UCLA @ Sundance 2008

Gary Marks, executive producer of “Shootout”

aaron — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 21:10:52 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHcfdJhAKpY

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A.J. Lewis, producer of “Shootout”

aaron — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 20:35:40 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57B39FLpeYc

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Cross-Collegiate Collaboration: Justin Lerner and Katharine O’Brien

aaron — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 23:50:24 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVpQFORVYVs

Lerner, MFA at UCLA film school, and O’Brien, MFA at Columbia film school, talk about their collaboration on a screenplay and resolving their differences.

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Mark Adler, composer of “Bottle Shock”

aaron — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:03:39 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL8de9VM4W8

Mark Adler ‘77 composed the music for Randall Miller’s “Bottle Shock,” a fact-based comedy about the California wine trade.

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James Mulryan, cinematographer of “Fields of Fuel”

aaron — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 19:16:50 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF9UXhYn240

James Mulryan ‘81, graduate of UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, photographed “Fields of Fuel,” in the Independent Film Competition for Documentary

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Oscar Alvarez on his Slamdance film, “Broken English”

aaron — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 00:26:29 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsbwC48VY00

UCLA MFA film student talks about his film, “Broken English,” at the Slamdance Film Festival, which happens at the same time as Sundance in Park City, Utah.

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Alex Gibney on “Gonzo” and “Taxi to the Dark Side”

aaron — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 23:01:15 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sld6cAnvcZU

Director talks about his two latest works: Sundance-accepted “Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson” and Oscar-nominated “Taxi to the Dark Side.”

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Ron Yerxa and Albert Berger, executive producers of “Hamlet 2″

aaron — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 01:21:23 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-82ja6fQz2Y

Ron Yerxa and Albert Berger, before their first screening of “Hamlet 2,” talk about annual visits to Sundance and their history with Steven Soderbergh. Previously, Yerxa and Berger produced the UCLA alum-directed “Little Miss Sunshine.”

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Behind the Show: “Shootout” interview with Peter Guber and Peter Bart

aaron — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 23:57:26 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZvFiN2TNCE

Hosts Peter Guber and Peter Bart talk about Sundance and their show’s UCLA origins. Director/producer Barry Levinson makes a guest appearance.

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Alumnus Alex Gibney, Oscar nominee

teri — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 23:45:43 +0000

Gibney’s “Taxi to the Dark Side,” a disturbing documentary on the Bush administration’s global war on terror, has earned an Oscar and DGA award nomination. In LA, the unflinching story can be seen at the Landmark Nuart Theatre, 11272 Santa Monica Boulevard. Alumnus Gibney’s newest doc, “Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson” continues to screen this week in Park City during the Sundance Film Festival. Remaining showtimes include Friday, Jan. 25 at 10am and 9:30pm.

Update: Video interview with Gibney is now online.

Related link: our post on Gibney from 1/21

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Amy Brenneman, UCLA faculty

teri — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 22:59:43 +0000

Visiting Professor Amy Brenneman co-stars in the Sundance film “Downloading Nancy,” screening today (Thursday) at 6pm and tomorrow (Friday) at 3:15pm. The film stars Maria Bello as Nancy, a wounded soul, who finds her salvation on the Internet in the form of Louis Farley played by Jason Patric. The two take comfort in one another through e-mail, pictures and promises of perverse sexual encounters. “Disturbing and relentlessly raw,” says Sundance programmer John Cooper, “‘Downloading Nancy’ is stunningly executed.” Swedish director Johan Renck is getting a lot of buzz during the fest. A music video and commercial helmer, Renck was named one of Variety’s Ten Directors to Watch.

At UCLA, Brenneman teaches a course on collaboration with her husband and School of Theater, Film and Television board member Brad Silberling MFA ‘87.

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Sale of “Hamlet 2;” latest from “Little Miss Sunshine” producers

teri — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:19:36 +0000

Friends of UCLA Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa are very happy Sundance attendees today since their film, “Hamlet 2,” was the first sale of the Festival. Focus Features acquired the comedy for about $10-million in an early morning bidding war. Executive producers Berger and Yerxa were just heading to the film’s first screening Monday evening when we interviewed them on camera about their long history with the Park City event.

Video interview is now online.

Related coverage: Wall Street Journal, L+E Productions blog

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Bryan Jackson, UCLA alumnus

teri — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 05:53:53 +0000

Bryan Jackson MFA ‘01 cast two Bratz dolls in “Softly,” a gay love story in the form of a music video, screening at Slamdance this week. During the making of the film, Jackson’s small Westwood apartment was overflowing with miniature, handcrafted sets to create a world as fragile and ephemeral as the romance that takes place in the short film. Additional Bruins on the crew include cinematographer Quyen Tran MFA ‘07, associate producer Brian Crano ‘01 and key grip Angie Pop MFA ‘07. At the UCLA reception Jackson quipped “what I find funny about Sundance is when you put up a poster on one of the kiosks and by the time you walk around to the other side to post another one, the first one has already been covered up. It’s Poster Wars!”

(Video interview coming shortly.)

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Theodore Perkins, UCLA alumnus

teri — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 03:09:30 +0000

Theodore Perkins, MFA ‘07, is in Park City as a producing fellow for The Black House Foundation. Perkins took a break from his work at the foundation’s Main Street headquarters to attend the UCLA at Sundance reception last night at Cafe Terigo (see our earlier post, “The UCLA Party in Pictures”). Here to support and promote black filmmakers, Black House is located at the Zona Rosa restaurant at 501 Main Street through January 27. Join aspiring filmmakers, students, celebrities, and veteran industry executives in the unique space that is Black House; a space that inspires and supports the VOICE of Black Cinema.

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The UCLA Party in Pictures

teri — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 04:45:29 +0000

(L to R) During the UCLA at Sundance Party, on January 21st at Cafe Terigo in Park City, Utah were writer/director Oscar Alvarez MFA ‘09, writer/director Bryan Jackson MFA ‘01 and Motorola executive John Hallman.

More photos below the fold:

(more…)

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Behind the Film: “Reversion” (part 3)

aaron — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 23:20:14 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gNKtP4CaRo

Mischa Livingstone ‘97, MFA ‘99 talks about life after UCLA film school and his own film at the upcoming Berlin Film Festival.

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Behind the Film: “Reversion” (part 2)

aaron — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 23:10:57 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8mCbnws_ZU

Rebecca Sonnenshine ‘93, producer of “Reversion,” talks about how they finished the film just before the opening-day screening and how the “UCLA mafia” of filmmakers came through.

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The UCLA Party at Cafe Terigo

aaron — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 21:37:49 +0000

Already at Sundance? Hopefully you already RSVP’d — the TFT Sundance Reception is today from 4–6 p.m. at Cafe Terigo, 424 Main St. (Google Map).

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Oscar Alvarez, UCLA student

teri — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:32:43 +0000

Director Oscar Alvarez’s first film “Broken English,” is screening before a feature during the Slamdance Film Festival. The work is up for a Grand Jury Prize, Short Narrative award. Raised in Inglewood surrounded by poverty and violence, Alvarez knew since the first grade that he wanted to tell stories through moving images. His 10-minute film is a true story about a Venice High School student who is denied his spot in an AP Biology class. For more on Alvarez and the film, visit his web site.

Update: Video interview now online.

Related coverage: Daily Bruin

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Alex Gibney, UCLA alumnus

teri — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:27:45 +0000

Director Alex Gibney hopes his Sundance entry “Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson,” will reinforce to audiences “what a great writer Thompson was.” The filmmaker’s last visit to this former mining town was for his 2005 doc “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room.” Gibney is getting a lot of praise for his recently released doc “Taxi to the Dark Side,” described by the LA Times as “an unflinching look at the Bush administration’s global war on terror.” He says “Gonzo” was a welcome break after the year and a half he spent sifting through deeply disturbing photos and video footage from Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and an airbase in Afghanistan. When asked what he hopes audiences take away from “Taxi,” the filmmaker’s response was simple; “rage.” The film is currently playing at the NuArt theater in LA.

Video interview is now online.

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Justin Lerner, UCLA student, on collaboration

teri — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:22:25 +0000

Justin Lerner, MFA directing student, is visiting Sundance in support of his fellow Bruin filmmakers and hoping to make a deal to produce his latest feature-length script. Working with Endeavor on his career strategy, Lerner was schmoozing at the agency’s party Friday night.

Lerner is knee deep in the festival circuit screening his UCLA Spotlight Award-winning thesis film, “The Replacement Child.” After showing the dramatic short at Telluride, Florida, Santa Fe and Torino Festivals, the director is headed to the Santa Barbara Film Festival just days after he returns home to L.A. from Park City.

His newest screenplay is a family tragic comedy about the inheritance of a grudge. He collaborated on the script with Katharine O’Brien, a graduate student at Columbia, whom he met while they were both writing story coverage at The Weinstein Company. Lerner says collaborating “boosts the level of professionalism while writing a screenplay.” Lerner is not shy about collaborating with other film school students. Working on his thesis were filmmakers from Columbia, NYU and USC.

Update: Video interview, with Lerner and Katharine O’Brien, is now online.

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Behind the Show: “Shootout”

aaron — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 19:43:45 +0000

From left to right: Peter Guber, UCLA professor and co-host; Peter Bart, co-host, editor in chief, Variety; Gary Marks, MFA ‘89 - executive producer of AMC’s “Shootout;” and A.J. Lewis, MFA ‘03 - producer

Video interview with Peter Bart and Peter Guber is now online.

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Behind the Film: “Reversion”

aaron — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 15:49:06 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le9eR069zTA

Written, directed and co-produced by Mia Trachinger ‘91, MFA ‘02, “Reversion” premiered opening morning at the Sundance Film Festival.

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Geoffrey Gilmore, director of the Sundance Film Festival

aaron — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 22:23:52 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EzmhsIJuuU

At The Hollywood Reporter party on Main St., Geoffrey Gilmore, director of the Sundance Film Festival, receives The Nielsen Impact Award for being a visionary leader in the world of film. Alumnus Gilmore is a member of the UCLA Producers Program faculty.

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Day 2 in Pictures

aaron — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:55:12 +0000

Mia Trachinger, UCLA Alumna, director of “Reversion,” outside the theater where her film premiered

After a G4-TV interview with Trachinger

Dean Robert Rosen

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Robert Rosen, UCLA dean

aaron — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 13:57:30 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k10SObIIC4o

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Jose Mercado, UCLA alumnus

teri — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 23:37:34 +0000

Bruins are bumping in to each other at every turn in Park City during the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Bob Rosen, Dean, School of Theater, Film and Television, was leaving a screening when he reunited with Jose Mercado, MFA ‘00 who is in town to launch the Cinemocracy.com film festival.

A professor at the University of Colorado School of Film, Theater and Video, Mercado is also visiting Utah as a representative of the Denver Cultural Affairs Commission. The Cinemocracy Film Festival is set to coincide with the Democratic National Convention later this year in Denver. He’s seeking films that convey the meaning of democracy to include in the festival.

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Hal Ackerman, UCLA professor

aaron — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 12:19:23 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDqd0Yrykj0

UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television screenwriting professor talks about the director of “Anvil!” on January 18, 2008 in Park City, Utah

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Sacha Gervasi, UCLA alumnus

aaron — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 07:09:28 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZSpDf5tM2Q

Talking with the director of “Anvil! The True Story of Anvil” today in Park City, Utah.

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Day 1 in Pictures

aaron — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 06:46:19 +0000

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