BOOKS FOR ACTORS & SCREENWRITERS

I read the first chapter of this book and found it to be quite good for actors
(and filmmakers in general). I'm looking forward to the rest of it:

"Stella Adler: The Art of Acting" by Stella Adler, Marlon Brando, Howard Kissel

and this one was inspiring (as opposed to gaining a lot of knowledge) for
screenwriters:

"Oscar-Winning Screenwriters on Screenwriting: The Award-Winning Best in the
Business Discuss Their Craft"
by Joel Engel

-Anup
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NOWCASTING.COM

I've know about this site for a while, but thought it was only a paid-site.
However, they do have a limited free service which is really good. Plus, it's
one of the most popular sites. NYPD Blue, Crossing Jordan, etc have posted the
'sides' (2-3 pages of a script for an audition) on there.

This site is also a great place to post casting calls as well if you're a
filmmaker.

http://www.NowCasting.com

-Anup

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NEGATIVE DVD COMMENTARIES

Well, I finally saw all the Project Greenlight DVDs including the movie. The
first disc of them pitching their scripts is definately the best one. In the
actual movie, Kevin Pollack was the best part.

However, during the commentary, it just seemed like producers Chris Moore (Good
Will Hunting) and Jeff Balis along with the director were just pointing out all
the mistakes they made during the filmming. Most of it was dealing with
continuity issues (like when you see the same car in the background show up in
numerous scenes). I didn't catch any of the mistakes initially, but when they
brought it up it was so evident. It brought the movie to a whole new low.

So, I realized at that point that I will do my best to not say things to bring
down the value of my movie. Most movies are made on very tight budgets and you
won't have money for a different car in all 20 scenes or what have you. That's
the magic of movie-making. However, if you give the magic away and point out
all the flaws, what's the point? Just keep the magic alive.

-Anup

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DOC FUNDING AVAILABLE

Anthony Radziwill Documentary Fund Seeks Applications

Deadline: September 1 and March 1, annually

The Anthony Radziwill Documentary Fund, administered by
IFP/New York ( http://ifp.org/ ), provides seed/development
grants for independently produced documentary projects by
U.S. resident filmmakers.

Five grants up to $10,000 will be given in this cycle for
documentary projects in development. http://ifp.org/docfund
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CANON XL2 miniDV CAMERA

This XL2 camera is almost 'there'. It's an awesome step up from the XL1 which
we used for "Trade Offs" (you can see the quality on the trailer on my site -
www.anup.net). I'm not being biased b/c it was my movie, but rather from my
film programming stint where I viewed hundreds of films all shot on DV and this
is one the nicest looking one - props to Jenny Ramirez (DP) and Foster Corder
(Gaffer).

The XL2 features a native 16:9 aspect ratio and it has 24p mode (to give it the
film look). I'm just waiting for the theoretical "XL3" which I imagine will
have the above features plus the added benefit of incorporating HD (which JVC
currently has for about $4K). We'll wait and see.

http://www.canondv.com

-Anup

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SHORT FILM SCRIPT WANTED FOR DISTRIB DEAL

I have a distribution deal to produce a few "Micro-Budget" digital
features. If you don't know what that means, then it means you
don't have a script for me.

I'm looking for Urban (action, horror, comedy, christian), Latin
(action, comedy, horror) and Mainstream (action and horror)
screenplays.

I'm particularly interested in turning a Christian play into a
gospel musical. I would also be very interested in an Urban Martial
Arts movie.

This request is time sensitive so please respond and spread the word
quickly.

Christopher Odom
urbanscripts@...