The Avenue picks up the "Best of Arizona Award" - a film by Tucson local Alan Williams

So the 20th Annual Arizona International Film Festival ended last night with a bang! One of our own, a Tucson local, gets the award for "Best of Arizona" and was the final screening at the screening room.

The film, "the avenue" does an absolutely fantastic and humorous job at showing how our own 4th Avenue here in Tucson has been able to survive that nasty corporate America thing that happens not only to historical districts all over the US, but even in the smallest urban areas. What I am talking about is when corporate steps in and ruins a place where people used to love hanging out because it was pure "Americana" and easy going. I saw this happen in Huntington Beach, CA on main street by the beach back in the late 80's. It really sucked. The whole character of the "old Beach Boys atmosphere" died and became overly commercialized.

Of course if you were to ask our Mayor, well, that's another story and well depicted in the film. In a nutshell, some people really are out of touch with reality. But I digress. Thanks to all the wonderful owners, vendors and people - it seems as though 4th Avenue will survive this type of takeover. At least for now. And after all, there is one corporate "friend" that has also stood by the 4th Avenue cause - Dairy Queen. :) Now I want some ice cream dang it!

the 20th Annual Arizona International Film Festival is now playing, and here is just one review....

UPDATE: You can see this movie again as it is being screened for a second time on Sunday, April 10, 6:30pm at The Screening Room in Tucson, AZ - woohoo!

So this last Saturday I went to go have a look at a film that was made right here in Tucson, by a resident native of Tucson , Jon Proudstar, that featured several of my friends as everything from cast to crew. In simple words: It was a real delight! Now I could sit here and talk about the film itself, but that is not the point of this writing. I will not review the film, but more the idea that such a film can be made, by an independent and for less than 3K, as in 3 grand as in bucks! This should really be encouraging for many of you independent filmmakers out there.

The point is quite simple. I was more entertained by this indie than I have been by many multi-million dollar flicks. It's that simple!

It just goes to show that there are plenty of opportunities for anyone that is serious about creating a masterpiece. You just need to make use of the some of the resources available. The resources are not always about money, but even more so about people. This may sound a bit biased as I am now a board member of this organization, but IFASA (Independent Film Association of Southern Arizona) (clicking on the link will open a new window for you.) offers up just about anything and everything you could be looking for when it comes to productions. From people with various knowledge and expertise, to ideas and collaborators on your next project.

And if you work hard, stay tuned, be diligent, be persistent and most of all be creative, even you could end up have an entry in a film fest such as the 20th Annual Arizona International Film Festival. (clicking on the link will open a new window for you.) But don't take my word for it, take it from someone like Jon that has now done it:

Tucson 2011 stock footage for charitable causes.

It all started a week ago today when I first was called to go out and start filming in regards to the Tucson tragedy. This was the Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords incident involving several victims as well as fatalities. A week later, our beloved Congresswoman seems to be do extremely well considering the circumstances.

It seems our town has a heart. People have set up vigils, they have rallied, they have marched and they all have one thing in common - peace. You see, Tucson was inadvertently put on the map through this incident. It has been the center of the news frenzy for a solid week now. I have heard throughout the week, particularly at the beginning that people literally stated; "It's embarrassing to say one is form Tucson anymore." - But things change.