CinemATL Podcast

So you want to make your own short film (or feature), but don’t know where to begin? CinemATL's Martin Kelley and Michael D Friedman both started making short films nearly twenty years ago. They’ve seen a lot of the common mistakes and pitfalls that first-time directors & producers make. We felt it would be a good idea to answer some Frequently Asked Questions for the first time filmmaker in this edition of the Technique Topic.

In this week’s episode, we’re taking a look back at Bill Murray’s forgotten comedic gem, “Quick Change,” from 1990.

"Quick Change" is Bill Murray’s first, and to this point, only directorial feature. He co-directed the film with the screenwriter Howard Franklin. It’s a really clever tale of a man named Grimm, played by Murray, who robs a bank dressed in a clown costume. Together with his partners, Phillys, played by Geena Davis and Loomis, played by Randy Quaid, they find out pulling the heist is the easy part. The hard part is getting out of New York City. Through a series of mishaps, the trio are forced on a wild goose chase around the city as they struggle to make it to the airport for their get away flight.

The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival 2021 is online from Feb 17-28! CinemATL spoke with AJFF Board VP Sari Earl and Jason Evans, the 2021 AJFF Film Evaluation Committee Co-Chair, to talk about the festival and so much more. Learn all about the 2021 festival and what makes the AJFF special, including drive-in events and a Donut Truck!

Follow the AJFF on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @atljewishfilm and visit the website at http://www.ajff.org/ for more.

This week, we talk with John Pruner, the host of the Bionic Frankenplot Podcast, which we were lucky enough to participate in. John is a local filmmaker who has worked on film, TV & commercials for over 20 years. We’ll find out more about his podcast and discuss other filmmaking topics.

Listen to the Bionic Frankeplot Podcast here (or almost anywhere you find podcasts!): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-bionic-frankenplot-podcast/id1526059814

Our guest episode is here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/theres-no-penalty-box-in-space-right/id1526059814?i=1000507498725

John Pruner is a homegrown filmmaker who never escaped the gravitational well of the metro Atlanta area. Working in arts and entertainment for over 20 years, he currently makes his money being a camera jockey for film, TV, and commercials. He also has been a producer, director and screen writer for various indie projects, is the host of the Bionic Frankenplot Podcast and producer of the upcoming multi-media arts collaboratory "The 2021 Project”.

Three Oscar-winning actors, Denzel Washington, Rami Malek and Jared Leto, star in a dramatic homage to 1990s serial killer films in "The Little Things." Find out what Michael D Friedman and Martin Kelley thought about the new film, now in theaters and on HBO Max.

If you have not seen the film yet, the first half of the review contains NO SPOILERS. If you want to stick around for a spoiler discussion, keep listening after the 15;40 second mark. Don't worry, we give ample warning before we begin!

The Plaza Theater will be playing host to the Sundance Film Festival this year, with screenings starting today (Jan 28) through Feb 3. Martin Kelley and Michael D Friedman had a chance to chat with Chris Escobar, the executive director of the Atlanta Film Society and owner of the Plaza to discuss Sundance, the Atlanta Film Festival and running a movie theater during a pandemic.

The Sundance Film Festival is going virtual this year, and it's also coming to Atlanta from January 28 through February 3! To prep you for the film festival experience, we're sharing our Top 3 favorite films that premiered at Sundance. What are your favorites? Let us know!

In this edition of "Forgotten Films" we take a look at acclaimed director Zhang Yimou's "Not One Less" which premiered in the U.S. at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. Hosts Martin Kelley and Michael D Friedman discuss this award-winning Chinese film.

"Set in the People's Republic of China during the 1990s, the film centers on a 13-year-old substitute teacher, Wei Minzhi, in the Chinese countryside. Called in to substitute for a village teacher for one month, Wei is told not to lose any students. When one of the boys takes off in search of work in the big city, she goes looking for him. The film addresses education reform in China, the economic gap between urban and rural populations, and the prevalence of bureaucracy and authority figures in everyday life. It is filmed in a neorealist/documentary style with non-professional actors who play characters with the same names and occupations as the actors have in real life, blurring the boundaries between drama and reality."

It's a new year and that means new industry news to discuss! Find out what's filming in Georgia, the Sundance Film Festival's Atlanta road trip, WB's release strategy and more!

It's time for our annual tradition: our Star Wars Special episode. In this double-size edition of the CinemATL Podcast, we first look at all the new Star Wars titles announced by Disney. We then dive head-first into our review of The Mandalorian season 2. What a great season it was!

SPOILER WARNING: The review contains multiple spoilers about Season 2 of The Mandalorian. If you haven't seen the most recent season, feel free to stick around for the news section, but you'll probably want to bail once we start our Mandalorian discussion. We'll give you warning during the episode!