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5 Potential Obstacles That Actually Helped Oscar-Nominated 'Beasts of the Southern Wild' Succeed

V Renée — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 11:52:34 +0000

Beasts of the Southern Wild is one beast of a movie. Produced by a bunch of old buddies that formed the loose collective Court 13 (which also produced Death to the Tinman), and directed by Behn Zeitlin, the film demonstrates the potential of independent films, as well as revealing its influence on audiences today. In the IFP Q&A video embedded below, the producers of the film go into detail explaining just how demanding and ambitious every phase of production was, and how the team managed to come out the other side with the movie we see today. Based on that video, we’ve got a list of five potential obstacles that could have derailed the film, but actually ended up working in its favor. (more…)

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'Beasts of the Southern Wild' Surprises with 4 Oscar Nods, and is This the Last Major Year for Celluloid?

Joe Marine — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 02:05:39 +0000

It’s that time of year again, when Hollywood nominates the ~~films that ran the best Oscar campaigns~~ best films from the previous year in a number of categories. Even just being nominated for an Academy Award is usually an honor for most of these filmmakers and actors, and many of them have been on the ballot a number of times. Probably the most interesting selection is Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild, a true independent film not just in budget but in spirit, which was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and the youngest Best Actress nomination ever in Quvenzhané Wallis. What’s even more interesting is how many of these films were still shot on actual film, but how long will that last? (more…)

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2012 Screenwriters Reveal the Toughest Scenes They Wrote

Christopher Boone — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 15:27:55 +0000

Many screenwriters talk about the difficulty of facing the blank page as they start page one of their screenplays. The desire to get the opening of the screenplay right can overwhelm, even paralyze. Yet, as the screenplay finally begins and takes shape, the first page is not necessarily the most difficult page. In reality, the challenge tends to come later, not when the audience is introduced to the movie, its characters and its world, but rather when the story truly launches into what will compel the audience to stay engaged for the next 90 minutes or more. Thanks to Kyle Buchanan at Vulture (and Movies Editor for New York Magazine), we have a series of screenwriters from some of the most acclaimed films of 2012 describing in their own words what were the toughest scenes to write in their own screenplays. (more…)

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Choosing Super 16mm over Digital and the Cinematography of 'Beasts of the Southern Wild'

Joe Marine — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 00:54:19 +0000

It seems like there have been tons of posts about this movie, but The Creators Project has been slowly releasing their exclusive Behind the Scenes videos over the course of the last few months. We’ve taken a look at the score and other aspects, but now we’ve got a video with Director of Photography Ben Richardson talking about the aesthetic of the film and their choice to shoot on celluloid as opposed to digital. (more…)

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The Score of 'Beasts of the Southern Wild' with Dan Romer and Director Benh Zeitlin

Dave Kendricken — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 01:37:19 +0000

It’s a fairly uncommon thing for a director to score his own films — examples come to mind, to be sure, but it’s always interesting to see what comes out of such an arrangement. The director, of course, has a deep understanding of a film’s emotional texture. This makes the prospects of what a director-composer may bring to a film truly unique. Beasts of the Southern Wild is one such case, in which co-composer Dan Romer and director Benh Zeitlin worked together to create a simple but emotively articulate score. (more…)

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Screenplays for 'Beasts of the Southern Wild,' 'The Sessions,' and More Now Online

Christopher Boone — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 03:00:48 +0000

Waters gonna rise up, wild animals gonna rerun from the grave, and screenplays gonna be online for your consideration. We have recently posted links to screenplays available to download for your consideration from Universal Pictures, Focus Features, Sony Pictures Classics and Lionsgate. Now, thanks to Fox Searchlight, we can read all of Hushpuppy’s pearls of wisdom in the screenplay for Beasts of the Southern Wild, plus download (legally) screenplays for The Sessions, Hitchcock, and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. (more…)

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'Beasts of the Southern Wild' Making of Demonstrates the Benefits of Collective Filmmaking

Mar Belle — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 19:39:55 +0000

If like me you’re drawn to films which experiment with narrative form, presenting strong characters making their way in worlds that are slightly off kilter from our own, then I’m betting you also have Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild pretty high on your must watch list. Following the film’s Sundance premiere (where it won the Narrative Grand Jury Prize and Best Cinematography) and Camera d’Or Cannes screening, the project has drawn accolades for both its story and six-year-old Quvenzhané Wallis’ central performance. Here’s a taste of the Beasts’ world in the trailer: (more…)

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Great Opportunity: Cinereach Awarding Grants of Up to $50K to Fiction and Documentary Film Projects

Ryan Koo — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 14:00:56 +0000

Cinereach, who we’ve covered previously, is a not-for-profit film organization that awards grants and fellowships to filmmakers in addition to producing a select few films (the most prominent current example of which is the terrific and touching Beasts of the Southern Wild). Documentary and fiction films from anywhere in the world are eligible for their grants, which range from $5,000 – $50,000 per project. Since 2006 they’ve awarded close to $5 million in total funds, and they’ve just opened their 2012 grant cycle; if you’re interested in applying for such a great opportunity (as am I), you’ve got a month. Here are the details of how to apply: (more…)

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Benh Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar Describe the Script's Evolution for Beasts of the Southern Wild

Christopher Boone — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 13:00:10 +0000

As Sundance and Cannes award-winner Beasts of the Southern Wild grows from festival darling to full-fledged must-see status in its platform rollout across the country, many interviews with first-time feature film director Benh Zeitlin have focused how his creative team managed to film a joyous apocalyptic story off the grid on the water during an oil spill in southern Louisiana with non-actors. Merely getting this film in the can was a miracle. My interest as a writer, however, craves to know more about how Zeitlin and his co-writer Lucy Alibar worked through the adaptation of Alibar’s play Juicy and Delicious to create this Beast. Thanks to Edward Douglas at ComingSoon.net, we have some answers, straight from the co-writers themselves. (more…)

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