12 Films. 12 Weeks. There are worse ways to spend a summer.

“Spirits” Triumphant at Blackout! World Bows Before DVG!

Last Saturday’s Blackout Film Festival went off without a hitch (as far as I could tell, anyway), thanks to the tireless efforts of Tom Keefe and his merry band of film fanatics.  “Spirits” had the honor of closing out each screening block, and the audiences at the two screenings I attended seemed to enjoy it, if scattered laughter and general attentiveness are any indication.

Derek Van Gorder (DVG to some) hangs out on the "Moving Pictures" set

On a more concrete note: the festival jury singled out our film for the Best Cinematography prize!  We here at 12in12 extend our heartiest congratulations to Derek Van Gorder, DP extraordinaire, who shot four of our thirteen films (and hopefully many more in the future).  “Spirits” was the first film Derek did for 12in12, and his involvement in it goes back to the very first e-mail he wrote us, in response to our Craigslist ad, which included this fateful sentence:

The “Spirits” script mentioned on your blog in particular stands out for me, since I am highly interested in telling stories purely through visuals, and have pursued several films in this vein before.

Amidst a mass of form e-mails, the fact that Derek had actually checked out our blog and had something to say about it caught Mike’s and my eye immediately.  Ever since that e-mail, Derek’s been on our good side, and our appreciation for him has grown with every film we’ve done together.  Sometimes, in spite of everything, Craigslist does right by us.

Thanks to Tom and the gang for a very enjoyable festival!  Tom is currently exploring the possibility of taking the Blackout Film Fest on the road, spreading the good word to a few more American cities.  We’ll keep you posted as that story develops.  Meanwhile, we need to get to work setting up a screening of the 12 …

Posted by Keith