Issue 11 November 25th 2020

'Tis the Season

It's that time again... That time when all of our hearts flutter and our wallets tremble.

Black Friday...

With the internet all "open 24/7", it seems the deals keep inching their way earlier and earlier.

This year, the deals have already started long ago! Have you been seeing them?

We made a list of some of our favorite deals below for you to check out. And we'll continue to look for new ones as Thanksgiving passes and Cyber Monday appears!

Note: The links below in the promotion section are affiliate links. If you click on them and purchase something from the store, we will get a small commission. This doesn't cost you anything and it helps us out in the process! We appreciate your consistent support and hope you gain value from our efforts here at Filmmaking Central.

Happy holidays everyone!

Promotion

Black Friday Camera Deals!

Tons of great camera deals out there right now. Save hundreds of dollars during the Black Friday sale.

Looking for a specific brand? Check the links below!

Panasonic Deals

Canon Deals

Sony Deals

Samsung 1TB Solid State Drive - Just $99

If you've been looking to upgrade your internal hard drives to solid state, check out this nice deal on the Samsung 1TB 860 Evo SSD.

Save over $6,500 on a new Panasonic VariCam LT package!

Insane savings on a new digital cinema camera from Panasonic. We LOVE the VariCam line of cameras and have a V35 ourselves.

Couldn't recommend it more for someone looking to get a versatile digital cinema camera perfect for both documentary-style and narrative projects!

Save $400 on this SmallHD Wireless Monitor System with integrated Teradek Bolt

If you are a DP, Director, or Focus Puller looking to snag a great wireless setup, this might just be the ticket...

Nearly 50% off the DJI Osmo Action Camera!

Snag the 4K HDR DJI Osmo Action Camera for just $199. That means you'll save $170 off the normal price.

Over 20% off the Westcott Flex Cine 1x1 Panel

Flexible light mats are big these days because they are so convenient, bright, and able to be placed in areas where traditional lights just can't go.

The Latest

Veteran-Made Docu Series ‘Honor Guard’ Gets Amazon Christmas Day Streaming Bow; Sam Elliott Narrated

Amazon has acquired Honor Guard, a four-part military docuseries created by two U.S. Army veterans, and narrated by Sam Elliott. Show creators Ethan Morse and Neal Schrodetzki of Time To Kill Productions will debut their new series online digitally Christmas Day through Amazon. The series will arrive on more than 50 streaming services throughout 2021.

Kristen Stewart hopes Happiest Season feels cathartic for queer viewers

In Hulu’s new holiday film Happiest Season, Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis play Abby and Harper, a happily cohabitating couple whose relationship is put to the test when Harper invites Abby home for the holidays only to reveal on the drives that—oops!—she hasn’t actually come out to her family.

‘Superintelligence’ Review: Melissa McCarthy Is Terrorized by A.I. James Corden in One of the Year’s Worst

Melissa McCarthy's laugh-free HBO Max comedy crystallizes a grim future where movies have to satisfy algorithms but not theatrical audiences.

Isabella Gomez To Headline ‘Head of The Class’ Reboot Pilot For HBO Max

EXCLUSIVE: One Day at a Time star Isabella Gomez is set as the lead of HBO Max’s multi-camera comedy pilot Head of the Class, a reboot of the popular 1980s ABC sitcom. Gomez’s casting reveals a gender swap in the follow-up as the lead in the original series was played by Howard Hesseman.

The Industry

Demystifying the Death Star: An Inside Look at CAA’s Famous Culture

“We never do this.” That phrase was repeated often in conversations with a dozen top leaders at CAA during the reporting of this week’s Variety cover story. It’s true. No show business entity understands the value of myth-building more than the talent agency, which exists to broker power from within luxurious fortresses.

New Transgender Film Center Launches Film Grant for Trans Filmmakers (EXCLUSIVE)

The Transgender Film Center, a new nonprofit organization established to support transgender filmmakers with resources and opportunities for their projects, announced its first initiative, the Transgender Film Center’s Trailblazer Grant. The grant will provide start-up and completion funds to qualifying narrative or documentary projects written, directed or produced by trans creators.

31 Things We Learned from Michael Mann’s ‘Collateral’ Commentary

“I start with a question as a storyteller and filmmaker, how should this story tell itself?”

Netflix Doubles U.K. Production Budget to $1 Billion, After ‘The Crown,’ ‘Sex Education’ Global Success

Streaming giant Netflix has doubled its U.K. production budget to $1 billion, following the global success of shows including “The Crown” and “Sex Education.”

HBO Max Swoops For Amazon’s Spanish-Language Thriller ‘La Jauría’

WarnerMedia streamer HBO Max has picked up the first season of La Jauría, Amazon Prime Video’s Spanish-language thriller from Pablo and Juan de Dios Larraín’s Fabula, which made the Oscar-winning A Fantastic Woman.

UK Government Confirms $9.4M ‘Global Screen Fund’ To Partially Replace Creative Europe MEDIA Money Post-Brexit

UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak today unveiled the parameters of the government’s Spending Review, including the creation of a new Global Screen Fund that is designed to partially plug the gap left by the absence of Creative Europe’s MEDIA funding post-Brexit.

‘The Truffle Hunters’ Directors on How They Filmed a Secretive, Vanishing World

“The Truffle Hunters” is a stark contrast to many of this year’s acclaimed documentaries. Pandemics, wars and political failures are far away from the film’s secretive, enveloping look at the elderly men and their dogs who track down the rare, delicious and staggeringly expensive white fungi in the forests of Northern Italy.

Barbara Bialowas, Director Of Controversial Polish Netflix Hit ‘365 Days’, Boards Romance Novel Adaptation ‘Enthrall’

EXCLUSIVE: The co-director of controversial Polish movie 365 Days, Barbara Bialowas, has been attached to direct an adaptation of the first novel in Vanessa Fewings’ romance series The Enthrall Sessions. 365 Days was a major talking point after its Netflix release this summer, sitting in the streamer’s top 10 chart after its release in numerous […]

Steven Seagal Nearly Starred in ‘Predator 2’; Here’s the Crazy Story!

I love a good “what if”, especially one that involves a vastly different lead than what ended up on the big screen. Predator 2 starred Danny Glover as a police lieutenant with the physical attributes of the average joe, an absolutely perfect juxtaposition of Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s Dutch from the first film. Predator and its sequel are like night and […]

The Tech

Crew in a Box

Crew in a Box is being touted as the world’s first professional-quality, plug-and-play, remote production solution. Basically, it is a self-contained fully disinfected solution that comes in a military-grade case that is sent to the home of your talent.

Metabones EF-GFX Smart Adapter and 1.26x Smart Expander Released

Both freshly-announced Metabones EF-GFX Smart Adapter and 1.26x Smart Expander allow mounting full-frame Canon EF lenses on FUJIFILM GFX medium format cameras while providing electronic lens communication for AF, IBIS, smooth iris, and EXIF data. The Expander multiplies focal length and f-stop of the lens by 1.26x and covers the entire GFX sensor. The idea of adapting full-frame lenses on medium format cameras is not entirely new. In the case of FUJIFILM GFX medium format cameras, the selection of native G-Mount lenses is not very large and lenses with Canon EF mount happen to be in the kit of most filmmakers already, so why not make use of them

SLR Magic 12mm T2.8 and 50mm T0.95 for FUJIFILM X-Mount Announced

SLR Magic has announced that two of their lenses –the CINE 12mm T2.8 and HyperPrime CINE 50mm T0.95– will be available for FUJIFILM X-Mount cameras as well. Both fully manual lenses offer clickless 0.8 MOD geared rings and a 62mm filter thread. The lens manufacturer SLR Magic, based in Hong Kong, is known for creating affordable fast manual prime lenses and cine primes. One example would be their MicroPrime line, which we reviewed back in 2019. Recently, the company announced new FUJIFILM X-mount versions of two of their lenses – the SLR Magic CINE 12mm T2.8 and SLR Magic HyperPrime Cine 50mm T0.95. Let’s take a short look at them.

Blackmagic Design Video Assist Firmware Update

Blackmagic Design has released firmware update 3.3 for the Video Assist. The Video Assist 12G HDRs and Video Assist 3Gs get support for USB webcam output. When connected to a computer via USB, your Blackmagic Video Assist will be detected as a webcam.

First look: RØDE Vlogger Kits

I am delighted to inform you that our Australian friends at RØDE Microphones have officially embraced Android users (while continuing to embrace iOS users) with the announcement of three additions to its range of creative solutions for vloggers. Today they announced three RØDE Vlogger Kits, of which I’ll soon be reviewing the Android USB-C version.

First look: Smart V2M mobile audio interface with 2 lav mics for USB and Lightning

Soon I’ll be publishing my full review of the new Smart V2M mobile audio interface kit from Saramonic, with 2 included lavalier microphones. Today is just a first look article while I continue to test it.

What To Watch

Best Netflix Shows to Binge Watch Right Now

Our list of the best shows to binge-watch on Netflix right now includes comedies, dramas, and classics that are so good you can't watch just one episode.