On July 26th, 2004 at The Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, CA, a large group of moviemakers converged on The Egyptian Theater in Hollywood to screen the best of their latest wave of films, to shmooze, to sample free cocktails...and to give Kevin Smith an Ovation...Award that is.

The Ovation award is given to a film professional the group finds inspiring to aspiring filmmakers. For about ten minutes, Kevin Smith joked and cajoled the audience as he accepted the award which is, in essence, a large bronzed letter 'O'. "A big O", said Smith. "Thanks for this. I'm going to take it home and give it to my wife...seriously, though, this is going to come in handy, because my address is 2705, and someone just stole the [zero]." About the award, said Kevin, "because I'm an award whore, I'll show up any time someone offers me a new piece of tin. But short films are not a format of filmmaking that I know well. You're lucky to have things like Group101. We didn't have things like that when I got started. I sort of did things backwards. I made the feature first, and have gone back to shorts." On encouraging those aspiring filmmakers in the audience he said: "Keep making your movies. At least seventy five percent of the people in this room are better filmmakers than I am. But that other twenty five percent, I can look down on. "

Over all, Smith's visit went over very well with the crowd; after he was done speaking, he made a hasty exit out the back door of the theater (but returned for the screening and reception afterwards), and the mini-festival of Group101's films began.

The way Group101 works is as follows: As a collective, the artists are encouraged to work together, and to help one another out on their projects. Each filmmaker who joins a session is encouraged to make one short film per month. The artists are arranged into pods of about ten people. They meet once a month for six months, and pick a theme for each month, ie, religion, or friendship, then each filmmmaker is required to make a film about that subject. A month later, they all meet back up to watch the films, deconstruct them, offer each other adv ice, and pick a new theme. What happens to a director if he doesn't make his project for the month? Said Keith Allan, director of the very funny Mormon on Mormon, "Oh, you make your films. It's a great motivating factor to have to do it. If you don't do it, the people in your group really look down on you."

It all sounds very encouraging and bohemian, yes, yes, but how are the films?

Based on what I saw at the festival, if you're interested in making movies, you should check Group101 out. Heckfire, I'm thinking of signing up myself, gosh darnit. While most of the featured shorts all gave the impression they took quite a bit longer than a month to make, the works were all entertaining and impressive on some level. Ranging from the low-fi, simple, and heartfelt 'Rewind' by Christina Garner, to the very technically impressive murder narrative 'About Time' by Maureen Timpa Hendricks, to the abstract but lucid and tender romance 'One Quiet Place' by Jeff Consiglio, almost every genre of film was represented.

My big three for the evening would have to be 'The Making of A Movie', by Kolby Granville. The flick, which has no dialogue, is a visual metaphor for the moviemaking process. A very funny piece, and particularly resonant for an audience of filmmakers, one wonders what Granville might be capable of should the filmmaker decide to make a movie not about making movies. On the documentary tip, 'Little Sister' by Roger Ramnath details the life and times of a Taiwanese girl named Mine, who lives her dream of one day becoming Elvis Presley. Mine's pelvis popping performance and hilarious candid interviews need to be seen to be believed. My top choice, however, would have to be 'The 213' by Clayton Cogswell. This spooky, fun flick had a polished look that indicated great care in post, and was a fun take on the old 'highway ghost' tale that made me jump in my seat once (even though I should have known said scare was coming).

So, if you're into moviemaking and want a challenge, I'd look into Group101. The advantages seem plain: a group of likeminded people with whom to interact, opportunities for low rent or borrowed equipment , and a monthly opportunity to showcase your work to an interested audience whose aim it is to help you get better at what you do. Dues for membership are relatively low, and as any pro filmmaker will tell you, the best way to learn about making movies is to make them.

Check out Group101 at Group101films.com.

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