We Are Girls.

Yes, we know that you probably already know this.  We have long hair, we have curvy girl bodies, sometimes we wear make-up, and so on and so forth.  The movies we saw at film festival screenings around Chi-town this weekend reminded us of our absolute and unquestionable female-ness.

The Scenesters at the Chicago International Movies and Music Festival, 3/5/10

• Why did we see it? Recommended by indie movie marketing & publicity guru Sheri Candler, had a couple friends who knew people in the movie, produced by Chicago-based Midwinter Studios, stars included Second City Alums

• What was it like? This is a movie with a lot of dudes, dude.  There were a few women, but most of them were (SPOILER ALERT!!!) dead.  Or Sherilyn Fenn.  (SHERILYN FENN!)   The woman with the biggest part was a highly discussed prop used to give the hipster protagonist an achy-breaky  arc.

• What was the best part? Seeing such a great film fest turn-out.  Every seat was full in the impressive 2nd floor viewing area in St. Paul Cultural Center.

The Scenesters Q&A w/ Brett Thompson & Jeff Grace

Night Before the Wedding at the Lake County Film Festival, 3/6/10

• Why did we see it? Couldn’t pass up a chance to see this film written and directed by LA-based Film Courage radio host David Branin; wanted to meet actor Kevin Deen.

• What was it like? This movie was as singularly male as a chili cheese dog wrapped in a baseball game covered in Playboy sprinkles.  It’s about a bachelor party, but it’s much more than that.  We don’t want to give anything away, but Julie said she felt like “Night Before the Wedding” plunged her deep into a secret world of male friendship and terrifying bachelor party rituals.

• What was the best part? Meeting the charming and talented Kevin Deen.

Actor Kevin Deen & Julie

MY MOVIE GIRL at the Lake County Film Festival, 3/6/10

• Why did we see it? There’s no point in hiding it: we have a crush on director/writer/actor Adam Bronstein. Adam contacted us last fall and initiated an indie movie swap (one of the best parts of meeting other filmmakers) after seeing Snow Bunny at Lakedance International Film Festival. At LIFF, “My Movie Girl” won awards for Best Comedy, Best Soundtrack, and Best Audience Feature.

• What was it like? Hugging Adam?  Heavenly.  Oh, wait…you meant the movie.  Awkward. “My Movie Girl” is a lost love wrapped in a minor-obsession dipped in hope, from the guy’s perspective.  It’s a sweet, engaging movie that takes you to a place where exes fear to tread.  We’d seen it on DVD, but it was even better on the big screen.

• What was the best part? Hugging Adam.  I mean, hanging out with Adam.  We also got to meet Alex Schwarm, another filmmaker who screened at LIFF and LCFF. Find out about Alex’s short “As Ever, Stan” here.

The LCFF Crew: Jess, Julie, Alex, Adam & Kevin

• What the the toughest part? Trying to keep our cool and not asking Adam to marry us.

Adam & Jess

Posted by filmmaker Raffi Asdourian on Twitter (3/3/10): “I have so many movies inside of me bursting to get out…it’s not even funny!”

Too many ideas. This is what writers (and artists, in general) talk about all the time, right?  “I have so many ideas, but I can’t get them down on paper.”  “I had the best idea at the gym last night, but I forgot it before I got home.” “I got the best idea for my screenplay in a dream last night, but it was gone before I woke up.”

How do you solve this? I don’t know that you can.  But it’s actually a good problem to have, don’t you think?  A little torturous, perhaps. But the opposite of “too many ideas” = “writer’s block,” and NO ONE wants that.

So what can you do to cope?

• Some people, like Phil Holbrook, conquer Idea Overload by keeping notebooks handy.

• Others, like Jessica, just remember everything.  (Yes – she’s truly outrageous…even more than Jem.)

"No Notes" Jessica

• Me (Julie), I need to write everything down.  As a result (and much to Jessica’s chagrin), our apartment is covered with little notes: post-its, tiny notebooks, scraps of paper, random midnight jottings…they’re all there.

Julie's Notes

The big question is: when YOU’RE struck with inspiration (the best idea ever for a screenplay, the best name for a villain, or the million dollar idea that’s going to get you the big deal that’s just out of your reach), what do YOU do?

In case you missed it, here’s what happened on Day #1.  Here’s what happened on Day #2.

DAY THREE, SUNDAY, 2/21

Jessica was a lumberjack in a previous life

• Another morning in Brainerd. After the marathon movie viewing and subsequent excited conversing on Saturday, we slept like babies.  When we woke up on Sunday, we were happy and starving, which was perfect, because we had a breakfast meeting schedule with our TILT collaborators Phil Holbrook and Jeremy Doyle.  And, of course, we asked to go back to the Sawmill Cafe. Wild rice omelet, anyone?

Tilt Power Breakfast: Phil, Jeremy, Jessica

• Had our first official TILT team meeting.  We were a little nervous.  This was the first time Phil (TILT director/producer), Jeremy (cinematographer), Jessica (writer/producer), and I (Julie, writer) were gathering in person.  We’d clicked with Phil and Jeremy online and used email, Twitter, Skype, and GoogleWave to lay the groundwork and work out issues, but what was it going to be like face to face?  What if we didn’t get each others’ jokes?  What if they’d hated the first act of the TILT screenplay and wanted to break the news to us in person?  What if Jeremy and Julie wore the same hoodie?  (I shudder to think…)  Of course, everything went just fine. We had fun chatting about EgoFest, sharing stories about our families, and getting to know each others’ quirks.

• Sidenote: Phil has such an electrifying personality that he burnt out the heating device on the breakfast buffet just by looking at it.  The waitress might have been a bit miffed, but we were impressed.

Phil & Jessica talk TILT

Jeremy picks his vlog weapon

Phil pulls a Gary King.

• Filmed a vlog. We’ve been a little secretive about TILT so far, so we decided to do a video blog during EgoFest weekend to give our friends a little taste of what we’re up to, what TILT is about, who our audience is, and what our team dynamics are like. The vlog is scheduled to go up on our TILT website on Thursday, 2/25.

Scouting for TILT locations

Yeah, that's right.

It's so hard to say goodbye...to EgoFest

• Location scouting + lunch + goodbyes. After we were finished shooting the vlog, Jeremy left to reunite with his family, while Phil, Jessica, and I headed out to scout TILT locations and grab lunch.  With all of its great locations and friendly people, Brainerd seems like the perfect place to film a movie.  The downtown area is great, and the outlying areas are beautiful. To make it even better, Phil seems to know everyone.  We stopped by a bar that was closed for the day, and the owner opened the doors for us to let us take a look around.  Small town film shoots = where it’s at, folks.

Jess writing her EgoFest reviews

DAY TWO, SATURDAY, 2/20

Good morning, Brainerd!

• Woke up. Got out of bed. In Brainerd. I (Julie) hadn’t gotten much sleep for two reasons: one, we were excited about EgoFest; two, Jessica had insisted on keeping the light on all night (if confused, see our first impressions about our hotel from Day #1).  If we’d turned out the light, it would have been her lying awake all night instead of me, so, you know…no big whoop.  Jessica made it up to me by telling me I looked pretty and promising to take me out for a wholesome Brainerd breakfast.

Dogs Love Brainerd!

• Before we left the motel, one of the weirdest sights ever. Just outside of our motel was a man, 2 small children, a big truck with lots of crates, and a million dogs.  If you squint at the picture above, you can see two dogs in the top row of crates, but we swear, there were at least 500 there.  Okay, 400.  Fine, maybe just 50 or so, but it seemed like A LOT of dogs not on leashes.  They all looked happy, though, and devoted: none of them strayed from their owner’s side.

Um, are we at EgoFest or Cinekink?

The Sawmill Cafe

Mmm...coffee

• Scored sustenance at the delightful Sawmill Cafe. Got coffee.  Hobnobbed with the friendly breakfast crowd.  Checked out the menu.  And then Jessica asked me why I was making such a weird face:

What the what?

Best omelet ever.

• My answer: wild rice and mushroom omelet.  With cinnamon coffee cake on the side?  Yes, Brainerd, I will marry you.  Or eat you.  Probably the latter.

Franklin Arts Center

• Time for EgoFest. Just before 9am we arrived at the Franklin Arts Center, which is an old school (the one where Phil went, actually) that’s been converted into a unique, sprawling art space.  Of course, there was a huge EgoFest-sized auditorium, but there were also classrooms converted into studio spaces, galleries, shops, and even artist apartments.  We also spied a small yoga studio.  The whole place, in concept as well as in reality, was incredible.

We're with the band. Or...maybe we ARE the band.

Phil kicks off the show!

• Saw Phil right before the fest started. He was busy doing film festival organizerly things, but he still took time to greet us and make sure we were taken care of.  We met some great people.  We got some filmmaker passes.  Then we headed into the auditorium and settled in for a long winter’s movie marathon. 40 short films by 30 filmmakers shown over the course of 12 hours.  Word.

EgoFest Lunch: Friend, Phil, Jeremy & Jess

Between film blocks

EgoFest meals provided by the E Squared Cafe

• Did we sit there for 12 hours straight? No.  We saw most of the films, but not all.  We took turns checking Twitter, getting refreshments, and stretching our legs.  Honestly, every time I left the auditorium, I regretted it, because there were so many wonderful and unique movies.  So…wanna hear about ‘em?

Where all the magic happened...

• Jessica’s Review of EgoFest – The Films. While I’d love to talk about all of the films we saw at EgoFest, it simply isn’t feasible.  Watching 40 films in one day is one thing;  writing about them all is something else entirely.  The following is a quick look at some of the highlights and gems of the fest – in our humble opinion.

• Highlights:

Alex Lamburini’s short (Meeting Mr. Williams) kicked off the whole event, and we were happy to see this.  We’d crossed paths with this young filmmaker when we were at the Queens International Film Festival back in November, and we’re happy to see him doing so well.

Brian Durkin’s shorts (Mind Over Matter Man & Don’t Listen to the Cookie Franklin) featured the acting talent of Karen Worden (we weren’t expecting that pleasant surprise – “Is that Karen of Film Courage?  What is she doing up there?!”) and cinematography by David Branin of Film Courage on LA Talk Radio. They all represented LA well.

Jeremy Doyle’s films (Expiration Dates, Consensus, & Bishop: a Tale of Gene Harris) were incredibly well shot and meticulously edited, which was especially impressive because all three were created for 48-hour films races.  Jeremy’s skills are hardcore: we feel fortunate to be working with him on TILT.

4D4 Films‘ shorts (In the Event of a Zombie Attack & Love Sick) were definite crowd-pleasers.  People loved the zombies in the first film and the hyper-masochistic ex-boyfriend drama (this is putting it lightly) in the second.

We also saw shorts by Lee Bishop, Gia Milani, Gregory Pitts. Bishop’s  shorts were super-short and super-sweet.  We’re very curious to see what she’ll come up with next.  Someone called Gia Milani’s A Dark Radius “an alt-alt-Jackie Brown.”  As for Pitts, his short All Rapped Up especially caught Julie’s attention with its use of Pitts’ own family members as actors.  Rapped serves as a PSA for parents who allow tv, movies, and popular music raise their kids.

• Gems:

The Beekeeper by Sean J.S. Jourdan: A beautifully shot, well-paced, and perfectly acted film about a family in crisis.  Jourdan’s ability to portray intense drama with such restraint was impressive.

The Carwash by James Kicklighter: First of all, how did this guy get the best last name ever?  As for the film, this was a timely story about the disconnect between the aging, baby boomer generation and the younger, tech savvy generation.   I appreciated the subtly with which it explored how we communicate, how technology effects communication, and, ultimately, the content of our communications with one another. This was my favorite movie of the day.

To Get to the Other Side by Ted Fisher: This wry documentary explores the phenomenon of people trying to cross the street during the New York Marathon.  Fisher’s eye for detail and sense of humor make this film a poignant and amusing look at human behavior.

Ai by Raffi Asdourian: A technically brilliant and visually stunning film about a warrior and her master.  I was blown away by how well this short simulates many higher budget samurai/martial arts films. Raffi did a livestreamed Q&A with the EgoFest from his NYC apartment, and Ai swept the EgoFest awards.

Speed Musing by John T. Trigonis: A clever blend of the high and the low brow, this old school silent film follows an uninspired poet who seeks a suitable muse in a poetry-generating activity that the surrealists would have loved.  Very funny.

How to Live Better by Mark Ehling: A very funny tale about a secret book, a gang of Mafiosos in fezzes (whose leader did NOT like “tough guy talk”), and an angry group of cooks headed by a sassy waitress.  This beautifully shot film created it’s own quirky universe (one both sinister and absurd) and made us completely  forget where we were for 20 minutes. This was Julie’s favorite film of the day.

Isaac being worshipped by Julie + "Friend of Isaac"

• And finally, an anecdote. The film Dinner Date, a dark tale about a man seeking the perfect female companion for a consensual cannibalistic arrangement, inspired 13 year-old Isaac Overland (pictured above, whose own extremely entertaining freshman film Spy Strike featured his baby sister and brother playing a set of Mothers and Fathers whose babies kept getting stolen) to jump out of his seat (followed by his sidekick, “Friend of Isaac”), trample Julie, and fall down in worship at filmmaker Paul von Stoetzl’s feet.  Von Stoetzl was only too happy to feed the flames of his fan’s instant fandom; he happily signed Isaac’s copy of John Reiss’ new book Thinking Outside the Box Office with the message, “Never, ever, ever give up…and f*ck ‘em if they can’t take a joke,” which also happens to be the motto on his business card.

Phil & Jess at the after-party

Julie + the Brainerd Power Couple

• Julie’s Wrap-Up: The After-Party. At the end of the night, we were all tired but happy.   We’d seen so many fun movies, so many different points of view, so many different ways of doing things.  Each filmmaker had gone through and extraordinary process.  Sure, we each had favorites, but we also had questions.  Where did these directors find their actors?  Where did they get their equipment?  How did they find their music?  Did they enjoy making their films?  Are they going to make more?
• In the end, we just feel lucky to have gotten a seat at EgoFest, and we definitely plan to go again next year.  and we hope you will, too.  And don’t worry, Phil: we’ll save our badges…

That’s it for Day #2.  Ready for Day #3?  It’s a doozy, but we don’t want to give everything away.  What we CAN tell you is that we spent most of the day with Phil and Jeremy.  What we CAN’T tell you…even better.

Jessica loves Brainerd...especially on Day #3!

DAY ONE, FRIDAY, 2/19

Kfink Roadtrip Supplies

• Woke up bright and early; drove to Brainerd. Jessica made sure we had clean underpants and film festival swag.  I (Julie) made sure we had bottled water, fake vitamins, and fruit to pretend to eat on the road.  (Because everyone knows the only respectable road trip food includes Twizzlers, Doritos, and gas station coffee.  Duh.)

Brainerd's on Julie's radar, yo.

• As usual, I drove. Jessica printed out maps and directions, which I promptly ignored. We might have gotten a teensy bit lost before we got out of the city, but it was only because I was thinking a step ahead. The wrong step, but anyway…

• Sidenote: I might move to Wisconsin or Minnesota. Why? Because the highway speed limit in those states is often 75mph.  Flying AND legal.  Fun.

Brainerd!

• After 10 hours, 1 fight, and 0 stops for Wisconsin cheese (look at that will power!), we rolled into Brainerd.

Where we stayed...

• First thing we did in Brainerd: checked into our motel. Being city girls, we have to say we were a little freaked out by our accommodations.  It’s not that our room was bad – quite the contrary: it was clean, cozy, and even had wifi.  So what was our issue?  Well, it sort of had a Bates motel vibe.

Anybody work here?

• Now you’ll have to believe us when we say we’re not princesses. But there’s something about not having someone at the front desk that can make a couple of girls in a strange town in the middle of the frozen tundra a teensy bit nervous.  For a moment, we wondered if this internet-arranged meeting with Phil was a set-up…but we got over that pretty quick.

Jess documents our pet mosquito.

Our friend 'Squito

• Luckily, we had a friend in our room. Encased in one of the picture frames was a dead mosquito.  Jessica became quite fond of it.  We’re pretty sure Phil planted it in our room on purpose.  Why?  Two possible reasons.

Possibility #1: The mosquito (which was just pretending to be sleeping) was supposed to get samples of our blood so that Phil could create a King is a Fink-themed amusement park in Brainerd (opening Summer 2011).  “Keep your hands in the car, kids.”

Possibility #2: Because Phil wanted to remind us that Brainerd is nice and warm in the summer, not always as toe-freezingly cold as it was this weekend.  You had us at ‘Squito, Phil. You had us at ‘Squito.

The Blue Ox Bar of FARGO fame

Jess = a tad nervous

• Before the EgoFest pre-party, we had a little time to kill. It was the perfect opportunity to sight-see, grab coffee, and calm our nerves.  We’re not gonna lie: we were a little anxious about our first face-to-face meeting with Phil, so we took some deep breaths, reminded ourselves that everything was going to be okay, and practiced our firm, confident handshakes.

Phil = all smiles

• Of course, handshakes went out the window as soon as we walked into the EgoFest pre-party at E Squared Cafe. Big hugs all around.  For anyone who has not yet had the pleasure of meeting Phil, rest assured that he’s as funny, welcoming, and engaging in person as he is on Twitter. Or on Skype.  Or in the Film Snobbery Live Chat (every Tues night at 9pm EST).

Julie + Chip (from Honest Work)

• The pre-party was wonderful. The food was great.  But the best part?  We found out that everyone who’s anyone in Brainerd LOVES Phil Holbrook.  We met the best group of people, many of whom have worked with him on films or on EgoFest.  I was a little starstruck when I met some of the cast members from Honest Work.

On the right: Jeremy D. & his lovely wife

• One of the most important people that we met that night, besides Phil, was Jeremy Doyle. Jeremy has worked with Phil on several shorts, makes his own shorts (several of which showed at EgoFest), and is going to be the cinematographer for TILT.  Jeremy and Phil have a great rapport, and it’s easy to see why they make a great team.  More on Jeremy and his many talents tomorrow…

Secret Time!

• Within an hour or so, we were thick as thieves. But, eventually, we had to head back to the motel.  A full night’s rest was essential if we were going to survive the next day.  12 hours, 40 films, 30 filmmakers – EGOFEST!

On EgoFest Day #2, find out about the movies we saw, the filmmakers who attended, how Phil did as a festival organizer, and what Julie saw on a Brainerd menu that made her make this face:

What the what?

That being said, it wasn’t easy. Sitting in one spot for almost half a day? Yes, there are way worse things to do on a chilly Saturday, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t have to plan ahead.  Here’s how we survived EgoFest:

Rule #1 – Stay hydrated and fed. You can’t concentrate on anything, not even awesome short films, for 12 hours if you’re hungry or thirsty.  As Bertolt Brecht (almost) said, “Food is the first thing, morals (and everything else) follow on.”  The concessions at EgoFest were great.  There was water, soda, coffee, and, of course, freshly popped popcorn.

Popcorn + Phil's Mom!

While we didn’t consume any popcorn, there were some audience members who ate 3 or 4 bags full.  (Hey, don’t judge, a 12 hour movie marathon warrants a lot of popcorn eating – each block ran the length of a feature film, a long one.)  Further, the food was catered by E Squared Cafe , and it was delicious.  Hot dogs (and NOT dogs) + vegetarian chili for lunch followed by pasta and asparagus for dinner. Brainerd food = yummy & nourishing. Yes, we might have had seconds.

Egofest: Now with more dinner!

Rule #2 – Don’t be a masochist: it’s okay to get up and move around when you need to. I know our teachers spent 12 years (or more) teaching us to stay in our seats, but at Egofest…that was impossible.  Neither one of us sat through every single film, though some audience members did.  Sometimes you have to get up, and that’s okay.  Go outside, get some fresh air, or do some stretching in the lobby.  Our bodies need to move so that our minds stay alert.  I even stood in the back to watch a few of the films because at some point I just didn’t want to miss anything.

Exploring the Franklin Arts Center

Rule #3 – Be open-minded. In a 12 hour movie marathon, you’re going to see some films that you would probably flip past if you were sitting in your living room or making a choice at the local cineplex.  However, actually sitting through everything (or almost everything) was delightful.  Even though I saw some films that, if I were in a critical mode, I might classify as outright bad or poorly done, every film has the capacity to be fascinating if you’re watching in the right way.  Every film is the expression of someone’s mind, of someone’s thoughts, neuroses, or point of view.  And often it is the most clumsy films that reveal this in the strongest way.  Film is fantasy and our fantasies reveal the deepest aspects of our psyches, of what it means to be human. So we’re happy we weren’t allowed to fast forward through anything.

For more on EgoFest, stay tuned. Don’t you want to know about some of the short films we saw (The Beekeeper, Car Wash, Ai, Speed Musings, and To Get to the Other Side)? Don’t you want to find out about The Power Couple of Brainerd? And don’t you want the skinny on fest organizer Phil Holbrook? Of course, you do. So come back soon.

• TILT BLOG! This week the blog for our new feature-length movie project (TILT) was launched.  Be sure to check out the very first post, a great introductory video by director Phil Holbrook, and our post on the basics of the project.

• GUEST BLOG: MultiHyphenate! We also made our 2nd appearance on Tyler Weaver’s blog-o-zine MultiHyphenate.  Check out our article on what Steven Soderbergh said to rile everyone up, why the American movie-goers prefer blockbusters, and what indie movie makers can do to get more attention: “Soderbergh’s Lament: A Little Whining + A Little History + A Possible Solution“

• GUEST BLOG for Maria Lokken! Just in case you missed it, we also wrote a post for dear friend Maria Lokken recently: ” Shared Storytelling: A Bicycle Built for 2…or 2 Million.”

• NYC SCREENING! We still can’t believe it, but Libidoland is screening at Cinekink NYC on 2/18 in the “Kind of Kinky” block.  Tickets can be purchased online, but you’d better be quick – quite a few of our Twitter friends are going (Gary King, Matt Shea, Marinell Montales, John Trigonis, Jerry Cavallero, and more…) Should be a blast!

• ROAD TRIP! Next week we’re headed to EgoFest.  Snow Bunny and Libidoland are screening on 2/20.  12 hours. 40 short films. 30 filmmakers.  Should be a blast.  Plus, we’re very excited to finally meet Phil.

In answering Maria’s question, we realized that our response took us in two different directions.  Aside from the pleasures of storytelling, we also wanted to consider the practical aspects of filmmaking.  Playing with ideas between the two of us is easy; sharing our ideas with an audience via film?  Much more difficult.  Before you can get someone to sit through your movie and consider your ideas, you have to keep them entertained and in their seat.  You have to make it worth the audience’s time.  Therefore, in order to get our stories told, we have to improve our abilities as filmmakers.  The best way to do that: make films.

We’ve made numerous shorts, but they’re not all gems.  They’re all, even the decent ones, experiments with varying degrees of success.  We’re brutally honest about what works and what doesn’t.  And if something doesn’t work, you can be sure that we take a step back and reassess. What’s the problem? Is it the acting, hence our directing or casting choices?  Is it a technical issue?  Or is it the writing?  Sometimes an idea exists in our heads, but isn’t fully fleshed out in the script.  This can be disastrous.  And…not disastrous.  Why? Because a mistake made in today’s movie is something we’ll get right in tomorrow’s.

Last summer we embarked on the Idville Collection – two short films about the Id run rampant.  Out of the two, Libidoland was the more successful experiment.  While there are still some kinks in the film, we managed to create narrative tension and to balance that tension with humor and humility, which was one of our goals.  Anxiety Acres, on the other hand, is fun but much more flawed.  There are several spots where both Julie and I cringe at our failure to carry off certain jokes.  The problem wasn’t our actors.  It wasn’t our low-budget.  It was our script.

Below I’m going to provide a bit of the script and the short sequence that contains one of our most blatant failures.  But, first, let’s set it up:

The film is about a couple who has recently moved from the city to the country.  Midway through the film the husband (Kevin) runs into town for sandwiches.  While out, he imagines many horrible things happening to his wife, Casey, who’s back at the house. Distracted by his nightmarish imaginings, Kevin becomes clumsy and ends up smashing and disfiguring his face.  Casey, in the meantime, is safe on the couch catching up on her favorite zombie novel.  When Kevin returns to the farm and Casey spies him from afar, he looks an awful lot like one of the zombies in her book.  She promptly freaks out and gets ready for the fight of her life.

Here is the script excerpt and the scene:

Click here to view the embedded video.

This was meant to be a very funny moment in the film.  We dropped the ball.  Problem #1, we developed Kevin’s character more than Casey’s.  We didn’t write it in a way that built up the possibility that Casey would actually be scared by one of her books.   The script should have set Casey up to be on edge and jumping at random noises prior to Kevin’s unexpected and disfigured return.  We let her be too nonchalant, and, thus, it isn’t believable that she thinks she sees a zombie.  It’s a surprise, when we should have built suspense.  If you frame it in terms of Hitchcock’s bomb theory, we set off an unexpected bomb, a fizzler.  If we’d cued the audience about Casey’s growing disquiet, it would have been much more satisfying to watch her lose it, especially after Kevin nearly killed himself for the same reason.  This idea was in our heads, but it wasn’t fully developed in the script – and thus it didn’t make it into the film.

What did the flaws of Anxiety Acres teach us?  For one, we need to think more about character development and make sure our characters’ motivations are clearer.  We also need to think about setting up jokes, letting expectations and tensions build, and allowing the joke to release the energy and tension,  leading to greater audience satisfaction.

The best advice I have for a burgeoning screenwriter: MAKE A FILM.  Make 20.  Sure, you can do a lot to prepare. You can study the rules of narrative structure; you can read about comedic timing; or you can supplement your understanding of archetypes with a deep understanding of Carl Jung.  But that book knowledge is useless if you don’t have a firm idea of how your words actualize on film.  The more we try our ideas out – in the real world, with real people – the more we understand about how to write in a way that is cinematic, in a way that is going to translate into a good film.  Each flawed film you make gets you closer to your first really good one.  So grab your camera, and go!

• This week we guest-blogged on Tyler Weaver’s pumped-up blog-o-zine Multi-Hyphenate. Click here to read our thoughts on indie movie collaboration.

• Finally, next week we’re going to be writing a short post for our friend, producer Maria Lokken. The topic: Why do we make movies?  This question seemed simple at first; now we’re examining the very core of our beings and watching a lot of Bergman.  Should make for a relaxing weekend.

• Hooray!  Our short movie LIBIDOLAND has been accepted into the 2010 Cinekink NYC Film Festival. We’re so honored. When we learned about this festival through Twitter, we knew that it could be a great fit for our kinky, quirky short about a loving couple stepping into the world of bondage for the first time. Many thanks to Cinekink co-founder and director Lisa Vandever for taking such good care of us.  Cinekink often takes their show on the road, so we’re hoping we can talk Lisa into making a stop in Chicago.  You know…for our moms.

• We’re headed to 2010 EgoFest Short Film Festival in Brainerd, Minnesota, to meet festival organizer and filmmaker Phil Holbrook face-to-face.  We’ve already met with Phil a few times via Skype to discuss the feature-length dramatic thriller we’re writing for him; he plans to direct it later this year.  Phil is in the process of setting up a website to which we will all post progress reports on the script-writing, fund-raising, and the overall collaboration process. More on that soon!

• We’ve finished the first draft of our 3rd feature length screenplay, a dark comedy called THE UNLOVABLES. Logline: A jaded single woman drags her unwitting family to Vegas to track down the serial killer who passed her by for her hotter, blonder best friend. Yes, this one’s pretty dark, but it’s also very funny.  In it we explore single life, married expectations, skewed relationship goals, interactions between adult siblings, and the very basic desire just to be chosen by someone.  We’re currently collecting feedback and suggestions from trusted friends and readers.  We’re also working with Script Dr. Eric, who is giving us valuable tips about our query letter.  The next step: getting feedback from the helpful readers at BlueCat Screenwriting Competition (deadline = 3/1/10 & they give GREAT notes), revising, and then trying to find a home for our newest endeavor.  Click here to learn more about THE UNLOVABLES or to read the first 15 pages.

• Lastly, next week filmmaker Tyler Weaver, is relaunching his website Multi-Hyphenate (here’s the old version) and turning it into more of a blog-o-zine.  His first celebrity guest is Frederick Marx of Warrior Films.  Frederick is 1/2 of the team responsible for the documentary HOOP DREAMS.  When Tyler asked us to contribute a post to his maiden week, we happily said yes.  We did a piece about collaboration, which we’re doing a lot of these days.  We’ll keep you posted about when our entry is up!