Tribeca Recap: Code Looks at the Lack of Women in Computer Science
Why is there such a dearth of women in computer science and other high-tech fields? Director/producer Robin Hauser Reynolds searches for the answers in CODE: Debugging the Gender Gap, which made its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Two years ago Reynolds received a call from her daughter, who had become so discouraged by her male-dominated computer science classes at college (she was one of only two female students),
Stormtroopers, Snoopy & a Virtual Reese Witherspoon: Highlights From the 2015 Creativity Conference
Stormtroopers, Snoopy and a one-on-one audience with Reese Witherspoon—the 2015 Creativity Conference was manna for film buffs, tech geeks and policy wonks alike. The stormtroopers, unusually accommodating, were on hand to help conference goers create the ultimate selfie (the James Bond gun barrel backdrop, where one could get their photo taken against the iconic opening montage in the opening credits to Bond films, was also pretty awesome), ditto Snoopy, who offered as many fist-bumps as he did hugs.
Go Back to the Future With the Live Stream of 3rd Annual Creativity Conference
In Back to the Future Part II, Marty McFly's trip in the DeLorean took him all the way to…October 21st, 2015. If that doesn't make you feel old, we envy you.
Today at the 3rd annual Creativity Conference, held at The Newseum in Washington. D.C., Microsoft researcher Sidhant Gupta and a former studio technology executive and indie filmmaker Howard Lukk will explore the zany, futuristic world of 2015 that Marty McFly encountered, one that revealed all sorts of surprising innovations —
CinemaCon 2015: Warner Bros.’ Mad Summer Slate
Today at CinemaCon, Warner Bros. Pictures is presenting an exclusive highlight reel of their upcoming summer slate. While technically starting in spring, the studio’s first big release will be Mad Max: Fury Road, which bows on May 15. We’ve already taken a look at the latest trailer from Fury Road, which looks relentlessly entertaining and beautifully shot.
On May 29, San Andreas, starring Dwayne Johnson as a search and rescue helicopter pilot looking to save his daughter after a magnitude 9 earthquake levels California.
Has it Really Been 20 Years Since Toy Story?
Given the length of the lines (at least 100 people were turned away at the door) for South by Southwest’s, “Infinity & Beyond: Pixar & 20 Years Since Toy Story” panel, many of us have a friend and clearly miss our old Buzz Lightyear and Woody the cowboy toys. But this ‘behind the scenes’ look into the Pixar films that made so many of us animation junkies was the next best thing.
SXSW 2015: Selma Director Ava DuVernay’s Moving Keynote Address
In her South by Southwest keynote address, director Ava DuVernay discussed taking on one of the greatest challenges for any filmmaker; the depiction of a historical event. For DuVernay, of course, it was the challenge of making Selma, the story of Martin Luther King Jr. leading the historic, dangerous march from Selma, Ala., to Montgomery in support of African American voting rights in 1965. She accepted the project knowing she was the seventh choice for director (at various points Stephen Frears,
SXSW 2015: Alison Bechdel, Joshua Openheimer & Maria Hinojosa talk Storytelling
Maria Hinojosa, the executive producer and anchor of Latino USA on NPR, led a discussion between two leading lights in their respective fields; graphic memoirist Alison Bechdel and documentarian Joshua Oppenheimer. Bechdel’s last two works, the groundbreaking “Fun Home,” about her childhood and, more specifically, her closeted father, and “Are You My Mother?” which explores her relationship with her mother through the prism of psychoanalytic theory. Oppenheimer’s last two films, The Act of Killing (2012) and his latest,
SXSW 2015 Preview: Women to Watch
The programming at SXSW has become more robust each and every year. Part of the appeal of the festival's selections is the wide representation of female filmmakers, who have produced an especially rich mix of films for this year's slate.There are far too many filmmakers to chose from, so here's just a very quick peek at some of these talented women and the projects they've brought down to Austin.
Hannah Fidell 6 Years
Hannah Fidell is back after winning the Chicken and Egg award here in 2013 for her film A Teacher.
SXSW 2015 Preview: Hot Docs
We’re back in Austin for the SXSW film festival, and holy hell there’s a lot of stuff to see and do. The festival officially kicks off this Friday with the documentary Brand: A Second Coming, director Ondi Timoner’s profile of the comedian/author/activist Russell Brand’s evolution from hard charging bon vivant to political disruptor and revolutionary who has his own YouTube channel devoted to delivering subscribers the ‘Trews’ (true news).
Brand’s brand of verbosity and high energy is a fitting way to launch a festival with 100 world premieres,
Made in Maryland: Hanging With the Crew on the Set of Veep
It was a cold, blustery Tuesday in December when we were on the set of HBO’s Veep in downtown Baltimore. On the production front, however, It was a relatively calm day of filming by Veep standards, but a calm day on the set of this show still requires dozens of crew members to work their butts off. Whether it was Kim Bogues in craft services, costumer Constance Harris or assistant property managers Jamie Bishop and John Bert,
Sundance East? Middleburg Film Festival’s Second Year A Success
In 1974, the little town of Telluride, Colorado was the location for what would become one of the most influential film festivals in North America. At the time, Telluride was a highly unlikely a candidate to become a place where filmmakers and dealmakers would gather and careers would be made. As Salman Rushdie explained in his essay on the festival some thirteen years ago for The Guardian, the town was originally named “To Hell You Ride” by 19th century silver miners who “tobogganed down the mountains to what was then a wild place,” it was where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid robbed their first bank and was,
The Very Real Effect Fictional Characters Have on Tourism
If you've been to Albuquerque anytime in the past few years, you've probably noticed that the city embraced a little show called Breaking Bad. Walter White's visage, as well as Jesse's, Hank's and the beloved hitman Mike's, could be seen peeking out of store windows on T-shirts and spray painted on walls. Such was the mass appeal of Breaking Bad that graffiti artists honoring the show unveiled their work in Leicester Square in London.
Into the Storm Brews a Mighty Economic Wind in Michigan
The premise of Into the Storm is simple and terrifying; a series of tornados, each more violent than the next, lays waste to a small town. These freakish storm systems (achieving EF5 status—the highest metric on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, with winds of more than 200 miles per hour) behave erratically and do things they haven’t done before, sending terrified residents under ground (if they’re lucky) and confuse and humble the storm chasers who follow and film them.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Shelled Out Big Bucks in New York
New York City is in trouble once again (just once it would be fun if the city in peril were, say, Charleston) and it’s up to four heroes (really five, counting reporter April O’Neil) to save the city, and mankind, from a remorseless villain and his minions. We’re talking about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, of course, which opens this Friday, but before the film’s villain Shredder threatened to destroy New York City,
Made in Georgia: Film Production Ripe in the Peach State
The excellent X-Men: First Class (a sort of prequel to the current, also excellent, X-Men: Days of Future Past) was filmed in Georgia. The Blind Side, also Georgia. Classics like Forrest Gump and My Cousin Vinny, Georgia. The beloved Zombieland was filmed there, too. Sweet Home Alabama? A little bit in Alabama, but really mostly Georiga. And then there's a little show called
Making The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the Largest Production in New York History
Spider-Man’s home has always been New York City, but The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is the first of the comic book adaptations to be filmed exclusively in New York State. It’s also the largest, with locations that included not only Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens, but Long Island and upstate New York.
Shepherding the production were producers Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach. The industry veterans work together so closely, they finish each other’s’
Cleveland’s Flexibility Gives Captain America its Punch
In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) spend some time at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, the massive flying aircraft carrier where this crucial agency at the heart of the Marvel Comics Universe deals with the paranormal and superhuman threats to America. This time they're dealing with a foe potentially more powerful than the Captain—the eponymous Winter Soldier.
When directors Anthony and Joe Russo were scouting for a location that could serve as the grand lobby of this flying strategic command center,
Noah: Artistically Ambitious, Economically Advantageous
At first blush, it appeared that Noah represented writer/director Darren Aronofsky’s first real foray into pure big budget spectacle. The indie auteur that burst onto the scene with his twitchy, unsettling debut Pi, only to follow that up with one of the most breathtakingly devastating cinematic depictions of addiction in many years with Requiem for a Dream, was now going big budget CGI in the retelling of the Biblical story of Noah's ark on a grand scale.
CinemaCon 2014: 20th Century Fox & Warner Bros. Tout Strong Women, Big Monsters
Funny, smart and tough women abound in 20th Century Fox’s upcoming slate of films. Three of them will be making appearances today in CinemaCon to tout their films—Cameron Diaz and Leslie Mann for their revenge comedy The Other Woman and current Divergent star Shailene Woodley for the adaptation of the beloved YA book The Fault in Our Stars.
Cameron Diaz and Leslia Mann have proven their comedic acting chops time and time again,
CinemaCon 2014: The High-Tech Moviegoing Experience
You’ve heard the logic before: high-definition screens and on-demand content have altered the moviegoing environment forever, creating a home entertainment experience that rivals a night out at the local movie theater. Of course, anyone who saw Gravity in IMAX 3D might beg to differ, but it doesn’t necessarily take a game-changing tour de force to pack an auditorium. Today, the local multiplex has done an impressive job of not just keeping pace but surpassing your trusty living room sofa,
