Comedy Flo Entertainment's Mama Needs A Ride - Comedy Short Film To Become Feature Film

Mama Needs a Ride is a short comedy film written & directed by Matt Florio and produced by his Comedy Flo Entertainment which also produced a number of other comedy shorts including Sexcut, Moneymaker, and Daddy Day.

Mama Needs a Ride stars Steve DiGennaro, Matthew O’Connor, Jane Brown, Mike Marino, Myles MacVane, Tym Moss, James Lyones, Ardie Fuqua and Marilyn Seide.  

The storyline of Mama Needs a Ride is centered around Franky and Elmo the Don’s two right hand men who are given a very special and important job … to pick up the Don’s mother and take her on her errands.


Sal, the Don, would take his mama out on her errands himself except his acting coach is coming over to help him with his lines. Sal has a “budding” acting career as an extra in TV.


Elmo has heard the Don’s mother is a sweet old lady and the job given to him and Frankie should be easy enough. But the fates decide their job will not be an easy one ... and maybe Mama isn’t as sweet as they’ve been told … then again maybe she really is.


Mama Needs a Ride is akin to Throw Mama From The Train meets Married to the Mob and Weekend at Bernie's. Comedy Flo Entertainment is in the process of transitioning Mamma Needs a Ride a feature film; so keep an eye out for that in the near future.

Exclusive Debut Of The New BLESSID Poster - Just In Time For Mother's Day Weekend

We're pleased to exclusively debut the new BLESSID movie poster

Exclusive the new BLESSID poster

BLESSID is a poignant indie drama about a pregnant woman with a cursed past who forms a bond with a man who is immortal. At its core, it is a story about the human condition transcending the myriad emotions of depression, guilt, loneliness, and self-loathing while finding love and self-forgiveness in the end.

Sarah Duncliffe (played by Rachel Kerbs) battles suicidal thoughts and disturbing hallucinations of her deceased sister (a victim of a tragic childhood accident), an abusive ex-boyfriend who continues to stalk her, and the banal existence of an empty marriage. Weeks away from delivering a child that she feels undeserving to parent, Sarah finds her life taking a surprising turn when she accidentally meets her new neighbor who harbors an amazing life secret and shares a personal connection that will change her forever.

Official Site - www.BlessidTheMovie.com

Facebook - www.facebook.com/BlessidTheMovie

Twitter - www.twitter.com/BlessidTheMovie

YouTube - www.youtube.com/BlessidTheMovie

Alpha Males Experiment Movie - Review

Alpha Males Experiment takes a look at the well-visited topic of relationships between men and women.

Is it possible for someone to like a guy who is misogynist? Typically I would say an emphatic NO!

Kyle (Paul J Alessi) very freely shares his harsh views on women with everyone that is around. We are eventually given insight into Kyle’s past that gives us a better understanding of his abrasive character and why his animosity intensified towards women.       

Ethan (Ross McCall), and easily likable character, has a passion to become a director. Ethan takes odd jobs, which he quickly gives up if a chance to forward his directing career comes along.

Upset that she is not secure like her former sorority sisters, Ethan’s fiancé Heather (Jennifer Alden) dumps him and takes almost all their belongings from their apartment. Desperate to get her back Ethan begs his brother Kyle for help.

Getting back into the singles scene does not go smoothly for Ethan as he faces his own dating awkwardness and the conflicting advice from his friend Patricia (Amie Barsky) and Kyle.

Along for the journey is a host of other contributing friends and sleazy characters too. Russell (Omar Gooding) and Renee (Danielle Nicolet) are a married couple who bring in a different perspective to relationships between men and women. Justin Baldoni plays Gavin; Patricia’s rock star wannabe boy friend. We see how Gavin and Patricia’s relationship unfolds and plays into Kyle and Ethan’s story.

Renee remarks to Ethan in one scene that he deserves better, and I agree with her. Ethan’s problem is that he does not want to realize that moving on from Heather would be the best thing for him.

Though the movie's premise is not a new one, writer Alex Ranarivelo manages to keep the story engaging enough to watch through to the end of the film.

Credit also goes to all the actors for making the movie; the cast looked comfortable in their roles and worked well together which adds to the believability of their relationships with each other.

There are a balanced number of moments that make both men and women of our species look less than stellar, which gives the movie the realism that other films in this genre frequently lack.

Kudos to Alpha Males composer Austin Wintory on a job well done; considering it is an Independent film I was not expecting the music to blend in to the story and background as succinctly as it did.

ALPHA MALES EXPERIMENT DVD Giveaway!

The Entertainment Corner is working with Alessi Films to host a Giveaway! Enter our giveaway for a DVD copy of ALPHA MALES EXPERIMENT. 

ALPHA MALES EXPERIMENT takes a realistic, but comic look at how the behaviors of men and women have evolved very little since the caveman times and stars


How to enter the Alpha Males Experiment giveaway:


1.Submit a photo of a cool date you had ... the more fun & creative the better!


Share your pictures on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Google + and Tumblr.


Copy a link and share it with us here in a blog comment


And


Tweet us a link to your photo entry at @EntertainCorner & @AlessiFilms


Photos must be submitted by 12am EST on May 31st 2013. This giveaway is only open to residents of the Contiguous United States. Winners will be selected by an Alessi Films representative and announced within ten days of closing of the giveaway.


ALPHA MALES EXPERIMENT is available on Netflix DVD, iTunes, and Amazon, also at Best Buy, Target, plus many other retailers.


Please note we at The Entertainment Corner support ethical blogging and content sharing; and strict adherence to the FTC guidelines regarding free samples, gifts, perks and items for giveaways. For more information go to: http://ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm

"The 10 Commandments of Chloe", Short Film - Review

Commandment 10: "Character is destiny" - Heraclitus

The 10 Commandments of Chloe is a short film by director Princeton Holt and actress Naama Kates. The duo co-wrote and co-produced the film, which they shot entirely on location in Nashville.

The opening classical music piece is an interesting juxtaposition against the montage of downtown Nashville. Though classical music never enters my mind when I think of what Nashville represents (honky-tonk/country music), yet the choice fits perfectly.

Chloe (Naama Kates) arrives in Nashville pursuing a dream of being a professional musician. We know nothing of her past and it is a mystery that never fades. What we do learn is that Chloe lives by her own set of commandments. Chloe has no contacts, and very little in the way of resources. What she does possess is determination, persistence, and focus.

In the course of pursuing her goal she meets a number of bohemian types, as well as a young man named Brandon (Jason Burkey). Though Brandon has more than one opportunity to take advantage of Chloe, he never takes an upper hand, and this adds to his being an easily likeable character.

Brandon quickly develops a romantic interest in Chloe, which leads to perhaps the biggest roadblock she faces in the pursuit of her dream. Why Chloe even passively encourages Brandon’s interest is the only part that puzzles me slightly.

I understand script wise it creates the “complication” needed for proper story development, but for a real life situation had it been me pursuing a goal where I had to sacrifice everything in order to succeed; I would have completely stonewalled all Brandon’s attempts to even get acquainted with me.

The fact that the film was shot entirely on location in Nashville lends to the atmosphere and story’s credibility. No other location would have given the correct visual tone required to compliment the script and characters. Kates effortlessly brings the character of Chloe to life and keeps true to it throughout the film.

Giveaway! The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Blu-ray Combo Pack

The Entertainment Corner is working with Warner Bros. Pictures to host An Unexpected Giveaway!  Enter our giveaway for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Blu-ray Combo Pack


 

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey coming to Blu-ray & DVD March 19th 2013!

J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic adventure follows the journey of Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an amazing quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Sorcerers.

From Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson comes “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” the first of a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien

The winner’s address must be in to us by April 9, 2013!

This giveaway is only open to residents of the the Contiguous United States. The prize will be sent via FedEx or UPS. No P.O. Boxes please.

 


Please note we at The Entertainment Corner support ethical blogging and content sharing; and strict adherence to the FTC guidelines regarding free samples, gifts, perks and items for giveaways. For more information go to: http://ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm

"Escape/Artist" - Interview with Director Ted Fisher and Associate Producer Karen K. Barber

Director Ted Fisher and Associate Producer Karen K. Barber are a husband-and-wife team currently running a Kickstarter campaign for "Escape/Artist" - a film about the Boston performer Jason Escape. They are working on an ultra-low-budget approach. It is a really streamlined, minimal approach to documentary filmmaking.

How did you first hear about Jason Escape?


I met Jason Escape on Twitter. I noted what he did for a living, saw that he was a fun and very open, friendly guy, and it occurred to me he would be interesting to follow for a short documentary. So, I asked via Twitter if he’d be willing to be part of a project, and my wife and I planned a trip to Boston.


What was it about Jason’s story that lead you and your wife, Associate Producer Karen K. Barber, to make a short documentary about his life and his performance work on the streets of Boston?


After the initial interest in what Jason did – his street performing – I saw how he interacted with people, and I realized there was a lot more to Jason as a person than being a performer. So, quickly, we realized that telling his story could be more interesting than just what happens on the street. In emails and phone calls, Jason and I began to discuss taking an approach that would cover “a day in the life of an escape artist” – which is eventually what the film became.

You made seven short documentary films prior to Hanging Downtown; how different was it making Hanging Downtown verses those previous projects?


I’ve made short docs on stickball players reuniting on the Brooklyn street; a woman who plays the musical saw in the New York subway; on a group of Santas barhopping in Manhattan; and on people who came to New York to act but became professional Hula Hoopers by performing in Central Park. And in all of these there was, I hope, some sense of who the subjects were as people. But with “Hanging Downtown” Jason’s openness, and his willingness to let us experience his life, made the film feel more like an internal snapshot of how he sees the world, rather than just a recording of him performing.

So our feeling of making the film was one of being invited in. The film opens with him kissing his wife – so our experience was really of being in his life for a brief time.


What knowledge and experience gained from those projects have helped you in making Hanging Downtown?


Observational documentaries – those that use an approach of “following” a subject doing what they would do if the camera wasn’t there – have built in challenges.

First, because you don’t know what will happen, what the story will be, or how events will end, you have to “tune in” as events progress. You have to become sensitive to what might actually serve as a building block in the story.

Second, because you typically gather a ton of material, then shape the film in the editing, you have to learn how to become a friend to the editor. Especially if you will eventually be the editor. So you have to develop ways to make the massive gathering of footage include the “handles” the editor will need to shape a watchable film.

Third, in the type of shorts I did, it was important to learn to find a balance between disappearing and just observing and communicating with the subject where it was needed. So, learning when to just watch, and when it was appropriate to set up elements like an interview or a clarification of events or what the subject was feeling or thinking.

All three of these strategies became part of the “Hanging Downtown” process.


The documentary screened at a number of film festivals the audiences reactions have been favorable, was that one of the primary motivators to make the feature length documentary, Escape/Artist: The Jason Escape Documentary?


Definitely. My wife and I went to San Francisco Documentary Festival with the film and screened it in the great old Roxie Theater. Watching it with that group, and hearing comments during the Q&A and after made us realize that our idea of moving on to the next subject was wrong. People were really interested in Jason as a person, and responded to the built-in challenges he faces – performing his escapes, winning over an audience, and gaining respect for his genre of performance. We realized that there was a lot more that could be shown in a longer form.


As well, so much had changed in Jason’s life since we’d shot the film. He’d gotten married, had a child, and pushed forward into new kinds of performance. It became clear that there was a bigger story there, and that people would relate to it strongly.


You took to Kickstarter to fund Escape/Artist: The Jason Escape Documentary was there any particular reason(s) you chose that platform to fund your project?


Our approach to filmmaking is a very lightweight model. Basically, after we get a production in order, we just go and shoot footage, and then later change hats and become editors overseeing the mass of footage gathered. That’s very different than the type of documentary where a medium-sized crew is needed, where an editor is hired full-time for six months, where you probably have to pay several people for a year or even two.


So Kickstarter seemed appropriate for our model – we just needed funding to take care of essential costs like traveling to Jason’s hometown. We could defer paying ourselves until the end of the project. And that scale seemed workable on Kickstarter.


More importantly, though, we wanted to know if there was an audience for the film and if people loved the idea as much as we did. We wanted to know if our concept of looking at the life of a performer balancing his art and his family life would resonate with people – and if they would connect strongly enough to support it.


So going into a crowdfunding process seemed like a way to find out if our project could connect with an audience, and, if so, to get that audience involved with the film.


Escape/Artist: The Jason Escape Documentary will be filmed in Boston, San Diego and possibly one other city. What are the benefits for the audience (& for yourself) of the documentary being shot in more than one location?


Jason’s home base is Boston, and he has an amazing work/life balance there. If you follow him on Twitter – he’s @JasonEscape – you see little bits of his day, often including time with his son, coffee with his friends, performance on the street, and performance in more theatrical venues. We want to see this life in our film, but we know that performers face the challenge of going on the road. And for Jason, his constant challenge of getting the attention of an audience and getting them on his side is amplified when he travels.


So we’re going to follow him to San Diego when he performs there. That city is so different from Boston that we think it will provide an interesting contrast. As well, since one aspect of his life that we’re fascinated with is the challenge of balancing his career with his family, seeing him in performance mode away from his family will be important.


You shot Hanging Downtown with a Panasonic GH1, why was it important to you to use an HDSLR-style camera for that shoot? Will you be using a Panasonic GH1 again for the feature length documentary?


My background is in photography, so I’ve always been more attracted to the way photojournalists work than the way film crews work. And small HDSLR cameras allow that – you can pack like a photojournalist, but shoot excellent video, and “disappear” a bit on location. A big challenge in documentary is that the presence of the camera changes things, so small-camera approaches minimize that.

So this will be shot with the Panasonic camera, augmented by a few tricks for getting more out of the “action” built into Jason’s act.

On your website you mention, “The music is a big part of the film” in reference to the short doc Hanging Downtown, why is that? Will music play an equally important role in the feature length documentary as well?


I’m a fan of documentaries that really integrate music into the feeling and experience of the film, but that avoid the feeling of a music video. That’s a challenging goal. In “Hanging Downtown” I was lucky enough to work with musicians I’ve known since my childhood, and they were willing to prepare extra tracks and let us bend and shape the music so it becomes part of the edit.

So the goal with the feature is to avoid the approach some take -- “this is a sad moment, so there’s a sad song” – and work hard to treat the music as a soundscape that tightly integrates with the visuals and with the way the audience experiences what is happening. This positions the film as more important than “songs” and not every musician is comfortable with that. We think it will make a better film, however.

How do you select the music for your projects? Will the process be the same for Escape/Artist: The Jason Escape Documentary?


We are planning to work with my lifelong friend, Sherwin Smith, because he’s aware of this idea we have for tight integration of the music. In the doc short, some of the music was bent and tweaked from its original form to “partner” with visuals and editing strategies. Sherwin has been willing to trust us to work with his music, and with the feature we plan to involve him even more.

He attended our screening at San Francisco Documentary Festival, and I think he enjoyed seeing his work as really primary to the film – as a partner to what we saw on the big screen.


When are you projecting that backers will be able to watch the feature length documentary?


We think our three location shoots will be done by the summer. That’s really fast. But our editing process is not fast. It’s like one or two people building a house brick by brick. So we think we’ll be finishing the film about the end of the year.

From there, we submit to film festivals and will be at the mercy of their choices and schedules. So we think we’ll premiere sometime between March and September of 2014. We know fests love exclusivity, so we won’t be able to provide the feature as a download until we premiere.

Since we know people hate to wait, we’re getting the original short film out to our Kickstarter backers much sooner – right after our funding completes.

We’re actually screening at Boston International Film Festival – so right after that, our backers will be watching our 15-minute doc. We hope that will get them behind our feature film. Our goal is to really partner with our audience – it will help us make a better feature, and it will let those who are interested become part of our team.
 

Escape/Artist: The Jason Escape Documentary on Kickstarter:

Ted Fisher's filmography: http://tedfisher.com