The success of my short film “Pink Feather,” has been amazing. It has won several awards, and been accepted in festivals worldwide. Any time I get any amount of extra money, I enter into another festival. This film’s message is one I’d like to see spread far and wide. Festivals can cost between $20 and $60 to enter, and only some of them will choose your film. If you’re reading and would like to help, please venmo @roxxboise. Every penny goes into film festival entry fees!

A recent acceptance includes a festival in Singapore, they are waiting to send official announcement news.

This movie was filmed mostly at “Somewhere” bar in Garden City, formerly The Ranch Club. The owners were gracious to give us early entry, and we were lucky to film before the old signage had come down. This building is rumored to have some huge Idaho history, having been a brothel and gambling house at one point in possibly Homedale. Gambling was legal there, but when it was outlawed, people took this building apart piece by piece and moved it to Garden City, where gambling was legal there a few more years. Some filming happened on Chinden, where just down the road Roger Miller wrote a song about a sign he saw : “Trailers for sale or rent. Rooms to let 50 cents.”

The Ranch Club also makes an appearance in Clint Eastwood’s film, “Bronco Billy.” This corner of Orchard/Chinden is still a mix of old and new traffic, with both new cars and horse trailers driving by. The name is different, but the pony remains.

These historical connections, and the message of acceptance, helped the Idaho Film Commission to sponsor a small grant for my film. The best part is that “Pink Feather” will also be archived into the BSU’s Albertsons Library for future generations to see!

The movie setting is 80’s-meets-now, where some redneck ranchers are in town for a cattle convention and look for a drink when the day is done. They wander into a bar that is LGBTQ+, adventures, disagreements, and finally acceptance all take place. This movie had been a thought in my brain for months. Once I finished the screenplay, I invited friends to help, and recruited friends that are new to me to help with this no-budget passion project. The support has been incredible. I love using real people vs actors. I let people play with their lines, and everyone offered up great ideas on set. Even though many of our actors are drag performers who had very late shows the night before, (Karma Rose, Coco Freeo, Maliha Gemini, Sid D’Licious, Mikey Likesit), everyone arrived early on Sunday mornings to film before the bar opened. My friend Jeff agreed to take an extremely challenging acting part. He has been in 2 of my western movies for 13 Stories, “Revolve” and “House of Helen.” I’d met Theresa Palmgren at a LezBe Kings drag performance shoot at the old prison and asked if she’d help me with this film idea. I have lots of ideas and no professional camera or new computer. She agreed and got some amazing shots. Editor Lynzsea Sky Williams made all the magic happen, hire this genius from Orphan Hilll Studios. Behind the scenes, friends helped with release forms, snacks, lighting, slate, sound, and photos. I am so proud of this cast and crew, my largest short film endeavor to date.

Boise State University will be showing “Pink Feather” for free, this Monday, October 11th. Please join us upstairs in the SUB, in The Berquist room at 6pm. We’ll have snacks, show the film, and then have a panel with myself and 3 of the actors for a Q&A afterwards. This is the film’s 4th showing in Boise. Please come and support local actors and film!

MY RODE REEL

I’ve entered a short film into a yearly competition, “My Rode Reel.” I have entered every year for several years. If you talk to me at all about gear, I will tell you how Rode microphones are my mic of choice for film. Their warranties are unmatched, often coming with an up to 10 year guarantee. I’ve had them happily repair an 8 year old mic without cost. This film competition is open to worldwide entries, films must be under 3 minutes long.

My film is called, “What Was the Question?” With permission from a couple of recent band interviews I did, I made a film of 2 very passionate answers.The film features singer/songwriter Mary Lambert, and the group Orchestra Gold from Mali, Africa.

HERE is the link to watch the film, and please vote if you like it!