Movies on a Big Screen…the blog!

It seems that the increasingly popular Las Vegas Film Fest, Cinevegas, is going “on hiatus” for 2010, citing the economy. The fest, which Dennis Hopper serves as Chair of their Creative Advisory Board, has played host to a number of celebrities and major studio premieres, along with a healthy mix of straight-up indie flicks.

Fest president Robin Greenspun told The Hollywood Reporter, “CineVegas has become such a well-respected film festival, and rather than allow the economy to affect its level of quality we have opted to put the event on hold.”

Some commenters on the internet have speculated there may be more to the story. One person (identified as michaelny) noted in a follow-up to Indiewire’s article, “The level of quality now is NON-existent, as in no quality whatsoever,” as the fest will not exist. The same person further mentions that arts organizations have had to scale back around the country to adapt to the economy, and wonders why this might not have been an option, rather than completely shuttering the fest for the year. Their final statement in this comment: “Furthermore, it sends a rather chilling message to the independent film community at large: ‘better to quit rather than risk the glory of your reputation by producing something more modest.’”

And he’s right. Many fests (and other arts organizations) have had to scale back, including Tribeca and the New York Film Festival. Late last year, however, the economy did deliver a fatality in the world of fests: the rapidly growing Jackson Hole Film Festival went under, despite having 10,000 in attendance in 2008, “roughly the same size as the venerated Telluride,” according to the Jackson Hole News & Guide.

Now, New York’s Rooftop Films is also having some financial issues.

Their website has the following: “Rooftop Films needs your help. While you have already made the 2009 Summer Series our most successful ever – your attendance, your feedback, and your films have all been through the roof – that is sadly not enough in today’s economic climate. As the 2009 festival winds down, cutbacks by funders and sponsors have created a severe gap in our budget, which threatens to drastically shrink our future programming. We must raise $70,000 by October to ensure that Rooftop can continue without compromise in 2010. Your donation – whether it’s $1,000 or $100 or $10 – is crucial to that effort.”

Wow. Now granted, we’re generally in a bit of a different class than Rooftop Films (although we have shown a few of the same titles in the past), but what we couldn’t do with 70K! Hmm – maybe some of these folks oughtta bring MOBS on for some consulting on how to beg, borrow and jury-rig your way to holding screenings on the cheap.

Nah – it wouldn’t be fancy enough, I suppose…

Dead Exit, the locally produced zombie short which was primarily shot at the old MOBS location in West Sacramento is now available on DVD!

All but the opening scene was shot at the old MOBS screening space in West Sac! We also hosted the sneak preview of it back in March of 2009. Since then, it’s won “Best Short Horror Film” at the Action on Film Festival, was nominated for Best Horror Film at this year’s DragonCon, and has screened at both Shocker Fest and the Chicago Horror Film Festival! It will also be screening at Sac Horror Film Fest on their closing night, Oct 25th, as part of a shorts compilation beginning at 8 PM!

But now — it’s also on DVD for only 10 bucks!! It is a shorter film, but has been fleshed (ahem) out with 90 minutes of features, including a commentary. Support local filmmaking! Support zombie flicks! Buy it by going to the Dead Exit site and choosing either Google Checkout or Paypal!

It even has a commentary!! So grab it! And who knows – if enough copies sell, maybe some producer will kick down $5 mil for a feature adaptation (or $500K. or $200K. or…?? Wes, Ryan, Bob – I get 10% as an adviser if that happens because of this blog post, ok? OK!).

But seriously! Grab it! It’s a great zombie flick and is a great way to reminisce about the old West Sac space (for those who went there)! And to view the bloody horrors that occurred within and without the walls of 600 4th St, which you were blissfully unaware of as you enjoyed a movie at MOBS.

Get it. See it. Now!

This weekend – Sept 11 and Sept 13 – will mark our 3rd year anniversary here at MOBS! From a quick count, it looks like over the past three years, we’ve shown nearly 150 unique titles!

The very first movie we screened was a documentary on an early 80’s hardcore band (at least they were lumped in with hardcore bands at the time and were definitely part of that scene). While we didn’t plan this, we’ll be moving into our fourth year with a title featuring a different kind of “core” – nerdcore, with the screening of Nerdcore Rising, and it somehow seems extremely appropriate.

Speaking of nerds, I want to give a special mention to SacGeeks

We first met the proudly geeky founder, Steph, when we did the Buffy night a couple of years ago. She did a huge amount of work promoting it, and was instrumental to that evening’s success. Since then, she has tirelessly supported Movies on a Big Screen and independent film in Sacramento in general – in addition to countless other geeky events, many of which she organizes herself. She also runs Fantastic Frontiers, and has even recently started creating content and posting to youtube! So come out and celebrate geekdom this weekend at the Nerdcore Rising screenings, and definitely check out SacGeeks! Without folks like Steph, it’s pretty unlikely we’d have made it through three years. Which leads me to…

Many other organizations, groups, bloggers and individuals in Sacramento have also helped us get to this point in time, as well! An all-encompassing list would be nearly impossible to create, but some of the organizations include (in no particular order): Sacramento News & Review, Capital Public Radio, Sacramento Bee, Midtown Monthly, our first “home – the now-defunct Fools Foundation (and Liz Donner), The Book Collector, Sacramento Magazine, KDVS, Al Williamson and The Guild Theater, The Verge Gallery, LJ Urban, World’s Best Comics, Sacramento Press, Minnick Web Services, Capital Film Arts Alliance, Midtown Grid, Trash Film Orgy, Access Sacramento (and its Executive Director, Ron Cooper), SacTown Magazine, and Submerge. Blogs include SacRag, Living in Urban Sac, Heckasac (who even blogged about our very first night), Dumbworld Order, Secrets of Sacramento, and Central City Guy (aka, Rob McQuade – the first to use the acronym “MOBS” which we promptly appropriated). Wow – but I’m still not done…

Because then there’s the people: Galen Howard, Aaron Hawkins, Bill Robertson, Stew and his wife Marissa, current ex-pat Dave “Smith,” Jason and Jeanine Hale, Korey, Cinema Insomnia’s Mr. Lobo, Bill Burg (of Sacramento Old City Assn and a jillion other things), and everyone who has ever gone to see something we’ve shown and/or plugged us on or off the Internet! Whether you’re a “regular” or not, every single person has helped keep us going! And we also thank every filmmaker who has worked with us to have their films shown at MOBS!

So really – thank you ALL for helping to keep MOBS going – and throughout our fourth year, we pledge to continue to bring the strange, the thought-provoking and the just plain cool titles that we’re known for – which in most cases, wouldn’t otherwise play in Sacramento.

Oh yeah – and there’s now a MOBS Café Press thing set up! You can buy shirts, tote bags, etc – and we don’t get a penny from it (it’s all sold at-cost). But when you wear or use the stuff around town, you’ll be constantly pushing MOBS on the unsuspecting public!!! Given the fact that our advertising budget is 0 dollars, every little bit helps! It’s at http://www.cafepress.com/moviesbigscreen

And don’t forget to catch Nerdcore Rising this weekend!