AFF: Corey’s Take
Posted on October 29, 2007
Filed Under Film Fests | Leave a Comment
“Sunday also starts with an S.”
–Julie Fay, LAFG Screenwriter
Anecdotes. That’s what road trips are all about, and our excursion to the Austin Film Festival is certainly no exception.
After spending a day attending panels with directors, producers, screenwriters, video game developers, and other professionals from the entertainment industry, I may have picked up a few helpful tips on writing successful screenplays and breaking into Hollywood, but far more valuable (to me) are the stories that I’ll always remember. Such as:
- The Transformers producer explaining why the movie wasn’t as popular in Japan as one might expect, since Japan is largely a female-driven film market, and giant robot fans are still considered geeks there, just like in America.
- Or screenwriter Scott Alexander explaining that some of the scenes in 1408 were in-jokes based on his experiences in hotels while working on earlier films.
- Or getting Scott Alexander to admit that Andy Kaufman enjoyed Man on the Moon, even though he supposedly died 15 years before the movie’s release.
- Or hearing Oliver Stone’s personal recollections from his long and fascinating film career.
- Or the quote at the top of this post from our very own Julie Fay, which I jotted down in a notebook as we sat waiting for Oliver Stone to arrive for his Q&A. Would it make sense in context? Sure, but where’s the fun in that? (If you really want to know what she was talking about, you’ll have to wait for AFF: Julie’s Take.
Most of the stories we heard in Austin are too long to do justice in a blog post (and as Ken suggested, the best ones all came from screenwriter Scott Alexander). But they’re fun to repeat when you’re hanging out with fellow movie geeks.
Also wonderful are the projects I would never have known about if panelists hadn’t mentioned them, such as Atom Films’ Possum Death Spree, or InSex, a short film from Project Greenlight winners Efram Potelle and Kyle Rankin.
The problem with these AFF panels is that there were so many good ones scheduled at the same time, making it difficult to pick and choose. Thankfully, Cinematical covered a couple of the panels we missed, including this one with the writers of the Harold & Kumar movies, and one on Writing Family Films.
AFF: Ken’s Take
Posted on October 23, 2007
Filed Under Film Fests | Leave a Comment
The Austin Film Festival is one of the premier film festivals in the country. This year’s festival ran from October 11th through the 18th. Myself along with my wife, Christy, and fellow writers Julie Fay, Corey Bond, and Vic DiGiovanni attended the conference on Saturday, October 13th.
Ken, Vic, Julie, Corey and Christy in front of the Driskill Hotel, Austin Film Festival 2007
The festival was hosted at several locations in downtown Austin as well as other venues around the city. The beautiful Driskill Hotel seemed to be the primary venue for most of the programs on Saturday with a few others within a block of that location. The weather was perfect, we got a great parking space and we got to hear from some amazing filmmakers.
Christy and I attended the Writer-Director: Creative Compromises panel at 9:00am. This panel was made up of Terry George (Hotel Rwanda, Reservation Road), Harris Goldberg (Numb), Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking, Juno) and Robin Swicord (Memoirs of a Geisha, The Jane Austen Book Club) and was moderated by Andrew Shea.
These auteurs discussed the transition from writer to director and shared some of their personal stories about their first time directing. They entertained a variety of questions from the audience. The collective message they delivered was that directing what you’ve written may be the ultimate form of both creative expression and creative control.
At 10:45 Christy and I joined Julie and Corey at A Conversation With Oliver Stone. Moderated by Jane Sumner and featuring the legendary writer-director Oliver Stone, this program was standing room only. Mr. Stone discussed several of his films, shared his very well known political views and awed us all with his vision. It was an extraordinary session with an extraordinary man.
After a nutritious lunch of burgers and tasty beverages at a nearby sports bar, all five of us attended Tell Your Story: Scott Alexander. Scott Alexander (Ed Wood, The People Vs. Larry Flynt, 1408) entertained us for well over an hour with tales of his adventures in screenwriting. The session was very relaxed. The questions from the attendees were very relevant and Scott’s answers were detailed, relevant and entertaining. Of all the sessions on Saturday, this was my favorite.
Overall, I enjoyed my first visit to the AFF. The only downside, and it almost became a big one, was the total lack of organization we experienced several times during the day. Sessions were moved and times were changed. To accomodate these changes, the festival organizers printed a schedule correction sheet they conveniently passed out that morning. Unfortunately, the schedule correction sheet was also completely wrong. We were also unable to find a consistent answer from the staff who appeared to be as confused as we were. While we did find sessions to attend, we did not attend the ones we originally planned.
I’ll attend again next year. Christy and I are planning to attend the entire festival rather that just the Saturday. I’m confident that the quality of the individual programs will be as excellent as this year. Hopefully, it will also be better organized.
“Mercy” Premiere in Boston
Posted on October 3, 2007
Filed Under Film Fests, Mercy | Leave a Comment
Mercy will be screened at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts as part of the 5th Annual Boston Fantastic Film Festival, which runs from October 11th to the 15th, 2007.
Mercy: From One LA To The Other
Posted on September 17, 2007
Filed Under Film Fests, LAFG News, Mercy | Leave a Comment
Hollywood, CA – ArchImage Studio, LLC and Amateur Productions, LLC in association with the Lake Area Film Group are pleased to announce that its 2006 feature length film MERCY has been invited to the 2007 Hollywood Film Festival, October 17-22 at the ArcLight Cinemas on Sunset Boulevard. The Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Awards were created in 2000 to bridge the gap between Hollywood and the global creative community, while at the same time honoring the established Hollywood professionals.
This year, HFF announced an alliance with Film Threat, who brings their knowledge of genre films to the selection process. “We are honored to have Chris Gore and Film Threat joining us, so that we can recognize the great film contribution of genre filmmakers to the past, present and future of cinema by showcasing their work at the Hollywood Film Festival,” festival founder Carlos de Abreu said.
“Film festivals have always been very supportive of alternative and fringe indies. Unfortunately, genre films of the sci-fi, fantasy and horror genre often get left out of festival programs. How will we discover the next Peter Jackson if festivals do not support young filmmakers who create fantastic visions? Teaming with Carlos de Abreu and the Hollywood Film Festival will be a great way to showcase the best new work from indie genre filmmakers. I am ecstatic that Film Threat is involved in the selection process and is helping get this next generation of filmmakers much needed exposure,” said Film Threat founder, Chris Gore.
Mercy, the four-time Accolade Award of Excellence winner, was shot on a micro-budget in Lake Charles, LA under the production of writer and director, Patrick Roddy. A year after its release, the film continues to gain appeal. The Hollywood Film Festival follows a list of screenings that includes New York City, Santiago, Chile, and Ontario, Canada amongst others. “A Los Angeles screening is an excellent opportunity to garner even more momentum heading into the DVD release on Unearthed Films,†says co-producer, Scott Waldrop. “All of the major media outlets cover the festival, not to mention the 25,000 movie goers who are expected to attend the event.â€
In addition to the film screenings, HFF is honoring actor Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Gone Baby Gone), screenwriter Christopher Hampton (Atonement), director Brad Bird (Ratatouille) and visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar (Transformers) for their respective work in 2007.
Gulf Coast Film & Video Festival
Posted on August 24, 2007
Filed Under Film Fests | Leave a Comment
The Gulf Coast Film & Video Festival will be held in Houston, Texas on the weekend of September 14-16, 2007. Established in 1999, the festival showcases independent films from local, regional, and international artists. You can view the complete 2007 screening schedule here.
One of the highlights of this year’s event is the screening of the short film Razor Sharp, which has gotten a lot of buzz after winning a number of awards, including the Best Action Short at Comic-Con 2007, and Best Short Drama and Best in Festival at Wizard World Fest 2006. The official website describes Razor Sharp like this:
Impenetrable fortresses, SWAT trained security forces, the occasional piece of malfunctioning gear; it’s all in a day’s work for corporate thief Veronica Sharpe. But business turns anything but usual when she’s hired by her underworld boss Rory Dex to steal an exotic codebreaker from a high-security skyscraper.
After rallying with her mentor, a grizzled Russian named Karloff Bryce, a plan to breach the tower’s defenses is born. However, the one contingency Veronica could never anticipate is the strain the job will place on her morality and skill once she’s confronted with the dark reality of the codebreaker itself.
Set in a near-future world where corporations strangle the globe, RAZOR SHARP blends a surprising amount of humor with pulse-pounding action to create an experience that is truly criminal to miss.
The cast includes Houston native Skye McCole Bartusiak.
You can click on the thumbnail above to view the Razor Sharp movie poster.
Mercy Update
Posted on August 1, 2007
Filed Under Film Fests, LAFG News, Mercy | Leave a Comment
MERCY, the LAFG’s first feature length film, has been making the festival circuit. Directed by Patrick Roddy and starring Gary Shannon, the film was shot entirely in Lake Charles and DeRidder, Louisiana. Other cast members include Shelly Farrell, Charles McNeely, Julie Ann Fay, Mike Mayo and Carol Anne Gayle. In addition to the numerous positive reviews MERCY has recieved, the film has also been seen at the following festivals and venues -
In addition, MERCY recieved an unprecented four Accolade Awards of Excellence - Feature Film, Leading Actor Gary Shannon, Art Direction and Direction
Recently
- Red 71 Cast and Crew Premier
- Jay Craven’s “Disappearances”
- AFF: Corey’s Take
- AFF: Ken’s Take
- Spotlight On: Hilary Bronwyn Gayle
- Red 71
- “Mercy” Premiere in Boston
- “Little Chenier” Movie Is All That Remains
- Film Threat Selects “Mercy”
- AnE Vibe Chats with Patrick Roddy and Gary Shannon
Categories
- Articles
- Film Fests
- LAFG Events
- LAFG News
- LAFG Shoots
- Mercy
- Red 71
- Southern Circuit Tour
- Spotlight On
- Uncategorized