Anti-sports movie accepted into D.I.F.F., nominated for MFA

[Fat Man]

Even though he was a football player in high school, he was bullied physically (actually, the word I should use is "beaten") by one of his coaches.

This is one thing I could never understand. Why the hell would a coach beat on his top sportsmen? What the hell is there to gain from that? It's one thing you don't hear of here in Britain - quite the contrary, because I'm pretty sure that some of the upper-class sports players here in Britain would more than likely have relationships with their trainers that involved much friendly chatting and drinking of tea. But I really don't get why it happens so much in America, coaches abusing and even assaulting their top players. It's like a maths teacher beating up their top students for getting better marks than everyone else. WHAT IS THE POINT? It doesn't make sense. I rarely speak in the defence of jocks but now I feel inspired to - the job of coach seems to attract some real psychos over in the USA, so it seems. I'm sure I'm not the only one who can't see any sense whatsoever in what these coaches do, and I just can't see how they would see any sense in it either. What is there to gain from it?

Now you get it!!!

To be a coach or a PE instructor, you have to be a real psycho!

If Jeffery Dahmer hadn't gone around killing and eating his victims, he probably would have become a football coach. Yeah, when the cops came for him, he gave them the finger! As the cops were reading him his rights during his arrest, he said "Aw! Have a heart!"

I'm surprised that Ted Bundy, or John Wayne Gacy weren't football coaches before they went on their murder spree.

One of these days, mark my words on this, but one of these days, some grade school is going to hire a PE instructor, and children will come up missing, and eventually their frozen bodies will turn up in the freezer in the school cafeteria!

That's how we do in in the USA.

We hire psycho coaches and PE instructors!

My 5th grade teacher was a psycho! Remember, he was the one who bashed my head against the brick wall.

I could have died from that!

[miketv]

In my personal fantasy solution, sports would be like they were in the days of gladiators: jocks locked away from the rest of society & released to play for the richest people. Sort of like Michael Vick's dogs.
Isn't that what they turn into eventually, anyway?

If only the wealthy could go to sporting events, then a society stands a far better chance of its citizens focusing attention on other areas of development. Drive by your local welfare office on the 1st of the month & count the sports-related shirts, coats, & hats standing in line to see what I mean. Or check out an A.A. meeting. People who can't support their families or control their impulses seem to always have room for supporting their favorite teams. Why not reassign that money & mental space for other things that could benefit the rest of society?

Dramatically raising ticket prices would mean that only the wealthy--who can afford such distractions--would be wasting their time with sports. And only the wealthy would be paying for the operation of sporting events. If a welfare family (or even a middle class family) wants to go watch a game live, they could save up for a long time, & in the meantime they would hopefully realize that there's something far more productive or impressive they could be spending their money on.

For me, the big issue is the amount of attention given to something that ultimately does nothing for anybody. And that interest in sports isn't born in us, it's forced upon us by the sports companies. I'd like to see the day when America recognizes this disproportionate attention & places strict regulations on the amount of spectator sports available to the public. If Taco Bell was directly responsible for declining education levels, bullying epidemics & annual riots that destroy sections of cities & waste city resources (police, medical & fire dept.s), there would be some real trouble. But sports are given million-dollar contracts & new arenas for that same behavior.

[miketv]

Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things here after my early absence.....things got a little busy with the film fest. Also, my computer died. (R.I.P.). But I've got a temp computer, I'm back from the festival, & it went really well.

My movie The High Five was nominated for a Michigan Film Award in the Best Experimental Short Film category, which was pretty cool since I've never been nominated for anything but an ass-kicking. I lost to Sleeping Bear, the film that won Best Short Film (over 15 short film categories & 235 films) & also Best Editing. It's a strange visual documentary of Michigan's Sleeping Bear Dunes area....really nice work.

Another really good short was Bullies On Vacation, about a guy that runs into his childhood tormentor while vacationing with his family. I imagine it's touring the film festival circuit for a while, but if you get a chance to see it, make sure you do.

The biggest letdown was that 50 Cent (yeah, the "musician") won Producer Of The Year with his movie Things Fall Apart. I'm assuming that means he spent more money in Michigan than I did. (Let's see....he spent a total of $7 million & my total came to $jack shit. Yep, he spent a little more than me. Not like I was nominated for P.O.T.Y., but still...) His movie is a typically-stupid story of a jock getting cancer & not being able to play with the football. Nearly 40, he actually plays the college athlete himself. I didn't see it but I saw a preview, & it looks like a good time if you want to laugh at a bad movie. One review said it made cancer look hilarious. I'm betting he won't break even. I, on the other hand, have sold about 20 copies of The High Five for $5 each.
...ahem...

So, there's my anti-sports angle on the 2011 Detroit Independent Film Festival & Michigan Film Awards.

Anyway, The High Five is back online at youtube. If anybody missed it or wants to show a friend, here's the LINK. Reviews, critiques, & flat-out criticisms are always welcome.

[i_like_1981]

Welcome back to the forum, miketv. Good to see you back round here again. Sorry to hear about your computer, but I congratulate you on the nomination for the award your film received. I'd be honoured if I made a film like yours and it got nominated for anything, let alone winning it. The fact that you did that without spending a great deal on your film is quite an achievement indeed. That rapper 50 Cent's film you mentioned cost $7,000,000... a larger budget than some films on general release in worldwide cinemas, as a matter of fact. Like you say, I can only assume that money played somewhat of a large role in his success. That's the problem with everything nowadays - all people want is the money. Gone are the days when making a film, making music or even playing a sport were done by those who truly believed in what they did and cared more for the industry as a whole than their own personal gain. Now all most people want to do is line their wallets. The celebrities nowadays throw around these gigantic sums of money like they mean nothing, whereas to most people it seems like everything. Anyways, I congratulate you on having some measure of success with your film. I like the poster for it that you have added onto your signature. I considered making an anti-sports film myself at one point, but... it takes skill to make a proper film like yours. I don't think mine would be that good. Probably just some tacky Windows Movie Maker job. Well, good to see you back round here.

Best regards,
i_like_1981

[ChrisOH]

Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things here after my early absence.....things got a little busy with the film fest. Also, my computer died. (R.I.P.). But I've got a temp computer, I'm back from the festival, & it went really well.

My movie The High Five was nominated for a Michigan Film Award in the Best Experimental Short Film category, which was pretty cool since I've never been nominated for anything but an ass-kicking. I lost to Sleeping Bear, the film that won Best Short Film (over 15 short film categories & 235 films) & also Best Editing. It's a strange visual documentary of Michigan's Sleeping Bear Dunes area....really nice work.

Congratulations -- nomination is an honor in itself!

Another really good short was Bullies On Vacation, about a guy that runs into his childhood tormentor while vacationing with his family. I imagine it's touring the film festival circuit for a while, but if you get a chance to see it, make sure you do.

Where can one usually see these short films? Are they on YouTube, as yours was/is?

[miketv]

Thanks guys. Being nominated is totally rewarding, but my ego could live off the good words alone. 1981, don't sell yourself short...if you make the movie that you really want to watch, you'll be happy with the results. Also, I've probably made 25 movies in my life, & none of them are close to the quality of this one. I've just never made a movie I felt this passionate about. Apparently sincerity works, even if it is smartassed.

ON WATCHING BULLIES & OTHER SHORTS
I tried to find a link to Bullies On Vacation, but it's not online right now. Here's a LINK to the film's facebook profile...it lists all the festivals where it will be playing.

Usually, that's the only way to see an indie short. They show up on the Independent Film Channel & the Sundance Channel occasionally, but there are way more indie shorts being made than these 2 outlets can handle. And you usually won't find them in stores unless the filmmakers have a pretty big collection.
So most "underground" filmmakers have to make the decision between having an audience & trying to win back some of the money they spent making the movie. We can put them on youtube where we'll find a bigger audience, but being online means disqualification from a lot of festivals. (the logic is that if people can see the movie online, they won't pay to see it at the festival.) But if the filmmakers try to win at the festivals, they're risking losing a larger potential audience. Either way, the audience & the financial return are usually embarrassingly small.

ON FINANCES IN INDEPENDENT FILM
We can win cash prizes at some festivals, but the festivals don't pay the artists for showing their films (in fact, most of them charge us for the chance to be selected for screening). It's a shame, but that's the indie film world. If people want to make the movie badly enough, then they will -- usually at the risk of financial ruin. All we can do is what we do.

I'm trying to come up with a way to fix that. The way I see it, video cameras & editing systems are everywhere nowadays, just like guitars have been everywhere for more than 60 years. The resulting overabundance of guitar players caused music scenes to crop up, & now you can find a $5 show just about every night in most cities. The musicians in these scenes aren't making much money, but they usually get free beer & something close to a day's pay for playing a show. Throw in the nightly applause, & most of them will tell you they're pretty happy with the setup & the wouldn't trade it for the world.
So my latest puzzle is trying to make this happen for the overabundance of filmmakers we've seen cropping up over the past 20 years or so. Nightly screenings of real independent films, where the filmmakers earn something close to a day's pay plus applause for a show. Besides helping out the artists, it would be nice for audiences to have access to all those different movies that are currently so hard to find (like Bullies On Vacation). There's some phenomenal talent in the underground art world, & the overall quality seems to be improving dramatically all the time. Compare that to sports, where achievements only improve by fractions of seconds & centimeters every few years or so. (Sorry...had to take an opportunity to crap on sports.....it's in my blood).

Man, I babble on & on..... Long story short: keep an eye out for local film festivals if you're looking for something different. The ticket price won't directly help the filmmakers just yet, but support for the independent film scene will.