Mad Genius: Creative Fusion Visit

This past Friday, I went and visited Mad Genius: Creative Fusion, which is a Mississippi film production company located in Ridgeland, Mississippi. The company is the result of a merger between Eyevox Film and Video and Mad Genius. They specialize in branding, advertising in both print and film, animation and a bunch of other cool, artistic stuff.

Recently, they did a few television commercials for Mississippi College, which, as most of you know (again, I'm assuming if you read this blog you'd have to know me in person), is where I went to college. One commercial in particular stood out to me. This commercial is really well put together and actually features some of my friends and other people I know. It really does a good job of giving a feel for the campus. And it looks really good (I'm assuming the Red One was used to film it). If you haven't seen it before, check it out below.

The reason for my visit to Mad Genius was Wade Acuff. If you read my post on Bags and Boards, you would know that Wade is a local artist and animator who worked for Eyevox, which recently became Mad Genius. Wade and I have stayed friends since shooting on Bags and Boards started and he's stayed in my life to give me some helpful advice and criticism when it comes to my work.

He wanted me to come to Mad Genius so I could see a film that he had helped out on. So I went up there on Friday at 3 pm and we screened a rough cut version of the film. The movie was called Murderabilia. The movie dealt with a man looking for a certain item related to a horrible murder. This takes him to a murderabilia dealer and we get to explore this strange world and find out what kind of person would sell such things. A teaser trailer was shot for the film to help advertise it for the auditioning process. It helps give a feel of the film's overall atmosphere. You can watch this below.

Overall, I really liked the movie. I had a few quips here and there but, considering this was a rough cut of the film, I'm not sure if I can really make a full on judgment on it yet. I have been told that some of the things I had a problem with have already been fixed so who knows how good the final cut of it is. If you get the chance to see this movie somehow in local festivals or some other fashion, I'd suggest you give it a shot. The image of it looks beautiful and it has some very effective, hard-hitting moments. It also really explores a form of business that I never really thought about but apparently exists. The concept of murderabilia really intrigued me and, as I got dragged further into its world, I was definitely uncomfortable but interested.

After seeing the film, I got to meet the director, who was a very humble and nice guy. I got to hear about some of the frustrations of the shoot as well as how much he wished he had done differently. I cannot tell you how refreshing it was to hear this. Sometimes when you go through the frustrating process that is filmmaking, you start to think that no one else has gone through this or felt this way. So it was nice to meet someone who seemed to approach and view his work in a similar manner to myself.

Wade and I spent the rest of our time at Mad Genius talking about future projects that we are both trying to get going as well as our opinions on other local projects that are popping up. It was good to talk to him and see where he is going in filmmaking in the next year as well as to get his opinion on some of the things I want to do in the next year. I have found that there really is nothing as enjoyable as talking about filmmaking with someone who is also in the field and knows much more about it than you do. You can learn a lot as well as find a lot of similarities in the way you view / think about things with someone else.

Overall, it was a really good visit to a local business that is putting out some very professional and creative work in Mississippi.