An Interview with Meg Jarrett, the New Director of the Massachusetts Film Offi
Khara Campbell –Back in Massachusetts
Caitlin McCarthy plus
2024 American Film Market
Rhode Island Productions Shine
Woods Hole 33rd Film Festival
Rhode Island International Film Festival 2024 Catching Up with Sara Archambault
By Hartley Pleshaw
By Carol Patton
Cover Photo by Christine D. Peterson
Hooray for “HollyWoo”
Caitlin McCarthy writes feature screenplays, one-hour teleplays, and screenplay adaptations. Her stories tackle political and social issues with a wink, blending humor with heartbreak while always staying focused on action.
Notable projects include:
Wonder Drug, now in pre-production with Lori Singer as director, Caitlin McCarthy & Lori Singer as co-writers, Stephen Nemeth/Rhino Films & Caitlin McCarthy as producers, and Vanessa Hope as Executive Producer. The screenplay adaptation of Neville Shulman’s mysterious and exciting novel You Are What You Are, set in Kansas and Chicago. Neville is a British mountaineer, explorer, author, and was for many years Ridley Scott’s personal consultant and advisor. He has been closely involved with Ridley Scott throughout his film career and involved with most of his films including Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, and The Martian. For his services involved in many charities and in exploration he was also made an Officeof the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and subsequently he was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth ll Neville has received many other honors.
The screenplay adaptation of Rory Samantha Green’s rom-com novel Playing Along. Rory’s previous book Charlie’s Checklist was featured on Oprah Winfrey’s first childrens book club.
Partnering on writing/creating the TV series Gaels with Lynsey Murdoch (BBC Scottish Voices 2020), developed with financialassistance from the Scottish Government and the National Lottery through Creative Scotland and produced by Pirate Productions.
Winning the open writing assignment for a supernatural mystery inspired by real events. Caitlin’s
NEXT ISSUE
• IMAGINE will examine the results of all the Unions’ negotiations with AMPTP.
• Casting Companies in New England – How do we get larger rolls cast here?
• Film Tax Credit – Are we keeping up with the rest of the World?
• Scouting Results in New England,
• How are our Stages and Studios Surviving?
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WWW, Works, Wrinkles and Wraps, will now be seen on our website at www.imaginenews.com. The move will contribute to the freshness of the material you will find there. Our magazine will always appear on http://emag.imaginenews.com.
contributing writers include: khara campbell | mark litwak | steve mcgrath | harley pleshaw http://emag.imaginenews.com
| An Interview with Meg Jarrett, the New Director of the Massachusetts Film Offi By Hartley Pleshaw
| Khara Campbell - Back in Massachusetts By Khara Campbell
| 2024 American Film Market Will Be in Las Vegas By Carol Patton 16 | Hooray for “HollyWoo” Screenscribe Caitlin McCarthy By Carol Patton 20 | Sara Archambault Story By Carol Patton
| Woods Hole 33rd Film Festival By Carol Patton
Tech Edge By Steve McGrath
TAKE 2 a letter from the publisher
IT
is with immense pleasure that I’m writing Take Two today! It has been too long since I’ve written one with the amount of gusto that I am feeling now. My knowing that this issue will debut alongside our newly restructured and ready to launch website (www. imaginenews.com), and updating and promoting our IMAGINE New England Production, Resource & Locations Guide – I am psyched!
It is now time to get our industry out of the doldrums. We’ve had many negatives to deal with. First the Covid Pandemic, and then the uncertainty in Hollywood about the future of the entertainment industry vis a vis the distribution of motion picture, how television will be consumed and paid for (streaming disappointments and other unknowns, etc.), and the gargantuan industry strikes beginning with the directors, followed by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA. Those strikes were last year’s dilemma and totally imperiled the industry for an anguishing prolonged period of time. But I’m still not certain of the root cause. Some have intimated that the producers (AMPTP) may have been so unsettled about how future profit making would come to them, that they needed a time-out to figure it out. Hence the diddling of contract negotiations with the unions, taking much more time than seems necessary.
Of course, the AI quandary didn’t help. Speaking of AI, I wrote my first piece last week using AI. It was quite an experience. I’m not sure I’ll include it in this issue. Although if room, I may. If not, I’ll send it out in a new feature of IMAGINE to our email subscribers now called IMAGINE OUTAKES. IMAGNE OUTTAKES is designed to bring you news and information about our industry between our IMAGINE Magazine Publications. It is also available to our advertisers to establish presence in the industry and to get out current offerings and deals. If you are not on our email list, you can join free at www.imaginenews.com.
I am heartened by the ratification of the IATSE agreement with the producers and in high hopes for the Teamsters and other unions, and the producers to come to an agreement soon. Teamsters boss Sean O’Brien whose dalliance at the RNC convention in Milwaukee has been severely criticized by the rank and file, insists that Local 399’s top priority is to secure a new deal for their entertainment industry members, and revealed tonight they are extending talks with the studios. The Hollywood Teamsters and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers will be back at the table next week in hopes of crafting a deal before the Teamsters’ current contract expires on July 31.
“Alleging the AMPTP are finally taking negotiations ‘seriously,’ and engaging “in meaningful discussions,” after five weeks of bargaining, the Lindsay Dougherty-led local late Friday said it will meet with the studios on July 22 and 23 to come to a new three-year tentative agreement. Fingers crossed.
By Carol Patton
top to bottom, Judy Belushi Pisano, the actress and producer best known for her marriage to the late comedian John Belushi and her contributions to The Blues Brothers franchise, passed away on at the age of 73 after a battle with cancer.
Steven Feinberg, Judy Cooney ,and Scott Saracen in front of the Chinese Tea House in Newport, RI. Photo courtesy of the RI Film & TV Office.
Judy Cooney, RI Film & TV Office dministrative Assistant. Photo courtesy of the RI Film & TV Office
Having said all that, I am happy to announce that IMAGINE has resumed its regular publishing. We will, for the time being, be publishing online only. The costs of printing, distribution and mailing are prohibitive at this time. Plus, it’s a fact that over 60% of New Englanders prefer to get their news and information online. We’ll save a lot of trees and reduce back strain from carrying all the heavy paper around. I will miss our beautiful, glossy editions of IMAGINE, and I know many of you will as well. Especially, those of you who are featured in the magazine and those who really like to settle into a comfortable sofa and hold what they are reading. Just know that IMAGINE made an investment in our new format that will read well on your cell phone or laptop while you are snuggled up on your comfy sofa!
Let me say that your support is appreciated, and I hope our readers will continue to subscribe to IMAGINE.
Looking around at the moment, it’s good to know that AT THE SEA, directed by Kornél Mundruczó is shooting in Massachusetts on The Cape. I know local actors and crew are getting the calls and the gigs.
The film follows the life of Laura after a long rehabilitation, as she returns to her family at their beach holiday home where she must readjust to the complicated life she left behind. Now she is forced to face the following next chapter of her life without the career that gave her fame, fortune and, most importantly, identity.
The film stars Amy Adams (THE FIGHTER, ARRIVAL), Jenny Slate, Rainn Wilson, Brett Goldstein (Ted Lasso), and Dan Levy (Schitt’s Creek).
ELLA McCAY recently wrapped in Rhode Island after months of shooting there. The film is written and directed by Emmy Award and Academy Award winner, James L. Brooks, whose credits include the Mary Tyler Show, Taxi, TERMS OF ENDEARMENT, AS GOOD AS IT GETS, and The Simpsons). The motion picture follows an idealistic young politician, Ella McCay (Emma Mackey - BARBIE), who juggles familial issues and a challenging work load while preparing to take over the job of her mentor, the state’s longtime incumbent governor (Albert Brooks).
the company of ASCAP President, legendary singer/ songwriter, Paul Williams. (Old Fashioned Love Song, We’ve Only Just Begun, Rainy Days and Mondays).” Their company, Kozmic Debris LLC in Belmont, specializes in composing and producing music for television and films.
clockwise from top left, Jamie Lee Curtis was in Rhode Island starring in ELLA
Photo courtesy of IMDBpro.
Steven Feinberg, Judy Cooney, Scott Saracen, and Alex Berard in front of the Rhode Island State House.
Doug Stevens, his writing partner and co-producer, Ed Grenga, and guitarist Kook Lawry won the 2024 ASCAP Screen Award for their music contributions to the high-rated PBS show, This Old House. Photo courtesy of Doug Stevens.
IMAGINE’s presence on the bumper tables at the 2023 American Film Market in Santa Monica. An IMAGINE Photo. I attended a press conference in February for the film in the exquisite Governor’s State Room at the Rhode Island State House. Brooks, Emma Mackey, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Spike Fearn were in attendance and graciously expressed their delight to be working in the Ocean State. Also attending were Senate President Dominick Ruggerio, Speaker of the House Joseph Shekarchi, and Providence Mayor Brett Smiley, all of whom spoke glowingly about the production’s presence in Rhode Island and what it meant to Rhode Island’s economic well-being. The Master of Ceremonies was Steven Feinberg, Executive Director of the RI Film & TV Office.
There is a lot going on in the Rhode Island Film & Television Office, which earlier this year, welcomed their newest member to the team - Judy Cooney. Steven Feinberg told IMAGINE, “Judy joined us in February 2024 as our Administrative Assistant, and she has quickly utilized her organizational expertise and her talented skills in hospitality to uplift the RI Film Office. Judy has provided dozens upon dozens of permits to our diverse constituents for documentary, commercial, student, television, and feature films. Judy is also available to answer questions for filmmakers and dedicates herself to being “film friendly.” I’m told you can feel free to say hello to Judy by calling their office at 401 222-3456 or reaching out by email Judith.cooney@arts.ri.gov”
The Flicker’s Rhode Island International Film Festival is coming soon, opening night is August 6th. I look forward to it every year.
I’m happy to share with you that Doug Stevens, his writing partner and co-producer, Ed Grenga, and guitarist Kook Lawry, won the 2024 ASCAP Screen Award for their music contributions to the highly rated PBS show, This Old House. Doug told IMAGINE, “We attended the gala event in West Hollywood at the Houdini Estate and hung out with many of the top composers in the world as well as enjoyed
On an incredibly sad note, Judy Belushi Pisano, the actress and producer best known for her marriage to the late comedian John Belushi and her contributions to The Blues Brothers franchise, passed away at the age of 73 after a battle with cancer. Judy was actively involved in the arts community on Martha’s Vineyard, a place she and John first visited in 1974. According to the MV Times, she organized a screening of the film JOHN BELUSHI: DANCING ON THE EDGE to benefit Martha’s Vineyard Community Services and a show with Dan Aykroyd to support the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse. She will be so missed.
We have nothing but exceptional stories for you in this issue. Our cover story Hooray for “HollyWoo” Screenscribe Caitlin McCarthy brings us up to date on her screenwriting successes. A Worcester, MA teacher by day and prolific writer by night, Caitlin is going places. Let’s watch.
Hartley Pleshaw interviews Meg Jarrett, the Director of the Massachusetts Film Office. She reports on her and the MFO Deputy Director John Alzapiedi’s recent trip to LA to visit the studios there with the goal of enticing them to send productions to Massachusetts locations.
Khara Campbell is back in Massachusetts after twenty years in LA, She tells us about her journey.
And I spent a little time catching up with Sara Archambault. She told me how and why she named her company Arch +Bow Film and how she came to produce RICHLAND, a story about Richland, WA and its nuclear legacy and its relationship to Japan. It’s a fascinating tale.
Also, you will find a complete Woods Hole Film Festival preview. I am extremely impressed with the films and other programs this year.
Of course, you’ll find our regular departments: Tech Edge, Legal Lens and Take Two.
An IMAGINE summer issue wouldn’t be complete without a story about the American Film Market and it’s a big one this year. For the first time ever the AFM will not be held in Santa Monica, where it’s been since 1981! No, not this year, it will be in Las Vegas at the Palms Casino Resort, which in addition to its 95,000 square-foot casino and other amenities too numerous to mention, it has the Brenden Theatre 14-screen cinema and over 190,000 square feet of meeting space. Imagine not having to leave the resort for the entire AFM convention. It seems all exhibitors and attendees are thrilled to go to Las Vegas instead of the Lowe’s Hotel and Beach Resort in Santa Monica. Will AFM ever be able to go back? I’ll miss the Ferris Wheel on the Santa Monica Pier, but oh wait, Las Vegas has a much bigger one, which I love. I’m a real Ferris Wheel girl. I also love revolving restaurants and carousels.
I want to let you know that our new look, efforts to update all we do, create our new OUTTAKES, and bring you this edition of IMAGINE could not happen without the work of our Art Editor Monique Walton, our Web Master Jenn Mears, and our advertisers and sponsors. I am a grateful publisher. Please let our advertisers know you appreciate their support for our efforts to keep our industry connected here and to the rest of the world.
McCAY.
By Hartley Pleshaw
Interview with Meg Jarrett,
New Director of Massachusetts Film Offic
Hartley Pleshaw (HP): Our IMAGINE readers want to know all about you. Tell me about where you grew up and how did you prepare for a career in filmmaking?
Meg Jarrett (MJ): I was born and raised in Gloucester, MA. My first introduction to the film industry was in 1992, after graduating from Marquette University, when 20th Century Fox came to our area to film THE GOOD SON starring young Macauley Culkin and Elijah Wood. The production was immersed in Cape Ann, and I managed the property where the production offices were located for the nine-month shoot. As a result, I had a front-row seat to witness the economic impact a film production can have on its location. Many local department production assistants (PAs) from that film have worked their way up to be keys or heads of their departments and most are still making films in Massachusetts today.
HP: What is your own personal experience in film (and other related art forms)? What was your favorite film to work on? What was your role on that production?
MJ: Following THE GOOD SON, I worked in the corporate world in Boston, but quickly found myself back in the film industry. The producers from THE GOOD SON hired me on COP LAND in New York City, and then I came back to Massachusetts to work on GOOD WILL HUNTING and A CIVIL ACTION. I continued to work in several production roles such as accounting, physical production, locations, and extra-casting. I was the Boston production coordinator on MONA LISA SMILE, FEVER PITCH, and THE DEPARTED. Each production was an amazing experience, but GOOD WILL HUNTING was naturally my favorite. No one could have ever imagined the unique bond our crew had working with one another on that production.
HP: How did the position of director of the MFO come to you?
MJ: I started this position in December 2023. Previously, I worked with the Massachusetts Film Office (MFO) as the Cape Ann liaison for over a decade. We worked closely with filmmakers, the state, cities, and towns to bring movies, series, commercials, and more to Cape Ann’s varied looks and locations. Having an encyclopedic knowledge of this area, I was able to scout locations, work with location managers and connect productions with the necessary resources of the area. The results were Olive Kitteridge, CLEAR HISTORY, MANCHESTERBY-THE-SEA, and CODA, among others.
HP: What do you see as the MFO’s core mission?
MJ: Our mission is to promote Massachusetts as a location for film, television, and digital media production for the purposes of job creation and retainment, business expansion, tourism, and economic impact.
HP: In the new world of the film industry (streaming, fewer theaters, a much greater home audience), how do you see the future of feature (i.e., Hollywood studio) film/video production in Massachusetts? Independent films?
MJ: The industry will always need content. Massachusetts has been hosting films for over 100 years thanks in part to our strong creative economy. We are able to host large blockbusters and award season sleepers. We have an amazing talent base with our outstanding universities and film programs – there is always room in that pipeline.
HP: What do you see as the state of the existing Massachusettsbased film/television/video industry (e.g., WGBH, which recently had huge layoffs) at present? Does the Commonwealth have sufficient infrastructure to support the work we wish to host?
MJ: Like the rest of the industry, we are all still recovering from the effects of the pandemic. The Massachusetts industry is rebounding from these roadblocks. We have a very deep crew base, various stage spaces in areas of the state and more to be constructed, deep creative talent pools, and postproduction facilities. WGBH just won an Oscar for the documentary 20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL, a sign of the strength and potential of our industry.
HP: What is your own vision for your job, and how do you intend to achieve it? Does the MFO have an adequate budget to support your goals?
MJ: In these first six months on the job, my staff and I are working to identify the strengths and opportunities for the industry in our state, reaching out to the creative industry to connect and hear their
feedback, and building up infrastructure with state-managed and owned agencies and properties.
HP: What do you see as the future of the Massachusetts Film Tax Credit—i.e., its likelihood of continuing—and how it would apply to the changing worlds of film, television, and video production?
MJ: Massachusetts established the film tax incentive in 2007 and it has run continuously since then. The Legislature removed the sunset clause in June 2021. We don’t anticipate any changes to the tax credit.
HP: You recently returned from your first trip to Hollywood, how did that go? Did you experience satisfying results? Were you able to convince any of the studios to bring their work here? Are any of those studios scouting in Massachusetts?
MJ: Our recent trip to Los Angeles was a productive one. The trip provided valuable opportunities to connect with key decision-makers at major studios. We let the studios and production companies we met with know that the Healey/Driscoll administration is very supportive of the creative economy in Massachusetts. The discussions generated strong interest in the potential for film production here. We are currently following up on those leads, and I’m optimistic about the future of establishing an even more thriving film industry here. We are also actively engaging with studios interested in scouting locations within the state.
HP: What do you see as being, at present, the main advantages of making film, TV, and video productions in Massachusetts?
MJ: There is a story to tell at every street corner, road, mountain, ocean, or lake. Massachusetts has the greatest cross section of historical, modern, and industrial architecture, diverse coastlines, sporting facilities, musical stages, state and national parks, the list goes on and on. Locations, locations, locations!
Hartley Pleshaw can be reached via email at hartleypleshaw@gmail.com.
FEATURE
By Khara Cambell
BACK IN MASSACHUSETTS
– Thoughts about Her Journey
Rebuilding on the east coast: Here at the Somerville Theatre for a screening of short film FOR VINCENT -a brilliant project I had the pleasure of being the lead actress in.
Iwas a feeler or creative from as far back as I can remember. When I was 3 ½, my 17-year-old brother, John, was killed in a car wreck. That kind of exposure to the big feelings – particularly my mother’s – crafted me as a sensitive person. Probably highly emotionally intelligent, and it certainly created my need for escape. I watched HBO all the time, whether it was SUPERMAN, CLASH OF THE TITANS, BEASTMASTER, or THE TERRY FOX STORY – (the movie about the runner with cancer who ran across the country with one leg.) Hero stories – all men – but hero stories, nevertheless. When times were difficult in my little ranch house in Chelmsford, MA, I escaped into the world of the hero story.
I think I was 7 or 8 when my favorite uncle asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. I told him an actress. He said, “Everyone wants to be that, pick something else.” I tried. I tried going a more traditional New England route, studied hard, and thought I’d become a lawyer. But in my second year of college, I saw GOOD WILL HUNTING - it changed everything. Like Will Hunting, I had to make a decision – do what was expected or follow my heart. I dropped everything to take any course my college offered in film studies and theatre. I got on stage for the first time the following year and was accepted into the Moscow Art Theatre’s (MAT) summer program at Harvard’s American Repertory Theatre. I also taught myself how to write a screenplay using GOOD WILL HUNTING’S. (It was called Hometown Hero about a girl who leaves home to become a star and make her father – her hometown hero - proud.) It was at MAT where I met a fellow actor who said he was going straight to LA, instead of going to NY first. A lot of professors and instructors in the area would suggest going to NY first, but they’d also say NY was more for theatre whereas LA was film and TV. I knew I wanted to be in film, so after I graduated college and saved some money from waiting tables, I jumped in my green VW Cabriolet with a fellow actor and drove cross country to LA two weeks after my 23rd birthday
LA was a culture shock. The first things I recognized right off the bat were: no one seems to eat food here, because they’re all 6 pounds soaking wet; the BMW is the Honda of the west, and your word carries little weight. The last one was tough. Growing up in New England, if you said something, you meant it, you’d follow through and get it done. Southern Californians –particularly people in entertainment – would say one thing and mean another. There wasn’t a feeling of loyalty in LA; growing up in New England, that’s all I knew. It was extremely difficult, and I felt really alone, and I was. Three months after moving to LA, the actor who drove cross country with me moved back east. I had no one. I had to develop a pretty thick skin.
My goal in moving to LA was to be the female version of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck– I wanted to write and act, just like them. It’s true – when I was little and my uncle had shattered my dream, I’d lay in bed figuring out HOW. If everyone wanted to be an actor, what would be my edge? Well, I’d write the story and then be in it. I’d always been a creative kid and writing was something I’d already been recognized for by my teachers, so I’d write the story and act. If Matt and Ben hadn’t succeeded when they did, I wouldn’t be speaking with you right now.
So, I studied both. I studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and with renowned acting teacher and author of No Acting Please, Eric Morris (with whom I still study). I went to film school at LA Film School to learn every angle of filmmaking from cinematography to screenwriting to directing and learn the language of film so that what I’m not good at (film
editing), I at least know how to communicate it. I worked for director Rob Cohen (THE FAST AND FURIOUS, XXX). I worked as a Production Coordinator for an HGTV show, and a Locations Manager for a show called I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant. I went on to Production Manage for AOL.com/Huffington Post/Verizon before I was promoted to Director-Producer for short content there. I worked with Zendaya, Molly Sims, Arianna
Continued on next page.
clockwise from top left, Attending the Saturn Awards with fellow actor Ken Foree, icon from horror film, AWN OF THE
My magnificent vie. Malibu to the north.
Cast and Crew FOR VINCENT, MA filmmaing at its finest. rue professionals, proud to be among them.
The view from Sunset Gower Studios.
DEAD.
Huffington, Missy Elliott, Denzel Washington and many more. While there, I worked on a program called Makers: Women who Make America. Former First Lady Michelle Obama commissioned a song by award winning songwriter, Diane Warren, called “This is For My Girls” for the Let Girls Learn campaign to create awareness for the 62 million girls worldwide who are not in school. Janelle Monae, Lea Michele, Missy Elliott, Zendaya and many more sang a section of the song – I directed and produced the video.
But no matter where I was working, no matter where I picked up a paycheck, I was always writing at home. Typically, romantic comedies, but also, some dark stuff. My experience with death in early childhood lures me toward it. While I may smile bright and get along with most anybody, I have a dark side, so if I’m going to write tragedy or deviance, I write tragedy and deviance. Whether acting or writing, my responsibility is the truth – I don’t shy away from it.
But the comfort of a full-time, salaried job at AOL/Huffington Post kept me from turning my writing into anything. I didn’t try to sell a script and I didn’t have the time to raise money or produce my own film. But what seemed like the misfortune of a layoff turned into a blessing. It was the kick in the pants I needed to pursue my work. I started writing the script for Seahorse in late 2016 and pitched the idea to a literary manager from 3 Arts while at a film festival in Vermont. He suggested I write it as a book first. I’d had big dreams to see it onscreen, so I didn’t understand why I should write it as a book first. He said he knew lots of books that were made into scripts, but not the other way around. “Write it as a book and I’ll help you,” he said. He knew lots of publishers, he said.
As it goes, I wrote the book, he didn’t help. So, I explored the world of traditional publishing on my own, sending the manuscript and query letters to agents - I didn’t get much of a response. I began to research self-publishing. In doing so, I discovered the traditional timeline of finding an agent, then the agent maybe finding a publisher, and maybe turning it into a film could take 5 years or more. I didn’t want to wait that long. After all, I’m a filmmaker who wrote a book, not an author trying to make a film. So, I self-published my
first novel with Archway, the self-publishing arm of Simon & Schuster in 2019. I maintain the rights for Seahorse, as well as the peace of mind knowing there were a couple pretty solid hits that began as self-published books: FIFTY SHADES OF GREY and STILL ALICE.
I’d say the best part of writing the book is that I already have a direct response from readers and that very human connection. Many times, when a reader finishes the book, he or she will contact me, pouring out the emotions experienced while reading, They tell me how grateful they were while immersed in certain difficult scenes that their mom or dad may have gone through in their darkest moments. Since Seahorse deals with illness, life, love, and sacrifice, it touches both men and women.
A friend who lost his young wife and mother of 2 to cancer told me he knew exactly what “Chris” was going through. I’ve had women in their 20s and 70s tell me it was one of the best books they’ve ever read. These are the biggest rewards of my lifetime, hands down.
After publishing the book, I wrote the script. The first draft took a few months, the revisions took twice that. But I knew I had something. My producing partner, Annie Avlon, who read hundreds of scripts as the assistant to 2 literary agents at Innovative Artists in LA and worked in Sales and Packaging at ICM, told me it was ready. Annie is tough – a New Yorker and perfectionist - exactly why I love and trust her. And she was right. The script won the 2022 Grand Prize for Best Screenplay at Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival and has placed in several others. Together, Annie and I have built a business plan, look book, and finance deck to take out to investors and potential producing partners. I also shot a proof-of-concept trailer directed by Fitchburg State graduate, Sophia Ciampaglia, starring myself as “Caroline,” and local actor, John Potvin as the male lead, “Chris.” It came out beautifully with a high production value despite its low budget. We’ve included the link to view it in our pitch package.
Since then, we’ve been on the road to finding collaborators, talent, or financiers – whichever comes first – and it’s already been a wild ride. We were fortunate enough to have Mass native and producer of MANCHESTER BY THE SEA, Kevin Walsh, read the script. He and his team
were awesome, and while it doesn’t fit their slate, we hope to continue the relationship. We reached out to actor Chris Cooper’s manager to give it a read. He loved the script, but the part of the lead female’s father isn’t quite a large enough role for his client. And we had high hopes of getting it to local native, Chris Evans, to play the lead role, but unfortunately, we were unable to get it to him. The one thing I couldn’t appreciate about Hollywood was its bureaucracy, the impenetrable red tape. I thought it would be different away from all that and back home where we’re all just people –but in truth, some people are open to new voices, others aren’t.
Annie and I aren’t strangers to taking hits. We knew we were aiming high with these producers and talent, but it’s go big or go home. And if one part of our plan hits a snag, we pivot. I’m actively out there, meeting potential financiers in New England. Why New England? Because Hollywood shouldn’t have the monopoly on film success. But here, I get to offer alternative investment and opportunities to the community I love, doing something they’d only get to do if they moved to the west coast. I’m bringing the west coast opportunity to the northeast.
It’s extremely hard to ask people for money –especially millions of dollars - to believe in me and my product. It’s also extremely hard for people to part with their money, but I don’t ask anyone to risk more than I do. I took money out of my 401k to go after this dream. I’m putting everything I have on the line to make this dream a reality. If anyone – director, talent, financier - is uncertain about my commitment or what I’m willing to do to make this happen, they have their answer. Go big or go home.
cities a chance in a post-COVID world. An end to monopolization, an avenue to Disrupt. We know how “remote” has changed the way we work and live. This translates to film production, specifically Massachusetts and other competitive New England markets like Rhode Island, which also has a phenomenal film tax incentive program.
Winning at Flickers was the acknowledgement I needed. As a writer and actor, I get double the rejection. I wouldn’t change it, because to force me to quit one is to force me to be someone else. I love both, equally. But so often, I’ve felt the pangs of rejection or worse, invisibility, and have asked myself a million times what I’m doing. I could make money and stop struggling doing any other job, why do I beat my head against the wall?
Because this is what I was meant to do, and I know it in my soul.
Twenty years of LA
The pressure and harassment continued. The safest move for me was to move out of my home. A boss of a woman got on this forklift and delivered my bright orange U-Box.
top to bottom,
Waiting to work. Sitting on set at the Paramount stage, waiting to stand-in for Elizabeth Hurley on Marvel’s THE RUNAWAYS.
That LA Life: Working on the Paramount Lot.
I formed Mass Exodus Films a year ago because I always wanted my own production company, but now that I’m out there seeking film funds, I needed one. I figured no one is going to make a big check out to “Khara Campbell;” an LLC legitimizes my intentions. Admittedly, I’m still learning from CPAs recommended by Women in Film, New England, but hey, one step at a time. The meaning behind Mass Exodus goes much deeper, however. It was aptly named for my eternal love and loyalty to Massachusetts, and for what I believe is the exodus we’re all experiencing, as Americans move from the major cities and give the smaller
As a 4-year-old kid, my mother played John Lennon’s “Imagine,” over and over again. She found some comfort in it, since both my deceased brother and the deceased legend had the same name. Mom would bawl her eyes out as the song played in our little house. It was just her and me. The beginning piano chords still make me cry. I have a picture of the NY Strawberry Fields memorial above my desk in LA, with the word “Imagine” on it. It is my imagination that has gotten me through the hardest, loneliest times in my life, and it is my gift to the world - turning a broken heart into art. I was lucky enough to grow up in the time of Spielberg – a man who has the imagination to lift a bicycle into the air because a magical extra-terrestrial sat in its basket. I have every intention of carrying Mr. Spielberg’s legacy onward – it’ll just be from a different location . The publisher of this magazine met Khara Campbell in 2022 at the Rhode Island International Film Festival in 2022. We have been following her ever since then. Her novel Seahorse has been featured in IMAGINE. You can find that cover story in our imaginenews.com archives.
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Finding new walks that take my breath away.
Los Angeles Film School, Alumni Authors Panel.
life: Multiple rooms, condensed into a 5x8 box. Most was tossed, sold or donated.
2024 AMERICAN FILM MARKET Will Be in Las Vegas FEATURE
By Carol Patton
Exhibitors Show Strong Early Support For Inaugural 2024 Las Vegas Event
The American Film Market® (AFM®) has announced the current lineup of participating Exhibitors for its upcoming 45th edition, scheduled for November 5-10, 2024. This year marks a significant milestone as the AFM relocates to the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas for the first time.
With AFM still four months away, Exhibitor registrations are surging, with early sign-ups far surpassing previous years. Currently, 145 sales, production, and distribution companies, along with international trade organizations, film commissions, and national umbrella stands from 25 countries have secured spaces in The Palms’ Fantasy Tower, AFM’s designated hub. The ongoing influx of Exhibitor commitments establishes serious momentum for the Las Vegas show and indicates that AFM 2024 will exceed recent participation levels.
Exhibitors to date include major international companies and organizations such as A24, AGC Studios, Altitude Film Sales, Anton, Arclight Films, The Asylum, Bankside Films, Black Bear Pictures, Blue Fox Entertainment, Charades, Cinema Management Group, CJ ENM, Cornerstone, Embankment Films Limited, The Exchange, Fantawild Animation Inc., Film Factory Entertainment, Film Mode Entertainment, Film Seekers, FilmNation, Gaumont, GOODFELLAS /Wild Bunch International, HanWay Films, Highland Film Group, Inc., Indie Rights, Lakeshore, Lionsgate, Myriad, NEON, Pathé Films, The Playmaker Munich, Protagonist Pictures, STUDIOCANAL, Telepool GmbH, The Match Factory, Trust Nordisk, Unifrance, The Veterans, Vision Films, Inc., Voltage Pictures, WestEnd Films, WME Independent, and XYZ Films, among many others.
Buyer and Attendee participation is also running strong since registration opened in mid-June, with participants from 45 countries already registered. Organizers estimate total participation to come from more than 80 countries.
Early commitments from Exhibitors and Buyers underscores the event’s global significance and returning confidence in the business. The convenience of hosting all participants and Market activities in a single location, including AFM Screenings at The Palms’ Brenden Theatres and The AFM Sessions, also is welcomed by Exhibitors and Buyers alike.
AFM 2024 will be a landmark event for global content, offering unparalleled opportunities for discovering the newest independent film and TV productions and projects and an energetic and efficient environment for business transactions, networking, knowledge sharing, and educational opportunities. Further details about AFM Exhibitors and the comprehensive event schedule, conferences and speakers will be announced in the coming weeks and months.
The AFM is where the global film and television business comes to life every November. The only independently produced international sales market, hundreds of finance, production, sales and distribution companies and thousands of professionals from every segment of the industry, convene at AFM for six days of discovery, development, deal making, networking, marketplace discussions and world-class conferences. The AFM is produced by the Independent Film & Television Alliance® (IFTA®) and serves as the annual fundraiser for the association.
IFTA is the global trade association for independent film and television production, finance, distribution, and sales companies. The organization represents the independent sector before governments and international bodies and provides significant entertainment industry services to independent companies around the world.
For the Current List of AFM Exhibitors, visit: americanfilmmarket.com/exhibitor-list-2024. For More Information on AFM and to Register, visit: americanfilmmarket.com.
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The Palms Casino and Resort is the 2024 home of The American Film Market. The Palms has the depth and breadth to host the 2024 American Film Market. Photo courtesy of the Palms Casino and Resort
COVER STORY
By Carol Patton
HOORAY FOR Screenscribe Caitlin McCarthy
Caitlin McCarthy is a Worcester Public Schools teacher by day and screenwriter by night with many awards from international film festivals and labs under her belt, including Black List “Featured Script,” Academy Nicholl Top 10 female writer, and Mass Cultural Council Dramatic Writing Fellow. She’s now on the brink of adding “produced” to her list of accomplishments, what with Hollywood moving again in 2024.
And in Caitlin’s case, the “action” is set to take place in her hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts!
Lensing for Wonder Drug, Caitlin’s longtime passion project, is anticipated to commence later this year in Worcester, also known as “HollyWoo.” New England’s second largest city has become a hotbed for major motion-picture and television projects including BLACK PANTHER 2; WAKANDA FOREVER, DON[‘T LOOK UP, AMERICAN HUSTLE, THE TENDER BAR, CONFESS FLETCH, and Dexter: New Blood.
Wonder Drug’s plot is being kept under wraps, but it tells the story of DES (diethylstilbestrol), the “hidden Thalidomide” prescribed to millions of pregnant women for decades, becoming one of the most devastating drug disasters in history.
Actress, director, and producer Lori Singer, currently starring in Victor Nuñez’s festival award darling RACHEL HENDRIX, is set to direct Wonder Drug. Lori is also co-writing Wonder Drug with Caitlin, who originated the script at the HamptonsFilm Screenwriters Lab, where it was selected as an Alfred. P. Sloan Foundation script and later received a live staged reading at the Hamptons International Film Festival starring Steve Guttenberg.
Lori is a Golden Globe winning actress who is perhaps best known for her role as Ariel Moore in the film FOOTLOOSE. Lori went on to act in Robert Altman’s SHORT CUTS, Short Cuts, John Schlesinger’s THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN, WARLOCK, THE WITH ONE RED SHOE, co-starring with Tom Hanks, Alan Rudolph’s TROUBLE IN MIND, in which she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress an Indie Spirit Award, and EQUINOX, to name a few. In 2015, Lori was in Almereyda’s EXPERIMENTER, and in 2018 she appeared in James Franco’s film
THE INSTITUED. Lori starred in the television series Fame and VR5. She produced the Peabody winning, three-time Primetime Emmy awardwinning film Silence in the House of God, and she recently produced GOD KNOWS WHIERE I AM, in which she plays the lead in form of narrative. GOD KNOW WHERE I AM won 17 film festivals, including Toronto Hot Docs, was nominated for an Emmy in 2019, and is available on Amazon and Netflix.
Caitlin will be producing Wonder Drug with Stephen Nemeth, who formed and heads up Rhino Films, the independent film company that originated as a division of iconoclastic record label Rhino Records. Stephen has produced and executive produced dozens of films including THE SESSIONS, C.O.G., FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, WHY DO FOOLS FALL IN LOVER, RADIO FREE ALBEMUTH, and FEAR AND LOATHIN IN ASPEN. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and on the board of numerous non-profit organizations including Friends of the Earth, Children Uniting Nations, the Wildlife Ecostation, the Woodstock Film Festival, and is on the advisory board of the Full Frame Documentary Festival.
Additionally, Vanessa Hope is an Executive Producer of Wonder Drug. Vanessa is the award-winning producer and director behind INVISIBLE NATION. She has produced multiple acclaimed films in China including Berlin International Film Festival selection, Wang Quanan’s THE STORY OF ERMEI and Cannes Film Festival selection, Chantal Akerman’s TOMBEE DE NUIT SUR SHANGHAI, part of an omnibus of films, The State Of The World. She has also produced her own short films, including CHINA IN THREE WORDS, an official selection at DOC NYC. Vanessa’s additional producing credits include Zeina Durra’s THE IMPERIALISTS ARE STILL ALIVE! The Imperialists Are Still Alive! and Sarah and Emily Kunstler’s Academy award shortlisted feature documentary WILLIAM KUNSTLER: DISTRUBING THE UNIVERSE, and the award-winning film WHO WE ARE: A CHRONICALE OF RACISM IN AMERICA. She served as Executive Producer of Paula James-Martinez’s BORN FREE. Vanessa and her husband, Ted Hope, share a company, Double Hope Films, with many independent fiction and documentary features and series in development. Vanessa is on the advisory board of the Equal Rights
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“HOLLYWOO”
Caitlin McCarthy stands by one of the Pow! Wow! Worcester murals.
Photo by Christine D. Peterson
Amendment Coalition and the Fund for Women’s Equality.
Caitlin was inspired to write Wonder Drug because she is a survivor of the DES drug disaster. In 2022, Caitlin testified in a pre-recorded video before members of Scottish Parliament about her experiences as an American DES Daughter and the need for a DES apology in Scotland, leading to former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon including DES in her historic apology to forced adoption victims in 2023. Caitlin’s DES activism was later acknowledged on the floor of Scottish Parliament during a speech by Monica Lennon MSP on International Women’s Day. Caitlin previously worked with the offices of then-U.S. Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown on obtaining an acknowledgement of DES as a “tragedy” from the FDA after forty years of silence in 2011. Caitlin has been nominated twice (in 2011 and 2012) for a Presidential Citizens Medal for her work on the DES drug disaster.
Wonder Drug isn’t the only project in the works for Caitlin in 2024. She is adapting Rory Samantha Green’s rom-com novel Playing Along into a screenplay. Rory’s previous book Charlie’s Checklist was featured on Oprah Winfrey’s first children’s book club.
Caitlin is also partnering on writing/creating a TV series with Lynsey Murdoch (BBC Scottish Voices 2020), developed with financial assistance from the Scottish Government and the National Lottery through Creative Scotland and produced by Pirate Productions.
If that’s not enough, Caitlin’s crime thriller A Native Land advanced to the semi-finals of the Writing Climate Pitchfest. Hosted by NBCUniversal and sponsored and supported by The Redford Center, the Writing Climate Pitchfest celebrates the best
left,
From “HollyWoo”
right, clockwise from top right, The influential Black List pomoted WONDER DRUG as a “Featured Script” to the Hollywood industry. Black List poster design by Benjamin Finkel.
Golden Globe winning actress Lori Singer is directing WONDER DRUG and co-writing the script with Caitlin McCarthy. Photo courtesy of Lori Singer.
Caitlin McCarthy admires the historic three-deckers adjacent to Elm Park in Worcester. Photo by Christine D. Peterson.
to Hollywood: Rising star Caitlin McCarthy. Photo by Christine D. Peterson.
unproduced climate-themed scripts in film and television by connecting the writers of those scripts to Hollywood executives, producers, agents, and/or managers through curated one-on-one meetings. The next round will be announced this spring.
And Caitlin’s writing has attracted Hollywood’s attention on social media. David H.Steinberg, Executive Producer and Showrunner of the multicam comedydrama-mystery No Good Nick on Netflix, read Caitlin’s TV pilot Free Skate as part of his annual “Birthday Challenge” and tweeted the following: “FREE SKATE by @CaitlinMcWriter is a fun and engaging one-hour about an injured Olympic ice skater’s foray in the cutthroat world of professional ice skating shows. Soapy and dramatic, the script keeps you wanting more with equal doses of character intrigue and cattiness!”
Caitlin is represented by Barry Krost of Barry Krost Management, who was inducted into the Personal Managers Hall of Fame in 2018 and is well-known in the entertainment industry both as a manager and producer (WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT, , the classic Tina Turner film). Barry has been involved and consulted in the careers of some of the industry’s leading talents including: Jackie Collins, Michael Scott, Elizabeth Montgomery, Peter Finch, Cat Stevens, Dusty Springfield, Angela Lansbury, Richard Gere, Liza Minnelli, JoBeth Williams, Michael York, Angela Bassett, Matthew Perry, Jennifer Lewis, Carole Kane, Nastassja Kinski, Culture Clash, Joan Collins, John Osborne, Stuart Ross, Robert Townsend, and Lynn Mamet.
Never one to rest on her laurels, Caitlin has other screenplay projects in the works. Her motto is “work conquers all” – and Caitlin is about to conquer Hollywood from HollyWoo. Follow her journey at www.CaitlinMcCarthy.com.
Carol Patton is the founder of IMAGINE Magazine and continues to serve as its publisher.
By Carol Patton
Catching up with Sara Archambault
DOCUMENTARIAN
EXTRAORDINAIRE
TIn 2017, Sara Archambault formed her own company. She named it Arch + Bow Films. I have always been curious about how company names are chosen. Every company exec I have interviewed has been asked the same question, “How and why did you name your company? Of course, I asked Sara.
Here is her answer, “The company name is based on the phonetic pronunciation for my last name, because so few people know how to say it! My name is French Canadian and a lot of people, when seeing Archambault want to pronounce that T at the end. Hopefully, this production company name helps, but it’s also a bit inspired by the Greek Goddess Diana - goddess of wilderness and the hunt. Starting your own production company is nothing if not a first step into the wilderness!”
If you live anywhere near the greater Boston area, you will know and remember the name Sara Archambault. She was the Program Director at the LEF Foundation from about 2009 - 2019, leading LEF’s transition from a funder of the arts broadly to a funder of New England-based documentary filmmakers exclusively. During her time at LEF, she began producing documentaries almost as a form of professional development, and once she started, she got the bug! Since founding Arch + Bow she has produced six features!
And, If you live anywhere near Harvard Square, you will know her keenly as the Programmer/Co-founder of the award-winning documentary film series The DocYard at the Brattle Theatre. To every attendant Sara’s extensive professional history in production, programming, foundation work and artist support was evident.
In 2023, Sara Archambault joined the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. As the newly named Documentary Film Project Manager, Archambault will oversee a new initiative on documentary film in the public interest.
“Sara’s deep knowledge of the documentary film space from many angles makes her the perfect person to help build the infrastructure of this new endeavor at the Shorenstein Center,” said center director Nancy Gibbs, who envisioned and initiated the project.
“We have seen such massive change in the documentary film industry over just the past 10 years,” Archambault said in a statement. “From the vast expansion of the form’s popularity to major shifts in our documentary support organizations, even changes to how these films are financed, crafted, and seen –everyone has been feeling the shift in real time with limited space and resources for reflection, study, and thinking together about building intentional ways forward. It feels like a perfect moment to be at a place as rigorous and thoughtful as the Shorenstein Center to support this work.”
Sara grew up in Rhode Island (born and raised in Cranston) and she currently lives in Providence. However, she works with filmmakers from all over the world. She develops financial resources for her film in a variety of ways including grants, donors, and equity investments.
I have been intrigued by her most recent film RICHLAND IN JAPAN. I looked it up everywhere and most everything I could find was in Japanese, which I don’t speak or read. I tried the “translation” button, but it didn’t work. Since the film sounded so distant in time and space, I asked how and why she became involved. Her answer was so clear and unadulterated, I wanted to share it with you.
“RICHLAND is the passion project of filmmaker Irene Luzstig. I met Irene when I screened her film YOURS IN SISTERHOOD at The DocYard in 2019. We discovered that we had a lot of creative alignment and when it was time to make her next film, she asked me to produce.
“RICHLAND is a placemaking portrait of the town of Richland, WA - a nuclear company town built by the US government to house the workers for the Hanford nuclear site, which was producing the plutonium for the WWII munitions, including the bomb that leveled Nagasaki. Many of the people of Richland
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left page, Sara Archambault of Arch + Bow Films. Photo by Stephanie Alvarez Ewens. above,
Sara on one of her own shoots during Covid. Photo by Sara Archambault.
Sara taking a photo while directing her DP. Photo by Sara Archambault.
are proud of this history, others sit more firmly in its complications and its violence.
“In a practice that Irene calls ‘deep listening,’ the films create space for encounters with people in Richland connected to this history in a number of ways - nuclear workers, local tribes, archeologists, and even the Japanese granddaughter of atomic bomb survivors.
“We have had a wonderful run of the filmpremiering at Tribeca, playing at festivals around the world, and, importantly, showing theatrically around the US with deeply meaningful screenings in Richland and throughout the Pacific Northwest. However, part of our dream for the film was always to take it to Japan. We did a lot of outreaches to Japanese broadcasters and distributors, to no avail.
“However, when the film screened at IDFA (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam) in November of 2023, a representative from a smaller Japanese arthouse distributor saw it and approached us about taking the film to Japan this summer after OPPENHEIMER finished its theatrical run in the country. I have to say that our experience working with Nondelico (the distributor) has been nothing less than stellar. I’m endlessly impressed by what they have been able to accomplish - far beyond what smaller arthouse distributors have been able to do in the US of late!
“RICHLAND is now available in theaters in 26 cities throughout Japan. Audiences are engaging with the film so deeply, thanking us for this cultural exchange of experience around one of the most significant and violent events of the 20th century. Over here in the US, we can’t even get a broadcast. Next year is the 80th anniversary of the dropping of the bombs in Japan, our hope is that our film can be seen more broadly in the US and can inspire a true reckoning with that history from this point of distance. “
Sara collaborates extensively with local talent whenever she can. “Of course,” she told IMAGINE,” it depends on the demands and location of the particular film, but there is a
deep bench of fantastic artists throughout the region, and I am fortunate to have become familiar with many of them through my work at LEF. I’ve worked with DP’s, directors, HMU artists, sound recordists, DP’s, composers, postproduction facilities and more. New England’s Got Talent!”
To date Sara has not been able to take advantage of Rhode Island or Massachusetts Film Tax Credits because the majority of the films she makes would not qualify because of labor happening outside the region. “However, as a resident of RI, I know that Steve Feinberg and his team have worked hard to create an environment friendly to productions. Documentary filmmakers have projects that can take several years to complete, … it can be a little hard to hit the thresholds or create the infrastructure necessary to take advantage of the credits that are available. But it is doable, and I hope more productions can take advantage.”
So far Sara hasn’t deviate from the documentary format. She says, “I haven’t yet, though I have some scripts in mind that I’d like to develop! Documentary, for me, is not just an
art form and a career - it’s a bit of a vocation. My mother and father were formerly a nun and a priest, so I guess vocations are a familiar framework for me!”
I thought we would like to know what she does for fun. Her response, “Between my fulltime work at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, the films I’m producing, and my kids, I don’t have a lot of time for entertainment. At least not as much as I’d like! That said, I listen to WAY too many political podcasts. I love taking long walks in nature. I’ve been puzzling a lot recently! And I still love to go to the movies by myself.”
Carol Patton is the founder and publisher of IMAGINE Magazine. The home of the best Production, Resource & Locations Guide in New England.
left page, Poster for RICHLAND. Photo courtesy of Arch + Bow.
Sara Archambault and Irene Lustig at a screening of RICHLAND. Photo courtesy of Arch + Bow.
LEGAL LENS
Why You Need A Production Attorney
Many independent low budget filmmakers try to conserve their funds by not retaining a production attorney to handle their contracts and releases. They often rely on forms from prior productions and assume that these agreements will suffice to secure all the rights they need. Sometimes they are lucky, and the forms are sufficient. Most of the time, however, the forms are not suited for the circumstances and are deficient.
Actor agreements, for example, vary significantly. There are different templates for union and non-union deals. There are diverse terms for principal players, day players and extras. Moreover, releases may be needed for non-actors in the background or interview subjects for a documentary. If a producer does not use the proper agreement, she may belatedly discover that they have not adequately secured rights to their film in a manner that is acceptable to distributors.
Filmmakers may not realize that today virtually all distributors in the United States require Errors and Omissions (E & O) Insurance before they will release a motion picture. A producer can create a fabulous award-winning movie and find themselves pursued by multiple distributors bidding to acquire their films. But if the producer cannot secure E & O insurance, no deal will be made. Almost all distributors require this insurance. This includes not only distributors that release films in theaters, but also smaller home video companies and aggregators who license motion pictures to digital platforms like Amazon or iTunes.
When filmmakers apply for E & O Insurance, they will see a line on the application asking for the name of their production attorney and his/ her phone number. That is because insurance companies want your premium dollar but
don’t want to take on any unnecessary risk. They want to make sure your contracts have fully secured all necessary rights. They will often call the production attorney to ensure that she understands the insurers clearance requirements and has made sure that the production has complied.
Filmmakers may not realize that today virtually all distributors in the United States require Errors and Omissions (E & O) Insurance before they will release a motion picture.
By Mark Litwak
E & O Insurance, sometimes referred to as Filmmaker Malpractice Insurance, is a type of insurance that protects a filmmaker (and distributors) if the filmmaker negligently fails to secure rights to a film. It protects against copyright and trademark suits for infringement, as well as action claiming defamation, invasion
of privacy, violation of rights of publicity and other violations of intellectual property. If a filmmaker has violated a third party’s right, such as using music that has not been properly licensed, not only will the filmmaker be liable but everyone in the chain of distribution may be liable as well.
That means sales agents, distributors, exhibitors, and retailers can each be sued even if they had no role in producing the movie. A theater owner, for example, does not have a good defense by blaming the filmmaker for his failure to license music on the soundtrack. The filmmaker may be the individual who dropped the ball, but everyone who has duplicated or exhibited the film is also liable. Statutory damages for copyright infringement can be as much as $150,000 for a single infringement of one work.
The distribution contract will usually provide that if a filmmaker fails to fully secure all rights, and the distributor is sued, that the filmmaker must indemnify (reimburse) the distributor its legal fees and any award rendered against it. But distributors understand that most independent filmmakers have limited resources, and after a film has been completed, they are often broke. The indemnity may not be worth much practically speaking. That is why distributors want the filmmaker to add them as additional insureds under their E & O insurance policy to ensure that the insurance company assumes any liability and pays attorney fees to defend against a suit.
The Law Offices of Mark Litwak Associates provides affordable legal services for many independent low budget filmmakers. Contact us if you would like to discuss your production legal needs.
By Steve McGrath
Lessons Learned From an Entertainment Audit
Awhile ago, some older neighbors of mine asked me about moving from traditional cable into the world of streaming. It seemed like a big change for them, and the thought worried them. I told them I would come by their house for an “entertainment audit” and look at their cable bill, look at their network hardware, and look to see what smart TVs/streaming devices they had. I cut the cord about ten years ago, so I admittedly lost the perspective of what it is like to make the change and doing this entertainment audit for my neighbors opened my eyes to a lot.
The most surprising thing was seeing how much they were paying for almost every streaming service already, on top of the bloated cable bill. They were paying about $500 a month between their Comcast “all-in” plan and all the various streaming services they subscribed to such as Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and Peacock. I asked them what they were watching on traditional cable – and it was PBS and NFL games.
The second most surprising thing was seeing how egregiously large amounts of data connections were being sold. They were paying for 800mbps per month for a household that had three streaming devices online total. The lowest package I saw being offered was around 300mbps which is still far too much data for three home streaming devices, but the most logical fit from the options being offered. The average household uses 500GB of data per month, which is equivalent to an average 1mb connection always running throughout the month. Video conference calls are the biggest consumer of data using 5-9mb of data per minute. To keep things in perspective, for my neighbors to use all 800mpbs of their connection all month, it would equate to about 260TB of data a month. There are free online
calculators that will give you a better look at what you actually use for data vs what you are paying for.
The biggest question for these potential cord cutters is, “How will we watch PBS and NFL?” I showed them that there are charts available via Google search that will show you the channel lineups on various live TV streaming services (YouTube TV vs Fubo vs Sling vs Philo). There are tons of resources out there for that information. The trickiest thing (especially for New Englanders who use NESN- it’s exclusive to Fubo) is finding which live streaming platform has your channel of choice.
If you find a live streaming platform does not have your channel of choice, you can search for the individual show and see if it is watchable elsewhere. There is a great App called Just Watch, which will find what streaming platforms have your show or movie.
Once you see what you are spending hopefully you are motivated to make some moves. There
are still places to look for savings. The past two NABs we have heard about steaming fatigue where streaming companies are seeing more churn than ever. This is because people are paying more on streaming than they are on cable. There are many bundle deals, and 1st year promotional discounts to ease the cost.
Now let’s dig deeper…what if there were ways to watch television for a one-time hardware cost. The Zapperbox is the first ATSC 3.0 compliant. (The long/short of ATSC 3.0 in this use case is that local networks must broadcast over the air over IP). This means that you can get most local networks for free, and the Zapperbox has a typical interface like typical cable with the ability to record. To really see if the Zapperbox is good for you, use try the DTV Antennas App and see what antennas are near you. When you get your signal from over the air, you will notice its crisper and less compressed than typical cable.
So back to my neighbors – where will they be left? Between all the downsizing of network
and removing cable TV (but adding Fubo) they are looking to save around $175 a month. They aren’t bold enough to try a Zapperbox
Steve McGrath is a Sales Engineer for Zixi, where Steve helps customers send broadcast across the world in under a second. Steve has also worked in broadcasting for over fifteen years where he has handled every part of production from ingest to delivery. His clients include, NBC, ABC, FOX, ESPN, CBS, HBO, Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Kraft Sports and many, many others. In his spare time, Steve enjoys playing guitar, outdoor activities and comedy.
FILM FESTIVAL
GET READY TO FESTIVAL!–
The Woods Hole Film Festival
July 27th – August 3rd
Twinning director, producer, editor, writer and cinematographer and multi-time Oscar winner.
If after eight days you can’t watch all the films you were interested in seeing, or if you can’t make it to the festival in-person, never fear: many films will also be available for streaming on the Festival’s virtual platform immediately following the in-person screenings from Sunday, August 4 through Sunday, August 11!
As the longest-running film festival on the
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF WOOS HOLE FILM FESTIVAL
below,
A still from Canadian filmmaker Niobe Thompson’s documentary HUNT FOR THE OLDEST DNA, in which scientists discovered the oldest DNA ever found while examining dirt.
right,
Jay Craven’s (WHERE THE RIVERS FLOW NORTH) latest film, LOST NATION charts the intersecting journeys of Vermont’s founding father Ethan Allen and early Vermont poet Lucy Terry Prince, whose poem “Bars Fight” is the first known work of African American literature.
Cape and Islands and one of the oldest in New England, the Woods Hole Film Festival was an early leader in promoting the films and careers of emerging, independent filmmakers, especially those with ties to New England, and specifically Cape Cod and the Islands—a mission that continues to this day.
The Festival’s nearly 1000 submissions were narrowed down to a thought-provoking program of 47 feature-length and 73 short dramas, comedies, documentaries, and animation from 19 countries—with 6 World, 2 US, and 59 New England premieres—by both first-time and veteran filmmakers.
Films’ subjects range from family and love to mystery and the supernatural—with everything in-between. The festival’s hallmark thematic strands include films with New England connections (with many films by Massachusetts filmmakers and shot around the state), films about music and musicians, films about science in conjunction with the Festival’s “Bringing Science to the Screen” program, films about activism.
The Festival’s intimate environment and seaside setting provide audience members and filmmakers from around the world the opportunity to watch films together and to engage face to face in thought-provoking and meaningful conversations during the post-film
Q&As, as well as on the street—you never know who you might bump into!
Below are descriptions of some of the highlights of this year’s festival.
The festival kicks off on Friday, July 26, with a special screening of In the Whale, filmmaker and Boston Globe environmental reporter David Abel and Andy Laub’s documentary about Michael Packard, one of the area’s last remaining lobster divers who was engulfed by a humpback whale during a routine dive off the tip of Cape Cod. After some 30 seconds in a pitch-black captivity, in which Packard expected to die, he was spit out and rescued by fishermen. The publicity was similarly dizzying for the reclusive fisherman, whose survival story spread around the world. But what came after the limelight dimmed was even more significant.
The first Woods Hole Film Festival consisted of five short films, which became the model for the festival’s time-honored and popular short film programs. The short film programs regularly sell out, so we recommend buying tickets in advance.
This year there are 73 narrative, documentary, and animated short films, organized into ten themed programs, with sometimes as many as two shorts programs featured in one day.
Some short films also screen prior to featurelength films. Many filmmakers participate in the Q&As that follow the programs, making for an enriching experience you won’t find at many other places.
Opening day (Saturday, July 27) starts off with the short film program “Be the Change” and climbs up from there. The highlight is PORCELAIN WAR by Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev, winner of the 2024 Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival. It profiles three artists from Ukraine who chose to stay behind and fight, armed with their art, their cameras, and for the first time in their lives, their guns. Dawn Porter, director of the acclaimed documentary JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE, will participate in a Q&A following the screening of her film LUTHER: NEVER TOO MUCH—produced by Jamie Foxx and Colin Firth—which recaps Luther Vandross’s Grammy® Award-winning musical career, while exploring his personal life, health struggles, and a lifelong battle to earn the respect that his music deserved. In Tyrrell Shaffner’s narrative film KATIE’S MOM, the character played by Aaron Dominguez (Selena Gomez’s love interest in season 2 of Only Murders in the Building) gets seduced by his girlfriend’s mother, who tells the story from her point of view in a twist on the Mrs. Robinson character in THE GRADUATE.
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Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother) stars in a pair of films: Haroula Rose’s ALL HAPPY FAMILIES, a charming comedy about a dysfunctional family gathering in Chicago (August 3), and Jane Weinstock’s THREE BIRTHDAYS, about a family wrestling with revolutionary ideas around sex, race, and class
school in Natick (August 2). In the mystery/ thriller CROOKEDFINGER by Julia Halperin and Jason Cortlund, a woman returns to her Cape Cod childhood home after her parents’ sudden death and is forced to work with her estranged brother as they settle their parents’ affairs.
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF WOOS HOLE FILM FESTIVAL
Making its world premiere is Wayland, MAbased filmmaker Spencer Cohen’s THE COMPATRIOTS filmed entirely in Massachusetts.
In Tyrrell Shaffner’s narrative film KATIE’S MOM, the character played by Aaron Dominguez gets seduced by his girlfriend’s mother, who tells the story from her point of view in a twist on the Mrs. Robinson character in THE GRADUATE.
Jane Weinstock’s THREE BIRTHDAYS is about a family wrestling with revolutionary ideas around sex, race, and class in the 1970s.
right,
Dawn Porter will participate in a Q&A following the screening of her film LUTHER: NEVER OO MUCH— produced by Jamie Foxx and Colin Firth—which recaps Luther Vandross’s Grammy® Award-winning musical career, while exploring his personal life, health struggles, and a lifelong battle to earn the respect that his music deserved.
Ted Danson narrates FOLLOW THE JOURNEY, directed by Martha’s Vineyard residents Liz Witham and Ken Wentworth. The work-inprogress screening chronicles the couple as they followed a group of endangered North Atlantic Right Whales, including seven mothers and their newborn calves, on an epic journey from Florida to the Canadian Maritimes (July 28).
Several notable short films are part of “The Blue Between Us” program, featuring films about science, on August 1. Frequent Festival alum Peter Galison’s LIGHT AT THE EDGE OF THE UNIVERSE: THE BLACK HOLE EXPLORER envisions a spacecraft that could follow the quest to understand black holes. Galison, who co-directed the film with colleagues Michael Johnson and Chyld King, is a professor in the Department of Astrophysics at Harvard and director of the Black Hole Initiative. He is not only the film’s director, but also a scientist with
first-hand knowledge of his subject matter. Cambridge-based cellist Yo-Yo Ma playing a critical role in Princess Daazhraii Johnson’s GATH & K’IYH: LISTEN TO HEAL, a poetic visual exploration of a community-led creative arts project, with world-renowned. It’s aimed at better understanding and restoring the relationship with the Lower Tanana dialect concepts of gath (king salmon) and k’iyh (birch) relatives in an effort to understand climate change in Alaska. Kim Lowe directed THE BEE, a profile of Boston beekeeper Bill Perkins, who shares his knowledge and love of bees with his community, much like a bee spreading pollen.
Each year the Festival screens a dynamic array of films dedicated to the power of music and the captivating stories of the musicians who bring it to life.
Don Hardy’s LINDA PERRY: LET IT DIE HERE
profiles one of the most recognizable artists of the last 30 years, with her signature hat, attitude, and chart-topping hit “What’s Up” by her band 4 Non Blondes. She has since made a name for herself as a Grammy-nominated songwriter and producer for artists such as Adele, Christina Aguilera, Brandi Carlisle, Miley Cyrus, Celine Dion, Ariana Grande, Alicia Keys, Dolly Parton, Pink and Gwen Stefani (July 29). Augusta Palmer’s THE BLUES SOCIETY re-evaluates the 1960s through the lens of the Memphis Country Blues Festival that featured Blues masters such as Furry Lewis and Robert Wilkins, who had attained fame in the 1920s but were living in obscurity by the 1960s, and a group of white artists from the North and South who created a celebration of African American music in a highly segregated
city (July 30). In Jeff Toye’s THE OPENER, Grammy winner Jason Mraz invites singersongwriter Philip Labes to open for him during his tour, after discovering Labes’s heartfelt and witty songs on TikTok during the pandemic. In an interesting twist, this year singersongwriter Kim Moberg has curated both live and recorded music that will be played prior to some of the screening (with some of the recorded music incorporated into the Festival’s trailer).
The live music at the festival’s legendary parties is also not to be missed. On opening night fusion band Souljah kicks things off at The Captain Kidd. Renowned for their ability to blend soul, funk, and contemporary sounds, the band creates an atmosphere that resonates with diverse audiences. If you’re a fan of classic Americana, country-rock, and the folkrock songbook of the 60s and 70s, don’t miss Liam and Johnny at Wednesday’s party at The Captain Kidd. If you’re in the mood for a more mellow evening of music, check out The Catie Flynn Duo, featuring singer-songwriter Catie Flynn and Pat Croke at Thursday’s party at The Leeside. Start the festival’s closing weekend off on the right foot at Grumpy’s Pub featuring the energetic music of Band of Brothers, a musical collaboration between 7 topflight musicians originally from Boston: 3 brothers and 4 lifelong friends.
Films that illuminate the voices, struggles, and triumphs of social consciousness and civic engagement are a frequent theme at the festival. The aftereffects of Trinity, the world’s first nuclear bomb detonated in New Mexico one month before the bombing of Hiroshima, has been in the news a lot lately. Lois Lipman’s documentary FIRST WE BOMBED NEW MEXICO, profiles inspiring Hispanic cancer survivor Tina Cordova, who catalyzed a movement seeking compensation for families— mostly Hispanics and Native Americans— who continue to suffer multigenerational cancers tied to the bomb yet continue to be ignored (July 31). Similarly, SUGARCANE is a gripping investigation of the unmarked graves at an Indian residential school in Canada that unearths secrets below and above ground, igniting a reckoning in the lives of survivors and their descendants, including the film’s co-director, Julian Brave NoiseCat (July 30). Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough’s THE BODY
POLITIC profiles Brandon Scott, a young mayor in Baltimore elected amid the George Floyd uprising, who grew up during Baltimore’s most troubling years and introduced an ambitious plan for violence reduction and police reform that he promises will lower the city’s murder rate (August 2). John de Graaf’s STEWART UDALL: THE POLITICS OF BEAUTY, profiles the former Secretary of the Interior during the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations, who called on Americans to move away from our emphasis on economic growth and consumerism and toward quality of life, and a new politics centered on recognition of the Earth’s limits. His social and environmental successes stemmed from his ability to inspire people with disparate interests to come together to achieve common goals.
The festival ends literally on a high on August 3, with MAYA AND THE WAVE, Stephanie Johnes’s surfing documentary about Maya Gabeira, the first woman to attempt to surf the giant wave in Nazare Portugal. After nearly drowning, she was ridiculed and ostracized by the male big-wave surfers who dominate the sport, but later surfed the biggest wave ever surfed by a woman. With the help of her fans, she became the first female surfer honored with a Guinness World Record.
The Woods Hole Film Festival offers a rich program of master classes by the filmmakers-inresidence, workshops, and panel discussions, providing filmmakers and enthusiasts with invaluable opportunities to learn from industry experts, refine their craft, and engage in meaningful conversations about the art and business of filmmaking.
This year’s Filmmaker-in-Residence, Doug Blush, is an award-winning director, producer, editor, writer, and cinematographer with over 200 feature and television credits, including a number of Academy Award winning documentaries, such as 20 FEET FROM STARDOM, THE ELEPHANT WHISPERERS, and PERIOD. END OF SENTENCE on Monday, July 29, the prolific festival alum offers a master class featuring an overview of his past and current work, including executive producing not just one, but three festival entries this year: COUNTED OUT (July 30), FIRST WE BOMBED NEW MEXICO (July 31) and CHAMPIONS OF THE GOLDEN VALLEY (August 3). He will
also provide a preview of several of his projects in production, including his new documentary LOS LOBOS NATIVE SONS, due for a 2025 release.
Documentary director John de Graaf, who began producing documentaries in 1977 and has directed over 40 films, 15 of which have received national primetime PBS broadcasts, will teach a master class on August 2 about documentary filmmaking, focusing on how he developed the story for STEWART UDALL: THE POLITICS OF BEAUTY, which screens at the Festival on closing night. He will also share work-in-progress material from his new film about Katharine Lee Bates, best known for authoring the song “America the Beautiful” in the late 1800s, but who also fought for the rights of women before they could vote, protested animal cruelty and refused to wear fur, and stood for immigrants, the poor, and world peace.
Actor, director, producer, and author Christy Cashman, who has appeared in more than 20 films, including AMERICAN HUSTLE, JOY and THE WOMEN, will lead a master class on producing, acting, and writing on July 30, sharing anecdotes about her journey in the film industry and how she embraced career changes while still remaining in the creative sector.
Alecia Orsini Lebeda, an award-winning multi-media professional and former longtime president of Women in Film and Video of New England, will host a workshop on making a living in independent film, focusing on the skills one needs to work outside of the studio system. Two panel discussions round out this year’s special events: “The State of Independent Film,” hosted by Women in Film and Video New England on August 1, and “What Do You Want From Film Critics?” hosted by the Boston Society of Film Critics on August 3, which features a discussion about the ever-changing media landscape and how it affects their work. The critics will also engage with attendees to hear what filmmakers and other moviegoers want.
For tickets, passes, and memberships (which offer discounts on screenings and passes), visit www.woodsholefilmfestival.org or visit the festival box office at the Old Woods Hole Fire Station, located at 72 Water Street.
Evgrey@aol.com • 617 966-0019 neactor.com/profile/ElaineictoriaGrey SAG-AFTRA ACTRESS/PRODUCER/ DIRECTOR: Film, Television, Commercial, Industrial & Print. Intriguing Look.
NOVEMBER 5-10