SAGIndie

Spend the weekend with an unprecedented gathering of over 100 A-List Producers at the PRODUCED BY CONFERENCE, hosted by the Producers Guild. SAG Members and friends of SAGIndie can take advantage of a discounted industry professional rate by choosing package “C” when registering.

Visit the Produced By Conference website or check out the one-sheet below for more details.

All the best,

SAGIndie

Hey Filmmakers!

Get your film produced and distributed by entering The Ultimate Filmmaker Competition presented by Filmmakers Alliance.

The winning entrant will have their feature film produced and distributed and will receive a minimum $200,000 cash grant along with resources for a total value of more than $500,000. The winning entrant will also have their film distributed on multiple platforms simultaneously – theatrical, cable and online – for maximum global exposure.

EARLY BIRD DEADLINE is MAY 19th so SUBMIT NOW.

All the best,

SAGIndie

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More about Filmmaker’s Alliance:

FILMMAKERS ALLIANCE is a community of film artists dedicated to the advancement of true independent film through community action. FA is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization.

FA provides a unique mutual support system through which members share time, energy, expertise, equipment and, most important, creative support for one another’s film projects from concept through distribution. We work together to restore humanity, authenticity, diversity, originality, intelligence, relevance, personal vision and emotional resonance to American Cinema.

Started in Los Angeles in 1993 as a collective answer to the practical needs of independent filmmakers, FA has evolved into a multi-layered support organization with an emphasis on aesthetic empowerment. Hundreds of films have been produced through FA and have screened in dozens of major festivals throughout the world.

In 2009, Filmmakers Alliance will launch the global online analogy to the support work we’ve been doing in Los Angeles. The site will include an expansive menu of project management and development tools, filmmaking resources, key databases, education and connectivity. Basically, it will be one-stop shopping for any filmmaking need that can be answered online.

Your entry ensures that you will be a charter member of this new, empowering, global filmmaking community.

For more on Filmmakers Alliance, click here. 

The “biggest movie event of the year” is taking place this Sunday and I feel compelled to offer my votes for the top awards. Granted, I’m not part of the Academy but I do feel qualified enough to comment on who I think is worthy of these high honors. I chose not to vote on categories where I felt either (A) unqualified to comment on or (B) hadn’t seen enough of the work nominated (sorry docs and shorts). Please keep in mind that these picks are my personal opinion only and don’t necessarily reflect the views of SAGIndie or SAG.  
 
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
My vote is for Mickey Rourke in THE WRESTLER. Since the Golden Globes there’s been a lot of hype for him. I’m honestly getting a little sick of the whole “comeback story”, but he’s just SO good in this film. I’ve been hoping for this nomination since I saw his performance during AFI Fest. RUNNER UP: Sean Penn, MILK.
 
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Probably the toughest category for me to pick as they’re all amazing performances. I have to go with Philip Seymour Hoffman in DOUBT. Every role this guy portrays is gold, but this one in particular had me glued to the screen. RUNNER UP: Heath Ledger, THE DARK KNIGHT.
 
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Another tough category as all of these women are deserving. My vote would be for Anne Hathaway in RACHEL GETTING MARRIED. Anne has been solid in her “lighter” performances thus far in her career. In this film she displays so many different colors and shows signs of a true professional. RUNNER UP: Meryl Streep, DOUBT.
 
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
My vote would be for Penelope Cruz in VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA. In my opinion, it was her performance that made this film. I couldn’t get enough of her. RUNNER UP: Marisa Tomei, THE WRESTLER.
 
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Unless I’m completely naive, I wager that the Academy would be in agreement with me when I say that WALL-E is not only the best animated feature film of the year, but quite possibly the best film of the year. RUNNER UP: KUNG FU PANDA.

ART DIRECTION
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD. The film is gorgeous in so many ways, but it was the casual use of props and set design that really makes the period piece pop. RUNNER UP: THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON.

FILM EDITING
Elliot Graham, MILK. His ability to intercut archival footage is really what sold me here. RUNNER UP: Lee Smith, THE DARK KNIGHT.

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Wally Pfister, THE DARK KNIGHT. I feel like he’s due since he’s already obtained two nominations, but the fact that he shot a great portion of this film using the cumbersome, albeit breathtaking, IMAX format is good enough for my vote. RUNNER UP: Anthony Dod Mantle, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE.

WRITING (Adapted)
Simon Beaufoy, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. What can I say that people don’t already know about this film? When you try and explain the synopsis of the story it almost seems impossible to capture — but they did it. RUNNER UP: John Patrick Shanley, DOUBT

WRITING (Original)
Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, and Pete Docter, WALL-E. As I’ve already stated, it’s a shame that this film can’t also be considered for Best Picture. RUNNER UP: Martin McDonagh, IN BRUGES

DIRECTING
Yikes. Another tough category. All of these nominees did an excellent job at honing performances and storytelling. My vote would be for Danny Boyle, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. The scope of this project alone deserves high praise. RUNNER UP: Gus Van Sant, MILK.

BEST PICTURE
It’s really a toss-up between my top two. I could seriously go either way, but at the end of the day I would vote for MILK based on it’s social relevance. The film is an immense piece of work on all levels (story, performance, technical, etc.), but it’s the message that it leaves you with that really puts it above all others. RUNNER UP: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE.

As Barack Obama begins a historic transition of power as the new commander in chief, I too have begun a transition of power as the new Information Coordinator here at SAGIndie (not near as historic, but I’m sure you can appreciate the attempt at parallelism).

My name is Will and I’m the new Scott.

My predecessor, Scott Garner, has moved on to pursue new and exciting adventures. What little I know about him from our handful of meetings, it’s obvious that the guy is good people and will be greatly missed around the halls of SAGIndie headquarters. As the new Information Coordinator, I’m going to continue Scott’s legacy of successfully getting what we do out to the masses. In addition, there are many things I will work hard to build upon in order to strengthen SAGIndie’s presence in the independent film world.

It’s worth noting that the indieBlog is going to go through a minor revamp – with commentary dedicated to a number of specific topics such as the hell that is the production process, film reviews, music in film, filmmaker and actor interviews, and film festival reports. If this sounds off-putting in the slightest, please relax – it won’t be all serious. There will still be the occasional random blog about something we saw or heard while driving to work or intoxicated at some industry party.

Also, our presence online will be increasing rapidly. If you’re not already a friend of ours on Myspace, add it up. You can also join our new Facebook, Twitter and Friendfeed pages. We hope to get more quality information out to you on a regular basis.

That’s enough for now. Expect more soon.

Happy Thanksgiving,

WILL

By the way — I like dive bars, sketch comedy, buffalo wings and Journey. I can do without crowded dance clubs, panda bears, spicy brown mustard and REM. Because I know you care, I’ll be sure to elaborate on many of these truly fascinating aspects of my life in the days and months that follow.

We’re proud to announce that we’re finally getting hip to this social networking game. You can further strengthen your SAGIndie ties by joining us on MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Friendfeed, and Flickr.

We can’t promise much, but by connecting to us at least you’re covering your bases and won’t miss out when we announce new events, contract workshops or indieBlog posts.
All the best,

SAGIndie

If the latest Rocky sequel, Britney’s "crazy monkey", and Rosie O’Donnell’s Ching-Chong Meltdown aren’t enough to convince you that the apocalypse is nigh, then try to wrap your mind around these two words: Rambo. 4.

Yup, he’s back - tanned, rested, botoxed beyond all recognition, and armed to the teeth. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’ve spent the two decades since the last Rambo movie not thinking about how much I missed Stallone’s drooling, dropping visage leering out at me from the Coke-stained screen of my local multiplex. Because I don’t. Apparently, though, there is an audience for ghastly, ancient, steroid-cases, as long as guns and explosions are involved.

The saddest thing about this whole sorry mess? The Weinstein’s are actually going to the mat to assert their rights of first refusal to this steaming pile of reheated excrement. Et tu, bros?

Again: apocalypse. I better start practicing for the end times war with the latest Left Behind religious intolerance training software video game. I’d advise you to do the same.

In college Saturday mornings meant getting up early to watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with my friends. We’d all discuss each other’s inebriated faux-pas and rate the libations at whatever party we had gone to the night before. Marcus would make breakfast and Chris and I would argue over who was more like Rafael…well…to be honest, I never woke up in time for these bonding over a cartoon sessions, but I always heard about them afterward.

Ok, no, that’s a lie. I wasn’t invited, but I knew they were going on because I was stalking someone and spent a good deal of time listening outside their dormitory door. Those were really, really good times. And since everyone loves good times (!!), may I present THIS. They may not be the greatest quality, but where else are you going to find some of this stuff?

As for me, I’ll be neglecting responsibilities to watch The Black Adder, It’s Always Sunny…, and of course, TMNT.

I have to admit, I’m not sure exactly when this news broke amidst the bustle of the AFI Fest, newly single Britney ditching hastily re-monikered “Fed-Ex”, and…oh, that election, but apparently the America’s Next Top Model writers have lost their battle against “The Man”, and were not allowed the outrageous demand of *gasp* health insurance. Oh, the nerve! Those guttersnipes! Harumph, harumph! Their bid to gain union status made them popular with the media, the Norma Raes of a slightly more glamorous profession than textile manufacturing, but in the end it was just not enough.

The point I’m trying to make here is that models are boring*, and if we had to watch this show the way it happened in real life, it wouldn’t have lasted seven seasons. Yeah, yeah, we all love to talk about Tyra’s weave, but that alone is not enough to keep the show afloat. Of course, if you let these twelve reality show writers into the WGA, you have to let all the reality show writers in, and people seem to be very, very afraid of this. Why? Are you worried that these writers will tarnish the golden reputation of the member of WGA? Is it because they aren’t really writing the TV show, that they’re just molding what happens, teasing story lines and highlighting histrionics into 42 minutes of guilty pleasure? I’m not a member of the WGA, so I have no reputation to defend. And I’m also not an avid viewer of the show itself, so I cannot vouch for whether or not the show has gotten worse without the writers. All I’m saying it: it’s going to happen, and when it does these writers will be considered pioneers. Like, you know, Rosa Parks. Ok, maybe not Rosa Parks.

*Except that one contestant who was going to med school after the show and dating the dude from the Shins. Girl’s alright with me.

A consistanly great source of inspiration for me comes from music videos. I’m not talking about your glitzy, by-the-book, lowest commen denominator videos rife with "bitchez and hoez" or the newest incarnation of the guys who never really got over how amaaazing Ten was or even (gasp!) the newest batch of prepubescent temptresses humping everything within a 30 foot radius. I know you’re smarter than that, loyal readers.

The following videos are those that have been shown recently on a show on MTV2 Sunday nights called Subterranean. It’s been of my favorite shows since the end of high school, and not just because I harbor a borderline fanatical crush on the host, Jim Shearer. I highly suggest trying to watch them on an actual TV, but for now, this will have to do:

Cansei de Ser Sexy - Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death from Above (scroll down for the video)

The Rapture - Get Myself into It (very simple, but funnier each time - they are the guest next week)

Wolf Parade - I’ll Believe in Anything (I’d rather watch this than Marie AntoiNOT good)

Regina Spektor - Samson (I’m a sucker for animation like this)

Enjoy!

(A while back I mentioned wanting to see the Tim Burton created Killers video. Well, I saw it, and it kind of sucks.)

Some days I’m just so damn happy that Al Gore invented the internet (with an able assist from that noted Alaskan braniac Ted Stevens). Not only can you find many useful things floating around out there in cyberspace - funny cat videos and glittery MySpace pages to name just two - but you can also find many unuseful things to help you kill time at work. You might also forward links to these unuseful things to your co-workers. Your boss might then receive these links and decide that one of these unuseful thing is actually useful after all, and direct you to utilize said thing in a blog post.

Following me so far? Good.

The unuseful useful thing is this nifty page, which features various image-generating apps that allow you to create, among other things, cassette tape images, 45 rpm record labels, funny George W. thought-balloons, and, as pictured, official-looking seals for work, home, or play.

Awesome, no? A few spare minutes to spend tweaking the easy-to-use interface, along with a willingness to bastardize a dead language in order to come up with an authoritative sounding motto*, are all you need to produce your own, extremely rad, seal.

Not, perhaps, unlike this:

*In this case, I’ve either cobbled together a rough approximation of "In Independent Film We Trust", or "Do Not Take On An Empty Stomach", I’m not sure which.