We've got about 10 days left to go on this year, and there is a lot of holiday stuff coming up, so I think I'll make this my final post for '07. '07 was an interesting year; did a one week run of Date Number One, & got a lot of blogging done. I did more, film wise, in '06, so perhaps in '08 I can be more productive than in '07 - more distribution & filmmaking work.
As far as noteworthy moments in the greater indie/DIY film world, I think this year was kind of not that eventful, certainly not as much as '06. Yes, we had more press for that "indie film movement*" or bloggers & film fest people & small distribs promoting films by their friends featuring their friends (although, the IFC center fest featuring those films was impressive for the amount of press it was able to get, and it was a fun event to attend - met some interesting people), but overall '07 did not feel very impressive when it came to Great Achievements In Real Independent Film. Maybe a lot of people were recovering from '06, and perhaps they'll be back, in top form, in '08. Hmmm, well, actually, even though I may have a few problems with *Mumblecore, I guess that outfit's work this year was kind of a high point in ultra-low budget indie film in this otherwise rather uneventful year (how's that for a strained congratulations? :). All the more reason for the rest of us to do better in '08.
I do recall hearing very good things about Craig Zobel's Great World of Sound this year (mostly from Mike Tully's blog), need to check that movie out.
A filmmaker that needs to be singled out & recognized for his '07 success is Jonas Mekas, for redefining the word productive by releasing 365 short films in '07.
Otherwise, maybe, for real indie film as a whole, '06 was like Star Wars, and '07 was Empire Strikes Back, which will make '08 similar to Return of the Jedi, and that'll be a good thing. Looking forward to the indie film world's version of Ewoks next year.
It was good to observe/hear about IFC's day & date type program IFC In Theaters becoming more popular, used, and possibly profitable in '07 (still waiting on those exact revenue figures :). That program & those like it could become very good revenue streams for many real indies next year.
What about Hollywood & Indiewood output in '07? Kind of OK I guess, felt pretty usual. I did see a lot of indiewood & Hollywood movies this year, and a whole lot of HBO shows, some stuff was very entertaining (Concords, Sopranos, Curb, etc.) - so maybe it was a good year for movie & TV watching overall.
In the blog & fest worlds, I enjoyed the iW Bloggers Meet Up in NYC & covering SilverDocs. Fun stuff. Overall it seemed like there was a lot of fest & blogging activity this year, more so than in '06. IndieWIRE - the main site & the bloggers, and GreenCine Daily were working hard & were essential, as usual, in '07. Read about a few interesting panels at the Film Panel Notetaker. Learned a lot, as usual, about the doc world through AJ Schnack's All These Wonderful Things blog in '07. And I noticed a spike in interesting activity at SpoutBlog this year. Oh, and had some good web based "conversations" re: indie film w/ Tom Hall this year, let's not forget those growing moments :) Cinematical and Filmmaker Magazine blog also seemed to be in top form in '07 (as they were in '06, maybe even a little better). So I guess on the indie film blogging front '07 was very good. Seemed like film festivals were very active in '07 also, heard about some exciting fest almost every week, very cool.
So, that's about it for my '07 film reflections. Unless some really noteworthy stuff happens before 1/1/08 (like, on the personal front, the DNO DVD getting done maybe), I'll see you in the new year.
Thanks for reading, Haaapppppy New Year!
- Sujewa
As far as noteworthy moments in the greater indie/DIY film world, I think this year was kind of not that eventful, certainly not as much as '06. Yes, we had more press for that "indie film movement*" or bloggers & film fest people & small distribs promoting films by their friends featuring their friends (although, the IFC center fest featuring those films was impressive for the amount of press it was able to get, and it was a fun event to attend - met some interesting people), but overall '07 did not feel very impressive when it came to Great Achievements In Real Independent Film. Maybe a lot of people were recovering from '06, and perhaps they'll be back, in top form, in '08. Hmmm, well, actually, even though I may have a few problems with *Mumblecore, I guess that outfit's work this year was kind of a high point in ultra-low budget indie film in this otherwise rather uneventful year (how's that for a strained congratulations? :). All the more reason for the rest of us to do better in '08.
I do recall hearing very good things about Craig Zobel's Great World of Sound this year (mostly from Mike Tully's blog), need to check that movie out.
A filmmaker that needs to be singled out & recognized for his '07 success is Jonas Mekas, for redefining the word productive by releasing 365 short films in '07.
Otherwise, maybe, for real indie film as a whole, '06 was like Star Wars, and '07 was Empire Strikes Back, which will make '08 similar to Return of the Jedi, and that'll be a good thing. Looking forward to the indie film world's version of Ewoks next year.
It was good to observe/hear about IFC's day & date type program IFC In Theaters becoming more popular, used, and possibly profitable in '07 (still waiting on those exact revenue figures :). That program & those like it could become very good revenue streams for many real indies next year.
What about Hollywood & Indiewood output in '07? Kind of OK I guess, felt pretty usual. I did see a lot of indiewood & Hollywood movies this year, and a whole lot of HBO shows, some stuff was very entertaining (Concords, Sopranos, Curb, etc.) - so maybe it was a good year for movie & TV watching overall.
In the blog & fest worlds, I enjoyed the iW Bloggers Meet Up in NYC & covering SilverDocs. Fun stuff. Overall it seemed like there was a lot of fest & blogging activity this year, more so than in '06. IndieWIRE - the main site & the bloggers, and GreenCine Daily were working hard & were essential, as usual, in '07. Read about a few interesting panels at the Film Panel Notetaker. Learned a lot, as usual, about the doc world through AJ Schnack's All These Wonderful Things blog in '07. And I noticed a spike in interesting activity at SpoutBlog this year. Oh, and had some good web based "conversations" re: indie film w/ Tom Hall this year, let's not forget those growing moments :) Cinematical and Filmmaker Magazine blog also seemed to be in top form in '07 (as they were in '06, maybe even a little better). So I guess on the indie film blogging front '07 was very good. Seemed like film festivals were very active in '07 also, heard about some exciting fest almost every week, very cool.
So, that's about it for my '07 film reflections. Unless some really noteworthy stuff happens before 1/1/08 (like, on the personal front, the DNO DVD getting done maybe), I'll see you in the new year.
Thanks for reading, Haaapppppy New Year!
- Sujewa
