In which I use my trusty iPhone to capture the festivities at the World Premiere of Paradise Recovered.
World Theatrical Premiere of Paradise Recovered
November 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Buskirk Chumley marquee announces Paradise Recovered Premiere
I’m back in Indiana. Back where it all began in the summer of 2009. After hitting seventeen film festivals in the last year and winning numerous awards, Paradise Recovered is ready for it’s official public unveiling. Tomorrow, November 20th, we’re premiering Paradise at the historic Buskirk Chumley Theater in Bloomington, IN. The fact that we shot a scene in the Buskirk makes our premiere there extra special. For more information on the screening, visit our official Facebook Event page here: http://www.facebook.com/events/271219359583929/. To buy tickets to the show, CLICK HERE.
As part of the premiere, we’re also releasing the Official Motion Picture Soundtrack for Paradise Recovered. The soundtrack features fantastic music from Indiana artists like Cara Jean Wahlers, Jookabox, Sardina, The New Old Cavalry, Salaam, newcomer Evan Slusher and more. As part of the big event at the Buskirk, Cara, Evan, Salaam and The New Old Cavalry will be performing live before and after the screening of the film. I’m still amazed at the awesome soundtrack of Indiana artists we were able to assemble for this soundtrack (thanks in large part to the fine folks at Musical Family Tree). We’ll be selling the soundtrack at the premiere and it will be available from retailers like CD Baby , Amazon and iTunes next week!
In conjunction with all this, we’ve been busy editing a DVD extra for our upcoming DVD release. The extra is a short doc that we’re calling Beyond Paradise. The piece features interviews with world renowned thought reform experts like Steve Hassan of freedomofmind.com and counselors from Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center. If you didn’t know, Paradise Recovered has pledged 10% of our profits to Wellspring, a one of a kind facility that counsels victims of spiritual abuse and cults.
So I hope to see some of you at the premiere tomorrow. I’ll post pics and hopefully some video from the event soon. And look for our Paradise Recovered DVD to be released in early 2012!
Summer News and Updates
August 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment
It’s been a busy couple of months. Here are some of the highlights.
Conversations in Film (July 10th)
I sat on a Conversations In Film panel presented by The Austin Film Festival. The panel was titled Making Your First Feature and I got to participate with some fantastic fellow filmmakers. We talked about our experiences making our first feature films. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed learning from and meeting the other directors on the panel.
Filmmakers Left to Right, Stephen Belyeu, Storme Wood, Mike Dolan, and Will James Moore
Van Wert Independent Film Festival (July 8th-10th)
Paradise Recovered played the first ever Van Wert Independent Film Festival. Writer/Producer Andie Redwine had a great time at the fest and brought home some nice awards. Paradise Recovered won the Audience Award, Best Screenplay and Best Actress (Heather Wallis). So that was very cool.
Paradise Recovered Wins Big at Van Wert Independent Film Festival
Lights. Camera. Help. (July 28th-30th)
I was back in Austin representing Paradise Recovered (with Writer/Producer Andie Redwine) at the very awesome Lights. Camera. Help. Film Festival. Lights. Camera. Help. is a nonprofit “dedicated to encouraging other nonprofit and cause-driven organizations to use film and video to tell their stories.” Paradise Recovered was their first ever narrative feature and we were proud to be there championing our favorite charity, the Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center. The Lights. Camera. Help. audience was amazing and I was inspired by all of their films and filmmakers. It was a great festival experience. Here’s a link to a story the Austin CBS affiliate KEYE did on Lights. Camera. Help featuring Paradise Recovered: http://weareaustin.com/entertainment-story?nxd_id=165447&watch=1
Andie Redwine, Storme Wood and David J. Neff Celebrate at the Lights. Camera. Help. Film Festival
Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center’s 25th Anniversary Celebration! (August 5th-7th)
Speaking of Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center, on August 5th-7th Andie Redwine and I journeyed to Athens, Ohio to help Wellspring celebrate their 25th anniversary. On Friday the 5th, we screened Paradise Recovered for a packed house at the lovely Arts West Theater in Athens. Then on Saturday, we volunteered to videotape the internationally renowned cult experts that Wellspring had speaking at their Conference on Cults. Needless to say, I learned a ton (It was a fitting end to a great weekend when we heard that Warren Jeffs was sentenced to life in prison for his crimes against the young girls growing up in the FLDS).
There was a nice write up about the event in the Athens News about the weekend’s festivities: http://www.athensnews.com/ohio/article-34521-cult-rescue-center-celebrates-25th-birthday.html
We blogged about the Warren Jeffs conviction on the Paradise Recovered site: http://www.paradiserecovered.com/blog/2011/august/what-we-think-about-warren-jeffs
Me Shooting Video for Wellspring's Conference on Cults
Down But Not Out (August 4th)
I traveled to Ohio via Indianapolis, where I had the chance to visit with my good friend Alphonso Bailey. Bailey is a former professional boxer who runs a really cool Prison Ministry called Down But Not Out. DBNO teaches character building workshops in prisons and juvenille detention centers. Alphonso has a great life story; a former college athlete, he was arrested for some armed robberies and served two years in a Kentucky prison. On the 4th, I got to visit a prison with him and him in action. I love the way he brings hope to these guys living behind bars. He really believes in them and believes that their lives can change and get better. He is always inspiring and I hope to bring his story to the screen one day.
Check out this promo for a short doc that was done on Alphonso’s story:
<iframe width=”425″ height=”349″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/QDL5RgCPH_Q” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>
The Rest
And finally, while in Indiana I got to shoot a bunch of stuff with the new Canon XF100 camcorder. It’s a pretty amazing camera that shoots 50 mb/s 4:2:2 video with a full set of pro features and it’s the size of a palmcorder. We were shooting test/reel footage for a spec project that we’re keeping under wraps for now. But I highly recommend checking out the XF100 if you shoot doc style run and gun stuff. It’s brilliant.
Here’s a link to a Philip Bloom review detailing the XF100: http://philipbloom.net/2011/07/09/video-review-of-the-canon-xa-10-xf100-and-xf105/
UPCOMING FILM FESTIVALS
Paradise Recovered still has several film festivals coming up.
I’ll be at the 5th annual Landlocked Film Festival in Iowa City August 25th-28th
And Andie will be at the Central Florida Film Festival over Labor Day Weekend!
Come and say hi if you’re in Iowa or Florida.
Lots of cool stuff happening.
We Get the Best Odd Jobs
July 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I love the odd jobs I get in the video and film production business. Not too long ago, I had the opportunity to run B Camera and Sound on a show called VEVO Area Codes. The idea behind the show is that one of your favorite music artists shows you around their area code. It’s a cool concept. So, for the 405, right here at home, they did a show with tween sensation Greyson Chance. If you don’t know who Greyson is, he played piano and sang Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi at a local sixth grade festival here in Edmond, Oklahoma. The video of his performance was posted on YouTube. It now has over 41 million views. He went on Ellen, got a record deal and now is out on tour supporting his brand new album. He’s a nice kid and a great singer. I enjoyed the shoot and think the Area Codes show turned out great. Without further adieu:
Paradise Recovered Wins Grand Jury Award!
June 14, 2011 By 2 Comments
Writer/Producer Andie Redwine, Director Storme Wood, and deadCENTER Programming Director Kevin Ely celebrate at the 2011 deadCENTER Film Festival Awards
As our Saturday night screening of Paradise Recovered came to an end at the 2011 deadCENTER Film Festival, we were a bit surprised by how insistent the volunteers were that we get over to the awards ceremony that was about to start. Could this mean we were going to win some kind of award? We tried to put it out of our minds as we hurried to get there, believing always that it’s better to keep your expectations low that you might be pleasantly surprised.
As they began to hand out awards, our hopes piqued again. Maybe we won this one? Maybe that one? No. Okay. As the number of awards dwindled, so did our hopes. Until there was only one trophy left on the podium. Surely we didn’t win the grand prize? And then they said it, “The winner of the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature sponsored by Devon Energy is… Paradise Recovered!”
Holy crap. Seriously. We were thrilled. We were more than thrilled. We were shocked.
What made it even more amazing and unbelieveable was that the jury for the 2011 deadCENTER Film Festival was made up of some filmmakers we really respect. The jury was headed up by Nick Casevettes, director of She’s So Lovely, John Q and The Notebook among other films. Also on the jury was Oklahoma filmmaker Sterlin Harjo who Directed the hit indie film, Barking Water, which played at Sundance and is now in distribution. Other jurors included Costume Designer Lynette Meyer (Lakeview Terrace, Nurse Betty), and Oklahoma documentary filmmaker Brad Beasley (Okie Noodling). Pretty great jury, right?
All in all, the 2011 deadCENTER Film Festival was one of our favorite fests so far. And that was before we won the Grand Jury award. deadCENTER is run by a great group of people who put on a festival that is fun, accessible, organized, well attended and full of terrific films. The Comedy Shorts program was my favorite screening, but a close close second was the amazing documentary Jens Pulver: DRIVEN. And there were other great films that I didn’t have time to see like the amazingly funny S&M Lawncare by my new friends at Singletree Productions.
Congratulations to the other award winners and to all the filmmakers who took part in deadCENTER this year. And a huge thanks to deadCENTER staff members Lance McDaniel, Kim Haywood, Kevin Ely, Ian Peterson and to all the volunteers that made the 2011 deadCENTER Film Festival possible and amazing. I can’t wait for deadCENTER 2012!
Paradise Recovered Showing at Two Festivals This Month!
April 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Come see Paradise Recovered at the Talking Pictures Festival in Chicago and/or the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival this month.
Talking Pictures Festival takes place April 14th-17th at and around the Northwestern University campus. Paradise Recovered screens Saturday, April 16th at 5PM in Annie May Swift Hall. Tickets and information available HERE.
The Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival takes place April 14th-May 5th at the St. Anthony Main Theatre. Paradise Recovered screens Saturday, April 30th at 2:30PM and Monday, May 2nd at 5PM. Tickets and information available HERE.
Come on out and see us!
Paradise Recovered Wins Best Feature Honorable Mention
March 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The 2011 DIY Film Festival has awarded Paradise Recovered Best Feature Honorable Mention. I’m headed to LA tomorrow to attend the awards banquet on behalf of Team Paradise.
Here’s what they had to say about our film. Paradise Recovered is an “Unlikely romantic comedy about a girl raised in a traditional religious sect that runs into the adventure of her life at the hands of some free thinking friends. Excellent cast and a wonderful exploration of an unusual take on the Romeo and Juliet story.”
A huge thank you to the folks at the DIY Film Festival. And a big congratulations to the other award winners. Look for pics and updates from Hollywood in the coming days.
CHECK OUT the DIY Film Festival’s webpage for more on Paradise Recovered and the other scrappy indies that won.
Corporate Video: Oh, The Places You’ll Go!
February 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Corporate video can be exciting. This past week, my freelance job took me to Adelaide, South Australia, where I travelled around shooting video and stills that will become stories of the unique and innovative ways South Australians are using, reusing, and circulating water. The videos are for a company that makes water pumps. And water pumps enable us to move water efficiently for all kinds of purposes. While in OZ, we shot at a vineyard, a cutting edge university building, a unique vegetable washing plant, and the building site for a state of the art horse racing facility.
Over the years, corporate video has taken me to three Superbowls, into multi-million dollar studios, up in helicopters, to marathons, marches and countless big events. I’ve travelled to cities, states and countries I wouldn’t otherwise have been able to visit. And I’ve met and filmmed doctors, engineers, experts, CEOs, authors, celebrities, sports legends, local heroes, and good people all around.
Shooting corporate video has put a camera in my hands hundreds of times. And it has paid me to do something I love, something that thrills me each and every time I get to do it. Take moving pictures.
Here is a slideshow of snaps I took during my time off in Australia (Check out originals on FLICKR). It’s a wonderful country. I hope my job takes me back again some day.
8mm Vintage Camera iPhone App
January 8, 2011 By 3 Comments
Update: I’m looking for more great video apps for the iPhone. Let me know of any you’re using or have heard about and I’ll check them out.
I noticed my review video had over 1000 views in a 24 hour period and wondered what was up. Turns out Philip Bloom included this video in his recent post, Adventures in Film…and fake 8mm.
I saw a review of the 8mm Vintage Camera App posted on Nino Leitner’s blog and I had to give it a try. I downloaded it and took it to hockey practice. This video review shows the results. This little app is really a lot of fun. It has several different film looks, as well as several lens looks that are all easily selectable while the app is recording. Besides being fun, I think filmmakers can get creative with this and come up with some great ideas for how to use it.
Someone asked about the window in the app looking like it’s 4:3 and then my video being 16:9. I thought that was interesting too. I didn’t do anything to stretch it out. I simply saved the clips in the app. Saving the clips transfers them into your video/stills library. Then I downloaded the clips into iPhoto and edited this video using iMovie. All of that worked really seamlessly and the resulting aspect ration was 16:9. I haven’t tried to take any of these clips into Final Cut Pro yet.
If you don’t have the app yet, you can get it HERE.
Storme Wood and Andie Redwine on Film Courage
December 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment
We were in LA a couple of weeks ago to screen Paradise Recovered. While we were there, we joined Karen Worden and David Branin on their Indiefilm Radio Show, Film Courage. We had a great time. Film Courage is a great show and a great resource for indie filmmakers and fans. Scroll down in the player below to find the show featuring myself and Writer/Producer Andie Redwine. And while you’re at it, check out some of the other shows as well.
