Category Archives: short films

BEAT AROUND THE BUSH IN HAMILTON


HFF_Laurel.jpgBeat Around the Bush
has been officially selected by the 11th Hamilton Film Festival in Hamilton, Ontario, running November 7-13th, 2016.

We are playing in the program COMEDY SHORTS 1 on Sat Nov 12th @ 7pm.
Location: 
Staircase Theatre, 27 Dundurn St. N, Hamilton

The program includes the following shorts (I’m sure you can sense a theme…)

Divorce Photographer

Beat Around the Bush

Love Stinks

Face Wash

Love

Fox Trouble

Third Wave

Whole Lotto Love

Orange You Gonna Dance With Me?

L’Encenedor Quàntic

ET TA PROSTATE, ÇA VA?

The Spot

Congrats to all the filmmakers. Our producer’s assistant Noah Leibtig will be in assistance to tell you all about the two lines of genius he suggested. He’s a regular stand up comic so I hope it’s a golden Q&A.

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Beat Around the Bush is heading north again!

It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, and the amazing humans that make up and support the film and art community.

Once upon a time I was trying to make a genre-bending and ambitious short film in Yellowknife called With Cold Tongues, which lead me into the arms of Pablo Saravanja, Amos Scott, Jay Bulckaert, and Jeremy Emerson. Jeremy has been the director of the Yellowknife International Film Festival since it’s inception (I’m 50% completely sure of that…could have been Pablo, or Leslie…) and has invited my films up to screen time and time again.

2015-03-18 16.58.30

Brianne & Pablo Saravanja outside the 2015 Snow Castle in Yellowknife where the Dead North films play and receive their juried awards! (The gash on Pablo’s head is make up)

Pablo and Jay were inspired that my short, The Provider, which was screening at YKIFF was made in 48 hours, which inspired them to create the Dead North Film Festival and had me judge the first year’s entries.

I am excited that Beat Around the Bush has been officially selected for the 10th Yellowknife International Film Festival, and will be screening this year, with a line up that includes some exciting emerging northern talent, including director Kirsten Carthew, and producer Amos Scott’s feature The Sun At Midnightwhich is the first Northwest Territories made feature film (90% sure of this)!

A few of the homies from Yellowknife also had SUPPORTING roles in Leonardo Dicaprio starring epic The Revenant. Their names are Melaw Nakehk’o and Duane Howard. I personally follow and admire Melaw’s moosehide tanning work, and her strength in learning and teaching traditional skills. Random fact, her nephew K’a Nakehk’o is our poster talent on With Cold Tongues. Maybe one day the film will get made!

I just want to go back up there. There must be something in the water. (Insert Con Mine joke here…)

revanent red carpet yellowknife

Filmmaker Amos Scott, Film Commissioner Camila MacEachern, Filmmakers Jay Bulckaert and Pablo Saravanja

P.S. I got so wrapped up in talking about how much I love Yellowknife that I forgot to write the part about Beat Around the Bush being accepted and had to go back and add it in. That’s love.

SCREENING DETAILS:

October 1, 2016, 9PM @ Sombe Ke’

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BEAT AROUND THE BUSH is nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award?

BATB-KaceyRohl_as_MOLLY2

MOLLY believes you van do it! Vote for us that is

Okay so not sure how this happened…Beat Around the Bush is nominated for Canadian Comedy Award? I mean “!!!!!”

Or at the very least we can be nominated by other people simply clicking this link: http://www.canadiancomedyawards.org/vote.php?cat=66  and then clicking “nominate” beside “Beat Around the Bush”. So please do that.

Also the comedy duo The Dirrty Show whose music we used in Beat Around the Bush is also up for a nomination. You can click here: http://www.canadiancomedyawards.org/vote.php?cat=80

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BEAT AROUND THE BUSH in Italiano!

2016_sedicicortoBeat Around the Bush has been accepted by the 13th Sedicicorto International Film Festival in Forli, Italy. The festival runs October 7-16th, 2016 and the award ceremony takes place Saturday 15th October 2016 in Forlì. This will be our Italian premiere!

There are four competition categories at Sedicicorto: MOVIE / ANIMALAB / CORTITALIA / ANIMARE – a GRAND PRIX will be awarded, consisting of 750,00€ + the statuette “LuminOR” and Beat Around the Bush  is in competition in the MOVIE category!

There will be about 20 awards and special mentions.

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Heading to Washington, DC

I’ve decided that as a Canadian citizen, it’s my duty to run for President of the United States. So I’ll be heading to Washington, DC, to screen BEAT AROUND THE BUSH, and convince the country that advocating for sexual health of seniors is enough to run on.

So why the sudden urge to travel to DC? BEAT AROUND THE BUSH has been officially selected by the prestigious and good times, DC Shorts Film Festival. The festival runs September 8-11th, 2016. Hope to see ya there!

Now I have to call my Grandpa to see if he wants to come down for it, and make it a family affair and shit.

SCREENING TIMES:

Short Film Showcase 6
SEP 9, 2016 9:30P.M. – 11:30P.M.
SEP 12, 2016 9:00P.M. – 11:00P.M.
SEP 14, 2016 9:00P.M. – 11:00P.M.

LOCATION: E STREET CINEMA, 555 11TH STREET NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20004

DCS16_FilmLaurels

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Someone else wrote a blog about me

(But mostly, I wrote her blog post about me)

styling_stories_stephanie_hallIt’s cool though because we (Stephanie Hall and I ) were put in touch through a Vancouver online Forum called “Girl Gang” and, as a Creative Writer + Online Marketing Specialist, Stephanie asked the group to participate in an interview to share what it is we do all day with the world.

CLICK HERE to read my post.

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The Brits better love us (We know they will)

BEAT AROUND THE BUSH has been Officially Selected by Hothouse Theatre’s Nottingham Film Festival in – you guessed it – Nottingham, England.

I strong armed my way into this tiny first year festival. Why? Because my good bud Spike (I am refraining from using the crass terms of endearment that we usually call each other) is from “Notts”, and his parents have been asking for almost two years when the film will be done, and when they can see it. So they bloody well not go on vacation the day it screens.

Things I just (re)learned while researching what informative anecdotes I can write in this post.

  • Nottingham is home to Robin Hood’s adventures: Sherwood Forest. (…We’re men in tights, tights, tights!)
  • Nottingham’s motto is ‘virtue outlives death’.

I’m pretty sure there’s some joke to be made about UNA’s virtue, and her desire to tarnish it by polishing her pearl before kicking the bucket.

18 months ago the Sqweel 2's arrived while I was sipping coffee out of my UNT mug which Spike gifted me the previous birthday.

18 months ago, the Sqweel 2’s arrived in the nick of time for our shoot, while I sipped coffee out of my UNT mug (a birthday gift from Spike from Notts).

This fest offers 8 categories of awards for short films (fingers crossed):

Best Fictional Film
Best Factual Film
Best Young Person’s Film
Best Music Film
Best Animated Film
Best Advert or Trailer
Best Artistic Film
Best Foreign Film

Screening Details: 

Selection  D Between 4:30 and 5:30 pm, Saturday 11th June 2016

in The Space at The Nottingham Contemporary, NG1 2GB

 

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Headed to Macon, Georgia with BEAT AROUND THE BUSH

MAGA_Official_Selection_2016We have been Officially Selected with BEAT AROUND THE BUSH by the Macon Film Festival in the grand ‘ol state of Georgia. (I’ve never actually been to Georgia but I do hope it is grand!)

BEAT AROUND THE BUSH discusses a topic underrepresented cinematically and culturally and to most is pretty eclectic, which is fitting with Macon’s mission to celebrate independent films with while promoting filmmaking for entertainment, inspiration, education, and economic development.
Maconff2016
The 100 minute program will screen:

• The Perfect Houseguest
• A King’s Betrayal
• Beat Around the Bush 
• The Barry & Ro Show
• Bottomless
• Seagulls
• Hello Charles
• Jackdaw
• In Memory 
• Cowboys

Screening Details:

DATE: July 22nd, 2016
WHERE: Cox Capitol Theatre (382 2nd St, Macon, GA 31201)
WHEN: 4:45pm – 6:25pm
PROGRAM: Narrative Shorts – RELATIONSHIPS

DATE: July 23rd, 2016
WHERE:Douglass Theatre (355 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Macon, GA 31201)
WHEN:2:45pm – 4:25pm
PROGRAM: Narrative Shorts – RELATIONSHIPS

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Ontario Premiere of BEAT AROUND THE BUSH!

FeFF Official Poster 2016Toronto friends! It’s time.

BEAT AROUND THE BUSH has been Officially Selected by the 14th Annual Female Eye Film Festival, “Always Honest, Not Always Pretty,” which runs Tuesday, June 14–Sunday, June 19, 2016.

FeFF Official Selection Laurel

BEAT AROUND THE BUSH will play before a feature doc titled, LUTINE, directed by Isabelle Broué.

SYNOPSIS: A director is filming a documentary on polyamory: somewhere between documentary and fiction, she takes risks and cannot always measure the consequences. Will her sweetheart be able to stand up to the challenge of polyamory? Will she finish her film? (WP, 2015, Comedy/Documentary, 98 min., France)

Screening Details: 

WHEN: Sunday June 19th, 2016, 4:30pm
WHERE: The Theatre Centre, 1115 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON
PRICE: $10.00

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Beat Around the Bush wins Best Comedy Short at AZIFF

BATB-Best comedy short announcement

It’s true. As Una would say, “Don’t get your knickers in a twist”.

On my first day back in Vancouver after Arizona and Newport wrapped, while sipping cheap wine (that I bought) on a 112ft yacht (that some lovely but unsuspecting person let me on to), I found out that Beat Around the Bush won Best Comedy Short from the fine folks at the Arizona International Film Festival. But first the backstory:

On April 23rd, after driving 9 hours from the Newport Beach Film Festival in California to my screening of Beat Around the Bush at the Arizona International Film Festival in Tucson, I was pleasantly surprised to feel right at home.

AZIFF2016 filmmaker badge

Filmmaker Pass speaks for itself!

The screening was fantastic, laughter all throughout the theatre and and the post screening drinks with filmmakers and watchers alike was also a real treat. I’ve been to a lot of festivals and Tucson had an immediate “home” feeling to it.

I was back on the road back to Orange County not 18 hours after I arrived, and was given a fantastic farewell at a delicious brunch I wasn’t planning to stay 15 minutes at, and stayed 2 hours.

I look forward to making it back. Until next time!

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