One is the Loneliest Number: Marshall Explores White Collar Gender Politics
Gender disparity in the workplace is hardly unique to the American job market, as immediately exemplified in French director Tonie Marshall’s ninth theatrical feature, Number One.
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Gender disparity in the workplace is hardly unique to the American job market, as immediately exemplified in French director Tonie Marshall’s ninth theatrical feature, Number One.
Continue reading...
- 9/9/2017
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
If anybody has had a near-perfect view of the transformation of the entertainment business in the age of the Internet, it may be Robert Kyncl (rhymes with “pencil”).
Born in communist Czechoslovakia, his first American job was in that most traditional Hollywood starting place, a talent agency mailroom. He later worked for a film-distribution company, then moved to Netflix “when it was still sending DVDs in the mail.” After he helped manage the Netflix transition to online video streaming, Kyncl jumped to YouTube, to perhaps the most non-traditional of jobs in the entertainment business.
Now he’s YouTube’s Chief Business Officer and, with Maany Peyvan (stet), author of a new book, Streampunks: YouTube and the Rebels Remaking Media.
I talked with the co-authors this week about the book, the transformation Kyncl has been part of, and where YouTube and Hollywood are going. Here’s our conversation:
Tubefilter: You call your book Streampunks.
Born in communist Czechoslovakia, his first American job was in that most traditional Hollywood starting place, a talent agency mailroom. He later worked for a film-distribution company, then moved to Netflix “when it was still sending DVDs in the mail.” After he helped manage the Netflix transition to online video streaming, Kyncl jumped to YouTube, to perhaps the most non-traditional of jobs in the entertainment business.
Now he’s YouTube’s Chief Business Officer and, with Maany Peyvan (stet), author of a new book, Streampunks: YouTube and the Rebels Remaking Media.
I talked with the co-authors this week about the book, the transformation Kyncl has been part of, and where YouTube and Hollywood are going. Here’s our conversation:
Tubefilter: You call your book Streampunks.
- 9/8/2017
- by David Bloom
- Tubefilter.com
For two years back in the late ’90s and early aughts, producer, filmmaker, author and cinephile John Pierson hammered together the lovingly Diy television series, which introduced movie buffs to all manner of filmmakers and their creations over the course of 60-plus episodes. “Split Screen” was IFCtv’s signature series from 1997-2001, boasting such guests as Spike Lee, Richard Linklater, Kevin Smith, Mary Harron, Katherine Dieckmann and many, many more.
Late last year, the cult classic found a new home over on streaming service FilmStruck, which began releasing episodes of the series on their Criterion Channel in December, with a tiered rollout planned.
Read More: ‘Split Screen’: 9 Reasons You Should Watch FilmStruck’s Revival of TV’s Best-Ever Series About Indie Film
On Wednesday night in New York City, the series’ reintroduction to the cultural consciousness continued apace, as Pierson and a group of some of his most famous...
Late last year, the cult classic found a new home over on streaming service FilmStruck, which began releasing episodes of the series on their Criterion Channel in December, with a tiered rollout planned.
Read More: ‘Split Screen’: 9 Reasons You Should Watch FilmStruck’s Revival of TV’s Best-Ever Series About Indie Film
On Wednesday night in New York City, the series’ reintroduction to the cultural consciousness continued apace, as Pierson and a group of some of his most famous...
- 5/11/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Cinemax's '70s action drama Quarry was among the best-looking TV shows to air in 2016, and tonight's first season finale was its most visually impressive, highlighted by a nine-plus minute Vietnam battle that looked like a "oner," showbiz parlance for a long scene filmed in a single take. There were actually a few hidden edits in there, but the great bulk of it really was shot in one take, which required an absurd amount of preparation on behalf of director Greg Yaitanes and the rest of the cast and crew. Yaitanes, a TV veteran who most recently was the producing director on Cinemax's Banshee, joined some elite company when he directed all 8 hours of this season — a feat that's placed him in impressive company with Steven Soderbergh (The Knick), Cary Joji Fukunaga (True Detective season 1), Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot season 2), and David Lynch (the upcoming Twin Peaks revival), who have...
- 10/29/2016
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Hitfix
This article was produced as part of the Locarno Critics Academy, a workshop for aspiring journalists at the Locarno Film Festival, a collaboration between the Locarno Film Festival, IndieWire and the Film Society of Lincoln Center with the support of Film Comment and the Swiss Alliance of Film Journalists.
Since its invention, cinema has been used to examine the past. However, few films centered on historical narratives move past dissecting events and into questioning how such events are portrayed and disseminated. But filmmakers continue to innovate with the form and find new ways to push beyond its limitations. Three films screening at the 69th Locarno International Film Festival — Dain Iskandar Said’s “Interchange,” Douglas Gordon’s “I Had Nowhere to Go,” and Anocha Suwichakornpong’s “By the Time It Gets Dark” — challenge the construction of history and provide alternate ways to experience history beyond the hegemonic image.
The follow-up to his magical realist action-drama “Bunohan,...
Since its invention, cinema has been used to examine the past. However, few films centered on historical narratives move past dissecting events and into questioning how such events are portrayed and disseminated. But filmmakers continue to innovate with the form and find new ways to push beyond its limitations. Three films screening at the 69th Locarno International Film Festival — Dain Iskandar Said’s “Interchange,” Douglas Gordon’s “I Had Nowhere to Go,” and Anocha Suwichakornpong’s “By the Time It Gets Dark” — challenge the construction of history and provide alternate ways to experience history beyond the hegemonic image.
The follow-up to his magical realist action-drama “Bunohan,...
- 8/20/2016
- by Kelley Dong
- Indiewire
James Corden will never quit 'A League of Their Own'. The 36-year-old presenter adores working on the comical sports quiz and even had it written into his contract for 'The Late, Late Show' that his Us schedule would accommodate filming for the Sky series. He said: ''I'll keep doing it as long as the show exists. I love it. It never feels like work. When I was sorting out the American job, I told them I had a show on British TV that I didn't want to give up, so it was always part of the deal.'' James believes the key to...
- 5/7/2015
- Virgin Media - TV
In two decades of faultless performances, Philip Seymour Hoffman proved that his particular talent was to take thwarted, twisted humanity and ennoble it
The day after the premiere of Paul Thomas Anderson's 2012 film The Master, I was interviewing the director in the upstairs ballroom of a Venice hotel when Philip Seymour Hoffman walked past our table. The windows were flung open and the place was bathed with light, and the big, rangy actor bounced by gracefully, like a golden lion walking on air. "Phil's actually a really good dancer," Anderson confided, referencing the parlour routine in the middle of The Master, when the title character performs a jig with his nubile acolytes. "You might not think that to look at him, but he seriously is."
I don't know why we should have been surprised. Every good actor possesses a peculiar grace. Even Philip Seymour Hoffman, an ostensibly foursquare American Job,...
The day after the premiere of Paul Thomas Anderson's 2012 film The Master, I was interviewing the director in the upstairs ballroom of a Venice hotel when Philip Seymour Hoffman walked past our table. The windows were flung open and the place was bathed with light, and the big, rangy actor bounced by gracefully, like a golden lion walking on air. "Phil's actually a really good dancer," Anderson confided, referencing the parlour routine in the middle of The Master, when the title character performs a jig with his nubile acolytes. "You might not think that to look at him, but he seriously is."
I don't know why we should have been surprised. Every good actor possesses a peculiar grace. Even Philip Seymour Hoffman, an ostensibly foursquare American Job,...
- 2/4/2014
- by Xan Brooks
- The Guardian - Film News
Stephen Colbert took to Comedy Central's airwaves on Thursday night to deliver a strong warning to his viewers: Summer movies like "Man of Steel" and "Iron Man 3" are destroying America. Why? "First of all, Superman is the quintessential American hero," Colbert said. "Yet they gave the part to some limey named Henry Cavill." On top of Warner Bros. outsourcing the greatest American job ever to a British actor, Colbert claimed Zack Snyder's movie may be White House propaganda pushing President Barack Obama's agenda. Also read: Nicolas Cage as Superman? Behold the Man of Steel That...
- 5/3/2013
- by Greg Gilman
- The Wrap
Rick Polito has been writing off-beat and often hilarious synopses for various movies to be used in TV listings for years. His famous "Wizard of Oz" synopsis, penned for the Marin Independent Journal and named by the La Times as TV Listing of the Week when it was written in 1998, is making the rounds on the interwebs Friday (Oct. 26) thanks to Reddit.
The synopsis reads:
"Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first woman she meets, then teams up with three complete strangers to kill again."
Polito jokes with Jim Romenesko in an interview, "That line is going to follow me to the grave. It was just on Leno, it was a clue in a crossword puzzle, it showed up in Playboy, and people use it as their email sigs. Someday I'm going to walk down the street and see it on a T-shirt and punch the person who's wearing it.
The synopsis reads:
"Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first woman she meets, then teams up with three complete strangers to kill again."
Polito jokes with Jim Romenesko in an interview, "That line is going to follow me to the grave. It was just on Leno, it was a clue in a crossword puzzle, it showed up in Playboy, and people use it as their email sigs. Someday I'm going to walk down the street and see it on a T-shirt and punch the person who's wearing it.
- 10/26/2012
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
Written by Michael R. Barnard for ReelGrok.com
President Obama signed the Jobs Act into law on April 5th, 2012. Called the ‘‘Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act,’’ the goal is to increase American job creation and economic growth by improving access to the public capital markets for emerging growth companies. It will make it easier for small businesses to raise money so they can create jobs and rebuild the American economy by amending the Securities Act of 1933. It can have a profound impact on the independent filmmaking industry.
Slava Rubin of popular filmmaking crowdfunding site Indiegogo.com, and very active in the process of crafting the Crowdfunding part of the Jobs Act, expects this bill to create more startups and jobs for indie filmmaking.This is the first major change in securities regulations in about 80 years,” says Rubin of the landmark law signed today by President Obama.
Slava’s part in helping craft this law over the past couple years led to his invitation to be at the White House today when President Obama signed the Act. Slava Rubin of popular filmmaking crowdfunding site Indiegogo.com, and very active in the process of crafting the Crowdfunding part of the Jobs Act, expects this bill to create more startups and jobs for indie filmmaking. “This is the first major change in securities regulations in about 80 years,” says Rubin of the landmark law signed today by President Obama. Slava’s part in helping craft this law over the past couple years led to his invitation to be at the White House today when President Obama signed the Act.
...One part of the Jobs Act, its Title III, Crowdfunding part, is an expansion of the current crowdfunding concept that has already invigorated parts of indie filmmaking.
While crowdfunding is the sexy environment of the moment for filmmakers, the politicians building on it for the new method of equity investment created the tortuous and unsexy acronym, “Capital Raising Online While Deterring Fraud and Unethical Non-Disclosure Act of 2012.” We’ll call it, simply, the Crowdfunding Act.
New Opportunity of Equity Crowdfunding
There is a difference between the current popular Non-Equity Crowdfunding and the new Equity Crowdfunding that was signed into law today.
The common dream of aspiring filmmakers often began with a script and some actors, and then an effort to raise money to make the movie by asking everybody to invest in their project. Ads were placed, bulletins posted, and Internet messages were spread asking for people to invest. The aspiring filmmakers then would be told how illegal that is, shocked to learn that they were offering “securities” which had to be registered with the SEC. They learned that any offering to the public of any kind of ownership in future possible profits is a security. That’s “equity.”
Michael Shuman, an economist, described it this way: “The real reason small public offerings and local stock exchanges do not flourish today is that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has essentially banned them. Existing laws place huge restrictions on the investment choices of small, “unaccredited” investors—a category in SEC vernacular that includes all but the richest two percent of Americans.
*****
In order to offer equity shares in their project, it appears filmmakers will need to provide a traditional Business Plan and Financial Projection, which was common before the collapse of the independent film industry, that includes the purpose for the offering and the target offering amount and its deadline, as well as the description of the ownership and capital structure of the issuer. The Business Plan and Financial Projection will also include the name, legal status, physical address, and website address of the issuer; the names of the directors and officers and anyone with more than 20 percent of the shares of the issuer. A description of the financial condition of the issuer including all other offerings of the issuer within the preceding 12-month period is also required. The filmmaker will need to make regular updates about progress meeting the target offering amount. There will be rules about describing the price, value, terms and class of the securities offered. Annual reports will be required.
President Obama signed the Jobs Act into law on April 5th, 2012. Called the ‘‘Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act,’’ the goal is to increase American job creation and economic growth by improving access to the public capital markets for emerging growth companies. It will make it easier for small businesses to raise money so they can create jobs and rebuild the American economy by amending the Securities Act of 1933. It can have a profound impact on the independent filmmaking industry.
Slava Rubin of popular filmmaking crowdfunding site Indiegogo.com, and very active in the process of crafting the Crowdfunding part of the Jobs Act, expects this bill to create more startups and jobs for indie filmmaking.This is the first major change in securities regulations in about 80 years,” says Rubin of the landmark law signed today by President Obama.
Slava’s part in helping craft this law over the past couple years led to his invitation to be at the White House today when President Obama signed the Act. Slava Rubin of popular filmmaking crowdfunding site Indiegogo.com, and very active in the process of crafting the Crowdfunding part of the Jobs Act, expects this bill to create more startups and jobs for indie filmmaking. “This is the first major change in securities regulations in about 80 years,” says Rubin of the landmark law signed today by President Obama. Slava’s part in helping craft this law over the past couple years led to his invitation to be at the White House today when President Obama signed the Act.
...One part of the Jobs Act, its Title III, Crowdfunding part, is an expansion of the current crowdfunding concept that has already invigorated parts of indie filmmaking.
While crowdfunding is the sexy environment of the moment for filmmakers, the politicians building on it for the new method of equity investment created the tortuous and unsexy acronym, “Capital Raising Online While Deterring Fraud and Unethical Non-Disclosure Act of 2012.” We’ll call it, simply, the Crowdfunding Act.
New Opportunity of Equity Crowdfunding
There is a difference between the current popular Non-Equity Crowdfunding and the new Equity Crowdfunding that was signed into law today.
The common dream of aspiring filmmakers often began with a script and some actors, and then an effort to raise money to make the movie by asking everybody to invest in their project. Ads were placed, bulletins posted, and Internet messages were spread asking for people to invest. The aspiring filmmakers then would be told how illegal that is, shocked to learn that they were offering “securities” which had to be registered with the SEC. They learned that any offering to the public of any kind of ownership in future possible profits is a security. That’s “equity.”
Michael Shuman, an economist, described it this way: “The real reason small public offerings and local stock exchanges do not flourish today is that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has essentially banned them. Existing laws place huge restrictions on the investment choices of small, “unaccredited” investors—a category in SEC vernacular that includes all but the richest two percent of Americans.
*****
In order to offer equity shares in their project, it appears filmmakers will need to provide a traditional Business Plan and Financial Projection, which was common before the collapse of the independent film industry, that includes the purpose for the offering and the target offering amount and its deadline, as well as the description of the ownership and capital structure of the issuer. The Business Plan and Financial Projection will also include the name, legal status, physical address, and website address of the issuer; the names of the directors and officers and anyone with more than 20 percent of the shares of the issuer. A description of the financial condition of the issuer including all other offerings of the issuer within the preceding 12-month period is also required. The filmmaker will need to make regular updates about progress meeting the target offering amount. There will be rules about describing the price, value, terms and class of the securities offered. Annual reports will be required.
- 7/25/2012
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Happy birthday…?
AMC’s Mad Men opened its long-awaited Season 5 by celebrating, in assorted and at times very, ahem, “interesting” ways, Don Draper’s 40th birthday.
The two-hour premiere opened with no familiar faces, but a fraternity of Young & Rubicam flunkies pranking protesters on the streets below their office windows; that tomfoolery would ultimately feed into Joan’s story (making her question her job security at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce), then bookend the opener with a bevy of African-American job applicants in the agency’s lobby, deftly dealt with by Lane.
In between all that, here’s what happened,...
AMC’s Mad Men opened its long-awaited Season 5 by celebrating, in assorted and at times very, ahem, “interesting” ways, Don Draper’s 40th birthday.
The two-hour premiere opened with no familiar faces, but a fraternity of Young & Rubicam flunkies pranking protesters on the streets below their office windows; that tomfoolery would ultimately feed into Joan’s story (making her question her job security at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce), then bookend the opener with a bevy of African-American job applicants in the agency’s lobby, deftly dealt with by Lane.
In between all that, here’s what happened,...
- 3/26/2012
- by Matt Webb Mitovich
- TVLine.com
Where did American jobs go? Did Drake expect his album to get leaked? And how do you cope with living apart from your spouse? A look at the most interesting posts from the Wall Street Journal blogs.
Where Are the Jobs? A Look Back at Growth Drivers: What’s wrong with the American job engine? The simple answer is that the economy is growing far too slowly to employ the available work force. But there’s a deeper issue going on.
Where Are the Jobs? A Look Back at Growth Drivers: What’s wrong with the American job engine? The simple answer is that the economy is growing far too slowly to employ the available work force. But there’s a deeper issue going on.
- 11/8/2011
- by Christopher John Farley
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
Cheryl Cole is said to be feeling very unsure of herself and her future on The X Factor.
The ‘Promise This’ singer, who is reportedly hoping to make the move from the UK version of the hit TV show to the American one, flew to La last week and was hoping her fate would soon be sealed.
However insiders say that she is still waiting on tenterhooks as Simon Cowell has not been in touch and she hasn’t yet heard from bosses at Us TV network Fox.
A source close to Cheryl allegedly told People:
“She has never felt less sure of herself than now.
“She has been waiting and waiting for Fox TV and Simon to make up their minds over the American job.
“She hasn’t had any confirmation that she has landed the judge’s job. She is aware that American TV execs still have concerns about her suitability out there.
The ‘Promise This’ singer, who is reportedly hoping to make the move from the UK version of the hit TV show to the American one, flew to La last week and was hoping her fate would soon be sealed.
However insiders say that she is still waiting on tenterhooks as Simon Cowell has not been in touch and she hasn’t yet heard from bosses at Us TV network Fox.
A source close to Cheryl allegedly told People:
“She has never felt less sure of herself than now.
“She has been waiting and waiting for Fox TV and Simon to make up their minds over the American job.
“She hasn’t had any confirmation that she has landed the judge’s job. She is aware that American TV execs still have concerns about her suitability out there.
- 2/27/2011
- by Lisa McGarry
- Unreality
View the original post X Factor 2011: Simon Cowell will miss this year’s auditions on Unreality TV
Simon Cowell has reportedly decided to miss the audition phase of this year’s X Factor series.
The music mogul is currently sitting out the Britain’s Got Talent auditions and as the new panel (Amanda Holden, Michael McIntyre and David Hasselhoff) have been well received by audience members, he is planning to do the same for The X Factor, so that he can concentrate on his new American series.
According to an ‘X Factor’ insider, Cowell will rejoin the panel for the live shows and network chiefs became so desperate to keep their biggest star, that they have even offered to charter a private jet to whisk him across the Atlantic each week.
The source explained: “Simon’s biggest priority is the Us ‘X Factor’ at the moment – he has got...
Simon Cowell has reportedly decided to miss the audition phase of this year’s X Factor series.
The music mogul is currently sitting out the Britain’s Got Talent auditions and as the new panel (Amanda Holden, Michael McIntyre and David Hasselhoff) have been well received by audience members, he is planning to do the same for The X Factor, so that he can concentrate on his new American series.
According to an ‘X Factor’ insider, Cowell will rejoin the panel for the live shows and network chiefs became so desperate to keep their biggest star, that they have even offered to charter a private jet to whisk him across the Atlantic each week.
The source explained: “Simon’s biggest priority is the Us ‘X Factor’ at the moment – he has got...
- 1/26/2011
- by Lisa McGarry
- Unreality
The first thing I noticed when I sat down with Patrick Hughes, writer-director of the engaging neo-western Red Hill, and Ryan Kwanten, star of this thriller and HBO’s “True Blood,” is their excitement and passion for movies.
Often in interviews — not that it’s old hat for me, by any means — I find the talent jaded and going through the motions, but as I sort of shuffled in to the room, I was greeted by their upbeat introductions and beaming faces. Jeff from that website they’ve never heard of? Fantastic! Let’s do this!
Maybe they had a few beers — why not, it’s a Western? After all, we were in the offices of the Alamo Drafthouse, tucked above the teeming theaters of Austin’s mecca for cinephiles, at Fantastic Fest, the largest genre festival in the U.S.
Though it was probably the adrenaline. The film had just celebrated its U.
Often in interviews — not that it’s old hat for me, by any means — I find the talent jaded and going through the motions, but as I sort of shuffled in to the room, I was greeted by their upbeat introductions and beaming faces. Jeff from that website they’ve never heard of? Fantastic! Let’s do this!
Maybe they had a few beers — why not, it’s a Western? After all, we were in the offices of the Alamo Drafthouse, tucked above the teeming theaters of Austin’s mecca for cinephiles, at Fantastic Fest, the largest genre festival in the U.S.
Though it was probably the adrenaline. The film had just celebrated its U.
- 11/13/2010
- by Jeff Leins
- newsinfilm.com
Robin Lippin initially imagined her move to L.A. as temporary. She was hoping to pick up some entertainment industry job experience before returning to her native New York. Two decades and dozens of casting gigs later, Lippin still calls Hollywood home. Her credits include the legendary Aaron Spelling hours "Charlie's Angels" and "Fantasy Island," tween hits "Saved by the Bell" and "Lizzie McGuire," and the Web series "Woke Up Dead" and "Valemont." Currently, she and Jeff Meshel are hard at work assembling the ensemble for the upcoming CW series "Life Unexpected." "It's an incredible show," Lippin says. "To do a show that has comedy and drama and such heart is really a great experience."Spelling ClassGrowing up, my sister was an actress, and I used to see plays all the time in New York. I knew I either wanted to be a casting director or an agent. I came...
- 12/31/2009
- backstage.com
The Pool Directed by: Chris Smith Written by: Chris Smith and Randy Russell Starring: Venkatesh Chavan, Ayesha Mohan, Nana Patekar, Jhangir Badshah When I heard that director Chris Smith's latest movie was due to hit theatres soon, I was looking forward to another strange but true documentary along the lines of American Movie, Home Movie and The Yes Men, all of which I enjoyed a great deal. To my surprise, however, his next film turned out to be something completely different. Not only does The Pool mark Smith's first foray into the world of dramatic fictional filmmaking, it was also shot on location in India -- in a language that Smith does not speak. The Pool first played at Sundance back in 2007, and it has taken over two years to reach Canadian theatres. Considering the fact that the film made a number of critics' lists for Best Movies of...
- 4/6/2009
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
A Shot at Drama and Hitting the Bulls-Eye: Filmmaker Chris Smith triumphs with 'The Pool' Far away from Chris Smith's Wisconsin home, in the bustling port city of Panjim, India, the veteran documentary filmmaker opens an exciting new chapter in his artistic life. "The Pool," the first drama from the 38-year-old director, is a quiet, beautiful, coming-of-age tale featuring a mostly non-professional cast. It's an impressive achievement, not just for its bold departure from Smith's previous films, the humorous true stories of "American Job," "American Movie," and "The Yes Men;" but for its stand-alone qualities as humanist filmmaking of the highest order. 18-year-old Venkatesh (Venkatesh Chavan in an extraordinary performance) works at a modest hotel in Panjim performing every conceivable task - making the beds, cleaning the toilets and delivering room service. Yet, he still needs to sell plastic bags on the street with his young friend...
- 11/13/2008
- Upcoming-Movies.com
At first blush—and okay, at a second, too—The Pool seems like a radical departure for Chris Smith, the Milwaukee-based filmmaker known for offbeat documentaries like American Movie, Home Movie, and The Yes Men. For one, The Pool is a narrative film, his first since his no-budget debut American Job, which nonetheless had the feel of documentary verisimilitude. He also went halfway around the world to shoot in the West Indian state of Goa and in the Hindi language, and had the further audacity to cast non-professional actors in three of the four leading roles. And yet The Pool is still fundamentally a Chris Smith story, an expansion on his career-long interest in dreamers and outsiders who dwell on the fringes of society, but possess a certain audacity. A poor, illiterate teenager from rural Goa, Venkatesh Chavan scrapes together an exceedingly meager income out of odd jobs, including working.
- 9/4/2008
- by Scott Tobias
- avclub.com
By Aaron Hillis
Wisconsin-born filmmaker Chris Smith's 1996 debut feature, "American Job," got his foot in the door at Sundance, but it was 1999's "American Movie," about a luckless amateur filmmaker in production on a low-budget horror flick, that earned him the Grand Jury Prize in Park City, putting his star on the indie-film map. Two more funny and moving docs, "Home Movie" and "The Yes Men," followed, and then Smith threw a game-changer into his oeuvre: a a Hindi-language narrative. Nominated for a Spirit Award and winner of yet another Sundance trophy (the Special Jury Prize this time around), "The Pool" is a neo-realist chronicle of entrepreneurial young Venkatesh (non-pro Venkatesh Chavan), a hotel "room boy" in Panjim, Goa who ingratiates himself to a wealthy family in hopes of swimming in their luxurious pool. Adapted from a short story by his long-time collaborator Randy Russell and exquisitely shot by Smith himself,...
Wisconsin-born filmmaker Chris Smith's 1996 debut feature, "American Job," got his foot in the door at Sundance, but it was 1999's "American Movie," about a luckless amateur filmmaker in production on a low-budget horror flick, that earned him the Grand Jury Prize in Park City, putting his star on the indie-film map. Two more funny and moving docs, "Home Movie" and "The Yes Men," followed, and then Smith threw a game-changer into his oeuvre: a a Hindi-language narrative. Nominated for a Spirit Award and winner of yet another Sundance trophy (the Special Jury Prize this time around), "The Pool" is a neo-realist chronicle of entrepreneurial young Venkatesh (non-pro Venkatesh Chavan), a hotel "room boy" in Panjim, Goa who ingratiates himself to a wealthy family in hopes of swimming in their luxurious pool. Adapted from a short story by his long-time collaborator Randy Russell and exquisitely shot by Smith himself,...
- 9/3/2008
- by Aaron Hillis
- ifc.com
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