Dennis Spielman

The real and imaginative adventures of Dennis Spielman

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District Up! and deadCenter Afterthoughts

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On June 13, 2016

In Real


The Plaza District, Film Row, Western Avenue, and H&8th. Each of these Oklahoma City districts may have a unique history and aesthetic, but they also have something in common: over the past few years they all have experienced a revival with the creation of regular events that bring businesses, neighbors, and “outsiders” together. This feature-length documentary shares stories and advice on district revitalization throughout Oklahoma City from the people who helped create positive change in their communities and want to inspire others to do the same.

District Up! made its World Premiere at the deadCenter Film Festival! Showtime was Friday, June 10 at 8:00pm at The District House in the Plaza District in connection with their monthly LIVE on the Plaza event.

I had a fantastic and crazy busy week! I’m going to skip the preparation matters and start talking about the Thursday Opening Night Party. I did my 30 Second videos with filmmakers again this year. (For the recap on those, click here.) This was my first year to attend deadCenter as having Uncovering Oklahoma as my main job (instead of my side job) and as a filmmaker. Double Special!

I'm Poppe Approved Now
I also become Poppe Approved!


Friday morning, I attended the filmmakers breakfast, meet with distributors, listened to discussion panels, filmed more 30 second videos, had lunch, and visited the art films at Current Studio before I had to ready for my movie’s premiere.

I was ecstatic with all of the love District Up! was getting on Twitter on Friday:

https://twitter.com/TheMichelleBui/status/741398060350111744

And the love during the movie as well!

https://twitter.com/awkwordy/status/741435131093606400

https://twitter.com/rachaelreally/status/741448185189519360

https://twitter.com/TheMichelleBui/status/741438674236116992

https://twitter.com/FilmRowOKC/status/741439262223044608

https://twitter.com/rcrissinger/status/741457116293038080

From left to right - Michelle Bui, Rachael Taylor, Dennis Spielman, Cayla Lewis, and Jill DeLozier - photo by Leslie Spielman

Everything went great! We had to keep adding more chairs as the audience grew! There was also a group from the University of Oklahoma with a table setup with my film about urban planning that I wish I had known about in advance so I could’ve promoted them too.

The District Up Cocktail made by Oak and Ore
I want to give special thanks to Oak & Ore for making my wife and I a special “District Up!” cocktail after the film. It was so good! I got to brag to everyone about having a cocktail themed after my movie.

The whole deadCenter weekend has been a rewarding experience. If you’re a festival volunteer reading this, thank you for your help and hard work.

With deadCenter over, what does the future hold? The movie has been only submitted to a few other film festivals, as the submission process is expensive. I have gotten some feedback and some ideas for the final retail cut of the movie, which I’m planning on releasing in October/November in conjunction with a book that goes into more details. I have gotten some ideas for other documentaries so I’ll be exploring those stories. On Sunday night, I did start to write a screenplay.

Whatever happens, I’ll write about it here.

Marilyn Artus “Her and Me”

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On June 13, 2016

In Real


I’m proud to present an Artist Statement Minute with Marilyn Artus about her exhibit, “Her and Me,” showing at The Project Box in the Paseo Arts District. In my new Artist Statement Minute Series, artists with solo exhibitions have one minute to talk about their work currently on display. I’m hoping with this series I can better cover art exhibits on Uncovering Oklahoma.

30secs with deadCenter Filmmakers 2016

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On June 12, 2016

In Real


Here’s the recap video of all the 30 Seconds (or less) with various filmmakers showing movies at the 2016 deadCenter Film Festival that I have been posting on Twitter and Facebook. In my 30 Seconds Series, I gave each person 30 seconds to talk about the film they were involved in. Think of each video like the filmmaker is making elevator pitch as to why you should see the movie. All the videos are are done as a one shot. The fun thing about this project, besides the short nature, was as soon as a video session was done, it went straight online. If you missed any of these films at deadCenter, many of them are set to play at other festivals and some may even get distribution on Netflix. Whatever the future holds, enjoy this recap and keep an eye out for them!

deadCENTER Film Festival 2016

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On June 9, 2016

In Real


The star of this week’s video is Oklahoma’s largest film festival, deadCENTER! Director of Programming, Kim Haywood, and Artistic Director, Lance McDaniel, talk about the festival, what people can expect from attending it, and what’s new with this year’s event. Plus filmmaker, Jacob Leighton Burns shares his favorite part about deadCENTER. The festival runs from June 8th through the 12th.

While at the festival, be sure catch my feature documentary, District Up! Showing one night only at in the Plaza District on Friday, June 10th at 8pm!

If you wish to help Uncovering Oklahoma, consider becoming a patron for advanced and exclusive content. There’s bonus content like the full length, uncut interview with Jacob Burns, in which we talk about his movie, Electric Nostalgia (which you should also go see), as we get rained on part way through the interview.

Thank you for watching!

Food Truck Festivals of the 405 and Watch Party

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On June 2, 2016

In Real

Get to know the major Food Truck Festivals of the 405!

Brian Bergman starts the segment talking about the largest food truck festival of them all, H&8th Night Market. Douglas Sorocco and Graham Colton talk about The Exchange on Film Row. In Downtown Edmond, Jill Castilla talks about Heard on Hurd. Then in Norman, Megan Williams talks about Beats and Bites at Riverwind Casino. Each of them describe their event, their favorite part, and what makes their event unique from others.

To discuss the smaller food truck events, Executive Directors of the Plaza District and Western Avenue Association, Cayla Lewis and Rachael Taylor, respectively, share what else one can find in the Greater Oklahoma City Metro.

Testing the setup for the party

I filmed the part with Cayla and Rachel last night at the private watch party I held for the cast/crew of District Up! I had about a dozen guests able to make it and they all enjoyed it! There’s not much else to talk about the party, but I do want to share off these pictures of the treat setup my wife put together.

2016-06-01 Watch Party for District Up-02
2016-06-01 Watch Party for District Up-03

Next Friday will be the World Premiere! I’m looking forward to it.

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