SAGIndie

Hey! If you’re attending the Traverse City Film Festival be sure to go see ME AND ORSON WELLES directed by Richard Linklater. SAGIndie is sponsoring the screening!

More info HERE.

The 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival, starting June 17th and running until the 27th, will be happening downtown this year and, as a sponsor, we couldn’t be more excited!

As you can see from the map above, everything will be pretty much taking place at L.A. LIVE (right near the Staples Center), and also at venues only blocks away. If you’re in Southern California, we highly recommend you try and attend.

Check out the great line-up: http://filmguide.lafilmfest.com/tixSYS/2010/filmguide/
And more info on the venues: http://filmguide.lafilmfest.com/2010/venues/ 

It’s no secret that even though we have “Screen Actors Guild” in our name, we at SAGIndie are very much about the filmmaker. That’s not to say we’re not supportive of the professional actor, because we are. Very much so. We promote SAG low budget contracts in order to help actors get work. We LOVE professional actors.

]However, in order to get them work, we must connect with established and up-and-coming independent filmmakers. Producers, directors, writers, educators – basically anyone who needs to understand that just because you’re making a film on a shoestring, doesn’t mean you can’t hire a professional actor.

So, when we travel to festivals, we’re always looking for the ones that cater to the filmmaker. In general, we like to see that (A) filmmakers are attending and (B) they’re taken care of. Nothing makes us happier when a festival goes out of its way to make the attending filmmakers feel like royalty.

The Maryland Film Festival in Baltimore, which I recently attended, did exactly that. It was my first time in Baltimore and upon arriving downtown I was instantly enamored with the beautiful cityscape. By the time the opening night gala was getting underway, the festival HAD me. Minutes after checking in I ran into Festival Director, Jed Dietz, who was mingling with the crowd before the opening screening, treating everyone as a dear old friend. Then, when the actual screening commenced, they did something extremely fresh and unique– they screened a group of spectacular short films. Something I’ve rarely seen before. More surprising than that, they actually flew the short filmmakers out so they could attend.

It doesn’t stop there. The Maryland Film Fest also takes care of past participants. They invite alumni of the festival out to network and enjoy the great Baltimore weather. Many of whom had nothing but glowing things to say about the job Dietz and crew have been doing. Other highlights included the day-long industry panels, the historic Charles Theater as the primary venue, and special presentations from Baltimore greats Dan Deacon and John Waters.

Overall, it was a professionally run festival in an amazing part of the country. There was plenty to do and they treated the visiting filmmakers like family. Maryland Film Festival, you’ve captured our heart.

Tribeca Films is having a NY theatrical run of all of their titles May 5th–18th at Tribeca Cinemas. As a member, you can purchase tickets at a 20% discount by using the code below.

Tickets can be purchased HERE.

Our Tribeca Film Festival Bowling Party was mentioned in this week’s print edition of People magazine. Check it out:

As always, SXSW was a success for SAGIndie. There’s something about being in Austin during March that makes for a very rewarding experience, both personally and professionally. The excitement and genuine love for film is so rampant that you never want it to end. This festival is quickly becoming one of my favorites and I highly suggest attending.

Besides seeing a couple amazing films (KICK-ASS and MICMACS), we were an exhibitor during the three-day trade show portion and had the chance to chat with a number of interesting filmmakers and actors. SAGIndie National Director, Darrien Gipson, took part in a “Meet the Guilds” panel that was very well attended and we finished out the week by co-hosting an amazing party with the WGA.

See below for some fun photos from the trip.

One of the best festival t-shirts I’ve seen. I definitely picked one up.

Registration was MUCH easier in 2010. Every year SXSW gets better at running their show.

Our busy booth. Co-ran with our great friends at SAG New Media.

This guy was our first GOWALLA challenge winner. He took home a bunch of goodies.

Blip.tv hosted an amazing party for filmmakers and new media professionals.

Cheeseburger flavored Doritos. Best or worst idea ever?

The Music Festival crowd begins to take over 6th Street.

You guys! I couldn’t make you a film festival mix for Santa Barbara, because I didn’t listen to any music at all on this trip because I just had a radical new procedure on my ears to improve my hearing 1000x because that (superhuman hearing) is the only thing keeping me from being 100% perfect. It went really well, thanks. But because of this, my ears were bandaged up, so you get photos I took on my iPhone, because what else am I going to use it for? Certainly not talking to people! Moving on!

I attended the fest for the American Riviera Awards, with this year’s recipient being Sandra Bullock. She was actually really entertaining. Did you know that she grew up in Germany and her mom was an opera singer? (Maybe you did.) Fun anyway! Plus, there were clips shows, which I love – so much, in fact, that if you know me in real life well enough to come to my wedding, you can expect, at minimum, three clip shows. Anyway, it was at the Lobero Theater, which is so adorable I would live there if they let me.’

If you go to the Lobero Theater and get a seat under the balcony (like I did), specifically because you are expecting and handsome young foreigner to come out and serenade you and your bandaged ears (like I did), you’d be mistaken. Apparently no one here thought of this and what a great idea that would be. All I’m saying is don’t get your hopes up (like I did).

Some guy named James Cameron was also receiving an award.

I laughed and laughed at this picture. “Listen, friend Colin Firth, we are very proud of you for winning an award at the SBFF, but instead of saying that, we’re going to just put our names and you can be satisfied with people knowing that you are our friend. Hanx”

The end.

Sundance 2010’s festival theme was REBEL: “This is the renewed rebellion. This is the recharged fight against the establishment.” I’m not sure exactly why this theme was chosen, but I imagine it had something to do with the departure of long-time festival director Geoffrey Gilmore and the hiring of his replacement, John Cooper. New leadership, new plan of attack.

Based on this theme it would appear that those in charge were trying to steer the prestigious festival back to a more “independent” mindset. Perhaps, back to its early ‘80s roots-the glory days when Sundance blazed the trail for independent cinema with the likes of BLOOD SIMPLE, STRANGER THAN PARADISE, and PARIS, TEXAS.

So, in 2010 did they achieve what they wanted? Did they get back to their roots and rebrand themselves as reckless, risk taking rebels? My answer: maybe.

To me, it felt as if the films, overall, were a bit riskier, less classical, and more “rebellious” than in years past. There definitely was a much higher percentage of films I was so-so on than ones I went crazy over, but is that because the selections were so bizarre, so brilliant, so avant-garde that I wasn’t prepared for it? Or were they just mediocre films? I’m not sure I’m qualified to make that determination, but I will say that more than once I left a film shaking my head wondering how in the heck a distributor was going to market it.

Maybe they accomplished what they wanted with their selections. A program of non-classical, non-mainstream films that not everyone will accept – with or without a star-studded cast. But that brings me to my next point. The vast majority of the selections – at least the US Dramatic films – had at least one “name” in the cast. Almost every film Q&A I attended, the leads – be it Melissa Leo, Joseph Gordon Levitt or Robert Duvall – were in attendance. Here’s Sundance apparently wanting to get back to its rebel ways, and I’m seeing more celebrities in a two-hour screening than I do in an entire month in Los Angeles. Is this rebellion? Is this getting back to its roots? I’m not sure.

To their credit, they did institute the BEST OF NEXT category this year, which basically highlights a group of films that were made by (essentially) unknowns for (allegedly) little money. I saw one of those films, BASS ACKWARDS, and really enjoyed it. But why can’t they include these films in general competition? Why do they have to be labeled as, essentially, small films made by small people? Why can’t we see if they stack up to the Ryan Gosling/Robert Duvall/Adrien Brody indies?

Don’t answer that. There are a million and one reasons why they shouldn’t compete against these bigger productions, but let’s face it, by segregating them to their own playground Sundance is essentially creating a more polarized film festival and certainly not something that feels like a renewed rebellion.

If Sundance truly wants to get back to its glory days, I think it would need to wipe the slate clean. Maybe they consider making restrictions for submissions like budget caps or major award winner limitations. Or maybe if they also require that past Sundance winners and/or participants can only submit every other year? I won’t pretend to have the right answer, but something more drastic needs to happen if they want to recharge the “fight against the establishment.”

Don’t get me wrong, I love Sundance. The last thing I want to do is sound like I’m bashing it. I love how it started, what it’s become and, most importantly, what it’s done for independent cinema. I only bring all of this up because I hate to see Sundance try and rebrand itself into something it’s not and just accept what it’s become. Own it, love it, and be happy for all of the smaller, “rebellious” festivals that you’ve paved the way for.

At the end of the day, Sundance is still the dream destination of all indie filmmakers, whether they’ll admit it or not. Its level of acceptance is so selective and its reputation is so paramount that just to be included would make any nonconformist die of pure elation.

1.) To be 100 percent surrounded by mountains. Yes, I’ve been to Colorado and rode up to the top of Pike’s Peak, but I’ve never stood in a town and been able to turn 180 degrees and see nothing but a jagged barrier landscape, makes you feel like you’ve been dropped in a teacup where the sides of the cup are gigantic mountains.

2.) Such rustic lodging. There were deer antlers on my wall, ‘nuff said.

3.) To regret forgetting a hat. I know how that sounds but I had gloves, multiple scarves, two winter coats and snow boots; yet, because it snowed nearly every day a hat became paramount. Good thing we had hundreds of awesome SAGIndie hats and I eventually got my hands on one.

4.) To see Robert Duvall in person! Probably the actor I was most moved to see. He came up on stage along with his co-stars Bill Murray, Sissy Spacek and Lucas Black after the screening of their film Get Low. He didn’t have too much to say but he did speak fondly of the mule they used in the film.

5.) To meet Amber Benson and Adam Busch. They attended SAGIndie’s Filmmaker’s Lunch and they were representing their Slamdance competition films Cummings Farm and Drones. Yes, I know each of them as an ex-Buffy season 6 cast member and that season’s wannabe supervillian, respectively.

6.) To learn so much about Right to Work states. Utah is one of them, which made for an interesting discussion during our SAGIndie Panel, which included our National Director Darrien Gipson, SAG’s Diversity National Director Rebecca Yee, as well as the New Media National Director Mark Friedlander and National Director of Digital Marketing Steve Graham.

7.) To see John Carroll Lynch at our SAGIndie Actor’s Brunch and have him not talk in a Minnesotan accent.

8.) To have a film that I knew little about end up being my Sundance favorite: Hesher. Obscene and unapologetic, it had some authentic, heartfelt moments.

9.) To be one of the audience members who asked a question during a post-screening Q & A. After I saw Splice, I had to ask director Vincenzo Natali a question: did he mean for his sci-fi horror flick to be so darn funny? Splice had the most audience participation of any film I saw, it scared us, made us grimace, gawf, squirm and most importantly, laugh. His answer: horror and comedy make good bedfellows so yes, absolutely, I was expecting laughs. I was happy to hear this because if you can laugh at the characters and the story a little then this movie has got to be my second favorite.

10.) To have a week in Utah go by so fast.