2009 Phoenix Film Festival Recap

Well, the '09 PFF is in the books and I have to say that this year's festival was not that good. This year, more than ever, it seemed disorganized, frenzied, and lacking in a lot of areas. With that, I place the blame for the slide in quality squarely on the Festival Directors. For starters, this year, there seemed to be less space allocated for the fest. They got rid of what I thought was the gem of this Festival, and what seperated it from a lot of those "wannabe" festivals, and that's the tent. They settled on a "Party Lounge" across the parking lot. It was loud, cramped, and lacked a lot of seats. Finally, it seemed that they were more interested in keeping their sponsors happy than the festival goers.

They also missed the boat on bringing in top flight talent. They need a real shot in the arm that only an A-lister (or a high B-lister) can bring. Not that I didn't appreciate the talent that did show up. They brought in funnyman Bill Engval, Lisa Simpson (Yeardley Smith), and Virginia Madsen. Sadly, though, that's just not enough to elevate the PFF to an elite Film Festival. So I implore Chris and Jason to "bring it" next year, so the PFF doesn't continue it's slide into obscurity.

"LOCKER 13: Down And Out" at Atlanta Film Festival

"Down And Out", our first segment for LOCKER 13, has been selected to this year's Atlanta Film Festival. We have been very selective with whom we've even submitted this segment to, so to receive a selection from your "short list" is an honor. I'll be honest, I know nothing about this festival, I just know it's in Atlanta...sad isn't it? But, it's supposed to be a darn-good festival, and I feel we'll be in the running for festival awards. Keep your fingers crossed.

LOCKER 13 Film Project - Part Four

In previous posts, I wrote about LOCKER 13, our exciting anthology feature film and how it began. Throughout the course of production, I will write about our project and what we're up to.

Krista Allen. You've heard of her, right? She's the girl in the elevator in LIAR LIAR. Ahh...now you remember her. What's she up to these days you ask? Well, my friend, she just finished shooting THE AUTHOR for LOCKER 13. This is our 3rd installment of the anthology film, and it rivals the quality of the first two (I've even heard by some that it's the best one). I do have to say, though, I am a bit biased, because this was the segment that I produced.

We shot this segment in LA, just a short while ago, and we were just recently delivered a rough cut of it. This one is about a ruthless assassin who is wanting to find out who hired him for his latest assignment. Along with Allen, it stars Rick Hoffman (Cellular, Hostel) as Armando, Carmen Perez (He's Just Not That Into You) as Marcia, and Marina Benedict as Rachel.

This film is shaping up quite nicely, as we forge ahead....three down, three to go.

Stay tuned.

"MOVING DAY" COMING SOON!

MOVING DAY is coming soon! This is my first attempt at stop-motion animation. I enlisted the help of the up-and-comers over at Karma Creek Pictures to produce this puppy. I love stop-motion. I think that it is truly a lost artform. One of my favorite movies of recent years is NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS. I thought that movie conveyed a style all of its' own. Not only that, the technical aspects of the film are flawless. Here (above) is the first pic of Chris, the hero of the story. This figurine was created as a possible marketing piece for the film (more later).

More to come.

"LOCKER 13: Down And Out" at Phoenix Film Festival

Our first LOCKER 13 segment, Down and Out, will be appearing at this year's Phoenix Film Festival. We are happy that it will be at our "hometown" festival. There are certainly more flashy and better festivals out there but PFF is a decent festival, although they have taken a few steps backward last year. They cater to the filmmaker, and all-in-all, I feel they have a pretty well-run, organized event (however they have to improve on last year's output).

Also appearing at this year's event, Jason Marsden's ANIMATED AMERICAN. We go back a ways now with Jason. We first worked with him on SUICIDE CLUB two years ago. We've since been busy working with him on LOCKER 13. He just finished directing our 3rd installment, THE AUTHOR (more to come), and has been writing and producing for us as well. We wish him all the success with his short, and everything else he's working on.

So, be on the lookout for two highly-entertaining and polished (short) films, Down and Out and Animated American at the PFF in '09.

The A3F 48 Hour Film Challenge

Recently, I helped out some friends and participated in the Almost Famous Film Festival's 48 Hour Film Challenge. Those of you unfamiliar with it, the 48 Challenge works this way, Friday night at 7pm you're given the theme, the main prop that has to be used, and a line of dialogue that has to be said in your film. The film cannot exceed 5 minutes. From there, you have to have your cast, crew, location, and editing ready to go. Then you're given roughly 48 hours from then to return a completed short film (Sunday at 7pm). I wanted to take a moment to break down the "Award Show/Top 20 Screening" experience for you:

For the Newbie

The event as a whole? It was a good experience, and for any of you fledgling filmmakers, it's a great opportunity to hone your skills, and do a little bit of networking as well with others just like you. It's fun, and a good way to challenge yourself. We did a musical, and I gotta say that was a whole new experience for me. The screening is fun for someone just starting out. It feels like you're the star of the show when your film fills the screen. My grade: B+

For the Veteran

For me, being involved in film for a while, it seemed a bit drull. At times I felt like I was wasting my time....lost in thoughts like "I could be home indexing my file cabinet, or alphabatizing my DVD selection, but instead...I'm here". It seemed to be a lot of novices and beginners joining together to applaud their respective efforts. Again, I wasn't there for me, though, I was there to support my colleagues....at least that's what I kept reminding myself throughout the whole screening. Curious, but why does it seem that all of these events have a political slant to it? By that I mean, that someone has to get the nod for an award because of past relationships moreso than the actual piece they presented (or in our case, get snubbed). The event as a whole, I got to work with some up-and-comers who showed me what skills they had and what they needed to improve on, and I worked with some people that I probably won't work with again, but that's part of filmmaking....learning who you want to go to war with. My grade: D