Tag: Martha Marcy May Marlene

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These Are Those Things

One Of My Fave Cinema Moments Of 2011

It was at the only projected WorkInProgress screening we had for Martha Marcy May Marlene. The film was submitted to Sundance on a 6 week cut and Sean Durkin had to lock at 8 weeks to get in done in time for the festival. There was no money but Technicolor helped us out with a weekday screening. The only people generally who could come were screenwriters as virtually everyone else we knew were working.

Screenwriters can be a bit focused on structure, some on discipline. The point was raised that this song was not like any other moment in the film. People started to suggest it be cut. My wife –one of the few women in the room — stood up and said it was the crucial moment when Marcy May feels loved. She was right. It needed to be there. Sean knew it too.

Even if it had been cut, I think it would have made my list of favorite MUSIC moments of 2011

Categories
Truly Free Film

Video: TIFF 2001 Moguls Talk With Ted Hope (aka Me)

At the Toronto International Film Festival this year I had the privilege of being asked to partake in their “Moguls” talk. Anthony Kaufman interviewed me. I think I set a record taking up the first sixteen minutes or so with my first answer. Granted it was about how MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE and DARK HORSE came together, and neither one was a simple story — but then never are, are they? Well, it does boil down in each instance to making the movie for less than what the apparent value is, but that’s the film business today, isn’t it?

Just in case you are wondering, the class that I mention isn’t happening when I said it was. It’s happening soon though, and we will announce it sooner.

I talk about SUPER around the 35 minute mark.
41 Min: budget agnostic, genre agnostic, medium agnostic, platform agnostic. First and foremost, I want….
42 Min: What makes a good film?
43 Min: When I was falling in love with my wife Vanessa…
44 Min: That list is this one.
45:50 Reverse engineering of Film
46:45 How can film mirror free will?
47:30 The End Of The Auteur Era Of Film
54:30 “Making Independent Films is a crime.”
57:20 “There’s never been a better time to shoot celluloid than there is today.”
58:10 “Independent Film is a luxury good.”

If you want to help me index this further, I would appreciate it.

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Truly Free Film

The Next Step Towards Your Personalized Pleasure Planet

Suggestion engines tell you what might appeal to you: i.e. you loved “REPULSION” and “CACHE”, so you will also like “MARTHA MARCEY MAY MARLENE”. But if you are at all like me, you’ve already found enough movies to get you well past your life expectancy rate. It’s now more you crave, but less!

Now that we mastered the “find”, is it time, to start the “ditch”? How do we get rid of that which has no applicability to our lives? Should we remove that which might not be to our liking forever from our discovery threshold?

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Truly Free Film

Wake Up Early & Join Me Tomorrow…and maybe I will give you a free gift (seriously)…

I know told you before, but why say something once when you can say it two or three or more times? I am here to help. I am here to share what I have learned. I am here to offer some hope. At least for the moment…

So tomorrow I am participating in two public events. One is free. The other you have to pay, but the money goes to support a great organization (IFP). And to someone who knows the secret word and meets me at either of the events, I have a gift to give you. So if you come to either….

x

And by either I mean:

tomorrow’s IFP ScriptToScreen conference where I will be moderating a case study of MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE with Borderline films, including writer/director Sean Durkin, and producers Antonio Campos and Josh Mond.

DIY DAYS NYC where I will be conducting a conversation with indie film producing legend Christine Vachon.

Come find me and stand on one foot while you tell me the actual name of the Lou tune that Mike Connel in the movie I did with Greg Mottola butchers the title of, and I will give you a couple of DVDs and other swag, and of course thank you for coming. I might as well as start clearing out those closets, right?

Sometimes I feel like I am an infomercial, so why not give out the indie equivalent of a knife set?

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Truly Free Film

The Triumphant Return of Good Machine

Yes, it is true.  Good Machine is back.  But in a new and improved form.  Perhaps we should have done a press release, but I thought I should do it here instead.  Press releases are so yesterday.

If you went to Sundance, perhaps you noticed the secret stealth return of our so-called 90’s powerhouse.  Or if you were at the Golden Globes, it must have caught your eye.  Hell, even if you just watched the Golden Globes.  If you missed all that, certainly by perusing the Oscar noms, something should have caused a bit of stir.  I’ve been waiting for some sharp newshound to break with the story, but nope.  So here’s the real buzz…

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Categories
Truly Free Film

How I Spent My Sundance Non-Vacation

To think I once got to see movies when I went to film festivals…

I had one film to share with folks this time around, Sean Durkin’s MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE, which I had the pleasure and good fortune to Executive Produce — even still I did not plan to see any others.  I knew I was going to be too busy with the work that festivals have become for me.

The reception for the film was great — which has generated a lot of meetings (and which has yielded some nice announcements ).  I forgot to read the latest Exec Prod job description though and did not realize it now means moderating press conferences.  Check out the video here, and let me know how you feel I did.

When I wasn’t dealing and celebrating Sean’s movie, I was doing my part to aid in the promotion of indie film.

Christine Vachon and I have been doing this talk show on and off now for several years, now dubbed KILLER / HOPE.  Hulu’s got it up on their Sundance page. Please check it out while you still can (at least in all its glory). New episodes will be added daily throughout the festival.  Additionally, we were invited to talk to Eugene Hernandez for the local NPR station.  Gotta get the word out, but man does all that yapping, make for some seriously dry mouth.

But man, what a test of will power it is.  I admit I am an addict

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