Miguel Cima

Caturday: Door Climbing Kitteh Edition

Ten on the Tenth is happening now! Post your 10 Drum Songs here!

I have a show tonight! Improv comedy by two groups, the Magic Meathands (with me!) and Jump Start, at our brand new location, Heyler’s!

Meanwhile, at The Comics Observer:

Also, listen to my second appearance on the Part-Time Fanboy podcast, where we review The Avengers movie. I show up about halfway through.

Caturday: Scouting Kitteh Edition

– All sorts of exciting things are going on over at The Comics Observer:

  • The debut of our newest column The Journey, Man by Wayne Rée, where he takes you through his discovery of comic books.
  • The second installment of Dig Comics by Miguel Cima, where he reveals his recent discovery of dramatic manga.
  • And here are three graphic novels released this week worth checking out for people with little or no history with comics.

– Changes are afoot with the improv comedy group Magic Meathands! If you didn’t read about it here, check it out over there. (And we’ve got a show next Saturday.)

– Music lovers! Get your lists ready! Ten on the Tenth is happening on Tuesday, April 10th.

– And Nahleen.com continues to be revealing, eye-opening and funny. I think my favorite one this week was her total take-down of the interior decorating skills of doctors’ offices.

Now Playing Monday Nights at the Blake Living Room Theater: Twin Peaks

Organizing donuts. This is a job for the Twin Peaks police.

A few weeks ago, I heard from writer Brandon Seifert that the Hollywood Theatre would be screening every episode of the acclaimed TV series Twin Peaks once a week. Then I realized that the Hollywood Theatre is not located in nearby Hollywood, California, but instead the not-nearby Portland, Oregon. This made me consider starting a crusade against businesses named after geographic locations they are nowhere near.

If you’re in the Portland area, I hope you can check this out. The screenings started last Wednesday with the pilot, and future weeks will include two episodes each night.

This surreal TV series by filmmaker/artist/musician David Lynch aired in 1990 and ’91 and has defied understanding ever since. Writer/director Miguel Cima generously gave me the DVD box set a couple of years back, and I started to make my way through the series. I was several episodes in and then something interrupted my progress. I can’t remember what now. Maybe some deadline I had to meet, or some project, or maybe some fun health problems hit our family. Whatever it was, by the time I could get back to it, I couldn’t remember where I left off. So that was kind of that.

Then the above chance to see it in a theater came up, which sounded like an awesome way to experience the show. After realizing that I simply didn’t have enough frequent flyer miles built up to fly to Portland every week, I decided to recommit myself to watching the entire series.

So yesterday, I started back at the beginning with the 2-hour pilot episode and will proceed with one episode every Monday night around 8 PM.

Would you like tickets to the weekly screening? Sorry, it’s date night for my wife and me, and our apartment isn’t really a theater. But the show is on NetFlix. Why not play along at home? I can’t promise reviews, but maybe I’ll post some thoughts here and there as I make my way through it, and we can all compare notes. I’m sure I’ll also post about it on Facebook.

What do you think of Twin Peaks? Thoughts on the pilot in particular? Brilliant? Weird? Creepy?

Oops… Things Change Fast on the Internet

So yesterday I teased the debut of a new column by Dig Comics director Miguel Cima at The Comics Observer. It’s still coming! But I decided to push it back to Friday so that a post could go up today about a comics conference (or colloquium, as they’re calling it) about race and comics that’s happening tomorrow.

Because my bandwidth is stretched pretty thin these days, I’m just not able to make The Comics Observer one of those high-volume sites with 5-10 posts a day. Maybe some day but not right now. So bear with me as I juggle when things come up.

It’ll be worth the wait. Miguel’s column should make for good weekend reading and debating.

Dig Comics director Miguel Cima speaks out

I’m very excited to announce the launch of a new column at The Comics Observer starting tomorrow. Director/writer/host of the award-winning documentary Dig Comics, Miguel Cima, will be contributing a new installment every month, where he’ll be looking at what excites him about the art form found in comic books and graphic novels, and what he feels is holding it back. He starts off with a doozy where he challenges readers and publishers alike to step up.

Disclaimer: I helped produce the two Dig Comics shorts that can be seen on DigComics.com, and continue to serve as a consultant and more as we talk with production companies to launch a TV series, feature-length film or web-series. To follow our progress and join in the crew’s comics discussions, check out the Dig Comics Facebook page.

Missed It: Dig Comics video review

Here’s a video review of the documentary Dig Comics that I somehow missed when it was originally released. I helped produce the doc short, which won Best Documentary at Comic-Con International: San Diego’s Independent Film Festival, and has also been an official selection at the Cannes and Vancouver international film festivals (among about a dozen other film fests). We shot some more footage a few weekends back and are ramping up for some epic comic evangelism action.

The video was produced by InMag.com, Video Symphony, and Action on Film.

To watch the full 20-minute doc plus a new 10-minute pilot, check out DigComics.com.

(Oh and Miguel Cima’s name is pronounced “see-ma” but otherwise a good review. I hope reviewer Jennifer Marks checked out one of any number of fine comic book stores in Los Angeles, such as Meltdown Comics, Golden Apple, Secret Headquarters, House of Secrets, The Comic Bug, and more!)

Bonus alternate trailer of the original Dig Comics for the NewFilmmakers LA screening:

New Filmmakers and Anthology Film Archives want you to Dig Comics

Director/host Miguel Cima shows a kid Fantastic Four comics for the first time, after seeing the Fantastic Four movie in theaters

The award-winning documentary short Dig Comics, which I helped produce, is an official selection for the New Filmmakers Summer Fest 2011. It will be making a rare screening at the Anthology Film Archives in New York City this Friday, July 1st, at 6 PM. D0n’t miss this opportunity to see this spirited call-to-arms for Miguel Cima’s mission to get America to dig comics again. It includes interviews with writer Jeph Loeb (Batman, Heroes), Scott Shaw! (Oddball Comics), Dame Darcy (Meatcake), and several Los Angeles comics retailers. There are also unique experiments with people on the street to get them to discover the magic of comic books.

Dig Comics won Best Documentary at Comic-Con International’s Independent Film Festival and was an official selection at Festival de Cannes, the Vancouver International Film Festival, Bumbershoot and other film festivals. There have also been special screenings at Meltdown Comics with special guest Edward James Olmos, and Jim Hanley’s Universe with a special panel made up of Marvel Comics VP of Publishing Tom Brevoort, The Beat’s Heidi MacDonald, comics creators Andy Helfer and Danny Fingeroth, and Graphic NYC’s Christopher Irving. The documentary has been written up by the Los Angeles Times, Ain’t It Cool News, and Comic Book Resources, among others.

For more on Dig Comics’ progress, check out my page for it here (although I need to catch up on some more recent events).

Dig Comics update: Ain’t It Cool News, Comic-Con & 2 more festivals!

I have fallen behind on posting about the progress of Dig Comics, the documentary that I’ve been working on as a producer for the last several years. There has been a lot of activity, some I can talk about it, some I can’t yet (but hopefully soon). Some highlights:

  • A great interview with director Miguel Cima was recently posted at the very popular movie news/gossip site Ain’t It Cool News.
  • The first new shooting since the completion of the 20-minute short is happening at this week’s Comic-Con International: San Diego. The event is completely sold out but if you are there and see us running around like mad men and women, yell out “I dig comics!” If you’re on Twitter, follow me Wednesday to Sunday this week to see how shooting is going at Comic-Con. Hopefully technology and time will work in my favor and I’ll be able to tweet. We’ve got some amazing people lined up to interview. Can’t wait to hear their thoughts.
  • Dig Comics will be screening at this weekend’s Action On Film International Film Festival at the Regency Academy Theater in Pasadena, California, on Sunday July 25 at 4 PM.
  • Dig Comics will also be screening at the 1 Reel Film Festival, part of Seattle’s Bumbershoot music and arts festival, on September 6 at 12 noon.

I think that’s everything. Seems like I’m missing something. Lots going on! Hopefully I’ll get to share more news soon.

Yes We Cannes

(Stupid joke. Sorry.)

I still owe you a post-WalkMS bloggy-thingie. It’s coming, I promise.

In the meantime, I have some exciting news! I will be in Cannes for not one, not two, but THREE screenings! Well, I won’t physically be there, but 2-dimensional representations of me and my work will be there.

The Short Film Corner at the Festival de Cannes has selected both Tough Love and Dig Comics for screenings! (Links below take you to the Short Film Corner pages for each.)

Tough Love is a comedy short where I did actorly stuff of a comedic fashion. The short film was produced by my Magic Meathands buddy Travis McElroy (who also acted in it) and directed by Mike Thomas. This will be the world premiere of Tough Love. I play one half of one of the 3 couples:

A couple of escaping mental patients intent on robbing a bank accidentally bust into a group couples counseling session and inadvertently help a bumbling therapist solve all the couples’ problems.

Dig Comics is a documentary short that I helped produce. I’ve babbled on about this one quite a bit already. You can even follow the progress of the film and our efforts to get a feature length version made right here. It was co-directed, written and hosted by Miguel Cima and produced and edited by Dirk Van Fleet. Dig Comics has been having a great run since it won Best Doc at last year’s Comic-Con Independent Film Festival, where it made its world debut. It has since screened at the Vancouver International Film Festival, New Filmmakers LA, Royal Flush Film Festival (NY) and Tucson Film and Music Festival, and received Merit Awards at both the LA Reel Film Festival and LA Cinema Festival of Film. Dig Comics has gotten positive reviews and write-ups from the LA Times, Ain’t It Cool News and Comic Book Resources, among others. It has also won the attention of actor Edward James Olmos, whose production company has signed on to help us in production once we obtain funding for a feature. I don’t act in this (’cause it’s a documentary, silly!) but I do have a couple of quick cameos.

Is the American art form of comic books dying? Dig Comics hits the streets to convert everyday people into new fans. Comics professionals, experts and celebrities weigh in on what went wrong and how to bring back the comics audience. The battle is on to get America to Dig Comics!

As if all of that isn’t enough, Dig Comics will also be screening at the Cannes Independent Film Festival! This festival runs independent of yet concurrently with Festival de Cannes. Both Festivals take place May 12-23 this year.

Comics Alliance wants you to Dig Comics

The always entertaining Comics Alliance posted a new interview by Caleb Goellner with Dig Comics host/writer Miguel Cima.

The modern comic book industry faces a lot of challenges as it marches into this brave new year, but there’s one common thread that ties them all together: more people need to be reading comics.

Frustrated with a seemingly shrinking audience despite a wealth of diverse and accessible content, Miguel Cima has set out to do something to correct what he considers an affront on sequential art enjoyment.

“An affront on sequential art enjoyment” – great line.

Also, more good news – Dig Comics has been awarded an Honorable Mention at the Los Angeles Reel Film Festival.