Summer Days

My best friend Miles Carey and I sitting on a dock in Mackinac Island.

I'm sitting in an awesome coffee shop called Spill the Beans in Greenville, SC. I'm drinking some hazelnut coffee and I'm thinking about what all of my friends may be up to. I just graduated a boarding school, and well, all of my friends are from all over the world. It's strange to think that we are all existing at the same time, but none of us are experiencing things together any longer. It's also strange not knowing if and when I'll reunite with these folk of my past. How can you love someone thousands of miles away? A text message doesn't suffice. A letter? A phone call? There is nothing comparable to simultaneously experiencing the world. It's lonesome these days without the company of my tight knit group of pals. I took them for granted at times and didn't even realize how tight we were until I no longer had them. But I guess that's life. I just wish I could experience the essence of vibrant friendship in these days of summer. It's a feeling of magic that most movies can't even capture. Being around people you love and people who appreciate the brilliance of the moment opens up for a world of much more ebullience, warmth, and vigor. It's sometimes hard to find that enchanting reality from within yourself, by yourself.

My best friend Abbey Sacks and I on the night of Halloween.

My best friend (and insanely talented singer-songwriter of The Accidentals) and I at the end of a school day.

My fantastic roommate Ivy Carpenter and I waiting for the train...

One extremely fantastic group of people that I did have the chance to be with recently was my team for the 48 Hour Film Festival.  This group of individuals is composed of best friends I've had for a while, as well as new friends who I've just recently met. This year I picked out of the hat "Dark Comedy" so I wrote a script about a polygamist goat farmer, his wives who are competing for his love, and their one young daughter who has run away from home to become a gym instructor. Here's the film!:

The main thing I'm up to right now is pre-production for a short children's film that I'm shooting next weekend (July 26th and 27th). A teenage girl's mother says she can't have a sleepover with her friend, so she decides to seek revenge by putting pee in her mother's coffee. Yummy story, right?! My D.P. and I have been putting together storyboards and in the next few days my A.D./Producer, my D.P. and I will be putting together a schedule. 

Brad Hoover, my D.P., poses as one of the characters in the top picture while we work on storyboards.

Other Various Updates

Girly has been accepted to and was screened at the 2014 Princeton Student Film & Video Festival July 16th and 17th.

July 10th Bye Bye Lullaby and Warm Rush were screened at the Josiah Media Festival in San Antonio, TX where Warm Rush actually took 2nd Place in the Experimental Category. I skyped in July 12th for the awards ceremony where they interviewed all of the winners. 

Went on a road trip to Texas. Went to my first dance club. Tried real cajun food in Louisiana. Made music. Listened to music. Fun times!

I wrote my first 1-minute screenplay. It's called The Cycle of Sneezes. Of all things I've ever written, this seems like the easiest to pull off... I mean, it's only one page! Logline: Did you know that every time you sneeze someone's thinking about you?

I wrote a screenplay about a transgender child. I really hope to shoot this sometime soon. Logline: A little boy struggles with his identity as he finds himself attracted to both the popular boy at his school and girls clothing.

I've been working on scoring some music for an upcoming film of my friend Rachel Lin. I met her at NFFTY in Seattle this past year and she actually won the New Talent Award. She is such an awesome gal. Check out her film Iceberg which was screened at NFFTY: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q82aya2tetM

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Well I'm off to plotting out some crazy plans for the near future.
Have a lovely day, and always: stay hydrated!
~Kira

Real Life Begins

High School Graduate: Gap Year Begins

This past year has been an uphill battle in terms of living a balanced and healthy lifestyle. I overcrowded my plate, lost touch with my social life, and crammed in every possible project I could. There were undoubtedly oh so many rewarding moments (some of the best of my whole entire life thus far), but overall I learned a valuable lesson: one's mental state is more important than a project! There were points during the year where I didn't know if this extreme stress and anxiety was worth it, but I am happy to say that I've learned that this "extreme stress and anxiety" is not innate within the nature of what I choose to do with my time, but rather, is a self-created, self-imposed, controllable spoonful of poison. I reject that poison. Instead I will eat chocolate and drink tea.

"We're Okay" Premiered and Released

I graduated from high school a little over 2 weeks ago, and these past 2 weeks have been the most balanced 2 weeks I've had in the past 2 years. I know that's a bold statement, but I honest to goodness feel like a twisted weight has been lifted from my back and from my eyes. Did that metaphor make sense? Who knows. Ha. Well, I finished and premiered my senior thesis film "We're Okay." It deals with teen depression, sexuality, and warped body image. I am here to vouch that as a teenager the high school years can be extremely tough. We are in a society that unfortunately bites at the confidence of everyone in one way or another. The characteristics and ideals our culture values comes in opposition with the reality and truth of what it means to be a human. There is no blanketing checklist that can identify and define every person. The beauty of being here on earth lies in the fact that it is in our great and mighty multitude that we find diverse personalities and real individuals. Before I continue to rant, here is We're Okay. I hope you enjoy!:

We're Okay has already been accepted to two festivals: Mass Hysteria (Live Stream Event, June 6th 2014) and The Serile Filmului Gay Film Fest (Cluj-Napoca, Romania, November 10th-16th 2014). Can't believe I have a film that's gonna be screened in Romania?! Who would've guessed! Ha.

48 Hour Film Fest

Most of my team at the 48 Hour Film awards last year after winning Best Cinematography. We were pretty happy.

So for the 5th year in a row I will be competing in the 48 Hour Film Fest. I made a promise to myself the first year I competed (and bear in mind I was only 14 years old!) that I would compete until my team won best film. Over the course of 4 years my team has won Best Director, Best Actress, Best Makeup, Best Sound Design, and Best Cinematography. I hope to win Best Film within the next 10 years.... cross your fingers for us, ha! But in all seriousness: I actually do this competition not for the awards, but really to reunite with my crew. They have become my family and this competition becomes a time for us to join back together and create something. Most of these people I do not get to see anytime during the year, so it truly is a once a year reunion.

Team All Around Artsy does crazy things.
Wayne, producer and gaffer, did indeed fall into the waterfall.

Wayne Culpepper (my producer and gaffer) has been helping me to secure locations, additional crew, and equipment. I don't want to give anything away, but we've secured something that I have only dreamed of having the privilege to use sometime in my life. The thing we have secured... well, never in a million years did I think I would have the chance to work with one at this time in my life! I hope I've stricken your curiosity. Mwahaha. You'll just have to wait and see! The competition is June 20th-22nd. Thusly, the film will be released online a few weeks later.

Wish my team luck on the 48 Hour Film! If you're interested in seeing what my team has done the previous years, here is the one we did last year:

Other Projects

As always I am working on a ton of projects. I'll try to summarize each project in a couple of sentences:

I've always dreamed of seeing the mysterious Blue Ghost Firefly that only appears for 2 weeks in the summer in certain areas of the South. So I made a short doc of my friend Wayne (who is a professional photographer) capturing the blue fireflies on camera, along with doing a light-painting photo shoot of Miss Whimsy (that's me) in the woods. Currently in post.

I was planning on making a short doc on No Kill Nation, an organization that is trying to stop the use of euthanasia within dog shelters, but after getting in contact with a local animal rights group I just got hired to shoot a doc for them. More info to come.

I am making my own doc on these 8 year old twin "brothers" but one of them identifies as a girl already. Having a meeting with the mother tomorrow. Very excited about this one. Gender identity is one of my favorite topics.

My best friend and greatest mentor Brad (he was my first film teacher and taught me oh so much!) wrote a short story that we are adapting into a short (possibly animated) film.

I wrote a short about a coffee-addicted insomniac who ventures to a stargazing field in the hopes of escaping coffee, only to stumble upon and fall in love with a sleeping narcoleptic boy. I applied for a large grant. Wish me luck. If I don't get it, I'm still gonna make the film. Nothing will stop me. Mwahaha.

I just started taking hammer dulcimer lessons. This is random, but I recorded a composition using my dulcimer, melodica, guitar, and vocals, and it's my favorite composition I've ever made. I will probably be putting it into an upcoming film.

I've been in contact with so many different and amazing individuals in terms of internships and jobs. I never thought I would be granted so many oppurtunies and options. I have no fear going into this gap year (*note that this gap year is possibly eternal) because I have an abundance of inspirational oppurtunities!

This past November my film Girly won The Mosaic Film Experience film fest in Grand Rapids, MI. Well, a few weeks ago they got in contact with me and have offered me a job! They are going to pay me to fly out to the fest in November and be a guest speaker. This is a dream come true.

Directing Reel

I cut together my first directing reel which features clips from over 10 projects of mine! Here it is!

Kira Bursky Directing Reel 2014 from Kira Bursky on Vimeo.

Well, there are probably a lot of things I'm forgetting to mention, but, oh well. I'm gonna get back to work. So many random things to do! I love it! By the way, I'm in a coffee shop right now. What a suprise, right? At this point I think it's safe to stay I spend half of my life in coffee shops. Rather than being a coffee connoisseur, could I call myself a coffee shop connoisseur? Ha.

Love you all! Feel free to comment or email me any questions! Have a lovely day, and remember: stay hydrated!

Last two weeks of High School!

Firstly: Hey I turned 18 a few days ago! I'm an adult! So strange! So lovely!

Some of my friends and green-me on the day of my birthday!
Being green on the day I turned 18 was never part of the plan!

Secondly: I'm sitting at my favorite coffee shop in Traverse City: Brew. My nickname is Bru Bru (my last name is Bursky, which got shortened to Bur, then Bru). Why did I tell you my nickname? I don't quite frankly know... None-the-less: I graduate from high school in 13 days.

Current thoughts: I am extremely excited to pursue my "gap year." I've been reconsidering what I'm going to do with my time. The first thing I've reconsidered: I do not want to make a definitive plan. Thusly, I am no longer set on making my first feature film (and believe me, reconsidering this was a heart-wrenching process, but in the end seemed more than logical). Why? Well, my whole life has been schedule-based. I want to retrain my mind and way of life. I want to be more flexible and more able to live in the moment. The only way for me to do this is to stop planning out every minute. But: I do have some plans. The two big ones: In June I'm competing in the Asheville 48 Hour Film Project for the 5th year in row. So happy to reunite with my familew (family + crew = familew). The other plan: I am gonna move to LA for a bit. Maybe it'll be just a month, maybe it'll be for years. Who knows! I just want to experience new things and work on films and meet people in a big city. I'm from New York, but it's time to try out the West coast!

I'm looking for jobs / internships and a place to stay in LA. I'd like to move on out there in the next few months- probably sometime after August. Let me know if you're looking for a roommate... or know of a job! I'm honestly pumped to help out on anything and everything!

Other current thoughts: I am frightened. I am about to step out into the real world. And if / when I go to LA I am afraid of being alone. BUT: I know that I will meet new people and make new friends! I love people!

In other news: I just released a new music video for my song Beautiful Creature:




I also was sponsored to travel to the most amazing film festival ever and I made a VLOG of my trip:




Gosh I just need to reiterate: going to NFFTY was life changing. The experience and the way life felt while being there was so unique. Everything was so exhilarating and wonderful and I met so many fantastic individuals. My music video for Warm Rush was accepted and screened at the fest. I really hope I am fortunate enough to be accepted into the festival next year. I would do anything to go again and to reunite with these brilliantly wonderful people.

We're Okay Updates

So We're Okay premieres Friday! That's less than a week! I have been busily working on finishing up animation and editing. I am getting closer and closer, but wow oh wow! I'm nervous! And excited! And busy! I do wish I had more time, but hey, deadlines allow me to see better creative alternatives. So that's good I guess!

Various Festival Updates

"Girly" won Best U.S. Narrative and "What Are You?" won Best U.S. Animation at The Lovett School High School Film Fest. 

"Hello from Malaysia" has been selected as one of the top three entries for the "Theme" category and "Warm Rush" has been selected as one of the top three entries for the "Music Video" category at the Cresskill High School Film Festival in Cresskill, NJ May 22nd.

Girly was accepted to the West Chester Film Festival in West Chester, PA and screened April 25-27!

Random Updates

I've also been busily editing my best friend Miles' capstone film "Border Woods." For more information on this film, check out his recently successful Kickstarter project: 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1119558530/gay-coming-of-age-fantasy-film-border-woods

I've also decided to document the last 20 days till graduation by drawing one hand a day. Once I'm done with that I'll turn it into a collage and post it on here. It's been fun. And if you didn't already know, I'm utterly obsessed with drawing hands and I have been since I was 12 or so years old. 

A few days ago I started shooting a music video for my song West Wind. My best friend Abbey did face paint for me.

 

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Well I'm hungry. I'm gonna go get sushi or Middle Eastern food. Sushi vs. falafel? This is the strife that a foodie must face each day. Oh, dear life, please bless me with the ability to be decisive when it comes to choosing food! I JUST LOVE ALL FOOD SO MUCH. Food = life. Life = food? My logic is broken. Why? Because I am hungry. But that was logical.

TIME FOR FOOD!

Wish me luck with finishing up We're Okay! 

Love, 

Kira

Trip to the White House + Finished Filming "We're Okay"

It seems as though I was at the White House 2 days ago...

So in my last blog post I quickly mentioned that I was planning on making a film for the first ever White House Student Film Festival. So, I did. And out of the 2,500+ entries, I was named one of the 16 finalists! I was invited to the White House, along with the lead of my film, Aiman Marzio, and my mother.

Here was my entry "Hello From Malaysia":

Hello From Malaysia from Kira Bursky on Vimeo.

When there I got to meet Obama (!!), Bill Nye the Science Guy, Neil Degrasse Tyson, and Kal Penn!
There is a photo album on my All Around Artsy facebook page with all of the pictures during the trip:

Post by All Around Artsy.

I told Bill Nye that I wasn't good at taking selfies. So he grabbed my iPhone and was like "let me teach you how!"

Here is my first ever VLOG. With the help of my lovely iPhone I basically recorded our whole adventure and edited it into this video:

VLOG: White House Film Fest Trip from Kira Bursky on Vimeo.

So yes! That was a very surreal and unexpected adventure.

White House Film Fest Article Mentions 

Here are some articles that I've found thus far that I'm mentioned in!:

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President Obama to Host First-Ever White House Film Festival

Seventeen-year-old Kira Bursky from Asheville, North Carolina has been making films since she was only 10. Her film chronicles a fictional girl, Aiman, who, after being sent to boarding school in the United States, uses technology both to maintain a connection with her family back home in Malaysia and also to share her culture and build connections with her new classmates. 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/02/27/president-obama-host-first-ever-white-house-film-festival

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"Student Filmmaker heads to D.C."

One local student filmmaker was invited to Washington D.C. to show her short film at the White House.  Kira Bursky is one of only sixteen students from across the country selected to show at the White House Student Film Festival on Friday, February 28th. The theme for the festival was the role technology plays in the classroom. Bursky's film Hello From Malaysia follows a student who just moved to the U.S. from Malaysia, and finds it challenging to adjust to cultural differences. 

Bursky is a student at Interlochen Academy of the Arts. She was the first place winner at the 2013 Mosaic Film Festival in Grand Rapids back in November.

http://www.wzzm13.com/story/news/local/grand-rapids-central/2014/03/03/filmmaker-washington-dc/5981201/

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"Students Are Stars at White House Film Festival"

I love "Hello From Malaysia" because it shows how technology can bridge cultural gaps

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/students-are-stars-white-house-film-festival-n40846

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"Future Wes Andersons talk movies, tech at the White House"

A 17-year-old student from Asheville, N.C., Kira Bursky, made a video about how a fictional foreign-exchange student could stay connected to home (via Skype, of course), and tell classmates about her home in Malaysia (via iPhone, of course).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/02/28/future-wes-andersons-talk-movies-tech-at-the-white-house/?wprss=rss_national

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"We're Okay" Film Updates

In other news: For my senior thesis film "We're Okay" I decided to have a Kickstarter and raise $1,500. Within the first 3 days I got to my goal. By the end of the fundraiser I raised $2,000. I'm still in awe of the generosity I received. I finished the live action portion of the shoot after 3 shoot days.

Here is the trailer for the film:

We're Okay Trailer from Kira Bursky on Vimeo.

I am currently in post-production for the film and pre-production for the animated portions of the film. I plan on going into production of the animation after I get back from my Spring Break. In the next few days I will be meeting with my art department to discuss our plans for building the miniature vintage found-object circus world. Should be fun.

Film Fest Updates

My film Bye Bye Lullaby was accepted to and will be screened at its first film festival at the Portland Oregon Women's Film Festival, which will be held from March 6-9, 2014.
http://powfest.com/bye-bye-lullabye/

Girly will be presented at the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival on Sunday, March 9, 2014 in San Luis Obispo, California as part of the "Filmmakers of Tomorrow Showcase".
http://slofilmfest.org/2014-films/filmmakers-of-tomorrow-showcase/

Other Updates

So Young Arts (the competition I was a finalist in and got to go to Miami for a week for) is the one and only route to becoming a presidential scholar in the arts. I was nominated as one of the 60  candidates to becoming a presidential scholar in the arts. I completed my essays last week and will be crossing my fingers. In the event I am selected as one of the 20 presidential scholars, I will be going back to the White House this summer! That would be pretty nifty!

On February 12, 2014, ScreenCrave.com named We're Okay as the Indie Fundraiser Pick of the Week. We're Okay was listed along with ScreenCrave's list of the best new indie trailers for soon to be released films including The Double with Jesse Eisenberg, Under the Skin starring Scarlett Johansson, and The Two Faces of January with Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst.
http://screencrave.com/2014-02-12/indie-trailers-the-double-under-skin-the-faces-january-were-okay/

Dan Thornton at GigSpotting Network wrote a brief article on January 29 about We're Okay.
http://www.gigspotting.net/were-okay-directed-by-kira-bursky.html

I will be DPing another thesis film in around a month. Additionally I have plans to try and shoot a music video for one of my songs. Right now I'm leaning towards the song "Beautiful Creature." If you haven't heard my music yet, my album is on iTunes. My band name is Miss Whimsy. Check it out! (And if you don't want to pay to listen to my music, it's also on Spotify!)

...gooooodness I am a sleepy. Yet at the same time I wouldn't mind having a one person dance party. Sleep or dance? Hmmm... I think I'll just have some tea!

Busier than ever! Updates galore.

"It's just so smooth and nutty," she says with a glint of love in her eyes.

"...and the smell just enhances it!" I respond.

I just took a sip of coconut oolong tea- I thank my lovely roommate Ivy for that! For those of you who do not know, both coconut and tea are two of my most beloved things. Anyhow: Let me preface this blog entry with the following: the past four months have been the busiest, most stressful, and most rewarding months of my life and I will never live my life like this ever again. What a great learning experience! I learned the word "no" and finally learned the importance behind the concept of "limiting oneself." Let's just say that I said yes to all projects and did not what so ever limit myself. In the past three months so much has happened.

The album art for my recently released album "Confused Travels."

So, my album that I began just four months ago is now complete and released! "Confused Travels" features 12 original songs and is available through iTunes, Spotify, and from, well, me!  My friend Keara Dooly did the album cover art and I am so happy with what she created. I've been interviewed twice about my music (check them out here and here) and have been posting live performance vids and track previews on youtube (which you can see here). I additionally created a stop motion animated music video for my track Warm Rush:



To stay updated on Miss Whimsy (that's my music name!) you should probably like the Miss Whimsy Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/misswhimsymusic - Additionally in the next few days I will be releasing a website for Miss Whimsy! Also, a local radio station emailed me asking me to preform live on the radio... I thought about it and was filled with the polarities of both fear and glee. I've decided to respond: why yes, I can do it! -- This is a big step for me!

Also, for Hanukkah I got a couple of new instruments, so as usual, I was super inspired and made some rough (and please note *unfinished*) test songs experimenting with them:

Test song using hammer dulcimer (note that I plucked it instead of hit it... oh Kira Bursky):



Test song using melodica (a melodica is basically a piano you blow into! Cool, right?!):



Test song using natural reverb in a stairwell (not a new instrument, but oh well.):



Now for the film side of my life: My film Girly won first place at the Mosaic Film Experience Film Festival in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They actually paid for me to take a bus to get there, so I got to go. It was fun being interviewed, meeting many cool people (I was staying with two animators actually!), and seeing my film on the big screen. Seeing my movies in theaters is always such a fulfilling feel.... gosh darn I love it so! 1st place received $1000. Seems like a lot, but... it's all already gone. It was put towards the album! Wow, right?! But, hey, at least it was recycled towards another artistic endeavor of mine.

All of the cinematic arts finalists and panelist teachers. Boy I miss them.

Just last wednesday Girly was screened in front of a sold out crowd of 700+ people, plus it was live webcasted. This was a part of a big arts competition called "Young Arts." Just a few months ago I received a phone call saying that I was one of the 7 film finalists in the U.S. When I heard this my stomach dropped, I mentally fainted, and then I proceeded to have a one-person dance party with myself. They paid for me to fly out and stay in a hotel in Miami. There I met 171 of the most talented and driven young artists of the U.S. The arts categories ranged from anything from visual arts to theater. The panelist teachers and the other finalists for cinematic arts were so amazing. Each one of them was so knowledgable, passionate, and lovable. Some of the bonds and friendships I formed will last forever. I know that it was only a week long, but I connected up to certain people more deeply than I have ever connected up to anyone else before. I know that sounds crazy, but hey, passionate people connect to passionate people. I cried so much when I parted ways. Now as I sit here I am filled with a sweet sense of melancholy. Time has a funny way of causing our appreciation for things to grow.

(Left Picture: That's Eden. She is an amazing jazz singer. In a week we became super close best friends. So grateful to of met this lovely soul; Right Picture: That's Ted. He was one of my panelist teachers. He is an animator for Dreamworks, and before that worked for Disney. He worked on the Lion King- crazy, right?! Meeting him and working with him was one of the most inspiring things of my life. Wish I had more time to learn from him. Already miss him.)

All of the cinematic arts finalists on stage alongside the dancers in front of the crowd of 700+ people!

Feature film... yes, yes, yes. I will indeed be taking a gap year next year to make my first feature film. I was struggling for the past few months with pinpointing what theme I wanted to focus on. I was juggling a few possibilities. One possibility was focusing on a film about accepting love and allowing yourself to feel it. Another possibility was making the film metaphorical for child abuse. The possibilities went on and on. Finally one stuck with me: a film about female empowerment and defeating gender norms (specifically the idea of "boys don't cry.") I have a complete first draft treatment. It's a children's fantasy adventure film. When I get a little bit further along with the treatments I'll release more details...

And now for the main endeavor of my current moment of existence: my capstone film. By tonight I will have another draft for the screenplay of my film "We're Okay." The film is about the way people perceive you versus the way you are actually feeling. Everyone thinks Delilah is really happy, but truth be told, she is not. On her 18th birthday she decides to kill herself, but this attempt causes her body to shut down and send her into the world of her mind. This world is a stop motion animated circus world of found objects. In her mind she discovers why she is feeling the way she is... BUT: you will only find this out once you watch the film which will be completed and released at the end of May or beginning of June. I begin production on February 1st, so I have around 3 weeks left of pre-production. I have a lot to do, but I'm excited.

I have a few other projects in the works (a short animation collaboration with two of my best friends, a short film for the White House's first high school film competition, facilitating the creation of a mural on my campus as student senate class president, etc!)  Busy as usual, but it's finally the right level of business. I'm enjoying myself. Especially my new stash of dried fruit. Oh how those freeze dried strawberries make me feel so good....

Cheers! And stay hydrated!

Senior Year Begins! Project Updates~

On set for Eating for Beginners.... a foodie comedy of course.

Well, here I am... sitting in the on campus Stone Hotel lobby. I'm getting ready to meet with the Singer-songwriter instructor at my school. As one of my classes this year, I'm doing an independent study on completing an entire album in a semester. So, yes, by the end of this semester I will have a music album for sale. I don't want to give away any secret details to the album yet, but right now I'm thinking the album's overall theme is about means of traveling (both literally and metaphorically). And for those of you don't yet know, my artist name is Miss Whimsy...! Boy I do love the word whimsy.

This is Delilah-
the doll I shall be animating!

In addition to that, I am taking another independent study on stop motion animation. The end product to this class will be an animated music video... meaning: by the end of this semester I will have both a music album and at least one music video to go along with it!

My senior capstone film (aka, a thesis film) is currently in pre-production. It is going to be a 15 minute live action AND animated film. This summer I worked with Cindy Riccardelli, a doll maker and artist, and she designed and built me a 1 foot doll. I named the doll Delilah and she will be the star (well, the animated star!) in the film. The story is about trying to escape the fears in your life that make you feel trapped, and additionally, the dichotomy of how we present ourselves to the world (the live-action half to the movie) versus how we are actually feeling internally (the animated half of the movie.) The script is currently in the process of being made, and a Kickstarter is soon to follow. Stay tuned for that.


My last short film "Eating for Beginners" went quite well! It is indeed complete, but I am not 100% satisfied with the audio in some of the scenes so I decided to hold off on releasing it until I fix that. So, this Thanksgiving (when I go back home on break) I will try to ADR the scenes that need to be fixed, and once that is done: BAM! Festivals, vimeo, etc....

DP (Andy Crespo) and I looking at the shot.

Wonderful Wayne Culpepper doing stunts. What a koala-man.

Most of the cast (and me)~

Mmmm foood....

Workin with the kid actors on the picnic scene!

Girly (my junior thesis film) got into the Guam International Film Festival.

As always, I have lots of projects underway.... the ones I've mentioned are only a few of them.... on top of all of that I am in the process of working on an animated short film with my two best friends (Miles and Abbey), I'm class president (and well, there are a LOT of projects and tasks that go along with that), I went busking for the first time a week ago and made $22 with Abbey in 45 minutes, I had my first live performance of a song this past Friday (and the crowd was probably around 200 people I'd say), I'm starting to organize a short documentary to be shot soon for Brother Wolf, etc, etc, etc.... so many things to do, such little time! BUT I LOVE IT ALL!

Abbey and I singin'

The audience! 

Buskin' time!

Well, that's the brief update of most of what's happening in my life! Feel free to ask any questions for a more detailed update.

Finally making a COMEDY! - "Eating for Beginners" Pre-production

Hi there friends. After completing "Clean" (my most recent short) I felt a newfound neediness to make a comedy. Clean is quite dark... I mean, hey, that's natural considering it is in fact a horror. So anyhow, my AC/Gaffer/actor Wayne Culpepper (one of the most funny, kind-hearted, and hard working guys I know) wanted to collaborate on another project, but this time he was gonna be one of the leads. At first I decided that Wayne, Dave (my best friend and also the lead in many of my films) and I were gonna go on a trip to Indianapolis and have a three person team and compete in their 48 Hour Film Competition- but logistically that idea kinda fell apart. But, however, this was for the better! Because of that, I sat down and made plans for a more legitimate next project, and then "Eating for Beginners" was born!

I sat down in my favorite magical book store "The Battery Park Book Exchange and Champagne-Wine Bar" (I buy coffee there, ha) and began brainstorming. What is one of my biggest passions? Food. What is one of my biggest internal struggles? Maintaining passion. Bam. I had two elements that really stuck in my gut. Four drafts later (with the feedback from my amazing film friends Airin, Miles, Nick, and Elena) I had finished a 10 page comedy short.

Synopsis: Gerard is an over emotional foodie and chef. Zep is an adrenaline junky who has just used up his lifetime supply of adrenaline. In an effort to reinstall Zep's lost sense of passion and adrenaline, Gerard presents and serves Zep five delicious culinary dishes.  Will the power of scrumptious food help save Zep from his ill-fated state of apathy?

David Dietrich (playing Gerard), Kira Bursky (me, the director!), and Wayne Culpepper (playing Zep!)

Zep alongside his young self, played by Reuben Hauser, and Gerard alongside his young self, played by Jaxson Mitchell~ The only other cast member is Lily, played by Thatcher Johnson-Welden.

My DP is Andy Crespo. Andy and I have worked on 2 shorts together, but this is the first time we will be working together as a Director and DP team! We sat down last week (at the magical Battery Park Book Exchange... of course) and made a complete shot list that I am very happy with. It was fun working together because we were both enthusiastically laughing at our own ideas... I hope that's a good sign. Ha. Actually, this past Saturday we shot a short 10 second montage sequence of Zep doing stunts for the film. I edited it together that same night and am quite happy with the results! What you should know is that Wayne was on American Ninja Warrior (the show) and is naturally an adrenaline junky it seems... so his character, Zep, is very fitting of him!

Andy Crespo, the DP, and I!

The rest of the shoot resumes this coming weekend. Today Brenna Golden, my AD, and I will be sitting down (at the Battery Park Book Exchange... naturally) and making the schedule. I actually just secured and visited our main shooting location which is called "Cloud Hidden." It is honestly spectacular and breathtaking- I visited it yesterday. It is the world's largest monolithic dome home and at one point it was featured on HGTV. I get to shoot there under the condition that at some point I make a short documentary for the local Humane Society. I love animals, so this trade off was a no brainer! I'm actually really excited to work on that documentary.

The next biggest thing I have to figure out is... where I am gonna get the food?! Hopefully today and tomorrow I will have that all figured out, but there are 5 dishes I need to "secure." Ha. Wish me luck with that. I'm also gonna be briefly shooting at a local Creperie (The Crêperie & Cafe Of Weaverville). It's adorable and has lovely food. Check it out!

Anyways, I'm gonna get back to "food scouting." Best job ever? I think yes. Stay tuned! Hopefully the whole film will be completed by the end of this month. I like to work with tight schedules... but we'll see. If you wanna see some more behind the scenes pictures you should like my facebook page "All Around Artsy." I post all updates + pics + links to trailers/films there.

Bye for now and thanks for reading!
Stay full (of good food!).