Burien-area filmmaker Steve Edmiston (Writer/Director of “The Day My Parents Became Cool“) has doubled up with two films premiering at the prestigious Seattle International Film Festival, including his latest work “The Spy and the Sparrow,” which will premiere at 9pm tonight (Wed. June 10th).

Edmiston’s short comedy (and his directorial bow), “The Day My Parents Became Cool,” made its Northwest premiere at SIFF on Sunday, May 31st, at the SIFF Cinema (Nesholm Family Lecture Hall. Then, SIFF hosts the world premiere of “The Spy and the Sparrow,” a feature length spy thriller with an A-list Hollywood cast that Edmiston wrote and co-produced, tonight (Wed. 6/10) at 9pm (SIFF Cinema), as well as on Saturday, June 13th at 11am at the Egyptian (801 East Pine Street, Seattle).

“The Day My Parents Became Cool” is a 17-minute comedy about a group of teenagers who wake up one morning to find that adults have co-opted teen fashion, complete with tattoos, body piercings and sagging jeans. The film was named “Best Short Comedy” at the recent International Family Film Festival in Los Angeles, world premiered at the Sedona International Film Festival, just screened at the Big Island Film Festival, and was selected to open the Prescott Film Festival. The film has a unique local pedigree – it features nearly 150 public high school students (both in front and behind the camera) from seven high schools in Highline and Federal Way school districts (see our previous, extensive coverage here).

“We wanted to bring an arts experience to students who are suffering the loss of their access to art at school. What we never anticipated is the degree to which the community would jump on board the project – we had two cities, arts commissions, county officials, private businesses and individuals – all saying ‘yes’ to nearly whatever we needed to bring this project to the kids,” said Edmiston. “Sharing the film at SIFF is a very big deal – most of the kids haven’t seen it yet and have no idea how wonderful they are in the film.”

The Spy and the Sparrow is directed by award-winning and Seattle-based Garrett Bennett. Edmiston scripted the character-driven thriller about the deep devotion and repressed love that reunites a retired CIA deep cover operative and his estranged daughter following two decades of separation. The film features perhaps the finest cast ever assembled for an independent film produced entirely in Seattle, including Academy Award Nominee Eric Roberts (The Dark Knight, Heroes), David Rasche (Burn After Reading, Flags of Our Fathers), Elisabeth Rohm (Law & Order, The Mentalist), and Chad Lindberg (CSI: NY, The Rookie, The Fast and the Furious).

The film is described as a “sly and surprising,” and is part of “unprecedented lineup of work by local filmmakers,” says SIFF Artistic Director Carl Spence. “These films are an important testament to the burgeoning Seattle filmmaking community and give Northwest audiences another way to find the unexpected in extraordinary films that enrich us all.”

Now in its 35th year, the Seattle International Film Festival is the largest and most highly-attended film festival in the United States, showcasing more than 400 films from over 60 countries to an audience of 150,000 attendees annually. Listed by Variety as one of the world’s “50 unmissable film festivals,” SIFF continues to be recognized as one of the top festivals in North America.

Here’s a scene from “The Spy and the Sparrow“:

We first broke the news about an original short comedy film being made in the area last June, then did reports from the set, at the sneak peek screening, and now we get official word that the world premiere for “The Day My Parents Became Cool” is set for the Sedona International Film Festival on Wednesday, February 25.

A second showing—on the festival’s biggest day—will be Saturday, February 28.

The film was written and directed by local filmmaker Steve Edmiston, a lawyer-turned-filmmaker, and here’s the well-produced trailer – see if you recognize any of the locations used:

The short has also been selected by the International Family Film Festival, and will play there on Thursday, Feb. 26th and Sunday March 1st in Hollywood.

“The Day My Parents Became Cool” is a comedic short about a group of teenagers who wake up one morning to find that adults have adopted teen fashion, complete with tattoos, body piercings, sagging jeans and lots of ‘tude. Edmiston describes the film as “Ferris Beuller’s Day Off meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”

Patrick Schweiss, Executive Director of the Sedona International Film Festival, says “I was HOWLING through it (especially having an 11-year-old and 7-year-old myself)…I could totally relate.”

Some other reviews of the film we found on the film’s website (including our very own…):

“… a slick-looking comedy that goes beyond image and explores how parents and their kids relate..”
- Richard Seven, The Seattle Times

“…a cute, family-safe comedy about high school students’ reactions when all grown-ups (including parents and teachers) suddenly change their looks and personalities to rival that of the most outrageously-dressed teen. Solidly acted and directed, with a fun script, great original music, all beautifully shot in HD…”
- Scott Schaefer, B-Town Blog

“… a bizarre world where all of the adults on the entire planet have literally “become cool” and desire to look and act just like their teenage kids, which provides both comedy and horror.”
- Steve Clare, Prost Amerika Film

“…the story of a cosmic catastrophe that causes all adults on the planet to become “cool,” adopting teen fashion and body image… high school students are more than just another brick in the wall.”
- Lynsi Burton, Seattle Post Intelligencer

More than 100 students from Highline, Mount Rainier, and Federal Way high schools were involved with the movie as extras, script consultants, and production assistants. A band formed by Federal Way high school students composed and recorded music for the movie’s soundtrack.

The movie was shot at Highline High School in Burien and a home in Normandy Park.

The Day My Parents Became Cool was made on an extremely low budget, funded by contributions from community members and grants from King County 4Culture, the City of Burien and the Federal Way Arts Commission.

“This film literally started out as an idea for a neighborhood home movie for my daughters, but the script quickly turned into a much larger idea,” says Edmiston.  “We couldn’t have stepped up to a project of this size without the support of the schools, the cities, and local arts community.”

Other films written by Steve Edmiston include The Spy and the Sparrow and A Relative Thing. For more information about The Day My Parents Became Cool, go to www.thedaymyparentsbecamecool.com.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

• “The Day My Parents Became Cool” Sneak Peeks
• “The Day My Parents Became Cool” Production Update
• Report & Photos From Highline High Movie Set
• Your Chance To Be In A Movie This Saturday

Locally-shot and produced short film “The Day My Parents Became Cool,” which we first reported on during its filming at Highline High School in late June had a sneak preview on Sunday, Dec. 7th and the B-Town Blog was there, along with nearly 300 other invited guests (including cast members, parents, production crew and more):

Our review of the 16-minute film is positive – it’s a cute, family-safe comedy about high school students’ reactions when all grown-ups (including parents and teachers) suddenly change their looks and personalities to rival that of the most outrageously-dressed teen.

Solidly acted and directed, with a fun script, great original music, all beautifully shot in HD mostly in and around Highline High School and a home in Normandy Park, “The Day My Parents Became Cool” has the potential to not only make it to several short film festivals, but to possibly be optioned (and re-made) into a feature-length motion picture.

If you’re wondering when and where you can see it, be patient – the goal now is to get it into as many film festivals as possible, which means it can’t be shown locally until then. Rest assured, The B-Town Blog will keep you updated as to its progress in 2009, and we’re certain there will be a screening in the Burien area sometime soon.

Written and Directed by area resident Steve Edmiston, the film’s plot is (according to its website):

The Day My Parents Became Cool is a short comedy that arises from the battleground conflict between parents and their rebellious teenaged children everywhere — fashion and body image.

The Day My Parents Became Cool is a modern, comic, costume drama — and every teen’s worst nightmare — creating a brave new world where adults, for inexplicable, perhaps cosmic, reasons, simultaneously adopt every teen trend in attire and body image.

The Day My Parents Became Cool tells the story of what one small group of teenagers do when every outward manifestation of their “rebelliousness” has been co-opted by . . . the enemy.

High School student Paige and her middle-school sister Madison drift off to sleep one night after being chastised by their conservative parents for staying up late on a school night, completely mesmerized by the classic film, “The Day the Earth Stood Still.”

The next day, Paige discovers the horror: inexplicably, both her parents are dressing for the day in clothing identical to that she sees in school. Her mother has super-tight jeans, with a thong extending up over her hips; her father pulls his suit pants down below his butt, exposing his white boxers. What Paige thinks is a lame Dr. Phil reverse-psychology stunt turns out to be a much bigger problem. At school, every adult — every teacher, coach and even the principal are in full-on teenage apparel mode. Hip hop, Goth, Emo, Gangster, Preppy — tattoos, piercings, thongs, sagging jeans. And acting like nothing is out of the ordinary.

When Paige and her friends learn the problem is worldwide, they band together and begin to fight back. First they try their own brand of reverse psychology; then they try to lead the adults down a completely alternative path of “cool.” Nothing works.

When Paige learns the REAL reason that the adults have suddenly lost all sense of taste and conservatism, it becomes clear that there is only one course of action.

Abandon all forms of manifested rebelliousness and individuality to the adults.

And start anew.

Quick update from area resident Steve Edmiston, the Writer/Director behind “The Day My Parents Became Cool,” which we reported on during its filming at Highline High School in late June:

“We’re about one week from being ready to begin the film festival submission process.  Of course, we (as everyone in this business is compelled to do, down to our DNA) will send the film to Sundance!  Of course, our festival strategy does not plan on Sundance, and we anticipate that in 2009 we will screen at as many as 30 festivals around the world.  In Washington, we will seek to share the film at terrific festivals in Port Townsend, Bainbridge Island, Tacoma, Olympia, and of course, the Seattle International Film Festival.

It’s cool!

We WILL be scheduling some free test screenings in the Burien/Des Moines/Federal Way areas.  I will keep YOU posted!

Now, you know that I’m biased, but I think the film turned out wonderfully!  One of the fun things (strangely) is the credit roll, because it is LONG – and what I mean by that, it reflects a huge outpouring of support from our local communities – including the City of Burien, Highline Public Schools, Highline High School, Federal Way Arts Commission, King County 4Culture, Des Moines Rotary, local businesses, 150 high school and middle school kids, parents, volunteers – it just goes on and on.”

As always, we’ll keep you posted on the progress of this locally-created and produced film, so stay tuned!

by Janet Grella

Burien resident Carolyn Rosenfield stopped by our B-Town Blog booth at the Farmers’ Market last week to tell us about a documentary film about her great-great grandfather, Samuel Ullman.

Documentary filmmaker Judith Schaefer details his life, as well as the impact of a poem he wrote, on the re-building of Japan after World War II in a one-hour film entitled “So Long Are You Young.”

As a child, Samuel Ullman settled in the southern United States before the Civil War with his family, comprised of German-born Jewish immigrants. After a life spent in a variety of fields, including as a soldier in the Civil War, merchant, rabbi, philosopher and community activist, Mr. Ullman turned to writing poetry in his final years.

“Youth” was written in 1917 when he was 77.

“Youth” came into the possession of General Douglas MacArthur, whose framed display of it deeply impressed Japanese visitors to his Tokyo office at the close of WWII. Subsequently spread across the then-broken nation, the poem inspired a generation of Japanese desperate for hope. Today, prominent Japanese businessmen still cite its influence.

Well-known in Japan, this little known American poem has been quoted by Ann Landers, Dear Abby, and both the American (1945), and Japanese (1946) Readers Digests. It was a favorite of Sen. Robert Kennedy, and was quoted by Sen. Ted Kennedy at the eulogy of his slain brother.

This compelling documentary was premiered at the Vancouver Film Festival in 2007. Carolyn is hoping to show it at Seattle’s’ Jewish Film Festival. If you have a group that would like to see this film, please contact us by email here.

Here’s the poem, “Youth” by Samuel Ullman:

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.

Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love of ease.  This often exists in a man of sixty more than a body of twenty.  Nobody grows old merely by a number of years.  We grow old by deserting our ideals.

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.  Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.

Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing child-like appetite of what’s next, and the joy of the game of living.  In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the Infinite, so long are you young.

When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at twenty, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch the waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at eighty.

And here’s an MP3 of a reading of it:
[display_podcast]

by Scott Schaefer

Previously we broke news about a local filmmaker shooting a movie at Highline High School, and now we’ve just learned of another area auteur – a local Director/Producer named Frank Oliver who is seeking donations and locations from area residents and businesses for his upcoming film production “The War of the Grandmas.”

The film’s plot:

“War of the Grandmas” is a family-fun-packed, independent comedy – half live action and half cartoon animation.

This is a screwball comedy in the vein of “Grumpy Old Men,” but with women.

PATTY, a sixty-something frugal tomboy, reigns as queen of her cul-de-sac until an arch enemy from her past – flirty, glamorous ROSE, also in her sixties – invades Patty’s territory and the queen declares war. The grannies fight the only way they know how – over a man. But when the old gals try to bring their twenty-something granddaughters into the fray, the young gals decide it’s time to teach the old gals a lesson: A woman does not need a man to make her happy! (Or does she?)

Oliver, 33, of Boulevard Park, is seeking local sponsors, including residents and businesses, to help defray some of the film’s $15,000 budget. His intent is to film and edit a six-minute scene, then promote that at film markets in the next year or so in hopes of turning it into a full-length feature film.

“I’m trying to get the community involved, as this is a great opportunity for locals to help create a fun and entertaining project,” Oliver said as he took a break from his regular day job as a Construction Inspector. “I’ve received a grant from the Northwest Film Forum, but we’re still in need of funds to pay actors and crew.”

We spoke with Oliver on the phone recently, and found him to be a very passionate and ambitious man. We know personally that making a feature-length movie is a huge undertaking, and we admire his goals and passion.

From Texas originally, Oliver has been in the Northwest for six years.

“I moved up here for a variety of reasons, one of which is that I was inspired by the WTO riots,” he said. “I love activism, and am also a huge fan of the artistic and independent spirit of the region, which I love.”

Oliver is currently seeking:

• Access to locations in exchange for product placement in the film; specifically three houses situated next to each other, perhaps in a cul-de-sac, to serve as the movie’s major location
• Donate money (any amount, even minor)
• Visit the website, download the flyers, and post at their workplace/social activities
• Everyone is welcomed to audition for the cast or participate as crew

Here’s his self bio:

Frank is creative, resourceful, and entrepreneurial. He helped manage the family business while still attending high school and learned about taking calculated risks and surrounding himself with talented people to help achieve a goal. He founded a non-profit dance organization in Texas and taught swing and lindy hop to inner city youth. Frank is socially conscientious and passionate about social and economic justice. When he relocated to WA, he joined the union construction trades and actively helped organize and educate others about the struggles and gains of the labor movement. Frank enjoys cinema and aspires to be much like Ken Loach, the filmmaker, and serve the people through his art. Frank hopes to achieve credibility as a director by successfully completing the “The War of the Grandmas” production and attracting well-versed writers to collaborate with him on docudramas and films of social commentary.

We encourage all our BTB Readers, and anyone who enjoys supporting the arts, to visit the “War of the Grandmas” website, and consider volunteering their location(s) and/or time, as well as making a donation to the film.

Rest assured, the B-Town Blog will keep you posted on the progress of this creative endeavor as things develop.

Hey, all filmmakers have to start somewhere, right?

We remember our first movie, made with Dad’s Super-8 camera in the basement, using only the heads of our sister’s Barbie Dolls.

With that disclaimer in mind, here’s a new (and apparently a first-attempt), stop-motion locally-produced “film” made using only “Mom & Dad’s camera,” Lego Star Wars toys and imagination (and patience – these things take a long time!) of Burien resident Ethan Busse, called “A Small and Deadly War”: