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New fest kicks off this October in Miss…

September 9, 2010
by oxfordfilmfreak

Forever Yours auditions this month

September 6, 2010
by oxfordfilmfreak
F A L C O N C R E E K    E N T E R T A I N M E N T is holding auditions for “Forever Yours” on Sept. 18 and 25th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lee County Library, 219 North Madison Street, Tupelo, MS
Headshots and Resume’s can be sent to: foreveryoursfilm@gmail.com.
“Forever Yours” is an interracial love story set in modern times written, directed and produced by Gunter H. Sanderson. It tells the story of two childhood friends that fall apart as they grow older and move away, but when a funeral brings them across each other’s paths their friendship begins to blossom again, along with feelings that there heart can’t escape from.
This is a story that will show that prejudice is still around and how it’s not always right in front of us, but how true love will with stand the test of hatred and prejudice.
I am asking for the chance to tell this amazing story. It is a story that I feel needs to be told and will be told the fullest extent.
Character Breakdown:
FOREVER YOURS “Character Bios”

Ashley Thomas
Lead
Caucasian female
Age: 28-35
Height: 5’5 – 5’8
Hair: Brunette or blonde
-Very strong willed, intelligent, confident. Can sometimes carry her heart on her sleeves, is doing her last year as an intern at local hospital, close to her family

Reginald Montgomery
Lead
African-American male
Age: 28-35
Height: 6’2 – 6’4
Hair: little hair or bald
-Strong willed, intelligent, successful, an attorney, easy going, close to his family

Robert Thomas
Caucasian male
Age: 45-50
Height: 6’0 – 6’2
Hair: Grey, brunette, Blonde
-bank president, strong willed in the “old times”, worked hard for what he has for his family, cares for his wife and daughters

Helen Thomas
Lead
Caucasian female
Age: 45-50
Height: 5’2 – 5’5
Hair: Brunette or Blonde
School guidance counselor, loves her family, doesn’t see color

Nicholas Montgomery
Age: 45-50
Height: 6’2 – 6’4
Hair: Bald or little hair
-construction foreman, strong willed, close to Reginald, loves and adores his wife, raised not to see color

Lillian Montgomery
Lead
African-American female
Age: 45-50
Height: 5’0 – 5’5
Hair: black
-nurse, loves and adores her husband very much, strong, caring, smart, raised not to see color

Marcus
Lead
African-american male
Age: 28-35
Height: 6’0 – 6’2
Hair: little or bald
-high school basketball coach, smart, caring, loves life, like a brother to Reginald, funny, is engaged

Jennifer Thomas
Lead
Caucasian female
Age: 29 – 37
Height: 5’0 – ‘5’5
Hair: brunette or blonde
-sister to Ashley, high school English teacher, loves her sister very much

Katie
Principal role
Caucasian female
Age: 28-35
Height: 5’0 – 5’5
Hair: doesn’t matter
-Best friend to Ashley, supportive

Elderly Ashley
Principal role
Caucasian female
Age: 55-60
Height: 5’5 – 5’8
Hair: Brunette or blonde

Young Ashley
Principal role
Caucasian female
Age: 9-11

Young Reginald
Principal role
African-american male
Age: 9-11

Caleb
Principal Role
Caucasian Male
Ages: 28 – 32
Prejudice, had feelings for Ashley, hates the fact that Ashley loves Reginald

Wanda
Principal Role
African American Female
Ages: 27 – 32
Marcus’s fiancé loves Marcus very much

Preacher (Jim Thomas)
Principal Role
Caucasian Male
Ages: Old or Can play old. Appears to be in late 70’s
Roberts father, Disagrees with Robert on Ashley dating Reginald, Caring

Daughter Montgomery
Principle Role
Mixed or Tanned

Ages: 20 – 25
Daughter of Reginald and Ashley
Be a fan of the film for updates on Facebook.

DVD available on Low and Behold

September 6, 2010
by oxfordfilmfreak

A film I really enjoyed out on the fest circuit a couple of years ago, Low and Behold (read more of my thoughts at the link), is now out on DVD. The feature film was made in New Orleans just after Hurricane Katrina and stars Eddie Rouse as Nixon. The film was made by Zach Godshall – who later made God’s Architects (played Tupelo Film Fest).

You can order a DVD through the film’s website: www.lowandbeholdmovie.com

General ramblings on moviemaking, etc

August 30, 2010
by oxfordfilmfreak

Four months ago, I was a reporter, a mom, a co-director of a film festival and a wannabe writer someday. Then a friend e-mailed me asking to look at the first act of his script. I review lots of friends scripts because I am brutally honest and people like to get feedback. I didn’t think much of it.

But then I read the story. And it opened with a flash forward sequence and a gun. I told him to get rid of all of that but keep the rest (with a lot more suggestions of what to change too because I am picky). But there was something that drew me in right away to the character of Jacob, a wandering soul trying to find a home. I loved it. I hit send on the e-mail and went back to work.

Then my friend called me a few minutes later. He asked me if I ever thought of writing a script. I said of course, some day, which was my usual answer to everyone who asks. But I had been thinking about it more and more this year. He then asked me to write the script with him. I was paralyzed with fear by the idea and couldn’t believe I could contribute anything of significance.

But I said yes. And I started writing. And it wasn’t great stuff. But I kept pushing and kept studying what he wrote and learning the style and craft of screenwriting. Then it began to click and we wrote like we were one mind.

Then I wrote Connie, the mother of the lead, and this intense emotional scene that was completely cathartic yet depressing. Her character haunts me, even more so now that Cindy Hogan has fleshed her out and made her so real. In fact, all of the women in the film are this piece of everyone of us as women and they each touch me on a different level. Jill became that broken part of me that dares for more. Haddy was the eternal optimist that we cling to when all has gone wrong. Kristen is that scared part of us that uses the world as a mirror, never letting anyone really see us. They are all someone we know or something within ourselves we can recognize and I love each and every actress that brought them to life.

Three months went by like a blur where we wrote and fundraised and began thinking about casting, then casting, then location scouting, then changing to Oxford, then re location scouting, then casting some more and so on and so on until every part of my being was consumed completely with this movie. Friends, family, boys were all put to the side and I became obsessed. But in a way that felt better than anything else I have done in life.

Then we began filming, less than a month ago. A 19 day shoot with a couple days off in between where I went to my day job then went to set, often sleeping about 3-5 hours a night, if that. I was delirious most of the time but so in love with the process of the craft and watching everyone work. But even more so was the bonding you develop on set when everyone is working on top of their game and getting to know one another. It was like summer camp or a dysfunctional family. It was priceless. I even got the chance to direct a very short scene and it was exhilarating.

Now, we are on the verge of post production, with Thomas editing and me prepping marketing materials and working on festival strategy. It is the part I am most familiar with in the film world and also love, but it saddens me to think just how long it may be until I can work on another film.

Thomas has made a teaser trailer already and it is beautiful and made me cry. In fact, I have cried, sweat, bled and felt more intensely in the past couple of months than I have in years. I have been frozen for the past couple of years, living a comfortable life and not taking much chance on anything. To make a movie with virtually no money and in the middle of Mississippi in summer, that all had to change. This movie and Thomas have helped bring me back to life and for that, I have no words to describe.

I share this with you because I have been mostly absent from this blog, my life for months now and plan to fully submerge myself back into the real world. But it is with a changed heart, a new outlook, and the ability to dream a little bigger now.

Check out the trailer, let me know what you think. I hope you fall in love with these people as I have.

Where I Begin ends…

August 29, 2010
by oxfordfilmfreak

We wrapped after 3 long hot weeks of filming. The cast and crew were tremendous and Thomas L. Phillips even let me direct one scene which was a great experience. Thank you to everyone who has been supporting us and sorry to friends and family I have ignored the past four months. We still have a long road ahead of us but I am so happy to share our first teaser trailer that Director Thomas L. Phillips worked on all night. Enjoy!

Meet cast and crew of Where I Begin

August 5, 2010
by oxfordfilmfreak

‘Where I Begin’ – How can you not be excited?

August 5, 2010
by oxfordfilmfreak
OXFORD TOWN — It’s been three months of non-stop pre-production work for me and Thomas L. Phillips, director of the independent drama “Where I Begin” that we co-wrote and co-produced. Lots of people have asked if we are excited and, well, yes, we are – but also mostly just anxious and tired. That is the part you don’t often hear much about. You meet filmmakers at a film festival or hear or see an interview with a filmmaker where they are excited, but it’s not always a mad rush of energy and love for the project. Like anything you love, sometimes it is work. Sometimes it is exhausting. Sometimes it is maddening. But you keep on, because it is your love, your baby.
A film creates a strange sphere of a new life for you. While working on it, everything else outside of it is sort of hazy and not quite as important. Your single-minded focus on the project drives you to keep going, but also can cause quite the crash when it comes time to pay bills or do laundry or, God forbid, grocery shop. Filmmaking may be just about the most dangerous drug there is. I can already envision the next five I want to make.
I thought the other day just how fast this project has developed. Thomas e-mailed me on May 5 asking to take a look at the first act of a script and, somehow, in only three months, we’ve started filming — beginning today. In three months, everything in life has changed. None of it would happen if situations hadn’t brought Thomas to Oxford so the team could come together in just the perfect way that it has. Oxford has opened its arms to the film and to Thomas, and it is wonderful to get to play a part in creating this project in my home.
Since May we have created an entire new world and people that we have come to care about. We have revised the script at least 50 times. Since a month ago, we have also hired a full crew to help make the film, including Tupelo filmmaker John Wee as our director of photography and Oxford’s own Daniel Morrow as a production assistant as well as numerous other crew from Mississippi and Kentucky.
We have auditioned well over 250 people for the lead roles and hired extras for certain days of the project. We have met with locations throughout North Mississippi and developed amazing partnerships with great local business owners. We have raised funds. We have broken down the props list. We have figured out the catering menu for each day and who has what allergy. We have bought batteries, hard drives, sound equipment and so on. We have found housing for over 16 people who are helping us make this project.
We have had production meetings and began rolling in the cast this week. And now, today, I get to step back and watch as Thomas takes over as director and takes our words that we wrote into a moving image. With all that happening, how can you not be excited?
We will be updating daily from the set and weekly from this column and hope you can join along in our journey. Visit http://whereibeginmovie.com for more details and to read about the cast and crew of the film.

‘Field of Dreams’ to play in perfect setting

July 29, 2010
by oxfordfilmfreak
It’s been 21 years since “Field of Dreams” first hit the big screen but like with all great cinema, its classic nature allows us to continue to enjoy it today. A movie as much about daring to dream as it is about baseball, “Field of Dreams” will finish out the summer’s Movies in the Park series hosted by the Oxford Park Commission.
Playing on the fields at FNC Park on Friday at dusk, the experience should be unforgettable. As many times as I have seen the film, I’ve never quite seen it in such a perfect setting and I can imagine just how much sitting on a field will add to the visceral experience.
Starring Kevin Costner as Ray Kinsella, a farmer from Iowa, he begins to hear a voice telling him to build a baseball field in the middle of his corn fields. His wife, played by Amy Madigan, supports his dream despite every one else opposing it. As the strain of making his dream a reality begins to take financial turns, Kinsella forges through — determined to follow the voice.
Along the way he meets author Terrance Mann, brilliantly played by James Earl Jones, who delivers one of my all time favorite monologues.
“Ray, people will come Ray. They’ll come to Iowa for reasons they can’t even fathom. They’ll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they’re doing it. They’ll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won’t mind if you look around, you’ll say. It’s only $20 per person. They’ll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they’ll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They’ll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they’ll watch the game and it’ll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they’ll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it’s a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh … people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.”
Call me sentimental but this is one of those movies that just gets me every time. Daring the impossible for something you love, risking everything for a hope, honoring our past while building our future. These things are expressed beautifully in this little baseball movie. “Field of Dreams” reminds us just for a moment just how important reaching out for something greater could change everything. It is Mann’s initial resistance and yet his eventual renewal of the idea of hope that brings depth to the fantastical film. And at the risk of sounding corny, Oxford Park Commission has built it, so I hope you will come.

Silent film fans rejoice

July 22, 2010
by oxfordfilmfreak
Silent film fans have quite the treat next Thursday as Tupelo filmmaker Rex Curry Harsin brings his series of Chaplin-esque short films to Oxford, set to music from silent film composer Donald Sosin.
“Haphazard Happenings with Purdie & Friends” is a series of short films following the hijinks of “Purdie,” played by Harsin.
“It is in the style of the great filmmakers of the silent era, including: Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd and Laurel and Hardy,” Harsin said. “These films are set in modern day, yet carry a certain feel and nostalgia for the 1920’s.”
While attending film school at the Los Angeles Film School, Harsin created the character Purdie after seeing “Benny and Joon” and appreciating Johnny Depp’s performance of a Buster Keaton-like character.
“I stumbled across this, and in it discovered his love for Buster Keaton,” Harsin said. “So, while perusing the library in L.A., I picked out a Keaton film to give a chance. From there on, I became absolutely obsessed, devouring all his and Chaplin’s films. And, of course, in L.A. the film opportunities are much greater than here. I began going to the Silent Film Theater on Fairfax and they happened to have a Buster Keaton festival at UCLA I attended.”
At the festival, Harsin discovered the power of live music with film and determined to make his own show, created numerous short films of Purdie with the intention of screening them as part of a music and film package.
“You have the impact of a live performance, coupled with the story telling possibilities of film,” Harsin said. “It’s a perfect combo. The impact upon the mind is different as well. Audiences watch and interpret silent films in a different way than they do a talkie. But a silent film, in a theater, without the live score, is somewhat plain. It takes the combination to make it special.”
Harsin said that he feels silent film has been neglected but is a classic method to tell a story.
“The world classifies and labels things constantly, and silent films were shelved as old and a thing of the past, whilst the talkies moved in. The problem with that is that silent film is not the “old” type of filmmaking. It is an art all it’s own,” Harsin said.
Harsin will screen two of the short films, “Girl Trouble,” and “Backstage” as well as a feature “Purdie and Pepper,” with the live music to accompany the films.
The show will be held at the Powerhouse on Thursday, July 29 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and children and can be purchased at the door.
—melanie@oxfordeagle.com

Oxford Film Freak
Silent film fans have quite the treat next Thursday as Tupelo filmmaker Rex Curry Harsin brings his series of Chaplin-esque short films to Oxford, set to music from silent film composer Donald Sosin. “Haphazard Happenings with Purdie & Friends” is a series of short films following the hijinks of “Purdie,” played by Harsin.“It is in the style of the great filmmakers of the silent era, including: Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd and Laurel and Hardy,” Harsin said. “These films are set in modern day, yet carry a certain feel and nostalgia for the 1920’s.”While attending film school at the Los Angeles Film School, Harsin created the character Purdie after seeing “Benny and Joon” and appreciating Johnny Depp’s performance of a Buster Keaton-like character. “I stumbled across this, and in it discovered his love for Buster Keaton,” Harsin said. “So, while perusing the library in L.A., I picked out a Keaton film to give a chance. From there on, I became absolutely obsessed, devouring all his and Chaplin’s films. And, of course, in L.A. the film opportunities are much greater than here. I began going to the Silent Film Theater on Fairfax and they happened to have a Buster Keaton festival at UCLA I attended.”At the festival, Harsin discovered the power of live music with film and determined to make his own show, created numerous short films of Purdie with the intention of screening them as part of a music and film package. “You have the impact of a live performance, coupled with the story telling possibilities of film,” Harsin said. “It’s a perfect combo. The impact upon the mind is different as well. Audiences watch and interpret silent films in a different way than they do a talkie. But a silent film, in a theater, without the live score, is somewhat plain. It takes the combination to make it special.” Harsin said that he feels silent film has been neglected but is a classic method to tell a story. “The world classifies and labels things constantly, and silent films were shelved as old and a thing of the past, whilst the talkies moved in. The problem with that is that silent film is not the “old” type of filmmaking. It is an art all it’s own,” Harsin said.Harsin will screen two of the short films, “Girl Trouble,” and “Backstage” as well as a feature “Purdie and Pepper,” with the live music to accompany the films. The show will be held at the Powerhouse on Thursday, July 29 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and children and can be purchased at the door. —melanie@oxfordeagle.com

Workshops available

July 14, 2010
by oxfordfilmfreak

“Where I Begin” Director, Thomas Phillips, has agreed to lead two workshops for Yac at the Powerhouse this month for “anyone that has a strong desire to better their skill set when it comes to performing.” If you are just starting out or a seasoned veteran, there will be something for everyone in his classes. Thomas also adds that any child or adult who takes his class has the option of being cast as an extra in his new film.

The children’s acting workshop is for ages 8-17 and will work with actors on performing in front of the camera, audition technique and cold readings. Preparation is a key factor in performing and students will have a strong concentration on what it means to break down a scene, discover them in it and bring it to life. The class is 5 straight days of intensive yet fun classes, culminating with monologue performances on Friday that will be recorded and delivered to the students on DVD. Students are asked to bring a 1 – 3 minute monologue for the first day of class- which will be honed, crafted and molded into what it should be during the week. Thomas’s Child Acting Class is $85.00 on July 26-30 from 9:30 a.m.-12:30 at the Powerhouse.

The Adult Acting Intensive Workshop, a one day course from 1:00 p.m. – 7:00, is designed for people who really want to hone their craft. Phillips wants the actors to create and explore character work, while allowing the actor to delve deeply into challenging material in a safe environment. In this one-day course actors will cover everything from auditions to cold reads, to material and scene breakdowns. Learn how to give all you have in order to bring your character to life. Actors are asked to have a 1 – 3 minute monologue ready to perform to help show the instructor what you are bringing to the table. Thomas’s Adult Acting Intensive Workshop is $100.00 and will be Saturday, July 23 from 1:00 p.m. – 7:00 at the Powerhouse.