Midwest Movie Maker

Taking aim in Killer Raccoons! 2! Dark Christmas in the Dark It’s pretty safe to say - and with absolutely no disrespect - that at any other time in modern movie making history, Travis Irvine’s Killer Raccoons! 2! Dark Christmas in the Dark would barely make a dent in the box office.  But it’s not any other time in modern movie making history, and for a short period in late July, the parody was the No. 1 comedy in the U.S. It was also the only comedy in theaters that particular week, Irvine told Cleveland.com .   Not too shabby for a $50,000 sequel to a $5,000 feature shot in and around Athens, Ohio, about 15 years ago while Irvine was an Ohio University student. Irvine, writer, producer and director on Killer Racoons! is also quick to spread the creativity and innovation around. “ We had an incredible crew of pros and semi-pros based in Ohio,” Irvine says, “as well as some Ohio-expats living in Los Angeles and New York City, along with 12 to 15 amazing interns from Ohio Uni...

Josh Miller and Kinsley Funari of FunMill Films Sure, those stay-at-home orders are lifted and everyone is out and about as if the pandemic never happened. But there are a few of us (many of us?) still doing the social distancing thing. And we still have a few interviews from our Filmmakers At Home series to share. And here’s one of them! Today we’re talking to filmmaker Kinsley Funari and Josh Mille of FunMill Films. The team recently celebrated the launch of its inaugural FunMill Films Fest & Competition .  . Midwest Movie Maker: How would you describe being a filmmaker locked down at home without a crew? Kinsley : Being the small operation that we are, all of our crew and collaborators are also our close friends. So it’s almost all the more difficult for us because we just miss the old days of having a few beers and discussing our next project. Josh : I think I create more effectively the less crew there is. It’s nice to bounce ideas around in the writing ...

Filmmaker Tom Loveman We’re getting deep into stay-at-home orders and filmmaker fingers are getting itchy. If you haven’t already started, chances are you’re making a short movie for Corman’s Quarantine Film Festival , Roger Corman’s first - and, as he says, hopefully last - contest for stuck-at-home writer/director/actors. Otherwise you’re going stir crazy, right? Because filmmakers gotta film.  For the last couple weeks, we’ve checked in with filmmakers big and small to find out how they’re doing - and what movies are on their stay-at-home must-watch list. Know a filmmaker who we should spotlight? Email us at midwestmovies@gmail.com . Today we’re talking to Tom Loveman, an award-winning writer and producer of the short films Reclamation and Synesthesia , which, combined, have appeared in over 80 film festivals, including the San Diego Independent International Film Festival. Reclamation won Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy short in the 2018 Burbank International Film Festiv...

David Craig, Media Professor at USC Annenberg Take a cursory glance through social media and you’ll find myriad filmmakers, educators and enthusiasts doing whatever they can to feed their creative needs during our shared quarantine. Some are working with colleagues remotely (did you catch Saturday Night Live at Home or A Late Show with Stephen Colbert ?).  Others are taking time to learn a new skill, enter a few film festivals or knock out the latest draft of a screenplay, novel or, in the case of today’s interview, the non-fiction tale of the battle to make The Day After - and how that TV movie changed history. Over the next couple weeks (or longer?), we’re checking in with filmmakers big and small to find out how they’re doing - and what movies are on their stay-at-home must-watch list. Know a filmmaker who we should spotlight? Email us at midwestmovies@gmail.com . Today we’re talking to David Craig , a Media Professor at USC Annenberg, who writes academic books abou...