Youngcuts Submission 2008

For the last few years I've been entering my work in the Youngcuts International Film Festival. It's for filmmakers 25 and under, and in the 3 times I've entered I've only been accepted once. That's actually about average as far as festivals have gone for me. To be honest, this festival in particular has always been a last minute, end of the semester push to get something sent away before their deadline. That, once again, was the way it happened when I entered my film Give it Time.

You may remember seeing the original film when i was taking part in the Sasktel competition Cell-ebrities earlier this year, but because I had 2 films in that contest and put all my energy into my entry the Gizmo Tree I felt like I had a film that I hadn't really used to its potential. So, I took the original version of Give it Time and added a few sound effects, spruced up the text and titles, and added a background score to freshen up the project before sending it off.

It'll probably be awhile before I hear whether or not my entry made it into the 'shorts' category that I entered it in, but in the meantime I thought I could share the revamped version with you. Enjoy!

Universal Studios Backlot Tour in 2004

After hearing about the fire at Universal Studios Hollywood on June 1, 2008 I decided to go through some of the footage I shot during the backlot tour in 2004. 

A lot of what I captured during the backlot tour has now been destroyed by that fire. Most notable in this video, the New York streets, King Kong and the buildings surrounding the Back to the Future courthouse (with the exception of the courthouse itself) have been lost.

Universal Studios Hollywood Fire

You've likely heard about it by now, but if you haven't, there was a significant fire at Universal Studios Hollywood on Sunday June 1, 2008. It reportedly destroyed 3 city blocks of the backlot, including portions of the famous courthouse location from Back to the Future and the famous animatronic King Kong exhibit. There are several conflicting reports about the courthouse, but it now seems that it was the square in front of it that was destroyed, and the courthouse building itself was only partially damaged but is still standing. The Universal park website shows the extent of the backlot effected (see the map). On top of this, somewhere between forty to fifty thousand film reels were burnt in one of the studios' vaults.

No doubt all this damage has taken it's toll on the theme park, but Universal Studios is still remaining open with some obvious revisions to the tram tour.

I guess what strikes me most about all this is that these portions that were destroyed were some of the quintessential Universal landmarks. They've been the scenes used to advertise the park for years and now they're in shambles. The news footage looks just like the blockbusters you'd expect to be shot there. It's quite sad.

Here is my video of Universal Studios that I shot in 2004. It includes the New York portions of the backlot, the Back to the Future scene and the animatronic King Kong which are now either seriously damaged or completely gone.

For more news on the Universal fire click here.