CinemaKC will broadcast this Saturday at 10pm on KSMO-TV 62. The show will focus on well-known visual effects director and supervisor, Bruce Branit and his films “Worldbuilder” and “405.”

Scene from “Worldbuilder”

Branit has been nominated four times for Emmy Awards for his visual effects work and is an active member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences as well as the Visual Effects Society. He is perhaps best known for his short film “405″ which is regarded as one of the most successful and highly downloaded short films of all time. The film has been seen and awarded around the world and widely considered the original viral short film.

Scene from “405″

Bruce is originally from the Kansas City area. He studied at the University of Kansas and moved to Los Angeles in 1995 to begin his career. Branit was one of the early experimenters and adopters in the world of CGI. His television credits include “Lost,” “Fringe,” “Star Trek Voyager,” “Deep Space Nine,” “Enterprise,” “X-Files.” He has also worked on feature films such as “King Kong,” “Serenity,” “Sin City,” “Ghostrider,” and “Spawn,” as well as provided visual effects for award winning music videos by Aerosmith, Moby, U2, 50 Cent and Nickelback to name a few.

In 2004 Bruce returned with his wife and son back to the Kansas City area to found Branit|FX. His first independent production there was the short film, “World Builder,” which has garnered representation through ICM who is currently in negotiations to develop a feature film based on the short. Although he is now based in the Midwest, he retains much of his Hollywood clientele. Recent credits for his Kansas City based studio include “Lost,” “Pushing Daisies,” “24” and “Brothers & Sisters,” “Flash Forward” and “Breaking Bad” as well as numerous commercial credits.

If you’re on Facebook, attending our CinemaKC TV event is a good way to keep track on when the next show will be on. Click here to find out about that. Also, if you “like” CinemaKC on Facebook, you’ll get all the latest news and updates right on your Facebook home page.

The travelling art road show, America: Now and Here, presents Kansas City Moving Images: Local Film Series, sponsored by the Film Commission of Greater Kansas City and CinemaKC.

There will be three events.

Tonight, May 12, from 7-8:30PM,
Wednesday, May 18, from 7-8:30PM &
Friday, May 27, from 7-8:30PM.

The program was curated by Benjamin Meade, who is a Professor of Film and Digital Media at Avila University. Films included in this program are from local filmmakers Nicole Esquibel, Bill Gladden, Christopher Good, Caitlan Horsman, Don Maxwell, Chuque McDonlad, Benjamin Meade, MK12, Todd Norris, Terence O’Malley, Billy Pryor, Mike B. Rollen and Richard Welnowski.

The event will be free and will be held at the Leedy-Voulkos gallery at 2012 Baltimore Avenue in Kansas City, MO.

Please consider attending and seeing some wonderful local filmmaking!

Local filmmaker and CinemaKC Board member Jerry Rapp wrote an article about the event we’re sponsoring tonight in the Freight House District with the Film Commission of Greater Kansas City.

Here’s a taste…

If you’re an enthusiast of the arts scene in Kansas City, you no doubt have heard/read/been told about the phenomenal America; Now and Here traveling exhibition, which launches from Kansas City and embarks upon a multi-city tour of art, music, poetry, theater, dance and … oh, yes, film.

America: Now and Here has its origins in a simple idea: artist Eric Fischl asked of his friends and peers — a diverse group of noted visual artists, musicians, poets, playwrights and filmmakers — to submit a work of art reflecting their points of view and visions of post-9/11 America. Overwhelmed by the response, Fischl established the not-for-profit America: Now and Here program, which interlinks communities across the country through programs, various mediums and a traveling cross-disciplinary exhibition and event.

In addition to an offering of some of Kansas City’s notable short films (to be covered in a future Rapp Sheet), Jane Rosenthal, curator of the Tribeca Film Festival and Sharon Badal, the fest’s short film programmer, have put together a stellar lineup of work which represents the most profound glimpses into the human condition as we experience it by being American citizens.

Remember the event starts at 7PM and runs until 8:30PM in the parking lot between Third Eye Productions and the Leedy-Voulkos Gallery on Baltimore. Admission is free.

To read the entire article and for more information about the films being show, click here.

Join us and the Film Commission of Greater Kansas City at the Leedy-Voulkos gallery at 2012 Baltimore Avenue on Wednesday, May 11th from 7:00 – 8:30 pm as we present the Tribeca Film Festival Screening: A Better Life.

It’s a serious of short films curated by Tribeca’s very own Jane Rosenthal & Sharon Badal and features films by Grant Barbeito, Kyle Bell, Manolo Celi, Rob Connolly, Mary Ann Kellogg, Lee Miller, Kim Spurlock and John Tamaki Dion.

It’s all part of the groundbreaking traveling arts festival America: Now And Here, which kicked off last weekend at First Fridays. For a full calendar of events, click here.

CinemaKC presents the award-winning supernatural thriller “Last Breath” in its first big-screen run at the Screenland Crown Center. The movie will play at five screenings May 13-15.

Written and directed by Kansas City filmmaker Ty Jones, “Last Breath” has won awards coast-to-coast, including Best Feature honors at the Garden State Film Festival in New Jersey and the Estes Park Film Festival in Colorado.

“Last Breath” is a great example of our area’s growing ability to produce fine feature films,” says John Shipp of CinemaKC and Screenland. “We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Ty Jones and his team. We’re all looking forward to his future works.”

In “Last Breath,” Jones and Mandy Bannon portray a couple with a young son whose marriage is built on shifting sand. They find themselves imprisoned by a sadistic killer and forced to make choices that will ultimately determine their family’s survival or demise. Aaron Laue, who also produced the film, plays the couple’s nemesis.

As a team, Jones and Laue put together a Kansas City/Lawrence-area cast and crew with ties to Hollywood, South by Southwest and Sundance. “Last Breath” showcases the acting talents of Meagan Flynn (“Up in the Air”), Jeff East (“Superman”), Ryan Lefebvre and Alex Neustaedter. Through a Glass Productions of Lawrence provided primary cinematography, sound mixing and film editing. Los Angeles-based composer Vincent Gillioz composed the original score after having composed music for more than 40 features. Kelley Baker did the final sound mix; he’s best known as sound editor on Gus Van Sant films (“Finding Forrester,” “Good Will Hunting”).

“Ty Jones’ taut, suspenseful and intelligent thriller features top-drawer production values, writing and performances,” says Jerry Rapp, award-winning screenwriter/producer (“Mojave Phone Booth”). “It sets a new bar for home-grown independent cinema.”

This is Jones’ first feature after having written, directed and worked on more than 100 short films over eight years. An award-winning short film director, Jones made the leap to features and partnered with Laue to film “Last Breath.” Laue has acted in over 20 films, and before producing “Last Breath,” he had produced five short films. Jones is planning to finish two feature-length scripts – one a love story and one a sci-fi thriller – this summer. Through his Ministry Machine Productions in association with SenoReality Pictures, Laue is producing the feature “Nailbiter.” Both men are also involved in separate feature documentary projects.

More information on the film is at http://www.lastbreaththemovie.com/ and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1006907/.

Show times for May 13-15 will be Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 7PM. and matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2PM. Jones and Laue will attend all five screenings and will sign copies of “Last Breath” DVDs.

Visit http://www.screenland.com/ for ticket prices. For more information contact John Shipp at 816-718-4337 or Ty Jones at Tyjones1@aol.com or 816-807-4395.