Cinemasports

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Evan Donn
To: Dinah deSpenza
Cc: Joanne Donn; Kirk Moore; Joe Kirsch; Rob Carey; Tom Flowers; Sig Thorsen; Rick Kemp; Michael Evyzov
Sent: Friday, October 3, 2008 8:33:00 AM
Subject: Cinemasports

48 hours to make a film? What-ever. That's for dabblers and dilettantes. Real filmmakers only need 10 hours....

Cinemasports is happening again at the Mill Valley Film Festival which kicks off this weekend. Competition starts at 9am on Sunday (Oct. 5th, day after tomorrow), completed films (3.5 minutes or less) are due by 7pm, and the screening starts at 8:15pm.

I'd be all over this... if I weren't flying to Germany tomorrow. Anyone else want to give it a shot?

Evan

Kid In Dystocia!

When I first met the members of IDOM, I really didn't know much about these people outside of the projects that they presented in class. We all came together with one common interest, video editing, and that's all. I knew that Rick was a chiropractor and a surfer, Joe had a kid and an iPod, and Sig was retired. As I worked with these people over the next two years on various 48 Hour Film Projects, personalities emerged and I got to know who the person behind the video editor really is. Something that not all IDOM'ers may not know about me is my past life on a goat barn. Yup, that's right, a goat barn.

If I were to compile a top 10 list of the most memorable moments in my life, I would definitely put my goat barn internship at the University of California at Davis somewhere in the top five. For three quarters, I swept the barn, fed the bucks, milked the does, castrated the kids, collected semen for artificial insemination, stirred collustrum, and performed various other barn duties. The defining moment of my college career came one spring afternoon in 1993 when I delivered a baby goat. Mother Nature took a coffee break that afternoon, so I had to intervene. Unlike human beings, animals give birth naturally. Kaiser doesn't get involved. This spring afternoon, however, one mother goat had problems. Her kid was in dystocia, which means that the offspring was not positioned correctly. This caused difficulties in the birth. Kids are supposed to come out head first, but this particular kid had one leg sticking forward. Had the mother continued to push, that kid's leg could have broken off. I couldn't allow this to happen, so I thought back to everything I learned in Animal Science 41 and jumped right in. It was Pre-Vet Quang Khoi to the rescue! Ever wondered how to deliver a goat? Well, here is the step by step process:














For those who may be wondering what the heck I was doing on a goat barn at UC Davis, I guess this would be the appropriate time to mention that I was studying to become a veterinarian. I went through the whole nine yards at Davis, taking all the required Science courses and doing a variety of internships. I graduated with a B.S. in Biological Sciences with an emphasis in Mammalian Physiology and racked up three digits worth of internship and volunteer time. I took a year off after graduation and worked as a veterinary technician, and in the end, I realized that this career was not for me. I couldn't see myself sticking thermometers up cats' butts for the rest of life. That, and the fact that I have this irrational fear of big dogs. Realizing that a future in Veterinary Medicine was not in the cards for me, I counted my losses and took a detour from this career path.

Working on the goat barn was definitely the most physically challenging job I ever had. I am not a physical labor kinda guy, so you can imagine how difficult it was for me. Even though I worked myself to complete fatigue, I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. Helping to deliver that kid in dystocia on April 28, 1993 will go down as one of the most memorable events that has ever happened to me. Amazingly enough, I was able to document that event with pictures. Just for the record, these shots are real--nothing here is photoshopped.

Miss Saigon

So Sig, Dinah, and I were driving home from the Renaissance Faire when Dinah blurts out, "I need to pee!" Sig and I burst into laughter. We always seem to amuse ourselves when we quote IDOM movies. Of course, after the laughter simmered, we immediately launched into crazy IDOM stories. Well, 10 minutes later, Dinah says, "uh, I'm serious. I really do gotta pee!" So I pulled off onto Story Road in San Jose, a.k.a. Saigon Street, in search of a Starbucks or McDonald's so that Dinah could pee. I drove a few blocks but came up empty, so I pulled into the Vietnamese mall. Imagine this: Quang Khoi walking with an African American renaissance woman through the mall of Saigon. People looked at us. It was definitely quite a sight. In any case, when Maiden deSpenza finished her business, I had her pose in front of the Nuoc Mia and Banh Xeo restaurants. She looked pretty damn fierce. We may have a new Miss Saigon here!

Kirk's Dikdik

My friend Daniel recently took a job at the California Academy of Sciences. The Academy has been under construction for some time now, but on September 27th, the doors will open to the public. Since Daniel is an employee, he was able to get my sister Diane and I special "Friends & Family" invitations to a pre-grand opening event. The three of us had a lot of fun walking through the rain forests, making faces at spectators through the aquarium plexiglass, and freezing our tushies off on the live roof. I was very impressed by the new and improved Academy. In fact, I think the California Academy of Sciences, though significantly smaller, will definitely rival the Monterrey Bay Aquarium. It's really that good.

One exhibit that really caught my eye was that of the little African gazelle called the Kirk's Dikdik. What an interesting name this little animal has! An IDOM member recently went to Africa with his family. I wonder if they saw Kirk's Dikdik there?



Wikipedia:
The Kirk's Dik-dik (Madoqua kirkii), is a small antelope found in eastern and southwestern Africa. It grows to 70 cm (28 inches) in length and weighs up to 7 kg (15 pounds) when full grown. It has a reddish-brown head and a tail that is 35–55 cm (14-22 inches) long.
It has a soft, grizzled gray to brown coat, and eats a wide range of plants. It has hooves with rubbery bottoms, which are effective when travelling over rocky terrain. Newborns are hidden for 2-3 weeks, and suckle for 3-4 months.

Genetic and behavioural evidence suggests that the Kirk's dik-dik exhibits a fidelity in monogamous behaviour. Genetic analysis of off-spring indicate little non-pair parentage. Year-round, Kirk's dik-dik maintains close within pairs, follows each-others activity patterns and spends more than half of their time with their partners, although males show no parental care. The males guard their mates closely during oestrus and over-mark all female scent. This behaviour reduces the likelihood of other males attempting to mate, however, males did attempt mate with other females on occasion. Genetic monogamy in dik-diks is probably best explained by the behaviour of females: in contrast to many monogamous female birds, female dik-diks do not appear to seek to mate outside the pair-bond.

Me, A Marketeer?

Kudos to Strange Media's "Tracker" for taking the top honors at the Avalon Micro Film Festival. This film took home The Excalibur Best Film Prize. I had the privilege of speaking with the film's creator, Steffan Schultz, after the screening. It's really funny how it's such a small world: it turns out that Evan Donn worked for Steffan a few years ago. There may be a lot of people in the independent film community, but the ones who are truly passionate about this art form are the ones who keep popping up at these events. I guess that's why it came as no surprise to either gentlemen when their paths bisected again. I'm fairly sure that these two will meet again and again.

I have some exciting news. Jeff Crispi has asked me to join Team Avalon as a marketing consultant. All I did was post one write up on Blogged Arteries, but apparently it was enough for the invitation. The Fall edition of AMFF on October 18th is right around the corner and Evan will probably be producing again, so I figured I will be in good company. Also, this will give the opportunity to hone my marketing skills outside of It Donned On Me. We all know what I can and will do for IDOM! Of course, for Avalon, I will tone it down just a tad. In any case, I will be in touch with Mr. Crispi in the next couple of weeks to get the preparations underway. Hope you all can make it to the screening on Saturday, October 18th at Laney College. More details to come.

Who Is Little Debbie Anyway?

Uh-Oh! I got the following message from the San Jose 48 Hour Film Project Producer today:

Your team was awarded the "Most Gratuitous Merchandising Ploy" but the IOC is now challenging the award. It seems that there's some suspicion that the so-called "Ho Ho's" were actually Little Debbies. Should this rumor prove to be true, the Congressional oversight committee may want to collect some testimony.



Who is Little Debbie anyway?

The Judges Have Spoken!

A big thanks to Vincent, Brooks, and Kristin for all their hard work on this year's SJ48HFP. I'd also like to send a special shout out to all the film makers for keeping this art form alive. I love doing what I do, and what I love even more is seeing my peers showcase their blood, sweat, and tears through film. You guys all rock. Congratulations to EyeQ Films for your well deserved awards. I am so glad that I was able to meet you all in person after the screening. I look forward to seeing you all again next year. And now for the winners...

Best Film: The Animals
Producers Choice for Excellence: Dia de los Dead
Best Direction: The Animals
Best Acting: (tie) Jordan Dobbs Rosa [Firecracker] and Abigail Wray Bennett [Firecracker]
Best Cinematography: Attrition
Best Music/Score: Nobody Gets Me
Audience Choice (Group A): High Stakes Hooky
Audience Choice (Group B): The Animals
Best Team Logo: Barkada inc. (The Best Thing)
Best Required Character: The Best Thing
Best Required Line: Firecracker
Best Required Prop: The Animals
Most Gratuitous Marketing Ploy: TwirlyBoy
Community Player Award: Victoria Johnson, Robin Edwards, Evan Donn, and Jason Salazar

Most Gratuitous Merchandising Ploy

I am very happy to announce that TwirlyBoy has walked away with two awards at the San Jose 48 Hour Film Festival. What I love about these two awards is that they are not your standard honors. TwirlyBoy took the prize for "Most Gratuitous Merchandising Ploy," an award in which I believe was given because of the spiky haired twirling sensation's excessive and repetitive demand for Ho Ho's! The other award that TwirlyBoy earned is a special "Community Player Award" for Evan Donn. Kudos to Evan for being a team player to IDOM and a community player to San Jose. CONGRATULATIONS IDOM! In honor of our two awards, below is a TwirlyBoy trailer, courtesy of Rob Carey. Enjoy!

Toni From It Donned On Me

A few weeks ago, I approached one of the film makers of the San Jose 48 Hour Film Project after her screening and let her to know that her film from the prior year made such an impression on me that I bookmarked the YouTube version on my web browser. I also noted that more often then not, I find myself singing the song from her movie. Her film was so memorable that a year later I'm still talking about it! I stopped her after the screening and had a good six to seven minute face to face conversation with her. Fast forward a few weeks, I see this posted on the San Jose 48 Hour Film Project message board:

I spoke with Toni from It Donned On Me this year, and she complimented me on last year's film! She said she had the YouTube link bookmarked in her Web browser. That means more to me than any award! And I still love the line from their entry last year, uttered by the character with the German accent: "I'm starting to like your dogs!"

Do I look a woman? Apparently so! I couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Toni" from It Donned On Me. It's so funny because she remembered our conversation very well, yet I don't think she really knew exactly who she was talking to. I emailed her back and asked if I look like a woman to her. I also added "just for the record, it's Tony with a y. 'Y' as in the 'y' chromosome. In other words, I am male :-) " How funny is that? In any case, if I were a girl, I'd like to look like this:

And The Nominees Are...

I am very excited to announce that 'TwirlyBoy' is up for a few SJ48HFP awards! We are nominated for Best Direction, Best Music/Score, Best Cinematography, the Audience Award, and possibly some special awards (hmm... "Most Gratuitious Marketing Ploy" ???)! I'm really looking forward to this event! I won't show up as TwirlyBoy though. I got my faux hawk chopped off last week, and with no Twirly 'do, there will be no TwirlyBoy.

From: sanjose48hfp@gmail.com
Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2008 8:32 PM
To: 48 Hour Film Project Participants
Subject: San Jose 48HFP Awards Ceremony Nominations Announced!


...hello Players and Team. The judges have deliberated. Then they've reconsidered, and then they arm-wrestled to resolve some of the finer points of the craft. At last we have their results. The nominations for awards in each of our major categories are being announced here, and the final winner will be announced on Sunday night at the Highlights Night and Awards Ceremony.

The Event
So first of all, let me tell you that the event will be held at the Media Center in Palo Alto. Here are the complete details:

San Jose 48 Hour Film Project presents...

Highlights Night and Awards Ceremony
Sunday, Sept 7, 7:00pm-9:30pm
Media Center
900 San Antonio Road
Palo Alto, CA 94303
Admission: $5

At the event, we will show many of the films from this year's crop, a couple of surprise special features, and we'll present the awards along with comments from the judges. This is a great night to "close the loop" on this year's event. See the films one more time, hear what the judges and the audience thought of them, and socialize with the other filmmakers and teams. It will be a grand night.

Nominations
Nominees are listed in alphabetical order, and you should be aware that your film may be up for a special award or another honor that is not listed in the nominations. There are still some surprises to come.

Best Film:
The Animals
Bodbrane, Wizard of Spas
The Best Thing
High Stakes Hooky
Lost and Found

Best Acting:
The Animals - Mark McGrath
Firecracker - Abigail Wray Bennett
Firecracker - Jordan Dobbs Rosa
Attrition - James Davis
Marble Bag - Tom Cokenias

Best Direction:
The Animals
Bodbrane, Wizard of Spas
Lost and Found
Nobody Gets Me
Twirly Boy

Best Music/Score:
The Animals
Firecracker
High Stakes Hooky
Nobody Gets Me
Twirly Boy

Best Cinematography:
The Animals
Attrition
Dia De Los Dead
Firecracker
Twirly Boy

Additional awards do not have nominees, but take a look at these and see if you think your team may have qualified for one of them. Awards will be given for special achievement in several areas. These include:

Most Gratuitous Merchandising Ploy
Best Team Splash Sequence
Best Credits/Titles
Best Marketing Collateral
Community Player Award

All right. There's a lot more to say and we all know that the art is to say just enough. I've probably already gone beyond that limit today.

---v

Junior Goes To College

So here's what I'm thinking: Junior, the Vietnamese speaking midget horse, goes on a new journey to find enlightenment. He trots up the hill and ends up at The College of San Mateo. There, he enrolls in an ESL class with the hopes of understanding the ramblings of Diane Smothers, the yoga instructor who shunned him. He takes his new endeavor seriously, even if all the other students in the class room are of a different species. As a result, Junior graduates top of his class. He trots back over the hill in search of that yoga instructor, and when he does meet her face to face, she continues to baffle him with her jumbled jargon. With no time for silly games, Junior once again turns away.

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Doug Whyte
To: Tony Nguyen
Sent: Sunday, August 31, 2008 11:08:13 PM
Subject: National Film Challenge Registration Is Now Open

Attention Filmmakers:

The time is here again for the 6th Annual National Film Challenge! The National Film Challenge is an exhilarating fiction filmmaking competition brought to you by KDHX Community Media and the creators of the 48 Hour Film Project.

Here are the details:

WHAT IS THE NATIONAL FILM CHALLENGE?

It's your chance to stop talking and start filming! The premise? Filmmaking teams have just one weekend to make a short film. All creativity - writing, shooting, editing and adding a musical soundtrack - must occur beginning Friday evening at 7 p.m. on October 24, 2008 and ending Monday October 27, 2008. On Friday, to make things interesting, each team is assigned a genre for its film, and a character, prop and line of dialogue that must appear in each team's movie. Then the film must be sent to National Film Challenge Headquarters with a postmark no later than Monday, October 27. In the following weeks the top films (determined by a panel of judges) will be available for viewing (and voting!) on our website. The winning films will screen with the 48 Hour Film Project City Winners at this year's 48 Hour Film Project end of year event (TBD.) In addition there are cash prizes for the winning films!

HOW DO I SIGN UP MY TEAM?

Starting SEPTEMBER 1, 2008 you will be able to register your team. This is going to be the largest National Film Challenge ever - 300 teams will be selected to compete this year! Registration is on a first come first served basis. The Early Bird Entry Fee is $110 if you register on or before September 30, 2008 and $125 if you register between October 1, 2008 and October 23, 2008. Teams can be anywhere from 1 person to 30 or more people. Read all of the rules of the contest here.

Do you have any questions about the National Film Challenge? Please check our FAQ and then use our Bulletin Board to post questions you need answered. Don't think a good film can be made in a weekend? View the winning films from the 2007 National Film Challenge in our on-line screening room. Every second counts!

Doug Whyte
National Film Challenge Producer

How's that for a sequel to IDOM's 2007 National Film Challenge, "Retreat" ? This could very well happen. Bear in mind that anything goes with It Donned On Me. We did produce this little oddity called "TwirlyBoy" ...

Jeff Crispi Rocks

I managed to tweak my schedule so that I could attend the Avalon Micro Film Festival. I guess I'm making up for lost time for missing out on the whole "Doggie Style" experience last year. For those who are new to Blogged Arteries: The Unrendered Files, I am referring to It Donned On Me's 2007 San Jose Film Project submission. I know that last line probably sounded a bit perverse, so I had to make that clarification. In any case, I really do feel like I missed out last year due to family obligations, so when Jeff Crispi invited me to attend this event (where "Doggie Style" would be screened) I did what I could to get there.

The Avalon Micro Film Festival is the brain child of Jeff Crispi. What started out as "The East Bay Micro Film Festival," a screening that took place in Mr. Crispi's home, has turned into a film festival tour in New York, Oakland, the South Bay, and eventually San Francisco. This film festival is really making a name for itself, and I am proud that It Donned On Me is a part of it. Not only was "Doggie Style" screened, but so was "TwirlyBoy." I was very impressed by the selection of high caliber films that Jeff put together. I got to meet a few of the filmmakers as well as some of the actors, some of whom were hysterical. On the schedule for the evening (in no particular order):

"Renounced" - Angelo Bell
"Consumed" - Subject To Change
"Love Hurts" - Christian Simmons
"Doggie Style" - It Donned On Me
"El Invencion" Trailer - Andres Garcia Franco
"Sunshine Bob" - Christian Simmons
"All Nighter" - Ryota Mori
"Max" - Rick Kemp
"Crickets" - Kari Navil
"The Key Master" - Ryota Mori
"El Ride" - Veronica Rodriguez
"Tracker" - Steffan Shultz
"Pencil Face" - Christian Simmons
"TwirlyBoy" - It Donned On Me

After every film screened, Jeff had a question and answer session with the filmmakers. As TwirlyBoy, I got to be a part of the panel! Initially, it felt weird to be up there, but the other filmmakers were so supportive and fun that I completely chilled out and ran with it. The audience asked very insightful questions, but what was even better was hearing the filmmakers responses. When all questions were answered, Evan--who just happened to be the executive producer of this film festival--played some of the filmmaker's other works. It was well after 11pm, but I was still engrossed on the screen. However, as the clock ticked closer to midnight, I had to call it quits. I thanked everyone, especially Jeff, for the great evening.

The Avalon Micro Film Festival is an intimate engagement where the audience member really gets to know the filmmaker and his or her art. I like that. Jeff Crispi is doing something good for the film community. Jeff, if you're reading this, you rock!

Avalon Micro Film Festival 2008 Summer Edition

Tonight is the Avalon Micro Film Festival in Sunnyvale, and I am bummed that I won't be able to make it. Whenever I can, I try to make it out to all the screenings of IDOM's work. Unfortunately, I have some family obligations that I can't get out of. The next stop for the festival is New York, and I will try my best to make it out to The Big Apple. I'm pretty sure the organizer will screen one of our films again. Below is the description of the festival that Evan posted on the IDOM site:

Once again several of IDOM's films will be screening as part of the 2008 Avalon Micro Film Festival. The Summer edition will be taking place this Saturday, August 30th at The Quarter Note in Sunnyvale at 8pm. IDOM's films "Doggie Style" and "Tail" will be screening on Saturday along with a dozen other short films including "Max" - a short film by IDOM member Rick Kemp written by and starring Mickey Joseph, star of our first 48H film "Urgent Care". The screening will be followed by a Q&A with several of the filmmakers in attendance.

The Avalon Micro Film Festival is a truly grassroots production started and run by Jeff Crispi, one of the stars of "Doggie Style." From a single screening last year Jeff has grown the festival to four scheduled screenings this year spanning both coasts, so if you miss this week's screening you'll still have a chance to catch the fall or winter shows (in Oakland & New York, respectively - I'll post details as they are finalized). So come on out to support both truly independent filmmaking and independent exhibition as well as have a great time at the movies.

Above is a shot of Jeff Crispi and Dinah deSpenza, a.k.a Don and Dawn August of "Doggie Style." This little family reunion (Don and Dawn are siblings, in case you didn't know that) took place at last week's screening of TwirlyBoy. Next year, regardless of what genre we pull, I say we incorporate these PR Specialists into the script. They, of course, would represent TwirlyBoy!

True Confessions

There's something I really need to get off my chest. This is something that's been eating away at me ever since the TwirlyBoy premiere. I am afraid that I've been lying to everybody, and it's now time to come clean. The truth of the matter is that I did not do my own twirly stunts. I actually had a body double, and her name is Tatiana Ogryzo, world class ribbon twirler from the 90's. We didn't credit her in our film because I didn't wanted anyone to know. Well, it's time to give credit where credit is due. ;-P



Oh, another thing, those weren't Ho Ho's I gave out at the TwirlyBoy screening. They were knock offs. Ho Ho's cost $1.29 for a three pack versus $1 for a box of 12 of Little Debbie's Swiss Rolls. I chose the economical route. They look like Ho Ho's, they taste like Ho Ho's, in my book they are Ho Ho's! Can you imagine TwirlyBoy demanding the Ho Ho knock off? "I WANT MY LITTLE DEBBIE'S SWISS ROLLS!" In any case, if I have offended anyone by being deceitful, I am sorry.

And The Award Goes To...

We are a week away from the Awards Ceremony for the 2008 San Jose 48 Hour Film Project! Yippee! I am crossing my fingers that TwirlyBoy will garner a hand full of nominations. If I had it my way, this would be the results:



It Donned On Me would twirl away with every award, if I were a judge! An IDOM sweep! Of course, I am a slightly biased. So for the sake of being impartial, I will remove TwirlyBoy from the list and vote for what I feel is the best of the best of 2008. Please note that these are my personal picks and not predictions. If I were to pick the best of 2008, minus TwirlyBoy, they would be the following:

Best Use of Prop
"Lost and Found" - P-Town Pictures (romance)

Best Use of Character
"From Coffee To Drumstick" - Outlaw Media Productions (fantasy)

Best Use of Line of Dialogue
"Marble Bag" - Block Cipher (romance)

Best Costumes
"High Stakes Hookey" - UbseyMovies (period piece)

Best Special Effects
"Bodbrane and the Wizard of Spas" - Beyond Forever Studios (fantasy)

Best Art Direction
"Vagrant Realty" - Turnabout Pictures

Best Sound Design
"The Animals" - EyeQ Films (fable)

Best Musical Score
"Rock Me Kokopelli" - tinyandsmall.com (period piece)

Best Cinematography
"The Animals" - EyeQ Films (fable)

Best Editing
"The Best Thing" - Barkada, Inc. (drama)

Best Writing
"Dia de los Dead" - Vision 6 (holiday)

Best Acting
"Dia de los Dead" - Vision 6 (holiday)

Best Directing
"The Best Thing" - Barkada, Inc. (drama)

Best Film
"Dia de los Dead" - Vision 6 (holiday)

Rock Me Kokopelli

It's been a full week since the first screening of the 2008 San Jose 48 Hour Film Project. I am a bit antsy because I have to wait another full week (and a day!) for the awards ceremony. TwirlyBoy seemed like it was very well received by the audience, so i'm hoping we get some nominations. The waiting game is always tough, but I will survive. At first I was afraid, I was petrified, but like I said, I will survive. I'm really looking forward to the September 4th awards show.

I think it's time for another IDOM party. It Donned On Me had a productive summer, and it's time to celebrate both "Tail" and "TwirlyBoy." This would also be a good time to screen "Rock Me Kokopelli," the period piece by IDOM renegades Joe Kirsch and Kirk Moore. These two created their own film for the SJ48HFP, which was premiered last week in Group A. I made it out to Cinema 12 last Wednesday night to support them and the other film makers. I don't believe that any other IDOM'ers have not seen their film yet, and I understand that Joe is in the process of doing some tweaks. We'll definitely have to screen "Rock Me Kokopelli at the next IDOM party!

it DONNED on me

Ok, I have a funny little story. There I was sitting on the guacamole green Ikea couch updating Blogged Arteries: The Unrendered Files when my iPhone beeps. I checked the screen and saw that an email came in from a co-worker. I initially thought it was a work issue and was about to put the iPhone away, but when I saw the subject heading "It Donned On Me," I had to check. I opened up the email, and this is what I saw:

Hey dood. Just checking on this, just in case. Not to sharp-shoot ya or nothin'. You know that the usual expression is written "it dawned on me", yes? I assumed you have a friend named Don or that there's a pun in there with the Godfather or something, but then I thought maybe I better check just to be sure…This is one of those things like when you've got something in your teeth--I wasn't even sure if I should mention it, but then I figured I better mention it. Right. Sorry if this is know-it-all pain-in-the-assery.

Funny! I love that people wonder about our name, because it means that they are talking about us! I emailed the guy back and explained that our director is named Evan Donn, and that It Donned On Me is simply a play on his name. For those who may not know, I was put on the spot last year when I signed us up for the San Francisco 48 Hour Film Project. I had less than a minute to come up with a group name. The first moniker that came to mind was "The Crack of Donn." For all you dirty minded peeps out there, I'd like to clarify that the "crack" refers to us taking a crack at this competition! In any case, it dawned on me that this name probably wouldn't go over well with the team, so I had to come up with something else. It then dawned on me that we should be called "IT DONNED ON ME!" The name stuck and the rest is history.

On that note, I'd like to close out this blog by posting the IT DONNED ON ME story, which Evan has updated on the IDOM website. We've only been together as a team a little over a year, but we have accomplished quite a bit!

The ongoing 'It Donned On Me' saga...

For the past few years Evan Donn has been teaching classes in After Effects and Final Cut Pro in the Multimedia department at College Of San Mateo. Every semester there were a couple of students who just wouldn't go home when the class was over, staying after with a seemingly endless stream of questions about every imaginable aspect of video production. Many of them returned semester after semester for whichever class Evan was teaching at the time.

In the spring of 2006 Evan taught a new class called DV Workflow which consisted almost entirely of these "irregulars". DV Workflow became essentially an 'everything but the kitchen sink' type of class covering the entire process of video production with an emphasis on producing video for the web.

As part of DV Workflow every member of the class had to produce an episodic video series for the web. This led to various members teaming up to work on each others' videos as well as providing valuable input on the finished videos during class screenings. When the class ended everyone felt that the working dynamic of the group was worth continuing.

Led by Chief Instigator Tony Nguyen they dubbed themselves 'The Evan Donn School of Film' and began holding quarterly screenings of everyone's current work. In 2006 several members of the group attended one of the 48 Hour Film screenings, and they all walked out with the same thought - we can do that.

From that point on the quarterly screenings took on a new direction as 'challenges' were thrown out with criteria similar to the 48 Hour Film Project. This helped prepare the team members for the challenge of building a short film around a character, prop and line of dialogue.

As the 2007 competition drew closer Mr. Nguyen once again took the lead and signed up the team for the San Francisco 48 Hour Film Project. Put on the spot to come up with a team name he considered and rejected many possibilities before the ideal name 'donned' on him...

Despite their history the San Francisco competition was the first time all members of the team had worked together on a single project. Everyone jumped right in and the result was our first short film - 'Urgent Care'.

Despite incredible audience reaction to the film, 'Urgent Care' failed to win either the audience or juried competition for San Francisco. However, the team was selected by competition sponsor Visa as one of ten teams from San Francisco to compete in their national "Life Takes" Invitational against teams from New York and Los Angeles.

With only one film in the can, Evan decided the team needed a little more practice before the Visa competition. Unbeknownst to the team, he signed them up for the nearby San Jose 48 Hour Film Project and announced it at the cast & crew party for 'Urgent Care'. Fortunately everyone jumped at the chance to hone their skills and prove that the success of the first film wasn't just luck. The result of that effort is 'Doggie Style', the second official film from It Donned On Me.

In September the team came together once again to complete another 48 hour film for the Visa "Life Takes" Invitational. In collaboration with members of the a capella group "Flying Without Instruments" they completed the fantasy film "EXIT".

In October, 2007 the team completed their fourth 48 hour project, the National Film Challenge, producing "Retreat", an existential tale of a horse seeking enlightenment. After this they took a break from high-speed filmmaking for the holidays in order to prepare for the 2008 season.

In March 2008 IDOM kicked off the 2008 filmmaking season with the International Documentary Challenge, producing our first non-fiction film, "Stick & Pound". Selected as a finalist in the competition, 'Stick & Pound' screened in Toronto at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival where the team brought home Documentary Challenge awards for Best Cinematography and Best Directing!

After an amazing first year of competition IDOM came full circle, returning for the second time to the 2008 San Francisco 48 Hour Film Challenge and successfully completing our 6th film, "Tail". 'Tail' brought home the award for 'Best Sound Design' as well as being nominated for Best use of Dialoge and Best Cinematography

Just a few weeks later it was once again time for the San Jose 48 Hour Film project. Despite a rough start IDOM pulled together and created 'TwirlyBoy', possibly our strangest film so far.

With seven very different films completed in a years time some would say it's time to take a break, but not IDOM - this is just the beginning as IDOM tackles new projects and goes in new directions in the quest to become the greatest competitive filmmaking team of all time!

Stay Tuned!

Twirly Cast & Crew

Twirly Blooper

You gotta love bloopers. We had our fair share of TwirlyBoy outtakes during the filming of this peculiar road movie. One of my most memorable moments occurred during the scene where TwirlyBoy is talking on the phone while tightening his gluts on the hula chair. A minor hula malfunction occurred, giving Twirly a little scare. Fortunately, the spiky haired ribbon twirler finished the scene without any injury.

More From The SJ48HFP Screening

What I love the 48 Hour Film Project is that I get to meet people who share the same passion for film making as I do. As I gave out Ho Ho's to every audience member in the theater, a familiar face approached me. I had to do a double take, but when I got closer, I recognized who it was: Liz Langston, the co-founder and executive producer of the 48 Hour Film Project! I gushed to her, "It's me! Tony! From It Donned On Me! I met you at the Visa Life Takes Invitationals!" She immediately smiled, gave me a big hug, then turned to her friend and said, "This is Tony. The last time I saw him, he was jumping up and down on stage!" It was definitely a pleasant surprise to see Liz at this event.



I am also glad that I had the opportunity to meet up with Barkada, Inc. I've been a big fan of their work ever since their time travel flick, "Saving The Future From The Past," which they made for the 2007 San Jose 48 Hour Film Project. They followed that one up with the hilarious musical "A Keesh For Hershel." If it weren't for the the 48HFP, I never would have met these guys. Barkada is awesome, and I hope that someday in the near future we could work together.



The awards ceremony for the 2008 San Jose 48 Hour Film Project is not going to happen for another week and a half. I'm getting excited for that night, and I hope that TwirlyBoy will take home multiple awards. I'll be antsy for the next week and half. Can't wait!