Vinyl's Cinematographer Reed Morano, A.S.C. is a Superhero

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Vinyl's Cinematographer Reed Morano, A.S.C. is a Superhero

It is a rare feat to be able to peek into the future, but I am pretty positive that we will see Reed Morano, ASC receive an Oscar in not too many years. Whether it is for directing or cinematography remains to be seen. But talent alone is not what makes Reed heroic; she approaches her art, craft, and life with humility, grace, and introspection, and her insights about being an accomplished woman in a male-dominated field are profound. 

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If the Women on "The View" Are Arguing About Your Startup, You've Done Something Right

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If the Women on "The View" Are Arguing About Your Startup, You've Done Something Right

Craig and Eva were walking past the red carpet premiere of a movie at the Ziegfeld in Manhattan when an idea grabbed hold of them and slowly but surely became a reality. What if a family or a group of friends could make a movie together and then attend a red carpet premiere for that movie? 

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Please! Stop Monkeying Around with Photography Law!

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Please! Stop Monkeying Around with Photography Law!

Most of my friends are amateur photographers now, thanks to smartphones and Instagram. And many of them love the hashtag #NoFilter, which always amuses me. Why? Because of the assumption that a photo shot with an iPhone has not already been heavily curated before the button was pushed by the photographer. As this past spring's blue/black vs. white/gold dress debate that raged on the Internet demonstrates, we don't each see color the same way, and a phone's camera does not faithfully replicate the colors we do see, filter or not. 

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The Long Island International Film Expo Starts This Week...

/ Bellmore Movies/
The Long Island International Film Expo Starts This Week...

And we will be there! 13 years ago, I received my first ever film statue from the 2002 LIIFE as a producer, and now I will be there to speak as an attorney on two panels: Ask a Lawyer (with Marc Jacobson, P.C.) and How to Start Up an Independent Film Production Company (or Have Your Lawyer Do It).  

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New York's Creepiest Photography Breaks No Law... But Artists Shouldn't Celebrate Yet

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New York's Creepiest Photography Breaks No Law... But Artists Shouldn't Celebrate Yet

Photographer Arne Svenson had a Nikon super-telephoto lens. He liked to use that lens to take pictures of his New York City neighbors (including unclothed minors) in their apartments and turn the prints into an art exhibit almost as controversial as Mapplethorpe's in his heyday. And the First Department of New York's Appellate Division stated last week that Svenson's photography show broke no New York law and violated no regulation when he did just that. 

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Technical Snafu Destroys Screenplay Site, Loses Scripts Forever, Lawsuits Likely: Another Small Business Cautionary Tale.

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Technical Snafu Destroys Screenplay Site, Loses Scripts Forever, Lawsuits Likely: Another Small Business Cautionary Tale.

As a former indie film producer and screenwriter (and tech geek, too!), I have immersed myself in the software and web sites that cater to filmmakers and content creators. I have been of the belief that entrepreneurs who create platforms for dream-realizing are more likely to make money than the dreamers themselves. Case in point: Indiegogo, Withoutabox, and Scripped. I don't know how much money Scripped made, but it was purchased at some point by another company, one that made business-ending mistakes.

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Dr. Startup, or: How I Learned to Stop Complaining and Love the Micropayment

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Dr. Startup, or: How I Learned to Stop Complaining and Love the Micropayment

Did the Internet and technology level the playing field for small-time artists, illustrators, musicians, or filmmakers? On the one hand, it is easier than ever before to become a web celebrity than ever before, and for the creator of creative content to monetize that content.

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How to Start Up an Independent Film Production Company (or Have Your Lawyer Do It)

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How to Start Up an Independent Film Production Company (or Have Your Lawyer Do It)

Indie filmmaking and production companies have drastically changed since the improvements of tech and the Internet. You can shoot an independent film in HD with a high-end DSLR and do your entire post-production on a laptop.  But even if you have the best line producer in New York, you still should have an idea of how to start up your very own independent film production company, with or without the guidance of a lawyer. 

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Your Unpaid Internship for That Production Assistant is Probably Illegal

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Your Unpaid Internship for That Production Assistant is Probably Illegal

Since the beginning of independent film, music, and theater, production companies have hired young high school and college-aged (and older) workers in search of "breaking into the industry," and have chosen to not pay them.  Those days of getting real work in exchange for credit (college or screen) seem to be disappearing.

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