Sidewalk Scramble / Film Festival Rejection

Posted by Robert on the 24th of February, 2005 at 1:03 PM GMT0. Permalink.
Tags: Culture, Movies, Random

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When I posted this, I was listening to: Lior - This Old Love

Alex Justinger, one of my best friends, is part of a group called Flypaper. Flypaper makes movies for the Sidewalk Scramble. The Sidewalk Scramble is an event held by the people that bring The Sidewalk Motion Picture Festival (Sidewalk Film Festival) that is designed to keep local filmmakers interested in the local film community. The Sidewalk Scramble is a weekend event. Filmmakers are given 48 hours to complete a film. No work on the film can begin until after the Kick Off. That means all writing, scoring, filming, and editing must be done after the allotted time starts. To prevent cheating, the Sidewalk Scramble implemented an "inspirational item" that must be used in the film. This may be anything from a tangible object that must appear to an abstract concept. The item is disclosed during the Kick Off. This, clearly, is like a check digit on a credit card. While the check digit itself isn't the credit card number (only a part), it makes sure that all the numbers before it are valid. The "inspirational item" makes sure no cheating was involved because a group couldn't possibly guess what the item is and make the film before the 48 hour period.

Flypaper has been involved in the Sidewalk Scramble since its inception, which was shortly after I left for California (which is too bad because I would have liked to join the ranks). Alex Justinger posts on his blog about each of the Sidewalk Scrambles he has been in. What I usually hear is a tale of spending 48 hours without sleep striving to complete a film at the detriment of health, school work, and normal weekend fun. These guys really put their all into these events because they love to make films.

Alex Justinger posted on his blog recently that Flypaper had been disqualified from the Sidewalk Scramble. Apparently, the "inspirational item" was a series of opening lines: Make a wish, I already did, Make another one. They were disqualified for using the following opening lines: Make a wish, I already did, Then make another one.

I'll give you a second to think about that one.

Apparently, since an actor said Then, Flypaper are cheaters. By disqualifying the film, those involved in the Sidewalk Scramble are saying that the writing, filming, and/or editing was done before the Kick Off, and Flypaper cheated. They are suggesting that somehow Flypaper coincidentally had already filmed a movie that had the "inspirational item" with the addition of the word Then and submitted it thinking they could get away with it. What they are really saying is that the sacrifice (not only of 48 hours but all other work that could be done during that time that wasn't and all the work that could be done during the recovery period that wasn't) Flypaper made to complete their entry amounts to nothing.

Flypaper doesn't make "safe" films. They don't make things they think are a shoe-in to win. They don't make films that make you feel happy inside. They make films they are interested in seeing and they make them to be seen. They stay true to their roots as competitors.

Now a group that supposedly supports filmmaking in Birmingham turns into a bureaucracy, not dedicated to film but to hard-line rule thumping, rejects a submission because they believe one misspoken word constitutes cheating. How can any Birmingham filmmakers take part? How can they take Sidewalk (both Sidewalk Scramble and The Sidewalk Motion Picture Festival) seriously about their claims to support local filmmakers after they do something like this?

I'm not the only one who is pissed off about this.

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Comments:

1. You Write Too Much...

   by Anonymous on the 24th of February, 2005 at 7:44 PM GMT0. Permalink.

   It would be much easier to read all this if you didn't type so much. Like books I read the first paragraph and the last...

   so sorry yer mad at something somewhere...

   If only folks'd use more 1 syllable words.

   bah!

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