Our Mission

12 films 12 weeks began as an innocent suggestion on the part of Keith Boynton’s brother Devin, who proposed that instead of his customary summer feature film, Keith should devote the summer of 2009 to a series of shorts. Keith filed the idea away in the back of his mind, until the exhilarating experience of making “The Queen Bee of Mushroomtown” – a short film written, shot, edited, and scored in twenty-four hours – brought it to the fore again. “Queen Bee” ended up winning a whole slew of awards at the New York Film Race, which only served to encourage its creators. Offhandedly, Keith pitched the summer-shorts concept to Mike Lavoie (the motive force behind “Queen Bee”), whose keen promotional brain immediately glimpsed its possibilities. The game was afoot.

The project’s key goals are as follows:

•   to promote creativity and adaptability by imposing a strict once-a-week deadline
•   to explore the short-film format from a variety of angles – thematic, stylistic, and logistical
•   to meet and collaborate with a large number of actors, artists, and technicians
•   to create quality work that represents our interests and abilities, as individuals and as a group
•   to work our butts off
•   to have barrels of fun

Anything that doesn’t contribute to at least one of these goals – our egos, our personal lives, our existential ennui – will have to be put aside until the end of August. Please keep us honest by giving us feedback throughout the project. You’re our last line of defense against self-indulgence and self-sabotage, and we’re counting on you to keep us on the straight and narrow.

Now let the madness begin!