Vote for Muck!

From the inimitable son of Mama Sticky:

Muck Sticky's 'Because I Can' will be featured on the Red Peters Song Of The Year Show on the Howard Stern 101 Sirius channel tonight and tomorrow at 9PM EST. You can vote for Muck Sticky by clicking here... www.sirius.com/howard101 from now-Jan 15th. There is a box on the right side of the page where you can vote right below the spot where you can enter to win a FREE SIRIUS STILETTO RADIO!!! Each person can only vote once, that is why we need your help.

New local arts mag

There's an effort afoot to put together a new local magazine that is all about talent in Memphis. Mo's Magazine will feature film, music, art, fashion, and food. If anyone wants to submit information for consideration to be in the magazine, please email pics & bio info to nitab@memphisoriginals.com

10-minute Play Contest

Theatre Oxford’s 9th Annual 10 Minute Play Contest’s deadline is February 15, 2008. There is still plenty of time to revise an old script, create a new one or anything in between. Theatre Oxford would love to have your entry. See www.10minuteplays.com for guidelines and past winner information. We award the largest 10 minute play prize anywhere to our top winner--$1,000 hard cash and a production. Staged reading of this year's 5 winners will be in early April and full productions of 2007 and 2008 winners will be performed in September, 2008.

Thanks,

Dinah Swan, Contest Director

Oxford, Mississippi

662-236-5052 for more info

Flyer's blog list

Thanks to the Memphis Flyer -- specifically for having this blog on its home page but also generally for boosting local blogs. The Flyer's recent redesign of its page includes an expansion of links. If you haven't already, go there and sample these rich creations:

artbutcher
At Home She Feels Like a Tourist
BBQthePandas.com
Beyond The Arc
Dining with Monkeys
Fertile Ground
The Flypaper Theory
Gates of Memphis
Joe Larkins
Jen-sized.net
Left Wing Cracker
Mediaverse: Memphis
memphis.cool.movies
Memphis Sound: Lost and Found
My Midtown Memphis
Paul Ryburn's Journal
Rachel And The City
Semi-Charmed Kat
Smart City Memphis
Stax Museum News
Theology & Geometry

Mandatory site

John Michael McCarthy's Guerrilla Monster Films is simply terrific. Explanations are useless; check it out yourself.

Upcoming events via LiveFromMemphis.com

From LiveFromMemphis.com:


Graduate Film Students' Screening
www.beautifullyflawed.com

Graduate students from the University of Memphis will screen a collection of their films on December 17th at 7:00 pm at Malco's Studio on the Square. The films range from first projects to thesis projects. The screening will also include some "works in progress" for audience feedback purposes.

The screening will include works by the following graduate students:
Rachael Moeller
Lucie Watkins
Juli Pitzer
Jodi Pfefferkorn

This event is free and open to the public.
Please come out and show your support for these budding filmmakers.

Who: U of M Graduate Students
What: Film Screening
When: Dec. 17th at 7pm
Where: Malco's Studio on the Square



THIS WEEKEND!
LI'L FILM FEST 8: RESOLUTIONS
(You know, the New Year's kind)
www.livefrommemphis.com/lilfilmfest

Festival Trailer:
www.livefrommemphis.com/watch/films/media/lilfilmfesttrailer

This festival marks the end of our 2nd year of Li'l Film Fests and we're very please to have made it this far. A special thanks to all the filmmakers and local attendees who have made the past 2 years a truly unique and exciting experience. Together we have produced over 90 locally produced films. Way to go Memphis!

Who: Local Filmmakers
What: Li'l Film Fest 8: Resolutions
When: Saturday, Dec. 15 @ 2pm
Where: MeDiA Co-op (1000 S. Cooper St.)

The following is a list of accepted films and filmmakers for
"Li'l Film Fest 8: Resolutions:"

"Paper Doll World"
dir. Annie Gaia
"Absolute Resolute"
dir. Rachael Moeller
"Resolutions"
dir. Oddly Buoyant Productions
"Resolutions for the Irresolute"
dir. A.C. Gwin
"You Say You Have a Resolution"
dir. Marguerite Hibbets
"L'Hippopotame Vert FTW!"
dir. Edward Valibus
"I Resolve"
dir. Donald Meyers
"Nunca Mas (Never Again)"
dir. Angel Ortez
"First Things First"
dir. H.G. Ray
"Untitled"
dir. Benjamin Rednour
"Good Riddance, 2007"
dir. Adam Remsen

For More information please contact Sarah Fleming at 901.523.9763 or email to info@livefrommemphis.com.¬Ý We'll see ya' there!

The Li'l Film Fest is sponsored by:
The Memphis and Shelby County Film and Television Comission
Delta Axis
AudioGraphics Masterworks

For more info (and to watch past videos) visit: www.livefrommemphis.com/lilfilmfest



NEW!!
The Makeshift Family Music Podcast

Makeshift Music, Unclaimed Recordings and Live From Memphis Present the new podcast in town thanks to the J.D. Reager and Justin Jordan over at Unclaimed Recording. Get all your favorite Makeshift Music and more!

The Makeshift Family Music Podcast
Host: J.D. Reager
Co-host/engineer: Justin Jordan
Recorded/sequenced: 12/09/07
Unclaimed Recordings, Memphis, TN.

Makeshift Music Podcast

Listen Now!
Click here

Podcast 001

1. Intro
2. Snowglobe - "December Ghost"
3. Blair Combest - "While Walking"
4. Paul Taylor - "the Coroner"
5. Mito - "Iron Man"
6. talking
7. the Glass - "Hibernation"
8. Jeffrey James & the Haul - "Come on Down"
9. Jeffrey Evans & Ross Johnson - "Farmer John"
10. talking
11. Black Sunday - "I Feel So Nervous"
12. the Subteens - "Never Gonna Happen"
13. Andy Earles - "You're Harshing My Trip"
14. J.D. Reager - "the Ballad of Max and Grace"
15. talking
16. the Original Cyndi - "Pow R 2 B"
17. The Coach and Four - "Tiger High '85"

Who: Various Artists
What: The Makeshift Family Music Program
When: 12/09/07
Where: Unclaimed Recordings





Aww Man! Bummazzz!
www.livefrommemphis.com/directory

The Memphis Music, Film, and the Arts Directory.

I am sorry to say that the Live From Memphis directory is officially broken. You may still search the directory and/or categories for Memphis Creatives, but sadly users may no longer log-in to update info. :(

We have been experiencing an amazing amount of growth this year and our system has reached its capasity. Our poor old 2002 server has been slowing dying over the last few months. I've attempted to prolong it's inevitable demise but I am now certain the server is on it's last leg. I fix one thing and two others break. For this reason, we will no longer repair this system. The technology is old and the server itself has seen better days.

So, the question is, what's the next step? We are working on several options; however, many of you know that LFM's finical resources are minimal so whichever solution we go with, it will be done with sweat equity and may take a while.

In the meantime, If you are an avid fan of LFM and its services, never fear - all other features such as news, calendar, the store and much more are still working fine. (Some features have been running off a completely separate server for some time.)

We will keep you posted.

thanks, Christopher

You can reach us at 901.523.9763 or email to info@livefrommemphis.com
Great Gift Ideas!!!

Live From Memphis
My Memphis
Live From Memphis
Li'l Film Fest 7
Live From Memphis
Li'l Film Fest The Collection

Elvis Presley
Elvis Sings the wonderful World of Christmas
The Coach and Four
The Great Escape
Holly Cole
Fearless & Free

Live From Memphis
LFMT02 RED


Live From Memphis
LFMT01 BLACK



Kreature Comforts 2:
Lowlife Guide to Memphis

Music | Movies | Clothing | Art | Misc



Lots more in the calendar:
www.livefrommemphis.com/calendar

I started to pull a few events to list here in the newsletter but the more I added, the longer the list got. Too Long! Simply put, there is just too many cool things going on. Just go to the online calendar and find something fun! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year and more!

Chirstopher & Sarah

Submit Your Event Here!
www.livefrommemphis.com/calendar/submit


Community News.
www.livefrommemphis.com/news

Always something to do!
www.livefrommemphis.com/calendar

Look, Listen, Watch.
www.livefrommemphis.com/showcase

Connect. Collaborate. Create.
www.livefrommemphis.com/directory

Locally produced music, film & art.
www.livefrommemphis.com/store

Locals Only Radio.
www.livefrommemphis.com/radio

Film Families.
www.livefrommemphis.com/film



With close to 4,000 local profiles we have generated over 1 million profile views. LFM generates over 150,000 (page views) a month and we have the most up-to-date news and calendar in town. Did we mention there are over 200 local records in our online store? Lots more to see!

Join the community! We love you.
Connect. Collaborate. Create.
www.livefrommemphis.com

COPYRIGHT 2007 LIVE FROM MEMPHIS
1 South Main Street Memphis, TN 38103 | 901.523.9763

LTTM December pix and music

The Memphis Photo Gallery and Jukebox will be airing 5 times a week all through the month of December. A half hour televised show that combines Memphis photographers with Memphis music. Featuring the images of Donald Meyers, Marguerite Hibbets and Ken Axmaker, Jr. combined with the tunes of FreeWorld, Scott Sudbury, Sandy Carroll, Nancy Apple and Rob McNurlin, Creed (the original Southern Creed), and Jay Ruffin. A relaxing look at great Memphis talent combining forces.

The air times are:
Tuesdays - 5:30am
Wednesday - 4:30am
Thursday - 8:30am
Friday - 1:30pm
Sunday - 9:00am

Don't get the Memphis Public Library Channel (WYPL-18)? Tune into YouTube, but the quality doesn't do it justice......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBrQQffAqJ0

Spread the word to anyone you think might be interested in seeing some great pics and listening to some great tunes!

Thanks,

LTTM
www.LastTraintoMemphis.com

Li'l Film Fest 8

Live From Memphis is pleased to announce "Li'l Film Fest 8:
Resolutions (you know, the new year's kind)."
This festival marks the end of our 2nd year of Li'l Film Fests and
we're very please to have made it this far.
A special thanks to all the filmmakers and local attendees who have
made the past 2 years a truly unique and exciting experience.

Who: Local Filmmakers
What: Li'l Film Fest 8: Resolutions
When: Saturday, Dec. 15 @ 2pm
Where: MeDiA Co-op (1000 S. Cooper St.)

The following is a list of accepted films and filmmakers for "Li'l
Film Fest 8: Resolutions:"
"Paper Doll World"
dir. Annie Gaia
"Absolute Resolute"
dir. Rachael Moeller
"Resolutions"
dir. Oddly Buoyant Productions
"Resolutions for the Irresolute"
dir. A.C. Gwin
"You Say You Have a Resolution"
dir. Marguerite Hibbets
"L'Hippopotame Vert FTW!"
dir. Edward Valibus
"I Resolve"
dir. Donald Meyers
"Nunca Mas (Never Again)"
dir. Angel Ortez
"First Things First"
dir. H.G. Ray
"Untitled"
dir. Benjamin Rednour
*Look for bonus entries by Adam Remsen and Sarah & Christopher!

For More information please contact Sarah Fleming at 901.523.9763 or
email to info@livefrommemphis.com. We'll see ya' there!
Support Local, Promote Local
Live From Memphis
www.livefrommemphis.com

Film acting seminar

Here's more info from the post below on the workshop being offered by Leslie K. Nelson and Michele Hester on making the leap from stage to screen. Topics will include:

Getting an Agent
Headshots
Taping an audition
How to write a resume
The LA market
What to expect on set.

The one day seminar is Jan 5, 2008. $125

Only for mature teens, parents of any age child, adult actors of any age.

If mature (older) adult actors are interested they will need to know. The agent list is different.

Email Leslie at Memphismom@Comcast.net

Blog gone

The "Behind the Scenes" blog that has been around a few weeks has apparently folded. Although it endeavored to discuss issues pertaining to local films and filmmakers -- a perfectly noble concept -- it was essentially a screed written anonymously and uncritically accepting of other anonymous commenters. It was long on feelings and conspiracies, and short on facts and meaningful analysis.

Not that I don't appreciate its kind mention of my overrated acting abilities. But really. A blog with attitude, absurd accusations and neither credibility nor responsibility doesn't contribute much.

Anyway, before it disappeared this morning, Les Edwards of Indie Memphis Film Festival and Morgan Jon Fox responded to some of the more misinformed commentary. Since their remarks were deleted along with the blog, here they are again:

From Les:

I'm the spokesman for the volunteer group that produces Indie Memphis. While everyone is entitled to their opinion, there are some factual errors in the post and comments:
1. Morgan and Sharon are not related. Morgan has won two awards in ten years at Indie Memphis.
2. Indie Memphis did not provide any financing for (A)way (A)wake. We did (through our parent organization Delta Axis) act as Morgan's fiscal sponsor for that film. Fiscal sponsorships are new to Memphis, but have been a great resource for filmmakers in other cities for a long time. If you want to know more about how fiscal sponsorships work, check out the FAQ section on the website of Film/Video Arts in NY: www.fva.com/fiscal-sponsorship/.
3. Each year we have a panel of judges. Local films are judged by out of town judges, and vice versa. The Film Commission does not vote on films. We have never tried to influence or challenge a judge's decision.
4. The Ron Tibbett Excellence in Filmmaking Award is given to a filmmaker, not a film. An important distinction. This is the only category judged by the volunteers who run the festival. Morgan was awarded this honor in 2005. He screened two films that year.
5. Will O'Loughlen was director of the film festival in 2002, and a volunteer in 2003 and 2004. He was not awarded a cash prize for "Ad Man", which screened in 2006.
6. Number of local feature length (over 30 minutes) narrative films accepted: 2004 = 6; 2005 = 5; 2006 = 8; 2007 = 8.
7. Number of local short (30 minutes or less) films and music videos accepted: 2004 = 15; 2005 = 29; 2006 = 33; 2007 = 34. The Live From Memphis Music Video Showcase was added in 2005, which is why the numbers jumped that year.
8. We do not have "unwritten" rules. All of our policies are clearly stated on the entry form that filmmakers submit with their entry. Our policy prior to 2007 stated that we considered prior local public screenings as a factor in deciding what films to accept. In 2007, we changed the policy to state that films with prior local public screenings were not eligible for competition. All of this has been clearly stated on the entry forms.
9. It is industry practice to charge an entry fee to filmmakers. For 2008, we have changed the policy. We will no longer charge an entry fee to local filmmakers for their first submission for that year.
10. The "money grubbing, greedy bastards at Indie Memphis" are volunteers. In 2006, Indie Memphis ran a $5,797 deficit on the festival. The 2007 numbers are still being compiled, but we lost money again. These deficits are covered by Delta Axis.
11. One comment said "... the last two years the feature winner has done just that [had screenings prior to the festival]". "Just the Two of Us" won best feature in 2006, and in fact had a prior screening. "Act One" won in 2005, and premiered at Indie Memphis. "Team Picture" won in 2007, and had its Memphis premiere at Indie Memphis.
12. "This year I think everything submitted got in." Hardly.
13. Another comment: "IM was showing fewer local films a couple of years ago to try and look more international." We screened a film from Italy in 2003, and a film from England in 2006. If memory serves, these were our only foreign films prior to 2007. This year we added an additional screen and devoted it to a program of international films called Global Lens. We are planning to run the Global Lens series again in 2008.

And here are Morgan Fox's comments:

Wut's this thing you thank "anonymous" for, which you refer to as "info"...just curious....and also wut's "stuff like this that needs to come into the open"...to give anonymous posters a frame of refence can we go here: http://www.weeklyworldnews.com/ or did you mean like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrQX2Dhrl8I

just curious...

And as far as people being too scared to speak their minds...also i wonder if you mean similar to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6icWrExCzc
(that link also applies to being "blackballed")

Last part, about forum like this needed for so so so long, I'm pretty sure the bath room at Murphy's at 3am through puke drenched hair on saturday nights beat you to it, but i dunno.

Naw, but for real...I am not related to Sharon Fox O'Guin, Indie Memphis didn't fund my movie, I don't regularly win cash from da indie memphis, I've won two awards in the 8 years i've been making movies, and for the last 5 or 6 years I've been trying my best to do what i can to help bring together the local film community through various projects, outreach, and resources attempting to give as much as possible...althoughhhh, I am definitely not perfect, and I know that all the organizations, and individuals in this city who make up the film scene have done plenty of things to make people unhappy...it's true...it's just that, it seems like a good way to help all that is by putting time into seeing what you thinks missing and dedicating said time to helping build, and facilitate the actualization of a vision/systems of support/spaces/projects that aid in the transformation of what seems or is unappealing into that which is more fit and desirable.

I've had many complaints over the years with alot of the organizations you've mentioned, I approached it all aggressively from the get go, and then over time I found that most of these people really do want to sit down with you and hear your concerns and that mostly it was my own dumbo-headedness that led me to being pissed off anyways...if you just talk to them instead of being reactionary and overly dramatic about it, it's pretty productive.

I guess the question lies in what the goal is...does one want to complain about things for the sake of doing so...or does one wish to voice complaints because they actually have a certain vision that they think would better work? The funny thing is, even if you have the vision, and you put alll your energy into trying your best to make it happen, as pure and "for the people" as it may be, often what happens is a long, exhausting learning process where you may indeed accomplish alot, however, also you learn alot. I mean, I have. With the Media co-op, several local filmmakers wanted to make a film festival that was alll about showcasing the local people, we did it for two years and then realized, HOLY HELL, putting together a festival is really difficult...blah blah blah. You put yourself in some form of doing and ultimately you open yourself up for so many things...including success, including failure, including (yep, yep) criticism.

In the end...where does it leave us all?

Everyone deserves to be put in check if they be doin bad thangs, but u know, a voice is a voice is a voice to talk about whateverrrrr you want, everyone should use it, however..........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHmvkRoEowc

sldfkjelgjslkdjflwkerjfsd.

December 6, 2007 1:25 AM

At the request of actors and parents of young actors, Leslie K. Nelson and Michele Hester will be offering a workshop on making the leap from stage to screen. Topics will include:

Getting an Agent
Headshots
Taping an audition
How to write a resume
The LA market
What to expect on set.

Michele and Leslie are two moms who have been there. Their families have worked on Oscar winning feature films, TV, HBO, commercials, theatre, music tours…Over 20 years experience!

Some of the well know people we have worked with are: Miley Cyrus, Joaquin Phoenix , Reese Witherspoon, Tim Burton, Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter, Robert Guillaume, Steve Buscemi, Danny DeVito, Missi Pyle, Ginnifer Goodwin, Ja Rule, Paul McCartney, GNR, even Van Halen. As well as the many wonderful local Memphis talents!

Please contact us if you are interested.

Leslie K Nelson - Memphismom@Comcast.net

Date: Early to mid Jan. Let us know when is good for you. Day or night. Weekday or weekend.

Regional film at Sundance

BALLAST (Director and Screenwriter: Lance Hammer)-- A riveting, lyrical portrait of an emotionally frayed family whose lives are torn asunder by a tragic act in a small Mississippi Delta town. Cast: Michael J. Smith Sr., Jim Myron Ross, Tarra Riggs, Johnny McPhail. World Premiere

Kudos for "The Book of Noah"

"The Book of Noah," the Memphis-made indie about a dogknapper finding purpose in life, won a prestigious Spirit of Independence Award for Originality at the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival, one of the country's top film festivals according to Movie Maker Magazine!

Other films chosen as winners include films featuring Tim Curry, DB Sweeney, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and the directorial debut of Mary Stewart Masterson! Total, the festival gives out only 25 awards to split between 190 or so films.

Writer/Director Drew Smith was ecstatic about the accolade: "To be chosen for one of the awards at such a huge film festival is an awesome honor! We're so thankful for everyone's support, and the way that our little movie was embraced by everyone down at Ft. Lauderdale. Gregory (President and CEO) and the entire staff of FLIFF made us feel like we were stars. We felt incredibly special, and want to thank them for everything."

To see the full list of winners at this years FLIFF, click the link following link, or copy it into your browser: http://www.fliff.com/event_details.asp?eventid=199

To go The Book of Noah's website, visit either http://www.dogknapping.com or http://www.myspace.com/thebookofnoah .


synopsis:
"The Book of Noah" is about a dogknapper financing a romantic weekend for the girl of his dreams has his efforts hampered by her ex-boyfriend and a leg breaker, as all four struggle to move on with their lives as they transition into true adulthood. Big plans end up a big mess in this dark dramatic comedy about knowing who you are, changing what you don't like, and being happy with it.

press coverage:
"...about a gentle giant of an unlucky professional dog-napper played by Patrick Cox, in one of (Indie Memphis') standout performances."-John Beifuss, The Commercial Appeal.

"Imagine The Book of Noah's Paul and Noah as alternate-reality, less zany, more real-world versions of Jay and Silent Bob ... (The complex plot's) threads unspool in orderly fashion and with a comic touch that'll leave you engaged and entertained. In a strong performance, Drew Smith gives off a slight Dane Cook vibe..."- Greg Akers, The Memphis Flyer.

Auds in Tupelo Saturday

> TRAFFIC REPORT
> SHORT FILM
> PRODUCED BY LITTLE BO PRODUCTIONS
> www.littleboproductions.com
>
> AUDITIONS HELD AT SUMMIT HOTEL TUPELO, MS
> Saturday, Dec. 1, 11-2 PM
>
> Contact--- matt@littleboproductions.com
>
> Casting for the following roles:
>
> Christopher Blaine: 30-40 year old male, short, dark haired nice guy to play faithful televangelist
>
> Gauge Blaine: 6-10 year old male, typical, dark haired young boy to play son of famous televangelist
>
> Agent Barnes: 45-55 year old male, short hair, clean cut guy
>
> Detective Rousseau : 25-35 year old male, short hair, clean cut detective type
>
> Field Reporter: 25-35 year old male or female, needs blazer or nice coat and tie to play reporter
>
> News Caster: 25-50 year old male or female, must have own suit - bring to audition
>
> Doctor: 45-60 year old male, grey hair and beard
>
> Big Boss: Heavyset man to play high power world leader, must have own suit - bring to audition
>
> Government Lady : 30-45 year old woman to play secret high powered government official, must have own suit - bring to audition
>
> EXTRAS: ALL AGES AND TYPES

LTTM: December

The Memphis Photo Gallery and Jukebox will be airing 5 times a week all through the month of December. A half hour televised show that combines Memphis photographers with Memphis music. Featuring the images of Donald Meyers, Marguerite Hibbets and Ken Axmaker, Jr. combined with the tunes of FreeWorld, Scott Sudbury, Sandy Carroll, Nancy Apple and Rob McNurlin, Creed (the original Southern Creed), and Jay Ruffin. A relaxing look at great Memphis talent combining forces.

The air times are:
Tuesdays - 5:30am
Wednesday - 4:30am
Thursday - 8:30am
Friday - 1:30pm
Sunday - 9:00am

Don't get the Memphis Public Library Channel (WYPL-18)? Tune into YouTube, but the quality doesn't do it justice......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBrQQffAqJ0

Spread the word to anyone you think might be interested in seeing some great pics and listening to some great tunes!

Thanks,

LTTM
www.LastTraintoMemphis.com

Pinkville down, may be out

Variety reports that United Artists has stopped production on "Pinkville," a casualty of the writer’s strike.

Production was to begin in Southeast Asia next month. Many Mid=Southerners hoped to get parts as extras.

The decision was made Friday. Director Oliver Stone and screenwriter Mikko Alanne could no longer work on the script because both are members of the WGA. Before Stone won Oscars for directing "Platoon" and "Born on the Fourth of July," he won an Oscar in 1979 for writing "Midnight Express." He is a filmmaker accustomed to making changes throughout production, and that is simply not an option given the strike.

Pictures that lose momentum are often hard-pressed to regain it, as casts go off to other projects, Variety says.

New local film blog

There's a new blog that has "Both Barrels" blazing. Mr. or Ms. Barrels -- otherwise preferring anonymity -- has a few posts up about what's wrong with the moviemaking scene in Memphis, which, so far, seems to be everything. It's called "Memphis Film -- Behind the Scenes" and describes itself this way:

Reporting the Dark Seedy Underbelly of Memphis Film - Behind the Scenes

After being "sensored" from speaking my mind by other Memphis Film Blogs, I decide to fight back with my own blog. This blog will tell the truth about Memphis films, filmmakers, actors and all other "characters" in this business. So get your head out of your ass and put the ego in check, I'm gonna' hit you with both barrels!

Acting classes @ Colors

Colors Agency Sponsors Acting Classes

BASIC ACTING FOR FILM AND TELEVISION

Saturday's-on going
$35/class

INSTRUCTOR-Darius Wallace
Focus on scene study and audition techniques.

Children* 9am-Noon
Age 9-13

Adults* 1pm-4pm

*Maximum attendance 12. Minimum attendance 4.

Please contact for more information abby@colorsagency.com

People, church needed for photo shoot

From Marguerite Roberts:

"Morning Dew Productions" is getting ready for it's first project. I am doing this for the Lil' Film Fest coming up REAL soon!! I need a few things....I need some people and I need a church or a chapel where I can take photos this this weekend (Nov 17th and 18th).

I need maybe 10 to 20 people total. This is NOT video.....this is a photography shoot for my project. I need a real smoker and someone who looks like a jogger. I'm open here, I just need commitment from people. And, oh, I cant pay anybody, but you will of course have your name on the credit. It shouldnt take more than 30 minutes.

My email for any more info: daisyscreations57@yahoo.com

www.blogtalkradio.com/meggymoon works again! Show is on Tuesday nights now still at 7pm CST.

Beifuss on Morgan Jon Fox's 'omg/HaHaHa'

Go here to check out John Beifuss' story on Morgan's new movie premiering tonight at the MeDiA Co-op. Excerpts:

As co-founder of the Memphis Digital Arts Co-operative and a do-it-yourself writer-director who has achieved some national attention for his highly personal movie projects, Morgan Jon Fox has become a youthful mentor to many in the local film making community. ...

"omg/HaHaHa" is an intimate, earnest and at times essentially documentarian peek into the lives of several troubled, confused, restless and proud Memphians, most of whom appear to be residents of Midtown in general and Cooper-Young in particular.

... the movie makes artful and honest use of digital video, exploiting the format for its strengths and embracing its limitations rather than trying to pass it off as a cheap substitute for film stock.

"omg/HaHaHa" employs a large ensemble cast in a loose storyline that finds room for gay and transgender characters, a young woman who finds herself pregnant, a "family planning" center that is a front for a Christian conservative ministry, white hip-hop-stylin' thugs, a man abandoned by his wife, an older woman in rabbit ears (popular local actor Helen Bowman) and a young man (Jake Casey) whose "stupid video blog" monologues provide a loose framing device for the movie, which opens with a shot of letters appearing on a computer screen as they are typed. ...

... much of the film was improvised and shot documentary-style, leaving Fox with 20 to 30 hours of footage, which he sculpted over the course of a year into its current "multilayered" 95-minute form in the manner of a woodcarver fashioning a sequence of nesting dolls from a tree trunk.

The film is presented as a project of Fox's Sawed-Off Collaboratory Productions company and the MeDiA Co-op, with thanks to LiveFromMemphis.com, a Web site devoted to local arts, and Makeshift Music, a record label whose artists contribute several songs to the film, which is thick with the sound of melancholy indie pop.

The event is tonight at 7 in a free public screening at the MeDiA Co-op theater at First Congregational Church, 1000 S. Cooper. A reception begins at 6 p.m., and a Q&A follows.

Do this one for the Gimper

The Ninjacat

From David Merrill ... and I concur:


"I don't ask much and I don't ask often..." Gabriel Byrne in 'Miller's Crossing


It's not often that you get to give back directly and personally to someone who has given directly to you or to a whole community. This is one of those rare opportunities. I am speaking personally when I say that Christopher has given to me of his time, talent and experience as he has for many of us. NOW is the time to support him. NOW is when he needs our help. My help. YOUR help.

If you're a musician, artist, filmmaker or just enjoy those arts in Memphis, I promise you that if you know it or not you've benefited from Christopher's (and Sarah's) work at Live From Memphis.com.

Ouch! the benefit

From Christopher Reyes:

Rock-n-Roll soothes the soul and helps the back too!
Many of you saw me hobbling around the last month or so with severe back pain, struggling to make appearances at Indie Memphis, The Music Video Showcase, and CODA's Leadership Awards. I gradually lost all feeling in my foot and partially in my leg -- pain meds are the only thing that got through the past few weeks.

With the help of close friends I made it to the right doctors and got the surgery I needed. Fortunately, I do have insurance. Unfortunately, I don't have the money to cover the deductible or the mound of bills that's gradually been growing since I've been unable to work.

A good friend of mine, Mark Akin (the subteens), has been wanting to throw Live From Memphis a benefit for some time but I wasn't really into the idea of musicians playing for free. However, in light of the current situation, I figured this would be as good a reason as any for a benefit. So, thanks to Mark, T. Money, Bubba, Tasha the Hi-Tone and many others for making this event happen.

So, if you aren't too busy come hang-out with gimpy ol' me, Christopher Reyes, and listen to lots of great rock-n-roll!

Thanks to all friends and family who care.

Who: The Subteens, Perfect Fits, The Billy Worley Band & more!!
What: Rock-n-roll Benefit
When: Saturday, November 17th
Where: Hi-tone

If you can't make it, you can still help. Go to http://www.livefrommemphis.com/donate and make a contribution. Thanks.

Promise you'll follow through ...

LI'L FILM FEST 8: RESOLUTIONS (You know, the New Year's kind)

The Short & Sweet:
Theme: Resolutions
Duration: 5 minutes or less
Entry Deadline: Postmarked by December 3, 2007

Festival Date: December 15, 2007 / 2pm
Festival Location: MeDiA co-op (1000 S. Cooper)

Prizes: Jury Award ($200)
Audience Choice Award ($200)

The theme of Li'l Film Fest 8 is RESOLUTIONS, you know, the New
Year's kind. I know, I know, you will cut back on the partying and
staying out so late, you will exercise more and loose weight, you
will remember to call your mother on her birthday, you will stop
watching so much television, you will eat more veggies, and of course
you'll spend more time with the dog. But surely you can manage to
squeeze in a few hours to make a film, right...?

Please read aloud:
"I resolve to make a film for Li'l Film Fest 8. I will capitalize on
this unique opportunity to hone and improve my filmmaking abilities.
I will have fun while contributing to the success of the Memphis
filmmaking community. I resolve to make a film for Li'l Film Fest 8."

GET THE ENTRY FORM:
http://www.livefrommemphis.com/pdf/LFF8entryform.pdf

Li'l Film Fest is a quarterly, theme-based film festival, focusing on
highlighting our local talent while showcasing interesting happenings
around town. Our goal is to encourage and inspire Memphis filmmakers
while engaging a local audience in order to strengthen our artistic
community.

"How does Li'l Film Fest work?"ˇ It's pretty easy. Basically, we here
at LFM will pick a theme, then we'll announce that theme to you, and
then you get to go out and make a short video (or film if you want to
be fancy) using that theme - the rest of the content is up to you.

"Why is it a li'l fest?"ˇ Two reasons: One, we have one every
quarter - that's FOUR festivals a year. How fun is that? And two,
when we say "li'l" we mean it - your film must be 5 minutes or less.

"Is there anything else I should know" Geez, you ask a lot of
questions, but the answer is "Yes."ˇ There are 2 awards given at each
festival, the "Audience Choice Award"ˇ and the "Jury Award"ˇ both of
which receive a trophy and $200 in cash!! And if that's not enough
incentive for you, each winner has a guaranteed spot in the next
Indie Memphis Film Festival! So keep that in mind when you're rolling
those cameras.

The Li'l Film Fest is sponsored by:
The Memphis and Shelby County Film and Television Comission
Delta Axis
AudioGraphics Masterworks

Mojo time with Mike McCarthy needs you

Howdy ya'll!

Mike McCarthy here.

I need about 25 folks to arrive at the BACKBEAT TOURS kiosk at Blues City Cafe (2nd and Beale) across from BB Kings on Thursday November 8th for a 2:00 PM photo shoot.

You will be placed on a seat inside a 1959 GM bus. It will take about 30 minutes or less to take the right picture.

A "Mojo Tour" will follow from 2:30 - 4:00 PM as payment for those involved.

If you can't make that MOJO tour then we will give you a free voucher for another one later.

The bus holds about 25-30 people. The first 25 or so 'models' that arrive will get to be in a picture that BACKBEAT tours will use on their new brochure (I'm designing it!).

You will need to sign a waiver to release your image.

Btw, I work for BACKBEAT tours now and I must tell you the MOJO tour (as performed by "Memphis Jones") is the BEST Memphis tour I have ever taken - and coming from my cynical brow that's saying something.

Please return this email (jmm@guerrillamonster.com) and confirm or call me!

I need PARTICIPATION!

THANKS to you all,

Mike McCarthy

(901) 486-6325

'Rommel's Crossroad' Wednesday

John Fuess' "Rommel's Crossroad" will be showing at the MeDiA Co-op Wednesday Nov. 7 at 7:30 pm. There is a five dollar cover at the door for those not in the film.

This is a period peice about Erwin Rommel's visit to Mississippi in 1939. In the story he befriends a black woman who is the grand-daughter of a teamster that was a friend and farm hand of Nathan Bedford Forrest, and who has a complete understanding of the times and places of interest to Rommel. Rommel used the tactics of Forrest against the British in North Africa with excellent results.

The act is true although the story is not. It stars Alisa Nave, Randy Wright, Richard Crowe, Dorv Armour, and many others. Music by William Lee Ellis and Chris Scott

Delta Axis: November's delights

Friday, November 9
Crave
Opening reception 6-9 p.m.
Delta Axis @ Marshall Arts, 639 Marshall Avenue
Exhibition Dates: November 9 – December 15, 2007
Gallery Hours: Saturdays 1-5 p.m.

Crave features five artists who recognize the process of craving, stemming from the primal urge to seek satisfaction, as a creative force in itself – a force capable of propelling their work into fresh observations, new methodologies and concepts. Artists, intuitively and through practiced perception, are especially aware of personal cravings and cognizant of the cravings of their audience. The exhibition features work by Joel Carreiro, Betsy Chaffin, Amanda Sparks, Thomas Weaver, and Brian Wood.


Wednesday, November 14
Indie Memphis Micro Cinema Club #34
7:30 p.m.
Power House, 45 G.E. Patterson, between Main & Front Streets
Admission is free, donations are recommended

IMMCC is pleased to present for a second year, experimental and animation selections from NextFrame Film Festival.

Now in its 15th year, NextFrame: UFVA's Touring Festival of International Student Film & Video was founded with the intention to provide a first-class festival and much-needed exposure for cutting edge student work. NextFrame is the official film festival for the University Film and Video Association (UFVA), one of the largest organizations of academic and industry professionals within the United States.


Friday, November 30
The Fuel Room
Virginia Overton
Opening reception, 6:00-9:00 p.m.
Power House, 45 G.E. Patterson, between Main & Front Streets, during South Main Art Trolley Tour
Gallery Hours:
Thursday-Saturday, 12:00 – 6:00
Sunday, 1:00 – 6:00

Join us for the second exhibition in Delta Axis’s newest contemporary art program, The Fuel Room, highlighting established and emerging artists from Memphis and the Mid-South. Virginia Overton was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1971. She received her B.F.A. and M.F.A. from the University of Memphis. She now lives and works in New York.


Alec Soth | Tunnels and Birds
Power House Memphis, 45 GE Patterson, between Main & Front Streets
Exhibition Dates: October 5 – December 2, 2007
Gallery Hours:
Thursday-Saturday, 12:00 – 6:00
Sunday, 1:00 – 6:00

Alec Soth born in 1969 is a photographer born and based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is the recipient of several major fellowships from the McKnight and Jerome Foundations and was awarded the 2003 Santa Fe Prize for Photography. His work is represented in major public and private collections, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. Alec Soth's photographs have been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including the Whitney Biennial 2004 and São Paulo Biennial 2004. His first monograph, 'Sleeping by the Mississippi', was published by Steidl in 2004; his follow up, 'NIAGARA', was also published by Steidl and released in 2006.

Alec Soth is represented by Gagosian Gallery in New York, Weinstein Gallery in Minneapolis and is an associate photographer with Magnum Photos. For more information: www.alecsoth.com.

The mission of Delta Axis is to present contemporary art and film and link Memphis with global artistic communities.

Delta Axis receives generous support from Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Hyde Family Foundations, National Endowment for the Arts ArtsMemphis, Tennessee Arts Commission, the Memphis/Shelby County Film & Television Commission, the Tennessee Film Commission, the Hohenberg Foundation, the Jeniam Foundation, and the Goshorn Fund.

Support Delta Axis – become a member!
deltaaxis.org | indiememphis.com | info@deltaaxis.org | 901.575.5545

omg/HaHaHa premiere Nov. 10

Sawed-Off Collaboratory Productions and The MeDiA Co-op present

"omg/ HAHAHA"

a feature length film by Morgan Jon Fox and John Tom Roemer
(formerly titled Heart*Strings)


Special sneak preview screening/reception
Saturday Nov 10th 6-9pm
at the MeDiA Co-op
1000 S Cooper
(free free free)

sawed-off collaboratory productions present
in association with The MeDiA Co-op/LiveFromMemphis.com/MakeshiftMusic
a BRATPACK2000 film
starring ANDY HARPER, JAKE CASEY, ED PORTER, AMBER O'DANIELS, SUZY CRASHCOURSE, RITCHIE LONGORIA , and RYAN CARTER

with EILEEN TOWNSEND, MORGAN STEWART, JON SPARKS, LORIN VINCENT, HELEN BOWMAN, ROBIN TUCKER, SHALEEN CHOLERA, TIMM SCALITA, ASHLEY HOLLINGSWORTH, DANA TERLE, CARL E WALTERS, DONALD MEYERS, MARK PERGOLIZZI, BRAD BAILEY, CHRISTIAN WALKER, JOHNNY WEBSTER, SAKI NOSURNAME, BET CARR, LISA HOLMES, TIM MORTON, TRENT DAVIS, TOMMY KHA, LISA SANCHEZ, JACKIE SPARKS, JESSICA MAXEY, CHELLIE BOWMAN, HILLARY HARRISON .

written by MORGAN JON FOX and JOHN TOM ROEMER addt writing DECLAN DEELY

www.myspace.com/sawedoffpictures

Detour Memphis

Take a look at Detour Memphis Television early this Saturday morning Nov 3 at 4 a.m. on WMC TV 5. Set your VCR/DVR!!

I'll be interviewing Arnita Williams, so check it out.

Detour Memphis: Film...Music...Art

www.detourmemphistelevision.com

To support the show - www.detourmemphis.com/donation_system.html

Fantastico

The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art is doing a great Latin Film festival this week. Go here to check it out and then salsa yourself over there.

The LatinBeat Film Festival is presented in conjunction with the Film Society of Lincoln Center and Emerging Pictures. It features award-winning films from Latin American countries including Argentina, Peru, Uruguay, Ecuador, Chile, Cuba, Guatemala, Brazil, and Mexico.
$5 for members, $7 for non-members
See both films on Sunday for a discounted price of $7 for members and $12 for non-members with the 2 Film Pass!
Purchase your tickets online
Thursday and Friday, November 1 - 2
Tapas with a Latin Twist
Seating from 6 - 9 pm
For reservations call 901.544.6225
The Brushmark will offer a menu of tapas (small plates) with a Latin influence. So, enjoy a glass of wine and tapas before the films and get into the Latin groove!

Thursday, November 1, 7:30 pm
The Most Beautiful of My Very Best Years
(94 mins)
Berto lives in the small Bolivian city of Cochabamba. He wants to leave the country, but without money for a ticket, he decides to sell his prized possession––a 1965 Volkswagen he inherited from his grandfather––with the help of his know-it-all best friend Victor and Camila, Victor's girlfriend.

Delightfully understated but with great attention to detail, Boulocq’s film is an urban Bolivian fable with a love square at its center––two men, a woman and their car. Its skillfully fractured structure is a counterpoint to the parsimonious rhythm of the friends’ lives and of the city that comes to define them.

Friday, November 2, 7:30 pm
Fotografias (112 mins)
“This is a personal essay about my mother, based on a box of photographs my father passed on to me. A documentary investigation involving a journey to the past and also a real one from Argentina, where I live, to the place where she was born and which she wanted to forget: India.”––Andrés Di Tella

The filmmaker’s mother, Kamala Aparao, was a member of an aristocratic Indian family in the first half of the 20th century. At a young age, she joined the socialist party and, further shocking her traditional family, went on to marry Torcuato Di Tella, a well-known sociologist from Argentina. With his own son in tow, Andrés Di Tella traces the imprints of his mother’s history. He explores with insight and disarming honesty issues of identity, bicultural displacement, family tradition, the inescapability of one’s cultural legacy, and how our notions of fatherhood and motherhood can change with time and distance.

Sunday, November 4, 2 pm
My Grandmother Has A Video Camera (60 mins)
Tania Cypriano’s documentary portrays the lives of a family of Brazilian immigrants in the United States over more than 20 years, using their own home video footage. Enchantment turns into disillusionment, idealization to conformity, as images and voices depict how newly arriving immigrants see their new world and struggle to establish a final home. My Grandmother Has a Video Camera is fast-paced and funny, as well as an endearing take on the issues of migration, displacement and the search for an identity.

Pinta the Bird (10 mins)
A book opens to create this story of a village in the smallest country of the American continent, where the magical legend of Pinta the Bird makes a boy and a girl’s dreams come true.

Sunday, November 4, 3:30 pm
Soy Andina (67 mins)
After 15 years in New York, Nélida Silva returns to her birthplace in the Andes to fulfill a lifelong dream of hosting the Fiesta Patronal––a week of dance, music, and ritual honoring the town’s patron saint. But Neli's changed, and so has the village. What's it like to go back to the Andes when you've become a New Yorker? After meeting Neli, Cynthia Paniagua, a dancer raised in Queens by a Peruvian mom, embarks on her own Peruvian journey, determined to know the real Peru and understand its art forms. Soy Andina is an exuberant cross-cultural road trip, propelled by traditional music and dance rarely seen outside the country. But the core story is intimate and universal: a yearning for roots and connection in a globalized world.

Extras for NBTT

Extras Needed for the film Nothing But the Truth.
$75/day
Wednesday 10/31-Courthouse business types 25yrs-60yrs
Thursday 11/1-Diner patrons 25yrs-55yrs
Sunday 11/4-President well wishers-ethnic appearance prefered 20yrs-55yrs


You will need to be available for the entire day, please note your schedule in
the email.
Please provide a contact number as well as height, weight, and hair color.

Please email dcambel55@yahoo.com

Local actors on Biography Channel

Episode: The Wrong Man

The Biography Channel

Starring Memphis’ own, Geoff Falk, Danny Thomas, Trent Dee

Sunday, October 28 9:30pm ET, Monday, October 29 1:30am ET

Memphis Police have a prime suspect in the gruesome killings of two prostitutes. As they prepare to make an arrest, psychic Carol Pate pays the cops a visit, and tells them they've got the wrong man. The detectives think she's mistaken, but Pate insists and says they should be looking for a serial killer. Six weeks later, their suspect is cleared and another woman is killed. Investigators realize the psychic was right all along. They contact Pate, who now describes details of the crime scenes no one but the killer and the police know. Can Pate's paranormal insights get inside the head of the killer? Can a psychic help police to stop a psychopath?

Acting classes @ Colors

Call Colors Agency
901-726-9300
for more details

BASIC ACTING FOR FILM AND TELEVISION
INSTRUCTOR-Darius Wallace
10-Week Course. Tuesday Nights. 6pm-9pm
$35 per class

Week 1 Oct 9 AUDITIONING-focus on Etiquette
Week 2 Oct. 16 AUDITIONING-focus on Cold Reads
Week 3 Oct 23 ACTING FOR THE CAMERA-emphasis on commercials
Week 4 Oct 30 ACTING FOR THE CAMERA-emphasis on corporate films
Week 5 Nov. 6 TELEPROMPTER & EARPROMPTER
Week 6 Nov. 13 IMPROV
Week 7 Nov. 20 SCENE STUDY-Script Analysis
Week 8 Nov. 27 SCENE STUDY-Comedy
Week 9 Dec 4 SCENE STUDY-Improv
Week 10 Dec 11 SCENE STUDY-Dramatic

INTERMEDIATE SCENE STUDY
INSTRUCTOR-Darius Wallace
6-Week Course. Monday nights. 6pm-9pm
Weekly emphasis to be determined.
$35 per class

Week 1 Oct 22
Week 2 Oct. 29
Week 3 Nov. 5
Week 4 Nov. 12
Week 5 Nov. 19
Week 6 Nov. 26

Audition

Open Casting Call for the new 20th Century Fox feature film, "THE BLIND SIDE"
Casting for African American Male, 18-21 years old. Should be 6'3" - 6'6" and weigh between 260 - 300lbs; and very athletic. No Acting Experience Necessary.

Date: Friday, November 2, 2007, 1:00 PM - 6:00 PM

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO AUDITION CALL TARA AT 504-343-6425 OR E-MAIL bigolemike300@... TO SCHEDULE A TIME

Location: Memphis Black Arts Alliance, Inc. FireHouse Community Arts Center
985 South Bellevue Blvd./Elvis Presley Blvd. Memphis, TN 38106

Bennie Nelson West
Executive director
901-948-9522 (office)

'Rommel's Crossroad' on Nov. 7

John Fuess' "Rommel's Crossroad" will be showing at the MeDiA Co-op Wednesday Nov. 7 at 7:30 pm. There is a five dollar cover at the door for those not in the film.

This is a period peice about Erwin Rommel's visit to Mississippi in 1939. In the story he befriends a black woman who is the grand-daughter of a teamster that was a friend and farm hand of Nathan Bedford Forrest, and who has a complete understanding of the times and places of interest to Rommel. Rommel used the tactics of Forrest against the British in North Africa with excellent results.

The act is true although the story is not. It stars Alisa Nave, Randy Wright, Richard Crowe, Dorv Armour, and many others. Music by William Lee Ellis and Chris Scott

Extras for 'Suicide Jack'

John Harvey is directing his new short, Suicide Jack, on November 10th and 11th. The story is about a down and out comedian in debt to a bookie. The entire short takes place in a comedy club and we will be shooting at Comedy, TN on Sycamore View and Macon. We will be needing extras to fill up the comedy club for a couple hours on the morning of the 10th. Anyone interested in being an extra can email John at seanzillaproductions@hotmail.com .

IMFF -- Flyer's pick for final day

Today is Indie Memphis Film Festival's final day. Go here to see the daily pick from the Memphis Flyer.

Wednesday's picks from the Flyer

Notables offerings today from the Indie Memphis Film Festival are highlighted here in the Memphis Flyer.

The Book of Noah gets a big boost, a local feature by Drew Smith. Greg Akers says:

... The threads unspool in orderly fashion and with a comic touch that'll leave you engaged and entertained. Shot in Memphis, The Book of Noah will look plenty familiar to locals, including scenes with Kudzu's and Hollywood Pet Star as backdrops. With loads of local music, including Lucero, the Glass, Andy Grooms, Twin Pilot, the Coach and Four, Effingham and Wheatstraw, Jeffrey James and the Haul, and Snowglobe, it'll sound familiar too.

Flyer's picks for Tuesday

The Memphis Flyer highlights some of today's notable offerings in the Indie Memphis Film Festival:

• Pick of the Day: For the Bible Tells Me So
• Feature Pick: Swedish Auto
• Shorts Pick: First Amendment: Cancelled

And Chris Herrington is kind enough to add this:

Another local short of note in the program is Jon Sparks' Happy Artistic Freedom Day, another Lil Film Fest grad that boasts a strong lead performance from Amber O'Daniels.

'Tricks' rescheduled

There will be an Encore screening of 'Tricks' tonight (Tuesday) at 9:55pm at Studio on the Square.

Those of you with your ticket stubs from Monday can show them at the door. If you would like a refund, go to the Studio on the Square Box Office and show them your stub. They open at 11am.

Below are the new scheduled show times for "Tricks."

Tuesday, October 23, 2007 @ 9:55 a.m. (Studio on the Square)

Thursday, October 25, 2007 @ 1:00 p.m. (Studio on the Square)

Flyer's picks for Monday

Go here to check out the Memphis Flyer's picks for today's Indie Memphis Film Festival offerings.

One is the classic locally done film "I Was a Zombie for the FBI" from the early 1980s.

Another Flyer pick is "Tricks." Here are excerpts from comments by reviewer Greg Akers:

Pittstop Productions had a good showing at last year's Indie Memphis Film Festival with "What Goes Around …". This year, the production company is back with "Tricks," written and directed by and starring DeAara Lewis. (Rod Pitts, Pittstop's titular captain, serves as the film’s director of photography.) ...

Tricks is not a preachy film. It is morally ambiguous, but, again, in an au naturale way. And just because it isn't seedy, it doesn't mean it paints a rosy picture of these women’s lives, either. For one, the madam has to bribe Jon W. Sparks -- I mean, the police -- to stay in business. Call it monetizing law enforcement.

Thank you Greg, and remember that you can pick up the Memphis Flyer free at fine establishments all over town. Also, please remember to click through the Google Ads on this Website.

Sunday links to IMFF stories

Links to today's stories in the CA and the Memphis Flyer:

• Beifuss on the winners at Indie Memphis.
• Chris Herrington and Mary Cashiola offer notable picks for Sunday's screenings: "Team Picture" by Kentucker Audley, "The Delta" from Ira Sachs, the documentary "Hell on Wheels" for roller derby aficionados and "Help is Coming" in the shorts category. And thanks, CH, for this mention: "Among the local films of note are No Shades of Gray, Jon Sparks' musical interpretation of the Commercial Appeal columnist Wendi Thomas' assault on Memphis in May for inviting Three 6 Mafia to perform, and Conversion Tactics, a sharp little animated consideration of the pagan roots of Christmas from Live From Memphis' Sarah Fleming and Christopher Reyes."

Saturday links to IMFF stories

Articles out today on the Indie Memphis Film Festival:

• John Beifuss on the Global Lens series at Indie Memphis.
• The Memphis Flyer on Saturday's highlights.

Beifuss on Audley's must-see 'Team Picture'

John Beifuss gives an enthusiastic endorsement of Kentucker Audley's feature at IMFF:

"Team Picture," which screens Sunday and Wednesday at Malco's Studio on the Square, is probably the least expensive and most undemonstrative feature film in this year's Indie Memphis Film Festival.

On the surface, its story and visuals couldn't be simpler. Yet it's also the richest and most assured local feature in the festival, and it introduces a valuable and distinctive voice to the Memphis (and even national) filmmaking culture: a 25-year-old writer-director who calls himself Kentucker Audley.

In fact, "Team Picture" may represent the most promising feature debut for a Memphis filmmaker since Craig Brewer's "The Poor & Hungry" in 2000. But even Brewer's black-and-white video "digiflik" cost about $20,000; Audley estimates "Team Picture" was produced for a measly $1,500.

Zombiewalk/Griz info

If you want to participate in the MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES OPENING NIGHT ZOMBIE WALK IN MEMPHIS, TN HALLOWEEN NIGHT - OCTOBER 31st - 5pm that evening......then you MUST contact Kyle Knox at the below information - he WILL NEED YOUR INFORMATION as well.

YOU CAN'T JUST SHOW UP AND EXPECT A FREE TICKET TO THE GAME - KYLE MUST BE NOTIFIED AHEAD OF TIME !!!

Duane Craig is going to be there as early at 3:30pm possibly to apply make-up shades and/or gel-10 - liquid latex for gory goodness. There will have plenty of fake blood to go around, plus it's my new mixture that is detergent based....that means it washes clean compared to most fake bloods that heavily stain.

IF YOU'RE COMING, CONTACT KYLE BY THE DEADLINE WHICH IS WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24th.

KYLE KNOX
EVENT PRESENTATION ASSISTANT
191 Beale Street
Memphis, TN 38103
901.205.1418
kknox@grizzlies.com

OK, but what about me?

Unaccustomed as I am to tooting my own horn, allow me to flog my own entries in the Indie Memphis Film Festival.

Two shorts are in there, both having won awards at the Li'l Film Festival sponsored by livefrommemphis.com.



"Happy Artistic Freedom Day" stars Amber O'Daniels and Markus Seaberry in the story of a woman who just wants to be able to do her art. Despite the consequences. It won both the juried award and the audience choice award last December.

LaVita Brooks

And "No Shades of Gray" has some fun with CA columnist Wendi Thomas' effort this last Spring to get Three 6 Mafia disinvited from the Beale Street Music Festival. The rollicking musical won the audience favorite award and stars LaVita Brooks, Markus Seaberry and Joseph B. Smith.

Showtimes:

Happy Artistic Freedom Day is screening at noon Sunday and 3:05 pm Tuesday.
No Shades of Gray screens at 5:15 pm Sunday and 1:10 pm Wednesday.

All showings are the Malco's Studio on the Square.

I also appear in the locally produced features "Tricks," "The Book of Noah" and "Unhinged." The IMFF program is here.

Indie Memphis links

Here are links to local stories about the Indie Memphis Film Festival:

• Beifuss interviews John Sayles.
• Beifuss on the lineup.
• The schedule in the CA.
• Beifuss reviews Blood Car.
• Memphis Flyer's Indie Memphis daily pics for today.

And for something completely different, here's Beifuss' account of Hollywood invading the CA newsroom.

'B' Sides Film Fest

Who has film? FABA! is looking for movies that were not accepted into the Indie Film Fest for the up coming FABA! "B" Sides Film Fest!

Since we are throwing a Halloween Bash at Mo's Edge Coffeehouse this year (10/27, 6pm-1am), we will be having the "B" Sides film fest next month. Those with film interested should contact Monica Summerfield as soon as possible at monicasummerfield@comcast.net

Smart post

Check out this post at the Smart City blog. It's on the Indie Memphis Film Festival and what it means in the larger context of arts in Memphis. A sampling:

Film festivals frequently show up as consultants’ recommendations for cities across the U.S., because they have so many benefits – they create vibrancy, they shake up local culture, they enrich the artistic milieu and more to the point, they are just plain fun. ... There are benefits from the film festivals that can’t be measured in economic impact. While all of us know the marquee festivals like Cannes, Tribeca, Sundance and Toronto (which Indie Memphis organizers attended to scout out some features for Memphis), perhaps the greater benefit of festivals like ours is helping to eliminate provincial thinking and serving as flint for a creative spark in the city at large.

Read it all here.

From the cover story of this week's Playbook on Cowboy Jack Clement, "Though Clement's isn't a household name, the appeal of the man and the film is almost universal. 'To me the film's great accomplishment is that we create this zany world, that everyone is comfortable in,' says Robert Gordon, co-director of the film. 'At the screening in Memphis a couple years ago, by the end of the movie that theater was full of smiling faces. It was the greatest feeling to realize that it worked, and that hardly anybody knew who Jack was going in and everybody loved him when we were done -- and were inspired by him.'" Wednesday, Oct. 17 6 pm Cash Bar 7pm Film Screening of "Shakespeare was a Big George Jones Fan" 8:30 pm Director Robert Gordon will accept questions after the film and Cowboy Jack will play a selection of his songs. $5 for members $8 for not-yet members Order your ticket calling 544.6208

Lantana Projects - visual art sought, including video

Lantana Projects is looking for the most original and forward-looking art created in 2007 by artists from or living in the Memphis area. This juried show will be exhibited on Saturday, November 17 - mark your calendars now!

We are accepting submissions through October 31, and all visual mediums are welcome. For details please click the image above. Good luck!

Lantana Projects is a registered non-profit organization that is making Memphis a global leader in the contemporary arts community. Thank you for your continued support!

"Late" at Indie Memphis

'Tricks' in Tri-State Defender

The Tri-State Defender has a feature story on DeAara Lewis' "Tricks" that will be premiering at the Indie Memphis Film Festival (Monday, Oct. 22 at 9:55 p.m., and Tuesday, Oct. 23 at 3:10 p.m.)

An excerpt:

Lewis wrote and directed “Tricks,” and Chicago native, Rod Pitts, is cinematographer. Pitts said he and Lewis shot the film “in the summer of last year, all over Memphis. There were some hot days, but otherwise it was perfect.” Pitts is an award-winning filmmaker who attributed the ease of location scouting to the city’s friendly residents.

“I’ve been here in Memphis off and on about five years now,” said Pitts. “And it’s really easy to work here. People were very forthcoming about allowing us to use their locations. And we shot all over – from downtown to South Memphis to East Memphis.”

Lewis, along with actress LaDonna Long and filmmaker and actor Keenon Nikita, is already working on her next project, a trilogy that she hopes will make Hollywood pay attention.

For the full story, go here.

News items

John Beifuss at The Commercial Appeal has a few random film items:

• Memphis moviemaker Craig Brewer will fill the shoes (if not much else) of Elvira on Oct. 27 when he serves as grand marshal of the nationally televised NASCAR Busch Series Sam's Town 250 at Memphis Motorsports Park.
• "The Importance of Being Russell" won the Audience Award for Best Feature at the Secret City Film Festival in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Also, star John Pickle earned the Best Actor award at the second annual Southern Appalachian International Film Festival in Johnson City, Tenn., an event co-sponsored by East Tennessee State University. The movie also won the award for Best Comedy.
• Los Angeles casting director Linda Phillips-Palo will conduct acting workshops for kids, teenagers and adults Nov. 2-4 at the Lisa Lax Actors Studio at 174 Leif Cove in Cordova.

For more, go here.

Shrewsbury on display

Memphis filmmaker Geoffrey Brent Shrewsbury is having an art show of his filmworks on Saturday. This is from John Beifuss' story in The Commercial Appeal:

... Shrewsbury describes the Saturday night happening he's hosting at the Memphis College of Art in Overton Park as "an opening reception for the piece of art that is my DVD. It's like an art reception with a screening instead of pictures hanging on the wall."

The event, scheduled for 6-9 p.m., is titled "Every Picture Tells a Story: An evening with Geoffrey Brent Shrewsbury." And the new digital videodisc is "Geoffrey Brent Shrewsbury, Esquire presents: My Very First Retrospective Anthology DVD 1999-2005."

The disk collects 19 shorts -- including narrative films, "slideshows," early works and music videos -- created by Shrewsbury in Memphis and New York, where he was a film and television major at New York University.

Shrewsbury, 32, said a wine-and-cheese reception starts at 6 p.m., followed by the hour-long screening at 7, hosted by local raconteur/gadfly Andrew J. Earles. Shrewsbury will discuss his work and answer questions.

A musician and actor as well as filmmaker, Shrewsbury said he decided to produce a DVD and organize a public screening of his work because "the people I most want to share it with are the people in Memphis.

"So much of it was made here, but even people I run into every day haven't seen it, because when I first started, the way to share videos was to trade tapes on VHS."

For more, go here.

Indie Memphis preview party tonight

John Beifuss writes in The Commercial Appeal:

The 2007 Indie Memphis Film Festival hosts its official kick-off tonight, with a free public preview party from 6:30 to 9:30 at Otherlands, 641 S. Cooper.

Trailers for many of this year's films will be screened, and music will be provided by local jazz combo, Rae-Ray. The event also will function as a kind of art show: Posters from past and present Indie Memphis films will be on display.

Beer and coffee will be for sale, as will Indie Memphis T-shirts and festival passes at a discounted price of $70, which guarantees admission to all events. (The cost of a pass jumps to $80 Oct. 19.)

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'The Hanged Man' at Indie Memphis

The Hanged Man screening at IndieMemphis - Saturday, Oct. 20 at 6:25 p.m. at Studio on the Square.

For the past four years, they've known each other only by their Internet screen names. But tonight in a haunted barn, miles from the trappings of their troubled lives, a group of social misfits gather for the final, ultimate act ... suicide. Lured into a pact by their mysterious leader and desperate to escape their haunted pasts, the group is forced, one by one, to confront the failures, lies and delusions that have brought them to this night and the ultimate realization that maybe ... just maybe ... there's something to live for.

Mix one part Waiting for Godot and one part Breakfast Club with a hefty dose of Twilight Zone and the end result is The Hanged Man -- A supernatural thriller that tears away the false veneer of our everyday lives and shows us there is more in life to fear than death. At times dramatic, hilarious and moving, this offbeat 'dramedy' thriller continuously surprises with its unexpected plot twists and unique characters; giving the audience an entertaining look into the darker currents of contemporary American life.

The Hanged Man. Sometimes Death is just the Beginning...