It was 40 Years Ago Today

40 Years Ago Today... Part 2

Memories on the 15th Anniversary of Hoop Dreams
Fifteen years. Hard to believe. “Hoop Dreams” is such an important milestone in my life that absorbing the fact that it has been fifteen years since its release makes me feel very old. There are many proud parents of this film, not the least of whom  are its subjects, who allowed their lives to be laid bare on [...]

More Venting about Film Synopses
Yesterday, I tweeted my frustration about the synopses I’ve been finding in the web for indie films. I decided to use more than the 160 characters of Twitter to vent a little further. The context is that we play a lot of independent films at Emerging Cinemas, and once a month we collect info on [...]

Columbia University announces expanded MFA in Producing
In my capacity as  Professor in the Film Division of the School of the Arts at Columbia, I’m very proud of the announcement below. As independent producers the world over continue to fret about how new technologies and the internet are affecting their ability to create sustainable careers, it becomes paramount (excuse the unintentional pun) [...]

A Public Option for Filmmakers
After my last post about the “Indie Summit,” I began an email correspondence with indie filmmaker Tyler Davidson. I found his thoughts provocative and encouraged him to write them up so I could share them with the rest of the indie community. The following is from Tyler: A PUBLIC OPTION FOR FILMMAKERS  Just as a few U.S. [...]

10 Responses to the Issues Brought Up at the “Indie Film Summit”
Thanks to MOMA and indieWIRE, some 60 or so representatives of the “indie” film world got together yesterday to discuss the state of the business. A tip of the cap is due to Eugene Hernandez and Anne Thompson for their valiant attempt to reign in a group of outspoken, opinionated and polarized people arranged around [...]