Studio
LOOP PLANES Announced for SXSW 2010
2/12/2010 at 9:19 AM by Kenneth Woo
We are thrilled with the news that Loop Planes, our first collaboration with Killer Films, has made it to SXSW this year.
Thanks again to the Massify community for making this such a successful program, and congratulations to Killer, Robin, and the entire Loop Planes team!
SXSW Announces Shorts Lineup
From Online Video to Eight-Figure Picture Deal
2/11/2010 at 11:05 AM by Suraj Das
Imagine this: you've just mastered shooting on a new digital-SLR or compositing using some new killer-app. You decide to drop a few hundred bucks to throw together a short video that demonstrates your newly acquired skills, and then you upload your finished piece to Massify, YouTube, Vimeo, or all three. A few days later, your inbox nearly explodes with e-mails from Hollywood executives and agents; they would all like to offer you a few million dollars and help develop your idea into a feature film.
If the aforementioned scenario sounds farfetched, you're probably unaware of the recent success of Uruguayan filmmaker Fede Alvarez. Alvarez uploaded the short video above, entitled "Panic Attack!" which reportedly cost him only about $300 to create. The video was written up in a number of tastemaking blogs and went on to become a viral sensation, spreading like wild-fire and racking up an impressive 1.5 million views in just three short weeks.
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Suraj Das Writer, Director
Killer Announces the Shortlist for the Ace Hotel Pitches!
11/24/2009 at 1:57 PM by James Sehring
We're thrilled to finally announce our 12 favorite pitches! Many apologies for the delay in announcing... I wanted to make sure that Killer gave each pitch a proper review. After much deliberation, we've pulled together a collection of diverse stories, all with the potential to be memorable little shorts, all taking advantage of the Ace's wonderful aesthetic. The quality of scripts was so high across the board, and to know that so much original content is at our finger tips is really exciting for us. We feel that each of these scripts represents a strong perspective, a unique point of view - Some are fresh takes on classic stories, others are nuanced character portraits. More than anything, they're all great ideas and we can't wait to sit down with the filmmakers and figure out how make it all work. Thanks so much to everyone who submitted. We REALLY enjoyed reading, so keep writing!
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James Sehring Producer
Industry News: Weekend Box Office November 13-15, 2009
11/16/2009 at 6:39 AM by Jessica Kantor
Weekend Estimate - November 13-15, 2009 (*millions)
1 2012 (2009/I) $65M
2 A Christmas Carol (2009) $22.3M
3 The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) $6.2M
4 Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009) $6.09M
5 This Is It (2009) $5.1M
6 The Fourth Kind (2009) $4.74M
7 Couples Retreat (2009) $4.25M
8 Paranormal Activity (2007) $4.2M
9 Law Abiding Citizen (2009) $3.93M
10 The Box (2009/I) $3.19M
A Very Non-Boring Title Sequence
10/15/2009 at 9:47 AM by Amy Allen
Beautiful, illustrative typography is the most interesting character in the awesome Bored To Death title sequence, which manages to invoke the show's setting - NYC - while still keeping the words front and center. Also, this is a rare instance of the page-turning motif actually working. Make sure to read Art of the Title's interview with the sequence's creator, Tom Barham of Curious Pictures, and click on the image above to play the sequence.
I love posting creative title sequences here because a unique introduction really sets your film apart. Does anybody here have experience creating memorable opening sequences? If so, what are your suggestions?
Is Transmedia The Answer?
10/12/2009 at 4:09 PM by Amy Allen
Whenever I hear a conversation about transmedia storytelling - the idea that multiple threads of your story can exist and thrive on multiple platforms - being a major way to draw audiences to your indie film, I have the same thought: Transmedia is a great idea, but it works best for a very specific type of movie, and that doesn't happen to be the type of movies I want to make. I assume many other filmmakers must feel the same way.
Zombies Take Over the Box Office
10/5/2009 at 3:08 PM by Jessica Kantor
Box Office Estimates 10/5/09
1 Zombieland (2009) $25M
2 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) $16.7M
3 Toy Story (1995) $12.5M
4 The Invention of Lying (2009) $7.35M
5 Surrogates (2009) $7.34M
6 Whip It (2009) $4.85M
7 Capitalism: A Love Story (2009) $4.85M
8 Fame (2009) $4.75M
9 The Informant! (2009) $3.8M
10 Love Happens (2009) $2.78M
Polanski Still Arrested, Now in Jail
9/29/2009 at 2:01 PM by Jessica Kantor
Yeah, This Polanski Thing Is Gonna Last A While
Roman Polanski could spend the “next few weeks” in jail after a Swiss court said this afternoon it would study an appeal lodged earlier today by his legal representatives in Switzerland. The Swiss Federal Penal Court said it had received a formal appeal by Polanski’s lawyers launched against his arrest. The court said it would make a decision on the request within “the next few weeks.” Polanski, who has dual French and Polish citizenship, told a French diplomat who visited him in jail on Monday that he was being treated well in prison. France’s consul general Jean-Luc Faure-Tournaire, added that the 76-year-old director appreciated all the support he had been receiving from around the world following his unexpected arrest on Saturday at Zurich Airport, just one day before he was to be honored with a lifetime achievement award from the Zurich Film Festival.
"Creation" Gets Picked Up After All
9/25/2009 at 10:24 AM by Jessica Kantor
Talk About Survival of the Fittest …
Newmarket Films has acquired U.S. rights to director Jon Amiel’s “Creation,” starring Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany, and plans a December release. Pic, which focuses on Charles Darwin and his family as he struggles to finish “On the Origin of Species,” played two weeks ago at the Toronto Film Festival. After the Toronto screening, some predicted that U.S. distributors would be scared off by the theme of evolution. Screenplay was written by John Collee based on the biography “Annie’s Box,” written by Randal Keynes, Darwin’s great-great grandson.
Facebook Tags a Hit
9/23/2009 at 2:01 PM by Jessica Kantor
Ashton Kutcher Really Loves This Internet Thing
Facebook has its first hit series — courtesy of Ashton Kutcher. The short video series KatalystHQ has been viewed by 9 million unique users since its February debut. The show, the first original series produced specifically for Facebook, is the result of a partnership between Kutcher’s production firm Katalyst Media and the app developer Slide. Speaking during a keynote interview on Tuesday at the Mixx conference in New York, Kutcher compared the show’s early success to that of a cable hit. “That’s like ‘Jon & Kate Plus 8′ plus one.”
Producers at Universal Feel the Pinch
9/18/2009 at 2:37 PM by Jessica Kantor
Universal to Producers: “Thou Shalt Spend No More”
This can’t possibly be a good thing. Universal Pictures put the word out this week that it will not spend money for the rest of the year to advance development projects. Essentially, if your project isn’t being fast-tracked or greenlit, you won’t be able to spend money to move the project forward until 2010. Such a move is not unprecedented. Studios often run through their fiscal-year budgets and sometimes make deals with writers and their agents that keep projects percolating but delay payments until the beginning of the next fiscal year, when budgets are replenished. It’s unusual, however, for a major studio like Universal to implement such a move in mid-September, dealmakers say.
Will your children ask you, "What's a Blockbuster?"
9/16/2009 at 3:36 PM by Jessica Kantor
Netflix, Redbox Keeping Blockbuster Down
Blockbuster Inc. may close as many as 960 stores by the end of next year, shedding more dead weight as the struggling video rental chain tries to reverse its losses and fend off rapidly growing rivals Netflix Inc. and Redbox. The cuts outlined in documents filed Tuesday would leave Blockbuster with about 20 percent fewer U.S. stores. Blockbuster hasn’t yet conclusively decided to close all the stores mentioned in the previously confidential documents, Chief Executive James Keyes said in an interview yesterday.
Tyler Perry's Latest Beats 9
9/14/2009 at 3:06 PM by Jessica Kantor
Box Office Estimates, 9/14/09
1 I Can Do Bad All by Myself (2009) $24M
2 9 (2009/I) $10.9M
3 Inglourious Basterds (2009) $6.55M
4 All About Steve (2009) $5.8M
5 The Final Destination (2009) $5.5M
6 Sorority Row (2009) $5.27M
7 Whiteout (2009) $5.1M
8 District 9 (2009) $3.6M
9 Julie & Julia (2009) $3.3M
10 Gamer (2009) $3.15M
Benefits of Behind-The-Scenes Footage
9/14/2009 at 2:50 PM by Amy Allen
Trent Whittington at Creative Cow makes a good point about the importance of shooting behind-the-scenes footage, even for low-budget films. (He just shot a student film.) Massify does this for all of our partnered productions, but it's not something that even the most indie filmmakers should neglect.
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ThinkFilm's Urman Launches Paladin
9/9/2009 at 1:38 PM by Jessica Kantor
Urman's Paladin Will Make People "Think"
We’ve met Mark Urman, and think he’s a lovely fellow, so it’s nice to report that he has launched Paladin, a new distribution outfit staffed with some of his former ThinkFilm associates. He’s assembled an initial four-film release slate, including the Bryce Dallas Howard starrer “The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond,” which bowed at the Toronto film fest last year. Amanda Sherwin serves as Paladin’s head of marketing and Michael Tuckman will handle theatrical sales. The execs worked with Urman in the same capacities for seven years at ThinkFilm.
