Point of View: Count down to Hot Docs: Roger and Me
If you read last week, you saw that I referenced a documentary filmmaker friend of mine having just been hospitalized with a brain tumor. This list of favorite documentaries is entirely subjective, and...
View ArticleIndie Inspiration: Louis CK and the Price of Total Freedom
Over the years I’ve seen Louis CK perform live in intimate bars and comedy clubs in New York and Toronto and I’ve seen him in larger theatres and on TV in his series ‘Lucky Louie‘ and ‘Louie‘. I listen...
View ArticlePoint of View: Countdown to Hot Docs: Paradise Lost
If you read last week, you saw that I referred to a documentary filmmaker friend of mine having been hospitalized with a brain tumor. This list of favorite documentaries is entirely subjective, and is...
View ArticleSecrets of Indie Filmmaking: Screenwriting and Writing it Down
We had a very productive script meeting yesterday. It got me thinking about the different ways that people work and what tools and methodologies work for different people. Now, at the end of the day –...
View ArticlePoint of View: Countdown to Hot Docs: Bowling for Columbine
If you’ve been reading the last few weeks, you know these PoV pieces are on my favorite documentaries, and saw that I referred to a documentary filmmaker friend of mine having been hospitalized with a...
View ArticleLove, Loss and a Happy New Year
In 2013, our regular readers, flung far and wide though you may be, became accustomed to our posts, three times a week. All of that came to a grinding halt last Spring, when I lost someone extremely...
View ArticleFriday Fun: Easter VS Passover in Annie Hall
Illustration by Craig Allen Easter and Passover. Pascua y Pesach. Ancient fertility rituals symbolized by hares; blended eventually into Christian resurrection; the blood of the lamb anointed the...
View ArticleIndie Inspiration: How Do You Get Your Ideas?
Sooner or later writers get asked, “So, how do you get your ideas?” It’s not my favorite question, though I like hearing it a whole lot better than this gem: “I’d like to write, I just don’t know how...
View ArticleFriday Fun: Lawrence Block’s ‘Where I Got My Idea’
Illustration by Samantha Swan Last week I wrote about my response to a question that is often asked of writers, “How do you get your ideas?“, which also gave me an opportunity to rabbit on about...
View ArticleIndie Inspiration: Jon Favreau, Independent Once More
In May, Jon Favreau sat down to discuss his latest movie ‘Chef’ with Jeff Goldsmith of Q&A. In a Hollywood where his last studio picture as a director was ‘Cowboys and Aliens’, it is interesting...
View ArticleSecrets of Indie Filmmaking: Talking Equipment
Photo: Christopher Comrie on location in Mexico by Samantha Swan Generally on this blog, we have confined our discussions to the creative: posts about who and what can inspire indie filmmakers;...
View ArticleSecrets of Indie Filmmaking: Talking Equipment II
Photo: Samantha Swan Talking Equipment. In our last post Talking Equipment, we focused on equipment that can add a great deal of value to your shoot without costing an arm and a leg. As I stated last...
View ArticleThe Heart of Ardent: Spicy Banana Soup
PHOTO: Samantha Swan I know, it’s a close up of soup. But people would get annoyed if they just saw bananas. They need to see what the dish looks like. Spicy Banana Soup We’ve published a number of...
View ArticleSweltering Cinema: 5 Summer Movies
Summer means different things to different people. Beach. Picnic. Sun. Chances are, if you grew up in a city, at some point there was a heat wave, and you went to the movies to escape the heat. In...
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Point of View: On Location, Land of Living Skies
Having spent three months on location in Western Canada, we thought we’d share some location and set photos here. To the South, Saskatchewan borders Montana and North Dakota. Montana is known as ‘Big...
View ArticleAutumn Apple Cider Cocktail
We need some Friday Fun around here, how about you? That said, I thought it would be good to share another cocktail recipe, a nice autumnal alternative to straight up fresh apple cider. It’s great for...
View ArticleScary Movies for Halloween: Three that Thrill
For more Halloween themed Friday Fun, this week we thought it might be time to talk a few favorite films once again. So here we have Scary Movies for Halloween: Three that Thrill. While we can’t say...
View ArticleQuentin Tarantino: For the Love of Film
In the new Indie Inspiration post, Quentin Tarantino: For the Love of Film, Ardent Pictures looks at Tarantino and the New Beverly, and suggests a listen to his great chat with Elvis Mitchell on KCRW’s...
View ArticleThe Heart of Ardent: Homemade Holiday Eggnog
Samantha Swan shares her recipe for Homemade Holiday Eggnog… When I was a kid, eggnog was always served at holiday parties, and I loved it. It was years before I had it with rum of course, but it...
View ArticleIndie Inspiration: Dog Day Afternoon
Today’s Indie Inspiration: Dog Day Afternoon. There are a number of good reasons to see the film: the excellent screenplay by Frank Pierson; the performances by Al Pacino, John Cazale and Charles...
View ArticleRecipe for the Real Cinco de Mayo
We’re not trying to rain on your nachos, but we thought you might like a recipe for the real Cinco de Mayo… The 5th Of May commemorates victory of the small, poor, Mexican militia over the bigger and...
View ArticleMy Road Trip with David Letterman
For decades, broadcast television has peopled our lives with folks joining us in our living rooms, creating a curiously one-sided intimacy. When I heard that David Letterman was retiring, I couldn’t...
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Friday Fun: On the Road in Mexico
If you read our last post, you know that my first experience of Mexico was on a childhood road trip. And after a lot of flights down over the last ten years, I finally managed to get there by road once...
View ArticleIndie Inspiration: Viva Mexico!
Viva Mexico! It might seem like an unfortunate pun to discuss a country’s independence in an independent film blog, but it feels right to us in this case. After all, Mexico is the country in which we...
View ArticleFriday Fun: Three Films for Thanksgiving
Though Thanksgiving is celebrated in the US and Canada, film lovers are everywhere, so today we’re sending a little Thanksgiving movie humor your way, for Friday Fun: Three Films for Thanksgiving. It’s...
View ArticleA Tartan Ribbon for Hogmanay
As the clock winds down on 2015, I’ve been thinking about filmmaking in black and white, and in color, and the differences between them. My thoughts turned to my family and our Scottish New Year’s...
View ArticleThe Museum of the Street
In the summer I was contacted by the curators of The Museum of the Street, an exhibit and archive of prominent illustrators in Canada. They were interested in the inclusion of my father, Peter Swan’s,...
View ArticleGarry Shandling: With Zen and Comedy
Originally scheduled as a ‘Friday Fun’ post regarding Garry Shandling’s appearance on Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee, this has changed to a ‘Point of View’ post where I say goodbye to one of my...
View ArticleThe Heart of Ardent: Election Night Cocktail Recipes
Election Night Cocktail Recipes It’s not news that it’s U.S. Election time; the real news will be the results of course. And how many people will be watching the show? Not just the voters, who have...
View ArticleThe Heart of Ardent: Halloween Hooch: a Twisted Sour
In keeping with our history of sharing recipes, we’re back today with more Heart of Ardent: Halloween Hooch: a Twisted Sour. This is a simple, fun, colorful cocktail that offers a bit of sweetness for...
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