13 Feb 2012 UCA prepares for second feature film
by Donna Lampkin Stephens
The University of Central Arkansas’s second feature-length narrative film is under way, and a couple of February fundraisers are planned to benefit the project.
UCA’s Digital Filmmaking emphasis is one of only a handful of film schools in the country making feature-length narrative films. The new project is “Sympathy Pains,” about a standup comic who develops morning sickness when his wife gets pregnant. Comedy, of course, ensues.
Kat Dull, executive producer, said a normal small-budget film would run $250,000-plus, but UCA and Daringly Dull Productions hope to do “Sympathy Pains” with a budget of $10,000.
To help supplement the budget, the UCA filmmakers have scheduled a Pick the Winners Contest — with a grand prize of $25,000 — for the entry that correctly picks the winners in all 24 categories of the 84th Academy Awards. Entry is $20 and is limited to one per person. Entries must be registered by midnight on Friday, Feb. 24. To enter online and for more information, visit www.pickthewinners.eventbrite.com.
The second fundraiser is an Oscar Watch Party on Sunday, Feb. 26, at the Ford Theatre in Downtown Conway. Joe Dull, the film’s writer/director and assistant professor of digital filmmaking at UCA, promises “All the glitz and glam of Hollywood in Downtown Conway.”
The event will begin at 5 p.m. with red carpet, paparazzi and champagne. The rest of the evening includes “Eat, Drink & Cheer on your favorite nominees.”
Newly appointed executive chef and culinary director of the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, Chef Robert Hall, is lending his expertise to prepare a mouth watering array of culinary delights for the Oscar Watch Party.
The menu plan for the evening is inspired by the “Hollywood Experience” that is the Oscar night. The evening will include a parade of delicious delectables including Mini Naan Canapes, Assorted Mini Empanadas, Smoked Duck Dumplings, Grits Made to Order, Southwestern Shrimp Cocktail Shooters, Oreo Truffles and more.
Admission is $35 per person or $60 per couple in advance, $45 per person at the door. Visit movieparty.eventbrite.com for tickets.
“The feature film course creates a real-world immersion project for our students,” Joe Dull said. “These fundraisers are to give the students the opportunity to work on a professional-level feature film. And these opportunities don’t come through Arkansas that often and are especially not available to our students unless we create them.”
Auditions are set for Friday, Feb. 24, in Conway; Saturday, Feb. 25, in Little Rock; Saturday, March 10, in Memphis; Friday, March 16, in Fayetteville; and Saturday, March 17, in Hot Springs.
“Table at Luigi’s,” which involved nearly 100 UCA students, premiered in 2010 and has screened across the country. It won Best in Show at the Indie Fest in La Jolla, Calif.; Best Romance Film at the Bare Bones Film Festival in Muskogee, Okla.; the Love Is in the Air Award at the Film Festival of Colorado in Denver; and an Official Finalist Award in the Las Vegas Film Festival.
“The first film was such a success, we’re looking forward to repeating that and making it even stronger with this one,” Joe Dull said.
Like “Table at Luigi’s,” “Sympathy Pains” will be shot entirely in Central Arkansas, mainly in Conway and Little Rock. It will feature local actors, and the crew will be led by UCA faculty with students involved in all areas of the production, from set crew to post production, costumes, props and public relations, as well as recording the original score.
Because the scope of this project is much bigger than the first, a team of associate producers has been assembled.
“These are community leaders who are helping make this project a reality and a success,” Kat Dull said.
Associate producers include Dr. Rollin Potter, dean of UCA’s College of Fine Arts and Communication; John Gale, chair of UCA’s Department of Mass Communication and Theatre; David Grimes, CFO of American Management Corp. and a Conway alderman; Mark Herbst, corporate account executive at the AETN Foundation; Chef Robert Hall, executive chef at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute; and Liz Parker, UCA Theatre’s business manager.
For more information about the project, contact Joe Dull at 501.852.2377 or [email protected] or visit daringlydullproductions.com.
