Archives

by Film Fest Admin

Bygone Behemoth

Written/Directed/Produced by Harry Chaskin

A day in the life of an unemployed B-movie monster, a lingering personified special-effect of the 1950s. Presented as a series of vignettes, “Bygone Behemoth” follows the title character as he putters around his house, laments being out of shape, calls his agent about work, reads the want ads, and contemplates the obituaries.

In an age where computer graphics are all too prevalent, “Behemoth” is a nostalgic tribute to the work of Ray Harryhausen, Willis O’Brien, and numerous other forgotten wizards. Like the Behemoth itself, the film needs stop-motion to exist; it seeks to capture the ephemeral quality of a dying art form.

5 min
by Film Fest Admin

The Breakup

Written/Directed/Produced by Elizabeth Dashiell

In 2004, Mattel announced the breakup of Barbie and Ken. Members of the media blamed Ken’s unwillingness to commit. Others questioned his sexuality. The years have passed, and Barbie has moved on—new life, new loves, new job. No one has ever bothered to ask how Ken is doing…until now. This short, dark, comedic fantasy features music from the award-winning musician and artist Voltaire. Ken imagines Barbie and her new lovers while planning the demise of those who supplanted him in ever-increasingly devious ways. Rated R for excessive violence…to dolls.

7 min
by Film Fest Admin

Bottles

Written by Samantha Henderson; Directed/Produced by Jon Stout

Mira is a hard-working, divorced mother with a dark secret; when she gets angry, objects move and people get hurt. One day, coming home from a patient who has slipped into a mysterious coma, she notices disturbing items in her twelve-year-old daughter’s antique bottle collection.

Her daughter, Cheyenne, is hiding her own frightening capabilities. As Mira copes with her daughter’s budding talents, Cheyenne draws Mira, her father, and his new wife into a shadowy set of life-or-death choices. You have to be careful about what you collect.

20 min
by Film Fest Admin

The Bolt Who Screwed Christmas

Written/Directed/Produced by John Wardlaw

The late Jonathan Harris (Lost in Space, A Bug’s Life) makes his final performance as “The Bolt” and is the narrator of this screwy parody of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The Bolt devises a scheme to take away Christmas from every last Screw. Can Christmas be saved for the Screws of Screwville? Harris is joined by his former TV co-stars Bill Mumy, Angela Cartwright, and Marta Kristen who portray the Ratchet family from a nutty scene from A Christmas Carol. The film also features the voice talent of Tress MacNeille (The Simpsons, Futurama).

7 min
by Film Fest Admin

Aces & Eights

Written/Directed/Produced by Matt Allen

Zombie-cowboys have returned to their favorite Old-West watering hole after an undead breakout. While the group is ‘playing’ poker, we are allowed a glimpse into their reality. Lines are drawn, then crossed, and cheaters punished. A still-human bounty hunter arrives, and he’s all that stands between these ghouls, and their next round of whiskey!

8 min
by Film Fest Admin

Window Pains

Written, Directed, Produced by Paul Allen Tillery IV

When a man struggles to fix his computer, the effort sends him down a spiral of frustration and rage. He faces error messages, customer service lines, and the limits of human patience. Ultimately the man must face the truth: in the world of computing technology, nothing works, and nobody cares. When you’re on hold, no one can hear you scream.

5 min
by Film Fest Admin

A Complex Villainelle

Written by Jonathan Goldstein; Directed by Bart Ovaitt, Howard Cook, Nathan Billington, Rebecca Forth, Ryan Porter; Produced by Howard Cook, Tripp Vroman

Before he became the overweight obsessive sadsack of his later years, the Penguin was a poet and a dandy, who threw lavish parties and told complex villanelles and was an expert at umbrella flight. Looking for love, he is introduced to a lovely nanny, Mary Poppins, who also prefers travel by umbrella. The results are not as he had expected; his hopes dashed by a mysterious stranger in a black cape.

8 min
by Film Fest Admin

Yamasong

Written/Directed by Sam K. Hale; Produced by Heather Henson

Events are set in motion when a mysterious Trickster hurls a star through outer space. Nani, a patchwork girl, chases the star to discover a world she’s never set foot upon. In her quest she saves the life of Shojun, a tortoise fisherman and warrior. Together they travel through his surreal, fantastic world to the star’s mountain resting place to discover its secrets.

From turbulent coastal waters to frozen mountains and unknown nether spaces, Yamasong takes the viewer on a fantastic journey filled with stunning live-action Japanese-style puppets in a hybrid world of computer-generated and real objects. Set to the music of On Ensemble, an L.A.-based percussion band, the story is an instrumental and visual metaphor for a journey taken with another across a new cultural landscape, and walking away changed from the experience.

Yamasong is an exciting blend of traditional puppet techniques married with new digital technology. From using green screen to After Effects to the Canon 7D camera, the story aims to create a visual world that is neither purely real or imaginary, but somewhere between and evocative as a place all of its own.

9 min
by Film Fest Admin

Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey

Written/Produced by Harry kloor; Directed by Harry kloor, Dan St. Piere

Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey is CGI, 3D, science fiction, action-adventure film which interweaves animated sequences with actual space imagery captured from seven ongoing NASA/ESA missions. Its family-friendly tale focuses on a photon named Dave and his heroic efforts to save his people, who are caught in a galactic battle between the forces of good and evil. The film takes a unique and entertaining approach to science education by creating characters which embody scientific concepts and discoveries, making the movie fun as well as informative.

The incredible all-star voice cast include Abigail Breslin, Amanda Peet, Brent Spiner, Chris Pine, Hayden Christensen, James Earl Jones, Jason Alexander, Mark Hamill, Neil Armstrong, Robert Picardo, Samuel Jackson, Sandra Oh, William Shatner.

50 min
by Film Fest Admin

Chase Thompson, a film by Chase Thompson

Written/Directed by Vincent Lin; Produced by Caleb Medders, Matthew D’Amato, Vincent Lin

When up and coming filmmaker Chase Thompson is hired to direct a lackluster romance film, the foolhardy director takes it as an opportunity to fire the crew and turn the film into his own zombie slaying masterpiece, starring himself. When studio executives notice their film isn’t the one being made, Chase must decide which film is the one he truly wants to direct.

12 min

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by Film Fest Admin

By Her Hand, She Draws You Down

Written/Directed by Anthony G. Sumner; Produced by Anthony G. Sumner, Alan Rowe Kelly

Based on the short story by acclaimed author Douglas Smith, a creepy and suspenseful tale of a boardwalk portrait artist who struggles with a powerful dark hunger, and the man who, through loving her, must come to grips with his own inner demons. A haunting variant on the vampire legend with an understated and brutal ending.  A beautiful, compelling, horrifying and ultimately tragic film brought to life on the desolate beaches of an off-season Jersey Shore.

26 Min
by Film Fest Admin

Nickel Children

Written/Directed by Kevin Eslinger; Produced by Kevin Eslinger, Mary Katherine Sisco

It is the late 19th Century, but not as you might have heard of it. In dust bowl Kansas, a young boy, Jack, witnesses his parent’s murder, and is then abducted and forced into an underground child fighting ring. Only the wealthiest are invited to attend these secret communities and bet on the children for their own amusement. However, one among them, an airship captain, is determined to find her own abducted son, whatever the cost.

Nickel Children is an action, adventure, sci-fi, fantasy steam punk film.

16 min

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by Film Fest Admin

2095

Written/Directed by Troy Romeo; Produced by Julia Stemock

Westly Ferris is in love with his co-worker, Shannon, but she barely knows he’s alive. When he builds up enough courage to ask her out, he fails miserably.

But that night Shannon contacts Westly on the internet and offers him the opportunity to get to know her better online, beginning an online romance. Yet during the day, Shannon feels they need to hides their relationship from the always prying eyes of the corporation. But the corporation might know more than either of them thinks, and in a world of computers nothing is as it seems.

24 min
by Film Fest Admin

Mister Green

Written/Directed by Greg Pak; Produced by Karin Chien

In a world in which catastrophic global warming has become reality, a jaded government undersecretary (Tim Kang) flirts with a scientist (Betty Gilpin) and ends up embroiled in a radical conspiracy to save the planet — by transforming the human race itself. A parable about change, both personal and political, from award-winning director Greg Pak, “Mister Green” launches in March 2010 as part of the ITVS Futurestates series.

15 min