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** VENDORS AND CONTRIBUTORS **

On behalf of the following, tremendous thanks goes out to the entire production community for supporting their companies, their careers, and their general livelihood. Their continued generosity and support to MoFest is a testament to this appreciation...

ODD MACHINE for the venue. This is the second year in a row that Seth and Chris at Odd Machine have hosted MoFest. You’ve all seen it - an amazing studio space complete with white and green cyc walls, grip/electric gear, production offices and a post-production facility all under one roof. They do an outstanding job shooting, editing and creating graphics, and they have a fun time doing it. If you have a project look them up at theoddmachine.com

ESSANAY STUDIOS for the food and lighting gear. This is the fourth year in a row that Essanay has made substantial donations for catering and lighting gear, and what’s more is that each of their shop guys volunteered time to help set up. They have one hell of a company going and I’m proud to consider them, along with this entire list of contributors, great friends and coworkers.

HONEST FOODS for the catering. Tad Devlin’s one of the busiest people in town yet he found the time – for the fourth year in a row – to donate labor and generously prepare plate after delicious plate of food for MoFest. And every last morsel delivered and arranged by Jay Dean for the fourth year as well. Needless to say the food was completely devoured!

AMERICAN ROADSHOW for the ribs. As the number of MoFest attendees continues to grow, my goal is to lessen the burden imposed on the originating contributors. In terms of food, PJ found a great way to donate and smoke 60+ racks of ribs. (BTW he considers it his best batch ever)

A TO B for the chairs, tables, coolers, coat racks, layout board and gear. For the fourth year in a row, and no stranger to hosting a huge party himself, Brian Baron has donated a large part of his inventory to make sure we had all the amenities we needed to have a great time.

FLETCHER CAMERA for the projector. Jim Summers has been a vocal supporter of MoFest before we were even on the map, and he had to jump through hoops to get us a projector for MoFest 2. But he did – and for the past four years he continues to do so!

ROLLING STOCK RENTALS for the truck and the "mocorn". Rich Newman and the fine ladies of RSL (Amanda, Adrienne, and Angelica) have donated a truck and popcorn machine for the last two years.

BIG CITY SETS for the  flats. Chuck and Sid allowed Tristan Jenista and Roger McGuin to run around their shop and prepare flats all day, which provided a fantastic backdrop for our photo and art galleries.

CHICAGO SOUND SERVICES for the donation, audio gear and monitoring. Mario Coletta saved the house audio at MoFest 3 with a random cable in his truck, and for the last two years he’s taken it upon himself to ensure that all systems are a go.

CRAFTAHOLICS for donating the wonderful thank you cards. It was difficult deciding who would receive one of the 34 incredible, beautifully layered and stamped "thank you" cards crafted by Michelle, Sue, Tina, Gail, Jana, Yolanda, Suzanne, and Mary. But I did and finally sent them out!

PROPABILITIES for the stanchions. Melissa has always been a strong supporter of MoFest and generously donates any of Propabilities very eclectic inventory.

NATIONAL EXECUTIVE for the security. Darryl Muhammad does an awesome job organizing his best guards for the fest and they help keep hundreds of incredibly drunk party goers (self-included) safe and controlled!

REALISTIC FILMS for the 16mm film capture and event videography. Tim Ryan, Dave Pawela, Rebecca Hurst, and Wojciech Kielar swooped in like true professionals with their gear and captured much of the event for MF6 promotional purposes.

ARMSTRONG PAINTING for the donation, key lights and additional videography. Tim Armstrong emerged as a strong supporter of the fest this year and contributed a variety of input.

JOE LENTZ, KELI PLATEK, MELISSA LUTEK, & ALEX INKSTER for working thru the party. You guys hustled your asses off and helped MoFest tremendously… oh yeah, and you made more money than any of us combined! Congrats fuckers!

BECKY WERVE for winning the Mosie (#5) for "Honorary Founding Member" and for all the help over the years. Becky is to blame for MoFest ever getting off the ground. She was a huge supporter from the start, allowing us to hold the very first MoFest (back then called "Produktion Fest" – lame!) at the Cornservatory, a theater she is a part of. She’s been a staunch supporter ever since, making and baking goodies for MoFests 1+2, buying concessions for MoFest 3, bringing her 5-DAY-OLD child to MoFest 4, and happening to bring like 10 bottles of booze to MoFest 5. She’s a true pioneer and contributor, a wonderful producer and person, and an amazing friend.

ANDY PEARSON for winning the Mosie (#6) for "Honorary Founding Member". Andy is the other person to blame for all of this. Back when we were PA’s, we talked about this film fest idea and I set off to organize it. A week before the first MoFest, I got cold feet due to lack of responses and wanted to scrap the whole thing. As I told him this over the phone – there was a 5-second pause – and Andy went on to state "no matter what you do the show must go on!" He proceeded to call about 20 of his own friends to attend the fest and made that first show a success. To this day he continues to call me a week before each fest to make sure I don’t have those cold feet. Nice work, Fearsome!

ASTRO LABS for the film processing. Duke Shin has been a strong supporter of the fest for the past two years and him and Team Astro are currently pushing the processing limits on our donated ASA 200!

ELDRIDGE HUNTINGTON for the 16mm film donation. JR you’re sorely missed! We need you back!

VERIO GRAPHICS for the banner. There’s a reason Derrick Verio is art department’s choice for printing banners and graphics – he does an outstanding job in little turnaround time. (autographinc.com)

PROGEAR RENTALS for the Nikon lens and  ash. Steve LaMonica jumped into the vendor mix this year and helped Jessica get some really crisp photos of the event. (progearrental.com)

SHIRTS OUR BUSINESS for the tshirts. I just recently met Ron Weiss who’s been a legend in the tshirt business for 35 years. Not only did he print great tshirts for us in little time, but he also supplies all of threadless among countless other companies with t’s. (sobltd.com)

SCOTT MARVEL for the tshirt research. Scott from Daily Planet and Teetsy.com came through in the last minute to help find an amazing deal on tshirts, when he introduced me to Shirts Our Business.

MARC SCHNEPPER for the logo concept and tshirt design. Marc’s been a great friend for over 24 years now (is it that long?) and he’s a tremendous graphic artist and ad guy…plus he works for free.

AARIK EVANSON for the initial website. Aarik and his web design company Mispelled donated his time and posted the webpage and revised webpage and links. (mspld.com)

SPENCER ROHAN for the full-time, updated 2.0 website. Spencer took it upon himself to design and post this outstanding website so we can spread the word to all who haven’t heard!

RADAR STUDIOS for the MoFest intro time lapse. John Truckenbrod came through with a great selection of time lapse clips that saved me from having to sit outside in the cold for 6 hours capturing cloud formations.

COLIN CRAIG for the insane MoFest intro graphics. I only recently learned of Colin’s existence a week before the fest but he was my final hope at finishing a MoFest intro – and it turned out way better than I imagined. He’s nothing short of an after effects and graphics wizard. (penciljockey.com)

TIM BERTHIAUME for the very first MoFest intro composite. Tim busted out a great 3D composite with little time on his plate.

PIE-EYED PIZZA for the pizzas. Sandy at Pie-Eyed is a huge fan of the art community here in Chicago and owns one of the best late-night pizzerias in the city. On Chicago and Milwaukee. (pie-eyedpizzeria.com)

SNARKITY IN CHICAGO for the great gift bags. Jen Patush’s social networking company prepped over 100 very eccentric gift bags to dole out at the fest and it was a phenomenal job considering she had a zero budget! (facebook.com/snarkity)

ANGELA SHERIDON for the PR services. Ange got us in touch with Screen Mag and provided a wealth of PR advice.

DAN GRIFFIN EXPERT KIT RENTALS for the ladders. 4-step, 7-step, 8-step – done!

IATSE LOCAL 476 for the general support. Without them, my schedule wouldn't allow me the ability to juggle working for a living and organize this great fest.

GO LOCATION SERVICES for the donated trash removal. Patrick Glover took it upon himself and his company to remove the massive and very illegal trash pile we left outside the venue! Least glamorous job but a HUGE load off my shoulders at the end of it all!

ROGER MCGUIN & SALLY EDGER for their fantastic brew called "Mo’s Anise Ale". A delicious blend of the choicest hops, anise notes and…wait is that the word "anis" misspelled after my name?? WTF!!

FIDEL JACKSON & EVE CROSS for donating the very last-minute craft service to the fest. I wished with all my heart we had the time and man power to pick up the goods but with 5 hours left before the show we were just strapped! Please contribute next year and please, please give us at least a 12-hour heads up!

ALL WHO WERE GENEROUS ENOUGH to give a cash donation to the bartenders.

ALL WHO WERE GENEROUS ENOUGH to give a cash donation to MoFest.

ALL THE GREAT FILMMAKERS, ARTISTS, & PHOTOGS for their courage and contributions.

ALL THE 48-HOUR FILM FEST PARTICIPANTS for their criminally insane films.

TIM YOUNG, BECKY WERVE, ANDY PEARSON, SCOTT BAEHREND, & SAM ANDRZEJEWSKI… for making it to all five MoFests.

JANICE HARRYMAN for putting up with the MoFest madness for the third year running! Love ya babe!

MY PARENTS for the support thorough all the years. Love ya guys!

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** VOLUNTEERS **

The following volunteers have a special place in my pure beef heart. I’m not sure who amongst them gave up work to help out this year, but I know all of them gave up their free time and for that I’m eternally grateful. Please note my estimate of amount of days they spent volunteering in parenthesis… and I can’t stress enough that the main area for this year’s party was essentially raw space – the following people loaded, prepped, dressed and lit the no-elevator-havin’ second- oor location in less than 36 hours!

SHARON LOMASNEY (5+ DAYS) for the art gallery. Actually, its hard to estimate the time Sharon spends doing this for many reasons – she’s great at what she does, she’s incredibly efficient, she brings her own crew, she doesn’t goof around like most of us, and she NEVER bothers me with any questions or issues during mofest prep. Its always two phone calls with her – 1) "sure I can help out with MoFest" and 2) "when can I come in to set up?" This all leads me to believe she’s either the perfect volunteer or some sort of mythical being. At any rate she’s a phenomenal producer, organizer and friend and I’m proud to have her contribute for the past couple years.

JOHN ADAMS (5+ DAYS PLUS HUNGOVER WRAP) for the photo gallery, input and general prep. Johnny has been there for MoFest since the beginning and was one of the first official volunteers. I remember him organizing a pre-show dinner for friends before MoFest 2 – extremely proud since he submitted a film he was 2nd electrician on. Since then he’s grown into one of our best volunteers, photographers and directors, always pushing the limits with his gallery presentation and with the high quality of his films and prints. He’s also one of the first to show up and last to leave when it comes to prepping and wrapping. He’s not afraid of a  flight of stairs or a huge stack of chairs (he can lift 5 times his body weight) and I know I can always depend on him in times of need.

MARIO COLETTA (4+ DAYS PLUS HUNGOVER WRAP) for the audio, donations and general prep. Mario has been a tremendous volunteer from the start, and he donates so much in terms of audio he could leave it at that. But he goes much further – by supporting MoFest throughout the production and educational communities, submitting his own sound department -lm, and insisting on making sure that I get through the prep without any meltdowns and through the wrap without any financial crises. And my favorite - he even stuck around late-evening, night before the show, balancing atop ladder, helping us rig the projector up in the air – just to make sure it was hooked up properly. Awesome dude.

JOSH LEVY (6+ DAYS PLUS HUNGOVER WRAP) for the lighting, input and general prep. Josh broke out onto the MoFest scene last year when HE decided – 24 hours before MoFest – that we needed to light the shit out of the venue. Needless to say he rocked it, then he proceeded to blame me for not giving him enough time to light it. Well this year, I gave him two months to scout and prep… then I changed the venue on him with 12 days to go (ha-ha). But alas, Josh still rocked the show, in fact he lit the venue and lounge SO DAMN WELL it looked like an entirely different space. He’s always quick to give credit to his lighting mentors, but there’s something about this guy that really knows his shit. Just an incredible organizer, electrician, volunteer and friend, through and through.

BRIAN BABARIK (8+ DAYS PLUS HUNGOVER WRAP) for the lounge, beverage, input and general prep. Brian had some big shoes to fill when previous MoFest lounge director Eldridge Huntington left town. But Brian, using his lighting, crafty and art expertise, gently torched my budget and made a PHENOMENAL bar area. He also took it upon himself to add those professional touches – cold plate taps for the kegs, piano top for the bar, a barrel of his own spiced wine – along with handing me record amounts of shit earfuls. But much of it was well deserved, as Babarik shopped and shopped and shopped for the best deals for the ridiculously meager budget he was given. And after all was said and done he did an outstanding job, saved me mucho time and effort, and provided a ton of input to make this and next fest all the better.

HERMAN ASPH (2 DAYS) for the prep. At the very start of the prep, when the job had absolutely no glamour whatsoever, I was struggling to find a suitable partner for round the town pick-ups due to most of my volunteers working in Michigan for the week. Herman stepped up and spent ALL DAY Thursday and ALL DAY Friday helping with the lifting and the loading and the brutality. It was essential that I had this calm, collective partner these first few days – for if they didn’t go smoothly – stress levels would have multiplied quickly and all hell would have broken loose! Great job, pahdnah.

IREC KRISKE (2 DAYS PLUS HUNGOVER WRAP) for the outstanding wrap day effort and art gallery assist. Like Herman with the prep, Irec made it a point to come in after the party to wrap, not once, but twice! He provided the consistency and the hard work needed during the least glamorous and lonely portion of the fest. He also helped Sharon put together the outstanding art gallery.

JAY NEANDER (4+ DAYS) for the 48-hour Film Challenge,  flats, piano top, and general prep. Jay is superhuman. Most of us know this. But he can also read minds. He read my mind and took the helm of the 48 Hour Film Challenge a week before the fest, which is something I would love to do every year but NEVER have the time to even think about. He comes up with great ideas for the challenge, and while him and his team are challenged to complete their own film in 48 hours(!), Jay organizes this versatile and beloved segment of the film screening. He also contributed to the bar area with his and Ira’s awesome piano top and  flats.

JESSICA VOOGD (3+ DAYS) for the event photography and general prep. Jessica really stepped it up this year. She wanted so much to include a photo booth and time lapse of the party. She even drove out all the way to Zap (with her brother who was in town for the weekend) to run the specs on the photo booth they would have donated… but most of it got scrapped due to the last-minute change in venue. Nonetheless she went out and found the very best Nikon lens and  ash and took great posed – and candid(!) – shots of the event for the second year in a row.

DANIEL MARCUS (2+ DAYS) for the MoFest party loop, editing, and general prep. Over the years Dan has grown into one hell of an editor and quite the director. I think he’s edited over 183 films for Mofest and he’s the ONLY person to have submitted a film as director to all 5 MoFests.

MARCUS QUANT (1+ DAY) for the music. This is Q’s fourth straight year of providing tunes for MoFest and I’m sure he’ll follow up with a written play list like he always does. His eclectic tastes in music make for a great party ambience.

ALEX JONES (2 DAYS PLUS HUNGOVER WRAP) for general prep and wrap. Alex came in a helped not only Josh with the lighting gear but also jumped in and finished the last minute touches to the bar. He then proceeded to help wrap out of nowhere and was one of the first people to show up on an extremely hungover wrap day.

TRISTAN JENISTA (1 DAY) & ROGER MCGUIN (2 DAYS PLUS HUNGOVER WRAP) for prepping and painting the twelve 4’x10’ foot  flats at Big City the Thursday before.

ALEX INKSTER (2 DAYS) for helping wrap. Alex was all hustle cleaning out trash during the show and I hear he’s trying to get some work in production. If you’re in need of a PA give him a shout at alex.inkster@gmail.com.

…AND A HUGE SHOUT OUT TO THE REST OF THE VOLUNTEERS, WHO EACH DONATED A DAY OF THEIR TIME TO HELP:

PETER KOSOWSKI

CYNTHIA CASTILLO-HILL

MATT ROZEK

SPENCER ROHAN

TIM TROY

PETER WIESE

JUSTIN REID TVEDT

SCOTT SKILLINGS

SCOTT BAEHREND

GEOFF BINS CALVEY

RACHEL DAVIS

NATHAN SWANGO

TERRENCE SIMMONS

DAVID SAMO

LIZ OWENS

JOE KIRKENDALL

…AND ANYONE I MAY HAVE FORGOT - THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!! -

Have a happy and safe holiday season! See you next year!

Love, Mighty