ARTHOUSE FILM NEWS - Cosmic Disco Detective Rene at Facets, Chicago 11/29/23

Received the 2 missing issues of Filmmaker Mag & the John Sayles DVD from IFP today.  Thanks a lot IFP! - Sujewa

Read about it here .

With the help of a couple of other folks - check out the video at Spike .

At one time my dad built film projectors out of wood & plastic at home, as a hobby & maybe a source of secondary income too (for projecting I believe 35 MM film - maybe 16 MM film too, some projectors were mostly wood, some were mostly plastic). This was back in Sri Lanka, I think he built his last projector in the early 80's. So, some D.I.Y. (do-it-yourself) activity there, film related too. Found an interesting passage in the autobiography of a relative a few minutes ago while shelving some books; the relative is an uncle (or grand uncle, as we call him, my grandmother's brother - one of them - on my dad's side) who is a Buddhist monk named Bhante Henepola Gunaratana . He writes about the house he was born in & receiving his birth name (this was about 80+ years ago in Sri Lanka, then Ceylon, & people who join the order of Buddhist monks receive a new name); from Journey to Mindfulness: The Autobiography of Bhante G.: "Two weeks after my birth, when

The entire DIY filmmaking & self-distribution project is, in a way, very broadly speaking, as I see it, kind of like (symbolically speaking, see end of post) creating an elite warrior* or an elite warrior culture (like those dudes in Black Hawk Down - Deltas - able to do alone or in small groups many of the things that require a large number of regular soldiers to do but only better & with less stuff (sometimes) & under more difficult circumstances) or turning yourself into an artist/entrepreneur who can not only make an interesting/unusual/out-of-the-norm movie well but also is able to make it well using fewer people & resources & also market it well, & deliver the product to an audience member who paid for it & also balance the books at the end of the day/end up in the black. If an individual artist is going to break through the many walls (external & internal) that separate him/her from the goal of making & distributing well a feature length fil

Great read , I give it 4 stars out of 4.

In an earlier post I asked myself " what exactly does IFP do?". I found one answer, in broad & inspiring terms, at the IFP site. Here's that info ( from this page ): "What IFP does IFP knows where independent film is coming from, helped it get to where it is today, and has the experience and programs to advance its future. IFP fosters the development of 200 feature and documentary films a year through Independent Film Week™, the Independent Filmmaker Labs™ and other activities. IFP offers education in the art, technology and business of independent filmmaking through workshops, seminars, conferences, mentorships and Filmmaker Magazine™, the premier publication in the field. IFP builds the audience for independent films by showcasing them in collaboration with other cultural institutions and celebrating them with the Gotham Awards™, the first honors of the film awards season. IFP champions the work and advocates the interests of a network of 10,000 members in New

Read about the job opening at Women Make Movies . I learned about this opportunity at IFP site's Job Listings page .

At first (assuming I had registered months ago) I tried entering my e-mail & member ID # to sign in to IFP's site , did not work. Then I read info. on joining the site & learned that joining the site is free & that once joined I could link my IFP membership to it (for updating info, printing out membership card, etc.). So, with that info on hand I joined the site (created a new password for it, etc.), & now my IFP membership account is linked to my IFP website account - all seems fine. There was a little bit of confusion (in my mind) re: the free site account & the paid membership account - but it only took me a minute or so to figure out why I could not sign in to the site. I think, generally, the IFP website could be simplified, or the design could be improved. I like bank websites (they handle a lot of important information, but interacting with the sites - the ones I've seen - are relatively easy & simple), also I like Apple's website (Amazon

After complaining about IFP a little last night ( here ), I heard back from several IFP'ers (Thanks Scott, Danielle, Rupert) this morning & received lots of info. about what IFP does for their members, how to find out more & get more involved, etc. Also found out that I've been a member since April '09 & that IFP had an old mailing address for me (which explains the missing Filmmaker Mag issues & probably the missing John Sayles DVD). Anyway, since I have over 3-4 months left on my current membership, I am going to use it as much as possible & explore all that IFP has to offer to their members, & also figure out how (if necessary) IFP can be improved (I'm mostly concerned at this point about there being an org that could assist ultra-low budget filmmakers who self-distribute, also an indie filmmakers union & maybe even a credit union for indie filmmakers would not be bad ideas/nice things to have in the US - along with health insurance for i

This looks interesting, check out all the info at the IFP site .

Battlestar Breakup - watch more funny videos

UPDATE 12/14, 12:25 PM: Looks like, according to IFP, I joined as a member in April '09. I moved in June (from one part of Brooklyn to another) and IFP had my old address (all other mail has been forwarded - I think - perhaps magazines do not automatically get forwarded - will have to check into that (that could be a reason why I did not get the Filmmaker issues). But, more importantly, I am getting my John Sayles DVD! IFP said they will send me one to my new address (also I updated my address with IFP, so I should get IFP mail from now on) - most excellent. Working on getting a membership # & card at the moment - the # is required to access some parts of the IFP site, and the card is required for events. :: UPDATE 12/14, 11:32 PM: Received a list of helpful links from Danielle DiGiacomo (IFP Community Manager) - will be useful to have all those links in one place (i'll post those in comments [some require being signed in to Facebook, IFP, etc., so I just left a link t

According to this inspiring video: