IAFT Student of the Month Interview with Dawn Gilardi

Dawn Gilardi is currently a student of the One-Year Advanced Filmmaking Program in IAFT Miami.    What is your filmmaking background? I experienced my first intense emotion of fear while watching “Trilogy of Terror” at the age of five. That triggered an intense curiosity in me to try to create fear by making little plays…

3 MOVIES HE’S DYING TO SEE

…and you should be too! by Pete Wassell   Spring Breakers:  Harmony Korine is back, in a big way.  He’s been making films and content for 18 years, since he first penned the film KIDS directed by Larry Clark in 1995.  The Writer/Director of such gems as Gummo, Julien Donkey-Boy, and Trash Humpers, has taken…

DIY DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION, Part 2

Here’s the conclusion of Pete Wassell’s Do-It-Yourself Distribution item. What no one seems to understand is that there are artists working today who are changing the game entirely, making small, passionate, heady, visually stunning films on a dime.  The market may be flooded, but the good stuff always floats to the top.  It’s on the…

DIY DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION, Part 1

by IAFT staffer Pete Wassell Gone are the days of the giant studio.  The system is broken, it’s bloated, it’s watered down.  Gone are the days of theatrical distribution for small films.  The internet–that’s the frontier.  The digital realm!  On Demand, immediate satisfaction, instant connection, that’s what drives the market these days. Or so they…

CALL TO ACTION, Part 2

Here’s the conclusion to Pete Wassell’s Call to Action for Film School Students. I wasted a good amount of my time in film school doing things that children do, instead of preparing myself for my future as an artist.  I’m playing catch up now because of it.  However, the time I did spend creating things…

CALL TO ACTION! Part 1

A Call to Action for Film School Kids by Pete Wassell Don’t waste your time in film school. Hold it now!  I do not mean don’t go. I mean when you go, don’t spend your time partying and drinking and doing all those things college kids do other than get an education.  Big difference, right?…

JOE SWANBERG RETROSPECTIVE IN SAN FRANCISCO

IAFT correspondent Pete Wassell recently had a chance to catch up with Writer/Director/Actor Joe Swanberg, who’s directed 16 films, a TV series and a short film in the last 8 years. Joe and I talked about his upcoming retrospective in San Francisco starting on Feb. 21st, as well as the benefits of film school, the direction…

So You Want 2B an Actor…

You want to be an actor?  If you want honesty and authenticity, then you can’t hide behind tricks, you can’t hide behind poses or stunts, you can’t even hide behind your own fear.  You’ve got to tell the truth.  Once you decide you want to be an actor, it propels you into a search for…

THE OSCARS, Part 6

IAFT’s Pete Wassell at long last concludes his overview of this year’s Best Picture nominees. Zero Dark Thirty:  I love Point Break and Near Dark, and I even sort of like Strange Days, but Hurt Locker was not one of my favorites.  Kathryn Bigelow won the 2008 Best Director Oscar for The Hurt Locker.  Now…

In Love With Acting?

Are you IN LOVE with ACTING?  You hear it calling your name?  You can’t get it out of your mind?  Don’t chase a fantasy!  Get into the reel thing at IAFT!  We’ve got you covered from voice & movement through character study, on-camera technique & improvisation…straight to the heart of performance!  And that all leads…