Tinkham Talks

Several clips from our feature-length drama, SOUTHLAND OF THE HEART, are available for viewing now.

http://vimeo.com/8605036

http://vimeo.com/8561175 

http://vimeo.com/8369320

Jennifer Evans in Southland Of The Heart

The Independent Weekly newspaper recently announced the winners of its 2009 Indy Arts Awards, and Nic Beery, Ajit Prem and Todd Tinkham were each awarded an Indy Arts Award for filmmaking and for building a prolific and lasting filmmaking community right here in the Triangle (Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill) area of North Carolina. Here’s a link to the article wonderful article by Marc Maximov :http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A398645

Official Selections for the Light Factory’s 2009 Carolina Media Showcase have been announced, and Todd Tinkham’s experimental short film, “Four Minutes On An Abandoned Bridge” is among them.

While traveling across the US early last year, Tinkham sought out and shot footage of overlooked natural areas in and around cities and towns . Just outside Richland WA, he stumbled upon an abandoned bridge over the Columbia River.

“Only half of the old bridge remained, so it looked more like a fishing pier than a former bridge, protruding out over half of the river,” Tinkham says. “The sunset from the bridge was astounding, and I had to keep dragging the camera and tripod back and forth across the bridge to grab the best images in the changing light…. The guys fishing there were surprisingly tolerant of me asking them to slide this way and that so I could get the shots I was after….They would just laugh and say ‘Again?’…. When I got back to my hotel room and watched the footage, I was astounded by what I’d captured. I knew instantly that I had the beginnings of a very beautiful and moving short piece.”

“Four Minutes On An Abandoned Bridge” has recently screened at  the Spokane International Film Festival,  the Fargo Film Festival, the Secret City Film Festival and a half-dozen others.

The Carolina Media Showcase, screening the best in new short film and video from the Carolinas, will take place on Thursday, May 14, 7pm at the Knight Gallery in downtown Charlotte, NC. The event is open to the public, and tickets are $7. For more info about this wonderful yearly event visit the Light Factory at: http://www.lightfactory.org/

The “Get Your Film Into Festivals Now” workshop on Saturday, May 2nd has been canceled.

The workshop will be rescheduled for some time later this year.

Contact me with questions at ttownfilms@gmail.com

GET YOUR FILM ACCEPTED INTO FILM FESTIVALS NOW!
Tired of wasting money submitting your films to festivals that only reject you?
So was I.
Four years ago, it seemed like nobody wanted to screen my films.
I wasted thousands of dollars and spent months doubting myself and my artistic abilities.

Then I decided to learn the ins and outs of film festival success.
Within one year, I went from being an unscreened filmmaker to becoming one of the most popular filmmakers on the film festival circuit.

Now, not only do I get accepted into nearly every film festival I submit to, but I also get invitations to submit my films for free, and sometimes, I even get paid screening fees from festivals to screen my work. Nearly three hundred film festivals on 5 continents have proudly screened my films over the past three years. Amazing? Yes.  And true.

And now, I’m willing to share my film festival success secrets with you.
In this money-saving workshop, you will learn everything I know about getting your films seen by large audiences and industry professionals around the world.
Workshop Date/Time:  Saturday, May 2nd,  1pm  - 5pm
At Insight Studio 54,   415 W. Hwy 54,   Durham, NC 27713

Stop wasting money. Start moving forward as a successful independent filmmaker.
Only $75.00 -  - (Bring a rejection notice from any film festival and get $25 off!)
Enrollment is limited. Sign up today! Send your name and contact info (and questions) to me at        ttownfilms@gmail.com

Find out more about me, Todd Tinkham, my award-winning films, and my company,                                   TinkhamTown Productions, at my website and blog:  www.tinkhamtown.com

During this amazing 4-hour, money-saving workshop you will learn:

The secrets to getting your films accepted into film festivals around the world.

How to best use online submission sites like Without-A-Box for your success.

When not to use Without-A-Box.

The names and websites of dozens of festivals not on Without-A-Box.

The names and websites of festivals that charge low/no submission fees.

How to ask for and receive submission fee waivers.

What to include (and not include) in your submission packet.

How to increase your odds at acceptance into BIG film festivals.

Leveraging each film festival acceptance into dozens more.

How small festivals can bring big results.

How to use rejection letters to your advantage.

How to write attention grabbing cover letters.

How to determine which festivals are more likely to accept your film(s).

The amazing truth about re-submitting.

Attending film festivals with a ” festival strategy”.

Which supplemental materials are really important for film festivals.

Which film festivals to avoid altogether, and why.

How to better your chances at winning awards.

How to get press coverage for your film festival screenings.

And much, much more!

Here is a full-page article in the Independent Weekly about the film, ALEXA, and filmmaker Todd Tinkham at the 2009 Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, UT.

http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A274829

Greetings! It just doesn’t seem real, that’s all I can say. In less than a week I will be in Park City, UT, where the Sundance Film Festival and the Slamdance Film Festival are happening concurrently from Jan 15 - 25. I was invited to attend Slamdance when a short film that I wrote, directed, shot, and edited was invited to screen there after winning an online competition a few months back.

The film, ALEXA, was shot in one day in Durham, NC. It is the story of a 12 year old girl living in peaceful suburbia who goes for a forbidden swim in the backyard pool while home all alone. What happens next is what makes this 5 minute film so engrossing and powerful (sorry, no spoiler). Below, in the previous blog, is a clip from the film.

After Slamdance, I will post the entire short film here and on the amazing site, Squigglebooth (squigglebooth.com), where you can watch the whole film as often as you like.

ALEXA features teenage actresses, Alexa Phillips and  Anna Allen, as well as Mary Cates and Lisa Cates, who play Alexa’s mom and aunt, respectively. Mary & Lisa will be joining me in Park City where we plan to catch as many films as possible, as well as attend parties, workshops, panel discussions - an, of course, we’ll be taking in the sights.

A very talented crew of three was an incredible help during the making of ALEXA.  Assistant Director, Mikel Barton, was a huge help in a variety of ways. Ismail Abdelkhalek played gaffer and grip, even with a terrible cold (No small feat underwater). And Kelley Katzenmeyer did everything from hooking us up with all the scuba gear to recording the location sound. Thanks so much, amazing crew!

My plan is to post daily blogs while in, and on my way to, Park City. Come back soon and see what we’re up to.

Cheers!

Todd

Great news! Our short film, ALEXA, written & directed by Todd Tinkham, and featuring actresses Mary Cates and Alexa Phillips, has been selected to screen at the 2009 SLAMDANCE Film Festival in Park City, UT, January 15 - 23. We’ll know our screening time and venue soon. We do know that ALEXA will be screening in the Global Anarchy section of SLAMDANCE, with a chance to win the coveted Global Anarchy Award! Be sure to visit us again soon, or visit the SLAMDANCE film festival at www.slamdance.com

After SLAMDANCE, we’ll be heading to Spokane, WA, for the 11th Spokane International Film Festival where our short film, FOREVER, featuring Todd Tinkham and Saul Zimet, will screen somewhere between Feb 5 - 15. We’ll have more info soon about the Spokane festival, and we’ll post it all right here.

That’s all for now form TinkhamTown. See you in Park City!

It’s a new year and a new look for TinkhamTown Productions! We’ve got 5 new films with several more on the way, including two feature films, GHOST BRIDE and NECESSARY CHANGES. Plus new festival screenings, distribution news and other awesome filmmaking news. Come back soon and we’ll have a real website with film clips, links, photos, interviews and top secrets - all for you!

More soon.