Osvaldo's will be a part of the NY Short Buzz Screening Series Thursday, May 3 at 7pm in the Legendary Nuyorican Poet's Cafe! The address is 236 East 3rd Street. There will be seven films screening and there is a $10 cover charge with the proceeds going to the Orphaned Starfish Foundation. You can find out more information about the charity at http://www.orphanedstarfish.org/. Please come out and enjoy the films!
WELCOME!
Hello and welcome to the brand new Pam's Son Productions website! I am beyond excited to finally have an official presence on the World Wide Web. I will keep the introduction short so you can view all that the site has to offer. My name is Randy Wilkins and I am a New York based filmmaker. I honed my craft at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and was raised professionally under Spike Lee and the legendary 40 Acres and A Mule Film Works. I have been fortunate to be a part of some wonderful projects as well as enjoy some exposure for my own work. My most accomplished film to date, "Osvaldo's," earned a broadcast deal with HBO and enjoyed numerous festival screenings and awards. I am currently developing my first feature script.
You will find my previous work as a director, cinematographer and editor in the left hand column. Each category of work is headlined by a tab with a list of titles. You will also find my bio, which features a downloadable PDF version of my resume. Two things that I am excited to share with you are the "Spotlight" and "Look Book" pages. The Spotlight will focus on an artist from the arts world including a sample of their work. It can be someone from film, music, photography, spoken word or the visual arts. The Look Book features inspirations, references and thoughts regarding my feature script. These two pages are in development, but will be available soon.
I hope you all enjoy the site and come back often. There will be an email subscription list available as well so please spread the word. Thank you for stopping by!
Homage to Bela (A Prelude...)
So I'm in the process of shooting another short film but this is going to be a little different from what I have done in the past. While I've been writing the feature for Osvaldo's, I have been itching to shoot something. You can't go too long without directing something if you want to improve on your craft; especially when it comes to directing. You have to keep your eye sharp, your ability to communicate through the camera must be refined and you have to remind yourself how to deal with people and various situations under pressure. The short I'm shooting is entitled "Homage to Bela...A Prelude." I'll break down the title for you. I saw a film by the great European director Bela Tarr and was inspired to do my own version of it. I thought his film captured a very specific reality of his country but in such a simple and powerful way. I was looking to do the same thing in terms of simple direction and camera work but containing an observation that is very specific to the issue of New York City. Bela's film is a great blueprint for me to accomplish that.
Gun violence amongst young men of color by men of color is very disturbing to me. What I find equally disturbing is the casual manner in which these incidents are received, processed and portrayed by everyday people and the media. People are desensitized to it. It is an accepted practice in our society now and that troubles me. This brings me to the second part of the title. Once Osvaldo's is done I am going to focus on my next project. I won't talk much about it now but it will be my take on gun violence in urban areas. It won't be some stereotypical bang bang hood classic thing, but rather an examination and indictment of all people involved: criminals, victims, community members, etc. I really want to put a mirror up to our collective faces regarding this topic. This short film is a prelude to the larger film. A trailer of sorts if you will. I'm really excited to get this film done.
Did I mention that it is a one shot, steadicam, 4-5 minute piece with a hundred (I hope) extras?! I'm always looking for ways to challenge myself and this is a new way to do that. It's gonna be fresh. I need extras. So hit me up if you wanna be a part of it. Did I mention that I was excited to do this?
Osvaldo's finally wins!
Osvaldo's is the winner of the Best Short Film Award at the 2010 Colorado Film Festival! This is our first win on the festival circuit and it is real nice to add this to the list of wonderful accomplishment the film has enjoyed. A big thank you to the cast and crew and all the supporters of the film.
My Movie Was Just on TV...And It Wasn't a DVD...IT WAS ON TV!!!
I am excited, shocked, overwhelmed, giddy, confused, motivated, scared, gassed, hungry, even less satisfied than I was before 11:15 pm on thursday february 4th, 2010 and also hurt. These are all the things that I am feeling at this very moment. I can't believe that our little film made it to the big little screen for all the country to see. Whether anybody outside of my friends and fb friends saw it is irrelevant. My family and I saw our hard work exhibited on television. Of course, you always dream big in whatever you do. You spend all this time trying to convince yourself that those dreams are gonna come true. Very few people are comfortable enough to tell you that more than not, those dreams aren't going to become reality. But for one night, I was able to live in a dream. I saw my name on tv. I saw my producer's name on tv. I saw my dp's name on tv. I saw my editor and production designer and my wonderful, talented and committed actors on tv. I saw my hard ass working and amazing crew's names on tv. We all got a chance to live a dream for a night. We were able to tell a story to an audience that may have never met a family like the Dominguez family. We told a story to an audience that may very well be the Dominguez family. We made an audience FEEL something. The small short film born from my heart, cultivated at NYU, inspired by the honesty of everyday living and executed by wonderful people lived a dream today. Now it's time to make the next dream a reality. P.S. I'm sorry if this makes no sense. I'm on cloud 9 right now and just blurted out anything that was in my head.
P.S.S. I'll explain the hurt in another post.
Osvaldo's at the Tribes Art Symposium
So, my wonderful friend, Lauren Drever, is an insanely gifted visual artist and sculptor. In addition, Lauren has traveled to the far corners of the world and has been able to merge those experiences with both her work and her personal charitable efforts. She has finally put together an event that will combine feature these two elements. On March 14th, Lauren will open the Tribes Art Show in her home city of San Francisco. I'm excited to announce that Osvaldo's will be a part of the lineup at the opening. The event will be supporting the Turtle Will and Koolinary non-profit organizations. For all event details, locations and information related to the non-profits please visit http://tribesartshow.com/. If you will be in the San Francisco area that weekend please stop by!
Osvaldo's at the 2009 Queens International Film Festival
What's up everyone? Osvaldo's will be screening at the 2009 Queens International Film Festival THIS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14TH AT 2PM at the Holiday Inn Manhattan View located on 39-05 29th Street in Long Island City in Queens. I apologize for such a late notice but I didn't get the screening information until recently. I hope some of you can make it out. Here is the link to buy tickets if you are interested: http://www.queensfilmfestival.com/films/detail.asp?fid=561 Thank you for all of the support so far for the film.
Osvaldo's in Boston Latino Film Festival
Osvaldo's is an official selection of the 2009 Boston Latino Film Festival! I am excited to be a part of the program and this makes the 6th out of 7th month that the film will be screening. This is our 8th festival so far. I am really humbled by the success and I hope there is more to come. If you are in the Boston area or know people in the boston area please come out. It will be screening on SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12TH AT 4:30 PM AT CAMBRIDGE COLLEGE LOCATED AT 1000 MASS AVE; STORE FRONT. I hope people can make it out. If there is more information I will pass it along. And just for the hell of it here is the trailer for the film: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWqB7KYQH2M&w=600&h=338]
Osvaldo's News
So I have a couple updates for all of you regarding Osvaldo's. The momentum is increasing and the exposure is expanding. So the updated news is:
- The film is an official selection of the Mid-Atlantic Black Film Festival in Norfolk, Virginia from September 16-19. I don't have word yet on the screening time yet but I will let you all know shortly.
- The film will be AVAILABLE IN ITS ENTIRETY ON BET.COM STARTING NEXT WEEK. Osvaldo's is one of ten films being featured by the Urbanworld Film Festival on the popular website. So if you aren't able to visit the festivals to see it on the big screen you can see it on your computer from next week on through december. This is a great opportunity for the film and everyone involved and I am humbled that Urbanworld and BET thought enough of it to be showcased in this manner. Its pretty exciting.
- I'm being featured on Spike Lee's production company's website www.40acres.com in the "featured filmmaker" section. Stop by there and check it out. Its exciting to be a part of it and I would like to thank Spike, Jason, Eden, Earl and everyone else over at 40 for giving me some shine. Sign up as a member so you can get updates on what Spike is doing.
- Finally, Osvaldo's will be a part of SHORTS PROGRAM 3 AT THE ORLANDO HISPANIC FILM FESTIVAL. For more information on that screening block visit www.ohfilmfestival.com. I will have the links to this festival, the mid-atlantic film festival and 40 acres' website in the links section so it is easier for you guys to check everything out.
Peace out.
Another Fantastic Screening of Osvaldo's
So yesterday was the encore screening of Osvaldo's at the HBO Latino International Film Festival. I have to say that it was a great success. The theater was almost filled to capacity and there were a lot of people on hand to show support. I had mentioned this before but I was really excited about this particular screening because I knew some of the cast and crew members were going to be in attendance to see how all of their hard work had paid off. It felt really good to see how proud and happy they all were when they finally saw the final piece. We all went through a lot to get it done and everyone involved did it out of support of my vision and their passion for film making. I was really happy to share it with them. We recevied a lot of positive feedback as well. Its always a little nerve racking when you are screening your work to people you don't know or people who have no idea what you do all day when you tell them you're a filmmaker. But in all honesty, I'm very confident in Osvaldo's and I know its a strong film so the nerves dissipate once the film begins. Its reassuring to know that you can make a strong film about a family and their trials and tribulations and people respond to it and appreciate it. I'm not big on gimmicky films or sensational kind of films. I just like to tell honest, emotional stories about everyday people. Its nice to see that audiences can connect to that and enjoy themselves at the same time. Things are looking up and I hope they continue that way.
Now let's hope we win an award tonight!
Another Big Day for Osvaldo's
So the NYC premiere of Osvaldo's went real well. To my surprise, there was a very good crowd there given the fact that we were screening at 3:30 on a thursday afternoon. There were about 6 or 7 films that screened in the block and Osvaldo's screened second to last which I think is always a good thing because I have this belief that many festival programmers will put what they believe to be stronger films towards the end of a screening block. In any case, the film was well received and people were definitely into it.
Today is the encore screening of the film and I can't front I'm real excited about it. I have a feeling a lot of people are going to come out and support the film. Its always great to have your film screen in front of a diverse audience who has no idea what they're getting into when the film first starts but by the end you've engaged them with your story. I'm expecting a lot of NYC love today and I can't wait. If you're reading this and you want to come through the screening is at CHELSEA CINEMAS ON 23RD STREET BETWEEN 7TH & 8TH AVENUES. The screening begins at 3:30p. You can purchase tickets at the ticket window. Check out the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWqB7KYQH2M
I'll be back later with how everything went today.
A Week Away...
So next wednesday is the beginning of the big event. There is still some work to be done on my end to make sure I'm ready for it. I'm currently in the process of putting the final touches on some flyers that we're making for the film and getting my new business cards ready as well. I don't plan to go overboard with the marketing for this particular festival because there are only five films in the competition and ABFF has done a fantastic job of marketing the event. The festival is well known and plenty of people are making the effort to come down and celebrate it so it shouldn't be too hard to get people in the seats to watch the film. After all, the screening of five films in one night makes it pretty simple as to when and where the film will be screened. If this was a different festival where there are 30 or 40 other short films playing that you really have to be aggressive in making sure people come to see your project. We are doing some things though to get the word out. Its all pretty exciting.
I'm still kinda in shock that this is happening. Of course when you make a film you have high expectations that it will succeed. But when you actually have significant experiences confirming that you made a piece of work that people appreciate, enjoy and recognize there isn't a much better feeling than that. And for your world premiere to occur in such a prestigious situation makes it even better. I just hope that people walk away from the film feeling something about the characters and what they go through. I also hope that I can take advantage of this great opportunity and really turn it into something. We'll see...
OSVALDO'S!!!
So I've been away for a while but I am back and there will be a lot of blog posts in the upcoming days and weeks mainly focusing on my film "Osvaldo's."
For those of you that don't know, "Osvaldo's" is my NYU thesis film and is a 20 minute drama focusing on the Dominguez family's challenging journey to discover their new collective identity after the matriarch has passed away. It stars Lemon Andersen, Gina Rodriguez, Maria Acosta, Jeff Lima and Dominic Colon.
"Osvaldo's" will be making its WORLD PREMIERE AT THE AMERICAN BLACK FILM FESTIVAL where it will be competing with four other fantastic short films in the HBO/ABFF Short Film Competition for the grand prize of $20,000 and the adulation of the entire planet Earth. I am really excited that the film will be making its premiere at such a prestigious and exciting event. The festival will be held in Miami June 24-27th. Please check out their website for all screening and ticket information - www.abff.com. You can also click the link at any time in my links section. If you're going to be in Miami please come through or if you're anywhere else and want to bug out on the beach and then see my fresh, dope, amazing film then let me know.
The film is also an official selection of the HBO Latino Film Festival which will be in New York City at the end of July. When I have more info on that I will post in on here.
Again, please come back regularly to the blog for all updates and info for the film. I will be doing a running diary kind of thing when I get down to ABFF so for those of you who won't be there you can live vicariously through me as I love vicariously through myself. I will also be uploading pictures from the set and all the events so check for those as well.
I'm really excited for the film and the opportunity to share it with all of you. We'll be talking again soon.
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