Notes from our February 4th screening

It was a full house at 92YTribeca on February 4th for a special romance-themed Iron Mule.  Guest judge romance novelist Hope Tarr joined us and spoke a bit about her work and about romance in general.  Romance, Hope said, means that there must be a happy ending, which generally fits for comedies.

Guest judge Hope Tarr with Jay and Victor
photo by Tom Henning

First in the lineup was our iThentic.com film, The Rules of the Game, written by Sam Michell and directed by Tom Daley.  Hope liked it because it had a "hot English guy" as the lead, although the happiness of the ending is questionable.  You can judge for yourself by watching it here.

Next was Love, our Canadian entry for the evening, written and directed by Kaveh Nabatian.  This movie is difficult to describe without ruining it, but simply put it's a very whimsical and oddly told odd story about a couple that have a one-night stand and end up with a family in the most unexpected of ways.

Next was Oh Baby, I Love You! by Mary Angelica Molina, which tells the story of a woman who has a sexual quirk that threatens to destroy a relationship she cares about before it gets started.  This lovely-looking film had some great comic performances and a nice twist at the ending.

Speaking of twists, next was a film from Australia, Rupert Le Poer Trench's Appy Ever After, which is about a husband trying to sneak a night out with the boys with the aid of a smartphone app.  This movie actually had two twists at the end, and we won't spoil them for you here.

Next in our lineup was Karen Hope's Buon Giorno Sayonara, about an Italian tourist and a Japanese tourist who meet up on the English seashore after having had arguments with their respective others.  They have a romantic afternoon together, although they don't speak the same language.  This movie was quite charming and made do without much dialogue, and no subtitles for the little Japanese and Italian the characters spoke.

Our final film was from an old friend of Iron Mule, Alan McIntryre Smith, a music video called Espresso Nirvana.  Alan, who also shot and edited the film, had shot concerts of composer and classical pianist Gregg Kallor, and when Gregg asked for a promotional video for his new album, Alan proposed going all out and making a music video.  Alan was at the screening and we spoke about how he developed the movie with Gregg.  As you might imagine, there aren't many classical music videos, but after seeing Espresso Nirvana we really hope the trend takes off.

with Alan McIntyre Smith
photo by Tom Henning

This was it for the films in competition, but before we showed our "Wanna be a Star" movie, co-host Victor Varnado had a movie of his to show.  The newly-completed The Trouble with Charlie was made as part of a Comedy Central competition and was the pilot of a potential series about an unregistered puppet trying to find love and friendship in a hostile world.  Also Charlie's a bit of a jerk, but that's beside the point.

Then the audience cast their votes for their favorite films, and while the votes were being tallied, we showed the world premiere of I'm the Rudest Person in the World.  As always for our "Wanna be a Star" films, the title was suggested by the audience at the previous month's show, and the star, Kerry McGuire, was randomly picked from the audience.  As luck would have it, Kerry is a writer, and in an Iron Mule first, she wrote the movie for her to star in.  Adam Sacks directed.

with Adam Sacks and Kerry McGuire
photo by Tom Henning

After the film it was time for the awards, and Hope Tarr joined us for the announcement.  The audience award went to Oh Baby, I Love You! and the judges' award was a very rare tie between Buon Giorno Sayonara and Love.

Hope Tarr announces the winners
photo by Tom Henning

Then it was off to the after party for drinks, mingling, and for some of us, a late night snack in SoHo.

At the after party, where everything is better in black and white.
photo by Tom Henning

Thanks for reading, and make sure to join us at our March 3rd screening!

Re: Puppet Drama is Wrapped and Ready

So, THE TROUBLE WITH CHARLIE, the "puppet dram" that I conceived of a few weeks ago is finished! It was strange how quickly it came together.  A friend of mine had a production company and told me that they were doing nothing for a couple of weeks and if I had a briliant idea, they would shoot it for me.

Brilliant is subjective, but we did turn around a helluva shoot in very little time.  It has been a while since I had the chance to direct a narrative with a full crew so I was psyched.

New York City premiere coming up at The Iron Mule (ironmulenyc.com) film fest on February 4th at 8 pm 

If you are in town, you should definitely come see it.

Hope Tarr to guest judge February 4th screening!

We're excited to announce that romance writer Hope Tarr will be gust judging our special romantic-themed February show!  Get your tickets now here -- we sold out last month and you won't want to miss out on this one.

Here's some info about Hope:

Hope Tarr is the award-winning author of fifteen historical and contemporary romance novels, including VANQUISHED (a Kindle Top 100 Bestseller) and TEMPTING, reissued this February 2012 as an audio and e-book. Hope is also a co-founder and principal of Lady Jane's Salon, New York City's first--and only--monthly romance fiction reading series, now in its third year. Find Hope online at www.HopeTarr.com, www.WriterNYC.com, www.LadyJaneSalon.com, www.Twitter.com/HopeTarr and www.facebook.com/HopeC.Tarr.

Notes from our January 7th screening

The audience gathered for a sold out show on an unseasonably warm evening at 92YTribeca and Jay and Victor took the stage to introduce two special guests: Victor brought out Charlie, the star of a movie he's working on, and then Jay introduced Lisa Baylin of iThentic.com, who came to town from Toronto to launch a partnership with Iron Mule, and also to serve as guest judge for the evening.

Victor and Charlie 

Jay, Victor, and Lisa Baylin

Lisa talked about iThentic's programming, and how we're going to be sharing content monthly at the Iron Mule shows and on their website.

First up were two iThentic.com originals, The Ascent of Man and World's Worst Golf Course from The World of Bruce McCall.  These are animated films adapted from New Yorker covers by the famed illustrator and writer Bruce McCall.  We're big fans, so it was a thrill to have Bruce there in person, where Jay and Victor discussed with him the process of having others animate his drawings, and the difference between humor and comedy.

Our next block of films included four excerpts from the webseries Naomi: The Show (which, unbeknownst to us when we programmed it, is also featured on iThentic.com).  Naomi: The Show tells the story of Naomi, who is hit on in the most disturbing of ways at the bus stop.  Next was Robert Mond's comedy thriller from Australia Reception, about a kidnapping in the age of cell phones.  Then The Sleepover Story, by Pete Lutz, which tells the story of a scary story come true.  Rounding out the block was Fergus Dingle's Total Insurance, a comedy-horror about insurance advertising that just won't stop.

We checked in with Lisa for her thoughts and waxed poetic about the short film format for a bit, before going on to our last block of films in competition.

The last two were Stephanie Argy and Alec Boehm's Gandhi at the Bat, a lost censored newsreel that tells the story of Mahtama Gandhi's top secret mission to the US in the 1930's, in which he accidentally winds up batting one game with the Yankees.  The last film of the night was The Wallet or the Watch by Jason Saenz and Robert Rugan, about two muggers who pick the wrong guy to mug.  The film could have just been a quick gag, but it was executed with a lot of style and a featured a great performance by comedianTom Shillue as the "victim." We spoke with Jason Saenz and producer Vincento about the challenge of making professional-looking short comedy films

Last up was our "Wanna Be a Star" film Russian Dressing, starring audience member Joy Shatz, who tore up the screen as a desperate and obsessive baker racing to get ready for a dinner party.  Joy and director Ryan Guiterman talked about the process of making the film, which, reflecting the star's namesake, sounded like a joy.

with Ryan and Joy

Then it was time for Lisa to announce the winners, who will go on for consideration for acquisition by iThentic.com.  It was a tough competition, but there can only be two winners.  This month it was a split: the audience voted for Gandhi at the Bat, while the judges' prize went to Total Insurance.

Lisa Baylin announces the winners

The audience filtered out to the cafe for an after party where they mingled with the filmmakers and regaled each other with the type of humor and charm that is unique to Iron Mule audiences.  Stop by our next screening at 92YTribeca on February 4th to see it for yourself!

The Iron Mule is now partnered with iThentic.com!

The Iron Mule has joined forces with the website iThentic.com to spread short comedy film magic across the globe!  Starting in January, 2012, the Iron Mule will have a designated slot for an iThentic.com film at each monthly screening in NYC.  In return, winning films from the Iron Mule will be automatically considered for hosting on the iThentic site.  iThentic hosts and produces all sorts of wonderful webseries (not just comedies) and is a showcase for some great short films from around the world.  Check them out now at ithentic.com.  And you'll be able to meet some of the iThentic.com team at our January 7th show at 92YTribeca.

Welcome, iThentic.com -- here's to the beginning of a beautiful friendship!*

*which may or may not involve fighting Nazis.

Notes from our December 3rd Screening

The crowd was out in force for another Iron Mule extravaganza on December 3rd at 92YTribeca.  Jay and Victor welcomed the crowd and then welcomed special guest judge, editor of Popular Photography, Miriam Leuchter.

Jay and Victor welcome the crowd
(photo by Tom Henning)

Jay and Victor welcome Miriam Leuchter
(photo by Tom Henning)

As a photographer, Miriam expressed her bias for nice-looking comedy films and planned to judge the night's selection on that merit.

First up was Dano Johnson and Tate English's Iron Mule classic holiday film White Blood Cell Saves Christmas.  We show this film each December and it never fails to please.  Following this was a longer film, Their Eyes Were Watching Gummy Bears, directed by Raafi Rivero.  The film tells the story of a college student on his last day at Princeton as he struggles to stay together with his girlfriend.  This was a very nicely shot film, to Miriam's delight, and Raafi was on hand to discuss the movie and his other work.

Raafi Rivero
(photo by Tom Henning)

Next up were two films; episode 1 of the web series Enter the Dojo by Matthew Page, and Adam Lerman's Help Wanted, also a beautifully shot film, and DP Josh Miller took to the stage along with director Adam Lerman for a brief interview.  This film was part of a 24-hour film challenge and Adam and Josh talked about the process of making the movie in such a short time frame.

Adam Lerman and Josh Miller
(photo by Tom Henning)

Next up was P.M.O., a hilariously dark Canadian political thriller by Daryl Cloran, followed by episode 2 of Enter the Dojo.  Matthew Page, the director and star of the movie, lives in New Mexico, so he couldn't attend the screening, but cast member Julie Lopez happend to be in NYC and she spoke with us about the series and her other work with Matt (including Delivery Date, which she co-starred in, and we showed at a previous Iron Mule).

With these strong (and nice-looking) contenders in mind, the audience and judges convened to vote for their favorite films.  But before we announced the winners, it was time for Shark Bite, our "Wanna be a Star" film, starring audience member Neslihan Özdemir and directed by Dan Simon.  Dan is an Iron Mule regular who has screened several films at our festival.  Neslihan is a faithful audience member who had never appeared on camera before and really shined in her role.

Neslihan Özdemir, star of Shark Bite
(photo by Tom Henning)

Dan Simon, director of Shark Bite
(photo by Tom Henning)

Then it was time to announce the winners, and bringing home both audience and judges' prize was Enter the Dojo!  Julie accepted the prize, a signed copy of Miriam Leuchter's new book on behalf of Matt Page.

Julie Lopez, proud winner (on behalf of Matthew Page)
(photo by Tom Henning)

Then it was off to our after party for celebrations into the wee hours.  Iron Mule will return on January 7th, so if any of you want to get your New Year off to a fabulous start, get your tickets now at 92ytribeca.org!

Notes from our November 5th Screening

Iron Mule was back in action on November 5th, with a new lineup of films.

The audience awaits the show!

The show began with a brief update of what hosts Jay Stern and Victor Varnado have been up to (Jay is busy editing his feature film, and Victor wrote for a comic book that just came out), which was followed by an interview with the night's guest judge, comedy writer Gary Apple.  Gary mentioned that he was mostly looking for quality in the night's lineup of films and Jay and Victor promised to deliver.

Victor and Jay

First up, from Canada, was Naomi Ward's movie The Wedding Gift -- a story of the lengths a man will go to in order to get out of an engagement.  This was followed by the Robin Reed / Will Shepard film Mommy Wars: Battle for the Playground.  Robin, who also starred in the film, was on hand to discuss her inspiration for the film (a nasty run-in with Brooklyn mommies at a restaurant she worked at).

The next block of films began with Bertie Peek and Fergus Dingle's (yes -- those are their real names -- they're British) CIA, one in a series of three shorts involving ice cream.  Following this was Nelson Cheng and Kate VanDevender's Will & Fiona, about a man who thinks he's just having dinner with a colleague, only to discover that he's on a date.  Nelson, who also co-starred in the movie, was in town from LA, and discussed how he came up with the project and also talked about his current work as a documentary filmmaker.  You can read his version of the evening's events here.

Victor and Jay with Nelson Cheng

Our third block of films was Bertie Peek and Fergus Dingle's Standoff, followed by our old friend Kevin Maher's Andrew 12-Sided Dice Clay.  Kevin was on hand to discuss his work, and promote his Kickstarter campaign, in which he's hoping to raise money to turn this short into a web series.  Take a look at his film and donate a few bucks!  This is the kind of series that no corporate entity will back, but the world needs to see it come to life!

Victor and Jay with Kevin Maher

Our final film of the evening was Frederick Soligan's The Girl Across the Hall, a charming movie about a stalker that relies purely on visuals to tell its story.  Fred (we call him Fred) has just moved to NYC from Boston and was at the show to discuss his movie and plead for editing work (anyone out there hiring?).

Fred Soligan: hire him!

The final film of the evening was our "Wanna Be a Star" film Lemon Tart, written and directed by Melinda Prom and starring lucky audience member Ben Roesch.  It was Melinda's first film (she's normally a theater director) and also Ben's first role on camera.  They clearly had a lot of fun, and, for the record, Ben looks really great in a hat.

Then Gary Apple came back to the stage and announced the audience winner and judges' pick.  It was a tough decision, but The Girl Across the Hall took home both awards.

Following the show, the filmmakers and audience went to the 92YTribeca cafe for the after party, that closed the venue and continued off in another Tribeca location until the wee hours.

Thanks to all who made it out, and we hope to see you back at 92YTri in December!