Shorts 2 - Mixed Shorts

As a former resident of the Soo (1979-1987) who was inspired to pursue a film career by the movies I saw at the Red and Blue Theaters, I felt it was my duty and obligation to submit my short film to the festival. I've been lucky enough to have carved out a successful career in Hollywood as a screenwriter and now live in San Francisco where I split my time between filmmaking and commercial production.

One of the first movies I remember seeing at the Soo Red and Blue Theaters was Clint Eastwood's masterwork Every Which Way But Loose. It had it all: bare-knuckle boxing, diesel engines, an orangutan sidekick. I was in 6th grade and I thought it was a perfect movie. Apparently everyone else in town did too because it ran on one of the screens at the theater for almost a full calendar year. I don't remember what movie finally replaced it but I recall that it wasn't too long afterwards that the sequel Any Which Way You Can took back that screen.

It wasn't just Clint Eastwood's finest work that I experienced at the Red & Blue. I saw many of the movies that sparked my dream of working in Hollywood -- Jaws, Airplane, Tron, Alien, Tootsie, The Road Warrior, Love at First Bite, The Jerk, Breakin', Beverly Hills Cop, Ghostbusters, Gremlins, The Breakfast Club, Back to the Future, Witness -- just to name a few.

These are movies that I've seen dozens of times (or more) since but never fail to conjure up some crystalline mental picture associated with that first viewing. It's been 30+ years and the images are still vivid, like they were flash-frozen into my brain by that first post-viewing contact with the icy night air.