Cracker Factory LP release party is tomorrow (Sat). It’s free and EARLY (6:30p) at the Seamonster Lounge. It’s all part of the Summer of Colburn celebration.
Darkpine ep released!
Darkpine stopped by to deliver the goods! A Summer of Colburn spectacular!
Kevin Hamedani Interview in Huffington Post
This is a fantastic interview with the director that has allowed me to do the sound design for all of his films. These being Zombies of Mass Destruction, Colony and Junk.
ZMD is available on Netflix as we speak
Kevin Hamedani’s Films Have Heart and an Edge and His Parents
Communications strategist, Writer, Single Mom
Nov 22, 2013, 07:26 PM EST
Kevin Hamedani (on right in photo) is a filmmaker who is both brave and a bit crazy. While touring the country’s film festivals with his first indie feature, Zombies of Mass Destruction, he got the bright idea to make and star in a comedic film about film festivals. Even after one of his closest friends told him, “It’s really good but you’re screwed because festivals won’t show it,” Hamedani finished it. And, as predicted, Junk was rejected quickly by one of the nation’s largest film festivals.
But none of this is surprising if you know anything about the man or his films. Zombies of Mass Destruction was inspired by the sudden flameout in 2006 of evangelist Ted Haggard who was alleged to have paid a male masseuse for sex and drugs. Hamedani had been struggling with the script for Zombies when the scandal broke. “I thought it was disturbing but hilarious,” he recalls, “What if I made the film about a gay guy who comes out to his zombie mom?” The priest in the film is named Ted Haggis, a nod to the plot line’s inspiration.
So how does a second generation Iranian-American growing up in Washington state become a bona fide filmmaker in LA? Hamedani likely has it in his genes. His father, a restaurateur in Washington state, was an actor/singer before he emigrated to the U.S. in 1978. And when it became clear that his middle son was obsessed with films, the senior Hamedani pointed his 12 year old to the Godfather films. Kevin’s mother is a makeup artist who did the makeup for the cast of Junk.
Kevin explains his route to filmmaking this way: “I was one of those seven year old kids who just knew. I grabbed a camera and started filming everything. I made my first feature in high school. But no one will ever see it because it’s too bad.” He was a fan of John Cassavetes, but realized quickly that he didn’t have the gravitas to make films with dark storylines at such an early age. He majored in cinema studies at the University of Washington and watched films when he wasn’t in class.
His all-time favorite film is The Godfather: Part 2 because, he says, “I like big epic Shakespearean films and small nuanced human interactions. There are only a few films that do that well and The Godfather 2 is one of them.”
Junk will be released in March in Los Angeles and Seattle, and will then be available for purchase. It is a witty and entertaining film co-starring Hamedani and his friend and collaborator Ramon Isao. Kevin is proud of it. “It is a story about friendships, working together with a partner, and it’s for people who want to have a good time. It is a love letter to B films.” It is also a film about film festivals, with action and wit, and music by OK Go. While it was not uniformly welcomed by film festival programmers, it won the Audience Award at the 2012 Austin Film Festival. This despite the comment by the programmer at another festival: “This is a really good film but you made us very uncomfortable.”
Only 30 years old, Kevin Hamedani has decades to reach the heights of Cassavetes or Coppola. In the meantime, he is driven to write and direct and network with Hollywood’s other young filmmakers. But no matter how high he ascends, he vows that his mother will continue to do makeup for his actors and his father’s restaurant will have a cameo in his films.
Vensaire – Perdix!
They say that this is only available for a limited time. I’m not sure what that means, but this record kills! It’s the Summer of Colburn culmination of blood sweat and tears. WAIT! it sounds nothing like Blood Sweat and Tears. It sounds like…hmm, trying to put my finger on it…it sounds like…
Coming Soon – Disappear Here!
The Question is: Do I file this under C for Coming Soon or G for Genie!
Darkpine released
More Summer of Colburn celebration. Physical release available. Release party Sunday at Chop Suey.
Portland Junk
PORTLAND! the movie “JUNK” is showing at the Mission Theater FRI, 11/15, 8:30.
I did the sound design for this film
Coming Soon 12″ Vinyl
I had an incorrect thought! This is the 12th time I’ve been wrong. The Coming Soon EP is a 12″! Not a 7″! I think the confusion is that it sells for 7 Euros. The Summer of Colburn stands corrected.
Darkpine
Previously announced and celebrated Summer of Colburn release by Darkpine will be available 11-17, but you can hear the whole damn thing right now!
Cracker Factory Vinyl
The Summer of Colburn celebrates Dia de Muertos with yet another release!
Cracker Factory on vinyl!