After a rich Festival and six years of puzzling a consumerist society that fails to understand why anyone would do something for "free", I am very much finding enjoyment in the little things. The Festival was our biggest success yet, and though it feels as if we have been forgotten in Tulsa, our new neighbors and hopes are the dream of the moment, and this year allowed us to reach beyond the milestone of five years and into the the next phase. In the coming year, I am hoping to step further into a direction that will further solidify our movement of support of artist and community.

This coming year also brings hope of me sinking a bit deeper into my craft. I want to fill my calendar with quaint coffee house meetings with new allies against the war of complacency, idealists, thinkers and cerebral revolutionaries.

I always wanted to be a spy, and I think that fighting the good although challenging fight, against a society that forgets itself amidst information overload, mundane living and the disappearance of culture, is a fight worthy of a spy.

The newest direction for the Festival is already taking place. I am also planning new film shoots, editing and a lot of writing if not general creating. This year will be a busy one. Cheers!

I caught the bus, and I made it to Alpha Cine. The two cartridges are being processed as we speak, one normally and one with two-stop push processing, which is their maximum. I should be able to pick it up Thursday.

I took Lenora straight into Pikes Place, capturing random video footage along the way. I rambled about in a way that I have missed for some time...solo stars, vagabond dreamlands and my observations. I talked to a homeless man, saw the sunset, captured the moon visiting three different parts of the city. I caught a runaway wine bottle. Beautiful people out in the city tonight, beautiful people.

I remember going to my first "film fest" in Muskogee, back in 2000. It is a horrible festival that later inspired as to what I shouldn't do in my festival. Nonetheless, I was in my infancy in the so-called movie scene in Oklahoma, so I tried.

I was then, as I always have been, a supporter of women in cinema creating behind the camera as opposed to being exploited in front of it. At this festival, there was a young woman director whom I thought would be insightful and intriguing. I was wrong.

I am often reminded that, as much as people can be unique and fascinating, that singularity will also reveal lack of character and talent. This young woman, named Adele I believe, screened a film she created that dealt with magazines. At the time, I tried to find something more meaningful when in reality it just didn't make sense. It was shot well, edited well, and the sound was done well. It just didn't have much of a purpose. It was apparent after speaking with her, that she was not a director, or a filmmaker. She was the used car salesman that the festival looks for. I spoke to her of feminine point of view and creativity, and she looked at me as if I were some vial disease. I write this not because I was shown disrespect; I could care less about that. I write this because of the injustice of intent and attitude. Even if there was not oppression of color, religion, gender or sexuality, I still think it is important to offer encouragement and acknowledgement, and it is even more important in our current climate of prejudice and hate. I have learned much, and have been inspired by women. I continue to be, and I thank them.

I decided to take a fresh look at the festival circuit for my first two films, which did not receive the chance at attention that many films achieve. Although the reality is more likely that I will enter and my film, being too different and ‘loose’ for the stuffy mindset of many festivals, and it will not be chosen; nonetheless, I am choosing to try anyway. Hope is only as strong as those who hold it tight.

In doing this regurgitation of past practice, I discovered the reason why I veered away from this road, and thusly created my own, more respectable festival: fees! It is Christmas time, and despite the fact that I make decent money, I have…(ugh!) responsibilities, leaving less than a plentiful surplus for frivolities. The festival that looms around the corner, the Great Lakes International, requires a thirty-five dollar fee for the early submission. Keep in mind that this is for short films!

To put this into perspective, I have bought most of my Super 8 cams for much less than this amount. I could buy two, almost three cartridges of Super 8. I bought three rolls of regular 8mm film. I just recently bought a Samsung 8mm video camcorder for less…at any rate, you get my point.

Let’s put this into further perspective: the making of “Adam and Yvette”. This film cost all of eleven dollars. I will explain the breakdown of the budget in a moment, but I will explain the details of the production: locally cast, local music provided, local establishment and their humble cooperation from both owner and staff, timing, improvising, patience and using the best of what you have. Now let’s look at the breakdown of the budget:

Carnation $3.00
8mm Tape $8.00

That’s it! Eleven dollars is exactly what this film cost me, and nothing more. In fact, it could have been cheaper; the camera was not a Hi8 camera, and I bought the more expensive Hi8 tape, which [of course] cost more. Had I bought the normal tape, this film would have cost less than eight dollars.

Why, when I could make three films to the one entry fee, would I offer my money to the less dedicated who will only take it and run? I will anyway, but not until after Christmas; thirty-five dollars will go too far for me not to utilize it elsewhere. This is the way of the starving artist; what we lack in possession and complacency, we make up for in imagination and guile.

I look back at the critics of these films, how many have shown their ass ( go ahead and check them out…go to my website and follow the links to the films and read the comments!), and I smile, not because I think I am the best or better, but because they have done nothing or nothing like I can.

Great Lakes International, I’m afraid will have to starve for my money…and go hungry. We will test the future in our own way. While the rest of the gray-shadowed world slumbers away, the dreamers begin to awake.

At this year's Fest, our fifth festival, we had a special guest: Alex Gonzales. Alex and camera were present to document the event and interview key players in our continuing effort to support and promote art in all forms. Alex was present on behalf of one Mr. Karl Krogstad, Seattle filmmaker and mad cinematic scientist...and host of The American Avant Garde.

Fae, Hayden of the Green Bean Coffeehouse and Randy Walker and Jennifer Shainin from Mt. Vernon were all interviewed.

The last full weekend of November, I received an e-mail from one Peter Morris: "Your presence is requested." On Wednesday the 28th, I arrived at my 7:30 appointment, looking through a dimly lit neighborhood for the right house. I found myself down the correct path, through the door and meeting new strangers and then traveling down to the basement, drinking wine and signing release forms. I was interviewed. I was interviewed, questioned, and I survived. I talked to four fascinating people I have yet to hear from. The show should be released in the span of several months. I am on television again. Stay tuned...