Screen gems

By LEVI AGEE SPECIAL TO THE DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

Posted: March 5, 2010 at 3:01 a.m.

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LITTLE ROCK — Have an old VHS workout tape lying around that you’ve forgotten to donate to Goodwill? The folks at the Found Footage Film Fest might be interested in adding it to their ever-growing collection of bizarre or hilarious old videocassette tapes. And if you’re a video masochist like myself, you might be interested in taking a peek at the videos they’ve already amassed. If so, you’re in luck because the festival is making its first appearance in Arkansas next week showcasing “odd and hilarious videos” found at thrift stores, garage sales and trash cans from around the country.

Program curator and cofounder Nick Prueher says the festival is a “guided tour” through their collection.

A former researcher forthe Late Show With David Letterman, Prueher says he and co-founder Joe Pickett have been collecting offbeat videos for nearly 20 years - ever since Prueher found a laughable corporate training video in the breakroom of the fast-food restaurant where he worked. Most of the found footage comes from Prueher’s or Pickett’s collection, but audience members are encouraged to bring their videos, too.

The Arkansas debut is at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway on Thursday with a students-only showing. A public show for “mature audiences” is 9 p.m. March 12 at Market Street Cinema in Little Rock. Tickets are $10 ($8 for Market Street members) and are available at foundfootagefest.com.

Charlie Brady, a graduate student at the University of California, Los Angeles, is shooting a short film in central Arkansas. Brady, who expects to wrap Tuesday, is still looking for art direction assistants and makeup artists to help with the production. Brady says it is unpaid work with long hours, but that LA-based producers and crew members will be on the set for networking opportunities (and in the film business, networking is everything). Interested? Contact Brady at charliejjbrady@gmail.com or call (501) 428-2542.

Another - as yet untitled - film production is in development in the Natural State. The project, according to producer Jonathon Carlson, is a comedy that centers on a small-town television news station. Shooting is tentatively set to begin in late June or early July in Fayetteville.

Producers are seeking crew and department heads including a stunt coordinator, unit publicist, location manager, casting director, property master, gaffers, an assistant director and sound engineers.

The production plans to take advantage of state tax incentives for film productions that were enacted last year by the Arkansas Legislature. Carlson said he hopesthat there will eventually be enough film work to sustain a community of production companies in Northwest Arkansas. “Our intent is to establish a foothold production hub in the Northwest Arkansas region,” he says, “one that has good ties and communication with the production community in Little Rock, but eventually we hope for a place in production on par with Shreveport, servicing outside productions as well as having the resources and production skills to tell our own stories.”

For more information or to post a resume go to getafilmcrew.com.

An item in last week’s column gave the impression that a script written by Kevin and Kat Yares - co-founders of the Arkansas Talent Database (arkansastalentdatabase. ning.com) - is represented by the Little Rock casting services company The Agency. The Yareses’ script is represented by an agent, not by The Agency.

Levi Agee is a programmer for the Little Rock Film Festival, and the founder and host of Cameras on the Radio. E-mail him at:

levifilm@gmail.com

MovieStyle, Pages 40 on 03/05/2010

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