October 2006

It’s a filmmaker’s dream to have a cable channel greenlight a project. Yet, with more and more filmmakers out there, it is getting even harder to break through the barriers to get your film picked up.

Many an artist has been told not to quit their day job and Scott Kittredge is heeding this advice, but he is spending most of his off hours pursuing his passion for making films. His most recent short film, Terminal Conversation is about a man on a business trip whose wife calls to tell him she is in love with someone else. In the airport he meets a stranger, who may or may not be God, who tells him his emotional choices and where they will lead. He can forgive his wife or not forgive her and each will lead to a different outcome for him and for her.

In his documentary, Criminal Mass Movie, Chris Ryan, details his experiences as a Critical Mass bike rider. He documents his bike rides through the streets of New York City, his arrests, and the stories of other arrested bike riders. For Ryan, this movie is a way of showing people that their rights to assemble and freely ride bicycles through the city are being challenged. He also wants to use his experiences in the judicial system to help people who were arrested for peacefully riding their bicycles. The film will be coming to Boston read more...

The Connecticut Film Festival screens a slate of films including feature length, short films and documentaries throughout several towns on October 3-8th. Zachary Brewster-Geisz's short film The Cell Phone about an obliviously annoying cell phone user who blithely goes through his day and Michael Warner's Shock Jock about the kidnapping of a radio personality's daughter both screen at this year's festival. NewEnglandFilm.com caught up with these two filmmakers for a quick rundown on the making of their shorts.

Six years writing for Seinfeld, four Emmy nominations, one Writers Guild Award, two People’s Choice awards, one Lucite plaque from the American Dermatological Association. What other marker does a writing team need to get their pet project off the ground? For Gregg Kavet and Andy Robin, it took a pass on a pilot from TV execs, writing their first original screenplay, wrangling production money, then having it fall through three times, and finally, a producer who told them they were shooting in New Hampshire in November. Period.

What's Happening

The award winning documentary film, My Country, My Country screens at MFA Boston on October 4 at 8:15 pm and airs as part of PBS P.O.V. on October 25 (check local listings).  The film, produced by Laura Poitras and Jocelyn Glazer, follows the story of Dr. Riyadh, an Iraqi medical doctor, father of six, and Sunni political candidate in Iraq's January 2005 elections.

Industrialist Henry Ford once said, "Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success." This is a concept that the Alliance of Independent Motion Media (AIMM) has proven to be true.

AIMM is made up of six separately functioning non-profit organizations: Center for Independent Documentary, Central Productions, The Color of Film Collaborative, Filmmakers Collaborative, LEF New England, and WGBH - Boston Media Productions.