I walked up Seventh Ave, took a right at 18th Street, went straight up to my loft and started pounding out a scene. It began with shooting up a church funeral and ended with the shooter disguised as a Hassid getting the jump on his pursuers and murdering all of them. I called him Jimmy Jump. It was only a start, but it was the vibe that I passed on to Nicky St. John, my screenwriter and filmmaking partner. We eventually called it King of New York.
1 – Thou shalt not take the crisis out of the protagonist’s hands.
2 – Thou shalt not make life easy for the protagonist.
3 – Thou shalt not give exposition for exposition’s sake.
4 – Thou shalt not use false mystery or cheap surprise.
5 – Thou shalt respect thy audience.
6 – Thou shalt know thy world as God knows this one.
7 – Thou shalt not complicate when complexity is better.
8 – Thou shalt seek the end of the line, taking characters to the farthest depth of the conflict imaginable within the story’s own realm of probability.
9 – Thou shalt not write on the nose — put a subtext under every text.
10 – Thou shalt rewrite.
“I had an antagonistic relationship early on, at least in my mind, with most directors and films. A lot of what I was trying to do is the opposite of what I was seeing. I was trying to get to a place that was more internal… there were images and sounds and things that were specific to what I wanted to see in a way that I had never seen them before. I was trying to invent my own film language.”
“I know it’s not the U.S. government or the President’s job to understand how movies are made,” says entertainment consultant Kathryn Arnold, “but if you understand how complex and interconnected the global film market is—both on a production and a distribution level—it’s devastating and doesn’t make any sense
Alamo Drafthouse employees at the lower Manhattan and downtown Brooklyn locations announced their union had successfully struck a deal in which all laid-off staffers will be rehired. The union went on strike in mid-February after months of bargaining with management over key issues like scheduling, wages and safety concerns. The agreement, which was ratified on Sunday, will reinstate the roughly 70 workers who were let go. It will also restore those employees’ previously accrued paid time off, sick days, seniority and hire date, the union said. Struck staffers will resume work on Friday.
In these turbulent, uncertain times, No Film School reports that the indie funding ecosystem is still intact.
Here’s a list of opportunities for the Independent Filmmaker in 2025.
They can try to take everything from us, but they can’t take this!
Fight the machine, make movies!
“ We want it to be an experience to come into the store and browse the shelves like you did back in the day, the idea of being able to find something new purely on the cover art or because of a blurb is much more exciting than finding a listing on Amazon… I think that these Blu-rays and 4Ks, these new editions, are sort of where vinyl records were 15 years ago, there’s no question it’s a niche market, but that niche is passionate, rabid and is growing all the time.” Night Owl Video opens April 11th
Filmmaker Tom DiCillo talks collaborating with Steve Buscemi,
why his Director of Photography purposely sabotaged his film,
receiving a heart-warming letter from Peter Dinklage’s parents,
his battle to cast an unknown actor named Brad Pitt in his first leading role,
and much more on the Film Situation Podcast.
You Are Here draws on this rich archive of movies set in New York, combining thousands of cinematic moments across 16 screens. Sources include Hollywood blockbusters, independent films, documentaries, and experimental works. By juxtaposing these multiple visions, the dazzling montages of You Are Here make connections and contrasts that allow movies to comment on each other across time and space. Now through 10/5/2025 @ Museum Of The City Of New York.
I sat down and watched “The Royal Tenenbaums” with my son. He had never seen it. I hadn’t watched it since I lost my own father. I found myself getting emotional, thinking about my dad, and the experience
of making the movie all those years ago, and getting a chance to actually work with one of my idols.