Friday, November 25, 2011

Fantastic Short Film Friday - Mythomania (live-action)
















And we are back with another installment in our Fantastic Short Film Friday series, as we continue to showcase films released in the "lesser" known form of cinema- the short film.

I'm going to mix things up a bit this week. Generally Fantastic Short Film Friday has showcased one and done short films, but this week I want to take a look at a webseries about the life of a cartoonist and all the real sad sack reality being a cartoonist entails. Here is the first 10-minute part in a webseries called, Mythomania from filmmaker, Derek Kirk Kim. The first season in 9-parts has already been released and it's really a wonderful look into the daily lives of a group of cartoonists struggling to get by. Yes it's scripted, but you can tell the filmmaker pulled the details of each episode from real life experiences.

Written and directed by Kim, the show follows aspiring cartoonist Andy Go as he navigates the joys, challenges, sacrifices, screw-overs and other assorted indignities suffered by those who seek their fortunes in the comic book book business. This show can get real honest and personal and is a wonderful window into what life can be like for cartoonists, and how easy it can be to face not only rejection but also opportunity. What I like so much about this series is that it doesn't sugar coat how tough and sad and filled with rejection the life of an independent cartoonist can be.

I am a huge comicbook fan. I still read comics every Wednesday and have been doing that for over 20 years, and while I'm not a cartoonist, I know a lot of the stuff that goes behind the scenes as any lifelong fan would. It's not a glamorous job. Sure there are people that make a fantastic living doing their work, making their art. But there are hundreds more that are struggling to make ends meat, struggling to get their vision out there, and this is one of those stories.

Check this out if you love comics and want to see what the everyday life of an average cartoonist looks like. Check this out if you like heartfelt drama's that show people striving to create and find joy in what they do while the world tries to tear then down. Enjoy this weeks dose of short form goodness in, Mythomania .

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