Directors Close-up Kicks off with Jason Reitman

Jason Reitman, the Oscar-nominated director of Up in the Air, and his creative team pulled back the curtain and revealed the inner workings of an Best Picture Oscar-nominated movie.

The following directors and/or directors will speak at the subsequent Directors Close-up events, and I highly recommend you check them out:

Marc Webb ((500) Days of Summer, upcoming Spider Man movie)
John August (Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland)
Mark Waters (Mean Girls)
Mike White (The School of Rock)
Neil Labute (Lakeview Terrace, In the Company of Men)
Michael Hoffman (The Last Station)


Directors Close-up Schedule | Film Independent

Film Independent's Filmmaker Forum - overview

As a Project:Involve fellow at Film Independent, I attended its Filmmaker Forum this weekend at the DGA, the walls of which are decorated with photos of directors I admire. At the event, I spoke to John August (writer of Corpse Bride and Big Fish), producer of Juno, COO of Lionsgate, top agents, trailblazers of digital media, and socially conscious docu-filmmakers. I also heard producers of The Last Emperor and Little Miss Sunshine speak.

Unexpectedly, I ran into my directing teacher at UCLA, an ex-co-worker who's a wonderful line producer, and my high school classmate who's a smart, knowledgeable casting director of Inglourious Basterds. How funny? What a small world!

(photo courtesy of Lisa Stacilauska, fellow P:I comrade)