Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Having your Cate and eating it too


Congrats to Cate Blanchett on the birth of her third child.

That is all.



-dh

Sunday, April 13, 2008


-- a peak at the first shortlist logo design.
the bottom image is the animation concept. a website layout is next on the drawing board.

- ligotti
[your resident designer]


Thursday, April 10, 2008

News for graduates! Yayy!




Industry braced for economic impact

By Steven Zeitchik
April 9, 2008

NEW YORK -- As the U.S. economy faces a swirl of negative forces, the film-financing world is set to endure its own perfect storm.

And like the economy, things could get a lot worse before they get better.

Much of the focus has in recent months been the fate of slate funds such as Dune and Gun Hill as Wall Street wrings its hands over its lack of selection and low batting averages.

But so-called single-picture financing -- which encompasses films ranging from the smallest indie to a $60 million star vehicle -- is going through its own turbulence. Projects that would have sailed through easily a year ago are stalled in development. Movies that are practically in preproduction are falling apart at the eleventh hour.

"We've always gotten calls from producers saying, 'Our financing has fallen through; can you help us?' " the Film Department's Mark Gill said. "Now we're getting a lot more."

Read the rest

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Union-Man Scott's the name

Recently, I sat down for lunch with Tim Suhrstedt, ASC member and DP of such films as Little Miss Sunshine, Pumpkin and Office Space, as well as the new Ricky Gervais feature now shooting in Lowell, MA, This Side of the Truth.



Sandwiches: He had the turkey with cranberry chutney and apple slaw; I had the tuna, with a side of wisdom and advice drizzled in house vinaigrette (tangy but truthful). Besides sharing the last name of his wife (Oscar-winning costumer Deborah Lynn Scott) and half of the hyphenated last name of his daughter, I also aspire to DP features, possibly for the rest of my life and beyond.

His advice: Unionize! A career move strangely not emphasized by any of my professors... Though perhaps they consider it obvious, it seems that so many film graduates have no idea what they're doing once they're out, and simply jump ship to LA and gain a little weight.

The problem: He and I have been working on trying to figure out exactly how exactly for a young guy like me to get into the union (IATSE: International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees), and I have been secretly struggling to understand the difference between IATSE Local 600 and the International Cinematographers Guild, which could possibly be the same thing. Either way, it's key that I get into one or both or all three (IATSE Local 481, inc. Massachusetts area) of these as every major film produced in the US goes through them and, of course, they provide health insurance, disability pay, field trips to parks and training sessions.

Other advice: To keep shooting even if I get gigs as a film loader or AC - to always keep DP'ing because I won't really learn how to do it by watching someone else. And, most importantly, to accept that the film career path is not linear, and that experience does not always beget better, more rewarding experience, and to take it with some humor. And on that decidedly unfunny note, this blog ends (clearly, I've learned nothing).

Updates on the union progress, which I have now made my summer goal, to come.

-EA Scott