NOT DOING-IT-ALL

by Michael Chasin   Before you realize your ultimate filmmaking dream of being a screenwriter or director or producer or DP—you will likely first—be a hyphenate: Writer-Director-Producer-Prop Master DP-Editor-Set Designer-Production Assistant Writer-Director-DP-Editor-Producer-Prop Master-Set Designer And possibly even—Actor This is because at the zero or micro budget level—where you will probably start—you will be compelled to…

THE FLEXIBLE FILMMAKER

by Michael Chasin   You are the guiding force—and decision maker—of your film. You have written—or obtained—a masterful screenplay. That screenplay is the reason why a great actor agrees to do your film. And after the actor affirms that the script is powerful—concerns arise: Why must my character do this? Is it really necessary for…

MOVIE REVIEW: RUSH

by Michael Chasin Screenwriting Mentor, IAFT/Miami   Auto racing isn’t about where you go—the start and finish lines are in the same place—it’s about how you go—all out, pushing limits—or strategic and precise. The film Rush explores that central conflict. While it would have been easy to focus on the track, writer Peter Morgan has…

A Review of DRINKING BUDDIES

review by Pete Wassell    IAFT/LA   Joe Schwanberg is considered one of the pioneers of the Mumblecore movement, and I was lucky enough to interview him for a previous blog entry on the IAFT website: http://www.iaft.net/uncategorized/joe-swanberg-retrospective-in-san-francisco/ And though Drinking Buddies has many of the same qualities a Mumblecore film might, Schwanberg has added in…

FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT: EDWARD ZWICK

by Michael Chasin   Screenwriting Mentor, IAFT/Miami   The primary responsibility of a filmmaker is to return investors’ funds.  Making an entertaining film that audiences will pay to see will address that responsibility. Beyond economics and entertainment, there is another responsibility. Film’s incredible power to inform and influence demands social responsibility—telling stories that will make viewers…

WHY OLD MOVIES?

by Frederick Bailey   Sitting in a screening room a couple of weeks ago, watching THE BICYCLE THIEF (1948), brought it home to me once again.  Something I first realized years ago: Movies are time machines. They can literally take us back in time to a place that existed before we were born.  And we…