lights, camera....

Aaaaaah summer.  So much has happened in the past two months, it's going to take me a little bit to update you all on the happenings, but the good news is that I have a little breathing room in the next couple weeks (also known as two Sundays off minus a trip to Richmond tonight) to catch up on photos, emails and blogging. So if you're waiting on something from me, don't worry, I haven't neglected you, your photos are on their way!

So what exactly has been preoccupying my time? In between the 9-5 job, the weddings and everything in between, I've been making movies! Last year's Koi Keepers reunited for this year's 48 Hour Film Project as A Bad Idea (speaking of ideas, we really should think of a solid production team name, especially considering that we're the same awesome group of people) and I made my directing debut in our little 48-hour post-apocalyptic bar flick.

Before I go on to post our film, I definitely want to give a shout out to our team leader/art director/production designer Chris Curl, our director of photography Steve Strickland, our talented cast (Ethan Marten, Cory Evans, Robyn Meislohn, Desiree Connell) and crew (Geoff, Nate, Derek, Steve, Peter). As I always say after we wrap a production, I would work with you guys any day, no questions asked. Tell me when we're filming our next movie, I'll clear my schedule.

And with that, here's our film, Waste Not, Want Not:


Waste Not, Want Not - A 2010 48 Hour Film Project Submission from Chris Curl on Vimeo.


But wait... there's more.

While I think Waste Not, Want Not is probably our best film to date, we were missing a pretty huge asset on our team, our fearless director from last year, Jon Abrahams. He and his wife, Teviya, were in Taiwan when 48 hour kicked off and spent all of Friday evening through Saturday night flying back from Asia. Yet, even with the added obstacle of traveling halfway around the world, the two of them managed to make a pretty rad film and WIN the Hampton Roads 48 Hour Film Project. I think it's pretty freaking great how they accomplished all that with the given limitations, not to mention the fact that Teviya should win an award for best actress since she had the stomach flu the entire time they filmed...

Anyway, here's their winning film (they also took best editing, best graphics, and best cinematography). I'm completely stoked for them and hope they go far in the competition.


Passion Fruit - 2010 48-Hour Film Project Winner - Hampton Roads from Jon Abrahams on Vimeo.

This is what happens when you don't sleep for 48 hours.

Earlier this month, a group of us got together to write, shoot, and edit a short film in 48 hours. It was made for the 48 Hour Film Project, an international film competition that came through Hampton Roads a few weekends ago. My role in it was writer and assistant director, and I am so happy to have had the opportunity to work with some of the most talented filmmakers here in this area. Everybody who worked on the project was a huge asset to the team and none of this could have been done without their contributions.

Our required elements were as follows:
Character - Ed or Emma Butler, Travel Agent
Prop - Kite
Line - "When will she be back?"

The genre we ended up drawing was Film de Femme, which basically required a strong female lead.

We didn't win Best Film, but we did come away with a couple of awards, including Best Costumes and Best Special Effects.

Here is our film, but let me warn you that it is not family friendly. Please screen with caution :)



The film that took 1st place, Sea of Trees by Idyl King Entertainment can be found here.