Signe Baumane's "Rocks in My Pockets"

Our friend Signe Baumane is making an animated feature film.

Who is Signe Baumane?  You mean you didn't see the many films of hers we've screened at Iron Mule?  Or you didn't click that link above?


Besides being a world-class animator of funny, edgy, hilariously disturbing and haunting films, Signe is a fixture of the New York animation scene, championing the work of animators big and small.  She has curated DVDs of their work and routinely runs screenings in New York.  Signe has also brought many us many wonderful animated films for Iron Mule, some of the best animation we've shown, in fact.


Signe also writes one of the best blogs you'll ever read about the frustrations, heartbreak, and occasional joys of being an independent filmmaker trying to raise money to make movies and bring them to an audience.

Now Signe is raising money for “Rocks in My Pockets,” a feature animated comedy about depression.  We know that doesn't sound funny.  But in Signe's hands it's bound to be funny and unique.  Signe says the film "might be interesting for depressed people and for psychologists but also for people whose relatives are depressed and what not, so it means about 99 per cent of population.”

The world needs more Signe Baumane movies so support this project if you can.  If you can't take a look at her work online and spread the word to people with money!

You can check out Signe’s website for “Rocks in My Pockets” here, and donate to the project here.

Notes From Our February 5th Screening

Despite the frigid rainy ickiness outside, it was "On with the show!" inside the 92Y Tribeca last Saturday, as a packed house piled in for another great night of short comedy films with Iron Mule.

Jay Stern and Victor Varnado - photo by Tom Henning

We started off the night with a sneak peak at prolific host Victor Varnado's latest comedy concert film, "Tell Your Friends," which will hopefully be coming to a theater or cable channel near you soon.  Then Victor and host Jay Stern introduced our guest judge for the evening, Michael Galinsky.  Mike shared the trailer for his latest documentary, "Battle of Brooklyn," a 7-years-in-the-making document of the controversial Atlantic Yards project.  It wasn't very funny, but fortunately Mike was, so he was allowed to stay.

Those documentary chops came in handy as many of the night's films were also documentaries, both of the traditional and the mocking variety.  The first block of films began with an installment of Steve Delahoyde's Regrets series, "Hobbies," in which a beleaguered birdwatcher explains how his addiction to novelty pastimes has yet to give his life meaning.  Next month, we'll have another in the same hilarious series, titled "Kid."  Then came Michael DeMirjian's "Sounds of Summer Camp," a kind of music video culled from hundreds of hours of NFL summer training footage.  Michael talked with Jay & Victor about his time as an editor for Fox Sports and how he made cutting football and NASCAR footage fun.

Michael DeMirjian with Victor and Jay - photo by Tom Henning

Our next block started with "Just About Famous," a documentary about celebrity impersonators by Nick Kovacsev and Matt Mamula, who's previous film, "Potato Sac," was an award-winner in 2003.  Finishing up the block was Nat Towsen's "Coke Bottle Blues."  Nat, sharply dressed for the occasion, was on hand to discuss his monthly variety show, The Moon, which the film was made for, and why it's nice to wear a blazer when you've made a film about drinking a coke and burping.

Nat Towsen with Victor and Jay - photo by Tom Henning

Next, we welcomed back another Iron Mule alumnus, Kyle Gilman, who returned with the sequel to his 2005 award-winner, "Two Night Stand," which has about a gazillion hits on YouTube.  The latest film, "Two Night Stand Two," follows the same two characters who, after 6 years, have started mysteriously waking up in bed together again.  Jay & Victor spoke to Kyle about his work as Hal Hartley's editor, and the history of his own films, many of which have shown at Iron Mule over the years.

speaking with Kyle Gilman - photo by Tom Henning

For our final film in competition, we welcomed back last month's double award-winner Stephen Neary, with his Valentine's-Day-friendly music video, "Let's Make Out."  Stephen told the audience about making the film in his spare time at work and his next animated project, "Dr. Breakfast."

Stephen Neary - photo by Tom Henning

As the audience's votes were tallied for their favorite film, we unveiled the latest in Iron Mule's audience participation series, the Wanna Be A Star? competition.  Each month, we ask the audience to shout out a title, and then draw an audience member's name to star in a film with that title made for the next month's show.  This month's film was, "Bacon," directed by Lin Sorensen, and the audience winner and star was Morgan English, who was not only featured in the Ken-Burns-style documentary as the Narrator but also edited the film as well!  Morgan also drew the name of next month's star: Janet Kalish; she'll be starring in "Year of the Rabbit," to be directed by host Jay Stern.

with Morgan English and Lin Sorensen - photo by Tom Henning

When all the votes were in, Guest Judge Galinsky announced the winners: for the Audience Award, Steve Delahoyde's "Regrets: Hobbies," and for the Judge's Award, Mike DeMirjian's "Sounds of Summer Camp"!  Congrats, Steve and Mike, and we look forward to seeing more of their films in the future.

Guest Judge Michael Galinsky announces the winners - photo by Tom Henning

Join us next month, for the next Regrets film, "Kid," new animation from Laurie Rosenwald featuring excerpts from David Sedaris' diary, and the premiere of "Year of the Rabbit"!

Iron Mule producer Lin Sorensen at the after party

Notes from our December 4th screening

Hello and welcome, Iron Mule fans!

This last Saturday we welcomed back many old Iron Mule friends, and also some new ones, for our monthly showcase of the best in short comedy films.  This month, as host Jay Stern explained, we tried a little something different: sampling work from a couple of different web series, interspersed with a few other odds and holiday-specific ends.

But first up, host Victor Varnado shared a trailer for the new "not-quite-reality" series he's producing.  The show follows a group of contestants engaged in Live Action Role Playing (LARP), which looks a lot like real life Dungeons & Dragons, in the woods, without dice.  It also looks like a lot of fun to watch.

Priming the pump for holiday season, local actor and Christmas Carol officianado Craig Wichman introduced his film, "A Christmas Carol in 8 Minutes," featuring every imaginable big- and small-screen version of the classic Dickens tale.  Craig shared some of his knowledge of the many liberties taken with adapting the novel to the screen, and host Victor was particularly smitten with the oft-repeated phrase, "Look under my robe!" which he proceeded to oft-repeat as well.


For our first block of films, we began with a new series by Iron Mule BFF, Dale Goodson, entitled "Things Could Be Worse," an animated series which takes an irreverent look at the debate over health care.  In between the three episodes of this series, we also presented Lake Cop II: Ripple Effect, a mock trailer by Graeme Morgan and Brent Cooper about a vigilante lakeside policeman that is now being made into a feature, and the first episode of another series previously seen at Iron Mule -- Old People News.  The latest iteration of this series, entitled "Tech Report" and created for Atom.com by Kevin Maher, stars Lynne Rogers and Arthur Anderson as the titular Old People, reporting on some perplexing 21st century technology such as the iPhone and the Twitter.

Dale Goodson was on hand to talk about his continuing forays into animation, and how he himself learned to use technology to straighten lines and get a smoother "hand-drawn" effect in his films.  With so many irons in the fire, between this, his occasional music videos and the continuing Man Without Shirt series, we're not sure what Dale will come up with next, but we're sure we'll see him again soon.

Jay and Dale

Next up, we featured a couple of episodes from the popular New York web series, "Broad City," by Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer.  This time, we showcased Ilana's advice on dealing with being a "Dick Magnet," and Abbi's struggle to get kissed "Under the Mistletoe."  We also squeezed in another episode of Old People News: Tech Report, examining the "easy way out" of Kickstarter.  One half of the Broad City team, Ilana Glazer, joined our hosts to talk about the many ways in which their show imitates life, and the future plans for the show, which include an upcoming second season and a short film.

Victor, Jay, and Ilana

For our third set, we presented "The Guarantee," another documentary by multiple award-winner Jesse Epstein in her series on body image.  This film tackles the true story of a ballet dancer who was told he needed to get a nose job in order to continue getting leads at his dance academy.  Since the subject didn't want to be filmed, Jesse worked with a storyboard artist to illustrate the story, lending an extra visual layer to the film.  Jesse joined hosts Jay & Victor to talk about the choice to use illustrations in the film, and the road from hearing the subject's story on a set to filming it many years later.

Victor, Jay, and Jesse

Rounding up the films in competition, we presented the final episodes of Old People News: Tech Report, and also revisited the perennial Iron Mule holiday favorite, "White Blood Cell Saves Christmas."  Kevin Maher & Lynne Rogers of Old People News came on stage to talk about the origins of the series and its potential future (including product placements).  Whatever form it takes, we look forward to more of Kevin's razor-sharp satire and more of Lynne using words like "sexting".

Victor, Jay, Kevin and Lynn

The audience was given a reprieve from laughter in order to vote for their favorite film of the evening, and while the votes were being tallied, they were treated to this month's Wanna Be A Star? film, "Peanut Factory," starring audience member Meredith Flood.  A parody of The Glass Menagerie, the film was directed by Gabriella Willenz and kept the audience in stitches as only making fun of Tennessee Williams can.

Gabriella, Victor, Jay, and Meredith

We had another double winner for the evening, as Jesse Epstein once again won both the Judges' Award and Audience Award for her film The Guarantee.  Congratulations, Jesse!

And we hope to see many of Saturday night's new audience members back for more short comedy films when we reconvene on January 8th for the next Iron Mule screening!

Notes from our November 6th screening

Welcome, intrepid Iron Mule followers!  Despite a few technical difficulties, the show did in fact go on last Saturday night, as hosts Jay Stern and Victor Varnado led an enthusiastic crowd through yet another fun-filled evening of short comedy films that at least one audience member described as, "intimate."  We're taking that as a compliment.

Running the show from a jerry-rigged laptop, Jay shared the trailer to his currently-developing feature film, "The Adventures of Paul and Marian," a romantic comedy musical adventure (if you missed the show, you can catch the trailer here).  Then, due to a last-minute cancellation, Jay & Victor solicitated material from the audience, to fill the time left by the missing film.  Unfortunately, nobody had come prepared!  Note to filmmakers: always bring a reel with you when out on the town, as you never know when the hosts of whatever you're watching may ask for, say, a comedic film under 10 minutes.

Guest Judge Ioli Andreadi with Jay and Victor

Continuing the program in earnest, Aaron Hughes was back with another pixilated film, "Strangers," about flowers coming out of strange places and the perils of smoking.  Aaron and frequent star Maori (previously of "Maori's Morning") talked a little bit about the process of shooting one of these curious films and how to make a person appear to fly out of screen.

interviewing Aaron and Maori

Jay then introduced a block of "Foreign" films; one from Romania, one from France, and one from a Seattle ex-pat.  "The Scream," from returning Romanian filmmaker Mirel Bran, features some unusual lessons about love and outdoor defecation.  From the acclaimed animation school in Paris, Gobelins l'Ecole de l'Image, we presented Oktapodi, a high-paced romp through an idealised Greek town following two octapi on the run from a hatchet-wielding butcher.  And rounding out the block, Iron Mule regular Dale Goodson presented the latest in his Man Without Shirt series, "Hangs Too Much."

with Dale Goodson

Checking in with the evening's special guest judge, Ioli Andreadi, a London theater director and native of Greece, she informed us that the town depicted in Oktapodi must be a very rich place because all the houses had swimming pools.  Shows what we know; we thought all Greeks had pools.  But Ioli seemed to enjoy the movie anyway, and we moved on to our final block of the night.

Starting us off was "Stages of Emily," written by and starring Danielle Uhlarik and directed by James C. Newell, from Chicago.  The story follows a newly-engaged woman who believes she has only 48 hours to live.  The filmmakers pull quite a few laughs out of this dark story of mortal wedding anxiety, thanks in no small part to a strong cast of Chicago stand-ups and improvisers.  And our last film in competition was, "Tombstoned," an SVA student thesis film by Dillon McCarthy.  The partially-animated sci-fi film follows three slacker astronauts who attempt a stoned moon landing.

Dillon McCarthy

But before the night is through, an Iron Mule show wouldn't be complete without this month's Wanna Be A Star? film (for more details, visit our website).  This month's retro-awesome entry was entitled "Secret Sunshine" and starred audience member Paula McDonald as a renegade lone-wolf secret agent named Sunshine.  Director Andy Brown and star Paula were on hand to talk about the concept of the film, shooting action scenes on the fly, and the original theme song that played over the end credits.  Stop by next month to see what director Gabriella Willenz can make out of the title, "Peanut Factory," starring lucky audience member, Meredith Flood.

Paula McDonald and Aaron Hughes

After all the ballots were counted, our Audience Award winner for the evening was "Oktapodi," and our Judges' Award winner was "Stages of Emily!"  Congrats to our winners, we're sorry the filmmakers couldn't attend the screening and receive all the accolades and free drinks coming to them.

And that's it for us this month, but join us on Dec. 4th at the 92YTribeca for a special holiday show featuring the return of "White Blood Cell Saves Christmas," a special 8-minute edit of every version of A Christmas Carol imaginable, new films by Dale Goodson and Jesse Epstein, and new episodes of Iron Mule faves Old People News and Broad City!

Notes From Our Oct. 2nd Screening

This last Saturday, Iron Mule made a triumphant return from our two-month hiatus with a gaggle of new short comedy films and all the hijinx you've come to expect.

Except one. Held over in LA due to an extended shooting schedule, regular host Victor Varnado was sadly absent from the evening. Fellow producer Lin Sorensen attempted to fill Victor's considerable hosting shoes, and while some may debate the merits of their respective styles, there's no denying Lin was taller.

Thankfully, host Jay Stern was present to provide the audience with some much-needed continuity, and the show began, in honor of Halloween, with a trailer for Jay's upcoming haunted house feature, "Spirit Cabinet." Producer/cinematographer Alan Smith and producer/writer Meg Sweeney Lawless were also on hand to witness the trailer's world premiere, and while it wasn't as funny as the films that came after it, it was certainly spookier. Stay tuned for more Spirit Cabinet updates as the team comes around the last bend of post-production and hopes to bring the finished product to a screen near you.

Our first film of the night, a pilot for Adult Swim entitled "Wunderkrafthaus," was put together by many of the folks who brought you the Mighty Five video, Check This Out! which premiered at our July 3rd show. As the creators Doug Olsen, Derek Muro and Patrick Groneman explained afterward, although the show originated with characters they portrayed, they were required to cast other actors in the roles. However, when the director went AWOL, they finished the shoot themselves, thereby regaining control of the project from the other side of the camera. The show follows the titular German art collective as they try to make the most of a mistyped ad describing them as "The Wunderkrafthaus of Pancakes."

The next block of films featured two documentaries, one real and one fictional. The first, "Wet Dreams and False Images," about the denizens of a Brooklyn barbershop who discover that the pictures on their "Wall of Beauty" are not as "natural" as they think, is part of a series of short documentaries about body image by director Jesse Epstein. The second, "Los Four McNifikos," from Spain, follows an aging breakdancing troupe as they struggle to keep the dream alive. Hosts Jay & Lin did a tag-team interview with Jesse and "McNifikos" co-writer Michael Dukes about making documentaries funny, their respective methods of engaging the audience, and the quirks of international collaboration. (Special thanks to Michael for flying in from Cincinnati for the show!)

Rounding out the evening, our last set of films showcased three very different kinds of animation. Continuing the wildly popular internet series (and oft-played Iron Mule favorite), Eun-Ha Paek and Erin Bradley Perkins returned with "Strindberg & Helium: At the Beach." This was followed by our second animated film from Argentina this year, "El Empleo," which follows a day in the life of an office worker and may hit a little close to home for those with day jobs. We finished the films in competition with the latest animation by Iron Mule regular Dale Goodson, a music video entitled, "Little Ghost." Dale was on hand to discuss the origins of the film, which is part of a series of videos aimed at toddlers and featuring music by Chris Ballew, formerly of the band Presidents of the United States of America and now performing children's music as Caspar Babypants.

But it wouldn't be an Iron Mule show without the famed "Wanna Be A Star?" competition, and tonight was no exception. Every month, our helpful audience shouts out a title for a short film, and an audience member is selected at random to star in the aforementioned film, to be produced for the next month's show. October's star was Orla Murphy and she was featured in Ant Farm, directed by Aaron Hughes, whose film "Backwards" won the Judges' Award at our June 5th show. The film was shot in Aaron's "pixilated" style, a kind of stop-motion cinematography that was also used in last month's, "Maori's Morning." Check back next month when audience member Paula McDonald will star in "Secret Sunshine," to be directed by Andy Brown.

And after an audience drumroll, the winners of the evening were announced. Jesse Epstein was the big winner of the night, taking both the Audience Award and Judges' Award for "Wet Dreams and False Images." Congratulations Jesse, and thanks to everyone for making us a part of your October weekend. Join us on Nov. 6th for more short comedy films, more raucous after parties, and more Victor Varnado.

Notes from our July 3rd Screening

Like sardines in a canning factory, the Iron Mule packed 'em in last Saturday, thanks to the presence of many visiting filmmakers and the support of the local press (thank you, New York Times!).  To get things started, hosts Jay Stern and Victor Varnado shared some of the insights they'd gained from their recent production experiences (Jay was involved in the Lincoln Center Director's Lab and Victor has been directing a concert film for Comedy Central).  They discovered that different performers have different needs: theater actors need a lot of rehearsal and discussion time, comedians need constant feedback, and film actors need cocaine.  We look forward to seeing how they use that knowledge on future projects.  On to the movies!

Former host of Kevin Geeks Out! and Iron Mule BFF Kevin Maher was our honorary guest judge for the evening.  Kevin shared some of his judging criteria for the evening, explaining to the full house that he would not only be judging the films, but also the audience themselves.  On his list of negative qualities: clumsy plot exposition ("Of course I will, I'm your brother!"), and mockumentaries.  Some positive attributes: funny wigs, fake poo or vomit, and hilariously excessive plot exposition.  Kevin will return to 92YTribeca with an encore presentation of Kevin Geeks Out About Sharks! next week, but Saturday he was dedicated to the fine art of criticising short comedic films.

Our first block of films began with Ad Men, by Todd Alcott.  Todd's reading of his poem Television Is A Drug was the source of last month's film by the same name, and he was back this month with a short film about an ad agency asking the immortal question, "What kind of kids eat Armour hot dogs?"  The film also stars film actor and past guest judge James Urbaniak (Henry Fool, American Splendor).  Following that was Don't Text and Drive, a beautiful and unique animated rendering of what can happen if you ignore the title's advice.  Filmmaker Adrian Garcia came down from Boston to talk about the piece, and how classical music makes him think of car crashes.

For our next block, local comediennes Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson were on hand to present their web series, Broad City. They described the show as an exaggerated version of themselves, exploring dilemmas familiar to many New Yorkers such as pushy yoga parents and the lengths people will go to have convenient access to a washer and dryer.  The three episodes featured were "Subway on a Sunday," "Yoga," and "Laundry," and these and many more can be found on their website.  Abbi and Ilana talked about their working process, the balance between between scripting and improvising, and who's really the boss (the verdict is still out on that one).

Our third block featured another internet series, Sassy Gay Friend from the Second City network.  This group of three shorts ("Romeo & Juliet," "Hamlet" and "Othello") suggests that things might have turned out better for Shakespeare's heroines if they'd been told to "write a sad poem in your journal and move on!"  Interspersed with these were two Iron Mule firsts: Heat Wave, our first film from Romania, about a high-temperature communication breakdown; and Lapsus, our first film from Argentina, an animated film following a hapless nun's journey through the seven deadly sins.

The final block of competition films featured a musical short from Ireland, Separations Agency, in which a man receives an alarming break-up message in the form of a jolly barbershop quartet, and Blackout Roulette, our first film from Arizona.  Filmmaker Alex Italics was kind enough to travel from Tucson to discuss his cheeky black-and-white comedy noir, about a desperate host who resorts to some lethal means of enlivening his party.  Alex was inspired by The Twilight Zone in making the film, and plans to start spreading it around the festival circuit.

Although our competition segment was complete, there was still one more treat in store for our audience (well, two really): the world premiere of the Mighty Five music video, "Check This Out!"  The video was a collaboration between host Jay Stern, his frequent cinematographer Alan M. Smith, and writer M. Sweeney Lawless, and featured The Mighty Five against a variety of spacey-retro greenscreen backgrounds as they deliver the funk to a planet in need of grooving.  Victor spoke to the band about the process of shooting the film, their hopes for continuing the Mighty Five storyline, and the advatages of having a dedicated designer attached to your band.

After the audience had the chance to vote for their favorite film, we showed the results of this month's Wanna Be A Star? competition, an Iron Mule tradition.  Our audience winner this month was frequent Iron Mule contributor dp, who not only starred in the film, "Right Guy, Wrong Turn," but wrote, directed and edited it as well!  With the votes tallied, guest judge Kevin Maher announced the winners: for the Audience Award, "Blackout Roulette," and for the Judge's Award, "Broad City"!  And the lucky winner of next month's Wanna Be A Star? competition -- Arhur Anderson!  This veteran of stage and screen will team up with writer/director Susan Hippen for "The Sisterhood," which you can only see at the next Iron Mule show on August 7th! (and then later on Vimeo...)

Before we called it a night, the good folks at 92YTribeca facilitated an encore broadcast of the Mighty Five video in the Cafe, where filmmakers and audience members mingled and networked and savored the air conditioning before a scorching hot Fourth of July weekend.

To keep up-to-date on all the Iron Mule happenings, join us on Facebook!  And we'll see you next month for more of the best in short comedy films.

Notes from our April 3rd Screening - 8th Anniversary!

We remember being eight years old; it's a great age.  You can pick out your own clothes, you can sort of read a menu, you can write your own name and, these days, you also know how to pay your cellphone bill online.  Last Saturday, we got to relive the glories of being eight through Iron Mule, a monthly short comedy screening series that can totally dress itself but hasn't yet mastered cursive.

Thanks to all of you who came down to the 92YTribeca on a lovely spring weekend to help us ring in the Iron Mule 8th Anniversary Double-Feature Special Show(s)!  Our first show featured some of the best Audience Award winners from the last twelve months, including Stalk Much? by Bill Baykan of Chicago, Introduction to Physics by Caleb Foss, and hometown favorite My Apartment by dpShorts.  Kasey Williamson & dp of dpShorts shared a little bit about the movie and the temporary pause in their highly-prolific year.  It seems they're both writing for other people, but we hope they'll be back with more material soon, especially the kind with rapping.  We were also proud to highlight some great international animated films, including the beautiful black-and-white love story Yulia by Antoine Arditti of France, and the deliriously-bloody and bravely-uneducational Factoids & Slapstick by Doug Bayne of Australia.  Mixed in with all that were a few samples from our Wanna Be A Star? competition, held every month, in which a lucky audience member is chosen at random to star in a film with a title chosen by said audience and produced for the next month's show.  In the future, Iron Mule will be posting our Wanna Be A Star? films online, so watch this space for more details!

But it just wouldn't be a year-long roundup without some illustrious awards, so at the end of our program we asked our attentive and opinionated audience what they thought was best.  Their verdict?  Stalk Much? by Bill Baykan took the cake as our Audience Favorite.  And although there was, in fact, no cake (or any award of any kind), Bill can sleep soundly in the knowledge that he has all the populist bragging rights the Iron Mule can bestow.  At least, until next April.

After a brief, drink-refilling break, we moved relentlessly onward with our 2nd program, the Judges Award winners.  Highlights of the past year included How To Be Popular by John Dilley of California, Knock Knock by Iron Mule fave Jack Ferry, and Time Travel: An Allegory by Ritchie Wilson.  Jack and Ritchie were on hand to talk a little bit about their next projects: Jack and producing partner Melissa are developing an internet series called "Written Off," about a group of washed-up soap opera stars who develop their own show for the internet, and Ritchie is working on a couple of new scripts and moving out of Portland, Maine.  We also shared some favorite selections from around the world included our first film from Norway, Nemesis by Stian Hafstad, about a man in search of superpowers and a friend; and Technology, a hilarious document of one man's attempt to explain basic physics, by Alex Kelly and Third Angel of the UK.  Selections from our top-shelf animation offerings included three short films by local animator Laurie Rosenwald, including her collaboration with David Sedaris, "David's Diary"; and the award-winning bittersweet sci-fi tale, The Terrible Thing of Alpha-9! by Jake Armstrong.

Since this part of the evening was dedicated to selections dear to the cold, analytical hearts of our secret cabal of judges, they were the ones to do the award-granting honors.  And the bragging rights for Judges Favorite of the Year went to Nemesis by Stian Hafstad, and runner-up How To Be Popular by John Dilley.  Congratulations, Stian and John, for making us laugh and making us think, often at the same time!

You can always find out more about our monthly screening series at http://www.ironmulenyc.com/ and on Facebook.  We hope you'll join us for our 9th year of showcasing the best in short comedy films, beginning May 1st at 8pm!

 The Iron Mule Team: from left, Lin Sorensen. Victor Varnado, and Jay Stern

Notes from our February 6th Screening

Greetings and thanks to those who got a coveted seat at last Saturday's show, our first-ever sold-out Iron Mule program! It was standing room only on a cold February night as we gathered for 12 short films, two trailers and our fancy new 3-D title intro. Almost as good as Avatar, and a hell of a lot shorter.

For those who've attended any Iron Mule shows in the last year, you may remember that this was the moment of truth for hosts Jay Stern & Victor Varnado who had each made a pledge to shoot a feature film before February or host that month's show naked. And boy, did they deliver!... their films. The audience was witness, not to the full monty, but to the trailers for Victor's movie, "Lasergun," and Jay's movie, "Jay Stern's Still Untitled Movie About a Ghost in an Apartment." While they both agreed that shooting a feature in a weekend may not be the way to go, it did kickstart both of them into working on their next project. In Victor's case, that means using the footage he shot to try and scare up money to go back and shoot it better, and in Jay's case, that's preparing for the other two features he plans to shoot this year.

On to the main event, Jay & Victor introduced our guest judge, Ritch Duncan, who shared some wisdom from the book he co-authored with October's guest judge Bob Powers entitled "The Werewolf's Guide to Life." After answering audience questions about silver bullets and the veracity of Teen Wolf, we began the evening with a pair of British films about trying to get ahead. "Audition," by Simon Brown, features a monkey puppet trying out for the role of Othello, and Kat Moon's "The Initiative," revolved around an office drone named First who always comes in second. Kat, a New York native, was on hand to tell us about making the film while attending the London Film School, and how her DP ended up starring in the film after her lead actor quit the night before shooting started.

Next up, "Official Selection" skewered the Hollywood "Art vs. Commerce" debate as two budding screenwriters battle to rewrite the movie they're in. And following that, previous Iron Mule participant Louis Grenier shared his latest short, "Don't Put That There," a monologue about littering that features footage he'd shot fifteen years ago and recently completed. Louis talked about the process of adding new footage to the film and how he first started recording his stand-up monologues. Checking in with our guest judge, Ritch explained that he had been taking "copious notes," such as "monkey puppet" and "exploding car." Any further opinions he was clearly keeping close to the vest.

We then moved on to an animation bloc, beginning with David Baas' "Skylight," from Canada. A mock nature documentary (and a rare success in the genre, see here), "Skylight" examines the majestic arctic penguin and the danger he faces from laserbeam-accurate holes in the ozone layer. After that, Iron Mule was very lucky to have longtime-viewer, first-time-screener Laurie Rosenwald on hand to share three of her animated films. Employing temps she pays "little or nothing" to set her cut-paper-collage animations into motion, Laurie's films use anecdotal monologues to explore superlatives, cable TV addiction, and other pitfalls of modern life. Her third film, "David's Diary," centers on a diary entry read by author David Sedaris, whose articles she has previously illustrated for The New Yorker.

Rounding out our competition entries for the evening, we ended with "Brinquedos (Toys)," a silent, surreal short from Brazil about a little girl's perilous quest for a doll carriage, and "Time Travel: An Allegory," from Portland, Maine filmmaker Ritchie Wilson. In the film, the main character invents a time machine to kill Hitler but mostly uses it to steal cereal, while his roommate watches the many doppelgangers come and go and tries to keep him from inadvertantly killing himself. Ritchie made the trip down from Portland to talk about the film and discuss how he came to live in Maine. (A girl was involved, he said mysteriously.)

Before concluding the program, we introduced a special guest in attendance: Ming-Yi Smith. She met future husband Alan Smith when she was chosen to be in the Wanna Be A Star? film "Kumquat," which Alan directed. The two hit it off immediately and went on to make a sequel, "Avocado," and last month tied the knot. (Their story was recently covered in this New York Times "Vows" article.) In honor of our first Iron Mule wedding, we screened "Kumquat" and talked with Ming-Yi about her memories of the shoot. This month's Wanna Be A Star? film, directed by Iron Mule producer Lin Sorensen, featured a couple Iron Mule faves, filmmaking team dp & Kasey Williamson. In the film, "Go For The Win," dp plays a job applicant struggling through a very unorthodox interview. So far, no one involved in the production has decided to get married. For more information on the Wanna Be A Star? competition, please visit our website and check out our next show for your chance to win.

After all the ballots had been collected, guest judge Ritch Duncan announced the winners: "Official Selection" won our Audience Award, and "Time Travel" picked up our Judges' Award. Congratulations to Vince & Ritchie on your accolades, and thanks to everyone who helped us pack the house. Our next show is March 6th and we'll have lots more great short comedy, including films from Germany, Newfoundland, and Los Angeles, so get your tickets early!

Notes from our December 6th Screening

For those who braved the cold and rain last Saturday, there was a warm glow of laughter to be found in our recent showcase of short comedy films. After host Jay Stern excoriated New Yorkers for being weather wimps (and co-host Victor Varnado politely pointed out that present company was of course excepted), we launched into our first block of films.

Starting off the holiday-themed mayhem was a film from the Iron Mule vaults, "White Blood Cell Saves Christmas," an animated short by Dano Johnson. As for what it's about, well, the title says it all. (If you want to check out this or any of our other selections, click here for our archives.) Following that was our very first (and hopefully not our last!) holiday film in Gaelic, "Nollaig Shona (Happy Christmas)" by Orla Murphy. Christmas is not so happy for the protagonist, who gets dumped on Christmas Eve and has to console himself with an overdecorated tree and a persistent stray dog. And concluding the holiday trio was a celebration of "Balls," in all the different forms they take, by Iron Mule favorites dpShorts. Filmmakers dp and Kasey Williamson were on hand to talk about the film, their second in a prolific year-long collaboration that also brought us Audience Award-winner, "My Apartment." They'll be back next month with one more short, "The Lake."

Moving beyond the seasonally-appropriate, our next film was by another Iron Mule alum, Josh Bass ("The Ninjews," "Debt Consolidated"). An epic of no-budget satire, "Joey & Jerome's Artistic Meaningful Independent Film," shows just how easy it is to crank out your very own Oscar-bait Indiewood masterpiece in under 3 hours. This was followed by "Knock Knock," our third of four films by Jack Ferry. The movie, a suspenseful mindgame starring comedians Pete & Brian about a joke with a potentially lethal punchline, has shown at CineVegas, Slamdance and SXSW, and we were honored to have it in our program as well. Jack was on hand to talk about how the film came to be; he said he heard the first few lines -- "Knock Knock," "Who's there?" "I'm seriously thinking about killing myself." -- and was sold.

Our last block of films began with our second film from France, "Yulia," by Antoine Arditti, an animated black-and-white film about a woman's surreal adventures in a room full of levers, and which one will bring her to love. And in closing, Iron Mule stalwart Will Carlough shared his latest with us, "Hungover Movie Pitch." Much like our first film of the evening, everything you need to know is in the title as Will skewers the usual criteria for pitching a Hollywood blockbuster, and the pitifully unprepared condition you can do it in and still be successful.

Before moving on to our Wanna Be A Star? film for the month (for more information, click here), hosts Jay & Victor shared war stories about their respective no-budget super-fast feature films which were shot during the last month over 1 (Jay) and 3 (Victor) days. See previous entries on the blog for more details and photos. For those keeping score at home, this officially means that Jay has met Victor's challenge from last February and will not need to host this February's show naked. The audience heaved a sigh, but it was hard to tell whether it was in relief or disappointment.

Then came "Shedge," directed by 92YTribeca programmer and Iron Mule BFF Cristina Cacioppo, and starring Wanna Be A Star? winner Ellia Bisker. Our first WBAS? movie shot on film, "Shedge" follows a hapless misanthrope and her encounter with a mysterious rock star. After discussing the difficulties of shooting on Super-8 in a dimly-lit concert space and editing in camera, the ballot counting was complete and we were ready to announce our winners.

The Audience Award for the night went to "Yulia," and the Judges Award was given to "Knock Knock." Congratulations Antoine and Jack! And join us Jan. 2nd for more by Jack Ferry, dpShorts, the latest episode of the hit web series, All's Faire, and other fun surprises.

Signe Baumane's "Teat Beat of Sex" now out on DVD!

Our good friend, animator extraordinaire Signe Baumane, has just released a DVD of her "Teat Beat of Sex" series!

Signe is a highly accomplished NYC animator, who seems to know absolutely everyone in the animation world. We've screened several of her films, and they always get a very strong reaction from our audience. Signe's (often surreal) work deals with sex in an explicit, yet charming, honest and fresh way. This series is a good example of Signe at her best.

Signe is an independent filmmaker who distributes her own work. She's always making new films and bringing them to festivals and getting them seen by audiences around the world. She's an inspiration to all us independent filmmakers who are trying to make original work and get it to an audience. So help support a real independent filmmaker by checking out the website and ordering a DVD!