deadCENTER Film

“Sweethearts” is back this weekend at OKCMOA!

Oklahomie filmmaker Bradley Beesley’s film “Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo” is back and playing at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art beginning this Friday, December 17th through Sunday, December 19th.

From 1940 – 2008, the Oklahoma State Penitentiary held an annual “Prison Rodeo.” Part Wild West show and part spectacle; it was one of the last of its kind – a relic of the American penal system. Prisoners compete on wild-broncs and bucking bulls, risking life-long injuries. In 2006, female inmates were allowed to participate for the first time. Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo goes behind prison walls to follow convict cowgirls on their journey to the 2007 Oklahoma State Penitentiary Rodeo. In a state with the highest female incarceration rate in the country, these women share common experiences such as broken homes, drug abuse and alienation from their children. But the rodeo provides the chance to become a hero if only for one night.

For more information about the screenings, check out http://www.okcmoa.com/films/sweethearts-of-the-prison-rodeo

It’s a Christmas miracle! Buy One Get One Free All-Access Passes!

deadCENTER is here once again to help make your holiday merry and bright. From now until December 31st, 2010, All-Access passes to the 2011 deadCENTER Film Festival are Buy One Get One Free. That’s right! $125 gets you not one, but TWO All-Access passes to what is certain to be THE event of the summer. But you need to hurry. Buy One Get One Free passes are only available through December 31st!

*Gift certificates for two All-Access passes will be mailed to the address provided. Allied Arts OKCity Cards are void with this offer.

Cinematic Artists of Norman hosts “An Evening with Melissa Scaramucci”

Former deadCENTER Program Director, patron saint of Okie filmmaking, and all-around classy chick Melissa Scaramucci will be holding court in Norman next Tuesday, Nov. 30 in a workshop hosted by the Cinematic Artists of Norman.

Melissa will engage in a dialogue with attending filmmakers, drawing from her experience in filmmaking to foster new ideas and creativity.  The hour long event begins at 6:30pm; head over to the CAN website for more details.

deadCENTER fundraiser Thanksgiving Night!

Need to entertain the family on Thanksgiving night? Take them to the Carpenter Square Theatre preview performance of EVERY CHRISTMAS STORY EVER TOLD (AND THEN SOME!) on Thursday, November 25th and help raise money for deadCENTER! Tickets are $15 and half of the ticket sales from that evenings performance goes directly to deadCENTER film. It’s a total win!

Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!)
a comedy by Michael Carleton, James FitzGerald and John K Alvarez

Unable to muster up excitement for their umpteenth performance of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, three actors decide at the last minute to perform every Christmas story ever told – plus Christmas traditions from around the world, every carol ever sung and seasonal icons from ancient times to topical pop culture. It turns into an impromptu madcap romp through the holiday season! If you have enjoyed such shows as The Compleat Works of Wm Shakespeare (Abridged), then you will love this one!

EVERY CHRISTMAS STORY EVER TOLD (AND THEN SOME!) will be staged at the Bricktown Hotel and Convention Center, which is located at 2001 E. Reno at the intersection of Reno and Martin Luther King. The venue has easy highway access. Theatergoers may exit I-40 at Eastern/M.L. King and proceed north on M.L. King. The Bricktown Hotel and Convention Center is the first business on the east side of the street. Full bar services will be available for patrons to enjoy prior to the performance and at intermission.

For tickets, please call: (405) 232-6500 or visit carpentersquare.com.

deadCENTER Zombie Attack at Studio 222

deadCENTER Film spent the past week making a Zombie movie with students from Taft Middle School at Studio 222. deadCENTER’s Kim Haywood and Lance McDaniel taught a story telling class last month using student made short films. Then, based on student ideas, they created a script, taught acting and production classes and produced a movie using all 22 students from the Studio 222 program. Oklahoma City University students volunteered to teach the students how to set up and work with the camera, sound and lighting equipment. And, the OCU students helmed the camera and boom during the shoot, with special guest boom operator Brenda McDaniel on hand for the final day of filming. This project was one of several education initiatives created this fall by deadCENTER Film to help groom the next generation of Oklahoma filmmakers.

deadCENTER at BFI London Film Festival

From left to right, Smash His Camera Producer Adam Schlesinger, Director Leon Gast,
subject Ron Galella and Producer Linda Saffire.

The BFI London Film Festival wraps up this week after two weeks of films from all over the world. The BFI Festival is not necessarily a critical stop on the festival circuit like Cannes, Toronto or Sundance. But, the consistent brilliance of the British film industry and London’s role as a world capital ensure that the BFI festival is filled with important films from around the world. Many of the more popular films were bigger budget, English language selections featuring famous actors and directors. The American, Conviction, Black Swan, The King’s Speech, and Blue Valentine all featured Oscar nominees looking for another go this year. The opening night film, Never Let Me Go, starring Kiera Knightly, was directed by Mark Romanoff, who participated in a very candid Screen Talk my first night in town. He explained how he moved from a highly regarded music video career into the feature film world. Other stand outs included the controversial punk Muslim feature, The Taqwacores, based on the novel credited with creating a sub-culture throughout the Middle East; Heartbeats, by 21 year old French Canadian auteur Xavier Dolan; The Tillman Story, a shocking indictment of US war propaganda led by the family of the man being touted as a national hero; and, Revolucion, a collection of short films by famous Mexican directors and actors to commemorate the 100 anniversary of the Mexican Revolution. The range of stories was stunning and actors Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal from Y Tu Mama Tambien proved as effective behind the camera as in front. My wildest experience was at the screening of Smash His Camera which was attended by Oscar and Sundance winning director Leon Cast. As luck would have it, I was sat next to the subject of the film, renowned paparazzi photographer Ron Galella, who provided a running commentary throughout the film. As someone who was punched by Marlon Brando and sued by Jackie Onassis, he had plenty to say. It was like a live version of a DVD commentary track. Otherwise, I spent most of my time at industry screenings watching awesome documentaries and foreign films and meeting foreign distributors and sales people. As deadCENTER Film moves into our second decade, we are committed to seeking out the very best movies from around the globe and luring them back to Oklahoma: the deadCENTER of the universe.

deadCENTER teaches at Westminster

Local filmmakers joined the staff of deadCENTER Film to teach film making to the amazingly adept 5th Graders at Westminster Elementary school in Oklahoma City. deadCENTER COO Kim Haywood and film producer Sarah McCombs taught film production classes, taking students from script to screen, discussing and assigning positions and analyzing and breaking down scripts. Oklahoma City Community College film professor and writer/producer Sean Lynch worked alongside Patricia McDaniel and Production Sound professional Sam Harris to demonstrate the Red Camera, lighting packages and various audio equipment used in film production. deadCENTER Executive Director Lance McDaniel led acting classes with help from OCU student actor Hassan Nazari-Robati. Now, the teachers at Westminster will lead the kids in producing their own scripts. Future filmmakers, arise and fulfill your destiny!

Pick of the Week: WINNEBAGO MAN at the OKCMOA

You may have noticed it on our main page, but there’s a little shindig we’re pretty excited about this Thursday night at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. The festival smash hit WINNEBAGO MAN is screening as a co-presentation with deadCENTER Film, followed by a meet-and-greet with festival staff and complementary Stella Artois. (what’s that? free beer?)

Why this film, why now? Well, there are some fresh faces around the deadCENTER Film offices these days, namely new Executive Director Lance McDaniel and Programming Director Kevin Ely. We thought it would be a good idea to give us all a chance to bond the deadCENTER way… with fine movies and great beer. But we’re also celebrating all that has come before, by honoring our two outgoing angels, Cacky Poarch and Melissa Scaramucci, who helped build this crazy ship and steered it to where we are today. And while we’re at it, what better way to celebrate deadCENTER’s impact than showing a successful film that was partially funded through our fiscal sponsorship program?

So head down to the OKC Museum of Art at 7:30pm for the screening, and stick around and say hi afterwards. We’d love to see you.

For information on ticket pricing, directions and other fun happenings at the OKCMOA, please visit, www.okcmoa.com.

deadCENTER Movie Club – Episode #1

The premiere episode of the deadCENTER Movie Club is now online and ready for your download and enjoyment! Read More »

deadCENTER Film @ Guthrie Junior High & Langston University

The deadCENTER Film education team recently visited the campuses of Guthrie Junior High and Langston University to talk about independent film. In Guthrie, fabulous 8th Grade English Comp teacher Cate Hart opened her class to a seminar about storytelling and creative writing by watching different types of short films – animated, narrative and documentary – and discussing ways of picking topics, creating interesting characters and composing complete stories. The Langston University session was introduced by their wonderful Communication and Television Professor, Carolyn Ross. The group of 25 college students watched best of class college produced short films and then studied clips from the movie Pearl, produced by the Chickasaw Nation, filmed in Guthrie and debuted in Oklahoma at the deadCENTER Film Festival. Through Pearl, we were able to explore the different education opportunities in Oklahoma and the 50+ positions and careers available in film production.