Filmmaker’s Spring, 2020 Challenge On-line and Un-Paywalled

Talia Ryder in Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Courtesy of Focus Features)

The filmmaker's spring 2020 release is now online and is arriving in mailboxes and at all newsstands and bookstores that are still open during the coronavirus pandemic. And because so many of us work from home, seek protection or are blocked in some way, we have published every article from Paywall and offer everyone a link to a free PDF of the entire issue.

As managing editor Vadim Rizov wrote in a tweet, the runlist of the edition is a list that revolves around a phantom list of films and topics. In late February, the calendar was released, which was adopted – one in which certain feature films were methodically introduced during the spring, in which filmmakers in our section on filming on location for ideas on how to objectify to various locals across the country and in What Producers Articles Reading about the current sales and marketing climate in order to prepare for upcoming markets, festivals and publications has been turned upside down by the Coronavirus. However, the ideas, opinions, and arguments are not tied to a specific news event and cycle, and we hope that in a short time, whether in two or 18 months, the films and events themselves will be running again.

Our cover story is Tomris Laffly's interview with author / director Eliza Hittman about her exquisitely realized, necessarily political never rarely sometimes and it is full of insights into Hittman's carefully thought-out but currently open process. (Hittman is one of the most articulate directors when it comes to breaking down their working methods. I particularly like their commentary on actors and background stories in this play.) Of course, the topic was tailored to the opening weekend of the film. Now theaters in major New York and Los Angeles markets are closed. I don't know what the release schedule for the upcoming film is going to be – whether VOD is accelerating or relaunched in theaters – but it's still a great, important film that you should watch as soon as possible.

A24 has already announced that Kelly Reichardt's delicate proto-foodie parable of emerging capitalism, First Cow, will be released again in the fall. Here, screenwriter Larry Gross Reichardt interviews, discussing the process of adjusting Jon Raymond's novel, the design of historical production, and the origins of corporate power in America. Alexander Nanau's urgent documentary Collective is due to be released on May 22nd by Participant Media and Magnolia. In this issue, Rizov interviews Nanau and finds a documentary in the director's work that correlates with the evolving body of the new Romanian cinema of the era. (Government maladministration in a national health crisis is really a film right now.) Jim Hemphill is long-formulating one of our 25 new faces, Andrew Patterson, and goes deeper into the amazing DIY of his unclassified filming of the UFO drama, The Vast of Night, is currently scheduled for May 29th at Amazon Studios. And filmmaker Sierra Pettengill talks to Frank Beauvais about his hypnotic, archive-based memoir "Just Don & # 39; t Think I & # 39; m Scream" – an inward-looking, diaristic Cri de Coeur, which is a monologue about clips from around 400 Films (including a surprising number of American Indies from the 90s) that the director watched at a particularly depressing moment in his life.

In our Reflections section, producer Mike S. Ryan looks at the history of microbudget production in the United States before moving on to an argument that relates the practical to the economic with the ethical. It raises two questions: 1) Is microbudget production the logical answer to the devaluation of the dramatic feature film by the US film industry – and especially streamers? and 2) when is it morally correct to create a micro budget feature? (There are about three sentences here that deal with the budget parameters of microbudget production and are more than worth the cost of an annual subscription for many readers.) Accompanying Ryan's article: We asked six microbudget filmmakers, three questions about their own Answer micro-budget practice.

The reflector, distributor and employee of the film industry, Wanda Bershen, also died on September 28 in Reflections. The producer Marc Smolowitz not only praised Bershen, but also campaigned for safety nets and end-of-life support for aging members of our community.

Our line items section, which contains content related articles on filmmaking and the film business, contains a long piece this time, a look at the market trends in film financing and the sale of Tiffany Pritchard. One finding: SVOD companies 'desire for global rights – and filmmakers' desire for large streaming deals – complicate the traditional territorial funding model.

As mentioned above, we take a look at aspects of filming every spring. This time, Matt Mulcahey is dealing with a topic that we have been trying to address for some time: drone cinema – especially the permits and permits required for filming in various states in the United States. Also in this section: I briefly look at 2019 and & # 39; 20 tax incentive developments, and film scholar Joshua Gleitch traces the history of filming in the United States from early studio days to the present day.

Our three columnists are all distinguished in this issue. In "Two or Three Things They Know About You: Marketing Independent Films With Behavioral Data," Anthony Kaufman's Industry Beat discovers the benefits of surveillance capitalism for independent filmmakers. (This piece is generally a good introduction to the main ways independent films are marketed today on Facebook, Instagram and other social platforms that offer psychographic targeting.) In "Brass with the Medium: The Structured Delights of Handcrafted Film", Holly Willis & # 39; extracurricular column outlines and discusses various curricula for teaching feminist experimental media devoted to analog practices and handmade filmmaking. (The titles are a great display list for students and lovers.) And in Joanne McNeil's speculation column "Understanding the Future: The Forward-Looking Lynn Hershman Leeson", McNeil finds the future in two independent films from the late 90s and early years. The artist and filmmaker is currently experiencing a professional renaissance with their new media and installation work. (Filmmaker contributor Plug: McNeil's new book Lurking: How a Person Became a User has been praised by Jonathan Lethem, Astra Taylor, Jenny Odell and Jenna Wortham – get a copy here.)

Finally, our back contains an original essay by a filmmaker or critic on various topics. At the end of spring 2020, filmmaker Charlie Shackleton, who is familiar with aspect ratios, is exploring the aesthetic possibilities and monitoring of Quibi's new turnstyle technology, which allows films to switch between two different aspect ratios when viewed.

As always, you can digitally subscribe to Filmmaker or receive a print version, and we are always happy to receive your support. By the way, all subscriptions come with our digital archive of issues going back to 2007.