FREE Entry - The Chicago "Really" Short Film Fest and IndieTalk
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First, let me say thank you to everyone who helped get the word out for the show, you guys here at IndieTalk, and Peter over at Sonnyboo.com were awesome! You guys made it a little bit easier getting the word out to the filmmakers. I don't know how we did it but this year we manage to squeeze 26 films into our schedule along with 3 live performances, sketch comedy from The Patel Leads, and music from project .44 & TRS-80.
So How was the show?
It was fun, and exhausting for me personally. I've been making preparations for the show since January but the work doesn't end for me until I make the last announcement the end of the show. Well technically it never really ends since I now have to start thinking about next year. Some of the filmmakers were there. It was nice to finally meet and speak to some of the people who I have been in contact with only through email. We had another packed house but unfortunately we started to lose some people at the end. Some people told me they had to leave because they had an early day with Mom the next day. The show ended at 2AM.
(note to self : get a weekend that doesn't have a holiday)
I could tell people enjoyed the SonnyBoo films from the laughter I heard (they are all comedies), people were silenced by CootDod's "Scarred For Life". I few of my friends and family members were in the military and the film hit close to home for them and the rest of the audience. I was reminded by Poke that his film "Sometimes They Come Loose" was going to have its theatrical premier at our show. Poke, you should've seen your film on the big screen.
Who won? Well, hopefully everbody wins when someone new gets to see your film. I can't tell you how many people told me during the show how they saw something at the fest that they wouldn't normally go out and find on their own. Everyone who was there enjoyed the show and appreciated the variety in the films that were screened. So in my opinion hopefully eveybody wins. The filmmaker gets to show their film to an audience and the audience gets to see a film (and also in our case live performances by a sketch comedy team and two live bands) that they probably would not have found elsewhere.
But I know what you're asking. Who went home with a prize?
The Audience Choice award went to "Couch Fu" This is a funny little short that was put together in one day. I believe the filmmakers did it on a whim. They had the advantage of bringing 32 of their friends to the show. Which I think is fantastic. If we could get every filmmaker to do that I'd be a very happy fest organizer.
Erik Childress who is in the Chicago Film Critic's Association choose two winners this year for two seperate awards. The eFilmCritic.com award went to "Cushion" a film that was shot by Columbia College (Chicago) students. In Erik's own words he believes this film is as good if not better than anything running at Sundance and all the other big film festivals. "Cushion" has only played at Columbia, Slamdance, and now The Chicago "Really" Short Film Fest.
A new award this year, Erik handed out the Hollywood Bitchslap Award to "Requiem For A Ring". This film is a parody of two films The Lord Of The Rings films & Requiem For A Dream. This film got lots of laughs and as far as I know hasn't been seen anywhere else.
Erik will have a review of all the films showcased at our film fest online soon. He'll let me know when his review is online and I'll post a link here for you guys to check out.
As I mentioned on our website Image Union was on hand to select films to air on thier show. They selected 3 this year as they did last year. Their choices were "Carla Cope" a film from New York, "The Yearbook" a film that came to us from Seattle, and "Phudi Mart" a film from Chicago.
And ChicagoFilm.com will have their choice/choices up on their website soon.
Whew, that's a lot to cram in.
Rick
So How was the show?
It was fun, and exhausting for me personally. I've been making preparations for the show since January but the work doesn't end for me until I make the last announcement the end of the show. Well technically it never really ends since I now have to start thinking about next year. Some of the filmmakers were there. It was nice to finally meet and speak to some of the people who I have been in contact with only through email. We had another packed house but unfortunately we started to lose some people at the end. Some people told me they had to leave because they had an early day with Mom the next day. The show ended at 2AM.
(note to self : get a weekend that doesn't have a holiday)
I could tell people enjoyed the SonnyBoo films from the laughter I heard (they are all comedies), people were silenced by CootDod's "Scarred For Life". I few of my friends and family members were in the military and the film hit close to home for them and the rest of the audience. I was reminded by Poke that his film "Sometimes They Come Loose" was going to have its theatrical premier at our show. Poke, you should've seen your film on the big screen.
Who won? Well, hopefully everbody wins when someone new gets to see your film. I can't tell you how many people told me during the show how they saw something at the fest that they wouldn't normally go out and find on their own. Everyone who was there enjoyed the show and appreciated the variety in the films that were screened. So in my opinion hopefully eveybody wins. The filmmaker gets to show their film to an audience and the audience gets to see a film (and also in our case live performances by a sketch comedy team and two live bands) that they probably would not have found elsewhere.
But I know what you're asking. Who went home with a prize?
The Audience Choice award went to "Couch Fu" This is a funny little short that was put together in one day. I believe the filmmakers did it on a whim. They had the advantage of bringing 32 of their friends to the show. Which I think is fantastic. If we could get every filmmaker to do that I'd be a very happy fest organizer.
Erik Childress who is in the Chicago Film Critic's Association choose two winners this year for two seperate awards. The eFilmCritic.com award went to "Cushion" a film that was shot by Columbia College (Chicago) students. In Erik's own words he believes this film is as good if not better than anything running at Sundance and all the other big film festivals. "Cushion" has only played at Columbia, Slamdance, and now The Chicago "Really" Short Film Fest.
A new award this year, Erik handed out the Hollywood Bitchslap Award to "Requiem For A Ring". This film is a parody of two films The Lord Of The Rings films & Requiem For A Dream. This film got lots of laughs and as far as I know hasn't been seen anywhere else.
Erik will have a review of all the films showcased at our film fest online soon. He'll let me know when his review is online and I'll post a link here for you guys to check out.
As I mentioned on our website Image Union was on hand to select films to air on thier show. They selected 3 this year as they did last year. Their choices were "Carla Cope" a film from New York, "The Yearbook" a film that came to us from Seattle, and "Phudi Mart" a film from Chicago.
And ChicagoFilm.com will have their choice/choices up on their website soon.
Whew, that's a lot to cram in.
Rick
That's awesome. I wish I had been there.
Poke
Poke
