Industry News

A report of news & happenings in the local industry for March 2008. 

By Erin Trahan

Email news to news@newenglandfilm.com. 

This Just In

Dennis Hurley in The Albino Code.  (Photo by Emre Safak.)

Martin Scorcese begins shooting the film Ashcliffe, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, the first week of March in Taunton, MA.  Grant Wilfley Casting has been seeking extras to play mental institution staff and Holocaust camp survivors. 

The Swift River Group, founded in 2006, plans on creating a fully-functioning regional film & television studio system and training institute at the Historic Strathmore Paper Mill located in Turners Falls, western Massachusetts.  The plan is to create Swift River Studios, a state-of-the-art film and digital media production facility with two sound stages, two multi camera broadcast stages, recording studio, multiple insert stages, and post-production suites. Founder John Anctil (also the owner of Fastlights).  But the plan doesn't end there -- their vision also includes plans for a production company, film fund, film festival and educational institute.

Meanwhile, filmmaker Dennis Hurley is rallying constituents on behalf of the Weymouth, MA Movie Studio project.  He recently sent a mass email asking friends to express their support to Governor Deval Patrick.  State Representative Ronald Mariano is also behind the cause as the site under the discussion, the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station, would benefit his district.  As well, a separate group of producers has its sites on building a soundstage in Plymouth, MA.  

The studio race is on, because on February 7^th, Rhode Island legislators held a news conference on the State House steps, announcing plans to bring a film production studio to the Ocean State.  If you think big studio dollars are immune to New England state borders, think again.  At the close of his message, Hurley nudges, “If you are not a resident of Massachusetts I ask that you still please contact the Governor's office to show that this studio will have an affect on business and tourism.” For more extensive reporting, check out what the Boston Globe and WBZTV had to say.

You may remember Hurley from The Albino Code, his spoof on The DaVinci Code.  He is the new director of film at Improv Boston, where he will help develop viral videos, film screenings, contests, and IB’s online video presence.  In fact, introduce yourself (by way of a funny one-minute monologue) at Improv Boston’s call for actors and performers, March 15-16.  Details.  

Berkshires-based independent filmmaker Marc Maurino will be presenting free in-depth seminars about low budget filmmaking for aspiring filmmakers.  March 3^rd focuses on production; March 31^st concentrates on post-production.  Seminars take place from 7-10 pm at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts in Pittsfield, MA.  Direct RSVPs to marc@whitelightfilmworks.com or Megan Whilden at the Pittsfield Office of Cultural Development, (413) 499-9348. 

ICA Boston will be “Reflecting Spectacle:  Life as Art” with a panel of artists who are breaking the boundaries between reality, TV, and the Internet on March 4^th at 6:30 pm.  Tim Jackson, director of Radical Jesters, a documentary about pranksters, performers, and provocateurs is among the panelists.  Jackson can also be spotted hosting a new feature on the Coolidge Corner’s website, At the Coolidge.  Online now is a conversation with Federico Muchnik, program director for BU’s Center for Digital Imaging.   

The next New Hampshire Filmmaker Roundtable, presented by the New Hampshire Film and Television Office, will take place on March 5th 2008 from 12-3 pm at Keene State College in Keene, NH. A tour of the new $3.3 million Media Arts Building included in the event.  RSVP by via e-mail at film@nh.gov. 

A scene from Kabul Transit. [Click to enlarge]

David Edwards, a Williams College anthropology professor, will answer questions after a screening of his documentary Kabul Transit on March 10th at 7 pm at Images Cinema in Williamstown, MA.   

Last month NewEnglandFilm.com touted Images Cinema’s Animal, Vegetable, Cinema: A Food Film and Potluck Series. This month we learned that Slow Food Boston is hosting a similar festival for the first time.  Catch screenings of Eat at Bill's: Life in the Monterey Market on March 9th, or The Real Dirt on Farmer John on April 13^th.  Both show at 4 pm at the Theodore Parker Church in West Roxbury, MA. 

Filmmaker Debra Longo will be present with Racing Against The Clock, a documentary about five competitive female athletes between the ages of 50 and 82, on March 12^th at 7 pm at the Scandinavian Living Center in West Newton.  The event is free and public is welcome. 

Brattleboro, VT is home to the 2008 Women’s Film Festival, March 14-23.  The line-up includes 30 films from 11 countries, “most made by women, all of them about women -- as activists, as political figures, artists, mothers, and sometimes all four at once!”  New England-made Run Granny Run, Making Trouble, and Olive Pierce will screen. 

Boston Cinema Census includes a line-up of 10 multi-genre films by regional filmmakers.  On March 14th at 9:30 pm the Brattle Theatre will screen (not necessarily in order):  Mysterieuse by Samantha Olschan; Full Stop Hilltop by David Baeumler; Pearlswig by Jesse Kreitzer; Where is Estel by Jared Katsiane; Frontrunner by John MacDonnell; Scatterbrain by Jean-Paul DiSciscio; Hanna's Ride by Anne Loyer; The Beautiful by Peter Pizzi; and The Cambridge Companion by Ethan Goldhammer.

Sometimes even the PhD crowd gets a chance to make movies.  Boston University professor of biology, Les Kaufman, served as a scientific advisor on Darwin’s Nightmare, about the overpopulation of the highly edible Nile Perch.  He’ll speak when the film screens as part of the Coolidge Corner Theatre’s Science on Screen series, at 7 pm on March 17th. 

Lazlo Pearlman brings his short film to CineMental this month. [Click to enlarge]

Aliza Shapiro and James Nadeau, organizers of CineMental, think London performance artist Lazlo Pearlman is a genius.  That’s why they invited the “GenderBent, GenderQueer, female-to-male trrrranny burlesque, vaudeville, fetish and cabaret performer, song stylist, director and teacher” to present his one-man show and short film Unhung Heroes to Brattle Theatre-goers on March 19^th at 9:30 pm. 

Emerson alum Jeremy Kasten returns to Boston to premiere his re-make, The Wizard of Gore at Boston Underground Film Festival, running March 20-23.  Other highlights of this self-described “edgy” fest include a New England student shorts program on March 21^st. 

Vermont’s Green Mountain Film Festival takes place March 21-30 in Montpelier.  The Vermont filmmakers include Ed Pincus (Axe in Attic) Bess O'Brien (Shout it Out: The Voices Project Movie - a Preview), and Bill Simmon (Digital Pamphleteer). 

Video Underground in Jamaica Plain, MA is looking for short film submissions for their March Thursday night film screenings.  VU is particularly fond of “experimental/visceral works.”   

Last summer NewEnglandFilm.com got to know Martha’s Island filmmakers Liz Witham and KenWentworth.  Witham and fellow Islander Nancy Aronie announced the DVD release (film-truth.com) of A Certain Kind of Beauty, which chronicles Aronie’s son Dan’s experiences living with Multiple Sclerosis over a six-year period.  The film made its world premiere as one of two American films selected for Docs RX: A World of Documentaries on Global Health chaired by President Jimmy Carter at Silverdocs.  If you prefer big screens, see it at Dana Hall in Wellesley, MA on March 28th, 7:30 pm. 

Congratulations to the recipients of Women in Film and Video/New England’s 2008 Image Awards for Vision and Excellence: Natatcha Estebanez, director of The Blue Diner and WGBH producer (honored posthumously); Jocelyn Glatzer, producer of the Academy Award-nominated film My Country My Country; Joyce Kulhawik, arts and entertainment anchor for WBZ-TV; and Susi Walsh, director of the Center for Independent Documentary.  In past years, WIFV/NE has marked the biannual event with a gala affair.  This year the celebration includes a one-day film festival at the Brattle Theatre, presentations of awards, and a VIP cocktail party at NOIR at the Charles Hotel.  Funds raised at this event help keep the organization running year round.  Attend from 12 noon to 12 midnight on Saturday March 29th.   

This year Women in Film & Video/New England ((WIFV/NE) joins forces with the Lesley University Writing for Stage & Screen MFA Program to co-sponsor WIFV/NE’s Sixth Annual Screenwriting Competition.  Entries must be authored or co-authored by a woman and/or feature a woman or women in prominent roles.  Los Angeles-based screenwriter Kate Boutilier (The Rugrats, The Wild Thornberrys) will judge the top three scripts. The grand prizewinner will receive a $200 cash award in addition to a script reading by a prominent agent.  Get your scripts in by March 15th.  For details and application, click here.  Read about last year’s winner, Mary Conroy, here. 

Randy Steinberg writes this month about the student award winners from the 2008 Redstone Film Festival at Boston University.  In addition to teaching and screenwriting, Steinberg accepted a newly created position as BU’s motion picture industry coordinator.  As the MPIC, Steinberg acts as a liaison between film festivals, industry, and BU film students, with the hopes of getting more student work seen.  If you want to know more about BU student work, contact Steinberg at mpic@bu.edu.

Coming Soon

Director/producer Mark Region just finished shooting his first feature After Last Season, a drama/thriller about a group of medical students who experience tragedy.  New England actors Jason Kulas (Old Man), Peggy McClellan (The Bronx is Burning), and Scott Winters (Mystic River) play three of the main characters.  Region shot the film on 35mm in Lowell, MA and in Salem, NH. 

LaMont T. Cain of The Reserve Entertainment Group reports that he optioned the script My Name is Anna Busch, by Malden, MA writers Diana Dell and Carol Dingle.  Cain reports that he is currently developing People's Choice, a project based on the friendship between Brooklyn Dodgers legends Pee Wee Reese and Jackie Robinson. 

The next meeting of the Maine Film and Video Association is scheduled for April 1st, 5 pm, at Frontier Café in Brunswick, ME and features a panel discussion on “Marketing Your Business.” 

The Boston Jewish Film Festival is accepting entries for its 20th annual Festival November 5-16, 2008. 

Paris Kiely, of Lowell, MA wants to connect with a documentary filmmaker who would be likewise inspired by her mother’s story of stroke and recovery.  E-mail her at pkkiely@aol.com.

Held Over

Former Northeastern University football star-turned filmmaker Byron Hurt www.bhurt.com has been racking up accolades for his cultural critique of masculinity in hip hop, Beyond Beats and Rhymes. The Chicago Tribune named it one of 2007’s 10 Most Compelling TV Documentaries.  It was also named one of the Top 10 Hip Hop Odyssey Films of 2007. 

The Maine Film Office joins the ranks of area state film offices (like NH) with the decision to use Reel Scout to assist with locations management.  The Film Office also posted its preliminary counts of 2007 Maine-based media projects made for national or international audiences: 12 catalog (photographic) projects; two commercial photographic (non-catalog) projects; 12 documentary features; 29 dramatic features; 16 film commercial projects; one industrial film; one music video; 24 TV documentary (series segment) projects; three TV dramatic projects and two web projects.  To get an even better sense of what's going on, the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) selected ECONorthwest of Portland, OR to research the economic impacts of Maine's media-production industry and to make recommendations on how to expand and improve the industry. 

Bluefoot Entertainment, located in West Hartford, CT, works collaboratively with ESPN to produce segments and features for entities such as the National Football League, Major League Baseball, FIFA and NASCAR among others.  Bluefoot was recently honored a bronze award in the sports opener and titles category as well as the silver award in the editing: promo spot category at the New York Festivals 2008 International TV Broadcasting Awards.   

Bill Millios of Back Lot Films and Marc Vadeboncoeur of Goodheart Media Services (both based in NH) are hosting three extensive seminars for independent filmmakers: Producing, Marketing, and Screening Your Digital Film (April 5-6), Advanced Field Production: Creating A Great Scene (April 12th), and Advanced Post Production: Editing & DVD Authoring (April 13th).  Workshops run from 10 am-6 pm at Back Lot Films’ production studio in Manchester, NH.  Details at www.digitalfilmmakingworkshops.com. 

Alex Karpovsky premieres his second feature, Woodpecker, at SXSW in March.  The IFF’s Adam Roffman produced.  The film comes to Boston in April.  Get a sneak peek. 

Joan Quinn Eastman founder of the former Mass Media Alliance wrote to say, “Isn't it great to see everyone buzzing about the industry in ways only imagined a few short years ago?”  She recently interviewed several movers and shakers for WBZ, where she has worked for the past six years in one of the many roles as a media contractor.  Check it out.  

Rhode Island International Film Festival received a $2,000 grant from the RI State Council on the Arts to help fund the annual RI Student Film Festival. 

Jeff Daniel Silva’s latest experimental documentary, Balkan Rhapsodies has screened in four international cities and two continents.  The US debut was held in February at MoMA’s NY Documentary Fortnights.  While Silva was working on the film, he told NewEnglandFilm.com:  “I began shooting interviews of people in Serbia and in Kosovo asking them questions about life.  There's a personal and also a political quotient to the film that I am currently struggling to balance...”   

Screenings, festivals, meetings and other events at at www.NewEnglandFilm.com/events/

Erin Trahan is the editor of NewEnglandFilm.com and the managing editor of The Independent.  Contact her at editor@newenglandfilm.com.

Sponsors: