Confessions of an Independent Filmmaker 3: Breaking Sundance

The third part of my filmmakers guide/memoir went live on Amazon and Barnes and Noble today.

It documents what was perhaps the most stressful two weeks of my life: promoting a film during the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.

We made a film about the whole experience called The Misbehavers, but because of legal issues with those involved in it, music licensing, and the threat of lawsuits, it will never see release. In fact, I"m almost counting days until I get a cease and desist about this book. But since everything contained herein is the truth, and I have video evidence and journal entries to back up my story, I'm not too worried about anything like that affecting me.

But in case it does, buy the book now.

Here's the trailer for the movie the book is inspired by:

Here's the blurb from Amazon:

In the third part of his "Confessions of an Independent Filmmaker" series, he documents his time promoting a film called Abby Singer at the Sundance Film Festival. Abby Singer featured Brad Pitt and Jake Gyllenhaal and was renowned for its guerilla marketing campaigns. From stealing cameos to breaking into every major film studio lot to drop trailers, Abby Singer had done it all. And when it wasn't programmed in the Sundance Film Festival, the filmmakers turned to the author and his cohorts to market the film.

They navigated the strict laws against most forms of film promotion in Park City, Utah, and launched one of the most talked about marketing campaigns in the festival's history.

This first hand account brings readers through the drama, the struggles, and the marketing avenues taken to put the name "Abby Singer" on the tip of every tongue during one of the biggest independent film festivals in the world.

Be sure to check out Part 3 on on Amazon and Barnes and Noble today.

Here's Part 1 (Amazon)
And Part 2 (Amazon and Barnes and Noble)

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Anatomy of a Scene - City Lights

We're going to break down another scene this week, and it's one of my favorites in cinema history. It comes from the ending of City Lights by Charlie Chaplin, which I think is the greatest romantic comedy ever made.
It's a touching film from 1931 and I would make it mandatory viewing for anyone who wants to learn to tell a story.
The scene we're going to be breaking down comes from the very end of the film, so if you haven't seen it, I don't want to spoil it for you. Go watch the film. You can rent it for $3.99 in HD on Amazon or for free on Hulu with a free trial or plus subscription. You should just buy the Blu-ray, though. You're going to want to revisit it.
For those of you familiar with the movie, or for those of you who are going to ignore my pleas to watch it and go ahead with this post anyway, I'm going to set this clip up a bit before you watch it.
City Lights tells the story of Chaplin's Tramp and how he falls in love with a blind flower …

Anatomy of a Scene: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid might be one of the most meticulously well-written movies ever made. William Goldman scripts are almost always something special. He's a master of creating something that's interesting, every scene has a kinetic energy to it that keeps you moving. He's a talented prose novelist as well. His novel of The Princess Bride might be even better than the screenplay and the film.

But today I want to talk about a scene in particular for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid:

This scene comes early in the movie and we're still working to understand the relationship between Butch and Sundance, as well as Butch and his gang.

Goldman does something amazing as he's able to mix humor, character building, excitement, suspense, and an advancement of the story into the scene. There are so many building blocks at play here, and because the scene is so entertaining we hardly notice.

And the dialogue is so sharp I can't even stand it.

One of the mos…

Anatomy of a Scene: The Third Man

It's time again to break down a classic scene. One that's well-written and, in my view, a fine example of excellent craft.

I've done some of these articles from books (like The End of the Affairand Starship Troopers) and other movies (like Citizen Kane, City Lights, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid), but now it's time to take a look at a scene from The Third Man. It blends the best of Orson Welles (as he's in the film and drives this scene) and Graham Greene, who wrote this particular screenplay.

Before we get to the scene, we need some context.

The Third Man is a tale of the black market in Vienna, just after World War II. It's about a cheap, dime-store Western novelist named Holly Martins (played by Joseph Cotton) and his friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles.) Lime offered Martins a job in Vienna, so Martins leaves America and arrives, only to find that Harry Lime is dead. Penniless, without a friend or reason to be in the country, h…

The stories of Bryan Young

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