By Brian Hieggelke
My final day at the festival was one of brass tacks. The panel entitled “How NOT to Produce Movies” drew a standing-room-only crowd to hear Matthew Mills, Amy Lo, Kim Sherman and Michael Tully share bits of knowledge about how to choose projects (“No one ever feels confident with a script,” said Mills), how to nip bad days on the set in the bud and nuances of casting decisions (casting directors can open the door to agents who might take the film more seriously, said Tully, who landed Susan Sarandon for his upcoming “Ping Pong Summer,” but turned to casting agents to fill out the “name” roles and then cast Ocean City, Maryland locals for the rest).
The panel “In the Lion’s Den,” with director Bob Byington, actors Jason Schwartzman and Tunde Adebimpe, and producer Seana Flanagan, promised frontline insight into a film currently in production (“7 Chinese Brothers”) but turned into a whimsical blowing off of steam for the creative team, it seemed. At least it was funny. Read More