What's been going on...

I finally uploaded some videos to my youtube channel, ctlewis99. So far it is mostly excerpts from the Peak Show DVD I made a few years ago.

Viva just finished (4/9/08) a week long run at Cinema Village in NYC. It was reviewed in several NY publications, including the NY Times. Check out the reviews at rottentomatoes.com. I was fortunate to receive a nod from Slant Magazine: "lenser C. Thomas Lewis's Brady Bunch cinematography is every bit the tour de force Edward Lachman's Oscar-nominated work on, Far From Heaven was..."

On Sunday May 4, '08, I directed and shot a 35mm short at a local bar. I Got This Friend was written by local Boise writer, Alex Hansen, and is a comedy featuring director and actor, Travis Swartz. I wanted to test Kodak's new Vision 3 stock and take the film through the DI process, and shooting a short in one day seemed like a great way to do it. You can view pictures of the shoot here.

March 7th, shot second camera on Gregory Bayne's Person of Interest. The film was written by and features J. Reuben Appelman.

We wrapped photography on I am Henry on February 16h. Yah! Now starts the long task of post.

After returning from The AFI Fest, I started collaborating on a short film with a local writer, Will Smeckpepper. After several all-day writing sessions we started shooting on Dec 12th. We are now seven days into it with about 4 more to go. Production pics can be seen at my on-line gallery. The working title of the film is I am Henry. It is the story of a man who has spent the last two years of his life in relative isolation, recalling his past relationship with Mary, his one true love. Set in a dystopian near-future America, Henry's isolation and his obsession over his relationship with Mary cause him to project his imaginings into the media that permeate his life: radio, television, mail, and even foreign language lessons on tape. Ultimately, Henry confronts the likely fate of Mary. All the while, Henry is observed by unseen helicopters, a ghost with a smile, and a goldfish named Hubert.

Viva screened at this year's AFI festival in Los Angeles during the first week of November. I flew into town to enjoy the festivities. We got an overwhelmingly positve response during the Q&A which is always a pleasure of course. While I was in town I was able to finally shoot the pick-ups for Poor Marcus'Let's Hit the Club. So maybe any year now it will be completed.

Addi from Unpopable recently posted his Sneaky-n-Sleazy music video to the web. You can check it out and his other Inflatable Minute Webisodes at his youtube channel.

On September 29th 2007, I had the pleasure of being the delegate for Viva which screened right here in Boise as part of the Idaho International Film Festival. Check out more Viva clips and excerpts from other films I shot for Anna Biller at her youtube channel. Click to see all 16 videos and you find clips from A Visit From The Incubus, Fairy Ballet and Three Examples of Myself as Queen which I shot way back in 1993.

On August 18th I shot a funny short film for my friend Andrew Ellis in Boise ID. We shot in the Ada Country Grand Jury Court room. The film is called Things Ain't Right in Spitwater: A Serious Courtroom Drama. And the drama involved lots of green slime. Andrew is the founder of smallpondfilms.org, a local film organization here in Boise.

On the weekend of July 21, I shot a music video for Unpopable. Unpopable is an LA-based duo, featuring Addi Somekh on homemade balloon bass and Henry Bermudez on electric guitar. I shot the video for Sneaky and Sleazy. Check them out at unpopable.com.

On July 15th, I shot an interesting project for an artist/philosopher named Jimmy Raskin. Jimmy, who also went to CalArts, is represented by my dear friend Miguel Abreu at miguelabreugallery.com. We shot a 25 minute monologue which will be installed in the gallery for his show this fall.

On July 22nd Viva played at the Melbourne International Festival in Australia.

On July 1, I had a great time shooting a fun webisode for my dear friend Addi Somekh. The extraordinary Addi is a balloon twister and musician. The webisode features my daughter Amalia in a balloon light sabre dual. You can check out all of Addi's webisodes at inflatableminute.com.

On June 26th Viva played to a sold-out audience of 1,500 at The Moscow International Film Festival.

Viva played to a full house at the 9th annual Cinevegas Film Festival on June 8, 2007 at the Palms Casino Resort . This was the best audience I have seen this film with. Everyone appreciated the humor and that really added to the energy in the room.

On May 20, 2007 I had the pleasure of shooting a music video for Poor Marcus. Let's Hit the Club is another comedic rap from Marcus and is the follow-up to his youtube cult hit King of the Cul-de-sac (which I did not shoot). Check out that song at myspace.com/poormarcus. Look forward to Let's Hit the Club coming out after we shoot some pick-ups.