Echelonstudios' Journals

Little Wings Wins Big at Haydenfilms

The indie film circuitâ�™s new little movie that could is not a quirky expose that includes a musty yellow VW Bus or a wisecracking pregnant teenager, but instead a harrowing tale that explores the trauma of child abuse through the eyes of a 10-year-old boy.

Little Wings marks the film debut of writer-director Morgan Rhodes, founder of Journey Blue Films, who has previously worked in television, most notably on â�œNip/Tuck,â� and is co-executive producer on â�œBitter Brew,â� a spec pilot.

Yet as Little Wings, a Haydenfilms 3.0 Film Festival finalist and official selection for the Cannes 2007 Short Film Corner, continues to gain momentum, Rhodes herself is gaining increasing success in the indie film world.

Little Wings was recently picked up by Echelon Studios, Las Vegas, for worldwide distribution and is also being translated and released in Italy. Little Wings follows a young boy named Thomas, who escapes from his abusive father through his passion for butterflies.

After saving a butterfly from a spiderâ�™s web, Thomasâ�™ life takes a sudden turn for the better, and the surprises he finds ultimately lead him to his freedom. Morgan credits the Haydenfilms Online Film Festival as playing a major role in assisting the film to its new found success.

â�œFor me, the hardest part of being a filmmaker is getting the film to a place where people can actually see it,â� says Morgan. â�œThe Haydenfilms Film Festival made if easy to upload the film and showcase it.â� This is hardly the end of the journey for both Morgan or Little Wings; Morgan is currently writing the filmâ�™s feature version, entitled A Heavy Heart, as well as several other features.

by Lauren Barbato, MovieMaker

"Little Wings" is part of the DVD/Box "Shorts for Cats"BUY IT HERE

ONLY FOR YOU by Prairie Miller

A bittersweet take on the twentysomething tribulations of young adulthood when messy matters like love and work need to be sorted out and soon, Only For You sheds a sensitive and humorous light on how the choices we make and when in our lives, get fleshed out down the road as fate. Written and directed by Donna Persico, the film also touches on the friendships and surrogate families formed in the interim, that help get us through the more complicated crossroads on the way to maturity, for better or worse.

Dana (Shea Curry) clings to a dream of one day becoming an accomplished actress, but in the meantime she supports herself by pet sitting in her Portland, Oregon neighborhood, to pay the rent. While taking part in a local theater production, she meets Jack (Michael Buie), a handsome cast member and sports writer for a Portland newspaper. Instant chemistry between the two materializes, along with some brief, intense romance.

But complications quickly arise and transform the hot attraction into an awkward platonic relationship, because Jack is living with another woman. Settling for much less and burying her unrequited heartache, Dana is devastated when Jack announces that he's proposed to his girlfriend. At the same time, Jack realizes his ambivalence about pending marriage, when he weighs that decision against the buried, deep feelings he has for Dana.

Only For You explores these dilemmas with a subtle and tender touch, while avoiding pat solutions or easy emotions. Persico does have a more solid grasp of her female characters, in particular the bonds they form that carry them through life. And the drama would have certainly benefited from more space to flesh out these intriguing characters. But the journey through these conflicted lives, sketchy as they may be, plays out with uncommon generosity and affection.

Echelon Studios
Echelonstudios.us
Unrated
2 1/2 stars
DVD Features: Scene Selections; Trailers.

.Prairie Miller is a multimedia journalist online, in print and on radio. Contact her through NewsBlaze.Copyright Â© 2008, NewsBlaze.

Who Let the Cats Out of the Mixed Bag?

Six short films, unrelated except for whatever it was that Echelon Studiosâ�™ marketing people were smoking when they came up with the title â�œShorts for Cats.â� Itâ�™s a cute idea â�“ catnip affair. Perhaps thatâ�™s why the fuzzies slept through the whole thing.

Marketing oddities aside, â�œShorts for Catsâ� is like most anthologies: a mixed bag of quality technique and persuasive storytelling. On the lesser side, films like â�œThe Fightâ� set up interesting characters and the promise of drama â�“ Nicholas Tâ�™s dialogue has that ring of sincerity, and the performances are good â�“ but oddly fail to follow through.

The meager plot of a man who aspires to art school but plays at mixed martial arts for dollars instead resolves itself before even getting started. Never mind anti-climatic; thereâ�™s no peak to reach without a slope to climb. In â�œDuel,â� the collectionâ�™s lushest cinematography, along with a sharply choreographed fight, duels with substance and handily wins.

The tragically ironic meeting of two characters, one an elite member of the Kingâ�™s guard and the other a drunken former royal assassin, has no character development to rest on nor plot to ride â�“ meaning, no emotional impact. And perhaps strangest of the lot is â�œDonâ�™t Leave Me,â� an attempted mind-bender involving romantic infidelity that is too obtuse and abstract for its own good. The mysterious dual identities and narrative looping, a far cry from David Lynchâ�™s â�œLost Highway,â� are interesting, but only in the sense that cutting through a Gordian knot with a sword is satisfying to a puzzle lover.

Not all the shorts are incomplete or lacking in comprehensibility. â�œLittle Winds,â� essentially a polished greeting card, boasts of an august performance by Ron Canada as a butterfly whisperer and an appropriately cloying child protagonist in Joseph Castanon. But the straightforward plot suffers from dubiously pitting wishful thinking and escapist fantasy against domestic violence. As we vomit â�œaww, shucksâ� at the sweet ending, we also throw up when realizing how the moral of the story is that itâ�™s better to run away from problems than confront and solve them.

The Upside

But the upside is that the remaining shorts are bang-up representations of how well short forms can work when plot, character and cinematic technique converge seamlessly. â�œNo Menus, Pleaseâ� is a subtle character study dressed up in the comic premise of a rivalry between two fellows whose job it is to put menus on apartment doors. Richard Chang says little, but has a face as expressively mournful as a basset houndâ�™s.

The immigrantâ�™s loneliness in an unfamiliar environment, the strange mixture of determination and disinterest in a menial job; these lurk below the surface and drive the filmâ�™s poignancy. For â�œThe Big Break,â� quirky dialogue and Luca Costaâ�™s physicality make for a comically reactive mix. But itâ�™s the surprise twist in a tale of a man attempting to kill a film producer â�“ and encountering an equally desperate actress instead â�“ that gives the film a boost of character. As with â�œNo Menus, Please,â� thereâ�™s more going on than the surface comedy suggests, and the two films are easily strong enough to make for their undeniably interesting, if not quite successful, cinematic companions.

Entertainment Value: ** (out of two)
Technical Quality: * (out of two)

By Frederik Sisa, The Front Page Online

Shorts for Cats

,

No.. it's not a feline film frenzie...."Shorts for Cats" is a collection of 6 quality shorts we just reviewed from ECHELON STUDIOS. This is a great idea, and a great mini-collection of dramatic & comedy short films for you to share with your friends (cats?).

The titles included are, Duel, No Menu Please, The Big Break, The Fight, Little Wings and Donâ�™t Leave Me. Each film stands on it's own and having them together, one after another at the click of the remote makes watching shorts easier too. "Duel" and "Little Wings" stand out as exceptional productions, but all 6 are worth your valuable viewing minutes. This collection hits the streets June 24 from distributor Singa Home Entertainment, and we recommend you Cats out there check them out!

The official site: WWW.ECHELONSTUDIOS.US

HOLLYWOOD2YOU.TV - John Reed

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Letting Life In

DRAMAâ�œLetting Life Inâ� explores a single year of life between two people. Michael (Patrick Hall), a reclusive novelist, lives in a small town in upstate New York; he knows nothing of living life beyond the suffocating walls he has built for himself.

Sara (Anna W. Griffin), a cancer survivor, takes a job as Michaelâ�™s personal assistant. Now free of her illness, she uses this opportunity to live life for the first time, finally experiencing all the things she never could.

Starring: Patrick Hall, Anna W. Griffin
Directed by: Steven James Creazzo

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The Battle Of Aiken

This is a story of two cavalry generals: Hugh Kilpatrick on the Union side and Joseph Wheeler on the Confederate side. They had known each other since West Point, and did not like each other. The war only deepened their personal animosity.

The story is also about a woman who could lose everything at any moment. A plantation owner and widow, her life is torn apart by the approaching Union forces. Her home is raided and her teenage son has joined the militia to fight for the Confederacy.

Starring: Tripp Courtney, Darlene Donofrio, Danny Francis, Brad Owens

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Bachelors

John and Kevin are two polar opposite roommates who make a bet that they can get the same girl by enlisting the help of their two friends who have very contrary views on how to impress a girl on a first date.

Starring: Ryan Dean, Patrick Reardon, Scott Simpson, Erika Monet, Rocky Romo
Directed by: Scott Simpson

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The Viking Maid

Despite record salmon runs in the state of Alaska, wild salmon fisherman struggle to stay afloat in the flooded salmon markets of the world.

This documentary is a journey aboard an Alaskan salmon seining vessel, exploring the lifestyle and adventure of a dying breed of men, the last of hunters and gatherers who dare to take on mother nature to earn a living. Journey aboard The Viking Maid, atop the erratic seas of southeast Alaska and find out why you should always ask, "Is this salmon farmed or wild?"

Starring: Russell Cockrum, Jared Cockrum, Timothy Currall

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When The Smoke Clears

When The Smoke Clears is the story of three childhood friends and the year that will dramatically change their lives.

The story opens with a flashback to the first time the three try drugs, and then zooms forward to them in their current setting as roommates.

Chris is trying to finish getting his degree from a local community college, Shawn works at a local movie theater the he is scamming from, and Raymond is trying to make a move to be a major player in the local drug trade.

The story follows each one down their separate paths, Chris struggles to stay sane in his current surrounding, Shawn becomes more and more a drug addict, and Raymond becomes more ruthless as he loses ties to family.

The film is a drama based on the events that change people's lives and make them ultimately stronger or weaker.

Starring: Mario Angelo, Raj Garewal, Michael Shahin, Cuffs, Haley Pinyerd, Khayel Jons
Directed by: Michael Shahin

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Crossing Bridges

Julius (Jason Rose) has a secret which threatens to jeopardize everything - his daughter has charged him with abuse. Things begin to go wrong for Julius when against the advice of his American lawyer, Helen (Kelli Jerslake) he confronts his daughter to disastrous effect.

And when he's made redundant, Julius finds himself on the scrap heap: 55 years old, divorced, unemployed and facing jail.

As far as Julius is concerned, life isn't worth living and he decides to end it all. But then he meets an angel (Elisabeth Dahl) and decides to take her with him as he says goodbye to the city he loves.

This sets off a chain of events that delves into the underbelly of his psychosis, leading him to face the demons that beset him. Julius discovers that sometimes it's harder to take the easy route.

Starring: Jason Rose, Elisabeth Dahl, Polly Nayler, Kelli Kerslake, Jefferey Kissoon.
Directed by: Mark Norfolk

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