Southbound Drive “Agnes”: A Smalls Preview

Posted on May 15, 2012 by The Smalls

A staple of the Austin, Texas music scene, Southbound Drive is one of those bands you should have heard about long ago. Their music harks back to the more innocent days of rock, and imbues a lot of folk elements in order to achieve its good natured, mighty flavorful, and ultimately unforgettable sound.  There’s no surprise that The Smalls is already a big fan, as we were a big supporter of their Kickstarter campaign. But soon you’ll hear for yourself why Southbound Drive caught our attention in the first place – they are just that good.

We were able to preview three of their upcoming songs off their album ‘Agnes’, and here’s our impression from the perspective of filmmakers:

Courthouse. We like songs that give us characters to imagine, and this one gives us several in one felt swoop, as though we are watching a long crane shot move along ‘the courthouse, in the rain’.  The influence of folk is apparent – the tempo is upbeat, but the subject matter is about something much more serious and significant.

Marigold. This track sounds like something that Wes Anderson should use during one of his wordless montage or slow motions sequences.  We especially like the use of whistling, the whimsical lyrics, and the chorus that we found ourselves mumbling like crazy people. This would be our pick for Southbound Drive, Unplugged.

Mexico. There’s something about this song that takes us back to the Reality Bites era of the 90’s, where up-tempo music covered up the aching of lost souls.  Listen real close, and the words will reveal something quite special.

We can’t share these incredible tracks with your quite yet, so that’ll have to do for now.  We hope you are looking forward to Southbound Drive’s big break, and make sure to follow them at: www.southbounddrive.com

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5 Greatest Samurai Short Films

Posted on May 13, 2012 by The Smalls

After flicking through Total Film’s ‘15 Greatest Samurai Movies’, we over at The Smalls were inspired to create our own Samurai Countdown. But in order to stay true to our name, and keep things brief, we decided to do the 5 Greatest Samurai Short Films. Now the notion of a Samurai short may sound strange to some, due to the epic nature, spectacular fights, and bigger budgets of its feature-length brethren – but then that’s what makes these shorts that much more impressive.

5. The Lost Samurai

What is most notable about the mystical, time-traveling flick The Lost Samurai is how it takes the Samurai film, typically a serious genre, and then gives it a comedic twist by sending the hero to the present day. The combination of the relationship between Gonzo the Samurai and Mark the American nerd, several feisty action sequences, and a great final punch line, make this an immersive and entertaining six minutes.

4. Samurai

This less-than-a-minute long short film (now that’s what we call a Small) by the professional CG studio RealtimeUK showcases two warriors in a fight to the death. While it may lack a traditional story, this epic Samurai duel has a ferocious speed and intensity to it, and really displays the potential of motion capture animation – especially for complex action sequences.

3. Ai-Life in the Shadow of Death

Although this film is by far the longest of our top five, that should not suggest that there is a second wasted in Ai-Life in the Shadow of Death. There is a blend of Japanese Cinema from the past and present here, with fight sequences that are steeped in both Samurai iconography and contemporary Manga style special effects. We also simply love how much is accomplished – from the scripts to stunts and cinematography – with a small, indie budget.

2.Ninja

OK, we do understand the difference between Samurai and Ninja. But allow us this one indiscretion, as Ninja is not only fun, but sparks our nostalgia for our old G.I. Joe toys. In this piece, our two action figure ninja warriors are turned into swift and deadly fighters by director Olivier Trudeau’s excellent use of stop motion. While it has a similar pace and intensity to the aforementioned Samurai, it edges it out with its inventiveness and sheer exuberance.

1. The Duel

Using Lego figures to recreate iconic cinema is, by no means, a new phenomenon. Yet while there are countless short film spoofs of all genres out there, when it comes to something samurai-esque, you will struggle to ever find a Lego short as good as this one. This tour de force is something like Kill Bill meets Final Fantasy VII mixed with Star Wars and a dash of Dragonball. But in the end, to call it a spoof would be a disservice. Just watch it.

By Matt Beard, The Smalls Intern & The Smalls Editorial Team

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The Smalls Movie, TV and DVD News

Posted on May 12, 2012 by The Smalls

After two weekends of having to endure the less-than-mediocre ‘Think Like a Man’ at the top of the box office charts, we have finally been AVENGED! Or something like that. You have probably heard (to much fanfare) that ‘The Avengers’ broke all opening weekend records and took the #1 position with an insane USD $207.4 Million. We don’t think this achievement needs any extra commentary.  ‘Think’ came in at #2 ($8.1M), which still feels like too much money, ‘Hunger Games’ is fading away, only coming in at #3 with 5.6M, ‘Pirates!’ (#4 @ $5.5M) is quickly sinking, and ‘The Lucky One’ stuck around in the top five for one more weekend with $5.4M.

Movie studios are staying conservative this weekend, knowing full well that ‘Avengers’ has a great shot at dominating for at least one more weekend. ‘Dark Shadows’, the latest from Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, is the frontrunner, but reviews say that it may be dead on arrival.  Bobcat Goldthwait’s ‘God Bless America’ is getting some attention from critics, but seems to be in limited release. ‘Girl in Progress’ looks to be pretty generic, ‘Hick’ has a decent cast, but has gotten no love from those who have seen it, and ‘The Road’ has gotten the best reviews of all, but is also in a scant number of theaters. Let us know what you end up seeing.

Who in Hollywood is up for making some new movies?  Well, ‘The World’s End’, the next Edgar Wright – Simon Pegg collaboration, has gotten the green light for a September shoot… the Freddie Mercury project with look-alike Sacha Baron Cohen that has been languishing may have found a director in Stephen Frears… Roman Polanski can always seem to find work – next up will be called ‘D’, about the famous political scandal the Dreyfus Affair… Gareth Evans will be directing ‘Breaking the Bank’… The Farrelly Brothers chug along despite missteps – the next one will be called ‘Dear Satan’… ‘Clifford the Big Red Dog’ is coming to the big screen, courtesy of a script by Matt Lopez… director Nick Cassavetes is moving into action with ‘Cali’, starring Kristen Stewart… ‘Red 2’ is happening… ‘Catching Fire’, the sequel to ‘Hunger Games’ is getting a rewrite by Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3)… a sequel to ’10 Things I Hate About You’ is in the works, and this time it hates more than you – it hates ‘Life’… ‘White House Down’ has received November 1, 2013 as its release date… rumors are swirling that the Jimi Hendrix biopic with Andre Benjamin is about to start shooting… if ‘Kick Ass 2’ happens, it will be under the skills of Jeff Wadlow… the guys who brought you ‘Scary Movie’ aim to bring you ‘The Starving Games’… and ‘Avengers 2’ has been announced by the head honcho of Disney, Bob Iger. Why not?

Actors who have landed gigs include Kyle Chandler, who will star opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’… ‘Django Unchained’ has lost Kurt Russell and Sacha Baron Cohen… Angelina Jolie has left ‘The Counselor’ and has been replaced with Cameron Diaz – who is also going to be in ‘Agent: Century 21’ with Benicio del Toro… Rebecca Hall may be in ‘Iron Man 3’ since Jessica Chastain has announced her departure… Miranda Richardson will be in ‘Maleficent’… Cole Hauser will be the villain in ‘A Good Day to Die Hard’… and Arnold Schwarzenegger will star in ‘Ten’.

Didn’t ‘Mother’s Day’ come to theaters last week? Yes it did, but somehow it’s already on DVD.  Other titles you can pick up this week include ‘Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie’ (which was in theaters in March), ‘The Vow’ (you have seen this in February), and ‘Underworld Awakening (which came and went in January). For some campy fun, pick up ‘Forbidden Zone’ – a cult favorite from the 80’s. The Criterion Collection is re-releasing Mathieu Kassovitz’s 1995 debut ‘La haine’, which should be required viewing for all indie filmmakers.

See you next week!

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Congratulations to the winners of This London and The Guardian Travel Award

Posted on May 9, 2012 by The Smalls

We are thrilled to announce the winners for This London and The Guardian Travel Award!

THIS LONDON AWARD: Tired of Playing Basketball by Sam Rowland

THE GUARDIAN TRAVEL AWARD: Primrose Hill by Joe Fellows

Sam Rowland, the winner of the This London Award, will accompany Boat Magazine to their next location and film with the team for one week.

Joe Fellows, winner of The Guardian Film Award, will see his film screened on the Guardian Travel website and will also be commissioned by Guardian Travel to create a second film.

A big thank you again to all who submitted films, to our partners Boat Magazine and The Guardian, and to everyone else who participated in making this year’s event incredibly special. And, a special thanks to The Hospital Club who hosted the event.

We are enormously grateful to our fine judges who contributed their time, expertise and dedication to secure two beautiful winning films:

Mark Peters – Inspiration Films

Amelie Thillie – Rushes Soho Shorts

Alita Simpson – Eyes Wide Open Productions

Ben Charles Edwards – Director (Animal Farm)

Ania Koprowska – Canberra Short Film Fest

Robert Ryan – Director

Kate Tancred – The Smalls

Jane Mote – Former Director of Current TV

Davey Spens – Boat Magazine

Congratulations again to the winners – we look forward to hearing of your future successes and adventures!

Got pictures from the This London event? Please email them to info@thesmalls.com and we can keep adding them to this page:

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This London Shortlist Announcement

Posted on May 8, 2012 by The Smalls

We are very excited to announce the films that have been nominated for our This London Award.

For the contest we received an incredible number of impressive films, and we are enormously grateful to all who submitted their work.

The films (in no particular order) that are nominated to win a This London Award, the opportunity of a lifetime – to accompany Boat Magazine to their next location and film with the team for one week, are:

For the Love of Jazz – David De La Pena
That Day – Michael Gardiner
Tired of Playing Basketball – Sam Rowland
This is London: Street Art – Richard William Preisner
Subterranean – Simon Lane
Dancing Voices – Emma Kerr

The winning This London film will be announced at the Boat Magazine London issue launch party tonight (May 8, 2012) at The Hospital Club and via our Twitter feed @thesmalls.

The Guardian Film Award, the best London travel documentary short, will also be announced at tonight’s event.

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One week until relaunch week!

Posted on May 7, 2012 by The Smalls

With only one week to go until we relaunch our site, The Smalls is working so it is red in the face (well, if The Smalls was a person he or she would be red in the face). Our fantastic development team is powering forward in a way that would put Iron Man, Captain America, the Incredible Hulk, Thor, Hawkeye and the Black Widow to shame. And, the rest of us “Smallsters” are working up a pretty good sweat too.

But, next week we hope to share something that while still in Beta (so you need to be kind and keep this in mind when browsing and using the site during the first few weeks), will empower you as short filmmakers in whole new way. We can’t wait to open the doors to show you the rich new profile pages, film pages and networking tools that are getting prepped and ready as we speak. And, again, we want to thank you in advance for your patience and good will when it comes to us moving forward through our relaunch phase (as we will surely need to iron out a few things along the way, starting next week).

Until next week, keep checking back here on The Smalls for information on our new site. And, if you have any questions feel free to fire them over to us at info@thesmalls.com, or simply tweet @thesmalls.com #smallsrelaunch and someone in our team will be in touch.

Have a lovely Monday everyone!

- The Smalls

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The Smalls Movie, TV and DVD News

Posted on May 4, 2012 by The Smalls

Well, we admit were surprised when ‘Think Like a Man’ took the #1 spot at the box office for the second weekend in a row. But with $17.6 Million, it isn’t all that impressive – just indicative of what little interest audiences had in movies last weekend. The films that debuted had it even worse – ‘Pirates! Band of Misfits’ (#2) only pulled in $11.1M, while ‘The Five Year Engagement’ was at the bottom with only $10.6M. People seem to be losing their appetite for ‘The Hunger Games’ (#3 @ 10.8M), and we think we’ll also be bidding farewell to ‘The Lucky One’ (#4 @ 10.6M). Do you care? Possibly not.

We’re pretty sure that all you are thinking about is ‘The Avengers’, whether you have any interest in seeing it or not. This is supposed to be the BIG ONE, which will crush expectations, box-office records, blah blah. Personally, we just want to have a good time, like the good old days of watching summer movies at the theater. For other people – and yes, we mean old people – who want to avoid the crazy lines, ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ may be the best alternative. Also opening is the remake of the French film ‘LOL’, with Miley Cyrus, and our favorite nanny Rebecca DeMornay returns in ‘Mother’s Day’. And the turkey of the week looks like the rom-com ‘A Little Bit of Heaven’. Sorry Kate Hudson, you’ve apparently hit a new low.

So where do so many turkeys come from? Let’s see if we can identify them by looking at the latest activity in Hollywood. Will it be Timur Bekmambetov’s ‘The Current War’?… how about the newly announced ‘Scary Movie 5’?… or maybe the film idea that was just sold to Warner Bros. about a dinosaur attack on Los Angeles? We don’t think it will be Damon Lindelof’s ‘1952’, which now has Brad Bird as director… and it certainly won’t be ‘The Corrections’, which has been dropped by HBO after a long development process. What else is happening? Well, what would you say to a new ‘Van Helsing’ that replaces Hugh Jackman with Tom Cruise? Yes. That’s exactly what we said… Gary Ross – the artist formerly known as the ‘Hunger Games’ director – will now be working on a Houdini movie… the sequel to ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ may get its screenplay from David Koepp… the popular TV show ‘Jericho’ might return via Netflix… ‘Fringe’ will take its bow after its next season… and Cary Fukunaga will take his directing skills to HBO, where he will helm a mini-series called ‘True Detective’.

Actors who have snagged fat paychecks this week include Michelle Rodriguez, who returns to the ‘Machete’ franchise… Amber Heard and Demian Bichir are also now in ‘Machete Kills’… Elijah Wood is supposedly in some thriller that is described as a cross between ‘Speed’ and a piano concert… Sharito Copley is going to be the bad guy in the ‘Oldboy’ remake, opposite Josh Brolin… Luke Evans has been offered the villain role in ‘Fast Six’… and a bunch of people will be making cameos in ‘End of the World’, including Michael Cera, Jason Segel, James Franco, Emma Watson and… someday Oscar-winner Rihanna!

Of all the DVD’s coming out this week, you won’t have much trouble making a choice. ‘New Year’s Eve’ – turkey. ‘Joyful Noise’ – turkey. ‘W.E.’ – turkey. Feels almost like Thanksgiving again. The only release of note this week is probably ‘Haywire’, which gives us a Soderbergh helmed action thriller that is as smart as it is exciting. Buy it.

See you next week!

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Smalls winner Federico Forcolini continues winning streak

Posted on May 3, 2012 by The Smalls

We’re always happy to hear when one of our members finds continued success outside of The Smalls. Up and coming director Federico Forcolini (you can read more about him in our extended interview here) just emailed us with some news about his most recent achievements.

Federico’s ‘Two Ladies & A Hill” was a winner at The Smalls Short Film Fest 2011, taking the top prize for our ‘Under 5 Minute’ category.  Since then, he has revised the film, making it shorter and giving it a new title – ‘Coasting’ – which subsequently won the latest Virgin Media TiVo Award.  If you are near a Picturehouse Cinema (UK only), you should be able to catch it until this fall, and if you live in Italy, you may see it on your TV on sometime. It is of course also here on The Smalls:

We were also excited to learn that his ‘Two Men & A Car Park’, which won the Rushes Soho Shorts 2010 Newcomer Award, just got licensed to Canal+ France. Both ‘Two Ladies’ and ‘Two Men’ are now officially distributed by Ouat Media.

What does a guy who is doing so well have to say about The Smalls? We were pretty moved when we received these words from him:

“Winning The Smalls Award 2011 felt like scoring the short filmmaker’s perfect hat trick:

Happiness – A generous financial prize

Support - A hefty production grant

Encouragement - A fantastic trophy and critique written from an industry heavyweight, in my case DOP John Ward

The Smalls is definitely one of the top short film competitions in the country and one that I’ll keep entering for as long as I’m making shorts.”

Congratulations, Federico and thank you for the kind words! We wish you the best of luck and look forward to hearing about your future successes.

– The Smalls

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Q&A: What to expect from The Smalls re-launch

Posted on May 2, 2012 by The Smalls

You know that we are launching a new website during the week of May 14, 2012. And you know it is going to be fabulous.  But you must still have some burning questions about what is about to transpire, yes? Of course you do. So we will try to answer as many of them as we can here:

What exactly will happen starting May 14?

We will essentially be moving the rebuilt and redesigned site onto our servers, and then doing all the necessary tweaking and testing. When this process is complete, we will open the doors for all of you to step inside and explore the NEW SMALLS!

What will be so new with The Smalls when it re-launches?

In short, the new interface will make it easier for you to upload and share films, and your profile pages will draw more focus to your filmmaking skills, experience and recognition – all the stuff that is important to filmmakers such as yourself. We’re also feeling pretty confident that you will love the addition of some incredible networking tools that will help you meet fellow filmmakers, as well as connect to brands, producers and distributors that are also members of The Smalls. Our new search function will also be faster and more accurate, and overall, the new Smalls will be more intuitive and effective. And yet behind the gorgeous new façade, we will continue to be the same Smalls that we have always been – a community inspired by short films and dedicated to the idea that films and filmmakers deserve their place in the spotlight in addition to having a place they can call home.

Want to read the full shebang about what will be different? Check out The Smalls 2.0: Stepping things up a notch and see if you feel any wiser. If not, you will just have to hold your breath until the week of May 14. (Please don’t take that literally.)

What happens with my films and my information?

All your films and information will remain on our secure servers, and under strict supervision. Any data that we currently store and protect is not going anywhere outside The Smalls – just migrated to our new site. Like magic!

How will I log into the new site?

With exactly the same login details that you use today. So, please don’t throw them away.

Will my Smalls membership still be free?

Yes, all of the basic functionality that you have enjoyed for years – along with several entry-level enhancements coming with the new site – will remain free.

And as a token of thanks to existing members, for all of your patience during our rebrand and rebuild, we would like to offer you a free 60-day trial of our NEW Pro membership.  This includes unlimited storage of films and many more opportunities to enter contests, as well as greater chances to connect with producers and organizations that commission and distribute short film content.

Uh… So, there are different membership levels now?

Yes, as a Smalls filmmaker you will be able to choose between the following two memberships:

BASIC

A free membership that gives you:

  • A personal Smalls URL (i.e. www.thesmalls.com/yourname)
  • Access to The Smalls community where you can make friends, meet collaborators and get discovered
  • 1GB of storage space
  • A “money wallet”, so that you can earn royalties on your films
  • A selection of background and image templates to help personalize your profile
  • HD video uploads
  • HD video streaming

PRO

An affordable membership that you, as current Smalls members, can purchase for a mere £20/year (newcomers pay £40/year) that gives you all the features of the Basic level membership AND:

  • Unlimited storage space for films
  • No distracting ads on your personal pages
  • A fully customizable profile page
  • Free access to pitch for projects and enter contests
  • Possibilities to submit creative ideas to producers, commissioners and distributors of films and video content
  • Free access to start new projects and collaborate on new films through our project management tools

So I can try the Pro membership for free first before committing?

You have no choice, because we’re giving you a FREE 60-DAY TRIAL (forgive us, we know it sounds like we’re selling you a mattress) to try it out. When you come to the new site, your membership will automatically be at the Pro level. When your 60 days are up, we will let you know, and you can decide whether or not to keep it.

What if I don’t want the Pro membership?

Really? Why not just test it for 60 days for free, and if you like it we will give you the special 50%-off deal (£20/year!) to sign up. And if you sincerely don’t like it, and we mean really detest it, you can choose to have a Basic membership that is totally free. There’s no penalty for downgrading.

We think this is it for now. But if your reaction after reading the above is “Oh no! I am still not sure of what is going on!” – we understand your dilemma and we are here to help as much as we can.

So anything else you are wondering or want to chat about, feel free to just send an email to info@thesmalls.com or tweet @thesmalls #smallsrelaunch and we’ll take it from there.

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LAST DAY to enter THIS LONDON!

Posted on April 30, 2012 by The Smalls

What does THIS LONDON mean to you? We want to see the city through your eyes, and through your lens. Whether that is from beneath a construction crane, jumping off the deck of a funky houseboat or skating down the edge of a clogged sidewalk, we want you to take us to meet the undiscovered treasures and characters of London. Show us the community garden that flourishes in an abandoned rail yard, take us dancing in an eclectic music club or sneak us in through the back door of an orthodox church turned fashion school. Give us face time with artists, middle-class mothers, or high-hitting decision makers. Guide us through the last remaining industrial wastelands, into the kitchen of a prominent private club or behind the neon lights of Chinatown. Do all of this or nothing. It doesn’t matter as long as you dazzle us with your short film portrait of London.

This London is a documentary short film competition that presents two awards – the This London Award and The Guardian Film Award. You have until April 30 to enter your films into:

THIS LONDON AWARD — The opportunity of a lifetime will be granted to the winner of this category – to accompany Boat Magazine to their next location and film with the team for one week. In addition to the winning film being announced and screened at our This London event, which takes place at Boat Magazine’s London issue launch party at The Hospital Club it will also be featured on TheSmalls.com and Boat-Mag.com.

THE GUARDIAN FILM AWARD — The winner of the Guardian Travel London Film Award will be commissioned by Guardian Travel to produce a second film, which will be broadcast on the Travel website. The winning film, which will also be published on the Guardian’s travel website, will be announced and screened at Boat Magazine’s London issue launch event in May 2012 at The Hospital Club.

For more information and to enter your film, go to www.thesmalls.com/thislondon/

ABOUT BOAT MAG

Boat Magazine is a nomadic biannual publication that temporarily bases itself in cities with big stories to tell. For a day job the folks behind Boat Mag run a small design studio, but twice a year they pick it up and relocate, renting a big old house in a different city for a few weeks to create a magazine about that place, before heading home. They go to complicated cities with big stories to tell and collaborate with ground-breaking writers, creatives, photographers, and illustrators. The first issue was Sarajevo, with a stunning contribution from Dave Eggers, an interview with Oscar-winning directory Danis Tanovic and short fiction from Sophie Cooke, author of The Glass House and Under the Mountain. They followed it with an issue on Detroid, with contirbutions from jeffrey Eugenides, Megan Abbott and David Robert Mitchell. For Issue Three, they’re bending the rules a little, as for this issue the team is remaining in London.

ABOUT THE SMALLS

The Smalls (www.thesmalls.com) is a short film community with more than 5,000 registered members and more than 3,000 Facebook fans (www.facebook.com/theSmallsfilms). As a curator of independent short film, committed to the discovery and promotion of new talent, The Smalls is continually growing and in April 2012 the company will launch a new and improved version of its website, where we will upgrade all our features and add new tools and applications for filmmakers. As part of our re-launch our creative exposure will also expand to include more coverate of art, film and music events in the US and the UK.

The Smalls launched in September 2006, with a two-day showcase and competition in Covent Garden, London, held in association with The London Design Festival and Creative Review. The showcase celebrated “Small Films for Small Screens”, displaying short films on video iPods.

After the success of the initial event, the website TheSmalls.com was launched and partners in subsequent events have included Apple, Virgin Media, Nokia, Panavision, Toyoto SCION, G.O.L.D, World Beatbox Association, and Comedy Central. The aim of the website and The Smalls live events, is to create a bridge between commissioners of content from TV, film and advertising, and new talent.

Every year The Smalls presents The Smalls Film Festival, and since our launch we have hosted numerous other events, screenings and competitions in London and New York.

ABOUT THE HOSPITAL CLUB

For over seven years, The Hospital Club has offered a unique environment for the creative community to come together for inspiration and collaboration in the heart of Covent Garden. With a keen focus on supporting emerging talent, its entire philosophy is centred on cultivating enterprise through creating connections. To find out more about the Club or to arrange a tour please contact Reception@thehospitalclub.com.

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