Sometimes when I get really lucky, a director whose work we’ve featured will stick around once the interview dust has settled and become a firm friend who I can have extended film discussions with and tap up for viewing suggestions. Thankfully since his first appearance on DN 028 Kurtis Hough has fallen into that category, so it’s pleasure to welcome him back for an extra special episode kicking off our 100th consecutive week of podcasting to discuss his latest project Storm.

To watch Storm visit Kurt’s site and select the fourth thumbnail.

Showlinks
KH Studios
Stumble Then Rise on Some Awkward Morning
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Baraka
Microcosmos
Galapagos
The Blue Planet
Winged Migration
Godfrey Reggio
Koyaanisqatsi
Philip Glass
Grave of the Fireflies

• DN Ep 028: Stumble Then Rise on Some Awkward Morning - Kurtis Hough
• DN Special: Joy Division - Grant Gee
• Time Piece - Kat Mansoor
• Stumble Then Rise on Some Awkward Morning - Kurtis Hough
• Miss D 2007 Top Ten

There’s so much great work out there that even if I spent the full 24 hours a day on Directors Notes I’d still only be scratching the surface, which is why I’m so pleased that the mighty Wholphin DVD magazine exists to bring the best of it straight into our homes every quarter. I managed to hide the envy in my voice long enough to have a chat with creator and man at the helm Brent Hoff.

Showlinks
Wholphin
David O. Russell
Todd Solondz
True/False Film Fest
SXSW
Sundance Film Festival
Specialten
The Power of Nightmares
Pangea Day
Please Vote For Me

• DN EP 046: The Raftman’s Razor - Keith Bearden
• DN Festival: Britdoc 2007
• DN EP 108: We Dreamed America - Alex Walker
• DN EP 097: Inside the Circle - Marcy Garriott
• DN EP 079: Menomena: Evil Bee - Stefan Nadelman

Alkin Emirali chairs a Q&A with two of the most respected script executives in the UK Dan MacRae and Sarah Golding, who shed some light on the mysterious alchemy of script development and their roles in the process.

Showlinks
Lighthouse
Working Title Films
UK Film Council
Pan’s Labyrinth
Billy Elliot
Mr Bean’s Holiday
Jacques Tati
Shane Meadows
Mike Leigh
Zenith Entertainment Ltd
Inspector Morse

• DN Special: Lighthouse Cineville - London to Brighton
• Miss D 2007 Top Ten
• Mercy - Candida Scott Knight
• Meadows of the Past
• MarBelle 2007 Top Ten

Screen South’s Miranda Robinson chaired a Q&A with Rachel Robey and Alastair Clark, both producers for Nottingham based Wellington Films. Their debut feature London to Brighton, directed by Paul Andrew Williams, won a host of awards during 2006 including Best Achievement in Production at the British Independent Film Awards and was nominated for both British Film Producer of the Year at the London Critics Circle Awards and the Carl Foreman Award at BAFTA.

Showlinks
Lighthouse
London to Brighton
Wellington Films
British Independent Film Awards
London Critics Circle Awards
Carl Foreman Award
Steel Mill Pictures
Royalty
London Film Festival
UK Film Council
BECTU Rates
Equity Rates
Film Council Completion Fund
Cannes Film Festival
21 Grammes
Mike Leigh
Central Junior Television Workshop
Ravenscourt Theatre School
Panavision
Red Road
Edinburgh International Film Festival
Pete Bradshaw’s Guardian Unlimited Review
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Mona Lisa
Long Good Friday
Vertigo Films

• DN Special: Lighthouse Cineville - Script Development
• DN Special: Screen South - Digital Shorts 2007
• DN EP 078: Garage - Lenny Abrahamson
• DN EP 055: Mash Up - Jesse Lawrence
• The Ten Steps - Brendan Muldowney

A couple of weeks ago, I got to attend the cast and crew screening for Screen South’s 2007 slate of Digital Shorts and crashed the post screening party to find out more about the Digital Shorts experience from the Screen South team and this year’s supported directors.

Showlinks
Screen South
Screen South Winning Films
UK Film Council Digital Shorts
BritDoc
Shooting People
Edinburgh International Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
London Film Festival
BBC New Filmmakers Award
Rushes Soho Shorts Festival
Ten Thousand Pictures of You
Resfest
Future Shorts
Gone
The Road to Guantanamo
National Film and Television School
Exploding Cinema
OMSK
Cannes Short Film Corner
The Script Factory
Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival
Encounters Short Film Festival
Cinema Extreme

• DN Ep 035: Ten Thousand Pictures of You - Robin King
• Mercy - Candida Scott Knight
• DN EP 055: Mash Up - Jesse Lawrence
• The Ten Steps - Brendan Muldowney
• MarBelle 2007 Top Ten

Last month, London saw the welcome return of the Birds Eye View Film Festival, a festival which began life as an annual shorts programme, but has since grown to a fully fledge 6 day event in its own right, now in its 3rd and most ambitious year to date. For anyone not in the know, BEV was created in reaction to the pitiful percentage of female directors the film industry has produced, as a dedicated space in which to view their vast variety of work.

Showlinks
Birds Eye View
Birds Eye View MySpace
Birds Eye View Festival Stills

• INSIDE THE CIRCLE Breakin’ Convention Screening
• DN Special: Storm - Kurtis Hough
• DN Special: Joy Division - Grant Gee
• DN EP 078: Garage - Lenny Abrahamson
• DN EP 044: Film Eight - Dan Gitsham