Flix Not to Miss: ‘Mansfield Park’
Particia Rozema is a wonderfully subtle director who’s made some terrific films. I recently re-watched one of my favorites, Mansfield Park. It’s a wonderful adaptation of the Jane Austen novel, with a slightly modern treatment of some of the more shocking events. Frances O’Connor is a delightfully sly Fanny Brice, and Jonny Lee Miller is smoldering...
READ MORENotes from a Screenreader: Rethinking Dialogue
Photo via Go Into the Story. Dialogue is a necessary evil, according to legendary director Fred Zinnemann, and writers of spec scripts should print that out and tack it up over their monitors. It is the polar opposite of telling your story visually. So why do you need it at all? As director Kelly Reichardt...
READ MORENYWIFT Announces 2014 Women’s Film Preservation Fund Grantees
Alice Guy-Blaché (image: Wikipedia Commons). New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) has announced the grantees of this year’s Women’s Film Preservation Fund (WFPF). Founded in 1995 by NYWIFT in conjunction with The Museum of Modern Art, the fund is the only program dedicated to preserving the cultural legacy of women in the industry....
READ MOREWeekly Roundup: Sarandon Dishes, Fox Sports Disses
//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/451533912?et=Dg3p-JU7QZlnIhlsO7EK9w&sig=0UXch5e9ci2GOwWGC50rFQDQQZA7aOEBZdpITrITJx4= The Last of Robin Hood star Susan Sarandon discusses, well…everything. The percentage of women on film crews is only 23% (in 2013, less than 2% of directors were women!), but thank you again, Tina Fey. Terry Press named President of CBS Films. Did Fox Sports demote reporter Pam Oliver because of female ageism? Suggestions...
READ MORESocial Media for Film & TV: To Tweet or Not to Tweet
Image by Paola Peralta, via Wikimedia Commons. It was by default that I played the role of social media manager for the weekly PBS program I produced. I was the youngest person in a very small production office, after all. But as someone who loves new apps and technology, I enjoyed posting regular updates and...
READ MORENotes from a Screenreader: Penn & Tellering
Photo via Go Into the Story. Here’s a great magic trick. A magician carries a dollhouse onstage and places it on a table. He says it’s a haunted dollhouse. Every time he takes the cloth away after barely an instant, the haunted dollhouse has produced a fire in the fireplace or a bloody doll massacre or...
READ MOREWeekly Roundup: Remembering Elaine Stritch
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READ MOREFlix Not to Miss: ‘Top of the Lake’
Oscar winner Jane Campion is one of the most talented contemporary, female directors who sadly hasn’t come out with a new film in awhile. That she decided to make a detective miniseries is fascinating. But don’t expect the typical crime procedural. Top of the Lake is an interesting, moody character study of life in the outback, anchored...
READ MORENotes from a Screenreader: Dialogorrhea
Photo via Go Into the Story. There are scripts about people doing things and there are scripts about people talking about things. One of them has a much better chance of making it past the first round of readers in a competition. Visualize the beat. What is the visual information in the scene? Do your...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: Primetime Emmy Nominations, ‘Danger Mouse’ & #LikeAGirl
Seeing: that not much has changed: Women make up only 26% of the Primetime Emmy nominees, the same number as last year. Glad to hear: that the new version of BBC’s Danger Mouse will be have more female characters. Really like: Lauren Greenfield’s video, Always #LikeAGirl, for Always brand. It challenges the sexist expression which...
READ MOREActing Up: Soul Inspiration
This past month I had the opportunity to travel to Machu Picchu. Wow! Did that trip turn my vibration, my reality, my thoughts on their head. As time slows down for a bit this summer, I encourage you to inspire your soul. Do something extraordinarily out of the ordinary that will make this summer one to remember....
READ MOREWeekly Roundup: Emmy Fever & a New ‘View’
//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/452006704?et=w-RuV0lIQX1QAJbad3H0SQ&sig=_CPqTlcGvLm6w0XkS71vYALBLi7vWoXJGMWw_yBMLso= It. Is. Emmy. Season! The full list of female nominees—plus, snubs and surprises. Amanda de Cadenet announces her new talk show Undone on Lifetime. It’s official: Everything at The View is coming up Rosie (O’Donnell) and they’re looking for new producers. Love or hate ‘em, script notes are invaluable for screenwriting success. New Oscar...
READ MOREAdvice from an Indie Producer: Locations
Locations are an important part of your prep as a filmmaker. The places you choose can either enhance or potentially harm the production value of your project. The process to find locations can be daunting especially on a full-length feature film, so it’s imperative that you have a plan. BreakdownsBreaking down the script is the...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: Vanessa Williams, ‘Thelma & Louise’ & Diversity in UK Films
//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/450845374?et=-vV7r2ttTk9c1dgD4Iqw6g&sig=8_KsWASeBMfZH44qTkUlXUZRxUi8LnI84S-UJKNQ1Cg= Looking forward to watching: Oprah’s Master Class: Vanessa Williams, directed by NYWIFT board member Annetta Marion. Premieres this Sunday, July 13, 10 pm on OWN TV. Glad to see: that Thelma & Louise was included in THR’s top 100 films of all time, one of only a handful of female-centric films on the list. No films directed by women...
READ MORENotes from a Screenreader: Right Hook
Photo via Go Into the Story. A spec script with a real hook jumps right out of the pile. It’s the difference between an indestructible cyborg from the future relentlessly attempting to murder Sarah Connor and Sarah Connor, for instance, getting a message from the future that she should start taking self-defense classes while she...
READ MOREWeekly Roundup: ‘Tammy’ Is Here, Academy Invites Are Not
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READ MOREFlix Not to Miss: ‘Belle’
Belle is inspired by the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, the mixed-race daughter of an aristocratic navy officer. She was also the great-niece of Lord Chief Justice Mansfield, who paved the way for the abolishment of slavery in Britain and the British Empire when he ruled on two cases. Even though Belle is told against the backdrop...
READ MORE‘The Lighthouse Project’ Film Saga
Erica Fae and Jane Applegate in front of Moose Peak Light on a recent scouting trip to Jonesport, ME. Photo credit: The Applegate Group. Believe you can and you’re halfway there. —Theodore Roosevelt Joining a protest march to the U.S. Capitol on a snowy day in March led me to producing a feature this summer, set on...
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