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Meet the Filmmaker: Michael Bliss, “Clown”

Q: Why did you become a filmmaker?
MB: On my 16th birthday I wrote in my journal that I want to be a Filmmaker and Director. Through the years I have made that dream a reality by working with ABC, FOX, ESPN, and working on many films and Documentaries. I have also worked for and with great directors like Robert Rodriquez, Richard Linklater and Quentin Tarantino. Currently I am creating live television shows at DOM and working for imADgine Studios.

Q: What are we going to see at the EFP? Has it screened elsewhere and what are your plans for it?
MB: Clown is a film I shot in Austin on Super 8 Film. It was for a film festival similar to the 48 Hour Film Project. They gave us a soundtrack and you had to shoot on Super 8 Film with that soundtrack. It was one of the best in fest films.

Q: What else are you working on?
MB: Blissfest333
A multimedia, Cultural Arts, Film Festival
We are creating unity in our commUNITY, bringing love, peace, harmony and bliss to a festival about creativity and individuality.

I also have many films I am currently working on. Here is a couple of them.
“The Troll” This is a story about a troll that gets lost in the city.
ZombieFest II “Sloppy Seconds” The Dead are Alive

Q: Tell us one weird thing about you and/or your movies?
MB: The number 333 keeps coming up in my life. In one of my first films The Asylum 3:33pm pops up for one minute. It was an accident that we hit the button for the time to pop up on the screen and now its time stamped on that film forever.

Q: Where can people go to find out more about you and your work?
MB: www.blissfest333.org

Q: Is there anything you’d like to say about The Emerging Filmmakers Project?
MB: We love Patrick Sheridan and everybody involved with EFP. So grateful to have a venue like The Bug and all the wonderful people that help run EFP and all the Film Festivals held there. Thank you so much for supporting our film and art commUNITY.

Clown will screen at The Emerging Filmmakers Project on Thursday, March 16th at The Bug Theatre.

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Meet the Filmmaker: Carlos Daniel Flores, “I Stand Still: a love poem”

Q: Why did you become a filmmaker?
CF: Filmmaking is one of those things I somewhat inadvertently stumbled upon when I was younger. I already had a passion for music, writing, art and photography, and film just beautifully puts all of those together. I love the technical challenge, the endless possibilities for telling the human story, and just about everything about the process.

Q: What are we going to see at the EFP? Has it screened elsewhere and what are your plans for it?
CF: I Stand Still is a freeform exploration of the love between two women and the challenges arising from the protagonist’s fears. It premiered at the Southern Colorado Film Festival in Alamosa. This is the second in a series of short cinematic poems, conceived mostly to hone our skills, open up our creative process with a more improvisational flow, and meeting new talented people in the Denver area. The production process for this one was unique in that, while most of the shots were planned in detail, the argument between the lovers that becomes the focus of the story was entirely improvised on the spot.

Q: What else are you working on?
CF: I am currently entering production for an exciting short poem, Con tus manos, which will feature a dance between two men, and refining a feature length screenplay to be produced here in Denver!

Q: Tell us one weird thing about you and/or your movies?
CF: I’ll watch almost anything with the subtitles on… I hate missing things!

Q: Where can people go to find out more about you and your work?
CF: For general updates, www.facebook.com/watcheyestudios
For new movies, www.vimeo.com/watcheyestudios
And for artwork, www.1-carlos-flores.pixels.com

Q: Is there anything you’d like to say about The Emerging Filmmakers Project?
CF: This is my second time at the EFP. Last time was a lot of fun, can’t wait to see the other projects and meet some more cool peoplez!

I Stand Still: a love poem will screen at The Emerging Filmmakers Project on Thursday, March 16th at The Bug Theatre.

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Meet the Filmmaker: Bradley Haag, “365 Day Video Project – 2016”

Q: Why did you become a filmmaker?
BH: It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Q: What are we going to see at the EFP? Has it screened elsewhere and what are your plans for it?
BH: You’re going to see 365 2-second video clips from each day of my year in 2016. So far, it can only be seen online and I plan to continue this project through 2017.

Q: What else are you working on?
BH: How much time do you have? While I’m trying to get all my films turned into blu-rays with cool special features, I’m also producing my weekly podcast (Reel Nerds Podcast) and writing the second season of the companion web-series and hoping to lens it over the summer,

Q: Tell us one weird thing about you and/or your movies?
BH: One weird thing is that we have to perform a human sacrifice before and after each production.

Q: Where can people go to find out more about you and your work?
BH: Nebulusvisions.com mostly has everything I do on it, but if you wanna follow me like a friggin’ stalker, you can keep up via my instagram @nebulusvisions.

Q: Is there anything you’d like to say about The Emerging Filmmakers Project?
BH: Thank you for accepting experimental video and giving it a platform among traditional films. I hope EFP can help encourage filmmakers to branch out and play with the unconventional.

365 Day Video Project – 2016 will screen at The Emerging Filmmakers Project on Thursday, March 16th at The Bug Theatre.

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Meet the Filmmaker: D.K. Johnston, “Father of Lies”

Q: Why did you become a filmmaker?
DK: I got into filmmaking when I was young, but really took it on full time in high school. I enjoyed taking short stores and turning them into film-ready scripts. I produced my first short with a buddy of mine Mike Collier, who is actually the DP for Father of Lies, and we just took off from there. I’ve always enjoyed the process of telling a god story whether it was on paper or on the screen. Developing new characters, and in some cases, new worlds to explore. I have become more of a project manager and facilitator for various projects ranging from comedies and dramas to commercials and documentaries. As long as I’m on set I’m a happy guy.

Q: What are we going to see at the EFP? Has it screened elsewhere and what are your plans for it?
DK: We are screening a film I produced in 2015 called Father of Lies, which is one in a 5 part series of shorts directed by Levi A. Taylor. Through this short we learn about a young boy named Jack Ryder and his family. In this story we find Jack on a camping trip with this father Billy Ray, and learn a little of about a very memorable experience Billy Ray had when he was a Preacher. All of the tales in these short films are slightly fictionalize stories from the director’s childhood. While sometimes disturbing, these stories helped shape the man he is today.

Q: What else are you working on?
DK: Currently I’m producing a Colorado-based feature comedy shot in the Denver/Boulder area. We have an Indiegogo campaign running right now raising funds to put the finishing touches on post-production, and an eventual release to either film festival or distribution. Maybe a combination of both. You can find out more at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/army-coop-feature-comedy-post-production/x/5485433#/

I’m also collaborating with a new production service company called Ironsmith Films based at The Lot. Currently directing commercial and corporate productions.

Q: Tell us one weird thing about you and/or your movies?
DK: When ever I am producing a film or commercial I typically become the set’s First Assistant Director at the same time. As a fun tradition I carry a lightsaber hilt on my belt. Makes it easy to find me in the crowd.

Q: Where can people go to find out more about you and your work?
DK: You can visit the following websites to see work I’m currently working on.
www.trisevenpictures.com
www.crookedpictures.com
www.goironsmith.com

Q: Is there anything you’d like to say about The Emerging Filmmakers Project?
DK: I’m very excited to be included in the EFPlooza this year, and look forward to seeing all the great films that were programmed this year. EFP has been a great way to network with like minded individual who share my passion for storytelling. I’m sure it will continue to be so for many years.

Father of Lies will screen at The Emerging Filmmakers Project on Thursday, March 16th at The Bug Theatre.