OT - "Cowboys" wins Florida Choice award

vicmilt wrote on 8/18/2006, 4:52 PM

Since many of you are a part of my "family", allow me to proudly announce our first "win".
"Cowboys of Florida" - shot with a Sony PD170, PD150, Digi 8, VX1000 and Canon GL2 has just won it's first official award, the "Florida Choice" in the Independents Film Festival.

We have also placed as a finalist in the Palm Beach International Film festival and have been officailly selected for screening at the Bluegrass Film Festival and the Ole Muddy Film Festival.

We edited the movie entirely in Vegas and scored it with ACID, as well as some original music (some even by the esteemed Douglas Spotted Eagle).

I post this to encourage ALL of you to get out there, shoot, edit, animate and just have fun making movies. Then enter your best work in festivals - you may be surprised to find that you're a winner, too.

But if you don't shoot - you can't win.
And in truth, you don't need to win a festival to be a winner in this most wonderful of artistic pursuits.

Go group! The weekend is here. Take out the camera and do just one "new" shot. The rest will follow.

best,
v

Comments

fldave wrote on 8/18/2006, 6:20 PM

Congrats, Vic.

Thanks for your continued inspiration.

ForumAdmin wrote on 8/18/2006, 6:21 PM

Awesome news on Cowboys VM!

randy-stewart wrote on 8/18/2006, 7:03 PM

Great news, congrats Victor. First of many I'm sure. Best wishes for future festivals.
Randy

Serena wrote on 8/18/2006, 7:05 PM

A good production that deserves to do well. Hope you pull a lot more awards. Thanks for keeping us in touch with its progress. Always think of that cowboy continuing to work with a broken leg -- guess we classify him as "keen".

Serena

farss wrote on 8/18/2006, 7:26 PM

Congratulations.
A win not only for Victor but also for the little known Cowboys of Florida. So much is vanishing, is there enough time left to capture it for posterity.

Bob.

jrazz wrote on 8/18/2006, 7:51 PM

Congratulations Vic. I wish you the best. I might just have to pick me up a copy of the DVD- If I was closer to Florida, I would have driven a couple hours to see the opening, but a drive over 12 hours... well, I'm sure you understand :) Anyways, keep us abreast of what is to come.

j razz

Grazie wrote on 8/18/2006, 10:43 PM

Excellent Vic!

I always hear your enthusiasm in your postings and you continue to influence and "nudge" me to make further advances.

What plans for future projects? Will you be entering "Cowboys" in any other State-side compos? I hear the Cannes, in France, has "other" categories too?

mjroddy wrote on 8/19/2006, 12:58 AM

Big-Time Congratulations, Vic!
I'm looking forward to checking it out!!!

Spot|DSE wrote on 8/19/2006, 3:27 AM

Well-deserved, Victor! Major congrats. I'm very proud of the print from your film that is hanging in my home, and love to tell people the story. Now I've got more to add to the saga.
Congrats!!

JohnnyRoy wrote on 8/19/2006, 8:07 AM

Congratulations Vic!!! It’s great to see one of our own getting recognized. Well deserved.

~jr

epirb wrote on 8/19/2006, 8:15 AM

Major Kudos my friend, Sorry we missed each other while you were on this side of the state yesterday we could have Celebrated!
But there will be time for that soon enough.
Truly well deserved for a Great Film,
I'm sure more awards to come.
E

vicmilt wrote on 8/19/2006, 10:46 AM

Thanks all for your kind words -

I will continue to post the "movement" of this particular project in an effort to get many "wannabe's" out there and shooting. This particular project was "self-started" and self-financed... for very little cash outlay, just like you can do.

In fact the only real expenses were travel to Central Florida (a couple of hour drive for me), a couple of overnight stays in the Holiday Inn (for those pre-dawn setups) and food. Oh yeah we spent a few hundred bucks for tape (bought at Target), but that was over a two year period. I own a camera, just like you. I edit in Vegas, just like you.

There's no excuse for you to not get out there and do something - and no reason that you can't win a prize and be in the running to actually sell your film. Look around YOUR town. Something is going on even in the most boring of places. Believe me, Arcadia Florida is in most ways, the end of the earth. But I found a movie there.

Next month I've been invited to screen for the Governor of Florida and a hundred major political players in Tallahassee. There is talk about grants and funding to expand my 36 minute film to an hour and to "upgrade" it to HDV.

All this started as a "fun" project. I just went out and asked around if I could shoot some cowboy activities in the small town that my wife grew up in. It gave me something to do while she was visiting with her mom. After that, it sort of took on a life of it's own. After that, my brother, my son, and my best friend (cameramen all) said, "Hey Cowboys! Can we come shoot too?? Sure! Bring your camera - that's why we've got that mix. Some of the most beautiful footage was shot on my son's Sony Digi 8.
I'd get back from a day's shooting and spend a week cutting "stuff". I'd show it to friends and at parties. Fun!
It took two and a half years of occasional weekend shooting to get the footage I needed to cut the film that I've got now.

But it was all fun with a capital "F". No one was worrying about money or contests or anything but the thrill of shooting. Now it's just rolling along - we'll see what happens, and I'll keep you all posted on this very "real world" project.

You can do it too. I've got dozens of letters from folks just like some of you, who read a post in this forum, or attended one of my lectures, or saw my instructional DVD's - took courage and started their own personal projects. (You know who you are). They wrote here on this site, and to me personally and we (the Vegas community) helped encourage them and gave (and continue to give) advice on everything from editing, to scripts, to selling, to shooting, to ... well everything.

That's what it's about.

Get off your butt. Shoot something.

v