September Club

Barry

ESPN 30 For 30 Documentary “MECCA: The Floor” Premieres

September Club-produced short documentary MECCA: The Floor That Made Milwaukee Famous, directed by Chris James Thompson, premiered today on ESPN. The film was edited by Michael Vollmann and co-produced by Jack Turner and our friends at Matador Content.

The documentary chronicles the controversial beginnings and hallowed history of the floor that artist Robert Indiana designed for the Milwaukee Bucks at the MECCA Arena in 1977.

ESPN 30 For 30 is an award-winning series of sports/sports-related documentary films.

For more on 30 For 30 and to watch more of its great docs, see the 30 For 30 home page.

“The Emperors of Wyoming” Play Mile of Music

Five Days From Levon

From Manny Marquez: “This film documents the days leading up to the birth of my second son, Levon. My wife was almost two weeks overdue with the baby. Although anxious in awaiting the birth, I was inspired to watch my wife and oldest son, Gus, just loving each other and enjoying life that week. I built up my camera, and started capturing just one moment per day. I told my wife that I hoped the baby would be born on Friday, that way I’d have enough for a film. Well, Levon didn’t let me down, because on the 5th day he arrived! I consider this a documentary, because the days in the film are the actual days counted down until Levon was born on May 2, 2014 at 11:37am. Thanks for watching, and I hope you enjoy. “

This film is for Leigh, Gus, and Levon. I love you, my dear family…you inspire me daily.
“Shouts Out & Goodnight” by Boxing. Hear it on the album, “Dig the Final Time.”
Special thanks to Josh & Seth Kasselman for the music.
And to Yvette Blanchette and Shannon, our midwives, for safe delivery of the baby!

Michael Ruppert, 1951-2014

We are sad to hear that our friend Michael Ruppert had died. He was 63. Michael was the subject of the documentary, COLLAPSE, which we edited in 2009.

This is Michael’s last broadcast of the Lifeboat Hour on PRN 13 April 2014.

Animals Wins SXSW Special Jury Prize

David Dastmalchian won a well deserved Special Jury Prize for his performance in “Animals” . David wrote and stars in the film Animals.

According to Variety:

The jury awarded him for his physically demanding portrayal of a homeless addict.

“I hope that anyone who sees this movie remembers, you never give up on people,” Dastmalchian said.

The Dissolve Profiles “American Movie”

We are very flattered and excited to see that the “The Dissolve” is profiling “American Movie” as their featured movie of the week. If you aren’t familiar with “The Dissolve”, it’s the best film writing out there right now — made up primarily of former film critics from the Onion’s AVClub and owned by Pitchfork.

ASWANG Blog Roundup

From Soresport Movies…

“When a trespasser on the land needs to be dealt with so we see how the Aswang can create a mucus sack around the victim and save the person for consumption later. This of course is never really explained in the legend. Do these creature eat live people as well as infants? Anyway the story really picks up pace in the second half as Katrina goes from feeling a bit uncomfortable with the group to waking up during a feeding time. The chain reaction from that propels the third act into its final crazy leaps that includes an aswang hanging by its tongue, captivity in the crazy woman’s house, a severed hand, fire, blood, birth and death It really is a great act and although Moses as Peter is a bit too over the top in his delivery it does not spoil the fun. So definitely a recommend from me on Aswang even with its flaws it is a very cool take on vampirism.”

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From Horrorphilia… one of the best ASWANG reviews ever (audio only):
POSITIVE:
“Worth a watch. Pretty decent.”
NEGATIVE:
“With the limited amount of characters, you don’t get all that many death scenes.”

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From Decapitated Zombie Vampire Bloodbath:

Things get sinister when they arrive at the mansion, which looks like it was designed by Stanley Kubrick. The only inhabitants are the sickly mother, who keeps sucking on oxygen, a strange Filipino maid named Cupid, and an exotic white chicken who roams the premises freely. Oh yeah, there’s also an unseen sister who lives in a cottage out back. Apparently, she’s “a little touched.” At this point, I’d probably call a cab and head back home, especially after seeing a painting of an aswang, a Filipino vampire who drinks the blood of newborns, given prominent place in the study. Fortunately, our heroine sticks around, ensuring our enjoyment of a fucked-up, unusual vampire movie.

Victor Delorenzo gets slimed in “Aswang”

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Row 3 stumbles upon ASWANG:

Shot like it’s an old 1970s relic, it has a similar feel to many of those slow paced, yet engaging horrors from that time period – until it picks up its pace substantially. A great find.

Before You

(Short Documentary, 2013)

A spirit of Malickian wonder permeates this poignant and lyrical tribute to the stories that parents pass onto their children. This is a very personal, poetic documentary.

Directed and edited by Michael Vollmann.

Before You from Michael T. Vollmann on Vimeo.

Vollmann Awarded MIFF Filmmaker-In-Residence

Michael T. Vollman’s Before You won the Cream City Cinema Filmmaker-in-Residence prize. Before You is a beautifully shot, lyrically composed lullaby of sorts which illustrates how the arrival of the filmmaker’s infant daughter was a total game changer.

Michael says: “When I begin any edit, I have two main goals – to make you cry or to make you pee your pants. Or both if I’m really successful.”

Consider Before You successful.

Check out the film below:

A Month of Horror

Another blog (Row 3) stumbles upon ASWANG:

Shot like it’s an old 1970s relic, it has a similar feel to many of those slow paced, yet engaging horrors from that time period – until it picks up its pace substantially. A great find.

Kumar Pallana Dies at 94

Sad to hear that Kumar passed away. We’ll never forget the fun time we had with him last year when he was in town working on Frankie Latina‘s new movie, SNAP SHOT.

From The New York Times:

Kumar Pallana, an Indian plate spinner turned Texas yoga instructor turned — in his late 70s and long beyond — sought-after character actor in films by Wes Anderson, Steven Spielberg and others, died on Thursday at his home in Oakland, Calif. He was 94.

PSYCHOPATH Finishing Touches

Manny Marquez is down in Oklahoma shooting what we hope will be the final round of pickups and interviews for his documentary epic, PSYCHOPATH. The rest of the film is based upon footage shot back in 2005 and 2010.

Lots has happened during these nearly ten years, and the edit is coming together nicely.

Time to wrap this one up!

“American Movie” Kicks off NEXT Festival

Everyone had a great time at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where the Sundance Institute just kicked off it’s new LA based film festival, NEXT WEEKEND — with “American Movie.” Press materials said it is “a film that exemplifies what NEXT Weekend is all about: an undying passion to make films against all odds and with limited resources”.

As a special bonus, they screened Coven, the short film whose production is chronicled in the documentary. And of course, Mark was there to do an amazing Q&A.

Blokes You Can Trust

The trailer for the new Cosmic Psychos documentary BLOKES YOU CAN TRUST just launched. We were happy to see that our ancient music video for DEAD ROO is featured in the film (and trailer).

Some say that Kurt Cobain’s favorite band was the Cosmic Psychos (he was often spotted wearing one of their tour shirts). Butch Vig produced this one and we shot it one drunken day. The guys from Mudhoney were hanging out on set. A fun, amazing day making an awesomely stupid video for an awesomely stupid song. 1991.

From the description of the film:

For 30 years, the Cosmic Psychos have blazed a trail of empty beer cans and busted ear drums around the globe with their quintessential Australian drawl and pounding punk rock songs. With the founding member Ross Knight finding inspiration from the Bulldozer he drove on the family farm in country Victoria, the band forged a unique sound and image that resonated with punk rock fans everywhere. Iconic label Sup Pop! released their second album when the band fell into the ‘Seattle’ scene of the late 80’s amidst the likes of Pearl Jam, Mudhoney and The Melvins. Never quite finding the mainstream success of their grunge counterparts, the band managed to tour heavily in the USA and Europe thanks to a large and devoted fan base. The Cosmic Psychos were notorious for their ability to drink pubs dry, earning them a reputation that resonated around as a warning – “Never drink with the ‘Psychos”. But it wasn’t all shits and giggles. A heavy falling out with drummer and founding member Bill Walsh resulted in a line-up change and a bitter dedication on their new album with the song ‘Kill Bill’. They’ve been ripped off by several record labels, and dealt with the tragedy of the passing of guitarist Robbie Watts in 2006. But the band continues through all its adversity to remain strong to this day with Dean Muller on drums and John ‘Mad Macca’ McKeering from the Onya’s taking care of the guitar duties. COSMIC PSYCHOS : BLOKES YOU CAN TRUST follows the bands colorful history, as well as the enigmatic and entertaining founding member Ross Knight, to get behind the man who rides the bulldozer. Farmer, Father, Weightlifter, and frontman. His story alone, and told from his perspective is a unique portrait of an unlikely and revered rock and roll bloke.

Horrorphilia Reviews Aswang

One of the best ASWANG reviews ever:

POSITIVE:

“Worth a watch. Pretty decent.”

NEGATIVE:

“With the limited amount of characters, you don’t get all that many death scenes.”

Frankie Latina Closes Kickstarter Funding

Congratulations to Frankie Latina for raising over $76,000 on Kickstarter to make his new film, Snap Shot. The project stars Danny Trejo, and was written by Trejo’s son, Gilbert. We helped him edit his promo trailer. (In a pretty awesome Kickstarter prize for that film, you could pledge $5000 to be murdered onscreen by Danny Trejo—several people did it.

RIP Marques Bovre

Sad news from our friend Frank Anderson… songwriter/musician, Marques Bovre, passed away after a two year battle with brain cancer. From Frank’s Wisconsinology blog:

Marques lead the great Madison-based band Marques Bovre and the Evil Twins. Although the band’s popularity peaked in the early 90’s, they continued off and on to the end of that decade and in 2012 re-united for a memorable celebration of Marques’ 50^th birthday at the High Noon Saloon in Madison. Tonight, I’m thinking about him and I thought I’d share some memories.

Smart Studios, Madison…sometime in the early 90’s. I’m playing pedal steel on a remarkable composition Marques has written for the Evil Twins latest album – Ghost Stories from Lonesome County. The track is called called Sleepytown. I can still picture Marques at that session. He is seated at the recording consul, next to album producer Doug Erickson (Doug is a singer/songwriter/producer and a member the band, Garbage) and I’m behind both of them seated at my pedal steel. We are all only about 4 feet apart in the 1^st floor control room. Marques has a big smile on face and we are conversing about both of us growing up in small towns in Dane County (while I run through the song). He is truly enjoying this part of the process. So informal, so easy (it’s always easy when the band is good). We are not quite done laying down the track and his mind is already on the next song, one called Drunk and Disgusting. “Grab your accordion and play like an old drunk Norwegian farmer on a Saturday night.” Pause. I answer, “Am I a Norwegian farmer from Deerfield, Edgerton …..or Stoughton?” He replies quickly, “Ahh, the golden triangle. Let’s go with Utica.” Brilliant answer. He always had a brilliant answer to any important questions. It would shortly result in many long conversations and even longer phone calls (at the time he lived in Stoughton and then Cottage Grove) filled with esoteric conversation on every subject imaginable during that decade. It was a fun time and the peak of Marques and his band’s popularity as a live act. The boys let me play with them at Summerfest that summer(of the recording) and, for awhile, it seemed like the band would break out of Madison (where they were huge and very much loved) and onto the national scene. I lost touch with Marques for awhile in the early 2000’s and last saw him at the Wisconsin Film Festival in 2007. By then, the osteoarthritis that had plagued him for most of his life had taken an enormous toll on his body. He never complained of the pain or difficulty it caused and he was as wry, observant and serene as ever. He was a devoted Christian who found it very funny that I couldn’t stand Christians. I never told him that he was one of only three real authentic Christians I’ve ever met in my life – the others being a Jesuit in the Philippines and a filmmaker in Oregon, all nonjudgemental and with great senses of humor. I’ve kept a quote that Marques enjoyed (from one of our 90’s phone calls). It’s from Thomas Merton and I think it describes the way Marques approached his faith. “Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody’s business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy.” Marques walked the walk.

PS Marques was a big, big Packer fan. Amen.

The video embedded here was directed by Frank Anderson in 1995.

“The Aswang Phenomenon”

We suspect that, without “Google Alerts”, this one would have passed us by:

Canadian filmmaker Jordan Clark first encountered the aswang in Wrye Martin and Barry Poltermann‘s 1994 film “Aswang.” Six years after seeing the film, Clark visited the Philippines, where he observed how Filipinos were both religious and superstitious. Wanting to understand how these two seemingly contradictory beliefs could be held at the same time, he began to research on Philippine folklore, and again came across the aswang.

This is the intro for the documentary film “The Aswang Phenomenon” – an exploration of the aswang folklore and its effects on Philippine society., produced by High Banks Entertainment Ltd.

UPDATE: They have over 2 million views on Youtube. I suspect that is more than have ever seen our film!

100 Things You Should Know About Cinema

Frank Anderson just posted this piece for his film students: 100 Things You Should Know Before You Graduate, Part I”.

“I put this together for my students. Thanks to Charlie Chaplin, Charlie Bowers, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, George Melies, Abel Gance, The Lumiere Brothers,Thomas Edison and so many more from the Silent Film era. Music is “The Arrival of the Birds” by The Cinematic Orchestra.”

It’s pretty cool.

Kumar Stops By

Kumar Pallana visited our offices today and treated us all to some old fashioned Mickey Mouse Club plate spinning and magic tricks! He is in town shooting scenes for Frankie Latina’s next Milwaukee opus, SNAP SHOT.

UPDATE: While Kumar was here, Frankie directed this piece for the DearMKE series.

The Jeffrey Dammer Files Sells to IFC

We are excited to announce that IFC Midnight is acquiring all North American and U.K. rights to Chris James Thompson‘s documentary “The Jeffrey Dahmer Files”, which retraces the life of the infamous Milwaukee serial killer.

In addition to directing, Thompson produced the documentary and co-wrote the script with Andrew Swant and Joe Riepenhoff, with Michael Vollmann shooting. Barry Poltermann and Chris Smith were exec-producers. Dahmer Files made its world premiere at the 2012 SXSW Film Festival.

Chris re-named the film, which premiere as “Jeff” at SXSW. Why?

At the premiere of my own first feature film ‘The Jeffrey Dahmer Files’ (which was originally titled ‘Jeff’) at the SXSW Film Festival in 2012, I was thrilled to see a large line forming in front of the theater. There was a festival volunteer attending the front of the line, keeping the hundreds of people in queue. When the time came, she announced, ‘everyone here for the Jeff Dunham documentary get ready to enter!’ My heart sunk, but I had to laugh when I overheard the third person in line say to his friend, ‘oh shit I thought this was about DJ Jazzy Jeff!’ A few months later IFC acquired the distribution rights and suggested we rename the film; I agreed.

IFC Midnight is a sister label of IFC Films and Sundance Selects, and is owned and operated by AMC Networks Inc.

IFC MIdnight is planning an early 2013 theatrical release.