Joe Flood

Tag: dc

  • Sneak Peek: Man with a Bolex Movie Camera

    Check out my article on Man with a Bolex Movie Camera. This short film was recently accepted into the Cinekink Film Festival. It’s a local production, written and directed by students from American University’s MFA film program. I went to AU as an undergrad so I was glad to write about this production for the Pink Line Project, where I contribute articles about the DC filmmaking scene.

    I first encountered Man with a Bolex Movie Camera when it was a script. It had been submitted to the DC Shorts Screenplay Competition. I was one of the judges and we selected the script as a finalist. Local actors performed this funny and sexy story in a theater in the round setting on a rainy night in October 2009.

    While the script didn’t win the competition (Annie Coburn, another AU student did), writer Colin Foster benefited from the experience. Based upon hearing the response from the audience, he shortened the script and tightened it up a bit.

    (more…)

  • How to Win the DC Shorts Screenplay Competition

    Man With A Bolex Movie Camera
    DC Shorts finalist Colin Foster enjoys a table read of his screenplay, The Man with a Bolex Movie Camera.

    The DC Shorts Screenplay Competition is a different kind of screenplay contest. What makes it unique is that the winner receives $2,000 toward turning their script into a film. The film is also automatically admitted into the following year’s DC Shorts Film Festival. (more…)

  • iPhoneography: We're Just Getting Started

    through the flames
    through the flames

    Check out my latest article iPhoneography: We’re Just Getting Started. In this short piece for the Pink Line Project, I provide some tips on how to best use your iPhone as a camera (hint: don’t use the flash) and advance the notion that the iPhone is the Polaroid of our age.

  • 2010: My Year in the Arts

    Several years ago, I was sitting in a bar with a bunch of coworkers. We went out a couple times a week for beer, always to the same place. They were fine people but, good lord, how many times can you hear the same old stories?

    While we were rehashing the same old petty little workplace dramas, a group of staffers from the Portrait Gallery came in. They had more interesting things to say than me and my coworkers, for they were talking about art.

    It was then that I vowed to get more involved in the creative scene in DC.

    In 2010, I was fortunate to not only sample a lot of what the city has to offer, but also participate in it. (more…)

  • The Movie That Gets Washington: Broadcast News

    broadcast newsThe Washington Post recently had an article about DC in the movies, highlighting director James L. Brooks for really getting Washington. From All the President’s Men to his latest, How Do You Know?, he displays an excellent understanding of the culture of the city.

    We’re not like Chicago or LA or New York. The people here are different, with their own unique challenges and motivations. New Yorkers may think that, just like there are no good bagels in DC, there’s no real “there” in Washington. It’s a transient city, with no realness about it. (Or, as a friend of mine from NYC once said, there’s no “bounty” to it.)

    There’s a grain of truth to that assessment – it is a transient city, drawing in and expelling different political classes with each election. But most DC residents don’t work on Capitol Hill. They somehow manage to function without being part of the political class. (more…)

  • Great Gifts for Local Photographers

    Check out my latest article for the Pink Line Project on great gift ideas for local photographers. While geared primarily for photogs in DC, there are some gifts good for shooters anywhere.

  • WordPress DC: Introduction to Themes and Theme Development with Thad Allender

    This month’s meeting of WordPress DC was an introduction to themes and theme development.

    WordPress DC is a monthly meetup group of WP developers, designers and bloggers. The meeting was held at Fathom Creative, in a beautiful second floor space overlooking 14th St. With hardwood floors and track lighting, it’s pretty enough to be an art gallery. And it has been – just last month, this space was host to Instant DC, an exhibit of amazing photos taken by cellphones. (It’s hard to believe but just a few years ago this building was an auto repair shop.)

    There were about forty people in the audience, most of whom were WP developers, though there were also designers and bloggers, like me. And since developers were present, there was, of course, free beer. That seems a requisite for geeky meetups. (more…)

  • Gift Ideas for Aspiring Filmmakers

    Check out my Pink Line Project article on gift ideas for aspiring filmmakers, including membership in local organizations, such as Women in Film and Video and Arlington Independent Media. Making a short film doesn’t need to be expensive and DC is filled with filmmakers willing to help out.

    One thing I’ve learned as a judge for DC Shorts over the years is that there are plenty of good technical people. They can get the sound right and light a scene correctly. And every city, it seems, contains talented actors who can make your script sing.

    The hard part is getting the story right, in making sure that you have a script with a beginning, middle and an end. Something with an identifiable protagonist and stakes that really matter. My article concentrates on the storytelling part of filmmaking. It’s easy to pick up a camera but much harder to tell a good story.

  • Do You Have a Minute for…

    On the streets of DC, there is a proliferation of well-meaning people soliciting for good causes. It’s not just the holidays, they’re parked on sidewalks year-round. Clever, too, for they patrol in two-person teams and stake out opposite ends of the block. I have been known to walk in the street or pretend to talk on my iPhone to avoid them.

    Do You Have a Minute is a post I wrote for FlackRabbit, a blog on PR. My argument: these street teams cheapen the reputation of the charities they represent.

  • Fall Fringe: What to See

    Check out the article I wrote for Pink Line on what to see at Fall Fringe. What’s great about Fall Fringe (which ends Nov 21) is that it’s only the best stuff from the Capital Fringe Festival. I saw a lot of theater, good and bad, as one of the official photographers for the festival over the summer.

    I loved Ridgefield Middle School Talent Nite (it’s brilliant and hilarious) but I have soft spot for accessible Shakespeare which is why Romeo and Juliet: Choose Your Own Ending was my favorite show of the festival.

    Bonus: see a slideshow of photos from the show.