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Industry News

1 Sep , 2005  

Written by Michele Meek | Posted by:

A report of news & happenings in the local industry for September 2005.

Email news to news@newenglandfilm.com

The Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) has recognized 42 artists from across the state for creating work of exceptional quality in a range of disciplines. MCC’s Artist Grant Program awards $5,000 grants to 33 artists, and distinguishes 19 others as finalists. These outstanding Massachusetts artists were selected from more than 700 applications received in the several disciplines including film/video. A full list of the selected artists, along with digital images and audio and video samples of their work, is available online at the Gallery@MCC at www.massculturalcouncil.org/gallery.asp. [Read an interview with Jeff Zimbalist, one of the 2005 recipients]

WGBH, Boston’s public TV station, has chosen the adoption project of local filmmakers Eric Strange and Barbara Costa as a test case for a new kind of web-based fund-raising. Together they’ve created www.adoptionfilm.org as a way to reach the hundreds of thousands of people who are connected to the adoption community. Though there’s certainly nothing new about public TV trying to raise money, this is is the first time a station has made a direct appeal to viewers to help make a specific film.  PBS/CPB have awarded the project a $400,000 challenge grant, and they need to raise the balance of the budget — $1.2 million — by the end of the year.

The folks at Boston’s JetPak Productions, LLC have jumped on the bandwagon and are producing a podcast geared towards the filmmaking community. They launched their first one in early August along with it’s companion website, www.filmmakerspod.com. The show is served up in a magazine style format, with a regular set of rotating subjects, including screenwriting, tech-tips and movie reviews along with coverage from film festivals and film related events. 

Boston filmmakers Brett Portanova (writer/producer) and Eric Poydar (writer/producer/director) have  formed the  production company Bootleg Productions, LLC and have begun shooting their first feature-length film, "Larry."  It’s a genre-mixing, soul-searching film about a guy named Larry looking for another guy named Larry.

Members of the Boston film community are cordially invited to attend a screening of final projects by students who recently completed the Digital Filmmaking Certificate Program at Boston University’s Center for Digital Imaging Arts. The screening will be held on Friday, September 9th from 11am to 1pm at the Embassy Cinema, 18 Pine St. (off Moody St.), Waltham. For more information call CDIA at 781-209-1700 or visit www.cdiabu.com.

The Boston Jewish Film Festival highlights its offerings for viewers in their 20s and 30s on Thursday, September 8, from 6:30-9 pm at Allston’s Tonic Bar, with a night of cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, giveaways, film shorts, music and more. For more information, visit www.bjff.org

Providence, RI filmmaker, Laura Colella has been selected to showcase her film "Stay Until Tomorrow" throughout the Southeast on the 2005-2006 Southern Circuit independent film tour in November at select cities in Alabama, Virginia, South Carolina and Mississippi.  For the 2005-2006 Southern Circuit schedule and biographies of this year’s winners, visit www.state.sc.us/arts/circuit.

Acclaimed documentary directors and cinematographers, Albert Maysles and David Bradbury will be among the many special guests at the 1st Annual Camden International Film Festival (CIFF), Maine’s only all non-fiction cinematic festival.   Visit the Camden International Film Festival website (www.camdenfilmfest.org) for details, program, schedules, directions and more information.

Bestselling novelist Jodi Picoult teams up with Yankee humor writer Rebecca Rule to talk about the writing life at “An Evening with Jodi Picoult,” a special benefit for the New Hampshire Writers’ Project, on September 24, 7:30 p.m., at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord. The program will feature Rule interviewing Picoult in an “inside the writer’s studio” format; audience members will be invited to ask Picoult their questions. A special reception with the authors precedes the program; a book signing follows the program. For tickets, call the Capitol Center for the Arts at (603) 225-1111 or visit the Capitol Center Web site, www.ccanh.com

The Boston Film Festival takes place this month including several screenings by and about locals, such as Cherry Arnold’s documentary about Buddy Cianci "Buddy: An American Story" screening on Saturday, September 10 at 8:30 pm and Monday, September 12 at 3:00 pm.  For more information, visit www.bostonfilmfestival.org. [Read an interview with Cherry Arnold]

The ABC program "Wife Swap" is seeking New England families.  The premise of the show: for two weeks, two wives from two different families with very different values exchange husbands, children, and lives (but not bedrooms) to discover what it’s like to live a different woman’s life.  For their second season, they state they are looking for "all kinds of dynamic and interesting families, but we’re also looking for very specific kinds of people right now. We would love to find women who love to be pampered and enjoy the finer things in life."  For more information, contact 212-404-1451 or Simmi.Singh@rdfusa.com

Screenings, festivals, meetings and other events at www.NewEnglandFilm.com/events/


Screenings, festivals, meetings and other events at www.NewEnglandFilm.com/events/

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