Festivals

MUFFIN MAN FILM FESTIVALS:

There are "underground" film festivals, and then there's P.U.F.F. - The Portland Underground Film Festival, arguably one of the smallest and most interesting film festivals going.  "What does it mean, exactly, to be an 'underground' film?" asks Marc Mohan, reporter for The Oregonian.  "The adjective conjures images of earnest artistic endeavor, intent on subverting the dominant paradigm or at least challenging some basic principles of narrative, cinema or both."

"The most professional-looking feature on display this weekend," Marc goes on to say, "will be Seattleite Jessica Eisner's Muffin Man, a humorous satire on American overconsumption. It's gross-out humor, often at the expense of fat people, but with a potent underlying message."

The Wild Rose Film Festival is described as "A Celebration of Independent Film and Video Production" - and the producers of Muffin Man were celebrating mightily when they were nominated for a record six awards: Best Director of a Feature Film, Best Production Design, Best Costumes and Make-Up, Best Visual Effects, Best Feature Film, and Best Debut Film.  Says James Serpento, Production Manager of the festival, "Personally, I find the film most interesting at a stylistic level; I appreciate its links to Brecht, Anouilh, John Waters. It's a daffy, energetic mix."  He goes on to say, "I like its audacity, I think many of the performances are charming - especially that of Michelle Porras, and there was obvious hard work put into creating the film's world."

Galesburg, IL - October 1 - 3, 2004

The Galesburg Civic Art Center selected Muffin Man for the 2004 Black Earth Film Festival, showing at the beautiful Orpheum Theater in Historic Galesburg, Illinois.  This small festival has attracted an increasing amount of attention with it's selection of "off beat" movies - and Muffin Man is as off beat as they come!

Frederick, MD - September 17 - 19, 2004

Muffin Man was awarded two Judges Awards at the Frederick Festival of Film! The judges have given Muffin Man the Outstanding Stylistic Achievement Award and Outstanding Overall Achievement Award, the highest award in the festival. "Muffin Man's overall score was 52 out of 60 points and came very close to winning the other 3 categories as well," said TJ Grable, Logistics Director at the Frederick Festival of Film.

The Frederick Festival of Film was created in 2002 as a subsidiary of the Frederick Festival of the Arts, with a mission is to promote film, video and digital independent moviemaking in the greater Frederick and mid-Atlantic region. The Festival organizers are independent filmmakers, multi-media professionals, actors, and film aficionados. The Frederick Festival of the Arts is an established regional arts event that attracts 20,000 visitors each year, which got off to an impressive start in 2002. The Frederick Festival of Film is proud to include Muffin Man in it's 2004 lineup!

 Atlanta, GA - August 25 - 31, 2004

Pickle Tub Productions has been notified that Muffin Man will be featured at the Atlanta Underground Film Festival (AUFF). AUFF is "on a mission to expose and promote the many innovative yet underrepresented film/video artists who continuously break the boundaries of self expression. These artists yearn for a voice in a market which is typically saturated with commercial entertainment designed for the masses".  Wow, sounds like a perfect fit for Muffin Man!  We're packing up our bags, and heading south!

Oak Ridge, TN - June 24-27, 2004

Secret City Film Festival founder Keith McDaniel has included Muffin Man in the festival lineup, to be held at the American Museum of Science and Energy June 24th through the 27th.  The festival takes it's name from the city in which it is being held - Oak Ridge, Tennessee.  Oak Ridge was one of America's secret cities in the 1940s and was instrumental in developing the atomic bomb for the Manhattan Project of the US government. Today, Oak Ridge is one of the world's leading scientific research and technology centers. The film festival will take place the same weekend as the city's Secret City Festival which will include a variety of activities for participants.

Flint, MI - June 4-6, 2004

The Greater Flint Arts Council in Flint Michigan held three screenings of Muffin Man at the Flint Film Festival, June 4th through 6th in Flint, Michigan.  During the festival there were screenings of the entries, special speakers, and seminars. "We have been planning this festival for approximately nine months, and the Arts Council is excited to work with Mott Community College and film makers," stated Greg Fiedler, Executive Director of the Greater Flint Arts Council, "It was truly an educational experience for people attending the event."

"You've got a polarizing movie there, don't you?", said Stephen "Max" Vincent, Program Director.  "Among the folks that I talked to about Muffin Man, there were no 'undecided'. They either really loved it, or found it disgusting.  Probably divided around 50-50. It was easily the most controversial movie in the competition, but we were very happy to have it."

"I'll be very surprised if you don't find distribution for Muffin Man, provided you find a company that is used to 'edgier' material," added Max.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa - April 3, 2004

Muffin Man was accepted as an "official selection" at the Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival, and we are happy to announce that the judging panel awarded Muffin Man the coveted "Eddy Award" for first place in the category of Master Narrative Feature.  "We all really loved the movie," said festival co-founder Scott Chrisman, "I think we've probably watched it ten times at least, and we keep seeing little details that we had missed before."

Aspen, CO - March 3, 2004

Muffin Man Executive Producer David Workman was invited to be a guest speaker at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, sponsored by HBO.  Workman's talk, "The Last Pixel Show: Windows Media 9 in Digital Cinema" used Muffin Man as a case study to illustrate the cost benefits and quality of digital cinema.  The talk covered capture and encoding issues, as well as HD playback, multi-channel audio, Digital Rights Management, and took an in-depth look at the equipment requirements and costs associated with transitioning movie theaters from film to digital projection.  "It's amazing," said longtime film buff and technical director of the HBO Comedy Fest, Jon Busch, "the best looking image in the whole festival is coming off a damn computer!"