At Mini Movie we’re not afraid to be deep – about six-feet-underground deep. That’s why we’ve selected DEATH as our theme this week. Its not that we’re morbid … we’ve just found a bunch of filmmakers who are. Come join us to laugh in the face of death.
Monday: Te Absolvo - A comical tale of murder and love that takes on religion with a blend of slapstick and wit. A woman kills her deadbeat husband and plots with a young priest to get rid of the body. When an old woman starts snooping around, can the problem be the solution?
Tuesday: Dead Rich - The story of a man who tries to collect insurance by faking his own death. Unfortunately his devious wife has other plans. Watch the scheme collapse in this wicked British comedy as old secrets emerge and betrayal takes center stage.
Wednesday: Dearly Beloved - A man can’t stop imagining the death of his parents. Paralyzed with fear, he alienates his loved ones and obsesses to a feverish point -- until finally he discovers the ultimate cure to his disease.
Thursday: Death – A story about a grim reaper who hates his job. When he finally takes matters into his own hands, will The Boss reward him for breaking the rules?
Friday: Unearthed – Garrett is an undertaker who only wants to live a simple life in the Caribbean, but he’s married to a workaholic who shares none of his dreams. When happenstance involves him in a rich man’s scheme, will he have the courage to take control of his life?
July 29, 2008
Meet MMC's distribution guru...
... David Russell, Mini Movie Channel's resident expert on short films.
MMC: What made you want to work in short film distribution?
David Russell: I worked in the feature film business until about 1996. That year I happened to check out the Palm Springs Short Film Festival and I was amazed at the amount of people who were paying to see films that they had never even heard of. It occurred to me that I could try to market them and increase their exposure. Then the dot com boom hit and short films were big for a while, so I kept waiting for other markets to open. Of course the industry eventually slowed down and it’s been quite a challenge since then.
MMC: With media companies doing more business on the Internet, do you foresee that short films will gain a significant online following?
David Russell: Definitely. The Internet has already done a lot to give short films exposure over the past few years. Unfortunately, companies have struggled to turn a profit for these films because of limited ad revenue.
MMC: Do directors have to worry about copyright infringements when they include music or brands in their films?
David Russell: Yes. That’s one of the major challenges of making a short film. Even if a film is fabulous you can’t show it if you don’t own the rights to all the material. Directors have to own their films. Young filmmakers have to learn to make films fully legal by having written consent for everything they use. This means that they have to be creative and often use lesser-known music and avoid using brand names.
MMC: Short films seem to be stepping stones for younger directors on their way to making features. Are there any directors who specialize in shorts?
David Russell: There are a few directors who prefer to make them for various reasons. Bill Plympton comes to mind – he’s an animator who has made short films his entire career. The problem, once again, is that feature films and TV attract most of the industry’s talent because they are the most lucrative.
MMC: What about playing short films before features at the theater like they did in the past?
David Russell: I’ve been trying for years to convince theaters to do that. It’s not that they don’t like the idea; they just don’t know how to make it profitable. People won’t pay to see short films at the theater. The dilemma for the industry is to find an audience that’s willing to support the films, and it’s been quite a challenge. As distributors we have to think outside the box and expand to different markets. For example, we’ve been trying to arrange deals with airlines to show films on flights.
MMC: Doesn’t the ITunes store sell short films?
David Russell: Yes they do, and they have plans to expand their offerings. Unfortunately they just don’t have the time to focus on that part of their business at the moment. The other problem is that Apple wants the films to be over ten minutes but filmmakers are trying their best to make films under ten minutes! In any case the ITunes store is an interesting model, although so far people have primarily downloaded Oscar-nominated material. Furthermore, Apple wants only exclusive material and filmmakers are generally not prepared to grant them that privilege.
MMC: How is Mini Movie Channel helping the short film industry?
David Russell: Mini Movie is an exciting platform, and if the company grows like projected it should bring in enough revenue to maintain a consistent home for these films.
MMC: What made you want to work in short film distribution?
David Russell: I worked in the feature film business until about 1996. That year I happened to check out the Palm Springs Short Film Festival and I was amazed at the amount of people who were paying to see films that they had never even heard of. It occurred to me that I could try to market them and increase their exposure. Then the dot com boom hit and short films were big for a while, so I kept waiting for other markets to open. Of course the industry eventually slowed down and it’s been quite a challenge since then.
MMC: With media companies doing more business on the Internet, do you foresee that short films will gain a significant online following?
David Russell: Definitely. The Internet has already done a lot to give short films exposure over the past few years. Unfortunately, companies have struggled to turn a profit for these films because of limited ad revenue.
MMC: Do directors have to worry about copyright infringements when they include music or brands in their films?
David Russell: Yes. That’s one of the major challenges of making a short film. Even if a film is fabulous you can’t show it if you don’t own the rights to all the material. Directors have to own their films. Young filmmakers have to learn to make films fully legal by having written consent for everything they use. This means that they have to be creative and often use lesser-known music and avoid using brand names.
MMC: Short films seem to be stepping stones for younger directors on their way to making features. Are there any directors who specialize in shorts?
David Russell: There are a few directors who prefer to make them for various reasons. Bill Plympton comes to mind – he’s an animator who has made short films his entire career. The problem, once again, is that feature films and TV attract most of the industry’s talent because they are the most lucrative.
MMC: What about playing short films before features at the theater like they did in the past?
David Russell: I’ve been trying for years to convince theaters to do that. It’s not that they don’t like the idea; they just don’t know how to make it profitable. People won’t pay to see short films at the theater. The dilemma for the industry is to find an audience that’s willing to support the films, and it’s been quite a challenge. As distributors we have to think outside the box and expand to different markets. For example, we’ve been trying to arrange deals with airlines to show films on flights.
MMC: Doesn’t the ITunes store sell short films?
David Russell: Yes they do, and they have plans to expand their offerings. Unfortunately they just don’t have the time to focus on that part of their business at the moment. The other problem is that Apple wants the films to be over ten minutes but filmmakers are trying their best to make films under ten minutes! In any case the ITunes store is an interesting model, although so far people have primarily downloaded Oscar-nominated material. Furthermore, Apple wants only exclusive material and filmmakers are generally not prepared to grant them that privilege.
MMC: How is Mini Movie Channel helping the short film industry?
David Russell: Mini Movie is an exciting platform, and if the company grows like projected it should bring in enough revenue to maintain a consistent home for these films.
July 14, 2008
Movies of the Week : Parodies!
Here are our titles of the week, parodies that poke fun at everything from film history to cultural stereotypes:
Joey Patrone: TV Cop— Joey Patrone used to be the best cop walking the TV beat. Now he’s a washed-up actor looking for his way. But when he gets a chance at the role of a lifetime will Joey trade-in his good guy image to play the toughest mobster on the tube?
Live Tomorrow Today—Kids, are you an unhappy? Does your life suck? Then join the self-help craze sweeping the nation! “Live Tomorrow Today” features Ted Lange of The Love Boat playing a caricature of himself in this sharp (and slightly sick) parody of talk shows and infomercials.
El Twisto –A trio of tough hombres square off in this irreverent spoof on spaghetti westerns that brings modern humor to the Old West.
Shaolin Delivery Boy – Winston Lo is tired of being type-cast, until one day he learns how to beat the entertainment industry at its own game. The result is a parody of kung-fu flicks and a comic commentary on Chinese stereotypes.
The Wedding Bout—Donny is a good Italian guy and Sharon is a nice Jewish girl, but there’s bad blood between the families. This hilarious short lampoons the classic culture clash as the lovebirds resolve their differences in the ring.
Joey Patrone: TV Cop— Joey Patrone used to be the best cop walking the TV beat. Now he’s a washed-up actor looking for his way. But when he gets a chance at the role of a lifetime will Joey trade-in his good guy image to play the toughest mobster on the tube?
Live Tomorrow Today—Kids, are you an unhappy? Does your life suck? Then join the self-help craze sweeping the nation! “Live Tomorrow Today” features Ted Lange of The Love Boat playing a caricature of himself in this sharp (and slightly sick) parody of talk shows and infomercials.
El Twisto –A trio of tough hombres square off in this irreverent spoof on spaghetti westerns that brings modern humor to the Old West.
Shaolin Delivery Boy – Winston Lo is tired of being type-cast, until one day he learns how to beat the entertainment industry at its own game. The result is a parody of kung-fu flicks and a comic commentary on Chinese stereotypes.
The Wedding Bout—Donny is a good Italian guy and Sharon is a nice Jewish girl, but there’s bad blood between the families. This hilarious short lampoons the classic culture clash as the lovebirds resolve their differences in the ring.
Interview with the Filmmaker: Greg Bergan and Barry C. Miller
Greg and Barry are the writer/director/producers of "Being in Sync," a comic short that pokes a little fun at the boy band craze of the 90's.
Minimovie Channel: What made you want to make this film?
Barry and Greg: Well, Greg is a musician and we thought it would be fun to combine our passions of screen writing and music so we decided to make a film together. We knew we wanted to make a comedy and the boy band thing was really hot at the time. We thought the concept of the aging boy band was a funny concept. Our dream would be to turn this into a full-length feature.
MMC: Which bands were you thinking of when you wrote the film?
B & G: We named the movie “Being in Sync” because we liked the play on words, but the Backstreet Boys were the real inspiration. We had a Backstreet Boys tape playing at the audition and had all of the actors dance.
MMC: Who were the players involved in putting this project together?
B & G: It was just the two of us. We had collaborated for the writing of a full length feature and so decided to do this project. We produced the film from A to Z and directed it ourselves. To find actors we got a casting director and held a three day casting call. There were a lot of respondents, over 200 people for one the roles.
MMC: Who did the choreography?
B & G: We actually found a choreographer on craigslist. Her name is Eli Shaylor—she’s great, she came up with the dance in the final scene in one day.
MMC: Did you face any particular difficulties in making the movie?
B & G: Filming went relatively smoothly. We had a couple of funny mishaps—accidentally burned the carpet with lighting, and ripped a hole in the wall of a friend’s office. We also had a few bad sunburns. The first two days of filming were for the music video—it was on the beach and people got burned pretty badly.
MMC: What projects do you guys have going on right now?
B & G: Greg is releasing an album with his band Flea Circus, you can check them out on myspace. Barry is working on a superhero comic called Billy Banes.
Minimovie Channel: What made you want to make this film?
Barry and Greg: Well, Greg is a musician and we thought it would be fun to combine our passions of screen writing and music so we decided to make a film together. We knew we wanted to make a comedy and the boy band thing was really hot at the time. We thought the concept of the aging boy band was a funny concept. Our dream would be to turn this into a full-length feature.
MMC: Which bands were you thinking of when you wrote the film?
B & G: We named the movie “Being in Sync” because we liked the play on words, but the Backstreet Boys were the real inspiration. We had a Backstreet Boys tape playing at the audition and had all of the actors dance.
MMC: Who were the players involved in putting this project together?
B & G: It was just the two of us. We had collaborated for the writing of a full length feature and so decided to do this project. We produced the film from A to Z and directed it ourselves. To find actors we got a casting director and held a three day casting call. There were a lot of respondents, over 200 people for one the roles.
MMC: Who did the choreography?
B & G: We actually found a choreographer on craigslist. Her name is Eli Shaylor—she’s great, she came up with the dance in the final scene in one day.
MMC: Did you face any particular difficulties in making the movie?
B & G: Filming went relatively smoothly. We had a couple of funny mishaps—accidentally burned the carpet with lighting, and ripped a hole in the wall of a friend’s office. We also had a few bad sunburns. The first two days of filming were for the music video—it was on the beach and people got burned pretty badly.
MMC: What projects do you guys have going on right now?
B & G: Greg is releasing an album with his band Flea Circus, you can check them out on myspace. Barry is working on a superhero comic called Billy Banes.
July 11, 2008
Coming on 7/14 - Parodies On Earth
Next week, it's all about Parodies on Mini Movie Channel. We parody classic Westerns, martial arts chop-sockys, and TV cop shows.
Check back on Monday, 7/14 for our Parody week lineup.
Check back on Monday, 7/14 for our Parody week lineup.
July 9, 2008
"The MMC Difference"
Just in case you were wondering what it's all about at Mini Movie Channel, and how we are different from myriad online video sites, I've boiled down the basics:
Mini Movie Channel (“MiniMovie”) brings a gourmet short film experience to comedy fans online. MiniMovie is a subsidiary of Mini Movie International Channel (“MMIC”) which is headquartered in Luxembourg, with offices in Paris, Munich, Moscow and Beverly Hills. In June of 2008, MMIC acquired Das Vierte, (Channel 4 over-the-air in Germany) from NBC/Universal, and is in the process of launching European VOD, and IPTV channels and websites in France and Russia during 2008-9.
At MMC we will be adding comedy short films every day, and bringing you rare American and International film selections by tapping into our parent company's vault of thousands of shorts. So keep checking back every week for exciting new content including our original productions and Movies of the Week with Lexy and coming soon: comedy bits by April and Christina.
MiniMovie supports independent and professional filmmakers, with production values and storytelling of a higher caliber than is found on high-volume websites. So for the high quality experience and connection to storytellers around the world and just a taste of something different keep your browser on MiniMovie.com
Mini Movie Channel (“MiniMovie”) brings a gourmet short film experience to comedy fans online. MiniMovie is a subsidiary of Mini Movie International Channel (“MMIC”) which is headquartered in Luxembourg, with offices in Paris, Munich, Moscow and Beverly Hills. In June of 2008, MMIC acquired Das Vierte, (Channel 4 over-the-air in Germany) from NBC/Universal, and is in the process of launching European VOD, and IPTV channels and websites in France and Russia during 2008-9.
At MMC we will be adding comedy short films every day, and bringing you rare American and International film selections by tapping into our parent company's vault of thousands of shorts. So keep checking back every week for exciting new content including our original productions and Movies of the Week with Lexy and coming soon: comedy bits by April and Christina.
MiniMovie supports independent and professional filmmakers, with production values and storytelling of a higher caliber than is found on high-volume websites. So for the high quality experience and connection to storytellers around the world and just a taste of something different keep your browser on MiniMovie.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)