DAFT

Digital Arts, Film & Television (DAFT) is now accepting entries for the 44th Annual Michigan Student Film & Video Festival and welcomes all K-12 students throughout Michigan to enter their creative media work.

The Festival will be held at the Detroit Film Theatre on Saturday, April 28, 2012 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. A pre-glow will be held at 11:15 a.m. in the Theatre’s Crystal Café for senior level student winners, their teachers and family.

Each year, the MSF&VF provides recognition and significant awards to young media artists. Each entry is given written feedback by a panel of judges consisting of professionals from film, video, education and related fields.

This valuable feedback commends students on the elements that make their film a success and informs them of ways they can improve their work.

Prizes and scholarships awarded to Festival Best of Show winners have a value of over twenty thousand dollars. In addition, the award ceremony gives students an opportunity to see their creative work up on the “big screen” at the historic Detroit Film Theatre in front of a large and appreciative audience.

View Full Festival Info

Join Royal Oak Dondero High Alumni Filmmakers BrettPierce and KEvin Van Hagen for the Royal Oak premiere of their first feature film, the Zombie/Road-Trip/Comedy “Deadheads” at the Royal Oak Main Art Theatre. PLEASE NOTE: “DEADHEADS” is RATED R. Parents please plan accordingly.

Proceeds will benefit DAFT’s Michigan Student Film and Video Festival held each April at the Detroit Film Theatre. Read reviews and watch the “Deadheads” trailer at: deadheadsthemovie.com

THE FILMMAKERS and the DAFT CONNECTION

Royal Oak Dondero High School graduates, Brett Pierce (’06) and Drew Pierce (’08) are alumni of the district’s long-standing video production program. They went on to Hollywood to work in shows such as Futurama, American Dad and Family Guy.

They left their jobs to create their zombie/comedy/road-trip indie, Deadheads, filming it entirely in their home state of Michigan with some key scenes at their alma mater, now Royal Oak Middle School.

One of their former teachers, Kevin Walsh, a DAFT board member and video productions teacher at West Bloomfield High School (who also served as a last-minute location scout and zombie-extra) suggested that the film might be used to help raise funds for DAFT’s annual Michigan Student Film and Video Festival held each spring at the DIA. The 43-year old festival is the longest-running student festival in the country.

Drew, Brett and Kevin Van Hagen, another Dondero alumnus and a producer of the film, readily agreed to have the first public showing of the film in their home town of Royal Oak at the historic Main Art Theatre on Thursday, December 15th at 7pm.

Full Information on Facebook Event Listing

NEW! The 2ND ROUND of Harvey Ovshinsky’s popular support group for aspiring screenwriters meets at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Ann Arbor from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm on the 2ND Monday of each month starting in October on and ending in April. There is no class in December.

Under Harvey’s guidance each group member has 6 months to complete a 1st draft screenplay. Workshop participants receive a sample script, a complete bibliography of screenwriting books, publications, and amateur-friendly contests plus information about professional and free computer formatting software.

The Detroit News describes Harvey as “one of the country’s finest storytellers.” He and his Ann Arbor-based video production and story consulting company, HKO Media have been awarded broadcasting’s highest honors including a national Emmy, a Peabody, a duPont – Columbia University Award and the American Film Institute’s Robert M. Bennett Award for Excellence.

Harvey’s Movie-of-the-Week script, PJ AND THE DRAGON was represented by Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and optioned by Longbow Productions (A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN). The New York International Independent Film & Video Festival honored his last screenplay, THE KEYMAN.

The cost for the six sessions is $325. Enrollment is limited.
To register call (734) 971-0990.

You’re invited to the film premiere of the Huron Valley Council for the Arts (HVCA) Animation Camp 2011. It will be shown next Wednesday, August 31, in the gallery at the HVCA.

Showtime is at 8:00 PM and refreshments will be served.

To RSVP: contact Leah at (248) 889 8660.

This is a DAFT sponsored event. We hope you can join us!

Michigan Student Film & Video Festival Sponsor Buddy’s Pizza supports the Detroit Institute of Arts with a new DIA-Themed pizza!

Full info:

Robert Jacobs, owner of Buddy’s Pizza and DIA board member, is celebrating 65 years in business by continuing to support Detroit, art and culture. Buddy’s has developed four specialty pizzas, the Motor City Pizza Collection, in honor of the DIA, the Henry Ford, the Detroit Zoo and the Parade Company. The DIA’s pizza was the clear favorite of many of the guests on hand for oven-opening, and though he did not play favorites, even Mr. Jacobs admitted that the DIA pizza was “the most beautiful of them all.” The DIA is topped with spinach, artichokes, capers, roasted tomatoes and parmesan cheese – served with an optional lemon wedge. It is delicious! Buddy’s will donate $1 to the DIA for every DIA pizza sold throughout the year, so visit your nearest Buddy’s (nine locations in metro Detroit), enjoy a pizza with panache and support the DIA. As he was serving up slices Mr. Jacobs commented, “We hope in some small way this helps to raise awareness of the fine art and cultural offerings we have here, and inspires our customers to protect them.” It certainly inspires us to eat more pizza! Many thanks to Mr. Jacobs and Buddy’s for their generous support.

Detroit filmmaker Jeffery T. Schultz, winner of the DWIFF 2010 Best Detroit Windsor Short for “Bare Witness”, returns to the 2011 Detroit Windsor International Film Festival to screen his latest film “Certain Essential Elements”.

The 4th Annual Detroit Windsor International Film Festival (DWIFF) is June 22nd – June 26th, with screenings around downtown Detroit and Windsor. This year the festival expands to include the Moving Media Student Festival and the Detroit Docs film festival. The DWIFF is quickly becoming one of the areas most respected film festivals. “Certain Essential Elements” (22 min) will screen on Saturday, June 25th.

“Certain Essential Elements” was produced entirely with 100% Michigan talent, including an original interpretation of Edith Piaf’s “La Vie en Rose” with music by Steve Sholtes and vocals by Detroit musical artist Loretta Lucas. The lead actors are Michelle Butler, Axel Harney, Lauren Mae Shafer, and Alex Safi. Detroit film locations include the Detroit Medical Center, Le Petit Zinc cafe, LiveInWoodbridge Apartments, Belle Isle Conservatory, Atlas Bistro, and Schultz Studioz, with the additional location of Mama Vicki’s Coney Island in Port Huron.

Production Algebra, an excellent handbook for Production Assistants from Mark Adler and Michigan Student Film & Video Festival Sponsor, The Michigan Production Alliance, is now available for order online.

Industry professional and co-founder of the Michigan Production Alliance Mark Adler provides detailed descriptions of the many roles that a Production Assistant plays on the set commercials or feature films. Chapters include types of Production Assistants, specific duties, a day in the life on a set, terms and lingo, as well as examples of forms. This handbook is your launching pad into the film and video industry.

DAFT Alumni and featured speaker at the 2011 Michigan Student Film & Video Festival Matt Cantu’s latest project, The Zombie Factor, premieres this Thursday, June 9, 2011 @ St. Andrew’s Hall. The All Ages Show is only $5 at 9pm & 10pm. Visit thezombiefactor.com for full information.

DAFT Board Member Emeritus and Current Friends of the Detroit Film Theatre Board Member John Prusak alerts us to this trip to the Toronto International Film Festival:

Join the Friends of the Detroit Film Theatre (FDFT), September 8-11, for an exciting trip to the 36th Annual Toronto International Film Festival. Known as TIFF, this event is the leading public film festival in the world, screeing more than 300 films from 60 different countries. Widely regarded as second only to Cannes, TIFF is noted as the festival from which the Oscar race begins. Films screened during the 2010 festival included the North American premieres of The King’s Speech and Black Swan.

Hosting the trip will be Elliot Wilhelm, film curator for the Detroit Institute of Arts and founder of the Detroit Film Theatre program.

For Full Info and Registration, please download the TIFF registration brochure PDF: FDFT TIFF Registration Brochure PDF

DAFT's ART IN MOTION WORKSHOP 2011
Have you ever wanted to add a new dimension to your own art? Or sought to bring an exciting multi-disciplinary art form into your classroom? Art in Motion is a great workshop presented by Digital Arts Film & Television designed to provide an intensive hands-on experience in animation for classroom teachers and other interested adults. The instructors have many years of classroom and professional experience in animation and promise a week full of learning and fun.

University credit (3 hours) is offered through Central Michigan University for an additional fee paid to CMU.

Full Workshop Information:
DAFT’s Art in Motion Workshop 2011