Cynematik • Cyndi Greening

Today was a very important day. There were two very significant events of equal importance to me. The first I will mention is the season premiere of LOST. Heavens I do love, love, love that show. It is simply beautiful. The cinematography is gorgeous. The set design, costuming and make-up are fabulous. I adore the acting … and there are so many well-developed characters, it’s a pleasure to pay attention. Tonight’s episode was excellent because of the Hurley flash-forwards. There were a lot of wonderful moments.

The other important event, Pamela Jo turned fifty today. I, of course, am very happy she was born so she could be around to be helping me with the Zambian films today. From the beginning, she has proven to be invaluable. On her birthday, she spent much of the day editing a difficult scene. Ultimately, she was able to soften Chiku’s performance and create a bit more tenderness in a very critical scene. It’s not done yet but it keeps getting better. A few more hours and she’ll have it buttoned down. I think everyone thinks I’m being a jerk to expect her to work all day but I don’t think most people really understand … she’s really, really happy when she’s working on anything related to film (editing, pre-production, day-of-days, writing … doesn’t matter, as long as she can keep on creating). She specifically requested that we NOT do anything for her birthday that took her away from the films.

In the early afternoon, the family spirited her away for lunch. I didn’t think she’d make it back after lunch (correct) and knew she was planning to stay home and watch LOST in the evening. Jeniece and I got a surprise invite to come to the house for LOST party she’d requested. Given that we all love filmmaking, I was very much looking forward to watching the show together and talking about the cinematography, the acting, the story … you know, the usual things. But, this was a most unusual LOST party. There was no LOST.

Tonight, I discovered that I am quite odd. You see, I actually thought we’d be watching LOST at the LOST Party. Jeniece and I arrived about seven minutes before the start of the show. We planted ourselves in front of the television and didn’t move for two hours. (To be honest, my right check went to sleep.) Guests came and went. No one came downstairs to watch the show. The rest of the party goers stayed upstairs. The LOST Birthday Party went on upstairs … without us … because we were downstairs watching LOST. Jeniece and I were trying to decide if we should have been more polite and gone upstairs but … we ultimately found that we wanted to see LOST more than almost anything. I decided it was more important that we watch it carefully so we could tell the Birthday Girl what she missed. We watched it for her. That’s it, we HAD to do it.

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All of the discussion about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. sent me into full-on research mode. I went to the internet to review the life and times of the good doctor. The look into the past was fueled by a question last week about when Bobby Kennedy died. I am of the age that I remember both the assassinations of 1963 and 1968. I noticed an odd numerical coincidence. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on 4 April 1968 (4/4) by James Earl Ray. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was shot on 5 June by Sirhan B. Sirhan but died 6 June 1968 (6/6). As a person who is always trying to remember details, I know that now I will always be able to remember when these two men died. The date echo will make it stick in my head.

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For example, in 1997, Obama voted “present” on two bills (HB 382 and SB 230) that would have prohibited a procedure often referred to as partial birth abortion. He also voted “present” on SB 71, which lowered the first offense of carrying a concealed weapon from a felony to a misdemeanor and raised the penalty of subsequent offenses.

In 1999, Obama voted “present” on SB 759, a bill that required mandatory adult prosecution for firing a gun on or near school grounds. The bill passed the state Senate 52-1. Also in 1999, Obama voted “present” on HB 854 that protected the privacy of sex-abuse victims by allowing petitions to have the trial records sealed. He was the only member to not support the bill.

In 2001, Obama voted “present” on two parental notification abortion bills (HB 1900 and SB 562), and he voted “present” on a series of bills (SB 1093, 1094, 1095) that sought to protect a child if it survived a failed abortion. In his book, the Audacity of Hope, on page 132, Obama explained his problems with the “born alive” bills, specifically arguing that they would overturn Roe v. Wade. But he failed to mention that he only felt strongly enough to vote “present” on the bills instead of “no.”

And finally in 2001, Obama voted “present” on SB 609, a bill prohibiting strip clubs and other adult establishments from being within 1,000 feet of schools, churches, and daycares.

If Obama had taken a position for or against these bills, he would have pleased some constituents and alienated others. Instead, the Illinois legislator-turned-U.S. senator and, now, Democratic presidential hopeful essentially took a pass.

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They say tragedies come in threes. I’m wondering who the third one will be. It does seem to be the season of unexpected, youthful losses.

Earlier today, actor Heath Leger was found dead in a SoHo apartment. According to early news reports, prescription and over-the-counter-sleeping pills were found in the room. No foul play is suspected. Known for his academy-award-nominated lead role as Ennis Del Mar in BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, Ledger had also played the romantic lead in CASANOVA and A KNIGHT’S TALE. Born 4 April 1979 in Perth, Australia, the 28-year-old Ledger was an actor that I hoped to be watching for decades to come. He was just hitting his stride.

Less than a week ago, actor Brad Renfro was found dead in his Los Angeles home. Born 25 July 1982, the 25-year-old actor’s body was discovered by his girlfriend. A youthful troublemaker, Redfro was discovered in Knoxville, Tennessee by the makers of the Susan Sarandon film THE CLIENT. He was catapulted into the film industry at the age of 12. Renfro was known as much for his skirmishes with the law as for his acting career. At the end, some reports indicated drug paraphernalia was in the room and no foul play was suspected.

Sadly, when the money and power of film fame connect with youth, foul play all too frequently seems to rule the day.

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Documentaries are selling well at Sundance 2008.

ESPN announced that it has acquired Sundance soccer documentary KICKING IT, the story of seven soccer players from six countries as they participate in the 4th annual Homeless World Cup. The film was directed by Susan Koch and produced by Ted Leonsis (who executive produced last year’s NANKING). ESPN will retain exclusive television rights worldwide, and execute the film’s digital distribution while working with the filmmakers to secure theatrical, DVD and other distribution.

ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED has been acquired internationally by The Weinstein Company, the company announced Saturday morning. The international deal excludes all U.S. and Canadian rights, as well as U.K. television rights. The film was directed by Marina Zenovich.

Other documentaries rumored to be close to selling or in negotiations include RECRUIT (formerly AN AMERICAN SOLDIER), director Edet Belzberg’s story of Louisiana Sergeant, First Class Clay Usie, one of the most successful recruiters in the history of the U.S. Army; director Nanette Burstein’s AMERICAN TEEN, which is really about a group of Indiana teens, and SECRECY, the Peter Galison and Robb Moss documentary about the U.S. government’s penchant for keeping things hidden from the public.

It was reported earlier that THE BLACK LIST: VOLUME ONE was acquired early by HBO Documentary Films and international competition doc UP THE YANGTZE was acquired by Zeitgeist Films.

In the realm of dramatic film, all international rights outside the U.S. for Lance Hammer’s BALLAST have been acquired by Paris-based Celluloid Dreams.

Fortissimo Films has announced a deal for worldwide sales rights to the closing night film, CSNY DEJA VU. A look at Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s 2007 “Freedom of Speech Tour,” the film was directed by Neil Young.

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Festival 2008 is full under sail and the acquisitions have begun. Given the Writer’s Strike and the possibility of a future with limited purchase options, there is some expectation that the mini-major studios and distributors such as Sony Pictures Classics, Magnolia Pictures and IFC Films will heat up the buying at the festival.

UP THE YANGTZE was the first acquisition announced at the festival. The Three Gorges Dam, an enormous and hotly contested symbol of the Chinese economic development, provides the backdrop for the film. Beautifully shot and edited, the film tells Yu Shui’s story. Among the two million losing their livelihood to the dam, the Yu family must send their daughter off to work.

HBO Documentary Films said it picked up THE BLACK LIST: VOLUME ONE. Timothy Greenfield-Sanders directed the movie which features interviews with black cultural figures and icons ranging from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Sean Combs to Colin Powell.

Of great personal interest to me is U2 3D. The film is a feature-length compilation of U2 concert footage shot using a new generation of digital 3D cinema technology in which the blue and red cardboard glasses of the earlier 3D films have been replaced by sleeker polarized black glasses. The film’s technology is the work of two companies: Burbank-based 3ality and Beverly Hills-based Real D. At the Sundance premiere, the film will be shown in Dolby 3D Digital Cinema.

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Readers of this blog know that I started attending Sundance in 1996. Because of that, I have an extensive archive of Sundance Podcasts and Videocasts. To get yourself in the Sundance spirit, you might want to check out some of the past panel discussion and Q&A’s.

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“Nobody, I think, ought to read poetry, or look at pictures or statues, who cannot find a great deal more in them than the poet or artist has actually expressed. Their highest merit is suggestiveness.” — Hilda, in THE MARBLE FAUN by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Another screenwriter I know is always worrying that what she writes isn’t “important enough.” Since I’m working on projects with her, I guess that means I’m working on projects that may not be meaningful enough, either. The Bible and the Koran have already been written and Shakespeare was so prolific in the realm of dramatic storytelling, it seems like the whole important, meaningful thing has already been handled. Besides, if Nathaniel Hawthorne is correct, if we do it well, people always find more in our creative work than we originally intended anyway.

I find myself wondering if Hawthorne had any idea of the merit of his writing as he was doing it. Born on July 4, 1804, in Salem, Massachusetts, Nathaniel was the descendant of John Hathorne, one of the prosecutors of the Salem Witch Trials (in 1692 and 1693). Shortly after he graduated from college, Nathaniel added a “W” to his surname. (Why add the “W”? Was it for Witch? Or, perhaps, he just wanted to be different from his family? I’m sure the answer is somewhere but I haven’t found it definitively, yet.) Anyway, back to Hawthorne the writer. THE SCARLET LETTER was published in 1850, just four years before his death. I remember having to read Hawthorne in high school and college. His writing was so dated; it was staid as a Puritan’s collar, more stiff than a Puritan’s prosecutor’s righteousness. I had a difficult time getting through it, much less enjoying it. Now that I know he put historical figures into his work and that his ancestors arrived in Plymouth Colony in 1630, I have more of a commitment to revisit his novels.

A few years back, I went into an Antiquarian Bookstore and saw a FIRST EDITION of THE SCARLET LETTER. It was amazing to look at this book and know it had been printed more than a century and a half earlier. It had a leather cover, ornate and tooled. It had been read and treasured by readers for decades. I started to have a desire to own a first edition of an important work … and what I noticed was NOT that I wanted to own a work that was meaningful or important to the storekeeper or the contemporary literati. I wanted a work that was important and meaningful to me. I ended up getting a first edition “book” by Joyce Carol Oates. She probably doesn’t even remember it, this micro-book, a first edition short story (printed on a laser printer, put in a saddle-stitched printed cover and signed) but it meant the world to me.

So, every day, I just keep writing and hoping, at the end of the day, that someone, somewhere finds what we do to be meaningful and important to them, in their lives, at that moment in time. Even this blog is part of that desire to connect and create access to and for another. What else is there in this life?

“We sometimes congratulate ourselves at the moment of waking from a troubled dream; it may be so the moment after death.” — Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864).

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I spoke with a friend today about the current state of the film industry. In the fall, he called to say he had a film deal set up and it looked like he would directing his first feature in the spring. It was very exciting to hear. Then, the writer’s strike hit and everything ground to a halt.

I certainly had personal knowledge that the writer’s strike was slowing things down. We got our script out to an agent and manager but heard everything was very slow, slow, slow and no one was reading. So, we just redoubled our efforts on the films and started another script. Our plan, keep working until things open back up.

Then, today, we heard that about a thousand people might be laid off at Warner Brothers. This was followed by the rumor that Walden Media might shut down. On top of that, yesterday there was the news that the U.S. economy was on a downturn and it looks like we’re heading into a recession.

It will be interesting to see what sort of impact this has on the upcoming Sundance Film Festival. Will the purchase prices be lower? Distribution deals more available because product is limited by the strike? Or deals less available because of caution at the studios? The same sort of questions we ask ourselves because the writer’s strike is on … will they be more open to new scripts because there is a dearth of product OR are all of the writers sitting home writing the material they’ve always wanted to write and the market will be deluged when the strike lifts?

If it weren’t for bad timing, I’d have no timing at all.

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Seven days until the 2008 Sundance Film Festival begins. A couple hundred films will be screened in the shadow of the Wasatch range and many of them will acquire distribution during the festival. Distribution is the “holy grail” of independent filmmaking. Elusive and extremely difficult to secure, selection in the Sundance Film Festival often anoints indie product as viable. In little over a week, we will be covering the distribution deals that thrust the new indie filmmakers into the industry.

As we complete the Zambian feature and documentary, we too are looking at distribution. According to RISKY BUSINESS, the book by Mark Litwak on indie financing and distribution, the three things that make a film more appealing to a distributor are…

• STAR POWER … participation by recognized industry creatives
• FESTIVAL FEVER … selection in a key festival
• GREAT REVIEWS … recognition by film critics

According to Litwak, there are between 800 and 1000 indie films available for sale at any given moment. So your film is competing with a glut of product. Presenting the strong selling points of your films is the key to distribution. Oh sure, there are tons of panels, books and articles on the many potential distribution avenues … including the web, DVD, tape and international markets. So, I spent most of the day, recalling our Zambian production adventures and trying to think of why that might be interesting to a potential audience (and therefore a distributor).

Because of the scenes she was editing, Pamela Jo kept reminding me how grumpy I had been on certain shooting days … oh the hours and hours and hours we waited … and while the clock ticked, I kept wondering if we’d ever get the film done. Knowing our return flights had already been booked, the clock reverberated like a prescient death knell. To this day, it amazes me that we finished shooting both films. The next few months will reveal if the story is of interest to an audience. We will document the process for you indie filmmakers.

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My brother, Kevin, is serving in Kuwait. I get emails from him every now and then. They always say they’re screened and unclassified. For those who are unaware, we were raised in rural Wisconsin and grew up on a farm. We had animals on the farm and learned to hunt (I know, how barbaric). When he’s not serving in the Middle East, my brother lives in the wilds of Virginia. Apparently, these skills are also helpful in Kuwait. Today, he wrote about an interesting capture he made …

“This bird of prey was trained to hunt animals out in the desert. It was lost by its owner while hunting the day before. I took a piece of meat on a long string and spun it in a circle over my head. I was able to catch it. The owner had put his phone number on the bird’s leg since it was worth about 10,000 KD ($35,000). None of my buddies thought I would catch it but I proved them wrong.”

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Music at Sundance is always something extraordinary. There are always the new, breakout musical acts that are going to go on to do fabulous things. There are generally a few acts from the “old guarde” doing their swan song in the mountains. There are two options ….

Music on Main are the outdoor (yes, outdoor in the dead of winter) concerts. This year’s artists on 24 January include GOLD STREETS as the opening act, HA HA TONKA in a supporting role, and MERIDIAN WEST headlining.

For those who prefer their music in a warmer setting, there is the Music Cafe. This year’s scheduled artists include Ingrid Michaelson, Jesca Hoop, Sea Wolf, Paddy Casey, Eef Barzelay, Pat Monahan, Ben’s Brother, Sondre Lerche, AM, Jessie Baylin, Patti Smith, Peter & Gordon, Dusty Rhodes and the River Band, Butch Walker, Quincy Coleman, Adam Levy, Tim Finn, Gavin DeGraw, Missy Higgins, Meiko, Brett Dennen and ROAN.

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I love Sundance Panel Discussions. They bring contemporary filmmakers together to talk candidly about the issues of the day. I’ve attended panels that had panelists vigorously disagreeing with one another about the subject. I’ve attended panels that had the audience members verbally assaulting filmmakers for their opinions. There is always something wonderful that happens in the Panel Discussions. There are panels at the Prospector and the Filmmaker Lodge. Here then, a brief summary of this year’s schedule.

Filmmaker Lodge

Saturday, 19Jan: Rewriting the Process
A discussion of voice, collaboration, adaptation and rewriting by participants in the Sundance Screenwriters Laboratory.

Sunday, 20Jan: Are You Global Enough
New funding and training opportunities in the international documentary community.

Monday, 21Jan: Sundance Work in Process
Documentary filmmakers who have participated in and been supported by the Sundance Documentary Film Program.

Monday, 21Jan: The Producing Cap
Seasoned producers discuss problem-solving in contemporary filmmaking.

Tuesday, 22Jan: Meet the Film Funds and Commissioning Editors
YOU MUST PRE-REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT to assure being able to attend it. Meet folks from HBO, PBS, ITVS, A&E and other funders. Come prepared, have your pitch, your summary, a video short and anything else that might help sell your piece.

Tuesday, 22Jan: Black in America
Discussions with African American filmmakers about where progress is being made in Black Cinema.

Wednesday, 23Jan: The Latin Resurgence
A while back I did a post on the rising popularity of Mexican cinema. At Sundance, they’ve got a panel on the broader rise of Latin American cinema.

Thursday, 24Jan: Stories that Must Be Told: Today’s Human Rights
The documentary film movement as a witness and agent for change in the Human Rights Movement.

Thursday, 24Jan: Producing Native Cinema
Like Black Cinema and Latin American cinema, Native Cinema is on the rise. The contemporary marketplace seems every more welcoming to more voices and diverse stories.

Friday, 25Jan: Critics Cornered?
Do critics still matter? Now that there are gazillions of blog sites and viewer review sites, what is the role of critics in the success or failure of a film?

Prospector Panels

Saturday, 19Jan: On Crisis Survival: Stories of Disaster and Its Aftermath
How does filmmaking intersect with disasters and human crisis?

Sunday, 20Jan: In 3-D: The Future Is Now
Leading producers and creatives discuss the new generation of 3D in film and gaming.

Monday, 21Jan: On Comedy: Are We Laughing in Dark Times?
Film comedy is often the domain of perversity, taboo and dysfunction. What are we allowed to laugh at in these dark times? What are we laughing?

Tuesday, 22Jan: On Invention: The Cinema and Science of Moving Forward
Neurobiologically speaking, what does it mean to have an inventive mind? An assembly of scientists and filmmakers will tinker with the idea.

Wednesday, 23Jan: On Cinematic Imagination: New Spaces for a New Cinema Culture
How do you establish an environment where originality can flourish? For artists working outside of traditional modes of moviemaking, the creative freedoms and unique perspectives are discussed.

Friday, 25Jan: On Plurality: The Middle East in Perspective
Exploring Islam, expressing personal stories, and the transformative power of film.

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I got a GREAT new book on Game Design using Maya. Discover the Game with Alias: An In-Depth Look at Game Art Creation in Maya and Alias MotionBuilder starts with realistic, pragmatic character design (using polygon geometry), texture mapping and environment creation. Throughout the entire book, there is an emphasis on polygon management, pixel depth and rendering considerations for efficient game operation. It made the whole game design process accessible.

In addition to working on Maya for animation and game design, I’ve been working with game design in Flash. To be accurate, I’ve been tutoring a young fellow who loves gaming and wants to know everything about how to create them. So, all of my attention of late is on that topic. Most recently, I helped him create a lip sync version of himself (using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Flash) for a short film he was creating. It was autobiographical in nature so his film began with a the story of his first twelve days of live in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Jeanette had always liked Flash animation and, now, after this project, I’m liking it too.

(Click on the image to see the animation created by my tutoree, Alec No. 2 … quite impressive for a 13-year-old.)

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