FILM
ARTS NAMES KIA 1 OF 30 FILMMAKERS WHO REPRESENT
In the November/December Release
Print issue, Film Arts chose 30 filmmakers who "represent the
depth and breadth of the phenomenal cinematic activity fueling the
Film Arts community engine." Kia was happy and proud to make
that short list!
RETROSPECTIVE on KTEH
Tune in to video i on KTEH, 10pm on Monday October 23rd to see loads of sneaky little films: Disarmed, The Dive, In Public Space, and Full Service; and interviews with director Kia Simon in this retrospective of her work. (San Jose PBS station Channel 54)
IN FILMMAKER MAGAZINE
Run out and pick up a copy of Filmmaker Magazine, if you want to read all about Alice, a feature film in development! They profiled Director Kia Simon and ALICE in the Summer issue (look for actor Ryan Gosling on the cover).
IN THE NEW YORK TIMES
Director Kia Simon had a big, half-page photo in the Sunday New York Times on August 6, which profiled the Joan Scheckel Directors Lab where Kia is workshopping Alice. Here is the photo of Kia, demonstrating "yearning":
And here's what the Times had to say:
It might look like a dance rehearsal, but these are directors in
a filmmakers' lab in Los Angeles run by Joan Scheckel. Directors
of "Whale Rider," "One Hour Photo" and "Jesus'
Son," as well as the current movie "Little Miss Sunshine"
have passed through her workshop over the years, sharpening their
skills with actors, working on scenes and their films' emotional
tone. In this exercise last weekend, Ms. Scheckel, center right
in black dress, extracted physical expressions of the word "yearning"
from her students, Lisa Leone, left, Kia Simon, Don Handfield and
Ryan Brooks. (photo credit: Mary Ann Marino)
FIND CONTINUES TO SUPPORT ALICE - NOW IN FAST TRACK!
ALICE was selected for Film Independent (FIND)'s Fast Track program, which takes place during the Los Angeles International Film Festival and is designed to help graduates of Film Independent's Talent Development Programs move their projects forward via industry meetings and development opportunities. It's co-sponsored by Filmmaker Magazine. ALICE Director Kia Simon and Producer Lucienne Papon were both invited to the program.
ELIZABETH BERNSTEIN AND KIA SIMON DISCUSS ALICE
www.sf360.org an online film magazine includes a discussion by Elizabeth and Kia on their film ALICE. The occasion is the recent shoot that Kia did of some scenes from the film as part of the Film Independent Directors Lab where Kia was developing the project.
RETROSPECTIVE on KTEH
Tune in to video i on KTEH, 10pm on Monday April 17th to see loads of sneaky little films: Disarmed, The Dive, In Public Space, and Full Service, interspersed with interviews with me.
(San Jose PBS station Channel 54)
DISARMED at CINEMA LOUNGE
Disarmed will screen in Hollywood at the Film Independent's Cinema Lounge -- with free Budweiser. That's at Cinespace, 6356 Hollywood Blvd, 2nd Level, March 27th at 7:30pm.
KIA'S OFF TO THE FILM INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR'S LAB
As they describe it, "every year Film Independent helps a talented group hone their skills, develop current projects, and meet film professionals who can help them in their careers." I'll let you know how it goes.
DISARMED at the TALL GRASS FILM FESTIVAL
Disarmed screens in Kansas!
LITTLE DEBBIE at the FILM INDEPENDENT CINEMA LOUNGE
Screening of Little Debbie on Halloween at FIND Cinema Lounge — That's at Cinespace, 6356 Hollywood Blvd, 2nd Level, October 31st, at 7:30pm.
DISARMED at the BEND FILM FESTIVAL
Our favorite screening was midnight Saturday night with a rowdy crowd and a massive sound system. The audience was heavily into the Q&A, grilling the cast and crew on body integrity identity disorder, the resilience of love, and the symbolism of all those pier cranes in the distance.
We were completely thrilled to learn
that the Bend Film Festival used the intro of Disarmed as a trailer
for the festival. An edit of the opening scene played in front of
about a third of the screenings. Robin got a lot of double takes
at the festival, as anyone going to many screenings was liable to
see her over and over.
Director Kia Simon and producer Dane Smith participated in two filmmaker panels, with actor/writer Steven Anacker on another.
OAKLAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL SCREENS DISARMED
Disarmed headed back to the city it was shot in as part of the 4th Annual Oakland International Film Festivals short film program.
Screenings took place at the historic Grand Lake Theater in Oakland.
DISARMED SCREENS AT CINEMALOUNGE
Los Angeles, CA - Free beer and a crowded theater
made for an enjoyable LA premiere. Film Independent
(until recently called IFP) hosted this screening in
their monthly series.
DISARMED PREVIEW SCREENING
San Francisco, CA –The hotly-anticipated preview screening of Disarmed was an overwhelming success as Kia Simon unveiled her sweet story of love and limb... more
KIA ON THE RADIO
On Tuesday, Feb 22nd at 8pm, Kia will appear on doctalk to discuss her new film "In God's Name." Listen at 87.9FM in San Francisco, or online at pirate radio or on iTunes under “Eclectic” or “Public”. I hear that the website is a good place to start, as the iTunes servers are often filled up.
SITE REDESIGN
You've probably already noticed, but SneakyLittleSister.com has got a brand new look. Enjoy. Look around at all the cool new stuff.
DISARMED
We've got a brand new, very exciting trailer for our brand new film Disarmed. Check it out.
IN GOD'S NAME
In God's Name, Kia's short film about cults and the evolutionary fitness of human gullibility plays in Oakland at the T-10 fesival at 21 Grand Arts Center 449B 23rd St. (between Broadway and Telegraph) on Saturday December 11 at 8:30pm.
ANTI BUSH AD
Due to some increased interest in this ad, we've put Kia's anti-Bush ad back up to the top of the page. This is the ad that came in 2nd in the popular vote in moveon.org's ad contest, but was disqualified by the lawyers under the campaign finance rules.
New Shirt
After a huge outcry, we finally bring you a Sneaky Little Sister shirt for men. Put it on your Christmas and Hanukkah lists.
PROGRESS
It's been a busy couple of months, off to Bumbershoot for the premiere of In God's Name, which came off really well.
Then plunged back into the edit on Disarmed. Though it seems like there's never enough time, the edit is coming together well. I can't wait til it's ready to share with all of you.
(Stephanie Morgan, Kia Simon and Kev
Robertson on Disarmed)
Bumbershoot/One Reel Festival
Last spring, Bumbershoot called with a challenge to a few select filmmakers: make a film on the following theme: "What in the name of God?" Kia was thrilled to be included, and happy to go back to Bumbershoot, quite possibly the most entertaining film festival anywhere. After all, it's not just film; it's theater, music, dance, art, literature, comedy, and more.
In
any case, though she was excited, Disarmed took precedence. Once she finished shooting Disarmed however, she quickly changed gears and busted out her
film God's
Name. Good thing she'd done a lot a of work
on the script, because one week is a short time to shoot
and edit an 8 1/2 minute film. (It was only supposed
to be 5 minutes, but Kia had a lot to say on the subject.)
See more about it here, or come to Seattle on Monday at 3:30pm to see it at the festival!
Disarmed has been shot!
Through the hard work and commitment of everyone involved, Sneaky Little Sister Films has finished shooting its upcoming short film Disarmed a thoroughly twisted romantic comedy. Kia will be editing it shortly, in the meantime, here is a production still to whet your appetite.
Much New News
The network of Sneaky Little Sisters is expanding, and we have big plans for the summer.
MY AD
Here's my Bush in 30 Seconds Ad. If you'd like to know the whole story, check out the January 6th's entry. Or read about it on CBS News.com. The last few lines in this story are about my ad.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Here is the radio show that played on National Public Radio featuring Kia Simon on The Dive.
BRIEFLY A FINALIST...
As you may have noticed, I am not on the list of finalists from bushin30seconds.org, however, there is a story behind it. I got a call on Thursday night, saying I was a finalist (YAY), then another call on Sunday saying the lawyers nixed my ad (AW MAN) - according to the lawyers, my ad comes too close to calling for voters to vote against George Bush. We all knew we couldn't call for that directly (it was in the rules) but they're having to be very careful with inferences as well. In any case, they're flying me to NY for the party, and giving me the VIP treatment. So all is not lost.
LITTLE DEBBIE UPDATE
I finally got the final version of the song from Slender, and the video is complete. Check it out.
WHILE WE WAIT...
Moveon.org will annouce the finalists on Monday (keep your fingers crossed) in the meantime, you can watch my spot here.
AD FOR MOVEON.ORG COMPETITION
Kia Simon jumped into the Bush in 30 seconds fray with an ad, check it out, and while you're there rate some ads. Overall, we've been impressed by what we've seen.
SNEAKY PRODUCTS IN TIME FOR XMAS
Tshirts and sundry other products feature both the Sneaky Little Sister herself, and images from the world-famous "The Dive" music video.
THE DIVE AND KIA SIMON ON NPR
Studio 360, a Public Radio International program produced by WNYC in New York highlights director Kia Simon and her film The Dive in an episode about flying. In it, journalist Peter Crimmins describes the video:
You can hear the whole program here."The dancers...swoop and glide around each other...as if...free falling through air, Kia took that footage and digitally hand-manipulated it, frame by frame, to blot out anything that might resemble the earth or earthly things. So you see no ground, no sky, no objects, the dancers neither come nor go, they just float in a nameless blue-white space."
Film Arts Foundation tapped Kia Simon to make The
Film Arts Festival Trailer. It screened in San Francisco at
Landmark Theaters, at the Roxie and at the Castro as well as on
PBS. It got rave reviews from the folks at Film Arts. Check out
more about it here.
THE DIVE AT THE MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL
The Dive played to sold out crowds. I wasn't there, but filmmaker
Jacob Bricca was, he gave this report: "The Dive looked great
on the big screen. In the short period between the end of your film
and the beginning of the next, one woman behind me whispered to her
friend, 'that was really cool.'"
THE DIVE AT THE GRAND LAKE THEATER
So, I've been going to see movies at the Grand Lake my whole
life. It's a grand old theater in Oakland, and I've been there a million
times. It's one of my favorite theaters and only a mile from my house.
So when I was sitting there, with all these associations, and The
Dive came on, I kind of felt like I'd made it.
The Dive was in the Oakland International Film Fesival in the local filmmakers showcase, a very strong program, and of course all the filmmakers were there. It was very cool to get to meet other Oakland filmmakers, and to feel a part of something bigger than myself. (All that, and local filmmakers Shawnelle and Shawnee Gibbs told me that I was their local hero after seeing all my films on the KDOL retrospective. And their film was great!)
LA TWICE IN TWO WEEKS
Silverlake Film Festival and Los Angeles Film Festival were back to back, but I had a editing gig and couldn't be in LA for two weeks. Instead I spent the weekends in LA, staying with my incredibly talented songwriter/screenwriter friend Greg Camilleri in Hollywood.
The screening for LA Short was very cool: a packed house, a beautiful screen, and a great sound system. Greg rushed out of work early to see The Dive at his favorite theater, The Arclight, only to miss it because it played first and he hit traffic at 4:00pm on Thursday.
MTV HAS PROGRAMMED THE DIVE
I awoke this morning to a phone pressed against my ear. A voice came through from far away (NYC) "The Dive has been programmed on MTV."
JUST GOT BACK FROM BUMBERSHOOT
A great festival, including tons of music, art, literature, comedy, performance, and loads of short films. For four days, there were consistently jam-packed houses. The Dive was in a series that filled up completely on the final day of the festival. One befuddled viewer hounded the festival director with questions, "wait, was it shot in the air to look like it was underwater?" All in all, it was a lovely time. Here's everybody in the crowded theater waiting for The Dive (and other films) to begin.
The balcony was full up too.
TWO MORE FESTIVALS FOR THE DIVE
I just heard from Mill Valley and Silver Lake Film Festivals. They want to screen The Dive!
Check out new films by Kia Simon right here on Sneaky Little Sister. Full Service and Little Debbie are ready to be seen by the masses. Little Debbie is a new
music video for San Francisco band Slender.
The music track is still temp, the band is hopefully in the studio right
now recording the final version, but I like the video too much not to
stick it up here for public consumption.
THE
DIVE AT
ONE REEL FEST LABOR DAY WEEKEND
Part of Bumbershoot — the Seattle Arts Festival: This is the best attended short film
festival in the World! JD and I are going to this to represent the film
and have what looks to be an overwhelming good time. The Dive screens
on Monday September 1st at 3pm in the Voyeur Schism program.
I've also heard from the Film Arts Festival and the Oakland International Festival, both who're programming The Dive in their festivals as well, no firm dates as yet on those.
THE DIVE AT THE BALBOA IN SAN FRANCISCO
The Dive is screening in a festival for children (screen360), with the prime children-friendly spot of 11am on Saturday, July 19th. This is a festival of dance and animation and should have some crowd-pleasers for adults as well. Balboa Theater is at 3630 Balboa St. @ 38th Ave in SF. It's also screening in Sonoma on July 26th check their website for more info.
LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM FEST
The Dive gets featured at another festival. I don't have exact dates yet, but this is another fun (read good parties) festival that I went to with Looking for Sly and I'm excited to be going back. The screenings will be held at the Arclight in Hollywood and the festival runs from Sept 16-22.
NEW MOVIES BY SNEAKY LITTLE SISTER
Check out the films page to find out about
the new films Little Debbie, a music video for rock band Slender;
and Again a collaboration between choreographer Chris Black
and director Kia Simon.
Kia Simon went to Chris Black's recent show and saw her perform
her duet Again with Ken James. Kia loved it so much,
she wanted to watch it everyday, and making a film of it seemed the
best way to make that happen. It's not up on the site yet, it will be
soon, but we're waiting on scoring.
Little Debbie is also waiting on music. We shot the video using
a temp track, and the band will be going into the studio shortly to
record the album version of the song.
QUICKTIME.COM
The Dive has been featured a bunch on Quicktime.com which has led to something like 20,000 hits on momu's site to watch the video. I have it here, but if you want to watch it streaming off a very fancy server, watch it from their site. If you'd like to find out more about the band momu, check out thisismomu.com.
BRAINWASH MOVIE FESTIVAL
The Dive screens tonight drive-in movie style in Oakland. 1357 5th Street at Mandela Parkway. Show starts at 9pm.
SANTA CRUZ FILM FESTIVAL
The Dive screens in the Animation program in the Santa Cruz Film Festival at the Del Mar Theater, Sunday June 1st at 1PM
SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Yes, it was all that I wished it would be. Great sound, great picture, great audience, and a lineup of films that managed to fit together without being in any way redundant. I especially enjoyed screening with Jamie Meltzer's film, Off the Charts: The Song Poem Story. See it if you have the chance.
KIA SIMON ON FILM CLOSE UPS, KALX
Peter Crimmins interviews Kia Simon on her film The Dive.
SAN
FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Mark your calendars. The Dive will screen on Sunday
April 20, at noon and Sunday April 27 at 9:30 pm at the AMC Kabuki 8
in Japantown. The Kabuki theater in San Francisco has massive screens
with great sound systems. I imagine that this will be THE place to see The Dive.
SF International is a very competitive film festival, so we're
thrilled to be a part of it.
NEWS FROM SXSW
The Dive showed at SXSW to sell out crowds. Kia Simon was interviewed about it on KWNX radio in Texas by Sal Reutegar. The Toronto Star came from out of town for the festival, and reviewed it as well, describing the process of making the film as "painstakingly painting bright colours over live-action film footage, to create a new type of animation that resembles a dream state."
SXSW
SCREENING TIMES ANNOUNCED
For all those planning on coming to SXSW to check out Momu's The Dive: they've put screening times up.
Saturday March 8, 2:00 PM - Hideout; Monday March 10, 10:30 PM - Hideout;
Saturday March 15, 1:00 PM - Hideout
GAGIK OF LOOKING FOR SLY HAS NEW SITE
Perhaps after watching Looking for Sly you're saying to yourself, 'I want to invest in sculpture by that massively talented man Gagik.' Now there's an easy way to do that. Go to gagikarts.com and get your very own custom art work by the world famous Gagik. Or hire him to be Rambo at your event!
THE DIVE'S FIRST FESTIVAL
I got a call from South by Southwest saying that The Dive is in this year's festival! I don't have a date or time yet. They're still scheduling. But I do know that the Festival goes from March 7 - March 15 in Austin, Texas. I went to SXSW with Looking for Sly and had a great time. I'm thrilled to pieces to be going back this year. -- Kia Simon
SWEETNESS AND LOVELINESS
The Dive premiere was really wonderful. For some reason, I'm always a mess in the hours leading up to a premiere, and in the last 20 minutes I'm in a very controlled panic: no outward signs, just inner turmoil. When the film finally rolls, the panic begins to lift -- it wasn't lost or destroyed, everything's working properly. But it's not until the last frame has played that I can properly enjoy myself.
The relief itself was lovely, but beyond that, so many people were so damn effusive about loving the video that I actually teared up. The Dive was a tough and demanding project, I set my sights very high and did it with extremely limited resources. When I see the film now, though, the tough experience is forgotten. The film works, even on me. -- Kia Simon
THE DIVE PREMIERES
Join sneaky little sister and our millions of post-production volunteers
at the world premiere of The
Dive, recently completed by Kia after, to put it plainly, super
human effort. We are mega proud of the finished work, and we guarantee
you ain't never seen anything like it. Come to Qool on January 22 and see for yourself. World premiere of The Dive, during
the Qool dance party at 111 Minna, SF. Screens 8pm-ish while Mark Musselman
spins.
