Mr. Sunshine: David Lynch, Auteur of the Uncanny, Talks Inspiration

One of the first words out of David Lynch’s mouth nearly brought the house down at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on a drizzly night last week. The icon behind films as disparate and evocative as Eraserhead, The Elephant Man, Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive, as well as the groundbreaking television series Twin Peaks, was patiently listening as Paul Holdengräber, the erudite director of public programs at the New York Public Library,

The Grand Seduction: A Look at Canada Behind the Camera

During preproduction of the Canadian film The Grand Seduction, the crew realized a major set piece had yet to be built— Joe’s Place, a local bar and restaurant that was vital to the film. Joe's Place was, in short order, built from scratch in Newfoundland’s fishing community Trinity Bright, where much of the film was shot. Emblematic of the relationship between Canadian and U.S. filmmakers, once production left town, the producers left Joe’s Place standing,

Sky High Murals With Colossal Media

If you've been to New York City, you've experienced the odd sensation of being the recipient of an endless stream of sales pitches. Whether you're waiting for the subway, walking down Houston street or sitting in a taxi, you're surrounded by advertising. Check out this upcoming show at Mercury Lounge! Buy this brand of flavored vodka! Do whatever is being asked of you on those taxi monitors before you can get the touch screen to respond to your desperate tapping off the 'Off''

Highlights from the 2nd Annual Creativity Conference

The second annual Creativity Conference (check out the link for photos and more here) was a celebration of the impact, and necessity, of the creative community on the economic stability and cultural legacy of America.  “Year after year, audiences go to their local cinemas or sign up for streaming services to see what our industry has to offer,” Senator Dodd, chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America said. “Our industries are far more than just creators of entertainment…the creative community contributes 3.2% to our GDP.”

Check out the Live Stream of the 2nd Annual Creativity Conference

The second annual Creativity Conference begins today in The Newseum in Washington, DC, drawing leaders from the entertainment, media, business, technology and political communities to talk about the role creativity plays in the global economy. The Creativity Conference is presented by the Motion Picture Association of America in partnership with Microsoft and ABC News. For roughly the next four and a half hours, speakers and panelists will engage one another in discussions ranging from the shifting definitions of the creative process to innovation’s impact on the personal,

Countdown to International Star Wars Day

May the Force be with you all, especially this Sunday, May 4th, a date otherwise known as International Star Wars Day.

I know what you’re saying: isn’t every day international Star Wars day? Well, yes. And never more so than now, when after weeks of rumors, J.J. Abrams’ cast for Episode VII has just been announced.

The epic trilogy (and the prequels,

Angus MacLachlan on the Art of Writing for and Directing Actors

Paul Schneider won Best Actor at the Tribeca Film Festival last week for his role as Otto Wall in Angus MacLachlan’s Goodbye to All That. The character was a tricky one—Schneider was playing someone affable and intelligent, but also unfocused and obliviously selfish. He spends most of the film in a state of confusion about why his life seems to be falling apart. His wife has left him, his daughter doesn’t feel safe in his new house,

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’

A Living, Dangerous Dorian Gray: For No Good Reason Celebrates England’s Wildest Cartoonist

Avey Tare gets Ralph Steadman.

The Animal Collective frontman has made no official statements regarding Steadman’s art, but regarding psychedelia he says, “it's always been about the combination of moods and how fast a mood can change. I think combining humor alongside something extremely dark is always appealing in the world of psychedelia.” He could just as easily be describing the gonzo cartoonist’s style, where exuberant satire blends with slapstick nightmare,

World IP Day: Taking Stock of the Archives and Archivists

World IP Day, on April 26, was a day to celebrate movies, music and other creative works as well as all those who create these works.  It is also a day to celebrate those who allow us to enjoy these works not only today, but in the future as well.  Archivists and preservationists – in public and private archives – collect, catalog, preserve, restore and make available many of these culturally and historically important creative works.

Tribeca 2014: David Simon, Beau Willimon, Nate Silver & Anne Thompson Talk Stories

We all know that our shopping habits are fodder for various entities looking to target their advertising and increase their profits, but the same kind of Big Data is being used by media and entertainment entities, from HBO and Netflix to the New York Times and Fox News, to figure out who we are, what we read and watch, and what, perhaps, we want next. "Does betting on the ‘wisdom of crowds’ bode well or ill for future innovation in film,

Tribeca 2014: Kelly Reichardt’s Tense, Thrilling Night Moves

A group of environmental activists watch a somber film about the slaughter of the planet. A woman’s voice narrates the horrors of mankind's insatiable greed—eroding beaches, melting ice caps, deforestation, and carbon emissions to name a few of our sins, with a call to action as well. "Let the revolution begin…for the future, for the people, and for the planet."

This film-within-the-film ends to a smattering of clapping. The filmmaker is present, and she's asked to answer questions from the group.

Tribeca 2014: Writer/Director Angus MacLachlan’s Goodbye to All That

Writer-director Angus MacLachlan’s Goodbye to All That includes one of the more frank and pathos-free sex scenes in recent memory. Otto Wall (Paul Schneider) and Mildred (Ashley Hinshaw), who recently met on the online dating service OkCupid, sit opposite one another on chairs, naked. They are describing, with exacting detail, what they’d like to do to each other. Otto’s wife has recently left him, and he’s experimenting for the first time in his life with online dating.

Earth Day 2014: Hollywood Wants to Write Happy Ending for Planet With Eco Efforts

Hollywood has been celebrating Earth Day for years in order to raise awareness about environmental issues and put their considerable clout behind green initiatives. Who better than the people who make their living telling stories to strike up a memorable dialogue about sustainable practices? The big six studios’ embrace of Earth Day has only strengthened over time, and their contributions can be seen as a model of how companies in any field can get serious about protecting the planet,

One Mama Bear, Two Cubs, and Three Filmmakers: Disneynature’s Bears

The world of wildlife filmmaking has changed dramatically in recent years. BBC’s Planet Earth set a new standard. High-definition cameras, stunning aerial shots, and time-lapse photography gave viewers incredible access to animal behavior never before caught on film. Disneynature’s Bears, which includes veterans of those productions, takes a different tack. Yes, it’s filmed in HD, and the gyro-stabilized shots from helicopters are spectacular, but the family-geared film has a different goal.

A Silicon God: Transcendence Screenwriter Jack Paglen’s Machine Dream

What is every budding screenwriter’s dream? How about having your screenplay land on the coveted Black List in 2012 (a selection of the best un-produced scripts in Hollywood) and, a scant two years later, premiere on the big screen with Johnny Depp, Morgan Freeman, Rebecca Hall and Paul Bettany as your stars, and serve as the directorial debut for one of the most gifted cinematographer’s of his generation, Wally Pfister. This is the reality for Jack Paglen,

2014 Tribeca Film Festival at a Glance—5 Female Directors to Watch

The 2014 Tribeca Film Festival began yesterday, and as we plotted out which films we were going to see (festivals are all about painful choices—too many good films, too few hours in the day), we were struck by how many exciting projects were helmed by female directors. From Johanna Hamilton’s riveting documentary 1971 (which we included in our list of 5 Hot Docs in yesterday’s piece) to Israeli director Talya Lavie’s narrative feature Zero Motivation, 

2014 Tribeca Film Festival at a Glance—5 Hot Docs

The 2014 Tribeca Film Festival begins its 13th season today with the world premiere of the Nas documentary Time is Illmatic. It’s a fitting opening film for the festival—the incredibly talented rapper, songwriter and actor was born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, eventually moving to the Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City, Queens, where he would get a thorough education in hip hop. The film, by multimedia artist One9, focuses on Nas’s groundbreaking 1994 debut album, 

Award Winning Documentarian Rachel Beth Anderson on Filming in Conflict Zones

Rachel Beth Anderson is a cinematographer-turned-director who has spent her career working almost exclusively in conflict zones. She was recently awarded the cinematography award for a U.S. documentary at Sundance, along with Ross Kaufman, for her work on E-Team, which followed a group of four Human Rights Watch workers documenting war crimes around the world.

Along with filming in Syria, Anderson has worked in Libya,

From The Dark Knight Rises to Divergent: Composer Junkie XL

Composer Tom Holkenborg goes by the name Junkie XL.  He is a musician, producer, engineer and composer with a tinkerer's compulsion to experiment. His collaboration with the legendary Hans Zimmer on The Dark Knight Rises led Zimmer to recommend him for the recently released blockbuster Divergent. Holkenborg began his music career at the ripe old age of four, when he started playing piano at the behest of his mother,