THE INDEPENDENT REPORTER
AN INDEPENDENTS GUIDE TO INDEPENDENT CINEMA
Dedicated to Independent Cinema
NEWS
March 25, 2009
   


                                    
2012 = CYBORNETICS

COUNTDOWN TO THE INDIE SCI-FI EVENT OF THE MILLENNIA

                                                       

                                                       
                                             CYBORNETICS COMING SOON...

Starring: Raw Leiba, Hillary Hawkins, James Rich & Justiin A. Davis.
 Produced By: 360 Sound and Vision Entertainment


www.CYBORNETICSMOVIE.com
 

   
  THE MINORITY  (SPECIAL EDITION - DIRECTORS CUT)  
    
                


        


        

360 Sound and Vision Entertainment, a newly formed entertainment and distribution company located in Tribeca, New York City, will release an exciting new DVD product into the marketplace in the fall of 2010.  The award winning film, The Minority, will be released as a special edition DVD. This DVD will include a newly edited version of the film, released as a special edition Director’s Cut. The DVD will also feature never before seen outtakes of the film and a cast and crew biography. In addition to the accompanied music videos and trailers, The Minority Special Edition DVD will be a strong contender in the DVD marketplace for this Holiday season. With the repetitive glut of Hollywood tent-pole movies, a refreshing alternative independent film about the true realities of human beings will become a smarter choice for today's picky consumers. "The Minority" is a film that brings a refreshing blend of passion, art, and social awareness to Independent Cinema. ? 

The Minority is a fictional account of Jake Jackson, a young upwardly mobile African American professional who is exceptionally upbeat and happy about his lifestyle. Jake’s personality as an all around honest, law-abiding, All-American good guy is how we start off the story. His troubles begin when he mysteriously gets fired from his relaxed office job. After embarking on a quest to pursue similar employment, he gets bombarded with more unforeseen acts of racism. This treatment leads him to question his place in society as a man, but most shockingly to him, as a black man. Being educated, well spoken, clean cut and well dressed, he has lived his life oblivious to this kind of behavior. Growing more and more confused as to his place in society. We witness the withering of Jake’s squeaky warm-hearted, nice guy attitude - disintegrate into one of anguish, wrath and mayhem. We watch as Jake draws closer and closer to a path of lunacy and insanity, brought on by a world in which seem to only judge him based on something as irrelevant and trivial as skin complexion. 


Jake’s unfortunate downhill slide somehow get’s mysteriously obstructed, by an unlikely brush with a wanted Serial Killer. Does this lead to Jake’s long awaited salvation, or does this spell more trouble? Find out in, “The Minority” (Special Edition). 

The Minority is a film meant to show the world how profoundly racism can affect the life of a person, any person. Using Jake Jackson as a case study. “The Minority” shows with great effectiveness how prejudices can shape and change the everyday lives and outlook of an African American person, or any person who is a minority in any society. That person may be the nicest person you’ll ever meet, who just happens to be in The Minority. Billoah Greene stars as Jake Jackson in The Minority, an Independent film from Director Dwayne Buckle.

The Minority has so far been screened at 7 film festivals, winning 3 awards and is currently being scheduled to screen at more film festivals in the future. The Minority has had screenings at The Pan African Film Festival, Los Angeles, The Black Harvest Film Festival, Chicago, The Urban Literary Film Festival, North Carolina, The Urban Media Makers Film Festival, Atlanta, Georgia, The HAYTI Heritage Film Festival, North Carolina, The Buffalo International Film Festival, Buffalo, New York and The STEPS International Rights Film Festival, Kharkiv, Ukraine. The Minority has won Best Feature Film (The 7th Urban Media Maker’s Film Festival), and two Honorable Mention Awards (15th Pan African Film Festival, 3rd STEPS International Rights Festival) and is now available Internationally on this special edition DVD. 

360 Sound and Vision is an independently owned film distribution company located in Tribeca, New York City. Tribeca, New York is the home of a rich film community that features many notable film establishments and residents such as the legendary Robert Di Nero, Leonardo DiCaprio, The Tribeca Film Festival, Edward Burns, Scarlett Johansson, Jay-Z and many notable others. 360 Sound and Vision specializes in African-American Drama, Action, Science Fiction, Thriller and Fantasy based films, bringing a diversified niche to Black programming…that people from all races can enjoy. 

The Minority combines a lush cinematic 16mm film format with stylized camera angles and big city exterior wide shots. The film utilizes a satirical approach to storytelling and acting. This softens the films overall impact and lends a lighter side to its heavy subject matter. 

The Minority (Special Edition)?, is a new release DVD, it will be released November 23, 2010 and will be available internationally online and in retail outlets. The Minority Special Edition will also be available as a VoD (Video on-Demand), through various VoD partners such as Amazon Video on Demand, Cinema Now, You Tube Rentals, Big Star TV, IndieFlix and many others. The Minority Special Edition Directors Cut should not be confused with The Minority Original Widescreen Version that is currently available as a separate title through such VoD providers as Amazon Video on Demand, Cinema Now, and others. 


The Minority stars Billoah Greene, Carson Grant, Bern Cohen, Charles Gaylord, Ava Mateova, James Stover, Allyson Sereboff, Don Money, Josh Norton, Theodora Dunlap, Sayra Player and Joel Johnstone and features a cameo appearance by Joe Jackson (father of Micheal Jackson) The Release Date is November, 23, 2010, the distributor is 360 Sound and Vision. 

The films trailer can be seen at the link below: 
http://www.TheMinorityMovie.com?? 

The Official Website of 360 Sound and Vision 
http://www.360SoundandVision.com? 



THE GLASSES: EPISODE 2


The Glasses, a very successful short fantasy based science fiction film produced by the great new upstart in brilliant alternative Independent filmmaking that goes by the moniker 360 Sound and Vision Entertainment, has manifested itself into producing a sequel of The Glasses,  another short film going by the same title, alternatively called The Glasses: Episode 2. The initial film rode to success by utilizing  a vastly innovative grass-roots street marketing campaign on the streets of New York City that enabled the 9 minute short film (packaged with a 22 minute documentary, and a series of innovative music video's) to sell many thousands of DVD's both nationally and internationally, grossing profits many times it's production budget and prompting many fans of the film to demand a sequel. Now low and behold after a good 3 year run on the  DVD circuit, the sequel has finally gone into production, produced by the sensational 360 Sound and Vision Entertainment a cutting edge New York City based motion picture firm and utilizing the talents of writer-director Dwayne Buckle, we go behind the scenes of this fantastical futuristic fable about a pair of designer sunglasses that gives sights into the near future, only to see not-so-good things. The unknowing, mysterious nature of the film sends chills up your spine as things are happening before they actually happen, you as a viewer only wish to inform the unbeknownst character to not to continue whatever he/she was set about to do, as the passive mundane nature of the film's heart-pumping delivery hit's you sharply but eerily as you realize it is only you that have been forewarned!
 
 With a deluxe cast of extraordinarily diverse talent participating in the The Glasses: Episode 2, which includes VH-1 reality-show star Kwame Smalls (IT from I Love Money 2 & I Love New York 2), Shawna Bermender (Jack Goes Boating a new film directed by Phillipp Seymour Hoffman, Zoolander, The Deed To Hell), Nick Raio (Guile from Street Fighter: The Later Years, Dennis Leary's Rescue Me, The Sopranos), James Thomas Bligh (Brooklyn's Finest directed by Antoine Fuqua, Burn After Reading, Sex in the City) and mixed together in a pool of cleverly done B-Movie styled blood and gore make-up effects topped off by a string of great music and arrangements makes the movie, which is filled with unsuspecting, unlucky, and untimely scenarios only makes The Glasses:Episode 2 a compelling visual and aural cinematic experience worthy of many more sequels to come and perhaps maybe even a feature length version, which from what we heard from the creator of The Glasses franchise Dwayne Buckle, is in the works.




Writer-director Dwayne Buckle shooting with the Sony EX-1 HD camera outfitted with a Letus lens 
adaptor on the set of The Glasses: Episode 2




Actor Kwame Smalls in make-up in a scene from The Glasses: Episode 2




The original Glasses movie poster from the first film.
For more informational on The Glasses film series, visit
                www.360SoundandVision.com

 




BIFF: The Buffalo International Film Festival


Kicking off it's 3rd year the Buffalo International Film Festival, in Buffalo New York aims to showcase works of rare artistic magnitude.  The festival also serves as a meeting point between filmmakers of worlds both past and present and integrates various genres of films culminating over various decades  and subject matters and gives audiences new opportunities to witness rare innovations in the techniques of film.
In 2007 the Buffalo International Film Festival was responsible for the discovery of the Vitascope Theater, part of Edisonia Hall, the first purpose-built movie theater in the world which opened in 1896. the festival now sponsors a yearly event celebrating the creation of the Movie Theater in Buffalo. In 2008, it screened more than 25films including regional and national premieres. It holds a Spring Gala and Fall festival. In 2009, the Spring Gala is a celebration of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse arranged through The Walt Disney Company as the festival's founder Edward Summer, is a longtime film enthusiast and also a writer of many early Mickey Mouse cartoons.
The 2009 Festival brings a special premiere of the award winning documentary "Walt and El Grupo", WALT & EL GRUPO chronicles the amazing ten-week trip that Walt Disney and his hand-picked group of artists and filmmaking talent (later known as “El Grupo”) took to South America in 1941 at the behest of the U.S. Government as part of the Good Neighbor Policy. Within just three short years after the phenomenal success of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” the Walt Disney Studios experienced a chain of financial challenges that ultimately led to the infamous animators strike. Also during this time, the Roosevelt administration had growing concerns about Nazi and Fascist influence in Latin America, and the rest of the world was slipping further into war. In stark contrast to these trying times, Disney and his colorful group of artists found themselves on a lively trip full of hope and discovery as they explored various South American cities, which later in turn laid the foundation for the development of animated feature films such as "The Three Caballeros" and others.



Also this year The Buffalo Film Festival will be hosting the Western New York Premiere of the controversial film "The Minority" by Director Dwayne Buckle, as well as hosting an intimate discussion on Independent Filmmaking with the director, scheduled for October 14th at 7pm at the Market Place Arcade Theater. With a well diversified and quality selection of films, the Buffalo International festival will serve a s a beacon of hope for audiences wishing to experience film in a new perspective. For More Information On The Buffalo International Film festival, Please Visit Their Official Website:


MICHAEL MOORE: CINEMA A LOVE STORY


Michael Moore was born in Flint, Michigan, and attended Catholic schools, including a year in the seminary, which he says accounts for his healthy respect for the fires of hell that he believes to be located somewhere just outside Crawford, Texas. He was an Eagle Scout, Newspaper Boy of the Week, and, at 18, the youngest person ever elected to public office in the state of Michigan. Moore is the Oscar and Emmy-winning director of the ground-breaking, record-setting films "Roger & Me," "Bowling for Columbine," and "Fahrenheit 9/11," which also won the top prize at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival and went on to become the highest grossing documentary of all time. It became the first documentary ever to premier No. 1 at the box-office in its opening weekend. Film Comment called it "The Film of the Year."
His 2007 documentary, "Sicko" is self described as, "a comedy about 45 million people with no health care in the richest country on Earth." Moore investigated American health care horror stories, focusing on large American pharmaceutical companies, the corruption in the Food and Drug Administration, and even brought injured 9/11 rescue workers to Cuba to receive treatment. Moore also earned the label of America's No. 1 selling nonfiction author, with such books as "Stupid White Men and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation," and "Dude, Where's My Country." No other author has spent more weeks on the New York Times hardcover non-fiction list from 2002-04 than Michael Moore. "Stupid White Men" was also awarded Britain's top book honor, "British Book of the Year," the first time the award has been bestowed on an American author. 
Moore has two additional books published by Simon and Schuster: "Will They Ever Trust Us Again: Letters from the War Zone," which is a compilation of letters he has received from soldiers in Iraq and from their families back home; and "The Official Fahrenheit 9/11 Reader," which contains loads of backup materials for the film, plus essays, and the film's screenplay. In addition to winning the Academy Award for "Bowling for Columbine," Moore won the Emmy Award for his NBC and Fox series, "TV Nation" and was also nominated for his other series, "The Awful Truth" (which the L.A. Times called "the smartest and funniest show on TV.") Moore also wrote and directed the comedy feature "Canadian Bacon" starring the late John Candy, and the BBC documentary, "The Big One." He has directed music videos for R.E.M., Rage Against the Machine, Neil Young, and System of a Down.
His other best-selling books include "Downsize This! Random Threats from an Unarmed American," and "Adventures in a TV Nation," which he co-wrote with his wife Kathleen Glynn. His books have been translated in over 30 languages, and have gone to #1 in Italy, Germany, France, Japan, Great Britain, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand. Moore lists his hobbies as reading, gardening and removing corrupt officials from power.



  


 LLOYD KAUFMAN: TROMA FILMS
FRED WILLIAMSON: 4 DECADES OF INDEPENDENT CINEMA
Dwayne Buckle: A YOUNG DIRECTOR DYFING THE ODDS

           



Lloyd Kaufman The Godfather of Independent Cinema is Lloyd Kaufman, with his expansive career in Independent Cinema, has brought hundreds of films and iinsights to the table including a new film festival; Troma Dance, and his role as Chairman of the Independent Film and Television Alliance (IFTA), and his ongoing struggles to remaining true to Independent Cinema.  In 1974, Kaufman and his business partner Michael Herz founded Troma Entertainment and began producing and distributing independent action and comedy films. In order to pay the bills, Kaufman did freelance work for Hollywood productions, including Rocky, Saturday Night Fever, and The Final Countdown, which he also produced (Kaufman has said that it was his experience on this film that made him never want to deal with a major studio again[4]). From 1979 to 1981, the two wrote, produced and directed a series of profitable "sexy comedies," precursors to such films as Porky's, including Squeeze Play!, Waitress!, Stuck on You! and The First Turn-On!. On most of these early films, Kaufman is credited as "Samuel Weil." In 1985, Troma experienced mainstream success with another Kaufman/Herz production, the violent, darkly comic superhero film The Toxic Avenger. Toxic went on to become Troma's most popular movie, inspiring three sequels, a Saturday morning children's television show, comic books and tons of merchandise. The Toxic Avenger, or "Toxie," is now Troma's official mascot. Kaufman's follow-up to The Toxic Avenger was Class of Nuke 'Em High, which he co-directed with Richard W. Haines. Riding on the success of the Toxic Avenger, Nuke 'em inspired two profitable sequels and a healthy run on late night cable shows such as USA Up All Night. At one time, Class of Nuke 'Em High was the highest-selling VHS for Troma.

Troma experienced a lull in popularity after Kaufman's next two films, Troma's War and Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D., failed to make an impression at the box office. From 1995 to 2000, Kaufman rebounded with three critically acclaimed independent films: 1996's Tromeo and Juliet, a loose parody of Shakespeare's play; 1999's Terror Firmer, a slasher film set on the set of a Troma movie (with Kaufman playing a caricature of himself), and the fourth installment in the Toxic Avenger franchise, Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV. Troma's experienced some financial hardship after the botched funding of a low-budget video feature titled Tales from the Crapper, which cost $250,000 despite most of the footage being unusable. Lloyd supervised a reshoot in an attempt to salvage the film, dividing the footage into two parts and recasting the film as a double-feature. Tales from the Crapper was released on DVD in September 2004, eventually making its money back through DVD sales.

Troma still produces and acquires independent films. Troma Films has distributed many films from third parties including Trey Parker'sCannibal! The Musical. Lloyd himself encourages independent filmmaking, making cameo appearances in low-budget horror films, often for free. A recent appearance is in former collaborator James Gunn's directing debut, Slither. Kaufman's latest film, Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, made its official New York premiere on May 9, 2008 (although the film had previewed numerous times on single screens for over a year). it was opened to positive reviews from Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, and was made a critics pick by New York Magazine and Salon.com.


      
Fred Williamson  Former Oakland Raiders/Kansas City Chiefs football star who rose to prominence as one of the first African-American male action stars of the "blaxploitation" genre of the early 1970s, who has since gone on to a long and illustrious career as an actor, burly yet handsome 6' 3" Williamson first came to attention in the TV series "Julia" (1968) playing love interest, Steve Bruce. However, his rugged, athletic physique made him a natural for energetic roles and he quickly established himself as a street wise, tough guy in films including That Man Bolt (1973), Boss Nigger (1975), Black Caesar (1973), and Mean Johnny Barrows (1976). Talented Williams established his own production company "Po 'Boy Productions" in 1974, which has produced over 40 movies to date. Like many young American stars of the 1960s and '70s, Williamson was noticed by Italian producers who cast him in a slew of B-grade action movies that occupied a lot of his work in the 1980s. From the late '80s onwards, much of his work has been of the "straight to video" fare (often playing police officers), but none could deny he has kept actively busy in movies and TV for over three decades. More recently, indie director Robert Rodriguez cast him alongside FX guru Tom Savini as two vampire killing bikers, in his bloody action film From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), and he has most recently appeared on screen (displaying his wonderful comedy skills) playing grumpy Captain Dobey in Starsky & Hutch (2004).
Alongside acting, Williamson has since the middle 1970s appeared as a director and producer as well. His first film as a producer wasBoss Nigger (1975), a western directed by Jack Arnold. With the second film he produced he also debuted as a director: Mean Johnny Barrows (1976) was a significant predecessor of the Rambo films with its violent Vietnam vet story. He has since directed over 20 features.
In the middle of the 1970s, Williamson relocated to Rome, Italy and formed his own company Po' Boy Productions, which started to produce actioners like Adios Amigo (1976) and Death Journey (1976), both of which starred and were directed by Williamson. Although his most recent efforts as director and producer have mainly gone straight to DVD, Williamson has continued working actively with films.

       






Dwayne Buckle  is an independent film director, screenwriter, editor and sound recording artist from Queens, New York. He is the CEO and founder of 360 Sound and Vision Entertainment, an Independent Motion Picture Production company, producing quality Independent Films. Dwayne Buckle has served on many film productions as either a sound or video engineer before writing and producing his own films. His first feature length film as writer, director, and producer, ''The Minority'', has received multiple awards and International recognition; His short film "The Glasses" has won a Platinum Award at the 2008 Houston International Film Festival and garnered enough buzz to enable him to continue on with a series by the same title. His next project "The Glasses: Episode Two" will be quite a presentation, as he utilizes a cast of various notably talented people that will sure ad slightly more bite to his spicy blend of science-fiction cinematic chaos which is The Glasses.  Dwayne has been through many hardships in his career,  as a film technician turned-director,  sacrificing his whole life in the name of the arts, and building up a whole career in film as a production engineer,  then switching gears and entering the not so stable world of Indie Filmmaking, to struggling to complete his remarkable epic-styled films with minimal production budgets, all the while surviving violent street altercations and court battles with people trying to destroy his career before he even fully blossoms. Dwayne Buckle has proven to be quite the survivor in the mystic world of Independent Film as he is remaining ever so focused on his quest to produce innovative, meaningful films that matter.







FREIDA PINTO: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE HOT!!!


Before starring in Slumdog Millionaire, Pinto anchored the international travel show, Full Circle on Zee International Asia Pacific in English between 2006-08. Pinto was also featured in several television and print advertisements for products such as Wrigleys Chewing Gum, Skoda, Vodafone India, Airtel, and DeBeers. Pinto modeled for four years and appeared in runway shows and magazine covers. She learned acting from The Barry John’s Acting Studio in Andheri and was trained by her mentor Barry John. After six months of auditions, she received a call to audition for Slumdog Millionaire. Pinto auditioned for Danny Boyleand was short-listed and finally selected to star in Slumdog Millionaire.

Pinto made her feature film debut in 2008. Slumdog Millionaire tells the story of a young man from the slums of Mumbai who appears on a game show and exceeds people’s expectations, arousing the suspicions of the game show host and of law enforcement officials. In the film, Pinto played the role of Latika, the girl with whom Jamal (Dev Patel) is in love. At the 2008 Toronto International Film festival, the movie won the Cadillac People’s Choice Award. At the 2009 Golden Globe awards the movie won four awards. Pinto herself was nominated for "Best Actress in a Supporting Role” at the 2009 BAFTA Awards, and won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture alongside other cast members from Slumdog Millionaire.

She has completed work on Miral, a Franco-Israeli film directed by Julian Schnabel,  Pinto has been cast in Woody Allen's next film set in London, which co-stars Antonia Banderas, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Anupam Khor and Naomi Watts.  On May 13th 2009 it was announced that Pinto was to become the new ‘face’ of L'Oreal despite rumours that she was due to sign a “six figure deal” with rival cosmetics firm Estee Lauder.

TECH

SONY HDR-FX1  


"The HDR-FX1 is what we will consider to be the benchmark in video technology available for consumers and prosumers alike," said Linda Vuolo, Product Manager for Sony Camcorders US, as she announced the world's first HDV 3 CCD camcorder. Although the HDR-FX1 is technically the first HDV camcorder, the HDV specification is based on a compression standard first introduced in a JVC camcorder. That camcorder from JVC was the first consumer HD camcorder, the GR-HD1. The GR-HD1 also had a companion camcorder, the JY-HD10U, based on the same technology in JVC's professional line. "JVC is proud of our leadership in helping to launch the HDV format with the introduction of our GR-HD1 18 months ago. We welcome Sony’s decision to join us in supporting the format," said Dave Owen, General Manager of Video at JVC in reaction to the Sony announcement. The key distinction between the JVC HD camcorders and the Sony HDR-FX1 is their shooting mode. The JVC camcorders shoot 720 lines of resolution at a rate of 30 progressive frames per second, while the Sony shoots 1080 lines of resolution at 60 interlaced frames per second. The two rates contain nearly identical amounts of information; however, one offers the benefits of progressive scan, and one a higher resolution picture. Both camcorders compress the information into an MPEG2 signal and save it on standard MiniDV tapes. Like the JVC, the HDR-FX1 is capable of recording a standard DV signal as well as an HDV signal.

For more technical information on Sony HD camcorders and other's please visit:

 www.camcorderinfo.com




SONY EX 1 (XDCAM)

The 

Sony PMW-EX1 is a flash-memory based high definition camcorder capable of a variety of frame rates and resolutions using Sony's new XDCAM-EX intraframe codec. The Exmor 1/2" CMOS sensors used in the PMW-EX1 provide unprecedented levels of image clarity previously unavailable in the prosumer market. Sony's sophisticated SxS Pro memory cards add a unique dimension to almost any production. Enhancing both usability and workflow efficiency, the PMW-EX1 has an extensive set of features that push the boundaries of traditional handheld cameras, including a continuous record time of up to 140 minutes! Whether shooting in 720p, 1080i, or 1080p modes, the PMW-EX1 has it all covered. Its bevy of output settings lets users take advantage of fast and slow motion, as well as popular framerates such as the "film-like" 24p mode.
XDCAM EX 
XDCAM EX is a variant of Sony's popular XDCAM HD codec, which has become a benchmark for affordable non-linear professional acquisition. Through the use of flash-based memory, the PMW-EX1 can take advantage of variable bit rate (VBR) recording. VBR technology intelligently employs less or more image compression to different portions of the footage dependant on which areas need additional bandwidth. The end result is higher quality video with a reduced amount of compression artifacts when compared to more antiquated constant bit rate (CBR) methods.
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