California

It's Alive!

Doc filmmaker Chris Paine assures viewers and environmentalists--the electric car was just taking a very long nap.


The Chevy Volt makes an appearance in "Revenge," as do vehicles converted by motivated car owners.

If you thought the electric car died a slow, tragic death, you're right. And if you're like filmmaker Chris Paine, who helped document its demise in Who Killed the Electric Car? or the inventors and advocates in his new film, Revenge of the Electric Car then you believe, beyond a shadow of the doubt, electric can and will power vehicles of the future. Read what Paine told the The Independent's Katherine Brodsky after his film premiered.

Director Chris Paine is back with a follow-up to his highly touted documentary, Who Killed the Electric Car?, which celebrated the birth and mourned the death of the electric car. With help from a cast of unwavering advocates, Paine resurrects the vehicle in Revenge of the Electric Car.

"Losing Control" Melds Science and Romance

Staff writer Maddy Kadish caught a screening of "Losing Control" and suggests you do, too.


Sam (Miranda Kent) looks for the formula for romance in "Losing Control."

Thanks to the candid film journal written by Valerie Weiss throughout the making of Losing Control, The Independent had an insider's view throughout its production. Now it's screening at venues throughout the US and Maddy Kadish explains why it's must-see viewing.

When describing their work, directors often talk about their need to reveal the truth. In her narrative feature Losing Control, scientist-turned-filmmaker, Valerie Weiss, shows us how both science and filmmaking involve the pursuit of truth.

Film Journal: Navigating the Uncertainty of Post-Production

Valerie Weiss finds that trial and error can be scary when editing, adding animation, and mixing sound, but it can also bring the filmmaker’s vision, finally, to life.


In the edit room with "Losing Control" (photo by Peter Lago).

Filmmaker Valerie Weiss shares her experiences financing, planning, and producing her independent feature film, Losing Control, through a behind-the-scenes series. In this installment, Weiss writes about how she chose and collaborated with her editor, colorist, sound mixer, and others involved with the tricky but rewarding post process.

In my last film journal, I talked about the production of my feature independent film, Losing Control, a quirky, romantic comedy about a female scientist who wants proof that her boyfriend is “the one.” I discussed the trials of production—locations falling through, lack of sleep, and stretching an already

Film Journal: Survival Strategies During Production

While shooting Losing Control, director Valerie Weiss discovers that the right support system can trump location changes, technical difficulties, and anything unexpected.


Like mother, like daughter; Valerie Weiss on-set with her daughter. (credit: Robert Johnson).

Lights fall and break, talent doesn't show, locations fall through. The process of making a film can be stressful. So, as director Valerie Weiss points out, it's helpful to surround yourself with a supportive family—both on-set and off.

In my last installment of my film journal, I wrote about the importance of pre-production for laying the groundwork for principal photography.

Film Journal: The Importance of Pre-Production

Pre-production is one of the most vital aspects of filmmaking. In the third installment of her journal, Valerie Weiss discusses how she laid the groundwork for a successful film.


Filmmaker Valerie Weiss (L) with Miranda Kent (R), <i>Losing Control</i>'s lead. (Photo by Richard Salazar.)

Filmmaker Valerie Weiss shares her experiences of financing, planning, and producing her first independent feature film Losing Control in this monthly film journal. In her third installment, Weiss writes about the trials and triumphs she experienced during pre-production.

In my first two installments of my Film Journal for The Independent, I wrote about the philosophy behind the $200,000 independent film. In this installment, I will talk about laying the groundwork to make our film at this budget, the period known as pre-production, and how the making of Losing Control reinforced the film's theme that faith is more valuable than proof.

10 Most Innovative Animation Programs

The Independent highlights 10 of the best animation programs in the United States. Did your alma mater make the cut?


Ringling animation student Lindsey Olivares recently won an award for her film, "Anchored."

The Independent scours the United States to find the 10 most innovative animation programs the country has to offer. The schools on this comprehensive list were picked based on reputation, creativity, and where their students find work after they earn their diplomas.

Opportunities abound today for animators to contribute to film — both independent and mainstream — television, and games, but it is still a competitive field, and choosing the right animation program can mean the difference between pushing the animation envelope at studios such as Pixar and

Film Journal: The Making of an Independent Feature

Filmmaker Valerie Weiss presents the first in a series about the making of her first feature Losing Control.


Valerie Weiss shares her experiences of writing and directing her first feature "Losing Control."

In The Independent's new series Film Journal: The Making of an Independent Feature, filmmaker Valerie Weiss will share her experiences of financing, making, and marketing her first independent feature film Losing Control. Here, she discusses her inspiration for making the film and her method of fundraising.

Filmmaker Valerie Weiss will share her experiences of financing, making, and marketing her first independent feature film Losing Control in this monthly film journal.

ITVS: Has This Key Funding Partner Lost its Way?

The Independent Television Service, or ITVS, is one of the most prestigious sources for film funding in the United States. But some filmmakers complain it's abusing its power.


PBS series Global Voices picked up the controversial "Father Roy: Inside the School of Assassins" ten years after its release.

The creation of the Independent Television Service in the mid-1990s as a source of funding for independent filmmakers was seen at the time as one of the great successes in the independent film movement. Today, the organization has a budget exceeding $12 million, and provides key funding to hundreds of films each year, including approving many outright grants in the six-figure range. All ITVS projects are supposed to completed and groomed for public television—but, in fact, one in three films funded by ITVS do not make to a major PBS series. Why is that? In more than a dozen interviews with filmmakers and people familiar with ITVS, some complaints emerge: namely, that ITVS is an overbearing funding partner that deploys "bulldog" lawyers and shrouds the funding process in secrecy. The Independent's Michele Meek takes a look at the organization and the independent filmmakers who rely on it, to find out what's going on.

In 2007, filmmaker Joanna Rudnick learned that her application for funding from the Independent Television Service (ITVS) had been accepted. Rudnick, a first-time director, had applied for ITVS funding to finance the completion of her documentary In the Family, a look at women who are aware they carry a genetic predisposition to breast or ovarian cancer.

The Doc Doctor's Anatomy of a Film: "Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea"

Chris Metzler and Jeff Springer braved camera-melting heat to film their documentary


A Shore Thing: Chris Metzler and Jeff Springer spent four years filming "Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea."

The Independent's Doc Doctor Fernanda Rossi analyzes the success of Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea (view the trailer), directed by Chris Metzler and Jeff Springer. The filmmakers talk about sleeping in their car, having a camera melt in the heat, landing John Waters as a narrator, and re-editing their film after its world premiere at Slamdance. Also, check out Rossi's last "Anatomy" column on The Longing. Attention Colorado Filmmakers: The Doc will be conducting her signature workshops on story structure and trailer mechanics in Denver on May 17 and 18; she is also speaking at the Boston Media Market on May 30. For details, visit Documentarydoctor.com.

About this column: Many filmmakers ponder in anguish, How do other people—celebrated people—do it? Am I taking too long to make this documentary? Does everybody spend as much money as I am spending, or am I spending too little? And when filmmakers share their lessons learned in interviews in the glossy trade magazines, their tales seem to follow the arc of otherworldy heroes rather than real documentary makers, i.e. human beings like you and me. So each month, the Doc Doctor will go out into the world (this real world) of filmmakers who are successful and find out how they made it. The "Anatomy of a Film Column" is a chance to learn from filmmakers' hits and misses in real life examples. —Fernanda Rossi, story consultant a.k.a. the Documentary Doctor

Lost Angels

Where is the indie scene in big bad LA?


I could just be romanticizing it now that I’ve moved, but in New York all the filmmakers I knew seemed to be creating by any means necessary—from Super-8 shorts to animation on their laptops while fundraising for a summer-shoot, to staging readings for a work-in-progress in between compiling documentary footage.

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