Notes from IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Conference 2009

Notes from IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Conference 2009
Fashion Institute of Technology
New York, NY

IFP’s annual Independent Filmmaker Conference returned this year to New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, Sept. 19-23. I attended panels on the first two days on Saturday, Sept. 19, and Sunday, Sept. 20. Instead of my mostly usual highlights from the transcripts of these panels, I will be doing one summary of my entire panel experience from these two days. I will focus on some of the most informative points raised by the moderators and panelists. As an aside, I attended two screenings hosted by Rooftop Films. First on Saturday night was Burning in the Sun at Solar One, and second was the IFP Independent Filmmaker Lab Showcase on Sunday night at Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park. Both were very impressive screenings and had great turnouts.

The theme over the weekend was “Making Your First Feature,” something a lot of the attendees could probably relate to, as when the moderators asked who in the audience was a filmmaker, almost everyone raised their hands. Many of the panelists on the stage were established filmmakers or producers, even people in distribution and exhibition, who were more than willing to share their experiences. Topics ranged from exhibiting films online and in alternate venues such as arthouses, to getting your screenplay read and sold, to finding music, and coming up with a plan to build and sustain your career.

While many filmmakers aspire to have their films play theatrically, the topic of the first panel I attended on Saturday was called “Big Ideas for the Small Screen,” which is more or less the web nowadays and not so much an actual television. This was the first of a couple of panels that Mary Jane Skalski (Producer, Next Wednesday) and Jamin O’ Brien (Producer, Worldview Entertainment) moderated. The panel was comprised of people working in or making content for the web including Eric Mortenson (Head of Content - Blip.tv), Craig Parks (Vice President, IFC Digital Media), Jeff Marks (Bright Red Pixels), actor Anslem Richardson (Like So Many Things), and Marc Lieberman (Producer, The Onion News Network).

O’Brien began by asking what drives each of the panelists to develop, create, and produce projects specifically for the web, and Skalski alluded to how there seems to be more people watching web content these days than going to see a theatrical film release. Richardson, who worked on a short film that was eventually turned into a seven-episode series on IFC.com, said the web is a great way for independent filmmakers to get things out there, and suggests honing one’s skills online, because if you fail, at least you didn’t spend a lot of time and money. Lieberman, who works with The Onion News Network, which has been around for three years and stems from The Onion newspaper and is a large brand attracting audience to the web, said what’s changing is that there are now job opportunities for producing web content that weren’t there before. Mortenson said at Blip.tv, they work with several shows that consistently get three million views a month.

O’Brien added to Skalski’s earlier hypothesis by asking if web content is replacing the need for filmmaker to make 35mm films, replacing that idea with a much less expensive and accessible medium and more exposure. Marks, who began his career in Hollywood, said around the time of the digital revolution, he and his production partner could have their own Final Cut or Canon XL1 and start making their own films. And around the time the iPod video came out, they started making web video, which presented an opportunity to take what they’ve made and find an audience for it. Fast-forward to today, and Marks said that a lot of what’s on the web now is a one-trick pony or gag. To him having content on the web is not just about getting viewership, but also cultivating talent and give opportunities to be discovered and find work.

O’Brien asked, what is working on the web, what have the panelists had success with, and what are they looking for or hope to see next? Lieberman said The Onion News Network makes two-minute videos that have more of a story arc, and not just one beat. He cites his DP who is making a short series with his 90-year-old grandmother about Depression-era cooking, which got a book deal. It’s about creating a show about whatever you like to do and creating content around that. Mortenson agreed with Lieberman, saying that was a perfect example because there’s no competition for that show. On Blip.tv, shows like Morning Swim Show and Momversations get a lot of views, because of their unique topics.

Skalski and O’Brien were back to moderate “Script to Screen.” On the panel were Jody Hotchkiss (Producer – Cockeyed), Geoff Betts (Business Agent - Writers Guild of America, East), Darrien Michelle Gipson (National Director, SAG Indie), Robert Siegel (Entertainment Attorney - Cowan DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard LLP), and Joshua Zeman (Producer – Ghost Robot Films).

Skalski began by asking how one can introduce his or her screenplay into the world, what are people looking for, what are some first steps? The first thing that Hotchkiss always looks for is a personal response to a story, such as in a newspaper or magazine article. “Something where you feel, Oh my G-d, that should be a film!” he said. If the feeling isn’t there, it’s hard to go further with it. Zeman said it’s really important to develop your pitch by pitching to your friends first and finding out what people respond to.

Skipping ahead to later in the discussion, Skalski asked Betts how people can register their scripts with the WGAE. Betts said everyone who’s written a script should register it with the Writer’s Guild, which protects your idea and concept. Siegel added that everyone should also submit his or her scripts to the U.S. Copyright Office. And what of obtaining the rights to literary or found material, Skalski asked. Hotchkiss answered that the best way is to first approach the author or journalist of the source material. Strike up a relationship, so there’s sympathy to be free and clear to depict the real person and get a “right to depict” release, which acts as your insurance. Siegel added that it could actually be a little more complicated than that to option or purchase the rights, as sometimes you have to deal with exclusivity.

And to backtrack a little earlier in the discussion, in terms of casting, Skalski turned the table over to Gipson, asking how SAG Indie works. Gipson explained that once you’re ready to cast your film, make sure the people you’re casting are SAG or professional actors to use the website, which is www.sagindie.org, and download the preliminary information form. The site tells you how much your actor will cost you. This lead to Skalski’s next question being, how do you determine your budget? Siegel replied that the first thing to do is get a line producer or production manager to do a real budget.

Now that you have your film completed it’s time to lay down the music and score, but whom do you go to for the rights? This issue was touched on in “Music: The Bastard Child of Post-Production,” moderated by Doreen Ringer Ross (Vice President, Film/TV Relations - BMI), who allowed the audience to jump in with questions, as opposed to waiting toward the end of the moderated section of the panel, which I thought was cool. On the panel were some of the greatest names in film and film music including animator Bill Plympton (Director - Idiots and Angels), Brook Pimot (VP, Creative & Marketing [Film & TV Music] - Cherry Lane Music Publishing, Inc.), composer David Shire (Composer - Zodiac, Norma Rae, The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3, Saturday Night Fever), and music supervisor Randall Poster (Music Supervisor - Away We Go, Jennifer’s Body, Revolutionary Road).

Ringer Ross threw the first question out to Plympton, asking him about making his first feature and the experience in getting the music. Plympton said for his first film, “Your Face,” he knew nothing about music, though it was a musical. In the film, a male character was to sing a song, but he could only get a female singer, because she was free. It was his first usage of music in a film. For future films, he used musicians that he knew personally. In 1990, halfway through production on his film “The Toon,” he ran out of money, so he had to release it in two separate sections. Later on in the discussion, Ringer Ross asked what kind of music Plympton likes to receive. He said he prefers to listen to an entire song, not just a sample MPEG. He prefers acoustic to electronic music, and plays music while he draws. One audience member asked Plympton, what is his etiquette in working with composers? Plympton said he once had a problem with a composer, who kept changing the lyrics, and he’s since then stopped using him, but they have still remained friends.

Ringer Ross asked Poster how he began his career as a music supervisor. Poster said he wrote a script with a friend about the demise of a college radio station, “A Matter of Trees,” which was invited to Sundance. At the time, college radio was transforming into alternative music. They recorded music for the film and made a record deal. His ambition became to work with great filmmakers instead of making his own films every couple of years.

In terms of when a music publisher steps in, Pimont said a music supervisor comes to her for a song to use in the film and negotiates a price to use it. Sometimes it is too low, so she runs the offer by the writers. Some publishers won’t even look at an offer if it is below a certain amount. Ringer Ross asked what’s happening with dollar amounts on licensing fees? Pimont said there is a lot of value in getting a song placed in a film or commercial. Poster stated the example of how Tom Waits does not allow his music to appear in commercials. He is aggressive in asserting his legal rights, but does show support for worthwhile projects. Poster said the artists him or herself is not always completely in control, and warns that all artists should cover their bases, and not rely on a casual approval. Plympton said this happened to him on “Idiots & Angels,” where he had to wait till the last day to finalize his mix. Ringer Ross mentioned that musician Moby gives his film away to independent filmmakers via Moby Gratis. She asked Shire, as a composer, what he thought of artists giving away their music for free, and he jokingly replied that he’d be thrilled to know his music is being used at all. Shire recalled earlier in his career when there was a composer’s strike in Hollywood. The issue was that composers wanted the rights to the cues they had done.

Moving onto Sunday, the first panel of the day I attended was “Arthouse & Alternative Venue Programming” moderated by sales agent Josh Braun (Submarine Entertainment) and Heather Winters (Producer/Partner - Studio On Hudson). On the panel were Ned Hinkle (Creative Director - Brattle Theater, Boston), Mark Elijah Rosenberg (Artistic Director – Rooftop Films), and Josh Green (Vice President, Distribution – Emerging Pictures).

Braun asked the exhibitors about their venues differ from one another. Green said Emerging Pictures shows movies from traditional distributors. They wait to see how a movie opens in New York. It’s really an affiliate network with a program based on individual audiences and geography. They also play one-night only special event films where they might have live/interactive Q&As, and sometimes two days later, the film comes out on DVD. Emerging Pictures does not acquire any rights to the films. They’re just an exhibitor. As for the Brattle Theater, Hinkle said they are a repertory or “calendar” house, which literally means they print a calendar with films that only play for one or two weeks. The theater has a reputation of programming quality films, and targeting a film-savvy audience. Rosenberg said Rooftop Films accepts submissions of films from November through March, and they sometimes even look at rough cuts. Their model is to make each screening an event that is unique by matching the film with a venue and neighborhood. For example, they screened “Trouble the Water” last year in Harlem. For “No Impact Man,” they had an eco-carnival before the screening.

Winters asked each how they support filmmakers, in terms of promoting their films through marketing and publicity? Green said Emerging Pictures has very little marketing costs because each local cinema has their own publicist who works on site. Rosenberg said Rooftop Films handles each film on a personal, hand-on case-by-case basis. Their ability is to help filmmakers. They even recommend films to other festivals and will put filmmakers in touch with distributors. Hinkle said that filmmakers need to be an accessory to their own marketing force. They should put time and money aside to go on tour with their films, which could help them ultimately get a larger run. Rosenberg added that filmmakers need to work on their Q&A skills. There’s nothing worse than an awkward Q&A. Filmmakers are representing their films and should be interesting and fun about it, instead of awkward and shy.

So you’ve got a couple of film under your belt, but you’re looking to get to the next step in your career. How do you keep making a living as a filmmaker in this tough economy and how can you plan for your future? This question was addressed in “Paying the Bills: Sustaining Your Film Career” moderated by Esther Robinson (Filmmaker/Journalist - Filmmaker Magazine, Thatgrl Media - A Walk Into the Sea: Danny Williams and The Warhol Factory), who has been writing a series of articles for Filmmaker Magazine about sustaining one’s career. On the panel was Rose Troche (Writer/Director - Go Fish, The Safety of Objects), Thatgrl Media (Writer/Director - The Complications - Children of Invention) , Jesse Epstein (Filmmaker - New Day Films - Wet Dreams and False Images) and Reva Goldberg (Communications and Fellowships Manager - Cinereach).

Robinson began by saying that there is a level of economics that happens behind the scenes of filmmaking, but filmmakers don’t necessarily have access to it, but organizations such as IFP are helping out. Robinson asked each panelist for a one-word description on how they are all making it work. Their answers: Goldberg – “relationship-building”; Epstein – “Tapas” or “Dim-Sum”; Chun – “Compartmentalization”; and Troche – “TV”.

Robinson asked all what it was like starting out in the business, and what they thought their lives would be. Troche said her first job directing in television was on “Six Feet Under.” She said more people probably watched that one episode than all three of her films combined. There’s a lot of compromise that goes along with working in TV. When she started, she didn’t know anything, but she wanted to be challenged. Chun said in the early 1990s, there was a renaissance for independent films. He didn’t want to go to grad school. Instead he made a schedule to direct no-budget short films every six months, and took short-term work in between films such as painting portraits. Epstein said she started working on films in the art department and taught documentary filmmaking to young people. She took two years off to attend NYU, which led her to shoot her first in a series of three short documentary films, which she distributes through New Day Films.

Goldberg added an extra word to Robinson’s earlier “one-word” description saying “patience” and “be nice.” Troche seemed to disagree with the “be nice” part saying she thinks it’s about ambition and tenacity. Troche also advised not to get into a job that takes up all your time if you want to make your own film, because it’s a “selfish business.” [***Personal note: I agree to a point. It’s certainly not easy to work a full-time job and make a living as a filmmaker at the same time, but if you’re struggling financially, how do you make money to pay the bills without having some sort of job? Not everyone is a trust-fund baby, not to imply that this is what Troche was saying, because she certainly didn’t, but I know a lot of filmmakers who have full-time jobs that while they’re not at the level of Troche, are able to make their films, maybe not as fast as they’d like, but at least they’re making them.]

A question from the audience was if they have a five-year plan. Robinson said she plans everything in five-year increments. She tries to be clear about what is good for her films, tries to stay solvent and not go into debt. She also wants to have health insurance. Troche said it would be nice to not think about money constantly. Robinson concluded that filmmaking is a life-long practice and you do have to have a long-term plan.

Go Up On the Roof This September During Independent Film Week

I wanted to alert you to two new documentaries that will be screening at Rooftop Films in September during IFP's Independent Film Week in New York. First on Sept. 12 is David Teague's Intifada NYC, and second on Sept. 19 is Cambria Matlow's and Morgan Robinson's Burning in the Sun. I have been eagerly awaiting to see both of these films for some time now.

In February, I had the pleasure of moderating the Docuclub Q&A for David's film Our House, which he co-directed with Greg King. David told me about his film there, and he has since then screened it to a sold out crowd at DCTV.

And at Independent Film Week in 2008, I met Ronen Landa, the composer of Burning in the Sun. Since then, I've been working with Ronen on promoting his debut CD, Picturebooks, which is now available on iTunes, Amazon.com, and CDBaby.com.

About Intifada NYC:
The opening of the United States’ first Arabic language public school provoked a firestorm of allegations that the school would teach radical Islam or even produce terrorists. As critics and the mainstream media stoked the flames in the climate of post-9/11 America, the controversy forced the school’s Arab-American Muslim principal from her job. “Intifada NYC” follows the principal’s struggle to get her job back, the outcry against the school, and the debate provoked about tolerance and freedom of speech. The film combines exclusive interviews and vérité with graphic novel-style drawings, while the original score mixes classical, jazz, and Middle Eastern styles.

See Intifada NYC at ROOFTOP FILMS
When: Saturday, September 12, 8pm
Venue: On the roof of the Old American Can Factory
Address: 232 3rd St. @ 3rd Ave. (Gowanus/ Park Slope, Brooklyn)
Directions: F/G to Carroll St. or M/R to Union Ave.
Rain: In the event of rain the show will be held indoors at the same location
8:00PM: Doors open
8:30PM: Sound Fix presents live music
9:00PM: Films
11:00PM–12:30AM: Reception in courtyard including free sangria courtesy of Carlo Rossi sangria
Tickets: $9-$25 at the door or online

About Burning in the Sun:
26-year-old charmer Daniel Dembele is equal parts West African and European, and looking to make his mark on the world. A chance encounter while managing a café in Europe convinces him to return to his homeland in Mali and start a local business building solar panels—the first of its kind in the sun drenched nation. Daniel's goal is to electrify the households of rural communities, 99% of which live without power. Burning in the Sun tells the story of Daniel’s journey growing the shaky startup into a viable company, and of the business’ impact on Daniel’s first customers in the tiny village of Banko. Taking controversial stances on climate change, poverty, and African self-sufficiency, the film explores what it means to grow up as a man, and what it takes to prosper as a nation.

See Burning in the Sun at ROOFTOP FILMS
Venue: on the pier at Solar One
Address: 23rd Street @ the East River (Kips Bay, Manhattan)
Directions: R/6 to 23rd St., walk all the way east.
Rain: In the event of rain the show will be held under tents at the same location. Bring an umbrella, too.
8:00PM: Doors open
8:30PM: Sound Fix presents live music
9:00PM: Films
11:00PM–12:30AM: Reception including free Radeberger Pilsner
Admission: No charge

Panels with a Breeze and View

Rooftop Films "Panorama" returns this year for a special four-day long mini festival within the 2009 Summer Series that is meant to demonstrate what makes Rooftop Films the truly unique, community-based organization that it is. And on Saturday, June 13 (see details below), in conjunction with IndiePix and Shooting People, Rooftop Films will host panel discussions on the state of independent filmmaking and the ways that truly independent filmmakers can survive and make new work, bringing in filmmakers, programmers and funders to discuss issues that are crucial to Rooftop Films’ mission.

Persona Non Grata (Fabio Wuytack Belgium & Venezuela 90 min.)
US Premiere! Prosecuted as a rebel. Banned as a priest. Committed as an artist. Loved as a father. An inspiring and important documentary co-funded by Rooftop Films.

Venue: On the roof of the Old American Can Factory Address: 232 3rd St. @ 3rd Ave. (Gowanus/ Park Slope, Brooklyn) Directions: F/G to Carroll St. or M/R to Union Ave. Rain: In the event of rain the show will be held indoors at the same location

5:00PM: Panel discussion: “Message vs. Craft,” outside in courtyard
6:30PM: Panel discussion: “Filmmaking Strategy,” outside in courtyard
7:30PM - 9:00PM: Reception in courtyard including free sangria courtesy of Carlo Rossi
8:30PM: Live music presented by Sound Fix Records 9:00PM: Film Tickets: $9 at the door or online at www.rooftopfilms.com. Presented in partnership with: Cinereach, New York magazine, IndiePix, Shooting People & XØ Projects

Persona Non Grata (Fabio Wuytack Belgium & Venezuela 90 min.)
Prosecuted as a rebel. Banned as a priest. Committed as an artist. Loved as a father. An inspiring documentary—co-funded by Rooftop Films - about the filmmaker’s father, Franz Wuytack, a radical left-wing Belgian missionary in the slums of Venezuela in the 1960s. With a new liberal movement sweeping Latin America, and people like Wuytack needing to continue the fight for social justice in the US and around the world, this film is crucially relevant today.

Wuytack was a hands-on activist, gathering scrap lumber by himself to build housing for the homeless, frolicking with hundreds of impoverished children in the fountains of wealthy Caracas to protest the lack of clean water for the poor. You can see in his face and hear in his voice the deeply personal connections to the people he was fighting for. And all these years later, hearing the stories from the people who lived them, the connections he forged come alive, there to excite and incite us.

But Wuytack’s very public tactics ran afoul of the conservative church, causing a rift that stung him deeply, but didn’t dampen his passion for activism. Stories of being hounded by the police, and hidden like a fugitive, play out with the energy of an action film. Eventually Wuytack was exiled—twice—and returning to Belgium to become an internationally acclaimed politically-minded sculptor. Now with the new left-wing movement led by Hugo Chavez, Wuytack is finally allowed to return to Venezuela for a revelatory solo art show and a joyous homecoming.

Part of Rooftop Films and XO Projects’ INDUSTRIANCE Series: films, discussions, installations and more about the changing landscape in industry, architecture, agriculture, labor and related fields, and the way these changes affect individuals around the world.

PANEL DISCUSSIONS, presented with Cinereach, Shooting People and IndiePix:

5:00-6:00pm
Message vs. Craft: The Art of Effective "Issue" Storytelling
When a filmmaker takes on a topic related to social justice or human rights it is often with the hope of influencing public opinion and inspiring action. To achieve that, a film must reach and engage the right audience, in the right numbers. It must also portray the human impact of the issue or problem persuasively. How does a “social issue” filmmaker balance the need to educate with the public's desire to be entertained? How does he/she move past preaching to the choir and make a film that can become a catalyst for real change? This panel will provide advice on the above from documentary and fiction filmmakers including Justin Schein (No Impact Man), Fabio Wuytack (Persona Non Grata) and Paola Mendoza (Entre Nos), whose work successfully walks the issue/entertainment line. Leah Sapin of Arts Engine (which specializes in production and outreach for socially relevant films), and New York magazine film critic Bilge Ebiri will join the discussion, to be moderated by Lina Srivastava.

Panelists include: Lina Srivastava (consultant to non profit media companies working for social change) - moderator
Justin Schein (Co-director of No Impact Man)
Fabio Wuytack (Director of Persona Non Grata)
Bilge Ebiri (film critic from New York magazine)
Leah Sapin (Arts Engine)
Paola Mendoza (Director of Entre Nos)

6:30-7:30pm
Filmmaking Strategy:
Tips, Tools and Wisdom to Help You Make the Right Decisions For Your FilmFilmmakers have to be both artists and strategists to get their films made and seen and this is the case now more than ever as changes in funding and distribution force filmmakers to shoulder more of the crucial decisions on their own. This panel will help you learn how to be the best advocate for your film by asking all the tough questions that you will have to ask along the way. For example: How much work (and what work) do you need to achieve on your own before approaching a funder? And how can you tailor your pitch to communicate your vision to a foundation vs. an equity investor? What other funding options are there? How do you balance traditional outreach to festivals, sales agents, broadcasters, and distributors with the need to also create your own fan base? Which distribution deals do you accept? How do know when a deal is a good deal? How do you hope for the best but plan for the worst?

Panelists include:
Adella Ladjevardi (Cinereach)
Janet Brown (Cinetic)
Liz Ogilvie (B-Side)
Tia Lessin (Co-Director of Trouble the Water)
Andy Bichlbaum (Co-Director of The Yes Men)
…And more

Rooftop Films - "October Country" Sneak Preview Screening

Rooftop Films

Sneak Preview Screening at Open Road Rooftop
October Country
New York, NY
Sept. 18, 2008

(October Country directors Michael Palmieri & Donal Mosher and Rooftop Films' Mark Elijah Rosenberg at after party held at Fontana's) Photo by Brian Geldin

Thursday night in New York, I attended the previously announced sneak preview screening of Michael Palmieri's and Donal Mosher's documentary October Country at Rooftop Films. October Country is a haunting and intimate portrait of a working-class family dealing with everything from the ghosts of war to teen pregnancy to foster care and child abuse. The film is set in Herkimer, NY, and was filmed over the period of a year from one Halloween to the next, based on Mosher's essays and photographs. Both Palmieri and Mosher were on hand after the screening for a Q&A with the audience.

When asked how the theme of ghosts came about, Mosher explained that the character of Denise in the film, his aunt with whom he grew up, told him that the Mohawk Valley (where the documentary is set) is haunted. Mosher went back there every year for six years and photographed Denise and his family, which then lead to a year of filming the documentary.

As to how the family is doing since the making of the film, Mosher said he told Denise that it would open a lot of wounds, to which she replied, "Don't worry, they're still open."

How much did the process of filmmaking help the family, one audience member asked. Mosher said as they were winding down filming, everyone said it really helped them. There was a different articulation. Ultimately, when the filming was done, not a whole lot changed for them, but it brought out a certain awareness for them. It might change even further once the film is shown to them, Palmieri added. "We're terrified," he said.

Be on the look out soon for October Country on the festival circuit.

Rooftop Films To Screen Work-in-Progress "October Country"

Latest news from Rooftop Films ...

Thursday, September 18, 2008
October Country (Michael Palmieri & Donal Mosher Mohawk Valley, NY 1:20:00) Work-In-Progress Sneak Preview

A beautifully filmed portrait of an American family struggling for stability while haunted by the ghosts of war, teen pregnancy, foster care and child abuse. This vibrant and intimate documentary examines the forces that unsettle the working poor and the violence that lurks beneath the surface of American life.

Venue: on the roof of the Open Road Rooftop
Address: 350 Grand Street @ Essex (Lower East Side, Manhattan)
Directions: F/J/M/Z to Essex / Delancey
Rain: In the event of rain the show will be held indoors at the same location
8:00PM: Doors open
8:30PM: Live music presented by Sound Fix
9:00PM: Film
11:30PM-1:00AM: After Party: Open Bar at Fontana’s (105 Eldridge St @ Grand) Courtesy of Radeberger Pilsner
Tickets: $9 at the door and online at www.rooftopfilms.com
Presented in partnership with: IFC.com, New York magazine, Open Road New York, New Design High School & The New York City Council Manhattan Delegation

October Country (Michael Palmieri & Donal Mosher Mohawk Valley, NY 1:20:00)
Every family is haunted by ghosts—some metaphorical, some literal. The Mosher family has more than most. Based on the essays and photographs of Donal Mosher (the family’s eldest son), and shot and edited by acclaimed director Michael Palmieri (who has worked with cartoonist Garry Trudeau and made videos for artists such as Beck, Belle and Sebastian and The Strokes), the two filmmakers have crafted a deeply personal documentary with broad social significance. Shot over a year from one Halloween to the next, October Country hums with rich visual metaphors—distinct but subtle motifs illuminate each character like a revealing costume. Dreamily floating through multiple storylines like a phantom presence, the film never resorts to any single melodramatic plot, instead painting a realistic portrait of a family who are unique, but also sadly representative of the struggles of America’s working class.

Dottie married Don when they were teenagers, but he was shipped off to Vietnam at age 19, and came back, in his own words, “an asshole,” plagued by visions of dead friends and nightmares he can’t bear to describe, which burst and linger like 4th of July fireworks, resonating through generations. Still, with his dry wit, strong moral character, and tough love, combined with Dottie’s caring advice and eternal hopefulness in the face of inevitable despair, the two of them form the precarious source of stability for the entire family. “If you don’t have family, you don’t have anything,” Dottie says. “Family is the one thing the government, or a bill collector, can’t come and take away from you.”

Don’s sister Denise, a practicing witch and lifelong outsider, has been painfully estranged from Don ever since he went to war, with somewhat conflicting accounts on the spiteful nature of their rift. Her favorite place is the cemetery, and she bleakly intones that she won’t mind being there when her time comes: “Some of my best friends are ghosts.” In this family, where the government and bill collectors are working to split the kin, relatives are sometimes eerily similar to distant and anxious spirits.

Don and Dottie’s child Donna also grew up too fast, and as a teenager she gave birth to Daneal, who was raised essentially without a father. Daneal weeps when she learns the sad truth about her father, begging to be lied to. She’d rather live with her fantasy of a father than deal with the real thing. And so the cycle continues, as teenage Daneal is already a divorced mother, pregnant again and broke, falling into yet another violent relationship with a man who thinks it’s funny when she’s mad. Stuck with only one main employer (making guns for a war even this patriotic town no longer supports), many of the men in the community succumb to petty crime, drug abuse, depression and violence. Still just a kid herself, Daneal wonders, “If you can’t take care of yourself, how can you take care of a baby?” She fights to keep her child from becoming yet another ghost, but you can see her drifting like the concrete river she stares at, sinking like the shots of liquor she downs all too often.

The last hope to break the cycle could be Donna’s whip-smart pre-teen daughter Desi. “Ain’t I a sweetheart,” she croons. “Not really. I wasn’t raised by the perfect family.” Standoffish but as sweet as Halloween candy, Desi seems poised to transcend the mistakes made by the older women in her family, despite a horrific revelation about her own history which has her ready to disappear at the count of one-two-three.

Hoping for a reconciliation, and a little bit of levity, Dottie organizes a Halloween party, because at least then folks can come in costume and pretend to be someone else. But everyone in the family knows you can only hide behind an apparition for so long. “Sometimes you wonder is this the real me, or is this something that’s been created,” Don says. “And you’ll never know.”

* * *

Rooftop Films is proud to support independent filmmakers in a variety of ways. This Sneak Preview of a Work-In-Progress will connect the filmmakers with investors and funders to help them secure crucial finishing funds for the film.

View trailers at: http://www.wishbonefilms.com/
Get more info at: http://www.michaelpalmieri.com/ & http://www.donalmosher.com/

Lee Isaac Chung To Receive 2008 Rooftop Films and Eastern Effects Equipment Grant

Here's the latest news from Rooftop Films as sent to me by Mark Elijah Rosenberg, who I saw last weekend at Rooftop's screening of Song Sung Blue (which I missed at Silverdocs) and Neil Diamond karaoke on Roosevelt Island in New York.

Here's a picture I took from my cell phone (which didn't come out too great, but all I have) of Thunder, one half of the Neil Diamond tribute band Lightning and Thunder that is profiled in the documentary Song Sung Blue. Here, Thunder sings the ABBA song "S.O.S."

And here's Rooftop's latest news on its Equipment Grant Recipient, Lee Isaac Chung, director of Munyurangabo.

Rooftop Films and Eastern Effects announce Equipment Grant recipient Lee Isaac Chung (director of the acclaimed Munyurangabo, screening at Rooftop on August 23) will receive a fully-loaded lighting and grip truck for 30 days for his feature narrative Lucky Life.

Details at http://rooftopfilms.com/produce.html
And http://easterneffects.com/

Rooftop Films is committed to helping emerging filmmakers in a variety of ways, from providing large and diverse audiences for underexposed films at our screenings and online, to helping artists produce new films through the Rooftop Filmmakers’ Fund. In 2008, Rooftop Films and Eastern Effects, a film equipment rental house in Brooklyn, inaugurated an Equipment Grant, lending one Rooftop alumni filmmaker a two-ton lighting and grip package for 30 days, to be used on a feature-length film. Dozens of excellent filmmakers submitted their treatments and screenplays in the hopes of receiving the package, valued at approximately at $15,000.

We are now pleased to announce that Lee Isaac Chung will be the recipient of the 2008 Rooftop Films and Eastern Effects Equipment Grant. Chung screened his short film Sex and Coffee at Rooftop in 2006, and will use the grant for a drama entitled Lucky Life, about four friends on a poignant road trip. Mark and Karen are preparing for the birth of their first child, while Jason is coping with his recent diagnosis with terminal cancer. A meditation on life, death and spirituality, Chung says the film, which will begin production in September, was inspired by his trips to Spanish cathedrals, and the revelation of “cinema as a medium for creating spiritual space.” The title comes from a book of poetry by Gerald Stern: “Lucky life isn't one long string of horrors / and there are moments of peace, and pleasure, as I lie in between the blows.”

Lucky Life will be Chung’s second feature film, following on the tremendous success of his debut Munyurangabo, which screened festivals including Berlin, Toronto, and Cannes, where Variety praised the film as “flat-out, the discovery of this year's Un Certain Regard [section].”

Munyrangabo will screen at Rooftop Films on Saturday, August 23, at the Old American Can Factory, in Gowanus (near Park Slope), Brooklyn.

Saturday, August 23, 2008
Rooftop Films and Eastern Effects present
Munyrangabo (Lee Isaac Chung Rwanda & USA 1:37:00)
A stunning neo-realist drama about revenge and friendship in post-genocide Rwanda. The debut feature from the 2008 recipient of the Rooftop Films and Eastern Effects Equipment Grant.

Venue: on the roof of The Old American Can Factory
Address: 232 3rd Street @ 3rd Avenue (Gowanus / Park Slope, Brooklyn)
Directions: F/G to Carroll St. or M/R to Union Ave.
Rain: In the event of rain the show will be held indoors at the same location
8:00PM: Doors open
8:30PM: Sound Fix presents live music by Twi the Humble Feather
9:00PM: Film
Tickets: $6 in advance at http://www.rooftopfilms.com/ $9 at the door
Presented in partnership with: IFC.com, New York magazine & XO Projects
“Like a bolt out of the blue, Korean American filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung achieves an astonishing and thoroughly masterful debut with Munyurangabo, which is—by several light years—the finest and truest film yet on the moral and emotional repercussions of the 15-year-old genocide that wracked Rwanda.” — Robert Koehler, Variety

“We hear so often today of the “collapse of Western culture” that it comes to sound like a bit of cocktail party repartee, almost taken for granted, such an obvious fact of life that of course there’s nothing we can do about it, like global warming. Nothing could be more dangerous. Munyurangabo also grows out of cultural collapse on a grand (and horrific) scale, and then proceeds to transcend it.” — Robin Wood, Film Comment

Munyrangabo (Lee Isaac Chung Rwanda & USA 1:37:00)
There is an old axiom in narrative that a weapon seen in the first act will be used in the final act. The drama is what lies in between. Munyurangabo opens with a scene of a young man in a Rwandan market, watching a nearby fistfight, and stealing a machete. But the portent of that act—under violent circumstances and in a nation still reeling from a brutal Genocide in 1994—is immediately destabilized in one of Chung’s astonishing camera moves, which manages to be naturalistic and subtle, but also momentous. From a close-up on the now bloody machete, the camera tilts up to the troubled face of Ngabo, then back down to the machete, clear of blood. The drama posed within Munyurangabo does not follow your typical action/revenge plot—the question posed is not if or how Ngabo will use the machete. The question is should he use it.

Ngabo and his best friend Sangwa set out on a journey. If there is any doubt as to their goal, it’s cleared up early in the film, when Ngabo asks Sangwa, “Do you forget that we’re on a journey to kill a man?” The conversation is covered with direct addresses to the camera, quietly accosting and implicating the viewer, and mirroring a stunning moment later in the film, when the opposite sentiment is expressed in a direct address from Edouard B. Uwayo, Rwanda's actual poet laureate, who recites a stark and lovely poem calling for peace. The poem is aptly titled “Liberation is a Journey.”

Along the way, Sangwa must deal with his own difficult past, returning to his home after three years with no communication. The rich back-story is subtly revealed, perfectly weighing the tension of the scenes, which are played with a minumum of dialogue, few close-ups, and a langorous delivery that belies the complex passions. Long takes and wide angles allow the subtle gestures of body language to grandly enrich the emotions—Sangwa’s mother eagerly feeding her grown son when there is so little food, and dejectedly waiting alone in the doorway as her son leaves the house off-camera; Sangwa’s father aggressively showing his son how to till a field after the boy had abandoned the family for city life; Ngabo contemplatively hacking at a tree stump with the machete; and everyone moving as if exhausted by the myriad burdens of heat, poverty, hunger, illness, and guilt.

As the friends press on, Sangwa and Ngabo’s friendship is tested, torn between their expectations for a brutal fate, and their hope that somewhere in them lies the willpower to discover liberation. By leaving us with core ambiguities in the plot, Chung challenges the audience to ask complex and poignant questions. As an individual, what is the moral thing to do, when given the opportunity for revenge? And given that Western manipulations and indifference have forced Rwanda and much of Africa to prey on itself, what is the proper punishment for a criminal, when the entire nation has become a victim?

* * *

Lee Isaac Chung was awarded Rooftop Films and Eastern Effects 2008 Equipment Grant, lending him a complete two-ton lighting and grip package to shoot his second feature film, Lucky Life. The film will begin production in September. Read more about the grant and Lucky Life in the “About Rooftop Films” section.

Rooftop Films to Present Short Films About Big Adventures on June 12

On Thursday, June 12 at 8pm, Rooftop Films will present short films about big adventures, including Benh Zeitlin’s award-winning post-Katrina shipwreck epic Glory At Sea co-funded by the Rooftop Filmmakers' Fund. I can tell you that Glory At Sea is a truly amazing film. I saw it recently at a fundraiser held at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater. Here’s what I wrote about it back then. And below is the announcement from Rooftop Films about next Thursday’s program.

(New York, NY) June 3, 2008 – “Glory at Sea!” (co-funded by the Rooftop Filmmakers' Fund) is a film about a group of people in post-Katrina New Orleans who build an elaborate make-shift raft that will sink at sea so they can join their lost loved ones. Working on a shoe-string budget, director Benh Zeitlin knew that in order to make this movie, he’d have to actually build an elaborate make-shift raft and sink it at sea. Zeitlin and Court 13 Pictures banded together a cast and crew willing to risk their very lives not simply for this film, but for what this film represented—that spirit of camaraderie and community in which the journey itself provides an irrational and necessary hope.

In the guidelines to the Rooftop Filmmakers' Fund, we say "We are more likely to fund films that make the most of their resources and community." We don't have the means to fund big-budget films, so we want to support filmmakers who are clever and collaborative, and uphold the collective ideals of Rooftop Films.

This entire program is full of films that know that taking a risk is sometimes just as important as the thing you’re risking. This show is all about explorations of the high seas and Hades, of outer space and ex-urbia, of imaginary lands and the minds of over-educated New Yorkers. It’s about dancing your way out of prison and about saving the Dodo bird. It’s about making the mission.

THE FILMS

L’Evasion (Breakout) (Arnaud Demuynck Roubaix, France 9:00) A man is in prison. His cellmate is tortured to death. When the guards come for him, he escapes and performs a final dance of death.

Force 1 TD (Randy Krallman New York, NY 11:00)With prom just a few days away, Carmine needs a very special pair of sneakers. Three teenagers and a seeing-eye horse embark on a seemingly simple quest.

The Tale of How (The Blackheart Gang Cape Town, South Africa 4:00) A dazzling animated opera about an octopus island that’s eating all the dodo birds. You’ll want to check out the Dr. Seussian lyrics later: http://theblackheartgang.com/2007/12/07/tale-of-how-lyrics/

Glory At Sea (Benh Zeitlin Brooklyn & New Orleans 25:00) “Glory at Sea celebrates hope and community and love in a world that is cruel and indifferent. To survive we must all stick together, we must love one another, we must believe. Without those grand human forces at work, we’ll never make it to the bottom of the sea to hug our loved ones once again.” — Michael Tully, IndieWire & Hammer To Nail.

The Sound of People (Simon Fitzmaurice Bray, Ireland 10:00) In the time and space of a single moment, 18-year-old Stephen makes contact with his past and his future. Staring into the face of his own death, he dives headfirst into life.

Joshua Tree Launch Series (William Lamson Brooklyn & Nevada 4:00) Lamson is known for performing actions that shock delicate objects with inventive violence. In this lovely and playful series, he casts monumental versions of a child’s toy into the imposing Nevada desert.

The Mean Time (Zachary Treitz New York, NY 17:34) Somewhere in the nearby future-past, an astronaut returns home from space and gets reacquainted. What was it like? How has he changed? Was he even there at all? This subtle and strange post-adventure narrative is all about the way extraordinary exploits can have extreme effects on the ordinary life and mind.

The New Yorkist (Dana O'Keefe New York, NY 6:00) A troubled artist is paralyzed by the disparity between the possibilities he imagines for himself and the reality he inhabits. He resolves to undertake an enterprise of monumental importance, but this abstract notion quickly evolves into grandiose delusion involving The Gulag Archipelago, an infestation of ants, and a doomed plan to invade Kyrgyzstan.

Details: Thursday, June 12 Venue: on the lawn of Automotive High School (50 Bedford Ave @ North 13th St, Williamsburg, Brooklyn) 8:00PM: Doors open 8:30PM: Live music presented by Sound Fix 9:00PM: Films 11:30PM - 1:00AM: After Party: Open Bar at Matchless (557 Manhattan Ave @ Driggs) courtesy of Radeberger beer Tickets: $9 at the door or online at www.rooftopfilms.com

"Glory at Sea" Fundraiser Screening - April 26, 2008

Glory at Sea
Fundraiser Screening
Walter Reade Theater
New York, NY
April 26, 2008

Court 13 International and Rooftop Films presented a fundraiser screening to a sold-out audience of Benh Zeitlin’s short film Glory at Sea Saturday night at the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater. On their way to Austin, TX, from New Orleans, LA, last month for the South by Southwest Film Festival, Zeitlin and members of his film crew got into a terrible car accident, resulting in severe injuries for the young director who was uninsured. Wheel chair bound, Zeitlin (and company) triumphantly gathered for the New York premiere of Glory at Sea, an awe inspiring narrative short film about a post-storm Louisiana community who band together to make a boat from garbage and wreckage to return a man back to the sea. Approximately $5,000 was raised that evening, according to Mark Elijah Rosenberg of Rooftop Films. Zeitlin was met with a standing ovation after the screening.

Zeitlin called all the cast and crew in attendance up to the stage with him where he answered some questions from the audience. He said that so many people in New Orleans were going through so many different conditions and still helped to make this movie.

The first question asked was how they get the boat to stay afloat. Sophie, one of the film’s art directors, answered that it all goes back to the 2nd grade when she learned about bouncy. It was basically a raft, nothing too complicated. It wasn’t really built to withstand anything like what’s depicted in the film, but it still did. Zeitlin added that Sophie did some re-welding on the boat when it was out on the water. It kept on almost collapsing throughout, but it was a miracle that it didn’t.

Zeitlin was next asked where he found his actors. He had been hanging out in New Orleans figuring out what his film would be, and he met a lot of people in a bar. They were mostly non-actors and they all helped to build the boat. Some of them couldn’t even swim, but they got on the boat anyway.

Zeitlin then introduced the little girl who narrates the film, Chantise, who said she’s an actor in the making and that her aunt found out about the audition on Craiglist.

When asked what amount of loss and death the people in his film experienced during and since Hurricane Katrina, Zeitlin answered that they didn’t really talk about it too much. There had been a lot of other filmmakers down there documenting the storm, and he wanted to do something creative instead. That was a relief to a lot of the people.

The final question asked was how may days it took to shoot the film. Zeitlin said it was shot in three phases with different crews each time and took about six to seven months altogether to finish.