November 2006

"Muriel is the kind of person you either can’t stand or completely adore," Kim Romano says of the title subject of her short documentary film screening at the Boston Jewish Film Festival (BJFF) in November.

Romano adores her, in fact, Muriel is one of her best friends.

The film started as a 10-minute final project for her film class at the Center for Digital Imaging Arts at Boston University. After she graduated in September 2005, she worked on the film on and off for a year, developing the 18 hours of footage into a 20-minute short.

Tick off the job description of an independent filmmaker: creative writer, talent handler, business manager, financier, marketing guru, technical genius, oh yeah, and relentless artistic visionary. Does any one human have all of these proclivities? No. But those who find even limited success bringing their own projects to screen and to audiences (not automatically the same thing) can attest that all areas need someone’s attention. And the very nature of making a film outside the system means often enough, everything’s left to you.

Seven years ago, Valerie Weiss made a major contribution to the local filmmaking community when she founded the Dudley Film Program at Harvard. Last week, from her home in the Miracle Mile section of Los Angeles, she talked about the trajectory of her career and life as a full time filmmaker. She had just wrapped a shoot, and was on her way to lunch with a friend who worked for MadTV and Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Weiss returns to Boston later this month when her award-winning short film Transgressions screens at the Museum of Fine Arts.

Actor, writer, musician, Michael McGlone is bringing his newly finished novel And All the Roses Dying to the Somerville News Writers Festival held at Jimmy Tingle’s Off Broadway Theater on November 12th 2006. It will be the first time he has publicly read an excerpt from his latest novel. In addition to writing, McGlone is actively pursuing many alternate aspects of the arts world. He has appeared in numerous notable films, published literary works, and performed as a singer/songwriter in top clubs in New York City.

What's Happening

On Thursday evening, November 2nd, many of the states top film and commercials producers, technicians, and talent will convene at the Boston University Photonics Center to get the latest on the MA Film Office, Massachusetts Production Coalition read more...

Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese, architects of the new crime drama The Departed, turned out for the First Annual Roma CinemaFest, held from October 13-21, delighting Italian movie fans and paparazzi alike.

You don’t need to go to LA or NYC to make a film. Sometimes, the perfect location can be right in your back yard. Kristen Vermilyea, the producer and main actor in Straight Forward decided to go back to her hometown to make her first feature film.

We spoke with Kristen Vermilyea about her film which will be viewed at the SNOB (Somewhat North of Boston) Film Festival. The film is a noir-psychodrama filmed at an old farm house in Pembroke, New Hampshire.

Gita Pullapilly: Tell us a little about your film.

Learning to navigate the film festival circuit is challenge for even the most seasoned filmmaker. However, if you are looking for theatrical distribution, or if want to garner any kind of significant response from reviewers, or get any attention for your film in the international arena, knowing which festivals your film has any chance of being selected for is a must.

Claudia Myers has lived a film student’s dream: the first script she wrote in film school has become a feature film starring big name actors and best of all, she directed it herself. Her script, Kettle of Fish is a romantic comedy in the tradition of the "screwball comedies" of the 1930’s and 1940’s. The main character Mel (Matthew Modine) is a womanizing saxophonist who sublets his apartment to a scientist named Ginger (Gina Gershon) while he moves in with his latest girlfriend. Before long, Mel falls for Diana (Christy Cashman) and moves read more...