Showing posts with label FIlmmakers Alliance of Burlington. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FIlmmakers Alliance of Burlington. Show all posts

Sunday, June 14, 2015

WORLDS SMALLEST FILM FESTIVAL at NIFF, June 18th-21st

The 'Worlds Smallest Film Festival' challenge was to shoot an ultra short film ( less then 3 minutes) using a smart-phone or tablet. My ultra short 'stop motion' film, (52 seconds) was shot on an iPod in the spring of 2015. - The 'theme challenge' this year was WATER. So, guess what I did??

***PLEASE***
WATCH & 'LIKE' - my light-hearted mini film - 
 > SUGARING OFF!<

Sugaring Off -Video Still  by M.L.Holton

NIFF FESTIVAL DATES: : June 18-21, 2015
Expect a unique culinary & film adventure with exquisite food, phenomenal films, and stellar wines all in the heart of Niagara. The Niagara Integrated Film Festival (NIFF) is an unforgettable adventure in great food and phenomenal film taking place at all the top wineries in breathtaking Niagara Region.

Consider one of the four event 'packages': -

GALA - Experience a Hollywood premiere-style affair. The Opening Night Gala will take place at Peller Estates with a seasonally designed plated dinner and delightfully paired wines to kick off your NIFF experience. Fri-Sun night Galas will take place at Jackson-Triggs Winery with spectacular chef-attended food stations spanning the property. We'll have red carpets and talent to introduce the films and provide an interactive audience Q&A. Finish the night off at the complimentary after-party with a glass of wine!

FILMALICIOUS - It's dinner and a movie at its finest! Hosted at some of the most splendid wineries across Niagara-on-the-Lake and Twenty Valley, during this sensory experience guests will enjoy a sumptuous dinner paired with award-winning Niagara wines selected specially by the winemaker.

FILM FEAST - Film Feast shines the spotlight on the very best of food, film, and wine -- all combined to create a unique afternoon in the vineyards. Leave the tour behind and take a guided bus tour to some of Niagara's remarkable wineries. At each winery, guests sample a flight of vintages accompanied by exquisitely prepared hors d'oeuvres. What makes Film Feast unlike anything else is that at each winery you will enjoy the amazing short films selected from Canada's Not Short on Talent, a program imported express from the Cannes Film Festival.

SPOTLIGHT SERIES - Spotlight Series takes place at the Pen Centre in St Catharines and at the historic Seneca Queen Theatre in downtown Niagara Falls. The Spotlight Series Weekend Pass is your best bet to see as many films as you can from Thursday to Sunday for one low price!
 

For TICKETS & MORE INFO - 

Learn more about NIFF: 
Bill Marshall (Founder & Chair Emeritus of TIFF) & Sar Ruda (Producer at Corsair Entertainment Corp) head up the Founders & Board of Directors -  https://niagarafilmfest.com/about-us/#founders

Individual Tickets - Schedule of Galas & Special Events - https://niagarafilmfest.com/buy-tickets/

Line up of the Main Festival 2015 FILMS - https://niagarafilmfest.com/2015-films/ 



Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Culture Days, FAB & Doors Open in Burlington, Ontario, Canada


Sept 26th to the 28th, 2014. 
It's going to be a BUSY weekend ... 

Starting at noon on Friday, the 26th ...
Culture Days will be blasting off at Burlington Civic Square at City Hall. 
Calendar of events pdf, link here.

On Friday, I will be at the Filmmakers Alliance of Burlington (FAB) table from 5:30-7:30pm. 
Drop by, say hi, & learn more about this newly-formed industry-networking FAB-ulous group. 
Opening Ceremonies by the Mayor will occur around 7-ish. 
Lots of live music, live acts, demos & samplers.

On Saturday, as part of  Doors Open Burlington


I will be at The Different Drummer Bookshop from 10am -12:30pm
participating in a 'meet & greet' for my short story contribution to a new book title - 
ENGRAVED: Canadian Short Stories of World War One
(edited by Bernadette Rule, published by Seraphim Books of Woodstock)
 

(If you can't make this author's signing, you can always pick up this title here.)

That afternoon, I'll be flying over to the Burlington Central Public Library  to be part of a screening and panel discussion  about film & video making in Burlington - 'My Life as a Filmmaker/Video Artist ... '

As a dabbler in documentary filmmaking, one of my short videos (4min) will be shown. 
Mostly I produce, direct and shoot these items as compliments 
to larger articles published in Golden Horseshoe area news blogs.

Drop into any event. All are FREE.
Create, Participate & Celebrate! 

PROUD SUPPORTER OF DOORS OPEN

UPDATE & REVIEW:   ... phew, fun .. 
Started off with an hour & a half interview, last week, with videographer, Kune Hua, for a City-produced video for Culture Days. Location: back country on top of the Escarpment, at one of my quiet places ... I THOUGHT it went well, but I think Kune got a bit distracted by the scenery ... The end product of the Culture Days' Kick Off video had a 3 second blip of me saying 'It's about UNITY!' - as per a hastily tacked on SCRIPT.  Ha! Gotta love local propaganda: "Many Voices, One Vision! " ... ra ra ... 
Here's the entire 2 min City of Burlington's Culture promo video, 
... see if you can spot me 'on location':  http://youtu.be/jVrqOvp7c_0 


 The interview was followed by the 'formal' Kick Off at Civic Square at Burlington City Hall. All in all, it was well presented, but someone goofed BIG TIME with the programming choice of a kiddie punk band before & after the Mayor's reading of the Culture Days proclamation ... Their sound was not only jarring, but deafening. Still, the 'cultural troops' were there, showcasing their wares & chatting up their talents.  I assisted at the Filmmaker's Alliance of Burlington's booth for several hours, meeting & greeting some fascinating members of the public. (More on that soon, if one particular 'story' pans out ...) 

This short video gives a little taste of what FAB is all about ... 
( I shot the two clips of Andy & gang at early Meet-Ups on my iPod.)

The next day, Saturday, I was on deck at the Different Drummer Bookstore, flogging my latest published short story contribution to the WW1 anthology, 'Engraved'. Was rather surprised by the arrival of various members of the media: The Bay Observer, Snapd Burlington and a FILM CREW from FAB. (I think they were just wandering around getting b-roll for Culture Days ... ) For a bookstore, it was pretty LIVELY.

 Next up was the screening of my short film, Dave Lambert: Master Knot Tyer with a bunch of other shorts at the Burlington Public Library. In truth, hardly anyone was there, except the filmmakers' themselves. But the glory of our TOTALLY WIRED age allows any to view this event, after the fact, via the internet. The Q&A after the screening was captured on 2 sets of video cams, and seemingly it will appear somehow somewhere soon ...  I'll link back to that whenever and wherever it appears ...  Other filmmakers on the panel included Kune Hau (see above); Andy Shaw, Co-Founder of FAB; Jim Riley, local video artist; Alex Hutchison and Morgan Muscat, both seasoned & somewhat traditional 'storytellers'. We all yapped away, spouting our experience & preferences. Managed to get one 'screen grab' from the raw footage. 


Andy Shaw, MLH & Kune Hua
 Q&A with Burlington Filmmakers

End of day?  Back up to the farm to put up my feet. 
 (Bum ankle was killing me by that point ... ) DONE! 

 On Sunday, a photo-journo from The Milton Champion called ... 
Photo shoot happened 3pm for the up-coming STUDIO TOUR on Oct 4/5th.
On and Up!!! 

UPDATE: (Nov 28th, 2014) The Filmmakers Alliance of Burlington just released 
their 'Culture Days 2014' video. See it here.