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1. John Cooper is Bothered
Last month John Cooper announced that Next (a sorry title, the French have Un Certain Regard, Sundance has Next?), the new low budget sidebar at Sundance 2010, was created to quote Indiewire "came from an internal frustration that the event excluded worthy films in recent years". "I was bothered by that", Cooper says.
What has been bothering Cooper is that great low budget films have been playing across Main Rd road at Slamdance since 1995. Films like Monteith Macollums Hybrid, Kevin Dinovis's Surrender Dorothy, Frank Novak's Good House Keeping, Chris Nolan's Following, Soderbergh's Schizopolis, Greg Kohs Song Sung Blue, Susan Buice and Arin Crumley's Four Eyed Monsters, Seth Gordon's King of Kong, Mark Moskowitz's Stone Reader, Oren Pelli's Paranormal Activity, among a list of dozens of great underground, no budget films down the decade that shows Slamdance and Chicago Underground as the true pioneers and advocates of the underground guerrilla movement since NY Underground folded last year.
Tucked away in the Hernandez article Cooper explains that The Sundance Film Festival won’t be expanding the total number of films it programs to accomodate the change, rather the new section will be carved out of the existing program, probably resulting in a smaller Spectrum section. Um, say what?
To sidebar low budget films for their lack of finance makes them look like Special Olympics kids not competing in the big show. I have suggested to Slamdance a new sidebar, (if programming space allows) called Asylum. You get into Sundance Next and if feeling sidebarred and desiring defection like the proverbial Cuban pole vaulter, we will take you in and process you with official Slamdance Asylum refugee status.
So why did John "bothered by that" Cooper suddenly get the low budget religion? Why the sudden declaration of love for the cinematically challenged?
Did he recently reread the same Filmmaker magazine article as me that influenced me to make my no budget guerrilla Slamdance flick The Bible and Gun Club back in 1997? The articles I am referring to is Peter Broderick's series from Filmmaker magazine in 1992 to 2002 entitled The ABC's of No-Budget Film-making that influenced a new generation. Back in '92 it was somewhat tough to get any information about the indie scene with the exception of Filmmaker magazine.
Picking up Filmmaker at the Fairfax news stand on the walk back to my shit hole on Spaulding Ave and reading about Haynes, Linklater, Maddin and Araki, Broderick's article detailed the budgets and case studied The Living End, Laws of Gravity and El Mariachi. It was the Laws of Gravity NY indie new wave film that made me seize upon Nick Gomez budget and set about planning my own.
The basics of Broderick's ABC of No-Budget film-making remain unchanged over the years.
“We are looking for creativity born of limitations,” Cooper says in closing his indiewire epiphany.
And there it is dear filmmakers, my pal Cooper says the smartest thing a Festival programmer has said in years.
Limit your your films in economy and story will emerge. Get back to film-making basics, slash your budgets, simplify the technology but get technical - shoot with what you need, not what you want. Be creative in casting and it will free yourself from the tyranny of the agents and casting directors. Authenticity is the key to the low budget film. From the Italian Neo-Realists to the Romanian New Wave it's about who is in front of your camera that shapes the story and film. Remember being part of Off-Off Hollywood is a business in itself. Rewrite for budget, location, actors and format. Call up enthusiastic old pals, hire students (with discount ID's), get the band back together and hit the road. Get professional and organized and you will make a better movie.
Daniel J. Harris
Filmmaker living in South Africa, cutting his sister-in-laws wedding video four years after the fact and in post on a documentary about blood called Blood Club: Adventures in Haematology.
Slamdance Two Day Guerrilla Low Budget Film School at www.slamdanceafricafilmschool.wordpress.com
Slamdance Alum Daniel Harris Seeks Asylum from Sundance's New Sidebar
Just read about Sundance's lame low budget Sidebar. It demands a riposte from Slamdance and a list of true great underground no budget films down the decade that shows you as the true pioneers in the genre since NY Underground and Chicago vanished over a decade ago. To sidebar low budget films for their lack of finance makes them look like Special Olympics kids competing in the big show. Some of the best films over the last 15 years, Hybrid, Surendar Dorothy, Following, etc. are great despite their budgets. I really think this needs a challenge to Sundance; filmmakers must boycott enlisting in that event! I think program a separate Slamdance sidebar called Asylum for those films that make that Sundance Sidebar to defect to as a political statement.
Daniel Harris won the Slamdance Grand Jury prize at Slamdance in 1998 with his debut feature The Bible and Gun Club. Current projects include his photography exhibit at Resphoto www.sturmfilmfoto.wordpress.com and running Slamdance's Two Day Guerrilla Low Budget Film School at www.slamdanceafricafilmschool.wordpress.com in Cape Town, South Africa.
The Final Stage of Indie Filmmaking
2009 Spirit of Slamdance winner Aaron Marshall guest blogs about indie filmmaking:
The Final Stage of Indie Filmmaking
2009 marked my induction into the Slamdance family with the documentary, ZOMBIE GIRL: THE MOVIE. It’s about a 12-year-old girl who directs a feature-length zombie movie, and it includes an interview with a film teacher who says, “you’re not a filmmaker until you’ve finished your film.” However, the last few months have proven that simply “finishing the film” is only half the battle in the indie film world.
Now, don’t get me wrong -- finishing the film was huge. But once we had the master tape in hand, the question became, “now what?”
Thankfully...Slamdance called! But what if no one during the festival came to see our movie? After all, there would be lots to choose from that week. So, we started talking to producer’s reps and publicists until finding a good match with each. We got to know the incredible festival staff and made sure they had all the press materials they needed. We also arrived in Utah early with tons of posters and a quick logline ready when someone asked, “What brings you to Park City?” The work paid off with two sold out screenings and the realization that we had clearly entered the final stage of indie filmmaking:
POST-post-production.
Which is all those things you do after you retire your director’s cap such as festival submissions, sales agent and distributor research, press kit assembly, promotional outreach, press follow-ups, etc. The “getting down to business” stage.
ZOMBIE GIRL: THE MOVIE may be in the can, but it’s far from done. It’s in post-post-production right now. Which, despite the boring name, is actually a great place to be. We’re talking with distributors. We’re fielding press queries. We’re working to get it into a “theater or video store near you.” Because for indie filmmakers, that’s when the job is finally done. So, until then, I better stop writing this and get back to work!
Aaron Marshall is a filmmaker living in Los Angeles and the co-director of the feature documentary, “Zombie Girl: The Movie,” along with Justin Johnson and Erik Mauck. His next project, a comedy, is currently in development. For more on ZOMBIE GIRL: THE MOVIE visit www.zombiegirlthemovie.com
Why I Can't Quit You, Slamdance
1999 Grand Jury Award winner, programmer, filmmaker, and SlamdanceTV creator Heidi Van Lier guest blogs on why she can't quit Slamdance:
“WHY I CAN’T QUIT YOU, SLAMDANCE”
by Heidi Van Lier
People all over the planet email me and ask me about Slamdance. How to get in, how to volunteer, and mostly, how crazy is Park City during those two weeks? I could not have the career (albeit minimal) I’ve had without Slamdance, and I wouldn’t have 90% of my friends either. Over the years Slamdance has become more than just a bunch of frightened filmmakers and crazed staff trying to get jobs, sell stuff, and throw a good party. Slamdance has become my very own brand new lovable dysfunctional family.
I have been involved with Slamdance in some capacity every year for the last 10 years. Yes. TEN YEARS. Every year I’ve said it would be my last, thinking I’d just be so very busy the following year that I wouldn’t have the time, or the energy, to be involved. Somehow, I still find myself signing out films to view every September. It has become less of a habit at this point and more like a lifestyle. And I wouldn’t even know where to go to quit a lifestyle. There isn’t a support group, or a self-help book, or a chat room. There isn’t a 12-step program or weaning-off solution, or even some kind of replacement therapy. I’m just a Slamdance girl at this point, and always will be.
A Brief History of My Life with Slamdance…
If I were to tell my Slamdance story, it would have to be told by the people who made up the family each year, starting with Peter Baxter. I met Peter at a DGA screening in LA in February of 1998. He asked me to submit my film and I wasn’t about to say no to someone ASKING for my film. Scott Storm programmed that year and came over to tell me I’d gotten in. Skizz Cyzyk was on the jury, along with Sam Grogg, and I thanked Drea Clark for her help with my screenings during my acceptance speech. I went back to my condo where Joe and I just sat on the sofa and pondered what it all meant. The next morning I had 45 calls on my cell phone (1999 flip phone) and they were all congratulations from producers, press people, and agents.
The next year I was a programmer under the hysterical reign of Dan Mirvish. Brent Clackson was running the show then. Kristy Byrd took over the year after that, followed by Nubia Flores, and finally, Drea Clark, the same girl from the screenings that I’d thanked in my winning speech. I served on the Slamdance jury with Debra Eisenstadt and Gabe Wardell (who now runs the Atlanta Film Festival), and Skizz Cyzyk, who runs the Maryland Film Festival and still projects for Slamdance every year. Kent Osborne and I went head-to-head the next couple years during programming, and wound up friends and working on a film together. And finally two years ago I went back to make Slamdance TV, a job I’d been asked to do years earlier, before Final Cut Pro was even commonly used. I spend each festival with Carly Flynn and Howie Goldklang and Joy Saez, mostly laughing and interviewing new filmmakers. And this year I had an actual assistant named Marta Palley, who saved my life and my mind, and we hung out with The Merch Girls, Laura and Kelly, while digitizing. Joy, Peter, and Alex Schwab are holding down the fort in the off-season.
But let’s be real, it’s not all just a good time. Here’s a list of reasons why I both love you and wish I could leave you at the exact same time, Slamdance:
1. You have given me both the Grand Jury Prize for a film and then on my next film a big fat rejection letter. (Okay, the year after that you accepted it, fine.)
2. You make me program, fight with my friends over films, and then repay me by not accepting all the films I wish I could every year.
3. My husband made me promise in therapy once that I would NEVER program again. He gave that up when you finally accepted my second film. (Ok, I kinda told him you made me.)
4. You introduce me to amazing filmmakers year after year, who then go on to have much better careers than I’ll ever have.
5. You repeatedly ask me to do you “favors” and I forget to say no.
6. You both sell my book and put me on panels, making me feel all important and stuff, and then ask me to unload a truck as soon as I get off the plane.
7. You make me stand outside in the freezing cold to get into parties, but I get to buy new coats every year that I would never have anywhere to wear otherwise.
8. You give me the greatest stories to tell filmmakers about embarrassing things festies from prior years have done, and then I get to watch new filmmakers do them all over again (And still go on to have better careers than I’ll ever have).
9. You make me hike up a huge hill 3 or 4 times a day, but I lose at least 10 pounds every festival.
10. You make me miss my family terribly, but put them in films so I can bring them with me the following year.
I heart you Slamdance, and yep, I’ll be back again this year. And next year. And probably the year after that too.
Heidi Van Lier is an indie filmmaker living in Los Angeles. She has made three feature films: “Chi Girl” which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Slamdance Film Festival, “Monday”, which screened as a special screening at the Slamdance Film Festival, and “American Decaf”, which will make the festival rounds in 2009. Heidi now programs for the Slamdance Film Festival, produces and directs Slamdance TV during the festival, and continues to counsel 10-15 filmmakers about festival strategy every year. Her new book The Indie Film Rule Book is available at lulu.com and is a strategic guide for indie filmmakers. Go buy one now!
Heidi also has a weekly blog on www.filmindependent.org.
Slamdance News and Upcoming Events - February 2009
Welcome back after the 2009 Slamdance festival in Park City, Utah!
The Teleplay Competition Call For Entries has also launched: The scripted portion is sponsored by Act III Productions and the unscripted portion is sponsored by the Greif Company: early deadline is February 17, 2009. Save some money and get those original ideas in ASAP - we want to read them and connect you with companies who want to produce your ideas. Step to it now!
Slamdance is able to operate as a year-round organization and ensure the success of our competitions and festival event through our sponsors and partners - if you're interested in becoming a part of Slamdance, whether by sponsoring a panel or reception at Slamdance 2010, partnering with our community for a Los Angeles or New York based event, or overall marketing to the Slamdance audience, contact us now! We're already preparing for 2010 and depend on our supporters to make next year's festival a success.
Notes From The New Girl: Chapter Four
SO! Welcome back to the blog. Thanks for joining me. Since we last chatted I have managed to see three screenings and attend multiple events. It's been hard not to become attached to certain films, merely from interacting with the filmmakers. They are all so passionate and gracious and excited to be here. I find myself recommending films that I have not seen (as I have not had time to see most) based on these relationships. My internal monologue is akin to: "Oh they're lovely! Their film must be lovely!"
This did cause some initial anxiety, however. At my first screening, one I had recommended not an hour earlier, I sat in fear that this film would be nowhere near as amazing as the filmmakers were. I had images of angry sponsors and audience members cornering me after the screening demanding to know how I could misrepresent myself in this fashion.
About 1 minute into the movie, all of my fears were quelled. The movie was terrific. Every movie that I suggested was well received by the audience. I am to the point where I just trust the line up. We have good movies. Don't get me wrong, this is not some magical film festival in which everyone loves everything and there are unicorns and lollipops. I just mean that our staff has worked extremely hard to choose films that warrant being featured in a festival. I need not worry recommending the films.
The only problem now is trying to see them all. I think I may have to try and convince filmmakers to give me screeners; continue the festival in my living room when I get home. I wonder if Drea would do intros over speaker phone for me.
Spykam Pics: Countdown
It's nearly home time for the Slamdance 2009 Film Festival. Only one and a half more days of screenings, then our awards ceremony, then shenanigans, then packing the truck and hauling out.
Go Team Awesome! These last few days of the Festival can sometimes hit you hard as all of your exhaustion, irritability and sick-of-cold-weather-ness can catch up to you.
However when you've had amazing screenings,
Informative chats and demonstrations,
Delicious, refreshing beverages,
and awesome people attending your screenings, it kind of makes you channel that exhaustion into a clarity of mind that brings a lot of you onto the same train of thought, in sometimes weird ways.
Notes From The New Girl: Chapter Three
I am convinced that we have the nicest, most down to earth filmmakers ever. Not only do they make great movies, but they're approachable and fun to hang out with. I was venturing onto the streets of Park City – which has turned into a snowy LA for two weeks – and I found a bar called the Wasatch (granted "finding" this bar involved me walking all of 25 feet). Unlike LA, Utah law requires that we become members of the bar before entering; an odd necessity, but not anything so extreme as to keep us from drinking.
I was there with several Slamdance staff members but the bar was splotched with filmmakers, sponsors, jurors and all sorts of festival attendees. Soon the pockets of Slamdance folks that spotted the crowd mingled and merged. The Weather Girl cast and crew were toasting loudly and celebrating, but made a point to invite others into their merriment and venture occasionally toward various other parties including the table where we had stationed ourselves.
During an embarrassingly long pool game with Eitan Gorlin, I found myself getting to know a lot more people as Wasatch has about 2 square feet of space around the pool table. That doesn't stop people from sitting in the well placed table and chairs – just close enough to force introductions.
I tried to be a good judge of my wayward pool cue, but I could not avoid the occasional near incident. After one particularly close near miss, I turned to profusely apologize and found myself face to face with Adam Duritz, the lead singer of Counting Crows. Much to my relief, Adam laughed and quickly jumped out of his chair to give me room to shoot. Then he tried to give me pointers, to no avail. (Weird.)
After the game finally ended I maneuvered my way to Adam's table as it was also inhabited by Broken Lizard - a very talented and funny comedy troupe, who had just come from premiering their film The Slammin' Salmon at Slamdance. They are most known for their comedic films such as Super Troopers, Beerfest and Club Dread. I easily fell into conversation with Erik Stolhanske and Steve Lemme about Slamdance, college and the climate.
Yeah, so that doesn't sound exciting or crazy – talking to comedians about snow. But Slamdance isn't always exciting or crazy, some times it's just comfortable. Like family. (Excuse all my name dropping, it's too fun/strange not to mention and totally new to me!)
Spykam Pics: Sled off and Inauguration
So we had two uber exciting things happen at Slamdance within the past 24 hours: Sled Off and Inauguration.
There was much excitement on the slopes (or slope) and our ever wonderful photographer, Mika Shiozawa, had to dive to the sides a few times to avoid being taken out like a bowling pin.
If that wasn't enough excitement for you, everyone gathered today in the Monster Arcade to witness an historic event.
Emotions were high and it was truly wonderful to be around so many happy Americans (I love Americans!) Yay Hope! Yay Progress! Yay Pulling Up Of Metaphorical Socks!
From the perspective of someone who is not American, it was a truly inspirational moment, and has made my project to find green card adoptive parents for myself even more important. Do you think these two would do it?
Notes From The New Girl: Chapter Two
Notes From the New Girl: Chapter Two (by Ash Minnick)
So Friday was my first official day as Hospitality Coordinator. It is my job to check in and greet every sponsor and jury member and hope and pray that I have the answers they need. The first few hours of my job I felt trapped in a round of stump-the-chump. Luckily my savior, Alexandra Schwab, was some how able to recall the name of every person involved with over 100 sponsors, "friends of the festival" and film offices. Every person that found their way up to our desk greeted Alex as though she was a long lost friend or relative, even though most had never met her in person.
Ash got mad about the first picture of her we used, so we'll use this one instead. You're welcome.
(If you are a sponsor and you are reading this please forgive that I do not have you all memorized as Alex does. I am fairly certain she's a robot or magical memorization creature. Please feel free to say your name every time you see me, because thus far I love you all but I have no idea what any of your names are. I just got here.)
Ok. Having admitted that: Slamdance is sort of wonderful so far. I'm reading about all of the films here and plotting how I can escape from my desk to watch them all.
Thursday night was the Housewarming Party at Star Bar. It was a great opportunity not only to better bond with my co-workers but meet more of the filmmakers. I expected a big industry-type party complete with name dropping, schmoozing, and those who don't make the cut turned away. What I experienced was a charming packed party in a basement bar where everyone was on the same playing field.
I find myself in this odd state that even though I am part of the crew of the festival I want to know more about everything. However, I am behind a desk. I will stick to my post to make sure that any sponsor who needs tickets gets tickets! I will stay brave and true, motivating our gracious sponsors to see as many films by our talented film makers as possible.
Feel free to come see me and say hi. I am always at my desk.