DATE NUMBER ONE SCREENING: There is a Date Number One screening coming up on March 15 in Kensington. Get all the info. here. More on the screening coming as the date nears. :: NEW FEATURES: I think I want to shoot a bunch of ultra-low/"no" budget features this year, DV films even lower budgeted than Date Number One, maybe less than $2K per feature. I am working on a few scripts. It will be film as entertaining art, projects with very little regard to most indiewood & Hollywood expectations, but hopefully as interesting & entertaining as the best of them. I am going to look at collaborating with new actors (new to film that is) & non-actors in order to get the movies done in an affordable way. Another goal with the new films is to get them done very fast (Date Number One took way too long to make, but i liked the way it turned out, it will be a model in some ways for the '07 films). It is possible to make high quality movies on a low budget and to make them fast - so that is a goal I will be shooting for with the new films. I hope to shoot my first feature of '07 in April/May. Distribution wise most of this year will be devoted to Date Number One, with some time & resources given to the distribution of the new features as they get done. If I make DNO pretty well known this year, I may have an easier time with getting the '07 features out widely (wide for low/"no" budget DIY films that is) in '08. So that, briefly, is my film work plan for '07. More as things get done. Project # 1 for this week: completing the DNO DVD & getting it ready for sale.
By the stream review - from Lincoln Center, NYC viewing - no spoilers The hype is real - By the Stream is very good by Hong movies standards and also normal comedy-drama standards. There were like 30-40 people at Lincoln Center for the 1PM Fri 8/8/25 (opening day) screening of By the Stream. People in that neighborhood are serious about their foreign films. Cinematography is very simple, from a canon XA small sensor HD cam, I could see familiar details, how those cams film the moon, scenes at night - it’s like a 1980s or 1990s early indie cinematography style that we do not see much these days - works well for Hong’s movies. No color grading, very simple video/cinematography. A more fleshed out movie than some recent Hong movies. In the movie a skit is prepped, and we actually get to see it performed. A couple of serious issues are discussed. Some unexpected, light things happen. It’s a comedy-drama chill hangout movie w/ creative South Korean people - good times. Probably o...
