Hugh Salivary

Ratsnitch at the Florida Film Festival

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 08:10:04 GMT

To my dear friends in Orlando:

The Ratsnitch Angel will be screening at the Florida Film Festival...in the midnight shorts section...which i hear is going to be awesome. Screenings March 24th and March 31st. Get your glasses when you buy your ticket.

Sorry i haven't posted in a few months. I've been in the bathroom or something.

Ratsnitch at AFI Fest. Monday 6th

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 02:19:44 GMT

Yah. Dat crazy film I made vill be playing at zee arclight at 7pm. You come. Maybe you like.

Ticket Info

PISS Fest!

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 02:38:48 GMT

Yep you read it right. That's the Portland International Short Short Film Fest. The Kids Of Widney High video's in it this year. I've always wanted to visit Portland but I don't think I can make it this time. Any of you want to go as the OFFICIAL REPRESENTATIVE of the video? You will have to shave your head and pretend you're me for the Q & A.

Widney High Music Video - Pretty Girls
Thursday, October 19TH
7pm: Film Program #1 – The Hollywood Theatre

Wrapping Up The Valley Film Fest

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 06:28:40 GMT

I just got back from the Valley Film Fest award ceremony. One of the fun parts of being one of the judges is that you get to do the whole open the envelope and announce the awards thing. It's just like the Oscars, except I don't get to wear a low-cut sequin gown.

But the best part is I got to see a bunch of good films (and even more bad ones). Two shorts to look out for: Fancy produced by Tanya Bershadsky and Eating Alone by Ron Moon.

So I've been working on some temp art for Ratsnitch Angel. Here it is. You likey? Any of you badass graphic designers care to give any input?

Ratsnitch Angel at the Egyptian!

Sun, 17 Sep 2006 05:23:01 GMT

hey kids,

so here's the skinny. as you may have heard, The Ratsnitch Angel, that creepy little film of mine, is screening at the Hollywood Egyptian next week. if you come, i'll be you're best friend forever and let you cut me in line at the cafeteria and everything. okay well maybe i won't, but if you keep reading i'll tell you how to save a few bucks the night of the event.

first, i have to say having my film screened at American Cinematech's Egyptian is like a dream come true. if you've never been there, you're in for a real treat. it's a historical landmark (DeMille's Ten Commandments and Robin Hood premiered there) and truly one of the most beautiful theaters i've been in. over 600 seats...huge screen...you really should go at least once in your life.

The Ratsnitch Angel

All the event info is below, but here's two ways to save some dinero:
1. PARKING: Parking in that area sucks unless you know where to go. there is parking in lots on McCadden and Las Palmas north and south of Hollywood Boulevard for $5-10. On Cherokee, (1 block east of the theatre and 1 block North of Hollywood Boulevard) there is a Municipal lot that is $1 for TWO HOURS and $1 for each additional hour. The Egyptian validates parking, but it's at the Hollywood & Highland complex. $2 for up to 4 hours.

2. CHEAPER TICKETS:
Okay so nine bucks really isn't that much, but if 12 or more of you want to do it, i can get you tickets for $6. send me an email if you're interested, let me know and i'll try to make this happen.

*****Event Info
Thursday, September 21 - 8:00 PM ALTERNATIVE SCREEN: LOS ANGELES' TRUE LOCAL HEROES

So you've managed to survive your share of the glut of generic Hollywood summer movies. And now that all those pirates, all those damsels in distress, and that man who can fly faster than a speeding bullet begin to fade into background of your shrinking skull, it is time to open up your mind again to the true potential of cinema! This collection of thematically ambitious and visually innovative short films from L.A.'s finest proves one thing: The true saviors to our entertainment dilemmas might very well come in the form of intelligent, original, local heroes who really know how to deliver the goods in a short package.

Michael Medaglia's
THE RATSNITCH ANGEL (2006, 2 min.)
What's a boy to do when he has a little "angel" in his pocket? Starring John Joseph Carrasco.
West Coast Premiere!

Lisa Prisco's
(5) STAGES (2006, 7 min.)
288 Cuts. 29 People. One Universal Theme.
World Premiere!

Gabriela Tollman's
YOU TURNED BACK AND HELD MY HAND (2006, 6 min.)
Can intimacy survive reality?
L.A. Premiere!

Delaney Bishop's
THE DEATH OF SALVADOR DALI (2005, 18 min.)
The master surrealist makes a rare guest appearance in the office and headspace of Sigmund Freud.

Cedar Sherbert's
GESTURE DOWN (I DON'T SING) (2006, 8 min.)
The journey back. Learning to sing again.

Tyler Hubby & Kelly Maxx's
DOMESTIC DISTURBANCE (2005, 4 min.)
An abstract, modern gothic of shattered serenity.

William Kruse's
H-E-N-R-Y (2006, 18 min.)
The identities of two inmates collide on a prison basketball court.
Special Sneak Preview!

Nicole Barnette's
FOURTEEN (2006, 7 min.)
A momentous day of gifts and attention has significant consequences for a 14-year-old girl's future.

Justin Rhodes'
NOCTURNE (2005, 23 min.)
Moments of life in the semi-consciousness.
West Coast Premiere!

Discussion following with all of the presenting filmmakers.
Curated by Thomas Ethan Harris.

After party location TBA

TICKETS:
You must purchase a ticket to attend this event. Tickets are $9

Tickets are available online at
http://www.fandango.com/MoviePage.aspx?date=9/21/2006&mid=99338

or

http://americancinematheque.com
You may also purchase a ticket at the American Cinematheque box office before the show. The box office will open at 6pm.

******End Event Info

Okay, hope you're all doing great and i'd love to see you there. there will be a Q&A afterwards, so it's the perfect time to ask me things you've always wondered about me, like if i was breastfed.

Sour cream first, THEN tacos

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 09:42:36 GMT

Thanks to Michel Ghondry and the marketing campaign for his new film, I can satisfy my dream-voyeur cravings with thescienceofsleep.imeem.com. People post their dreams and other people rate them. It's like the am-i-hot-or-not of surreality. Neat, huh?

My favorite so far:
"The dream started off with me and my friend Sara in a room at a party making out. All of a sudden, vampires burse through the door to attack us, but Blade popped out of the closet and defeated them. BUT, it wasn't the real Blade, but a white guy wearing brown face and body paint. I said "You're not Blade" and in a very Mr. T like voice said "Nigger, I'm Blade, we gots to go to New York." At that point everything turned into like it was being drawn by an eight year old with a crayon, except for the people. Next thing I knew, I was in a buffet line. Howard Stern was to the right of me talking about porn stars, and to the left of me was a stick figure that was really excited because there were tacos, and he was going to put sour cream on them. But in the buffet line, the order went sour cream THEN tacos, so he had to put sour cream on his plate, then tacos, then transfer the sour cream. This made him sad and he sang a song about having cold tacos"

And by the way, if you plan to dream-watch on your own, the best time to catch someone is right after they wake up. Shake them violently and say "What did you dream? What did you dream?" That way the sticky residue of their subconscious will still be fresh and they will remember all the little details.

Where the hell have I been?

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 06:38:41 GMT

here

here

and here.

They were all taken in NYC. I haven't seen a bunch of you in a while and been missin' yas quite a bit. I guess I've just been spending too many long nights working in the laboratory. So what else is new? My sister just got married, hence the quick trip back home. Didn't spend much time in the city but got to hang out with the very awesome World Famous Bob at the Misss LEZ Pageant.

What else? well if you watch the World Of Wonder podcasts, you'll see me at the Frontier's party, drunkenly yammering about some past sexual encounter that turned real bloody, and if you watch MusicPlusTV.com, you caught me being interviewed on The Irregular Show. I had a blast, thanks to Shok and Legion.

That's it for now. Kiss-kiss.

Why have I never seen this movie?

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 05:51:36 GMT

Wacky 80's hair styles + stripper-vampires + Grace Jones = AWESOME. Oh yeah, and LONG DUCK DONG plays the supporting role.

Grace wears a different outfit in every scene, each one just gets crazier and crazier, and a stripper just got killed with her stiletto shoe.

Thu, 20 Apr 2006 10:48:21 GMT

my new roommate

Playmates at the Echo Park Film Center

Thu, 13 Apr 2006 08:26:34 GMT

Playmates...

...A 'heartwarming' story about a girl, her doll and the man in the park stalking them.

Screened at Apocalipstick, the Sleaze-Z film fest, and in art galleries along side the work of Clive Barker.

The fine folks at Filmmakers Alliance asked me to screen one of my films at their event. Of course, I decided to show Playmates, one of my filthiest works ever, not because of it's extreme sordidness but because I shot it years ago on super-8 film, which is perfect given the location of the event. If you're a local filmmaker and you don't know about FA or the Echo Park Film Center, this is the perfect opportunity for you to find out about both groups and watch some short films at the same time.

FA and EPFC are both incredible resources for indie filmmakers based in Los Angeles. FA is a huge group of active filmmakers working both in and outside the industry. Jacques, one of the founders, just got a short in Sundance. EPFC, on the other hand, is like the YMCA of filmmaking; they offer cheap equipment rental and services to filmmakers who need it. If you have any desire to shoot super-8, grab a napkin before checking out their website because you will drool my friend, you will drool. They also teach filmmaking to neighborhood kids, which is why all of the proceeds from this event are going right back to EPFC.

I can't say Playmates is my most technically brilliant film, but hey, it's a 5-minute crowd-pleaser. I'll be doing a Q & A afterwards, so come by and ask me embarrassing questions. I'm thinking of telling the story of how I dressed up as a woman so I could enroll at Curves gym.

Hosted by : Filmmakers Alliance and Echo Park Film Center

Location:
The Echo Park Film Center
1200 N Alvarado Street
Los Angeles, CA

When:
Monday, April 17, 7:30pm

Come and see what your local filmmakers are up to creatively, and support the great work that the EPFC people are doing in our community. There is a brief Q&A after each film, not to mention complimentary food & drinks.

Note: I think they ask for a donation-at-the-door type of thing. or maybe like 5 bucks or something. It's unfortunately not in any of the info they gave me.

The film line up:

"Space Oddity" - dir by Robert Beaucage

"First Day" - dir by Jacob Shelton

"Playmates" - dir by Michael Medaglia

"Punk Wall" - dir by Karen Glienke

"Dirty Mary" - dir by Stuart Rogers & written by Daniele Ferraro

SXSW 2006

Mon, 20 Mar 2006 07:49:34 GMT

Austin is one cool city. Everything stops once a year for one of the biggest film/music festivals in the country, and unlike other communities who would harbor resentment towards the sudden invasion of their daily lives by hordes of filmmaking yahoos and every unsigned band under the sun, the Austinites were genuinely happy to have us and really excited about the festival.
My hotel wasn't walking distance from ground zero. It was located on the freeway--no really, the address of the hotel was actually 1001 I-35. Real classy, right?

Spectacular view of the I-35 included with your hotel accomodation.

It's handy to take a cab-ride to the festival, because then you get the scoop on various films at the fest. My cabby told me one of her fares panned a certain feature film about a controversial racial event in US history, so I immediately rescheduled to see the Bettie Page film instead.

Got to hang out with kumimonster's Ausinite clothing-designer pal benson3, who showed me some of the nooks and crannies of the town.

El Benson

If you ever go there you MUST go see the flying of the bats. Every day at dusk hundreds and hundreds of them leave their perches underneath a bridge, flying out over the river 'like black ribbons across the sky'.

You'll have to look closely to see these little fukcers. They're the tiny specs in the photo.

The screening was on Tuesday at the Dobie theater. It's on the sprawling, U Texas Campus. In shooting range from the infamous clock tower.

Yeah you remember, where that ex-marine hid out and shot all those people.

I was great to see a mix of film fans and UT students show up at the screening. Even dont_kill_me_no and his friend made a day trip of it. Check out his entry of it here.

Some film critics I met on the bus. I figured if I gave them schwag they'd give me a good write up in their column.

Unfortunately I had to get back home just before the real fun started--the music festival. Now I can't wait to make another film and hopefully get back there next year.

A warning to the residents of Austin, Philadelphia and Montreal

Mon, 27 Feb 2006 08:42:53 GMT

Residents of Austin, Philadelphia and Montreal, please be warned. If you don't evacuate your city in the next few weeks, you may run the risk of seeing one of my films. I urge you to take whatever precautions necessary: buy plenty of water, non-perishable foods and eyelid tape in case of an emergency (it is a little known fact that eyelid tape can be also used to tape your eyelids shut). Dates and times of the events posted below.

SXSW
If you haven't heard of it, it's a really fun film, music and interactive festival in Austin, Texas and it's going to be the official U.S. Premiere of my short, The Ratsnitch Angel. Right now, all two of you who actually read these news postings are probably thinking: "Damn you, Medaglia! The film has screened before so how on earth can this be the premiere?" Well, I'm glad you asked: it's screened at minor events but never at a festival so they don't count. It's kind of like how you can engage in oral-sex with 200 people but still say you are a virgin. Anyway, I'll be flying out to the festival so if you're going, give me a holler.

SXSW Film Fest 2006
Austin TX
March 14th & March 18th - Check here for details.

* * *

Backseat Film Fest
Just read the quote below from the festival-producers and you'll appreciate it. These are people who truly understand what film festivals are all about. I wish I could go, particularly because of all the free beer from PBR. They're screening two of my music videos (Kids Of Widney High and Budhi Brown) along with music vids from The Hives, Guitar Wolf, The Horrorpops, The Phenomenauts and more.

Backseat Film Fest
1220 N. Lawrence Street, Btwn 4th and 5th St, Philadelphia, PA 19122
Feb. 28th - March 5th 2006
Triangle Theater

"The BFF selection process is very thorough to ensure the quality of the selections. First the programmers watch the film sober, then again when they are slightly buzzed, then again when totally smashed. The films that don't make the cut are then put into a rejected submissions pile, which is then ritualistically and violently destroyed before a live audience at the BFF Opening Ceremonies. Past rejections have been axed, burned, hammered, micro waved and even shot..."

* * *

Cinema-Abattoir / Slaughterhouse Cinema
March 2nd 2006
Zeke's Gallery
3955 Saint Laurent Montréal, Québec

These guys contacted me a while back. I like what they're doing, I think. It's hard to tell because I don't understand French. I have to translate all of our correspondence with babelfish. So they might be showing my short, Sick Men, in an artistic venue, or they might be throwing my dvd in the center of the gallery and pissing on it while smoking cigarettes and eating exotic cheeses.

A press release translated direct into Frengrish via Altavista's babelfish:
"Hello, For all those disappointed by the Appointments of the Québécois Cinema...Slaughterhouse Cinema. Here an amount of cinema defying all forms of classification, only subversive short film and iconoclast: Erotic, vitriolize, bloody, experimental..."

Sat, 11 Feb 2006 03:16:28 GMT

No, it's not a microscopic photo of my crab lice. It's Kris Mironiuk's stuffed-animal art from the 1988 Gallery show on Tuesday.

Note the Klaus Nomi doll on the bottom. It got sold about 15 minutes after the gallery opened, at the height of the plushie free-for-all that initially took place. Kris, as you may have suspected, is married to the illustrator who needs no introduction, edmironiuk, who you can see sinisterly crouching behind her in the picture below.

Ed and Kris have been married forever.

...he told me, but I forget. Sorry folks. Here are the more pictures of the disgustingly adorable Ed and Kris.

Kris' website: Cuddly Rigormortis

SXSW

Mon, 30 Jan 2006 23:37:44 GMT

I just got a call from the folks at south by southwest. They're going to screen The Ratsnitch Angel as one of their experimental shorts. Kickass. I hear it's a great festival and always wanted to go to Austin. I'm gonna have to buy me some spurs.

hmmm...

Sat, 28 Jan 2006 01:59:45 GMT

anyone going to the blixa bargeld/centimeters show at the echo tonight?

Sat, 28 Jan 2006 01:49:24 GMT

Last Night:
The show went really really well. Wes Walker's disembodied head scene was fucking amazing. He's one to watch folks. I wish he wrote for film. The Ratsnitch screening was great too. More people showed up than I expected and the entire first floor of the bar was packed with a a hip, horn-rimmed glasses-wearing artsy/theater crowd (hey, eyeballs are eyeballs). Thanks to all who came including sallystardust and lovecraftlackey, who showed up looking cute as can be, and later kevinkelly who spent the entire time hiding in one of the dark corners of the bar. The surprise guest of the evening was discovered when the bouncer grabbed me forcibly by the arm. It turned out to be the one and only Tommy Nguyen! Tommy is my old muay thai instructor (who is also a olympic kick-boxer, wedding-singer, professional bodyguard and exotic-dancer, but that's a story for another post). His accent is so thick you'd swear he was making up his own language. We caught up, I think.

Earlier This Week:
I drove up to Park City with lenoraclaire and Mark from Bizarre UK to catch a few days of the massive cavalcade of hype known as THE SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL. I'm sure you've already read a bunch about it but here's my quick recap: Michel Gondry's newest work, The Science Of Sleep, was great (it would have been fantastic but the ending was just so-so). I heard it got bought 30 minutes into it's premiere screening. The story's totally original and, for the first feature he's written, it's an amazing job. The rest of my stay there involved getting no sleep in between unavoidable shmoozing and hobnobbery. At one point Mark and I were pooped out on a couch when a bunch of photographers started taking a zillion pictures of the guy next to us who was wearing retarded boots kinda like the ones Napoleon Dynamite wore. Mark pointed that was because it actually was the guy from Napoleon Dynamite (Jon Heder). I of course got zero pictures because I left my camera in L.A. like an idiot. We tried to get into the Terry Zwigoff film but no amount of fast-talking magic would work on the SLC theater employees. One of them however did ask us for all three of our autographs. Actually, I think they just wanted Lenora's autograph, but they didn't want to hurt my feelings. Very strange folks, those mormons.

Idiot Joy Showland

Tue, 24 Jan 2006 08:57:58 GMT

Okay I was told not to tell anyone about this because it's supposed to be a 'test run' and the seating is limited, but I figure what the fuck; there's probably all of two people reading this anyway...

Some playwrights are putting on a show at the Mountain bar in Chinatown Thursday night. They write totally original (and usually totally bizarre) material. Whenever I go to their shows, I really never know what to expect--after all, these are the same people who perform plays in swimming pools and chevy malibus. They asked me to screen The Ratsnitch Angel to kickoff the show. So here's your chance to see it before it hits the festivals.

Oh yeah, and since it's a test run, I'm pretty sure it's free. The movie screens at about 8:15pm (so figure 8:30). It's two goddamn minutes long and you need special glasses to see it, which will be provided. So this Thursday, instead of sitting at home and stalking people on myspace like you usually do, come have a drink and I'll give you pennies to toss into the giant good-luck fountain outside that looks like it's made out of melted playdough.

PHARMACY PRESENTS

IDIOT JOY SHOWLAND

SHORT PLAYS by
Wes Walker
Sharon Yablon
Kevin O’Sullivan
Jacqueline Wright

SHORT VIDEO by: Michael Medaglia

AT THE MOUNTAIN
THURSDAY JANUARY 26, 8:00
473 Gin Ling Way
Los Angeles, CA 90012

clown fu

Sun, 15 Jan 2006 02:13:31 GMT

i love
this commercial

Overuse of the 3-second exposure

Tue, 10 Jan 2006 09:46:49 GMT

Ben and convertible-driving are synonymous terms. Hollywood Blvd.

Kevin in his natural element. Akbar.

Moon Through Trees. Beachwood Cyn.

More Moon, More Trees. Beachwood Cyn.

Low Budget Dreams or; Pardon me old chap, but could I use your gun for my corporate presentation?

Mon, 09 Jan 2006 04:19:14 GMT

Had a dream that I was stuck in a really low budget BBC sci-fi television show. I was some Dr. Who-like character and we were being chased down the street by a bunch of wild-eyed guys in robes that looked kinda like this:

Then my attractive female costar handed me a really silly looking raygun:

A big shootout erupted among the parked cars--except it wasn't like a regular shoot-out. Oh no, not in my dream: in this alternate british low-budget reality, the guns weren't like your typical American-style lasers, which generally shoot a cgi 'blast' of light causing some spaceship to explode. btw, in space there's no air so how would anything combust? and how would you hear it if it did? But this was BBC and, just like with PAL vs. NTSC, they simply had a different way of doing things. These lasers we were 'beam-weapons' and worked more like laser-pointers than their American counterparts; I had to focus the beam on the weirdos with the bad teeth for several seconds before it would eventually burn a hole into them. After a while whole thing got very tedious and I kept thinking to myself why couldn't I just have a normal laser like the Americans had? Finally I realized some sneaky bastard I hadn't noticed before was burning a hole into my neck and I woke up realizing my pillow case had come halfway off and the zipper from my pillow was gouging itself into my neck.

Your Favorite Movie Titles

Mon, 02 Jan 2006 20:03:07 GMT

I've always had a mild obsession with the names of things. Bands, books and movies especially. Hell, there's been times I've decided to rent a movie solely based on its title. Here's a partial list of my favorite movie titles ever. What are yours?

Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead
Children Of A Lesser God
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
A Life Less Ordinary
Them
Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill!
Kiss Me Deadly
To Have And Have Not
Nice Girls Don't Explode
Eyes Wide Shut
Wages of fear
12 Angry Men
The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeois
Four Flies On Gray Velvet
Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia
Desperate Teenage Lovedolls

"I know how to count up to...potato."

Mon, 26 Dec 2005 21:56:30 GMT

Haha. I just got back from seeing The Ringer. Funny shit. It's hard not to laugh when you see Johnny Knoxville getting bullied/beat-up by the 'special' athletes, or as his Uncle Gary calls them: 'the feebs'. Kudos to the filmmakers for portraying the mentally challenged in a way both outrageously funny yet totally dignified. Everyone left the theater with a smile on their face. And who are the athletes' favorite band? Why it's Kids Of Widney High of course. In one scene they play Pretty Girls at the special olympic equivalent of the prom. Man, I wish they were my prom band. Go kids!

THE RINGER

Fri, 23 Dec 2005 07:46:47 GMT

Fwaah. I'm in nyc. The strikes are over and everyone's breathed a sigh of relief (which, by the way, is amazing because new york is fucking cold and you can see everyone's breath, so when everyone here breathes a sigh of relief, it's really a spectacle to behold). Like a loser, I slept all day and didn't venture out into the city. I'm sad I didn't get to do more municipal traveling while the strikes were in effect, because there's really nothing more fun than participating in a city thrown into total chaos while you're just a visitor. what better opportunity to interact with the natives? if you don't have anywhere you have to be, you might as well be hanging out with a bunch of hardened new yorkers stranded in the cold. strangers were hitching rides with total strangers just to make up the 4-person-per-car minimum to drive in Manhattan. That's really something for a city where the first unwritten rule when riding public transportation is to not look anyone in the eye (unless you have your dick out and you're masturbating, then it's required to look people in the eye).

All in all, things are going well. I think I managed to annoy my entire family in one day. This is a huge improvement for me because usually it is THEY who get on MY nerves and it usually takes them a few days. My, how the tables do turn!

Queens Int. Film Fest

Thu, 17 Nov 2005 14:09:47 GMT

Crazy. I just happened to be looking at the line up of films showing at the Queens International Film Fest and I realized that the Widney High video got in. Then I noticed that it's showing today. You'd think they would tell me stuff like this, but hey, I'm just the lowly director.

Regardless, I'm pretty excited to have it show there since Queens is my home town. Yes, it's true: I grew up in Flushing, a very aptly named part of the borough. I can only hope that, at this very moment, the kids from my neighborhood who picked on me are turning green with envy at seeing my name on the program. That's right mister ass-hat who drive-by-slurpeed me while I was skating down Francis Lewis Blvd, I'm talking to you.

In other news, I went and saw The Passenger at the Westside Pavilion tonight. It's a great film that's currently only rentable on VHS, but the theater sucked. I wish I could have caught it while it was showing at the Nuart. Incidentally, marc_e_heuck is showing The Fabulous Stains there tomorrow.

Wed, 02 Nov 2005 06:19:53 GMT

These are from an impromptu photo shoot with juliesimone in NYC. It was a fun role-reversal, since she's usually in front of the camera and I'm usually behind.