Cinequest in pictures...

So Cinequest has come and gone. We had a ton of fun and met a lot of great people. "Billy Was a Deaf Kid" got a lot of great reviews and some not-so-great ones. There were honestly some people who said Billy changed their lives. Even I'll admit that the more times I watch it the more and more I get out of it...and the more I understand things about my own life.

After Cinequest I thought back to when we first screened Billy to test audiences and the mixed reviews we got. What's interesting is some of the people who have hated it, hated it because of how some of the characters acted...and that's interesting because we based a lot of the conversation and characters off of these people who hate it. It's funny that when people see themselves from a 3rd person perspective they don't even realize that they're looking at themselves. They think they're watching someone who is oppressive, mean, and has no likable quality to them....when really they are seeing certain aspects of their real life and they won't accept that, either consciously or subconsciously. It just goes to show that people aren't aware of who they really are. People look at movies like "the Bourne Identity" and think "I'm a lot like Jason Bourne" or they think they're Leo Decaprio in "Titanic" or Keira Nightly in "Pride and Prejudice." When really we're not these always-perfect, never-a-dull-moment, get-along-great, happily-ever-after people...in fact, we're all less than perfect and that is what keeps us human. How many of us snap, for no reason, snap at the people we care about most? Are the majority of our arguments based on things worth arguing about? Or are they usually based on superficial things that if you stopped for a second and breathed in you'd wonder why you started arguing in the first place? I'm willing to bet it's almost always the latter.

There's quote at the end of the flick that I think sums up peoples reaction better than it sums up the movie:

"I used to have a girlfriend that thought I was the funniest man alive.
Whenever I went out with her and thought I was being romantic and
dashing, she simply used to roar with laughter - at everything I said and did.

This taught me a very basic, necessary lesson: that we really aren't
ourselves, and the impression we make on people is often the direct
opposite of the one we intended."

John Cassavetes


So there you go.

Burke.

Here are some of my fave pics we took during the festival:

Microphone Thief.

During shooting one night out on the street, we set Billy's microphone down for a minute as we adjusted some of our lights. A few minutes later we went back to retrieve said microphone and soon realized it was no where to be found. We thought at first we had just misplaced it, but after searching all of our cars, street blocks and houses we realized some poor soul had stolen it.

The economy must be worse than we thought. It's forcing people to steal toy microphones off the street.



Now, it wasn't just your run-of-the-mill microphone. It was a vintage 1984 Fisher Price Karaoke/Microphone. We searched and searched online for one, but had no luck. So, Rhett being the mad artist that he is, set to work on building a replica out of paper mache and foam.





It took him about 2 days, and a ton of patience, but we're confident no one will be able to tell which is which in the film.

Hopefully the dude that stole it in first places rots with guilt. Or at the very least, goes to see the film.

Candyce Foster. The Loogie Girl.

Yes, we know, that's a disgusting title. But once you see the movie it will all make perfect sense.



We want to take the time to highlight members of the cast and crew, so everyone can see what great people we had to work with. Instead of giving a little bio, we thought we'd put together "lists" of dif. facts about each person. It's more fun, plus lists are easier to read.

This is what Candyce had to say:

5 Random Things:

1. I sleep with my eyes open. "Freaky."
2. I love to shop-judge me.
3. Once I find I good book I can do nothing else.
4. I am an honest to goodness Madonna fan. Her old retro stuff ROCKS.
5. I have Osgood Slaughter disease. Look it up.

Fav. Foods

1. Mexican.
2. Movie theatre popcorn. I dont care how much you pay for the box from a store, it just isn't the same.
3. uh... Mexican.
4. Mashed Potatoes.
5. Ice Cream, Raspberry Sorbet in particular.


Things You Want To Do
What like before I die? What?
1. Travel. A lot.
2. Sleep on a beach. Naked.
3. Open a flower shop.
4. Become a good cook.
5. Relax.

"Billy" is Candyce's first feature film, and we think she did a phenomenal job.

I dress like my dead grandpa.

My middle name is Sheldon. It's from my Grandpa, who's been underground for a few years now. He was a good guy, and his style of dress was that of a cowboy poet. So why do I wear plaid shirts? I guess it's in my blood.

We recently got back from Indie Memphis. It was awesome. Erik Jambor is the man, and hooked us up with some Wilco tickets. We owe him big time. We did bring him some fry sauce from Utah, which is almost as good. Well, no actually, that's a complete lie.

We met some great people at the festival, and bought a fabulous book called "The Indie Film Rule Book" by Heidi Van Lier. We also became friends with this Heidi. Her panels were hilarious. She has such a straight forward way of talking to people, and she always lays the sarcasm on thick. Plus her book rocks. (Heidi I'm not just saying this to suck up to you because you program for Slamdance. Well maybe I am, a little.)

If you're even remotely serious about making movies, you must buy her book. I wish we would have read it before making Billy.

In other news...Candyce and I are having our first baby in three weeks. It's a little girl. I think we are going to name her Stella. But if it turns out that she's an ugly baby we're going to call her Blanch. We don't want to waste a good name.

Rhett

So, it's been a while...

We've had a lot of people complain that we haven't posted in a long time. So here it goes...

Here's something funny that we were shown the other day:



Bless that little guys heart. Funny commercial by Comcast too bad they're service is horrible. I swear TNT and E! never ever work. Which is usually fine until it's 2 am and your bored out of your gourd with nothing better to do then watch Anaconda or any of the Matrix's hoping to get a laugh out of how horrible they are...only to find out that Comcast doesn't like to play those movies anymore then we like to watch them.

Here's another fave...the Technoviking! Watch out!



Don't mess with the Technoviking.


Let's see...what are some other Youtube gems that need to be shared...here we go...

Dramatic Chipmunk anyone?



Hope you enjoyed them.

Later.

Rib-Tickling.

I don't know why Burke and I are into these weird things we find on the InterWeb.  But, they are funny as crap.  And we all know crap is funny.

This is the Immersion Scarf.  For any of you that have hard time seeing your phone or ipod in the daylight, this little nugget should be yours.  It's essentially a sock that goes on your head, and you put your said phone or ipod in the end of it.  Now, you can enjoy your devices free of that annoying sunshine. 

New T-Shirt protects you from a knife attack. 

You may now never have to worry about getting stabbed in the back as you walk down the street.  Supposedly these shirts are made from "slightly thick fibers that are more than three times the strength of cotton."  Impressive.  They say it's comparable to body armor that your local police task force uses.  

You can even toss it in the wash to get off the blood, after you kicked the trash of your would be attacker.

So, I've been laughing at these for a while now...now I'm sharing them with you:

peace out.