don’t mind my asking, what was the budget for Pinkerton?

AH: It cost $13,000 to get Pinkerton in the can.  And then another $4-5k for all the post.  Somewhere in the $17,000 range all told.  The most expensive film I’ve ever made.

JK: What did you do with the film from there?

AH: I sent it out to festivals but it didn’t get into many of them.  It’s been really interesting to watch it’s festival life. Every time the film gets into a festival, audiences love it. But I think a lot of people don’t know what to make of it when watching it alone.

I think they don’t know whether to laugh or not… in an audience, there’s always some people who will just react bigger than everyone – and that carries the crowd. I found that when I show it to producers or festival folks one-on-one, it’s success rate is lower.

JK: That’s too bad. Everyone I saw it with loved it I think. So what was your exit strategy leaving UCLA?

AH: I knew, even at the time, that I should have an awesome short and a feature script to go with it – either a feature version of the same movie or one in the same genre.  Bil McDonald told us that on the very first day of school 4 years earlier.

But I didn’t leave with that. I had written scripts – even a feature version of Pinkerton – but I wasn’t happy with any of them.

So I got a lot of buzz off of Pinkerton out of Spotlight but I didn’t have a good feature sample.  I did have the other script I’d co-written, but it was a comedy and I wasn’t going to direct that script, so it didn’t really propel me towards

I went to a lot of meetings – met a lot of nice people – but I didn’t have anything for them to work with, really.

JK: What do you feel would have been best for them?

AH: I needed a relatively commercial (at least somewhat high concept) feature script.  If I was just interested in writing, it could have even been a 100 million dollar type movie.  To direct, it ideally would have been a million or under (and that would still have probably been a long shot). I spent a number of years trying to write those scripts.

JK: How were your first years out of UCLA?

AH: I spent a lot of time in development on that comedy script I co-wrote.  Which was great b/c it introduced me to the strange pace, logic, and requirements of studio filmmaking.  But also drove me crazy b/c we worked and worked without getting paid.  And on the side I was trying to write high-concept thrillers and sci-fi films.  And after about 3 years I realized that I didn’t like writing like that.  I didn’t think:  high concept is selling out – or – commercial screenwriting is bad.  I just realized I didn’t like it and I didn’t produce good content when I was thinking about selling the scripts. And I didn’t want to be a screenwriter.

I often say – I learned what I didn’t want – and that’s about as important as knowing what I want. And I realized that it had been 3 or 4 years since I directed anything.

JK: Did you have debt coming off of school? What work did you do to help pay it off?

AH: I did have debt.  Less than many of my classmates but still a sizeable and scary amount.  The solution was teaching.  I got a job at a university – my MFA actually came in handy! – and started teaching Final Cut Pro, directing, videography, etc.  It was the best of both worlds – I like the job, it paid decently, it didn’t take up all my hours in a week, and I could use the equipment.

I think this question of how filmmakers make money is really important. It’s sort of this unspoken dirty secret.

JK: It’s really important, and one of the least addressed ones in film school.

AH: The fact is, surprisingly “successful” filmmakers don’t make enough money to only do film for a living.

If you talk to poets, many of whom are university professors, they are very upfront about the fact that they don’t make a lot of money off poetry.  And I certainly don’t think – well, if you don’t earn at least x dollars off poetry you’re not a poet.  I think the same thing about filmmakers.

So I’ve been trying to be up front about the fact that I don’t make all my money from filmmaking.

JK: I’ve read articles about films that premiered at Sundance and after two years still haven’t made their money back. Where else do you make your money from? Are you still teaching?

I am still teaching.  The university I first worked for closed – so now I’m an adjunct.  At the moment I’m teaching at Pasadena City College.  They have this fantastic program over there.  It’s a real film community. And it’s at community college prices.  Now it’s not a BA or anything – but it’s terrific. It’s really made me think hard about how expensive other film schools are.

JK: They’re getting more expensive all the time. Tell me about Agility studios and your project there.

AH: Basically, in early 2008 I got fed up with waiting for financing for an indie feature.  But I’d vowed not to make any more short films (I felt I’d made enough, wanted to advance career wise).

Then I started watching web series. And I found a convenient way around my self-imposed no more short films rule. I just made a bunch of shorts… but I called them webisodes.

And, to my surprise, they were taken so much more seriously than anything I’d ever done. I think it’s because web series are thought of as being related to television.  I made a 4 min pilot episode of sci-fi show called It Ends Today.

And it was a huge career step for me. I posted it online and literally within weeks I was signed by Gersh.

JK: Where did you post?

AH: I just made a simple one-page site with an embedded video (I didn’t want to do YouTube at the time b/c I didn’t know if that would ruin the premiere status of the pilot.  I put all my stuff on YouTube and Vimeo now, though).

And I sent the url to every person I’d ever met in the industry.  Via UCLA spotlight, via Film Independent’s Project Involve, via this Tribeca Film Festival program I’d been involved with called All-Access.

I just emailed like crazy. And I was surprised at the response rate.

Whenever I mailed a DVD or emailed a screenplay query (or even sent  the script when it was then requested) I felt like maybe 20 or 30% of people ever actually watched/read.

But everyone is bored at work at the their desk – and so when you send them an email with a link, and you tell them it’s only 4 minutes long – it’s amazing how many people click.  I estimating here, because the analytics aren’t perfect, but I think around 80 or 90% of the people I emailed watched the pilot.

I think timing had something to with it.  It was just before the financial crisis – so web series were this new hot thing and people were very excited.

I was sort of riding the second wave after earlier stuff like LonelyGirl and Dr. Horrible. And mine was  a sci-fi drama – which I think helped it stand out from the mostly comedy field on the internet.

JK: How did you get to Agility? And what do they do exactly?

AH: Agility is an internet studio.

JK: So they produce new media content like Warner Bros produces features?

AH: Exactly.  They saw the pilot and optioned it.  Their goal was to find advertising based financing to produce the rest of the series.

Unfortunately, they optioned it in the fall of 2008.  And the advertising market collapsed. They’ve regrouped – and just put out LXD, which is a pretty big series.  So we’ll see if that means mine can get off the ground.

Having made a pilot for It Ends Today and has some success, I wanted to do more in the world of web series. So I decided to do a new series and create not just a pilot but multiple episodes. The gritty cop show that I launched in late 2009.

JK: How do you produce the web series? What do you shoot on? Production budgets?

AH: I’ve tried to spend as little money as possible. Which has been good b/c online stuff – as millions of articles mention – attracts a lot of interest but not so much money. Both webisodes were shot on borrowed cameras with a volunteer crew.

Central Division is fresher in my mind.  So, for example, on that shoot we used a camera that belonged to the gaffer and lights from the school I was teaching at.  We shot using the AFTRA internet contract which is very flexible and super cheap.  And the crew volunteered.  I spent money on burritos, thai food, LAPD badges, and the guns. And I bought a hard drive, that was about it.

JK: So what are you working on now? Plans for the future?

AH: I’ve been pitching some web series concepts to internet production companies or internet divisions of larger companies.  It’s a long shot but there is money out there to fund serial web stuff.  And I’m thinking about making a microbudget feature.

I want to direct.  And I think the only thing for me to do is somehow make a feature.

JK: Do you have any last words of wisdom for young filmmakers?

AH: I feel like I’ve learned that I do my best work when I just make the stuff I want to make rather than trying to figure out what the market wants.  I’m happier doing that and I think the quality of what I do is better.  It doesn’t necessarily lead to a lot of money but I found that obsessing over what would bring in the most money didn’t actually do that either.

JK: Well thank you so much for speaking with me.

AH: I had a great time talking about all of this stuff.