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Whitney Dow: When the Drum is Beating
Written by David Tames on November 30, 2011
Filed Under Documentary, Filmmakers, Filmmaking, Films, Front Page, Interviews
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I had the pleasure of seeing When the Drum is Beating at the New Hampshire Film Festival (NHFF) recently. The documentary, directed by Whitney Dow, weaves together the history of Haiti with the story of Orchestre Septentrional, Haiti’s most popular band with a long history. They perform...  Continue Reading...

Chris Paine: Revenge of the Electric Car
Written by David Tames on November 3, 2011
Filed Under Filmmakers, Films, Front Page, Interviews
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Chris Paine, best known as the director of Who Killed the Electric Car?, followed the rise and fall of General Motors EV-1, of which he was a passionate owner. He recently completed a new film, Revenge of the Electric Car, now going into theatrical release. It opens on Friday, November 4th...  Continue Reading...

Distribution U. crash course on Crowd Funding, Audience Building & Distribution
Written by David Tames on October 30, 2010
Filed Under Business, Distribution, Events & Screenings, Filmmakers, Filmmaking
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Distribution U. looks like a wonderful event for independent filmmakers who are trying to figure out the best way to take advantage of the changing distribution landscape. This will be a one-day crash course on the New Rules of Crowd Funding, Audience Building & Distribution and is being...  Continue Reading...

Flying takes documentary form to new heights
Written by David Tames on August 27, 2009
Filed Under Documentary, Filmmakers, Filmmaking, Films, Sticky
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Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman is an amazing six-hour, six-part, documentary of epic proportions by Jennifer Fox in which we follow the filmmaker as she travels around the world asking her women friends how they construct and imagine their lives as she struggles to figure out her own....  Continue Reading...

DIY Days Boston, October 4, 2008 (conference notes)
Written by David Tames on October 4, 2008
Filed Under Business, Events & Screenings, Filmmakers, Filmmaking, The Media
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The DIY Days Boston conference was held at MassArt on October 4, 2008. The conference drew a full-house of both seasoned and emerging filmmakers and media artists who came to learn about online tools, techniques, and strategies for building and sustating their audience. DIY Days follows an...  Continue Reading...

Inventing the Movies
Written by David Tames on July 31, 2008
Filed Under Books, Business, Filmmakers, Filmmaking, Interviews, Media Technology, Television, The Media
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Some of the things I love about summer are weekend trips to the Berkshires, taking time off for a vacation, and all that means more time available to read books. On my summer reading stack this year was an advance copy of Inventing the Movies, a new book by Scott Kirsner that takes you on...  Continue Reading...

Media Fabrics for Media Makers Symposium at MIT Friday, June 20, 2008
Written by David Tames on June 13, 2008
Filed Under Art, Documentary, Events & Screenings, Filmmakers, New Media
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A celebration of Glorianna Davenport’s three decade effort at MIT focused on documentary storytelling and technology, “Media Fabrics for Media Makers: Realizing an Expressive Landscape for Digital Dialogues” is a day-long symposium to be held on Friday, June 20, 2008 at the...  Continue Reading...

Facing Realities: Backyard and Operation Filmmaker
Written by David Tames on June 11, 2008
Filed Under Art, Events & Screenings, Filmmakers, Filmmaking, Films
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On Thursday, June 12, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. at the ICA in Boston the Facing Realities: Dialogues in Boston Documentary Film series continues with Ross McElwee’s “Backyard” (1984, 16mm, 40 min) and Nina Davenport’s “Operation Filmmaker” (2007, HDCAM, 95 min)...  Continue Reading...

Lowell Film Festival: April 4-5, 2008
Written by David Tames on March 30, 2008
Filed Under Documentary, Events & Screenings, Film Festivals, Filmmakers
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Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti The Lowell Film Festival will presents a series of documentary and feature films on the subjects of globalization and immigration this year along with panels on filmmaking. Always an “immigrant city”, Lowell stands today in the midst of a population...  Continue Reading...

Short films fare better in new distribution paradigm
Written by David Tames on December 6, 2007
Filed Under Business, Film Festivals, Filmmakers, Video on the Web
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Shorts have always gotten short shrift in distribution, with features pushing them aside, however, the web is changing the rules and paid downloads looks like a good way for shorts to have some life in distribution and earn a little cash for their makers. One evidence point for this trend is...  Continue Reading...

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