The Hamptons International Film Festival has announced its selections for the 13th annual Screenwriters' Lab. The five winning screenwriters (for a total of four screenplays) are Christina Choe, for "Nancy"; Michael Sladek, for "Phantom Limbs"; Ben Nabors and Michael Tyburski, for "Palimpsest," and Evan Schwartz, for "Televisionaries." The festival has also revealed the industry mentors with whom these screenwriters will work closely to develop their scripts. They are Jamal Joseph, Lawrence Konner, Robert Siegel, and Susan Stover. Taking place April 11-13 at the Maidstone Hotel in East Hampton, the weekend workshop gives screenwriters the opportunity to advance their screenplays via meeting with veteran screenwriters, directors, and producers, in addition to members of the local artistic community, Hiff board, and friends of the Festival. The most recent Screenwriters' Lab success story is the 2013 festival favorite "Short Term 12," written by past participant Destin...
- 4/9/2014
- by Melina Gills
- Indiewire
To commemorate its sesquicentennial, Bam Brooklyn Academy Of Music commissioned BAM150, a feature length documentary conceived by award-winning director Michael Sladek that weaves together the institution's vibrant past, present, and future presenting a rich history that mirrors the evolution of performing arts in 20th century America. This landmark film premiered last year at the Tribeca Film Festival and will air tonight, April 19 at 10pm on Thirteen.
- 4/19/2013
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
To commemorate its sesquicentennial, Bam Brooklyn Academy of Music commissioned BAM150, a feature length documentary conceived by award-winning director Michael Sladek that weaves together the institution's vibrant past, present, and future presenting a rich history that mirrors the evolution of performing arts in 20th century America. This landmark film premiered last year at the Tribeca Film Festival and will air on Friday, April 19 at 10pm on Thirteen.
- 3/14/2013
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
At last year’s Tribeca Film Festival I discovered two of my favorite films of the year, Alma Har’el’s Bombay Beach and Panos Cosmatos’s Beyond the Black Rainbow. I’m hoping for at least as good a track record this year, and in surveying the schedule I see more than enough potential candidates. Assuming I can successfully surmount my usual Tribeca challenge — getting into a film-festival headspace while working at home in New York — here are 25 films I’m interested in checking out. As befitting the mission of this magazine, there’s a heavy American independent focus, and I’ve also avoided films that aren’t at least receiving their U.S. premiere at Tribeca. There are also several Ifp Narrative Lab films and Filmmaker “25 New Face” directors below as we always keep a close eye on our alumni.
1. Any Day Now. Travis Fine’s finely acted...
1. Any Day Now. Travis Fine’s finely acted...
- 4/19/2012
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
This June, the Brooklyn Academy of Music presents the fourth annual BAMcinemaFest, featuring a lineup of some of the best emerging voices American cinema has to offer. And CinemaFest is just one of dozens that the Brooklyn institution presents each year, as Bam consistently shines a spotlight on the best in theater, dance, music, film, and more. Now, as the venue celebrates its staggering 150th anniversary, filmmaker Michael Sladek (Con Artist, Devils Are Dreaming) explores what it is about the Brooklyn instituation that has lent it such longevity in his new documentary BAM150.
Filmmaker: Why Bam? What is it about this cultural institution that motivated you to tell the story of its history?
Sladek: I grew up in and around live performance and spent a good part of my life studying, acting, and directing in straight and experimental theater before segueing into film. When I landed in Brooklyn in 1998, I...
Filmmaker: Why Bam? What is it about this cultural institution that motivated you to tell the story of its history?
Sladek: I grew up in and around live performance and spent a good part of my life studying, acting, and directing in straight and experimental theater before segueing into film. When I landed in Brooklyn in 1998, I...
- 4/19/2012
- by Dan Schoenbrun
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Does a documentary subject have to be likable to warrant the film's release? Director Michael Sladek explores that provocative question on the eve of the release of his debut doc Con Artist (Tff 2009), about the 80s "business artist" Mark Kostabi. Director Michael Sladek Three years ago I invited a few friends to my apartment to watch a rough cut of my docu-comedy feature film Con Artist. A half an hour into the screening, one of these friends turned to me and said (in a jocular way that caused his entire being to shake, his eyes to grow wide, and his teeth to suddenly whiten): 'So it took an asshole to make a movie about an asshole!' This boldly inaccurate statement took me aback. For here's the reality: I am decidedly not an asshole. I say 'please' and 'thank you.' I hold doors open for the ladies. I love dogs and cats.
- 11/8/2010
- TribecaFilm.com
Andy Warhol promised us all our 15 minutes, but the subject of Con Artist, Mark Kostabi, wanted much more than that. Using a team of assistants and publicists, the artist created Kostabi World, which would produce en masse paintings that Kosabi would sign and sell, claiming, in part, his actions were a commentary on the art world itself. Kostabi got pretty far with his schtick until the recession hit in the '90s. You can't fault Kostabi for not being persistent, though; Michael Sladek's documentary about the fallen '80s art star follows Kostabi in his attempts to get back in the game with little success but plenty of awkward moments. Con Artist (Tff 2009), a so-called "docu-comedy," examines the nature (and dangers) of self-promotion and fame-whoring far before the days of celebutants and paparazzi chases. Notable appearances in the doc include director Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,...
- 1/15/2010
- TribecaFilm.com
If you hadn’t seen Con Artist, Michael Sladek’s “docu-comedy” on 80s art star Mark Kostabi, but walked blindly into the theater in the middle of the film’s Q & A last Tuesday, you’d have a fair sense of the dynamic between filmmaker and subject. When asked to account for the film’s playful, comic tone, Sladek said, “I had no intention to make a serious film about the art world. I had no intention to make a documentary, frankly.” At this point, Kostabi, standing next to Sladek, turned his side to the crowd to whisper conspiratorially, apparently offering directions to the director. Sladek did his best to ignore them. “I prefer to make narratives, because I can control them.” Sladek entered Kostabi’s world (and Kostabi World - the studio where dozens of assistants have for years conceived and executed Kostabi’s paintings, which are not quite...
- 5/4/2009
- by Karina Longworth
- Spout
Editor’S Note: This is one of several interviews, conducted via email, with directors whose films are screening at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival. “Con Artist” (Discovery) Director: Michael Sládek Cast: Mark Kostabi Synopsis: From the beginning, Mark Kostabi pronounced his raison d’être as an artist widely: to take all the cash and all the glory. A superstar during the frantic glory of the 1980s New York art world, Kostabi has unapologetically …...
- 4/20/2009
- indieWIRE - People
I know it looks dire as it's 28% lighter (at least so far) and minus an artistic director, but no fear, there's still more to come, and with what's been announced theirs some interesting sounding stuff, especially a film we wrote about briefly called Accidents Happen. Also premiering is the comedy Stay Cool and the Danish film Original, along with the North American premier of The Exploding Girl which we also wrote about.
Check the narrative features, world documentary, and discovery lineups after the break!
World Narrative Feature Competition
A compelling cross-section of bold creative visions from every corner of the globe come together in this year’s World Narrative Feature Competition. Presenting a diverse array of unique voices, this international film collection includes premieres from a wide range of directors, such as U.S. indie veterans the Polish brothers and Tony-nominated Conor McPherson, as well as exciting newcomers. Together, these...
Check the narrative features, world documentary, and discovery lineups after the break!
World Narrative Feature Competition
A compelling cross-section of bold creative visions from every corner of the globe come together in this year’s World Narrative Feature Competition. Presenting a diverse array of unique voices, this international film collection includes premieres from a wide range of directors, such as U.S. indie veterans the Polish brothers and Tony-nominated Conor McPherson, as well as exciting newcomers. Together, these...
- 3/10/2009
- QuietEarth.us
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