Founded in 2009, MPLS.TV is an independent Minneapolis based content network produced by Do-It-Together collective of videographers, writers, and other creators.
Filmmaker Rosemary Williams hired a private investigator to learn more about the ’50s pinup girl who shares her name. Now she’s making a movie about that other Rosemary and the scandal that ended her career—and she needs your help, on Kickstarter.
The Soap Factory is looking for a Ten Second Film Festival Intern!
Ten Second Film Festival is The Soap Factory’s most highly anticipated summer event. The Ten Second Film Festival showcases the top 100 ten second films submitted for review and screens them outdoors during Northern Spark on June 9th. The success of this event is largely dependent on an energetic, creative, and organized intern who assists the curator in all aspects of the film festival. The intern’s primary responsibility will be to maintain correspondence between filmmakers and The Soap Factory, work with our partners at MPLS.TV, marketing, and coordinating the event itself. This internship position is ideal for someone looking to gain both administrative and events planning experience in an arts non-profit.
More info here!
MPLS.TV was able to speak with 30 Films 30 Days director, Tyler Jensen, about his experiment in loosing your mind and finding your voice via consistent deadlines to create films. The world premiere is tonight at the Minneapolis Underground Film Festival.
MPLS.TV: What inspired you to do make 30 films?
Tyler Jensen: I had gotten a job offer out east, which is where I’m living now, and new that I had only the rest of the summer as a MPLS resident. I wanted to make the most of this summer, so I quit my job/s and set out to make a new short film everyday. I told my good friend Matt Sandvik about my idea and he said it was terrible, which I then took as a dare and the rest was history.
M: What were some challenges of doing 30 films in 30 days?
T: The most challenging thing about the project I think was the demand to be creative, there were days when I knew exactly what I was doing and what the story was and then there were days that everything went to shit and I had to act quickly on my feet. Most of the time the thrill of pulling something out of your ass that may or may not work turn into some of the most rewarding pieces in the project, other times it was a lesson in what not to do again. It became increasingly stressful the further along in the project when exhaustion was starting to set in, I was lucky if I was getting 3 or 4 hours of sleep at a time, but I learned to sleep in shifts, take everything one day at a time and not worry about whatever I had to do tomorrow and just get through the day and tell a (somewhat) competent story.
M: Did you ever feel like giving up half way through?
T: I never got to the end of my rope and felt like I wasn’t going to complete my goal. I had made the decision to tell too many people about the project before I started and the fear of failure and humiliation kept me going strong. Actually, I have been saying for years that all I want to do is make movies, and this mini challenge was my test to see if I could do it for a month and still enjoy it, then its worth pursuing. I had so much fun everyday working with the most talented and hilarious people I’m privileged to call my friends that it rarely ever felt like work. Also, I had just read Bossy Pants by Tina Fey and the one thing that stuck with me from her days writing at SNL was that ‘the show always goes on, not because its ready, but because its 11:30’ - I’m sure I got that quote wrong, but it really put me in the right mind frame to not be too precious about things…
M: Do you have any personal favorites?
T: Its hard to pick favorites because essentially they are all my children in some form or another but I’m exteremly proud of the Dressed to Kill series of shoots because they were big, ambitious shoots with lots of extras and make up and were so crazy to shoot I actually found myself breaking into uncontrollable fits of laughter while filming in public, particularly in #8 (Coutorture) when the red dress is floating its way back to Via’s Vintage. We shot that with the dressed tied to the camera and me walking back wards down Hennipen Ave in heavy traffic with people screaming “I Love Intervention!” at me from their car windows. Also I’m very found of #2 (Twist & Snarl) because its loosely based off a woman I affectionately call the Freddy Krueger of NE. #25 (Kiddie Pool) Fills me with wicked glee at its dark turn toward the end. It was filmed shortly after the Casey Anthony verdict , not that that has any connection to anything…
M: Do you have any advice to give to someone trying to do something like this?
T: Do It! Don’t think about it, don’t try to plan anything just fucking do it!
Tyler’s 30 Films 30 Days premires tonight at 7PM at the Minneapolis Underground Film Festival, located at MCAD. Tickets are available on the MUFF website.
