Dealing with What Brings us Down
Here is a recent video we completed for Brentwood Church in Lynchburg. The thematic trailer previews the five part series and plays right before the sermon.
Road Trip Producer Goes Hollywood
Our friend Dan Portnoy, co-producer and star of The Great American Road Trip, moves to Las Angeles this week. He’ll be working as a producer on The Sold Project, but if you know him you know he also has a thousand other things up his sleeve.
The bad news is, Road Show will likely not happen this spring. The good news is we have a wing man in LA who will be working his network like a crazy man. The Route 66 Road Trip is still in the talks, as well as several other ideas. So we hope we’ll be working with him again soon.
Good luck in LA, Dan!
24 Hour Film Festival
It’s 6:40 am and we’ve been up all day making a movie for ChristianFilmmakers.org’s 24 Hour Video contest. We wrote, shot, and edited this film in roughly 23 hours. Enjoy!
UPDATE: Our film won third place. Check out the results here.
Watch the film here: Read more
Film Day!
We produced this short video with Superhero Pictures to promote Film Day, an event in Richmond hosted by the Virginia Production Alliance. Film Day promotes tax incentives for more movies to film in Virginia.
Check out the video here: Read more
Movie of the Month: I AM LEGEND
I have to admit that when I saw I Am Legend back in December, I wasn’t expecting anything more than to be entertained by Will Smith one-liners and zombies getting their heads blown off. But I was surprised at the amount of depth the film had to offer.
The following is not a review, but an analysis of two qualities we like about this film (qualities that we appreciate and try to incorporate into our own work). There are some spoilers ahead, so if you haven’t seen the film, I would recommend not reading this yet.
As renowned screenwriting teacher Robert McKee points out, stories are a metaphor for life. Beyond I Am Legend’s obvious entertainment value, one of the reasons we love this film so much is because of the profound metaphors it offers on the condition of mankind. Read more
The Road Trip Traveling Road Show
This spring, The Road Trip crew will hit the road again. The Traveling Road Show will be a collaboration of sorts, teaming the Road Trip crew with other independent filmmakers, as well as some of the bands from the soundtrack, in an effort to create a larger audience. Check out the official announcement over at The Great American Road Trip.
Introducing the Movie of the Month
We like movies. Occasionally a film will move us in such a way as portrayed in the above photo. These movies inevitably lead to a thoughtful discussion about the kind of films we want to make, and the themes and styles that make them so powerful.
The so creatively titled “Movie of the Month” is designed to point out such films. These monthly picks are the movies that resonate with us, that best capture the spirit of Abandon Films. Thought provoking films full of meaning and intention. It’s not exactly a review as much as it is a recommendation.
Contribute to the Discussion
These are the movies we feel are worth talking about, so we hope to discuss them with you. Leave comments. Tell us your thought on the film. What you loved. What you hated. Accuse us of looking too deep. Or being too shallow.
January’s Movie of the Month will be revealed in the next few days.
Currently in Development: Winter 2008
Route 66: The Great American Road Trip - Currently in talks.
Binding - A short film in the tradition of “The Twilight Zone”.
Short Films - Be looking for some shorts from us this year, including a one minute movie called Laptop, a launch of our “Films for Church” series, and an animated short produced with our friend Alan Conode.
AbandonFilms.com - Visual Media Infused with Meaning
Today, January 1st 2008, Abandon Films reclaims its internet presence at AbandonFilms.com and launches with a new mission—to create meaningful visual media.
The purpose of this blog is to connect new and existing fans with the culture, hear-beat, and vision of Abandon Films.
Here are some of the things you will be finding here in the days to come:
- A monthly “Behind the Scenes” post giving you an inside look at AF productions
- News on current projects and other related subjects
- A growing archive of short films, videos, and production stills
- A “Movie of the Month” - a review of a selected film that reflects the creative values of AF
- Posts from AF producers Justin Snyder, Justin Rossbacher, and Won Novalis
The Great American Road Trip
In June 2007, Abandon Films hit the road with Dan Portnoy of The Portnoy Media Group to see the people and places of their own back yard. Join them on their journey across Virginia and North Carolina in these five online webisodes. Watch them at the official Great American Road Trip Website.