What we did during our summer vacation...

by Jim and Jay

Well... Nothing.

But we're back now and so is Brickwall! Rumors are flying and things are starting to happen so "Hold on to your butts" to quote Samuel L.

Oct 18th looks like the date for the next competition, and we will have some special guests this time. And maybe some BIG differences.

Thanks again to all the teams who participated during the 4th Brickwall (the music video one) and please get out and tell your friends to join in on this one.

Thanks!!

Wrap up...

Thanks so much for coming out and supporting our fourth Brickwall Film Competition. We saw a ton of great films from lots of talented folks tonight. And a nice portion of money was donated to the Central Missouri Humane Society, our local charity.

The barbarian wizardry of 50 Foot Robot won out in a very closely decided judging over the dramatic doughnut tossing tornado power of Abstract Random. [I am fairly certain that no panel of moneys has ever come up with that particular sentence before in the history of our much-abused language.]

It was good to see old hands back at it again, as well as to welcome some new teams to the fold. The level of execution seemed to be at its highest overall point that we've seen yet.

Thanks especially to our amazing bands: Barn Owl, Bockman, Kodiak and Witch's Hat. Thanks to Deja Vu, Tropical Liqueurs, Heidelberg and Living Canvas for the door prizes, and thanks to Inside Columbia Magazine and The Columbia Missourian for coverage before, during and most likely after

The strength of the competition can be found in the bedrock support from all of these, and the scrappy DIY attitude of all of our filmmakers. Talk us up, and lets keep growing Brickwall.

Great job everyone!

Live Blogging

Jim and I are here at Mojo's and there is great local music all around. Great local filmmakers, as well. Everyone seemed pretty jazzed about the announcement, which took place about thirty minutes late. Barn Owl gave me a nice drum roll for the announcement which was (while in some regards, cliche) pretty neat. Not nice... neat.

Teams are kind of running around helter-skelter now. Quzn Xi and HomeWreck bolted with their assignments, while one of the new teams, Abstract Random, ran home and got their equipment in time to film their band on stage. (Kodiak)

46 1/2 hours and counting... Jim and I now have to shrug off the "organizer" mantle and put on the "participant" costume, and get our piece rolling.

Live blogging... huh? Kind of weird.

We'll keep the web-world posted.

Great Response!

We've had quite a few new teams "discover" us this time around, and I'm glad to see some growth and excitement building out there in the Columbia scene. To all the new teams who are stopping by here... Welcome! And to all our returning faithful, thanks again for making the Brickwall such an amazing event!

Brickwall: April 4th

We would like to cordially invite the Mid-Missouri area to several wonderful events happening the weekend of April 4th-7th.

The Brickwall 48-Hour Film Competition will be kicking off on the evening of the 4th, around 9 o'clock. The competition is open to anyone who would enjoy participating, and the team entry fee is $25. We are a locally produced, not-for-profit endeavor and we donate the proceeds from the event (after paying for our showcase venue and marketing) to a local charity. The charity for this, our fourth installment, is the Central Missouri Humane Society. We have worked with them in the past and are glad to help out such a great local organization.

Entry forms are available for download here, or available in the "real world" at The Heidelberg, on 9th St. in Columbia. The assignments have varied greatly over our previous three competitions, and this one will be no different; though rest assured your completed film will not need to be any longer than 10 minutes.

The kickoff of the competition coincides with a special event that we were proud to announce about six weeks ago. On Friday night, April 4th, with doors opening at 8:30, Mojo's will be the venue for a Brickwall concert!!! We have three great local bands who have graciously joined forces with us to bring you a night of live music to help jumpstart the Brickwall weekend. The lineup consists of Barn Owl, Kodiak, as well as Bockman. This is a superb group of musicians, and they will be rocking your face off for a $6 cover charge ($1 of which is going to help Brickwall, i.e. Central Missouri Humane Society). We hope to see most of our teams there, and think that a little rock and roll might help start the creative juices flowing for this particular event.

The competition will come to a close at 9 o'clock Sunday evening, with teams returning their completed film to The Heidelberg. (We would recommend MiniDV formatted tapes, otherwise we can also accept a burned DVD. The MiniDV format results in MUCH fewer technical difficulties for us.)

So we just put a bunch of amateur filmmakers through the 48 hour ringer and then what? Well, we give you Sunday night to get some rest and relaxation. Then on Monday night, April 7th, with doors at 7pm, we host our Showcase at Deja Vu Comedy Club. Teams receive 4 free tickets with their entry, and for the general public it is a $5 cover. The showcase evening is a great time, where all the teams can get together and commiserate over some adult beverages about their trials and tribulations from the weekend.

We screen all the films entered and give away some great door prizes: Gift certificates for The Heidelberg, Tropical Liqueurs and Deja Vu. Living Canvas provides the most anticipated door prize, a $50 dollar gift certificate for tattoos or piercings. Living Canvas also donates a gift certificate to the winning team of filmmakers.

All in all, it will be a great weekend of live music, film, and fun. So please come join us by either competing, or at Mojo's and Deja Vu. Thanks!