Don't Tell My Mother -- Comedy Stage Show

This summer, I began an internship with a monthly comedy stage show called Don't Tell My Mother.  It's been especially exciting as it coincided with my move to L.A. and is the first thing I've worked on while here. This comedy show focuses on embarrassing stories of performers and writers, most specifically -- stories they wouldn't want their mothers to hear.

On June 20th, I helped run the last show of the season by setting up at the cafe location, Fais Do Do.  I also worked to greet audience members and make sure they felt comfortable and welcomed.  It was a great experience -- host Nikki Levy has a great energy for the show, and all the performers' stories were hilarious.  The stories are relatable and the atmosphere is incredibly friendly.  

Here's a sizzle reel of the show, though it has expanded significantly since this was created (the location has changed to accommodate for a bigger crowd):

And here's a link to the show website:

http://donttellmymother.com/

After the last show, I continued the internship through the off-season.  I wrote up a competitive analysis that included information about LA, Chicago, and New York, as the show hopes to expand to these other locations.  I also worked with other interns to brainstorm logo and merchandise ideas, and other ways to market the show through different forms of media.

Though I have completed the internship for my required credits, I have made good friends with the show's crew, and hope to continue helping out with the show when it returns for the new season. 

The System is Broken -- Feature Film

This past summer, I secured an internship with an independent feature film entitled The System is Broken. The film follows an idealistic young college graduate as he works in Florida during the final weeks up to the Presidential Election.  As the story unfolds, Pete and his friends in the campaign struggle in their work to widen voting access, but quickly face surmounting obstacles from their own party.  Though fictional, the film was based on the true experiences of writer and director, Ignatius Lin.

My internship on this film was within the publicity department.  Part of my responsibilities were to contact and arrange news coverage from local news outlets, and I was able to get our film shoot featured in several local stations and newspapers.  I also managed the film's social media pages and utilized it to acquire, organize, and connect with extras and supporters of our film.  I was also in charge of on-set photography, and took stills that can now be utilized in press releases and social media to create buzz for The System is Broken, which we hope to enter into the Sundance Film Festival once completed.      

Though the shoot ended in mid June in Tucson, I've been able to continue my publicity role with the director and producers here in Los Angeles as the film goes through post-production.  I will continue to manage the social media pages and act as a liaison to the press as the film is completed and beyond.

Here's a link to the film's website:  http://www.thesystemisbroken-movie.com/

The Conduit -- Feature Film, Part One

Sometimes you get lucky and things just fall into place, and that's what happened in the case of my involvement with the feature film, The Conduit. This was a horror film that just happened to be shooting in my hometown of Globe, Arizona, right in time for my winter break from school. I therefore got in touch with the line producer, John Fonseca, and the crew allowed me the opportunity to work on the film with them as a production assistant.

Working on a feature horror film was really exciting and interesting. I got to see monster make-up applied, and we filmed in really spooky locations, such as the old jailhouse in downtown Globe. It was a small crew, so much of my involvement was whatever needed to be done, like working slate, organizing craft service, and assisting in set design.  

The film is set to release by early 2014.  A teaser trailer will be coming soon, but for now, check out the film's website, theconduitmovie.com and the Facebook page here.

Of Blood -- Campus MovieFest

Campus MovieFest is a great opportunity for student filmmakers.  They lend out cameras and Macbooks with editing software to all teams, offer tutorials on how to use them, and then give the students a week to make a 5 minute or less short film.  They then pick the top 16 to premiere at the university, with categories and prizes for Best Drama, Best Comedy, Best Actor and Actress, etc.  Then the winners get sent to the CMF Hollywood event, complete with red carpet and even more awards.

This past year, my friend and fellow filmmaker, David Bornstein, pulled me onto his team for his short film, Of Blood.  I was script supervisor for this production.  We worked hard and late into the night, but it was worth it, because we won for Best Drama and the film got to go the Hollywood event.

Here it is:

General Education -- Feature film

Last August, I received the opportunity to assist in promoting a feature film, General Education, for its Tucson premiere.  This was the first time I'd ever assisted on a feature film, and it was also my first film job that took place after the completion of the film, so it was nice giving this new type of role a try.

I helped to publicize the premiere with a combination of social networking and print media, and also helped to arrange a Meet and Greet with the filmmakers.  I'm  happy to say that General Education is now available on both iTunes and Netflix Instant.

Here's the trailer:



Be sure to check it out sometime!

Shot To Power -- UFO

During my freshman year, I joined one of the film clubs, the University Filmmaker's Organization, affectionately known as U.F.O.  I met so many other talented young filmmakers, made so many friends, and was able to see many projects through from pitch all the way to post-production.  The first UFO film I was involved in was Shot To Power, a western.  It was a pretty ambitious project, considering we had to get appropriate period piece locations and costumes, but the challenge was enjoyable and we worked with talented actors that were really able to sell the western vibe.  After helping with development, I worked as part of the sound crew during production.

Here's the final product:

Shot to Power from Univ. Filmmakers Organization on Vimeo.


And here's a picture of our wonderful cast and crew:

True Love's Kiss -- My First Film Project

The film below was, as the title of this post implies, the first short film project I ever had the opportunity and pleasure of working on.  This was back when I was just starting out at the University of Arizona as a freshman, still new to film classes and film production entirely, and I jumped at the chance to be a production assistant for this Senior Thesis Film.  It was a really enjoyable and exciting experience, and made me even more certain of my choice to pursue Film and Television as a major and a career.

True Love's Kiss premiered at the I Dream In Widescreen event at The Fox Tucson Theatre in May of 2011.

True Love's Kiss from Jesse Klein on Vimeo.