Posts Tagged ‘Jules Monteyne’

03/16/2009

»  Codeath and Sensible Bathtub 2.0

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Please return me to the days of Steenbeck’s and splicing tape.  I feel as though the three years that I took off from serious editing (and the purchase of software upgrades) have left me comparable to a Triassic fossil in the digital world.  I just sent off my final cut (finally!), the one that will hopefully be shown at Reach Out 2009 on April 6th, and I have come to a conclusion that other young filmmakers may find valuable.  If you want to do anything involving editing in this crazy world, even as a director overseeing your projects, take an editing class in the very last semester before you graduate.  Then, once you graduate, read several video technology blogs or publications.  The field is advancing at too fast of a pace, and if you blink as I did, you are going to get left behind.  Going into this project, I was a “Final Cut Expert” with seven years of experience.  Five hundred crashes and a complete system overhaul later, I finally feel intermediate again.

Additionally, Sensible Bathtub 2.0 went live this weekend (special thanks to the many hours my producer, Maile Lani, put into the design and implementation).  Why, you ask, would a ten minute film need a sequel website?  Well, this one was designed after principal photography, so the actual look of the film was taken into account in the design.  It’s also Word Press!  Meaning that I will be more likely to update it now that I don’t have to open Dreamweaver to do so.  And it also offers all types of RSS feeds and links to the film’s Facebook page, Myspace page, and Twitter feed, making it fully Web 2.0 marketing compatible.  (Executive MBA program admissions councils Googling me, please take note.)  In case you missed the link, you can click here.  Or copy www.sensiblebathtub.com into your browser.

02/17/2009

»  Daily Gorilla

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Just a quick note that an article that I wrote on the toys in my film was published today in the Daily Gorilla.  You can view the article here.

01/09/2009

»  Going Back

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As a student filmmaker at NYU, the prevailing option for building up a crew to your film was to go to underclassmen’s classes and pitch your story, hoping you would spark the interest of young minds. The reasons abound for why this was not an available option to me (I am no longer a student, I live in Louisiana, etc.). So I had to figure out a different way to get the support that I needed. A local university was uncooperative at best and my high school wouldn’t even return my phone calls. And then the most obvious answer finally came to me this week. The New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, where my arts education took off. I had been afraid to return since going to college, as I did not know what I would find. Rumors about Post-Katrina NOCCA told every kind of story, and I did not want to see the place that I cherish in shambles. So I was happy to see it thriving and expanding, and it was such an honor to be able to speak to classes in the Media Arts Program.

Jules presents at NOCCA

Jules presents at NOCCA

I pitched my film to build interest, but I also had the opportunity to dispense a little advice on the next step after NOCCA. NOCCA is an arts program unlike any other, and I am confident that the help that I get from the students I spoke to will be second to none. The students there are as talented as any of the upper level students that I worked with at NYU, except for a lack of experience with film. I truly believe that its existence will lead to a spike in the quality of films to come because the wealth to afford film school does not always mean the talent to make films, and NOCCA is a state-funded program.

Additionally, since this has become a forum for introducing our websites, I would like to introduce www.sensiblebathtub.com.

11/04/2008

»  Mentoring the short film maker

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Hello, All.

I’ve starting working with my mentee Jules, and in doing so, the memories of making short films come flooding back. Shorts are so great and SO HARD! When you are directing a short, most often you are also writing, producing, and being your own cheerleader. It is mind boggling; juggling the stress of wearing a million hats, the desire to say so much vs the need to cut it down, and the always nagging question – how will I feed my crew??

Speaking of which, this may seem a random place to start but it’s critical. Whether you pay your crew or not, a well-fed crew is a happy crew. This is as true for a short film as a feature or a TV set. On a good day, you are asking your crew to work 12 hours. Most likely you’ll push them for more. A second hot meal, or a treat in the middle of the day go a long way. If I could give only one piece of advice, this would be it. The alternative is a crew that feels disrespected and is not on your side, and bad energy on set.    

The 2nd bit of advice I have is hone your story down NOW. I love how ambitious you all are and the last thing I want to do is curb ambition, but this is not a feature. This needs to be a little polished gem. Lean and mean. Cut it down, make it as tight as possible. Desperately try to make cutting choices before production.

That’s it for now, Nicky 

 

Writer/Director Nicole Kassell

Writer/Director Nicole Kassell

At NYU’s Graduate Film Program, Nicole Kassell’s work was recognized with an Outstanding Achievement Awards in directing, writing, editing, and producing. While at NYU, Kassell produced, and directed three short films; Jaime, which won the 1999 DGA Best Female Student Filmmaker Award; and The Green Hour, which was honored with the Warner Brothers Pictures Film Production Award and was selected for the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. Kassell is best known as the writer/director of The Woodsman, based on the play by Steven Fechter and featuring Kevin Bacon. It has won numerous awards, and was nominated for a Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 2004. More recently, she has directed two episodes of the television series, Cold Case. 

 

 

10/31/2008

»  Jules Monteyne and “IGTWWETDMSITB”

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I am extremely grateful for the recent workshops that Cinereach provided because they have given me comfort.  Upon selection as a fellow, my initial excitement quickly turned to fear.  I haven’t made a movie of any significance for two years, and I was worried that my tool belt had grown too rusty.

Jules Monteyne at Cinereach HQ

Jules Monteyne at Cinereach HQ

This fear quickly faded last week.  The workshops helped to remind me of what it takes to make a movie, and that the skills I have built up are still there.  The knowledge and experience they have surrounded us with took this a step further in creating a comforting cushion that provides me with confidence in moving forward.

“I go to war with everything that doesn’t make sense in a bathtub.” is a special project to me.  I began writing it four years ago, when I was still in high school.  While the script has changed a great deal over the years, the basic ideas remain the same.  It is a story that I think needs to be told because, while it is fictitious, the hypocrisy that I attempt to illustrate in it is something that I witnessed many times in my life.

I look forward to the coming months, watching my story and the compelling stories my fellow fellows have created and/or witnessed become realities.

Jules Monteyne was born in Mount Vernon, Kentucky and grew up in New Orleans. He has been making short films since he was 10 years old and is a recent graduate of the Film and Television Production Program at New York University. Jules’ Reach film, “I Go to War With Everything that Does Not Make Sense in a Bathtub,” it is the story of a delusional child named Charlie, who faces the same racial tension related issues that Monteyne faced growing up in the south.

10/10/2008

»  Cinereach Welcomes Dena, Brendon, Jules and Danielle

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Dena Greenbaum (Blues), Danielle Russell (Bridging the Gap), Jules Monteyne (I Go to War with Everything), Lindsey Mann (DP of Skip Rocks), Brendon McQueen (Skip Rocks)

Dena Greenbaum (Blues), Danielle Russell (Bridging the Gap), Jules Monteyne (I Go to War...), Lindsay Mann (DP, Skip Rocks), Brendon McQueen (Skip Rocks) - Photo by Andrea Fischman

Cinereach’s second annual Reach Film Fellowship program officially kicked off Monday, when we welcomed Brendon McQueen, Danielle Russell, Dena Greenbaum and Jules Monteyne to the program. They spent two days with us, doing workshops with the program’s advisors to get them started on their film projects. From this point, they will be paired up with their Mentors, prep, shoot and edit their short films.

Monday and Tuesday’s Presenters included Steve Garfinkel (of RFF sponsor Kodak), indie producers Susan Leber (Down to the Bone, Adrift in Manhattan) and Jeremy Kipp Walker (Half Nelson, Sugar), documentary director Edet Belzberg (Children Underground, The Recruiter), screenwriter/filmmaker Afia Nathaniel, director/actor Paola Mendoza (Still Standing, Autumn’s Eyes) and director/cinematographer Ellen Kuras (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Summer of Sam) gave their time generously and provided some welcome coaching. Cinereach staffers got to be flies on the wall in all those sessions (sometimes getting to participate when numbers were needed). Fractured Atlas is the fiscal sponsor to all our Fellows’ projects, and also came by to answer questions.

Each Fellow’s Mentor was also announced this week: Brendon’s Skip Rocks will benefit from the guidance of So Yong Kim (In Between Days, Treeless Mountain); Danielle’s Bridging the Gap will have Renee Bishop (of Savannah, GA’s Farmer’s Almanac TV) on its team; Dena Greenbaum’s Blues will benefit from Jeremy Kipp Walker’s (Half Nelson, Maria Full of Grace) expertise; and Nicole Kassell (The Woodsman) will work with Jules on I Go to War with Everything that Doesn’t Make Sense in a Bathtub.

We’ll track the progress of the Fellowship here on this blog, invite Fellows, Mentors, Advisors and Cinereach staff to blog, and also offer you some more detailed descriptions, photos and video of what the Fellows are experiencing so the wider Cinereach community can benefit as well. Subscribe to RSS feed to stay on top of the action!

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