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filmmaker blogs

  • Wrestling With The New Mickey Rourke by Carolyn Cohagan Dec 17, 2008

    You know a film has good buzz when Angelinos are willing to stand and wait in the rain to see it. The FIND screening of The Wrestler Monday night was packed.

  • Indie Film Q & A with Heidi Van Lier Dec 17, 2008

    I am pleased to introduce a new regular blog, "Indie Film Q & A with Heidi Van Lier," where you are invited to ask all sorts of questions about the Indie Film World. In addition to being the author of the book The Indie Film Rule Book, Heidi is a filmmaker in her own right and a programmer for the Slamdance Film Festival. Instructions for asking Heidi your oh-so-brilliant and pertinent questions are at the end of the blog. Enjoy!

    Carolyn Cohagan, Content Editor for FilmIndependent.org

  • The Independent: The Doc Doctor's Anatomy of a Film: "Billy the Kid" Dec 11, 2008

    About this 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.

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    Inside the Spirit Award Nominations and Press Conference by Carolyn Cohagan Dec 3, 2008

    Yesterday morning most of the staff of Film Independent was up at the crack of dawn for the announcement of the Film Independent Spirit Award nominees. I hauled my own tired tush out of bed at 4:45 am, to make sure I was at the Sofitel Hotel in Beverly Hills by 6:30. It was pretty mellow when I first arrived, but the buzz really picked up as the press arrived, and everyone found the coffee.

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    The Losers Who Underestimated "Twilight" by Carolyn Cohagan Nov 26, 2008

    This past weekend Catherine Hardwicke and Twilight broke through the glass ceiling with a whopping $70.6 million opening.

  • Interview with Jody Lambert, director of doc "Of All The Things" Nov 25, 2008

    I recently had the pleasure of seeing the documentary Of All the Things at the ’08 AFI festival. My friend knew the director, Jody Lambert, and I went along knowing nothing about the film. Turns out it is a charming story about Dennis Lambert, the writer and/or producer of songs such as Nightshift, Baby Come Back, Rhinestone Cowboy and She’s Gone. In 2007, Mr. Lambert, who left show business many years ago, begrudgingly (at least at first) accepted an invitation to the Philippines to perform his songs live.

  • FIND inside the 2008 Screenwriting Expo, Part II Nov 20, 2008

    Day Two

    My day started with my meeting with the production company that greenlighted my script. I’d tell you the name of the company, except although they were participating in the pitch festival they will not be fully funded until first quarter 2009. I don’t mean to sound cynical, but despite this being only my second full-length screenplay, my production company has been in business for 15 years.

  • The Unspoken Rules of Hollywood by Carolyn Cohagan Nov 19, 2008

    Hollywood can be a bizarre, confusing place for those filmmakers who decide (or are allowed) to make the leap to studio films, so on behalf of those intrepid souls, I attended a seminar called “The Unspoken Rules of Hollywood” at the Screenwriting Expo last weekend.

    Why not try and share a little Hollywood wisdom from an old pro?

  • Danny Boyle's Return to Guerrilla Filmmaking Nov 12, 2008

    I have always had a thing for India. The temples, the food, the clothes, the colors and the culture have been calling to me for years. But I have yet to go. And I admit, with some shame, that I’m intimidated by the place. Friends who have spent time there extol the beauty but also describe the throngs of people, the unrelenting noises and smells, the abject poverty, and the less than always ideal bathroom options. I have yet to make the leap and go.

  • Recommendations from the 2008 DV Expo Nov 11, 2008

    Hello again, it’s Mandla, your film info guy here to give you the lowdown on the 2008 DV Expo held at the Los Angeles Convention Center, Nov. 4-6. Contrary to the HD Expo, parking was not a problem, unless you consider the $12 parking charge (ouch.) Thank goodness I arrived early in the day. The convention center is right next to the Staples center. (As I understand it, if you came later in the evening you would’ve been subject to a $25 charge since Kobe & the Lakers were going off on some team that night.)

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