Urbanworld Film Festival 2024

Movie Review Coming Soon!

Directed by by Frank Sputh, Bin Martha, Kolumbianerin (I'm Martha, Colombian) is a slowcumentary, the nearly three-hour portrait of a young Afro-Colombian woman, a slow, closely observing documentary.

Watch 'Slapped Straight'

Now available to rent for 48 hours.

Give the Gift of World Cinema! Order The Madlab Post eGift Cards

Expressway Cinema Rentals is Philadelphia's leading photo & video rental resource for the creative community.

Visual Jedi LLC | Specializing in Video Production from concept to creation. Storyboard, audio mixing, editing, graphics design and more!

Pour something different! Premium specialty loose leaf teas sourced in Africa. Sibahle - We Are Beautiful!

The Ultimate Vegan Experience! We are Vegan Soul. Celebrate a new way of life with healthier food.

Fine Art Reproductions - Limited Edition Giclees on Canvas and Limited Edition Prints by World-Renowned Visual Artist and Designer, Synthia SAINT JAMES

 

Read my A to Z Reflections:

The Madlab Post is Home to the weekly Monday Movie Meme: Signup!

Are you ready for the best blog hop on the net? #atozchallenge

*All 31 "Prompts" might not be featured on this blog; I have my own schedule and topics to adhere to.

Your ad could be here, right now.

Search


Come SUPPORT the makers and SHOP for the holidays at MADE@BOK Small Biz Saturday Market where you can get a head start on The Madlab Post’s Shop Small Treasure Hunt with movie tickets, videogames and more! This is a market featuring crafts from artists, designers, makers and small businesses that create within the walls of the historic Bok building. Free entry!

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION:
Perspectives directed by Neer Shelter has qualfied for the 2024 Academy Awards

WATCH IT NOW

#Oscars #Shortlist

FYC: Academy qualified short film 'Perspectives' directed by Neer Shelter | Oscars Shortlist

MANHATTAN SHORT ADVANCE SCREENING PASSES NOW AVAILABLE. 

RESERVE YOUR SEAT

📣 MADE @ BOK SPRING MARKET IS HERE 📣 Our first Market of 2022! On Sunday, May 1st from 11-4pm, come grab a gift for mom, a treat for your loves or something to brighten up your life in the way only springtime can like clothing, jewelry, ceramic and vintage wares, a brownie or two (or five), and more! 🤗 We'll be setting up in the gym as well as all the shops in retail row through the (new and improved!) Dudley St door.

See you then! ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤🤍

Rent Abyss: The Greated Proposal Ever, a short film made with a diverse cast & crew working together to tell a story about Love, Friendship and PTSD! This urban military homecoming drama is a candid glimpse into the troubles surrounding a U.S. Army Sergeant who gets stranded by SEPTA in the inner city when a wild marriage proposal shakes up his plans to reunite with the only family he knows. 

The 2019 Short Film Slam Round V Championships is showing at Motor House in Baltimore, MD. Visit the Shop for Advance Tickets to our awards showcase!

UPCOMING SCREENINGS:

GET TICKETS!

GET TICKETS!

GET TICKETS!
RESERVE YOUR SEAT for February - March 2019!

--------------------------------

The Madlab Post showed all of the 2019 OSCAR Nominees for Best Short Film in the Animation, Live Action and Documentary categories earlier this year. Missed the show? Get on our mailing list!

 

Bring The Madlab Post to You!

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Entries in Spotlight (87)

Tuesday
Oct312023

Deconstructing Fear with Indie Movies that Tackle Your Toughest Anxieties

I believe that beneath the surface of the conscious levels of the mind, there exist hidden desires, fears, and memories that truly shape who we are..

- Can Aksoy, director, Psyche 

As we embrace the spirit of the season, what are some of the best ways to deal with frightening situations? Find out during Spookfest! Get ready to discover a diverse slate of movies you need to watch this weekend as some of the most captivating voices from around the world get together and share their own unique perspective on dealing with fears, whether they're crafting bone-chilling horror, heartwarming dramas or delving into the complex psyche of human emotion through documentary, animation and experimental films. 

No matter what gives you goosebumps for fear of the dark, being isolated, monsters or watching certain movies – you're not alone. In this exclusive series, get an intimate look into the mind and creative process of each director as they shed light on how they transform their own fears, thrills and uncertainties into thought-provoking narratives exploring themes such as womanhood, religion and societal pressure, identity, unconditional love, grief, regret, loss, history, networking and collaboration, motherhood child abuse, addiction, mental health, incest, prostitution, burdens, suicide, haunted houses and more. 

Ariane's Baby directed by Mahée Merica

First up we have Mahée Merica’s directorial debut, Ariane's Baby, a horror drama where a single pregnant woman named Ariane begins to question her ability and desire to become a good mother when she starts dreaming about monsters who try to harm her unborn child.  

Merica created Ariane's Baby after spending months trying to write a drama script that she was never satisfied with for her graduation film. The London Film School alum decided to have fun with her graduation project and write something she enjoyed working on; thus Ariane's Baby was born. 

“I always loved horror films, I believe they are the perfect medium to experiment narratively in terms of form and content,” says Merica who believes early horror films are precursors to experimental cinematography and surprising storytelling techniques. 

“Horror films are also experimental in terms of content. Horror filmmakers often use their films as a platform to approach important societal subjects under the disguise of entertainment, and were the first to explore important societal subjects such as systemic racism or the politics surrounding women's bodies.  

I decided I wanted to make a horror film in order to experiment with the form of the film while approaching a subject dear to my heart: gender expectations.  

Womanhood is often associated to Motherhood, and mothers are always placed under an immense amount of pressure. We expect them to be caring but not controlling, to take care of the children while preserving their individual identity, to look "respectable" while still pretty, to appear as if they never bore another being inside their body. As a woman in my mid-20s, I have ambivalent feelings towards motherhood. Being responsible for another human and missing my childfree life scare me. Yet, I long for an unconditional love that I am unsure of finding anywhere else.  

Through Ariane’s journey, I aim to explore these fears, deconstruct the mythical “maternal instinct” and investigate expressions of unconditional love,” adds Merica. Ariane's Baby is currently screening at film festivals such as Haunted House Fear Festival in New York and Fright Night Film Festival in Shelbyville while heading to Horror on Sea Film Festival in the UK. 

Breaking & Entering directed by Michael William HoganIn Michael William Hogan’s award-winning drama Breaking & Entering, a young woman’s conflicted life battling multiple addictions and questionable choices culminates with an autopsy-like introspective journey when she finds herself locked in a morgue with the body of a long-lost love. 

With three short films under his belt and years “dabbling” in screenwriting, Hogan committed to screenwriting fulltime in 2019.  

“My strategy was four-fold:  

1) clean-up existing scripts and finish new projects;  

2) seek coverage, analysis and professional feedback to further improve and polish all scripts to a commercially ready level;  

3) submit the numerous screenplays to relevant festivals and competition as a means to measure them against the massive crowd of other works;  

4) network--preferably in-person--to expand my network of industry contacts and potential collaborators.  

COVID came along in 2020 and threw a wrench into strategic initiative #3, but everything else progressed nicely,” he says. 

With his work placing well in competitions, Hogen rewrote and further published his screenplays. Although he started winnings awards, phone calls from producers, studios, managers or agents did not follow.  

“I needed another way to attract attention, so I decided to write and direct a short film that would get me noticed. I went for the shock value…a dark drama that included addiction, mental illness, incest, prostitution, necrophilia and suicide. Oh, and the burdens of each are carried by one person. The result was ‘Breaking & Entering,’ which went on to win over 30 ‘Best Short Film’ awards, more than 20 ‘Best Actress’ awards for Kiri Hartig, and nearly as many ‘Best Director’ awards,” adds Hogan. 

Follow The Harrowing directed by Brendan O'Neill for the London Sci-Fi Society 48-Hour Filmmaking Competition.In Brendan O'Neill’s Sci-Fi short The Harrowing, mysterious spaceships appear over cities worldwide and a mother desperately tries to save her children from abduction.  

In the world of independent filmmaking, there are people who talk about wanting to make films and there are people who are going out and just doing it. In September 2022, O'Neill didn't waste any time bringing The Harrowing from page to screen. “I wanted to make a short once Lockdown had ended and after a long 15 months looking after my Mom - who has Dementia - when my Dad died. The London Sci-Fi Society 48-hour filmmaking competition gave me the chance to do that,” he says. 

In addition to winning several awards for writing, acting and special effects The Harrowing has screened at numbers film events including Stokholm City Film Festival and will be heading to Aberdeen, Scotland in 2024. If you're planning on a staycation, you can also Watch the film here.

Tin Foil Flat directed by Ruari Barratt

Ruari Barratt’s micro short comedy Tin Foil Flat is about a conspiracy theorist who subjects his home to a drastic transformation, using his ingenuity, his determination and his microwave to protect him from the government.

“The thought that the main character describes having genuinely occurred to me... if you were to do the whole tin foil hat thing, wouldn't it be more practical to treat the problem closer to the source, higher than your head (the nearest ceiling)? Initially I thought of making it a one-shot sketch, with minimal tin foil applied to a carefully selected section of the room, but once I started, I had to do it properly, covering everything in my flat. I stopped short of the toilet,” says Barratt. Made with a one-man crew and over 400 square metres of tin foil, the film is available to watch on the Whatever Films YouTube channel. 

Vladimir Jaksic’s documentary Quest for Vinča is a journey of discovery to understand the roots of European culture and development during the neolithic period.  

Quest for Vinča directed by Vladimir JaksicTracking a course from England to Serbia, viewers follow author and historian, Benjamin Elliott, as he brings together fragments of the past, visiting archaeological sites and interviewing some of Britain and Serbia’s most respected academics.

Discovering the possible nucleus of human development in Europe, Quest for Vinča uncovers the foundations of our modern world as we understand it today, offering an alternative narrative to the story of human progress. “I share a passion for history and filmmaking with Benjamin Elliot, a writer and promoter. We created the entire film without a budget and it was like a fairy tale come true,” says Jaksic. Quest for Vinča is available to stream. 

In Rod Evans’ horror/thriller Modern Dating, a girl fights for survival after a blind date turns deadly.

Modern Dating directed by Rod Evans

“This was a real story told me by a friend, and upon hearing this story for the first time, I immediately knew I wanted to make this a short film. I knew it had the potential to be very scary, both as a true story and a warning to people about the dangers of going on a blind date,” says Evans.

Screening on November 5, 2023 at Hollywood Gold Awards and December 2, 2023 at Shockfest Film Festival, Modern Dating is also available to stream. 

That Feeling directed by Paul Inman

Paul Inman’s Psychological Horror That Feeling is about a woman named Caroline who, on her belated honeymoon, deals with the transgressions of her past - and, ultimately, the consequences of her choices - as she struggles with deja vu at 16,000 ft. Inman was selected to make That Feeling as a "Dollar Baby" adaptation of a Stephen King short story. In addition to screening at several events including the Marina del Rey Film Festival and Crimson Screen Horror Film Festival, That Feeling has also won awards for best directing, acting and music. 

Be Quiet short film directed by Gary DaviesIn Gary Davies’ horror short Be Quiet, a young girl is woken in the night by her brother, who believes something is in the house with them. 

In addition to winning Best Horror Short at the Black Horse International Film Festival, Be Quiet has won several awards on the festival circuit for its acting, cinematography and movie poster. 

“I love making scary films, and years ago I was at a friend's supposedly haunted house making a film, and had the idea 'What if we heard something coming down that creaky old staircase...but couldn't see it with the naked eye - only when we looked through our camera?'

The idea really spooked me, and has stuck with me ever since; that idea of not being able to see a threat without viewing some kind of medium. It's unnerving, and very effective in cinema. I'm getting spooked just writing about it!” says Davies. Be Quiet is available to stream online. 

Barkoo's Amerie, a Sci-Fi fantasy feature film written by Richie ValentinoIn Richie Valentino’s Sci-Fi Fantasy feature Barkoo's Amerie, Barkoo must find the one being who can save their planet from an invasive and destructive force, while discovering his own genetic powers within.

Valentino is no stranger to independent filmmaking and much like directors O'Neill, Hogan, Barratt, Evans and Davies, he seems to move quickly when setting an idea in motion. 

“I made a short stop-motion film a few years ago called Cardioidosaurus, quite dark and predominantly soundtrack with no dialog. And, once the film was completed, I started thinking to myself; ‘You know, some of the characters in the film would make a great base for a feature film set on a distant planet.’ So I began to write. Barkoo's Amerie is currently in Pre-Production. 

NOVA (short film) directed by David McAbeeIn David McAbee’s experimental short, NOVA, Dr. Nova Thorpe has but a few minutes before the inevitable. But before then she must warn everyone that the experiment went horribly wrong. If the premise sounds like a malpractice situation, there’s more to the story. “I'm a kid of the 80s/90s and lived in video stores. One of my all-time inspirations is, An American Werewolf in London. That transformation scene is so brutal. So, I thought about doing a transformation scene, but in a oner. So, Nova was born...” he says.

After winning dozens of 'Best Horror', 'Best Director', 'Best Acting' awards during its festival run, NOVA is now available to watch online alongside McAbee’s other films about things that go bump in the night in NIGHT TERRORS, an unwanted dinner guest in TAKING OUT THE TRASH and physical manifestations of postpartum depression in BLUE. 

Fading Petals directed by Bradley Charlton

All buried memories eventually resurface in Bradley Charlton’s drama feature, Fading Petals as two solitary figures find their paths cross when a young woman arrives to aid a sickly old woman. After a hostile first encounter and despite misgivings from both, the two slowly open up to one another and begin to form an unexpected bond, but their affinity is short lived. Events culminate as buried memories resurface and unforgiving words are spoken. The old woman then struggles to accept the absence of the young woman and is haunted by her memory. The pair meet one final time as truths emerge in a shocking revelation proving that they are much more alike than they ever thought. 

Shot in 11 days for under £10,000 with a crew of only five people, Fading Petals premiered at Ultimate Picture Palace in Oxford, UK and went on to receive praise for its acting performances and well written script. It holds a score of 80% on Rotten Tomatoes and is available to watch on Amazon, Apple TV, Tubi and other streaming platforms. 

McAbee made numerous short films in school and was “itching to make a feature length film” when he graduated. “I had written a screenplay 'The Trespassers' and was securing funding when the covid-19 pandemic hit. This put an end to any hopes of getting this 180-page ensemble film made. Therefore, during the first lockdown, I decided to write another screenplay. It had to be something that featured just one or two characters, limited locations and could be shot on a budget. The result was 'Fading Petals'. The story originated from something Lewis Carroll wrote ‘It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.’ I wanted to explore whether our actions define us. The film explores themes of regret, loss, the pressures religion puts on women but above all, it is a study of identity,” he says. 

Housewife Alien vs Gay Zombie directed by Andreas SamuelsonIn Andreas Samuelson’s horror/comedy Housewife Alien vs Gay Zombie, a murdered housewife is resurrected by an alien creature while an unhappily married gay man is possessed by a demon and turned into a zombie. They both go on a rampage and two cops on the case must save the day. “Low budget, bad taste pioneers like John Waters and Sam Raimi but also so-bad-they're-good kind of B-movies” are the kind of things that gets Samuelson’s creative juices flowing – at least for this particular film which screened at events such as Oregon Scream Week Horror and is currently available to stream on Amazon. 

For the Horror/Drama Mors lilla Olle (Little Boy Blue), however, Samuelson’s muse stemmed from an unexpected source -- the stigmatization of gay parents and rainbow families, as well as child abuse. In Mors lilla Olle (Little Boy Blue), two dads put their young son to bed unaware that a mysterious stranger is threatening their loving family home. The son’s fear of fairy tale witches seems to become reality in this 11-minute tale that screened at Kolkata Shorts International Film Festival and Hrizantema International Fantasy & Horror Film Festival and is now available to watch on YouTube. 

Ashley Seering’s animated horror/comedy Last Bite is a must-see film: In the midst of a global pandemic, a very paranoid vampire orders contactless food delivery. One of the things I love about Seering’s movie is it’s a prime example of how stepping out of your comfort zone can yield great results, even when it seems like the world has gone insane due to heightened levels of fear and uncertainty.  

Last Bite directed by Ashley Seering

“This film was made for an assignment in my visual design class at Loyola Marymount University. It was a few months into the pandemic and we were under quarantine and couldn't film with anyone outside of the household. I lived alone, so I decided to create an animation because it didn't require other people and it was a genre I'd never explored before. It seems like a good opportunity to do something different and stretch my creativity,” says Seering, whose Last Bite screened at a number of events including the Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival, PopCon International Film Fest, Austin Under the Stars Film Festival and Vampire Film & Arts Festival. Last Bite is available to stream. 

A young woman experiences increasingly surreal dreams that blur reality in Can Aksoy’s experimental short, Psyche. Her dreams act as symbolic journeys of inner reflection, culminating in a climactic confrontation that challenges her to face buried emotions. By grappling with the dreamscapes, she begins a process of self-discovery. Deeply inspired by the psychoanalytical theories and concepts of Sigmund Freud, Aksoy made this movie to visualize and represent the unconscious mind in his own unique way. 

Psyche directed by Can Aksoy

“Freud's theories of the unconscious mind and repression have always fascinated me, as I often find myself experiencing the sensation of being more than just one character. I believe that beneath the surface of the conscious levels of the mind, there exist hidden desires, fears, and memories that truly shape who we are... I have been profoundly influenced by my dreams, identity, fears, desires, and earliest childhood memories, which serve as a constant source of inspiration. Exploring the depths of the human psyche and the human mind and delving into the complexities of the mind has been a driving force behind the creation of my film ‘Psyche,’ says Aksoy. 

Having recently screened at Oxford International Short Film Festival and Open Shorts Night at Raindance Film Festival, Psyche is currently nominated for an award to be announced in November. 

Stay tuned to learn from these directors as they flex their super powers, discuss terrifying tales, strange experiences and more as this series continues! 


Wednesday
Aug092023

How 'Slapped Straight' Directors Brought Growing Combat Sport to the Big Screen

48 Hour Film Project winners David Anderson and Raynel Almonte are making history in Buffalo, New York, with their new comedy Slapped Straight – the first ever film about slap fighting, a sport said to be popular in Russia and Serbia that’s been gaining momentum in the U.S. through UFC CEO Dana White and SlapFight Championship founder JT Tilley. 

Prior to merging their companies into Luminary Figures Group, Anderson and Almonte have made a name for themselves in the Buffalo area with several short films of their own including the award-winning mystery Degraded, the family film Holy Night and award-winning drama Take Me. 

Web series thriller 'Unusual Attraction' by Luminary Figures Group. Starring Amanda Barsi, Austin Gallego, Grace Harvey, Sean Mansfield, Shanda Gardner Fry, Hugh Davis and more.Slapped Straight -- about a rideshare driver and a slap fighter whose lives intertwine after mistakenly grabbing the wrong gym bag -- was actually developed while Anderson and Almonte were on set filming their web series thriller, Unusual Attraction. Once the idea sparked, the filmmaking duo wrote the screenplay for Slapped Straight in three months.

"My partner Raynel wanted to create a movie that has not been made yet. We were looking for a niche and slap fighting was one of them. There was no movie made on the upcoming sport. So we decided to go at it!" says Anderson, who shares the Writing, Directing, Editing and Producing hat on Slapped Straight.

The film follows rideshare driver Garry Nichols who lives day by day resenting his life choices, which is as plain as anyone else's until he meets the one person that will change his life for the better. After boosting Garry's confidence and showing him how to live, HotHands introduces Garry to the world of Slap Fighting, where hothands prepares to go up against the Smack Fight Champion.

Comedy 'Slapped Straight by Luminary Figures Group. Starring Garry Jerome Knight, Mark Williams, Kyle Seyer, Sonia Angeli, Jahga Banks and Jewels Genesis.

Anderson describes production as 37 fun and amazing days filled with many memorable moments when he and Almonte were on set, especially the "scenes with El Guapo." For Anderson, one of those moments were when actor Garry J. Knight would go missing, and "we needed him for a scene, so the group chat would always say 'Where's Garry!?'."

When the crew ran out of light and needed to film the inside during day, that didn't stop the production. "We were tight on the schedule so we didn't want to miss a shoot day. But we figured out to just take a bunch of lights and put them behind the window and made it look like day time."

"We couldn't of picked a better cast," he says while adding that the post production was also fun to do. Over the course of seven months, Anderson and Almonte put together different scenes separately, then came together to get a picture lock. "What took a lot of time, was that the entire movie is ADR. So we had to recreate the foley and add in all the atmospheric sounds. Tiresome, but worth it," says Anderson.

 Rather than having one composer for the film's soundtrack, Anderson and Almonte crowdsourced original music from various artists for Slapped Straight. "We wanted to help artists in Buffalo, NY by putting a variety of different artists music in our film. Buffalo has a good group of music artists that I believe are underrated. So we wanted to put them on the map and push their work as much as we push Slapped Straight. The music makes the movie more unique and original which brings another element to the table, and each song that we used, matched the tone and vibe of the scene, or at least moment within a scene," says Anderson.

Almonte, who was a multi-passionate artist himself, already had his finger on the pulse of the local music scene long before making this film. "I was in between choosing what I wanted to do with my life. I was a rapper, I made graphic designs; made T-shirts. I had a bunch of things I wanted to do. I had a mentor that told me to chose one thing, so I decided to choose filmmaking. I've wanted to move into that field, because it embodied everything that I already loved to do. Music, design, etc. That's when I knew filmmaking was for me," he says.

As someone who participated in multiple 48 Hour Film Projects, Anderson is a great collaborator whose filmmaking journey is a huge complement to Almonte's multidisciplinary experience. "I've always loved story telling. To this day I would zone out and imagine different scenes in my head, that will cause me to have an emotional response. I've always enjoyed the feeling that would come from that. What made me chose filmmaking over just writing books, or short stories, is that I can really bring to life the images that are in my head, and evoke emotion into others. So I purchased my first camera, Lumix GH4, found the Buffalo Film Community, then started making short films," adds the prolific director.

Comedy 'Slapped Straight' movie poster. Produced, Written, Directed, Filmed and Edited by David O Anderson with production assistance from Al Warren.The poster design for Slapped Straight is very creative, bucking many movie poster trends in favor of a one-sheet that looks like hand drawn artwork. So I was curious about the directors' process in choosing the design and who made it.

"We wanted to create a poster that tells the story when looking at it. We also wanted to the cover to be colorful as the film itself is very colorful and vibrant," shares Anderson. 

The comedy feature premiered at the Capitol Theatre earlier this Spring in Niagara Falls, NY. It has since been embraced by the slap fighting sport and its founder, JT Tilley, which the Co-Directors find to be nothing short of amazing.

"The fact that JT was interested in our movie and decided to help push it, really felt like we reached a goal, or an achievement. The film was well received by the community and we are really appreciative for the support we have gotten," says Anderson. 

This support even took the Co-Directors all the way to Texas, which Almonte describes as a very good experience. "With it being Dave's first time on a plane, and going to Texas, it made it all the more special. When we got there, we ended up going to check out the location the Slap Fight event was taking place, and that's when JT spotted us. He welcomed us to the place and showed us around. Then the next day was the slap fight event. It was amazing to say the least. And of course you know we had to get some Texas barbecue," he says. 

Being surrounded by men slapping each other for sport, the directors would surely have some perspective on the slap incident that happened between comedian/host Chris Rock and actor Will Smith at the 94th annual Oscars, right? It surprised Anderson. "There was obviously entertainment in that incident, but personally it was a let down to see someone you looked up to in some way, embarrass another one you looked up to in some way. I feel bad for Chris Rock, and in some way I also feel bad for Will. He was an icon and that one moment, he fell and that destroyed his image," says Anderson. 

From lighting challenges on set and missing actors to traveling by air for the first time and entering the world of competitive slapping, Anderson and Almonte are proud to be independent filmmakers. "We enjoy being able to tell our own original stories, and watching people enjoy them," says the Co-Directors who aim to "connect with people and evoke emotions. To be able to create a quality film in its story, image, and sound. Ultimately, to be a big production house and be able to be a full time filmmaker." 

'Slapped Straight' Producers, Writers, Directors, Cinematographers and Editors David O AndersonThe directors are already on their way to reaching their goal of being a big production house after merging their own separate companies, ComposedIMAGE and FrameArt Pictures, into Luminary Figures Group in their aim to create a unique, official name for both of them.

They drew names from a hat, but didn't like them. Soon Anderson came up with the name Luminary Figures Group and Almonte liked it. 

Anderson and Almonte are certain it is possible to make a living as a filmmaker but you need the proper equipment. "Why would someone choose my production company, when they can choose someone else who can create any vision because they have the necessary equipment to do so. It is very possible, but the equipment matters," adds Anderson. 

They're currently looking to upgrade their equipment so Luminary Figures Group can take on commercial jobs and weddings. "Our lowest list of equipment is about $30,000. That will kick us in to gear to start taking on projects for other people. In the field of filmmaking, we feel our stories are our strong point, but we can work to make our dialogue a little better. Also, script supervising; or a larger crew in general as it is just us, sometimes 1 other person to assist on set," says the duo. 

In the meantime, they are screening Slapped Straight at film festivals and working to get the film wider distribution. "We really enjoy creating original and unique movies for people to watch and we hope that we can get the recognition we do deserve, and one day be as big as A24, Paramount Pictures, Disney etc. We jut need the opportunity to prove ourselves, and show that we can create real unique movies," adds Anderson and Almonte. 

The comedy Slapped Straight is available to rent for 48 hours here. 

Who would you pay to see in a slap fighting competition? 

What do you think about the Slapped Straight movie poster? 

Thursday
Jan192023

What Short Film Slam Audiences are Saying about Inès Clivio’s French comedy ‘Jumeaux (Twins),’ Jordi Garcia’s animated musical ‘Gene's 6th Symphony’ and more 

Grieving brothers make a terrifying discovery on a hunting trip in Nicholas Carrodo’s horror film, The Door. A woman tries to catch her boyfriend cheating in Tanya Huston’s comedy, Suspicion. A married couple searches for their missing daughter in Mahmoud Atshani’s suspense thriller Suffocation, while Roberto Luca helps other people who have been sentenced to life in prison change their lives and re-enter society in Michael Steves’ documentary, The Lifers Network. 

'The Lifer's Network' documentary directed by Michael StevesWith more than 20 titles screening in this month’s virtual encore presentations for Round III and Round IV of the 2022 Short Film Slam, presented by The Madlab Post, there’s a favorite (or two...or several) for fans of nearly every genre. Here’s what viewers are saying about the shorts in this lineup so far. 

The Madlab Post's Short Film Slam: Round III is a "Great selection of festival films and presented in a very professional manner with consideration of the viewing audience that kept everything interesting." 

'Gene's 6th Symphony' directed by Jordi Garcia is a symphonic magical story that defines true love and a life-long journey ending with a hope that lives forever.Gene's 6th Symphony, an animated musical drama directed by Jordi Garcia is "Beautiful and Touching" in Round IV

She Survived, a documentary directed by Judi Polanco is "Powerful" in Round IV 

When We're Thirty, a romantic comedy directed by Jordi Jonesy Moore and Tessa Zitter is "Fun and creative!" in Round IV 

Jumeaux (Twins), a teen comedy directed by Inès Clivio is "Well done." in Round IV

 

In Jumeaux (Twins) directed by Inès Clivio, it’s a stormy French national day. On the road for holidays, Madoche, her sister and her twin run out of gas....

Flipping, a horror directed by Rahul Barkley is “Heart touching. Sensitive and important subject to address. Great graphics and music.” and “Very well made... It's for young generations.” in Round IV 

Which film are YOU looking forward to seeing this weekend?