Northwest Production Blog

Northwest Film Forum proudly presents the 13th annual Local Sightings Film Festival, which runs October 1-7 at the Film Forum’s cinemas on 12th Avenue in Seattle. As the premier showcase of Northwest filmmaking achievements, Local Sightings features great prizes, filmmaker parties, archival Northwest films and an impressive national film industry jury.

Audiences this year can enjoy a full week of discoveries from emerging local talent. Past films in the festival include work from directors such as Lynn Shelton, who went on to direct the acclaimed Humpday, Guy Maddin (whose Brand Upon the Brain! was shot in the Northwest with an all-local cast and crew and premiered at the festival in 2006), John Jeffcoat (Outsourced), and many more.

This year’s jurors, opening and closing night films, and complete line up of programming will be announced in late summer. For more information, visit www.nwfilmforum.org.

Community credit union BECU recently launched its latest commercial, which was shot here in Seattle and features real BECU members. The spot, entitled “Dream,” was filmed in various places throughout the Puget Sound region, including Lake Union, Capitol Hill and West Seattle. The music is “Side by Side” by Seattle band the Dutchess & the Duke. BECU also worked with a local photographer and local production company Digital Kitchen, and hired all local cast and crew.

Indie political comedy Grassroots will begin shooting next week in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle. The production plans to use all local crew.

A true story based on the memoir Zioncheck for President by Phil Campbell, Grassroots will star Jason Biggs (American Pie) as Campbell, a recently fired journalist who reluctantly agrees to spearhead the Seattle City Council campaign of his eccentric friend Grant Cogswell. Rapidly rising star Joel David Moore (Avatar) co-stars as Cogswell, a former pedicab driver with a burning passion for the Monorail.

Can two completely broke political newbies with no campaign contributors, a collection of homemade yard signs, and a ragtag crew of unruly young supporters unseat their powerful opponent? Well, maybe…

Writer-director Stephen Gyllenhaal adapts this true story into a touching, hilarious portrait of the Emerald City and its unique political landscape.

“I can hardly wait to bring it to the screen,” says Gyllenhaal. “I am so thrilled with the chemistry the actors have together.”

“I think we have the perfect cast for this unique comedy,” adds producer Peggy Rajski. “It’s half buddy movie and half political knucklebiter, and it’s all about having the guts to stand up for what you believe in.”

For more information, visit www.grassrootsthefilm.com.

A Los Angeles-based production company is looking for Seattle crew. Read on for details…

We have quite a few paid positions that we are looking to fill for our production Judas Kiss. We are shooting our film August 13 - September 4th in the Seattle area. We are not paying for travel/housing.

CREW NEEDED:

*Art Director – OPEN
*Script Supervisor – OPEN
*Production Manager – OPEN
*Second Assistant Director — OPEN
*Camera Operator – OPEN
*Sound Operator/Boom – OPEN
*Assistant to Costume Designer – OPEN
*Make up Artist (must do special old age make up, professional grade) – OPEN
*Assistant Make up Artist – OPEN
*Caterer – OPEN
*Lighting Designer/Gaffer – OPEN
*Grips – OPEN
*Set Photographer – OPEN

Interested parties should contact Carlos Pedraza & J.T. Tepnapa at 323-205-5298 or judaskiss@me.com.

This just in from ASI Films…

Author Solutions, a leading self-publishing company, is looking for highly skilled creative filmmakers to write, direct and edit live action high def trailers based on our books, as well as conduct video interviews with our authors. Filmmakers must be excellent storytellers and understand how to maximize very minimal budgets, especially with HD filming.

We will provide the entire budget for these projects: $2500 (not including music scoring) for trailers and $500 for interviews. If you believe you can accomplish these please go to www.authorsolutionsfilm.com and click on “Hollywood Trailers,” or “Interviewers,” to be part of our freelance filmmaker network.

You WILL NEED to provide samples of your work. Please see the following two examples as to what we are looking for:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=03-lTeXXkuk

www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2Q8XcwT5KM

Please apply at www.authorsolutionsfilm.com and direct all questions to nickapsheets@gmail.com.

The 36th Seattle International Film Festival kicks off tonight, May 20, with a screening of the film The Extra Man, and a gala featuring appearances from the film’s stars.

Actor Paul Dano (Little Miss Sunshine, There Will be Blood) will be joining Robert Pulcini (American Splendor) and Alicia Goranson (Boys Don’t Cry) on the SIFF Opening Night Red Carpet at Benaroya Hall in downtown Seattle. In addition to the film’s stars, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn will be walking the red carpet along with City Council Members and other notable Seattleites, dignitaries, and local and visiting filmmakers.

SIFF opens tonight and runs through June 13, featuring film screenings and events throughout the city. For more information about the festival, schedules, and advance tickets, go to www.siff.net.

The Maelstrom International Fantastic Film Festival (MIFFF) has officially opened the submission season for the 2010 festival. The premier genre film festival in the Pacific Northwest, MIFFF showcases action, animation, fantasy, horror, science fiction, and other mind-blowing films from across the globe. MIFFF is seeking features, documentaries, short films and animation for the second annual festival, running September 17th through 19th.

IMPORTANT FESTIVAL DATES:
Earlybird Submission Deadline: May 15, 2010
Regular Submission Deadline: July 12, 2010
Late Submission Deadline: July 26, 2010
Final Submission Deadline: August 9, 2010

For additional information, or to submit your short or feature-length production for consideration, visit www.mifff.org. If you have questions, e-mail info@mifff.org.

Film Action Oregon is currently accepting applications for its Project Youth Doc (PYD) program. Now in its seventh year, PYD is an intensive, four-week-long documentary film production camp for teens ages 13-16. PYD meets Monday through Friday from 12pm-5pm for 4 weeks during the summer. Hands-on instruction is provided by professional filmmakers using industry-standard, state-of-the-art equipment. Because class size is limited to only 16 students, admission is competitive. Tuition is only $400 for 100 hours of instruction. Film Action Oregon is currently enrolling students for both summer 2010 sessions—July 7th through 30th and July 19th through August 13th.

Applications can be downloaded at www.filmaction.org/educating/project_youth_doc.html. For more information, contact Justen@filmaction.org.

Washington Filmworks, in partnership with IFP/Seattle, Northwest Film Forum, Northwest Screenwriters Guild, Seattle Film Institute, Seattle International Film Festival, Seattle Office of Film + Music, and Women in Film, is pleased to present:

Pulling Focus, a series of three panels about the business of film. The colorful and charismatic Warren Etheredge from “The Warren Report” will moderate the three panels.  Sponsored by the Sorrento Hotel the three panels will be held at the Top of the Town Suite on:

Tuesday, April 6
Tuesday, May 4
Tuesday, May 11

The first panel on Tuesday, April 6, will feature a candid conversation with veteran producer Jay Stern (Rush Hour 1, 2, 3, Money Talks, Loves Jones). Following each moderated discussion guests will be invited to continue the conversation at a cocktail reception in the Sorrento Hotel Penthouse with wine sponsored by the Washington Wine Commission. For more information, visit www.WashingtonFilmworks.org.

This just in from Inflatable Film:

We are looking for an intern to help with community outreach and media activities centered around our documentary, FILM FESTIVAL: RWANDA. Our crew is based in Seattle and we just completed principal photography in Rwanda over the last three years. You can learn more about our project and view teasers at www.inflatablefilm.com or www.indiegogo.com/inflatablefilm.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:
Research on local and national NGO’s
Writing press releases
Updating project blog and social media sites
Contacting local and national media organizations
Helping to organize fundraising events
Innovating new ideas for outreach and fundraising
Expanding our global mailing list

Qualifications:
College student or older
Interest in African culture and/or history
Some knowledge of the film and video industry
Prior work with outreach, press, media, and/or documentary film
5+ hours of time each week to devote to this project

This can be a rewarding and fun opportunity for the right person! Our crew has 50+ years’ combined experience in the film/video industry, working with all of the major networks. We are happy to write letters of recommendation and help with industry contacts for the right person. We have all put a lot of time, money, and passion into this film, and it promises to have worldwide distribution when finished.

Please send resumes and cover letter via email to: leah@inflatablefilm.com. Serious inquires only please.