Quebecer Dream

On Sunday, in her acceptance speech Lupita Nyong’o said: “No matter where you are from, your dreams are valid”. Those words are very true and can apply to any dream, even the one of becoming a movie director.
Lupita’s word resonates with the journey of an independent film director who was nominated at this year’s Academy Awards. Jean-Marc Vallée was just a guy from Montreal, Quebec who was dreaming of making movies. He studied cinema in college and from there, made his way into the small, indie Quebecer movie industry. In 1995, he decides to take make the movie C.R.A.Z.Y. The movie came out in 2005 and was such a success that it gave him opportunity to work in Hollywood. From that time he went from success to success. He directed Martin Scorsese’s The Young Victoria in 2011 which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Movie.

Jean-Marc Vallée

In 2013, Dallas Buyers Club had him described as visionary and exceptional by the producer Robbie Brenner and actor Matthew McConaughey. For twenty years the script was gathering dust on someone’s desk until Vallée accepted the challenge.
Even though he did not win on Sunday, Vallée is a great example that even if you start small, if you make movies that inspire you as a story teller anything is possible.

5 Tips to Become a Better Filmmaker

The 86th ceremony of the Oscars is going to take place in just a few weeks. Again this year, many talented, actors, directors, screenwriters and many other will be honored. Here is a list of five things that we can learn from the past winners in order to become a better filmmaker.

 

1. Only One Motive in the Storyline

Make sure that when you write your script that the motive of your characters stay the same. Otherwise it makes your story hard to follow. The storyline is confusing for the audience and they lose interest.

2. Your view of our world

As a screenwriter, you have the possibility to create a completely new world and share your on view on life. You can transport your audience to other planets like in Avatar or stay in the world we know and put forward an innovative few. A good movie has well detailed environment.

3. Mix it up

Don’t be afraid to mix different genres! Over the past years, the movies who won Academy Awards had mixed genres like Slumdog Millionaire. It was a comedy-drama that won Best Picture in 2009.  

4. Your Protagonist

It is important to clearly determine who your protagonist is. You can choose to have many people as protagonists if you want but it is important that somehow your audience relates to your characters. It does not matter if they are good or bad. According to Frank Cottrell Boyce, a graduate of Brookside and one of Britain’s most successful screenwriters explains that people need to relate to the protagonists but not necessarily approve of what they do in the movie.

5. Make a statement

Say what you want to say. It is as simple as that. All great movies have great messages. You just have to find what YOUR message is.

Those are not set in stone rules but I hope it will help. Here is a few words of advice from Martin Scorsese

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0C1jh5NuwQ&list=PLrMEncyd64BdDvYrb4wo3Orda8GcsvCSj

 

Who’s got Spirit?

 

The 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards are among us. This March 1^st will mark the 30th year that the awards have recognized great independent films and their makers.

 

Originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards, FISA prides itself on being the award show where anything can happen and warns viewers to “expect the unexpected.” From fifths of Jameson to crotch grabs to the always adorable Jennifer Lawrence, we think their claim has been heavily supported. Don’t believe us check out the trailer.

 

 

Along with the humorous antics of the show, actual awards are given throughout the night. Some of the past Spirit award winners include Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction for best film and Chloë Sevigny best supporting actress for her work in Boys Don’t Cry.

 

This years nominees include Michael B. Jordan for best male lead for Fruitvale Station. Steve McQueen is up for best director for 12 Years a Slave and Julie Delpy for best female lead in Before Midnight.

 

 FISA will be broadcasted exclusively on IFC, Independent Film Channel. This channel owned by AMC network deals exclusively in independent television and film.

 

You can check out the full list of nominees and enjoy more awesome trailers here.

 Tune into the awards, hosted by none other than Patton Oswald, March 1^st on IFC. 

Independent do you know what that means?

With technology becoming increasingly easier to navigate, independent projects are becoming more and more popular.

In 2013 alone there was a 74% increase in movies being distributed by companies who are not members of the Motion Picture Association of America.

The growing popularity of this film style has been reflected in all aspects of media; your friends are liking their favorite indie movies on Facebook, Netflix has an independent movie queue and Indiewire.com is a thing.

Indiewire.com is a new website dedicated to the indie scene. They cater to the independent filmmaker, movie junkie and music lover. The best thing about Indiewire.com is all of the features that enable fans to connect with independent project makers themselves. Check out their Filmmaker toolkit after the jump.

There is almost of overwhelming amount of entertaining content on Indiewire. Which is awesome for those random moments of boredom, but say goodbye to your day job because once this site has you it’s not letting go. It is the holy grail of indie information.

This sight is the brainchild of Ted Leonsis, Miles Gilburne and Steve Case. These are the guys that brought you Snag Films, a website that is a platform for independent films. Films are streamed on the website, which has an archive of about 3,000 films. Including popular titles like Supersize me. Filmmakers can submit their films freely, and they are viewed and reviewed by fans.

Feel like seeing a movie about a woman with a tail? Check it out here!