Comments for Mad Dog Movies

Comment on The Lunchbox Font by Mad Dog Movies « Yes, That’s Me At The Airport

Mad Dog Movies « Yes, That’s Me At The Airport — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 00:18:57 +0000

[...] INTERROGATION When will I get the chance to do my own Lunchbox short? I’ll have to squeeze that shoot in soon, then get to work animating the monster [...]

Comment on Lil’ Lovecraft goes for a walk by H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival Los Angeles

H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival Los Angeles — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 14:49:15 +0000

[...] Animated intro for the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival by Mike Boas. [...]

Comment on Taste the Fear of Mind Rip by John

John — Sun, 23 May 2010 21:16:18 +0000

Thank you A. Ford for your thoughts.

As my associate Mike stated Mind Rip is a 1970′s horror film. The attempt here is not to do a comedy or send up of the drive-in movie. This will be a real horror film that finds humor in the over the top situations. This will be no more a comedy than Evil Dead was.

As for having more equipment than you, you would be surprised on how little we shot this for. The camera was an hvx200 shot at 720 24p. we had all volunteers. Even the head was borrowed from a friend. We only had a few movie lights. What we did have was a great deal of help from friends and family. The project was edited on a pc using Premiere pro and Red Giant’s Looks. More work than money. If you want to email me I will tell you exactly what the budget was and how we did it. philrosefilms@gmail.com

Thanks for the good input!
John Vincent
writer/director

Comment on Taste the Fear of Mind Rip by Mike

Mike — Sun, 23 May 2010 20:23:29 +0000

Thanks for your comments!

Tone is a tricky thing. We don’t aim to make an out and out comedy. I can think of some that are great: Lost Skeleton of Cadavra and Black Dynamite, for instance. But the Mind Rip script is fairly straightforward… it just happens to deal with some impossible monsters and situations. In shooting the trailer, we found natural moments of humor, which came through in the performances and direction.

Yes, it’s possible to make a seriously scary exploitation movie (I’m looking forward to seeing Splice). It’s also possible to make a humorless, uninteresting exercise in CG creatures and dull characters, like so many films I see on the SyFy channel. Mind Rip has ties to horror comics (a la Creepshow) so we’re hoping some morbid humor will fit nicely.

For the record, I’m not a fan of SNL. :)

Comment on American Grindhouse to premiere at SXSW by Mike

Mike — Sun, 23 May 2010 20:09:06 +0000

I see your point, that the grindhouse and drive-in environments were two different things. One might have a totally different experience seeing the same movie in each.

But many of those movies DID play in both places. For better or worse, grindhouse is now a term that has become equated with exploitation films. It’s hard enough to agree on a definition of “explotiation,” but that’s what American Grindhouse explores. It talks about the origins of and distribution for non-studio films in America. Grindhouse theaters played a part in that. Drive-ins played a part. Ultimately, exploitation elements were incorporated into big budget theatrical movies, as well as becoming fodder for the direct-to-video market.

Personally, I have no nostalgia for either the urban (grindhouse) or rural (drive-in), as my childhood movie-going took place in sub-urban multiplexes. But I admire the spirit — and sometimes lunacy or depravity — of movies made outside the mainstream.

Comment on Taste the Fear of Mind Rip by A. Ford

A. Ford — Sun, 23 May 2010 11:17:59 +0000

This doesn’t look like an ode; it looks like your making fun of drive-in cinema.
I know you’ll probably delete this comment, but if you have the incentive and desire to make a “drive in movie” don’t make it like this. You have far more equipment and money than I have, don’t waste it on making something without balls. The public is hungry for REAL drive-in movies and no-one is giving it to them; this looks like a cross between the fake trailers in the “Grindhouse” film and the video to the Beastie Boy’s “Sabotage”. Congratulations! You filmed a glorified Saturday Night Live skit. Hipsters.

Comment on American Grindhouse to premiere at SXSW by A. Ford

A. Ford — Sun, 23 May 2010 10:59:59 +0000

Am I the only person bothered by the overuse of the term “Grindhouse” to refer to exploitation films? “Drive-in movie” is a much better term; especially considering that the experience of viewing a film at a drive-in is unquestionably the perfect way to view a motion picture. I find it especially jarring that the preview would feature animation taken from drive-in intermission reels.

It’s obvious that the primary reason behind the current proliferation of the term “grindhouse” has to do with the championing of the Urban over the rural (drive-ins were typically located in areas where the “city” met the “town” and outside of the urban-scum-hive. The title “American Grindhouse” emphasis on the “American”; is even more troubling considering that the Drive-in theatre is far more symbolic of the great dying American culture and it’s attachment to the big cars that promised to be (and can be) chariots to the heaven that is the “American Dream”.

When my local drive-in closed; which was STILL playing films like Faces of Death in the 1990s (often prefaced by having some drunken local psychos smash a rusted out car spraypainted with the words “kill me!”) I vowed to never again view a movie in an indoor theatre. As Americans we should strive to champion the ideal enviroment for viewing exploitation films (real American food, girl in the seat next to you, speaker in the window, stars above you) as oppossed to the pathetic grindhouse where there existed the immediate threat of being urinated or vomited on by some tranny wino with an Archie Bunker accent. At least when people at the drive-in were steaming up their windows I DIDN’T HAVE TO SMELL IT.

Comment on Scam Film Fest: Annual Program Without Frontiers by josh

josh — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:22:37 +0000

I don’t know how old this thread is, but I just got an e-mail saying I was official selected for my short film. Then nothing happen, so I started doing some research and found this thread.

I read Bruno’s comment about being a film distributor at Fox in France, which is hilarious. Unless he’s using some code name, I know for a fact that he has never worked in the professional industry. Look up his name on imdbpro.com and no one comes up under that name. If he worked for any major company in the industry, he would have had his name in the database.

I love how this guy tries to bullshit to look important. What bull.

Anyways, I got scammed too. Won’t happen again.

Comment on A Touch of Croquet by eric holt

eric holt — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 04:35:25 +0000

whos mallet is it anyway??? lol sounds awesome!

Comment on Coming Soon: Things I Don’t Know by Ry

Ry — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 05:31:42 +0000

“(Gasp) Computers can do that?!”

Comment on How I do the things I do by Mike

Mike — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:05:05 +0000

If you’ve seen Ralph Bakshi films like American Pop or Lord of the Rings, there’s a lot of rotoscoping there.

For Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated, artists from all over the world are taking part. Check out http://notldr.com for more info.

There will be a DVD soon. Right now, they’re screening at conventions and on Horror Host shows, grass roots style.

The movie’s also playing this week online at
http://www.fridaynight-frightnight.com/notldreanimated.html

Comment on How I do the things I do by Jeffrey B. Palmer

Jeffrey B. Palmer — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:23:34 +0000

Mike!

This was really cool. Always wanted to know more about rotoscoping and now I see how it works, more or less. They used this technique on a lot of animation from the 60s and 70s yeah?
So are different artists taking on different scenes? How will it be released? Seems like a fun idea.

Thanks for the behind the scenes info. Very cool.
~ Jeff

Follow me @JPtwit

Comment on As the website turns by Mike

Mike — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 02:33:19 +0000

Thanks, Jeff! Nice to get some feedback.

Comment on As the website turns by Jeffrey B. Palmer

Jeffrey B. Palmer — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:04:24 +0000

Mike!

LOVE the new site. :) Very slick. Out with the old, in with the new!
The sliding tags up top are super cool.

Cheers,
Jeff

Comment on Mock Trailers by zori

zori — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 04:50:52 +0000

This was very interesting, slug it out seems different

Comment on "Jason" wins at NecroComicon by Jason vs. Jason « Mad Dog Movies

Jason vs. Jason « Mad Dog Movies — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 07:50:28 +0000

[...] At the recent Necrocomicon 25th Anniversary Friday the 13th Convention in Hollywood (where my own Jason fanfilm played a part), Dread Central’s Sean Clark sat down with the “real” Jason from [...]

Comment on Cthulhu Unbound by johnnyyen

johnnyyen — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:25:19 +0000

deep ones with guns???.and why not?..the other gods was such a delight to see,thanks and regards to all concerned…

Comment on Scam Film Fest: Annual Program Without Frontiers by Sas-film

Sas-film — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:15:59 +0000

Ah! I feel like an idiot- I just gave these guys $20 last night. I was a little suspicious but I submitted anyway, and now I am kicking myself for being so stupid. Any advice on how to get money back from these scammers? They need to be stopped!

Comment on Scam Film Fest: Annual Program Without Frontiers by cine99

cine99 — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 22:30:27 +0000

Hi, I just want to say that, per your correspondance with filmfestivals.com, I’ve done the same in uncovering scamming at the Hoboken Film Festival recently and, while a lot of people were happy to find out, just like on here, I also got a lot of flak for it. Even supposedly legitimate film festivals will fight tooth and nail for you not to reveal the ones that are a scam which I can’t, for the life of me, figure out. For instance, google “film festivals are a scam” and you will find an old board on filmthreat.com where one of the programmers from Slamdance goes on, at length, defending certain practices which, for some reason, send off bad signals in my brain.

The thing that I uncovered at the Hoboken fest was that the programmer and chair of the fest puts his own films front and center… meaning the opening night gala, the closing night gala, a regular slot, etc. We’re not talking that it’s playing in a sidebar to soothe his ego… you’d think his are the ONLY films in the fest, the way that it is run. To me, this is wrong, just as it is to a number of other people. A news website ran a side-by-side of the trailer for my film and the trailer for his film, and the only reason I allowed that is that his was so laughably bad that I thought it was a no-brainer that the festival is a scam. Now, if he were just joe schmoe who entered his film, there’s no argument from my end. I just have to look at what gets into that festival, see that it’s crap, and realize that it must be down to nepotism. But it’s THE PROGRAMMER’S FILMS. To me, that’s just not right when you’re taking filmmaker’s hard earned money and it’s a red flag that it’s a waste of time to enter your film there.

But no… I got a lot of people telling me, “Oh you’re a whiner, you’re pathetic, it’s all subjective, etc.” Just like the ‘whiners’ on that Film Threat board, I find that the argument with these people can go in endless circles where they ultimately wear you out and make it APPEAR as though they’ve torn down your arguments but what’s really happened is you’re just tired and realize it’s getting you and indie filmmaking nowhere. Like I said, I’ve found that most sources for this stuff don’t seem to have any interest in helping out indie filmmakers by making a comprehensive list of scam festivals or festivals where certain things raise red flags. To be honest, I believe the entire festival atmosphere has gone bad with the advent of HD and micro budget cinema, because there is a high likelihood that the sheer volume of films now being made is the reason most festival exist, yet it’s also the reason most of them aren’t the up-and-up.

There really is no way for filmmakers to know what happens when you send your DVD to XYZ film festival and how much of a festival is programmed through connections and nepotism versus merit of the work. I myself have even defended the nepotism in this post, because both myself and friends have gotten our films to play fests simply because we worked with one of the organizers or moved in the same circles, but really, is that right? Not that our films were horrendous, but might there have been far more deserving work among the pile of rejects? It goes both ways… and it’s one of the reasons I’m plan on almost avoiding them entirely in the future.

Besides this, any investigative article or piece that is critical of the selection process at major festivals is often met with vociferous protests. There are the reasonable minded people who see what’s going on and are willing to call a spade a spade, and then there are those who have a million and one excuses as to why this is the way it MUST be. Sorry, but I’m suspicious of anything that’s ABOVE criticism, and that’s the way that festivals have been portrayed by the festival elite (if there is such a thing.)

Comment on Distributing films through iTunes by Evan

Evan — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 04:00:08 +0000

I’ve recently put my film up on indieflix. I’m curious if there are any success stories of films being picked up by Itunes via indieflix.

Comment on Twitter for filmmakers by Mike Boas

Mike Boas — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:44:52 +0000

I just ran across a video tutorial for using Twitterfeed. There's a couple tips in there for using bit.ly that I wasn't aware of. Again, black belt stuff, but the video steps you through it. http://twitter.moonfruit.com/#/rss-feeds/4534026589

Comment on Twitter for filmmakers by pacho

pacho — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:47:25 +0000

Thanks, Mike!

Good info! You’ve convinced me not to ignore Twitter after all!

Pacho

Comment on Twitter for filmmakers by Keith Handy

Keith Handy — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:07:28 +0000

Another great use is for search terms; if you use something specific enough (I’m having fun watching everyone who ever mentions the word “mellotron”), you find an interesting slice of society.

Comment on Scam Film Fest: Annual Program Without Frontiers by tru hel

tru hel — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 08:20:32 +0000

Hi Mike
I am a film maker from Australia. After looking into APWF I was relieved to find your website that clarified my suspicions, that the festivals they advertise and “represent” are all bogus and they send awards to film makers to keep them quiet and satisfied.
My suspicions were raised when I discovered that the festivals themselves did not have postal addresses and that all films were to be sent to some address in santa monica. You must admit their set up is quite sophisticated and seems to make sense but when you try and find the festivals that’s when it all falls apart.
On discovering your site however I was sad to see that this situation has been going on for a number of years now and this site continues to opperate.
What can we do as a community of film maker “with out borders” to stop them!
Regards
Tru hel

Comment on 3D Specs by Mike Boas

Mike Boas — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 12:29:24 +0000

Good to hear from you, Mark! Thanks for the link, I’ll check it out.

Here’s an article from Wired that partly inspired my blog post:
http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2009/03/filmmakers-use.html

-M

Comment on 3D Specs by Mark Svoboda

Mark Svoboda — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 12:08:11 +0000

Hey Mike,

I hope you and the Animatus crew are well – your post reminded me of a recent article on Creative Cow about making affordable 3D movies:

http://magazine.creativecow.net/article/stereoscopic-3d

Comment on Youtube upload specs by Mike Boas

Mike Boas — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 12:37:53 +0000

I’m still struggling with this a year later. Lately, I’ve been doing the uncompressed QT from Premiere, then using the “export for web” option in QT Pro.

This gives me a 480px wide m4v file. I’m not uploading to Youtube much, but those files work well in Podcasts and on Blip and Vimeo.

Comment on Youtube upload specs by Walt Ribeiro

Walt Ribeiro — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 10:36:58 +0000

Thanks! Been having a few questions about m4v. This cleared up a few things!

Comment on The OCD 2008 Movies Graph by Mike Boas

Mike Boas — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 15:53:48 +0000

The more I thought about it afterward, the more I liked it. It’s an old school Hitchcock-style suspense thriller, where life & death events hang on small things like making a phone call or getting a signature.

It’s not a history lesson (the suspense and story come first), but it’s not exploitative either.

Happy New Year!

-M

Comment on The OCD 2008 Movies Graph by Steve Anne

Steve Anne — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 15:12:18 +0000

Was Valkyrie really that good? We’re debating on seeing it.

Comment on Scam Film Fest: Annual Program Without Frontiers by olatz

olatz — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 06:06:48 +0000

Hello Mike,
I dont know if you go on with this inquiry, but APWF continues in the same way. I write you from spain (so, i can write to Mar de Plata Fest) and this year i have been awarded from Festival of Granada (best documentary), Festival of strasbourg (special mention) and right now i’ve got the diploma from festival du bruxelles for being selected.
Thanks to your report, which is exactly as APWF goes, I feel free from mentioned them in my film as they rule (Prizes, the Festival and the Program must be mentioned in all public display and promotion material of the films awarded). I was really worried about this point because everything seemed strange to me. The most one: the diplomas, which are all similar and too simple, are signed from people who dont exist (bruxelles one is signed by alain robinet which is a quite famous french poet and im sure is not him).
What about the other filmmaker who have been awarded? Should we write them to ask?
What about to the city councils of the citys they use?

Thank you very much and have a nice christmas days,
Best,
Olatz

Comment on Distributing films through iTunes by Matthew Ehlers

Matthew Ehlers — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:56:17 +0000

Well researched & good information. Thanks, Mike. More discussions on getting indie film out there are sorely lacking. I for one appreciate your work.

Comment on Movie Swiss Cheese by Ry

Ry — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 23:31:58 +0000

I have The Black Dahlia, Edmond, American Gangster, Kingdom of Heaven, and Black Book. I’ll let you borrow them in Dec.

As for Always, the videotape is there with you.

Comment on Wolfing Out: Halloween 2008 by Jenn

Jenn — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 10:53:33 +0000

You looked great!

Comment on Scam Film Fest: Annual Program Without Frontiers by Firebird

Firebird — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 19:00:08 +0000

HI There,

I just wanted to tell you, that I have the same problem! I just received an “award” and now I am totally annoyed of these APWF -Stuff.

I also had phoned with “Cindy” some months ago. but somehow I had a bad feeling about the NY Festival and 300$ is quite much so I did not send in my short film.

Let me tell you about my experience:
I have send my film to 3 Festivals this year. San Francisco/ Cine Barcelona/ L.A. Short Film Festival
Because I haven’t heard anything About it I just thought that (like so regular festivals do) my film wasn’t selected and the festival just does not send out “not accepted”-Emails. But now -very late I got an award and they say there is no public screening.

I searched around a bit because I wanted to see what kind of reputation the festival has and luckily found your page.

Now I know that I will never send a film to a Festival that is just fake!!
Thank you guys for your work!

I hope many, many filmmakers will read your investigation-story!

All the best,
Firebird
(from Germany)

Comment on Distributing films through iTunes by Darlene

Darlene — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:29:33 +0000

I think Amazon and iTunes both have something much more important going for them that you failed to mention: huge customer bases. It is not just that they are names people will know when you refer them to a seller, it is that people whom you have never heard from will see your content when they are visiting their favorite store. You will get more sales from those online stores just due to the volume of the customers than you will from Joe’s Download.

As for the person who said the TuneCore model was “silly”: Welcome to the real world. Silly or not, most people who sell products have to sell them through “aggregators” and other wholesalers. It is the way most retail commerce works. When you have bought up a sufficient share of the distribution market then you can straighten it out, until then you play the game.

Comment on Distributing films through iTunes by Corby Fine

Corby Fine — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 13:36:27 +0000

TuneCore seems silly. To break up the already minimal amount of revenue artist make among a larger pool of middle players? Just silly. Apple should open up an indie label that distributes only digitally. Sign contracts for exclusive rights to online sales, in exchange for media and advertising.

Comment on Cthulhu Unbound by Thomas Brannan

Thomas Brannan — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 23:31:37 +0000

Awesome! This is beyond cool. Mad Dog for the win!

Comment on Distributing films through iTunes by Scilla

Scilla — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:30:05 +0000

Actually there are other choices too…

IndieFlix “Bridge To Everywhere” Deal Delivers Much Needed Distribution Help To Indie Filmmakers.

Seattle WA, Oct 2, 2008 – Independent filmmakers finally have a “bridge to everywhere” as the online independent film distributor IndieFlix.com now delivers content to the world’s most powerful outlets to close the gap between independent filmmakers and fans.

IndieFlix now promotes content with long-standing powerhouse distribution sources – many of them not available to individual filmmakers – like iTunes, Amazon VOD, Hulu, Joost, Netflix, and VUDU. These channels can provide filmmakers with millions of new viewers on a daily basis. The IndieFlix business model is simple: filmmaker provides their film to IndieFlix and IndieFlix promotes the content to the world free of charge. IndieFlix keeps a small percentage of sales and the filmmaker retains all rights to the material.
http://www.indieflix.com
https://www.indieflix.com/ssl/Filmmaker/HowItWorks.aspx

Comment on Distributing films through iTunes by Christian Taylor

Christian Taylor — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:16:28 +0000

Hi, Thanks for the mention of MeDeploy. I just want to clarify one part of your story. MeDeploy is not meant to be an alternative to having your film in iTunes. Instead MeDeploy allows you to add movie sales to Social Networks (such as MySpace and others), your website, viral widgets or anywhere else you choose. Its purpose is to extend your films reach beyond the digital retail stores. Thanks again for the mention!

Christian Taylor
CEO/MeDeploy

Comment on Scam Film Fest: Annual Program Without Frontiers by Mike Boas

Mike Boas — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 03:50:47 +0000

Thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, quite a few people have contacted me with similar stories, although yours is the first in many months.

I didn’t personally contact Interpol, and the only reference I’ve found to that investigation was the article in Variety from 2003. I did email the writer, but never heard back. Now may be a good time to contact Variety and other media again — you may want to do the same. Aside from Variety and the Hollywood Reporter, we could write to the Independent, Film Threat, Filmmaker Magazine, and others.

If you’re looking for more reputable festivals, I recommend consulting withoutabox.com and their message boards. I never got anything but animosity from the head of filmfestivals.com, so I advise against using that site.

Best of luck with your endeavors!

-M

Comment on Weird Tales: The Strange Life of H.P. Lovecraft by Matt’s Bookosphere 8/20/08 « Enter the Octopus

Matt’s Bookosphere 8/20/08 « Enter the Octopus — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 03:56:05 +0000

[...] Matt’s Bookosphere 8/20/08 20 08 2008 BBC: “Weird Tales: the Life of H.P. Lovecraft” [...]

Comment on Scam Film Fest: Annual Program Without Frontiers by SM

SM — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 07:24:22 +0000

Hi there, I found APWF website though filmfestival.com which I assumed was a trusted site, and submitted to San Francisco and Barcelona.
I’ve just recieved today an email from APWF telling me my film has been preselected for the San Francisco Short Film Festival:in exactly the same wording as you printed on your blog. Naturally I was very excited an revisited the San Francisco International Festival of Short Films to see if I was listed in public screening programme, and to my puszzlement learned that it has just been held and my film wasn’t programmed.
I then revisited the APWF site to try and understand the functioning of award and screening process, but found it’s info extremely vague- and being a first-time self-funded filmmaker, intially put down my confusion down to my ignorance of the film festival system.I even tried to convince myself that perhaps awards are given the year preceeding the public screening in the Festival. THen I found your site…

It seems pretty clear it’s a scam and I’m very angry that it should be so easy to prey on the myriad of impoverished new filmmakers who are willing to go the extra mile to get noticed.
I confess that I not only submitted to the Festival International de Cine de Barcelona (APWF) but also the the NYIV Film Fest – which I learned too late, has itself got a pretty ropey reputation amongst filmmakers. So, having been selected, I declined their request to send a screener and be listed in their programme – So in the end, I lost that money too. I’d rather decline such dubious accolades and have my film screened only in reputable festivals: I’m not that desperate!
In the meantime, what are the results of Interpol investigation? I’m fine to add my own testimonial to their evidence. Bogus organisations, and websites complicit with promoting them should be banned and fined.
I shall now write to Martinez and ask for explanations and a refund.

Comment on The Launch of the Mad Dog Movies Podcast by Nick

Nick — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 05:31:00 +0000

Hi guys, im a fan from Sydney Australia, Only 16, but an aspiring indie film writer/director and actor.
I was wondering, would you recommend moving to LA/Hollywood to persue a career in any of these fields?

How did you start your own careers?
please email me or answer my question on your show…
Can’t wait for the next ep.
Nick.

Comment on Youtube upload specs by Keith Handy

Keith Handy — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 23:08:03 +0000

Thanks! I’ll try this two-stage exporting next time and see how it goes.

Comment on Scam Film Fest: Annual Program Without Frontiers by Antoine Manceaux

Antoine Manceaux — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 13:43:46 +0000

Hello,

Interesting to find this whole article… I’ve been wondering for a while what I had signed into by submitting my short film to several festivals represented by APWF…
I actually WON a Screenplay award, but I found this out one day on Google by complete coincidence… They had not notified me of such award on my name, and I never received anything at all. I tried sending e-mails to ask a little more about it… No replies ever…

I suspect the awards to be randomly given, i wish not, but if they are legit, they really have to work on they’re communication and graphic website design…

The only thing that really works is the Credit Card money sucking page…

I wish one day to know the truth about these guys and about my “award”…

Comment on Writing Lake Midnight by Keith Handy

Keith Handy — Thu, 24 May 2007 12:59:00 +0000

Congratulations on draft six!

Comment on Scam Film Fest: Annual Program Without Frontiers by Laurent Notaro

Laurent Notaro — Sat, 12 May 2007 16:29:30 +0000

Hi Mike,
Thank you very much for your investigation and publication, long time I was looking for infos about the APWF and the NY indy fake fest. In fact I won the Director Award at the Golden Gate bla bla fest 2004 and I always had a strange feeling while adding this to my CV: Nobody I know ever heard about it and the mamut address looks so obscure… I received a diploma after 1 year and some e-mails asking about the result. I have to say that the diploma and the website look like made with the feet (French expression)…
Concerning the NY fake fest, I have had a telephone conversation with “Cindy” who told me that they would give a refund if my film was not selected, then I wrote an e-mail to ask about the publication of the program, the answer was: YOUR FILM IS SELECTED :-), I looked at the website and search for my film: Nothing… I called “Cindy” again, but no answer… I wrote an e-mail and ask for the program again, but it was rejected as they tag me as spam…
After 3 years the wound is closed (I lost 300$) and I laugh a lot with my friends about the diploma. Sorry for my English, I speak French… If you need help to write a polite letter in French do not hesitate to contact me.

Comment on Scam Film Fest: Annual Program Without Frontiers by Padre

Padre — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 00:47:14 +0000

“There is a mention of the Mar del Plata International Film Festival, the only established festival. Do they know APWF is using their name?”

If you have a look at the Mar del Plata International Film Festival site you can actually find a section for the Annual Program Without Frontiers. http://www.mardelplatafilmfest.com/22/programacion_secciones_la_mirada_interior_anual_sin_fronteras_intro_e.php?id=6
And they do screen a selection of six films. So this surly means that the Mar del Plata fest knows about APWF. And it does give some credit to Mr Martinez.

So I repeat that if Mr Martinez wants to rid himself from suspicions like those raised here he should really be more generous with information about himself and the inner workings of the APWF. How about maintaining a blog that keeps people up to date on the progress of the single festivals. Also a more informative web site that can actually be navigated without using Google would help.

This would really be in everybody’s interest. Filmmakers would be happy to live without the suspicion to have some bogus awards on their CV and being able to use those credits on ImDB. And it would help the APWF to gain reputation and momentum.

Comment on Scam Film Fest: Annual Program Without Frontiers by Mike Boas

Mike Boas — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 14:45:36 +0000

“If this is not a scam I would urgently advise Mr Carlos Martinez to make this event more transparent.”

My thoughts exactly. If they’re on the up and up, they should explain fully how the festivals work.

Thanks for the comments. I’m glad I could help.

Comment on Scam Film Fest: Annual Program Without Frontiers by Padre

Padre — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 10:44:46 +0000

Here is another proud award winner. I can very much share the suspicions raised here in this blog. The way the “Annual Program Without Frontiers” is being operated is very obscure. There is no information what so ever to be found anywhere on how the festival works. As an award winner I would be very interested in knowing who actually gave me this award, who was the jury, how many films were selected etc.
If this is not a scam I would urgently advise Mr Carlos Martinez to make this event more transparent.
As far as the first comment by GMW is concerned: I am sure that far more than 100 people paid their 20$, I would estimate at least a 100 a year per event (especially shorts, there are millions of them). That would be 100x8x20=16.000 $ (there is also the FESTIVAL DE CINE INTERNACIONAL DE BARCELONA now). If it is a scam it would certainly help paying the festival director’s rent.

I also love your warning about the NYIIFV. They tried to urge me once on the phone to hand out my credit card details within 24 hours so they can book 300$ admission fee from it. Luckily your site saved me from being ripped off. Thanks :-)

*There is a lot of people out there trying to rip off desperate filmmakers. Take care.*

Comment on Scam Film Fest: Annual Program Without Frontiers by Mike Boas

Mike Boas — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 19:30:34 +0000

Bruno,

I’m glad you’re taking an interest in my research.

My purpose in reproducing our correspondence is to expose the possible fraud of Annual Program Without Frontiers. If you have anything to say in their defense or in defense of your website, I’d gladly repost that here.

It’s interesting that your letter of complaint focuses on my supposed insult to your nationality and my degree of politeness, while ignoring the other issues I have with your attitude and website.

For the record, I was not laughing at your French. I was making the point that my problem interpreting the tone of your emails may have been because of a language barrier.

Maybe I should ask you straight out:

1) When you referred to a “phony subject,” were you dismissing Dave’s concerns as phony?

2) When you said “It feels like we needed that,” did you mean “thanks for pointing out a possible scam” or were you being sarcastic?

3) When you told Dave “Nothing I can do more,” why did you not express concern at supporting a possible scam?

Did I jump the gun posting this blog? I don’t think so. The facts as I understand them are as follows.

A) Interpol investigated Annual Program Without Frontiers for fraud.

B) Filmfestivals.com supports APWF by carrying their listings and promoting them on its bulletin page.

I am eager to hear from other filmmakers and festival reps on this subject. I’d like to get to the truth and share it with the community.

Comment on Scam Film Fest: Annual Program Without Frontiers by Mike Boas

Mike Boas — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 19:03:02 +0000

Momo, I’d like to hear more about your experience. (I’ll send you an email, too.)

1) Did the APWF inform you by email or phone that you had won something?

2) When they emailed you certificates to print out, what did they say?

3) Did information about you and your film(s) appear on their website?

4) I’ve noticed that IMDB does have some listings for APWF events. Too bad those listings are “good” while your references to them are “bad”!

Comment on Scam Film Fest: Annual Program Without Frontiers by Momo

Momo — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 18:46:16 +0000

Well if this film festival is a scam then that’s really sad cause I’ve paid for 4 of them. I’ve sent my movie to those guys and won 3 awards and an official selection.

Official selection: New York short film f.
LA short Film.F.(winner)
Strasbourg F.F.(winner) I’ve got a diploma written in french. if this fest doesn’t exist then who wrote it? SOme “french guy”?.
Philadelphia Docu and fiction fest.(winner)

The awards(the official selction and the strasbourg f.f.) were just diplomas that I printed off my computer, nothing fancy.

I’m still waiting on my other “diplomas or certificates” It’s been almost a year since i’ve won the festivals and only got two diplomas out of 4.

I’ve written several emails to them and never got a single answer.

My movie is now on IMDB.com, I tried to update the awards I’ve won from the APWF but the administrators from IMDB told me that the festivals can’t be loaded into my page because they’re not legit although very similar to other festivals.

IMDB is going to fix this and maybe delete all the fake festivals that have something to do with APWF. Sorry folks!

I personally wont be submmiting more videos to this website.I will spread the news to my fellow filmmakers. Thanks to IMDB and to the honest people behind this “scam” study.

Comment on Scam Film Fest: Annual Program Without Frontiers by bruno chatelin

bruno chatelin — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:46:26 +0000

VEry surprised to to read the above!

What makes you think you can reproduce my correspondance (to you or to Dave) without asking my permission.
Have you seen this anywhere on the web on a decent website?

You are giving a biased trashy version of facts truncatting correspondance, bragging about your politeness or Dave’s polite tone…

So elegant from you to criticise my usage of english? just try writing to me in french and make me laugh . ooops please don’t; no time for that.

When I was a film distributor (managing director for Fox and Columbia TriStar theatrical in France) my Los Angeles execs never complained or laughed at my french maybe your standards are different.

My english was bad and not “spell checked” because I have been agressed and felt insulted by Dave’s tone in his first line to me: WHY DID’NT YOU PUBLISH HIS EMAIL TO ME (editor) IT STARTED LIKE THAT

“My last email to you bounced back and I am wondering if your whole
site is in question.

I believe you may be supporting scam film festivals site…” Not even hello, or whatever…Still in search of a response from filmfestivals.com to see if you
should be included in the Blog Worlds’ search for film festival
scammers and their supportive festival sites.”
THIS IS WHAT YOU DESCRIBE AS POLITE I quote you (may I?)
“He wrote politely, as a concerned filmmaker.”
So our site is fake and we support scam! thank you

If Dave wants my attention then tell him to start by beeing polite enough.

He complained, and you did too, that emails did not reach the festival: I took some time to check that, and got the festival director to answer directly with you.

Comment on Scam Film Fest: Annual Program Without Frontiers by GMW

GMW — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 11:29:47 +0000

Nice job Mike.

What kills me is that this guy would put so much energy into a bogus film festival. I mean the entry fee was $20, right? How many people do you think he’s scammed? Even at 100, we are talking a couple grand. Seems to me it would make more sense to actually run a legitimate festival.

Has he even offered to refund the entry fee yet?

Comment on After Dark Horrorfest by Bonez

Bonez — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 12:52:51 +0000

Just curious on when these movies will be out on DVD.

Comment on The Swiss Army Camera Revisited by Keith Handy

Keith Handy — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 17:40:29 +0000

What exactly is good about it again?

Comment on Future Echoes by Keith Handy

Keith Handy — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 10:04:03 +0000

I bet an “intelligent” frame-dropping algorithm would be useful, one that automatically selects a frame to drop based on how little difference there is between that frame and the frames just before and after.

Comment on Future Echoes by Mike Boas

Mike Boas — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 09:43:13 +0000

Yes, two frames a minute is correct. I actually expected frames to be dropped by the program. However, it instead did a weird frame blend over the course of entire clips. Ouch.

-M

Comment on Future Echoes by Keith Handy

Keith Handy — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 20:02:36 +0000

Is this a problem when watching the converted clip at normal speed?

Apparently the ratio between those two framerates is 999:1000, which would mean if you dropped frames you’re looking at dropping approximately two per minute — do you know if anyone has ever done this by simply hand-selecting the frames to be dropped?

Comment on Worms, Satan, and Nietzsche (sp) by Christy

Christy — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 02:40:05 +0000

Heh heh heh. One has not truly lived until they’ve experienced the Peachy Neachies live.

Incidentally, that End of the Line subway DVD is most excellent.

Comment on Help name my VOD site by Keith Handy

Keith Handy — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 19:36:04 +0000

Foam?

Comment on H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival Report by Mars

Mars — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 04:33:02 +0000

Damn, it seems like I first wrote to you about THE OTHER GODS in a whole other lifetime. Where does the time go? Oh wait, both our carreers in film have actually been successful and gaining momentum…now I remember.(sigh)
I’m SO THERE next year. I had the Eerie Horror Fest exactly opposite this year, and was a featured guest, so that was that. However “Nightmare” (a surreal short film I scored) did play this year. And Now that I’ve actually been hired by Lurker Films, Ill just keep pestering Andrew untill he gives in…I wanna GO!!!! (repeats endlessly………..)

Can’t wait to see the finished thing my friend.

Best-
MARS

Comment on H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival Report by Jeff Palmer

Jeff Palmer — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 13:03:17 +0000

Great to read about the event, Mike. Can’t wait to attend this festival — next year?? With any luck I’ll have a movie in progress by then (or at least a script to promote.)

Best of luck with The Other Gods. :)

Comment on Too many Halloween photos by Keith Handy

Keith Handy — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 12:29:28 +0000

Although some people fatten themselves up for acting roles, I don’t think a single Halloween outing would have been worth it. Better to be his young and trim successor.

Comment on Too many Halloween photos by Mike Boas

Mike Boas — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 12:07:37 +0000

I was going for a Doctor Caligari idea. I’m not quite there, but you can see the influence.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0010323/

Comment on Too many Halloween photos by Keith Handy

Keith Handy — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 07:26:44 +0000

I dig it! Is that a specific character or an amalgamation?

Comment on H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival Report by Aaron

Aaron — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 02:56:59 +0000

Thanks for coming, and I’m sorry we didn’t get to talk! I enjoyed “The Other Gods” quite a bit; especially since I am gearing up to run a CoC RPG campaign in Dreamlands (among other things). I thought your animation was simple but effective. My only real criticism is that I don’t think you needed to say that it was a “lost film” that was made in the 20′s (or 30′s). I think you should just play it.

Please make more movies!

Aaron

PS-Yes, Call of Tutu was shot in Super 8…my first time with the camera, too, which is one reason why a lot of it is out of focus (I’m a director, not a cameraman, damnit!)

Comment on Rent This! Direct to Video Movies by Wayne

Wayne — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 23:01:44 +0000

You want to see Anne all grown up in Havoc. Oh yes you do.

Comment on The Swiss Army Camera by Scary Videos

Scary Videos — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 17:16:45 +0000

Crikey! All your missing is a phone on that dang thing! LOL :)

Comment on Horror from Starz & Encore by Steve Belgard

Steve Belgard — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 12:34:42 +0000

Hi Mike – was wondering if you got our gangster doc. If so, any plans to write something??

Best –
SB

Comment on Ain’t Halloween Fun? by La-bet

La-bet — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 14:30:04 +0000

I wish I could’ve been there… When I get my pics uploaded I’ll send ‘em to you.

Comment on A night of bunnies by Mike Boas

Mike Boas — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 13:35:55 +0000

Well, I originally heard about Shiman’s cartoons through a horror website — and most of her shorts are horror parodies. She’s working on a Night of the Living Dead parody right now…

But Night of the Lepus is a personal favorite of mine. Slow motion shots of rabbits stampeding over HO scale models. Guys in furry bunny suits jumping out of nowhere to take out hapless victims.

The best is the scene at the drive-in where the police recruit the public to help stop the infestation: “Attention! Attention! Ladies and gentlemen, attention! There is a herd of killer rabbits headed this way and we desperately need your help!”

Comment on A night of bunnies by Nivek

Nivek — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 08:46:06 +0000

I must admit, after reading up on all the Friday the 13th stuff, my mind was thrust into the pages of classic Fangoria issues…
With Horror on the brain, I was praying that this post titled “Night of bunnies” was really a reference to the dreadfully wonderful classic “Night of the Lepus,” of which I can honestly say I might be the only one alive to have actually seen. It was a movie about giant killer rabbits starring the legendary Janet Leigh and ‘Bones’ from Star Trek.

Alas, i will overcome my disappointment and check out these bunnies.

Comment on Shootout at the Comic-Con by Mike Boas

Mike Boas — Tue, 16 Aug 2005 02:48:07 +0000

Is that associated with Wizard magazine? It was probably more about comics than Comic-Con has been lately.

Sansweet had an obsession and turned it into a career. I remember first reading about him about 15 years ago. He had just added a floor onto his house to make room for more Star Wars collectibles. This was years before he became a spokesperson for Lucasfilm.

As for Frank Miller, I wouldn’t mind meeting him. He’s brought real innovation to comics and movies. I never read the Sin City books, but I loved his Batman stuff and the graphic novel Ronin. I love the fact that Rodriguez encouraged him to co-direct — his argument was that through the art in his comics, he was already a director.

I haven’t been to a lot of these conventions — I guess I prefer to geek out at home. I’ll probably be going to the Rue Morgue Festival of Fear later this month, though.

Comment on Shootout at the Comic-Con by Steve Anne

Steve Anne — Mon, 15 Aug 2005 21:03:50 +0000

Mike,
I volunteered at Wizard World Chicago this year. Great time, and got to see Sansweet talk about the upcoming Star Wars tv shows. Kevin Smith was there as was Frank Miller. Oh… and a lot of freaks. My kind of shindig. Why did I post that here? Fate.

Comment on Review: Midnight Movies by Mike Boas

Mike Boas — Mon, 08 Aug 2005 11:17:28 +0000

I’m not a huge fan of Waters’ movies, but I love him as a personality. Crybaby and Serial Mom were great, but the early stuff is a bit too raw for me. I’ve seen Female Trouble, which was disturbing enough — I feel like I know what I’d be in for with Flamingos.

Jodorowsky is one I’ve read about but never seen. I am interested in seeing El Topo and others, however. His plans for directing Dune in the 70s sounded really loopy. You can see a write-up of it here: http://www.maddogmovies.com/almost/past.html#dune

-Mike

Comment on Review: Midnight Movies by La Bibi

La Bibi — Fri, 05 Aug 2005 18:56:35 +0000

Darlin’ do not be afraid to see Pink Flamingos (if you haven’t already seen it). Yes, it’s disturbing like the car-crash cliche: it’s terrible, but you can’t help staring.
I am a huge fan of Jodorowsky, and a few months back I finally got my hands on a decent (uncut)copy of El Topo on DVD. My greatest aquisition thus far happened last spring when I got a UK-printed DVD of Jodorowsky’s last film, Santa Sangre, 2-disc set! Fab! Have you seen it?

Comment on How desperate is INXS? by Keith Handy

Keith Handy — Fri, 17 Jun 2005 17:14:28 +0000

With rock bands whose lead voices are practically their trademarks — Rush, the Police, Queen, etc. — messing around with the ingredients and calling it the same thing can be just plain silly. I don’t know enough INXS material to know to what degree that applies for them.

As for the double whammy of replacing them with another “trademark voice”, it can get twice as silly.

That said, you don’t really want to be doomed to an association with a televised contest either.

Comment on “Star Wars, Nothing but Star Wars…” by Steve Anne

Steve Anne — Sat, 04 Jun 2005 17:09:57 +0000

Mike, I thought the same thing about Grievous, but oddly enough, the Clone Wars cartoons that air on The Cartoon Network (and also at the Star Wars website) actually sort of explain his cough. It’s pretty cool and for fanboys like us, Revenge actually mentions a lot that goes on in the toons.

Comment on My problem with Cyberpixels by Steve Anne

Steve Anne — Fri, 13 May 2005 17:38:43 +0000

Kernel panic? I had that once when I burnt a bag of popcorn in my microwave and couldn’t get the smell out of the house for weeks. I wrote a song about it. I am currently trying to find a studio that will produce my screenplay. No bites yet. I’m not worried.

Comment on The Animation Show 2005 by Steve Anne

Steve Anne — Fri, 13 May 2005 17:31:24 +0000

I think Bill Plympton might be perverted. I need to stop stalking him. At least that’s what the police have told me.

Comment on Donald Duck’s Family Tree by Steve Anne

Steve Anne — Fri, 13 May 2005 17:27:31 +0000

So where does Ludwig Von Drake fit in? Is he the relative no one talks about? He must have skeletons in his closet. Probably eats his own kind…

Comment on An interview with… me! by Steve Anne

Steve Anne — Fri, 13 May 2005 17:26:05 +0000

Very cool Mike! You forgot to mention the whole “running through the fountain” hazing thing that Animatus does when they head up to Ottawa. I count that as a difficult project…

Comment on An interview with… me! by Keith Handy

Keith Handy — Tue, 10 May 2005 21:46:22 +0000

Hooray! A good read! *clap clap clap clap clap*

Comment on Encore Midnight Movie Doc by Steve Belgard

Steve Belgard — Thu, 28 Apr 2005 17:17:12 +0000

Thanks for the props on our “Midnight Movies” doc, as well as good things to say about our other shows on Encore.

Let me have your address and we’ll send you a copy.

Best –
Steve Belgard
Starz Entertainment Group

Comment on Sons of Indiana Jones by Laura Boas

Laura Boas — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 13:29:01 +0000

Mike, go ahead and put up that masterpiece, Andiana Bones and the Forest of Gloom. Oh, so embarassing! I give you permission.

Comment on E.R. gross-out of the week: Eye Popping by Keith Handy

Keith Handy — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 06:50:37 +0000

GGGGGAGAGYAGHGGGAH

Comment on The Animation Show 2005 by indietalk

indietalk — Mon, 25 Apr 2005 22:12:47 +0000

Hey mad dog mike, nice blog you’ve got going here.

Comment on Cinema Wasteland Report Part 2: Horror Hosts by Butch R. Cleaver

Butch R. Cleaver — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 09:05:00 +0000

Hi!

Just wanted to send thanks for the balanced review of our humble host program! It was very refreshing to see and your critique is not only inspiring to us and the crew but also helps us to identify someof our weaker areas (know any freelance comedy writers that are outta work *wink*).

It was really great meeting you and great to see your film: Jason: The Rebirth! Very fun and great to see a new clip of our old pal Jason again. :)

I’d love to send you some other episodes (different sets, characters etc.- Free of charge toi reviewers *wink*) to get your view on them as well. If you’re ever interested in more shows, just drop us a line.

Cheers,
Brian
aka
Butch R. Cleaver

Comment on Goodbye forums, hello blogs by Keith Handy

Keith Handy — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 16:07:22 +0000

Really, anything involving *fewer clicks* is always good. I may eventually move my blog right to my front page, for that matter.