One of our favorite films of the year so far is “Thirst Street,” an indie about obsession, delusion and romance. Starring indie actor Lindsay Burdge (“A Teacher”), the film is arch and dreamy, and features a deliciously sly narration by Academy Award-winner Anjelica Huston. Our review described it as “a wry and disturbed look at lust and longing… delightfully twisted.”
Read More: Lindsay Burdge Sparkles In The Delicious Psycho Sexual Thriller ‘Thirst Street’ [Tribeca Review]
Directed by Nathan Silver the filmmaker told us in a quick email interview he wanted to write a lead part for Burdge who had a role in his previous film, “Actor Martinez.
Continue reading ‘Thirst Street’ Clip: Lindsay Burdge Gets Obsessed [Exclusive] at The Playlist.
Read More: Lindsay Burdge Sparkles In The Delicious Psycho Sexual Thriller ‘Thirst Street’ [Tribeca Review]
Directed by Nathan Silver the filmmaker told us in a quick email interview he wanted to write a lead part for Burdge who had a role in his previous film, “Actor Martinez.
Continue reading ‘Thirst Street’ Clip: Lindsay Burdge Gets Obsessed [Exclusive] at The Playlist.
- 9/19/2017
- by Rodrigo Perez
- The Playlist
The heart of Paris beats for film industry in June. Industry Week is the professional part of the Champs-Elysées Film Festival.
The submissions for Us in Progress are now open till August 15th here.
This label includes the Us in Progress (USiP) and Les Arc Film Fesstival’s team presenting the Paris Coproduction Village and La Residence de la Cinefondation which welcomes a dozen young directors who come to Paris to work on their first or second fiction feature project for 4 and 1/2 months. All together, they offer 24 film projects at different stages, from development to post production. More than 200 professionals from the industry, producers, international sellers, distributors, etc. are welcomed.
This year Us in Progress broke out. It has become a top event for discovering American independent cinema not only for the Europeans invited to attend, but for Americans who find themselves in Paris for the event or who even...
The submissions for Us in Progress are now open till August 15th here.
This label includes the Us in Progress (USiP) and Les Arc Film Fesstival’s team presenting the Paris Coproduction Village and La Residence de la Cinefondation which welcomes a dozen young directors who come to Paris to work on their first or second fiction feature project for 4 and 1/2 months. All together, they offer 24 film projects at different stages, from development to post production. More than 200 professionals from the industry, producers, international sellers, distributors, etc. are welcomed.
This year Us in Progress broke out. It has become a top event for discovering American independent cinema not only for the Europeans invited to attend, but for Americans who find themselves in Paris for the event or who even...
- 7/26/2017
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Project Name: Help Wanted
Asking For: $15,500 through Seed & Spark
Amount Raised Thus Far (At Time Of Post): $3,115
Days Remaining In Campaign (At Time Of Post): 24
Description: In recent years, the generational gap between Baby Boomers and Millennials has come into focus, leading to frequent disagreements between the two cohorts. Sometimes, the extremes of America's two largest generations are forced to work together, and that is the premise that will form the basis of Patrick Hackett's new project Help Wanted.
Help Wanted stars Jim O'Heir, best known for playing the lovable loser Jerry on Parks and Recreation, as a Boomer who finds his skills depreciated in the workforce. With nowhere else to turn, he has no option other than to link up with a Millennial who is attempting to launch a startup out of his parents' house. Through that setup, Hackett and his team will be able to explore the relationship between old and young. "Today’s seniors and millennials are both experiencing “What now?” moments," the project's campaign page reads. "Both are in stages of uncertainty and transition."
Hackett provides more details in his pitch video:
Creator Bio: Hackett is based in Denver. He previously served as the co-producer of Actor Martinez, a work of meta-fiction that earned some film festival appearances.
Best Perk: The $500 perk is expensive but exciting, as it excludes a backstage tour of the famous Red Rocks Amphitheatre. If you ask nicely, maybe you can even etch your name into the rock.
Visit Tubefilter for more great stories.
Asking For: $15,500 through Seed & Spark
Amount Raised Thus Far (At Time Of Post): $3,115
Days Remaining In Campaign (At Time Of Post): 24
Description: In recent years, the generational gap between Baby Boomers and Millennials has come into focus, leading to frequent disagreements between the two cohorts. Sometimes, the extremes of America's two largest generations are forced to work together, and that is the premise that will form the basis of Patrick Hackett's new project Help Wanted.
Help Wanted stars Jim O'Heir, best known for playing the lovable loser Jerry on Parks and Recreation, as a Boomer who finds his skills depreciated in the workforce. With nowhere else to turn, he has no option other than to link up with a Millennial who is attempting to launch a startup out of his parents' house. Through that setup, Hackett and his team will be able to explore the relationship between old and young. "Today’s seniors and millennials are both experiencing “What now?” moments," the project's campaign page reads. "Both are in stages of uncertainty and transition."
Hackett provides more details in his pitch video:
Creator Bio: Hackett is based in Denver. He previously served as the co-producer of Actor Martinez, a work of meta-fiction that earned some film festival appearances.
Best Perk: The $500 perk is expensive but exciting, as it excludes a backstage tour of the famous Red Rocks Amphitheatre. If you ask nicely, maybe you can even etch your name into the rock.
Visit Tubefilter for more great stories.
- 6/21/2017
- by Sam Gutelle
- Tubefilter.com
“It’s a job.” –Arthur Martinez I had two features as a cinematographer under my belt by late June of 2015, both close and comfortable collaborations with a single director: Joel Potrykus (Buzzard, The Alchemist Cookbook). It seems fitting that he made the phone call I received only a week and a half before Actor Martinez began principal photography. Joel eagerly informed me that two directors, Nathan Silver (Stinking Heaven, Uncertain Terms) and Mike Ott (Lake Los Angeles, Littlerock), had contacted him asking about my nearly immediate availability. I didn’t know them personally, but I certainly had been aware of their […]...
- 3/28/2017
- by Adam J. Minnick
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Welcome back to the Weekend Warrior, your weekly look at the new movies hitting theaters this weekend, as well as other cool events and things to check out….but mostly movies.
This Past Weekend:
It was absolutely no surprise that Hugh Jackman’s last Wolverine movie Logan would top the box office, but it actually ended up doing even better than my prediction when actual numbers came in, grossing $88.3 million over the weekend. That makes it the fourth highest X-Movie opening (including Deadpool) but also the biggest R-rated opening for March, defeating 300’s once-impressive $70 million opening. It’s also the fourth highest R-rated opening of all time after Deadpool, The Matrix Reloaded and American Sniper.
The bigger surprise was how well Jordan Peele’s thriller Get Out held up in its second weekend, not only because it was going up against Logan, but also because high-profile horror films tend...
This Past Weekend:
It was absolutely no surprise that Hugh Jackman’s last Wolverine movie Logan would top the box office, but it actually ended up doing even better than my prediction when actual numbers came in, grossing $88.3 million over the weekend. That makes it the fourth highest X-Movie opening (including Deadpool) but also the biggest R-rated opening for March, defeating 300’s once-impressive $70 million opening. It’s also the fourth highest R-rated opening of all time after Deadpool, The Matrix Reloaded and American Sniper.
The bigger surprise was how well Jordan Peele’s thriller Get Out held up in its second weekend, not only because it was going up against Logan, but also because high-profile horror films tend...
- 3/8/2017
- by Edward Douglas
- LRMonline.com
Arthur Martinez is a Denver computer technician who moonlights as an actor. He looks something like the late comics writer Harvey Pekar: schlubby and with sideburns, a heavy brow, and a mess of thinning hair. As the star of Actor Martinez, in which he plays himself, Arthur comes across as “a character”—not a Pekar-esque grouch, but a sweet and needy puppy with personal issues that he is unequipped to address. How much of this is real or a performance is unclear and maybe even irrelevant; besides, movies that play with the difference between being yourself and playing yourself work best when they can keep their exact recipes secret. Because what this funny, low-key head-scratcher presents, in pieces that viewers sometimes have to put together themselves, is a story about two indie filmmakers (Mike Ott and Nathan Silver, also the film’s real directors and also playing themselves) who...
- 3/8/2017
- by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
- avclub.com
Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: What better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? This week […]
The post This Week In Trailers: T2 Trainspotting, Homo Sapiens, Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent, Actor Martinez, Animals Season 2 appeared first on /Film.
The post This Week In Trailers: T2 Trainspotting, Homo Sapiens, Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent, Actor Martinez, Animals Season 2 appeared first on /Film.
- 3/4/2017
- by Christopher Stipp
- Slash Film
Vox has released the new episode of its nonfiction web series “The Secret Life of Muslims,” titled “Dear Hollywood: stop portraying Muslims as terrorists.” In the new installment, Iranian-American author and commentator Reza Aslan, “Glee” actor Iqbal Theba and other prominent Muslims sound off on the problems of Hollywood’s portrayal of the group.
Read More: Mike Ott & Nathan Silver Blur the Line Between Fiction and Reality in ‘Actor Martinez’ — Trailer
“I loved the 1980s, when Chuck Norris used to kill swaths of my people with a machine-gun in some brown bouillabaisse of a country. It was awesome to watch,” says reporter Wajahat Ali at the beginning of the clip. This new episode also features comedian Omar Regan, who claims that “Muslims are always terrorists!” on the big screen.
Comedian Maz Jobrani, author of “I’m Not a Terrorist, but I’ve Played One on TV,” says how much he...
Read More: Mike Ott & Nathan Silver Blur the Line Between Fiction and Reality in ‘Actor Martinez’ — Trailer
“I loved the 1980s, when Chuck Norris used to kill swaths of my people with a machine-gun in some brown bouillabaisse of a country. It was awesome to watch,” says reporter Wajahat Ali at the beginning of the clip. This new episode also features comedian Omar Regan, who claims that “Muslims are always terrorists!” on the big screen.
Comedian Maz Jobrani, author of “I’m Not a Terrorist, but I’ve Played One on TV,” says how much he...
- 2/24/2017
- by Yoselin Acevedo
- Indiewire
“Actor Martinez” had its North American premiere at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival. Now, the comedy from acclaimed indie directors Mike Ott (“Lake Los Angeles”) and Nathan Silver (“Uncertain Terms,” “Stinking Heaven”) is set to debut in theaters March 10.
Read More: Mike Ott & Nathan Silver’s ‘Actor Martinez’ Is A Fascinating And Experimental Meta-Movie — Tribeca Review
“Actor Martinez” focuses on Arthur Martinez (played by the actor of the same name), a Denver-area performer who hires two indie filmmakers (Silver and Ott) to make a film with him as the lead. But instead, the filmmakers design a completely different project based on Arthur’s real-life persona, even casting him a girlfriend, actress Lindsay Burdge (“Mistress America,” “The Invitation”), to try to draw out any remaining emotions from Arthur about his ex-wife.
Inspired by Kiarostami’s distinctive style of combining conventional narrative with documentary filmmaking, Silver and Ott deliberately blur the line between fiction and nonfiction,...
Read More: Mike Ott & Nathan Silver’s ‘Actor Martinez’ Is A Fascinating And Experimental Meta-Movie — Tribeca Review
“Actor Martinez” focuses on Arthur Martinez (played by the actor of the same name), a Denver-area performer who hires two indie filmmakers (Silver and Ott) to make a film with him as the lead. But instead, the filmmakers design a completely different project based on Arthur’s real-life persona, even casting him a girlfriend, actress Lindsay Burdge (“Mistress America,” “The Invitation”), to try to draw out any remaining emotions from Arthur about his ex-wife.
Inspired by Kiarostami’s distinctive style of combining conventional narrative with documentary filmmaking, Silver and Ott deliberately blur the line between fiction and nonfiction,...
- 2/24/2017
- by Yoselin Acevedo
- Indiewire
This year’s Berlin International Film Festival bows in Germany later this week and with it, one of Europe’s most exciting and singular film festivals. As ever, the annual fest is playing home to dozens of feature films and short offerings, with picks aplenty from both modern masters and fresh faces. The Berlinale often breeds some of indie film’s most unexpected and unique standouts, so if it’s at the fest, it’s likely worth a look.
Read More: 5 Exciting Films in the 2017 Berlin Film Festival Competition Lineup
Ahead, check out the 8 titles we are most excited to check out at this year’s festival.
“Have a Nice Day”
Expectations are high for this Chinese animated feature that marks the sophomore effort from director Liu Jiang, whose surreal debut “Piercing” offered an inventive look at modern day city life in China’s capital. If the gorgeous stills from...
Read More: 5 Exciting Films in the 2017 Berlin Film Festival Competition Lineup
Ahead, check out the 8 titles we are most excited to check out at this year’s festival.
“Have a Nice Day”
Expectations are high for this Chinese animated feature that marks the sophomore effort from director Liu Jiang, whose surreal debut “Piercing” offered an inventive look at modern day city life in China’s capital. If the gorgeous stills from...
- 2/8/2017
- by David Ehrlich, Eric Kohn and Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Keep up with the wild and wooly world of indie film acquisitions with our weekly Rundown of everything that’s been picked up around the globe. Check out last week’s Rundown here.
– Open Road Films has acquired all U.S. rights to the drama thriller “All I See Is You,” directed by Marc Forster and starring Blake Lively and Jason Clarke. They will release the film nationwide August 4, 2017. It world-premiered at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.
The film “is the story of a blind woman (Blake Lively) and her husband (Jason Clarke). When her sight unexpectedly returns, she begins to discover the previously unseen and disturbing details about themselves, their marriage and their lives.”
– A24 has acquired North American rights to Josh and Benny Safdie’s Robert Pattinson-starring “Good Time.” The “film follows a bank robber’s race to evade the police dragnet that threatens to send him behind bars.
– Open Road Films has acquired all U.S. rights to the drama thriller “All I See Is You,” directed by Marc Forster and starring Blake Lively and Jason Clarke. They will release the film nationwide August 4, 2017. It world-premiered at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.
The film “is the story of a blind woman (Blake Lively) and her husband (Jason Clarke). When her sight unexpectedly returns, she begins to discover the previously unseen and disturbing details about themselves, their marriage and their lives.”
– A24 has acquired North American rights to Josh and Benny Safdie’s Robert Pattinson-starring “Good Time.” The “film follows a bank robber’s race to evade the police dragnet that threatens to send him behind bars.
- 10/28/2016
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Chris Petrikin, chief communications officer for 20th Century Fox, will leave the studio at the end of the year.
Petrikin plans to form a strategic communications and crisis management consultancy and will retain Fox as a client.
The executive joined Fox in February 2007 from the William Morris Agency. Prior to that he was an entertainment reporter.
Fox chairman and CEO Stacey Snider said, “Chris’s impact at Fox over so many years is almost impossible to measure.”
Bron genre label The Realm will produce sci-fi thriller Parallel in association with Creative Wealth Media. Production is set to commence in Vancouver in mid-November on the story of friends who discover a mirror that serves as a portal to a multiverse. Wme Global represents the project, which marks the English-language directorial debut of Isaac Ezban. Bron’s Garrick Dion and Matthias Mellinghaus will produce while Bron CEO Aaron L. Gilbert and Creative Wealth’s Jason Cloth, Andy Pollack and Paul...
Petrikin plans to form a strategic communications and crisis management consultancy and will retain Fox as a client.
The executive joined Fox in February 2007 from the William Morris Agency. Prior to that he was an entertainment reporter.
Fox chairman and CEO Stacey Snider said, “Chris’s impact at Fox over so many years is almost impossible to measure.”
Bron genre label The Realm will produce sci-fi thriller Parallel in association with Creative Wealth Media. Production is set to commence in Vancouver in mid-November on the story of friends who discover a mirror that serves as a portal to a multiverse. Wme Global represents the project, which marks the English-language directorial debut of Isaac Ezban. Bron’s Garrick Dion and Matthias Mellinghaus will produce while Bron CEO Aaron L. Gilbert and Creative Wealth’s Jason Cloth, Andy Pollack and Paul...
- 10/28/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Breaking Glass Pictures has secured North American distribution rights to the indie pic Actor Martinez from writers/director duo Mike Ott and Nathan Silver. The film, which premiered at Tribeca, will have a limited theatrical release in December before expanding in first quarter of 2017 along with a DVD and digital platform release. Starring Arthur Martinez, Lindsay Burdge, as well as Ott and Silver, the story follows a local Denver computer repairman and…...
- 10/27/2016
- Deadline
AFI Fest has announced the selections for its New Auteurs, American Independents, Midnights and Shorts sections. Already announced as part of the weeklong festival, which runs in Hollywood from November 10 – 17, are “Elle,” “20th Century Women” and the world premieres of both “The Comedian” and “Rules Don’t Apply.” Read the full announcement here, and see the New Auteurs, American Independents and Midnight selections below.
Read More: Warren Beatty’s ‘Rules Don’t Apply’ Will Open AFI Fest 2016
New Auteurs
“Always Shine” (dir. Sophia Takal)
“Buster’s Mal Heart” (dir. Sarah Adina Smith)
“Divines” (dir. Houda Benyamina)
“The Future Perfect” (dir. Nele Wohlatz)
“Godless” (dir. Ralitza Petrova)
“Kati Kati” (dir. Mbithi Masya)
“Kill Me Please” (dir. Anita Rocha da Silveira)
“One Week and a Day” (dir. Asaph Polonsky)
“Oscuro Animal” (dir. Felipe Guerrero)
“Still Life” (dir. Maud Alpi)
Read More: Watch: Lola Kirke Takes Us Inside the Mind of an Epileptic...
Read More: Warren Beatty’s ‘Rules Don’t Apply’ Will Open AFI Fest 2016
New Auteurs
“Always Shine” (dir. Sophia Takal)
“Buster’s Mal Heart” (dir. Sarah Adina Smith)
“Divines” (dir. Houda Benyamina)
“The Future Perfect” (dir. Nele Wohlatz)
“Godless” (dir. Ralitza Petrova)
“Kati Kati” (dir. Mbithi Masya)
“Kill Me Please” (dir. Anita Rocha da Silveira)
“One Week and a Day” (dir. Asaph Polonsky)
“Oscuro Animal” (dir. Felipe Guerrero)
“Still Life” (dir. Maud Alpi)
Read More: Watch: Lola Kirke Takes Us Inside the Mind of an Epileptic...
- 10/18/2016
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
A Sunday in the Country 2016For the 5th time, “A Sunday in the Country,” one of the most inventive and out of the box workshops for young European film critics and journalists, was organized within the framework of the 16th T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival in an old guest house by the Bystrzyckie lake during the first weekend of the cinematic event (21–24 July, 2016).
There, in Zagórze Śląslie in Lower Silesia, during three days, the group watched and discussed films, networked, exchanged thoughts and practices and shared their professional experiences. Under the tutelage of Pascal Edelmann of the European Film Academy, Ula Śniegowska of the New Horizons Association and the Dutch film critic of de Filmkrant, Dana Linssen, the critics and journalists spent the weekend cooking, networking, watching films, meeting with filmmakers and discussing cinephilia as well as issues such as the critic’s responsibility — if there is one — towards...
There, in Zagórze Śląslie in Lower Silesia, during three days, the group watched and discussed films, networked, exchanged thoughts and practices and shared their professional experiences. Under the tutelage of Pascal Edelmann of the European Film Academy, Ula Śniegowska of the New Horizons Association and the Dutch film critic of de Filmkrant, Dana Linssen, the critics and journalists spent the weekend cooking, networking, watching films, meeting with filmmakers and discussing cinephilia as well as issues such as the critic’s responsibility — if there is one — towards...
- 8/31/2016
- by Tara Karajica
- Sydney's Buzz
Movie ghosts usually represent something more than just specters from the beyond. You don’t have to look too far into the recent past to find examples of spooky phantoms that represent some kind of real-world anxiety: grief (“The Babadook”), burgeoning sexuality (“It Follows”) and franchises built on justice meted out by revenge-seeking spirits. In that context, Harrison Atkins’ “Lace Crater” is out of sync with its times, since it takes the existence of an undead corporeal entity at face value.
Here, that ambiguous entity visits Ruth (Lindsay Burdge), a recently single woman on a Hamptons vacation with a cadre of supportive friends. On a drug-laced evening in upstate New York, Ruth retreats to her room in the guest cottage, which a member of the group jokes is haunted. When a creaking door yields a mysterious, soft-spoken figure clad in burlap sacks, Ruth’s initial fright gives way to an eerie sense of understanding.
Here, that ambiguous entity visits Ruth (Lindsay Burdge), a recently single woman on a Hamptons vacation with a cadre of supportive friends. On a drug-laced evening in upstate New York, Ruth retreats to her room in the guest cottage, which a member of the group jokes is haunted. When a creaking door yields a mysterious, soft-spoken figure clad in burlap sacks, Ruth’s initial fright gives way to an eerie sense of understanding.
- 7/30/2016
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
There are indie film scenes like the one chronicled in Actor Martinez everywhere, ones where those with a day job have ambitions that cannot and never will pay the rent. Surely, Actor Martinez is a little cruel to these micro industries of regional film bolstered by film clubs that support each other regardless of just how poor the acting, directing and cinematography can be.
Enter Nathan Silver and Mike Ott, filmmakers that seem obsessed with the freedom such non-traditional, off-the-map filmmaking offers. Who knows, a masterpiece may exist somewhere in Denver’s amateur film community, kept from us by John Cooper and Janet Pierson. Actor Martinez, like Nathan Silver’s previous feature Stinking Heaven, also feels like an artifact, documenting the process of a process: here the every day life of Arthur Martinez, an professional computer repairman by day and actor/film producer by night.
The result is a comedy...
Enter Nathan Silver and Mike Ott, filmmakers that seem obsessed with the freedom such non-traditional, off-the-map filmmaking offers. Who knows, a masterpiece may exist somewhere in Denver’s amateur film community, kept from us by John Cooper and Janet Pierson. Actor Martinez, like Nathan Silver’s previous feature Stinking Heaven, also feels like an artifact, documenting the process of a process: here the every day life of Arthur Martinez, an professional computer repairman by day and actor/film producer by night.
The result is a comedy...
- 5/4/2016
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
Us in Progress Wrocław 2016 submissions are now open. This little-known event in Poland offers American indie filmmakers one of the biggest opportunities in the world to meet the international trade in an intimate and fun setting. Every year one of the films here seems to make it into Sundance. The filmmakers get to know European buyers, sellers and programmers. The great thing about European film festivals is that they do not take your money and then refuse your film. They cost nothing to apply and can make your reputation abroad.
Submissions are now open for the sixth edition of the Us in Progress (October 26-29), a co-production forum held in Wroclaw, during 7. American Film Festival. Applications for projects will be open until August 15, 2016. No entry fee is required.
Please go to www.americanfilmfestival.pl/usinprogress or click here for detailed regulations and entry form.
Us in Progress is a unique event presenting independent American projects in final production stages to top European buyers (sales agents, distributors and festival programmers), post-production houses and festivals in order to help them achieve completion and to foster the circulation and general exposure of American independent work in Europe. The forum is composed of invitees-only screenings of the American feature narratives in rough-cut stage with a filmmaker-producer teams in attendance. Formal one-to-one talks and informal meetings further facilitate networking and exchange.
Applications are open for Us-produced narrative feature projects in post-production stage:
• looking for completion money, services and sales agent or European distribution
• projects in post-production when applying, with at least 30 min of the film edited and to reach feature format by the presentation date. If selected, the feature length version of the rough/fine cut will be presented. No excerpts or trailers will be accepted.
• projects with no Us or international premiere nor European sales representation prior to October 2016 are eligible.
To the selected 4-6 projects the organizers will offer:
a flight to Poland for 1 team member and accommodation during 3 day Us in Progress (October 26-29) in Wrocław, Poland
• networking opportunities during the American Film Festival parties and events
• post-production and promotion packages worth of $40,000 total
• exposure to the European buyers in a friendly professional environment.
Us in Progress alumni that premiered at Tribeca Film Festival 2016 included:
• "The Loner" directed by Daniel Y Grove
• Mike Ott and Nathan Silver's "Actor Martinez"
• "Live Cargo' by Logan Sandler
• Deb Shoval's "Awol"
Us in Progress take place twice yearly, in Paris, France (June, 7-14) during Champs-Elysées Film Festival and in Wroclaw hosted by the American Film Festival in fall (October 25-30, 2016). Paris edition submissions have just closed and we are looking forward to receiving your work for Wroclaw edition.
Us in Progress is a joint initiative of the Polish New Horizons Association and the French Champs-Elysées Film Festival (in collaboration with New York-based Black Rabbit Film).
After being called one of '25 Coolest Film Festivals of the World', American Film Festival has been recently placed on the MovieMaker's list of "Top 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee, 2016". The magazine assures that American Film Festival plays a tight collection of the year's best American indie films, as well as the two-day U.S. in Progress event for works-in-progress (winners receive handy post-production packages). And if shooting in Poland appeals to you, Aff should be your favorite resource: Participants enjoy presentations from the Polish Film Institute, Polish production and post-production houses, and a field trip of Poland and Lower Silesia shooting locations.
Submissions are now open for the sixth edition of the Us in Progress (October 26-29), a co-production forum held in Wroclaw, during 7. American Film Festival. Applications for projects will be open until August 15, 2016. No entry fee is required.
Please go to www.americanfilmfestival.pl/usinprogress or click here for detailed regulations and entry form.
Us in Progress is a unique event presenting independent American projects in final production stages to top European buyers (sales agents, distributors and festival programmers), post-production houses and festivals in order to help them achieve completion and to foster the circulation and general exposure of American independent work in Europe. The forum is composed of invitees-only screenings of the American feature narratives in rough-cut stage with a filmmaker-producer teams in attendance. Formal one-to-one talks and informal meetings further facilitate networking and exchange.
Applications are open for Us-produced narrative feature projects in post-production stage:
• looking for completion money, services and sales agent or European distribution
• projects in post-production when applying, with at least 30 min of the film edited and to reach feature format by the presentation date. If selected, the feature length version of the rough/fine cut will be presented. No excerpts or trailers will be accepted.
• projects with no Us or international premiere nor European sales representation prior to October 2016 are eligible.
To the selected 4-6 projects the organizers will offer:
a flight to Poland for 1 team member and accommodation during 3 day Us in Progress (October 26-29) in Wrocław, Poland
• networking opportunities during the American Film Festival parties and events
• post-production and promotion packages worth of $40,000 total
• exposure to the European buyers in a friendly professional environment.
Us in Progress alumni that premiered at Tribeca Film Festival 2016 included:
• "The Loner" directed by Daniel Y Grove
• Mike Ott and Nathan Silver's "Actor Martinez"
• "Live Cargo' by Logan Sandler
• Deb Shoval's "Awol"
Us in Progress take place twice yearly, in Paris, France (June, 7-14) during Champs-Elysées Film Festival and in Wroclaw hosted by the American Film Festival in fall (October 25-30, 2016). Paris edition submissions have just closed and we are looking forward to receiving your work for Wroclaw edition.
Us in Progress is a joint initiative of the Polish New Horizons Association and the French Champs-Elysées Film Festival (in collaboration with New York-based Black Rabbit Film).
After being called one of '25 Coolest Film Festivals of the World', American Film Festival has been recently placed on the MovieMaker's list of "Top 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee, 2016". The magazine assures that American Film Festival plays a tight collection of the year's best American indie films, as well as the two-day U.S. in Progress event for works-in-progress (winners receive handy post-production packages). And if shooting in Poland appeals to you, Aff should be your favorite resource: Participants enjoy presentations from the Polish Film Institute, Polish production and post-production houses, and a field trip of Poland and Lower Silesia shooting locations.
- 4/25/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Prolific indie filmmakers Mike Ott and Nathan Silver team up for the experimental and meta “Actor Martinez,” an exploration into the oftentimes difficult process of unearthing the honesty in acting. They take an interesting route to the truth, deliberately obfuscating the line between fiction and nonfiction in a film within a film, lulling the audience into one reality and then abruptly jarring you out of one scenario and into another. It’s a process that mirrors the psychological journey of the subject/protagonist, Arthur Martinez. The premise is that Ott and Silver are making a semi-autobiographical film about Martinez, who is a Denver-area actor/local film promoter/computer repairman. The film nested inside “Actor Martinez” follows the life and routine of Martinez, until Ott and Silver decide to push their performer by casting him a girlfriend, in order to draw out any residual emotions about his ex-wife. They land on Lindsay Burdge (“Mistress America,...
- 4/23/2016
- by Katie Walsh
- The Playlist
After a man opens his life up to a pair of indie filmmakers, Actor Martinez cunningly navigates between documentary and narrative to question its star’s true nature, as well as the concept of self-presentation in life as well as film. Arthur Martinez first appears in Nathan Silver and Mike Ott’s new film as the subject, but through the co-directors’ persistent manipulation, Arthur seems increasingly at the whim of this fascinating, perplexing film experiment.
From the opening frame, co-directors Ott and Silver appear on-screen to interrogate Arthur. They’re out of focus and their voices are laid on top of the opening shot in a way that alludes to their influence on the rest of this film; though Ott and Silver won’t always be visible, their presence adds a layer of subjectivity to any character’s portrayal. Mostly, that character is Arthur.
Designed to fudge the gaps between fiction and reality,...
From the opening frame, co-directors Ott and Silver appear on-screen to interrogate Arthur. They’re out of focus and their voices are laid on top of the opening shot in a way that alludes to their influence on the rest of this film; though Ott and Silver won’t always be visible, their presence adds a layer of subjectivity to any character’s portrayal. Mostly, that character is Arthur.
Designed to fudge the gaps between fiction and reality,...
- 4/23/2016
- by Zachary Shevich
- We Got This Covered
The 15th Tribeca Film Festival opens today and runs through April 24. We're gathering reviews, interviews and more related to several highlights, including Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross's Contemporary Color, Nathan Silver and Mike Ott's Actor Martinez, Sophia Takal's Always Shine, Ingrid Jungermann’s Women Who Kill, Jenny Gage's All This Panic, Nerdland, the "R-rated, animated satire" featuring Paul Rudd, Patton Oswalt, Mike Judge, Molly Shannon and Hannibal Buress, plus Michael Rapaport's Hard Lovin’ Woman, focusing on the musical career of Juliette Lewis—and much more. » - David Hudson...
- 4/13/2016
- Keyframe
The 15th Tribeca Film Festival opens today and runs through April 24. We're gathering reviews, interviews and more related to several highlights, including Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross's Contemporary Color, Nathan Silver and Mike Ott's Actor Martinez, Sophia Takal's Always Shine, Ingrid Jungermann’s Women Who Kill, Jenny Gage's All This Panic, Nerdland, the "R-rated, animated satire" featuring Paul Rudd, Patton Oswalt, Mike Judge, Molly Shannon and Hannibal Buress, plus Michael Rapaport's Hard Lovin’ Woman, focusing on the musical career of Juliette Lewis—and much more. » - David Hudson...
- 4/13/2016
- Fandor: Keyframe
If you've had the privilege to see a film lensed by D.P Adam J. Minnick, you'd have recognized an eye disciplined by the story it's telling rather than by personal inclinations or some sybaritic style that steals from the story. Buzzard, was shot super raw and cold on a 5D, The Alchemist Cookbook was shot formally composed with a warm palllete on an Alexa, and Actor Martinez (Us Premiering this April at Tribeca) was shot with Altman inspired slow zooms on a Red Epic Dragon. The aesthetic decisions and stories speak for his adaptability and understanding of the form. And, his latest release, The Alchemist Cookbook, which hit SXSW hard when it world premiered, has audiences, critics, and filmmakers predominately sitting on the 'loved it' side of its divisive disposition.
We were fortunate to talk with the cinematographer on how the hell the team pulled it off.
Could you...
We were fortunate to talk with the cinematographer on how the hell the team pulled it off.
Could you...
- 3/26/2016
- by feeds@cinelinx.com (Aaron Hunt)
- Cinelinx
Could you give us a general overview of your working relationship with Joel?
Joel and I are first and foremost friends...he's always been one of my closest. We've been making music, watching films and making little movies together starting in high school. He and I were really the only two buddies in our tight group that pursued visual arts of any sort through college and beyond, so it made sense that one day we could ultimately work together on a professional level, too. There's a trust that I can't really put into words, but we know that it's there. The Alchemist Cookbook was a new endeavor into a different filmmaking experience for both of us, and his trust in me as an image maker was very clear from the beginning. As far as collaborative art goes, I've never been more aligned with anyone, so I consider myself very fortunate...
Joel and I are first and foremost friends...he's always been one of my closest. We've been making music, watching films and making little movies together starting in high school. He and I were really the only two buddies in our tight group that pursued visual arts of any sort through college and beyond, so it made sense that one day we could ultimately work together on a professional level, too. There's a trust that I can't really put into words, but we know that it's there. The Alchemist Cookbook was a new endeavor into a different filmmaking experience for both of us, and his trust in me as an image maker was very clear from the beginning. As far as collaborative art goes, I've never been more aligned with anyone, so I consider myself very fortunate...
- 3/25/2016
- by feeds@cinelinx.com (Aaron Hunt)
- Cinelinx
Top brass at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival presented by At&T have announced selections in the Us Narrative, International Narrative and Documentary Competition strands.
The films comprise 55 out of 110 features that will play during the 15th edition of the New York festival from April 13-24. The festival will present features films in the Spotlight, Midnight, and Special Sections on March 8.
Also included in Wednesday’s announcement are the out-of-competition Viewpoints titles.
The world premiere of Bill Ross and Turner Ross’ Contemporary Color will open the World Documentary competition on April 14, while the world premiere of Kicks by Justin Tipping will open the Us Narrative competition.
The world premiere of Madly directed by Gael García Bernal, Mia Wasikowska, Sebastian Silva, Anurag Kashyap, Sion Sono, and Natasha Khan will open the International Narrative Competition. Viewpoints will open with the world premiere of Nerdland directed by Chris Prynoski.
One third of the festival’s feature films are directed by women...
The films comprise 55 out of 110 features that will play during the 15th edition of the New York festival from April 13-24. The festival will present features films in the Spotlight, Midnight, and Special Sections on March 8.
Also included in Wednesday’s announcement are the out-of-competition Viewpoints titles.
The world premiere of Bill Ross and Turner Ross’ Contemporary Color will open the World Documentary competition on April 14, while the world premiere of Kicks by Justin Tipping will open the Us Narrative competition.
The world premiere of Madly directed by Gael García Bernal, Mia Wasikowska, Sebastian Silva, Anurag Kashyap, Sion Sono, and Natasha Khan will open the International Narrative Competition. Viewpoints will open with the world premiere of Nerdland directed by Chris Prynoski.
One third of the festival’s feature films are directed by women...
- 3/2/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Below you will find our favorite films of the 45th International Film Festival Rotterdam, as well as an index of our coverage.Daniel Kasmantop Picksi. Lejos de los árboles, Le Moulin, Female Student Guerilla, Noche de vino tintoII. Juke: Passages from Films of Spencer Williams, Warsaw Bridge, MotherIII. Night and Fog in the ZonaIV. Where the Chocolate Mountains, ElliV. Operation Avalanche, Sixty Six, Fata Morgana, Cada vez que..., Oleg y las raras artes, ActeonCOVERAGEFirst Steps: Ear, Nose and Throat (Kevin Jerome Everson), Lejos de los árboles (Jacinto Esteva Grewe)Acting Out: General Report II: The New Abduction of Europe (Pere Portabella), Esquizo (Ricardo Bofill), Actor Martinez (Mike Ott, Nathan Silver)Japan's Cinematic Revolutionary: Sex Game (Masao Adachi), Female Student Guerilla (Masao Adachi), Artist of Fasting (Masao Adachi)The Streets, the Mountains, the Snow, and the Ocean: Noche de vino tinto (José María Nunes), Where the Chocolate Mountains (Pat O'Neill), Cinéma...
- 2/7/2016
- by Notebook
- MUBI
The major retrospective of the 2016 International Film Festival Rotterdam is dedicated to the Barcelona school of filmmaking in the 1960s and 1970s, with Catalonian master Pere Portabella’s body of work—and his new film—serving as a figurehead. Nearly completely unknown in the United States—where critic Jonathan Rosenbaum has been a beacon of support and revelation—insomuch as Portabella is known in the film community it is for his film Vampir-Cuadecuc, which hijacks the production of Christopher Lee and Jesús Franco’s Count Dracula (1970) for its own ends and exhilaratingly exposes this documentarian’s acute analysis of and play with the subject of his films. (I will note here that Mubi has shown a great deal of Portabella’s work in the past, including this 1970 horror film.) This is hardly a lone accomplishment; in 1961 he helped produce Luis Buñuel's masterpiece Viridiana, and the director has been a strident voice in documentary,...
- 2/1/2016
- by Daniel Kasman
- MUBI
Nathan Silver and Mike Ott are two of the most prolific indie filmmakers working today — and these guys are the real deal. They each have about five features each under their belts, and continue to make boundary-pushing cinema that exemplifies the independent spirit. We’re fans of each director’s work, particularly Ott's “Lake Los Angeles,” and Silver's “Uncertain Terms.” So it makes perfect sense that the two would eventually cross paths, and now, they’ve started collaborating too. The result is “Actor Martinez,” which looks to be a delightfully meta film, about Arthur Martinez, a Denver-based actor who hires two independent filmmakers to make a film starring him. Read More: The 25 Biggest Directors To Break Out Of Sundance We’ve had quite a week of mainstream indie fare bowing at Sundance, but today, the Rotterdam Film Festival starts up, where “Actor Martinez” is due to unveil tomorrow, preceded by one of Silver's short films,...
- 1/27/2016
- by Katie Walsh
- The Playlist
The fifth edition of the Us in Progress co-production forum will be held on October 22-23rd, 2015, as a part of the 6th American Film Festival in Wrocław (October 20-25th).
Us in Progress aims to facilitate professional networking among European film professionals and emerging independent filmmakers from the United States. A biannual event, Us in Progress is also held in June during the Champs-Elysees Film Festival in Paris.
Invite-only screenings will feature six projects selected from fifty American independent feature-length submissions, all in final editing stages. Congratulations to the 2015 Us in Progress Wrocław participants:
"Actor Martinez" by Mike Ott & Nathan Silver "Alaska is a Drag" by Shaz Bennett "Americana" by Zachary Shedd "It Had to Be You" by Sasha Gordon "The Alchemist Cookbook" by Joel Potrykus "The Loner" by Daniel Grove Invited to Wroclaw, the filmmakers and/or their producers will present the projects to top European buyers and festival programmers (Locarno, Edinburgh, Versatile, Memento and Trust Nordisk among others) and attend one-to-one meetings and network.
The 2015 Us in Progress Wrocław partners provide in-kind awards of post-production service packages of combined value amounting to $40,000. Partners from the leading Polish sound and image studios include:
-Soundflower Studio and Maciej Zieliński
-Chimney Poland
-Fixafilms
-Toya Studios .
Prizes are also being offered by Producers' Network at Cannes and Ale kino+ (TV rights acquisition offer).
In 2014, the top prize was awarded to the producers/directors of "Homefront" (by Tyler Walker and Fidel Ruiz-Healy). They recently color-graded in Warsaw's Chimney.
Selections from last year's slate "God Bless the Child" and "Take Me to the River" had World Premieres at the 2015 SXSW Film Festival and the 2015 Sundance Film festivals, respectively. Both films will screen this year in the Spectrum competition at the American Film Festival.
To learn more or contact Us in Progress please email: aff[At]snh.org.pl...
Us in Progress aims to facilitate professional networking among European film professionals and emerging independent filmmakers from the United States. A biannual event, Us in Progress is also held in June during the Champs-Elysees Film Festival in Paris.
Invite-only screenings will feature six projects selected from fifty American independent feature-length submissions, all in final editing stages. Congratulations to the 2015 Us in Progress Wrocław participants:
"Actor Martinez" by Mike Ott & Nathan Silver "Alaska is a Drag" by Shaz Bennett "Americana" by Zachary Shedd "It Had to Be You" by Sasha Gordon "The Alchemist Cookbook" by Joel Potrykus "The Loner" by Daniel Grove Invited to Wroclaw, the filmmakers and/or their producers will present the projects to top European buyers and festival programmers (Locarno, Edinburgh, Versatile, Memento and Trust Nordisk among others) and attend one-to-one meetings and network.
The 2015 Us in Progress Wrocław partners provide in-kind awards of post-production service packages of combined value amounting to $40,000. Partners from the leading Polish sound and image studios include:
-Soundflower Studio and Maciej Zieliński
-Chimney Poland
-Fixafilms
-Toya Studios .
Prizes are also being offered by Producers' Network at Cannes and Ale kino+ (TV rights acquisition offer).
In 2014, the top prize was awarded to the producers/directors of "Homefront" (by Tyler Walker and Fidel Ruiz-Healy). They recently color-graded in Warsaw's Chimney.
Selections from last year's slate "God Bless the Child" and "Take Me to the River" had World Premieres at the 2015 SXSW Film Festival and the 2015 Sundance Film festivals, respectively. Both films will screen this year in the Spectrum competition at the American Film Festival.
To learn more or contact Us in Progress please email: aff[At]snh.org.pl...
- 10/1/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
With the American Film Festival in Wrocław comes the Us in Progress co-production forum initiative. It also means that micro gems might trickle down from Europe in the unfinished form into Sundance and/or SXSW in early 2016. On the plate for October 22nd and 23rd, the six projects selected for the 2015 Us in Progress Wrocław include:
Actor Martinez by Mike Ott and Nathan Silver
Up until now, the project that teams Littlerock, Pearblossom Hwy and Lake Los Angeles helmer with Exit Elena, Soft in the head, Uncertain Terms and Stinking Heaven had no title. This
stars Bobby Black, Connor Long and Lindsay Burdge.
Alaska is a Drag by Shaz Bennett
Based on her 2012 short, if Rocky and Hedwig had a love child – that would best describe our hero Leo — an aspiring superstar – if he can just get out of Alaska. Everyone who works in a fish cannery – slicing fish for...
Actor Martinez by Mike Ott and Nathan Silver
Up until now, the project that teams Littlerock, Pearblossom Hwy and Lake Los Angeles helmer with Exit Elena, Soft in the head, Uncertain Terms and Stinking Heaven had no title. This
stars Bobby Black, Connor Long and Lindsay Burdge.
Alaska is a Drag by Shaz Bennett
Based on her 2012 short, if Rocky and Hedwig had a love child – that would best describe our hero Leo — an aspiring superstar – if he can just get out of Alaska. Everyone who works in a fish cannery – slicing fish for...
- 9/23/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
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