February 2006

After June is a short film about three old friends who meet for an afternoon of furniture moving, petty theft and fortune telling. The life-changing day starts when Jamie tells June he’d help her move. Jamie calls on Ben and Lewis for help and the three find themselves in an awkward reunion with stirrings of their old friendship in the air. The friends encounter a predicament when Lewis finds money in an unlocked apartment in the building. After splitting the money, June offers to read their fortune with tea leaves. read more...

Beyond Beats and Rhymes: A Hip-Hop Head Weighs In On Manhood In Hip-Hop Culture is filmmaker/activist Byron Hurt’s examination of the lyrics, images, and systems that together define manhood for hip-hop culture. He grew up on this music and his investigation comes from a place of love. He’s just tired of the rules being so narrow, "You have to be strong, you have to have girls, you have to have money... you have to dominate other men," he explains as the film opens. He moves from personal testimony to interviews with read more...

In Part 1 of this article we introduced audio and video podcasting and provided some examples of what's out there with an emphasis on audio podcasts. Now we look at video podcasting in more detail, provide a glimpse of some video podcasts, and offer some suggestions how you, as a filmmaker, can harness the technology, either to promote your film, or as a new medium for expression.

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Long before the director utters the first "action" of the day, the Associate Producer has already put in hours, days and even weeks of work. He or she may have secured the location, drawn up the equipment lists, scheduled the cast and crew and arrived first on the set with the Production Assistants and the catering truck. As Will Fraser, an experienced Associate Producer says, "It helps to have a positive attitude."

Beginning this May, Boston University’s Summer Term will offer an intensive eight-week institute in screenwriting. BU’s College of Communication (COM), which is co-sponsoring the program, will contribute the power of its connections with the film-making community. Promising scripts could land in the hands of notable BU alums such as Joe Roth (head of Revolution Studios), director Gary Fleder (Kiss the Girls, Runaway Jury), and a host of other key players in the movie business -- locally and nationally.

When asked about the best part of making his latest film, Never Live Above a Psychic, Steve Gentile said, "Those times, drawing at around midnight, when I should go to bed but I get on a roll and keep going through the quiet, wee hours.  It's a great time to explore the record collection." The hard work was well worth it, as Gentile’s film became part of the Slamdance Film Festival this year. This was his first submission to the festival. The film played four times in Park City, and was also chosen for read more...

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Imagine building a full service production company from the ground up. How do you picture spending the first year? Building a client base? Beefing up your demo reel? Developing a recognizable brand?

How about winning an Emmy?

Adolescence is a time of discovery and formation of one’s identity, and the journey can be equally exhilarating, daunting, and frustrating. All teenagers struggle to find their voice within their particular community and ultimately the wider world. Shulamit Izen (Shula) is no different. Her world, however, happens to be steeped in Jewish tradition, and Shula is a lesbian trying to find where she belongs in the context of that tradition.