Monday, June 28, 2010

You've Got a Friend in Me


Today I FINALLY saw Toy Story 3 and it was worth every penny to see it in theaters.

I can't write 3/4 of what I want to talk about here because, well, then I'd spoil the movie for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, but please please please trust me, if you have yet to see it, GO DO IT. It was phenomenal.

Having gone into this movie not quite knowing what to expect except something amazing (though I was worried that it wouldn't quite live up to the hype it was getting), I was blown away. Having developed a strong bond with these characters after seeing Toy Story 1&2, its hard to see them suffer through what they are suffering through and the story is every bit heart wrenching as it is funny, (and it gets REALLY funny).

This is a movie I would go to the theaters repeatedly to watch and then buy it on DVD as soon as it comes out, which is a huge rarity for me since I'm, well, a cheapskate. But there it is, that's my glowing review of Toy Story 3 and I think everyone should go see it.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Whoever Thinks Making Films Is Easy Has Never Had To Deal With SAG


As some of you may know, I'm trying to make another film. This is particularly challenging for several reasons, the first and most foremost of which is; I no longer have a university providing me with assistance in making my crazy waste of money.

This film is part of a competition called interpretations, which I'm pretty sure I've mentioned here before... but if I didn't, its a competition being held by director Justin Lin.

The film I came up with for this competition is not only a Vietnam War period piece, which is difficult enough as it is, but also uses my good friend Zephyr Benson; Son of Robby Benson, 18 Year old about-to-be-NYU Tisch freshmen and most importantly, SAG actor.

The fact that he's a SAG actor complicates things incredibly because now I have to go through SAG to use him and that means filling out a bunch of paperwork and hoping that they don't care that I don't have insurance. All of this almost makes me wish I was back dealing with all the bureaucracy of film school because that at least I knew how to work and worm my way through, even if it did take a bit of effort. Now I'm just trying to pull my normal tricks and crossing my fingers while squeezing my eyes shut hoping it works or somehow slips past unnoticed.

The real world is a big and scary place and being slick and deceiving there is proving to be a bigger challenge than it was back in school.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

IMDB Page

Congratulations Matthew,

Your submission for "哥哥" has been received by San Diego Asian Film Festival and is now in consideration. This entitles you to a Title Page on IMDb, the most trafficked movie site in the world - with 57 million film fans visiting each month. IMDb is eager to help you publicize and promote your movie right now, as soon as it's ready for the world, not just after you've won recognition for it. Your Title Page on IMDb is free, and the setup is automatic, since you have already linked your IMDb and Withoutabox accounts.

We will notify you once "哥哥" has been validated by IMDb's data editors, which can take up to two weeks. You'll then be able to upload video to your Title Page, such as trailers and clips. (Video has quickly become an essential part of any IMDb Title Page, so prepare for that.) Got questions? Contact support at:
https://www.withoutabox.com/index.php?cmd=public.support

Enjoy your new Title Page, and make good use of it!


Sincerely,

Team, Withoutabox
A Division of IMDb


Yay!/ Its about friggin' time!

Updates -- Overworked and Tired

So its managed to happen again; I've managed to get myself booked for way to many things. Recently I've submitted my film "哥哥“ to the "San Diego Asian American Film Festival" as well as "Sundance Film Festival," so now I'm just waiting on confirmation that they've received my screeners -- which they should have since I sent them out about a week ago, but Withoutabox still tells me no (which perturbs me because San Diego's deadline was postmarked by the 11th, which was last week... and so if USPS sends me my package back instead of delivering it I'm going to have to go to the post office and raise some hell) so USPS just might be being retarded... as they often can be.

Aside from that I'm trying to find a bar for my friend Nick Feitel's film, which he hopes to shoot next week... (great Nick, just great, you ask me to find you a bar to shoot in in the middle of the World Cup... I see this going really well...) meanwhile I'm trying to get the materials I need to shoot my Interpretations Film as well as, as of last week, am now trying to make a short stop-motion spot for a coffee house called Coffee Foundry -- and yes, this is pro-bono work.

Today I woke up really early in the morning to go to the city to pick up a camera I dropped off/stashed in one of my boss's offices in PBS Friday night for a shoot up in Cooperstown New York -- which is a 4 hour drive from Manhattan. This was for a shoot for Picturing America which is that series being headed by Gail Levin -- who I've mentioned in previous posts. My plan for that was to go to sleep at 10PM and wake up at 5AM to catch a 6:17AM train into the city since I was supposed to meet up with the director of this episode at 7:45AM at 43rd between 2nd and 3rd (just a note, PBS is at 33rd between 9th and 10th) -- the go to sleep early plan was good -- in theory. I just ended waking up at 1AM and couldn't get back to sleep. I went to the shoot, passed out in the car for the 4 hour drive up, did the shoot, drove a good part of the way back and then got done with everything relating to that shoot at 10:30PM and then went to work until 12:30AM and then ran to catch my train home. Back home I ate a little bit and then, once my parents went to sleep, went to working on that coffee commercial -- which I'm trying to get done by the end of the week... I finished with the stadium. (I'm trying to make coffee beans play soccer... should be interesting, I'll post the final product up here) Tomorrow hopefully I'll be able to try some animation tests... something tells me I'm going to have to try to make a ghetto lens bellows system to get close enough to the coffee beans, but I guess I'll figure that out as I come to it. Right now it's 5AM and I'm tired and I need to be up at 8AM so that I can catch a 9:17 train in for another shoot (A Steve Brodner shoot for Need To Know.)

More later.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Silver Docs Pt. 3 - About Friggin' Time

So here's my rejection letter from Silver Docs -- and it's about time, considering the notify date was the 21st, but you know, I guess it's understandable. As I said before, not surprised that I didn't get in, so eh, not a big deal. Now that my final festival rejection has come in, I can now post the full film online! So, expect to see it here some time in the not too distant future.


Hi Matt,

My sincerest apologies that you did not receive a status notification from us. We sent all of our letters out on Monday, May 24. I will tell you, however, that just before sending the emails our filemaker database system crashed. We thought that it had been fully recovered, but you are not the first filmmaker to mention this to us - we have heard from a few others. For this, I apologize. I know how important it is to hear back from a festival once you have submitted work, and we take that seriously.

It is with regret that we did not select your film. We received over 2,100 films vying for 50 feature and 40 short slots. It was difficult having to turn down many wonderful projects, and I sincerely hope that you will not be discouraged.

I wish you the greatest success with 'Ham' and trust that you are well on your way to a wonderful festival journey. I am sorry that we won't have the privilege of being a part of it.

Kind regards,

Sky
--
Sky Sitney
Artistic Director
AFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs Festival
8633 Colesville Road
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Tel: 301.495.6731
Fax: 301.495.6798
June 21-27, 2010

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Silver Docs Pt. 2

A phone call and another week later, still no word regarding my submission to Silver Docs. I was told to expect notification by the end of last week and now its the end of this week and I still have yet to hear anything, which is pretty ridiculous. I sent an e-mail and will call tomorrow if I still get no word.

Yes, I realize this means I didn't get in, but all the same, this is a festival I paid good money to submit to. The least they can do is let me know if I was accepted or not.