Today, I had a meeting with Soraya Arrabal, a Spanish filmmaker who is working on a feature-length film about women's empowerment. A lawyer with a special interest in human rights, Soraya will be joining our team of bloggers to write about women's rights.
I also had the opportunity to exchange more emails with Kabul-based, Afghan female director, Alka Sadat, who sent me links to her films. I invite you to watch her work on her website. I sent Sadat some interview questions via email, which will soon be published on Film Annex. In addition to discussing her work specifically, I was interested in learning more about working as a female filmmaker in Afghanistan.
Posters of Sadat's films
Yesterday, I worked with our editor, Semyon Maltsev, on an interview with animation filmmaker, Nick Fox-Gieg, which we shot last week. Nick is an award-winning filmmaker whose work was showcased in many film festivals, including SXSW, Ottawa, Rotterdam, and TIFF. His film, The Orange, won the jury prize for Best Animated Short at SXSW 2010. Nick is currently a Fellow at the Eyebeam Art and Technology Center in NYC. You can watch our interview below. Let me know what you think about our new font choice! :)
Speaking of interviews, after the new year, we'll have three industry people at our studio. The first two are Luis Blanco and Michael Uman, the Creative Directors of Interspectacular, an NYC-based animation and motion graphics company. With Luis and Michael, we'll talk about the future of animation and digital distribution. The second interview will be held with Mari Lyn Henry, Director ofProgramming at the League of Professional Theater Women and the author of How To Be A Working Actor, which has been in publication over 20 years. We'll talk about what's it like to be a woman working in the Film and TV Industry.
Last, but not least, I've spent considerable time in corresponding with our filmmakers, Mark Kuczewski, Amy Hill, Lisa Stock, Anderson West, Alex Nakone, Andy Parker, Jonathan NG, and Ken Turner about the filmmaking curriculum they're helping us create for Examer. So far, I've received:
1 multiple-choice test about Final Cut Pro (20 questions)
1 multiple-choice test about Canon 5D (20 questions)
2 multiple-choice tests about basic cinematography (10 questions each, 20 questions total)
1 multiple-choice test about basic editing
In the upcoming week, I will work with the filmmakers to create more tests on:
Animation (different methods by different filmmakers)
Screenwriting
Storytelling, and more...
I'll catch everybody in the NEW YEAR!
