Live from Hoosierdance

This  post originally appeared, in a slightly different form, in my newsletter I Was Bigfoot's Shemp, which you can subscribe to here.
 
Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Hoosierdance International Film Festival in Kokomo, Indiana, where I was a festival judge for the screenplay competition. We selected a tidy little screenplay called DIRTY WINDS about the American Revolution and its impact on a group of people.  But look how sweet I got treated at the festival:

First I went to the Indiana short films bock, where I got to meet some like-minded people.  To me, this is the best part of any fest, especially a grassroots one.  I always say you can't push anyone's career ahead of yours, but if you catch the rocket, you can pull other people in your wake.  And that's what this is about, proving you are a normal person who seems able to meet deadlines and keep promises.

I saw a lot of good things, and I know I missed some things that played well, but from what I saw there were some standouts.

UNEXCEPTIONAL by Scott Carelli was a funny little alien invasion movie that played like the opening salvo to a full-length work.  RANDOM by Cindy Maples was a very tight genre short that I can't say much about without giving away the game.  But probably my favorite was MISREAD by Ryan McCurdy, about a schlub hired to drive a woman around who reads lips for a living.  The production was a little uneven, but I like stories I haven't heard before.

Next I went to the student films block, where I saw all the people that will push me out of the way one day.  They had a large, warm crowd for a mix of narrative and documentary shorts. David Stallard did an interesting doc called THE BLUE FLASH about an old guy who built two roller coasters in his backyard in rural Indiana.  THE NETWORK by Adam Nelson was a very polished-looking post-apocalyptic riff.  But what knocked me out was THE UNKNOWN COUNTRY by Alex Cook, about two orphaned brothers hanging on in a bleak rural setting. Very good acting and directing signaled that this guy has a tremendous upside.

Part of why I missed a few screenings was that I really ended up enjoying downtown Kokomo.  You can see when you visit that they are making an effort to revitalize the area with little shops and cool places to eat and have coffee.  They even have a self-proclaimed Geek Street, with a comic book shop, gaming store, toy store, with an Irish pub, coffee shop, and hipster record store all within shouting distance.  For me, a street of dreams, indeed.

I Snapchatted all day from there to test the app out for a work project.  You can find me on Snapchat at John Oak Dalton, to catch me next time.

I enjoyed being a part of Hoosierdance in just its second year, and I hope they have more to come.  At the end of the month I will be at the Blue Whiskey Film Festival in Chicago, and will have much to report from there.

More Dead and Long Live

I got a lot of hits on my musings about grassroots DV and its next incarnation, and lots of comments here and in emails. Thanks to one and all for the continued feedback.

Longtime reader Scott writes, I read your blog post on the new face of grassroots cinema. Interesting stuff, and certainly a lot to think about. I'm not sure how much I like the idea of working hard on a project only to make it available for free, or at least doing that on a regular basis. I think there's a sense of entitlement that young Internet users have -- they not only want everything without paying for it, but they also take pride in being the first to make something that should be paid for available for free...I realize that what you're talking about is different than the wholesale theft of movies, but I think it all comes from the same place. I also think a lot of this "mumblecore" and whatnot stems from impatient people wanting to make movies, but not wanting to make the effort to do it right -- they want to invent some half-assed way of crapping it out without bothering to light or mic anything or even do a halfway professional job of shooting it, then turn that half-assedness into a new "movement" to lend themselves credence. Maybe it's the crotchety old man in me talking, but I don't have any interest in that sort of stuff -- I feel like I work hard as a writer and as a filmmaker and it irritates me to see both those forms reduced to Internet shorthand (don't even get me started on the self-proclaimed "writers" that litter the Net). I guess my opinion could be summed up thusly: the easy, worldwide availability of shit doesn't make it any less shitty, no matter how much people try to make you think you're looking at gold. Jeez. I'm gonna go back out on the porch and whittle my stick.

New reader Michael writes, I enjoyed your blog post and feel your perception of technology and media is right on. Itunes seems to be the leader in the technology of transporting media via Itunes, but it is all mainstream and one has to find other sources for projects that are more grassroots or independent. I don't like watching full length movies or reading lengthy manuscripts on my computer either, but I've noticed, though it's too expensive right now, Apple selling Apple TV and large TV monitors so one can watch their computer media content on their big screen TV's. Then you have Amazon's release of the KINDLE.
The wirless reading device is suppose to read like paper, but it's pricey at the moment too. But I think the switch in technology and media that you mention in your article is inevitable, which is why it was great for the writers to fight for their part in it all now.
Another new trend I see is webisodes. Many people, who might have never gotten their break otherwise, are getting Hollywoods attention by creating a webisode series, each on being 3 minutes long. Why 3 mins? I think it's because, like you and I, people don't want to 90 minute movies on their computer. But people, including me, will watch a 3 minute webisode (even during their break at work).

This is basically the kind of thing I'm talking about.

I'm trying to get smarter by going to this.

By the way, my alma mater, Ball State University, is working on a feature film this summer with one of probably our top ten most famous Telecommunications alums (after David Letterman), Doug Jones. Unbelievably, he was the sports mascot for the Fighting Cardinals when I was in town, now he's in Hellboy movies and Pan's Labyrinth and played the Silver Surfer and more. Meanwhile, one of the dudes in the bottom ten alums wasn't asked to do anything with it.

Keep hollerin' at me at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.