COURT 13 » Michael Gottwald

This place is okay.

Michael Gottwald — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:35:35 +0000

Don’t know if you’ve heard or not, but Sundance has worked out pretty well for us.

Much to our delight, BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD has taken this tiny cinematic enclave in the middle of Mormonia by storm, so to speak. Volunteers loved it, then premierers loved it, then reviewers loved it, then Salt Lakers loved it — and Sundancers continue to love it. Turns out that people actually understand and vibe on this crazy thing we’ve been doing for the last 3 years! What’s most cool about this is that it means people across the country will have a chance to see it as well.

What to do as you wait for that? Check out the swank new site and join the beast army.

Our Moms would be so proud of us

Michael Gottwald — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 22:22:45 +0000

Here here, some big doings in Court 13-land!

After 3 years toiling away trying to slay this giant, Court 13′s first feature film, “Beasts of the Southern Wild” will be premiering at the SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL IN JANUARY!!!

Read all about it here.

That’s right, we’re heading to the big dance. Thanks to all the loyal Court jesters out there, who have been following us since our conception! Park City may be far away, but we wouldn’t have even made it past Kenner without you.

Keep your digital excitement alive, and follow the new movie on facebook and twitter. Or, just keep talking real nice about us to your friends and family.

Another Massive Court 13 Update

Michael Gottwald — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 21:04:10 +0000

Sent this little diddy out to our mailing list last week. If you want to be part of that oh so privileged group, hit us up here.

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Hello again long lost army of Court Thirteenagers,

Like a zygote of interest in our future that was fertilized with our last update, 9 months later here we are with a fully formed, living, breathing, screaming baby to give you. Let’s jump right into the details of the pregnancy:

-”Beasts of the Southern Wild,” Court 13′s first feature film, a long time coming, is getting closer to completion by the day. As we get towards picture lock, the score is being written in NYC, sound mix & special effects will be finalized in San Francisco, and final voiceover work will be done in New Orleans. We’re aiming to finish this sucker for good come Winter, after which we’ll share it with the world.

-Speaking of San Francisco, big ups to the SF Film Society for our 2nd Kenneth Rainin Foundation grant! This org has proven themselves true friends of the Court, and we couldn’t be more appreciative for the consecutive love in 2010 and 2011. You will help us finish this film; you will put the Bay in Bayou.

-like chumps, we buckled to the mass communication trends of the 21st century, and started using Twitter. You can “follow” us, or whatever, at http://twitter.com/#!/Court13Films

-The Big Freedia video directed by Bob Weisz and Josh Ente & produced by Michael Gottwald and Casey Coleman, mentioned last go-round, came out in March, everyone tooted it up, so to speak, such that it made a splash and managed to catch enough attention to garner nomination for an O Award, whatever the hell that is. It has something to do with MTV and we lost to Marilyn Manson, so it is questionable for sure.

-“Devin’s Ward,” which was made by an all Court 13 crew last October and starred some Court 13 regulars, premiered last November at the Bilocal Festival in Seattle, and recently screened at the New Orleans Film Fest.

-Josh Penn, a Court 13 principal, is all up IN the woods of Oregon right now, scrounging for sacred mushrooms and making a doc tentitivly called “Roots and Webs”. He has a mighty mini-brigade by his side that includes New Orleans’ finest Alana Pryor Ackerman, and the best the Bay Area has to offer in Sara Dosa. You can find out more by checking out his (already successful) Kickstarter page here.

Now, if we can “share” some “status updates” for some of the friends of the Court:

-Those intrepid handsome men the Ross Brothers just finished a month long voyage down the Mississippi in a beat up old pirate ship with nothing to protect them but their younger brother and some Muscle. But before that, they finished shooting a documentary in New Orleans, finished shooting a documentary on the borderland of Southwest Texas, and solicited the services of a few privileged Court 13ers on each. Fingers crossed that this winter/spring brings them and their endeavors some good tidings, festival-wise.

-Ol Jones Carpignano, a beaster from the “Beasts” shoot, premiered his epic short film “A Chjana” at the Venice Film Festival, where it won Best Short! He also showed another short, “Bayou Black,” filmed in the bayous of Louisiana with some familiar Court 13 faces, at the New Orleans Film Festival a couple of weeks ago.

-Geremy Jasper, star of Glory at Sea, found and was betrothed to his real life Tess, Miss Georgie Greville, on September 24th. We wish them ALL the fucking best. With love like yours, you can resurrect the dead.

That is all. Love all y’all boos,

Court 13

PREMIERE: “Devin’s Ward” at N.O.F.F.

Michael Gottwald — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 18:54:12 +0000

Friends and neighbors,

Come out to see the Court 13 short “Devin’s Ward” at its premiere at the New Orleans Film Festival this weekend! Made on a shoestring budget, that became more of a bootstring budget when all the footage was nearly lost on a bunk hard drive and had to be recovered by emergency room technicians, this micro-slice of life stars Court 13 regulars Dwight Henry, Nicholas Clark, Jovan Hathaway, Levy Easterly, and newcomer Andrae Noel. The crew was a full Court press – Michael Gottwald as director, Casey Coleman as producer, Bob Weisz and Sophie Kosofsky on art direction, Alana Ackerman and Derek Ustruck as best supporting jammers. Post production supervisor: Crockett Doob. Godfathers: Josh Penn, Benhas Zeitlin, Dan Janvey. Bill Ross plays “Man drinking a tall boy in a bakery.”

“DEVIN’S WARD”

Sunday Oct. 16 // 2:10 PM // the Prytania Theatre

Monday Oct. 17 // 5:25 PM // Canal Place

Let’s Hear it for the Boys

Michael Gottwald — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 22:29:11 +0000

Self described wandering hobos with standard def cameras, Bill and Turner Ross, spiritual brothers of the Court and biological brothers of each other, pulled another win out of their ass recently, and were endowed with a generous grant from ever-so-kindly patrons, Cinereach. The film is “Tchoupitoulas,” a cinematic immersion into one New Orleans night through the eyes of three young boys. If all goes as planned, it will be brought into the world late this winter or early spring.

Click here for a glimpse into the creation of this little slice of life.

Vote for the Big Freedia video for some MTV thing

Michael Gottwald — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 03:40:33 +0000

We’re not quite sure what to make of this. As it’s been told to me, “MTV” is some channel with a lot of game shows, bright colors, and people you’ve been trying to get away from since high school. Then MTV gets on the internet and tries to tell you which music is made by the best looking people.

They also give out awards — and Court 13′s video for Big Freedia’s “Y’all Get Back Now” is nominated for something called an O Music Award, which, like, grades stuff that lives on the internet. Categories include “Must Follow Artist on Twitter” and “Best Vintage Viral Video”; we’re nominated for “Too Much Ass for TV,” which is hard to argue with.

ANYWAY, a whole lot of people do tune in, or stream in, or whatever, to see the awards show online, and winners are totally based on votes by fans. So please, take a moment to vote for our video. Big Freedia would appreciate it.

The San Francisco Treat (x 2)

Michael Gottwald — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 00:18:14 +0000

The Bay loves the Gulf!

“BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD” has once again captured the generosity of the Kenneth Rainin Foundation and the San Francisco Film Society, who have bestowed upon us a post-production grant to the tune of $55,000!

Read more here. Thanks, Franciscans!!

New Orleans Picture Palace Revived!

Michael Gottwald — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 21:51:41 +0000

THIS is welcome news.

And if the Saegner holds true to what its marquee currently says (“Re-opening 2011″), we could have two hell of nice venues for cinema–or at least Richard Pryor stand-up shows–back in business in the near future.

If Court 13 ever commandeers these spaces for any big event, hear us now: we exclusively invite you. All of you.

This happened a week ago, but it’s still pretty cool

Michael Gottwald — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 01:18:26 +0000

Josh Ente held Court over our full-blown foray into Hotlanta, where he’s riding dirty on 85 + stretching our tentacles into the non-profit arts world. He showed a 50 minute program of Court 13 films and bantered with a local university film professor, and generally pretended like he knew what he was talking about. It only cost $5, and free PBR was served! Thanks, Atlanta! We told you beer was better than Coke!

More on the event here. More about Josh Ente here.

Weather Kills the Tinman (or at least deters him for now)

Michael Gottwald — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 15:33:59 +0000

The DEATH TO THE TINMAN screening last night has been postponed. It was going to play before “Dr. Strangelove.” Here are the details from the New Orleans Film Society:

“The drive-in screening of Dr. Strangelove has been rescheduled for next Saturday, July 23. It will take place in the same scheduled location: the parking lot of the First Schwegmann’s Giant Super Market at the corner of St. Claude and Elysian Fields.”