Milestone is DONE done!

Milestone is finished! The dvd has been burned, duplicated and put into fancy cases with artwork and everything! And to all of that I say... Phew!

Now we're onto the film festival world! I feel like I'm back applying to college again... will they like me? Will I fit in? Will I like my roommate (okay, maybe not so much that one, but the others definitely still apply). It's so hard to know what is going to excite someone about a short film - other than it not being awful. Granted I've been to a number of film festivals, but to tell you the truth, there's never really seemed to be any rhyme or reason to the films that were chosen. Sometimes they'll put the films into themes: like comedies, thrillers, experimental etc., but other than that, there was always a broad range in production value, story content and length.

So where will Milestone be seen? Who knows? But I can't wait to find out!

Thanks to everyone involved!

-jules

Melissa's OTL Advice Corner - Entry #1 Film Festivals

A year and a half ago when Alicia sent me her film festival list I had no idea what film festivals were really about. I had absolutely no clue that they cost money, that some of the festivals are very exclusive and that there is an entire network dedicated to helping people enter their films into hundreds of film festivals all around the globe.

If you are looking into submitting your film into film festivals here are a few tips from a master submitter!

1. Get to know Withoutabox.com! The faster you can navigate yourself through this fantastic website the better. Get your projects set up and once you do you can submit your films to hundreds of film festivals in about 5 minutes. This site will also keep track of your submission history and keep you notified of up and coming deadlines etc.


2. Always make sure that you take the time to read the fine print details of what a festival is looking for. Often times the title alone with give you an idea about what special things each festival is seeking (but some do not). There is nothing worse then sending your hard earned cash along with your film into a festival that is only meant for a special interest group i.e. Spanish Language movies only!

3. Try to get your film submitted during the Early Deadline time slot. Watch the timelines for festivals that you are interested in and try to submit them during their early deadline submission process. Most film festivals will jack up their prices pretty high for Late Deadline submissions. By being early you can save upwards of $30.00 per submission. This will also allow you to submit to more festivals for the same amount of money that you would spend to submit to one festival during the late deadline.

4. Be realistic about the festivals you are submitting to. For example: I made a short film about a bird mascot and beer. I am not going to get into Sundance or Cannes with this type of film. This film is better suited to smaller underground festivals and very specific location festivals. Base your festival selection list on where you feel your film would do the best. You want to get as far as you can with the money you have. If you really, really want to enter your film into Sundance just because, go ahead and do so, but do a little research and find out what other festivals your film would do best at and submit to those as well.

5. Don’t be discouraged if your film does not get into a film festival. Festivals often get thousands of submissions so if you get a rejection letter don’t take it too personally.

Well that about does it for this entry. Check back in with our blog for more advice from Melissa’s OTL Advice Corner!

Cheers!

MJ

Screening of Kung Pow Wow

The Berkshire Film Festival was abuzz with activity as it took over the Triplex and Mahaiwe theaters in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The whole community came out to support the event. This year marked their third annual Student Film Festival. Over thirty shorts were submitted by five Berkshire schools. It's amazing how much technology has improved and allowed access to people at a much younger age. Most of these films shared director credits, but isn't that what it's about when you're starting out? There's so much to learn from each other.




Over the years, the Berkshires have become a hot bed for the arts. Mass MoCA is considered one of the premiere museums of contemporary art in the country. They're featuring a major exhibit on Sol LeWitt until 2033, so that gives you some time to get there. Sol LeWitt is an artist best known for his giant works that take over a room - you can see one of his rooms at MOMA if you're in New York.

Jacob's Pillow is a dance company started in 1933 by Ted Shaw and is the only dance entity in the US to be declared a National Historic landmark for its significance and its contribution to America's culture.

The Berkshires features many play festivals including the best known -Williamstown. This summer they're putting on some tremendous works including: Sam Shepard's True West starring Rob Corddry and his brother Nate directed by OTL friend Danny Goldstein; Quatermaine's Terms by Simon Gray, starring Tony Award - winner Jefferson Mays and The Torch-Bearers by George Kelly directed by Dylan Baker.




It was great showing Kung Pow Wow in my home state. I do miss Massachusetts and consider myself a New Englander through and through. Getting to screen on the home front allows for your family to be in attendance. Friday night, I attended with my Godmother, Robbie Burr and on Sunday my cousin Libby Bolognia and our dear friend Leanne Jolin joined us.




We were in a solid block of films. Julie wrote in about a few films perviously so, I will just touch on a few more.




Local filmmaker Sanjiban filmed a documentary of sorts called Animal Tricks. Over the course of his summer, he filmed himself teaching a variety of tricks in his backyard with chipmunks. It was hilarious in it's simplicity and the best part - Sanjiban was in attendance carrying a stuffed chipmunk on his shoulder.

Another notable film was called The Last Page. One of the longer of the shorts, clocking in at 21 minutes - The Last Page is the story of a tortured writer struggling to find the perfect ending to his latest story. While taking a break from writing, he is catapulted into a bizarre series of events; each event pushing him further away from finishing the last page. Written by Kevin Acevedo and Matt Akey and Directed by Kevin Acevdeo, The Last Page offered a clever formula that began with the audience watching the last moment in the script and then realizing, as it moved backwards and things were erased, that the writer was deleting the story from his computer in the hopes of finding the perfect ending.

Writer/Director Jack Herbert's The Hero's Journey was a genius use of a gimmick to allow for a very low budget film. The story focuses on Sam as he's looking for enemies in his home. He documents his search with his home video camera. What he captures on the camera is more than he or his mother planned. I was really taken with the idea of making a low budget work to your advantage. This film could not have been shot on a higher end camera.

The last film I'd like to mention is Monty Diamond's The World Trade Center in the Movies. The World Trade Center appeared in over 60 films of all shapes and sizes during their 27 year history They played starring roles in films like The Wiz and Trading Places or served as background - a recognizable part of the Manhattan landscape - in many others. Monty Diamond was a location scout in New York who worked with the Trade Center frequently. He put together a musical reminiscence of the Towers in a short film. It was a very moving tribute.

Thanks to Lauren and everyone at the festival! We hope to see you next year!