NewEnglandFilm.com

Items in Production

"Nowheresville," a feature-length comedy shot entirely in Manchester, NH, is in post-production and will be submitted to the Sundance Film Festival this month. For more information regarding the film, please contact Double Midnight Productions at (603) 621-4189.

Boston-area filmmaker and NewEnglandFilm.com contributor Lorre Fritchy is currently gathering resources for a one-hour documentary on the world’s top basketball entertainer and ball handler, Sandy "Spin" Slade. The project will focus on the uniqueness of Slade’s occupation, her illuminating personality, and just-do-it mentality, which have all enabled her to carve out a niche career for herself as a leading clinician, motivational speaker, and author. Still in the preliminary stages of securing funds, Fritchy intends to distribute the video to film festivals, schools, major US networks, and other independent film venues. Any parties interested in contributing to the financing of this project should contact the filmmaker at lfritchy@aol.com or (508) 878-3200.

The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced their Emmy Award nominations for Primetime and News & Documentary Programming. PBS’ venue for independent documentaries, "P.O.V.", picked up 4 nominations, including Outstanding News & Documentary Program Achievement in Programs for "She Shorts", a compilation of three short films by Elizabeth Schub, Jane Wagner/Tina DiFeliciantonio, and Boston filmmaker Ellie Lee. Lee’s "Repetition Compulsion" is an animated documentary (P.O.V’s first animation) about abused and homeless women that premiered in the 1998 Berlin Film Festival and won numerous other awards. Lee is currently in pre-production on "Dog Days," a short 35mm drama that imagines a present-day suburbia during World War III.   For more information on the awards, visit http://www.emmys.org

Festivals

Reminder: Entries for Do It Your Damn Self!! (DIYDS!!), National Youth Video & Film Festival, are due on August 3. All people between ages 11 and 18 are eligible to enter. Tapes must be in VHS or SVHS in SP mode and must be under 30 minutes long. The festival will take place later this year. Robert Patton-Spruill, director of "Squeeze," is this year’s special guest. DIYDS!! was created in 1996 by inner-city youth in Cambridge, MA, to give young producers a place to be heard. For more information, check out http://www.doityourdamnself.org, or contact Joe Douillette, Teen Media Program Director, by phone (617-868-7100) or email (commartcenter@worldnet.att.net).

Catch the Eighth Annual Woods Hole Film Festival, running through August 7. This Lower Cape annual includes filmmakers’ presentations and, new this year, film and video workshops. Look up the complete schedule at http://www.woodshole.com.

The Dudley Film Festival, August 27-28, will feature local films by people of color. ACTS Roxbury and the Color of Film Collaborative present the screening, which is part of a two-week interdisciplinary arts program sponsored by the Center of Arts at Northeastern University. Works to be shown include Traci Strain’s "Bright Like the Sun," Robert Patton-Spruill’s "Squeeze," Edwin Encarnacion’s "Detour," and an animation, "Sleepless Nights," by Nneka Bennett. A reception, followed by full-length films and a Q&A session, is scheduled for the 27th. The festival will also include installations by Robin Chandler, the Urban Bush Women, and the Script Factory, a collection of Latino playwrights and scriptwriters from New York. Each event is $10 ($20 for Urban Bush Women); a four-day festival pass is $35, and provides admission to all 14 events. For locations and further information, please contact Michael Trent at coloroffilm@att.net.

The Third Providence/Rhode Island International Film Festival (August 6-19), for independent film, video, and multimedia work, will showcase more than 100 titles in various genres by local and regional artists. This year’s festival will present a number of exhibitions with series ranging anywhere from "Overlooked Treasures" (films that deserve a bigger audience) to the Secret Cinema (a theatre that is a hidden treasure). Writer/director and New England native Bobby Farrelly, who premiered "There’s Something About Mary" as the official kick-off for the 1998 festival, will serve as this year’s Honorary Chairman; co-chair is Providence mayor Vincent A. Cianci, Jr. For more details, please check out the official web site at http://www.film-festival.org, or e-mail flicksart@aol.com.

Screenings & Events

"Uphill Down," a short film by Matt McIntosh, a Boston University Masters in Film candidate, which received first place at the Sumner Redstone Film Festival, was featured in a recent film series at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and was one of three short films chosen to represent BU’s work at a Paramount Studios screening in Los Angeles. In addition, the film will be screened at the Woods Hole Film Festival and the New York International Film and Video Festival. "Uphill Down" is the story of a cross-class, one-night affair that explores subtle socioeconomic differences. The film, completed in less than six weeks, takes place and was created in Boston. For more information, contact Darren Yasser, Associate Producer, at (781) 391-3080.

Boston filmmaker Hilary Weisman’s new feature-length docu-comedy "I Love My Movie" will be airing on WGBH  on Monday, August 9th at 10 pm.   See a past article in NewEnglandFilm.com for more info.  Watch a video streaming clip from the movie.

Britain’s Barry Purves, a leader in puppet animation, presents his work in Night of the Living Dolls at the Mass MoCA in Western Massachusetts. Purves creates films for adults, not children, using puppets that he designs. He will share his work process and introduce his movies. The show takes place on August 7 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 for orchestra and $15 for mezzanine. For further information, contact http://www.massmoca.org.

Other News

CrewStar, Inc., a Massachusetts-based production crew payroll and booking service, celebrated its fifth anniversary last month, and its best year since the company’s inception. CrewStar handles payroll services, freelancers, and crew booking. Workers registered and hired through CrewStar automatically have taxes withheld and receive insurance protections that are not usually available with an independent contract. For more information, contact Joe Maiella, Senior Vice President, CrewStar, at (508) 481-2212, or http://www.crewstar.com.

Matt Damon, Oscar winner for "Good Will Hunting" and a Cambridge, MA, native, came back to Boston on July 11 for the All-Star Celebrity Hitting Challenge at Fenway Park. Damon joined other celebrities, retired Major League All-Stars, and retired Boston Red Sox in this first-ever Sports Specialties All-Star Sunday.