Category Archives: Scene

48 Hour Film Project Lures Me In

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When Liz told me she was on Andrew’s team for the 48-hour Film Project in Salt Lake City my first thought was why didn’t they ask me? We actors are so egocentric. I mean I was the one who introduced Liz to Andrew in the first place. So I messaged Andrew and he said of course I could join them. He said he didn’t ask because he sees from my FB posts that I’m always busy. Never too busy for friends and an all-nighter! Plus, I’ve always wanted to do this event – at least once in my life-and I’ve never been in town over the dates. And so began my annual 48 Hour Film “career”.

The 48 Film Project is a national competition that starts at the city level. That year, 2013, 120 cities on six continents hosted a 48-hour weekend. Teams gathered on Friday night- in this case May 31, 2013, at 6 pm where Team Captains reached into a ‘hat’ and drew out a genre. It could be any one of these:

  • Buddy Film
  • Comedy
  • Crime/Gangster
  • Dark Comedy
  • Drama
  • Fantasy
  • Horror
  • Mistaken Identity
  • Musical or Western
  • Romance
  • Sci Fi
  • Superhero
  • Thriller/Suspense
  • Vacation or Holiday Film

We had 48 hours to script, shoot, edit, score and produce a film between 4 and 8 minutes. The catch was that organizers drew a character, a prop and a line of dialogue out of a hat too that MUST appear in all the films in some way.

Here are some examples from previous years:

Character

  • Bitsy Ballou, Advice Columnist
  • Ignazio del Fuego, Cab Driver
  • Hugh Simon, Bouncer

Prop

  • Large Suitcase
  • Snow Globe
  • Electric Fan

Line of Dialogue

  • Is that the best you’ve got?
  • I was lied to and very much deceived.
  • When you say it like that, it’s almost poetry.

The Film Project is back again and it’ll be my third year in a row participating. One of these days I’ll be on an award-winning team but no matter it’s still a blast to spend the weekend with avid filmmakers and peers.

When the judges do choose a winner, they will continue on to compete against the winners from the other cities at Filmapalooza in Hollyweird next February.

The overall winner at Filmapalooza 2013 was “Jacques Serres” by Les Productions avec Volontiers so you can see how far this project reaches. There were winners from Cape Town, the Netherlands, Prague, Denver, Baltimore, etc. But nothing in Utah has ever come close to this caliber of speed-filmmaking.

 

 

Personally, I think Utah can do a lot better than last year’s winner:

Maybe we win; maybe we don’t but I look at this as an awesomely intense team building experience. Our team in 2013 consisted of Andrew Hook, Liz Baker, Jim Stevens, Cami Twede, Joe Hatfield, and little ‘ol me. 

Back in 2001, when the 48 Hour Film Project was first conceptualized, Mark Ruppert and several other DC filmmakers wondered, “Would films made in only 48 hours even be watchable?” Of course, some aren’t but I sure hope ours is!

Update:

I had so much fun making the 2013 film that I also acted in 2014. Here are my two shorts.

This year’s 48-Hour Film Project kicks off Friday, June 12, with 23 teams geared up so far for the weekend, movie-making marathon. If you’re interested in participating, contact any of the filmmakers you see listed under ‘teams’ through their Facebook pages. I’m sure they would love your assistance.

If you’d rather sleep in, you can see all the shorts at the premier screenings June 16 & 17 at the Broadway Cinemas at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.. Tickets are $12.

23 ADULT TRUTHS!!!

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1 Sometimes I’ll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

  1. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.
  2. I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.
  3. There is great need for a sarcasm font.
  4. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
  5. Was learning cursive really necessary?
  6. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I’m pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
  7. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
  8. I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t at least kind-of tired.
  9. Bad decisions make good stories.
  10. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren’t going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.
  11. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don’t want to have to restart my collection…again.
  12. I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.
  13. I keep some people’s phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
  14. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
  15. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Light than Kay.
  16. I wish Google Maps had an “Avoid Ghetto” routing option.
  17. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
  18. How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear or understand a word they said?
  19. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!
  20. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.
  21. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey – but I’d bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time.
  22. The first testicular guard, the “Cup,” was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important…………….

‘Oil’ TV Series Comes To Utah

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TV Series


 

I’m almost afraid to talk about this as I don’t want to jinx it. At the same time, I’m so excited I could burst. Not since Everwood wrapped in 2006 has Utah had a major TV series. Granite Flats just got picked up by Netflix but that doesn’t count. It’s on KBYU and may or may not shoot more episodes. No, what I’m referring to is a pilot called “Boom” that was shot here in March; except now it’s called “Oil” and ABC just announced they want 13 episodes!

Often when this happens producers will move the whole series to Los Angeles but it’s looking like the beehive state will play home for the additional 12 episodes. The shows stars hunky Chace Crawford (Gossip Girl) who moves to North Dakota with his wife (Rebecca Rittenhouse) to get in on the biggest modern day oil rush in American history. Their lives soon get entangled with a cast of characters including an evil oil tycoon (Don Johnson).

“The Utah Film Commission is highly optimistic about our negotiations with ABC to shoot their new series “OIL” here.  A television series would bring more jobs for locals, a boost to the economy, and a lot of credibility to our state’s film industry. We had a great experience working with them on the pilot and we anticipate official confirmation of the series locations will come in early June.” said Virginia Pearce, director of the Utah Film Commission.

The pilot episode was approved for a Utah motion picture incentive and filmed across the northern part of the state, including Ogden, Huntsville, Midvale and Oakley. The production also hired over 180 Utah cast and crew- but very few local female parts were cast here so hopefully that will changed.

The bonus- “Oil” will air just after the popular “Once Upon A Time” on Sunday nights which could mean it keeps it from getting cancelled before all 12 episodes are shot.

TV Series

New cast of Oil- courtesy ABC

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