A roundup of some of the latest news, events and funds doing the rounds at the moment
- McLibel docmaker Franny Armstrong's new film Crude, made with Oscar-winner John Batsek, is shaping up as a British pioneer of user-engaged filmmaking. Like Brave New Films work in the US, the film is using the web for more than simply marketing. On a recently launched website (by TorchBox) - one of the best for a documentary I've seen in a long time - the production team invite readers to help with research and brainstorming, show candid behind-the-scenes footage of arguments over the production process, and share everything from detailed blog to budget breakdown. The film is currently crowdsourcing post-production funds, after successfuly raising £250,000 production finance from such micro-investment. A kind of non-fiction Syriana, looking at the implications of oil through seven stories dotted around the world, it looks set to be pretty explosive. If you want to donate to or apply for a job on Crude, follow the links.
- YouTube, currently mourning the death of LonelyGirl15, is to start filtering out copyright content
from September by comparing content to a database of digital 'fingerprints'. Questions abound
about how a robot will recognise 'fair use', as well as the increasing
number of situations where producers actively (and usually unofficially
and anonymously) leak content to help with marketing, or support such
redistribution for unpopular or new shows, such as with NBC's Weeds.
- The irrepresisble Terrence Doyle, who harks from the days of the much missed Peeping Toms (like Jan Dunn, Wendy Bevan
Mogg, Clifford Thurlow, Netribution and, of course, Dazzle's
Dawn Sharpless, who ran it with Peter Smith) - has launched a new magazine for British films - the aptly named and slick looking BritishFIlmMagazine.com.
- The UK Film Council is awarding £500,000 to local cinemas with the Capital and Access Fund for Cinemas, and awards of up to 50% and £50k for improvement of facilities and disability access.
- Ronald Harwood, the British screenwriter who won an Oscar for adapting the Pianist for Roman Polanski, and seems to pick up acclaim like my inbox collects spam (with scripts for Oliver Twist, The Dresser, Cannes 07 hit The Diving Bell and The Butterfly and the forthcoming, much anticipated, Love in the Time of Cholera) has brought out a book of interviews and advice on adapting for cinema. Edited by Evelyn Price and Guerilla Film's David Nicholas Wilkinson, when I saw an early draft last year, it looked set to become an essential edititon to the screenwriter's library. I was fortunate enough to interview Ronald a few years back for Guerilla's release of Taking Sides, and he is a true (and rare) gentleman of the film world.
- The four finalists for Warp X's female horror director scheme, Darklight, have been announced, and are
Miranda Bowen, Corinna Faith, Smita Bhide and Juliet McKoen.
- Following the successs of investment in French film Tell No One (£110,000 awarded to help dist. Revolver double sites led to a box office haul of over £1m now), the latest awards to UKFC's Prints & Advertising fund include over £100k to Laurent Tirard’s Molière and Oliver Dahan's La Vie En Rose. A full list of awards listed below, including £4,500 to the Blair-ribbing
- Red Planet have launched a new screenwriting competition, with a prize that includes £500, agency representation and a script commission. Stephen Fry sits on the judging panel.
- The Weinstein Company's global expansion continues apace, meanwhile, with launch of a $275m fund for Asian movies, to include a live action version of Mulan and a remake of the Seven Samarai.
- Apple has rewritten its entry level iMovie 8,
bundled with all Macs, with some pretty cool user interface
innovations, tho it looks like the timeline has been ditched - with the
aim of making it posible to cut a 5 minute sort in under half an hour.
Headline feature is built in YouTube export, in a tighter relationship
between Apple and Google, with Google AdSense now included in the
website programe iWeb.
- And finally, a new form of piracy, with the buzz on Michel Gondry's next pic, Be Kind, Rewind, so strong, that a shaky handheld video of its trailer, screened at Comic Con in the US, is currently doing the rounds for those unable to wait until the end of the week when it will appear online.
P&A Fund awards - August 2007
La Vie En Rose £151,606
Molière £100,000
Summer of British Film – Optimum £78,000
Billy Liar / The Wicker Man / The Dam Busters
Summer of British Film – Park Circus £36,800
Goldfinger / Brief Encounter / Henry V / Withnail and I
Transylvania £5,000
Paris Je t’aime £5,000
Hamlet £5,000
Richard III £5,000
Seventh Seal £5,000
Testosterone £4,646
The Thief of Bagdad £4,500
Taking Liberties £4,000
Cassavetes Digital Package £3,500
Opening Night / Killing of a Chinese Bookie / Shadows