You Won’t Believe What Happened During Last Night’s Crowdfunding Webinar.
Watch this: short film “Primrose"
The Benefits of Film Freeway (a film by Mark Borchardt)
A film by Mark "Coven" Borchardt extolling the virtues of submissions platform FilmFreeway.
These Are a Few of My Favorite Shorts
3 Quick Tips to Make Crowdfunding Calls Less Awkward
Festival Fave: Delmer Builds a Machine
Guns & sex toys - they're basically the same thing, right?
This new advocacy campaign from gun-safety group Evolve shows two young gents fencing with a pair of marital aids they've discovered, much to the dismay of their onlooking mothers. I appreciate the humor (and the seriousness) of the message "if they find it, they'll play with it," and the initial embarrassment and horror of both women is perfectly natural. The drawn-out shame sequence, on the other hand, makes me weary.
Short Film: FOOD
Now Backing: Do I Sound Gay? (George Takei interview outtake)
SXSW 2014: Do it Like a Local
Sadly, South By Southwest is a thing of the past for yours truly – at least until I'm not working for a film festival that happens around the same time of year. I do enjoy watching the internet turn its attention to Austin, though. One of the highlights is the "Do It Like A Local" video, which has become an annual tradition for the folks at Flow Nonfiction. I love the production design in these -- the subtle sound effects, the slightly over-saturated picture, the omnipresent bottles of Topo Chico. Tune in for restaurant recommendations and SXSW survival tips.
A preview for the jealous and bitter filmmaker in you
Tim and Susan Have Matching Handguns (at Sundance)
It's that time again – a selection of short films from this year's Sundance Film Festival are available on YouTube. I quite like Tim and Susan Have Matching Handguns because it's a great example of what you can do with a film in just a couple of minutes -- and then play the most coveted festival in the land.
Video Stores Explained To Modern Kids
Check out this video from BuzzFeed which explains what video stores were. I spent a lot of time in video stores in my 20s, and while I don't exactly miss the inconvenience, it's depressing to think of the conversations I'm not having about movies because these physical spaces are gone. I guess movie fans find each other online now, but that hardly seems like the same thing.
Everything I Learned In Film School In Under 3 Minutes
SXSW 2013: Do It Like a Local
Following up on last year's video on surviving SXSW, this year's installment includes Top Chef winner and local restauranteur Paul Qui with recommendations on what to eat in Austin.
Michelle Obama's workshop on "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
Colleen Curtis, writing for the White House blog:
First Lady Michelle Obama today welcomed 80 middle and high school students to an interactive workshop with the cast and crew of the film Beasts of the Southern Wild, in the State Dining Room. The students, who were from Washington, DC and New Orleans, LA, got to talk with director Benh Zeitlin, actor Dwight Henry and the movie's 9-year-old star, Oscar-nominated actress Quvenzhané Wallis, who stars as Hushpuppy.
You can see the entire workshop, moderated by Rachel Goslins, Executive Director of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, on YouTube.
Short Film: Sight
A thought-provoking bit of science-fiction that probably isn't too far over the horizon. I like the fact that the film is entertaining, funny, and only eight minutes long. Frankly, it's a better exploration of the ideas presented than "Minority Report" was.
Sight from Sight Systems on Vimeo.
Film Festicles 3: Submission
More from filmmakers Mark Potts & Brand Rackley on how not to do well on the film festival circuit. See also Film Festicles episodes 1 and 2.
Potts' newest feature Cinema Six (co-starring Rackley), just premiered at the Dallas IFF.
Film Festicles 1: That's a Wrap!
New from Film Threat: an entertaining series of videos about the film festival process, written and directed by my friends Mark Potts & Don Swaynos. Above: episode 1, in which a filmmaker wraps his shoot and gets a little bit ahead of himself.
Potts' newest feature Cinema Six will debut in April at the Dallas International Film Festival.
