Giffin Cock Foster as Roscoe Speeder.
Building a virtual set with Cinema 4D.
Decorating the virtual set with constructed props and
props from the Sketch up's 3D Warehouse.
Directing the action.
Putting the rope to good use.
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November, 2011: SPARKS IN THE NIGHT is in the new
KIDS FIRST! Online Film Festival. (Previously,
it won their top middle-school award.) |
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"Sparks in the Night"
wins
KIDS FIRST! "Best Award" May 3, 2011:
Every year KIDS FIRST!, the world's largest
children's film festival, gives a "Best Award" to
the top three films in each of its categories. This
year "Sparks in the Night" earned the award with a
third place in the "middle-school student
production" category. Congratulations to first place
winner Erin Buckley and second place winner Camille
Manybeads Tso.
Studio films also win "Best Awards".
Congratulations to "How to Train Your Dragon" from
Paramount, the first place winner in the "Feature
Film, Ages 5-12" category.
This is Ben's first "Best Award". Last year,
Murder at the Pharaoh's
Grave earned a KIDS FIRST! nomination. |
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The Pendragwn Youth Film Festival seeks to
contribute to society through the power of
story-telling by helping talented youth grow as
filmmakers and artists. "Sparks in the Night"
was
screened on May 15th, 2011 and
was named a
Pendragwn finalist. Congrats to Grand Prize
winners Zack Young & David Chen, Creative Lens
winners Mike Holland & Nic Weinfeld, and Audience
Choice winners Sophia Pink and Luz Bauer. |
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The Holland Project is an all-ages arts and music
initiative by young people, for young people, in
Reno, NV. "Sparks in the Night" will screen as part
of their Teen Arts Night on April 1, 2011. |
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Sparks in the Night on Art
Museum Tour
March 19, 2011:Yesterday, Ben attended a VIP reception at the Seattle Art Museum
(SAM) for the ART.WRITE.NOW. exhibit.
The free exhibit runs through April 24th and includes 100 wonderful youth-created works,
including "Sparks in the Night". The works were selected from
last year's 600 Scholastic National Gold Medal winners
(which, in turn, were selected from the 165,000
works submitted). The traveling exhibit previously ran in Fort Wayne & Dallas.
It moves next to Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and finally New York City.
[photos]
In a case of life imitating art, Ben's latest film,
Mack, includes an
art-gallery-reception scene. In contrast with the
film, the real reception had no ghosts!
A Bellevue Reporter article about the
exhibit starts "Hollywood's next Coen brothers, or
at least brother, may come from Bellevue." [full
article] |
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Feb 26, 2011: Over his winter break, Ben talked to the students of
the Jefferson Community School (Port Townsend) about making movies.
The presentation included private screenings of
Perilous Skies, Sparks in the Night,
and Mack. [photos] |
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Feb 26, 2011: The Youth Film Happy Hour is a periodic event
sponsored by Northwest Film Forum (NWFF), NFFTY, KCTS 9, SIFF, &
MOHAI. Today, they showed several short films and trailers including
the trailers for "Molly and the Masked Storm" and "Mack" and the
film "Sparks in the Night". Ben then appeared with Sundance
Filmmaker Megan Griffiths and KCTS 9 producer Dan Dumas on a panel
about getting started in film . [pictures] |
|
October 17, 2010: Warren Etheredge,
cultural conversationalist, tweets "Ben Kadie is only 13 years old
and already a better filmmaker than Uwe Boll. Check out SPARKS IN
THE NIGHT" [note: Ben is now 15]. Two years ago, Mr. Etheredge wrote
the
first
published film review of a Slugco film. |
|
NFFTY DVD -- October 18, 2010: NFFTY's limited edition DVD includes
Sparks in the Night as one of its nine "fantastic short films".
|
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The News Tribune (Tacoma): "The good, the bad and the
mediocre at TFF’s Family Shorts"
...
“Sparks in the Night”: Shot by 13-year-old Ben Kadie from
Bellevue and starring his teenage buddies, this clever noir
detective spoof rakes in every cliché in the book for a fine
three-minute laugh."
...
|
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Tacoma Weekly Volcano: "YOUR DAILY GUIDE TO THE 2010 TACOMA
FILM FESTIVAL"
... Family Shorts commence at noon at the theater, with
a lineup including Sparks in the Night, the truly fantastic
winner of last year's Seattle Times Three-Minute Masterpiece
Contest. Ben Kadie was only 13 (13!) when he crafted the
intricate effects for this comedic caper. ..."
|
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October 1, 2010: Ben & family spend last weekend in Port Townsend. The youngest filmmaker at the wonderful festival, Ben greatly enjoyed
talking with the other filmmakers.
The film screened twice as part of the
"Reviewer's Choice" program.
Port Townsend Film Festival
Photos |
|
Tacoma Film Festival (WA), October 7-14, 2010, "a week long community
celebration of independent film" |
|
"Most Promising Young Student Film Maker Award"
October 1, 2010: The Action/Cut Short Film Competition
named Ben one of three winners in their 18-and-under
division.
|
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ThrillSpy International Thriller & Spy Film Festival, Washington D.C.,
October 2. The film is in the festival's general division. About the
festival: "[Movies and films should be about having fun and escapism.
... The festival events include screenings, museum and law enforcement
tours, VIP parties, embassy receptions and concludes with a ThrillSpy
Awards Gala for filmmakers and invited special guests." |
|
14th Annual North American All Youth Film and Education Day, October 1,
2010, Sacramento, CA. Motto: YOUTH ARE THE SOLUTION, NOT THE PROBLEM |
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Movies on the Mural at Seattle Center, Aug 22, 2010 -- Free films under the
Space Needle. "Sparks in the Night" precedes "The Twilight Saga: New
Moon". |
|
Route 66 International Film Festival (Springfield, IL), Sept 18, 2010 -- Ben's
grandmother plans on attending. |
|
The Philadelphia Film and Music Festival (Philly F/M), September 23-26,
2010
-- The new festival strives to be an annual event that effectively
merges independent film and music in new and exciting ways. |
|
Zeum Museum, July 18, 2010 -- Showing about 500 kids some of winners and
favorites from the San Francisco International Film Festival. |
|
Short Cinema for Young Filmmakers, June 15, 2010 (California State University,
Monterey Bay) |
|
First ever screening of selected Scholastic award winners
Tribeca Cinemas Film Screening, NYC
In partnership with the Tribeca Film Festival
June 10, 2010
National Scholastic Art & Writing Awards Teen Exhibition
World Financial Center’s Courtyard Gallery, NYC
June 9 – 25, 2010
|
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May 1, 2010: The National Film
Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY)
selected "Sparks
in the Night" for screening in the
Centerpiece Shorts program at Seattle's SIFF Cinema. The film will also screened for free in
the Seattle Center House as part of
"Best of NFFTY:
2007-2010".
This is Ben's fourth
year and fifth film in NFFTY. Last year,
Murder
at the Pharaoh's Grave, made when Ben
was 12, won NFFTY's HBO-sponsored trip to-Hollywood. Here
are photos from NFFTY
2010 with links to photos from previous years. |
|
Bellevue Reporter: "Interlake High School filmmaker already an
award-winner"
Apr 16 2010, 5:09 PM
Ben Kadie has tracked down an elusive criminal on the streets of a grimy
city, orchestrated an air attack behind enemy lines, and has visited a
pharaohs grave – all before his 15 birthday. He travels through time
and...
More ›
|
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April 6, 2010: The Alliance for
Young Artists & Writers announced today
that two of Ben films are national medal winners. "Sparks in the Night"
won a National Scholastic Gold Medal.
Murder
at the Pharaoh's Grave won a National Scholastic Silver
Medal. One year ago, Ben was the youngest gold medal filmmaker in the
nation with his film
A Friendly
Game. Scholastic has given arts awards since 1923 to teens
such as Andy Warhol, Robert Redford, and John Lithgow. Over 165,000
works were submitted this year with fewer than 600 receiving a national
gold medal. There is an ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City in
June for which the city is lighting to top of the Empire State Building
gold. (The ceremony, however, conflicts with the end of school at
Interlake so Ben won't be able to go.) "Invasion
of the Teenage Geniuses", a NY Observer article about
this year's ceremony in NYC. |
|
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April 25, 2010: Sparks in the Night wins the
top prize
at
the Newport Beach Film Festival Youth Showcase.
Volcom
sponsored the Newport Youth Showcase to "amplify the voices of the
younger cutting edge film makers". The showcase included 14 films by
filmmakers 18 and younger. In
his blog, juror Elliot V. Kotek called
"Sparks in the Night" "a fantastic film noir rife with humor and class".
Last year, Newport Beach selected
A Friendly Game. |
|
March 27, 2010: The Student Division of the Louisiana Film Festival has
given their top prize to "Sparks in the Night". This marks the the
first time the Jefferson Hendricks Achievement in Film Award
has been won by a middle school film. Last year, the festival named
Murder
at the Pharaoh's Grave best middle school film. |
|
March 2010: The
Alliance for Young Artists & Writers
has awarded Scholastic Gold Keys to "Sparks in the
Night" and
Murder
at the Pharaoh's Grave and . The awards are the Alliance's
highest regional honor.
|
|
May 2010: Secret Club
was a Finalist at the
Future of Cinema Film Festival (Interlochen, MI) and earned a $500
scholarship for the summer program there. |
|
May 2010: The
Santa Cruz Film Festival seeks
"independent-minded filmmakers and artists who produce culturally
relevant and ideologically challenging work", for example, Sparks in the
Night. |
|
The 53rd Annual San Francisco International Film Festival will be April
22–May 6, 2010 and will include Sparks in the Night. The festival is the
longest-running film festival in the Americas. |
|
Out of more than 2200 entries, Sparks in the Night was among the films
selected for screening at the Nashville Film Festival. The festival is
April 15-22. |
|
April 2010: The
Faux Film Festival
celebrates mocumentaries, parodies, and satire. This Portland, Oregon
festival will include Sparks in Night. |
|
February 7, 2010:
Couch Fest
included Sparks in the Night as part of their "Best
Of" screening. Ben and family attended at
the Northwest Film Forum and enjoyed watching many great short films. |
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November 14, 2009: Sparks in the Night will screen at the
Cucalorus Film Festival on . In a great
interview about the festival's youth
program, Meg Lansaw says:
Sparks in the Night by Ben Kadie is a strong example of a kid who
appears to love filmmaking. His stylized approach to this piece was
quite advanced for someone his age—seems like he’s the kind of
filmmaker whose mind is always making up scenes, even in the grocery
store. And he’s only 13!
Last year, A Friendly Game appeared at the festival.
|
|
November 7th. 2009:
Couch Fest says "watching short films
in strangers' houses = awkwardly awesome." Sparks in the Night will
screen at the festival in Seattle. |
|
October 14 & 15, 2009:
Reel Youth will present "Sparks in the
Night" at the Vancouver International Film Festival. Of 300+ youth films
submitted, Reel Youth selected 16 for screening at VIFF. The films
went on to a 30+ stop tour
of Canada and world, including Nepal and Ireland. |
|
October 6, 2009:
KIDS FIRST! selects "Sparks in the
Night" for their film
festival of film festivals. This makes it eligible for more 120 venues
nationwide that show films selected by KIDS FIRST! |
|
October 9,
Reel Teens Festival, Village of Hunter, New York -- "Sparks in
the Night" was one of 70 selections from 493 entries. Ben's
Grandmother Terry is hoping to attend.
|
|
September 30, YoungCuts Film Festival, Montreal, Canada -- "Sparks in
the Night" was selected one of the top 100 films out of more than
1000 submissions. It also earned one of six nominations for Best Teen Film.
This was Ben's first international screening.
|
|
Sept 27, 2009: “Sparks in the Night” will Teen Screen at the Sidewalk
Moving Picture Festival. 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. |
|
September 27, 33rd Annual Young People's Film & Video Festival,
Portland, Oregon -- "Sparks in the Night" & "Murder at the Pharaoh's
Grave" were two of the 16 finalist out of 100+ submissions. Last
year Ben attended the screening of "A Friendly Game" and had a great
time.
|
|
September 10-13,
Chicago International REEL Shorts Festival! -- "Sparks in the
Night" was awarded "Best Youth Entry". Of 900+ submissions,
75+ films were screened and 13 won "Best" awards. For the second year in
a row,
Ben's Grandmother Arlene took the train to Chicago to see the
screening. |
|
June 23, 2009: Cheri Gaulke, chair of Harvard-Westlake's Visual Arts
Department, invited Ben to show Slugco films during his visit to Los
Angeles. Ben showed “Sparks in the Night” and “Murder at the Pharaoh's
Grave” and then answered questions from her
summer class of teen filmmakers. |
|
May 31, 2009: Maxon, the maker of Cinema 4D, has put "Sparks in the
Night" in their
showcase. |
|
May 26, 2009: Today's Seattle Times included a small front-page
photo, an inside article, and on-line interview.
Bellevue student, 14, wins
3-minute film contest
Ben Kadie
is the grand-prize winner of The
Seattle Times/Seattle
International Film Festival's
Three-Minute Masterpiece
contest.
By
Michael
Upchurch,
Seattle
Times arts writer
Fourteen-year-old
Bellevue student Ben
Kadie — a Three-Minute
Masterpiece contest
finalist for the third
year in a row — won top
honors yesterday in The
Seattle Times/Seattle
International Film
Festival's annual
digital-filmmaking
contest.
Kadie's "Sparks in the
Night" is a spoof of
film-noir menace that
pits an earnest private
eye (Kadie) against Rain
City criminal types (a
litterbug, a jaywalker,
etc., as played by
Kadie's eighth-grade
friends).
The film's shadowy
textures and daffy
deadpan dialogue ("The
truth hit me like
something hard and
massive hitting a
smaller, softer thing")
add up to a funny and
beguiling package. In an
e-mail exchange earlier
this month, Kadie talked
about his filmmaking
process. (On-line
interview.) |
|
Three Minute Masterpiece
winner "Sparks in the
Night," by Ben Kadie. |
|
|
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May 25, 2009: Today's big-screen premičre was amazing. Huge laughs in
all the right places. At the end, “Sparks in the Night” was awarded the
contest’s Grand Prize, not just the 18-and-under youth prize. (This is
Ben’s first award competing with grown up filmmakers.) As the overall
winner, the film will screen again at SIFF next weekend as part of a
program of shorts. May 21, 2009: Update: This year's nine
Masterpieces are live at the Seattle Times:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/flatpages/entertainment/3mm.html.
Here is the article's item for this film:
"Sparks in
the Night"
The
new film by 14-year-old Bellevue student
Ben Kadie — a contest finalist for the
third year in a row — is a droll film-noir spoof
filled with sinister shadows and daffy deadpan
dialogue. Kadie's filmmaking is a family affair,
with Ben writing, directing and editing; his dad
assisting on the set and with computer
operation; and his mom helping with costumes,
carpentry, catering and transportation. "They
both take direction well," Kadie says. |
May 10, 2009: "Sparks in the Night" will premičre at the Seattle
International Film Festival (SIFF). As one of nine Seattle Times
"Three-Minute Masterpieces", it will be shown at a free public screening
at 11 a.m. Monday, May 25 (Memorial Day), at the SIFF Cinema at Seattle
Center. Tickets aren't necessary, but do show up a bit early. (Details
at SIFF.)
|