nofilmschool » sundance2013

Panasonic GH2 at Sundance and Slamdance: Carruth's 'Upstream Color' and Orbegoso's 'Musgo'

Joe Marine — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 18:24:13 +0000

The Panasonic GH2 is something of an anomaly in the camera world. Out of the box it looked good enough, but it wasn’t until the hackers got to it that things really got interesting — which was a very similar situation to the previous camera, the GH1. The Panasonic line hasn’t quite taken the industry by storm the way the Canon DSLRs have, which could come down to familiarity and/or high-profile endorsements. Either way, that hasn’t stopped a couple of festival-worthy films — Shane Carruth’s Sundance film Upstream Color (which won an award for sound design at the festival and is being self-distributed in April), and Gami Orbegoso’s Slamdance film Musgo – from shooting on the camera. Check out some footage and clips from both films below. (more…)

5 Steps to Successful Film Festival Schmoozing (the Sundance Edition)

Joe Marine — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 04:59:58 +0000

Even though the dust is settling on the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, that doesn’t mean you can’t still learn a thing or two about interacting with the folks there (or festivals like it). We had a pretty funny video from last year’s festival that poked fun at this sort of behavior, and now we’ve got another thanks to PBS that shows us how to schmooze at a film festival in 5 easy steps. Click through to check it out and let the hilarity ensue. (more…)

Sundance 2013 Winners Announced, 'Fruitvale' and 'Blood Brother' Grab Top Prizes

Joe Marine — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 04:15:28 +0000

Another Sundance Film Festival has come and gone, and it was a tremendous year for acquisitions, with the rights to at least a dozen films sold for over $1 million dollars. We’ve had a few great conversations with some of the filmmakers from this year’s festival, including Darci Picoult, writer of Mother of George, winner of one of the Cinematography Awards. The top prizes went to Fruitvale, for dramatic, and Blood Brother, for documentary, and we’ve got some material from both films, as well two of the award-winning short films embedded below. (more…)

Distributors Pay Top Dollar at Sundance, Has Indie Film Recovered? Plus a Complete List of Acquisitions

Joe Marine — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 04:31:06 +0000

Another year of Sundance is coming to a close, with the awards ceremony taking place on Saturday night. We’ve featured interviews with a number of creatives who have films playing at the festival, including two that were recently acquired, Austenland and Concussion. There were quite a few distribution deals made at the festival, some for very large sums of money, and it certainly looks like it’s going to be an even better year than last for the independent film market. Click through for a list of all of the movies that have received deals. (more…)

Not Making It to Sundance? Here Are a Dozen Shorts Playing There This Week

Joe Marine — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 22:15:29 +0000

It’s that time of year again, when filmmakers and celebrities alike descend upon Park City to check out the best that independent cinema has to offer. The Sundance Film Festival has just begun — and we’ve been talking to some of the filmmakers about their work — but you don’t have to trek into the cold mountains of Utah just to see some of the movies playing there. Sundance has made 12 of the 64 short films playing at the festival available online for your viewing pleasure — so click through to check them out. (more…)