Shooting People's Pick of the Day

Thanks, Shooting People, for making TFPN your Pick of the Day!

(If you're unable to view the link above, I believe you'll need to log into your Shooting People account. If you're not signed up with Shooting People yet, click here. Otherwise, I've posted the blurb below.)


PICK OF THE DAY
14. The Film Panel Notetaker From: Ingrid Kopp
http://shootingpeople.org/cards/ingridkopp
Do you kick yourself for missing film events and discussions that may contain that nugget of film wisdom that will change your life? Never fear! Brian Geldin is here to cover these events for you on his blog:
http://www.thefilmpanelnotetaker.com/
"I created The Film Panel Notetaker as a way for film industry novices, as well as veterans, to access notes at panel discussions they were not able to attend themselves," said Geldin. "I welcome guest notetakers for panels I cannot attend myself, and I encourage anyone who attends the same panels as me to post their own notes in the blog's `comments' section."
Check out September's posts for coverage of the IFP Market panels.
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Hometown paper mentions TFPN

Amidst recovering from an early severe snowstorm in Buffalo and surrounding Western New York, The Buffalo News graciously mentioned The Film Panel Notetaker. Read it here:
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20061016/1071241.asp

I grew up in WNY, and wanted everyone back home to know about TFPN, because there is a great filmmaking community there. I used to be a member of one of the oldest movie groups in the country called the Buffalo Movie-Video Makers. I still keep in touch with BMVM President Phil Utech, who I once collaborated on a screenplay called Banshee. Lots of BMVM members are making indpendent films. - John Weiksnar, Emil J. Novak, and many others.

New York City iklipz group

For those of you on Myspace Film, who are also on iklipz, I created a new group for you where you can promote your film screening in the NYC area, tell us about a great flick we should see, look for film collaborators, post local area film-related jobs, and so on. Please check it out and join at www.iklipz.com/iklipzNYC. And if you're from another town or city, you can create a group for your town and city as well.

For those unfamiliar with iklipz:

iklipz is a website for users to SEE, SHOW, and SHARE. iklipz provides members with unique content representative of cutting edge independent film through community-based interaction. iklipz seeks to establish a bridge between up-and-coming filmmakers and the movie industry as a whole. The website allows film enthusiasts to upload content they have created, showcasing their independent projects in an open venue. iklipz also selects exciting new films chosen by consultants and the iklipz Advisory Board, containing members from some of Hollywood’s most renowned companies including Miramax, Magnolia Pictures, Palm Pictures, ThinkFILM, First Look, Fox Searchlight, New Yorker Films, Paramount Pictures, Paramount Classics, MGM and United Artists. Some films may be streamed as worldwide premieres, while others will have been previously discovered at the top festivals and film schools around the world and given a second showing online. iklipz shares a keen interest in discovering and nurturing new talent through innovative and interactive means.

IKLIPZ IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THE IKLIPZ ADVISORY BOARD

To date this board includes:
Arianna Bocco - Agent, The Gersh AgencyCathy Schulman - ProducerCaroline Libresco - Senior Programmer, Sundance Film FestivalEamonn Bowles - President, Magnolia PicturesEd Burns – Actor / Director / Writer / ProducerFredell Pogodin - President, Fredell Pogodin and AssociatesFabien Riggall - Founder, Future Shorts Program Jeff Abramson, Vice President Film Division, Gen Art John Cameron Mitchell, Actor, Director, Producer, WriterJon Landau - Producer, Lightstorm EntertainmentJulian Schnabel - Artist, Director / Writer / ProducerMark Urman - Head of U.S. Theatrical, THINKFilmMichelle Byrd - Executive Director, IFP Mike Goodridge, US Editor, Screen InternationalRaj Roy – Artistic Director, Hamptons International Film Festival; Competition Selection Committee, Berlin International Film FestivalRuth Vitale – President, First Look PicturesSandra Ruch - Executive Director, International Documentary Association (IDA)

At iKlipz you can:Screen independent and user-created feature filmsUpload your own films and get them in front of a large group of enthusiastsMeet up with friends and family to Chat and keep in touchNetwork with industry professionalsDiscuss film and filmmakingCreate your very own "MyPage" mini site where you can express yourself and share you opinion, films, photos, and more!

Get started making a name for yourself at iKlipz now:Create your profile and get your very own "MyPage"

SEE: Check out some great films
SHOW: Upload your own original films
SHARE: Interact with your friends, family and others

"As Smart As They Are" at E.Vil City Film Festival

Yesterday, I went to see for the first time my new friend Joe Pacheco's documentary "As Smart As They Are: The Author Project" at the E.Vil City Film Festival at KGB Bar's Kraine Theater in the East Village. The small, but sophisticated audience, including yours trully, included a fella who travelled from Philadelphia to see the doc about one of his favorite bands, One Ring Zero, headed by Joshua Camp and Michael Hearts, a duo who perform with an ecclectic array of instruments including the accordian, the claviola, and my favorite, the Theremin. In the doc, the group enlists the help of authors such as Jonathan Lethem, Margaret Atwood, Paul Auster, Dave Eggers, A.M. Homes, and Rick Moody to write lyrics for their latest CD, "As Smart As We Are."

I ran into Joe outside KGB Bar, and we headed over to another venue for the E.Vil City Film Fesitval, 11th Street Bar, where we caught a few short documentaries: "Squatter Days" by James Fattu, "RNC2004: The Occupation of NY" by Chris Fiore, and "Brave New York" by Richard Sandler.

Jericho's Echo now available on Netflix

My friend Liz Nord's documentary, "Jericho's Echo: Punk Rock in the Holy Land," is now available to rent on Netflix.

Those who have a Netflix account, please add it to your queue, or even to the top of your queue if you're feeling really generous :)

Those without Netflix, what are you waiting for? Sign up!

Also visit www.jerichosecho.com for more info on the film.

'SXSW Presents' Panels Go Online

This was on Matt Dentler's blog today:

Each week, for our Austin PBS program SXSW Presents, we'll have a panel of local filmmakers and film thinkers sharing in the discussion about that episode's film(s). So, if you're ever interested, you can check out part of what happens every Tuesday night, on SXSW Presents. For example, here's this week's panel discussion about Liz Lambert's documentary, The Last Days of the San Jose. Check back to the official site each week, for more.

"My Life as an Underdog" at Coney Island Film Festival

I made it out to the Coney Island Film Festival on Saturday afternoon, catching the documentary "My Life as an Underdog," about the life of Suzanne Muldowney, who's well-known, or as one person put it in the film, "infamous," for doing interpretive dances at parades of her favorite '60s cartoon icon, Underdog. It's a fascinating and sympathetic portrait of Suzanne's bizarre past time. A man in the audience at the festival mentioned that Suzanne would have attended the festival, but she had to take her cat to the vet for a rabies shot. It would have been the cherry on top of the sundae if she had been there. The film touches on Suzanne's emotional genesis as to how she became so fascinated in the character of Underdog, and other fictional & non-fictional characters, but unfortunately, as indicated in the epilogue, she asked that her family not be interviewed. That's too bad, as it would have given much further insight into her stangely unique life. What the film does deliver is a segment on Suzanne's nemesis, Howard Stern. Apparently, Suzanne did not quite understand who Howard Stern was when she was originally asked to appear on his Channel 9 show in the early 1990s. Her original appearance, and several returning appearances since, have made her an iconic figure in the daily lives of Stern's listeners, something she seems to regret due to what she sees as his vulgarity, despite the fact that she strives for some sort of international fame for her art, due to what she sees as Stern's vulgarity.

Inuit Empire - A Timeline of My Day at the New York Film Festival - October 8, 2006

Inuit Empire
A Timeline of My Day at the New York Film Festival
October 8, 2006


3pm
Saw “The Journals of Knud Rasmussen” at Alice Tully Hall. A very beautiful film about an early 20th-century Danish explorer in Inuit Greenland, but I enjoyed “The Fast Runner” more. Did not stay for Q&A.

5pm
Looked for people outside ATH selling tix for 8:30pm “Inland Empire.” No luck. Called friend Liz to tell her I’d try to get 2 tix. Still no luck.

5:30pm
Decided to wait in standby/cancellation line. I was about number 10 in line.

6:30pm
Lady in red sweater came out and sold tix to first 3 or 4 people in line, then she went back inside the box office.

6:45pm
Lady in red sweater came out again and sold tix to the next 3 or 4 people in line, then went back into the box office. At this point, I’m about #3 in line.

7:15pm
Random man sells ticket to #1 guy in line.

7:30pm
Lady in red sweater returns. Sells one ticket to #2 girl in line (#1’s friend). They leave. This puts me in first place now.

7:45pm
Elderly gentleman with neck brace, cane in one hand, and indistinguishable ticket waving in the air in his other hand, walks by cancellation line. As I move closer to see what the ticket’s for, another man, who had not been standing in the cancellation line at all, gets to the old man before me and buys the ticket. I see that it’s for “Inland Empire” at 8:30pm. I tell the man that I and everyone else who’s been standing in the cancellation line for hours should have had the first chance at getting that ticket. The ticket stealer shrugs his shoulders with no shame at all, and walks away.

8:00
Lady in red sweater returns again to sell me (#1) and #2 guy behind me (who I later find out’s name is Mark) $16 tickets. They are for the loge section, which essentially is the high top side balcony. With 8:30pm ticket in hand, I then attempt to sell my two next day Monday at 11:30am tickets. I go to the end of the cancellation line, figuring these people have the least chance of getting in to the 8:30pm show tonight, and most likely chance that they want to buy my tix for next day. Most people tell me that they can’t buy them, because they have to work on Monday. They are very adamant about getting in tonight, despite their chances. About half-way down the line, one guy buys a ticket. A couple of people later, another guy buys my second next day ticket.

8:10pm
I’m starving. I run to Starbucks. Line’s too long. Go outside to newsstand. Buy a Payday candy bar. Scarf it down and run back to ATH.

8:20pm
Get inside ATH and meet up with Mark.

8:25pm
Hand our tickets to the ticket taker ladies and head into the Left Loge and take our seats. His is right next to the edge with a better view. Mine is right next to his with two girls blocking my view in front of me.

8:28ish
Run out to bathroom.

8:32ish
Return from bathroom. David Lynch is already on stage introducing the film, and acknowledging Laura Dern’s presence in the box seat on the almost exact opposite side of where I’m sitting.

8:35 ish
Film starts. The girls in front of me are still blocking my view. I move the seat a little, and manage to see in between their heads the middle portion of the screen. Nothing to the far right or far right of the screen is visible to me because each girl has a head on them. Then the two girls move their heads in together to discuss what’s taking place on screen. Now the middle of the screen is blocked, and I can only see the far right and far left of the screen. They keep going at it every few minutes. I gently and politely tap their shoulders and whisper, “I’m sorry, but you keep blocking my view. Would you mind if you would keep your heads apart?” They apologize. I get about 10 minutes of middle screen, then they’re back at it. What exactly do they need to keep conferring about? Is it absolutely necessary for them to speak at all during the film? Just watch the film! Not only is this David Lynch film one of his most bizarre and non-sensical films ever, but now I can even see what does not make any sense. David Lynch is such a visual director that any spec of screen that I can’t see will probably ruin the whole experience, and it did…for a while. Thankfully, a middle-aged couple who sat two rows in front of me got up half-way through the film. Seemed they didn’t like it. I moved into their row and had a perfect view of the entire screen for the final half of the nearly three-hour film. At this point, the film just kept on getting crazier and creepier, and I couldn’t make any sense out of it, but I still found it somewhat enjoyable.

11:30ish
Film ends. Spotlight shines on Lynch, Dern, and co-star Justin Theroux in box across the way.

11:35ish
I go down to the orchestra section and stay for the Q&A.

12:00ish
Go home.

Doc about New Orleans loses everything (please re-post)

Over the past 8 months, I've been involved as an Associate Producer on the documentary No Cross, No Crown. The following note comes from our production team. Please take a moment to read and re-post. Your support is genuinely appreciated.
- Brian

Dear Friends and Fellow Filmmakers,
On Tuesday Oct 3, 2006, the apartment/editing suite for our feature documentary NO Cross, NO Crown was burglarized and all of our tools for it, including LaCie external hard drives (AND their back-ups!!!) that stored all the footage and the three-hour rough edit were stolen. The film explores New Orleans, a town that contributed to the fabric of American music, yet only after it was hit by one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history, did it become apparent that the country never truly knew her.

Take a look at the trailer here: http://www.dinomonsterfilms.com/ncnc/NCNCtrailerWEB.mov or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZY_ZiAsCUU.

Short of the miracle of getting everything returned in its original condition AND content, we are forced to start from scratch. This film was a passion project for the filmmakers, without true funding, and so much like the patched effort to even get the equipment in the first place, we are having to start from square one. With your help, we can put the pieces back together and tell the story of the music and culture in New Orleans. Eight months worth of work is gone, but it can all be re-built with your help. Any donations – monetary, equipment, services, etc., would be ever so appreciated, and we will be sure to list you in the film's credits.

To donate through paypal, go to www.dinomonsterfilms.com. On the left, find the dinomite! tab and click the MORE and then the SUPPORT links.

Or to donate any other monetary, equipment, or services, please email amp at dinomonster dot com.

Thank you very much for your support!

A.M. Peters, et al
dinomonster films & Liquid Metal Media
www.dinomonsterfilms.com
www.liquidmetalmedia.com

P.S.- Please feel free to re-post this and send to as many people as you can. Thanks!

GreenCine Daily mentions The Film Panel Notetaker

Check out what GreenCine Daily said about The Film Panel Notetaker in its Oct. 1 blog entry:

http://daily.greencine.com/archives/002541.html