Best Film: Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo. I can’t wait to see this one again. My favorite short films were Miracle Investigators (funny even the third time I saw it), Whore, and Hitboys to Men.

Best Party: Umm, can’t I just say that they were all fun in their own way? If I had to pick just one, though, I’d have to go with the XO Lounge party. Most of the parties had free Stella, but this one had the best food. Bruschetta. Cheese. Bacon-wrapped chicken. Stuffed artichokes. And asparagus the size of Olive Garden breadsticks. Seriously. The damn things were freakish (in a good way).

Best Meal: I actually didn’t eat that many meals during the festival. I would pretty much just eat a big breakfast, and then graze on the free party food whenever I could. However, best Party Food definitely goes, hands down, to the XO Lounge (see above). An honorable mention shout-out goes to the cupcakes at the kick-off party – thanks, Cuppies and Joe!

Best Venue: Although the chairs weren’t exactly the most comfortable, I really love Untitled. I was so happy to see that it was going to be a venue again this year. It didn’t hurt that they happen to have a couple of great exhibitions at the moment, “Walter Nelson: The Darwin Shrines” and “Phil Stein: Streets.” (Get down there and check them out, while you can. They’re fantastic.) I wish there were more opportunities to see films while surrounded by cool art.

Biggest Giggle-Like-A-Schoolgirl Moment: Learning that a portion of what I’d written about Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo was posted, the next day, on the film’s official website. Umm, does this mean that Brad Beesley now knows that I want to marry him?

Most Interesting Discovery: Uptown United. I love finding out about some new place I’ve never heard of before. I also love when you have to walk through some random alley to get there. And finally, I love me some weird art. Uptown United had all three. I’m still in the process of trying to figure out what exactly this place is, and how I can go here again in the future.

Also, Singletree Productions. I loved their “Hard Justice” spots, as well as their short, Hitboys to Men. Hilarious, hilarious stuff. I can’t wait to see what these guys do next. They have the full “Hard Justice” series on their website, in case you want to revisit the fun – or if you haven’t seen them at all (because you’re a loser who didn’t go to deadCENTER). Either way, watch and laugh.

Best Single Moment of the Festival: I wish I had something more profound than this, but probably the most random, silly fun I had all weekend was our Friday night photo shoot with the Alba Shark. Suburban Kitsch and I flashed peace signs. We “jumped the shark.” Dwight held me as I cowered in fear of the mighty Alba Shark. It was entirely juvenile, entirely unoriginal, but entirely fun. And in some weird way, it kind of encapsulated what made this festival a little different than the ones that came before. It was the first year where a fairly large film was being shot in OKC at the same time as deadCENTER, and where one of the stars of said film created a minor stir by posting pictures of great white sharks all over downtown. (Incidentally, we noticed that our particular Alba Shark was painted over the very next day, which made our Friday night photo shoot all the more special.)

Best deadCENTER Endorsement: Found today on the Troma site:

Lloyd Kaufman Here,

Last weekend I attended deadCENTER Fest in Oklahoma City , the Gyno operated and incredibly well-organized festival showcased a slue of brilliant films and relevant panel discussions on the state of Independent Cinema. I mention that deadCENTER Fest was organized by Gynos (more politically correct term for woman) because it was the best run film festival I’ve ever been to! The G.O.C’s for the festival (Gyno’s in Charge) were Melissa Scaramucci, Kim Haywood, and Cacky Poarch. They took care of every detail, everything at deadCENTER went on without a hitch or a glitch, they are all perfect human specimens!!! The Film Fest was refreshingly idealistic, untainted by the cynicism and evils of Hollywood . This was truly a film fest for Independent films, supported and organized by lovers of Independent film.

A couple films I attended especially kicked ass! Specifically, Weather Girl, Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo, Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (my film of course), Saint Misbehavin’: The Wavy Gravy Movie, and Official Rejection, which I was in and elaborates on the BS I have encountered at so called mainstream film festivals. I recommend deadCENTER Festival to all filmmakers, regardless of experience or genre. This is Uncle Lloydie’s highest endorsement. Take it and spread the word kiddies! Looking forward to next year’s deadCENTER Fest!

Xoxo,
Uncle Lloyd

Seriously. A huge thank you to Cacky, Kim, Melissa, Ian and all the other “perfect human specimens” who were responsible for putting on such an incredible festival. You guys are phenomenal. I think this may have been the best deadCENTER yet. Now get some rest and then start working on next year’s!