daily list

Bravo to director Julian Higgins (AFI Class of 2010), who this week was named one of the five winners of camera maker Canon's Project Imaginat10n Film Contest. Among the judges of the "user-generated" short film contest was director Ron Howard (RUSH) and his daughter, actor Bryce Dallas Howard (THE HELP). Higgins' entry, HERE AND NOW starring Abigail Spencer and Josh Pence, was made with the help of many other AFI Conservatory alumni, based on crowd-sourced photos. In the film, a young married couple contemplates the future of their strained relationship, reflecting back on the times when they were most in love. Higgins previously directed THIEF, which won the 2011 Student Academy Award^®, and made his television directing debut with one of the final episodes of HOUSE. Ron Howard will present Higgins' film along with the other contest winners and the works of five invited "celebrity directors" at the Canon Project Imaginat10n Film Festival later this fall.

Our friends at TheWrap.com have created a special discount for AFI Members who attend TheGrill, TheWrap's Fourth Annual Media Leadership Conference on September 23rd and 24th at The Montage Beverly Hills. The series of panels and keynote speakers will focus on the latest revolutions in entertainment facing the film and television community today, from the growing influence of crowd funding to quality content flooding the online space.

Topics and Speakers Include:

• Netflix Rules – But What's Next for Streaming? With Ted Sarandos, COO, Netflix
• Aereo and the Challenge to Broadcast TV with Aereo's CEO Chet Kanojia
• FX, FXX and the Rise of Cable with John Landgraf, CEO, FX Networks
• Reimagining the Newsroom with Larry Kramer, publisher of USA Today
• Panel: Crowd funding and the Movies: The New Money Model with Indiegogo co-founder Danae Ringelmann, and Stacey Sher and Michale Shamberg, producers, WISH I WERE HERE
• Innovators Panel: Meet the Folks We'll All be Working For in 10 Years: David Hayes, entertainment evangelist, Tumblr; Rich Raddon, co-founder, ZEFR; Matt Mazzeo, partner, Lowercase Capital

The producers of LETTERS TO JACKIE: REMEMBERING PRESIDENT KENNEDY, the Opening Night Gala film at the 2013 AFI DOCS presented by Audi, will host a national screening event in theaters across the U.S. to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Emerging Pictures will also produce a September 17th event honoring Academy Award® winning director Bill Couterié at the JFK Presidential Library in Boston in association with the American Film Institute. The film will screen simultaneously in its network of theatres, and will be broadcast live at select venues, including the post-screening panel discussion. Panelists will include director Couterié, Ellen Fitzpatrick, author of the book on which the film is based, Academy Award®-winner Chris Cooper and four individuals whose letters written to Jacqueline Kennedy in the days following the assassination are featured in the film. Following the premiere screening on September 17th, LETTERS TO JACKIE will be playing through October exclusively at Emerging Pictures network theatres.

AFI's Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland, turns 75 today. Movie goers, preservationists and history buffs can celebrate with $5 tickets to some of the movies that played in 1938 when the landmark theater first opened: CAREFREE, THE LADY VANISHES, THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD and BRINGING UP BABY.

Film critic and DC personality Arch Campbell will serve as Master of Ceremonies for an inaugural event attended by local government officials, AFI staff and supporters. In honor of the theatre's 75th, AFI Silver is encouraging Washington-area moviegoers to share their own memories of the original Silver Theatre from 1938 onward. Visitors are encouraged to send their stories to SilverMemories@AFI.com with their email address, name, phone number and date of the special memory. AFI Silver will be compiling a sample of these audience memories to share with the larger community.

What's your Silver memory? A kiss in the balcony? A newsreel you never forgot?

Like so many movie palaces of the '30s, The Silver Theatre provided an escape from the troubles of the day – a good thing, too. On the very day the Silver Theatre opened, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain met with Adolf Hitler for three hours at Berchtesgarden in a failed effort at appeasement with the German dictator.

The Silver Theatre, designed by noted architect John Eberson, was saved from the wrecking ball and on April 4, 2003 re-opened as the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, a public-private partnership in Montgomery County, Maryland. A center of arts and education, the original space was expanded with 32,000 feet of new construction. This year, The Silver is adding state-of-the-art 4k Digital Cinema technology to its current mix of 16mm, 35mm and 70mm formats. The theater draws more than 200,000 visitors each year. Happy anniversary!

It's September, and AFI Fest presented by Audi is just around the corner. Happening November 7-14 in Hollywood, AFI Fest is our annual celebration of international cinema – from modern masters to emerging filmmakers – and features nightly red-carpet galas, special screenings, conversations and tributes. Make an extra contribution or become a member of AFI this month and you’re entered for a chance to walk the red carpet with AFI's Member Month Red Carpet Getaway Sweepstakes.

AFI is challenging the film-loving community to help us raise $10,000 or reach 100 new members during September. If you win the sweepstakes, you and a guest will enjoy a trip for two to Los Angeles on American Airlines (the Official Airline of AFI), two nights at the glamorous Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel (home of the first Academy Awards^® in 1929) and two tickets to a Gala screening and after party during AFI Fest presented by Audi. You’ll also take home a copy of the Best of Warner Bros. 50 Film Collection on Blu-ray, created in celebration of Warner Bros.' 90th anniversary, which includes 16 of WB's Best Picture Academy Award^®-winners among the films on 52 discs.

Becoming an AFI member in September is the perfect way to honor your love of the movies while helping AFI to succeed. Please help us meet our goal of $10,000 or 100 new members this month!

If you plan to be in Washington, DC, this month or live in the Metro area, AFI's Silver Theatre and Cultural Center would like to say, "Bienvenidos!" The AFI Latin American Film Festival, now in its 24th year, will be showcasing the best filmmaking from Latin America and, with the inclusion of films from Spain and Portugal, celebrating Ibero-American cultural connections.

The 2013 edition runs from September 19–October 9, featuring a lineup of exciting new films making their Washington, DC, area premieres. Among the titles to watch for this year are ANINA, from Uruguay, the story of a young girl's suspension from school after a schoolyard fight; THE BODY, a tense thriller from Spain; CHICAMA, from Peru, about a teacher sent to a remote school in the Andes; and other films from Argentina, Brazil, Guatemala, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador and more. Information about Festival passes and Combo Ticket Packages offering discounts will be available in the September 13 edition of The Washington Post, which will carry the fall issue of AFI Preview. Vamonos, AFIcionados!

We put our usual 10 questions to Chris Schwartz at the AFI Conservatory offices bright and early on a sunny day in July. He graciously cleared a corner of his desk for our coffee mug and tape recorder and responded with good cheer. On the wall was a mock movie poster for a yet-to-be-produced motion picture titled "Gangbusters!," co-starring the multi-talented Mr. Schwartz.

1. Where are you from? I'm one of those rare L.A. natives. I was born in North Hollywood and I grew up in Simi Valley, California, which is just outside L.A. County. And now I live in North Hollywood, so I've traveled exactly zero miles in my life.

2. Where did you go to school? I finished high school and was going to junior college, planning to go to film school. I wanted to be a director, since I was a kid, but I had no connections to the industry. I was working as a waiter at Tony Roma's restaurant in Simi Valley – this is a classic soda fountain story – and these two girls would come in all the time. We became friends and I was adopted as their personal waiter. One night they brought their mom in and she was wearing a WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? jacket – leather, embroidered, beautiful. And I was like, 'Oh my God! Where did you get that jacket? I want one!' That was one of my favorite movies at the time. And she said, 'Oh, I work for the producer.' And I said, 'You work for Frank Marshall!' This was pre-Internet so she was blown away that I had done my research and knew the producer's name. Frank Marshall had produced RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, which was one of my favorite movies – more on that later. And so we got to talking and I said, 'That's what I want to do. I want to make movies!' A couple of weeks later, she comes in again and she says, 'Hey, this Friday one of our P.A.s [Production Assistants] is not coming in. Do you want to fill in for the day, working for Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy? And I was like, 'Uh… yeah!' So I went in – my first time ever venturing outside Simi Valley to do work, my first real job in the industry, and it felt like a whole new world. It was at the Raleigh lot, which was across the street from Paramount. I could look north, straight up Gower, and see the Hollywood sign. It was kind of magical – what a kid would imagine their first Hollywood job to be…under the shadow of that iconic sign. And at the end of the day, she said, 'Do you want to work here full time?' So, I started working there and finishing up my junior college simultaneously. It was still my plan to go to film school, but once I was working there, everyone said, 'Why do you want to go to film school? You work for two of the biggest producers in Hollywood, Kid!' I was 19, and I started working full-time.

3. What did you do before you came to AFI? So that was my first job – working for Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy at their company Kennedy/Marshall, and I worked for them for seven years. I started as a P.A., then I worked in post-production on two of their films – CONGO and THE INDIAN IN THE CUPBOARD. Those were my first credits on screen. They even used my nickname - 'The Kid' they called me, I think partially because no one could remember my name, and also because I was the youngest person there. But it was kind of cool that in the credits for those two films they put Chris 'The Kid' Schwartz. After those movies wrapped, I came back to their office and I was the office manager.

4. How long have you been at AFI? I've been here about 12 years. In between Kennedy/Marshall and AFI there was maybe a year where I freelanced and made my first big short film. Weird, now that I think about it. I always wanted to go to film school, I ended up not going… and now I go to the best film school in the world every single day! And get paid for it!

5. What do you do at AFI? My title is Manager of the AFI Conservatory and National Workshops. My job at the Conservatory is varied, but much of it has to do with the faculty. I deal with their contracts, classroom needs, any kind of special requests that they have, guest lecturers, etc. The National Workshops part is the Directing Workshop for Women [DWW]. That's like a mini-Conservatory, and I'm involved with every aspect of it, along with my colleagues Joe Petricca [Executive Vice Dean, AFI Conservatory] and Patty West [Associate Manager, AFI Conservatory and National Workshops]. We create the application, we conduct interviews, we sit on the selection committee. We select the class and then we put together the classes, as far as the instructors that come in, what classes they're going to teach, and we shepherd these eight women filmmakers through every step of the process. It's really great because the Conservatory's a much bigger machine and I'm not as closely involved with the thesis films or the Cycle films. But with the DWW, every step of the way, we give notes on rough cuts, we have production meetings with them, we do set visits – we're the studio, essentially. And then a new thing that Patty and I have taken over for the last two years is programming seminars for the Conservatory. We bring in all the seminar guests, including the Harold Lloyd Master Seminar guests. It's really cool to be able to greet them and talk to them a little and have them show a film that hasn't come out yet. I think the most rewarding part of that job is the Fellows' reaction to it. After every seminar I poke the Fellows and say, 'Give me some feedback; what did you think of the movie? What did you think of the guests?' We've had some of the most glowing reviews and Fellows saying a seminar was the most amazing talk they've ever experienced, it changed their life, it's the reason they want to make movies, etc. It's been a joy to be a small part of the Fellows' AFI experience.

6. How does that affect our members? You become a member because you love movies, right? Well, I'm directly involved in training the next generation of filmmakers. The people who are going through the AFI Conservatory and the Directing Workshop for Women are the filmmakers that members are going to go see in theaters, you're going to see their movies, TV shows, etc. I think that's the direct connection. I also end up volunteering at a lot of the events we do, like AFI Fest and the Life Achievement Award. I usually help out and I meet a lot of members. I love meeting the members and hearing how much they love film.

7. What was your best day at AFI? Having seen so many classes go through DWW, my best days are the times when I see someone realize their potential. I'll use this person as an example – Jennifer Getzinger, who went through the Directing Workshop for Women a few years ago. She was a script supervisor before she went through. After DWW, she had the opportunity to direct one episode of MAD MEN, and then the next season, two episodes, and then she was nominated for a DGA Award! It was kind of cool to see us completing our mission, which is to train a woman director and to have her go out there and make it be her profession, and succeed at the highest level. I'm not taking any credit for Jennifer's success, I was just so proud of her, to see her fulfill her potential and become what she is now – one of the best TV directors working today. My other favorite day was when they put that amazing coffee machine downstairs… I'm in love with that machine!

8. What are you working on today? Today's a good example of showcasing every part of what I do. We're prepping all the faculty contracts for the coming year. And then with seminars, we're meeting with [AFI Conservatory Dean] Bob Mandel to go over movies that are coming out this year and discussing who we want to target as seminar guests. Then, with the Directing Workshop for Women, there are two films that are going out today, meaning that they're here on Campus, picking up their equipment and they'll start shooting tomorrow. We make eight films every year. Four of them have wrapped, two go out today and two go out later in the week. So we're right in the middle.

9. What don't your colleagues know about you? You mean, where I was the night of April 29… No-no, not that! Okay, I think a lot of them know that I'm half of a comedy team called Schwartzy and Pagana. We do 1940s Abbot and Costello wordplay type comedy. We make Web videos and we've done a couple of live performances and will soon make a feature – based on that poster, GANGBUSTERS. I think a lot of them know that I'm a writer/director/producer/editor on the side and that Patty [West] and I, outside of AFI, have made our first feature film, SOME GIRL(S). But what they don't know? Maybe that I'm the middle of seven children…and I play the trumpet.

10. What's your favorite film? This week? Okay. Movie that I saw that made me want to make movies when I was eight years old was RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. Movie that always makes me happy is SINGIN' IN THE RAIN. I'll go see it whenever it's playing – saw it at the Egyptian this year with Debbie Reynolds working the crowd after. She was amazing! Movie that I'll see in the theater anytime they show it is LAWRENCE OF ARABIA. If you have not seen that 4K restoration – and you have 4 hours to kill – it's amazing! And then I'll just throw out a movie I saw this year that I love, that I saw at SXSW. It's called SHORT TERM 12 and it's easily the best movie that I've seen this year – go see it!

"There's so much out there about film; I don't know where to start." If you've ever made this observation and don't have the time to search out the best stories for yourself, American Film™ would like to help with our newest feature, Wide Shot, here in The Daily List. As the name implies, we're shooting for a wide range of issues, finding things we think you'll find entertaining, informative and thought provoking. Enjoy!

For the Comic-Con crowd, here's a graphic look at the past, present and future of the Marvel movie franchises from Empire Magazine online written by Dan Jolin and illustrated by Amar Vijay.
https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/marvel-cinematic-universe-infographic/

Michael G. Ankerich's essay from filmthreat.com offers a fascinating glimpse of silent film star Mae Murray, thought by some to be the model for Norma Desmond in Billy Wilder's SUNSET BLVD.
https://filmthreat.com/uncategorized/michael-g-ankerich-the-lost-world-of-mae-murray/

Kent Jones' in-depth exploration of racism in John Ford's classic films was occasioned by an off-hand comment by outspoken director Quentin Tarantino . We think you'll find it a most readable and levelheaded assessment from filmcomment.com.
http://filmcomment.com/article/intolerance-quentin-tarantino-john-ford