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

Someone may be dreaming up of a WPA/Federal Writers Project style government funded blog project; more at Steve Rosen's blog . From Rosen's post: "There are already 112 million blogs worldwide, according to search engine Technorati, and these diary-like Internet web-logs provide 112 million running commentaries -- sometimes with video footage and sound -- on every aspect of politics, the arts, religion, sports, sex ... even daily updates on flying-saucer sightings. They comprise a genuine populist, democratic communications network. They're a public service and a worldwide and nationwide civic asset." More at the post . - Sujewa

Another interesting interview to check out at Infinicine . - Sujewa

About a week or so ago Laure at Infinicine (Laure also works for Zeitgeist Films - one of my favorite distributors) interviewed me for that site . Here is a segment of the interview, from Infinicine : "[I]nfinicine: What do you think the biggest challenges have been for filmmakers in the past in distribution and getting their films out to the public and making money in the process? Sujewa: I think the challenges for indie (working outside of Hollywood) filmmakers, when it comes to distribution, have always been pretty much the same; it takes a lot of money and a lot of work to properly or widely distribute a movie - at least theatrically, and then followed by various home entertainment options. However, few indie filmmakers (that I know of) have done theatrical distribution successfully. And many more have done distribution on DVD, etc. successfully. So both are possible to do." Read the rest here . - Sujewa

Now I recall hearing about this movie (probably because Doug Block probably told me somewhere along the line that he made a movie called Home Page :), but had forgotten about it until Erica Ginsberg & I were talking earlier today in Silver Spring about documentaries that tackle the idea of communities that spring out of web activities. Would like to check it out sometime. More on Home Page here . - Sujewa

The new title for the in-progress doc The Indie Film Bloggers is Indie Film Blogger Road Trip . More on that at the site . Humans like to travel, we are a mobile species. We find many reasons for traveling; business, religious, traveling for the sake of traveling, to catch people who have skipped on bail bonds, to show movies at festivals and or at under-attended theaters, to play noisy music, whatever. The complex and noble idea of freedom itself can be illustrated well, and simply, using an image related to traveling. Since a key inspiration for the doc about indie film bloggers was a book of photos taken across America with text by a writer who became famous for a novel inspired by road trips , AND, since this approach will provide a very interesting structure to the movie, Indie Film Blogger Road Trip feels like a great title for the doc. - Sujewa

By Brandon Harris, at Filmmaker Magazine blog .

Come to think of it, one of the lead dudes in Baghead (the one with the "elvis hair") might make a good Batman in the future. Anyway, yeah, I enjoyed Baghead more than I enjoyed The Dark Knight (the last movie I saw at the theater, before Baghead). TDK was ultimately depressing (made even more depressing by the fact that a lot of people in America seem to think that TDK offers "deep ideas"), Baghead is unique (can't think of another movie that mixes a little bit of horror and a little bit of comedy and low key observational humor about filmmaking, & some relationship stuff), and is ultimately a feel good relationship comedy, and the plot is unpredictable for the most part. Note: I missed the first ten or so minutes of Baghead, got lost on the subway a little between Queens and the Lower East Side, I came in at the point where the four leads are sitting at a restaurant? and come up with the idea to go to the cabin & make their own movie. Will need to c

Interviewed Armando " Horror 101 " Valle in Towson MD on Thu night, Brian " The Film Panel Notetaker " in Queens yesterday, and Melissa " Women & Hollywood " Silverstein in Brooklyn earlier today, all for The Indie Film Bloggers doc . The film work - until tomorrow evening in Silver Spring, MD - is done, now am off to relax with Baghead in Manhattan. - Sujewa

Women & Hollywood blog points to a study about the number of women engaged in writing film reviews for the nation's newspapers. Get the link to the study & a perspective on the numbers at Women & Hollywood . - Sujewa

Check them out at The Indie Film Bloggers site. Pictured here: Noralil Ryan Fores of ShortEnd Magazine Photo Copyright 2008 Sujewa Ekanayake

Just got back from Towson, MD after interviewing Armando Valle from Horror 101 blog/site for The Indie Film Bloggers . Great interview, and Towson is a nice little town. Off to NYC next. - Sujewa

It's Thursday, so, off to film Armando Valle in Baltimore tonight, then a couple of indie film blogger interviews & hanging out in NYC Fri - Sun AM, & then a blogger interview back in Silver Spring, MD on Sun evening, followed by another blogger interview in DC on Mon. So, I'll be back posting at this blog on Tue. This using the weekend for getting film work done (every other weekend lately) strategy is working well for me; try it if you have a day job during the week & are frustrated by not moving forward with your filmmaking work - set aside at least 2 weekends a month for your filmmaking work & follow through, no matter what (generally speaking). Using that strategy I have been able to shoot all the footage I need (by the end of this weekend) for the feature doc The Indie Film Bloggers , in less than 2 months. If necessary I plan on using the same strategy for shooting the upcoming fiction feature Actress (working title) in August & September. Als

At Limited Control , a new site created by a Jim Jarmusch fan, there is a links & YouTube clips filled post about Jarmusch's early 80's band The Del-Byzanteens; check it out . - Sujewa

Check it out here . Posts from several interesting indie film/film blogs & sites show up there. - Sujewa

That dude being filmmaker Daniel Robin , one of Filmmaker's 25 New Faces of Independent Film . Congrats Daniel. Go here to check out the Filmmaker profile of Robin . From the Filmmaker page : "A graduate of San Francisco State University, Robin is the creator of the Web series Neighborhood Stories, which he began in 2000, long before anyone knew what a Web series was. “I‘m into being self-contained and not depending on a crew,” he says. Next he is developing another Web series as well as a project about “family mythology” that may turn into a feature. Robin also recently moved from San Francisco to Atlanta to teach documentary film production at Georgia State University. He intends to use my olympic summer in his curriculum." More here . - Sujewa