Tis the season to hang out with filmmakers from across the state and share some holiday cheer… and a few drinks. This year the Indiana Filmmakers Network took our holiday party to Moe’s Irish Pub at the Hamilton Town Center and the result was incredible. It was Tuesday December 8th. This was by far the largest gathering I’ve seen of indie film types. It seemed like everyone was there and ready to unwind. We had people from all over Indiana and a few that were home for the holidays from other parts of the country. The award for furthest travel to attend went easily to Logan Huffman. The Indianapolis native was back in town awaiting the resumption of shooting the new V series in Vancouver BC,  February 2010.

The Indiana Filmmakers Network (IFN) has been around for about 10 years. It’s mission is to Inform, Educate and Promote the film industry in Indiana. I joined the IFN a little over two years ago. At that time the group had all but dried up. There were only 8 people at the first meeting I attended. I was asked to become a volunteer board member early last year. We had already started rebuilding the group and the meetings in 2009 averaged about 40 attendees each month. Last year’s party was held at one of the board member’s home and was plagued by an ice storm. Attendance was a meager twelve people… though we all had a great time, it was disappointing. This year we had a very cold rain storm… and the attendance was fantastic. We had told the folks at Moe’s that we were expecting around forty people. Instead we ended up with somewhere around sixty. The crowd spilled out into the bar area of Moe’s. It was great.  The staff at Moe’s did a wonderful job keeping us supplied with food and drinks.

For those of you who were not able to make it… you missed a great night full of  food, contests, prizes, give aways, and networking. I know of many good connections that were made that night.  You might want to clear your schedule next year… I think it’s only going to get better.

---

Posted by admin on December 10th, 2009 :: Filed under Events
Tags :: Chuck Budreau, IFN, indiana filmmakers network, Kate Chaplin, Zack Parker

---

There’s nothing like being at a movie premiere.  Especially for a film you’ve worked on and know half the people on the screen. This was a private screening for cast, crew, and close friends.  The Film Was TOW… which stands for Tainted, Obsessed, Wayward Soul. The Screening was held Friday December 4th at IUPUI campus. Truth be told I barely can say I worked on this film. I put in about half a day as the location sound mixer(recordist). As it turns out I was there for the big climatic confrontation scene. It was fun to see how the stuff I worked on fit into the lager picture. The main cast and crew worked on this film for months and they did a great job with very limited resources. I’m glad I got to be part of it.

TOW is the brainchild of Adam Newell. He wrote, directed, and stars in the film. The female lead is Emily Wood. I had worked with Emily on a few projects over the past couple of years. She is an amazing actor. She throws some great emotion into her character in TOW. The chemistry between the two leads is a great thing to watch develop.  Another actor who stood out anytime he was on screen was Louie Lawless. He played a strong supporting role as the local Sheriff. This was the first time I’d worked with Louie… though we have worked together since wrapping TOW.  Louie is a great dramatic actor… who between the takes kept everyone laughing.  The antagonist of this film is actually a filmmaker in his own right, Kelly Lynch. Kelly at times seems to be summoning some of Keith Ledger’s Joker as he takes the main characters by surprise and leads them to his own twisted version of reality. While everyone in the film is in some way Tainted and Wayward… Kelly’s character is very Obsessed.

The film was shot During the summer and fall of 2008. Adam had the help of his sister Erin Newell as producer of the film. Though each of them took on many different roles during the production. Even the cast members helped out while not on screen. One of the highlights of the film is the soundtrack. All of the music is from local independent artists. Artist such as Mike Akers, Red Moon and Hum.V. The multi-talented Emily Wood preforms several of the music tracks in the film.  The film starts off awkward and ends beautiful as all the peaces fit together. Everyone walked away from the screening proud of their work… and for good reason.

The Film is now off to the Film Festival Circuit, where I believe it will do well.

You can buy your own copy of TOW or check out the latest news on the film via the website http://towthemovie.com/

---

Posted by admin on December 9th, 2009 :: Filed under Film Premiers,Film Screenings,Film Shoots
Tags :: Adam Newell, Chuck Budreau, Emily Wood, erin newell, Kelly Lynch, Louie Lawless, Mathew Allen, TOW

---

The First Annual “Wet Your Pants Comedy Film Festival” was held on Saturday, November 21, 2009 at the Carmel Community Playhouse. I was fortunate to be asked to help out with the event.  The idea for this fun packed festival came from a personal tragedy for it’s founders.  Steve Pearce fought a long battle with Kidney Disease. Along the way he became an ardent supporter and volunteer for the Nation Kidney Foundation. He did a great job spreading awareness and raising funds for the foundation. He also made a lot of good friends and was always making the lives of everyone who knew him better through laughter. When he finally lost his battle earlier this year his family decided to keep his spirit alive through what he loved most… laughter. All of the proceeds from the festival went to the National Kidney Foundation.

Heading up the Festival was Steve’s brother Brian Pearce and their parents. Brian has Produced several films and is currently a Voluntary Board Member of the Indiana Filmmakers Network. This year’s festival was arranged at a break-neck speed. They had only a couple of months to put together what most festivals take a year to organize. It was very important for the family that the festival be held on November 21st… Steve’s Birthday.

In the short amount of time they actually got twice as many entries as needed for the festival. The submissions were whittled down to the fifteen films selected for screening. Most of the films screened had some kind of local connection. There was no shortage of laughter.  There were several feature length films  including, Zorg & Andy, Open Mic’rs, and 29 Reasons To Run. There were also a dozen short films…

Waffles For Virginia

Do Pencils Go To Heaven

Delusions

Cat Clock

Clones Gone Wild

The First Date

I’m Not Talking To You

The Last Bottle

PHAT

If A Tree Fell

Das Spiel

Tree Talk

Many festivals take years before they turn a profit for their charities… not this one. The very first Wet Your Pants Festival was able to make a generous donate to the National Kidney Foundation. The attendance was great and everyone had a wonderful time. The day was split into four blocks of films with Q&A sessions between each. There was plenty of time to meet the filmmakers.

The films competed for three awards.

“Best Film of 2009″ award was decided by a group of local industry professionals and personalities. It was won by Gary Weeks’ film “Clones Gone Wild” . A story of what happens when your clone is cooler than you.

“The Audience Choice Award” as it’s name implies, was decided by the audience members…hmmm what a neat idea. This award also went to Gary Weeks, this time for his film “29 Reasons to Run”. A cross country journey by two friends who really need to get their lives together.

The Third award was the “Steve Pearce Memorial Award”. This award was presented by Steve’s family to the film that most matched Steve’s odd sense of humor. It was given to Director Steve Wright’s short film “Cat Clock”. I can’t really describe this film… it would give the whole thing away and wouldn’t nearly do it justice.

The Family has already started making plans for next year’s festival. I’m really looking forward to what it will bring.

---

Posted by admin on December 8th, 2009 :: Filed under Film Festivals,Film Screenings,Film Shoots
Tags :: Brian Pearce, Film Festivals

---