A Fistful of Balls for everyone to see

It's about 9pm on Thursday, and it's safe to assume if you're not already en route to the Studio Movie Grill, you're not going to make it to our Encore Screening. So - without further ado - I'll inform you that our editor has put our latest film up on YouTube for all to see! (Thanks, Chuck!)

I hope you like our latest effort and continue to encourage our off-beat brand of humor. I can honestly say that of the 48 Hour Film Project entries I've seen this year - I think we continue to take the most risks.

We've also started some traditions, at least with our 48HFP entries... See if you can spot what I mean.

Have a great weekend and please enjoy A Fistful of Balls !

A Fistfull of Balls - World Premiere Screening!

We're excited about our new superhero short film, A Fistful of Balls, made just this past weekend for the 2009 Houston 48 Hour Film Project competition. Our world premiere screening (sadly, not part of any 5-day weekend gross we'll ever see) is Wednesday June 10th at 7:30 pm and Thursday June 11th at 9:30 pm. Both screenings will take place at the Studio Movie Grill in Town & Country. (805 Town and Country Lane, Houston TX 77024)

We encourage you join us at the screening as you'll have the opportunity to vote for "Houston Audience Favorite" and we need your support! Please tell your friends, and send them a link to this blog (Tweet with - http://bit.ly/vEsz7) for all the info you need. You can already purchase tickets online via PayPal at $8.50. (They're ten bucks at the door, and have been known to sell out during previous years.) Click here for a complete list of screening groups and ticket information.

There are also many other short films to go see! We remind you that the screenings are staggered in such a way that you'd need to go both nights to see every film made for the competition.

After these screenings, there will be an opportunity see a "Best of the Houston 48HFP" on Sunday June 28th. Time (and ticket price?) to be announced.

Ironically, the "Best of" screening will be held in the same location where we shot our film. This will either seriously jinx us or bring us enormous luck. Either way, the screening will be held at TBH Center (333 S. Jensen Dr. Houston, TX 77003-1115).

While we're on the subject, TBH very graciously hosted us over the weekend. All of our work was done there - from concept to final cut. I cannot thank them enough for welcoming us to their home. Having seen a few other programs there myself - I can highly recommend you check out their diverse, groundbreaking shows!

Finally, with less than 24 hours before the first 48HFP Houston screening - we wish luck to all of our fellow filmmakers. See you there!

We're wrapped!

And have turned in all materials and media for what we're calling A Fistful of Balls. We had a great time this weekend, even with a little sunburn. We'll have more news soon about where you screen our latest film, but tonight we're going to sit back, relax, and watch fellow filmmakers stroll (or run) in.

For all of you who participated or supported us - thank you!

P.S. Again, maybe hubris - but we're the first team here.

About to look at Rough Cut

So... we wrapped principal photography at about 6:30pm last night. Since Chuck brought his magic movie NASA supercomputer to our location, he was able to edit as we shot. Perhaps we were tempting fate, but we went out to Ninfa's for dinner to celebrate.

It's now roughly Noon on Sunday and we're about to look at a rough cut in the same theatre the "Best of" 48HFP event will take place in.

Early Hours Overview

It's almost 7am. People will be here soon. I hope some of them got more sleep than I did.

We're going to get the most complicated shots done first. Everything outside and on the roof... Woo-hoo!

We were up late last night, first in a brainstorming session with just about everyone - and then Nicole, Mike and Chuck locked down a script for us.

While the scriptwriting team was busy, the actors and I went about picking costumes for our "superhero" film. I'm pretty excited, and we'll have more to show later!

Can't sleep

Now it's about an hour later. I can't sleep, so I'm making a shot list.

Pages

So... it's 2:30 am. Happy with script. Must take a nap before I start blocking. Call time is 7:30 crew, 8:00 actors.

Kickoff ! !

5:55 pm - We got here just in time. Nicole's wearing her aviator cap, holding my place in line as I write this. Really excited about this weekend.

6:20 pm - We've picked up our materials, waiting for the draw. Nicole's eating a sandwich, and I just bit into some sort of unexpectedly cheesy egg roll. (Ewwwww.)

6:42 pm - Just picked "Superhero" as Genre. Other elements announced in a few minutes. Nicole insists I wear the aviator hat while being photographed. I buckle. Frantically tweeting cast/crew.

6:51 pm - Groups are still drawing, so we're waiting for final elements. At least five groups drew Musical/Western. I wish them well, it's a hard genre.

6:56 pm - Elements announced

• Character: Jarod (or Janice) Puller - officer (of some kind)
• Prop: ball (any kind)
• Line of dialogue: "I'm just not sure about that."

We start tonight!

We begin production on our new short film tonight! Wish us luck for our second year in Houston's 48 Hour Film Project.

Visit this blog for updates throughout the weekend, and we'll see you at the screening next weekend!

Screening Gropus Announced!

The 48 Hour Film Project has announced the order of shorts to be screened for their Houston competition!

Renegade Amelia Films has been assigned to Screening Group B - Wednesday June 10th starting at 7:30 pm and Thursday June 1th starting at 9:30 pm. There are three other groups, and the screenings are staggered in such a way that you would have to go both nights to see every film. The screenings will be held at the Studio Movie Grill - City Centre, which I understand serves entrees, snacks, and premium beer - much like the revered Alamo Drafhouse in Austin. In short, if you have to make a long drive to get there, at least you can have dinner and a movie - er, selection of shorts - at the same place and time.

You can already purchase tickets online via PayPal at $8.50. (They're ten bucks at the door, and have been known to sell out during previous years.) Click here for a complete list of screening groups and ticket information.

Only 7 more days...

Only seven more days to go, and we're busy figuring out last minute logistics for shooting next weekend! We're all excited and hope you are too. Our casting director has been busy and ensured that we won't have the problem we had last year.

In short - not enough actors equals the director in a dress.

Anyway, I'm proud to say we have the same talented cast and crew, but also a few extra artists to help us this year. It should be a great experience - whatever film we end up making!

I'd like to remind you to please mark your calendars for the evenings of June 10 & 11, when our finished film will be screened with a selection of other shorts crafted by Houston filmmakers. We need your support during the 48 Hour Film Project screening at Studio Movie Grill - 805 Town and Country Lane 77024.

Wish us luck, and spread the word! Join renegadeamelia on Twitter for updates during filming next weekend!

P.S. If you find it in your heart to help us with some food during the shoot, you can kick in a few bucks to our cause by using one of the TipJoy modules just to the right of this text. You may contriute via e-mail or Twitter. If you use the Twitter module, it'll tweet that you made a contribution and encourage your followers to do the same... Thank you for your support!

Pre-Production Update

Pre-production is arguably the most important part of a film. So many creative decisions are made, and a film can be made or broken based on the arsenal of resources lined up before you start shooting.

The 48 Hour Film Project essentially removes that process.

In this scenario, you really don't know what you're shooting before you start. You literally draw a genre out of a hat. Armed with this and other required elements (a line of dialogue, a prop, and a character), the cast and crew go forth with the art of filmmaking. Everyone involved has to think on their feet and use everything they can draw from in one heart-wrenching, pressure-cooked, and ultimately rewarding weekend. Mistakes will be made, and often that's where the best ideas come from.

Still, it's great to learn from your mistakes. In this effort, we recently held our production meeting. While we couldn't make many creative decisions (everything must be spontaneous during the contest's production weekend), we were able to talk about things we could do better this year. We're looking forward to a few new members of the production team we needed last year, notably a great director of photography. Also, we think that we have a really exciting location to use. Most of all, having gone through this once before, we feel we'll be prepared to work together more efficiently.

Please mark your calendars for Wednesday June 10 and Thursday June 11. The screening will be at: Studio Movie Grill - 805 Town and Country Lane 77024.

Films in the contest will be split into four groups, with start times ranging from 6:30pm to 9:30pm. Details on which group we're assigned to will be announced later. We hope you'll join us at the screening because you will have the opportunity to vote for Houston's Audience Favorite!

We expect great things this year. Wish us luck, and be sure to see us and other Houston filmmakers on the big screen!

Free Screening

The Houston Film Commission holds a mixer every first Thursday of the month. May's mixer focuses on the 48 Hour Film Project. Renegade Amelia's The Ballad of Frank Gilroy will be screened again with several other selections from last year's contestants. It's an excellent way to get involved with filmmaking and meet new people! Here's some details about where and when, but you can also check out other 48HFP events by visiting their website.

HFC’s First Thursday Mixer
Date: Thursday, May 7th
Time: 8.00p
Place: Dean's Credit Clothing, 316 Main 77002

And so it begins...

Hello everyone!

I just registered Renegade Amelia Films for Houston's 48 Hour Film Project. We competed last year and walked away with the "Best Use of Line" award. (Referring to the line of dialogue each entry is required to use... A coveted honor indeed!)

I know our film will be even better this year, having gone through the rather scary prospect of delivering a short musical/western from pencil to DVD in only a weekend.

I hope you'll join us for the June 10th or 11th screening (time/date to be determined).

Best wishes,
Tim