Spotlight on Local Filmmakers: Chris Garlington and Mike Grundmann

Past Events at the Grand Central Art Center

05-28-04

Mike Grundmann

Mike Grundmann has independently produced six multiple award winning documentaries. He has also produced dozens of “Teeny-Tiny Films,” lasting 20 seconds to 5 minutes. They cover such subjects as fat wallets, crickets grooming and squirrels imitating robots. He is a copy editor at the LA Times and adjunct journalism instructor.

We will be featuring a handful of Mr. Grundmann's “Teeny Tiny Films” and “The Perfect Flaw,” first place Independent Documentary winner in the Canadian International Film and Video Festival.  http://www.mikegrundmann.com/

 

Chris Garlington

Chris Garlington is a 2004 graduating student in film at California Institute of the Arts.  His short one minute to five minute films run the gamut from experimental narrative, straight narrative, films with visual effects, and discuss his harsh views of relationships, society and politics. He has been making films for five years and has been featured in two film festivals for his critiques on relationships. In just five years he has created over thirty short films. Starting in June of 2004 he will be working on his first feature film.

Miserable: To hell with my ex-girlfriend.
Hers: A short about falling in love with a girl that is unattainable, and the plan he creates.
Before than before: A critique of male and female relationships focusing on people in their early 20’s.

Spotlight on Local Filmmakers: Michael Brown

Past Event at the Grand Central Art Center

03-05-04

Michael Brown will be screening his feature "SLAMMED."

It’s about a guy who loses his girlfriend, tries to get her back, and along the way dates a "sensual masseuse," discovers his parent’s prurient past, and filters fallacious family and friend’s advice."Slammed" also features the music of Save Ferris, James Intveld, 

OO Soul, Fairview, Baseland, The Majestics, Tom Genoni, Tiki Tones, Twin22, Busstop Hurricanes, Angus McManus, and a score by Joe Kraemer ("The Way of the Gun").

Love Nest Fest 2: We've GOT Your Love

Past Event at the Grand Central Art Center

02-13-04

1. Chris Garlington, Miserable, trt 01:45
To hell with my ex girlfriend!

2. Sara deWeinter, Little Plastic Castles. trt 03:23
A sweet and romantic music video.

3. Amir Motlagh, Still Lover, trt 05:33
A man, a woman, life and love one shot at a time.

4. Christopher Harris, West Side VW Spot, trt 00:36

5. Stephanie de Yo, Exposure, trt 03:44, (Please feel free to hold the hand of whoever is sitting next to you. - bob and amy)

6. Paddy Smith, Jellybean, trt 02:55
A sexy and seductive music video.

7. Amir Motlagh, Love @ 11:47, trt 13:30

A short film about the obsessions that drive three characters into uncontrollable action. 

8. Chris Garlington, Hers, trt 03:54
A short about falling in love with a girl that is unattainable and the pain it creates.

9. Chris Garlington, Better than Before, trt 04:44
A critique of male/female relationships of people in their early twenties.

10. Kevin Staniec, Sunset: An Impression, trt: 04:00
Trying to make love artsy after watching to many PT Anderson movies.

11. Gregory McDonald, Love Scenes, trt 09:40
A man thinks he’s found the perfect love. He learns that saying, “I love you” to a woman is handing the enemy the very knife that she will use to pierce his heart.

12. Kevin Staniec, Rigel, trt: 15:00
A simple love story about a writer trying to write himself in love.

Amir Motlagh: Spotlight on Local Filmmakers

Past Event at the Grand Central Art Center

01-23-04

Amir Motlagh creates fictions but presents them in a documentary style. He is often the main character in his short films.  Often touching on subjects that are taboo to modern-day television, especially the use of drugs, the films seem so realistic that the viewer finds it hard to believe they are fictions.

Still Lover

Trt 05:33

A man, a woman life and love one shot at a time.

Love @ 11:47

Trt 13:00

Love @ 11:47 is a short film about the obsessions that drive three characters into uncontrollable action. The film catches a glimpse of three people caught in the grips of mania as the clock turns to 11:47 pm on a regular night, in a place like any other. Though the characters are far from each other in space they space the same fatal flaw that binds them together in mind and body. Love @11:47 is a voyeuristic view into the lives of three people that are closer to each other than it first appears.

 

Dino Adino

Trt 15:45

Dino Adino is a suburban fable about too much sleeping, dicking around, and thinking that tomorrow will be the day that you get on with life.  The films chronicles one day in the life of Dino from sun up to sun down on his 23rd birthday. His friends decide to record his ‘mutherfuckin’ birthday as a surprise, but by documenting the entire day, much is revealed about dino’s true conflicted character when his self-confessing interview and his action play over one another. He wants to be a graphic artist but he’s caught up in a lifestyle, which could eventually engulf any dreams of art. But humorous and disheartening, the film takes the whole of his life and dissects it into one day, like any other day.

Spotlight on Local Filmmakers: Rafael Franco and Sylvia Volcan

Past Event at the Grand Central Art Center

10-10-03

Spotlight on Local Filmmakers

The first half of the program featured local filmmakers Rafael Franco, "Sins and Denial," and Sylvia Volcan, "Underground Interview." 

The second half highlighted the use of sound effects and music in shorts by Bob Pece, "Animal Sounds," and 

Amy Caterina-Barrett, "16 Points of Identification," "The Ceremony," and "Stop Scratching."

Special showing of John Kortlander’s "This is Johnny."

Spotlight on Local Filmmakers: Kevin Staniec

Past Event at the Grand Central Art Center

08-22-03

Rat Powered Films is proud to present a screening of SiriusBLUE LLC and Kevin Staniec’s, “Rock Off: A Documentary About a Rockumentary Crew”

Documentary director Kevin Staniec follows Rockumentary director Bruce Watson, and his dysfunctional crew as they film five rock bands from Los Angeles and Orange County. A Documentary about a Rockumentary crew.

ASU Short Film and Video Festival Travels to Santa Ana

SEVENTH ANNUAL ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUM SHORT FILM AND VIDEO FESTIVAL travels to Santa Ana
Come with your lawn chairs and blankets, sit out under the stars and enjoy this free event...
Organized and Juried for the Arizona State University Art Museum by:
Bob Pece, Southern California Filmmaker and John D. Spiak, Arizona State University Art Museum

Arizona State University Art Museum and Rat Powered Films are proud to present a number of short films and videos by artists from around the world. For this one evening, individuals are asked to bring a lawn chair, blanket or anything else they wish to use as a seat and join us on the promendade for this FREE EVENT.
Something about LIZ (*az award)
1. YURIKA ABE
Tempe, Arizona
A short documentary about an ASU student who is hearing-impaired.

2. Tetsuji Rocks #2 (MakeitDonalds’)
TETSUJI AONO, Los Angeles, California
Tetsuji Rocks #2 (MakeitDonalds’) satirizes the image of corporate America, particularly major fast-food chain restaurants. It examines the obscure desire of a corporate image who goes wild after business hours, and also incorporates the idea of what sex can sell in American commercial mass media.

3. Dad, I’m Not Gay!
AMANDA BAEHR, Forest Hills, New York
Dad, I'm Not Gay! tells the story of a young woman whose dad is loving, kind, and understanding. Maybe a little TOO understanding.

4. Sneeze Beat
COLIN COOK, Inglewood, California
By sampling video and audio fragments contained within an ordinary sneeze, Cook’s Sneeze Beat seeks to dissect and reorder the involuntary art by imposing a rhythmic structure upon it. Out of this process emerges a collusion of very different visual readings -–what is at first playful and amusing can equally be read as a pointed reference to sickness and seizure.

5. Museum of Dreams
GREGORY GODHARD, Sydney, Australia
A young boy dreams about a pair of mechanical beings. Who are they and what secrets lurk behind their presence?

6. Lemons
COURTNEY GRAFF, Culver City, California
Danielle Patrie meets her father Dan Patrie for drinks at the Red Café. She hasn’t seen him since 1984, and their short meeting reminds her why. He’s just as casually bullying, thoughtless and beer-drinking as ever.

7. Two Sense
GROO (JASON van GUMSTER), Richmond, Virginia
This animation is based on the concept of memory, or better stated: memorization. The basic idea is that when someone tries to memorize something the typical methodology is repetition. However, as a person repeats something, the mind tends to wander,allowing one thought to morph into another.

8. I Dreamt of Bombay
GABRIEL LICHSTEIN, Los Angeles, California
When a stranger claims to be his long lost friend, Robert Jones must choose between what he thinks is true and what he knows is right.

9. Hoover Drama
LOWELL JACOBS and JOSEPH RHEAUME, Tempe, Arizona
This short black and white narrative gestures toward the genre of the cold-war espionage thriller. A driving electronic soundtrack created by the artists sets the pace for this 60-second expression of suspense. Visual cues build tension as the checkpoint at the Hoover Dam draws near.

10. Little Red Plane (**LeBlanc Audience Choice Award)
JOEY JONES, Pasadena, California
An animation about a young boy whose imagination takes him on a spiritual journey guided with a gift from his father. This flight of fantasy transports him to an astonishing world where he is given an opportunity to reconcile the past.

11. Koan
RICHARD KOENIG, Kalamazoo, Michigan
A koan is a riddle or question, but one that has no correct answer - it is a paradox to be meditated upon as a way of getting away from pure reason.

12. Cheap:
JAKE KENNEDY, Manly, Australia
A businessman decides that it can’t be that hard to make a short film and sets out to show people how easy it is.

13. Living on Oak Street
JOHN KORTLANDER, Westerville, Ohio
Living on Oak Street seeks to portray the pain and emptiness of a life left barren by the tragedies of war. Music (and the creative process) serves as a vehicle to sustain a person who has lost everything.

14. This is Jonny
JOHN KORTLANDER, Westerville, Ohio
This short film can be considered a truthful biography of a man whose demographic and social situation preclude his considerable talent from being recognized or exploited. In the foothills of Appalachia, humor and tragedy are not necessarily separate tributaries to the river of life.

15. Ian’s Collections
ELLEN LAKE, Berkeley, California
A whimsical look at Ian and his many unusual, “one-of-a-kind” collections. This engaging documentary celebrates a unique character and his quirky obsession.

16. Me and Billy Bob
JILLIAN McDONALD, Brooklyn, New York
Jillian McDonald and Billy Bob.

17. Gay Boyfriend
RYAN McFAUL, New York, New York
In their debut music video, the "Ukes of Hazzard" want of a guy who can shop all day and cuddle all night. And straight boys need not apply.

18. PlasticHut
RYAN McFAUL, New York, New York
It’s educational! It’s a funny toy! Build Your Own Plastic Hut!

19. SFP (stories for protection) #97
JACOB MELCHI, Los Angeles, California
An excerpt from an ongoing project in which fiction is celebratory, everyday anecdotes seek to alter distant memories, and sometimes those memories are affecting the present tense.

20. Blood Drinkers
RUSTY NAILS, Chicago, Illinois
A 40’s horror movie trailer purposely lost after audiences went insane.

21. Proper Urinal Etiquette (*juror choice award)
KURT NELLIS, Rochester, New York
The unwritten urinal etiquette rules have finally hit the silver screen. Billy, a normal third grade boy, learns what it takes to go to the lavatory with the big boys. You may learn a thing or two yourselves.

22. Three Small Deaths (*juror choice award)
JOSEPH PERAGINE, Atlanta, Georgia
A cartoon about profound change, loss and shock. In the animation, the worst possible nightmare befalls three sets of parents.

23. Kaerajaan
MIKK RAND, Estonia
An alien view of what it is to be human.

24. Revolutions Per Minute
ALEX ROPER, Baltimore, Maryland
July 4th 2001: A record player is filled with 1600 firecrackers and rigged to go off as it plays The Star-Spangled Banner.

25. Extreme Bible Stories: ?Don’t dis Elisha!?
WILLIAM ROSS, Seattle, Washington
Bobby, Suzy and their friends find that childish hijinks can have fatal consequences when they make the mistake of teasing the wrong Old Testament Prophet.

26. Santa’s Little Helper (** LeBlanc Audience Choice Award, Honorable Mention)
JASON GRANT SMITH, Valley Village, California
It’s the Christmas holidays. A woman waits at a restaurant for a personal ad date that turns out to be one of Santa’s elves.

27. Terminator Tomatoes
SUZANNE TWINING, Portland, Oregon
A farmer and his daughter get too deep with a crop of genetically modified tomatoes.