Filmmaking

Making films wasn’t my first thought on what I wanted to do with my life. An artist, sure, but what kind I had no idea. I floundered around up in Santa Barbara for a decade trying to figure this out. After surviving Isla Vista I found myself downtown taking every art course offered at City College. I took about 12 pages worth when I found myself getting a DJ job at a local radio station. One day it clicked, I love sound, all sounds, pictures also, drawn or photographed. I should think about goin...

Stage 32 is honored to be working with Harvard Square Script Writers and Women In Film & Video New England, as a partner for their Different Faces Different Voices Film Festival this week which features screenings of 29 "Flicks4Chicks" short films. This festival is celebrating the work of women filmmakers from across the the world and the talented men who collaborate with them. Teams of filmmakers, of both genders, were challenged to write and produce a 10 minute (or shorter) film incorporatin...

Finite and unrecoverable, that’s what our time on this earth is. Mortality comes with the default set of traits for mankind, and such unalterable realization about our expiration date should, in theory, encourage people to live fully before facing the ultimate goodbye. In the Daniels (Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) uncompromising and highly singular debut feature, “Swiss Army Man,” the restrains that societal codes place on human happiness and our desire to seek fulfillment is explored through t...

The Film Prize of Robert Bosch Stiftung Foundation has announced the call for film submissions for the interested young German and Arab filmmakers. The prizes, each worth up to 60,000 euros, are awarded for film co-productions in the categories: short animation, short fiction film, and short or feature length documentary.   2016 winners of the Film Prize of Robert Bosch Stiftung Foundation   The deadline for submissions is on Thursday the 21st of July, and 12 projects will be selected...

Conceived at the dawn of the 20th century and shaped by the outburst of influences during that transitional period, Octave Mirbeau’s novel about a young and defiant Parisian house keeper who refuses to fully surrender to a life of servitude working for wealthy French families in the provinces, ignited the cinematic passions of celebrated auteurs such as Renoir and Buñuel, each of whom adapted the provocative piece with their own sensibilities. Now, nearly 50-years after the last screen iteration...

Many mediamakers know they need a lawyer out the gate and yet initially they are often fearful of employing a lawyer as they fear they can't afford it. That is why I am frequently asked: "When should a mediamaker engage an entertainment attorney?" As a general rule, this should be done when the client is entering into a contractual relationship with another person or entity, such as two co-producers, two writing collaborators, a producer and a writer, a producer and a director, etc. It is a so...

I can’t believe I graduated college two years ago, it feels like it’s been forever. I’ve spent the bulk of my two years applying to different gigs, sending out pitches, entering competitions, and trying to make some money in the film industry (not retail). When I was applying to gigs, I began wondering what’s the right rate to charge with my experience on set. How much should I sell a script for? What should I charge a client to write a script? I had so many questions that I wished my colleagu...

Mohamed Diab’s “Clash” / “Eshtebak” opened Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival this year. It takes place in Cairo during the summer of 2013 - two years after the Egyptian revolution. In the wake of the ouster of Islamist president Morsi, two journalists are grabbed during protests, their cameras and IDs confiscated, and thrown into the back of a police truck. The Clash Full of detained demonstrators of divergent political and religious backgrounds the truck roams through violent pr...

The May 2016 edition of On Stage With RB had a very special guest, Uma Incrocci. They talked about the SAG New Media and Ultra Low Budget contracts, and the best tips for actors to make a splash in the industry. On Stage With RB (May 2016) Uma Incrocci, has worked in every area of the business from commercials to TV to web series to audiobooks. She worked extensively in regional and New York theater and co-produced/co-wrote the pilot Living in Captivity (official selection, NY Television...

Recently I had the great pleasure to interview writer and director Leena Yadav by phone. In our no holds barred conversation, we covered not only the challenging themes of this film, including conditioning and gender roles, patriarchy, and abuse, but also the challenges of raising money (just over 2.5 million) for this -- as Yadav stated, -- “absolutely independent” film. Thought-provoking and honest, ‘Parched’ tackles these tough and timely topics unapologetically. The cinematography (shot b...