KGB Productions

That's right this week-end, and next Ms Glezos will be in a one women play at " the Studio ". It's called "Where Do You Put The 'Y", and it's directed by Brad Calcaterra . If that name is familiar brad's directing, writing and acting can be seen in the independent film " four eyed monsters ". The Studio is located 25 west 23rd street. On the second floor. Call the studio at: 212-463-7962 for more info.

I've been thinking for the past few days if a film is better off scripted or whether a story is best told by the technique of improving. Now I've been on many sets and I know the realities of filmmaking. We're always fighting the clock, and filmmaking becomes a financial race. I've never had or been on a set where the budget wasn't finite. People have to work, and bills need to be paid, but it seems more and more that better films are made if you work with your actors. The performances are enhanced, and the story does have a life of its own. Make no mistake films like " Nashville ", or " Short Cuts " were and had been scripted, but it was the director who knew when to let his actors go and service the story better then what the writer could write. The more and more I study film, or try and make a film that is realistic and engaging the more and more I draw on actors to flesh out the story. I'm currently writing, but what I put down on paper ...

I've been wanting to writes something here for sometime, but there's always something that prevents me from getting the old thoughts up here. First off it seems as though John Turturro 's film " Romance & Cigarettes " is doing well at the film Forum. The film is in it's second week and has boosted a nice week-end total. According to Indiewire the film earned $15,893 at New York's Film Forum, good enough for the number one spot on the iWBOT for two weeks in a row. Plus the film "In the Valley of Elah" earned $133,557 from nine venues, which is very respectable. Director Larry Fessenden's thriller "The Last Winter will be opening Wednesday, September 19 in limited release at the IFC. I've been a big admirer of Mr. Fessenden for some time, and after hearing him talk at a seminar here in Philly about his film " Habit " I was very inspired to do a film. Also I've been reading about one of my favorite filmmakers Jo...

I read about this last week, and was interested in why a film like " Romance & Cigarettes " hasn't been picked up by a distributor. I mean it has stars, great production value, a great soundtrack, and it's a musical of sorts. The filmmaker John Turturro decided to self distribute, and I think he's crazy. Crazy like a fox that is. Now comes this news from indiewire : "Weekend earnings of $18,445 shot actor-turned-filmmaker John Turturro's self-released musical "Romance & Cigarettes" to the front of the iWBOT, as well as the top, self-released debut by a director in recent memory." The movie is playing at the Film Forum in New York city, and it looks as though it'll be playing for awhile. Good films can and do get seen. It's just getting harder to get noticed and separate yourself from the rest of the pack. The executive producers are both Ehtan Coen & Joel Coen . John Turturro was there last Friday night for a Q&A. Y...

The NY Times has an interesting article about pirated movies . It's actually happening in the old neighborhood I grew up in. Pirating is another problem the filmmaker faces in distributing his or her movie. If you don't think it affects you you're wrong. Money made by pirating movies goes into the wrong hands, and never makes it back to the filmmaker. I remember working in NYC and seeing the vendors on the street selling their knock-offs. Independent filmmakers could possible learn a thing or two about how these pirates work. As one filmmaker says the pirates have better distribution then the studios. It would be great if we could use the pirates tactics in our own DIY way of distributing you're own film. That way we would ensure that the filmmakers who made the film would actually get the the money he or she is owed. Interesting concept isn't it! *photo by Todd Heisler/The New York Times

So I'm in a Target store looking at the DVD section, and what's newly released. There are some really interesting films that I made a mental note of to put on my list. But what is really noticeable is the prices of some DVD's. IFC films had several for $7.99. One of them was the movie " Factotum " starring Matt Dillon . They even had a double feature DVD of " Footloose " and " Flashdance " for $7.99. Now I'm not a rocket scientist, but how does the independent filmmaker survive in all this when major motion pictures can be owned for as little as $7.99? The films all have production values, star a famous actor or two, and are of interest to the regular guy on the street whose looking for a pleasant distraction from the mundane of life. It's not even just Target stores. Walmart is the same thing. Though I did see a statistic that Walmart has a 40% share in the market of selling DVD's to the consumer, so I would assume that Target a...

First read what Anthony Kaufman has to say about competition for indie-film distributors. It's a good article and it has some valid points. It's at the Village Voice's web site here . Then go to Reeler editor S.T. VanAirsdale's response . Both have great points, and I will be the first to agree that in the past two years it has become frustratingly difficult to get ones film seen. There is so much product out there. Good and bad, and that's the problem. It kind of reminds me of when porno went video or when B-movies were all the rage, during the VCR revolution in the 80's. Their was a glut of BAD films in both genres, and distributors flooded the market with inferior product. When distributors began selling their tapes for $5 and began running their films in EP mode instead of the preferred SP speed the quality of the product sank. All to save on the cost of a cassette. Good B-type thrillers & artful films that were created in the late 70's and ea...