start your filmmaking career this summer!

All future film-makers listen up!

The Ghetto Film School Fellows Program is now accepting applications for their 2008-2009 program. The Fellows Program is designed for people from 14 to 21 years of age, and will run from July 2008 to September 2009. The deadline is April 18th.

If you are serious about pursing a film career - or looking to participate in a once-in-a-lifetime experience that introduces you to the movie industry and artistic process - I can't recommend this program enough. More information and the online application is available at www.ghettofilm.org (oh, and by the way, incredible directors like Jim Jarmusch, Spike Jonze and David O. Russell are all involved with this organization!)


Please EMAIL ME ASAP with any questions about the Ghetto Film School. I will put you in touch with the the Fellows Program coordinator.

If makin' movies is your dream, don't wait!!! Jump on this!!!

~eric

The Kick-Off films

heyo. Below I've posted clips of the shorts we watched at the All TRaC Kick-Off last Wednesday, for your viewing pleasure. Both clips are incomplete because YouTube only allows 10 minutes of footage, but you'll get an idea.

The first: AMELIA, choreographed/produced by the Canadian company La La La Human Steps, and directed by Edouard Lock.


The second: Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe, directed by Les Blank. Yes, the man ate his shoe! If you want to see the extent of Herzog's determination and drive, rent Burden of Dreams, a full-length documentary about the making Herzog's film Fitzcarraldo. He pulls a ship over a mountain. Really. It's crazy!


BONUS!
At the first TRaC Meet in the Fall of 2007, we watched three of my favorite short films by the Czech filmaker Jan Švankmajer. All three are stop-motion films done solely by the filmaker, and took years to make. We all loved the third, called MEAT LOVE. Amalia (Theater TRaC) asked about it at the Kick-Off so I thought I'd drop the link for y'all. Check them out by clicking here.

~eric

Welcome to TRaC! Do what you can't.

Sounds wacky, doesn't it? Do what you can't. But it ain't that crazy. We've got to start somewhere.

Two ingredients necessary for this semester of TRaC and life: Curiosity and Passion. They drive us to try things we've never tried before. And hopefully, when we get to the Unknown, we're ready - we're OPEN - to whatever comes our way. It's a crazy world. Get ready for some crazy art.

Here's a mantra for those of us who love diving into what we don't know:

CELEBRATE YOUR AMATEURNESS.
I am best at what I can't do.
It has become my ability to feel strong and confident in these situations. I feel free to move, to listen to my heart, to learn, to act even if that means I will make mistakes.
If you want a creative life, do what you can't and experience the beauty of the mistakes you make.

-Daniel Pink, A Whole New Mind

Do what you can't. Do it well.
To all of High 5's newest Teen Reviewers and Critics: Welcome to TRaC.
~eric