Hurry Help Independent Film Maker Make his Up Country Film!

Support Independent Film, Pittsburgh...
Last year he did Blanc de Blanc
Year before Gravida,
Now, he's onto Up Country...he is raising funds
with Kickstarter and just needs about $800 more or he loses
all...
Come on...just do it.

Indies for Indies

Lucas McNelly is working with the Hollywood Theater in Dormont on a series called “Indies for Indies”, a screening series that strives to work with filmmakers to grow their audience in the greater Pittsburgh region,
and brings to Pittsburgh the type of films that struggle to get
traditional distribution. They’re bringing to town some of the best
films from the festival circuit, films from Sundance and SXSW, as well
as a few World Premieres.

It’s rare in that it gives filmmakers a portion of the ticket sales,
thus helping them get that much closer to the ever-elusive financial
break-even point.

The series, which will run weekly, will show a different film each
week (three screenings–Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday), starting on
March 6th with the World Premiere of Iranian-American filmmaker Amir
Motlagh’s WHALE, coupled with David Lowery’s award-winning short A CATALOG OF ANTICIPATIONS.

Lucas and Hollywood Theater at Dormont thinks this is a great thing for Pittsburgh, both for audiences looking for something different and the local indie film community that’s struggling to find an audience (one of their priorities will be quality local features, as they become available), and they’d much appreciate it if you would be willing to help spread the word. Maybe a thing on the morning show where you preview that week’s film or a plug on the webpage or a feature on the start of the series or something.

Screenings:
Sat @ 4:30pm
Mon @ 7pm
Tues @ 9:30pm

At the Hollywood Theater (1449 Potomac Ave, 15216)

They have a really cool lineup, films from SXSW, Sundance, and a couple World Premieres.

Here’s the first couple films in our schedule (pretty well locked in):

March 6-9: Amir Motlagh’s WHALE (World Premiere), with short David
Lowery’s A CATALOG OF ANTICIPATIONS (Official Selection, Slamdance, SXSW, Palm Springs Shorts, AFI Dallas, etc)

March 13-16: Jarrod Whaley’s HELL IS OTHER PEOPLE (Official Selection, 2010 Cinequest), with a world premiere of a short from the
Netherlands(!), Peet Gelderblom’s OUT OF SYNC

March 20-23: TBA (depends on whether or not the filmmaker can get the stuff to me in time. if not, they may move something up from April
that’s not listed here)

March 27-30: The Butler Brothers’ CONFUSIONS OF AN UNMARRIED COUPLE, winner of 7 awards internationally including: AUDIENCE CHOICE (Indiana Independent), INDIE SPIRIT (ReelHeART International), BEST DIRECTOR
(Bootleg), BEST PRODUCER (Queens International); with Clay Liford’s
short film MY MOM SMOKES WEED (2010, Sundance)

April 3-6: Pericles Lewnes’ LOOP (kind of a political David Lynch style film)

After that they have 2 sxsw features, a local film (Lucas’s), and they are trying to get one of this year’s sundance features.

Check them out on Facebook:
Indies for IndiesLucas McNelly is the award-winning filmmaker behind such feel-good movies as BLANC DE BLANC and GRAVIDA. His work has been featured all over the internets, television, and newspapers. Maybe you’ve heard of him, maybe you haven’t.

Last Day of Filming for Twitter 2wkfilm in Pittsburgh

Today is the day that filming ends in Pittsburgh for The Twitter 2wkfilm challenge.



"what started as a joke between a couple of filmmakers on Twitter turned into a challenge: make a feature-length film in two weeks. Yes, two weeks. And I know what you're thinking, that's an insane idea. True, but that's exactly why it's a great one.

You spend two weeks in hell making a film that no one expects to be any good at all. And if you can clear that hurdle and make something people actually want to see, you've got a film that you can say, "We made this in two weeks on a Twitter challenge". That's a pretty good promotional hook, don't you think? There's festivals that would love to show a film like that.

And if it's terrible? Oh well. I doubt anyone will hold that against us.

The rules (such as they are): feature-length (60+ min), have 2 weeks from start of filming to fine cut (but not final cut, so we can color correct and whatever before sending to festivals), and it must be done by the end of May."
..... Lucas McNelly from "Introducing, the 2 week Twitter film"

Check out some of the photos and web logs:

http://lmcnelly15.blogspot.com/


Facebook Lucas McNelly

Twitter:
http://twitter.com/lmcnelly

Photos from the Film:
http://twitpic.com/photos/lmcnelly

Pittsburgh Film Maker in Now Festival on My Space

Pittsburgh Film Maker In Now Festival on My Space

Lucas McNelly's "gravida" creates a somber yet hopeful mood in a matter of twenty-two minutes with a little music, cinematography and soulful, expressive faces.

Pittsburgh, PA (PRWEB) February 19, 2008 -- Lucas McNelly was born in Maine, came to the Pittsburgh area to attend Geneva College from which he graduated in Broadcasting. He flirted with the idea of sportscasting, but McNelly found his anchor in directing with a short film for a college senior film festival.

He then went to Tennessee for a couple years studying and writing about film. After moving back to Pittsburgh, McNelly starting teaching himself the practical side of film making and film history.

He has done everything from a French Film about coffee to two documentaries: one on moose hunting and the other on civil rights.

"gravida" evolved from an idea that a beautiful photograph could come from a moment that is anything but. The protagonist (Rachel Shaw), McNelly knew, needed to be a talented actress with the looks of a model. Shaw, however turned out to pregnant, so, after consulting with her, McNelly realized that the story would prove to be more interesting if the protagonist was a pregnant woman.

Adam Kukic, plays the guy in the film. He is a Pittsburgh theatre director and actor who shares McNelly's artistic sensibilities. Kukic shot "gravida" during the tech week of a production of his theatre company, Thank You Felix.

McNelly's blog, "100 Films" has caught the eye of Hollywood. It started out as a regular day to day diatribe, but evolved into a review of, first, classic cinema, then micro budgeted independent film.

Critical response for "gravida" has been positive. Paul Clark called it "a serenely confident short film" and a "small film in the best sense, one that's exactly the right size for the story it tells." Cinema Styles called it "a film of understated elegance and thoughtfulness." TalkingMoviezzz.com called it an "excellent short film" that "almost works as a silent film, as the visuals are so strong."

The Now Film Festival is hosted by NOW Casting, the premiere leader in bringing talent to top studios, major agencies, and independent filmmakers. Currently in its third year, the Now Film Festival has seen previous finalists land distribution deals and awards ranging all the way to an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short.

"gravida" is one of 25 semi-finalists for this year's Now Film Festival. The semi-finalists screen on My Space Film and You Tube, one per week for 25 weeks. At the conclusion of the 25 weeks, the general public will vote with the finalists screening at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences in Hollywood, California and competing for a high-def camera package.

Voting is currently scheduled to end in the middle of April.

People can vote at Now Film Festival. "gravida" can be viewed on My Space TV and You Tube or at the Official "gravida" web page.

Gravida is now On MySpace

Please go vote on My Space for a local Pittsburgh film maker,
Lucas McNelly..author of blog 100 Films
and local actors, Adam Kukik and Rachel Shaw.

Also on You Tube!

Gravida in Now Film Festival

View Lucas McNelly's film,
CLICK HERE
A study in loneliness.

"an excellent short film. Beautifully photographed with a terrific lead performance by Rachel Shaw...the film effectively creates a very somber tone that it is able to sustain throughout. It almost works as a silent film, as the visuals are so strong." -- TalkingMoviezzz.com