Crafts Spotlight: Art Direction on the New Series The Right Stuff
For Appian Way’s producer Jennifer Davisson, among the many properties offered to the company she and overall proprietor Leonardo DiCaprio were analyzing for production potential was pilot Chuck Yeager’s autobiography, with regards to adapting it into a feature film. While that project did not move forward into the development phase, another Appian Way executive... »
Director Series: Natalie Krinsky’s The Broken Hearts Gallery
Natalie Krinsky‘s The Broken Hearts Gallery follows 20-something art gallery assistant Lucy Gulliver (Geraldine Viswanathan) living in New York City as she is suddenly fired from her job and dumped by her most recent boyfriend Max Vora (Utkarsh Ambudkar). Through the years, Lucy has become an emotional hoarder and has kept various keepsake items from... »
Filmmaker Spotlight: Ghosts of War Director Eric Bress
Unsurprisingly, the co-creator of The Butterfly Effect was bound to deliver a unique, non-traditional film with his new offering, Ghosts of War. As its title suggests, Eric Bress’s new project concerns the conventional war movie; however, Bress merged that familiar cinematic category with a wholly unexpected element. “I knew when I first started out... »
Volition Filmmakers Tony & Ryan Smith
For brothers Tony Dean Smith and Ryan W. Smith, their new science-fiction feature Volition was a fully collaborative endeavor in every respect with them sharing writing and producing duties and Tony installed as director. A story with many nuances and turns, Volition represented the first feature for the Smith Brothers. “The kernel of the idea came... »
Carl Laemmle Doc Reveals the Heroism of Universal Pictures’ Founder
When Carl Laemmle founded Universal Pictures in 1912, one of Hollywood’s longest running and most powerful studios was launched, with their land, Universal City, being dedicated three years later in the San Fernando Valley. Laemmle presided over the studio and facilities until 1936 when he lost everything—the production, distribution, and exhibition enterprise, plus the... »
Scandalous Documentary Dissects the National Enquirer Phenomenon
When Generoso Pope, Jr. purchased the newspaper The New York Enquirer in 1952, ostensibly with an interest-free $75,000 loan from mob boss Frank Costello, events were set in motion for the evolution of a world-renowned tabloid, known since 1954 as The National Enquirer. Enter director Mark Landsman, who claimed that “the story found me,”... »
Jon Brewer Presents the Legendary Chuck Berry in New Film
On May 21st, 1955, a 29-year-old songwriter, singer, and guitarist had his first major recording session at Chess Records in Chicago. Among the tunes that were cut then was “Maybellene,” which became a breakthrough hit for the artist, none other than Chuck Berry. Arguably, with that one song, guitar-oriented rock ‘n’ roll was born.... »
Drum Documentary Celebrates Neil Peart
In his feature documentary about drums and drummers, Masters of Resonance, director Jeremy Bout, who regularly aims to have his viewers use storytelling to make educated decisions about their careers of choice, simply wanted to tell another inspiring story through the prism of those of elite percussive skill. “It was never meant to be... »
SIFF Announces Winners of First Virtual Film Festival
Coming from as far away as Västra Götaland, Hanoi, England, Canada, Copenhagen and Uttar Pradesh — the Sonoma International Film Festival’s first SIFF 2.0 Virtual Film Festival concluded yesterday with four Command Performance screenings. Celebrating its 23rd year, the online showcase screened more than 100 features, documentaries and short films from 20 countries, including... »
Losing Lena Documentary Examines Landmark Photograph
In November 1972, Lenna Sjööblom was Playboy’s Playmate of the Month, posing for a series of pictures in her first and only nude photo session. Born Lena Söderberg on March 31, 1951, in Sweden, she had no idea that one of the photos, the centerfold, would become pivotal in the development of digitally-based imagery.... »