Search results matching tag 'Behind_the_Scenes'

Oscar Win for Once's Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova

amy brock — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 02:12:00 GMT

Angela LoSasso
Web Content Manager, Imaging and Printing Group, U.S.

Congratulations to Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova for their Oscar win tonight for Best Song, "Falling Slowly" from the film Once (the 2007 Sundance World Cinema Audience Award winner).

HP has a special place in its heart for Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, as they were gracious enough to give HP a live performance of this Oscar-winning song on a snowy January day during the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Take a look and listen.

Technorati Tags: sundance, sundance film festival, sundance film 2007, hp, hewlett packard, robert redford, once, glen hansard, marketa irglova, columbia records, oscars

Quincy Coleman & band perform live at Sundance 2008

amy brock — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 07:05:00 GMT

Matthew Caldwell
Creative Director - HP Newsgram

This Quincy is one cool cat.
Her song "Afraid" was featured in the academy award winning film "Crash".
More recently her song "Give it Away" can be heard in the Keri Russel film "Waitress".

Her dusky vocals and rustic, bold style are modern yet classic.

Ms. Coleman was accompanied by Jeff Pearlman on guitar and Stuart Cole (a brave trumpeter... can you imagine playing a trumpet at thirteen degrees).

They treated HP to an exclusive performance at the crossroads of Sundance, off Heber & Main.

QUINCY COLEMAN LIVE AT SUNDANCE 2008

Quincy Coleman Website

Need inspiration? Check out these women

amy brock — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 17:37:00 GMT

by Lisa Tucker
Interactive Marketing

As my colleague Kate Sheofsky pointed out in her earlier blog post, Game On, Sundance is a place to get inspired. I found inspiration in many different places – not the least of which was my meeting with two women who are making their way through the male-dominated area of documentary filmmaking, Susan Turley and Annie Roney.

Turley is a producer from Berkeley, California, who actually got into the business through her friend, Annie Roney, a documentary producer with Ro*co Films. Roney has the distinction of being the only documentary producer to have six of her films nominated for Academy Awards - including one win for Born into Brothels in 2004.

© Wireimage Pimentel
Lisa Tucker speaks to Susan Turley in the HP Broadcast Studio at Sundance.

It was Roney’s Oscar-nominated movie, Promises, which first got Turley into the business. After viewing the movie, Turley says she had an “epiphany”. With tears running down her face, she turned to her husband and said, “I have to do that.”

Turley started working for Roney soon after, offering to “lick stamps” just to get into the business. Her previous experience in sales in the clothing industry helped her work her way up to Vice President of World Wide Sales for five years, before going off on her own to be a producer. She did so to jump at the opportunity to work with Justine Shapiro, the filmmaker of Promises, on her new film project, “Global Moms: Iran” (working title).

Turley is also currently in production on a documentary called The Architect and the Painter: The Creative Lives of Charles and Ray Eames. The film features the Eames’ – perhaps the most important American designers of the twentieth century. Through their ground-breaking work in architecture, furniture, film exhibitions, toys and graphics, Charles and Ray brought Modernism to the American marketplace and America to the forefront of world design. The film starts production in March 2008.

For Roney, her passion continues through films that she “loves, are haunted by, and there is a market for.” Once such film is Girls Rock, a documentary about “girlhood” set at a rock and roll camp for girls in Portland, Oregon. Roney first saw the film at an IFP (Independent Feature Project) event and was so impressed by the two guys making it and the message of the film, that she wanted to do it immediately. Ironically, her own young daughter had recently expressed interest in playing the electric guitar.

Roney recommends that girls age 7 and up go see the film along with their parents.

“The film speaks to friendship, image, self-esteem, and it is not in-your-face,” she says.

Roney says often these types of documentaries don’t get made, due to the large number of males in the industry. Not saying there is a blatant gender bias in the industry, Roney suggests only that males “bring a different sensibility” than females to the industry. “You really pick what resonates with you,” she explains.

The film Girls Rock opens March 7 in seven major cities, a widespread opening for a documentary film. I for one will be taking my two daughters to see it – perhaps they will find their own inspiration there.

In the Age of Web 2.0, Do Film Critics Matter?

amy brock — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 17:18:00 GMT

by Sibel Satiroglu
Interactive Marketing

Do you read film reviews before or after you see a film? Or not at all? How does the film critic influence your interpretation of the film? Personally, I read reviews after I have seen the film, to validate my likes, dislikes and interpretations. And if I am at odds with the critic, I simply assume my opinion to be of superior, concluding that the critic "simply did not get it", or clearly missed out on some of the vital nuances! As another chapter of Sundance closes and we settle into the humdrums of daily life, I muse upon one of the panels attended about the importance of film critics, especially in the age of web 2.0.

One of the most boisterous members of the panel was Owen Gleiberman, film critic at Entertainment Weekly. He argued passionately that amongst film critics, there has emerged a certain group thinking and a certain duty of exalting average films, mainly due to pressure from editors to succumb to unanimity of opinion. He rightly asks, "Where is the voice of dissent and the diversity of opinion?” For, the greatest danger of group thinking is when the internet acts as an aggregator of all these voices (such as on rottentomatoes.com where films are merely reduced to percentages), and individual voices of non-dissent become a colossal voice of non-dissent.

Mark Bell, the editor-in-chief of filmthreat.com offered a more positive outlook and asserted that the internet has a powerful role in providing voice to diversity of opinions. Individual bloggers for example have sparked amazing conversations, whereby the starting content itself has become less important than the conversation which ensues.

Another subject touched upon was the "popcornisation" of film (ah, a very telling noun!). Our boisterous panelist Owen Gleiberman made an ever great point about the proliferation and rising popularity of less than average films, films that make no sense, films utterly lacking in human dimensions. What is it that makes society watch these films? Are we so tired that we simply want to tune out and watch just anything, despite critical review? In the words of Owen, culture needs art. Mass culture needs mass art. Films are the art form of the modern era. The question is not so much if films have become so trivial that film critics do not matter. The far greater problem is if films stop mattering, then it is inconsequential that critics do not matter. For then, films would be a vanishing art.

Yet, at the end of the panel, we all took heart. Creativity, inspiration, imagination, new voices, new visions abound all around us. We merely have to seek alternative channels. Sundance, for example, stands against this popcornisation. Similarly, HP-Youtube's international film competition Project Direct is another example of user-generated creative inspiration. Imagine - a famous screen writer in her own country, the winner of the contest Adriana Falcão, was little known outside of Brazil. But with the power of web 2.0, she was able to share with the world her artistic vision and creativity with her winning film. Indeed, many stories wait to be told by new voices out there …

Game On

amy brock — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:29:00 GMT

Kate Sheofsky
Web Content Manager

Sundance ’08 is over and the buzz has died down, but I still feel like I’m flying high. Because here’s the thing- being surrounded by all that creative energy did something to me. I want to say that it inspired me, and motivated me, and brought out my inner artist. I want to say that, but it would be a lie. It actually made me feel like a lazy sack. Park City was filled with people who were willing to do whatever it took to live their dream.

And me? I think about living my dream as long as that dream can take place during the commercial breaks of

America

’s Next Top Model. Something needs to change.

I’m a deadline driven person so here’s my self-imposed assignment: write and revise a feature-length screenplay and start submitting it to screenwriting competitions or agents by the end of July. I’ll be chronicling my experience as I take on this project on the HP Community wiki, and I challenge you to do the same (not that you have to write a screenplay, mind you. The way I see it, less competition = a better chance of winning for me. But I do think everyone should take the time to create something and to share that creation with others, and the community wiki is a great place to do just that).

So, I’ll be hanging out on the wiki. Where will you be?

Technorati tags: sundance, sundance film festival, 2008 sundance film festival, hp, hewlett packard, hp community wiki

HP Printing Studio for Professional Photographers

amy brock — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 16:18:00 GMT

Cindy Maestas
Interactive Marketing

Hello from Sundance! I have been working most of the week in the HP Printing Studio in the basement of the Sundance House at the Kimball Art Center. The Printing Studio is a hands-on place for credentialed and professional photographers to go to print their photos on several available HP Photosmart Pro B9180 printers. The studio is equipped with a Mac and two PC’s with Photoshop so it’s a great way for photographers to come and print (for free!) the fabulous photos taken around and about on the streets, movies and parties at Sundance. Throughout the week we have printed dozens of beautiful fine art quality photos for the many photographers who come to the event.

As many of our visitors have been members of the press, it really struck me how many beautiful images get taken by them but that never get to see the light of day. I spoke to a photographer from Getty Images who lamented that he might take 3,000 images at a single event and never print a single one of them – only a few get used for professional publication. He commented that he sometimes uses his printer at home (an Epson) to print his photos but frequently gets problems with the ink drying up and having to print several times to get an acceptable print – this means too much wasted time, effort, and money to bother especially when he is constantly out on the road on assignment and he doesn’t have time to mess with it. Many of the photographers we encountered at the HP Printing Studio had never seen the B9180 and were extremely impressed with not only the superb print quality, but even more so with the some of the lesser understood technologies of the printer – for example, this is the only printer on the market that can be calibrated at your command to ensure that the colors in the print match what you see on your monitor – extremely important for fine art and professional prints! People were also very interested in the fact that this printer does a daily check on all of its 8000+ print nozzles to make sure that none of them are clogged or experiencing problems and if they are it fixes them! These kinds of technologies ensure the level of reliability that busy press photographers need. I was thrilled to see the great interest in the product as well as get to see some of the absolutely fabulous photos taken at the festival by the photographers who are out braving the cold and snow patiently waiting for great photo opps!

Tom Hubbard at the HP Printing Studio
Photo by Cindy Maestas

I also had the distinct pleasure of sharing “booth duty” with Tom Hubbard who also works for HP doing business development for HP’s line of Photosmart Pro professional photo printers. Tom has been a professional photographer for 35 years and his knowledge and expertise about everything related to photography is amazing! I peppered Tom with all kinds of questions throughout the week and it was like getting a one-on-one photography class! And not only that, I am now ready to buy my first SLR camera – I can’t wait! Tom is a great resource for any photographer --beginner or seasoned -- so stop by the Sundance House and say hello and get some of your photos printed!

Technorati tags: sundance, sundance film festival, 2008 sundance film festival, hp, hewlett packard

HP interviews Amy Redford

amy brock — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 20:25:00 GMT

Matthew Caldwell
Creative Director - HP Newsgram

Sundance's favorite daughter sat down with HP to talk about her new film The Guitar.

Watch the interview with Amy Redford

Amy Redford, daughter of Robert Redford grew up in New York City with Summers and holidays spent in Utah.

At 37 she has enjoyed an extensive acting career in films and on TV.
The Guitar marks her directorial debut.

The film, written by Amos Poe, is about a woman (played by Saffron Burroughs) who learns she has terminal cancer. She decides to spend her last days surrounding herself with her favorite objects.

We caught up with Amy on a bright tuesday morning and asked her about her film, her life under the Sundance kid and who she's listening to on her ipod.

Rooftop, fireside performance by The Submarines

amy brock — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 17:17:00 GMT

Matthew Caldwell
Creative Director - HP Newsgram

Red-hot L.A. band, The Submarines perform an exclusive new song called Swimming Pool.

The song will appear on their upcoming album Honeysuckle Weeks on Nettwerk Records.

The Submarines (Blake Hazzard & John Dragonetti) sat down fireside, on the rooftop of the posh Sky Lodge, in Park City. Overlooking the lights of Sundance and the surrounding snowy peaks they treated us to this sweet tune.

WATCH THE SUBMARINES PERFORM LIVE AT SUNDANCE

Hear more music from The Submarines on myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/thesubmarinesmusic

HP Backstage at Sundance

Laços - Ties, Relationships, and the Winner of HP/YouTube's Project:Direct

amy brock — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 13:24:00 GMT

by Sibel Satiroglu
WW Interactive Marketing

Last night was the screening of Laços by Adriana Falcão, the beautifully poetic and melodic six-minute short film from Brazil with “something to say”. It is the winner of the first-ever international film contest called Project:Direct on YouTube, sponsored by HP. Under the umbrella of IPG’s What Do You Have to Say campaign, the requirements for film submission included a passing of a photo and the tag line, “What Do You Have to Say?”

At the screening, we had a chance to talk with Adriana Falcão about the making of the film - its title, its music, her interpretations of its conclusion, its colors ...

"Lacos," literally translated as "ties" from Portuguese, also has the connotation of "relationships".

Its beginning is as open and free to interpretation as its end.

Already a celebrated screenwriter and author in Brazil, Adriana was prompted to submit a film for the YouTube-HP film contest by her daughter Clarice who stars in the film. According to Adriana, the idea was to simply participate, and it was an extraordinary surprise to be chosen as the final winner by the YouTube community voters.

The winning announcement stirred amazing buzz and dominated front-page news in Brazil. Whilst Clarice could not join us in Sundance, she has been very busy focusing on her artistic career. She will appear on the cover of Vogue-Brazil next month, and has received acting offers from Brazilian soap operas!

The lovely melody, composed in a matter of just thirty minutes and performed by Clarice herself, was what initially enticed my interest. The film unfolds with a tearful Clarice running through the streets of Rio de Janeiro, against the backdrop of the comforting colors of subtle, sun-drenched walls and houses, of pastel hues of yellows, pinks, greens. With red carnations in her hand, she is escaping from something, something we know not. The carnation travels with us through the film – it is thrown, dropped, picked up, embraced, placed in a photo. The subtlety of the background music echoes the sentiments of the crying girl … escaping from something that is inescapable ….

I could go to Australia
I could fly to Japan
Could go to South America
Well, everybody can
Could run like hell to China

The end of the film offers a surprise. When asked about the interpretation of the end, Adriana says, "I prefer no closure.” She prefers to leave matters open to interpretation, and touch upon the mysterious and mystical and often unexplained elements of life. Indeed, the power of films is when it sparks such inspiring conversation and dialogue amongst the viewers.

As a result of winning the contest, we asked Adriana about her greatest learning as an artist. “The contest showed me a new media, a new way of communicating on YouTube,” she said. Indeed, such is the power of web 2.0 - to enable expression, creativity, participation and sharing easily and readily! For everybody has something to say! Sometimes experimental, other times powerful, joyful or thought-provoking, subtle or direct, poetic or prose ….

Another kind of picture-maker

amy brock — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:07:00 GMT

by Lisa Tucker
WW Interactive Communications

Besides the many people at Sundance calling themselves filmmakers, there is another genre of folks here also taking pictures. With so many celebrities on hand, there are massive amounts of photographers here taking photographs. One such person is Todd Williamson, freelance photographer working Sundance on behalf of WireImage.

Williamson got into the photography business just 5 or 6 years ago when he decided to quit his job on Wall Street to go to film school to become a director. When he saw that no one in film school was getting a job, he took a job as a production assistant on the set of a VH1 show where he tried his hand at shooting video. That job lead to a job shooting corporate videos, and eventually to shooting stills. He soon fell in love with still photography, and that is where he has remained.

But he didn’t stop there.

A cover shot for a now defunct magazine, led Williamson to the idea of starting his own magazine. The idea was realized last year with the first edition of “h” magazine.

In its eighth month, the magazine is a publication in the same vein as Vanity Fair or W. It includes celebrity profiles, movie reviews, sex columnists, and a conspiracy column. It is a free, LA-based magazine, the second largest of its kind in the city, with a circulation of over 25,000. It can be found in over 500 locations through LA, including Blockbuster, Bally’s, coffee shops and grocery stores.

Set in large, tabloid format, the magazine is stunning – showing off the prowess of its chief photographer, Williamson. He has shot such well-known celebrities for the cover such as Bryan Greenberg, Sam Rockwell, Lili Taylor, Mira Sorvino, Michael C. Hall, and next month, Sarah Michelle Gellar. Williamson and the magazine’s editors choose the cover models based on reasons other than how big of a star they are.

“We like to profile talented people – people who don’t normally get a lot of press,” said Williamson. “You won’t see Lindsay or Paris on our cover.”

The goal for Williamson is to continue shooting freelance, but also to break even on the magazine, eventually even making a profit. But more than anything, says Williamson, “We want to make a magazine that leaves an impression on people.”

If you live in LA, pick up the magazine next time you are in the grocery store. If like me, you live in a fly-over state (ha!), you can still subscribe to the magazine via the website – Hmonthly.com.