Day: January 11, 2009

Categories
Truly Free Film

Live From Park City!

I am particularly excited about Sundance this year. Beyond the films, there is a whole series of events that I will be participating in, and I look forward to all the people I will meet and good ideas that I will get to hear.  Please come ready to share some thoughts; my ears are open.

I am now the Closing Key Note speaker at the Art House Convergence (which is actually in Salt Lake City) on Thursday January 15th prior to the festival itself.  I do feel we are on the verge of a new collaboration between filmmakers and exhibitors and am eager to share this vision.

I will also be participating in a panel at the AHC on “New World Distribution” organized by Connie White & Jan Klingenhofer on Wednesday at 5P at The Peery Hotel in SLC.  This panel also features Bob Berney and Peter Broderick who are always sure to be brilliant. All of this really makes me feel like a change can truly come with all of our efforts.
The Convergence is geared to the exhibition and booking community but speaks well of the growing relationship between filmmakers and theaters — devoid of any force keeping them apart. I don’t think it’s too late to register for the convergence although the focus is on the theaters. You will be sure to learn something nonetheless.  And if you aren’t going to make it, just let me know if there is anything you’d like me to address here.
But it’s not all lectures and learning.  The IFP, Filmmaker, The Salt Lake City Film Center, the new media communications concern SMA, and This is that have all come together to sponsor the first annual filmmaker/exhibitor/booker mixer on Friday night, January 16th 6 – 8P — so you get a chance to party. I had hoped that something like this would come together. The bridge between these groups is one thing preventing us all from connecting all the dots. Here’s hoping that a sponsor emerges and this can become an annual event. I hope to see everyone with a film or a place to book one there.

I will also be participating in what looks to be a great panel at Sundance “The Panic Button: Push or Ponder?” at 1130A at Prospector Square on Monday, January 19th.  The assorted old guys like myself include Mark Gill (The Film Department), James Schamus (Focus Features), Michael Barker (Sony Pictures Classics), Jonathan Sehring (IFC Entertainment), Marcus Hu (Strand Releasing) and Peter Broderick (Paradigm Consulting).  It’s moderated by no less than Sundance Film Festival Director Geoffrey Gilmore.

I have always considered myself a man of action — i.e. not one to sit and ponder — but also never believing there should even be a button to push. I promise to make this a fun and lively event. If there is anything you would like me to be sure to discuss, please let me know as soon as possible.

There are a few other things in the works too — just in case you miss me at these venues — for later on at the festival.  Stay tuned.
Categories
Truly Free Film

Add More Indies To The NATIONAL FILM REGISTRY

I have to admit that I generally like what films get selected for preservation via the National Film Registry.  I don’t know if you saw the latest list of what got selected for 2008, but you can look at it here.  They add twenty five titles a year.

But what I bet you didn’t know you vote for what is to be added.  Or so their website says.  All you need to do is send your nominations in to:

sleg@loc.gov

You can only nominate 50 films a year.  They have a handy dandy list of suggestions too.  They generally do a pretty great job.  There are a few areas though that need greater emphasis.
Indie films definitely need help.  Without the studio support, they tend to be a little less organized and being held under worst conditions.  The studios aren’t going to let a moneymaker fall into disrepair.  A filmmaker who may own their negative but not the house they live in might just be a little different story from the one owned by the mega corp.
I have suggested they add in 2009:
Melvin Van Peebles’ SWEET SWEETBACK’S BADASSSS SONG (1971)
Susan Seidelman’s SMITHEREENS (1982)
Bette Gordon’s VARIETY (1983)
Alex Cox’s SID AND NANCY (1986)
Spike Lee’s SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT (1986 )
Whit Stillman’s METROPOLITAN (1990)
John McNaughton’s HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER (1990)
Todd Hayne’s POISON (1991)
Hal Hartley’s TRUST (1991)
Gregg Araki’s THE LIVING END (1992)
Allison Anders’ MI VIDA LOCA (1993)
Ang Lee’s THE WEDDING BANQUET (1993)
Tom Noonan’s WHAT HAPPENED WAS… (1993)
Terry Zwigoff’s CRUMB (1994)
Todd Solondz’s HAPPINESS (1998)
Not bad for an initial fifteen.  Granted quite a few serve my self interest, but…  Let me know what I should suggest for the next 35.
Categories
Bowl Of Noses

What is it, really? The Transistor


Transistors make up silicon chips.  But what are they, really?  This is one of those questions that had the stink of unknowing with it.  The nose did not know.  Luckily, we found this nifty Explain-It-All Chart on the BBC News site in article about the founder of Intel, the big chip manufacturer.Transistors are basic electronic switches found in silicon chips

  • Each transistor can be switched on or off, representing a “1” or “0”, known as binary code
  • All computation is done using different combinations of these two outputs to do calculations
  • The number of transistors on a chip determine its speed
  • Modern chips contain millions of transistors allowing them to execute millions of calculations per second
  • The tiny devices consist of a source, drain and gate
  • A voltage applied to the gate and drain turns the device on
  • Removing the gate voltage switches it off again

Pretty simple, right? And they’ve been putting more and more of those transistors on chips at an incredible rate, making our computers go faster and faster.

Pretty neat, right? Well, we thought so. Maybe not as neat as a fast car, but neat nonetheless.