SAGIndie

VisionFest 2010 is Filmmakers Alliances’ yearly celebration that brings together the best of L.A.’s independent filmmaking community.

When: Friday, August 27th, 8 p.m.
Where: The Downtown Independent Theater 251 S. Main St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
Tickets: $25. Tickets are extremely limited this year, please go here to purchase: http://visionfest2010.eventbrite.com

The evening begins with the presentation of the NILSSON AWARD, curated and presented by the award’s namesake and inaugural recipient, ROB NILSSON. The award acknowledges and celebrates bold, direct, honest and aesthetically challenging filmmaking that is often unrecognized by the mainstream independent film community. This year’s Nilsson Award recipient is Armenian filmmaker Harutyun Khachatryan.

Next is the presentation of the VISION AWARD to an established filmmaker whose artistic ambition and consistent filmmaking excellence provides artistic inspiration to emerging filmmakers all around the world.  Past recipients include MIke Figgis, Terry Gilliam, Wim Wenders, Allison Anders, Alexander Payne, David O. Russell, Werner Herzog, Mark and Michael Polish, Kevin Smith, and visionary producer Ted Hope. This year’s Vision Award Recipient is Danish filmmaker NICOLAS WINDING REFN. The award will be presented by RYAN GOSLING. Known for the “Pusher” trilogy, Refn’s been making films for 15 years and his work is only now receiving the attention it deserves in this country. His work bares the signature of a true visionary – difficult to categorize, but singularly arresting, his films are not for the feint of heart – beautiful, often brutal and beyond compare.

This is all followed by a program of the best short films produced through Filmmakers Alliance in the previous year.The program is as follows:

Wait For Me by Dylan O’Brien and Holly Murdoch O’Brien
Native Time by Sean Morris
Beyond Silence by Vidyut Latay
Gonah Kardam Directed by Gabriela Tollman and Produced by Babak Shokrian
Aliens Vs. Predator Directed by Stephen Reedy and Produced by Megan Powers
David and Goliath by George Zaver
Quetzal Directed by Marc Levy and Produced by Amanda Sweikow

The evening finishes with a high-energy party on the rooftop of the Downtown Independent Theater and is catered by some of Los Angeles’ best restaurants.

Tickets are extremely limited this year, please go here to purchase: http://visionfest2010.eventbrite.com

NOTES:

EVENT WILL BE AT CAPACITY. PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY TO ENSURE SEATING. SEATS CANNOT BE GUARANTEED, NOR REFUNDS MADE IF YOU ARRIVE AFTER 7:45 P.M. ALLOW FOR PARKING. (instructions below).

Parking is not free. There are several parking structures near the theater. $9 parking is available right next door to the theater on the north side. However, $5 parking is available at the Los Angeles Times parking structure at 213 South Spring Street.

In case you missed it, check out coverage on the Sundance Institute’s inagural short film workshop in Los Angeles. Overall, it was a big success,with special indie speakers like Miguel Arteta, Peter Sollett, Jay Duplass, and even SAGIndie Director Darrien Gipson.

Read it now: Sundance Schools Short Filmmakers at First Ever ShortsLab: L.A.

The article was written by our friend, Kim Adelman, for indieWIRE.

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.

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO GET YOUR FILM MADE AND SEEN – IN ONE BOX!

When:     August 1, 2010. 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Where:    The Downtown Independent Film Theater. 251 S. Main St., Los Angeles, CA 90012

REGISTER NOW: http://famasterclass.eventbrite.com

Special discount code: SAGmember

Filmmakers Alliance’s INDEPENDENT FILM MASTER CLASS is the complete, all-in-one package – a definitive, step-by-step, one-day seminar for independent filmmakers offering all the information you need to get your film MADE and SEEN. The INDEPENDENT FILM MASTER CLASS is a clean, clear, concise and complete independent filmmaking blueprint for your film project that will allow you to sustain your life as a filmmaker!

• Concept, Story and Script Development – Developing ideas and concepts that work! Then, writing that script in a way that will get your film made without compromising your vision.
• Film Financing and Crowdfunding – Where to find the money and what you need to do to get it. Also, exploring new strategies in raising money for your film.
• Pre-production and Production – How to get the most filmmaking bang from your budget – creatively and cost-efficiently managing your project. Also, how best to work with actors, crew, locations, unions, guilds, crafts to ensure your film not only gets made, but looks exponentially more than its cost.
• Filmmaking Tech Tools and Online Filmmaking Support – Make your production easier to manage and giving yourself tighter control of your project by turning your computer into a portable production office (and saving the cost of overhead). There are amazing new tools online and beyond to help filmmakers – at every stage of the filmmaking process -manage the once overwhelming task of creating, shooting, finishing, promoting and distributing a film. Find out what they are and how best to use them.
• Post-Production – New technologies and methodologies are making it easier to high end work with a low end budget. Find out what they are and what you need to do give a stunning, world-class finish to your film and how to prepare for it long before you reach post.
• Festivals and Distribution – Understanding the festival circuit and how to use it to your film’s greatest advantage. And devising and executing a distribution plan that will give your film it’s best shot at success and sustain your filmmaking life!

Speakers include no-budget filmmaking specialist Mark Stolaroff, post-production expert, Michael Cioni, Colleen Nystedt founder of the innovative web tool MovieSet, self-distribution guru Marc Rosenbush, writer-director Sean Hood discussing concept/story development and screenwriting for Indie features, writer-director Liam Finn serving up war stories on his no-budget first feature “Rejouer“, filmmakers Diane Bell and Chris Byrne talking about financing and other issues putting together their award-winning Sundance favorite “Obselidia“, AND MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED!!

REGISTER NOW: http://famasterclass.eventbrite.com

Special discount code: SAGmember

The seminar also includes filmmaker case-studies and open Q&A periods, so come prepared with your specific filmmaking questions – the ones that most have you stumped – so that we can take you to the next level.

SEMINAR SPECIAL – 10 filmmakers will be selected from the attendees for a FREE 6-session series of consultations. You MUST submit your project to masterclass@filmmakersalliance.org no later than June 30th for consideration. Please submit no longer than a single page synopsis, a filmmaking resume and links to any previous work. Please DO NOT send video files or full scripts.

THE SEMINAR WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A RECEPTION ON THE ROOF OF THE DOWNTOWN INDEPENDENT FILM THEATER!

REGISTER EARLY: http://famasterclass.eventbrite.com

Special discount code: SAGmember

Ticket Prices:

• $175* – Includes seminar fee plus one year of Filmmakers Alliance membership.
• $125* – General seminar fee only.
• $75* – Seminar fee for FA members only (with special discount code: SAGmember)
• $50 – Live Interactive Webcast. The URL to enroll in the Live Interactive Webcast is COMING SOON!

*Fee includes lunch and parking.

Get your tickets and start making your film NOW!

THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

All the best,

Filmmakers Alliance

The critically-acclaimed director of BOMB IT! and distribution expert and author will present a step-by-step guide into the Dynamic New World of Hybrid Distribution and Marketing.

Day One goes over how to create a distribution strategy and marketing plan unique to your film, the various available markets for your film’s release, how and why to engage your audience as early as possible, digital rights, and more. It ends with a networking happy hour with industry reps.



Day Two discusses advertising campaigns, and transmedia platforms, as well as live workshopping of a few films.

Special guest speakers include Lance Weiler (THE WORKBOOK PROJECT) and Caitlin Boyle (FILM SPROUT).

Finally, all attendees get a DVD-Rom toolkit to take with them.

June 5th and 6th, 2010
New York Film Academy, Union Square, NYC

Tickets are only $150 for the weekend for IFP members and SAG/SAGIndie members.

Also, to get your FREE COMMUNITY MEMBERSHIP to IFP (worth $35), sign up here: www.ifp.org/registration-form. Type in the code FORG10.

For more information, click HERE or visit IFP.org.

On June 6, 2010 Actor, writer, and film director Steve Buscemi will talk with Emmy Award-winning journalist and Co-Host of WNYC Radio and PRI’s The Takeaway, John Hockenberry, about creating unforgettable characters that ultimately drive a film’s narrative and impact. The afternoon will feature film clips from the actor’s career as well as brunch at an award-winning Brooklyn eatery.

It is our pleasure to extend an advance invitation to SAG and SAGIndie members. The event will be publicly announced this Friday May 14th, so please take advantage of this opportunity to secure seats to this intimate event.

Actor as Auteur Brunch To Benefit ISSUE Project Room
Presented in Collaboration With SAGIndie
Sunday, June 6, 12pm – 2pm
$125 Per Person ($95 tax-deductible, three-course brunch is included.)

SEATING IS LIMITED. BUY TICKETS
For more information please call 718-330-0313.

There are numerous iconic characters in film history, from The Little Tramp to Charles Foster Kane to Colonel Kurtz to Travis Bickle, all of them well drawn and directed. However, had Chaplin, Welles, Brando or DeNiro not played these roles would the film had the same powerful impact on our culture? Can a case be made for actor as auteur?

It is difficult to imagine Buscemi’s roles and their indelible effect on each film without his personal, stylized approach in bringing them to life. They emit essential energies striking a balance between deeply held neuroses and outward bombast. From lead roles in films like Fargo, Resevoir Dogs, Living in Oblivion, Trees Lounge, and Ghost World to supporting roles and cameos in films such as The Big Lebowski, and Barton Fink, his presence breathes life into every corner of a film. “Buscemi is a quiet tyrant of artistic fury who threatens to overrun every frame he’s in with the inner desperation he projects even in his most subtle performances,” says Hockenberry.

SAGIndie is a gentle and loving union between the hard working thespians of the world and the passionate filmmakers who buck the system. Since its formation in 1997, SAGIndie has been traveling to film festivals, trade shows and conventions spreading the word: Just because your film isn’t produced by a studio doesn’t mean you can’t use professional talent. www.SAGIndie.org

ISSUE Project Room, a registered 501(c)(3) organization, was established in 2003 by visionary artist Suzanne Fiol, and is a vibrant nexus for cutting-edge, multi-disciplinary arts in Brooklyn. ISSUE supports emerging and established experimental artists through more than 200 programs each year including music concerts, literary readings, films, videos, dance, visual and sound art, new media, critical theory lectures and discussions, site-specific work, commissions, educational workshops, master classes, and genre-defying interdisciplinary performances that challenge and expand conventional practices in art.  Support for ISSUE has been provided by CHORA, a project of the Metabolic Studio, a direct charitable activity of the Annenberg Foundation led by Artist and Foundation Director Lauren Bon. CHORA aims to support the intangibles that precede creativity. www.ISSUEProjectRoom.org 

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

For those of you who aren’t familiar with his work, John August is one of Hollywood’s hardest working screenwriters. With substantial writing credits to his name (GO, Charlie’s Angels, Big Fish) he has also directed, produced, and worked within the industry for numerous years. Bottom line – the guy has been around. Not only is he talented, but he’s also super smart and wants to impart his knowledge on you.

His website, johnaugust.com, is one of the most amazing filmmaking resources on the ‘nets. I visit it daily and always come away with something useful. Topics of discussion aren’t just limited to screenwriting, they span the industry and can range from Releasing Micro-Budget Indies to Tips for using Index Cards. On occassion, John will even give his opinion on random, day-to-day issues like taking anxiety medication.

It doesn’t matter what level of the industry you’re in. Do yourself a favor and subscribe to his site. You’ll learn a lot.

Hi friends!

Independent Film Week is the oldest and largest forum in the U.S. for the discovery of new projects in development and new voices on the independent film scene. The Project Forum is a meetings-driven forum connecting filmmakers who have new narrative and documentary projects with key industry executives interested in identifying projects with which to become involved at the financing or distribution stage.

It is qualitatively and quantitatively the best opportunity for an independent filmmaker to connect with industry professionals – including producers, funders, distributors, broadcasters, sales agents and festival programmers. The Project Forum also furthers filmmaker and industry interaction with opportunities for networking at social events throughout the week.

Now accepting applications for all three sections: Emerging Narrative (for writers and writer/directors seeking producers and agents to develop, produce, represent and finance their scripts), No Borders (for U.S. and international producers with partial financing on new narrative projects seeking additional partners), Spotlight on Documentaries (for U.S. filmmakers with projects in production or post-production seeking financing partners, broadcast/distribution opportunities, and festival invitations.)

Deadlines vary by section – from April 23 (for Emerging Narrative) to May 21 (for No Borders and Spotlight on Documentaries). For deadline schedule, criteria for all sections, and online applications, go HERE.

If you live in Chicago and either love or hate Todd Solondz’s work, there’s an event happening tomorrow (Thursday, April 15) that you don’t want to miss.

Thanks to the news tip from our friends at Cinematical (via THR’s Risky Business), Spengler himself, Mr. Harold Ramis, will be debating Fred Miller, M.D., Ph.D on Solondz’s 1998 film, HAPPINESS, during Columbia College’s Cinema Slapdown. The series is described as “A wildly entertaining crossbreed of film discussion and knockdown, drag out debate.”

For more info on the event, go here.