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Friday, October 24, 2008

Trachtenburgs Join Fritz Donnelly On Their Way to Times Square for 'Awesome' tothehills 2 Screening

To the Hills filmmaker Fritz Donnelly presented his latest DVD tothehills 2 during a From Here to Awesome screening Thursday night in New York at the Times Square Arts Center. It was quite an ecclectic evening, as the party actually started a few hours earlier at the Lower East Side performance/art fun space HiChristina, where the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players (represented by Mom Tina and daughter Rachel, dad was not present) sang Rachel's song "Black Cat." (FYI, last week Rachel appeared at the New York City Term Limits hearing, where she testified that Mayor Bloomberg is "the worst Mayor ever," as documented in The New York Times.) A second and third rendition were performed on the subway on the way over to the Times Square Arts Center. One of those performances was captured on video as seen below with Fritz MC'ing. The Trachtenburgs gave one final performance of "Black Cat" before the tothehills 2 screening, after which Fritz took some questions from the audience. You can hear the Q&A in its entirety in the audio file here: Fritz%20FHTA%20Oct.%2023%2C%202008.dvf





tothehills 2 presents short films in an enterprising way. Between character-driven episodes of "Financial Advice," and "Awkward Social Situations," orange and blue clones fight their way through a Kafka-inspired world, one very like our own. Many of the shorts have won acclaim at festivals such as the audience award at the High Concept Low Budget Film Festival in San Francisco and the curator's choice at Rooftop Films Summer Series 10 year's Best Shorts Program in New York.

"Making art is a compulsion. Sharing art is a choice. Everything we have—our language, our clothes, our money—we've gotten from other people, so I believe in sharing. From Here To Awesome is a way for filmmakers to share their fans with one another. I'm a fan of fans," said Donnelly.

From Here to Awesome, an open-source discovery and distribution film festival that kicked off July 26th in Los Angeles and rolls out over a six-month period with stops in New York, San Francisco, Boston and London, showcases its 12 selected features, including tothehills 2, in all forms of distribution from theaters to living rooms to computers and mobile devices. Filmmakers retain all the rights, see direct revenue from each of the outlets and enjoy global audiences. The goal is to create a direct connection between the audience and the filmmaker.

In addition to making films, Donnelly hosts tothehills movie nights and open mics at venues such as the Glasslands in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and at HiChristina, where he presents music, films, and performance art. Donnelly also presented Vidopedia, a 'counter-conventional' encyclopedia that illustrates verbs, at the New Museum of Contemporary Art on October 11, commissioned by Rhizome.

You can contribute to Fritz's upcoming To the Hills projects on IndieGoGo.com.

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Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Fritz Donnelly's tothehills2 fundraising on IndieGoGo.com

In an effort to help promote Fritz Donnelly's tothehills 2, see below information on how you can help contribute to three new tothehills short films. Please spread the word:




The From Here to Awesome sensation tothehills 2, 25 short films in one directed by Fritz Donnelly, is now open for its first round of fundraising on IndieGoGo.com.

To contribute to three more tothehills short films, go to:http://www.indiegogo.com/project/view/726

Goal: $500

How will these funds be used?

To make 3 more tothehills short films.

FINANCIAL ADVICE: for the banking industry who want to steal your home and have you pay them for it.

AWKWARD SOCIAL SITUATIONS: how to be a graceful nude.

And CLONE WAR II: whatever went wrong with the recent star wars went right for this movie.

VIP PERKS

$10 "Financial Advice" Copy of tothehills 2 dvd

$25 "Awkward Social Situations" Copy of tothehills and tothehills2 dvds

$50 "Real Estate Pro"Copy of tothehills and tothehills2 dvds. Thank you on website.

$100 "Milk Industry" Copy of tothehills and tothehills2 dvds. Thank you on website. 5 free admissions to hichristina.com.

$250 "Everything I Know" Copy of tothehills and tothehills2 dvds. Thank you on website. Season pass to hichristina.com

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Friday, February 22, 2008

From Here to Awesome New Videos

The people behind From Here to Awesome, which I previously reported on, have posted two new videos available under Creative Commons attribution for embeding, re-editing and re-posting or television airing. Check them out.

The first video shows the frustration of filmmakers and audiences in the current system and has some pretty funny moments and solid info:


The second video shows exactly how From Here to Awesome will work and is addressed to filmmakers who have completed films:

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Monday, January 21, 2008

From Here to Awesome

I'm slightly late on posting about this, but thanks to me checking in with my new IndieGoGo profile, I was reminded just now about what seems to be quite a revolutionary new film festival called FROM HERE TO AWESOME, founded by DIY filmmakers Lance Weiler (The Last Broadcast, Head Trauma), Arin Crumley (Four Eyed Monsters) and M dot Strange (We Are The Strange).

Now according to FROM HERE TO AWESOME'S IndieGoGo profile, there is to be "10 feature films, 10 shorts and 10 virtual panels to change the face of film." Upon logging onto the official FROM HERE TO AWESOME site, I was unable to find any specific details about the 10 virtual panels, however, Lance Weiler posts on the blog, "This is an experiment and we welcome your thoughts, comments and suggestions. If you’d like to suggest a film, panelist or speaker please send an email to info [@] fromheretoawesome.com."

In the mean time, here's a brief summation of what the festival is all about according to the website:

"FROM HERE TO AWESOME is a discovery and distribution festival that might be the perfect system to get your film blasted to audiences in theaters, living rooms, online and via mobile phones. All filmmakers are welcome to be a part of the festival. There are NO submission fees, filmmakers retain their rights while receiving revenue directly from the distribution outlets. A wide range of major promotional partners and distribution platforms are on board. All we need now is your film. Please submit ASAP to give the festival’s audience time to vote your film into the top 10, so it can be a part of the April Showcase."

FROM HERE TO AWESOME started accepting submissions on Jan. 10. Here's a list of other key dates to keep in mind:

MARCH 7th - SUBMISSION DEADLINE
MARCH 10th - VOTING STARTS
APRIL 7th - FESTIVAL LAUNCHES

Good luck to all!

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