Congratulations to Poppy de Villeneuve!  Poppy is the 8th recipient of our Z-Kudos Award for her work on the short film, Love is Like Life but Longer.  Poppy is a brilliant director and photographer who lives in New York City.  Love is Like Life but Longer is the story of a blind man and a nun who meet while staying at the same hotel.  This film was commissioned by Mondrian SoHo and Morgans Hotel Group and shot at the Mondrian Hotel but you can hardly call it a commercial.  More than anything, the hotel is like a character in the story.   

“The writer and I wanted to tell a story that would jar with what you would usually see in a hotel like the Mondrian.  We wanted to pull you in with unusual characters,” said Poppy.  “They funded the film and I wanted to use the hotel as the main character.  Hotels are such interesting places.   The guests are not at home, yet the rooms serve as a private world for a day, two days, a week. People in transition are interesting, like people at airports.”

All of the elements required for producing an amazing short film are present in Love is Like Life but Longer.  It has a formulaic script, wonderful lighting and great direction.  Furthermore, the screen direction, editing, sound design, art direction, score and acting are all executed at a Hollywood level.  Love is Like Life but Longer is the perfect example of filmmaker collaboration.  Without even one of the individuals involved in the piece’s production, this film would not have live up to its full potential.    

“Lisa Kjerulff, my producer, was crucial in putting the team together, which to me, along with the story and actors is the most important thing…an amazing team,” says Poppy.

Love is Like Life but Longer was produced from start to finish in two weeks.  The entire film was shot in two days, used mostly natural lighting and was funded on an extremely small budget.  This just goes to show that you don’t need a lot of time or a ton of money to make a compelling video.

Poppy is in the process of writing a feature, fiction film about a young woman with her writing partner, Katie Bender.  The two are in Austin working on it now.  That film is scheduled to be shot sometime towards the end of the year.  She is also pitching on commercials and projects through the film company she’s currently signed with: Partizan.
“I’m hoping some fun project will just creep up unexpectedly too, I just want to dive in,” she says.       

Spoken like a true filmmaker. 

For her excellence in short filmmaking and extraordinary collaboration of talents we award Poppy de Villeneuve with $1000 worth of her choice of Zacuto products.  You can see more of her work at www.poppydevilleneuve.com but make sure you watch Love is Like Life but Longer right now.  

To put it bluntly, I f***ing loved this piece! While one of the biggest pieces of advice I can give to any young filmmaker is don’t make a film about making films, Nuno Rocha has done it with “Vicky and Sam,” and most importantly, he’s done it in the most innovative and incredible of ways. What a great conversational piece of story telling and a modern view of young screenwriters and filmmakers today. It is rare to come across such a well developed storyline in short film on the web. From the dreamlike Hollywood opening, to the sweet ingenious story of young love and chance meetings, this short film has set the bar so high…everything else is going to be compared to this.

We will also be showcasing and critiquing his film on our web series [ critics ] in season 3 in the first webisode of the season on October 21st. Watch the “Vicky & Sam” trailer here and look for the release of his short film which will premiere on October 21, 2010 on Vimeo at http://vimeo.com/nunorocha.

Congratulations to Nuno Rocha for his outstanding work. You've done what I've been begging fimmakers to do on the internet, create emotion. You are a real filmmaker. ~ Steve

"Vicky and Sam" ~ Trailer by Nuno Rocha. To watch the full short film, visit http://vimeo.com/nunorocha.

Behind the Scenes Images of the making of "Vicky and Sam." Shot on location in Austin, Texas.

Nuno Rocha Bio In English:

Nuno Rocha is a promising emerging producer and director from Portugal. For 5 years, he attended the prestigious Instituto Politécnico do Porto and graduated with a BA in TCAV and where he wrote and directed his first short entitled “Berco de Pedra” (Stone Crib). This short film won various awards on the Portuguese film festival circuit. He then released a new short film entitled "3×3" which won the prestigious 1ST place award at the Zon Multimedia Contest and went on to win prizes at several other national and international festivals.

As a graduate student at The University of Texas at Austin, he studied Advanced Directing (RTF) in 2009 and created yet another short entitled "Vicky and Sam" which was filmed completely on location in Austin, Texas. In 2010, Nuno became a partner with the FilmesDaMente production company and created the first short film for LG entitled "Momentos." Recently, he has been working as a Director of "The Institute" a Scott Gardenhour and Michael Bay Production company (www.theinstitute.tv).

To learn more about Nuno, visit his IMDB page at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3838134/ or his website at: http://www.filmesdamente.com/#/home

Nuno Rocha Bio In Portuguese:

Nuno Rocha é um promissor e emergente produtor e realizador português. Licenciado em Tecnologia da Comunicação Ausiovisual, pelo Instituto Politécnico do Porto, Nuno Rocha escreveu e dirigiu a sua primeira curta metragem intitulada “Berço de Pedra.” Esta curta metragem recebeu diversos prémios no circuito de festivais de cinema português. Lançou em seguida um novo filme intitulado “3×3″ que foi o vencedor do prémio Zon criatividade em Multimédia e de vários prémios em outros festivais nacionais e internacionais. Em 2009 frequentou a Universidade do Texas onde realizou “Vicky and Sam”, totalmente rodado em Austin nos Estados-Unidos. Em 2010 tornou-se sócio da produtora FilmesDaMente e criou o primeiro curta-metragem da LG intitulado “Momentos.” Para obter mais informações sobre o Nuno visite a página IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3838134/ ou o seu site na Internet: http://www.filmesdamente.com.

Moments is a beautiful, effortless documentary/short film about the simple moments that make life extraordinary.  Will shot his film in twelve days at multiple locations.  Some of the moments he captured are so poignant and subtle.  I admire his patience as a filmmaker; all the time he must have spent waiting for that perfect shot!  This is a remarkable piece, and Will is an outstanding filmmaker.

“Will was inspired to make [Moments] after hearing Radiolab’s program on moments of death.  So he went out and found moments of life:  I found this to be incredibly moving…  Those moments are why I keep living.  Because the move from one moment to the next is interesting and terrible and wonderful and sublime all at the same time.  What more could you ask for?” – Les Jenkins (www.stupidevilbastard.com)

I love projects that have the ability to speak to the heart of everyone – not just one individual. This piece has no definable plot and no words, yet still tells a story.  It is a story of the small moments that when put together make up a big life.  The sharp, clear way it was scripted, shot and edited makes you think about what is important to you in your own life.  There is so much menial stuff we all get hung up on every day; this simple movie reminds us of the moments we will want to remember when we look back at our life.  Such a straightforward, uncomplicated idea that Will expertly transformed into an elegant, heartwarming film.

“Will Hoffman’s short film Moments juxtaposes and stitches together isolated moments of everyone’s life into something more meaningful where the whole of all those experiences is greater than the sum of the individual parts. This film definitely sums up how I felt when I took my first bite the other day into a burrito bowl from [redacted]. It was a party for my taste buds.” – Matthew Rodriguez (Blogger for www.sundancechannel.com)

Congratulations to Will Hoffman for his outstanding work.  Will’s prize is $500 of the Zacuto products of his choice.  Will Hoffman has a body of work that distinguishes him from the pack.  I truly believe he is ready to make the leap into the next stage of his career.

Watch Moments

Steve Weiss
Director, Zacuto

ABOUT WILL HOFFMAN

William Hoffman is a 23 year old filmmaker living in Brooklyn, New York.  He’s interested in fiction and nonfiction — but mostly the space in between. To learn more about Will, visit his website at http://www.anyoneeverything.com. For more information on his current projects and collection of short films, visit his production company ~ Everynone at (www.everynone.com).

Our fifth winner of the Z-KUDOS award is Kevin Shahinian, founder and lead producer of Pacific Pictures. According to Kevin, "Dil Jaanta Hai (The Heart Knows)" was his second Bollywood wedding concept film and his hope was to depart from the original with something different. Kevin’s inspirational and entertaining piece quickly caught our eye and we have awarded him with $500 worth of Zacuto products as the 5th Z-KUDOS winner.

“As a small studio, it can be difficult to get your work seen and this spotlight is a real privilege,” explained Kevin when we first told him about winning the Z-KUDOS award. “Winning the Z-KUDOS award is a huge (& unexpected) honor. A big thank you to Steve and the entire Zacuto family for their continued support of our work and other filmmakers like us.”

He was initially inspired by Anuja & Nirav's true life story, how their father's conspired to set them up and how the pair knew little about their common lives. It quickly became clear that our vehicle would be a modern Bollywood comedy set at a hospital – with the pair playing over-dramatized versions of their true-life selves, an M.D. and pharmaceutical rep.

Kevin also wanted to make sure they challenged themselves on a production level, by incorporating two musical numbers that included authentic choreography and dancers. On paper, a modern-day comedy set in a hospital seemed like something that would be easy to produce. But on the contrary, the locations turned out to be a huge challenge. They ended up with six different locations for each section of the hospital; elevators, hallway, room, lobby, & exteriors.

“I think Kevin has taken this wedding concept movie to a completely new level and he has set the bar for it. This would be a challenging to shoot with real actors, how you do this with a bride and a groom is beyond me. Every time I see one of Kevin’s wedding concept movies I feel like I want them to continue just when they are ending. Congratulations Kevin on being the 5th Z-KUDOS winner, I’m so impressed with the work that you do, I can’t wait to see what’s next.” Says, Steve Weiss, Zacuto, Director.

Another challenge they faced was the schedule: five back-to-back shooting days scheduled over Anuja & Nirav's (top secret) vacation to L.A. from Albany, NY. They posted choreography videos online for them to rehearse at home and only had time for one rehearsal the day they arrived.

“It was a grueling shoot for the first time actors, especially being away from family and friends (who had no idea the couple would be starring in a film for their wedding) but in the end their hard work and dedication paid off.”

Make sure to watch "Dil Jaanta Hai (The Heart Knows)" at Zacuto.com and keep an eye out for Kevin’s future works.

Our fourth winner of the Z-Kudos Award is an extraordinary high school senior in Harrisonburg, Virginia who has created an excellent video with a complete marketing plan. Josh is the Vice President of Where To Get Engaged, Inc., a social networking site focused on engagements and weddings. He says his site is designed to give vendors and manufacturers not only a place to show their products, but a way (through the power of video) to get customers acquainted with both the products and the atmosphere of the store. The first business Josh has virally marketed on the site is the Blue Ridge franchise of Panera Bread located throughout Virginia. The promotional video Josh wrote, shot and edited for Panera, beautifully illustrates my belief in taking creative filmmaking and tying it to a product.For developing what could be the model for a whole new production business, I’ve awarded Josh $500 worth of Zacuto products.

Josh’s success story could be the plot of a movie itself. When he was in eighth grade, Josh joined a club at school called the Technology Student Association, where he entered a website designing competition. Though Josh and his fellow group members had never designed a website before, their site won first place at the regional, state and national levels of the contest. Josh eventually designed the site for Christopher William Jewelers, and started a partnership with the owner. Using Christopher’s skills as a business owner in the jewelry industry for over thirty years, and Josh’s skills as an upcoming entrepreneur with social networking, they combined to create WhereToGetEngaged.com. Josh did a lot of photography for the company before shooting commercials with his first camera, a Canon XHA1.

“You see so many national companies that are on television with local commercials that usually are pretty average,” Josh says, “You don’t really get to see what this business offers to the consumer unless you actually go to the store and see it. So what we’re trying to do is make these videos personal, so you feel like you’re in the store and you know the people before you get there. Most local commercials lack the personality of the business they’re advertising, and the characteristics that make it unique. If you were planning a wedding, you could use the space at Panera to really think about and plan the event. That’s what we’re trying to bring out.”

Panera Bread is the first major brand onboardwith Josh’s viral marketing plan. I’ve been following his work for a while on Vimeo, and am very pleased to see him take advantage of the marketing possibilities offered by viral videos. Josh says he appreciates the in-depth feedback I’ve given his work, and says it has helped him get where he wants to be. For his Z-Kudos Award, Josh plans to get our Z-Grips in order to upgrade his DOF kit so he can mount it on his shoulder. Though he eventually plans to make his own films, he says that the commercial work has gotten him swamped for now, though he’s guaranteed to have a pretty sweet demo reel by the end of it. His future plans for the company include a webisodic series inspired by Zacuto’s “FilmFellas.”

“FilmFellas is an absolutely brilliant idea,” Josh says, “We were thinking of bringing in probably three or four jewelry business owners and putting them in a roundtable, sort of like what you guys did. These industry leaders would have stores that are competing against each other, and we would take a common subject like engagements and have them talk about it. I think it would make for some great discussions, especially since these guys have probably seen hundreds or thousands of engagements come through their store.” Josh, I am so proud of you, you are doing exactly what we’ve been telling all of these filmmakers to do. Tie it to a product. The FilmFellas type show for Jewelers is going to be a huge success. People are clamoring for information about buying a ring. It has to be the best kept secret since the beginning of time. Look at what you are doing at 17, I can’t even imagine where you will be in a few years but a job at Zacuto is available if you want it, doing exactly this!!!

Check out the video at http://vimeo.com/4265284.

For more info on Where To Get Engaged, Inc., visit http://www.wheretogetengaged.com/

After graduating from the Art Institute of Seattle, where he majored in film production, Matthew has been making montages of various trips and places near his town in order to keep his artistic inspiration ignited. After purchasing the HV30, he hasn't been able to put it down. His avid interest in sound design, as well as his admiration of various filmmakers, comes through strongly in his work.

In his official music video for Efterklang's song "Doppelganger," Matthew combines vivid imagery with abstract sounds in a style reminiscent of David Lynch. Another video intriguingly juxtaposes sun-drenched footage of children on an Easter egg hunt with the sinister tones of J. Ralph's song "Horse Falls" (which was memorably featured in the trailer for Doubt). And for his brother's southern-style wedding, Matthew edited the footage with a kinetic rhythm worthy of Danny Boyle, while boldly using A.R. Rahman's Oscar-winning song "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire. Unfortuantely, Matthew found that he can't please everyone.

"[My family] hated the video," Matthew laughs, "they said it was insulting. I thought it would be cool to do a crazy contrast with this hick wedding and music from the Far East. I had just seen Slumdog, and told everyone at the wedding that they should see it. But they were the type of conservative people who care about movies like Paul Blart, and were like, 'I'm not going to watch an Indian movie!' But they can dislike my video, that's fine with me."

Matthew has vowed to make a series of short films which he will later compile into a feature. His first one, entitled "Aphids," is set to be completed next month. But regardless of what project he's making, Matthew confesses that he is obsessed with filming any subject that is in motion. He'll contort his body, and even hang out of his friend's car, in order to capture the perfect moving image.

"I'm very much in love with movement in film," Matthew said. "I'm not a fan of filming still images because I might as well take a picture instead. If I'm shooting a landscape, I feel like I have to move my body in order to make [the image] move. I've recently developed a tai chi movement with my body, where I'm able to move my legs and waist so my arms can stay still in order to keep the camera stabilized."

For his Z-Kudos award, Matthew chose our gunstock shooter. I assured him that it would help him greatly with the run n' gun type shooting that he clearly favors. Matthew says he's excited to use it, since he's had trouble manuevering with the camera equipment he's used in the past. After watching our instructional videos for the gunstock shooter, he said it looked like Zacuto "would be a great fit for him."

Watch Matthew's Videos 

“I’m a complete tinkerer,” Mike said. “I love putting stuff together and coming up with more than one use for everything in my kit. Because I’m flying all around a lot, I have to carry stuff with me that can do lots of different things. When I started out working as a second, efficiency was crucial. No one ever wants to hear on set, ‘We’re waiting for the camera department.’ It’s just unacceptable.”

Mike had originally ordered a handful of small Zacuto parts for the mere purpose of tinkering with them to see how he could put them to good use. He wasn’t even thinking about a viewfinder mount at the time, and considered his use of ZUDS an even bigger achievement.

“I have the 15mm top mount for the RED and I have ZUDS on my LCD,” Mike said. “I tapped the back of the red battery plate, added a Noga arm to the back of that and put a ZUD on it, so I can articulate the battery and move it around on the camera to change balance or to get it out of the way. Because they’re on the ZUDS, I can move it to any corner of the camera. It’s an AC’s wet dream. After that, coming up with an EVF mount happened in only thirty seconds.”

When Mike first started looking at Zacuto kits, he was initially put off by what he referred to as “too many fiddly bits.” But once he started dissecting the kits, he found that each small part could be used multiple ways, offering a huge amount of flexibility that some users may not know what to do with.

“I like how Zacuto parts allow me to quickly move the EVF from the front corner to the rear corner of the camera,” Mike said. “It’s like having an eyepiece extension on a 35mm camera. The fact that I can screw something in, lock it and never have to worry about it again is just incredible. Every AC that works with this kit wishes that every camera was this easy. You literally pull things out of the case, plug them in and you’re done.”

For Mike’s work in creating a very successful EVF mount, he receives a $500 prize of the Zacuto components of his choice.

Check out Mike’s YouTube original Video

Take a Look at Zacuto's ZRed Video

Meet the first winner of our new Z-Kudos Award, which I present to an up-and-coming filmmaker whose work I admire. The award is $750 worth of Zacuto products chosen by the recipient. I discovered Jeremy’s work when I watched his latest short film on Vimeo, the low-budget action extravaganza Pipeline Episode 2. The film is a follow-up to McDermott’s short Pipeline: Retribution, which was a submission in the IFC-sponsored filmmaking contest for the game “Assassin’s Creed.”

Jeremy shot, wrote and edited the film, while his brother (and frequent collaborator) Thomas served as screenwriter and executive producer. The film was a decided departure for both men, who consider themselves “cerebral drama guys.”
“We created an action movie with no real action in it,” Jeremy said. “We only had a couple weeks to make the film, and we literally shot ninety percent of it in my condo.” Yet judges were impressed with their work, and the film placed second in the contest, receiving airplay on IFC and awarding McDermott $2,500. His next move: keep making movies!

“I wanted to keep shooting and make more mistakes before my brother and I moved on to our feature,” Jeremy said. “I thought we should try for something bigger than we’ve ever done, which meant acquiring locations that we hadn’t arranged before, and working with more actors and logistical problems.” The result was Pipeline: Episode 2, which packs wall-to-wall, gun-toting action into its second half. Jeremy notes that at least half of the film’s impact is due to the intricate sound design by Diego Jimenez. I thought the work from all departments was first rate: excellent camera work, sound, editing, music, efx. Check Out the Video

“I saw Steve on Vimeo, sent him the film, and wasn’t even expecting a response,” Jeremy said. “It was supercool to get [the award], especially since we had literally just finished the film. It was great to tell the cast and crew that somebody who has been in the business and is working with independent filmmakers, saw our film, said that we did a good job and wants to give us something.”

Jeremy plans to purchase a better shoulder mount with the award money. His film company, McDermott Productions, specializes in both Corporate & Commercial video production and independent film production.

For more information, visit http://www.mcdprod.com/