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Recent Posts

Paris Hilton Gets Her Own Film Fest
Billy the Kid, August Evening Win LAFF
Fall Festival Watch: Wes Anderson, Coens Expected To Make the Rounds
LAFF: Midway Asessment

People changing films and films changing people is what we're all about here.

Film festivals

Paris Hilton Gets Her Own Film Fest

by Karina Longworth on July 06, 2007
...sort of. (read more)
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Billy the Kid, August Evening Win LAFF

by Karina Longworth on June 29, 2007
Jennifer Vendetti's controversial doc walks home from L.A. with a $50,000 cash prize. (read more)
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Fall Festival Watch: Wes Anderson, Coens Expected To Make the Rounds

by Karina Longworth on June 28, 2007
The Coen Brothers are planning to rack up the frequent flyer miles; also, news on Wes Anderson and Paul Haggis. (read more)
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LAFF: Midway Asessment

by Karina Longworth on June 27, 2007
Notes on Billy The Kid, Trigger Man, and the long-awaited Darby Crash biopic. (read more)
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Blueberry Mornings, Afternoons, and Nights

by Kristin on May 17, 2007
You could spend a good portion of the day (or night) reading reports from Cannes on the new Wong Kar Wai film. (read more)
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Definitely not New York, but...

by Kristin on April 28, 2007
I'll be a fan of anyone who works to get great films shown on big screens in small cities. (read more)
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Tribeca 2007: The Buzz-O-Meter

by Karina Longworth on April 27, 2007
Karina Longworth is one of our favorite film bloggers and formerly the editor of cinematical.com. She will be posting periodically over the next week from the Tribeca Film Festival here on SpoutBlog. (read more)
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How water, oil, and being Canadian add up

by Kristin on March 14, 2007
A producer and director, fresh off a trip to SXSW with their film, talk to Spout about some of the ins and outs of their filmmaking experience. (read more)
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A filmmaker on good scores and small casts

by Kristin on March 08, 2007
Among other things, filmmaker Matthew Bissonnette tells me that "the best films are like songs, they hit you in a strange mysterious place, and suggest a million wonderful things you haven't ever seen or heard." (read more)
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Gearing up for SXSW

by Dave on February 08, 2007
The festival countdown has officially begun. This year our involvement at SXSW will include getting in on a panel discussion, and creating lots of podcasts. (read more)
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Does Sundance have (or need) a pure purpose?

by Kristin on January 19, 2007
Does Sundance really have an ultimate purpose, or is Sundance just...well, Sundance? (read more)
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The mayhem begins tonight

by Paul on January 18, 2007
From late-night distribution deals to packed out parties, Sundance is a true spectacle. (read more)
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Presidents, levees, and Dixie Chicks

by Kristin on September 13, 2006
There are many politically-driven films being made, but what kind of impact are they having? (read more)
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People at Telluride: Todd Field

by Paul on September 02, 2006
Yes, even successful directors get nervous before presenting their work to the world. (read more)
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Todd Field's "Little Children"

by Paul on September 02, 2006
Field's new film is full of original moments, fully-rounded characters, and the perfect balance between tragedy and comedy. (read more)
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What's in a "premiere?"

by Kristin on September 01, 2006
Apparently the normally-flourished label "premiere" does not always mean what I originally thought. (read more)
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So many festivals, so little time

by Dave on August 24, 2006
Check out Toronto--a whopping 352 films are programmed. (read more)
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The Napoleon formula for Sunshine

by Kristin on August 24, 2006
There seems to be a magic formula to securing a big hit. But can freshness be formulated? (read more)
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Finding the movie of me

by Paul on August 04, 2006
As filmmakers, we're all struggling to learn how to stop mimicking our favorite films and find the film that's truly about ourselves. (read more)
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Just tell your story, no excuses

by Kristin on June 13, 2006
If you have a story that needs to be told, tell it. That's what Colin Gray did, even when his story seemed too bizarre to come together. Maybe the stories we feel most deeply about, but also doubt the most on the surface, are the most important ones to tell. (read more)
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Immediate stories

by Paul on June 12, 2006
Why do so many films rely on a wildly eccentric character or some big secret being revealed? Why can't more people tell the stories right at their fingertips, and tell them really well? Ed Burns did that with Groomsmen. (read more)
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3,000 Miles Away from LA

by Paul on June 10, 2006
Under the current assumption—that all the checks in the filmmaking business are signed in LA—you have to either be in LA or have close ties there to make it. That was the basic message at a recent Waterfront panel. But what if the paradigm shifted? (read more)
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Time for a little Waterfront celebration

by Dave on June 07, 2006
Summer's here. So is our favorite festival—the Waterfront Film Festival. We're hosting the opening night outdoor viewing (can you say inflatable movie screen?) of Pittsburgh, and talking to people about all we've been up to at Spout since Waterfront last year. (read more)
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Immediate gratification

by Kristin on June 05, 2006
What can Unhitched, Lighten Up, Losing Lusk and Twitch each do to us in 12 minutes or less? Whatever it is, it's pretty amazing, and we're going to get our fill of shorts at Waterfront. (read more)
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Need inspires change. Change inspires imitation.

by Paul on January 30, 2006
Here's something we all need: a good laugh. I think Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson are funny guys, but comedy has a short life. Seen any "Hans and Franz" sketches lately? Right. So a funny movie that didn't follow the... (read more)
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Gatekeepers

by Paul on January 27, 2006
This year, Park City, among other things, is abuzz with what the Internet will do to make films accessible that weren't accessible before. For instance, in the Queer Lounge at Sundance, withoutabox.com announced some basic community tools on their website... (read more)
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Keep the theater, lose the multiplex

by Paul on January 23, 2006
So typically the buzz at festivals has to do with films. This year at Sundance and Slamdance the buzz includes all sorts of new experiments to keep independent and foreign films in the "black box" without pandering to the multiplex.... (read more)
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Wassup Rockers

by Paul on January 20, 2006
I'm in Park City in between films at the Slamdance Film Festival. Last night I saw Larry Clark's new film Wassup Rockers. Like Kids before it, he captures something rarely seen on screen about adolescence. So rare I'd forgotten I... (read more)
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Sundance '06: Rookies take Park City

by Paul on November 30, 2005
Eugene Hernandez over at IndieWIRE recently interviewed Geoffrey Gilmore, Director of the Sundance Film Festival. The point of the interview, for Gilmore, was to make it very clear that this year's Sundance will be less a winter fashion show for... (read more)
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IFP Chicago, Part Deux

by Paul on November 10, 2005
(This post makes reference to two films discussed in my last post) I think Bob Schulz's comment on my last post is a great way to start this next one:So how does a director feed his ego? Make a smaller... (read more)
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IFP Chicago, Part I

by Paul on November 08, 2005
I spent Saturday at the IFP Filmmakers Summit in Chicago. I have to say that being there only reinforced  something I believe, which is there's no right or wrong way to go about making a film. There's only the way... (read more)
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On short films.

by Paul on October 23, 2005
I spent the morning here in Austin going to panel discussions around short films. Here are some basic points made again and again: Keep it simple. Focus on tone and theme, not plot. A good short film will not make... (read more)
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At the Austin Fim Festival

by Paul on October 22, 2005
I'm at the Austin Film Festival. I've found at other film festivals that panel discussions can be really hit or miss. Often conversations can meander around filmmakers saying the same things, although they may be good things like "Don't give... (read more)
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Kissing On The Mouth

by Paul on October 10, 2005
I feel the winds of change. At the Chicago International Film Festival I encountered a remarkable new film called Kissing on the Mouth. It is carrying the same torch as Susan Buice and Arin Crumley's Four-Eyed Monsters, which I... (read more)
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