So much to talk about and so little time. But here’s the gist of it:

FUTURE FILM MAKERS UPDATES
We’ve been doing a LOT of hard work. Quite a few projects underway, including the previously mentioned Jasper Conroy: Salisbury Bounty Hunter, the recently completely Gullman: Defender of Salisbury (yes, there is a theme here), and the running of our amazingly soon-to-be-mega-successful FILM FESTIVAL!

We currently have about 3 feature length and 15 short entries, totaling at over FIVE HOURS of footage. Here’s a brief idea of what we’ve got:

FILM FESTIVAL SPRING 08
Starting at 3 PM we’ll be showing:
7even Days by Jay Szech (75 Minutes)
Panel with Jay (10- 15 minutes)
Short Break (5 minutes)
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Robert Cogdell’s Films (10 minutes total)
Short Panel with Rob Cogdell (5 minutes)
Hudson Harrison by David M. Demerest (7 minutes)
Conflict Now by Dylan Hintz (8 minutes)
War: A Documentary by Thomas England (20 Minutes)
Short Break (5 minutes)
Scott’s Worst Day by Scott Dotterwich (6 minutes)
Playing Games in Purgatory by Ryan Henry (45 minutes)
Short Discussion (5 minutes)
The L Files by David M. Demerest (8 Minutes)
Piano Man: A Documentary by Marc Gast (20 minutes)
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WAC Zombies (6 minutes)
Mean Boy and Bum by Ed Lauler (5 minutes)
I Don’t Live Today by Ed Lauler (15 minutes)
Man of Action by The Future Film Makers Club (3 minutes)
Gull Man by The Future Film Makers Club (4 minutes)
Hit and Run by Alexis Morrel and Lauren Depaul (60 minutes)
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Post show Previews:
Jasper Conroy by the Future Film Makers Club
An Old Hope and Option Ingredients by Dan Gvozden
Line of Sight and Clarity by Dylan Hintz
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This event will be ending around 10 or 11 PM

Other than that, good news: THE GALLERIES ARE BACK UP! Check out the new pictures here

New videos will becoming up soon, with Gull Man and Jasper Conroy, plus footage from the set of An Old Hope trip that I took last month.

I’m incredibly busy with this festival, as you can see, but hopefully it’ll all pay off! We’ve got a lot of entries and we’re making a big name not just for the club, but for film making in general through this amazing festival!

Tomorrow I, Dylan Hintz, will be going on an epic journey to that metropolis known as New York City to help my friend Dan Gvozden, a fellow student film maker, on the set of his newest project, An Old Hope.

I will be driving back to Montgomery County, riding to the metro station down to DC, taking a bus to Chinatown NY, and then walking the rest of the way to NYU all at four in the morning.

I honestly can’t wait. I will get footage and pictures.

Dan’s very gracious in giving me a role as PA (production assistant) for this film, even going against his producer’s advisement to add another person. Must mean I’m doing something right! And its all thanks to the people who check out my website every day, or even every month. Even if you’ve just looked at it once, it’s all cause of you that I’ve made it this far.

So I’m asking the people that enjoy my site to check out Dan’s website, dan-gvozden.com and watch his movies, and then go to the official movie website for

Here’s a brief synopsis of the plot:

A promising young writer, Lucas Ford, decides that while he is successful he wants to get more out of his writing than just a paycheck. So one day he makes a public announcement that he will be disappearing until he is finished writing what he feels is the ultimate entertainment experience. After 30 years Lucas returns to find out that the script he has written, “The Star Wars,” was already made and has become the most popular film of all time.

It sounds like its going to be pretty great! So everyone head over to his site and offer your support! I’ll be sure to bring back footage from the set if I make it back in one piece!

This isn’t really going to be a review, simply a reflection.

Tonight I watched a movie that I had been cautiously avoiding for the last few months. The story of Chris McCandles has been far from mind for three years since I read it in my senior year of high school. Sitting in a factory line desk, taking notes from a materialistic, sports-enthused history teacher, and trying hard to ignore the hypocrisy and mindlessness of recent American history, this book was the only thing I came close to enjoying in that class. Alex Supertramp, as Mccandles wanted to be known during his journey, was a half-genius, half crazy privileged white American male who gave up his hard earned savings, college degree, and chances for a rational future in 1990 to go live on the land of modern America.

For this, he learned much, met many, influenced a handful, and died alone in the very wilderness he so loved.

I sit here, typing on a computer- my main occupation consisting primarily of machines, electronics, and permits- knowing full well my life could have easily become that. I had tried to leave home many times in my high school years. Sometimes driving, sometimes walking, sometimes running. I never made it much further than a few miles. I once walked maybe four or five down the local tracks until I came across the Shady Grove Metro station.

I called my mom to pick me up, if I remember correctly. It was always just to blow off steam.

What Alex had that I don’t, however, was a real vision of getting lost. Getting away and coming to a state of nothingness. Mono-no-aware. Complete letting go and embracing the surrounding.

It is only then, after all, that we can truly start over.

I write all this, thought provoked by a spinning disc in a DVD player in the utmost disdain. I almost let this movie pass me by. I should not have been afraid. Though it does make me wish I could take such a journey or live such a life for some time, it did not drive me mad with the hatred for a society I am very much a part of. It did not turn me against my current lifestyle.

I recommend this movie fully without any caution to anyone and everyone. If you don’t like the story, hell, at least you can see a plethora of On Location shooting of parts of America you’ll probably never visit (or at least completely appreciate). The acting can sometimes feel preachy, but over all it is potent and alive. Knowing that these actors like Vince Vaughn and Hal Halbrook are playing REAL LIFE people who REALLY met and knew this kid with words taken from the amazing book by Jack Krakeur brings so much more emotion to the viewing. The beauty of the cinematography, the graceful montage editing, and the overpowering quotes of such great writers as Tolstoy, London, and Thoreau used in the narration really cements this movie as a work of art and truth.

Not my favorite movie. It most likely won’t break my top 25, though it certainly is one I will purchase, remember, and look back to when I feel like I’ve been stuck in my house for a day too long.

The Razzie Awards, the self described “award show where the stars never show up” has posted its nominations today right along side of the Oscar Nods that have come out. Thankfully, neither group crosses over in terms of ceremonial prestige, and we get to see a fully divided set of Good and Evil between the two this year. And gee-golly what an awful year in films it was! I seriously think that The Razzie only hit the tip of the iceberg though, as it should have nicked that terrible movie of which I never speak (The Infamous Third Spider Person Film) for a few of the nominations, but the films chosen definitely merit these awards! It’s too bad they can’t all win.

Here’s the list as provided by the awards’ website, www.razzies.com

Nominations Per Picture

I KNOW WHO KILLED ME = 9 Nominations
Worst Screen Couple, Horror Movie, Screenplay, Director, Remake/Rip-Off,
Supporting Actress, Actress (2x), Picture

I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK & LARRY = 8 Nominations
Worst Screen Couple, Screenplay, Director, Supporting Actor (2x) Supporting Actress, Actor, Picture

NORBIT = 8 Nominations
Worst Screen Couple, Screenplay, Director, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Actor (2x) Picture

BRATZ = 5 Nominations
Worst Screen Couple, Remake/Rip-Off, Supporting Actor, Actress, Picture

DADDY DAY CAMP = 5 Nominations
Worst Screenplay, Director, Prequel/Sequel, Actor, Picture

CAPTIVITY = 3 Nominations
Worst Excuse for a Horror Movie, Director, Actress

In a Press Release today, it has been announced that this years Golden Globes have been canceled, and shall neither take place or be broadcast. The reasons for which are, undoubtedly, the ongoing Writer’s Guild of America strike, and the effects it has had on the Screen Actor’s Guild. Because the Writer’s refuse to show up, the SAG refuses to show up as well. They refuse to cross pickets, and they refuse to be involved.

Political victory or inane protest? That’s for you to decide. Here’s the statement:

“The Hollywood Foreign Press Association today announced that the recipients of Golden Globe Awards in 25 categories will be revealed during an hour-long HFPA press conference at The Beverly Hilton to be covered live by NBC News beginning at 6:00 pm PST on January 13. “The 65th Annual Golden Globe Awards” NBC telecast and champagne dinner in The Beverly Hilton’s International Ballroom is officially cancelled.

“We are all very disappointed that our traditional awards ceremony will not take place this year and that millions of viewers worldwide will be deprived of seeing many of their favorite stars celebrating 2007’s outstanding achievements in motion pictures and television,” said Jorge Camara, President of The Hollywood Foreign Press Association. “We take some comfort, however, in knowing that this year’s Golden Globe Award recipients will be announced on the date originally scheduled.””

I found that detailed statement at www.darkhorizons.com, but on IMDB the following statement has also been issued:

In the wake of the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike, NBC and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association have proposed scaling back their coverage of Sunday’s Golden Globe awards from a three-hour ceremony and dinner to a one-hour press conference announcing the winners. Fearful of WGA picketing, and a recent statement by the Screen Actors Guild that none of the 70+ acting nominees would attend the ceremony, the Globes made a mad scramble on Monday to come up with a contingency plan that would allow some kind of network television coverage (and thus save millions of dollars in advertisting revenue) without the fear of picketing or no-shows from high-profile celebrities. To insure that the show would go on in some way, NBC, Dick Clark Productions (which produces the Golden Globes show) and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association have decided to cancel the traditional dinner and ceremony, and instead broadcast a press conference via NBC News (which is not affected by the WGA strike) to announce the winners, and bracket this one-hour special with a number of different news programs centering on the Globes.

So yeah, who knows what is going to happen! I hope they at least let us have the Oscars! After all the dreck that came into theaters this year, the few movies that NEED to be recognized have yet to be brought to a truly wide audience. I sure hope the WGA hurries up and finishes their battle. I’d like things to go back to normal, myself, with the pay increase for the writers if at all possible!