Dreaming Ant's 5-year anniversary is rapidly approaching. As part of our celebration on Sunday, March 23, we'd like to show as many local short films and/or videos as we can (within a 2 hour window). If you have something under 10 minutes long that you'd like to submit, we'd love to consider it for inclusion in our celebration exhibition.

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WHO: Local Filmmakers / Videographers
WHAT: Request for Short Film / Video
WHY: Dreaming Ant 5-Year Anniversary Celebration
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Sunday, March 16
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We have but one requirement: all shorts must have some connection to Pittsburgh e.g. director or actor from Pittsburgh, shot in Pittsburgh, about Pittsburgh, etc. And the more connections, the better.

Ideally, we'd like new works, films/videos that have not been shown anywhere else and are not available on any compilations or releases. However, we're aware that this might be difficult on such short notice.

In addition to showing it at our Anniversary Party, we intend to compile the submissions on DVD and make it available to rent for free at both of our stores. By submitting your short, you are giving us permission to do both.

If interested, please submit your short(s) on DVD (or MiniDV tape if necessary) no later than Sunday, March 16th. You can drop it off at either of our stores or mail it to:

Dreaming Ant DVDs
4525 Liberty Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15224
Attn: Shorts

We'd like to include the names of as many confirmed filmmakers as possible in our press release, so please email Dean ASAP if you intend to submit something.

Please join Dreaming Ant in supporting the return of Pittsburgh's Silk Screen: Asian American Film Festival. Harish Saluja's second annual event will unfold May 11-20, 2007, fortifying our city with renewed exposure to Asian and Asian American culture. Plan to be a part of this celebration featuring a rich tapestry of film, music and dance.

Saluja, a native of India, envisions a day when Silk Screen is considered one of the top Asian film festivals in our country. In the meantime, Dreaming Ant is grateful that Saluja has been afforded the opportunity to share his passion for world cinema with Pittsburgh audiences another year. A filmmaker, engineer and Pittsburgh resident since the 1970s, Saluja has compiled a collection of films for this year's Silk Screen from the expected Asian nations of India (Blue Umbrella, Vanaja, Barbed Wire & The Companion), Japan (Train Man & Linda Linda Linda), China (Summer Palace) and South Korea (Inner Circle Line), as well as movies from smaller cinema exporters such as Malaysia (Goodbye Boys & Monday Morning Glory), Iran (Gradually) and Philippines (Tuli). He's even made room for a couple Asian American directed films (Undoing & Shanghai Kiss).

Silk Screen's films will be shown at the theaters of Pittsburgh Filmmakers. A full listing of the festival's schedule can be viewed at pghfilmmakers.org.

Join Dreaming Ant in helping Saluja realize his vision by attending, volunteering and/or contributing to the 2007 Silk Screen: Asian American Film Festival! See ya there...

dB

Look for Dreaming Ant's new print ad in The Pitt News - our first real advertising ever! The ad, designed by our very own style-king Bill Bittner, features our regular muse/mascot (Big Vic) flanked by two beautiful young companions (Chantelle & Anna) and his personal bodyguard/son (Chris J).

The photo shoot spawning this ad, in addition to our most recent flier & the 20"x30" photo on display at our Oakland store, was only possible thanks to a massive team effort. Born from the minds of the inimitable Jae Ruberto and yours truly, this fantastical dreamscape culminated only after numerous brainstorming sessions, endless hours of planning and the gracious participation of 18 humans, 1 dog-boy and 1 Pit bull. The shoot itself took place on a rather brisk evening (12/20/06) in Bloomfield's Darsie Street parking lot.

Domo arigato, Mr. Ruberto. As many of you already know, Jae is one of my favorite collaborators and Dreaming Ant's de facto photo-biographer. Distinct characters, sublime illumination and provocative imagery color his work, and not so coincidentally, mirror Dreaming Ant's spirit. Combined with Bittner's graphic design, Jae's photographs have come to define Dreaming Ant's visual identity. His Victor Mohawk photograph was the inspiration behind Dreaming Ant's Employee-of-the-Month photo series - a collection of portraits I commissioned from him for permanent display at Dreaming Ant Bloomfield. His work is regularly featured in Dreaming Ant's promotional materials & merchandise (including our Bums are People Too t-shirt) and is occasionally published alongside articles about Dreaming Ant in local magazines such as Pittsburgh Magazine & Metropolitan. I guess what I'm getting at is that we're eternally grateful to Jae for his prolific generosity & mind bending artistry. Please do yourselves a favor, and check out more of Jae's work on his flickr.com page....and BUY his art if you like it!

The Models (all of whom either work for or patronize D'Ant): David Conrad (Ghost Whisperer's hubbie), Candice Pulkowski (Crazy Mocha Bloomfield barista & makeup/hair/costume), Lindsey Hawkins (CM Shadyside barista), Che Elias (author/publisher), Will Simmons (D'Ant web stud), Merissa Lombardo (assistant art director on upcoming film Smart People), Andrew McKeon aka "Fan Favorite" (Ant Staff & writer-extraordinaire), Ashley Brickman (Ant Staff & legendary video artiste), Chris Johns (BFF), Chantelle Simpson (one of Studio Ant's Beautiful People), Victor E. Navarro, Jr. (D'Great White Ant...the real King of All Media & host of Dreaming Ant afterhours), Anna Ngo (one of Studio Ant's Beautiful People), Ben Rod aka "Oral B" aka "B. Roid" (Ant Staff & resident superhero-cum-artist), Jennifer Bechak (Ant Staff, sculptor & art professor), dB (Antman), Hilary Buttenfield (CM Bloomfield barista & all-around badass), Wynne Lanros (CM Bloomfield barista & coffee shop philosopher), Pat McFalls aka "Slop" (anarcho attorney-cum-financial adviser), Nathan Kukulski (occasional Ant Staff & future designer of the Isolation Chamber 2021), Tom Savini ("The Godfather of Gore" & Deputy Tolo in upcoming Tarantino/Rodriguez joint Grindhouse)...and Eric Buttenfield's pup, Cassius. Thanks, all!!

The ad will run on the following dates, so check it out.
Friday, March 30th
Thursday, April 5th
Friday, April 6th
Thursday, April 12th

Editor's Note: This announcement comes shortly after Dreaming Ant's 4-Year Anniversary, which quietly passed on March 24th! Thanks to all of our staff and members for allowing us to continue providing cool movies to the Pittsburgh area! And I promise, next year, I will not let our anniversary sneak past us again...we will definitely do something special for our 5-Year Anniversary!

March 2007. Bill O'Driscoll offers an overview of Pittsburgh's independent video stores in his recent Pittsburgh City Paper article: Video Futures.

ATTENTION: Dreaming Ant's Not-So-Grand Opening has been postponed!!

Everyone tried their best, but there just wasn't enough time in each day to accomplish everything...despite me pulling two double all-nighters this past week.

Plus, it just didn't seem like the stars were aligned: Jae - the mastermind behind the Big Vic  photo shoot - is locked up in Novum so our unveiling of his photo wouldn't be as rewarding. Eric - half of our database-web design team - is vacationing in the tropical paradise of Beloit, Wisconsin this week. And Ashley - one of our newest Ants - will be in New York which would force her to miss her 1st day of work!

But if you must know the real reason we ain't openin'...it's 'cause we gots no inventory over der! We could serve up some of Amy's tasty cookies & hot chocolate, Ben's famous Sugar Fantasy, Candice's chocolate-covered Ants, or Vic's infamous Curmudgeon Tea...but we felt that, as tempting as these might be, yinz would probably want at least a few movies to browse, eh?

Okay. So, excuses out of the way. We DO plan to open this week, but unfortunately I can not offer, or I prefer not to commit to, a specific day. Let's just say it will be a bit of a game of touch 'n go...

Thanks for bearing with us! See ya in Oakland...soon!!
dB

There's a new Ant in town, folks. And her name is Colleen Jankovic.

Colleen recently joined us from Bloomington, Indiana to attend the University of Pittsburgh as a Predoctoral Fellow in the School of Arts & Sciences. I believe she's officially in the Cultural Studies program, but I'm bettin' that Pitt's renowned Film Studies program had a role in attracting her.

Colleen has the unusual distinction of being the first Dreaming Ant employee to be headhunted from afar. We have John Trenz, a loyal Dreaming Ant member and former Crazy Mocha Coffee employee, to thank for this fortunate matchmaking. John, a Pitt Film Studies doctoral student, boasted of Colleen after playing host to her during her exploratory visit to the university. His enthusiasm was so infectious that I decided to do a little Google-search on Miss J. Lo and behold! This young woman had amassed an impressive track record in her short life, and was clearly a film enthusiast.

In addition to earning her undergraduate degree in Communications & Culture from Indiana University Bloomington, Colleen managed The Cinemat  - Bloomington's independent video-rental store with "a movie complex" (a 49-seat screening room, that is). She also co-founded Cinephile, a non-profit organization whose mission is to demystify filmmaking and thus make it more accessible. Three valuable resources that Colleen helped establish while with the organization are the Cinephile Filmmakers' Forum (connecting filmmakers with one another), the Film Grant Project (awarding grants to help finance local films) and the Cinephile Festival of Independent Film and Video (providing a venue to give local filmmakers exposure within the community). Working toward a self-sustaining existence, the group also created the weekly Atomic Age Cinema event held at The Cinemat where they feature vintage and obscure horror and sci-fi films.

Impressed yet? I was.

So much so, that even though I had never met Colleen, and despite the fact that we didn't have any jobs available at the time, I offered her a future position.

Colleen is going to be your new Saturday afternoon (12:00-6:00PM) Guide at Dreaming Ant, so please welcome her and demonstrate just how wrong Sienna Miller was about our beautiful city! Very knowledgeable about film, I'm guessing Colleen would fancy a good discussion about world cinema's representation of Israeli-Palestinian relations, how culture-jamming and experimental cinema might be used to criticize the likes of Netflix and Blockbuster, or simply to chat about her favorite recent movies. I know she's also eager to immerse herself in Pittsburgh's talented pool of film, video and media aficionados as soon as she's settled at school, so do yourself a favor and introduce yourself.

Welcome, Colleen!

dB

It's a very exciting time for Dreaming Ant. In addition to the very real prospect of physical expansion, our website (dreamingant.com) has been developing at a remarkable pace lately. This, of course, is thanks to two of Dreaming Ant's most valuable human friends, the dynamic duo of computer programming: Will Simmons (a 'Perl' amongst bits) and the original 'Wizard' himself Eric Kaun (aka 'Erk') who is back in d'game after a bit of a hiatus.

Erk's first coup (happy Charlotte? ;-)) upon returning to the underground of Bloomfield's most visible ant farm was his effortless implementation of Dreaming Ant's new staff blog (powered by WordPress) -  Virtual Pheromone. This ant communique is already home to a couple insightful examinations of French director Jacques Tati and his film oeuvre by Dreaming Ant's incomparable wordsmith Andrew. I suspect the best is yet to come, so I'd definitely recommend everyone check it out. And please, if you have a few minutes, it would be totally tubular if you were to offer Andrew your feedback...even the effervescent ant needs love too, ya know?

Most of you, at this point, are probably familiar with Dreaming Ant's MyAccount member area that Will developed, enabling you to access your Rental History and to maintain a WishList of movies that you want to check out. And I'll bet at least a few of you have monitored the semi real-time Top Rentals Lists that he created. If you haven't, you can now see what was 'popular' at D'Ant...the past coupla weeks, annually or since we opened! We plan to add even more functionality in the future - such as member-contributed movie reviews & ratings, staff recommendations, improved community film/video related news & links, and more extensive browsing options - features that we hope will compliment the living community we've nurtured at the store. But first, we need to focus on backend improvements to enable dreamingant.com to accommodate a second store, among other things. After a recent Vulcan mind-meld with Will 'n Erk, development is underway. We'll keep you posted as it progresses...

As always, thanks for supporting Dreaming Ant, and for visiting dreamingant.com!

dB

Prepoduction of writer/director Rawson Marshall Thurber's (Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story) adaptation of Michael Chabon's first novel The Mysteries of Pittsburgh is apparently underway. And it appears that shooting will begin sometime this month in Pittsburgh. "Michael Chabon's debut novel is set in Pittsburgh in the mid-1980s and chronicles the joy, sexual awakening, and heartache of growing up for the story's central character, Art Bechstein." (Rebecca Murray) Another Chabon novel - Wonder Boys - was also made into a film and shot in Pittsburgh.

Peter Sarsgaard has been cast as Cleveland and Sienna Miller will be playing the role of Jane. "As for Max Minghella (originally cast as Art Bechstein), unfortunately we've lost him. His school schedule at Columbia has caused him to have to drop out of the film." (Rawson Marshall Thurber)

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Donna Belajac Casting is accepting submissions for speaking parts. Experienced actors not represented by agents may send their picture and resume to:
Donna Belajac Casting
109 Market Street, 2nd Floor
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
NO PHONE CALLS, PLEASE.
We are especially interested in submissions for the character "Lurch" a 7-foot-tall African American thug. No lines, so while acting experience is not necessary, it would be a plus. The character beats up one of the lead characters. Will be hired under a SAG contract as a day player.

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I'm going to do my best to set up some interviews for the Dreaming Ant podcast with cast and crew members, so keep your fingers crossed...or even better, help us make it happen! I'll keep you posted with any new developments. dB

Dean: You can learn a lot from ants. These Brazilian fire ants can teach you a lot about successful societal structure. You see? There's one queen in there. The rest are dedicated worker ants. Everybody pulls their weight; nobody complains; there's harmony and growth. Same here at [Dreaming Ant]...only you are the worker ants...the backbone.

Russ: And...you're the queen?

from D3: The Mighty Ducks

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A lot of deliberation goes into the hiring at Dreaming Ant, and I'm proud as a queen of our small, zealous, at times dysfunctional, family. We've reached another crossroads, requiring me to devote more attention to addressing our declining industry and limited space. As such, I decided it was time to finally add another worker ant. His name is Rod. Ben Rod.

Many of you already know Ben, but for those who don't, it's time for yinz to take off your helmets (not motorcycle helmets, Ben! the other Ben, that is), loosen your grip on the ole handlebars, and have faith as Ben's cool breeze guides you (like a Jedi knight) through the expansive virtual terrain of Bloomfield's best, albeit only, DVD store. Oi. Like you've never been a cheese ball before!

How does Rod measure up? Dreaming Ant member since October 2003 and a live, in-store blogger...before blogging went digital. Along with roommate Drew Pavelchak, he built Dreaming Ant's impressive black counter in December 2004, demonstrating his acute attention to detail and sincere commitment to quality. Graduated from CMU with some kinda art degree thingy. He has an insatiable appetite for all things edible and an exotic passion for Asian cinema, especially films with an austere and/or lyrical tone. Andrew and I are both excited to welcome Ben to the fold, as we hope yinz are too.

Ben will be your Sunday afternoon host at Dreaming Ant...this of course, freeing up Andrew to watch the Steelers in the Fall and The Sopranos in the Winter. After a week of training, Rod will fly his first solo shift at Dreaming Ant on Sunday, August 27th from noon to 6:00PM. Please take it easy on the lad during his early days, while learning his way around our Byzantine antfarm. Email Ben

Our number one ant, Andrew (aka tender ant), another CMU grad as well as a freelance writer, recently returned from a cross-country pilgrimage to his hometown Dallas, TX in his a/c-free car. Upon returning from his next excursion - to Maine to visit his parents - later this month, Andrew will be launching a Dreaming Ant blog - an intercourse, or forum mind you, where he'll be able to utilize his prodigious writing talents to express his thoughts relating to film and video. In the meantime, check out his transcendent music reviews in the Pittsburgh CIty Paper. Email Andrew

Some of you may not know her, but the intensely focused and always studious young lady surrounded by stacks of DVDs cluttering the back table is our very own Zen ant of DVD cleansing - the great Jenn! Among other things, Jenn is also a sculptor. Looking for an art professor? Email Jenn

If you were wondering whatever happened to Jess, a longtime Dreaming Ant friend and occasional substitute ant, she's been in San Fran the past three months interning for Apple Computer. When she returns next week, she'll be finishing up her final semester at...you guessed it...CMU, so we might still have a few months left to spend with her. Email Jess

As mentioned earlier, I've been struggling with how to expand in the midst of numerous local closings and increasingly limited space. Please email any suggestions/advice you might have to me at dean@dreamingant.com. One thought, especially considering the recent local Blockbuster closings, is to work more closely with the universities to make Dreaming Ant's eclectic collection readily available to students and professors. Again, your feedback is welcome...

As always, thanks for your continued support of Dreaming Ant!

dB

05.17.06 Ever come across a cool movie while browsing our site (www.dreamingant.com)...and then forget its bloody name the second you walk in the store? Oi!

Whale. No mo. Thanks to the incredible work of Will Simmons, this week www.dreamingant.com launched its Member Login Area where Dreaming Ant members can now keep track of their movie Wish Lists.

Login. Click an ADD button (to add a movie to your Wish List). And wallah...next time you visit the store, ask us to pull up your Wish List. No more racking your brains trying to remember that movie you wanted to see!

MEMBER AREA ACCOUNT SETUP & LOGIN
We're still tweeking the login process, so please forgive us for any confusion. Follow the instructions below for the time being and feel free to email me with any suggestions.

1. Click on this Create New Account link

2. Fill out small form & Click "Submit"
In order to register, you must be a Dreaming Ant member with a current email address listed on your account. The email address entered on the form above must match the one we have on file.

3. You're now ready to start using your Wish List. Click the Login link again.

4. Enter your email address and password. Once you're logged in, you can...

  Add a movie to your Wish List by clicking on the ADD button at the bottom of its page.

  Remove a movie from your Wish List by clicking on the REMOVE button next to it.


5. You will automatically be logged out when you close your browser


If you have any questions or feedback, please email me at dean@dreamingant.com

Pittsburgh Creative Commons Film Festival
Volume 1: Public Domain, Private Dominion

14 filmmakers in Pittsburgh. 2 public domain films. 14 days to make new film from this footage. You choose the winners.

Sunday, June 11, 2006 @ 8PM
Melwood Screening Room, Oakland
$4 / $3 students

Visit www.ambulantic.libsyn.com for a selection of the films to be shown.

Friday, March 24, 2006

Thanks to our fantastic members - all of you who've proven loyal to our li'l independent DVD store despite the numerous choices out there today - we managed to remain another year, and possibly even showed a profit in 2005! Woohoo!

Thank You!!
dB

March 2006. Mike Shanley wrote a most gracious piece on Dreaming Ant in The Pittsburgh Metropolitan entitled DVDs | A Little Off-Center

February 2006. Bridget Colvin wrote a glowing (& generous) story on Dreaming Ant in New People: Business as Usual: Inspiring Political Thought, Fostering Community