{"id":127,"date":"2007-01-26T00:34:59","date_gmt":"2007-01-26T06:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/?p=127"},"modified":"2014-09-06T15:01:18","modified_gmt":"2014-09-06T21:01:18","slug":"747-lands-shorts-in-springfield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/?p=127","title":{"rendered":"747 lands SHORTS in Springfield"},"content":{"rendered":"

On more than one\u00a0occasion, myself and\u00a0Mr. Brian Paris<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0had verbally spun wheelies around the concept of putting together\u00a0a short film show, going so far as to host a movie night for friends\u00a0and pour through some classic MICRO-FILM<\/strong> submissions for inspiration. Alas, good ideas do not<\/em> automatically translate into action; this ill-fated initiative currently sits on the shelves\u00a0while, 80 miles down the highway, some other folks stopped dreaming and put a similar plan into motion.<\/p>\n

747 Productions<\/strong>, founded by brothers Gregory<\/strong> and\u00a0Douglas Berry<\/strong> (who are also professional pilots, hence the name), recently premiered its program WATCH MY SHORTS<\/strong> on ACCESS 4<\/strong>, a public-access channel based at\u00a0the University of Illinois at Springfield<\/strong> in partnership with the\u00a0Insight Communications<\/strong> cable company. Starting on Friday,\u00a0January 5<\/strong>, a new episode will air each week featuring one or more independently-produced shorts and audio interviews with their makers. The show is hosted by\u00a0FOX 55\/27<\/strong>\u00a0promotions coordinator and on-air talent\u00a0Rachael Atchison<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

“747 Productions launched WATCH MY SHORTS<\/strong> [locally] because both Greg and Doug are from this area and have developed a core of people to help them with the show,” creative consultant Linda McElroy<\/strong> tells C-U Blogfidential<\/strong>. “The Los Angeles branch will concentrate on making feature-length films, while the Springfield group will do the TV show and make short films, music videos, and commercials.” The company is also working with Brandon Clayton<\/strong> of Hazard Films<\/strong> as well as LA-based Beef Tips On Rice Productions<\/strong>, with whom 747 collaborated on the tense psychological short UNDER MY SKIN<\/strong>, directed by Vito Lappicola<\/strong> and starring Eric Passoja<\/strong> and April Wade<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

While the January 5 episode kicked off the series with UNDER MY SKIN<\/strong>, the producers don’t intend to limit each half-hour to plugging their own efforts. “WATCH MY SHORTS<\/strong> is currently showcasing short films that have been featured at the Route 66 Film Festival<\/a><\/strong>,” continues McElroy, who also serves as director of the Springfield-based movie event which occurs each September. “We are seeking short films of all genres of less than 30 minutes for future shows.” Interested viewers can click here<\/a> for the current schedule; filmmakers can follow this link<\/a> for submission information and requisite forms.<\/p>\n

Atchison, a\u00a0Pawnee<\/strong> native who earned a Bachelors in Advertising degree\u00a0from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign<\/strong> in 2005, auditioned for her hostess gig at a meeting of the Springfield and Central Illinois Film Commission<\/a><\/strong> in November 2006. “I’m pretty new to the whole independent film scene,” she reveals to CUBlog<\/strong> via e-mail. “I decided to audition for the host of WATCH MY SHORTS<\/strong> so I could learn more about independent filmmaking and, to be honest, meet some new people. I’ve had the privilege to interview some great filmmakers, and I look forward to seeing many more of these outstanding films.”<\/p>\n

\"Billy<\/p>\n

This\u00a0week’s episode features A CIGAR AT THE BEACH<\/a><\/strong> (2006), a wry male-centric\u00a0fantasia written and directed by Stephen Keep Mills <\/strong>about a mid-life Smoker (Billy Gillespie<\/strong>) who dreams his way into highly cinematic encounters with giggly bikini girls, an exotic\u00a0woman in white, several grizzled mariners from far-away lands, and an extremely big wave. A winner that blends professional craft\u00a0with personal storytelling, CIGAR<\/strong> alone is worth a good long peek into 747’s SHORTS<\/strong>; it airs\u00a0this Friday, January 26<\/strong>, at 4:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m.<\/strong>, and 9:30 p.m.<\/strong> on ACCESS 4.<\/p>\n

– Jason Pankoke<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A brand-new program that showcases independently-made films, WATCH MY SHORTS, has begun airing weekly in the Springfield, IL, area on ACCESS 4.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-broadcast-dates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}