Capturing an artist’s creative process on film can be a tricky proposition. There have been many films, both fiction and non-, that have managed to capture that intimate intensity that only scratches the surface of what’s bubbling beneath. In fact, the best films about artists and musicians leave more unanswered questions than answered ones about the mystery of the creative impulse.There is a certain freak-show curiosity about those of us who really don’t do much else with our lives but make art–those of us who skirted the path of least resistance and jumped into a realm in which, in order to survive, one must do some heavy creative lifting. And for some artists, that can be a torturous existence since we live in a society that doesn’t tend to support or understand that kind of thing.I met Matthew Wallin, the director of the film project I Die Daily, at this year’s IFP Conference and Market. I saw a work–in-progress cut of Wallin’s film about artist and filmmaker, Matthew Barney, and was immediately intrigued and wondered if there was a chance for me to jump on board the project as a creative/consultative producer to help the filmmakers find funding to move into post, and to act as added support to see if we could get the project out there, looked at, and noticed. Not to mention exhibited, marketed, distributed and sold. It’s garnered a special invitation from the Berlin Film Festival early next year, and so it’s a key time for the director to show what he’s got to the European market. …Read more

Yes, hello, I’m your stranger-than-fiction girl, so happy, and honored, really, to have been asked to guest-blog for the day for the downtime-deprived, hard working Karina Longworth. Hope you’re soaking in a big tub for two right now, dearest.

I am a documentary geek and I’m open about that. So, most of what I’ll be writing about today centers on the nonfiction world.  If you’re not into docs, hopefully, you’ll find it all interesting and entertaining, anyway.

Stranger Than Fiction is also the name of Thom Powers‘ series, almost winding down, at the IFC Center. Tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m., there will be a screening of Jessica Yu’s powerful documentary, Protagonist, followed by a Q&A with the director and an after-party hosted by exec producer Greg Carr in a swanky penthouse. The last swanky penthouse to which I got to go had the most fabulous views of our fair city, so I highly recommend trying to get into one. All you have to do in this case is buy a ticket to the screening and it will be money well-spent, trust me. …Read more

So if you haven’t yet read the latest issue of Fast Company, you should. Alan Deutschman and Scott Kirsner cover the changing, bomb-shelled landscape of movie distribution. ("Hollywood’s New Wave" and "Maverick Mogul" only available in print right now)

Of course, for some of you the issue will be mostly review. They cover the usual names-Mark Cuban and Steven Soderbergh (2929 Entertainment and Landmark Theaters), Harvey Weinstein, Lloyd Braun (Yahoo!)-but they also give some back-story to what the studios are doing to keep up. Still, the coverage around film distribution and the digital age is heavily slanted toward the question, "How will Hollywood survive digital download?"

Who cares? Why is it that corporate brass monopolizes the discussion around the coming new age of film distribution? I really don’t care what happens to them, I care what happens to me. It’s no surprise to me that Chicken Little was released this year because the mood with these media execs seems to be "The sky is falling! And it’s raining every film ever made and they’re available for free! And Mark Cuban is the mad scientist controlling the weather!"

So silly. But as Steven Soderbergh and Mark Cuban are quick to point out, the Hollywood system is terrible at innovating and very skilled at reacting. So they’re reacting to what happened to the music industry and jumping on the the iTunes train to salvation. But what about me? Why doesn’t Anne Sweeney at Disney-ABC TV, Brian Roberts at Comcast, Kevin Tsujihara at Warner Bros and Blair Westlake at Microsoft sit back, take a deep breath and imagine what it is like to be a little fella like Paul-a father and film lover living in the gloriously snow covered Midwest?

Please, imagine me suddenly being able to get 100,000 films for $2.99 each downloaded onto my iBook over a wicked fast internet connection. Imagine me sitting in a cafe, sipping the House Blend, reading a one paragraph synopsis on a movie-a movie I will commit two hours of my life to. Now imagine me picking up my cell phone and calling one of my film club buddies and asking them if they’ve heard about any good films lately.

Bingo. The real winner in the coming age of Video Download is Verizon Wireless. That is, of course, unless there is a place called Spout to find out about what the people in the know are saying about the diamonds in the rough. Nonetheless, it’s exciting to see Fast Company covering some problems we’ve been working on for over a year now. Maybe it takes the whining of Hollywood brass to get the attention of a magazine like Fast Company, but it’s the rest of us who will determine the real future of film.