Last week was a big week in film for Buffalo, with the 2nd Annual Buffalo Niagara Film Festival (BNFF) bringing a number of films in from abroad to watch alongside our locally made productions. Fresh off an interview with The Shredd and Ragan show on 103.3 The Edge, producers Jerry and Beth MacKay screened their film Release The Funny at the festival, on Saturday afternoon. In case you missed Release The Funny at the festival (or even during its premier last November), Littleflick Productions is presenting the Buffalo region with another chance to catch the film tonight.
On Friday April 4th, Buffalo Rising sponsored a screening of the film at the Market Arcade Film and Arts Centre to an appreciative crowd. Release The Funny will be screen again tonight, Saturday, April 5th at the Riviera Theatre in North Tonawanda. You won’t get a better opportunity to see a local film at a recently renovated historic theatre. The screening will start at 7:30 PM and will be followed by a Q & A with cast and crew members.
Release The Funny is a 91-minute collection of 10 comedy shorts produced by Jerry and Beth MacKay, creators of Littleflick Pictures. All 10 of the shorts were shot and filmed in Buffalo, with Jerry MacKay directing. Featuring more than 80 actors from the Western New York area, some of the shorts included in the film were selected for national film festivals. “Hold The Onions”, was screened at the San Francisco International Children's Film Festival, and was nominated for Best Children's Film at the Foursite Film Festival in Utah. Another short in the collection, “120” (which has one of the funniest lines that I have seen on film—watch through the credits to see it), screened at 2007 Faux Film Festival in Seattle, WA and the 2007 What The Hell Did I Just Watch Film Festival in Portland, OR.
You can check a new trailer for Release The Funny here, and the attached video should give you a good idea of Jerry MacKay's comedy writing and directing abilities, multiplied by ten in the collection of shorts you'll see at the Riviera tonight. Check out littleflick.com for more details and updates on Release the Funny. Ticket information and show times for the other screenings can be found at mafac.com and rivieratheatre.org.