Our screenplay was submitted to the Vail Film Festival a few months back and I recently learned it placed as a semifinalist! Check it here: Vail Film Festival

For awhile now I’ve wanted to spend more time working with actors in a relaxed and fun environment. A couple weeks ago I took the first big step in that direction by contacting a group of local directors I know and by sending a notice to a local casting director. We have now set our first meeting for March 13th and I’m VERY excited.

It’s going to be A LOT of work keeping this thing organized, but I’m eager to see where it leads and who will be involved. I’m certain it will be great fun, and surely everyone involved will learn a great deal about acting and directing.

Towle Neu and I are the new Minneapolis City Producers of the 48 Hour Film Project! Last year the competition was hosted in over 80 cities worldwide, continuing its place as the largest timed film competition in the world. Minneapolis has traditionally been one of the largest competitors on the tour since 2004. We intend to breath new life into the Minneapolis competition to make it the biggest, baddest competition ever. For the last three years I was the Minneapolis producer of another film competition, and Towle is active with several local film festivals and has led teams in time-based film competitions in the past, including the 48 Hour Film Project. So get ready! The 2011 Minneapolis 48 will be like no other!”

“This script is an entertaining piece full of mystery and discomfort. Every scene holds as much interest as the next. The best part is the lack of dialogue! This script would not be the same if words were added. In fact, dialogue would not work for this piece. Instead, your descriptions provide all the necessary information we need.”

“Your descriptions of the characters’ lack of emotion are captivating and it feels like watching a train wreck – you cannot look away! We are so curious as to why they are acting as they do.”

“The world building done in the first scene sets the perfect tone for this peace. The seemingly pleasant scene takes a turn for the worst almost immediately in a completely effective way. The mother calmly subduing her child with the yellow pills gives the audience a clear sense of the story.”

“The scenes were deathly quiet, which gave off a delightfully eerie tone for the entirety of the script. While we never hear Angela utter a word, her character is fully developed and intriguing from the start. She comes off as a bright, shining force in a horrible world. The tension builds with her in every scene in an effective and scary way. At any moment she could be found out, or worse, she could give up and join the dull peace that the world shares.”

This will be the first public showing of the promotional scene we’ve created for Prescription Happiness. After four years of writing and rewriting we finally have something to show the world. The film will be playing as part of IFP’s Cinema Lounge. There are three other films playing with ours, two of which I’ve seen and they are phenomenal. I’m ecstatic to see how the films plays for an audience alongside these great shorts, and I hope many of you can make it out.

CLounge is always free, and they serve food and drinks inside the theater. We’re also working to put together a raffle during the show, and more details will come on that soon.

Afterward a group of us will hang around for drinks and probably get into some bowling. Anyone is welcome to join, and I just ask that you let me know ahead of time so I can figure out how many lanes we’ll need.

Here’s the lineup:

- John Koch with a preview of the upcoming “Minneapolis Project”

- Jesse Roesler’s “Insalata Caprese”

- Sayer Frey’s “Abandon ME”

- And a sneak peak at Ryan Strandjord’s latest film

Well, of third place that is. The Minnesota Society for Interest in Science Fiction and Fantasy has awarded the scriptPrescription Happiness 3rd place in their short story competition. I’m pretty happy about this considering it was up against short stories, which are finished products, while a screenplay is merely a blueprint.

Yesterday we hosted the first Minnewood Film Festival at the Oak St Cinema in Minneapolis. We showed five films and had a Q&A with each director immediately after their film screened. Here was the lineup:

- Tone (Aaron Nelson)

- Insalata Caprese (Jesse Roesler)

- How To Live Better (Mark Ehling)

- The Alphabet of Sex (Ryan Strandjord)

- As They Fade (Jenna Lyng)

The films played to a great reception. The audience seemed to enjoy the Q&A sessions. And then afterward we more than filled the basement of Stub and Herbs for our after party. Altogether a very successful evening.

This was the third film event that I’ve hosted, and for the first time I wasn’t stricken with a harsh nervous feeling shortly before having to give my opening speech. Facilitating the Q&A’s was easy enough, and I had no problems talking about my own film (except for maybe one question asked by an old friend in the crowd). Looking forward to the next big event, which should be the Minneapolis Film Race in April.

I feel like I’m approaching finals week all over again.

The IFP Fresh Filmmakers Production Grant is due in 11 days. I was a finalist last year, and their big knock on my proposal was that the screenplay wasn’t quite ready yet. Well, I’ve put in a ton of work rewriting, getting feedback from people I know, researching outside material, and then more writing to get it ready for this year’s proposal. I feel like the story has progressed by immense proportions over the past twelve months, and is finally to the point where it could translate into one hell of a short movie. Let’s hope the folks on the panel agree with me.

In addition, both of the films I’m editing, A Broken Family and Young Eyes are due on the 17th. Also due on that day are the two videos I’m producing/editing for the dvd containing both those films. So naturally I’m spending a lot of time in front of my computer.

I’m looking forward to getting through all these projects. It’ll be nice to focus on something else for some time (maybe I’ll take up knitting?). That is until the IFP grant is announced. If we don’t get it, then it’s back to the beginning with trying to raise the money. Of course if we do get it, then you can easily guess what I’ll be putting nearly all my energy into over the next twelve months.

Well maybe “galore” isn’t the right word to use when there are just two, but when the due dates are only two weeks apart it sure makes it feel like a lot of work.

Jerome Foundation: Minnesota Film/Video Grant, due July 31st
This one could mean a lot of cash, I’m probably going to ask for around $15,000. If I get it, we can get rolling on Prescription Happiness.

IFP: Fresh Filmmakers Production Grant, due August 14th
I was a finalist for this last year, and have made vast improvements to the script since then. This one only gives out $1,000, but sets you up with just about all the technical equipment you’ll need, plus they provide a great number of mentors on the project to help support the filmmaker. If I got this, I’d still need to raise a few grand to make Prescription Happiness, but surely getting the grant will make raising the extra bit of money easier. At least that’s my hope.

I just finished the 21st draft of Prescription Happiness. I started writing this short in the February of 2005, and have been working on it off and on for the past four years and three months. I know this sounds like a disgusting amount of time to be writing a screenplay, especially given that it’s currently only 9 pages long, but a lot of things had to happen to get here.

First off, I needed to learn how to write. This was the first script I ever started, and since then I’ve completed four other short films, and started at least a half dozen others that I eventually shelved. I also spent a great deal of time researching the craft, as well as reading other short scripts.

There’s no way I can take credit for everything that is in this story though. So much of the ideas included arose from conversations with friends, family, and random people I met who asked what I’m up to. Without their insights into this project, my creativity would have been limited, and I certainly would not be in the position I am now.

I also needed time to grow as an artist. Initially I was writing a script that was very recognizable and much like a lot of the other dribble that is out there. Over the years I’ve learned to take more chances and go with my instincts, which has lead to a screenplay that I feel is quite unique.

Now I’m in the process of figuring out who to send the script to for feedback. Not so much to gain ideas for changes, I’m more interested in how the story makes people feel, what they understand from it, and how they believe it ends. I want to be sure that the ideas I wish to convey are translating to an audience.

It’s been a long road so far, and the finish line is still not in sight. We need to raise roughly $15,000 just to make this film, then you have to add onto that playing the festival circuit, because there’s little point to putting all this effort into a film if you don’t travel with it. First up is preparing for the IFP Fresh Filmmakers Production Grant. I was a finalist last year with this film, and have made vast improvements to the screenplay since then, so I hope to be getting some exciting news this fall.