January 16, 2007

State Film Commission Director Forced Out

From NashvillePost.com:

David J. Bennett, executive director of the Tennessee Film, Entertainment and Music Commission, has resigned from that position at the behest of Gov. Phil Bredesen's administration.

Bennett, a well known figure in the state's film community, was appointed to the post in early 2003.

Over the weekend, Bennett told the Memphis Commercial Appeal that he was forced out over "political pressure."

Bennett cited the passage of an economic incentives package last year by the state legislature for the entertainment industry. The measure was not part of Bredesen's legislative agenda. The film promotion measure "was not the governor's initiative, and he did not endorse it when it occurred," Bennett told the C A. "There were people in his administration who then expressed their fury when the incentives passed."

Thoughts, anyone?

Posted by colrus at 12:27 PM | TrackBack

October 13, 2006

Local Filmmaker Judith Mogul's "Anti-Arktikos" Praised by Memphis Paper

The Memphis Commercial Appeal really digs Judith Mogul's Anti-Arktikos:

Written and created by Chattanooga artist Judith Mogul and reportedly inspired by a dream, "Anti-Arktikos" combines live action and stop-motion animation to imagine an artificial arctic world, fabricated almost entirely through Mogul's paper sculptures. The result is a sort of Jan Svankmajer-influenced "March of the Penguins" or a David Lynchian "Where the Wild Things Are," explored through the eyes of a doll, Pipi, who represents her sleeping owner, a little Japanese girl named Momo.

The 23-minute film- shot and edited by Jarrod Whaley, with extraordinarily creative sound design by Bob Stagner and Dennis Palmer - required more than six months of effort. The color palette is white and icy blue; the paper creatures include snakes and shamans. The pace - like the setting - is glacial, but the slowness invites - and rewards - the viewer's introspection: One not only marvels at the oddities onscreen but begins searching for clues as to how they were created, eventually noticing that some of the penguins are gliding on squeaky, not-quite-hidden wheels, like roller skates, and being pulled by the type of fishing line used to manipulate prop bats in the days before digital effects.

Posted by colrus at 10:00 AM | TrackBack