This week, Waitress, written and directed by Adrienne Shelly is being released. Years ago I knew her, as Adrienne Levine. This was before she became famous as an independent film actress, writer and director. Waitress is getting good reviews and
Veoh
My friend Stephan works for an internet company called Veoh which is making strong inroads in the realm of TV on the internet. I am curious about it so we did a little e-mail Q&A. Check Veoh out for yourself
Cutaways
In 1999 our TV commercial business was hamstrung by a Screen Actors Guild strike. Looking for work, we were offered the opportunity to make a promotional film for The Chase House, a Chicago area not-for-profit, which worked in the inner
Food on Film
Marcel Proust can have his madeleines, I have food on film. I found myself thinking the other day about films where food is integral to the story and it made me hungry. So I have come up with a list
Blog Silence
Lesson Learned
In a post last week I mentioned my student, Andrew, was part of a team of four Columbia filmmakers participating in the National Film School Championships in San Diego. I saw Andrew Friday and he filled me in on the
Casting
A hallmark of the bad student film is bad casting choices. A 20-year-old student casts his 21-year-old roommate to play a 40-year-old father, and then he casts his 18-year-old girlfriend to play that character’s daughter. What you have on your
Up in Smoke- part 2
Our first thought was that we probably lost all the film we shot that day and will need to re-shoot- on our dime. Secondly, we needed to get another camera ASAP so we could finish the food shots; third, we
Up in Smoke- part 1
So we were shooting a 30-second commercial for Molly McButter. (You know it has BIG butter taste, without a bit of butter fat-says the jingle which the ad agency spent a mint on,) It was a nice spot- live action
Infamous
I saw a great film over the weekend. It is called Infamous and it is the other film about Truman Capote writing In Cold Blood. I like Capote and think Philip Seymour Hoffman and Catherine Keener are very good, but
