Blog-o-STIFF

Victory Studios Returns as WFC Sponsor

As I reported earlier, we lost Victory Studios as a sponsor for the 2008 Weekend Film Challenge.  Great news as I just got word that they are going to sponsor after all.  The Sponsorship will just work a little differently (as a $2500 match instead of a straight grant).  Thanks a bunch to George Riddell for making this happen.  Details of this year’s Grand Prize for the audience award are as follows:

As a STIFF / Weekend Film Challenge sponsor, Victory Studios will provide a 100% match up to $2500 to the winner of the Weekend Film Challenge for equipment rental or post-production services (such as editing, color-correction, audio etc.) through 12/21/08. In other words, if the award-winner spends (up to) $2500 at prevailing Victory Studios rates, Victory Studios will contribute an additional (up to) $2500 in services. The matching award excludes sales tax, applicable insurance, shipping, expendables, videotapes or other items which may require out-of-pocket Victory Studios expenses such as sub-rentals. The matching award has no cash value, and may not be redeemed for cash.

Upon the awarding of the prize, STIFF must notify George Riddell with the name of the award-recipient. The award is non-transferrable, and can only be redeemed by the award winner identified by STIFF. To qualify for matching funds, the award winner must make arrangements with George Riddell or Kurt Horn for the services by calling (206)-282-1776.

STIFF Nights May - Big City Dick

Moby (dj set) Pre-Sale!

Moby Presale

Those who have been paying attention to the Blog-o-STIFF already know it, but for those who don’t, STIFF 2008 will feature none other than MOBY (dj set).  We are very excited to be partnering with USC Events for the show on Sunday, June 8^th at Neumos.  There will be a special presale starting at 10AM on Tuesday, May 13^th for all of you folks.  The rest of the world doesn’t get to buy until Friday. 

Follow this link:

And use the password:  lastnight

Moby was a natural and obvious choice for STIFF not only because he is a fantastic artist, but because of what he has done for the film-community with MobyGratis.

Weekend Film Challenge contestants will also be including music from the MobyGratis library into their short films, which Moby will be judging.  Moby’s non-profit project, MobyGratis, has currently been used thousands of times by film students and independent film directors around the world.  Outside of MobyGratis, Moby has had his songs in several dozens of different tv/film outlets and recently scored the film Southland Tales. 

Moby is currently on tour for his latest CD Release, Last Night, released April 1^st, (4 stars, Rolling Stone). Last Night shows Moby returning to the dance floor with force, after the singer-songwriter moves of 2005's Hotel album.

LAFFHOLE back at CHAC

Many of the STIFF 2008 afterparties are being put on by members of the People's Republic of Komedy.  Last night was a return of sorts for their regular Wednesday night show, LAFFHOLE.  After a successful run at the lower level of the Capitol Hill Arts Center, they moved the show to Chop Suey (A STIFF Licks 2008 venue) for a period of time.  As the show continues to grow in popularity, they once again moved back to CHAC, but this time to the spacious upstairs (Another STIFF 2008 venue).  Last night was the first night back at CHAC.  Here, Kevin Hyder (host of the STIFF 2008 Closing party) takes us back into the green room to see what really goes on behind the scenes at LAFFHOLE.  If you wat to see more, you should check out the show, every Wednesday Night at 9PM.

Final Notifications

The final notifications for all filmmakers went out yesterday.  As a thorougly rejected filmmaker myself, this is an ironic time of the festival cycle for me.  We have had a lot of responses from filmmakers ranging from "You guys suck!" to "Darn, I'll try again next year".  I appreciate all of these emotions.  Please understand that no matter what, filmmaker communication is one of our highest priorities and notifications are a point of pride for us.  If for some reason, you have not received an email or phone call from our programming staff, please send an email to submissions (at) trueindependent (dot) org and we will try to get to the bottom of the problem.  We are also always on the lookout for suggestions to improve the process.  Any feedback you can give us is definitely appreciated. 

Thanks,

Clint

Bad News and (WAY) Better News!

The first time I had a produced DVD that I could take around to stores it was a pretty nerve wracking experience.  It was always a goal of mine to be able to walk ino a record store and see my DVD on a shelf, but I wasn’t sure of the process.  I didn’t realize just how simple it was since it was all so new.  It was pretty exciting to have a piece of plastic that actually represented finished work and I’ll never forget how good I felt after coming out of the first store that said that they would put it on the shelf (Sonic Boom in Ballard).  I’ll also never forget the old lady who almost hit me backing her t-bird out of a parking space while I was walking across the street.  I probably had my head in the clouds and wasn’t watching.  She pulled the Marlboro out of her mouth long enough to call me an “asshole”.  It was a good experience followed up by a cruddy (although in retrospect, laughable) experience.    Today, I had the same thing happen on a much grander scale.

First, the cruddy experience:  We lost a sponsor.  After working with Victory Studios for the past couple years, I was informed today that they wouldn’t be donating a prize for this year’s Weekend Film Challenge.  He told me that it wasn’t anything that we had done.  He had “Gone to the wall for me, but couldn’t get his boss to agree”.  They were “reevaluating how they sponsored film festivals”.  It reminded me of getting dumped in high-school.  A very grown up, film festival sponsorship version of the “It’s not you, it’s me” speech.  But, they are still giving a 15% discount on rental gear for contestants.

It was a bummer, but to be honest I just couldn’t get upset about it and I still can’t.  Because about 30 minutes prior, I had gotten some INCREDIBLE news.  A special celebrity judge had signed on and he was also providing a one-of a kind prize of his own.   Maybe you’ve heard of him? 

That’s right!  You’re hearing it here first.  Moby will be judging this year’s Weekend Film Challenge and each member of the winning team will get a STIFF 2008 poster signed by Moby.  Oh yeah…  He is also doing a concert as part of STIFF 2008 (Sunday, June 8^th at Neumos).  You might be asking yourself why Moby would be interested in STIFF. 

Ever since college," says Moby, "I have had friends and acquaintances in the worlds of indie, experimental and non-profit film. Their biggest complaint has been that licensing music for low-budget films is almost always incredibly difficult.  With that in mind I started MobyGratis. The goal is to provide free music for independent, experimental, and non-profit filmmakers.  I hope that somehow this will enable filmmakers to spend their time making films and not calling up record companies trying to license music."

The third wrinkle in this year’s Weekend Film Festival will be that each team is going to use a track from Moby Gratis in their film.  It is all incredibly exciting.  Stay tuned for more details.  The WFC kicks off on Monday.  We still have room for a team or two.  If you want to sign up, email filmchallenge (at) trueindependent.org with your roster.