3500+ Films - 2.5 million words – 1 million viewers! Founder and Curator Carmela selects some of our most entertaining, powerful and inspiring short drama and documentary about Hollywood at We Are Moving Stories. These include shorts and feature length drama and documentary about its history, the enduring power and mystique of Marilyn Monroe, comedy films, Hollywood people and the biz: real-life stories about Hollywood actors.
Total length of this section: 19 films.
<HISTORY>
Brown Paper Bag - The year is 1942 and it's negro actor Archie Glass' only chance to see his Hollywood dream come true: find a missing white movie star. To do so he must go where there is no white: ma ca, the clubs, pool halls, and back alleys of black Hollywood. 1 hour 33 minutes. Writer/Director Detdrich McClure:
“I wanted to tell the stories of black people in America that we have not heard before. I am a student of history, who loves old things and old movies. I just thought: wait we were there too, we have a story to tell about that time in Hollywood as well.”
Over My Dead Body - Two talentless screenwriters, forced to share a cramped, sweaty studio lot writers room in 40s Hollywood, race for a deadline, stopping at nothing to outdo each other -- even if it means MURDER! Length: 30 minutes. Writer/Directors James King & James Carney:
“This film is about rivalry. It’s about ambition and your reach exceeding your grasp. Although there’s a farcical lightness to the film, the themes it deals with are extremely relatable. Really, they were born out of conditions under which we wrote it - two arrogant, stubborn, insecure screenwriters butting heads in their attempt to collaborate.”
Gorilla - Henry Corso performs as a costumed gorilla in several different Hollywood films in 1952. Despite falling for an actress in his most recent project, he’ll remain committed to his terrifying role. Length: 14 minutes. Writer/Director/Producer Tibo Pinsard:
“Because there’s simply no other short film like Gorilla, with a story taking place in Hollywood, in the 1950s. Plus our film has low budget but high production value. It’s funny, weird, about desire and the masks we are all wearing in a certain way!”
I, Douglas Fairbanks - The dashing and dazzling Douglas Fairbanks was the movie star who “swash buckled in Zorro, dueled exuberantly in Robin Hood and soared magnificently in The Thief of Bagdad”. He was the “First King of Hollywood”. His life story unfolds with American history and the emergence of the film industry as the backdrop. His style made him the perfect American icon. At a time when the country did not have any self-doubt, he represented America like no one else: strong, confident, heroic, smiling and conquering. He was “Everybody's Hero”. He married “America's Sweetheart”: Mary Pickford. He also started with Pickford, Chaplin and Griffith, the United Artists Studio which is still a Hollywood player today. This film is the life of Douglas Fairbanks in a first-person narration. Length: 53 minutes. Interview with Directors/Producers Julia Kuperberg and Clara Kuperberg.
The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille - In 1982 Peter Brosnan heard a story about an ancient Egyptian city buried in the California desert. Length: 88 minutes. For thirty years he’s been fighting to dig it up. Director Peter Brosnan:
““Creativity is a drug I cannot live without.” — Cecil B DeMille
Creativity and perseverance in pursuit of your vision are what this story is all about.”
<MARILYN MONROE>
Becoming Marilyn Monroe - In 1952, a 10-year old boy falls in love with a picture of Marilyn Monroe on the cover of a magazine. 47 years later he marries her. Director Tammy Plimmer and Writer/Producer Greg Thompson:
“Greg: What we didn’t expect was such a immediate reaction in ticket sales. The American Documentary Film Festival had scheduled “Becoming Marilyn Monroe” for a smaller 150 seat theater. The minute the film was announced ticket sales took off and we were moved to a 500 seat theater. Within a week, AmDocs added a second screening. “Becoming Marilyn Monroe” seems to have the same effect on screen as our stage play, “Marilyn Forever Blonde” and for audiences over the last decade.”
Angeltown - follows the story of Lola, a Korean Marilyn Monroe impersonator, as she moves through a nighttime Los Angeles landscape of karaoke bars, seedy side streets, and colorful characters. Short film. Writer/Director Nancy Liu:
“I had watched an interview with a Marilyn impersonator and it struck me that a person would want to invest so much in being someone else. This got me thinking about Marilyn and how she’s seen as an epitome of glamour and feminine desirability. But where would that leave women of other ethnicities? Or all women who are not Marilyn Monroe? Out of these thoughts came the character of Lola, a Korean Marilyn Monroe.”
Misfit M. - Who can you trust when you're the most famous woman in the world? The year is 1961. The woman is Marilyn Monroe. 14 minutes. The words are her own. Producer/Actor Paige Locke:
“The film may be about “Marilyn Monroe” but we can all relate to the woman in the film. Most of us at one time or another have felt lonely, heartbroken, angry, used. Since she died so long ago and so young, it almost seems like she was never a real person, just this fictional character that is sewn into our pillowcases and printed onto our umbrellas. Misfit M. attempts to showcase her as a real woman that a lot of us can actually relate to; just hopefully in a less traumatic way!”
<COMEDY>
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION is a short comic documentary about a pop culture provocateur and Naked Trump sculptor who team up to take down Harvey Weinstein, creating a provocative statue that goes viral and incites further conversation. Length: 20 minutes. Patrick Green writes:
“As a filmmaker, I want to not only entertain people, but make them stop, think, and reflect. The film is very much an extension of the Harvey Weinstein Casting Couch at its core. Both the film and the art installation use satire and social commentary to incite a conversation about sexual assault in Hollywood so it checked off all the boxes.”
You can read the full We Are Moving Stories interview about FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION Here:
WHITE GUYS SOLVE SEXISM is a short comedy. Because of the Harvey Weinstein scandal two men realize that all of their favorite movies are now sexist, leading them down a dark path of discovery. Length: 10.6 minutes. Christopher Guerrero writes:
“The idea for “White Guys Solve Sexism” originated after a conversation with a close friend. They told me about a number of male filmmakers from a famous University coming together to mourn the ‘loss of filmmaking’ in a post-Weinstein world. These men were so blindsided and shocked that women could be treated so terribly for so long… AND THEY DIDN’T EVEN KNOW.”
You can read the full We Are Moving Stories interview about WHITE GUYS SOLVE SEXISM Here:
LUNCH LADIES is a short horror comedy about two burnt out high school Lunch Ladies who do whatever it bloody takes on their quest to become Johnny Depp's personal chefs. Length: 18.51 minutes. Clarissa Jacobson writes:
“You should watch this film because you are going to laugh, you are going to be visually stimulated – there’s so much eye candy – you are going to be thoroughly entertained, you are going to have fun, and you are going to feel for these women. If you’ve ever been the underdog you can’t help but love them. They’re murderers sure, but they have huge hearts, mean well and it’s not really their fault, is it? ”
You can read the full We Are Moving Stories interview about LUNCH LADIES Here:
Meryl Fuckin Streep - Two writers head into a meeting to sell their first script only to discover the producers they’re meeting with are Barbies. Length: 5 minutes. Writer/Director/Producer Ava Bogle:
“My film is about selling out and the seduction of Hollywood. I think for most people, regardless of how much integrity they think they have, there is something that would make them sell out. For me, Meryl Streep is the symbol of that something, because she’s the queen of Hollywood and…perhaps the best actress in the world?”
Diani & Devine Meet the Apocalypse - Real-life couple and comedy duo, Gabriel Diani and Etta Devine, play themselves as struggling filmmakers in Hollywood who go on the road with their dog and cat after the apocalypse hits to find a safe place to be. Length: 90 minutes. Writer/Director/Producer Etta Devine & Gabriel Diani:
“very generation is convinced the world will end on their watch. We love apocalypse stories and wanted to show a more realistic version than what we usually see. Our characters don’t get whisked off by helicopter to save the human race, instead they are ignored and abandoned along with everybody else. The apocalypse is hard, but so is living every day and we wanted to explore our existential dread about the end of civilization while still making people laugh. ”
Kelly's Hollywood - A brother's quest to fulfill his disabled sister's dream of becoming a Hollywood diva takes an unexpected turn when it starts to threaten his engagement, illustrating both the cost and rewards of unconditional love. Length: 82 Minutes. Director Brian Donovan:
“I’ll let an audience member who just reached out to me via Facebook speak to this: “Kelly’s Hollywood shook my heart like a snow globe and caused flurries of laughter, tears, hope and renewed my faith in what’s possible. It’s the kind of story telling that inspires all who see it to be better, play harder, laugh more, live more fully and to love wholeheartedly and to NEVER STOP DREAMING””
The Hollywood Shorties - In 1980s Los Angeles, the “world’s smallest professional basketball team” composed of recognizable-but-typecast actors finds itself the unlikely vanguard of a revolutionary movement to bring little people into the public eye as something other than objects of curiosity. Length: 85 minutes. Director Ryan Steven Green:
“I made the Hollywood Shorties because this was simply a film that had to be made. Though I have known of the team my whole life, the fact that their existence had been utterly forgotten to history all but compelled me to move forward with it. When I began production there was literally nothing online about the team at all! Throughout production I kept sort of looking over my shoulder, thinking, “Is this really all mine? I’m alone out here?!” A terrific feeling, one I can only hope to have again someday.”
<THE BIZ>
LADDIE: The Man Behind the Movies - A documentary about one daughter's journey to discover her father, Alan Ladd, Jr., the Oscar-winning producer and studio chief behind Star Wars and 163 other films. Feature length. Director Amanda Ladd-Jones:
“As a kid, I didn’t see that much of my dad. I knew he worked in the movie business but I didn’t know exactly what he was doing, and I certainly didn’t appreciate its significance. It wasn’t until I became an adult, pursuing my own career in film, that I began to understand how unique he was and how his contributions had shaped the last fifty years of American cinema. ”
John G. Avildsen: King of the Underdogs - Discover the unknown legend behind “Rocky” and “The Karate Kid” in this official biography about a prolific filmmaker who directed seven actors to Academy Award nominations and earned his own Oscar for Best Director.
Length: 78 minutes. Writer/Director/Producer Derek Wayne Johnson:
“I’ve been a fan of John Avildsen and his movies since I was a child. “Rocky” and “The Karate Kid” are my two favorite films of all time and I felt that John never got enough recognition for his contribution to cinema (besides the Best Director Oscar for “Rocky”, of course). I wanted to shine some light on my filmmaking influence and his masterpieces.”
GOLAN: A Farewell to Mr Cinema - "Cinema is the godliest art" and "Hollywood is a money animal". Length: 74 minutes. Writer/Director/Producer Christopher Sykes:
“I hope you’ll be glad you’ve met Menahem Golan, a truly larger than life character, a ‘lovable monster’..”
Fuck You All: The Uwe Boll Story - Behind the lens with the most hated man in Hollywood. Length: 1 hour 36 minutes. Director/Producer/Editor Sean Patrick Shaul:
“If nothing else it’s a great look behind the scenes into the filmmaking world and how it operates. Uwe Boll is a great glimpse into that world because he is so transparent and his career spans so many years.”