TCIF3 Last Film Submissions

Breathe (USA)
Chuck Peters
Short Film
11:00 minutes

Film Synopsis:
A STORY OF LOVE AND LOSS
INSPIRED BY THE MUSIC OF J. BENJAMIN JONES

Breathe is about being lost in a moment. How love can be so strong it creates a despair even stronger. Liam (TRAVIS GRAY) live in this very world. He doesn’t know what he’s lost but he misses it. He has a pair of wedding rings as his only clue, but he can’t remember who she was. His only anchor, his salvation, lies directly across from him in the mirror’s reflection; Anne (EMILY NASH-GRAY). She fights to find what is missing, her only clue an old book with empty pages. In it she’ll find the answers they seek...but will it save them?

Film maker bio: Chuck Peters - Director Chuck has been involved with film every since he graduated from Eastern Oregon Unversity where he first met Emily and Travis. While working on his first featurette, Four Days, he finally met his hedro-film mate Jonathan Griffith. Their combined passion for well thought out, exciting and deep cinema keeps them working together...along with their penchant love for Turk & Cran sandwiches.Along with directing, Chuck also wrote, edited, and helped produced Breathe as well as directing the cinematography and operating his Canon XL-2 affectionately named 'Goose'.

Jonathan Griffith - Producer Jonathan Griffith graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 2000 after playing drums for seminal Northwest alt-folk-funk-metal band The Dry Season. He wrote briefly for various videogame web sites including IGN and Nintendojo. After spending the last few years learning small business administration, he has moved moved back to his home town of La Grande, Oregon to pursue independant film production and to raise his son Owen with the support of his loving wife Keri.



The Dead Detective (USA)
Andy Wolf
Short Film
20:00 minutes

Film Synopsis:
Solving a murder is rough. Solving your own is rougher. Join the stiff dic on this hilarious adventure with a long list of suspects who have no problem literally, and gladly, stabbing Martin in the back.

Film maker bio:
Andy Wolf is a southern California native, where he performs his comedy songs in clubs around town as well as sings in two a cappella vocal jazz groups, Swing Shift and In Transit. A Northwestern University graduate, he is a writer, producer, and an actor, having most recently appeared on the pilot of "Dirt" as Courteney Cox’s photographer. He was the Production Manager and an actor in "Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming" with Richard Hatch. He produced and acted in the indie feature "Dreammaker" which has won awards at every film festival it’s appeared at, and the film noir spoof "The Dead Detective" which he also co-wrote. An accomplished puppeteer, he can currently be seen on the pre-school program "KooKooRiKoo" as Doobie, a Hebrew-speaking bear, and at the Skirball Cultural Center, at the Noah’s Ark exhibit.



Bus Pirates (USA)
David Lindsey
Short Film
34:00 minutes

Film Synopsis:
Dan’s day goes from weird to bad when the city bus he’s on is taken over by marauding Bus Pirates! Along with an alluring blond passenger, Christy, Dan must join Capt. Bonnier’s crew as they set out across the interstate in an adventure of swashbuckling, singing, treasure-hunting… uh, adventure!

Film maker bio:
Dave Lindsay first achieved national recognition and fame with his short musical, "Rattlesnake Jake," which took top prize for Best Music Video at the 2005 Bluegrass Independent Film Festival in Kentucky. Teaching the power of love, the triumph of good over evil, and questionable Native American stereotypes, "Jake" has touched audiences wherever it has screened. Except for that one reservation. Awwwkward….

James Plaxton met Dave his first year of college at UC Santa Barbara where the two collaborated on short film such as "Like Mike-ael Jackson," "What’s Luck Got to do With It?" and the above-mentioned, racially tense, "Rattlesnake Jake". In addition to enjoying dark chocolate and long walks on the beach, James is known as the masterful two-word concept pitcher who gave birth to "Bus Pirates" and "Bakersfield Ninjas". Or maybe it was me who thought of "Bakersfield Ninjas". Only history will tell (or the guy who writes the "About the Filmmakers" bios).

Ben Soper heard about James from his friend Dave. Dave had talked James up a lot, and frankly, Ben had gotten pretty jealous. Ever since Dave had left their home town of Palo Alto, CA for UCSB everything was James this and James that. Nothing’s changed, but now Ben swallows his jealousy out of professionalism and the hope that he’ll one day find justice through a "About the Filmmakers" blurb. When Ben isn’t co-directing with his brother he likes baking and going on three-day Disneyland binges.

Tyler Soper first met Ben several seconds before they were simultaneously ejected into this world by their mother (the previous 9 months had been occupied by awkward eye-contact avoidance and quiet humming). Tyler went on to write and direct various projects with his twin, including "Bus Pirates" and "Bakersfield Ninjas". When he’s not on his cell phone he enjoys casting multiple cute girls for the same role, inevitably unfolding in classic sit-com style hilarity.



Man vs Woman (USA)
Juan Carlos Vargas
Short Film
14:00 minutes

Film Synopsis:
A science-fiction action film about an explosive duel between four desperate scavengers -- a man, a woman, a cloned velociraptor and a heavily armed robot -- fighting for survival on a desolate dry planet.

Film maker bio:
Juan Carlos Vargas is a professional CGI character animator and visual effects artist. He is a graduate of the Cinema/Television Production Department at the University of Southern California, and his ambition has always been to write and direct films. In fact, his foray into the world of visual effects was motivated by the idea that later on he himself could create visual effects and animation for his own films at a fraction of the cost.
He has co-created numerous music videos, commercials, and promotional videos. His visual effects portfolio includes work as lead character animator, on-set supervisor and pre-production consultant; both as an independent contractor and for companies such as OCS/Freeze Frame/Pixel Magic, Parrot Communications, Davis Entertainment, Brookwell/McNamara Entertainment, Seven Islands Productions, Area 51, and Saban Entertainment/Fox Family. He has worked on projects such as "Good Luck Chuck", "Rush Hour 3", "300", "Next", "The Guardian", "Deck the Halls", "Click", "Scary Movie 4", "The Pink Panther", "Fantastic Four", "Herbie, Fully Loaded", "Mr. & Mrs. Smith", "Daredevil", "Looney Tunes, Back in Action", "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", "S.W.A.T", "X-Men" and many others.



Jason Goes Shopping (USA)
Sean Dillin
Fan Film
3:56 minutes


Film Synopsis:
Jason Voorhees goes shopping....

Film maker bio:
Comedian/Filmmaker Sean Dillin can be found at the comedyspot. About The Comedy Spot Comedy Club - Nationally known comedians as seen on Comedy Central, Leno, Letterman, HBO, Showtime and more frequent this popular comedy club chain! Discounts for Ladies, College Students, Open-Mic Night and more! On-going Stand-Up Comedy Classes available! Old Town Scottsdale.
http://www.funnyordie.com/thecomedyspot



Batman - Terror of the Monk (Australia)
Russell & Janet Devlin
Fan Film
25:00 minutes

Film Synopsis:
"Terror of the Monk" depicts the origin of "The Batman" and his first encounter with a supervillian, the undead Monk from Transylvania. Closely based on stories appearing in 1939 Detective Comics issues 31, 32 & 33, it depicts the first use of the Batarang & Batgyro and has Batman’s first love interest. It stars Adrian Sherlock (from web series "Damon Dark") as The Batman, with SF writer/performer George Ivanoff as the Monk and Sarah Breen (star of independent SF thriller "Purge" )as Dala.

Film maker bio:
Black Maria Productions
This is an Australian unit specialising in adaptions of classic SF & comic book stories, both live action & animated. "The Batman-Terror of the Monk" is our most recent production and is intended as a 70th Anniversary tribute to the famed Superhero.



Thirty Second Doom (USA)
Gary Hughes
Fan Film
20:00 minutes

Film Synopsis:
At General Applied Sciences, a leading government contractor, the race is on to develop an alternative method of personal transportation in order to ease demand on dwindling oil reserves. With time and funding in short supply, two of GAS Lab’s top scientists submit experimental projects.
When a tragic accident takes Dr. Xavier out of the running, aerodynamic expert Steve Bennett unveils his amazing prototype; a cutting-edge, rocket-powered flying suit! The sudden appearance of a mysterious, masked figure, with designs on Bennett’s invention, sets the stage for fast paced adventure.

Film maker bio:
Gary Hughes (Producer, Director, Co-Writer, Editor, Effects Technician, Actor)- Gary is a first-time amateur filmmaker, heavily influenced by vintage science fiction and classic serials. In addition to the aforementioned contributions, he also built the replica flying suit, ray guns and full size "water heater" serial robot costume. And yes, he performed all his own stunts!

Ruben Contreras (Co-Director, Camera Operator, Actor)- Ruben is currently a film student attending San Francisco State University. He has been involved in several short film projects.

William James Hughes (Screenwriter, Effects Assistant, Actor)- Bill holds a PhD in Political Science and is currently a Professor at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon. Along with brother Gary, he developed the screenplay for, Thirty Second Doom.



Dark Resurrection Pt 1 (Italy)
Angelo Licata
LOI Lords of Illusions
61:00 minutes

Film Synopsis:
An ancient prophecy leads the powerful Jedi Master Sorran to start an obsessive quest for Eron, a legendary place able to give infinite knowledge to the one who will open its seal.
www.darkresurrection.com/

Film maker bio:
Angelo Licata, creator of guerrestellari.net, is the writer of the script, the director and the editor of Dark Resurrection. He also worked on the photography and on most of the visual effects, creating some new ones by himself. Moreover, he had supervised all the steps of the post-production, included the sounding and the soundtrack. This is his first movie.



Glow (Romania)
Sergiu Lupse
Short Film
14:00 minutes

Film Synopsis:
L601 lives in a utopian society who recycles unprintable books. Everyone works in the LIBRARY in shifts. When L601 finds out that he can see images inside the white pages he begins to build his own reality. Inside his dreams, strange memories come out of the depths of his mind, memories buried for a good reason.

Film maker bio:
Sergiu Lupse is a filmmaker from Romania. He graduated Film and Photography and has a Masters Degree in Experimental Film. He received the award for young filmmakers in 2006. In 2007 he got a scholarship from CIANT in Prague on motion capture and stereoscopy. In 2008 he was selected for an Artslink Artist Residency in the United States.
His portfolio include: a product catalog for Vichy, various TV commercials, ads and promos for television, 12 short films, 6 of them - screened at festivals in Europe and US. In his films he uses visual stimuli in the form of colors or sound and music to pinpoint or accelerate emotions and feelings that the character might be experiencing.
In 2004 he founded HOLLOW CUBE FILMS, an independent production house and Visual FX studio in Romania. He is producing his first feature film and is currently working on the screenplay for a sci-fi pilot. When he’s not making films or writing screenplays he enjoy watching movies, sci-fi books, computer games, old punk music or a night out with friends. Currently resides in Sibiu, Romania.




Ray Harryhausen Presents: The Pit and the Pendulum (Canada)
Marc Lougee
Short Film
07:04 minutes

Film Synopsis:
This newly-created adaptation of the classic Edgar Allan Poe story embraces the same retro technology used on Tim Burton’s "Corpse Bride": good, old-fashioned, stop-motion puppets. The result is a gorgeous-looking, spooky short film, presented by special effects maestro Ray Harryhausen.


Film maker bio:
Marc Lougee has over 20 years’ experience directing animation and visual effects on television series, pilots, music videos and commercials. Recent work includes MTV’s "Celebrity Deathmatch" (original animated series broadcast, 52 episodes x 22 minutes), CBC’s "What It’s Like Being Alone" (Episodic Director & series Creative Producer), and the BBC’s "Ace Lightning" television series (Director of Animation).
Currently, Lougee is Director of Animation on the live action/CGI series co-production "Dinosapien’ for BBC /Discovery. "Dinosapien" is slated to air in May/ June, 2007.
Not wasting any time with sleeping, Marc continues to develop new projects with producer Susan Ma, including an animated series pilot for mobile technologies with writer John May. Several short-format projects are in development, as well as a feature-length stop-motion animation film.



Razor Sharp (USA)
Marcus Perry
Short Film
25:00 minutes

Film Synopsis:
Impenetrable fortresses, SWAT trained security forces, the occasional piece of malfunctioning gear; it’s all in a day’s work for corporate thief Veronica Sharpe. But business turns anything but usual when she’s hired by her underworld boss Rory Dex to steal an exotic codebreaker from a high-security skyscraper. After rallying with her mentor, a grizzled Russian named Karloff Bryce, a plan to breach the tower’s defenses is born. However, the one contingency Veronica could never anticipate is the strain the job will place on her morality and skill once she’s confronted with the dark reality of the codebreaker itself.

Set in a near-future world where corporations strangle the globe, RAZOR SHARP blends a surprising amount of humor with pulse-pounding action to create an experience that is truly criminal to miss.

Film maker bio:
When he’s not busy being an unemployed screenwriter, Marcus pursues his passion for directing. An Undergraduate of The University of Southern California Cinema-Television Production Program, Razor Sharp is his directorial debut. A Texas native, Marcus spent his teenage years in Washington D.C. before moving to California where he currently resides.
Marcus is represented as a screenwriter and director by Brian Spink and Jake Weiner at Benderspink Entertainment (323) 904-1800.



The Blue Man (Canada)
Grahaeme Cowie
Animation
5:47 minutes

Film Synopsis:
Metropolis is besieged by robots, kidnapping Lois Lane and blowing up Clark Kent in the process.

Film maker bio:
Grahaeme Cowie, writer, director and animator of The Blue Man, studied art at the University of Alberta. He graduated in 2000 with a BFA in painting. In 2005, Grahaeme moved to Japan to fulfill a 2-year teaching contract. While in Japan, Grahaeme co-founded the Let’s Film Festival, a festival for 5-minute films designed to unite the ESL community with their Japanese hosts. For the second annual Let’s Film Festival, Grahaeme submitted The Blue Man, winning the audience-voted Best Film award. The Blue Man was his first animated film. This fall he will be attending the Vancouver Film School as part of the classical animation program.




A Tale of Two Galaxies (UK)
Rob Owens
Fan Film
30:00 minutes

Film Synopsis:
Twelve weeks after ‘Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country’. The USS Hood is sent to a freshly demilitarised Klingon border, to investigate a gaseous anomaly. They are attacked by an unknown enemy and pulled into another galaxy, where they must find a way home and ultimately prevent a galactic invasion!

Film maker bio:
Straitjacket Productions
A Tale of Two Galaxies is the first feature from Straitjacket Productions, comprising of three young professionals from the UK. Philip Davis, Jim Rathbone and Rob Owens, after years of friendship got together to make a film in early 2007. With three degrees in different media between them, they felt they had what it took to make an entertaining movie on a small budget for their portfolios.



The Creator (Australia)
Paul Mayze
Short Film
10:00 minutes

Film Synopsis:
It’s 1000 years in the future. A corporation has devised a procedure that has the ability to liberate the human race...or possibly doom it for eternity. The fate of the humanity lies in the hands of a single human being.

Film maker bio:
Paul Mayze works as a TV producer on lifestyle and travel shows in Australia. The Cteator is his first short film.