Category Archives: Film

Film news with a particular orientation towards Australia.

IndieFlix Trying to Make Filmmakers Money One App at a Time

Few independent films get seen, let alone make money. But IndieFlix is looking to
change that — one app at a time — by putting its library of titles in front of more
audiences online.

This week, that involves Microsoft’s Xbox Live, with an app on the videogame
console launching today that will offer up 1,000 films to stream. To watch the films, individuals will need both an IndieFlix and Xbox Live
membership.

More viewers means more money for filmmakers putting their pics on the service.
IndieFlix shares revenues it receives through what it calls a “Royalty Pool Minutes”
model in which filmmakers get paid for every minute watched by a subscriber.
“The sheer size of the Xbox market catapults indies into the limelight,” said
filmmaker and IndieFlix CEO and co-founder Scilla Andreen.

There are now 46 million subscribers who pay $60 a year to access video and other
content on Xbox Live. Xbox users watched and played 18 billion hours of
entertainment last year, Microsoft said, with usage of apps on the console growing
57% in 2012.That’s certainly a lot of digital coin should IndieFlix be able to entice Xbox Live’s  users to steer away from Netflix, Hulu, Amazon — and their games, of course.
The Xbox Live deal will actually make IndieFlix’s short and full-length features,
documentaries and web series available in six countries: the United States, Canada,
United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It also has a similar streaming
deal with Roku.

“We think the Xbox audience ‘gets’ independent film,” Andreen said. “We believe
they’ll love the original content and appreciate the raw creativity of these fiercely
independent artists who work outside of the ‘system’ to make the movies they want
to make – no need for permission or bowing to someone else’s editorial control.”

Marc Graser – VARIETY – 26 March 2013

Ang Lee Tells Wannabe 3D Filmmakers: ‘Trust No One’

The “Life of Pi” director says the format is in its infancy and that he wants to be a
trailblazer if and when he “can afford it.”

LONDON — Oscar winner Ang Lee said wannabe 3D Filmmakers should “trust no
one” when it comes to 3D movie-making.

The Life of Pi director told an audience at the 3D Creative Summit in the British
capital via a live link from Fox News Studios in NYC that anyone who claims to know
about the format is “bull shitting.”

Lee lamented the perception that 3D was the preserve of action and animation films,
arguing that the format offers filmmakers myriad opportunities to explore emotions
and human stories.”Don’t trust anybody,” said Lee, as 20th Century Fox 3D guru David Conley, grinning broadly, listened in on stage in London. “Don’t let anybody tell you what 3D is,  including me,” Lee continued. “The stenographers on these movies should be the
filmmakers. The best way to learn is to jump in, like swimming, and learn yourself.”

Conley, prior to the live link with Lee in NYC, had described the work and techniques
used to make Lee’s vision of Yann Martel’s best-selling book to the London
conference audience.

Lee said: “I want to learn and become one of the trailblazers in discovering the
language of 3D filmmaking. He said he remains “attached” to 2D filmmaking but is
“excited” by the “new language of cinema” that 3D provides a filmmaker with. He
said that, because of the volume added to a character from the third dimension he
had been able to shoot powerful scenes from different point of views than traditional
2D techniques would have allowed.

Lee described one example of shooting over Pi’s shoulder when the boat sinks. “In 2D
I would have used three cameras to get the awe I wanted to inspire with that
sequence,” Lee noted. He also said he’d make films in 3D “but only if he could afford
it.” He said he hoped the cost of the equipment and technology would come down
eventually to allow more subject matters to be tackled. But he also had one big
reservation. “I personally don’t like the glasses,” Lee said. “I hope some smart guy
works out a way to get rid of them.”

Lee was a big draw for the two day summit which runs over two days at the BFI
Southbank through March 28.

Stuart Kemp – Hollywood Reporter

Five Surprising Takeaways From The MPAA Theatrical Report

Female attendance, 3D family moviegoing are among unexpected stats

Global box office reached a record $34.7 billion. Check. International B.O. also grew
to record heights, thanks largely to an unprecedented surge at the Chinese box office.
Check and check.

Those were some of the most important talking points from the Motion Picture of
Assn. of America’s 2012 theatrical statistics report. But the 25-page document issued
last week includes a plethora of data ranging from historical gender breakdowns to
state-by-state attendance percentages.Variety digs through the stats to highlight five of the report’s surprising findings.

1) Female moviegoing: 2009, with pics like “The Blind Side” and “Julie and Julia,”
still holds the attendance high for femmes at 788 million tickets sold (or 55%). Last
year, men and women were split evenly. Chalk it up to all those fanboys — and girls
— supporting major blockbusters like “The Avengers” and “Hunger Games.”

2) 3D attendance: The average of 3D patronage actually increased among 2-11, 40-49
and 60+ auds, signaling perhaps more families went to 3D movies last year than
some might have thought.

“The Croods” was an encouraging indicator of that last weekend, grossing 38% from
3D — better than “Ice Age: Continental Drift,” “Madagascar 3″ and “Rise of the
Guardians.”

3) State oddity: In 2012, Illinois had the highest percentage of moviegoers (for 3D
pics, as well) based on its population, at 74%. But California had the most frequent
moviegoers (22%). Frequent filmgoers in Illinois came in at 21%.

4) Global B.O. share: For the first time in eight years, the overseas share of global box
office remained flat with the previous year, at 69%. Since 2005, the global share
dipped year-over-year in 2007 and 2009.

There is hardly a ceiling in sight for the international market, however. Asian
territories increased 15% vs. 2011 overall; Latin America grew 6%.

5) Frequency rate: While per capita attendance is declining among some age groups
(teens, in particular), the number of frequent moviegoers in 2012 was higher than
any year since 2009 across all age brackets. Moviegoers 25-39 went the most, at 9.9
million vs. 6.3 million in 2009.

Andrew Stewart – Variety – 26 March 2013

Sydney Film Festival launches free online publication to celebrate anniversary

Wednesday 27 March 2013

A free online publication has been launched to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the
Sydney Film Festival.

Sydney Film Festival 1954 to Now: A Living Archive was launched by NSW minister
for the arts, George Souris.

“This new digital archive is not only a comprehensive anthology of Sydney Film
Festival and the Australian film industry, but it is also a celebration of Sydney and
NSW as the nation’s hub of film and creative industries,” the minister said.

The publication employs Realview technology and was partially funded by a special
history grant via the City of Sydney’s History Publication Sponsorship Program.
“The City of Sydney is pleased to support this wonderful archive which shows how
significant the festival’s impact has been to the evolution of the city’s cultural life
over the past 60 years,” said Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore.

Sydney Film Festival’s festival director Nashen Moodley said: “This free digital
archive provides a thorough historical overview of the festival, which has challenged,
delighted and entertained Sydneysiders for six decades.

“Within its pages you will find a multi-layered, multi-dimensional chronicle of
Sydney Film Festival – its past, present and future, seen from many perspectives and
told with many voices.

“It is an amazing resource full of multimedia, interviews and analysis of the history of
the festival, its relationship to the local and international film industries, its position
in cinema history and its role in the development of local art, culture and
entertainment.”

The publication can be viewed here:
http://online.sffarchive.org.au/#folio=1

How to write a bestseller

By Matt Millikan | Monday March 25 2013 in ARTS HUB.

Graeme Simsion’s The Rosie Project has been sold to over 34 countries worldwide.

Writing a bestseller isn’t easy. The market is unpredictable and misses are far more common than hits. It’s almost impossible to know what’s going to take off. Who would’ve thought boy wizards could enchant entire countries or that angsty vampires would drain parents’ pockets worldwide. Who expected to be tantalised by badly written S&M? All the basis of blockbuster books, but could anyone have guessed?

Graeme Simsion probably didn’t guess the world was going to adore Don Tillman, the looking-for-love genetics professor with undiagnosed Asperger’s in his debut novel, The Rosie Project. He might not have intended to, but Simsion wrote a bestseller through a combination of planning, support and hard work. Oh, and a little talent as well.

After winning the 2012 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript, Simsion’s unlikely romantic comedy started a bidding war among publishers. After the dust settled, Text prevailed and published the book at the end of January this year. The rights have already been sold in over 34 different countries for an estimated 1.8 million dollars. At the moment The Rosie Project is sitting atop bestseller lists around the country and shows no signs of slipping.

‘It’s been absolutely extraordinary,’ he tells us from his house in Fitzroy. ‘When I was shortlisted for the Premier’s Award, that’s the point where everything changed. I wrote it as popular fiction, so the fact that it was getting noted in a literary context I said, “Wow, it’s really jumped a level”. So it’s just been extraordinary. Every month has taken it all to a higher level that I hadn’t really expected.’

 

Since publication it ‘hasn’t stopped’ for the former data modeller. Simsion had visited ten bookshops the day before we spoke. In February he appeared in three sessions at the Perth Writers Festival, went to London for a week and toured four cities in America.

But that whirlwind wasn’t on Simsion’s mind in 2007 when he enrolled in a Diploma of Screenwriting at RMIT. Before beginning classes, he knew he’d need a story to apply the teachings to. Inspired by a friend ‘who struggled socially’, The Rosie Project started life as a screenplay.

‘I essentially had five years working on the screenplay, going through all sorts of stages with it, going from a drama to a comedy to changing the plot,’ he explains. ‘The only thing you’d recognise from the original story is Don. So there was a lot of time as I was learning the craft. This was my school project as it were, so it started off very rough and it got better as I got better.’

Budding writers hoping to emulate Simsion’s success should take note of the book’s beginning as a screenplay. The Rosie Project is almost cinematic in its structure, and when proposed this he agrees that screenwriting informed his literary approach.

‘There’s a tremendous emphasis on story and story structure in screenwriting. Twenty years ago when Hollywood films were analysed, they found that they had generic structures. It’s not quite connect-the-dots but it’s very close. You’ve got to know where to put the turning points, inciting incidents.’

With a screenplay time is of the essence. With only 90 minutes in the typical romantic comedy, you’ve got to move quickly to tell the story. In an era where people read less and infer information in snippets, speed, and its literary counterpart pace is paramount.

‘Screenwriting above all informed the idea of story structure. It tends to make you write in scenes, which is a very visual sort of way of writing and makes you conscious of pace. You get into the scene as late as you can and you get out as early as you can to tell a story.’

By the time he’d finished Screenwriting, Simsion moved to Professional Writing and Editing and took novel writing classes. There he adapted his screenwriting skills into a literary context. Armed with three chapters of The Rosie Project, he workshopped the first and when his class reacted favourably, he offered up the next two. All but one person took him up on his offer.

‘At that point I thought, you know what? It doesn’t matter if my writing is a bit awkward or unpolished, if people are laughing and want to turn the pages then we’ve got a foundation that we can build upon and that gave me a lot of confidence.’

Humour isn’t an easy thing to master, and when asked Simsion again mentions The Rosie Project’s beginning. Despite technically being a drama, people laughed along with Don. Simsion learned from comic Tim Ferguson that if you’ve got a funny character, comedy will just happen. ‘I never felt I had to create gags, after you’ve written it, you refine it but the basic humour comes out of Don’s personality.’

Therein lies another of The Rosie Project’s strengths – Don. As Simsion has mentioned, almost everything about the original story has changed apart from the protagonist. The strong central character and his unique voice is inevitably a huge contributor to the success of the book.

‘I’ve heard it said that a character is a third of yourself, a third of someone you know and a third made-up. My experiences inform Don. I’m not as extreme as him, but I’m male, I’ve got a physics degree, I’ve worked in academia and in technical fields. I have a specific friend whose voice I channelled initially, so basically I took my friend’s voice as a core and added things on and then slowly I got to know Don and he evolved his own distinct mannerisms.’

Creating the book’s titular character was a similar experience. Rosie was originally Clara, a nerdy Hungarian physicist. Deciding the character was too similar to Don, Simsion aimed to create his protagonist’s antithesis. Though not deliberately based on anyone, once Rosie was reborn he noticed an ex-girlfriend and a member of his writers group in the character. ‘And she speaks a little like my daughter, so you draw on what you know.’

Simsion’s daughter isn’t the only family member to impact the book. His wife is also a writer and the two often collaborate. Once he thought the book was done, he read it aloud to his wife over two days and found it still needed work. We wondered how important being married to a like-minded person was to the process.

‘It’s tremendously helpful. We kick story ideas around together. I bring her stuff and she makes suggestions, it’s tremendous to have someone who actually understands what’s involved in writing a story and how it works in a practical sense.

‘There’s a mutual respect for the writing process. If it’s her turn to cook dinner and she’s on a roll, then I’m going to cook dinner. You have respect for each other’s writing. It’s an absolutely huge positive having her support.’

Simsion has been on a roll. Sure to become the stuff of legend, he reportedly finished the manuscript in seven weeks, from writing to refinement. Contrary to what you’d think for someone who appreciates planning, he doesn’t assign time specifically for writing.

‘I fit my writing around other things and I fit other things around my writing. When I was writing The Rosie Project, I just grabbed every moment that I could. So I was sitting in bed writing, on the weekend I would put in eight hours, then I’d have to do the day job, so I’d go three days without doing anything.’

But that’s not to say that he’s writing blind. Using another screenwriting technique, the scene breakdown, he knows what he’s trying to achieve each time he writes.

‘I sit down and say, “I’m working on chapter three, in chapter three Don has to test the sample from Peter Enouch, work out if it’s her father and tell her the bad news.” I have a short statement about what’s going into each scene.’

Many writers simply sit down and let it flow but if it doesn’t flow you’re in trouble – writer’s block. This is the reason for Simsion’s prior planning, and didn’t you know? He’s got a PhD in Creativity Theory.

‘The single most important piece of advice I can give on the creative process is that if you find something that works – stick to it,’ he says very deliberately. ‘If you have brilliant ideas in the shower, take long showers. If you get good ideas when you’re jogging, go for a jog. This isn’t rocket science. If you can write without a plan and it works for you I’m not going to argue, but if it’s not working and you’ve got writer’s block, then try something different. If writing without a plan is not working, think about having a plan.’

When these obstacles are overcome and the manuscript is complete, next comes one of the most important parts in the writing process – rewriting. ‘Good writing is rewriting. If you’re not prepared to do any rewriting then don’t even think about being a writer.’

Simsion admits that other writers have intimidated him in the past. A fan of John Irving, he would pick up an Irving book and think it was beyond him, that he couldn’t ever write that well.

‘That’s absolutely true – you can’t do it with one draft. You can’t go from zero to that, you go form zero to a piece of crap, and then to something not so crappy crap, and then you get something you think is passable and then you polish it, polish it, polish it. You have the power to make it better, repeat as often as necessary until you’ve got a masterpiece.’

He’s got another bit of advice that might be of interest to would-be authors.

‘There’s a lot to be said of having a group around you who can give you feedback on your work. So either join a writers club, enrol in class or do both – I did both.’

And now he’s got a bestseller.

 

Quizzes:

1. Which character are you?

http://quiz.therosieproject.com.au/character.html

2. Are you compatible with Don?

http://quiz.therosieproject.com.au/compat.html

The Rosie Project was released in January 2013 and is available from book stores across Victoria as well as online. Visit the Text Publishing website for more details.

Update on Underground screening

by Mark Poole, 18/3/13

The screening of Underground: The Julian Assange Story at the Nova in Carlton this Sunday evening (17 March 2013) was a sell-out and an entertainiing experience. Director and writer Robert Connolly introduced the film and afterwards Julian Assange’s mother Christine took to the podium with Connolly and Alex Williams, the lead actor who played Julian in the film. Alex’s performance is a knockout and so the film boasts a strong cast, with Laura Wheelwright also excellent as Electra, Assange’s girlfriend, Rachel Griffiths playing Christine Assange and Anthony LaPaglia as Detective Ken Roberts. The hacker friends of Julian’s were also great.

The packed discussion afterwards centred on Assange, with Christine delivering a passionate defence of her son, accusing the Federal Government of abandoning this Australian citizen and failing to support him in any way at all. Also present was one of the organisers of Assange’s forthcoming tilt at getting into the Senate.

Despite originally being made for television, this version of Underground allowed more space for political content and stands up as a feature film. It is taut, well-paced and keeps the audience on the edge of their seats until the end. You can’t say that about many of our recent output.

Speaking to the audience after the film was shown, Connolly said he had been fascinated by the early Assange story which took place before the World Wide Web had been invented. He described how he acquired an antique Commodore 64 computer of the type used by Julian Assange to connect to a US Military site. He gave it to Alex Williams during the rehearsal period, and discovered that after an hour Williams had been unable to work out how to turn it on. However by the end of the rehearsals Alex was programming.

Alex Williams is clearly headed for a big future. He has already gained a Hollywood agent, apparently, after graduating from WAPA. As soon as Connolly screen tested him he was hired for the job of portraying Julian Assange. On the stage, his mother Christine complimented Alex for getting right a lot of the subtleties in how her son behaves, creating an uncanny likeness.

The screening kicked off the CinemaPlus initiative, launched by Robert Connolly and Footprint Films. Under the CinemPlus banner a number of films will be released over the coming months, including The Turning,  described as a bold cinematic event based on Tim Winton’s best-selling collection of short stories. In a landscape where the distribution of Australian films clearly needs a major shakeup, this initiative is welcomed particularly by local filmmakers. And as Robert says, in an era where anyone can pirate anything on their home computer, they have to offer something extra to entice an audience into the cinema.

Connolly told me that the project began when director Mark Davis of Dateline fame brought the book upon which it is based by Suelette Dreyfus of the same name to Matchbox Pictures, who asked him to take a look. Davis himself had interviewed Julian Assange a number of times, and he is included in one of the clips about the film on the take-home DVD provided to the audience at the screenings.

After the Melbourne season, Underground will screen in Sydney, Byron Bay, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth over the next few months. The screenings will feature ‘value-added’ events such as Q and A sessions, and attendees are given a copy of a DVD with special features including the screenplay of the film, and a QR code which can trigger the director’s commentary which can be heard along with the film.

For more information visit www.undergroundthemovie.com.au.

The Press Kit is here. Underground – Press Kit

Further screenings:

  • Tuesday 19 to Friday 22 March Cinema Nova, Melbourne: 6.45pm
  • Sunday 24 March Palace Brighton Bay, Melbourne: 4.00pm
  • Wednesday 27 March Palace Chauvel, Sydney: 7.00pm
  • Thursday 4 April Palace Electric, Canberra: 7.00pm
  • Friday 5 April Palace Byron Bay: 7.00pm
  • Sunday 7 April   Palace Centro Brisbane: 4.00pm
  • Thursday 11 April Palace Nova Eastend Adelaide: 7.00pm
  • Friday 12 April Luna Leederville Perth: 6.45 pm

MARK POOLE

CinemaPlus: a game changer for indie films?

Underground: The Julian Assange Story is the prototype of a new form of
distribution and exhibition.

Don Groves / 15 March 2013 / SBS FILM

Filmmaker-distributor Robert Connolly aims to create a new paradigm for releasing
Australian films that don’t warrant a wide cinema release and playing up to six
sessions a day. Opening in Melbourne on March 17, Matchbox Pictures’
Underground: The Julian Assange Story is the first release from Connolly’s
CinemaPlus initiative, which entails a select number of special event screenings
around the nation.

That will be followed later this year by The Turning, the omnibus film based on a
Tim Winton novel, and Michael Kantor’s The Boy Castaways, a rock
musical/drama that stars You am I’s Tim Rogers, cabaret performer Paul Capsis and
ARIA Award-winner Megan Washington. Continue reading CinemaPlus: a game changer for indie films?

It’s just not cricket when a local film flops and no one knows why

Karl Quinn

Karl Quinn

National Film Editor for Fairfax Media

Did women stay away in droves or do we just not like sports films? Pondering why Save Your Legs! opened so poorly at the Australian box office despite so many positives.
Still sfrom the motion picture Save Your Legs. Brendan Cowell, Simon Curry and director Boyd Hicklin.Brendan Cowell and Simon Curry in Save Your Legs!

As anyone who follows the Australian film industry knows by now, cricketing comedy Save Your Legs! did about as well in its first week at the local box office as the boys in baggy green did in Hyderabad – that is, it stank. It took just $250,860 in its first week, at an average of $1292 per screen, about one-sixth of the result its distributor would have hoped for.

The question is, why?

Why didn’t they turn up? Maybe the girls had the say last weekend.

Unlike many Australian films, Save Your Legs! had high visibility, thanks to an estimated $1 million spent on P&A (prints and advertising), a substantial investment for a film that reportedly cost about $5 million. It went wide, as they say in the trade, released on 176 screens. There was a social media campaign featuring video ”extensions”, a YouTube page that has had more than 80,000 views, ads on TV and trailers in the cinema. There was a friendly TV partner in the Nine network, powerful commercial partners (including the Commonwealth Bank), and extensive coverage in the media (including this paper). In short, people knew it was out there.

The reviews, while mixed, ran the gamut from ”don’t bother” to ”don’t miss it”. At any rate, as a self-deprecating mid-market comedy with likeable stars (Stephen Curry, Damon Gameau and Brendan Cowell), it should have been relatively critic-proof. So what happened?

Continue reading It’s just not cricket when a local film flops and no one knows why

Warning to Hollywood: Chinese Hackers Want Your Secrets

A top cybersecurity lawyer says the Chinese are after any edge they can get, from
financial details that help with negotiations to reading scripts.

3/7/2013 by Stewart Baker, who practices cybersecurity law at Steptoe & Johnson in
Washington. He has been a top official concerned with cybersecurity policy at the
Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency – THR

Hollywood should be on notice: It’s not just the Pentagon and CIA that are victims of
hackers. They’re targeting more and more private companies. A recent report from

American cybersecurity firm Mandiant linked the Chinese government’s People’s
Liberation Army to massive, sustained intrusions into corporate networks.

The report, which traced many attacks to the PLA’s Shanghai-based Unit 61398, was
devoured in Washington and Silicon Valley. But Hollywood mostly has shrugged off
Chinese cyberspying as someone else’s problem. Continue reading Warning to Hollywood: Chinese Hackers Want Your Secrets

Hollywood Targeted by Chinese Hackers

At least one Burbank studio has been hacked, experts say, and piracy is rampant in
“a culture of copying.”

6:00 AM PST 3/7/2013 by Tim Appelo – THR

Have Chinese hackers invaded Hollywood’s computers, as they have the systems of
Facebook, Apple, The New York Times and more than 100 other major Western
entities? While some studio sources say no, cybersecurity experts tell THR another
story.

“Yes, absolutely,” says cyber-espionage expert Dmitri Alperovitch, former vp threat
research at McAfee and co-founder of CrowdStrike. “I know of major Hollywood
studios that have worked on distribution rights and other negotiations with Chinese
companies and have been hacked before those negotiations had been completed
because the Chinese wanted their negotiation playbook. The other side knows exactly
what they’re planning to do and will cheat and get their way in the negotiation.” Continue reading Hollywood Targeted by Chinese Hackers