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!