Another Sundance, Another Earth

Sundance is kicking off and there is a definite excitement in the air compared to previous years. After going through the lineup, we're extremely curious about Another Earth, directed by Mike Cahill. From the program book:

Rhoda Williams, a bright young woman recently accepted into MIT's astrophysics program, aspires to explore the cosmos. John Burroughs, a brilliant composer, has just reached the pinnacle of his profession, and is about to have a second child with his loving wife. On the eve of the discovery of a duplicate Earth, tragedy strikes, and the lives of these strangers become irrevocably intertwined. Estranged from the world and the selves they once knew, the two outsiders begin an unlikely love affair, which reawakens them to life. But when one of them is presented with the opportunity to travel to the other Earth and embrace an alternative reality, which new life will they choose?

On a shoestring budget, Cahill shot and directed the film himself with a Sony EX-3 in his hometown. Locations included his mother's house and the high school he attended. Co-writer and actress Brit Marling is in the majority of scenes by herself. Watch this interview with the director below for his musings on thoughtful sci-fi and how they began shooting the film.

Producer An Tran will be attending the festival and no doubt checking out Another Earth. Come back for a full report.

Art of the Van

Photo courtesy of Ken Berger

There's something soulful about old conversion vans and what they say about their owners. At the same time utilitarian and expressive, these vehicles can be characters themselves like in TWM.

We recently discovered this fantastic Flickr pool titled "We're an American Van" by Los Angeles photographer Orrin Anderson. Take a look at the funky colors and solid shapes. All we know is it makes us want to buy a van.

Local blog The Eastsider recently interviewed Anderson about this fascination and the appeal of vans.

Happy Holidays, See You in 2011!

via Echo Park Time Travel Mart

Mice Two Dads: Scientists Create Mice With Two Genetic Fathers

By e3000 via Flickr

We've got lots of critters here on the TWM blog lately...

It was announced yesterday that reproductive scientists in Texas, led by Dr. Richard R. Behringer at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, have produced male and female mice from two fathers using stem cell technology. Quite a few news outlets have sensationalized the news by frightening readers or painting campy scenarios not too different from the Schwarzengger film "Junior."

Rather than highlighting these wild projections, Discover Magazine's straightforward explanation describes how this was done and that for human reproduction this is a long way from being achieved.

Where would this be useful? One benefit we could think of is to preserve highly endangered species. Another would be the creators of the '80s sitcom My Two Dads could also make out well by resurrecting the show with this updated twist.

Clone of a clone: Dolly Lives On

Professor Keith Campbell, one of the scientists who cloned Dolly the sheep, recently announced that four sheep cloned from Dolly's tissue are alive and well. If you recall, Dolly was the first clone. She lived to six years, about half the life span of most sheep. In 2003 she died and about four years later, these four Dollies were created. These new clones apparently do not have the health issues that Dolly had and advancements in technology made the process of making them much easier. 


Read more about it at DailyTech.

Photos from You, Me and We Premiere

Thanks to everyone who came out to the W Hollywood on Nov. 16 for the first public screening of You, Me and We. This was the first time we showed the finished piece to most of the cast and crew. We were thrilled with the crowd's response - there was laughter and uncomfortable throat clearing at all the right moments. The Q&A after also proved the short's appeal with the audience, we had a lot of thoughtful questions and comments. There really is nothing like having a collective group of viewers watch your work and totally get it! A big shout-out to Film Independent for organizing the event and providing the free Stella Artois beforehand.

Dubai as a Backdrop for Star Wars

Photographer Cédric Delsaux took real photos of Dubai & composited Star Wars imagery for his new exhibit Dark Lens.