0

Meet the Filmmaker: Kelsey Bliss, “Steampunk Cowboy”

Q: Why did you become a filmmaker?
KB: I took a film class about making a silent film at the Elitch Theatre Academy and I ended up as the director of Steampunk Cowboy. I have also been helping my Dad, Michael Bliss, with his films and I like making movies.

Q: What are we going to see at the EFP? Has it screened elsewhere and what are your plans for it?
KB: We are going to see a Silent Film about a Steampunk Cowboy that travels through time to find his lost dog. This film has screened in 3 film festivals including the Colorado Independent Woman of Film Festival.

Q: What else are you working on?
KB: Helping my Dad with his new film Hush Little Baby.

Q: Tell us one weird thing about you and/or your movies?
KB: Our main actor Kaelen got hurt on the first scene of Steampunk Cowboy because Lola (The star dog in the movie) pulled him and he didn’t want to let go. Kaelen was a trooper and we finished shooting everything in one day.

Q: Where can people go to find out more about you and your work?
KB: You can see what we are doing at ETFest.com. We are working on saving the Historic Elitch Theatre

Q: Is there anything you’d like to say about The Emerging Filmmakers Project?
KB: I first meet Patrick Sheridan at EFP and then I took acting classes with him. I learned a lot from him and I miss him so much!

Steampunk Cowboy will screen during The Emerging Filmmakers Project on Thursday, August 15th at The Bug Theatre.

0

Meet the Filmmaker”: Alexander Rhodes-Wilmere, “Rations”

Q: Why did you become a filmmaker?
ARW: The 70s and 80s movies I grew up watching just made me want to live in those worlds. At some point I realized if I really wanted to see a certain kind of movie I was probably going to get saddled with making it. It’s just the greatest thing in the world.

Q: What are we going to see at the EFP? Has it screened elsewhere and what are your plans for it?
ARW: Rations is about two young girls struggling to keep their mother alive during a devastating drought after water rations are suddenly delayed. It premiered at Denver Film Festival in 2016 and since it’s had a decent little festival run around the country. The last handful of screenings are coming up now and then we’re putting it online this October 17th.

Q: What else are you working on?
ARW: Right now we’re developing some new feature films that I hope we can talk about soon. I’m excited about how that’s coming along but there’s a lot more to do. I’m also in the midst promoting our new film Mama, filmed entirely in Beijing. Nikie Perlmutter (the writer and co-producer of Rations) is about to direct a film she wrote called A Ceremony for Me, You and Everyone We Knew and I’m excited about that one too.

Q: Tell us one weird thing about you and/or your movies?
ARW: I hope my movies feel like a bit of a fantasy. I hope they feel big, like larger than life scenarios but with small stories that hit on a emotional level. I also hope each one feels different than the last.

Q: Where can people go to find out more about you and your work?
ARW: ARWorks Motion Picture Company is on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube and Vimeo. You can also see more soon at ARWorksfilm.com

Q: Is there anything you’d like to say about The Emerging Filmmakers Project?
ARW: The Bug and The Emerging Filmmakers Project has been and will probably always be Denvers ultimate hub for independent work, excellent networking and a reminder that the community here truly loves what they do. Infinite inspiration.

Rations will screen during The Emerging Filmmakers Project on Thursday, August 15th at The Bug Theatre.

0

Meet the Filmmaker: Bill Johnson, “Night Fishermen”

Q: Why did you become a filmmaker?
BJ: I became a film maker to give people a voice about their life or their cause. I spent decades as a large format landscape photographer and moving into video allows me to hear the sounds and voices of people in the landscape. I particularly enjoy showing the world through the eyes of others.

Q: What are we going to see at the EFP? Has it screened elsewhere and what are your plans for it?
BJ: Night Fishermen is a a story about three fishermen who have fished all their lives and why they go out to stand on a cliff by the ocean in the middle of the night. It has screened at the Peak Film Forum and is submitted to film festivals through Film Freeway.

Q: What else are you working on?
BJ: I do documentary style videos of fashion designers, models, musicians and dancers in the Denver area.

Q: Tell us one weird thing about you and/or your movies?
BJ: It took ten years of returning to Hawaii for two weeks at a time to develop the relationships and obtain all of the time-lapse footage used in Night Fishermen. I too love standing on a cliff by the ocean in the middle of the night.

Q: Where can people go to find out more about you and your work?
BJ: My web site is billjohnsonstories.com and my Facebook Page is billjohnsonstories.

Q: Is there anything you’d like to say about The Emerging Filmmakers Project?
BJ: I’m glad you are there as an outlet for emerging filmmakers.

Night Fishermen will screen during The Emerging Filmmakers Project on Thursday, August 15th at The Bug Theatre.

0

Meet the Filmmaker: Benjamin Neufeld, “The Intern”

Q: Why did you become a filmmaker?
BN: I have always loved movies, but I have not always wanted to be a filmmaker. Growing up I thought maybe I would be a comedian, maybe a writer, I flirted with the idea of rocket physicist. When I got to high school I had settled on becoming a journalist. I had friends who expressed interest in film making; but they aimed their passion more towards the technical capabilities of modern cameras and special effects. I found what they talked about interesting, but not as a potential career path. What I always loved was storytelling. In my tenth grade English class my teacher assigned the class a group project to write, film and edit a short film. I blew off most of my other homework to focus on writing a script, that ended up being 30 pages long, about a high school student who wanted to beat up and humiliate a classmate in an underground fight club in order to steal his date to the prom. I thought the script was fantastic. It was okay. But I was so excited about the idea that I realized maybe I should try to be a screenwriter. This led to me deciding to go to CU Denver to study film. And, as I continued to brainstorm and work on movie ideas, I thought I might as well be the one to make the movies that I write.

Q: What are we going to see at the EFP? Has it screened elsewhere and what are your plans for it?
BN: I have always loved movies, but I have not always wanted to be a filmmaker. Growing up I thought maybe I would be a comedian, maybe a writer, I flirted with the idea of rocket physicist. When I got to high school I had settled on becoming a journalist. I had friends who expressed interest in film making; but they aimed their passion more towards the technical capabilities of modern cameras and special effects. I found what they talked about interesting, but not as a potential career path. What I always loved was storytelling. In my tenth grade English class my teacher assigned the class a group project to write, film and edit a short film. I blew off most of my other homework to focus on writing a script, that ended up being 30 pages long, about a high school student who wanted to beat up and humiliate a classmate in an underground fight club in order to steal his date to the prom. I thought the script was fantastic. It was okay. But I was so excited about the idea that I realized maybe I should try to be a screenwriter. This led to me deciding to go to CU Denver to study film. And, as I continued to brainstorm and work on movie ideas, I thought I might as well be the one to make the movies that I write.

Q: What else are you working on?
BN: Currently I am using my time off from school to develop a few scripts. I am working on a feature length script which I hope to produce the summer before my senior year. I am also writing/outlining four different short film scripts. One is a short version of the feature script. One is a short version of a feature script I will eventually write. All four are potential scripts for me to make in my sophomore production class, or independently, this fall or next summer.

Q: Tell us one weird thing about you and/or your movies?
BN: I believe that in order to tell good stories a storyteller must experience the world and people around them. (That’s not weird, that’s just a way of me saying I like to/want to travel). I also grew up very outdoorsy, and have been a rock climber since high school. That is why after high school I took a gap year in which I worked, then lived in a van for six months to drive around the west coast and rock climb. It was a wonderful experience that has prepared me for the fact that I will probably have to live in a car when I eventually move to LA.

Q: Where can people go to find out more about you and your work?
BN: People can follow my Instagram: @benjamin.neufeld.photography. There I post pictures I have taken casually or professionally, and info/updates about my films.

Q: Is there anything you’d like to say about The Emerging Filmmakers Project?
BN: I am extremely excited to be a part of the EFP. I have heard great things from my teachers at CU Denver. I am proud to be a part of the growing Denver film scene.

The Intern will screen during The Emerging Filmmakers Project on Thursday, August 15th at The Bug Theatre.

0

Meet the Filmmaker: Emiliano Acevedo, “Apocalypse Lego Frozen Terror Ep1”

Q: Why did you become a filmmaker?
EA: I was a kid just messing around with toys and a camera, then I got better at it and began to enjoy the process of storytelling.

Q: What are we going to see at the EFP? Has it screened elsewhere and what are your plans for it?
EA: Apocalypse Lego is the first episode of a sci fi series I started years ago. This is the “remastered” version. I got a new composure, Tim Girard, who did an amazing job.

Q: What else are you working on?
EA: I am working on the sixth episode of the same series, as well as a Conan Vs Zombies project.

Q: Tell us one weird thing about you and/or your movies?
EA: I yell at my Legos when they don’t cooperate.

Q: Where can people go to find out more about you and your work?
EA: My YouTube channel under Virgeo1228

Q: Is there anything you’d like to say about The Emerging Filmmakers Project?
EA: EFP has been such a great event and I’m so grateful anytime I get to be a part of it.

Apocalypse Lego Frozen Terror Ep1 will screen during The Emerging Filmmakers Project on Thursday, August 15th at The Bug Theatre.