Working Remotely - Making Films Across States
The panel will use the SXSW 2013 feature documentary BEFORE YOU KNOW IT as a case study looking at how the film was created with the subjects living in three different cities as well as the producer living in North Carolina, director in Austin, DP in NYC, editor in Chicago, assistant editor and composer in LA and motion graphics in Montreal. Through the use of technology such as Skype, Dropbox and Wetransfer as well as taking advantage of air transportation and hard drives, the film was developed, produced and edited by a crew living across North America. Panelists include: Producer Sara Giustini, Director PJ Raval, Editor Kyle Henry, composer Jimmy LaValle and DP Mike Simpson
Presenters
Jimmy LaValle
Composer/musician
The Album Leaf
Jimmy LaValle, and his musical project The Album Leaf, is best known for his distinctive, dreamy, cinematic soundscapes that have been featured in film, television, commercials, and numerous album, EP and Single releases. The Album Leaf has toured both nationally and internationally. Performances have included Red Rocks Amphitheater in Denver, Colorado; The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California; Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, Spain; All Tomorrows Parties “I’ll Be Your Mirror” Festival, curated by Portishead; Metamorphose Festival in Tokyo, Japan; and national tours of the United States, Mexico, Canada, Europe, China, Singapore, Taiwan, and Malaysia. LaValle performed a critically acclaimed live score to the 1927 silent film SUNRISE: A SONG OF TWO HUMANS, at the 2008 Seattle International Film Festival, and scored the documentary films TOREY’S DISTRACTION, which won the Audience Award at the 2009 AustinFilm Festival and Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroine
Kyle Henry
Editor
Northwestern Doc MFA
Kyle's feature directing debut ROOM premiered at both Sundance and Cannes' Directors' Fortnight. His follow-up anthology FOURPLAY had segments also play at Sundance and Cannes and was released in 2013. He's also a working film editor (e.g. Heather Courtney's Emmy and SXSW award winning Where Soldiers Come From and last year's SXSW premiere PJ Raval's Before You Know It) and teaches film production at Northwestern University.
Mike Simpson
Cinematographer
Mike Simpson is an award winning cinematographer who actively balances narrative and commercial work. Taiwan Oyster premiered narrative comp. SXSW2012 and Variety wrote: "The sheer beauty of Simpson's frames often stands in direct contrast with the delirious indulgence on display." It's In the Blood starring Lance Henriksen: " We are introduced to images that will haunt us…like the rest of the film the cinematography is darkly beautiful." Strings, a thriller with awards including best cinematography: "I think it is safe to say that Mike Simpson’s cinematography is absolutely gorgeous."
Mike's commercial resume includes international TV spots for Nintendo starring Robin Williams as well as beauty and hair spots for Maybelline and Matrix. Other clients include, Budweiser Coach, Seventh Gen., Dell, Whole Foods, and more. Mike's incredible diversity in commercials has produced blogged about fashion and beauty spots, addy winners and even New York Times write-ups.
PJ Raval
Dir
Before You Know It
Named one of Out Magazine’s “Out 100 2010” and Filmmaker Magazine's "25 New Faces of Independent Film 2006," PJ Raval is an award-winning filmmaker whose credits include TRINIDAD (Winner Best Documentary Cleveland International Film Festival 2009, Showtime, LOGO), the highly charged & not-safe-for-work CHRISTEENE video collection (praised by the Hollywood Reporter as "...something you wish you could desperately un-see."), and BEFORE YOU KNOW IT his latest documentary following the lives of three gay senior men as they face the challenges of life and love in their “golden years” (SXSW 2013, Winner Best Documentary Chicago LGBT Film Festival). Slant Magazine hailed BEFORE YOU KNOW IT as an “…exemplary example of a documentary that successfully puts human faces on wider issues..." indieWIRE described the film as “…a crucial new addition to the LGBT doc canon.”
Also an award-winning cinematographer, Raval’s work has earned him awards such as the ASC Charles B. Lang Jr. Heritage Award as well as the Haskell Wexler Award for Best Cinematography. Raval’s work includes the 2009 Academy Award-nominated & Sundance Grand Jury Award winner TROUBLE THE WATER as well as the Independent Spirit Award-nominated ROOM. He recently shot LOVE & AIR SEX directed by Bryan Poyser (SXSW 2013) which is currently in theaters as well as PRIMATE CINEMA: APES AS FAMILY the first film created for a chimpanzee audience (Sundance 2013, Berlinale).
In his spare time Raval likes to try and take small naps and pretend he knows ballet.
Sara Giustini
Producer
Untitled Films
As a filmmaker, Sara Giustini has an affinity for both fact and fiction so she divides her time between documentary and narrative production. She recently produced PJ Raval's feature documentary Before You Know It. She served as the project coordinator for the Emmy Award-winning American Experience film Freedom Riders. She was the series associate producer for God in America. Sara co-produced the documentary Trinidad, directed by PJ Raval & Jay Hodges, which premiered at Los Angeles Film Festival and was broadcast on Showtime and LOGO. Sara also co-produced Nancy Schiesari's Hansel Mieth: Vagabond Photographer, which aired as part of ITVS' inaugural season of Independent Lens. Giustini’s other production credits include Matthew Wiener’s forthcoming You Are Here (2013), The Surrogates (Disney, 2009), There Will Be Blood (Paramount Vantage, 2007), The Three Burial of Melquiades Estrada (Europa Corp, 2005) and NBC's Friday Night Lights.
Thanks to our sponsors
Music sponsor
Interactive sponsors
