Remake, Remodel

Festival News

I got a call last night from the Sedona International Film Festival letting me know that my documentary, Farm to Trailer, was accepted and will be screening at the end of February.  It's the first film from my 12 Films Project to get into a festival, and it's also my first documentary, so it really feels amazing.

Here's the doc in case you want to have a look:

 

Flatland Film Festival

Just found out that Sketch got accepted into the Flatland Film Festival (or F3, as it's known) today.  The festival has been around for 7 years and has been getting some good notices.  They only screen shorts and have had some pretty great programs in the past couple years.  Flatland really tries to combine the art and business sides of filmmaking and I'm really excited that Sketch got in.

The festival runs from October 13th to the 15th in Lubbock, TX and I think I'm going to try and make it out there for it.  

San Antonio Film Festival

Just found out that Sketch was accepted into the San Antonio Film Festival which is amazing news.  Not sure if I'm going to be able to make it down for the screening as it's the weekend of the 48-hour Film Challenge here in Austin which I'm doing as part of my 12 Films Project.  Still, I think my DP Michael Morlan and some of the cast were thinking of attending, so maybe they can go in my place to represent the film.

Hey, I'm on TV!

The Tupelo Film Festival was a real blast.  I met some great filmmakers, saw some really good films and even got on TV!  Here's a link to the video.

Pat Rasberry from the Tupelo Film Commission really knows how to put on a film festival.  The filmmakers were really treated well (free rooms!) and there were some great parties every night.  All in all, I can't recommend it enough, especially for smaller films that might not make it into the larger festivals.  They had pretty good crowds every day, even while it was raining, and I got to see where Elivs was born.

Probably the best film I saw while I was there was a short that was in the same block as mine called, Touch.  It's a very simple film, just two people standing on a subway platform, but it was really well made and there are some very good performances in it.  Not sure if it's online, but you should check it out if it plays at a festival near you.  It won Best Short at the festival and it more than deserved it.

I also shot another time-lapse of the drive from Austin to Tupelo and I'll probably upload it later this week...

A week off

The past month has been pretty packed with the MetLife jobs, a graphics piece for Dell and a 15-second commercial for KXAN, the Austin NBC affiliate (plus my April film).  This is the first week that I've had some free time and I'm taking advantage of it.  

On Sunday, I shot the first interview for my Twelve Films Project's May film, a documentary on the Farm To Table movement and how it's being adopted by a local Austin food trailer.  The shoot went really well and I'm very excited about how this is going to turn out.  I'm going back out to his food truck tomorrow to shoot time lapse and then Wednesday to shoot the interior of the trailer as well as them prepping and a full service.

On Thursday, I leave for Tupelo, Mississippi for the Tupelo Film Festival.  Sketch was accepted and I'm really psyched to be going this year.  My first short film, The Wine Bar, won best short film there in 2007, but I wasn't able to go, so this time I'm not going to pass it up.  Tupelo is the birthplace of Elvis and is supposed to be very film friendly, so I'm really looking forward to seeing the city and the other films.  I'm going to drive up there on Thursday and stay through Saturday.  I'm brining my camera gear with me, so maybe I'll be able to shoot some of this historic city.

Next week, I'm starting another job for Horizon here in Austin...maybe two jobs for them, we'll see.  With everything else that's coming up, it looks like my summer is going to be very busy indeed.

P.O.V. Article for Sketch

The Austin Film Society's journal, P.O.V., covered the Hill Country Film Festival and Sketch got a very nice mention:

"Two of my favorite films of the weekend were both Austin products.  SKETCH, directed by Christian Remde and starring Natalie Monsanto and Frederic Winkler, is a close-up look at the tumultuous first meeting of a painter and her model.  The short film was shot in a condo on East 6^th and looks lovely; I’m giving bonus points to cinematographer Michael Morlan.  I spoke to Christian and Natalie later in the evening.  Christian said that the inspiration for the script came out of the desire to discuss creativity and explore the roots of inspiration.  The film deals with questions about fame and the idea of celebrity—issues that were also addressed in Friday evening’s feature, ECHOTONE.

The festival concluded with an awards party at the Fredericksburg Theater Company.  Natalie Monsanto took home Best Actress for SKETCH, and COOPER won the Audience Choice Award.  Both of the latter films, along with THE CAROLYN JACKSON STORY, were nominated for Best Texas Film, but the award went to ECHOTONE.  Congratulations to the winners and to the festival staff on a successful second year!"

You can read the whole article here.

Hill Country Film Festival

Just got back from the Hill Country Film Festival out in Fredericksburg, TX and we had an amazing time.  Sketch was nominated for Best Texas Film and Best Actress (for Natalie Monsanto).  We lost out to Echotone for Best Texas Film (Echotone is a good documentary about the Austin music scene) but the amazing news was that Natalie won for Best Actress!  Look how happy she is!

The festival was a lot of fun.  Fredericksburg is this small Texas town that was founded by a bunch of German settlers, so there are many beer gardens and a whole lot of sausages and schnitzel...not a bad place to spend a weekend.  Julie and I went out on Friday morning and met up with Natalie and Michael Morlan (Sketch's DP) as well as Michael's girlfriend Carla and Fred Winkler who played Victor in Sketch.  We all hung out, got lunch and watched movies.

The Sketch screening was Friday night and we all got up there and did a Q&A after which was a lot of fun.  The audience was very receptive to the film and we got some good questions.

The rest of the festival was pretty good.  We mostly saw the other short films including a couple that were really amazing.  If you're able to, check out the films "Animal Control" and "Off Season"...two very creepy films with amazing cinematography and a really creepy atmosphere.

My next festival is the Tupelo Film Festival up in Mississippi in a couple weeks.  If you're in the area, stop by and see Sketch!