On the Run JOSH and BENNY SAFDIE Craft an Exhilarating and Emotional New York Thriller
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SUMMER 2017 SUMMER 2017 The Latest Innovations from NAB and a Visit to Douglas Trumbull's Magi Pod a publication of FILM SCHOOLS IN A TIME OF DISRUPTIVE CHANGE DAVID LOWERY'S A GHOST STORY FILMMAKER MAGAZINE VOLUME 25,#4 VOLUME FILMMAKER MAGAZINE EDGAR WRIGHT'S BABY DRIVER MATTHEW HEINEMAN'S CITY OF GHOSTS On the Run JOSH AND BENNY SAFDIE craft an exhilarating and emotional New York thriller SummerSUM 2017, 17 Vol. 25, #4 with GOOD TIME. $7.95$5.95 CDN U.S. / $5.95 $7.95 US Canada 72 7 25274 93694 6 FilmmakerMagazine.com EDITOR’S LETTER As a number of our filmmaker readers wrap up classes and prepare to head into their senior year, whether high school or college, the question of fi lm school arises. What’s the utility of fi lm school in a time in which the very notion of fi lm — or, perhaps, work within the fi lm industry — is changing so much? This issue, Filmmaker brings you a suite of articles looking at a number of issues facing fi lm schools — and, by extension, their students — today. Calum Marsh considers a number of broad trends a ecting schools in this time of disruption, from needing to adapt to television to educating students in VR and other new technologies. In his Industry Beat column, Anthony Kaufman looks at the role student debt plays in fi lm students’ post-graduate lives. Whitney Mallett examines the call for diversity on college cam- puses and in fi lm school curricula. Carmine Grimaldi wonders whether new critical studies programs arising on various campuses might provide a support structure for the next wave of experimental fi lmmaking. Robert Greene writes about starting a new program with the journalism school at Mizzou. And I talk to a number of working independent fi lmmakers about the ways in which they balance realism and optimism when imparting their real-world wisdom to students. And, for less theoretical discussions on fi lm schools, check out Filmmaker’s fi lm school guide, appearing online in mid-June. The other big topic found in this issue is camera and projection technology. David Leitner returns from NAB, where there weren’t as many new model cameras as in past years. No matter — his report covers all the new tweaks and updates as well as ponders the path toward full-frame cine-sensors. He also talks about high frame rate cinema and the march toward 8K — and, gulp, 16K! Leitner references Ang Lee’s Billy Lynn’s Halftime Walk in his article while, in the following ar- ticle, Sam May visits director and visual e ects maestro Douglas Trumbull to demo his own new high frame rate system, Magi. Intended to be viewed in theaters called “pods,” the Magi system is a di erent approach to Lee’s, even though, on the surface, the specs seem similar. On the cover this issue I’m thrilled to have interviewed two of my favorite New York directors, Josh and Benny Safdie. Josh fi rst appeared in these pages in our 2008 25 New Faces — a bumper year that also included Barry Jenkins. Shortly thereafter Benny joined Josh behind the camera, and they last fi gured here in my interview with them about their New York addict-drama, Heaven Knows What. Their latest, Good Time, is a stunning leap, a pulse-pounding brother/buddy thriller starring Robert Pattinson and Benny Safdie that is a worthy successor to fi lms ranging from Dog Day Afternoon to After Hours. Another of my favorite fi lms of the year is David Lowery’s A Ghost Story, a minimalist fable that’s wise beyond its running time. Amy Seimetz takes a break from working on season two of The Girlfriend Experience to talk with Lowery about this deeply thoughtful and bold fi lm. Jim Hemphill interviews Edgar Wright about the tuneful sure-to-be-hit Baby Driver, while Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker converse with Matthew Heineman about his wrenching follow up to Cartel Land, City of Ghosts, about a team of citizen journalists combating ISIS. There’s much more of course, so enjoy this issue and your summer. And, remember, our publication schedule has changed, so our fall issue will hit your mailboxes (and browser windows) in early September. It’s our 100th issue, by the way, and it will be a special one. See you next issue. Best, Scott Macaulay Editor-in-Chief SUMMER 2017 | FILMMAKER 1 CONTENTS FILMMAKER • Summer 2017 • Volume 25 • Issue Number 4 30 John Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201 www.fi lmmakermagazine.com 26 Tel: (212) 465-8200 • Fax: (212) 465-8525 ALL DAY AND A NIGHT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Scott Macaulay New York independent fi lmmakers JOSH and BENNY SAFDIE return with the unex- scott@fi lmmakermagazine.com pectedly emotional pulp thriller Good Time. With intense, high-wire performances by Robert Pattinson and Benny Safdie as brother bank robbers, and indelible supporting MANAGING EDITOR Vadim Rizov turns from Jennifer Jason Leigh and Buddy Duress, the fi lm suggests a cross between vadim@fi lmmakermagazine.com Dog Day Afternoon and Rain Man but set in the Safdies’s poetically scuzzed-out modern New York. SCOTT MACAULAY talks with the fi lmmaker duo. SENIOR EDITOR Peter Bowen 32 peter@fi lmmakermagazine.com ART DIRECTOR TIME WAITS FOR NO ONE Diane Ferrera DAVID LOWERY’s fourth feature, A Ghost Story, is an austerely made, achingly beautiful COPY EDITOR rumination on love, mortality and our tiny yet meaningful place in an entropic world. Jennifer Dome King Starring CASEY AFFLECK and ROONEY MARA, it’s a poltergeist tale that feels personal — and it’s shot in 4:3! AMY SEIMETZ talks with writer/director Lowery. FACT CHECKER/PROOFREADER Soheil Rezayazdi 36 CONSULTING DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING Jeryll Adler SPINNING OUT [email protected] Crime, coming-of-age and car culture all collide in EDGAR WRIGHT’s tuneful and ex- CONTRIBUTING EDITORS citing Baby Driver. A tale of a young getaway driver who can only work with a choice Brandon Harris playlist, the fi lm expands one of the writer/director’s early music videos into an acceler- Anthony Kaufman ated piece of hardboiled pop. JIM HEMPHILL interviews Wright. David Leitner Ray Pride Nicholas Rombes Damon Smith FILM SCHOOL Alicia Van Couvering Lauren Wissot 44 FILM SCHOOL IN A TIME OF DISRUPTION Cable TV dramas, streaming originals, VR and, oh, yes, movies — students entering fi lm schools today CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS have ambitions shaped by our rapidly changing entertainment landscape. How are fi lm Henny Garfunkel • Richard Koek schools adapting? Calum Marsh reports. WEBMASTER Michael Medaglia 48 BEYOND THE BOUNDARIES OF LANGUAGE Carmine Grimaldi SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER surveys an emerging kind of academic program that could support the next wave of subscriptions@fi lmmakermagazine.com experimental fi lmmaking. PRINTER RR Donnelley 52 VR.EDU Randy Astle on the increasing role virtual, augmented and mixed reality are playing on today’s campuses. NEWSSTAND DISTRIBUTION Disticor, Inc. (905) 619-6969 54 CHECK YOUR CANON Whitney Mallett on the FILMMAKER (ISSN 1063-8954) is manufactured and printed in the push for greater diversity in fi lm school studies. SUMMER 2017 a publication of United States. FILMMAKER welcomes unsolicited articles but reserves complete editorial control over all submitted material. All articles, let- ters or reviews represent the opinion of the authors and do not nec- 56 MAKING OF THE MURRAY HUSTLE 25,#4 VOLUME FILMMAKER MAGAZINE essarily refl ect the opinions of the publisher or editors. All materials become the property of FILMMAKER and cannot be returned unless Documentary fi lmmaker Robert Greene on building a new a stamped, self-addressed envelope is included. FILMMAKER is listed fi lmmaking curriculum at the University of Missouri School in the Film Literature Index. FILMMAKER is published four times a year. The title FILMMAKER and “The Magazine of Independent Film” and of Journalism. logotype are registered trademarks and service marks. Copyright 2016 FILMMAKER Magazine. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied by any means, electronic or mechanical, including pho- 56 PEDAGOGICAL PRAXIS Scott Macaulay on tocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system SummerSUM 2017, 17 Vol. 25, #4 $7.95$5.95 CDN U.S. / $5.95 $7.95 US Canada without the express written permission of the publisher. Newsstand: the work/teaching balance of fi ve independent fi lmmakers 72 7 25274 93694 6 $5.95 U.S./$7.95 Canada; Subscription: $18.00 U.S./$20.00 Cana- FilmmakerMagazine.com who teach independent fi lm. da/$40.00 Foreign. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to COVER JOSH AND BENNY SAFDIE subscriptions@fi lmmakermagazine.com PHOTO BY RICHARD KOEK 2 FILMMAKER | SUMMER 2017 CONTENTS FILMMAKER • Summer 2017 • Volume 25 • Issue Number 4 Independent Filmmaker Project 30 John Street Brooklyn, NY 11201 LINE ITEMS Tel: 212-465-8200 56 FROM BUSTER KEATON TO 8K David Leitner surveys the latest innova- Email: [email protected] tions out of NAB and ponders the continuum of cinematic image capture. Website: www.ifp.org 60 A NEW KIND OF MAGIC Sam May visits with legendary director and visual e§ ects artist Douglas Trumbull and immerses himself into a new kind of high- BOARD OF DIRECTORS frame-rate cinema. Anthony Bregman CHAIRMAN James Janowitz COLUMNS VICE-CHAIRMAN 10 FEST CIRCUIT San Francisco, Visions du Réel and Big Ears. John Schmidt TREASURER Anthony Kaufman surveys the landscape of escalating stu- Sharon Solomon 14 INDUSTRY BEAT SECRETARY dent debt, discovering what both students and schools can do to lessen its impact on Anthony Bregman students’ post-university careers in fi lm.