WWW Spring 2020

Given the present and challenging situation of social distancing and self-isolating to stay safe and healthy, IMAGINE brings you an introduction that will provide filmmakers with an avenue to participate online to learn skills and improve your industry knowledge. If you are missing a one-on-one mentor, this may help. PUB.

New Online Filmmaking Courses with Award-winning & Acclaimed Artists in Sound Design, Color Grading, and Editing Classes are Now Live

Before the age of digital filmmaking, mentorship played a key role in career advancement. Sets, locations, cutting rooms, and mixing studios were hives of creativity and central hubs for passing on techniques, ideas, and war stories. The mentor relationship would solidify skills, foster collaboration and education and create real-world job opportunities. Today, young film professionals are often thrust into positions without having the chance to learn the craft from seasoned veterans at the top of their game.

Filmmaker U was created to help fill this void in the modern-day film industry. This online series brings some of the best in the business to any aspiring media artist who seeks to obtain this type of apprenticeship experience.

Launched earlier this month, Filmmaker U, unveiled the first in a series of unique, in-depth courses taught by top filmmaking professionals:

Academy award winner Eugene Gearty, MPSE.

Academy award-winner Eugene Gearty, MPSE (HUGO, LIFE OF PI, THE IRISHMAN), shares his tricks, techniques, and concepts on creating sound design.

Brian Kates, ACE

Multiple Emmy award-winner Brian Kates, ACE (Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Shortbus, The Savages), teaches pacing, timing, and the equally creative art of collaborative storytelling.

Acclaimed colorist Eric Whipp, CSI (MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, LEGO MOVIE: THE SECOND PART), demonstrates techniques, strategies, organization, and problem solving straight from the color suite.

Eric Whipp, Colorist

Oscar-nominated and multiple Emmy-winning documentary Director/Editor Sam Pollard (4 Little Girls, WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE: A REQUIEM IN FOUR ACTS, SAMMY DAVIS JR.: I’VE GOTTA BE ME), and trailblazing & award-winning Director/Cinematographer Kirsten Johnson (CAMERAPERSON, CITIZENFOUR, DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD, THE OATH); are confirmed to release courses this year.

“From a technical perspective, there is also a treasure trove of knowledge,” said Simon Wyndham, Editor of Red Shark News. He added “The course covers far more than I can ever describe in a short review…, and the nuances and thought processes contained within it will most certainly warrant going back to rewatch it, perhaps numerous times in order to truly pick up on everything.

“The mix of technical specificity and filmmaking business know-how makes these courses a wealth of valuable information,” said Editor Brian Kates, ACE.

These courses are not software or hardware-specific unlike most online courses out there,” stated co-creator Gordon Burkell. “They are specifically designed to be utilized by anyone with any tool in the filmmaking industry.”

Filmmaker U is a collaboration of educators and innovators Josh Apter and Jason Banke of Manhattan Edit Workshop and Gordon Burkell at Aotg.com. This online seminar series was created to give aspiring and existing filmmakers unprecedented access to the lost art of apprenticeship in the film industry. These instructors are acclaimed and award-winning artists who are some of the best in the industry.

For more information please visit www.filmmakeru.com.

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Works Wrinkles and Wraps for September 2017

WWW stands for Works (in progress), Wrinkles or Whoops (whenever they happen), and Wraps (completed films and projects of any kind). Your contributions are encouraged. email to: [email protected].

Catching-up with Becki

A selfie in Becki’s trailer in November 2016 while working on the Netflix show GLOW. She plays a Clinical Assistant ion Episode 8.

New England Actor Becki Dennis moved from Massachusetts to Los Angeles to pursue her acting career, particularly in TV. IMAGINE caught up with her over the summer and here is what we found.

Becki says, “It’s been a great two and a half years in LA for me and all of my hustling has been paying off, especially in the last year. I am grateful for the support and encouragement that the New England acting and film community continues to provide me. Working in the Boston market before coming to LA prepared me so well for everything that I am doing here now. New England is a wonderful place to get your first credits as an actor.

She can currently be seen in GLOW on Netflix, The series is produced by the same team behind Orange Is the New Black, and she will be in an episode of I’m Sorry on truTV this month. She has been in two episodes of ABC’s Comedy Fresh off the Boat playing a cashier, which she says garnered her a very comedic moment.

Becki Dennis playing the Cashier in the ABC Comedy Fresh Off the Boat. Screenshot courtesy of RipIt

Becki has been racking up co-star credits in multiple episodes of Pretty Little Liars, Pure Genius, Speechless, The Fosters, This is Us and The Young and the Restless. IMAGINE collected some photos for all her fans here.

Mark Your Calendars! The 5th Annual Boston International Kids Film Festival Comes to Somerville on November 2 – 5, 2017.

The Boston International Kids Film Festival invites Parents, Students and Educators to a Four-day Celebration of Imagination and Creativity!

Filmmakers Collaborative created the Boston International Kids Film Festival in 2013 at a time when the average teen was spending almost seven hours per day on some form of an electronic device. The goal in showing films from around the world, all made either for or by kids, is to show teens and tweens that there is more to tech than texting, snapchatting, and instagramming their friends —that making a film can be a powerful way to tell a story, express your emotions, state a point of view and (more importantly) to have fun!

By screening amazing student-made films from around the world while at the same time offering young filmmakers a look at professionally-made films created just for them, the festival is enabling the next generation of filmmakers to realize the power and potential of media.

The festival also showcases professionally-made films that promise to entertain the entire family while giving the storyteller in each of us something to strive towards. In 2016 the festival screened ANNABELLE HOOPER AND THE GHOSTS OF NANTUCKET by Concord writer/director Paul Serafini and shot on location on Nantucket.

Combine all that with hands-on workshops on stop-motion animation, special effects, and Gopro movie-making, and you are in for an event that families of Greater Boston will be enjoying for years to come!

For more information visit http://bikff.org/

Auspicious Phoenix Production Ends Unconventional Exhibition Tour in Sommerville

Auspicious Phoenix Productions recently completed an unconventional exhibition tour called the Rolling Revue, which hearkens back to the storied roadshow engagements of the 1970s. It’s an independent studio production and photography company that specializes in film in Somerville, MA. Their slate of films spanned the continent with a US theatrical roadshow that began in Los Angeles and zig-zagged across the country to end in Boston.

A throwback to the days of the traveling roadshow, the Rolling Revue gives new life to the time-honored event, paying homage to all the glory of the roadshow — audiences can expect 16mm movie projections, slide photo carousels, and practical effects movie magic brought right to their doorstep. The old and the new collide to present a truly one of a kind event, featuring movies never to be released or distributed again.

The troupe finished in Boston on, September 10th, wrapping up its first of a kind, roadshow consisting of short films directed by independent Boston filmmakers at The Space Studio, the company’s Somerville headquarters. People attended the event to watch brand new, original short films that were almost entirely filmed inside the studio over the past year and a half. A 360 VR behind the scenes documentary of CRANIAC! (dir. Paul Villanova) was also on display as an interactive experimental exhibit.

The tour lineup represented a collection of diverse narratives and visions from a talented group of filmmakers — all of whom are alumni of Boston University’s Cinema and Media Production graduate or undergraduate programs and included: QUIETUS directed by Joy Song, LADIA directed by Álvaro Congosto, BLOOD HIGHWAY directed by Joseph Dwyer) THE LITERAL LENS directed by Jim DanDee and the afore-mentioned CRANIAC directed by Paul Villanova.

Auspicious Phoenix is currently undergoing pre-production for two features and a handful of short films in 2018.

For more information visit www.auspiciousphoenix.com

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Rhode Island film ALMOST HUMAN has its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in Midnight Madness

Rhode Island Film ALMOST HUMAN makes its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in Midnight Madness. Written, produced and directed by former Coventry resident Joe Begos and is a co- production of Channel 83 Films the film RI based producing team Ambrosino/Delmenico. Photocourtesy of ALMOST HUMAN.
Rhode Island Film ALMOST HUMAN makes its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in Midnight Madness. Written, produced and directed by former Coventry resident Joe Begos and is a co- production of Channel 83 Films the film RI based producing team Ambrosino/Delmenico. Photo
courtesy of ALMOST HUMAN.

Apparently it takes a small film to make it big on the global stage. Rhode Island’s own ALMOST HUMAN was chosen to have its world premiere amongst some of the brightest stars in Hollywood at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) early this September 5th through 15th.

Written, produced and directed by former Coventry resident Joe Begos, ALMOST HUMAN, which TIFF describes as “… a raging inferno of axe murders and alien abduction…” and a ”… lean, mean, grisly indie horror flick,” was shot in February of 2012 with little fanfare and no big stars in front of or behind the camera. “I’ve always wanted my first film to be a gritty, dirty, low budget splatter movie made with my friends just like Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson did for their first features, and it feels amazing that it actually happened and that people are responding to it,” said director Joe Begos. About shooting in his home state, Joe added, “I love the feeling New England adds, I grew up loving Stephen King and in his stories the setting of Maine is like its own character, and I wanted to elicit that same feeling with Rhode Island.”

Shot on a modest budget, the film was a co-production of Channel 83 Films and the RI based producing team Ambrosino/ Delmenico. “Getting into a festival of this importance is crazy for a small film like this, but it’s a testament to Joe and the rest of our cast and crew, he’s a unique talent and the movie was a ton of fun to make,” said producer Anthony Ambrosino.

Josh Ethier of Channel 83 Films not only served as a producer on the film but as both the editor and lead actor. He added, “Joe and I have been making films together since we were teenagers, and to go from Western Coventry to the Midnight Madness program at TIFF is a dream come true.”

Rhode Island is well represented in front of the camera as well. Many of the film’s stars are from New England with the majority being from the Ocean State.

For more information about this film email [email protected].

 

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Arlington International Film Festival: A New Generation of Winning Filmmakers

Saturday, October 26th at the Robbins Library and The Regent Theatre

Marley Jurgensmeyer is a tenth-grade student at Arlington High School and the winner ofthe Arlington International Film Festival Poster Contest for the second year. Photo courtesy of AIFF.
Marley Jurgensmeyer is a tenth-grade student at Arlington High School and the winner of
the Arlington International Film Festival Poster Contest for the second year. Photo courtesy of AIFF.

The 3rd annual Arlington International Film Festival (AIFF) shows independent cinematic masterpieces from filmmakers around the world. It is also dedicated to promoting the next generation of filmmakers by showcasing a special category of student shorts. This year twenty-one high school students competed for “Best” in film categories awarded by the festival’s Selection Committee. Submissions came from as near as the Massachusetts towns of Arlington, Boston, Cambridge, Dorchester, Roxbury, Wayland and Winchester and as far as Montreal, Canada. AIFF is proud to show these excellent student filmmakers shorts reflecting the opinions, fears, dreams and talents of a young generation as represented through the eye of the lens.

The winner of the “2013 Best Narrative Short” is Malcolm DC, a Boston resident, for his film, THE SHINGLES. Tessa Tracy and Sophia Santos of Cambridge, MA received “2013 Best Documentary Short” for their film, LA LUCHA.

Shorts that received “Honorable Mention” are as follows: 2013 Narrative Short awarded to Jasper Hamilton of Arlington, MA for his film, ELIZA; 2013 Documentary Short awarded to Diana Julien of Roxbury, MA for her film, MY PHOENIX; 2013 Experimental Short awarded to Henry Nineberg of Cambridge, MA for his film, BRAND NEW.

 

arlFF
The Arlington International Film Festival’s New Generation of Filmmakers Honorable Mention was awarded for the 2013 Narrative Short by Jasper Hamilton of Arlington, MA for his film, ELIZA. Photo courtesy of AIFF.

Other film shorts that have been chosen for the festival screening and will be presented as part of the two hour 2013 Student Short Program are: BOSTON 2:50 by Franklin Santiago, Dorchester; OUT OF THE WOODS by Asa Minter, Arlington; PERSEVERANCE by Jacob Sussman, Wayland; RECOLLECTION by Karen Chen, Cambridge; WITH THE EYES OF BEAUTY by Izzy Ramirez, Boston and the program will close with DON’T TEXT & DRIVE by Adrián García, Boston and a graduate of MassArt.

You are invited to a Pre-screening Reception Saturday, October 26th at 10 am at the Robbins Library Community Room, hosting our student filmmakers, parents, teachers and the community. Anna’s Taqueria is sponsoring the event followed by the Festival

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Claire Folger Nominated for Excellence in Unit Still Photography for Motion Picture

Claire Folger
Claire Folger
The International Cinematographers Guild (ICG) has announced Claire Folger as among six Still
Photographers that have been nominated to receive the award for “Excellence in Unit Still Photography for Motion Picture” for 2012. This award has only been offered since 2004 and is the only industry award that honors the work of Still Photographers.

The ICG Publicist Awards begun in 1964, honor excellence in publicity and promotion for the motion pictures and television programs and spotlight the work of union publicists. Recipients are selected in several different categories and are voted on by their peers in Local 600. No other event celebrates the importance of publicists’ contribution to the
entertainment industry.

IMAGINE contacted Claire who was on a shoot in Texas to congratulate her. “I got a message to call Steven Poster,” she said, “the president of the Cinematographers Guild, and he
congratulated me on my nomination. I thought he was talking about a nomination to be elected to our National Board, so we were both a little confused until I realized that he was talking about the Publicist’s Guild Award. I was completely shocked, it was something I
never expected, and then I became incredibly excited. I didn’t actually believe it until I saw it confirmed the next day online.”

A sample of Claire's work on ARGO
A sample of Claire’s work on ARGO
Claire Folger is one of the most popular Still photographers we know. She has been shooting on independent movie sets in New England for over 15 years. Her work has appeared in IMAGINE and she has appeared on the cover of IMAGINE (see IMAGINE November 2005) When the Hollywood Studios were attracted by film tax credits she quickly became their go to Still Photographer in our region and since they have selected her for shoots everywhere. She shot the Stills for Ben Affleck’s THE TOWN in Boston and as a result also for Ben’s ARGO.

The 50th annual Publicists Awards is scheduled to take place on February 22nd at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. Tickets are selling out quickly.

For more information and tickets visit www.cameraguild.com.

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