Joint Effort in the News Again

Here's a quick news clip about our win!

http://youtu.be/4WuTzg2GrW4

Katie

Going to the Cannes Film Festival!

I'm going to the Cannes Film Festival where "Joint Effort" is screening!

I am beyond excited!  The short film I directed, "Joint Effort" won the top prize in the National Film Competition and in addition to a cash prize will now be playing at the Cannes Film Festival in May!  And I'm going!!!  Every sentence ends with an exclamation point because that's how excited I am!

Our film isn't in competition, we are on the business side of things.  This is the perfect opportunity to try to secure some foreign distribution for our feature film and get some finishing funds.  In addition to winning best film, Gorilla with a Mustache Films also took home: 

Best Writing
Best Comedy Film
Best Actor David Ostergaard
3rd place audience choice award 

We will be wheeling and dealing and living it up on the French Riviera.  I'll take lots of pictures so stay tuned for more.

Press: Watered Down

BY DOROTHY FOLTZ-GRAY, Bold Life Magazine

Katie Damien surveys the Superfund site, that is the subject of her documentary, My Toxic Backyard, from across the street. Photo by Rimas Zailskas

Five years ago, filmmaker Katie Damien searched for a home to buy in South Asheville off Mills Gap Road. "Prices were so much lower than in other places in Asheville," says Damien, a five-time Southeast Regional Emmy winner. "But my friend said, 'Don't buy there. There's something wrong: People are getting cancer.' I stopped looking, but I couldn't stop thinking about the people living there. It haunted me."
The haunting resulted in Damien's first feature-length film, My Toxic Backyard, an hour-long documentary about the South Asheville Superfund site leaking toxic chemicals into the ground water surrounding the area.

CTS Corporation, a global manufacturer of electronic components, purchased the site in 1959, closing it in 1986. But the Environmental Protection Agency did not name it a Superfund site until 2012. The Superfund was established in 1980, when President Jimmy Carter signed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA, or Superfund) into law. The law enables the EPA to clean up hazardous waste sites.

The EPA first assessed the Asheville site in 1985, finding no evidence of contamination. In 1991, CTS itself notified the state of contamination, but EPA again signed off on the site. Residents believe that 74 cases of cancer have occurred with a mile of the site. And residents' complaints have kept EPA returning, each time finding more evidence of toxins in the ground water.

Damien's film focuses on several affected families: Aaron Penland, who opens the film by pointing to family members, victims of cancer appearing in a family movie, "a death video," he says; Tate MacQueen who moved his family into a tiny apartment to get them away from the water; and Shannon Mead whose constant illness forced her to miss the first seven years of her first child's life.

As the film proceeds, Damien highlights community meetings with EPA officials who appear puzzled by the residents' anger. She alternates such scenes with alarming pictures of toddlers running in sprinklers or drinking from icy water glasses.

Damien toiled on the film for five years, completing it in December 2013. "I thought it was going to be a one-year project," says Damien. "But I was shooting, editing, and doing the research and audio by myself."
For the final year, she was joined by others, including the film's editor, Jamie Byrd, also a filmmaker. "I was so tired, and I had collected so many interviews and so much information," says Damien. "Jamie breathed new life into the project. I was trying to pack in information, but she is more about heart and telling people's stories."

Damien invested more than $10,000 of her own to buy equipment she needed. And she raised $5,000 through Kickstarter, an organization that allows supporters to pledge money for creative work in return for small rewards such as a free ticket to a screening.

Now, she's busy submitting the film to festivals, accepted so far by The Thin Line Festival in Denton, Texas. And she's sending copies to state legislators who are deciding whether to loan Asheville the money to connect affected families to city water.
Damien wants the film to stir up questions about what's happening in our own back yards. "I feel like the society is so concerned about the economy, saying 'We'll deal with the environment once the economy comes back,'" she says. "But the longer we wait, the worse the environment will get."

Damien doesn't begrudge the money she's spent on the film: "Everyone contributed more than they were paid," she says. Besides, she didn't get into filmmaking to make money but to fuel her early passion. "I started when I was 12, making plays with my sister and cousins. And then my uncle gave me a movie camera. My first film was so bad I erased it, but I had so much fun. I thought, 'This is what I will do for the rest of my life.'"

After high school, the Fort Lauderdale, Florida native headed to the University of Central Florida, a place where film students can direct their own projects. Her first documentary — a film about Florida cowboys, Cowmen — won third prize at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. "I knew the cowboys probably wouldn't be around long, and I thought I should tell their story," she says.

Later, for five years, she worked in broadcasting on cruise ships, traveling the world. Then she followed her parents to Asheville, taking a job at WLOS, where she is Creative Services Producer.

Her next film is a comedy, One Hell of an Angel. "It's about an angel and demon forced to work together to help a washed-up rock star write a song to save the world," she says.
The theme's not surprising: For Damien, teamwork — and perseverance — are key to good filmmaking: "Asheville's great for independent filmmakers. People here open their doors. Still, it can be daunting and frustrating. So many films never get finished. You have to make an investment in yourself and trust your own work. And the end goal is to do the story justice."

My Toxic Backyard
Coming to Asheville
this spring
www.mytoxicbackyard.com

Joint Effort in the News Everywhere!

We've had so much coverage about our little film:


 http://youtu.be/juKa6Mjt2W4

https://soundcloud.com/katiedamien/880am-the-revolution-jeff

Asheville filmmakers win big in National Film Challenge, will have movie screened at Cannes

Jason Sandford | December 27, 2013

A team of Asheville filmmakers recently won big with their film entry in the 2013 National Film Challenge. Their movie, Joint Effort, won the Best Film award and will go to the 2014 Cannes Film Festival for a special screening.

The movie was the work of Asheville’s Gorilla With A Mustache Films, a five-person team of producers that includes the following: Lela Winton, Katie Damien, Eruch Adams, Coranna Adams, and Matt Shepard.

Joint Effort is a comedy about a package delivery gone horribly wrong. For the National Film Challenge, the group had one weekend to write, shoot, and edit the short film, then present it to the judges. Joint Effort won other awards. David Ostergaard won for Best Actor, while Eruch Adams and Will Eill won for Best Writer. Joint Effort also won the Best Use of Genre -Comedy award and was second runner-up for the Audience Choice Award. More here.
Here’s the credit rundown for Joint Effort: Katie Damien, director, with Lela Winton as second unit director. Cinematograpy by Andy Crespo. Cast: David Ostergaard, Matt Shepard, Darren Marshall, and Adam Meier.

More about the National Film Challenge and the prizes awarded:

The best film is sent to the Cannes Film Festival and given a $3000 prize. GoPro, the title sponsor, is giving out another $3000 prize for the best use of a GoPro Camera in a movie. And the Audience choice winner receives $1000. The top 15 films are selected by judges for online voting determined by YouTube and Vimeo likes . “Joint Effort” was chosen as one of those top 15 films. The team of Asheville residents is undergoing a campaign to get the word out about the film and to encourage people to vote and to hopefully win the Audience Choice award.
Producer and director Katie Damien said, “There’s some stiff competition in this contest.  Overall the quality of all the top films is very high.  I feel really honored to have our film chosen as one of the best!  Asheville might not be as big as Dallas or Paris, but we’ve got some really talented people here in the mountains.”

About Gorilla with a Mustache Films: Established in 2010 when a group of producers collaborated on a 48 Hour Film Project. They won Best Picture for the city of Asheville. Heady with their recent victory (and drunk on their own sense of power), the group decided to pursue a feature film, as well as other short films. The Gorillas are currently in post-production on their first feature film “One Hell of an Angel.”
Joint Effort on IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3347134/combined
Company IMDb page: http://www.imdb.com/company/co0385222/
Gorilla with a Mustache on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GorillaWithaMustache
http://www.ashvegas.com/asheville-filmmakers-win-big-in-national-film-challenge-will-have-movie-screened-at-cannes

Gorilla With A Mustache wins National Film Challenge with "Joint Effort"

By Dan Thornton on December 26, 2013
The Gorilla With A Mustache Films team out of Asheville, North Carolina won the Best Film Award in the National Film Challenge 2013  this week and the film will go on to the Cannes Film Festival this coming year for a special screening.
Their entry, Joint Effort, is a comedy about a package delivery gone wrong.
The team, in accordance with the National Film Challenge rules was given an assignment and had one weekend to write,shoot, and edit the short film, then present it to the judges. No small feat.  
Other awards received for the film were: Best Actor -  David Ostergaard, and Best Writer  Eruch Adams and Will Eill for Joint Effort.  Joint Effort also won the Best Use of Genre -Comedy award and 2nd Runner Up for the Audience Choice Award.
Gorilla With A Mustache Films is a 5 person team of producers: Lela Winton, Katie Damien, Eruch Adams, Coranna Adams, and Matt Shepard.  They have  participated in multiple 48 Hour Film Project competitions and now for the first time, the National Film Challenge. Each time the team was slightly different in regards to the cast and crew, but has always had the same core of producers. 
 Joint Effort was directed by Katie Damien with Lela Winton as second unit director. Cinematograpy by Andy Crespo.  Cast: David Ostergaard, Matt Shepard, Darren Marshall., and Adam Meier.

http://www.gigspotting.net/national-film-challenge-2013-winner-gorilla-with-a-mustache-with-joint-effort.html

My Short Film is an International Winner!

I just made a short film "Joint Effort" that was picked as one of the top 15 in an international competition! They are doing online voting for an audience award and you can help by liking the video on YouTube: http://youtu.be/xs7UzQCwCa0 (just hit the thumbs up button) and Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/81675843 (there is a heart in the top right inside the video window.) You have to be logged in to like it.  If we get the most likes, we could win $1000!  It's a pretty funny movie too.  We had a great cast and crew made of entirely volunteers and the whole movie was made in one weekend.  Enjoy the show!

(there is a thumbs up button at the top right corner of the movie here, but you have to be logged in for it to count, you can log in to gmail, google, or youtube to like it in this player.)

P.S. - the film would probably get a PG rating.  There are lots of drugs in it... 2.2 pounds to be exact.

Press: A Look at Filmmaker Katie Damien

By Dan Thornton on December 5, 2013

 

Some people just know what they're destined to be.  For me, I reached the last day of high school and still didn't know what kind of career I should pursue.  I thought I'd work a bit and take classes until it became more apparent. Eventually, for better or worse, I sorted it out and found some semblance of a trajectory in my life.

Katie Damien is one of those people that always knew what she wanted to do.  What a luxury that must have been to know exactly the field of work that was right for you. By the way she had made this decision before she was even a teenager.  So when the time came, she applied for film school at the University of Central Florida.  No backup plans.  No other school choices. The film program at UCF is where she intended to be, period.

 

After completing her studies and working in the Florida market Katie decided it was time to see the world.  How do you do that?  Her way was to work, under contract, in broadcasting on cruise ships.  It agreed with her and she spent several years sailing the sea and earning her keep.  

"And if you've surrounded yourself with a really good team, when everything clicks and everyone can set their egos aside, it's like magic."

During this time, when she was doing these tours aboard ship, her parents had moved from Florida to Asheville, North Carolina.  Not really needing a house or apartment since she was away so much of the time she started calling Asheville her home base and stayed with her parents when not aboard ship.  After the cruise contracts ended she took up permanent residence in Asheville.  Which leads us to her soon to be released feature length film.

The seed from which My Toxic Backyard unfolded came from her attempt to buy a house in Asheville. A rather continental city skirted by the Pisgah National Forest.  Progressive, with a touch of the old and new, it receives people from all over the world to see the sites and to enjoy the fresh mountain air.  It does have a dirty little secret though, as Katie discovered.

After finding some nice homes that were affordably priced just outside the city limits, it seemed too good to be true.  Most homes in Asheville are very expensive.  Thank heavens she was curious enough to find out why.  Many of the homes in this area have wells where the toxicity levels of the water reach hundreds and  thousands of times the amounts the EPA considers safe and has resulted in a higher than normal rate of cancer among the residents.

My Toxic Backyard tells the story about what happened in this area.  Katie investigates the history behind the contamination and talks with the residents about the issue and what can be done to resolve it.  Hopefully, having seen this film, we will understand better how to prevent it in the future and how to deal with it if it's already happened in our  community.

One thing I've noticed about Katie is she likes to "play" with her equipment and effects, as you will see in her demo reel below.  This experimentation has paid off with some dramatic footage and five Emmy awards for her.  In fact, she made a fun little film of her trip to the Emmys using her iPhone and a lens attachment that looks like it's done with a pro rig.  Proving, once again, that it's not the equipment but the talent behind it.

I see you majored in film production at the University of Central Florida.  How did you know a life in the film business was your calling?  Did you have a backup plan?

Fortunately or unfortunately, I had no back up plan when I went into filmmaking.  I was twelve at the time and just decided that that's what I was going to do the rest of my life.  Whether I could make a living at it or not was irrelevant.  I was just going to make movies until I couldn't make movies anymore.  As it happens, it all worked out pretty well.  I didn't even have a back up film school (which in retrospect seems like a silly thing to have done.)  I only applied to UCF's film school because I had decided that's where I was going to go.  I didn't apply anywhere else because it didn't occur to me that I wouldn't get in, even though I knew it was very competitive (the Blair Witch Project had just come out and the filmmakers were UCF film school alumni.)  Maybe that's a part of the secret to success: don't leave yourself any other options and you will find a way to make things happen... because you must.  That, and be really lucky.

The irrelevant part of making a living as a filmmaker factors in when you just have a passion for something.  It doesn't matter whether or not people like what you do, as long as you love it and you know that you don't need the approval of others to make yourself happy in what you're doing, then you are free.  You might be limited in the type of film you can make on your own and that's not to say it doesn't hurt when you get rejected (and if you've spent any time in any art form, you've had your fair share of rejection.)  The difference is that if you're really passionate about what you're doing, you can keep going after you've been turned down, turned away and in all other ways turned inside out.  Just keep going.  That's how I do it.  

I agree with you 100% Katie and I think that is the way all true artists feel.  They must do it so they're all in, odds be damned.   What drew you to Asheville?

I'd been doing freelance work in Florida and had gotten by okay, but I was doing a lot of below the line work, which was very fun and good experience, but I really wanted to direct and that's a hard thing to break into.  No one wants to hire you without the experience, but you can't get the experience because no one will hire you.  I already had a good body of work in short films, but that wasn't enough.  Plus, I'm impatient.  I also wanted to travel the world and I saw no need to wait until retirement to do that.  So I started working in broadcasting on cruise ships, doing 6 month contracts.  I was going to do 2 contracts for 1 year figuring that would be enough to get the traveling bug out of my system.  5 years later, I finally decided I was done.  I packed everything up and moved it into my parent's basement because I didn't want to pay for an apartment when I wasn't living in it most of the time.  My parents had moved to Asheville and when I wasn't working on a ships, I would stay with them.  When I decided I was done with ships, I didn't want to move back to Florida.  I liked Asheville too much, so I stayed.

That's very interesting Katie.  What led you to My Toxic Backyard?

A: It all started because I wanted to buy a house. In Asheville housing prices are generally high no matter where you go. So when I found a section of town where the houses were affordably priced, my first thought was, what's wrong with this area? There was no high crime rate, no dilapidated houses, it was close to city limits, but not too close. I thought I might have stumbled upon a hidden gem. My realtor showed me multiple homes in the area and I started to get excited. I told a friend of mine about this amazing find and as soon as I told him where it was, he stopped me. "There's something bad in the water out there. Don't buy a house there!" he said. "What's in the water?" I asked, perplexed that I had never heard about this before and I had lived in Asheville for more the five years. "I don't know, but it's making people sick."

I stopped looking for houses in that area, but I was curious and started digging. There were newspaper articles, and TV news stories, it was no secret. There was a whole community fighting for clean, safe drinking water that I had somehow managed to remain oblivious to. Even when I had been actively looking for a house in the area, there were no red flags, no warnings from my realtor or anyone else. If I had not done my own research, I never would have known that there was a toxic Superfund site leaking chemicals into the water table. I felt like I had dodged a bullet, but I couldn't stop thinking about all the people still living out there who weren't as lucky. That's when I started making the documentary.  It was just a story that needed to be told.  I was amazed at what I had uncovered in making this film.  Most of my work in film is meant to entertain.  With this documentary, I feel like I have the unique opportunity to make a difference.

Hard to imagine the realtor didn't know this and if they did shouldn't they be required to inform you of it.

Property disclosure is not always as cut and dry as you might think.  For example, if your water has been testing negative for contaminates, but your neighbor's water is contaminated, you don't have to say anything.  You only have to disclose what is on your property.  Even though common sense would dictate that if there's something bad in your neighbor's water and there is a large source of contamination near by there's a good chance it's heading your way.  You don't have to speculate about what might happen in the future when selling your property.

What stage of development is My Toxic Backyard in and what are your plans for it when it's released?

It's nearly finished.  I just have to review everything one more time to make sure that there aren't any errors I've overlooked.  The first chance it will have to screen in public will be at film festivals (providing it gets into any of the ones I have chosen) from January till May.  After that I'll submit it to local PBS on UNCTV.  I'm also sending copies to the state legislature who are right now deciding whether or not to loan the city money to run municipal water to all the houses in a one mile radius.

The EPA hasn't been testing more than a one mile radius, though it could reach further especially where rivers are concerned.

Tell me about your other films.  What other genres do you work in?

I've worked in a lot of genres.  I've made dramatic films, comedy, stop-motion animation, horror and even a western. 

I imagine that finding actors and crew is fairly easy in Asheville and there are lots of varied locations to work with.  Is that assumption correct?

The more time I spend in Asheville, the more talented people I run into.  I've found if you have a decent production going on, film professionals will come out of the wood work.  There are a lot of industry professionals living in the mountains who travel for work.  They leave for months at a time working on a picture and come back home for a few months before their next gig.  There are also a lot of really talented actors that I am finding here who have only done theater work, or  who have never acted before, but some of these people you put in front of a camera and they will blow you away with their performances.  I think this town in particular draws a lot of artists and creative types in general.  That makes it easier for me to find talent.  

And as far as locations go, everything is amazing.  You can go to a number of national and state park to get rivers, waterfalls, woods and mountain vistas, but sometimes you'll find those amazing scenic views in someone's backyard.  We get every season too.  In the winter there's snow, in the summer everything is lush and green, in the fall there's plenty of color.  And because we have kind of a small town feel, you can go up to business owners and private residents, tell them about your project and most of the time they are happy to work with you and let you use their space for shooting.  Everyone is just super nice.  This really is an ideal area for indie filmmaking.

You've won five Emmy Awards. Is that right?  How does it feel being  nominated by your peers much less winning one?

I do have five Emmys and it's so freaking awesome!  It is truly an honor.  When friends and family tell you how great they think your work is, that certainly feels fantastic and helps bolster confidence, but they're biased.  When complete strangers who are industry professionals honor you with an award like that, it's validating in a different kind of way.  I think it gives me the confidence to take on bigger projects.  Those kind of wins definitely make you want to reach even further and strive even harder.

I've noticed you often work with Eruch Adams, Rebecca Morris, and Matt Shepard.  Should I be keeping my eye on these people and what they're accomplishing?

Yes, yes and yes!  Eruch is a brilliant writer who is working on his first novel.  He's very funny.  Comedy is a hard thing to master, but he does it effortlessly.  I'm terrible at comedy, but I make good comedy films mainly because of his scripts.  Rebecca is super talented, so is Matt.  Rebecca has a very diverse range.  I feel like I could throw her into any role and she would nail it.  She has the ability to hold in character, something I find most actors have difficulty with.  She can give a brilliant performance with her eyes and nothing more.  I find with many actors, they perform better if you give them something to do.  It helps them to focus and act more naturally.  Rebecca can just be and she can do it in character.  It's brilliant to watch.  She's a hidden gem in this area.  Matt has a great look.  The camera loves Matt.  If you meet him in person, he's still good looking, but it's not the same as when he's in front of a camera.  He just has a natural charisma that translates well to film.  He's also very raw and not afraid to go to dark places that might appear false in less skilled hands.

Do you know Kira Bursky?

I've worked with Kira a few times.  She worked on my documentary a little bit and she also worked on the comedy feature, One Hell of an Angel that I directed (in post now.)  Everyone in the crew wanted her in their department.  People were literally fighting over her.  I wished I had had ten of her on that shoot.  She reminds me of myself when I was younger, only she's leaps and bounds ahead of where I was at that age.  She has a ton of natural talent and good instincts, and you can't teach that.  She's also honing her craft and it's great to watch.  I've seen so much improvement in her abilities from film to film.  She will make it.  Not everyone can make it in the industry, it can be really brutal, but she will.  She has a great attitude and people just want to work with her.  She is also crazy talented on multiple fronts.  She writes music too.  She's like a one man band of awesome.  I'm always excited to see what she'll do next.

What excites you most about about making films? 

I think production is the most exciting part for me.  I love being on set.  I feel like when you're shooting, that's the biggest culmination of all that you've been working toward.  It's generally the largest gathering of people all there at the same time to make a movie happen.  There's generally a lot of down time on a set, but everyone is there for a reason.  From the cinematographer who shoulders the formidable responsibility of the visual end of the film to the lowly PA who fetches coffee, everyone on set is important.  And if you've surrounded yourself with a really good team, when everything clicks and everyone can set their egos aside, it's like magic.

What do you know now that you wish you'd known early on in your career?

That's a great question. I know now that there are some stories I can tell well and some I can't. You should always do what you know. And if you want to tell a story you don't know anything about, be sure you do your homework. I've learned to find stories that resonate with me. I've also learned to say no when a project isn't a good fit. I think that just comes with experience though.

You have a catalogue that includes a  mixture of commercial work, photography, writing, and film.  This must keep you very busy.  Is the variety something you prefer or just the way things worked out?

All my work has to do with story telling, so to me it's just different disciplines that accomplish the same thing.  I love doing all of them.  When I was a kid, I had to take one of those tests that grade schools make you take so that they can figure out what job you will have as an adult.  All the other kids had jobs like detective, fireman, scientist.  My job came out as "undefined."  I was mad at first because I wanted it to tell me I'd have a cool job too.  Later someone told me that I had so many interests that I could probably do just about anything and enjoy it.

I am always very busy, but I love it.  Some day I'll find balance.  Maybe tomorrow.  Right now, there's just too many fun things to make.

- See more at: http://www.gigspotting.net/a-look-at-filmmaker-katie-damien.html#sthash.PursQUEt.dpuf

PSA Homeward Bound

I just finished an incredibly awesome, incredibly painstaking PSA for Homeward Bound (www.homewardboundwnc.org) We shot over the course of 2 weekends, almost entirely stop-motion animation using real people.  Keresey Proctor was so wonderfully patient and displayed amazing stamina holding poses on the ground for hour after hour as we moved her into place inch by inch. Brian Alexander and Cythina Smith who both work for Homeward Bound and who helped me with the last PSA, were also heavily involved in the making of this one.  Shane Meador was our incomparable art director giving everything the right tone and personally taking care of every detail even down to the little girl's drawing.  And speaking of little girls, I was blown away by Vivi, our young actress who preformed brilliantly. Silas Hite (http://www.silashite.com) who I met at the Cleveland International Film Festival was the marvelous composer.  You can see the finished PSA here:


http://youtu.be/Ta4T-B08dNU

and the making of here:


http://youtu.be/STIkImP-BgQ

Katie

Nosferatooth

Here's my latest short film, "Nosferatooth, " the horror/comedy about a vampire with a tooth ache. WARNING: there's lots of cussing and some blood, but overall, it's pretty funny. Enjoy!

Delivering our 48 Hour Film

This film we have to make for the 48 hour film project needs to be done in one weekend.  Exactly one weekend.  If you are even one minute past the deadline time, you're disqualified.  I was editing and not paying close enough attention to the time. Wanting to do as much fixing as possible, I waited too long to start my export. As I stood watching the progress bar, I knew it was too late. I immediately broke the bad news to the team. Explaining that yes, it would be finished before the cutoff time, but there wasn't enough time to physically drive the file to the drop off location; someone piped in with, "What about Keresey's Ducati?" This was what happened next, recorded by our sound guy Scott Duncan on his iphone:

And yes, she did make it in time :)

The 48 Hour Film Project 2013

I just had the most fun weekend ever!  It was the annual 48 Hour Film Project here in Asheville, were you have to write, shoot, edit and finish a short film in one weekend! They give out a prop, a character and a line of dialog that must be included in the movie and each team picks a genre out of a hat.  We picked horror film, but ended up making a comedy horror called "Nosferatooth" about a vampire with a toothache.  We had an amazing cast and crew and ended up with a really great movie.  If you're in the Asheville area, you should come to the screenings at Asheville Pizza and Brewing off Merrimon Tues at 10pm, Wed at 7pm or Thurs at 10pm. 

If you want to see more photos and behind the scenes stuff go to the Gorilla's Facebook page:www.facebook.com/GorillaWithaMustache

Here's a little sneak peek at the movie:

I won 2 Emmys!

I just picked up two Emmys this year for a news promotion I worked on with David Saich and short form directing!  I'm so excited to be honored for my directing work.  I've always loved being a director and to get that kind of acknowledgement from my peers, feels amazing! 

I'm so blessed and so grateful to all my family and friends who have given me their love and support my whole life. Every artist has to survive their share of rejection and criticism and through it all, it's friends and family that lift us up so we can keep striving for excellence.  If you know an artist of any kind, give them a hug and tell them they are awesome because sometimes they forget and it's you who keeps them going.

I went down to Atlanta for the awards with my good friends David Ostergaard and Tina Herring.  They are both tons of fun and we had such a great trip.  David also won that night for a commercial he worked on and you can see the elation in this behind the scenes video I put together:

4 Emmy Nominations!

Last night I was nominated for writing, directing, and photography!  I was also nominated for a News Promotion Campaign with David Saich.  I watched with David Ostergaard (who also got a nomination for a commercial he worked on,) Tina and Erin at the Battery Park Book Exchange.  When the people around us heard our cheering and found out what it was about, they stared cheering with us and someone bought us a bottle of champagne to celebrate.  It was a great night!

The Awards are in June and both David and I are going.  So stay tuned for lots of red carpet action.

Katie

37th Cleveland International Film Festival Video

Here's a quick video of my time at the Cleveland International Film Festival.



Katie

The Cleveland International Film Festival

I just wrapped up a whirlwind weekend at the Cleveland International Film Festival. What a great experience! I can't recommend this festival enough. Not only where the theaters packed, but there were huge crowds waiting in standby lines to see films, the staff were all wonderful, the festival was well organized, and they treated filmmakers very well. I got to speak on a panel, see my movie beautifully projected on the big screen and do a Q&A with the audience after.

I met so many great filmmakers, like the very funny and charismatic Marvin Solomon from LA with a fantastic comedy short "Tug" in the same block as my film. The enigmatic Nic Balthazar from Belgium with 2 feature films at the festival (I got to see "Time of My Life" and was blown away by it, great writing, acting, everything, bring tissues if you get a chance to see it.) There was Valerie (international short film winner) and Fabrice from Paris who were both charming and easy-going. Mike "LJ" Littlejohn who was working at the festival and always made our evenings out even more entertaining, though he had been working all day and I'm sure he wasn't getting enough sleep. And so many more. I have made great connections at this festival. I cannot say enough good things about it. If you ever have the chance to go, do it! Stay tuned for the video.

Katie

P.S. - I've now heard back from all the festivals I submitted films to and Cleveland is the only one I got into.  I spoke to a filmmaker who suggested I submit to more LGBT fests and he would give me a list.  So I might do that now.  As always, I'll keep you posted.

Morning Edition Radio Interview

Pam Bunch interviewed me for Morning Edition on the radio (WNCW) back when word was getting around about the documentary and comedy features that I've been working on.  I was nervous, but Pam was so good at putting me at ease, by the end of the interview I just felt like I was talking to an old friend about all the awesome stuff that I've been doing.  For anyone that missed it, here is a copy of that interview:

Pillow Fight en Masse

Pillow Fight Asheville's Anti-Valentine's Day 2013 from Katie Damien on Vimeo.

The 3rd annual anti-Valentine's Day Pillow Fight held in Asheville, North Carolina. Shot and Edited by Katie Damien on February 14, 2013 with music by Muse.

Voted Best of Western North Carolina!

A while back I was honored to be voted one of the best local filmmakers in Western North Carolina by the readers of the Mountain Express.  I actually tied for Second!  This was news to me, since I hadn't told anyone to vote for me and it's all done by write-in.  In fact I forgot to vote myself.  So I don't know who put me down as one of the best filmmakers around, but I want to send them a big thank you!

Also just to update you on the film festival saga.  I recently received a very nice rejection from the Atlanta International Film Festival.  The cool thing about that festival is that they were sending regular updates to all the filmmakers that had entered so that we all knew how the selection process was going.  They also sent some really great tips and resources out to filmmakers.  So while I didn't make it in, I have to say the experience was still a good one.  I'm 1 for 3 so far.  Down to just 3 more festivals.

Making a Film Festival Run

Film Festivals are tricky business.  As an independent filmmaker with short films, there aren't that many more venues out there to get work seen.  With that in mind, I sent my movie, "Second Parent" out to 6 major film festivals:

South by Southwest

Cleveland International

Atlanta International

The Florida Film Festival

Aspen Shorts Fest

and Nashville Film Festival

In addition, I also sent it out to two smaller fests: the Seattle True Independent Film Festival and Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival.  Most of the festivals I've had my shorts play at in the past have been smaller, niche festivals where my work stood a better chance of being accepted.  So just getting in to one of these six major festivals is a huge honor!

So far I've been rejected from South by Southwest....but I made it into the Cleveland International Film Festival! http://www.clevelandfilm.org   I'll let you know if my movie makes it into any others.

Katie

On the Cover of Scene Magazine!

Photo by Matt Rose/Asheville Scene

When my short film "Second Parent" won first place here in Asheville, the local paper decided to interview me and take pictures for their scene magazine insert.  It was so hard being on the other side of the camera.  Now I realize why people need so much reinforcement when they are modeling.  The whole time I was just thinking "Did you like that?  Did you get it?  Should I try something else...oh... no?  Keep doing what I'm doing?  Soft smile?  Is this soft? How about this? What do you mean relax?  I am relaxed..."  And that was just some of the inner monolog running though my head.

On the movie web page I've linked below, you'll find the pictures from the article and an except from my part in it:

http://2ndparent.blogspot.com/p/press.html

Katie

The Other Time Lapse Spot for News Thirteen

It took me forever to get these time lapse spots finished.  I shot these with my old Nikon D200, using an intervalometer (triggers the camera at the rate you set it for) and some times I triggered the camera manually to make the action flow the way I wanted it to.  Most exposures were 1 second long, with the night time shots, especially the star trails as long as 1 minute for each frame.  That means for some of these 3 second shots, I spent over an hour just letting the camera go.  It was a great way to spend an evening.  Sometimes my job is just awesome.

Katie