M A Y   8 ,   2 0 1 0

WIN SOME, LOSE SOME
I'm pleased to announce that I won the DateCheck $1,000 Dream Date video contest! I have to thank everybody who watched my little one-minute video and voted for it. I only won this contest because of the massive support from friends, and friends of friends. Unfortunately, I did not win the "Balsamic Blowout" video contest, as the sponsors' judges preferred a clever, high-quality rap video instead. So I didn't score that trip to Italy, but it was still fun to make my little cartoon, and the winning video was a worthy competitor. In the end, I'd say that any one of about four videos could have won this contest. None of us was better or worse than the other three, only different; like a director choosing between talented actors during the casting process, the judges simply had to decide which approach to go with, and hip hop beat animation.

Speaking of actors and European holidays, you might wonder by looking at this photo if I went globetrotting with Claustrophobia star Mary Lynn Rajskub, but in fact I randomly bumped into her at the Los Angeles airport when my wife Miki and I were embarking on our vacation to Spain, a day after my birthday. A crazy coincidence! Mary Lynn was on her way to New York to promote the finale of her popular TV show 24. I must say, though she now has considerably more fame and fortune than she had when we worked together way back in 2002 (could it really be eight years now?), she hasn't forgotten her old director, and was very warm and friendly. It's good to know that Hollywood success doesn't change everybody.

A P R I L   1 5 ,   2 0 1 0

ANOTHER CONTEST, ANOTHER ANIMATED SHORT
Even as I wait to hear the results of that DateCheck video contest (see previous update), I have entered another contest. This one's sponsored by a gourmet food distributor called Zingerman's. The rules of the contest: Make a short video about balsamic vinegar. The prize: A trip for two to Italy! I had a lot of fun making my DateCheck cartoon, so I returned to Photoshop and After Effects for some more animated shenanigans, starring a couple of bottles of vinegar. It's funny. You'll laugh. Click here to watch it on YouTube right now. If you like it, give it a Thumbs-Up and tell your friends about it. And if you really like it, email balsamicblowout@zingermans.com with my video's title ("Listen, Vinegar...") in the subject line. Zingerman's won't spam you, but a nice lady from there will thank you for your "vote". The contest ends on April 30, so you only have a couple of weeks!

On the legitimate film front, I just got some good news: Little Lotto, the short I wrote last November, was just accepted into the International Film Festival Ireland. As I was just the lowly screenwriter, I do not believe I will be asked to go to Ireland to represent. But it's a great honor, and I hope it will lead to even more festivals for this lovely little film.

M A R C H   1 7 ,   2 0 1 0

A NEW ANIMATED SHORT
In something of a flashback to the 2006 Getty Images short film competition I entered (and won!), I recently found out about a video contest called DateCheck Dream Date. It's sponsored by a dating service, but that's okay - I liked the idea, which was to make a 60-second video describing what I would do if I could spend a thousand dollars on a date. If I win, I get that thousand dollars! The sponsors were encouraging entrants to simply upload webcam videos of themselves talking about their dream date, but I took it a few steps further and actually created an animated film, with my own voiceover and cartoon likeness. This is the first animated short I've made since college, and I'm proud of it. It's cute, you'll like it. The competition is open for a public vote until April 6, so click here to watch my video and vote for it! You can actually vote once a day until the deadline, so if you have the time and the willingness, I'd appreciate your support. I really could use that $1,000.

Please note that the above link apparently only allows Facebook users to cast their vote. If you do not have a Facebook account, you can try this link, which should let you vote for my video anonymously. I am not 100% certain that the contest will count those anonymous votes, so please only use that second link if you're not on Facebook. I'll update you all in a couple of weeks when the contest is over and I'll tell you how I did. Another video contest is looming on the horizon, and I plan to make an animated short for that as well. More on that later.

F E B R U A R Y   2 2 ,   2 0 1 0

RON AND NANCY HAVE ARRIVED!
Last week I finally finished editing my new short comedy Ron and Nancy, after many, many hours of After Effects and Final Cut work. I'm proud of the results and I hope you will find it entertaining. After several lengthy attempts at uploading the HD video to various sites, I've decided that good old YouTube is the venue with the best video quality. So I will direct you there now. Click here to watch Ron and Nancy! If you enjoy it, I'd appreciate a Thumbs-Up from you on YouTube. And I'd really appreciate it if you could share the link with your friends. I'm trying to get a lot of people to see this film. Why? Well, duh. But I do think it's very funny, and actors Erika Godwin and Tyler Rhoades have put in wonderful work that deserves to be seen.

Meanwhile, Little Lotto, the 35-minute film that I wrote last November, has now been completed. I have yet to see the final version but I'm told that it is good. As I mentioned last month, if the film plays at any festivals, I will report it here. What's most important about the film's completion is that the people who made the film happen are really, really happy with it, and keen to talk about moving forward with a feature-length motion picture. It's way too early to know what my involvement with this feature might be, if anything, but naturally I'll keep you updated.

J A N U A R Y   1 8 ,   2 0 1 0

WHERE ARE RON AND NANCY?
Happy 2010 to you. It already seems like a year of sadness and trouble in the world, but you can rest assured that at least I am still here and still making movies. Though I must apologize for not finishing my new short comedy Ron and Nancy by the end of 2009, as I had promised. In November and December I got a ton of freelance work, which took me away from the project for a while. There were the usual design gigs, but I was also hired to write a screenplay. It is for a "featurette" - for I can't really call a 35-to-40-minute film a "short" - tentatively titled Little Lotto. It's a family drama about a blind priest who habitually buys one lottery ticket each week. When he loses a ticket one Saturday afternoon, he shrugs it off - until he later discovers that it's worth $58.5 million. Unbeknownst to him, however, the ticket is found by a young member of his congregation who doesn't know who bought the ticket. It's a story about ethical decisions, and I think it turned out rather well. It was produced and directed by my good friend Brian McLaughlin, who shot it in the Chicago area last month. Brian had originally asked me to direct it, but I didn't want to be in Chicago in the winter, especially when I had so many other projects that I was working on at home. But I'm happy to say that I was actually paid for my script, something I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to say again. The film is now in post production and I have high hopes for it. If it plays in any venue where you can see it, I will let you know.

Now my time has freed up and I am working on some of Ron and Nancy's surprisingly complicated special effects shots before I dive into the actual editing. The shots, goofy as they may be, are turning out well, but with just me and After Effects on my rickety old computer, it's a slow journey. It is certainly my intention, though, that when I check in here again, it will be after the film is finished and ready for your viewing pleasure.

Copyright © Mark Tapio Kines 2010