April 2004

In January 2004, after close to 30 years of operation, the Boston Film/Video Foundation quietly closed its doors. It was a sad ending for the once-venerable media arts organization where literally thousands of aspiring New England area filmmakers had first looked through the lens of a movie camera and felt its power take hold of them. But losing the Boston Film/Video Foundation meant not only losing the master classes, workshops and screenings the organization offered; it also meant losing that sense of community and support for filmmakers read more...

"The stuff dreams are made of..." says Humphrey Bogart at the conclusion of the classic film "The Maltese Falcon." Perhaps, then it is appropriate that Glenn Kesner, the creator of Turner Classic Movies a channel dedicated to preserving treasures as "Falcon," is one of three partners at the helm of a new media production company in Boston. Together with Jennifer Heffernan and Christo Tsiaras, they have founded Dream Alley Pictures, which aims to become a film and television production force locally and nationally over the next few years.

It’s no surprise that Daniel Thron is an animator.

Something supernatural must have come over Mike Amato while editing his wedding video. The self-described "Systems IT guy" had always been a movie buff, but it was while cutting the cinematic testament to his matrimonial vows that his filmmaking career was born. In November 2000 Amato founded Jodom Pictures, a production company which eschews "schmaltz, spoofs, and special effects," promising instead "just original, thought-provoking motion pictures that will keep you thinking long after the final credits have rolled."

Like many prominent filmmakers, it all started with the first Super 8 camera. For as long as he could remember, Keith Brown, writer and director of "Tough All Over," has always loved movies. After having stolen his parents’ Super 8 camera to shoot his own home movies, his parents finally succumbed to buying him his own video camera, which prompted him to use it for every school project, including a music video to Debbie Gibson’s "Out of the Blue" starring his sister and her friend.

Email news to news@newenglandfilm.com. 

Spring is in the air in New England. Smell the fresh grass, spilled beer, and sausage on the grill. Some would tell you that this is the smell of hope, but it is just the beginning of another season of heated Red Sox and Yankees action.

The Boston 48 Hour Film Project will kick-off the official beginning of what the organizers call a weekend of "caffeine, adrenaline and one wild ride" of filmmaking on Friday, April 2. As the second stop of the 20 city tour, Boston will bring together teams of filmmakers to write, shoot, edit and score original music -- all in two days.