Thursday, August 19, 2004

Tennessee Independant Film meeting tid-bits

At least once a month we have a meeting of East Tennessee's independant film association (with the problematic acronym TIP-TOE) at the New City Cafe` in Knoxville's Old City. Did you follow that? Knoxville's historical district, called the Old City, suffers from 3 main problems best I can tell. Inadequate parking and vehicle access combine with petty crime such as runaway panhandling to form an atmosphere in which nobody but college students feels entirely comfortable. The result is that lots of people have just stopped going, so the businesses tend not to last long. It's something the town is working on, but a topic for another day.

At Tuesday's meeting we had a treat in the screening of some winners from the Star Wars Fan Film Festival. Local film man and animator John Hudgens provided some logistical support for Trey Stokes' Pink Five, in the form of lighting and equipment. If you haven't seen Pink Five you should go to AtomFilms.com straightaway. It's very funny stuff and was the winner of the 2003 Fan Film Festival.

Pink Five
http://atomfilms.shockwave.com/af/content/pink5
Director: Trey Stokes
Writer: Trey Stokes
Producer: The Truly Dangerous Company
http://www.trudang.com/
Complete Cast: Amy Earhart

The sequel Pink Five Strikes Back is this year's Audience Choice award winner.

Pink Five Strikes Back
http://atomfilms.shockwave.com/af/content/pink5_strikes
Director: Trey Stokes
Producer: Christopher Reed
Writer: Trey Stokes
Camera: John Parenteau
Music: Doug Legacy
Cast: Amy Earhart, Steve Stanton, Greg Manion

John Hudgens' own original SW Fan film is Jedi Hunter which was last year's Audience Choice winner. Jedi Hunter pits Boba Fett in a spoof of Steve Irwin's "Crocodile Hunter" against wily Jedi who are sent up as the crocs. Just take a look at all these awards. Crikey!

The Jedi Hunter
http://atomfilms.shockwave.com/af/content/jedi_hunter
Director: John E. Hudgens
Producer: John E. Hudgens
Writers: John E. Hudgens, Lowell Cunningham
Principal Cast: Brian Boling, Heather Harris, Jimmy Burns, Brandon
Alley, Robert Alley, Robert E. Bean, Brett Black, Kristen Caron, Sandy
Clark, Allison Garwood, Reed Garwood, Jim Lyon, John Mailen, Ziggy
McMillan, Stanley Settles, Darren Wilhite

Honors

Best Visual Effects - Dahlonega International Film Festival 2003
Special Award for Artistic Merit - Dahlonega International Film Festival 2003
Audience Choice Award - 2003 Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards
Best Star Wars parody - DragonCon MOTF Film Festival 2003

Festival Screenings

DragonCon Film Festival 2002
Valleyfest Independent Film Festival 2003
Dahlonega International Film Festival 2003
Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival 2003
DragonCon MOTF Film Festival 2003
Chattacon 2004

Well having met John on Tuesday, I can report that in addition to his talent he's a very nice guy. He is also an example of the kinds of hidden talent we have here in Knoxville. From the folks who made the Titanic video game, to Scripps / HGTV, this town has a lot to offer to artists, writers and video professionals.

Tomorrow comes a look at some great neon artwork and mod architecture from the East Coast. TTFN.

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