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Meet the Filmmakers: Grant Worden, Shannon Malloy, “Losing Faith”

Losing FaithGhimselfproductions.com

Q: Why did you become a filmmaker?
GW: All I know is, I never wanted to work in the traditional cubical world. Cinema has I use to hate reading/writing but now have a responsibility to invent compelling characters, story structures and world rules. As a director, I get to work with the best individuals to make great scripts come to life.

SM: I became a filmmaker because I truly believe being a storyteller is why I was put onto this earth. Even if I impact one life at a time it’s absolutely worth all the time and energy that we put into a film, and I’m so thankful to be chasing this dream and making movies.

Q: What are we going to see at the EFP? Has it screened elsewhere and what are your plans for it?

GW: Losing Faith received an Honorable Mention in the One-Reeler short film competition (One-reeler.net) This is the first local showing.

SM: I became a filmmaker because I truly believe being a storyteller is why I was put onto this earth. Even if I impact one life at a time it’s absolutely worth all the time and energy that we put into a film, and I’m so thankful to be chasing this dream and making movies.

Q: What else are you working on?
GW: 1. Wrapped principal photography this January on my Colorado Film School production 3 (senior thesis) Open Mic Night. An quirky drama about a bar’s last open mic night and all the characters that perform. It was filmed here in Denver at Pearl’s on 13th St. It will be premiering May 2018.

2. Finishing rewrites on a feature script titled – Calvin the Only

3. Recently started an Internship with InJoy Health Educations (InJoy Productions)

SM: I’m currently finishing my last semester at NYFA in Los Angeles and am knee deep in work here! Learning as much as I can and pouring my heart out into all my projects!

Q: Tell us one weird thing about you and/or your movies?
GW: ABOUT ME: I love Manatees, Hockey and all things grapefruit.

ABOUT MY WORK: All my scripts and short film productions tend to deal with odd couples that are searching for with the right way to be themselves.

SM: We scrapped two days of shooting on this film and headed in the original direction of what we wanted. So many people thought we were crazy, but ultimately we followed the integrity of the script and I am so proud of the result! I also wrote the film to be dedicated to my mom, as a small thank you for teaching me to be strong and to have faith.

Q: Where can people go to find out more about you and your work?
GW: Ghimselfproductions.com

Reel: https://youtu.be/-WIjEK3c6Mk

Twitter: Grant Worden / @grannn14

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grantiworden/

SM: You can find me on Linkedin, I would love to connect with you! There you can see more of my work and eventually my updated reel and website.

Q: Is there anything you’d like to say about The Emerging Filmmakers Project?
GW: I am humbled to show Losing Faith at the EFP. Only having attended twice before I find the atmosphere to be creatively intoxicating. Just being in the room is an honor due to the fact everyone loves and works hard to promote good film. Thank you again for all your hard work and dedication.

SM: It’s so wonderful to be back here! This is my third film being shown here, and I’m thankful for EFP for championing filmmakers in Colorado and creating an awesome opportunity to network and support one another. Keep rocking EFP! Hope to see you again soon!

Losing Faith will screen at The Emerging Filmmakers Project on Thursday, March 15th at The Bug Theatre.

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Meet the Filmmaker: Scott Homan, “XJW | Coming Out of the Jehovah’s Witness Religion” (teaser and pitch)

XJW | Coming Out of the Jehovah’s Witness Religion (teaser and pitch)www.xjwdoc.com

Q: Why did you become a filmmaker?
SH: I’m simply passionate about motion pictures and doing filmmaking. I’ve been working with cameras since I was 15 shooting stills, making skateboard & snowboard videos and short documentaries. I worked in broadcast TV and then went to college for photography. I’ve spent the last five years in Vietnam making music videos, short documentaries, extreme sports & promo videos and TV commercials as an all-around filmmaker, camera operator and editor. I’ve been directing more in the last few years.

Q: What are we going to see at the EFP? Has it screened elsewhere and what are your plans for it?
SH: You will see a 5 minute teaser for, XJW | Coming Out of the Jehovah’s Witness Religion. It’s an ongoing documentary series following interviewees of diverse backgrounds and cultures who’ve left the religion. Over 100,000 members leave the religion each year. This teaser was released at www.xjwdoc.com on March 1st 2018.

This week we are launching a crowd-fund campaign on Seed&Spark (SeedandSpark.com/fund/XJWdoc starting March 13th 7pm)
to fund more production. We have a killer soundtrack, subliminal message options, a credit blog and many more incentives on offer.

It’s taken two years of travel, interviews and editing to craft it into something unique that fits the original vision. We are telling compelling stories of strength and transformation of those who make the difficult decision to leave and pursue inspiring lives. With your contributions we hope to make it into something ongoing with wide public appeal.

We are in the middle of production. I’m filming with a ballet dancer this week for this XJW project. We plan to conduct at least 10 interviews and film with each person to capture their modern lives in the spring and summer of 2018. We hope to edit the first episode by the end of 2018. We are committed to release exclusive segments of the project as we create it and to deliver it to our audience via email. We’ve got a few videos in the queue. We’re releasing exclusively to those who sign up at www.xjwdoc.com. We may stream it on SeedandSpark.com if the campaign goes well.

Q: What else are you working on?
SH: I’ve got 15 other short docs, adventure sports shorts, narrative shorts and music videos that are out and hope to screen many of them at EFP over the next year. As an extension of, XJW | Coming Out, I’ve got some live multi-camera punk rock videos I’m working on for one of the interviewees I shot a couple weeks ago. I’ll release those soon for the band and pull from that content later for the doc. I’ll be doing some collaboration with Seventh Circle music venue’s film team to create high quality live music videos. The owner is a film school graduate who encourages film craft and all things DIY. He works with a 10 person volunteer film team to cover most live shows.

Q: Tell us one weird thing about you and/or your movies?
SH: I like to do rapid filmmaking and rush documentaries. For example last summer I booked a screening for a feature length documentary at a rooftop music venue in Vietnam, REC ROOM. It was called, Year One REC, about 1 year of shows and art at that very music venue. They booked it and that’s when I started to edit the doc and do interviews with the owners and fans. It was a 1 week personal challenge complete with a lot of all-nighters. Some people came out to support it as a community project with archival footage, a bit of editing, coffee, beers, Vietnamese subtitles and good feedback. I was still exporting the film when people were showing up to watch it. It screened that night and a week later at another music venue. It has some quirks to it that I plan to tighten up but overall came out well.

Q: Where can people go to find out more about you and your work?
SH: I have multiple YouTube and Vimeo channels but the simplest way to view my best work is on my personal page, scott-homan.strikingly.com – Scroll to the bottom where the videos are embedded.

Q: Is there anything you’d like to say about The Emerging Filmmakers Project?
SH: I was so impressed by how EFP regulars and participants are all so approachable and non-pretentious yet put on such a quality screening and Q&A. I’m excited to be screening my own work there.

XJW | Coming Out of the Jehovah’s Witness Religion (teaser and pitch) will screen at The Emerging Filmmakers Project on Thursday, March 15th at The Bug Theatre.

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Meet the Filmmaker: Eva MeiLing Pollitt, “Tenny”

Tennyhttps://www.seedandspark.com/fund/high#updates/15508

Q: Why did you become a filmmaker?
EP: I’ve been doing theatre ever since I was a little kid, and I studied it all through school and college. I moved to NYC in August of 2016, ready to pursue playwriting, acting, and directing for theatre – but I found myself working on film projects and getting more involved with the NYC film scene! I love films and have always wanted to make one… so I wrote one – the one that’s showing tonight – and we made it! I find filmmaking to be an electrifying medium in every part of the process and I’m thrilled to be discovering it.

Q: What are we going to see at the EFP? Has it screened elsewhere and what are your plans for it?
EP: My first film, Tenny! It has screened at an art gallery event my sister hosted in Denver, screened at a small festival in New York City, and has been presented at a couple online festivals. I’ll submit it to places when I stumble upon festivals fit for it, but for now, it’s available on Vimeo and it’s what I can show to gather support for future films 🙂

Q: What else are you working on?
EP So, I’m back in Colorado, my home state, to work on my next film! We are shooting the third week of March. It is a twenty-minute short, entitled High. Shot in Grand County, the film features two women characters: an unnerved young mother and a footloose ski bum, who unearth suppressed desires in a hazardous twist of encounters.

You can read more about the project here: https://www.seedandspark.com/fund/high#updates/15508

I also have a full-length play, Éléphant, that will be produced in the Planet Connections festival in NYC this summer. The play is about a 13-year-old growing up in a 19th-century Parisian Brothel who falls pregnant with, what she believes, is a baby elephant. The play explores themes of abuse, loneliness, and growing up – come on through if you’re there 😀

Q: Tell us one weird thing about you and/or your movies?
EP My film High will be the first play or film I’ve ever written that doesn’t end tragically.

Q: Where can people go to find out more about you and your work?
EP: Follow me on Instagram! Follow High on Instagram! Sign up to follow on High’s Seed & Spark page.

Q: Is there anything you’d like to say about The Emerging Filmmakers Project?
EP: This is awesome, and I’m so thrilled to be interacting with the Colorado film community!

Tenny will screen at The Emerging Filmmakers Project on Thursday, March 15th at The Bug Theatre.

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Meet the Filmmaker: William Elder E.F., “Behind the Smile Episode 2”

Behind the Smile Episode 2www.laughyoubastards.com

Q: Why did you become a filmmaker?
WE: I don’t why I “became” a filmmaker. I think it’s more of a compulsion than anything else, really. A sickness if you will.

Q: What are we going to see at the EFP? Has it screened elsewhere and what are your plans for it?
WE: You are going to see the Second episode of the web series Behind the Smile that I co-directed and edited for the Black Actors Guild. I don’t believe it has been screened in its entirety at any live event, but it’s been online for two years.

Q: What else are you working on?
WE: I have been hosting and co-producing Open Screen Night since 2014 and am currently helping with an anarchist comedy variety puppet show called No Gods No Masters and a comedy-ish local politics show called Dat-Mocracy Tho! with some very talented performers and personalities. I also make my own shorts when I find the time and inspiration.

Q: Tell us one weird thing about you and/or your movies?
WE: I’m not sure what’s weird about my movies themselves; I’ll need you to tell me. Though the production of this particular series from which this episode is taken, was cursed with, and book-ended by, real life tragedy. I thought that was peculiar.

Q: Where can people go to find out more about you and your work?
WE: The website to my old sketch comedy series “Laugh, You Bastards!” (www.laughyoubastards.com) has a biography about me, I think. I don’t think it’s a real biography, but it’s fun to pretend. The whole series is up there, too. That show is how I learned how to make movies, so that’s a good start.

Q: Is there anything you’d like to say about The Emerging Filmmakers Project?
WE: I like the name of this event. I like that now I have the title of “Emergent Filmmaker.” I will start adding “E.F.” to the end of my name.

Behind the Smile Episode 2 will screen at The Emerging Filmmakers Project on Thursday, March 15th at The Bug Theatre.