MADA AWARD (part 2)
I got to pick up my MADA award the other day. This is what it looks like….just needed to share with someone.
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Blog Authors
Ravi SteveRavi Steve is Director/Producer Based in Toronto, Canada. His latest film, REMIX-TO-RIO is an award winning one hour Documentary about young people fixing their corners of the world.
REMIX-TO-RIO
REMIX-to-RIO is a one hour documentary about young people making a difference. The film follows Canada’s most innovative youth outreach organization, The Remix Project, to the toughest favelas in Rio de Janeiro as they test their revolutionary outreach model on some of today’s most “unreachable” youth. http://www.remixtorio.com/BRANTFORD FEST
Branford Film Festival is awesome. Seriously. Awesome. Which was a total fucking surprise.
I don’t mean to hate on Brantford, I had never even been there before. And beside it being the birth place of Gretzky, I knew nothing about it. As a result, I expected very little from them. They are a little festival in their first year in a small town an hour outside Toronto. To be quite honest as I sat in the park out front before my screening I was certain that the whole place was going to be empty.
Well, I was wrong. The Brantford peeps knocked it out of the park. Everything from tickets and programs to the atmosphere and the turn out was great. Maybe I am blushing a bit because my screening went over well but I gotta say it was a great experience.
If you are looking to screen at a small but very supportive fest then keep this one on your radar.
If you are close to the area you really need going to this fest as on of your to-dos for next year.
The fest also was pretty surprising with the quality of films the brought in, I’m Still Here, Sounds Like A Revolution, Antarctica Challenge: A Global Warning and a stack of great shorts.
The venue choices may have been the odd point of the festival but even that made me love the fest even more. I mean where else can you watch a film where a character snorts coke of a hooker’s breasts and talks about wanting to sniff their bum holes-IN A CHURCH.
Brantford fest, I like your style.
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NEW TRAILER
http://www.vimeo.com/15791046
Please take a look at the latest trailer for REMIX-to-RIO.
Cutting a trailer is tricky. And by “tricky” I mean really fucking agonizing and painful. It is especially difficult after you cut the whole film. There is an old rule that the person who cuts the film should never cut the trailer. Normally I like to give the middle finger to old rules but that one makes a lot of sense to me. Well, maybe one day when I have kazillion people willing to help…or even one… I’ll give that advice a little more credence. But when it is a one man army, I make due.
In any case, I have trailer that I cut ages ago (before the film was even finished) so I decided to go a little more cinematically heavy handed with this one. The idea is to get the pint across in a way that might appeal to an audience that is slightly audience than the one I have been focused on.
I like the results and hope you do too. The music is a bit loud on some speakers but that was intentional. I tested it out on a bunch of different machines, laptops, imac, bose systems and phones. This mix was one that split the difference the best for each device. What ever you watch it on…I hope it rocks.
Just a reminder to anyone who might be into it.
Upcoming screenings:
Brantford Film Festival Oct 15
Duke City DocFest Oct 10-15
Hamilton Film Festival Nov 5
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NEW POSTER….
I really have nothing to say right now except this is my new poster. Look at my my poster. Please. Wait, look at the poster AND go to the site… www.remixtorio.com Okay. That’s all….
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BRANTFORD FILM FESTIVAL
The film will get one if it’s final screenings before the the November 1st launch at the Brantford Film Festival. It is the first year that the festival is happening so there is not really all that much to say about it but…hey I’m super excited if for no other reason than I get to see the film on a big screen with an audience.
It is always a clinic on what you did right and more importantly what you did wrong when you are sitting in the dark with strangers watching something you created. I get really nervous but I love the experience. If you are out that way please swing by and say hello. I’ll be the guy in the back fidgeting in his seat….
I’ll try to snap some pics to post afterward.
Thanks for reading.
-rav-
REMIX-to-RIO
Friday October 15th
@ The Brantford Film Festival
ST. ANDREW’S 9:30pm
95 Darling Street
Brantford, ON
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HAMILTON FILM FEST!
Hello friends (and enemies), just a quick update: REMIX-to-RIO was just accepted into the Hamilton Film Festival!!! If you are in the Hammer or even near please drop by. I’ll be at the screening and always like to meet fellow filmmakers and enthusiasts.
Friday November 5th
9pm (Double Feature) $8.00
Anguished (37min)
Remix to Rio (60min)
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Do awards mean anything?
I’ll admit it. I’m not as much of an island as I’d like to be.
Fact is, I can take validation from the outside world and it can change my mood.
I thought of myself as above this type of behavior but I have to face it….i guess I am not as cool as I thought.
REMIX-to-RIO has been burning up the festival circuit. We have been accepted to 11 festivals and have won 3 awards. AND I KNOW…That doesn’t mean SHIT. The film would be the exact same even if no one would screen it and if it didn’t win any awards. But truthfully, I feel relieved that it has been recognized.
There is a part of me that has been trained to say FUCK YOU to outside influences and to take my self-worth from within…and I try to do this….but I would be lying if I did not admit that I was really fucking stoked that REMIX-to-RIO had won some awards and played a bunch of festivals…
So yeah. I guess I am not as cool as I thought. But, for now at least, I am okay with that….
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Blog ZERO.
http://www.vimeo.com/1043466Hello ALL!!! First off thanks for coming to visit! My name is Ravi Steve and I am the Director of REMIX-to-RIO. Let me tell you a bit about my film and why I made it.
I work in kids TV mostly. It’s how I make my rent and I love it. However, after a few years of working on shows that sugar coat reality and make stars out of characters with questionable depth, I craved more.
While on set I made friends with a like-minded individual who offered to introduce me to a group of young people who he thought were quite amazing. These young people were The Remix Project.
When I showed up at The Remix Project I really had no idea what to expect.
Their space was amazing. 3000sqfeet of teen dream. A fully decked out recording studio, a media arts centre with a dozen macs, a video editing suite, kitchen, bathroom boardroom….the works. It was unreal.
Then I met the “kids” behind the operation…
While waiting to meet the head of the organization I ended up talking with some skinny white dude who seemed to be just hanging around. He was smart, funny witty and welcoming. The thing I remember most about him was his ability to speak with me without any pretense in the world. He was incredibly direct. But in a refreshing and approachable way. This skinny white kid turned out to be Gavin Sheppard the Remix Project founder.
Next I met an extremy rough, muscle bound dude with full tattoo sleeves. He spoke in deep urban hip-hop dialect and was pretty fucking intimidating. He was the real deal in terms of a hardcore hip-hop dude. This was Drex, the other founder of The Remix Project.
These guys are not what you expect in terms of two people running Canada’s most successful outreach organization. That said, it takes very little time in the presence of these guys to realize that you are in the presence of greatness.
I brought my camera with me that night and without asking I started to roll tape.
I soon started showing up at their offices with my camera and asking questions. They answered honestly and openly. Thhey had nothing to hide and were eager to share. I ended up putting together a short promo on the work they do called “What is REMIX”…
http://www.vimeo.com/779696The Video did well for them. After this video I was “in”. They were convinced I was “okay”. I could show up and film anything I wanted.
At this point I needed no more convincing. I knew all I needed to do was to point a camera at these amazing young people and I would get a great story.
Luckily, for once, I was right.
In Feb 2008, The remix Project traveled to Rio Brazil to test out their revolutionary outreach project in some of the most dangerous neighborhoods on earth.
REMIX-to-RIO is that story.
Please watch the trailer…
AND PLEASE VISIT THE SITE: http://www.remixtorio.com/ JOIN THE FACEBOOK GROUP: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=420474440194 AND ADD ME ON TWITTER: http://twitter.com/ravisteve
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