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HAPPY HOUR RETURNS TONIGHT WITH GUEST SPEAKER RUSSELL SPARKMAN
FMI HAPPY HOUR 
The Film + Music + Interactive Happy Hour returns tonight at Spitfire from 5-7pm featuring guest speaker Russell Sparkman. Russell is the founder of FusionSpark Media, and will discuss how filmmakers can successfully create original content for corporations that both tells meaningful stories and gets companies noticed.
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ART ZONE WITH NANCY GUPPY 
SEATTLE CHANNEL
This week on Art Zone with Nancy Guppy, Seattle hip-hop duo Thee Satisfaction discusses their new label, Sub Pop. Also in music, The Bad Things will perform gypsy-influenced rock. Finally, animator Joanna Priestley shares one of her charming short films. It all happens this Friday, March 30.
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INDUSTRY NEWS AND UPDATES
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WASHINGTON FILMWORKS URGES YOU TO WRITE THE GOVERNOR TODAY
WASHINGTON FILMWORKS
After passing the Senate 40-8 and the House 92-6, Washington's Film Incentive Bill is still pending Governor Gregoire's signature. The Governor must take action before the end of the month in order for the bill to become a law. Washington Filmworks urges you to write Governor Gregoire today and encourage her to sign the bill.
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HOW DO MUSICIANS REALLY EARN MONEY?
FUTURE OF MUSIC 
Based on a case study of several different bands, the Future of Music Coalition determined several key factors about the way that musicians make money. For instance, did you know that musicians make most of their income from live performances? The cost of traveling during tours can be greater than the amount musicians earn at the shows, and label advances don't necessarily indicate revenue growth for a band. Find out how being a successful musician is a delicate money balancing act.
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NFFTY ANNOUNCES SEATTLE'S FIRST FILM EXPO
NFFTY 
NFFTY and the Next Fifty present the first annual Future of Film Expo, April 27-28, at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall. Not just for kids - this event celebrates the best of filmmaking - and it's FREE! The Expo will have exclusive panels on the newest trends in film technology, music in the film industry, navigating the film school system, behind the scenes with independent film heavyweights and from industry experts. There will also be hands-on demos with major technology, gear companies, and film production brands.
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JOURNEYQUEST CREATORS TO MAKE UPCOMING APPEARANCES
EMERALD CITY COMICON
The folks at Zombie Orpheus Entertainment, the creators of hit webseries JourneyQuest, are making several appearances in the next few weeks. On March 30, Kat Ogden will be on the Emerald City Comicon "Women in Webseries" panel discussing the webseries format with the women who are shaping the medium in the northwest. On March 31, Director Ben Dobyns and Producer Elizabeth Heile will host a "Webseries Premierathon" where they will screen a number of fan-supported series, including a special trailer of JourneyQuest Season 2. For those on the east coast, the JourneyQuest trailer will premier at PAX in Boston.
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LHAAFF ANNOUNCES OPENING & CLOSING FESTIVAL FILMS
LHAAFF
The Langston Hughes African American Film Festival has announced the two films that will open and close the festival, which begins on April 14th. Kicking off the event will be The Last Fall, fresh off its world premiere at SXSW. The Closing film for the Festival will be Restless City, a 2011 Sundance Selection. All screenings and panel discussions for the 9th Annual Langston Hughes African American Film Festival will be held at the recently reopened Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center in Seattle's Central District.
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FILMMAKERS: ENTER YOUR THREE MINUTE MASTERPIECE
SEATTLE TIMES
Don't hide your brilliant cinematic creations in your basement. Share your work at this year's Three Minute Masterpiece, a film competition sponsored by The Seattle Times and Seattle International Film Festival. Your are invited to submit a film of three minutes or less, with winners screened at SIFF 2012 and streaming on The Seattle Times website. The deadline for submitting is Monday, April 23.
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INTERNSHIP OPENING AT THE STRANGER
THE STRANGER 
Are you a hilarious writer and also a glutton for punishment? Do you know what a content management system is? Do you smell nice? Seattle's independent newspaper The Stranger is on the lookout for a new music intern.
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FILMMAKERS AND MUSICIANS: SHARE YOUR VISION WITH "DREAM A SOUND FUTURE" COMPETITION
SUSTAINABLE SEATTLE
The Happiness Initiative, Sustainable Seattle, and the Next 50 present the 2nd Annual Sound Future Competition. The competition calls all visionaries to submit art, spoken word, dance, song, video, or another medium of choice. The contest is open to all Puget Sound Residents, and submissions are accepted until April 23. The grand prize is $1000 cash, along with other prizes.
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W HOTEL TIPS THEIR HAT TO SEATTLE MUSIC
GRUMAN & NICOLL
The $2 Million remodel on the first floor of the W Seattle Hotel is not only one of the city's most architecturally intriguing projects, it's got a bit of music culture built in. Covering the wall at one end of the restaurant is a floor-to-ceiling image of a giant vinyl-record library with pop album sleeves six feet high. The space also hosts a new restaurant and a DJ station.
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HELP "KICKSTART" SEATTLE FILM AND MUSIC PROJECTS
Kickstarter is an online "crowd-funding" resource that helps musicians, filmmakers and producers of artistic projects reach out to friends and fans for financial support. Kickstarter allows artists the opportunity to give back to funders with special rewards, such as an exclusive album pre-release, a producer credit in a film, or even getting to meet the artist in person. Seattle is a hotbed for film and music projects, and you can be a pivotal part of the production process by backing a project and spreading the word. Current Seattle-based Kickstarter projects are listed below, ordered by time remaining. Click on the Kickstarter buttons to check out these local projects and discover even more happening around Seattle.
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TOP 10 NW MUSIC FOR WEEK OF 3/19 - 3/25
OFFICE OF FILM + MUSIC
Compiled from figures at Sonic Boom (Ballard) and Easy Street (West Seattle and Queen Anne).
1. Pickwick - "Myths + 2"
2. Grynch - Perspective
3. Damien Jurado - Maraqopa
4. Head and the Heart - "Head and the Heart"
5. Sol - "Yours Truly"
6. Perfume Genius - "Put Your Back N 2 It"
7. Don't Talk to the Cops - "Let's Quit"
8. Fleet Foxes - "Helplessness Blues"
9. Macklemore/Ryan Lewis - "Vs"
10. Mark Lanagen - "Blues Funeral"
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SHORT FILM FRIDAYS
We believe criticism is a hallmark of a successful film community. It gives us great pleasure to partner with The Stranger to bring you Short Film Fridays, local film reviews to expand the public appeal of our local movie making talent, continually advance the artistic quality of our work, and inspire more film critics to evaluate local film.
FRIDAY, MARCH 30: SORAYYA AMINIAN'S "HI! I'M NUTRIA"
The short for this Friday, March 30, is "Cooking with Pari Joon," a deceivingly simple short film about an elderly woman preparing a traditional Persian dish. The filmmaker is Sorayya Aminian (a recent UW graduate and intern at Seattle Office of Film + Music); the cook is the filmmaker's grandmother.
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SCARECROW ON SEATTLE
In appreciation and recognition of Seattle's long and illustrious film history, we are proud to partner with Scarecrow Video to bring you weekly reviews of historical Seattle films. Each week we will showcase a new movie, with special emphasis on how these films show Seattle's most filmable locations.
Past Midnight (1992)
Past Midnight stars the late Natasha Richardson as Laura Mathews, a social worker assigned to a convicted murderer named Ben Jordan (Rutger Hauer in a remarkably restrained performance) who allegedly stabbed his pregnant wife repeatedly and even filmed some of the horrific crime with a Super 8 camera. Jordan has been released from prison after serving a fifteen-year sentence and is subsequently relocated to the town of Snohomish. Jordan, of course, professes his innocence and Mathews begins doing some research into the case. She talks with the victim's father, played by Ted (G-Sale) D'Arms, at his welding shop near Ellensburg. He offers the tense social worker a stress-relieving massage with his "magic hands" but is soon upset when he discovers she is working the Ben Jordan case. Mathews also talks to the simple-minded witness of the crime (portrayed by a very young Paul Giamatti, who used to live around these parts) and his creepy brother (Guy Boyd). Eventually she finds enough contradictory evidence to justify some unethical, rain-soaked, saxophone-enhanced, "erotic" movie sex with her client. Things get complicated when the social worker realizes she's pregnant, starts doubting her new lover's innocence, and ends up fearing that she'll be the star of Jordan's next snuff film. The best part of Past Midnight is the fact that it was made entirely within the friendly confines of the Pacific Northwest. The initial murder takes place in Ellensburg and Mathews' research takes her all around Kittitas County. Her office is supposedly based in Snohomish and there is a lot of footage of the charming town, including the train station, the Oxford Saloon, and some random residential neighborhoods. The actual office location is the little glass greenhouse thing (now the entrance for Swannie's) near the totem poles in Seattle's Occidental Park. Mathews lives in a fancy cabin on Vashon Island that serves as the backdrop for the majority of the film's sex and violence quota. In real life it would be a real bear of a commute to travel back and forth from Vashon to Snohomish, but in movie-land it's a short drive that doesn't even require a ferry ride.
Considering that it garnered Quentin Tarantino his first movie credit, you'd think that more people would have heard of Past Midnight. After about fifteen minutes of watching this tepid "erotic thriller," you can understand why it has faded into the ranks of countless
Jagged Edge/Fatal Attraction variations that can be found in Scarecrow's Murder/Mystery/Suspense section. Tarantino reportedly did a little bit of script doctoring, adding some pop culture references to the stale screenplay, and was consequently given an associate producer credit for his help. It didn't make much difference as the film, which was originally conceived for a theatrical release, ended up premiering on the USA cable network to little fanfare.
-Spenser Hoyt
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FANS RALLY TO SAVE THE FUNHOUSE
THE STRANGER 
The Funhouse, a popular punk rock club near Seattle Center, has been a favorite spot for many Seattleites since its opening in 2003. According to the Stranger, the Funhouse is in danger of being leveled to make way for a new condominium complex. More than 100 punks attended a recent city design meeting in support of the club.
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SOUNDGARDEN RELEASES NEW SONG
USA TODAY
Soungarden may have been at the peak of their popularity over a decade ago, but that isn't going to stop them from launching new music this year. Live to Rise is the Seattle band's first new song in 15 years. The tune is for the highly anticipated movie The Avengers, and will appear on the movie's soundtrack available in May.
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YOUNG MUSICIAN TALKS "SMOOSH" AND GROWING UP ON DRUMS
MEOW 
Local band "Smoosh" has a unique member, seeing as she's been drumming since she learned how to walk. Chloe Saavedra sat down with Musicians for Equal Opportunities for Women (MEOW) and spoke of her start in music with her sisters at a young age, traveling, her biggest shows and the challenges she's faced as a female musician. The 17 year-old pro also spoke about her favorite part of being a drummer, and gave her advice to young aspiring drummers.
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"LATE AUTUMN" BREAKS BOX OFFICE RECORD IN CHINA
KOREA HERALD 
Late Autumn, which filmed in Seattle in 2010, has been setting box office records in China. The film grossed over 25 million yuan (about $4 million USD), a record for a Korean film in its first week of release. Late Autumn is an English-spoken film, but is proving again that serious foreign films can draw large audiences overseas and transcend national boundaries.
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VETERAN SEATTLE MUSIC JOURNALIST GENE STOUT JOINS SEATTLE TIMES
SEATTLE TIMES 
Longtime Seattle PI writer Gene Stout has joined the Seattle Times Arts Team as a freelance writer. Stout, a Seattle native, has been covering Pop music for more than 20 years at the PI.
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TWELVE REASONS WHY FOLKS SHOULD VISIT SEATTLE
USA TODAY 
USA Today's column "The Pop Traveler" divulges the top 12 reasons why Seattle is a hot-spot and should be visited. Not surprisingly, the film and music industries take center stage. The list includes popular music festivals such as Capitol Hill Block Party and Sasquatch, musically-oriented spots like Easy Street Records and EMP Museum, and film-focused places like Cinerama and the skylines of Frasier, Grey's Anatomy,and Sleepless in Seattle.
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Seattle Office of Film + Music Staff
James Keblas, DirectorChris Swenson, Film Program CoordinatorRachel Sawyer, Music + Nightlife Program Coordinator
Sorayya Aminian, Intern
Sam Veatch, Intern
Newsletter submission guidelines |
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