The Mancunian Candidate

It recently occurred to me that any expectation of "The Naughty List" continuing to do well after the holiday season might be on a par with that old Simpsons episode where Homer buys stock in pumpkins at the beginning of October, expecting it to peak in January. But I'll enjoy it while it lasts. D'oh.On that note, said film will be screened this December at Kino Shorts, an offshoot of the Manchester International Film Festival aka Kinofilm. The event is being held at Greenroom on the 8th, give it a look-see if you're in the area.Another Kinofilm event Toast: Live will be including "House Guest" later this month on the 28th as part of the Animated Shorts screening beginning at 4pm. It takes place at the Antwerp Mansion and seems like a pretty neat day out if you're of artsy ilk, definitely worth checking out. Thanks Mancs! Hope that isn't a slur of some kind...
You can also get tickets to the two Bang! screenings on the same day at the links below:
Bangimation - 6pm
Main Event - 8:30pm
Hell, Nottingham's not that far away from Manchester, right? You can go to both. It'll be a grand day out.
Yep, I got nothing. Uh...not sure how to end this one so I'm just gonna bail-out in a panic.

The Not-So-Fine Print

I recently tweaked some issues with last summer's book release "Brain Spillage". Mainly just to fix the layout and alignment on some pages, but I also took the opportunity to create a downloadable preview sampler to give the world a taste before they commit (not that they'd ever regret purchasing such a marvellous tome, sight unseen).

My bibliography to date, minus a couple of pending reissues.

These samplers are something I've done with all my books, though I don't think I've brought them up on this blog before, except for last xmas when I announced the reissue of "That Isn't Funny, You Stupid Child". So, if you're in a literary mood have a glimpse at:
"The Best of 'Mitchells In England' Volume 1: 1994-1995"
"That Isn't Funny, You Stupid Child"
"House Guest: The Graphic Novel"
"Brain Spillage: Excerpts from the Sketchbooks of Ben Mitchell" Changing the subject, I've been informed that "The Naughty List" will get an additional screening at Bang! on on the 28th, as part of the Bangimation segment. Double your festive pleasure, although hopefully it won't annoy people who go to the main event afterward and have to watch it twice. I was asked to record an intro for the festival which I tried to make succinct and of course ended up a stutterin', mutterin', ramblin' fool. I've given them carte blanche to edit it at will but here's the seemingly unending monologue I sent over:

Of course the virtue of the vid is my SPECTACULAR MOUSTACHE. It is quite possibly the greatest thing I've ever been responsible for, including my illegitimate daughter (oops...said too much). If you'd like to nurture its growth into a 'tache of resplendent beauty, don't forget there's still time to donate to Movember!

Xmas in Movember

More good news! It just spills out of me these days.Another UK festival inclusion for "The Naughty List" will be at Nottingham's Bang! Short Film Festival later on in the month. Bang! was the first festival to accept "House Guest" two years back so I have a lot of fondness for it and am really grateful to be involved again this year! It will be shown as part of the main screening on Sunday 28th, starting 8:30pm.Don't forget, the US debut of the film will be at the Red Stick International Animation Festival which goes from Wednesday 10th to Saturday 13th. It looks like a really exciting festival overall so if you can conceivably make your way to Louisiana by then I'd highly recommend it.Meanwhile I am seriously putting the 'Mo' in Movember as my decision has been made: I'm going full handlebar. Don't all rush me at once, gals...If I raise over £200 I'll actually buy wax and curl it at the ends. So make sure to donate!

So my baby doesn't get too smug...

After the encouraging news of the 'Ground Running' festival premiere the other week, I'd been pondering as to whether or not 'House Guest' would ever get screened, being such a different type of film. It was nice to see it responded to positively at the bar screening last month, so it seems a fair enough assumption that it won't send the average festivalgoer fleeing up the aisles in revulsion and disgust.
With that in mind, it was a well-timed piece of good news to hear recently that on November 30th 'House Guest' will get its UK festival debut during Nottingham's 'Bang! Short Film Festival'. Yahoo!
This festival has in the past shown films by my MA coursemates Miho Matsuda (including her super-creepy graduate film 'Dancers of the Stolen Heart') and Maria Gracia Bisso.
Check out their website and, if it's your thing, go along and give my flick a look see on the big screen. Well, I'm assuming it'll be a big screen. Big-ish at least.