Every Day A Star Is Born

Hey how’s it going? Sorry I haven’t talked to you in so long. You look good. Did you get a haircut? No? Oh. Well your hair looks nice. Or maybe it’s because you look thinner, I don’t know.

Anyway, just wanted to let you know that a short film I made, “New Shoes,” is getting screened this Sunday at Bike Short Films in Williamsburg. No big deal. The entry fee is $5, but I have to warn you that I would characterize the quality of most films I have seen there as “poor.” Which is only, like, one better than “very poor.” I know, I know. That makes me an asshole or whatever. But I wouldn’t say my film is the cat’s pajamas or anything either. So whatever.

See, the thing is, they’ll take a film from anyone. So, you know, it’s kind of like doing a YouTube search on the word “bike” and then watching that shit in a bar. Really, the only reason that I’m even telling you about this is because they give out a $100 prize to the “winner.” Okay so the reason I put that in quotes is because the “winner” is chosen by crowd applause at the end of the screening. I know you’re really into quantifiable metrics, so I put the quotes in out of respect for that, dude. But hey–if by some miracle I do win, I will refund you your five dollars from the prize money. No bro, I’m being dead serious. Because it means that much to me that you came out to, you know, help grow the scene or whatever. Okay dude, catch you later.

-rah

What: Screening of film “New Shoes” at Bike Shorts
Where: Public Assembly, 70 N. 6th Street, Williamsburg –map here
When: Sunday, September 27 at 8 pm
Cost: $5
Info: www.bikeshortfilms.com

Before He Knew Science, He Believed in Witchcraft

I got to catch up with an old friend, the media wunderkind/raconteur/former model Leon Ivangorodsky, over South African burgers at Madiba in Fort Greene on Friday night. Leon’s been busy making babies, and then devoting his life to working in order to attend to their subsequent needs. I met Leon back in my early NYC days as a fellow intern at the constantly dead-then-resurrected Film/Video Arts, when we were both poor and passionate. (I’m still poor, but I eat better these days.) Back in the day, Leon used to roll into work with these cheese sandwiches wrapped in tinfoil mashed into his jeans pockets, and then claim it was some kind of traditional Dutch food. Now he’s famous in Holland. He also used to declare that it was his duty as a Dutchman to destroy me at FIFA on the PS2, as part of his ultimately fruitless attempts to teach me the subtler aspects of the Most Beautiful Game. In return, I taught him that you can kick a European’s ass at video game soccer through the artless technique of button-mashing. Leon reminds me of the essence of the New York Hustle, when I lived with no money, no security and no fear. It’s crazy to think that he’s now a producer for RTL, Germany’s largest television broadcaster.

I spent the last couple of hours putting the finishing touches on “New Shoes,” the first of what I hope will be several GFace-themed shorts. I produced this one as an exercise in narrative filmmaking, but with the intent of submitting it to Bike Shorts as my end goal. The last thing I sent to them, some footage I shot on the Vidster of Bike Kill, was met with complete indifference from the audience. There’s something nerve-racking and nausea-inducing about sitting among a group of strangers who are watching your stuff and silently (or sometimes loudly) judging your work. But I think it necessary to complete the circle of publication, even if that means subjecting yourself to public humiliation and ridicule. Otherwise, what’s the point?

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