by Chinmayi Shalya.

Santa arrived with his bag of gifts on Christmas, but the treats were far from over, especially for a group of 25 children who had a tryst with the world of cinema on Monday morning, learning about techniques and ideas used to create a motion picture. And the basic rule of film making – that stories have to be told from the heart.

Amol Gupte, the director of Stanley Ka Dabba, opened up the world of sound, frames and screenplay for the children at the Pixon studio at Bandra, at the workshop under the Times of India’s Mumbai For Kids initiative.

Many participants had already made small films as part of school projects, but for some it was the first exposure to the world behind the camera. But all of them had in common the curiosity to know how small ideas can be developed into a living art form. There were laughs and giggles when Charlie Chaplin tried to get rid of a baby he found near a dustbin. But the sombre moment when Chaplin decides to take care of the baby despite his own poverty left the kids in poignant silence. Gupte then explained how the idea of benevolence even in poverty had made the film a classic.

Read the rest of this article from Times of India.

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by Tamsyn Burgmann.

Cake and candles are the least of Omar Sawaid’s concerns when he wants to celebrate family birthdays or anniversaries.

There’s also mile-high paperwork and travel planning for the 21-year-old Palestinian living in Haifa, Israel, whose great aunt and relatives — refugees residing in Jordan and Syria — are barred from visits.

Anger rises in his chest knowing American and European Jewish people are openly welcomed into the country to embrace their own loved ones and share those same milestones.

In a little town to the north, Sophia Duckrevich has grown up always fearful the next missile attack could strike her home. The 26-year-old Israeli vividly recalls the death of a close 14-year-old boy friend when she was just 10.

Their emotions remain high, but when the Palestinian man and Israeli woman went camping together in a serene mountain village north of Vancouver earlier this month, they heard for the first time the other person’s story. They even became friends.

“We have only a picture of (each other) as an enemy, not as a person that wants peace or got hurt from it,” said Duckrevich of intimate conversations with other campers about their personal experiences with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“People are starting to believe this is true — this person really wants peace and he has suffered just like me.”

Which was exactly the hope of the British Columbia non-profit that’s brought the pair and 28 other Palestinian, Israeli and Canadian university students together. The month-long program, called Peace it Together, engages the students in 10 days of trust-building exercises before dividing them into trios that will make 10 short films about the conflict.

Read the rest of this article from Winnipeg Free Press.

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by CityTownInfo.

Video-sharing website YouTube has partnered with the University of Southern California and Columbia College Chicago to help aspiring filmmakers improve their digital media skills, reported YouTube in their blog.

The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that both schools will be offering a five-week training program to a total of 20 carefully selected students. According to GigaOM, the program, called the YouTube Creator Institute, will offer traditional storytelling and cinematography classes, as well as training in audience building, monetization and social media to build a brand and increase audiences. David Weitzner, head of the USC program, said in an interview with GigaOM that the idea is to give students a better understanding of the film making process.

Read the rest of this article from City Town Info.

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Bobby Roth has come up with a seminar on directing for network TV and independent film that is beneficial for aspiring directors and actors alike.

He takes his students through the process from the first day of prep through through post production, with a strong emphasis on casting and directing actors, as well as his technique of envisioning the scene so one can make a complete and detailed shot list necessary for both artistic excellence and efficiency.

Check out Bobby’s Demo Reel.

Saturday, April 16, 2011
Working Stage Theater
1516 N. Gardner St.
West Hollywood, CA 90046
bobbyrothdirectingseminar@gmail.com

From Miami Vice to Prison Break and Lost, Bobby Roth has directed over 50 US television series in his 30-year career, also serving as Executive Producer and Producer on the 1985 ABC series The Insiders and the 2005 CBS series Numb3rs.

In addition, Roth has directed 20 movies for television, including the award-winning 2005 CBS Elizabeth Smart Story. Roth also has 13 feature films to his credit, from the celebrated 1984 Heartbreakers to his recent release, the award-winning Berkeley.

This article was written by Larry Barr.

“As I mentioned in my last post, I went to Vancouver to participate in a Film Directing workshop. The workshop was run by Peter D. Marshall. Peter’s been in the film industry for about 38 years. He’s spent most of that time as a First Assistant Director, but has also managed to to helm about 30 productions during his career so far as well. So he definitely knows what he’s teaching. None of that “those who can’t…teach” stuff with Peter. He’s definitely done it and he loves to share his knowledge, experience and passion with other folks.

This workshop was different from the first one of Peter’s which I attended in 2005. In “Art and Craft of the Director”, we learned about the politics of the set, budgeting, film industry terms and words, and quite a bit of general knowledge, before we did a bit of directing and acting practice with other participants in the workshop. Definitely a great workshop and analagous to getting a Bachelor’s in directing.

In this workshop, called “Directing the Film Actor”, we spent the first day and a half learning some of the “rules” of talking to actors and discovering what they need to hear and, just as importantly, we learned what they don’t need to hear. Trilby Jeeves, a very talented actress and Peter’s better half, shared the teaching with Peter and added much information from the actor’s viewpoint. This one was the Master’s degree.”

Read the rest of this article from The K5WLF Blog.

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Sign up now for your own FREE monthly subscription to “The Director’s Chair” filmmaking ezine and get the first 28 pages of my 210 page Film Directing Multi-Media Online course, “The Art and Craft of the Director Audio Seminar.”
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“Directing the Film Actor” is a 3 day hands-on workshop with Peter D. Marshall and Trilby Jeeves held in Vancouver, Canada that concentrates on the filmmaker’s main task: directing the actor!

This workshop was designed for filmmakers who want to know how to get the best results from actors.

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“Peter and Trilby are very sincere and dedicated! We shared so much during the 3 days. For this workshop, we directors, producers, and artists were able to understand more of each others difficulties and inner feelings during production period. You two have enlightened us so much. Thank you, God bless!” Taykok Peng Edmund, Singapore
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“Directing the Film Actor”

Workshop Objective – The objective of this workshop is to explore the film director’s creative process in shaping an actor’s performance.

Day One – Covers the theory behind the director’s job, the importance of script and scene breakdown, character analysis and understanding the actor’s process.

Day Two – Covers acting exercises, guidelines for the casting session, and practical blocking and directing exercises.

Day Three - Each director will block and rehearse a scene with two actors. All scenes will be recorded for review and analysis as a group.

To find out more information about this 3 day event, including the course content and how to register, please Click Here.

P.S. This 3 day intensive workshop is limited to only 10 filmmakers, so if you are interested, please register early.

Dear Filmmaker,

I have a mission – and that mission is to share my 35 years of “in the trenches” film production knowledge with filmmakers like yourself, around the world.

To me, making a good movie is the art of visually telling a compelling story with believable characters. And because filmmaking is a universal language, no matter where we live in the world, we all have our own stories to tell.

I firmly believe that if you have a story with Universal Themes, and you have the passion and dedication to tell this story, you can make a movie, in your own language, and audiences around the world will watch it.

And my filmmaking philosophy is very simple: after 35 years in the film and television industry, I have found that successful filmmakers understand and follow this 4-step process (and in this order):

1. STUDY OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR (Understanding human emotions and feelings. What makes us tick? The reasons why we do things.)

2. STORY (What is the story about? What is the theme? What are the scene objectives? What are you trying to say? What is your POV?)

3. PERFORMANCE (What are the character objectives? What is the subtext? What really motivates a character?)

4. TECHNICAL (Everything else it takes to make a movie -  Locations, Cinematography, Editing, Stunts, Visual FX etc.)

Once you know what motivates a person to achieve their daily needs, you will understand your story better; you will be able to help your actors achieve believable performances; and you will feel more confident about blocking a scene, and picking the right camera angles to visually tell the story.

This is the formula I use to teach my workshops. And it works!

I guarantee that when my workshops are completed, participants will see for themselves how any director, even someone with very little experience, can effectively block a scene and get a believable performance from an actor!

“I have taken several directing courses and Peter’s course by far, takes the gold star. This impressive, condensed seminar saturates years of experience and learning and presents it in an easy to use package. A definite recommendation.” Trevor McWhinney – Vancouver, Canada

But I need your help.

I’m looking for filmmakers around the world who would like to help me bring my filmmaking workshops to their region – so we can discuss our craft, learn more about our art, and share our unique experiences as artists and story tellers.

The Art and Craft of the Director

Directing the Film Actor

So if you are interested in helping me with this venture, please email me and I will send you a proposal which discusses these two film workshops in more detail. And after you have read the proposal, and you would like to know more, we can chat further.

Also, if you do help me bring these workshops to your city, you will be able to attend them for free. This is my gift to you for helping me with my “international filmmaking mission.”

Thanks again for your time.

All the best,

Peter
pdm@actioncutprint.com

Is your dream to direct movies? Are you having trouble getting your film directing career started? If you have the drive and passion to be a film director, and the courage to stick it out “no matter what”, I can help you reach that goal!

I would like to invite you to my film directing workshop in Vancouver, Canada on May 14,15,16, 2010.

“The Art and Craft of the Director” is a 3 day intensive workshop where up to 20 filmmakers from around the world will have the opportunity to learn insider secrets on how to become a successful working film director.

Those who attend this three day film directing workshop will discover:

…what is expected of a director in pre-production…
…how to break down your script to understand the story…
…the secrets of getting a good performance from an actor…

“I have taken several directing courses and Peter’s course by far, takes the gold star. This impressive, condensed seminar saturates years of experience and learning and presents it in an easy to use package. A definite recommendation.” Trevor McWhinney – Vancouver, Canada

Please Click Here to find out more about this three day film directing workshop.

Get Your Film Into Production – Get Your Production Sold

Come and join Norman C. Berns for this major filmmaking seminar in Los Angeles on Thursday, January 28th, 9:00am – 6:00pm.

Norman will spend the day discussing real solutions that can help filmmakers get their shows into production.  And he’ll also talk about the problems that can keep those films from getting sold.

This is the biggest, most important session Norman has ever taught. It’s a full day of wall-to-wall information, all backed by a panel of industry experts. Plus drawings for great software & hardware – resources that could get an entire career into gear.

If times are tight, ask about scholarships.  If you’re a student, find out about special pricing.  No matter how you get there, this is a class you don’t want to miss.

For more information, check out the Los Angeles Film Production Masters Class.

“Script Breakdown & Film Scheduling Workshop”

As a film or TV director, one of the most important aspects of your job is to understand the film schedule.

Before you can create an accurate budget (time and money) for your film, you need an experienced AD or PM to break your script down and prepare a shooting schedule.

This “one liner” enables you to discover the total number of “real” shooting days, find out how many locations you have and generate a cast Day-Out-Of-Days.

A properly designed shooting schedule is fundamental to your directing process. Without an experienced Production Manager or Assistant Director to prepare this board, you will have an unrealistic budget which will have a negative impact on your entire production.

If you are a Directors Guild of Canada (BC) member and you live in Vancouver, I will be presenting my 2 day “Script Breakdown & Film Scheduling Workshop” on November 22 & 23, 2008.

For more information on how to register for this course, contact the Vancouver DGC office at (604) 688-2976. (This 2-day workshop is only available to DGC(BC) members.)