UNGLAM CANNES

QUEUE THIS!

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 13:07:00 -0700

Last week’s QUEUE THIS! featured a couple “festival gems” that flew under the...

ICYMI - New QUEUE THIS!

Sun, 10 Mar 2013 19:10:00 -0700

ICYMI - New QUEUE THIS!: This week my QUEUE THIS! post focusses on a selection of “important...

New Weekly Post - QUEUE THIS!

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 11:13:54 -0800

Wondering what to put in your Netflix queue? Well, my new weekly post for Broad Humor, “Queue...

President Spielberg

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 23:50:00 -0800

Steven Spielberg has been tapped to lead the jury of the 66th Cannes Film Festival! I like it....

Tweeting About Women Directors!

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 16:51:00 -0800

There’s now a Twitter account to go with thedirectorlist.com -...

“THE BIG BLUR” This is what Cannes feels...

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 09:10:00 -0800

“THE BIG BLUR” This is what Cannes feels like— ARE YOU READY? Time to finalize plans if you’re going to attend this year. Let me know if you have any questions.

Great showing for the women at Sundance this year! Congrats to...

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 10:43:24 -0800

Great showing for the women at Sundance this year! Congrats to Jill Soloway for her directing award. Can’t wait to see “Afternoon Delight!”

changetheratio:

“Afternoon Delight” just won Best Director at Sundance for writer/director Jill Soloway. It was her first feature. The film stars Kathryn Hahn as a hipster-suburban wife and mother struggling with what she’s supposed to do with her life. After she goes to a strip club with her husband and gets a lap dance, she decides that she’s supposed to save the stripper - so she brings her home to live with her family as the new nanny. Supporting cast includes Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother), Michaela Watkins (Wanderlust), Jessica St. Clair (Bridesmaids), Annie Mumolo (Bridesmaids) and Michael Keegan-Key (Key & Peele) and Jane Lynch (Glee).

Notable in this film is its Bechdel-busting lineup: there are seven named female characters, all of whom talk to each other, about things other than men. (The Bechdel Test is really simple, and yet it’s amazing how many movies fail it spectacularly.)

From “The Feminist Delights of Afternoon Delight“ which I wrote for BitchMedia:

Marriages need spicing up. Romance fades in the face of diapers. Familiarity breeds contempt. Strippers are agents of downfall, redemption, or both. And perfect suburban life has its dark side. Is it different this time, in the hands of a female writer/director? And should that matter?
Yes and yes. Damned straight yes.

More:

Filmmaking is about storytelling from a specific perspective. When that perspective is dominated by one type of person—generally white men—then storytelling as a whole suffers. This is definitely a film that men will watch and enjoy… But in the evolving subgenre of film where former twentysomething romantic leads suddenly find themselves grappling with a new kind of hipster malaise, it’s nice to have a woman’s perspective in there, along with Judd Apatow’s.

And:

It’s no secret that there are way more roadblocks for woman making movies. At Sundance, where Afternoon Delight premiered earlier this week, a comprehensive study called “Exploring the Barriers and Opportunities for Independent Women Filmmakers” also had its debut, finding a ratio between male and female directors of 15.24 to 1. The reasons for this disparity included significantly less access to funding; fewer women as prestige and pay scale increase; and being cockblocked in Hollywood’s world of “male-dominated industry networking.”
The study also found that films directed by women involve more women across the board—a female director means an average of 21 percent more women working on narrative film and 24 percent more women working on documentaries. This means more roles for women on-camera and off, more opportunities for experience and advancement.

Amazing to see “Afternoon Delight” get recognition as a smart, complex and provocative film. Its success will pave the way for other Bechel Test-smashing filmmakers - and honestly, that’s good for everyone.

(Also, I love Kathryn Hahn. So there’s that.)

SHORT FILM CLICHES (from the Sundance Programmers)The Sundance...

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 08:51:27 -0700

SHORT FILM CLICHES (from the Sundance Programmers)

The Sundance ShortsLab returns to L.A. for a third year on Sat, August 11! Have you registered, yet? I’ve attended the last two years, so I think I’m going to take a little break and let other people experience the magic. I really enjoyed both, very different, programs in 2011 and 2010 (2011 was dedicated to comedy and it was awesome) so if you have the cash to spare, I recommend it.

They always have great guests, and this year it’s taking place at the Venice offices of Google (giant binoculars!) and they’ll be having a panel about online video that sounds very interesting…and tempting (resist, Destri!). One other big reason to register is that most of the programmers attend— and it’s never a bad thing to know what they look like for future stalking. I mean, it’s a good place to meet and get to know them and see what they look like should you run into them at other festivals…or the grocery store…or in front of their apartment… I kid, I kid!

Anywho, the video above is one thing I will never forget from my first ShortsLab— both enlightening and horrifying. Since we filmmakers can often get stuck in our little bubbles, it can be hard to know just how original or unoriginal our ideas are. This fine video can take a bit of the guesswork out of it. But seriously, I KNOW my take on “The Tell-tale Heart” is the most genius version they’ve seen…

Interviewed! Q & A With FR2DAY

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 12:35:51 -0700

As I’ve said before, reading interviews that I’m in (or hearing myself on a podcast) is...

115 Women Directors To Be Inspired By...

Sun, 01 Jul 2012 14:30:00 -0700

I know I should be writing a new post (still have a few more tips about Cannes to share) or working...

"If you have made mistakes, there is always another chance for you. You may have a fresh start any..."

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 17:15:28 -0700

“If you have made mistakes, there is always another chance for you. You may have a fresh start...

Interviewed! + A Note About Publicity

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 11:57:00 -0700

Last weekend I was interviewed by Marian of the Wellywood Woman blog about my experience at Cannes...

There Are A Lot Of Women Directors

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 16:40:00 -0700

One thing I failed miserably at in Cannes was seeing movies, especially movies by women directors. ...

They replayed Maya’s SNL ep tonight. Love her. And love...

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 01:13:08 -0700

They replayed Maya’s SNL ep tonight. Love her. And love this sweet nod to her mom.

tomatillion:

I went, “Oh, I love this! Overalls, Maya Rudolph, pastels, spritely smile”

Why does this look so -

Then my heart cracked a little

But in a nice way

It is possible to eat on the cheap (relatively cheap) in Cannes-...

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 09:16:00 -0700

25 euro rose´ champagne= make-up kit/day

Pretending to be fancy at Hotel Majestic

They have big meringues in Cannes!

Sculpted gelato = many flavors on 1 cone

Maybe not very French, but tasty!

Snail thingies= little too snaily for me

Tiny shrimp are hard to shell! Pass!

Success!

Light, simple omelet = merveilleux!

It is possible to eat on the cheap (relatively cheap) in Cannes- stick with the supermarkets or outdoor markets. One outdoor market I found was Marche´ Forville which also hosted a flea market one day a week. Also, a mini Target type option is Monoprix which has salads for a few dollars cheaper than you’ll get at a restaurant- plus, it’s portable, so you can eat it while you’re standing in line for a movie an hour before it starts (I’m not mad!).

But it is Cannes, so a little splurging can go with the territory. My mom joined me half way through my trip and we did our splurge at Hotel Majestic. Since it was late in the fest, we didn’t catch any VIP’s, but we ate well! I couldn’t help but think about what my meal translated to in production costs. We didn’t go that crazy, but still, I could have gotten a couple days of craft service for that. It didn’t come out of my pocket, so I guess I shouldn’t feel so guilty (but I do!)…Thanks for the treat, Mom!

P.S. Tumblr doesn’t give me much room to caption photos, so I resorted to a lot of = signs. One place I think I should expand on is Astoux et Brun, a very popular seafood restaurant in town. It’s always packed with people, even late at night. We didn’t have the best experience because we weren’t really sure what we were ordering- for example, there are several different types of shrimp and I didn’t realize I was getting tiny ones that I had to shell. It’s hard to shell tiny shrimp! Nevertheless, I’d still recommend it. We did manage to order some larger shrimp, mussels, and crab and it was very fresh and tasty. Next time, I’ll recruit someone with a little more Astoux et Brun experience to guide us.

Great App - ScanBizCards

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 11:51:01 -0700

Cannes is about networking, so you’ll need to be armed with some good networking tools. This...

Views from around Cannes (click photo for details).

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 07:59:12 -0700

The famous Cannes red carpet.

View of int'l pavilions from AmPav.

Sunrise over Cannes.

View of harbor from the Cannes Palais.

Busy restaurants at Cannes.

Sunset on the Croisette (Cannes 2012)

Views from around Cannes (click photo for details).

Back in the USA + A Note About Shoes

Thu, 31 May 2012 21:27:00 -0700

Sorry about my brief disappearance— my free time and wifi access were a little sketchy toward...

Cannes 2012 Award Winners

Sun, 27 May 2012 15:06:14 -0700

Cannes 2012 Award Winners

Movie Day!

Sun, 27 May 2012 14:50:00 -0700

(Emmanuelle Riva plays “Anne” in Michael Haneke’s Palme d’Or winner, Amour)...