Chris Gore – Rock Star Film Critic
“Nerdlebrity” Chris Gore is a rock star among film critics. He writes reviews and criticism of independent films, the kind you see at the Sundance Film Festival and FX shows. “Sex, Lies, and Videotape” and all that. Gore is a standout for being sharp, insightful, and intelligently funny in his movie reviews.
The movie writer and TV dude started the magazine “Film Threat” when he was just a teenager. He made that magazine the Howard Cosell-voice of movie criticism: asking the hard questions and “telling it like it is” with jaw-shattering honesty. At present he is a featured film expert on G4TV’s “Attack of the Show” with his weekly movie review segment “DVDuesday” one of the most heavily watched.
Chris has written three books: The 50 Greatest Movies Never Made (St. Martin’s Press), The Complete DVD Book (Michael Wiese Publications), and The Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide (Random House). That last title is regarded as the holy scripture of his industry and is required reading for a lot of college film programs. A fourth edition is scheduled for publication in late 2009.
Recently, Gore has gotten into independent film making himself. “My Big Fat Independent Movie” (Anchor Bay DVD) is a comedy film put together by touring 40 film festivals across the globe. You can watch it on Showtime or the Sundance Channel.
In an interview with Herb Kane in February of 2001, Gore said, “I’m much better at talking about film than writing about it, hence, my presence on television. I think my one saving grace is that I am an honest hack. I won’t do what so many do on television which is summarize the plot and marvel at the stars talking, I actually attack films that are crap and I will praise films that are deserving of it. So unlike the rest of the hacks out there, I just try to be honest. I will tell you, I have paid the price for this. I am not the most popular guy in Hollywood for taking this approach, but I could not sleep at night if I stood before an audience and lied or just sugarcoated everything. The negative reactions I get from the industry, mainly studio flacks, is an occupational hazard that I choose to live with.”
Keep hacking away at the root of all evil–bad film making–Chris Gore.
A Good Story Transcends Film Production Costs
If you have a good story to tell there is no reason why you should not make it into an independent film. With the right film production techniques, the right script, the right people working with you and a relatively small amount of money you can make a low budget movie that can compete with the best of them on the festival circuit at places like Cannes, Toronto, Telluride and the Sundance Film Festival. If your story is compelling enough people will forget that the production value is a bit challenged.
There are people all over this world who never gave up on their dreams to make films, despite the difficulties that came with working outside of the mainstream film industry. They are passionate filmmakers who believe that anyone with a compelling story to tell has a right to make a movie. Through their struggles these diehard filmmakers have created cheaper ways to make movies. This revolution was born out of frustration due to decades of having their creative voices shunned by the big film studios who favored commercialism over creativity.
The commercialism associated with the films that are being released by the major Hollywood film studios these days is very frustrating for any filmmaker who considers their work to be art. Nowadays movies are tested extensively beforehand to ensure that the studio committing hundreds of millions of dollars to it will not lose money. This kind of testing tends to narrow the field down to only a few kinds of movies that they will invest in which means there is no room for new ideas. True artists can never be happy when there are constraints imposed on their methods and subject matter.
Although the film industry is a merging of story telling and commerce, the story telling part has always been the most important half of the equation for the audience. The big movie studio executives seem to have forgotten this fact as they continue to produce movies that have more style than substance. People would much rather see a good movie with a low production value than they would a bad movie with a high production value.
Talent and a good storyline are generally worth more to movie audiences than an expensive look. If you can just get a good story committed to film and submitted to film festivals, then people will take notice. If a buzz is created about your movie, it can lead to a distribution deal that is worth many times more than the money you invested.
After you have finished with all phases of the film production process you need to find places that will show your film to the public. There is a thing called the film festival circuit and it is the last bastion of hope for people who want to make independent films. Sure, the celebrities and big studios have recently invaded the larger events like Toronto, Cannes and the Sundance Film Festival, but they still make room for the little guys. Independent filmmakers are still the focus of film festivals no matter how much publicity they receive.
Films like The Blair Witch Project are a perfect example of how a film with a very small budget but a very clever story can make it to the big time. This very independent film was a big hit at The Sundance Film Festival in the late nineties and it was all because of the storyline. The Film was shot and edited on video and transferred to 16mm film only for the print that was needed for screenings at the festival. The independent filmmakers that made this film only spent about 40,000 dollars to make it and get it ready for Sundance. The production value was very poor but people could not stop talking about how the story ended. It received a lot of publicity and was subsequently sold to a major film studio for one and a half million dollars. The studio made 150 million dollars on the film when they blew it up to 35 millimeter and distributed it to theaters nationwide.
Film festivals are places where the playing field is leveled for all the players in the film industry. It is a strange nexus between people who are hungry to get into the film industry and people who have had too much of it and just want to be a little less full of it. They long for the days when filmmaking was more of an art form and less commercialized. The result is that they embrace independent filmmakers in their raw form. When this happens there is always a chance that one of the little guys could be suddenly held up to the spotlight by the big players and glorified. If this does occur it is always because the storyline of the film created a buzz, not the production value.
The Sundance Film Festival – 5 Essential Tips For Tickets and Travel
Every year budding film makers, celebrities and droves of film goes descend upon the quaint little ski town of Park City, Utah for the infamous Sundance Film Festival. It occurs every January, lasting for ten days, with over tens of thousands of visitors attending film premiers, parties and other film related events such as workshops and panel discussions.
The festival has been around since the late 70s when co-founders Sterling Van Wagenen and John Earle along with chairperson Robert Redford started it all. In the early years, attendance was low. That’s not a problem today. Long wait-list lines, registering for tickets and ticket packages begin as early as September. And registering doesn’t guarantee you tickets. It doesn’t even guarantee you a time slot to buy tickets; it’s just a chance to get a time slot. Bobby’s little festival has sure come a long way.
So here’s some tip’s to get you ready for the festival:
1) Register for your chance to buy tickets in September. Don’t forget! Mark it on your calendar today. Registering early doesn’t guarantee but greatly improves your chance for getting the tickets and packages you want.
2) Once you register, you will be notified of your purchase time which is usually a few weeks later. Depending on what you’re purchasing – packages or individual tickets – some purchasing times only last 24 hours, others a few days. Sundance will not send another email reminding you of your purchase time. You must remind yourself. So be sure to set a calendar alert for your time or else you will miss out and not be given another chance.
3) If you weren’t able to get tickets to the films you wanted, try out the waitlist option. You show up a couple of hours before the film starts, get a waitlist number, come back 30 minutes before the show starts and see if tickets are available. Sundance organizers have said thousands of people see films this way without having to get advanced tickets.
4) Book your lodging early! We’re talking up to a year in advance if you know you’re going. This is one of the busiest times for visitors to Park City. Hotels, condos, vacation homes all get booked and rented out quick. If you can, try staying near the Park City Resort or anything that’s closest to Main Street since that’s were most of the venues are located.
5) Do not, let me repeat, DO NOT rent a car. Lots of the hotels provide free transportation to Park City and once you’re there, the free city bus shuttle will take you practically anywhere you want to go. Unless you want to travel beyond Park City during your stay, you simply don’t need one.
Follow these tips and you’ll be ahead of most people who attend the Sundance Film Festival. Once you’re there, see as many films as you can, but also take advantage of everything else Park City has to offer. Usually, the festival week is one of the best times to go skiing or snowboarding because there are a lot less people on the slopes – they’re all watching films!
Sundance Film Festival 2008 – Five Key Trends and Must-Knows for Indie Directors and Producers
The Sundance Film Festival, though firmly in its mid-twenties and suffering all the expected crises, is one of the world’s most important cinema venues. It’s been said that what plays well up in the mountains of Park City this year will be trickling into the Hollywood mainstream by the summer after next. If this is true, the 2008 iteration of the festival leaves us with a lot to think about. Here are 5 things to chew on as American movies face what is likely a pivotal year.
5. Trouble in Hollywood is not necessarily good news for indies. At the outset of the festival the Writer’s Guild strike dominated conversation. Prognosticators expected a buying frenzy at Sundance 2008 as studios searched nervously for films to fill their potentially empty release slate. However, at the same time, pundits were quick to point to last year’s rampant overspending and predicted buyers would be cautious.
So, what happened? Not much. After an initial panic, over $25 million worth of deals were inked at Sundance ’08. While this pales compared to the $53 million forked over at Sundance ’07, we can consider 2008 as a return to sanity.
4. Of the 17 films sold at Sundance…8 were documentaries. In fact, all the films to sell in the usually frantic first weekend at Sundance were documentaries, leading many to believe that this year’s marketplace would be a bust. But even if prices were down a bit for dramas, critics and audiences agree that the American documentary is as vital as ever, and even after the disappointing box-office performance of last year’s Sundance docs (MY KID COULD PAINT THAT, IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON) there is still a very healthy market.
3. The Webolution is not being webcast. “The writing is on the wall-the industry must adapt to new media or face extinction. Today’s studios and independents are finally embracing the challenge of porting content and revenue to new distribution strategies. Join Hollywood power brokers and new media superstars to discuss their strategies for the Web.”
That’s from the official Sundance Film Festival Guide and the introduction to the much-buzzed about panel “Webolution!”. Netflix, Veoh.com, Joost.com, Hulu.com, the MPAA, and MTV were all represented.
Sadly, nothing was solved.
The big take-away: the US needs to do more to inspire the kind of access to high speed internet the rest of the developed world enjoys. Some commentators have said, compared to Europe, Japan, and Korea, the US is a “broadband third world.”
Despite the panel and the panic about the web, this year Sundance is scaling back its online offerings. Its Online Film Festival, launched in 2001, has all but disappeared. In 2007, Sundance’s site offered nearly 50 films continuously over the course of the festival; this year, it’ll show just one for each of the festival’s 10 days.
2. Who really rules Sundance and why is it that no one likes Sony Pictures Classics? There have been rumblings for a number of years now that sales agents (or brokers) might have a little too much pull at Sundance. Dealmakers like Cinetic Media, William Morris, Submarine Entertainment, and the CAA (Creative Agency Artists) come to Sundance to represent filmmakers and to fuel the bidding war furnaces. Does a Cinetic stamp of approval get you into Sundance? Probably not, but the annual Cinetic Sundance Party is definitely where you want to be once you get there.
This year the brokers had Sony Pictures Classics’ number. While Fox Searchlight and Focus films paid the most for films ($10M for HAMLET 2, and $5M for CHOKE, respectively), SPC was the most active, snapping up three dramas this year: FROZEN RIVER (repped by William Morris Agency), BAGHEAD (repped by CAA), and THE WACKNESS (repped by Submarine Entertainment). So why are bloggers up in arms? Sony Pictures Classics has a horrific track record releasing and marketing Sundance films (JUNEBUG, LAYER CAKE, PERSEPOLIS), and it is expected that SPC will fumble these crowd favourites.
This side of Sundance has always received a lot of talk, but this year it seems to be receiving, mainly thanks to the efforts of bloggers, the kind of scrutiny that will help it mature in line with Sundance’s artistic aspirations.
1. New American Realism equals… drugs? For critics, commentators, and most bloggers, there was a lot to celebrate at Sundance 2008. Manohla Dargis (New York Times), tweaked to what she called the “emergence of a new American realism,” praised the Sundance crop this year for pointing a way beyond the twee and solipsistic, the mainstays of Sundance Film Festivals past. But at the same time, Todd McCarthy, in Variety, can’t help but comment on how many films this year feature characters trying, failing, succeeding, or thinking about getting high. American documentaries may be in the midst of a renaissance, and the injustices of the world may call for even closer scrutiny, but the stories America is telling itself seem stranded between a desperate holding tight to the bare bones of experience and the wisps of self-delusion.
The jury prizes went to TROUBLE THE WATER, a staggeringly intimate documentary on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (still unsold as of this writing), and to FROZEN RIVER, a drama about immigrant smuggling across the United States/Canada border (sold to Sony Classics for less than one million). The audience awards went to FIELDS OF FUEL, a documentary abut American addiction to oil (still unsold as of this writing), and to THE WACKNESS, a comedy drama about New York pot dealers (sold to Sony Pictures Classics for less than 2 million).
History of the Tiburon Film Festival in Marin County California
While the Sundance film festival might get the most attention, many avid indie film fans will tell you that few independent movie festivals match the excitement or overall variety and quality as the Tiburon film festival. Tiburon is located in California’s famed Marin County, overlooking San Francisco Bay. This Tiburon-based affair was started by the town in 2002, and has rapidly grown into a diverse and popular international experience that has gained attention world wide.
This unique affair is usually held for a week in March of every year. The Tiburon film festival has a mission statement as being a festival that wants to see a broad range of films from a wide range of countries around the world. The motto for this occasion is: “Understanding the world through film,” and strongly reflects the direction this event has gone over the last eight years.
International movies have been premiered at this festival from dozens of countries in nearly as many genres. Some movie category submissions in that past have included fiction, documentary, shorts, animated shorts, experimental, surreal, student films, sports documentaries, music videos, and even children’s films. This wide blend of culture and genre allows this Tiburon event to claim a very unique level of originality and diversity.
Basically, if you’re a fan of independent films, both foreign and domestic, this affair set in the town located just off San Francisco might be the perfect stop. The long tradition of artistic independence that San Francisco is known for continues to play out in neighboring Tiburon, and the Tiburon film festival continues to grow in scope, size, and cinematic quality with each passing year.
The logo of this year’s event shows a shark biting down on a reel of film, a nod to the town of Tiburon’s history, named after the local Carib Indian word for shark, as the bay around the town is known to be full of them. This fierce symbol is a good match for the fierce independence that the movie festival encourages.
For an event that has only existed since 2002, the festival has already had a remarkable impact on film and film careers alike. The academy award winner “West Bank Story” by Ari Sandel was premiered at this festival, as was the academy award nominee “Salim Baba” by Timothy Sternberg. In addition to these two remarkable works, many films that were viewed here for the first time were picked up for mainstream distribution, or invited as guests to other popular and well known movie premier events.
The Tiburon film festival continues to run strong, and is a great affair that should be a considered stop for anyone living, or traveling, in the area. It’s not often you can not only be part of a major event, but be in early on as it builds history.