Split Screen Season 2, Episode 13: Animal Talent

1

The Blair Witch: I Want to Believe

Sam Saldivar no-budget sci-fi thriller THE GIANT KILLER; one minute films loops with Gustav Deutsch at Windsor, ON’s Kinnotek Cinema; looking for the mysterious “Lady In Red” at Slamdance '97; revisiting the Blair Witch—a look at the footage found in the muddy duffel bag.

29 min

2

John Wayne's Hairpiece

SPLIT SCREEN hits the road! Making a film vs. running the NYC Marathon; visiting IFFCON to talk indie film financing; John Wayne's Hairpiece and other cinema treasures at the Smithsonian Institution in D.C.; filmmakers Doug Stone and P.H. O'Brien and Dan “Grizzly Adams” Haggerty go looking for the America of EASY RIDER.

28 min

3

Grizzly Man Walks, Orson Welles Talks

“The Illusion and Reality” episode: Dan Myrick visits musician/filmmaker Billy Yeager in a Purple Haze in Hollywood, FL; movie VHS bootleggers in NYC; building a grizzly bear proof suit—Doug Stone and PH O'Brien visit Canadian director Peter Lynch; War of the Words—an infamous Orson Welles commercial recording.

28 min

4

Carl Franklin Breaks It Down

Self-distributing a documentary about talking to elementary school kids about gay issues; Filming in Charleston, SC, from Civil War pictures to slavery era epics; a visit with director Carl Franklin (ONE FALSE MOVE); Jacob Young’s ongoing project about broken down cars on the side of the road in the Deep South.

27 min

5

The Tin Drum: Banned in Oklahoma

'Reason to Believe” booking a film on college campuses with secret agent: Tedd Stuart; a visit with Bart Weiss, director of the Dallas Video Festival; surveillance video turned into experimental films; THE TIN DRUM— Tim DePaepe investigates how this Academy Award winning film was banned in Oklahoma City, OK.

26 min

6

Keep Austin Weird

Student activists and local film illuminati protest the shutting down of the UT Union Film program; a profile of the inimitable character actor Lawrence Tierney; shooting Super 8 films at the Austin Cinemaker Co-op; “Documation” - Bob Sabiston and Tommy Pallotta discuss their hybrid of animation and documentary.

28 min

7

The Real Dude Abides

The RV crew hangs with Barry Tubb, an ex rodeo rider, Hollywood actor in Synder, TX; meet “Big” Joe La Creta: actor, wrestler, and sandwich master in Wilmington, MA; is there a “Real” Dude? Producer's rep Jeff Dowd claims there is. Marina Zenovich talks to the Coen Brothers and the cast.

28 min

8

All That KC Jazz

A visit with Bruce Ricker, director of THE LAST OF THE BLUE DEVILS, a 1979 film about a reunion of some of the town’s jazz musicians; shooting a film, performing in a band, and hosting a film festival – in Spain; meet some of the real-life counterparts of Martin Scorsese’s film, CASINO; find out what the Pequot Tribal Nation in Mashantucket, CT does with their gambling profits.

29 min

9

Selective Service in Aspen

The Aspen Shortsfest; SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM, a brilliant short, made when the draft was mandatory and anti-war protests were in full force; follow four ebullient NYC teens, who just happen to be working actresses and indie film stars on the rise; meet Todd Thaler, one of independent film's busiest casting directors.

28 min

10

Mr. MovieFone's Message

A visit with Russ Leatherman, Mr. Moviefone himself; meet Al Milgrom the Minneapolis “czar of cinema”; witness Dan Cleveland and his heavy metal band Dark Horse on their ascent up their basement stairs; “Cosmic Society” Amy Elliot and Lizzie Dornius introduce you to a company whose business is filming what can't be seen by the human eye.

28 min

11

Damon & Norton Play Poker

Matt Damon and Ed Norton head to the World Series of Poker; self-taught stuntman crashing cars from a junkyard; Cronenberg’s CRASH acted by stuffed animals; a screening of RED RIVER for cows at the Fairlee Drive-In & Motel in Vermont.

28 min

12

Todd Haynes' Goldmine

Haynes and his longtime producer Christine Vachon cuddle up in Cannes; NEA public funding at the local level; an unusual outdoor screening on a hillside; a film festival sponsored by Dockers™.

28 min

13

Animal Talent

The Sweet Sunshine animal Talent Agency; RAT WOMEN: an excerpt from filmmaker Minkie Spiro’s short; what happens to the puppies and dogs left too long at the pound; a visit to Wall Street to try to raise some indie cash.

28 min

14

Lars von Trier Is Dogmatic

Adam & Jo’s stuffed animal take on THE ENGLISH PATIENT; a rare visit with brilliant and phobic director Lars von Trier; Amy Elliott and Lizzy Donius visit volcanologists in Hawaii who film lava; Northwestern Airlines indie movie channel.

28 min

15

Crispin Glover's Syndrome

A home tour and talk with Crispin Glover about his film WHAT IS IT?; Adam & Joe’s toy take on SHINE; mob character actor, Frank Vincent; Marina Zenovich checks out the trailer editing for the TOUCH OF EVIL reissue.

29 min

16

From Homicide to Ho Chi Minh

Movie Saves Town: an indie effort revitalizes Holland, MI; Doug Stone visits Tony Bui, director of THREE SEASONS, and his Vietnamese cast; Homicide is Good: the indie film landscape in Baltimore; SE7EN: suspense, murder, stuffed animals!

27 min

17

Billy Wilder's Shoes

Making Films, Selling Shoes: director Steven Proto enlists the help of Billy Wilder; How'd You Do That?, on working with a deaf actress; Brian Flemming and Keythe Farley ride along with LA's most famous nonworking actor; an encounter with Seymore Butts: Filmmaker.

28 min

18

Kuchar Kuts Loose

George Kuchar, beloved innovator, underground filmmaker, and San Francisco film teacher; KIDS: promiscuous stuffed animals in NYC; 15 budding auteurs in Austin produce one feature together; Indie Dogs with Marina Zenovich; Artmark—activism, film, and videotape.

28 min

19

Guy Maddin Mystifies

Manitoba Tonight: Guy Maddin; How'd You Do That: Archival FX; 'MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE Meets IRONSIDE”: Muscular Dystrophy poster-girl now turned indie action flick director Jenni Gold; Tanya Hamilton looks at several decades of Jamaican film culture.

29 min

20

Almost Heaven, West Virginia

Regional filmmaker par excellence, Jacob Young, in his own backyard. Meet an Elvis-channeling schizophrenic tap dancer, a cross-planting evangelical, a cranky chemical plant owner, and a pedophile Swami. Directed by Amy Elliot: we proudly present the filmmaker who to us embodies the true spirit of independent film.

29 min