SquiggleBooth

Marc Maximov in his review of the Carrboro film festival:

The three filmmakers who won Indy Arts Awards this year, Nic Beery, Ajit Anthony Prem and Todd Tinkham, made a strong showing, with five films between them. Particularly impressive was Prem’s HELLO, SORRY, WHATEVER, a Cliffs Notes romantic tragedy built around snatches of dialogue consisting almost exclusively of the words in the title. Amory Casto, an actress from Wilmington who’s since moved to Austin, gives a deeper performance than one can reasonably expect from a short in any festival. Coupled with an impressive turn by her co-lead, Dan Kelly, the film reveals Prem’s deft hand with creating dramatic situations, and with spotting and harnessing acting talent.

Wow! I love the Cliff Notes description of the film.

Update: Glowing Review of Hello Sorry Whatever

I have two films premiering at the 2009 Carrboro Film Festival. I’m no longer a part of the committee but I was commissioned to the do the festival intro once again.

My Films:

• Hello Sorry Whatever is a short narrative about a love story said with three little words. It will play in the second block which starts at 2:45 and ends at about 4:15.
• A Walkthru with Kathleen Connally is a short documentary about a landscape photographer and her work. It will play in the first block with starts at 1:30 and ends at about 2:30.

Press about the festival:

• Herald Sun
• Daily Tarheel including quotes by yours truly.
• Indyweek
• Chapel Hill News
• Carrboro Commons

The Independent gave Todd, Nic & I the 2009 Indies Arts award for filmmaking. A couple of quotes from the fantastic article by Marc Maximov. On Hello, Sorry, Whatever:

Prem is most interested in themes of romantic love and disappointment. His perceptive ear for truth in acting performances is matched by a meticulous eye for detail in editing, as evidenced by his remarkably assured recent short, Hello, Sorry, Whatever…

On our collaboration:

When we work on anything, I think what comes across when younger filmmakers watch us is a pure love for doing what we’re doing,” says Prem. “To some extent, we don’t have these gigantic egos. We tend to rely upon each other, and we have a lot of fun in the process. Me, Todd and Nic are extremely fun-loving people. Yes, we’re trying to do something great, and we’re ambitious with our goals, but I think we tend to really focus on having fun.

Link to article.

Rob Baldus reviewing the Secret City Film Festival shorts for the Tennessee local paper Metropulse says this of my short film Dear Stranger:

In his quietly aching study of bereavement, Ajit Anthony Prem reminds us that it’s the invisible world that is the real one. Not only that but he proves that cinema can portray this inner life as effectively as any novel. Just a few silent seconds spent in the company of a stranger on a subway train are enough for Rosie (Nikki Alikokos) to spiral out of control, losing herself in a deep, grief-stricken fantasy of a life she will never know. Dear Stranger has a voiceover but works perhaps even better as a silent film, illuminating the arbitrary, capricious nature of love, the emotional continents that separate us from our partners, and the virtual impossibility of living just one life. The effect is almost unbearably poignant.

So well expressed. All the ideas that excited me about this film can be found in this article.

My podcast Banana Bus will be playing at the 10th annual Hi Mom! Film Festival. It will be part of the Matineevening block which will screen at the Arts Center in Carrboro at 6pm on Saturday, September 6th.

For those who are new to the site, you can view Banana Bus here. The Hi Mom! Film Festival is one of the premier festivals in North Carolina showcasing international films with a certain amount of flair and fun (translation: not boring).

Hope to see you there.

There will be an hour of my films screened at this year’s All American Film Festival. My program will be part of a local filmmakers block that starts at 3pm on Saturday, March 8th at the Marvell Center, Durham. Dear Stranger, Indian Giver and (crowd favorite) Banana Bus will be among the films I will be screening. Of course, I will be there to answer questions and chit chat afterwards.

The All American Film Festival is a four day event that features some of the best local and national films including Slamdance Grand Jury Winner Abel Raises Cain. There will also be tons of local music. I expect to be jumping from one location to another to keep up with it all, should be a lot of fun. Hope to see you there.

Update: Banana Bus wins Best North Carolina Film Award at the All American Film Festival. Woohoo! It was a fantastic festival, the audience were so smart and friendly, the films were incredible and the filmmakers who attended were a pleasure to meet. Can’t get better than that!

As part of his retrospective, local filmmaker Todd Tinkam will screen my film Banana Bus on Saturday December 8th, 7pm at Carrboro’s Century Center Cinema. I have emailed everyone in the area that I could think of but if you haven’t received an email, it doesn’t mean you aren’t invited. Come, and bring people. It is going to be awesome on the big screen. Details:

The Carrboro Century Cinema will screen a collection of award-winning short films from TinkhamTown Productions, including the recently completed ALEXA, and the amazing family short, SADIE TURNS SEVEN, which has screened at more than 50 international film festivals this year, including the 2007 Rhode Island International Film Festival the 2007 Staten Island Film Festival, and the upcoming 2008 Short Film Festival of India. Admission is $4. Popcorn and soft drinks are free.

Layle McFatridge from MacMost has a flattering article about me and my relationship with the Mac. If you know me, you know how much I love my G5. It is just a tool but I love using it. The article also talks a little about my start as a filmmaker and videoblogger. Incredibly, Layle manages to make me sound coherent and also eloquent. Applause!

Ron Barba, one of our contributors, posted a recent recording of his comedy act on Youtube. I am so bloody proud, one of the best stand-ups I have ever seen.

There will be several videos from SquiggleBooth that will be screeened at the ConvergeSouth Film Festival this October. ConvergeSouth is the annual meet-up for bloggers from the South (the biggest of its kind), so if you are one, please make sure to come because it doesn’t get better than this. Last year, they had some great sessions with people like Robert Scoble and Elizabeth Edwards in attendance.

My videos should be playing on Saturday, October 20th between 8:15 and 9:30. All the details can be found here.

Squigglebooth is also got featured on MacMost. If you are Mac person, these podcasts are tailor-made for you.

It is kinda ironic that SquiggleBooth is receiving some of this attention especially since I have not posted a video in a month or so. However, in defense of this elongated vacation, I would like to state that the videos currently in production are more ambitious than our previous work and thus need a lot of tender love and care. Hope you understand.

If any of you live in North Carolina or close to, I invite you to the Ava Gardner Film Festival where there will be a retrospective of our work. The SquiggleBooth program will be held at Johnston County library in Smithfield, North Carolina. This program starts at 10am on Saturday, September 29th. There will be a Q&A after the screening.

Dear Stranger will be part of a shorts program that will be held at the Third Street theater in Smithfield. This program starts at 10:30am on Saturday, September 29th.

I will be on a panel on videoblogging at the PodcampAtlanta (Un)Conference talking about SquiggleBooth. If any of you live in the area or can drive up, please do come and say hello.

The videoblogging panel will take place in Atlanta on Saturday, March 17 at 1:45pm in the Governor’s Hall room. I will stick around after the session, if anyone is interested.

Besides me, the other panelists are:
Kary Rogers – Inside Mr. KaryHead and Good Commitment
Erin Nealey – Mom’s Brag Vlog
Chris Daniel – nTune.tv and Chris Daniel’s Video Blog
Grayson Daughters – The Spacey Gracey Review

A pretty diverse group, it should be interesting. The discussion will be moderated by Ben Ramsey.

Directions and other info can be found here: http://podcamp.pbwiki.com/PodcampAtlantaSessions
Please register here: http://podcamp.pbwiki.com/PodcampAtlantaRegistrants