The Latest
17 Environmentally Conscious Films We’re Watching This Earth Day
The way I tend to contemplate environmental protection is analogous to the way I think about investing in a retirement plan. Is it convenient or instantly gratifying? No. Is it necessary? Most likely.
Meet the 2015 Sundance Institute Miami Screenwriters Intensive Fellows
This weekend, Miami welcomes the Sundance Institute Screenwriters Intensive, supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
‘True Story’ Director on Casting James Franco: “He’s Playing With What It Means to Be a Movie Star”
Journalistic ethics and the relationship between storytelling and the truth are at the forefront of True Story, a compelling cat-and-mouse drama that marks the debut feature from acclaimed theater director Rupert Goold. The film, which premiered out of competition at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, stars Jonah Hill as Mike Finkel, a disgraced New York Times reporter, and James Franco as Christian Longo, who’s been arrested for the murder of his wife and children. The director, who also adapted the screenplay from Finkel’s memoir, True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa, acknowledged the importance of casting the right actors, for what is essentially a two-hander.
Sundance Institute to Host Summer Film and Music Festival in Downtown LA
Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute today announced it will host Sundance NEXT FEST August 7-9, 2015, for the second year at The Theatre at Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The weekend-long summer festival celebrates the renegade spirit of independent artists by pairing five new independent films with either a special music act that shares a complementary artistic sensibility or conversations between the filmmakers and those who inspired them.
This will mark the festival’s third year in Los Angeles.
Sundance Institute & New York University to Host Workshop on Music in Film & Television on May 9
Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute and New York University (NYU) Steinhardt’s Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions today announced they will host Sundance Institute Film Music Program at NYU: Steinhardt, a day-long workshop for composers, filmmakers, students and other industry professionals interested in music in film and television on Saturday, May 9 at the Fredrick Lowe Theatre (35 West 4th Street, between Greene Street and Washington Square East). This marks the first collaboration of its kind between the Institute and NYU Steinhardt and the Institute’s first-ever film music workshop in New York. For more information and to purchase tickets ($20 each), visit http://2015filmmusiclabnyu.
“An Iliad” Premieres on the Fringes of Tahrir Square at an Egyptian Arts Festival
Amazingly, I find myself back in Cairo tonight for the second time in 12 months. My Theatre Program colleagues (Philip Himberg & Roberta Levitow) and I have been in the region for nine days already as we wrap up our 1.5 year R&D phase of our MENA initiative (stay tuned for some exciting program announcements).
Writers and Creative Advisors Selected for Inaugural Drishyam | Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab in Goa, India April 12-16
Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute and Drishyam today announced the artists and creative advisors selected for the inaugural Drishyam | Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab in Goa, India April 12-16. The Lab supports emerging filmmakers in India, as part of the Institute’s sustained commitment to international artists, which in the last 25 years has included programs in Brazil, Mexico, Jordan, Turkey, Japan, Israel and Central Europe.
The Lab is a five-day writer’s workshop that gives independent screenwriters the opportunity to work intensively on their feature film scripts in an environment that encourages innovation and creative risk-taking.
Sundance Institute Brings Free Filmmaker Workshop and Film Screenings to Minnesota April 28 – May 1
Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute, host of the renowned Sundance Film Festival, announced today that it will host a free filmmaker workshop and film screenings and discussions in St. Paul, Minneapolis and Northfield, Minnesota April 28 through May 1, with support from the John S. and James L.
Now Playing: James Franco and Jonah Hill Play Cat and Mouse in ‘True Story’
While we lament a dearth of Sundance-supported releases hitting theaters this month, April is still apt for film viewing from the couch with a gathering of great stories coming to DVD, Blu-Ray, and On Demand. Among the small batch of theatrical releases, Rupert Goold’s True Story—yes, based on a true story—follows disgraced New York Times reporter Michael Finkel (Jonah Hill) and convicted murderer Christian Longo (James Franco) in a tale of journalistic ethics and unlikely relationships. And if you’re so inclined to do your viewing from home, check out 9 #ArtistServices titles newly available on Netflix and a crop of indies coming to DVD and Blu-Ray.
Kamal Sinclair: Impostor Syndrome, Anyone? Oh, Everyone?
A few months ago, I was standing in the middle of the New Frontier exhibition at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival with people swirling around me, clamoring to get into the virtual worlds our storytellers had created inside the various headsets offered in the space. The artists and technologists curated by Shari Frilot (co-director and curator, New Frontier) for this exhibition are some of the most exciting innovators of our time with intimate knowledge of the software and hardware that will shape our lives in ways we can hardly imagine today.
I was giving tours of the space from the moment the doors opened, until the moment they shut to artists, curators and producers; technology, gaming, and film executives; venture capitalists, major foundation and non-profits heads; even Ferguson activists…repeating my self-authored talking points over and over again.
Sophie Hyde’s ’52 Tuesdays,’ an Audacious Drama Scripted and Shot Over 52 Weeks
This article was originally published following the premiere of 52 Tuesdays as part of the World Dramatic Competition at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.On the heels of Richard Linklater’s 12-years-in-the-making drama Boyhood, another film from the 2014 Sundance Film Festival has been made under a similarly innovative process. For her directorial debut 52 Tuesdays, Sophie Hyde shot her film exclusively on Tuesdays for 52 consecutive weeks, giving actors their scripts only a week in advance and only for the scenes that involved their characters.
Louie Schwartzberg on Why He Made His Documentary ‘Fantastic Fungi’
After 40 years of filming, studying and advocating for nature, I still have one question I think about every day: If pollination is the foundation of life on our planet, what supports the very plants that are pollinated, giving them the power to convert light energy into food, fuel, medicine, and shelter?The surface-level answer is soil (sorry for the pun). But that’s only the beginning of the truth. Let’s dig a little deeper.
15 Celebrated Sundance Screenwriters Lab Alumni
There is a well-known refrain imparting that it takes some “breaking down” to build something (or someone) up—figuratively speaking, of course. At the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, that notion is nothing short of creed. It’s become a not-so-veiled secret of the lab that, contrary to its name, writing is strongly discouraged, if not altogether forbidden.
Q&A: The Zellner Bros. on ‘Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter,’ Their Ode to Exploration
To this day, David and Nathan Zellner talk about epic odysseys and unexplored lands in a wistful tenor. It’s as if they lament losing their curiosity to GPS devices and Google Maps. “There’s no real mystery left with the world anymore,” says Nathan Zellner.
23 Hacks for Optimizing Your Independent Film Release
Within the past several years, the emergence and maturation of lightweight, user-friendly technology platforms like Quiver Digital, Vimeo, and VHX has made distributing films easier than ever. As new technologies and distribution approaches continue to disrupt conventional release windows, funding cycles, and acquisition deals, how do indie filmmakers navigate this shifting landscape while balancing audience engagement and revenue?Our #ArtistServices team presented at #SXSW in 2015, and they took a look at the obstacles and opportunities, successes, and failures that come out of self-distribution. Their panel (“Hacking Technology for Your Indie Film Release”) was about what it takes to get your film seen in an overcrowded marketplace by using technology as your secret weapon.