New England Film Movement Blog

Cease and Desist Received: No Portfolio Work Allowed

mdurwin

2 years ago I was hired by a video production house to create several animations for an infomercial for Kaballah Center International, Inc. Since they were completed I've been showing them off as part of my portfolio. In early March I decided to expand the reach of my portfolio by setting up the video hosting part of it on YouTube. Last Thursday I received a Cease and Desist letter from their law firm, Wolff & Samson P.C., demanding that I remove the videos as I was infringing on [...]

The Joneses Day 32

Bjort Productions

I'll be honest--I wasn't that excited at the outset of Day 32. I'm not sure why. I was tired from the night before, and I think there was no small part of me that felt a little discouraged that we were about to shoot a scene that should have been done months ago, in a diffe [...]

Big business to steal artwork, sponsored by our Congress

mdurwin

Please be aware of and spread the word on this important bills now being presented to Congress:
The Orphan Works Act of 2008
Bill # H.R.5889

The Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008
Bill # S.2913

These bills effectively release creative work, whose authors or originators cannot be found, to use by anyone, including major corporations. This will allow large corporations to take advantage of the limited understanding of copyright law by artists, illustrators [...]

The Joneses Day 31

Bjort Productions

It was dismal, rainy, cold and a Friday night. We were all tired from our work weeks, and I had forgotten how low the energy level is on our Friday night shoots. But it's real low. Add to that cold and rain, and you've got a recipe for disaster.

But the show [...]

The Joneses Day 30

Bjort Productions

Just look at those charming faces and sporty outfits. On one side we have Paul and Suzanne Dixon, on the other Mitch and Ally Foster. But hang on a second...Mitch thinks they should swap partners (for the game, you dirty-minded people) and have Ally & Paul face off against Mitch & Suzann [...]

The Joneses Day 29

Bjort Productions

Day 29 was our most relaxed day ever. It was a very good day to be part of "The Joneses" and we owe so much of it to one Jim Shalkoski, Jr. and--more importantly--the Shalkoski family who hosted us on that beautiful Saturday. We arrived and two huge blue tents had been set up, an [...]

The Joneses Day 28

Bjort Productions

Day 28 was the brainchild of that crazy Jim Shalkoski, Jr. who called us the day we arrived back from the Cape, bleary-eyed and 3 days past a good night's rest and suggested that we still shoot something that weekend. "The nerve of Jim Shalkoski, Jr.!" I thought to m [...]

IFF Boston Directors Brunch

Lindsay Shah

Directors Brunch Photos from Jaymes Leavitt Click HERE

Interview with Josh Korey, the director of We Are Wizards

Click Here

Interview with Lynn Shelton, the director of My Effortless Brilliance

Click Here

Harmony Korine Q&A

rodwebber

Click to view Harmony Korine"Mister Lonely" Q&A at the IFFB.

I don't really do reviews-- but because I liked this one so much, here it is: Screwy celebrity impersonators, flying nuns and Werner Herzog as the preist. What more could you ask for?

Get schedule of events at:

www.iffboston.org

Ben Kingsley Transsiberian Q&A

rodwebber

Click to view Transsiberian Q&A at the IFFB

Featuring Brad Anderson, Sir Ben Kingsley, Will Conroy and Michael Williams.

The Joneses Day 27

Bjort Productions

Judgment Day. It was our last day of shooting on our whirlwind tour, and I know many of us were running on fumes. The final six--Jim, Stacey, me, Mark, Rajah, and Maura had survived and had one last day to get everything we missed and everything that was left. Green pages were bein [...]

Interviews with Directors at IFFB

rodwebber

Lindsay asked me to shoot a couple of interviews with some fo the directors at the IFFB. Follow the yellow brick road down the series of tubes to see what we shot... and go to www.iffboston.org for schedule.

Click for Interview with Blood Car director, Alex Orr
Blood Car stars Anna Chlumsky, now showing at the IFFB.

Interview with Transsiberian's Dir [...]

The Joneses Day 26

Bjort Productions

Mark, Maura, Jim, Stacey & I started out Day 26 with a trip to the Optimist Cafe for some breakfast and some serious script discussions. It was the first time in five days that Stacey and I had left the house, and was probably a good thing. The rewriting was very inspired, and we came u [...]

Independent Film Fest starts TODAY

Lindsay Shah

The 6th annual Independent Film Festival of Boston takes place next
week, April 23-29, at the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square, the
Brattle Theatre in Harvard Square, and Coolidge Corner Theatre in
Brooklne. 96 of the year's best films will be shown and approximately
100 filmmakers will be flown in to take part in the festival. There
will also be four great panel discussions and five amazing parties at
the festival this year.

Individual t [...]

The Joneses Day 25

Bjort Productions

What's more miraculous then Bitchy (Suzanne) and Dicky (Mitch) flying is that they actually allowed someone else to take a picture of them, but I guess even superheroes have their limits.

Day 5--Tuesday, if you're keeping track--of our marathon gave us a bit of time to regroup, refo [...]

The Joneses Day 24

Bjort Productions

Our Monday began very relaxed with a revolving door of celebrity guests. Amy brought donutsto the set, and it was nice to have a non-lamb pastry in the morning. During the course of our Monday we said goodbye to Jim first, then Amy later, and hello to Rajah who took his &quo [...]

IFF Boston: My Effortless Brilliance

steve

The Independent Film Festival of Boston is upon us, and, just like last year, their schedule is jampacked with all sorts of goodness. Here's a few titles you won't want to miss: the nerd-rap docu Nerdcore Rising, the Harry Potter fandom docu We Are Wizards, with Wizards of Warcraft docu Second Skin, the British thriller Jetsam, the mock-doc Woodpecker, the horror flick Blood Car, director Brad Anderson's Transsiberian and (definitely a Must See) My Effortless Brilliance.

Here, I'd [...]

The Joneses Day 23

Bjort Productions

Day 3 of the marathon, and we were all exhausted. I decided it was high time to eat something, so I had a bite or two of the lemon poppyseed cake that Amy had donated. Tragically, it tasted like lamb shanks. And surprisingly, lamb shank cake is not delicious in the morning.

[...]

The Joneses Day 22

Bjort Productions

Our second day at the Dixon House got off to a slow start, due to the late night drinking and thelack of desire to face our first full day without toilet paper or hot water. Some of us were a bit grumpy. Others were just trying to ignore the very, very loud sounds [...]

The Joneses Day 21

Bjort Productions

Coincidentally, our marathon weeklong shoot began on Day 21--which means our production was officially old enough to drink. Who were we to argue?

First on the scene to our awesome location for the Dixon house was Stacey, me, Mark, and Maura--the four benefactors behind the "vaca [...]