009 Chapters

September 28, 2008:  The Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival screened both “009” and “A Friendly Game” as part of their teen filmmaker program. The festival, one of TIME magazine's “Film Festivals for the Rest of us", is a celebration of new independent cinema in downtown Birmingham, Alabama.
 

Click the poster to the left to see "009" in the Sidewalk on-line catalog.

Sept 14, 2008: The Chicago International REEL Shorts Fest screened both "009" and “A Friendly Game” at Columbia College. The festival, with sponsors such as the “The Onion” humor magazine, seeks to showcase films “to REEL PEOPLE in the Chicagoland area.” A still from "009" appears of the festival’s poster.

Click the poster to the left to see the full-size poster.

On April 29, 2008, "009" premiered at the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY) with 73 other youth-made films to wide notice, many nice comments, and much encouragement. Noah and Ben enjoyed meeting, talking to, and (most of all) seeing the films of the other filmmakers.

"009" was one of five films to earn a nomination for festival's biggest award, the Thomson Young Innovator of the Year. Ben was also the youngest director of the festival that included many films from high schoolers and college students. Ballard High and the University of Southern California film school were especially well represented.

(Click the little poster to the left to see pictures from the big screen premiere.)

Several weeks after the NFFTY, the Christian Science Monitor mentions Ben in an article titled "Tomorrow's Spielbergs get a film festival of their own". To read the story, click the logo.

The Saturday of the "009" premiere, the Bellevue Reporter ran a nice little item on the Bellevue folks at NFFTY. To read the story, click the logo.

The Seattle Times ran a small item about Ben at NFFTY on Friday, the day the festival opens. To read the story, click the logo.

A week before the NFFTY festival, KOMO News Radio interviewed NFFTY co-founder Jessie Harris and Ben. To hear the 50-second edited story click the logo.

Secret Agent 009, Pewee Bon, pits his cool cunning and clever gadgets against the forces of evil villain Dr. Mort to recover the Incredibly Easy To Steal Diamond. Humor and special effects (live action, animation, CGI) create microcinema of epic proportions."

'009' is microcinema of epic proportions. With glossy style and a BANG we meet Pewee Bon (Noah Hirsch), Secret Agent 009. His nemesis? Super villain Dr. Mort (Ben Kadie). With explosive shoot outs and a hair-raising car chase, the 12-year-old filmmakers capture the humor of larger-than-life action films.

Filmed and edited over eight months, with six principle shooting days, the movie contains more than a dozen characters, incredibly played by a cast of two. Bringing writer/director Ben Kadie’s vision to life required ambitious special effects including compositing, matte paintings, and animation. A climatic chase scene combines live action and CGI cars.

The team’s 2007 movie, 'Perilous Skies' received numerous screenings. They were the youngest ever winners of the Seattle Times' Three-Minute Masterpiece Contest.

'009' is microcinema of epic proportions. With glossy style and a BANG we meet Pewee Bon (Noah Hirsch), Secret Agent 009. His nemesis? Super villain Dr. Mort (Ben Kadie). When Dr. Mort pilfers the Incredibly-Easy-To-Steal-Diamond', 009 must try to retrieve the diamond and save the world. On one side, Mr. Bon fights with astonishing miniature gadgets, outdated training films, and cool cunning. On the other, Dr. Mort leads an army of henchmen from an Austrian mountain lair that conceals a weapon of deadly capabilities. With explosive shoot outs and a hair-raising car chase, the 12-year-old filmmakers capture the humor of larger-than-life action films.

Filmed and edited over eight months, with six principle shooting days, and a budget of $100, the movie contains more than a dozen characters, incredibly played by a cast of two. The film features an original soundtrack composed by family friend David Hovel. The movie also includes perhaps this year's slickest animated titles involving a major appliance.

Bringing writer/director Ben Kadie's vision to life required ambitious visual and sound effects. The movie includes extensive compositing and matte paintings. Animation powers Bon's gadgets and his superhuman fighting skills. A climatic chase scene combines live action and CGI cars - stunt driven by a 12 year old.

Ben and Noah's 2007 movie, 'Perilous Skies', received numerous screenings including the kickoff for the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY). They were also the youngest ever winners of the Seattle Times' Three-Minute Masterpiece Contest, Youth Division.

"Bravo!  More!"