Notes from our May 7th Screening

Hello, and welcome to another Iron Mule recap! Last Saturday night, hosts Jay Stern and Victor Varnado were on hand to welcome the audience into spring with more great short comedy films.

We kicked off the show with the last in Steve Delahoyde's beloved "Regrets" series, "Band," about one aging fan's complicated relationship with the Dave Matthews Band. After that came Morgan Miller's, "There's a Dead Crow Outside," an animated look at the roadkill circle of life. Morgan joined Jay & Victor to discuss his process as a draw-and-scan animator and why so many animators still stick to hand-drawing.

Victor and Jay interview Morgan Miller

Next up, Jay introduced our first British film of the night, Chris and Ben Blaine's hilariously simple "0507," which follows a forgetful fiance and his last chance to prove himself, using his girlfriend's iPhone. From nearly as far in the opposite direction, "51st & Baltimore," by Kansas City native Philip Collins, explores how one young man misses out on the girl of his dreams, but also the life of misery that would've followed. Philip chatted with Jay & Victor about his film student days in Missouri, his future projects, and the advantages of going to a school that doesn't do grades.

Jay gives thanks Philip Collins for coming by giving him a box of Lemonheads.

Our second British film, Leo Burton's mini-epic "The Duel At Blood Creek," features several pairs of dueling Englishmen who have accidentally converged on the same spot to settle their scores. Rounding out the night, we ended the competition with two animated films: Dean Fleischer-Camp & Jenny Slate's, "Marcel the Shell with Shoes On," a hit at Sundance about the title character and his tiny, unusual life; and Leah Shore's "BOOBatary," a cartoon look at one secretary's industrious bosom. Leah, Jay, and Victor spoke about Leah's newest project: a documentary narrated by Charles Manson.

Jay thanks Leah Shore for coming with a box of Red Hots.

After the audience put in their votes for their favorite film, Victor shared a sneak-peek at the pilot for his upcoming reality show, "The World of LARP." Still in post-production, the show explores the world of Live-Action Role Players, and will hopefully be coming to a television screen near you soon. And for our final screening of the evening, we presented this month's Wanna Be A Star? film, "Hot Tamale," directed by Ramona Floyd and featuring audience member Christiana Little as a woman struggling with her addiction to the candy of the same name. Christiana also chose the star of next month's film, Cindy Capitani, who will be featured in a new short entitled, "Scissors," to be directed by Michael DeMirjian.

With all the votes counted, producer Lin Sorensen announced the evening's winners: "Marcel the Shell with Shoes On," won the Audience Award, and "The Duel at Blood Creek," picked up the Judges' Award. Congratulations to all our filmmakers, and we look forward to seeing you at our next show, June 4th, for more short-form hilariousness!