Writer/Director Julius Onah TONIGHT on The Double Down Film Show

On the next Double Down Film Show we’ll delve deep into the practical realities of making your first feature with writer/director, Julius Onah. Julius was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film. His debut feature, The Girl Is In Trouble, is executive produced by Spike Lee, stars Columbus Short and Wilmer Valderrama, and is poised to launch him firmly onto the independent film scene.

A graduate of Wesleyan University’s theater program, Julius transitioned from being in front of the camera to writing and directing. He’s currently a Thesis student at NYU’s grad film program where he’s shot a slew of notable short narratives and documentaries with diverse casts and subject matter that have gained him international festival attention including Szmolinsky, Linus, and The Boundary. (*Get the special password to view these films TONIGHT on the show.)

· How did SPIKE LEE come on board as Executive Producer?
· What was the HARDEST part of directing his first feature?
· Why does he use so many INTERNATIONAL characters and settings?
· Why did he love making two films entirely on CELLPHONES?
· How can budget and time limitations HELP you as a filmmaker?

We’ll answer all these questions and more in an insightful and wisdom-packed interview with writer/director, Julius Onah. Why learn it the hard way on your set, when you can learn it right here on the Double Down Film Show first? We aren’t film fans, we’re filmmakers helping other filmmakers every Wednesday night at 9pm E.S.T.

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Spike Follows Up to When the Levee's Broke Premieres on HBO This Week

Spike Lee's latest project, IF GOD IS WILLING AND DA CREEK DON’T RISE hits the airwaves on HBO this Monday and Tuesday.

It's his follow up film to When the Levee's Broke co-produced by my NYU colleague, Sam Pollard (who shared his words of wisdom in, The Shut Up and Shoot Documentary Guide) and shot by my man, Cliff Charles over at The People's DP.

Perhaps most notable for my fellow guerrillas, parts of this new film were shot on Canon 1D and Canon 7D DSLR cameras, amongst other formats.

Check out Cliff Charles' blog post on the various cameras he used to shoot Spike's latest doc.

Trailer

Spike Lee Interview

IF GOD IS WILLING AND DA CREEK DON’T RISE will debut on HBO in two parts this week on MONDAY, AUG. 23 (9:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT) and TUESDAY, AUG. 24 (9:00-11:00 p.m.). Check your listings for repeat times.

"Do the Right Thing" - 20 Years Later

Just about every filmmaker has a particular film that became the catalyst for them wanting to become a filmmaker. For me that film was Do The Right Thing which dropped at the end of my freshman year of college in 1989. (Yes, I'm Old School, y'all.) A few months later, I changed my major to Film and never looked back. Actually, that's not accurate. I've looked back plenty over the years, but I never turned back.

1989 was the year that I decided to stop being an aimless knucklehead in college and really try my hand at something I felt passionately about. It was also the year that I lost a lot of respect for the Academy Awards.

When Do the Right Thing - this seminal movie that managed to tackle the "third-rail" film subject of race-relations in a way that was totally thought-provoking, compelling and humorous lost the "Best Picture" Oscar to MF-ing Driving Miss Daisy - a forgettable film about the relationship between a cranky rich lady and her subservient Black chauffeur, I realized that the Academy Awards were clearly not based solely on merit, craftsmanship, originality or cultural importance. (And I'm really cleaning up the way I feel about it for my younger readers...but I was pissed off and disheartened to say the least. )

No doubt there are thousands of other young people like me who were inspired by Spike's work to create the images and ideas that help shape our world and define our culture. So on this 20th Anniversary of the movie that started it all for so many of us, I thought a few words from Spike himself about the film would be appropriate.

Which leads me to another thought - I wonder why there are no thoughtful 20-year retrospectives on the cultural importance and impact of Driving Miss Daisy? Hmm...

Spike Lee In His Own Words on CNN



Read the full CNN.com Article.

Spike Lee on Blaxploitation Films and Telling African American Stories

Just thought I'd share a quick blog post from That Black Girl's Site about a recent appearance by Spike Lee at the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference. Spike shares his views on the current state of cinema depicting Black people and the difficulties of funding Black films.

Read it HERE.

Thanx to Kia M. Neal for the tip.

DP, Cliff Charles (When the Levees Break) - Live on Double Down!

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D.P., Cliff Charles (When the Levees Broke, Miracle Boys, etc.) discusses what it takes to get your project on screen with the most unique visual stamp as well as how to ensure that your vision is achieved despite the many challenges of film production. More "real talk" not to be missed!

Date / Time: Wednesday January 21 - 9pm-10pm

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Call-in Number: (646) 929-1956

Listen To It Here:

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Hosted by Anthony Q. Artis of Down and Dirty DV and Pete Chatmon of Double 7 Film.

Spike and Nokia Push Mobile Filmmaking

I wrote about this new fringe movement in the low-budget digital revoltion in a blog post awhile ago and it looks like it's continuing to pick up steam. A cell phone is no longer just a cell phone it's a mobile communication and media device. (The phone industry is partial to the term, "Mobile Device", so I'll give them that, given that these days they really are much more functional than mere phones.)

As you read this, a select number of filmmakers are experimenting with shooting their projects on cell phones. Obviously, the quality of much of these videos is at You Tube level on a good day, but image quality is always improving and the trade off is complete flexibility, super-stealth shooting, ultra-light weight, and complete spontaneity. (I feel like making a movie- right now, right here!)

I haven't actually done any myself, but I imagine that it's a very liberating way to work without all the constraints and extra attention required when shooting with standard video cameras. I imagine the other attraction seems to be the ability to quickly and easily share those digital video bits and bytes by zapping them through the airwaves instantly to your friends (and subscribers?) cell phones or possibly even an editor on stand-by if you're shooting in a remote location.

The possibilities are definitely wide-open for new ways of working and gaining easier video access to more dangerous or elusive subject matter. (Think P.E.T.A. animal-cruelty stings, war coverage, surveillance, forbidden locations, etc.)

Narrative filmmakers are also testing the waters to experiment with new ways to tell visual stories, including Spike Lee, who is working on a promotion with Nokia where filmmakers like YOU can upload their video to a site for review by Spike and assistant directors who will ultimately choose a few select clips from the whole bunch to piece together a larger film on the subject of "humanity". Anyway, you can get a more complete description of this experiment from this NY Times article and the Nokia Productions website.

Want More Info on Cell Phone Cinema? Check these out:

Karl Bardosh, is one of my colleagues at NYU and he wrote the just released, "Complete Idiot's Guide to Digital Video". He is also the author of an upcoming book on Cell Phone Cinema which he is credited with introducing to India. Here's some more words about the topic on his website: Cell Phone Cinema Essay

Here's a music video for the song "Stunning" by 8mm. It was shot by the singer herself on her cell phone. (I hope the record companies don't get any ideas about budgeting music videos from this clip!)



And here's a video tutorial on how to shoot and upload video from your cell phone onto YouTube: