Calling ALL Readers, Friends, Family and Hobbits!

That means YOU, my friend. I need your help. Remember a few months back where I was in a short little movie as a lesbian pizza girl? Well, it was all done as part of the National Film Challenge, and out of 180 or so teams, we made the top 16!!! A lot of teams who participate actually work in the film industry, but we're all a bunch of nutty regular folks so this is HUGE for us!

So please, please, please, please go the the site linked above and register and vote for our little film called "Machiste Nouveau: The Lost Loves of Laura LeVane" (you can watch it via this here link!) for the Audience Award. Winning means we get to show at Cinequest (a film festival), which would be so awesome.

Our lovely director sent us all a form letter and it cracked me up so I'm including it for your reading pleasure (and more information too). You can vote through Jan. 22nd at midnight EST. You do have to register through the site, but they won't sell your email addy or anything, it's just to keep the voting fair.

Please go register and vote for our film! I beg of you. For the love of all the yarn I dye for you...slaving over the steamy dye pot for hours at a time, getting pink and black and purple in the worn creases of my pruney hands...all for you. (Let me know if that worked and I'll keep using the "walked 5 miles barefoot in the snow uphill" approach! hehe :D)

And of course, thank you!!!

*******

"Dear Friend/Family Member/Long-Lost Cousin/Carpetbagger/Hobbit,

Recently I participated in a national filmmaking competition, The National Film Challenge. The objective of the competition was to write, shoot, edit, and score an entire short film from scratch in one weekend. The competition organizers provided each team with some key elements (genre, prop, character, and a line of dialogue) that are required to be incorporated into the final film. Almost 200 teams from around the country participated in this competition. It was actually 184 teams, but it sounds better when I say almost 200.

Making an entire film in one weekend is a difficult and exhausting task, but one in which my team (named Rational Spirit) tackled with great energy and enthusiasm. The experience was not unlike the March of the Penguins, only it was over in two days and much less cold.

Our film is titled "Machiste Nouveau: The Lost Loves of Laura LeVane" and it is throwback to the great silent films of the 20's and 30's, with a nod toward modern mainstream themes. I'm not exactly sure what that means either, but the director told me to say it.

It is with great pleasure that I tell you that our film was selected as one of the finalists in this competition. We are excited that out of almost 200 films (see, it does sound better!), our movie was chosen as one of the best by a team of judges comprised of 30 film industry professionals.

Now here is where I need a favor from you. Remember that time where I did that thing for you and you said one day I will return the favor and do a different thing for me? No? Well, it totally happened, so I need you to pay up now.

If you could, please take 5 minutes out of your day and visit this website:

http://filmchallenge.org/vote2007/

Watch our film and then take a moment to register and vote. In this particular case, I mean register to vote for the audience award for best film (Machiste Nouveau!), though if you have not registered to vote in the national elections, I would urge you to do that as well. An participating citizenry is the only way to ensure true democracy and plus you get a sticker!

The winner of the audience award voting will get to screen their film at the prestigious Cinequest Film Festival, which is a great honor. I mean, it's not a knighthood or anything, but it's a big deal to film folks such as myself.

It would mean a great deal to me if you would take a moment to do this. And if you do, I solemnly swear that I will never tell a soul about that other thing that happened that we said we would never talk about again, but that I might have had my fingers crossed behind my back when we agreed to that.

Thank you so much Friend/Family Member/Long-Lost Cousin/Carpetbagger/Hobbit! Your continued support means a great deal and I'm not just saying that because I want you to vote for our film. Really, that's only about 60, maybe 70 percent of the reason why I said that.

With best regards,

Me"