@Lisa
Very true...one of the first things we did was contact the rubik's cube folks and to get the rights to use the product and name in Neato...they are super cool and released it to us for free. Also, your right...we prob should have used the name in the project...maybe they would have invested in it or something...live and learn I guess...lol.
@Scott
That belly belongs to Kelly...lol.
Hell everyone!! I'm Rayen, Brians partner in Neato. Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for checking out the project and appreciate all the feedback. To clear up any confusion. The credits listed here are 100% correct. Brian and I created this film top to bottom and had a ton of help from some awesome friends to bring it to life. The IMDB represents myself as lead director and Brian as lead producer but at the end of the day we did this together. I did all the quirky music you guys hear as well so everything was in house. We didn't have any experience with film making when we started this. We were just a couple guys with a dream to make a movie. Hope you guys enjoy the project and we look forward to all the feedback.
Rurik's making the semifinals - once - back when there weren't many test movies isn't exactly a shining success story. I'm not sure what the upside for those guys was in coming to Amazon.
I don't see any reason why Neato Mosquito can't advance to the semis either. Though it seems like nothing has been making the finals (at least recently) except things specifically based on AS projects. You know, test movies.
And at least this whole discussion has gotten the Neato photo of the guy's belly onto the forum page :-)
RE: Lisa Scott
"It's not a test film, Brian."
ORLY?
Then you might want to go back and tell that to the makers of "RURIK" c 2008.
http://www.myspace.com/video/sean-lavery/rurik-chapter-i/26416139
Who, by the way, violated the rules by having their movie available in several places aside from Amazon Studios.
If "Rurik" a home movie from 2007/2008 can make it in the semifinals, despite not being made specifically for the A.S. contest while also violating the rules, I see absolutely no reason why "Neato Mosquito" couldn't advance in the contest.
"Neato" pulled down all of their outside links (since they didn't read deep into the rules at first), but RURIK still has their links up.
The other issue is the lack of attached screenplay for "Neato." Now I don't see an actual rule addressing this issue. Perhaps someone can elaborate, or clarify.
If I can remember, the winner "12 Princesses" didn't have a script uploaded when it won best test movie. It has a script attached now.
it's not a test film, brian.
but anyhoo -- you shouldn't let one rejection from a film festival stop you. you must have thicker skin than that. look at it this way -- read between the lines of this particular rejection -- if charlotte wanted stuff that was more foreign then they wouldn't want a southern, redneckish type of flick like this. maybe other film festivals want something more foreign -- go north. that stuff is foreign to new yorkers. lol! or go way, way south -- it kind of makes me think of an aussie flick. they might like it down there.
maybe you want to check into the makers of rubik's cube to see if there's something there too. <<hee, hee!!>> hey, it might happen. a lot of toy manufacturers want their toys in the movies.
I have been thinking about how Amazon could resolve this test movie debate for some time because there is a huge difference between something that is a complete movie and something that is an animatic or "test" movie. Amazon should consider seperate catagories for movies that compete as finished product type films and others that are actually test movies. Both are completely different things and to judge them both in the same category is a near impossible thing to do.
I am making two test movies currently. One is a test movie in it's truest sense (rough animation/animatic/still pictures to dialog) and the other is going to be live action as much as possible (there will be small segments that will have to be boards, ect). The two movies are completely different styles and it seems silly they should compete against each other.
I for one love what I am seeing from Neato Mosquito. It reminds a bit of Napoleon Dynamite. I plan to write a review in the near future after I finish watching it. Good work!!!
Yep. Must have a script posted. Good catch.
Thanks Lisa and I'm not sure about the script thing. I'm very new to this site and I am still learning how everything works. As far as the film festivals, we tried to submit it to one local festival (Charlotte film festival ) and were denied. We spoke with the founder of the festival and he said that Neato didn't really fit in his line up of movies (he was looking for more foreign projects ) but he would go ahead and make a slot for us. Then we turned him down...lol. After that we kinda got a little gun shy about submitting it into festivals until we could finish it up.
btw - cute story. if i saw this on IFC i'd probably keep watching. have you tried submitting it to film festivals?
i thought test movies were only eligible if their scripts were uploaded first. am i wrong? i don't see a script for this flick.
@Scott
Thanks for watching. It is def a test movie because we made Neato with the sole intention of trying to get attention from anyone that would be willing to invest in the project to help make it better. We were going to shop it as a script but then came to the conclusion that showing people the story might make it a little more appealing. Even know the chances of winning are slim, competitions like this are awesome because now people are actually watching our flick and we will take any and all advise and start working on bettering the project. So, whether it is classified as a "test Movie " or a "Movie ", it is still a great place to test it out....lol.
Scott, the first look deal has nothing to do with the number of indie films being picked to advance (or to seemingly advance). Yes, A.S. can take the projects elsewhere, but they first have to filter through WB.
Projects like yours are at least respectable.
I hope Amazon Studios makes some good indie films. I love indie films.
I just hope to see much better ones in the future than the ones currently bouncing around in the A.S. system.
We'll probably see much better projects next year after the hopeful paradigm shift in the studios...
If Amazon has the hots for Animal Heads (or Cassie, or Touching Blue, or remaking Neato Mosquito), and Warner Brothers doesn't, then Amazon can take it wherever they want. So if Amazon learns that so-and-so studio is looking for a vehicle for some actor who might fit Animal Heads, and WB says pass (which you seem to have no doubt they will), then Amazon is free to send it to that studio and 50 other places if they want to.
Do you not understand how a first look deal works?
Scott, my "obsession" with Warner Bros. is simply because although A.S. is free to do whatever they want, include produce their own movies, they have a FIRST LOOK DEAL with Warner Bros.
Last time I checked, Warner Bros. gets first dibs on anything that comes through this little experiment. Obviously, if A.S. has the hots for something like "Animal Heads" at the end of contest, the odds that Warner Bros. will are slim to none.
I didn't ignore the "big budget blockbusters," they simply aren't indie fare. Some of the movies could go either way. But still, at least half, or more of the selections are indie, or "indie-like" projects.
Something like "Zombies Vs. Gladiators" isn't indie.
Something like "Cassie" is indie.
There's more "Cassies" than "Zombies vs. Gladiators," and that's fine. But "Animal Heads" ain't going to pay the light bill at Amazon HQ.
Also, your list is heavy with projects that have only done well in the Test Movie arena, which are not necessarily the scripts that they are interested in - just the best Test Movies from that month.
Even if I did agree with this list entirely, that's not the great majority - there are about 50 scripts that have made finals or better. For instance, you seem to have left off all the big budget action/genre stuff in the current poster contest. And most of the notes that have been posted in the last month are for high-concept genre scripts.
I'm not sure what your obsession with Warner Brothers is. Amazon has a first look deal with WB. When they say no, Amazon then has the freedom to take projects anywhere they might fit. Many of the projects Amazon sets up are liable not to be with WB.
Touching Blue, Memory, Myth of the Modern Man, Dead Forever, Black Hat, Reminded, America's Ben Franklin, The Barber Bros, Private Thompson's secret war, The Narcissist, The Highwayman, Cassie, Brand New Bag of Poos, We Don't Talk Any more, Going, Going Gone, In the Silences, HIPSTER AND THE SCHOOLGIRL, ANIMAL HEADS, etc. and so forth, all fall in the "indie" category.
Which of the aforementioned projects would Warner Bros. pick up to make in house if the projects were specs on the market right now?
The great majority of the advancing projects are indie???
Scott, this has been the question, hasn't it?
What makes a test movie a "test movie?"
"Antisex" was one of the first chosen test movies semifinalists and it was made years ago, and was a real movie. "Rurik" was made years ago as well, not for the A.S. contest, and it placed what, twice?
I think A.S. has wanted to avoid being flooded with "indie" films, but ironically the great majority of the advancing projects are "indie."
Remember, the closer a test film gets to being a "real" film, "Asscanney Valley" sets in; the weird area where a test film is -almost- good enough to stand on it's own, but not good enough to be released commecially.
@ Stephen Actually not "again" - this is the first month it was eligible.
@ Brian I watched some of Neato Mosquito, and it looks good - good luck with it.
Though (to Stephen and Big D) the Amazon contest is for Best Test Movie - and a "movie" and a "test movie" are two different things. And Neato Mosquito is a movie.
@ Stephen Hoover
Thank man
@ Big D
Lol...it's better in small doses and thanks for checking it out.
And TOUCHING BLUE is in the finals again this month for Best Film.
I liked the music, titles, camerawork, editing, and acting. I'm from the south though. Not sure if rest of country can handle rednecks for more than five minutes.
@ Big D:
Grammar Nazi Note: Uninterested means not interested. Disinterested means impartial.
