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Best Microbudget ‘Man Vs. Machine’ Masterpiece

Film title: 405

2:58 minutes

http://www.ifilm.com/ifilm/product/film_info/0,3699,204155,00.html

Writers/directors/editors: Bruce Branit and Jeremy Hunt

With its amazing home-brewed special effects, 405 takes the audience on a frenzied freeway commute. According to Branit, 405 didn’t cost them a dime to make, “except for a few CDs and a couple of pedestrian-on-the-freeway tickets from the highway patrol.” 405 has driven millions of viewers to Ifilm.com and landed CAA agents for the filmmakers.

Best Training Film for Concerned Parents of Teenage Omnivores

THE BECKERS: CANNIBALISM AND YOUR TEEN

4:54 minutes

www.ifilm.com

Director: Steve Evangelatos

Writer: Dennis Heaton

For years you’ve heard whispers about the growing phenomenon of suburban teenage cannibalism. Now you can uncover the sick truth by watching this wry sendup of 1950s educational films. THE BECKERS uses animated B&W clip art to warn parents about the alluring trend of eating the “other” white meat.

Best Tip-Toe Through the Minefield of Racial Stereotypes

BLACK PEOPLE HATE ME AND THEY HATE MY GLASSES

13:37 minutes

http://www.ifilm.com/ifilm/product/film_info/0,3699,69835,00.html

Director: Salamo Levin

This is Woody Allen on mushrooms. In BLACK PEOPLE HATE ME…, the film’s scribe, Andrew Gurland, stars as a white New York geek sporting glasses and an Afro. To a crowd of disbelieving co-workers, Gurland tells a story about how his specs sparked a racial rabble-rousing. As Gurland spins the tale, we see the scenes unfurl in layers of brilliantly edited flashbacks.

Best Prescription for Those Painful Polishes

SCRIPT DOCTOR

8:31 minutes

www.atomfilms.com

Writers/directors: Adam Fields, Jordan Fields, and Scott Fields

Suffering from screenwriter’s block? Does your script need surgery? Call the SCRIPT DOCTOR, stat! Written and directed by three brothers, SCRIPT DOCTOR injects a battery of ‘inside Hollywood’ jokes into a clever ER parody. Despite the complicated Steadicam® shots, the Fields brothers shot fast and furious, completing the entire shoot in just eight hours.

Grouchiest Hero, Whining Dragon

SUMMONER GEEKS

2:32 minutes

http://www.ifilm.com/ifilm/product/film_info/0,3699,220487,00.html

Writer: Dan Harmon

Animator: Tim Borrelli

Animated nerds argue about the rules of Dungeons & Dragons. Tim Borelli borrowed an early ‘90s radio sketch, then cast animated characters from Play Station 2’s “Summoner” and “Red Faction” games.

Best Peek Inside a Frightfully Forthright Ad Agency

TRUTH IN ADVERTISING

2:38 minutes

http://www.ifilm.com/ifilm/product/film_info/0,3699,960787,00.html

Writers: David Chiavegato and Tim Hamilton (also director)

In this film’s biting twist, every character says EXACTLY what they’re thinking. Reminiscent of Steven Soderbergh’s deadpan SCHIZOPOLIS, TRUTH IN ADVERTISING skewers an ad agency as it prepares a new ad campaign, a.k.a. a new “blight on our culture.” Created by Toronto’s Avion Films for Canada’s Marketing Awards, it screened at Cannes in its original 12-minute version, then was ruthlessly pirated and is now cheered worldwide in this slimmed-down version. Comedian Steve Martin loved TRUTH IN ADVERTISING so much he hired Hamilton to direct six episodes of a new TV comedy series. [I read that on the Internet so it must be true.]

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Published: Shift magazine, September 2001