The Dying Western Scores a Huge Win at the Ivy Film Festival

by Pa Rock
Shameless Braggart

I received word from my good friend Bob Cronk (whom I have never actually met in person) that The Dying Western won the Grand Jury award for Best Film at the Ivy Film Festival at Brown University in Providence, RI. This particular film festival always snags big names from the film industry, and one was this year's speakers was Jack Nicholson!

The Dying Western was based on a short story written by my son, Tim, and he also co-wrote the screenplay. It was put together by students from the Film Department at the University of Ohio. Bob Cronk's son, Wes Cronk, was the film's editor - and he did an outstanding job - as did all of the crew and cast!

I had the wonderful opportunity to be with Tim and his siblings in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago when this film won Best Student Film at the Las Vegas Film Festival. It was a great weekend, one of those rare times when all of the kids can get together.

Tim knows that when he finally gets to the Academy Awards (a year or two down the road - at most!) that I plan on tagging along - and I want to be seated next to Cher! I hope that my heart can stand it!

Film Fest Winner!

by Pa Rock
Family News Anchor

The Dying Western was officially named the best student film at the Las Vegas Film Festival! Congratulations to all of the young people who worked so hard to make that happen! You rock!

The Las Vegas Film Festival

by Pa Rock
Proud Father

Our family group enjoyed some fine film fare this afternoon at the Las Vegas Film Festival, our reason for this springtime outing to Vegas. The Festival was held at the Eastside Cannery, a very nice and relatively new hotel and casino located several miles off of the Strip. Tim's movie (well, his and the film department's from the University of Ohio!) was shown in a block of seven short features. Theirs was the longest in that group, running thirty-four minutes, with a couple that were under ten minutes in length.

The Dying Western, the movie that we all came to see, played first in its block, and it was far superior to the other entries. (I'm not sure how they are judged. The Festival lasted four days and contained feature length movies starring names that were readily recognizable, as well as a few other blocks of short films. There will be an awards ceremony later tonight which reveal the level of intelligence of the judges!)

The other six entries that we viewed included a war picture, a dance, a gimmick or joke flick, a tired romance, and two screaming mother horrors. My second favorite film of the litter was the dance film from Belgium entitled Fertilize in which a beautiful female (the egg) fends off a hundred or so dancing men (sperm) until she is able to latch onto the one she wants. Pag-Asa, the World War II movie, was a submission from the Philippines and dealt with two Filipino soldiers in a moment of crisis. The shortest entry of the group, The Heist, (the gimmick film) was a product of Canada and clocked in at just four minutes. Both screaming mother nightmares were of domestic origin, which probably says something fairly significant about our national psyche!

It was a great afternoon! All of my children have made me very proud!

(Bob Cronk, you have plenty of reason to be proud also. I met Wes - The Dying Western's film editor. He is a very nice young man and is certainly skilled at his craft!)

Vegas Redux

by Pa Rock
Desert Sage

I'm back in Las Vegas and booked in at the Tropicana less than two months after my last visit. This time I flew to the Sin City instead of taking the long drive up through the desert. The flight time from Phoenix to Vegas is 30 minutes, less time than it took me to drive from my apartment to the airport this morning, and barely long enough to force down the complimentary peanuts, pretzels, and soda provided by Southwest Airlines. (That's right! Southwest has free snacks and drinks - and your bags are checked free!) But, even with those inducements, I think that I will drive again next time. The desert between Phoenix and Vegas is magnificent, with giant saguaros, Joshua trees, craggy vistas, and Hoover Dam!

Packing for travel seems to be getting more complicated. Some of it is due to age - making sure that I get all of my various pills, the insulin, and a few syringes - as well as my trusty bifocals. And some of it is due to the techno-age in which we live: Remember when packing a camera didn't involve charging the battery? Now we have cell phones and those have to be charged as well - ditto for my new iPod. After everything is charged, the battery has to go back in the camera, the telephone has to get inside of my pocket along with the iPod, the headphones have to be packed - along with all adapters so that the whole mess can be recharged during the trip - and don't forget the laptop with its adapter and air card!

So far the only thing that I appear to have forgotten is the book that I have been reading. Just as well, I guess, because keeping all of my toys charged wouldn't have left me much time for reading anyway!

My kids will start drifting in later this afternoon. Our purpose in being here is to support Tim as a movie based on a short story that he wrote competes in the Las Vegas Film Festival. That entry, The Dying Western, will be shown on Sunday afternoon. If you would like to know more about my youngest son, check out Tim Macy on the Internet Movie Data Base (www.IMDB.com).

The Strip awaits...

Tim Macy Rides Again!

by Pa Rock
Proud Father

This afternoon I watched an exceptional short film entitled The Dying Western that was based on a story written by my son, Tim, who also played a major role in turning the story into a movie script. The story was brought to the screen by a very talented group of university drama students in Ohio. Western isn't the only story of Tim's that has been made into a movie. A couple of years ago a Hollywood professional turned a story entitled The Brass Teapot into a short film of the same name. Teapot was entered into an international film competition in the United Arab Emirates.

The Dying Western is professional in every sense of the word. The university students took a very clever story idea and made it into a captivating film. The DVD of their work contains the movie itself, along with outtakes, an alternate ending, story boards, and a great deal of information about how they were able to make such a classy film on a student budget. It could actually serve as a short course on the mechanics of making a movie.

I wish I could report that this wonderful film is for sale on Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble, but it's not. But if you ever find yourself in Goodyear, Arizona, stop by and join me in a Tim Macy Film Festival!

Being proud is an important component of parenting. From posting kindergarten doodles on the refrigerator, to attending recitals, graduations, marriages, special recognitions, and beyond, parents have innumerable opportunities to bask in the glow of the achievements of their young. The achievements of all three of my children are a constant source of button-busting pride. I'm one lucky (and proud) dad!

The Dying Western

by Pa Rock
Proud Papa

Anyone who brags on one of my kids, especially in writing, automatically lands in Pa Rock's Ramble - whether they want to be there or not! The following email arrived this morning:

Hi -

I saw your blog entry on the movie that was made from The Brass Teapot. I certainly think that your son is a talented writer.

My son, Wes, is one of the core team now working on The Dying Western(http://www.thedyingwestern.com). He's doing the editing now for the screening on June 8th at Ohio University. I wish we could be there, but Athens, Ohio is quite a ways from Colorado.

It's a very talented group of guys and I have high hopes for the new film. Wes says he's pleased with the quality. Let's hope the film gets some notice.

Bob Cronk

Godspeed to Wes and his colleagues at Ohio University. I hope that their film is a blockbuster!