UnSAFE Film Office

TUMBLER: the echo

aeg@unsafefilmoffice.com (A.E. Griffin) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:48:00 +0000

TUMBLER: the echo [8 min 50 sec]

SYNOPSIS:
Facing a crisis of conscience after scamming people in New York City with his friend Spencer, Wayne returns home to Chicago in an effort to reconcile what he's done with his life to his ex-girlfriend, Michelle.

PRODUCTION NOTES:
This film was made as part of Project Twenty1. A filmmaking contest where teams are given three weeks to complete a film based on a common element. This year's element was "key" and Team with No Name partnered with another team, Hard Boiled Productions, based in New York City to craft a unique story arc that used the element as a theme in order to understand the characters and situations as a whole shared in both short films. Of course you can also watch the films independent of each other but what fun would that be, right?

Team Hardboiled's film, TUMBLER: the boom (posted below,) won the prize for Best Writing while TUMBLER: the echo won for Best Music.

Drew A. Storey

aeg@unsafefilmoffice.com (A.E. Griffin) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:34:00 +0000

I regret to inform you all of a terribly tragedy. We have all lost one of our strongest community supporters of local film and an outright talent as an activist, journalist, and filmmaker himself.

Drew A. Storey passsed away unexpectedly on Sunday, October 18th at the age of 31.

Drew was not only a great friend to me and many others in the Grand Rapids arts community but he was also a loving husband to his wife and a wonderful father to two little girls. He inspired us all to take up the challenge to be best we could be as people and not merely label ourselves as "artists." And when we happened to fail at the attempt, he made it a point to remind us that at least we made an effort to move forward. And when we succeeded, his enthusiasm was contagious and yet he kept the perspective for you when you came down from the clouds and got your feet back onto solid ground.

Yes, he observed. He reported. He thought about it and then spoke. And most of all though, Drew kept us all honest. He made the effort a little lighter than it should've been, the rewards a little sweeter that they would've been and we're so going to miss him very, very much.

I love you, Drew. Thank you, sir.

Fairview St.: The festival run continues!

aeg@unsafefilmoffice.com (A.E. Griffin) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:08:00 +0000

Fairview St. plays this weekend at both Project Twenty1 in Philadelphia and Hell's Half Mile Film Festivals in Bay City, Michigan.

And then the following week at Blue Water Film Festival in Port Huron, Michigan.

Can we get some frequent driver miles here or what?

In all seriousness though these are some terrific festivals to be a part of and we're all thrilled and humbled to be a part of them. Many, many thank yous festival organizers and directors.

See you all soon!

Lansing Fall Film Exhibition

aeg@unsafefilmoffice.com (A.E. Griffin) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:04:00 +0000

Blue Plate Special opens the inaugural Lansing Fall Film Exhibition on Saturday night, September 26th at Celebration Cinema in Lansing. The show starts at 8 PM and also features two more UFO productions, Playback and All You've Got, in the line up as well.

It's truly awesome to be a part of this unique event and I'm very thankful to Bri Lloyd, the festival director, for her enthusiasm and support of not only UFO, but of all Michigan filmmakers. How cool is that?

UPDATE: Here is an article about the event in the Lansing City Pulse by Mr. Chris Parks.

Films selected for Ferndale Film Festival and Project Twenty1

aeg@unsafefilmoffice.com (A.E. Griffin) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 21:26:00 +0000

Seems to be a banner week for films made with some UFO love!

Shooters: Get the Picture opens for Gary Bosek's kick ass Harmless Thoughts this weekend at Ferndale Film Festival while Playback spins up with Raised Alone & Cadence and Fairview St. screens on Saturday night.

It's an honor to screen at a festival with so many other talented Michigan filmmakers. There's just so many of us represented here that it's a virtual who's who of those actively working in the Michigan film scene today who tell their own stories in their own ways. Please check out F3 in their inaugural year and support the home teams!

And then on the first weekend in October, Fairview St. premieres in Philadelphia at Project Twenty1. This is also the same festival that will screen Team Hardboiled's TUMBLER: the boom and Team with No Name's TUMBLER: the echo as well as Team 10 Mile's Overcome.

Michigan represent!

Michigan Film Memo: GVSU & Compass Film Academy student film screenings

aeg@unsafefilmoffice.com (A.E. Griffin) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:35:00 +0000

I recently read an article from the old alma mater, GVSU, with an update on their film program, their alumni and how they've all been affected by Michigan's film incentives over the past year.

Having recently attended a screening of GVSU senior thesis films as well, I'm thrilled to report that aside from an always interesting event, the level of sophistication and ability in the program has increased dramatically over the past couple of years. A real testament to the hard work and drive of the students and the faculty to be sure.

And then later the same week I had the honor of attending the Compass Film Academy 2009 graduate class as they enjoyed a jam packed screening of their latest films at the Wealthy Theater. It's no secret I'm incredibly fond of the program and their students work, and yet much like the GVSU films, this class really delivered the goods in spades. Their ability to offer story driven content with maximum visual effect inspired me a great deal.

Great work all, and I'm very much looking forward to what you all have up your collective sleeves next!

Michigan Film Memo: Moneen video made in Detroit

aeg@unsafefilmoffice.com (A.E. Griffin) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 21:53:00 +0000

Always on the look out for something Michigan based to watch, I found this cool Detroit made music video which recently debuted online at punknews.org:

Moneen is a band out of Canada, and the video's producer, Connie Johnson, also passed along some insight into how it was made.

"This video was shot on two hand cranked Bolex super 16mm cameras...and the DP, Chris Walters, and director, Michael Maxxis, used a bunch of materials we found in different locations. A piece of glass, some plastic, etc. to make the whole process very interesting and organic. It was a great shoot!"

And so there we have it. Great job, Connie, Chris, Michael and the band. I look forward to seeing more!

Hot! Hot! Hot!

aeg@unsafefilmoffice.com (A.E. Griffin) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:56:00 +0000

Seems Revue Magazine has seen fit to deem me Hot! (Page 2 of the PDF, Page 34 of the Magazine proper.)

I am most appreciative and humbled for the acknowledgement, fellas! Many kind thanks to Drew Storey and the rest of the Revue Magazine publishers and staff.

[P.S. True North Film Festival is co-founded with my good friends Ben and Jon over at Deep End Films. ;) ]

Michigan Film Memo: Michigan productions are told "NO!"

aeg@unsafefilmoffice.com (A.E. Griffin) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:10:00 +0000

It boils down to commmon sense, folks. Does it make any sense to approve the rebate for out-of-state companies while Michigan based companies are snubbed? In this case, we're talking commercials. More specifically commercials for Michigan based companies such as GM & Ford.

Check out the debate as reported here:

Admakers say they're falling through gap in tax credit wording
The Detroit News
The legislation sought to beef up Michigan's film industry and take a slice of a sector estimated to generate some $60 billion annually in the United States ...

Project Twenty1 2009

aeg@unsafefilmoffice.com (A.E. Griffin) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 06:50:00 +0000

The element for this year's P21 is Key. Theme, thought, prop, whatever, and this year's edition of Team with No Name pulled off a marvelous (yeah, I wrote "marvelous,") little film if I do say so myself.

TUMBLER: the echo will debut during the P21 festival the first weekend in October.

I'm also geeked to share this year's competition with some good friends and native talent, Team Hardboiled and Team 10 Mile. Michigan represent!

Jam packed weekend

aeg@unsafefilmoffice.com (A.E. Griffin) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:58:00 +0000

Fairview St. won the John Allen Award for Best Feature Film at the Muskegon Film Festival this past weekend.

A great way to celebrate Saturday.

Then...

LPK informed me that The Guest Room won the award for Best Made-in-Michigan short film at Detroit Shorts.

And that was one hell of a way to end a weekend. Blessings all around. I'm humbled and thankful.

Peace.

Update?

aeg@unsafefilmoffice.com (A.E. Griffin) — Wed, 20 May 2009 20:49:00 +0000

A fellow filmmaker asked me the other day if I was going to update this site anytime soon.

"Of course," I said.

Then it occured to me that I may do something different with this site altogether.

A change up perhaps.

Stay tuned.

By the way, catch The Guest Room at Detroit Shorts on Saturday, May 30th

and Fairview St. at Muskegon Film Festival on Sunday, May 31st.

Peace!

So you wanna be a Michigan filmmaker, eh?

aeg@unsafefilmoffice.com (A.E. Griffin) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:10:00 +0000

I really appreciate it when a reporter actually reports, allowing the facts to speak for themselves and one which is not clouded with personal snark and bias.

It served to remind me that we the citizens are required to keep our public institutions accountable to us. And when individuals in their own system cannot get the answers to the questions they ask then the check & balances of politics and personal ego demand that the system be changed to suit the majority's desires and not necessarily the public's interest.

Hello? American democracy in action. It is over two hundred years old, you know?

Look, the bottom line is that if we the average citizen - not just the purportedly better informed Michigan filmmaker - don't focus on shoring up these hard fought film incentives with impeccable behavior and delivery of high quality results, (let alone getting the incentives implemented in full, such as reimbursement for commercial productions as is the mother fuckin' LAW now,) then the next set of elected officials that roll around at the end of 2010 will mos def nominate our said illustrious film incentives, "best program to die first" on the chopping block of legislature.

This is Chicken Little signing off. So don't come back here in 2011 bitching about how I nailed the future into a coffin because that's cold comfort when we're all standing in the funeral pyre, pointing bony fingers into each others eyes.

Please prove me wrong. I dare you.

Here is how you can contact your Michigan state representative and state senator. Or our governor if you're feeling particularly candid and randy, you cheeky monkey. Let them know you are watching and listening. Tell them what interests you expect them to champion, or better yet, consider a simple note of thanks first. They rarely hear that and you gotta know what that feels like, right?

2008 Michigan Film Office annual report

aeg@unsafefilmoffice.com (A.E. Griffin) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 15:43:00 +0000

Here is the 2008 annual report from the Michigan Film Office, and an informative interview with Janet Lockwood, director of the MFO, discussing the film incentives in her own words.

Contact

aeg@unsafefilmoffice.com (A.E. Griffin) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:35:00 +0000

Please feel free to call me at 773.828.9836

Or drop a note:

Many thanks for stopping by the site!

Celtx 2.0 hits the virtual streets

aeg@unsafefilmoffice.com (A.E. Griffin) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:41:00 +0000

I use Final Draft for screenwriting, but for an all purpose production tool, Celtx has really polished the whole process with their latest release to a high shine. (And you sure can't beat the price of free.)

Check out these fine tutorials below about the craft of screenwriting and how to intergrate Celtx into the overall writing process for your next project.

One year wiser

aeg@unsafefilmoffice.com (A.E. Griffin) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 06:47:00 +0000

I'd meant to post this quote quite a bit earlier this year, and for whatever reason, I didn't.

"Success isn't what makes you happy. It really isn't. Success is doing what makes you happy and doing good work and hopefully having a fruitful life. If I've felt like I've done good work, that makes me happy. The success part of it is all gravy."
~ Phillip Seymour Hoffman

Something must've told me that it wasn't the right time.
Now however, right now, it is the time.
And so with that, many happy returns one and all and here's to a blessed new year for us all in 2009.
Peace.

Blue Plate Special

aeg@unsafefilmoffice.com (A.E. Griffin) — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 11:29:00 +0000

Blue Plate Special [18 min, 40 sec]

Synopsis:
Some days only serve to grind us down, but on the night Larry and Samantha met nothing could prepare them for what fate had cooked up.

Public Screenings:
Kindhouse '08, Lansing Fall Film Exhibition '09

Production Notes:
BPS was shot over several weekends in Januray/February (AKA dead of mother lovin' Michigan winter) of 2008 when temperatures got down to a frosty ZERO degrees for weeks on end. Now add that to the windchill and it was miserable. Ever try to convince actors, sweaty from working closely with one another on an indoor set all night, to run out into that kind of flash freeze weather take after take? Well, these guys did that for me without ever complaining once. Pros and gentlemen all.

Premiered at a charity screening in Detroit where several thousands of dollars were raised to help the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

Kindhouse '08

aeg@unsafefilmoffice.com (A.E. Griffin) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 17:01:00 +0000

The Christmas Spirit meets Michigan filmmaking? Only Scrooge would, "Bah, humbug!" a cause this worthy. So if you're in the area on Monday, December 22nd, come on down to the Main Art and support, won't you?

Metafest

aeg@unsafefilmoffice.com (A.E. Griffin) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 07:48:00 +0000

All You've Got was recently selected for Metafest! Please watch, enjoy and rate if so desired. All comments are always appreciated!

All You've Got

Playback

aeg@unsafefilmoffice.com (A.E. Griffin) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:41:00 +0000

Playback - teaser trailer [30 sec]

Playback [7 min, 9 sec]

Synopsis:
Riding the razor's edge between salvation and damnation, a troubled woman must choose between her last shred of humanity, her last moment of sanity, or something far more costly than the loss of either.

Public Screenings:
Project Twenty1, Detroit Windsor International Film Festival, Ferndale Film Festival, Lansing Fall Film Exhibition.

Production Notes:
Playback was made for Project Twenty1 2008 and was nominated in the categories of Best Acting and Best Editing.

Thriller! Chiller! 2008!

aeg@unsafefilmoffice.com (A.E. Griffin) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 04:38:00 +0000

Brevity is...

aeg@unsafefilmoffice.com (A.E. Griffin) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 05:28:00 +0000

the soul of wit.

I've never pretended to be a prime example of either but I have stripped the blog here down to it's most basic of elements.

Consistent and concise. Lex parsimoniae and so on and so forth.

Oh, shit. Wait a sec... ;)

Erase / Rewind / Repeat

aeg@unsafefilmoffice.com (A.E. Griffin) — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 05:30:00 +0000

Playback Teaser Trailer from AEG on Vimeo.

Project Twenty1 2008 entry: Playback

aeg@unsafefilmoffice.com (A.E. Griffin) — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 08:50:00 +0000

A teaser pic of Grace starring in UFO's latest film built specifically for Project Twenty1 this year. Playback will without a doubt be online after the competition screenings during the first weekend in October this year in Philadelphia.

Have and share some good thoughts for us all who are competing. There are 35 teams this year! Congrats Matt, Stephanie and the whole P21 team. So damn cool.