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.

Auction for "The Adventures of Paul and Marian"!

Hi folks, it's your Iron Mule producer and co-host Jay Stern. I'm making a new, exciting feature film, the kind that will remind you what it is you love about movies.

The film is called The Adventures of Paul and Marian.

We are a group of professionals making a REAL independent film, and in order to get this film made, we need your help. We have just launched an online auction that will help fund the project. Check it out here.

Here's how you can help:

BID
Very simple -- bid for an item in the auction! We have amazing items for all budgets, from vacation packages, VIP Lady Gaga concert tickets, to books and DVDs, and a visit to our set.

SPREAD THE WORD
Let your friends and colleagues know about the auction. The more the better. And this helps create buzz for this amazing movie which you're supporting, so it's a win-win situation! Join us on Facebook and Twitter and visit our website at www.adventuresofpaulandmarian.com.

DONATE ITEMS
This auction will last until September 12th and we can add items as we go along. If you have any goods or services you'd like to add to our efforts, please send them our way.

DONATE CASH
There is also an option to donate cash on the auction page.

I'll post back here with periodic updates as we move into production. I'm looking forward to sharing this movie with all of you Iron Mulers!

Jay

Notes from our August 7th Screening

A full house of filmmakers and film fans gathered at 92YTribeca on Saturday night for a new Iron Mule lineup.

Jay and Victor, freshly returned from the Woods Hole Film Festival, told a story about being mistaken for a married couple when they were presenting films out on Cape Cod.

Well they do wear matching outfits, but as Victor pointed out, the two of them are not nearly stylish enough to be considered a gay couple.

Next Jay and Victor brought up guest host Geoff Klock.  Geoff is a writer, professor, and all around culture fan who has written a book about superhero comics, and another one about poetry.  He expressed his excitement for the evening ahead, and then it was on to the films.

Geoff Klock

The first film in the lineup was Lost at Sea, by Adam Beamer and Dan Samiljan, a daffy look at a film shoot spiraling out of control.  Next was Dale Goodson's Warning, the latest installment in his Man Without Shirt series.  Jay and Victor interviewed Dale about his work, poetry, filmmaking, and animation.

Dale Goodson

Next in the lineup was Jean-Christophe Lie's animated mini-masterpiece, The Man in the Blue Gordini.  This film was from France, which explains its incredible use of style.  And all the nudity.

Following this was Andy Brown's adaptation of an Anton Chekhov short story, the dark and beautifully done A Joke.  After Andy's movie, Jay and Victor spoke with him about adapting the short story (to use voice over or not; differences in Russian and American attitudes, etc).  Also, they talked about the difficulty of classifying this work as a comedy.  The verdict was that it is, although Andy had doubts about submitting it to a comedy film festival.

Jay, Victor, and Andy Brown

The next block of films featured Alex Italics' A Ballpoint Story, some Canadian animation courtesy of Christopher Diaz's The Inkwell Shuffle, and Daniel Wright's animated adaptation of material from his book Patently Silly, Nuclear Attack.  Daniel talked about his website, and whether or not inventors are happy with what he's doing (they are).

Jay, Victor, and Daniel Wright

The final block of films in competition included Aaron Hughes' live action / animated film Maori's Morning, followed by Taco Mary, Mary Novak's film about an atheist who sees the Virgin Mary in a taco, and must decide what to do about it.  Mary came all the way from Chicago to attend the screening, and talked to us about how the film came out of the experience of being a Catholic married to an atheist.

Mary Novak, Victor, and Jay

The final movie of the night was the world premiere of this month's "Wanna Be a Star film," The Sisterhood, directed by Susan Hippen, and starring audience member (and legendary actor) Arthur Anderson.  The film also starred Lynn Rogers.  This wasn't their first Iron Mule experience; they appeared on screen together in Old People News back in January, 2009.  Susan had a great time working with such seasoned professionals, and the feeling was mutual.

Next, guest judge Geoff Klock announced the winners: the audience favorite went to The Man in the Blue Gordini, and the judges' favorite went to A Joke.  Then it was off to the cafe for an after party, which, as usual, stretched into the wee hours of the morning.

We're taking September off, but join us for more Iron Mule fun this October!

Iron Mule at the Woods Hole Film Festival

On Saturday night, we took the Iron Mule on the road and curated the opening night screening of the Woods Hole Film Festival on Cape Cod.  Jay and Victor presented 90 minutes of some of our favorite films to a sold-out house.  Filmmakers Alan McIntyre Smith, M. Sweeney Lawless, and Massachusetts local Ritchie Wilson were there to see their work on the big screen.  It was a great chance to share some Iron Mule classics with a new audience.  Thanks to all the Woods Hole Film Fest people for hosting us!

Iron Mule at The Woods Hole Film Festival

Iron Mule is curating the opening night screening at the Woods Hole Film Festival on July 31st!  Join us up in Cape Cod for a night of Iron Mule favorites followed by the festival's opening night party. For more information, go to www.woodsholefilmfestival.org.

Geoff Klock to guest judge August 7 Iron Mule!

We are excited to announce that Geoff Klock will be joining us at the August 7th Iron Mule screening as a special guest judge.


Geoff Klock (D.Phil, Oxford) is an assistant professor at BMCC-CUNY, where he serves as Director of Writing and Literature. He is the author of two academic books, one on superhero comics and the other on 19th and 20th century poetry. A frequent presenter at Kevin Geeks Out, he once hosted a panel on Superhero and Fashion at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He can be found online at twitter.com/geoffklock, and is only sort-of funny. Like maybe a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10.

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.