I am pleased to share with you the first video to our short film/month challenge. This video is for Klondike’s contest. I would love it if you checked it out and voted for it (and at the same time you have a chance at winning 25K - not too shabby).

Here’s the link to vote.

If you have time, we submitted it to another category (link to vote for that).

We had a blast shooting this and, all in all, it was a great experience. I am really happy with the quality, especially given it’s my first time out of the gates:) Everyone I worked was/is amazing. It looks like we have the beginnings of a wonderful crew.

I learned a ton writing and directing this, but most of all working with a time limit - tough stuff! Thank goodness for post in this case.

Credits for the video:

Director, Writer, Music: Ryan Oelke
DP and Editor: Jason Lange
Actors: Scott Cooper Ryan, Tony Vo, Ryan Oelke, Charles Gammill
Production Assistant: Bonnie Arnold
Boom Operator: Charles Gammill
Sound Engineer: Ryan Oelke
Dolly Sound: Richard Frohlich
Special Thanks: Troy Omafray, Niwot Market

Did I say I wanted to be a producer? I meant a director and screenwriter:)

Recently I wrote a post about the new design of this site and its reflection of my new career focus. Well, turns out I was part mixing up terminology and part needing more time to get completely clear about things. So, now you can see that I have changed the tagline on the site and rewritten the about page.

Ryan Oelke is an aspiring film director and screenwriter.

Currently he is collaborating with a film crew to shoot and complete a short film each month for one year. They will also be participating in Shootout Boulder, a 24 hour film competition in October 2008. During this time Ryan is directing and writing many of the short films. You can view them on this site.

I realized how deeply I am moved to create art and I am drawn into film through directing and screenwriting. Producers do get to be involved in some of the creative process, but they are most logistical coordinators. While I have learned over the years how to handle that side of things, it is completely life draining for me. Creating art gives me life. Film in particular pulls on so many of my passions, talents, and abilities. It’s the first path, aside from meditation, that I feel comfortable giving long days and hours to. I could write a book on how much insight I’ve developed over the last two months, but that’ll just have to come in small posts over time:)

I’m excited to both share my process in developing as a director and a screenwriter, as well as all the projects I work on. Last weekend I completed my first shoot that I directed and wrote for a contest. We should have the final cut before the week is over.