Our NEW YORK PREMIERE of THE HAPPY POET — during the 2010 Rooftop Films Summer Series!

We’re incredibly excited to be a part of Rooftop’s programming this year – and this is our FIRST public screening outside of Austin, Texas.  During the 2010 SXSW Film Festival, the film premiered to rave reviews and had 3 standing room only, sold-out screenings.  The event kicks off with Live Music by Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez – followed by a screening of THE HAPPY POET (85 minutes) – and will continue with a open-bar/afterparty at Fontana’s. Writer/Director/Editor/Lead Actor Paul Gordon (aka the Poet) will be in attendance (and I’ll be there as well).

Event Info: Friday, June 25, 2010 / $10 at the door (or online)
Open Road Rooftop: LOWER EAST SIDE / 350 GRAND ST., NEW YORK, NY 10002

8:00PM – Doors Open / 8:30PM – Live music by Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez
9:00PM – Film begins / 11:30PM – After-party: Open Bar at Fontana’s (105 Eldridge St.) Courtesy of Radeberger Pilsner

Purchase tickets via TicketLeap

And please, check out our trailer here:

And if you still need convincing — this what a few folks have to say about the film:
“My favorite movie so far at this year’s SXSW is a little comedy, at once wistful and wonderfully dry-witted, called The Happy Poet.  Shot here in Austin the film tells the story of one debt-ridden man who attempts to change his lousy fortunes by opening up a vegetarian food stand.  It sounds modest.  It is modest! But damned if my heart didn’t swell during the film’s great climax to say nothing of the last shot that left me touched to the point of tears.  Austin filmmaker Paul Gordon, who wrote, directed, edited and starred in the movie ought to be mighty pleased with himself.”
-Karen Valby, Entertainment Weekly

“The Happy Poet, a deadpan charmer directed by Austin filmmaker Paul Gordon, moves along at the brisk pace of a light romantic comedy.  Gordon stars as a loner hoping to turn his organic food cart into a success, but the finances never come together.  (There’s probably a helpful metaphor here for the state of the independent film itself – trimmed down and in business against all odds…) Everything about The Happy Poet is cheerily conventional, save for Gordon’s hilariously monotonous delivery, an ironic performance that incessantly contradicts the movie’s title.”
-Eric Kohn, IndieWIRE

“Admittedly, the film’s muted rhythms take a little getting used to, but once you’re acclimated to Gordon’s long takes and just-short-of-painful pauses between reactions, it’s easy to understand and sympathize with Bill’s ambition…Even better, the film’s dry sense of humor belies sincerity, rather than the kind of ironic detachment that seems to pop up frequently in independent films…The Happy Poet is a modest, funny little charmer – a textbook ‘independent film’ in many ways – but it’s got the romantic heart of a mainstream movie, which is why you want to see its dreams become reality, and after watching it, you feel like yours can, too.”
-Todd Gilchrist, Cinematical

“Director/star Paul Gordon’s film is right up my alley, which is to say that I tend to revel in the awkward…The Happy Poet is nothing but awkward, a slice-of-life tale about a weird guy who feels that he should sell organic, mostly vegetarian food out of a hot dog cart…I really, truly dug it.”
-Mark Bell, Film Threat

“If Slacker defined the shaggy eccentricities of Austin life circa the early ’90s, then Gordon’s similarly low-key comedy is a delightful, deadpan reappraisal of the town’s prototypical charm some two decades later. …What makes the film so winsome, beyond a lively supporting cast of believable kooks, is Gordon’s sincerity, both as a performer and filmmaker.”
-Aaron Hillis, Greencine Daily

Here it is — in its entirety.   My long in the making short film, SCREAMING.  Hats off to Mr. David Hobizal who provided the motion graphics and title design that I struggled with on my own for months.

Turn this one up LOUD — and while you’re at it — go FULLSCREEN as well.  And please, feel free to comment below, if you feel like sayin’ something after seeing SCREAMING — then say it.

SCREAMING, a short video piece that I’ve been tweaking for longer than I care to admit, is now done.  Many thanks to Mr David Hobizal who helped bring the motion graphics to life.

With any luck, SCREAMING will find a home on one of the touring programs (or something similar) that some of my other short works have been a part of.  Time will tell.  I’ll let you know, when I know.

I’m late to help get the word out on this (as SXSW has been all-encompassing) – but without further ado:

These are the 3 “teasers” for LOVERS OF HATE, the new film by Bryan Poyser, premiering on IFC On Demand on March 12, 2010. It premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival in the US Dramatic Competition and screened at the 2010 SXSW Film Festival.

“In this savage comedy about deceit and sibling rivalry, two estranged brothers, Rudy and Paul, have nothing in common but their love for the same woman. When Paul whisks her away to a romantic mountain retreat, the lovers have no idea that Rudy has made it there first. From the shadows of the posh chalet, Rudy tries desperately to sabotage the relationship in director Bryan Poyser’s brilliantly executed game of cat and mouse.”

For more about the film: www.loversofhatethemovie.com
To find it on demand on cable in your area: www.ifcfilms.com

Teaser Promo #1

Teaser Promo #2

Teaser Promo #3

With the SXSW World Premiere of THE HAPPY POET only days away, we’re unveiling the film’s first trailer.   Check it out!   And come see us at SXSW!

This is another of my previous short works that I am finally making available online.  This is one of my stranger short films, but it also happens to be one of the most well seen.  The film, CLOCK PAINT EYEBALL screened at numerous places around the world (including some microcinema screenings in Seattle, San Francisco, Paris and Houston).  Mike Nicholson did some great design work on the look and feel of the piece – and I cut it along with my longtime collaborator Aaron Vega.  Check it out.

Clock Paint Eyeball from Chris Ohlson on Vimeo.

This is a short film I finished in 2006 (and part of the get all my short works online project I am ever so slowly working on).  Originally this was a poem entitled Letter to City of Austin, Attention: Customer Rep Susan that I saw performed in Austin, Texas at La Zona Rosa, by the enormously talented Jacob Rakovan.   And the actor in the film, Jeffery Mills, was someone I was trying to find the right part for, because I was dying to work with him… That’s how this marriage came to be.

My Electric Bill screened at handful of film festivals and screening series around the country — and I still find Jeffery Mills’ performance really, really strong and hope to find a way to work with him again in the future.   Feel free to comment below and let me know what you think about our film.

In the slowly putting some of my works online project, here is a short film from 2004 called CREMAINS.  Narrated by actor Steve Shearer and friend Marilyn Rodriguez, this short film sprouted from a much lengthier piece (never produced) called The Painted Ones that I had developed with good friend Aaron Vega.  The Painted Ones never saw the light of day, but CREMAINS came to life and it’s a short film I am very proud of — and it’s done very well screening around the world.  Music by the most prolific musician on the planet, Graham Reynolds.

I’ve been hesitant to post some of my shorter films online in the past.   Part of me was being old-fashioned and another part of me simply liked the idea that these kinds of works had to be seen in festivals or microcinemas or DVD compilations.  That said, over the course of the next few months, I am going to start uploading some of my shorter works – and see where that gets me.

So, first up is TRAUMA, a short film I made a few years ago with a lot of help in post-production from the wonderful designer Mike Nicholson and the talented sound man extraordinaire, Mr. Bob Kellough.