Other Than Film
A Geek’s Guide to SXSW Film
TFI’s Resources
Don’t worry, I don’t expect the same kind of shock that I’m sure is reverberating around the indie film world this morning with the announcements that Peter Scarlet is leaving the Tribeca Film Festival, but I am leaving my post as blogger-in-chief of Resources. I started the project a little over 2 years ago now and have been feeling like I did what I set out to do, and I don’t have the time or inclination to take it in a new direction. So, expect some new blood there soon, and in the meantime, my au revoir post:
It’s with mixed feelings that I tell you this will be my last post here at Resources for the time being. I had a great time doing this blog. Reading other people’s thoughts and ideas and putting my own spin on it, alerting folks to new grants, programs and studies they may not have heard of, and on occasion, thinking about the art of filmmaking, are all pursuits I enjoy. But it was also a frustrating experience because talking about policy and technology issues to filmmakers is a little like banging one’s head against a wall. It was Ted Hope’s rant about NY film credits that reminded me of my frustration and why closing my chapter on this blog has been bitter sweet. Read the rest>>
Thanks to all who supported my endeavor there, and especially Brian Newman for giving me the platform to do something I love to do!
Obama on the Recovery Plan
I know this isn’t a documentary I’m posting; it’s a piece of political media, but I think it is really important so I’m posting it here. If you watched I.O.U.S.A. or An Inconvenient Truth or any other myriad of works created in the past few years, you know we are in deep shit. We came together to elect Obama because we believed that he would assemble the right people and get us on a course to changing our tides. He’s trying but I have to admit to having dropped the ball. The election and inauguration were such high moments, it was a long pendulum swing back into “real” life. That’s the thing though, our “real” lives are in jeopardy.
Ray Pride had a video project at Sundance were he was asking people to share a hopeful, truthful moment with him/everyone. My outlook is bleak so I told him I wasn’t sure if I could come up with anything to share for the project. I did come up with something but he never asked me again to do it, so hey, blog fodder, right? Well, you’ll notice that I even forgot to make my post about it post-Sundance.(Ray, help me out with a link if you read this – I can’t find it.)
2YM: Melody Gardot
It’s time for me to get to my 2-Year Meme! Juliet recommended Melody Gardot’s album Worrisom Heart. She’s a fellow Jersey girl and like me, she bears little resemblance to the stereotype. After a serious accident, Gardot picked up a guitar, using music to aid in her therapy. The Washington Post review describes her as from a “generation of young women who are combining the elastic phrasing and harmonic sophistication of jazz with the personal lyrics of singer-songwriter folk.” If you enjoy kicking back on a comfy couch with a glass of wine and a fire to listen to the silky stylings of Ella Fitzgerald or Louis Armstrong, you will enjoy Gardot.
My idea with this meme was to identify some of the art that readers of this blog are interested in; art that transcends genre was my highest hope. I enjoyed listening to Gardot, but I have to admit to having no connection to jazz. I’ve tried and tried, but it doesn’t speak to me.
Bill Ayers Speaks in the NY Times
I was cast in the “unrepentant terrorist” role; I felt at times like the enemy projected onto a large screen in the “Two Minutes Hate” scene from George Orwell’s “1984,” when the faithful gathered in a frenzy of fear and loathing.
With the mainstream news media and the blogosphere caught in the pre-election excitement, I saw no viable path to a rational discussion. Rather than step clumsily into the sound-bite culture, I turned away whenever the microphones were thrust into my face. I sat it out. Continue>>
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