Hey folks, Eric here again! I just wanted to let you know that our latest film, "Keeping Up with the Cloneses" in now online for your viewing pleasure!
To check it out, just click play or navigate over to the Short Films section or our YouTube channel.
Stay beautiful, errbody!
Folks, we're going to Filmapalooza!
Eric here, and I'm so pumped to announce that our entry into this year's Minneapolis 48 Hour Film Project, "Keeping Up with the Cloneses," has been awarded several honors, including Best Sound Design, Best Writing for Marcus Mann's script, Best Actress for Debra Berger's performance, Audience Favorite for our screening group, and BEST FILM overrall! That's right, errbody, we did pretty good this year!
The 48HFP took place the weekend of June 6-8. At 6:30pm Friday Night, Marcus, Andrew, and I hit the Crooked Pint in downtown Minneapolis along with the other 67 teams to draw our genres and get our required elements. We then dashed down to our location, a lovely old house in South Minnie, and started brainstorming! It didn't go well. After two hours our only decent idea had been offered by Marcus who said, "so she's a government cloner, okay?"
A few hours after that, we had a fantastic script, Andrew and Sam Johnson (our Cinematographer (he also shot Boxing with God)) were shotlisting, and our actresses were all lined up to begin shooting in the morning!
Saturday was a long day. We began bright and early, bleary-eyed and un-showered. I sat upstairs editing the footage as it came in, while Andrew directed the action below, and Marcus kept everyone on-track by playing Assistant Director. Our great friend Craig Larson (the titular character in Boxing with God) recorded audio, Sam Johnson ran the BlackMagic Pocket, and we all had the pleasure of working with Katie Vannelli again! Keep an eye out for her in the lead role of the upcoming Meanwhile at the Citadel of Superheroes...! We were also lucky enough to experience the acting talent of Debra Berger for the first time, a relatively new friend of the Jackets who we've been dying to work with!
Despite some last-minute, late-night rewrites, we managed to finish shooting around 1am Sunday morning, catch some Zs, and finish up the edit on Sunday. It was a race against the clock as we rendered the final file, hopped in the car, took some liberties with some Speed Limit signs, and handed the film in with minutes to spare!
The following Wednesday, June 18, "Keeping Up with the Cloneses" debuted in front of a large audience at the Riverview Theatre along with several other films in our screening group. The reaction was spectacular and the following Tuesday we were floored to find out we had made it to the Best Of Fest screening on Thursday, the 26th!
Although Marcus wasn't able to attend (he'd scampered off to Ohio just days before) it was a fantastic night of great movies and bated breath! We swept every award we were nominated for (Best Sound Design, Best Actress, and Best Writing) and were thrilled to receive the Audience Favorite award for our screening group. After "Cloneses" closed the screening portion of the night, the big moment arrived. We all held our collective breath as they counted off the runners-up awards, and we could not believe it when "Keeping Up with the Cloneses" was announced as Best Film of the 2014 Minneapolis 48 Hour Film Project. Simply amazing.
Overall, this year's 48 was a challenging one. We pushed ourselves to make a movie the likes of which we've never done before, and ultimately we were rewarded for the effort. We couldn't have done it without our dedicated supporters, amazing crew, and freakishly talented actresses. From myself, Andrew, and the not-so-distant Marcus, we'd like to thank everyone who saw our weird little movie. I'll be posting it online ASAP, so check back here over the weekend!
Left to Right: Debra Berger, Eric Carlson, Andrew Neill, Katie Vannelli, and Craig Larson
Now on to the worldwide competition.... See you at Filmapalooza 2015!
Overwhelmed,
Eric
We are pleased to announce that “Meanwhile, at the Citadel of Superheroes…” was selected as the Spirit of Comic Con winner for the 2014 Wizard World Comic Con in Minneapolis!
This award is given to the film that most represents the passion of the Comic Con culture, and we are very honored to have received it. As a Spirit of Comic Con winner, the film will go on to screen at many of the remaining stops in the 2014 Wizard World Comic Con Film Festival tour. We’ll post updates when we know specifically which cities will be showing the film.
Now that the convention is over, we’re back to working on the extended cut of “Meanwhile, at the Citadel of Superheroes…”, targeting the end of May for completion. It’s coming together nicely, and we’re excited to be able to share it with you all soon!
Zip Zap Zow,
Marcus
Ay caramba! It’s been too long! They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and, oh, how true that is! I’m brimming with excitement to be here once more to catch you up on all the goings-on and what-have-you’s in the world of Two Jackets Productions.
When last we posted, the gang had just wrapped principle photography on Meanwhile, at the Citadel of Superheroes…, our latest short film project and entry into Z-Fest Film Festival V. Eric spent most of late January and early February in front of his computer, editing and whipping up some awesome visual effects. Marcus and I covered most of the sound mix (to varying degrees of success) and provided moral support to Eric, which mostly consisted of Taco Bell offerings. Fueled by Baja Blast and the sheer force of will, Eric wrapped up the cut at about 4 A.M. on the due date and collapsed.
The Z-Fest screenings arrived in March, and we were very pleased with the film’s reception. We received many kind remarks from our friends, family, fellow filmmakers, and combinations of those. The judges enjoyed the film enough to vote it into the Best of Fest screening alongside many other great projects. At the awards ceremony, we were honored to take home awards for Best Hero (for Katie Vannelli’s brilliant performance as Lizzy Lectric), Best Fantasy/SciFi, and Fourth Runner-Up overall!
Suddenly, April. Two Jackets flee to neutral territory and hole up for a full weekend. Three guys. One hotel room. All business. Yeah, it was pretty hott. But we had a future to discuss! And folks, we’re happy to report: the future is bright.
For starters, we’re creating an extended cut of Meanwhile for the festival circuit. We’re proud of the cut we submitted to Z-Fest, but the content we’re adding back into the film will elevate it with more humor and stakes. We’ll have the extended, no-holds-barred cut wrapped up before the Fantastic Fest deadline on May 29th. However, due to some immediate festival deadlines, we’ve been submitting the current cut to a few places, and we’re already seeing results!
Just this week, we were informed that Meanwhile and You Only Die Once! (starring our pal and local wunderkind Tyler Michaels) will be screening at Minneapolis Comic Con on Friday, May 2nd. Our very own Marcus Mann will be in attendance. If you’re at the Con, seek out the Film Festival! You’ll find a bunch of details about the Con on the Wizard World website. Zip Zap Zow!
Aside from finishing up and sending off Meanwhile, Two Jackets Productions will be participating once again in the Minneapolis 48 Hour Film Project, being held June 6-8 this year. Some may call it masochism; we call it good practice. What’s a little sleep-loss compared to the thrill, creativity, and collaboration that transpires in those mere 48 hours? It’s such a huge weekend for local filmmaking. Totally worth it.
Lastly, before you run off to your next cat video, I have one more little news item. On behalf of Two Jackets Productions, I am pleased to announce that our feature film, Limpwings, will be available on DVD and digital copy via Amazon this fall. You heard that right, folks! After almost three years, we’re finally ready to share the story of Daniel Hall and his nasty case of stigmata with you all. We’re very proud of this project; we learned a lot about ourselves and the art of filmmaking in the process. We’ll announce the exact release date later this summer after all the prep work is wrapped. Until then, God help us.
Look at that! You made it through. How lovely! Thanks for reading and for stopping by the Two Jackets site. Now go watch dem cats!
Andrew