Five Years of Fly Films: A Retrospective Screening

May 1, 2002 at The Little Theater (Capitol Hill, Seattle)

The Seattle Composers Alliance presented the first-ever 5-year retrospective screening of the Seattle International Film Festival's Fly Films. Each of the short films from 1997-2001 was screened, as well as a 2001 documentary, The Making Of the Fly Films. The screening took place at the Little Theater on Capitol Hill, free admission to the public.

SIFF's yearly Fly Filmmaking program is an unparalleled industry original. Each year, three independent filmmakers are invited to come to Seattle to scout, cast, shoot, and edit a short film in less than one week. This is filmmaking in its most concentrated form. Local movie makers are invited to collaborate with seasoned veterans to create art under the most challenging circumstances, limited to only 22 minutes of film stock and 7 days. Sponsored in part by Clear Blue Sky Productions, this eagerly anticipated audience favorite celebrates the creative process of film production while spotlighting both national and homegrown talent.

"The Fly Filmmaking Challenge is both an extraordinary opportunity to showcase cinema's creative impulse as well as make the filmmaking community outside Seattle aware of our remarkably talented local film industry," says Kathleen McInnis, producer of the Fly Filmmaking Challenge. "It's fun, fast and furious; and to finish is an amazing accomplishment and bonding experience for all involved."

The SCA has been the official music provider for the SIFF Fly Filmmaking series. Each year, Full Members of the SCA are eligible to score one of the three films in the program. Internship positions are available for SCA Associate Members to assist the film composers during the breathless week of filmmaking.

Past Fly Filmmakers have included Miguel Arteta (Chuck and Buck), Tim Blake Nelson (Eye of God, O), Julia Sweeney (God Said "Ha!"), and Adrienne Shelly (I'll Take You There).

The three directors who accepted the challenge in 2001 were Guinevere Turner (actor, writer, director of Go Fish and co-writer of American Psycho), Dan Mirvish (producer, co-founder of the Slamdance Film Festival, and director of Omaha: The Movie), and Shaya Mercer (producer and director of Trade Off and winner of the American Independent Award at the 2000 Golden Space Needle Awards). The three directors worked with a local cast and crew over the course of a six-day production process.

As composers, SCA Full Members Ben Houge, Tom McGurk, and Lonnie Mardis provided original music and audio for the 2001 Fly Films. They were assisted by SCA Associate Members Bob Ingals, Erick Borling, and Francyl Gawryn. Their films will be shown at the screening, as well as all the other films from the program scored by SCA members.

2002 Past Events