Candy Eye Factory Blog

You never forget your first public screening and for Candy Eye, it was at IFP’s Cinema Lounge, five Januarys ago. We’ve since screened our work on British sea vessels, and for Hollywood heartthrobs, and at world-class museums, but we can’t resist returning to the arms of Cinema Lounge, year after year, for fun and unfussy film-screening trysts.

The ever-seductive C. Lounge turned 20 this year and to celebrate this momentous milestone IFP rounded up the top 40-ish films to have ever played at The Lounge and ordered the movie-going public to pick their top three picks of the past two decades.

The unstoppable Betsy Benson & The Bow Tie Boy(s) was the public’s top pick, gosh golly, and this and the other “Best Of” films were screened at the Minnesota History Center the night of October 23rd. It was just like a typical Bryant Lake Bowl Cinema Lounge screening but with slightly better views of the screen, and way less quesadillas and domestic beer.

Man-about-town Lounge-host Dan Orozco has conducted countless interviews with the Factory founders over the years, but always manages to find something untouched and unexpected to bring to our and the audience’s attention during the post-film Q+As. Someone get that man a raise or maybe a Sirius Satellite talk show.

Tasteful trophies were given out to the trio of top vote-getters, so since JoEllen was granted custody of our Sparky-dog statuette from Slamdance, William will be displaying The Factory’s elegant new IFP-tini Award in his Irving Ave. edit suite.

The trophy stands as both an intoxicating inspiration that the smallest film, the smallest idea can go on to live a large, long life and a sobering reminder as well that those especially magical ideas don’t really come from you – - if you’re lucky, once in a blue moon, those ideas just get to come through you.

Couch potatoes statewide should be pleased to know that The Factory’s 10th film, The Epicene, will be airing on TPT channel 2 this holiday season as part of the MNTV series, an annual showcase of Minnesota’s best short films!

The Epicene is Candy Eye’s fifth film to be invited into MNTV (we can’t believe it!) and it’s always a blast heading to the TPT studios in St. Paul to shoot the pre-taped interview packages that air prior to our selected films. Stringing the lapel microphones up under our shirts always makes us feel so Ashton and Demi-like.

Way back since our 2004 visit it’s been a Factory tradition to plop JoEllen on the lamp post outside the TPT studios and snap digi-pics of her MNTV-induced glee, right before or after our interviews. Here’s the proof:

Her golden mane has gone through some transformations perhaps, but Lady J hasn’t aged but a day in all these years, has she? Local, low-level fame keeps one looking youthful, they say.

So flip open your datebooks now, friends! The Epicene is set to air during program 2 of MNTV this year.

Consider it an early (or then late) stocking stuffer from the Candy Eye elves!