We returned this afternoon from our time in Dallas and Arizona visiting the relatives. It’s been a blinding 2 weeks, but we enjoyed the relaxing break.

Before flying out from Phoenix, we spent the evening and night with a friend of mine from high school, Matt Eppright, who has since written/produced/directed a staggering number of short films. His latest film, “Trickery of Travelers”:http://www.mankindpictures.com/trickeryoftravelers.html enjoyed two packed premiere showings at “Farrelli’s Cinema Supper Club”:http://www.farrellis.com in Phoenix. Matt brought me the DVD when he came up to visit last month, and I have to say it’s his best work yet. He shot it on Super8 film with a great cast. It’s a clever, catchy piece about a ballerina and a salesman who travel around the desert collecting souls and doing a job for a particular fairy godmother. Very quirky, very cool, and reminds me a little of “Amelie”:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0211915/combined, which is no surprise — “Jean-Pierre Jeunet”:http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000466/ is one of Matt’s favorite directors.

You really ought to check out his trailer “here”:http://www.mankindpictures.com/travelers_preview.wmv (Windows Media file). “Rachel Hamilton’s”:http://www.rachelhamilton.com music really makes the movie!

In between mouthfuls of mexican food, we talked a lot about the noticeable difference in quality between film and video — which is something independent filmmakers LOVE to talk about in great detail, much to the chagrin of my wife — and that led me to my 1st Personal Filmmaking New Year’s Resolution. I’ll throw up that list tomorrow.