Fire-Wired Blog

Poster by Jolene Schultz Look, I'll be the first to say, Tiny Explosions crossed the line this time . Wag the Cat is right out of the gate offensive and too far. But every second after that immediate red line intro the film inches back into the gray zone. If for some reason you haven't watched Wag the Cat, the very first line in the film is something no one will repeat in public, at work, in front of children, at church, on a date, or pretty much anywhere else. Okay, enough tip toeing, the film starts with a blunt and vulgar joke about beastiality. It is a loaded immorality gun you've been shot with and you hate us for putting you in that situation . But you know how I know it's a good film, we won the only award you can give this film and still feel good about it, best acting ensemble. Wag the Cat features 11 roles and everyone delivered their best, equally carrying the weight perfectly. We won the best film at 48 for some very childish conceits but we absolutely na...

We did it. For the first time, Tiny Explosions took our circus on the road and participated in the Kansas City 48 Hour Film Project . While we didn’t make our film in KC, a small crew of Exploders did attend the kickoff and screening. What did we create? “Jelly Jar Man.” Jelly Jar Man is a bit of an anomaly. First of, it was the only idea pitched . Brian brought it up in the car after kick-off –a bizarre childhood boogeyman/invisible friend named the Jelly Jar Man returns to get revenge on the kid he used to terrify– and I said “Absolutely. Say no more, we’re making that.” We drove to the KC Costco, bought a bunch of jelly, filmed one shot on a KC landmark that we didn’t end up including, and wrote the full film on the drive home. No writing party, no brainstorm, no whittling down of ideas. We simply took the first idea and did it. Beyond that everything else is the regular serving of absurdity. We pulled Revenge & Comedy as our genre options and decided to make both. Jelly Jar Man...

Tiny Explosions 2025 Horror 48 film "Jeff" (which screened as Decafitation) was a big winner. In a surprise turn it won't Best Film Runner-up and Best Director . having seen all the films in the competition, I thought we maybe had a chance at third place. I never know how these things are going go. I should not even attempt to guess and spare others the hype. Either way, very proud of our team and the weird, disturbing film we produced. Now winning Best Director, this is actually the fourth time we've won this award out the last five competitions . I'm quite humbled. There is no artist I revere more than feature film directors. To have my work as a director recognized with an award at any level is wonderful. When we first received this prize for Wheel of Death in 2023 I accepted the prize by saying the film was not my work but a team of artists who carried the project to that moment. I meant it, but not just for Wheel but every film we produce. Whether they ...

First things first, Junk Mail is out and available for home streaming ! Go watch it with your kids and then awkwardly explain the main conceit. Or don’t… but if you do, know that is exactly what happened at the official 48 screenings. We laughed a very meta laugh. 2025 DSM 48HFP has been something special. Spoiler alert, we won Best of City for the second time , took home Best Directing for the 3rd time, BEST ENSEMBLE for the first time (lots of thoughts on this), and audience award for Group C. The hardware this year was also super cool. It should be mentioned Chris Kottman, new DSM 48 City Producer, nailed the assignment. Were there differences from a Sam 48, certainly but nothing to complain about. I can’t wait to see what Chris comes up with. The important parts are the big screen showings are still in place and the Best of City felt like a serious event for the people who are invested in 48. So Junk Mail, when we were announced as Best Film of the competition I was surprised of co...

For the last couple years, in the hours before the 48 Hour Film Project Des Moines kicks off I've spent too much time thinking about how the next two days will be a wild mystery that produces a fully unknown film . Our 2024 film is a perfect illustration of this, I mean who would pre-plan to make a movie about a secret plot to force the dissolution of a homeowners association. And now nearly a month later, I get to break down the ridiculous short "Defund the HOA." Those who know Brian Hogan, know he is something of a collector of the nostalgic and peculiar. Somewhere along the line he purchased a flag that states "Defund the HOA." During our regular 48 brainstorm, this flag was brought up and the all other ideas were out the window. Given our penchant for ensemble pieces a plot formed about an HOA board and a terrorist-like threat. Just reeking in Tiny Explosions trademark of demented flair. Production and editing went smooth, the result is probably our best p...

There she be, "Wheel of Death" in all her incredible, gory, gnarly, fun, and funny glory. There is nothing like finishing a film and just knowing it is a success. Not perfect, maybe it had perfection programmed into its GPS and along the route saw a tourist trap that was too good to pass by and soon decided that in its heart it needed to stay there for the night. That is what I'm talking about. Wheel of Death is a wonderfully wild tourist trap of horror comedy that actually delivers the good.  There are so many points I want to hit but I'll start with the thing everyone needs to know: Craig Bahnsen's performance as Doug the Demon is so impossibly good. I love so many things in this film and hit so many of my goals in it, but the top of the praise heap is definitely Craig. I didn't know in 2019 when we asked him to slap on some JNCOs that he had this in him, but I am so happy he hung around and delivered a performance that makes this film the most rewatchable ...

On set of "Essential Essence." Tiny Explosions did something we have never done before; we pre-planned an important element of our 48 Hour Film Project film. I am a bit of a stick-in-the-mud when it comes to the rules. I don't care if it is a month, week, or hours before the kickoff- if you have an idea for our film, keep it in your head. Does that box have a logo on it? We need a different box. Can you see that Kohl's signage in the shot? We need to reframe. In fact, I get rather cranky when other teams break the rules and pre-write their film. What's the point of 48 if not for the constraints? Still, we kind of massaged the rules a bit in that we made puppets.  For as long as I can remember, my family has watched the "Muppet Family Christmas" on or around Christmas Eve. It originally aired in December 1987 and I still watch the original recording my parents made on VHS. It is one of my favorite things; the songs, all the Henson characters, the gags, th...

Making "Elf Off the Shelf," photo by Erin Hogan. I love the experience of watching something great. It could be film, TV, a stage play, live music, and many other arts, that feeling of you and a piece of art meeting for the first time is exquisite. There's only a couple things that top it, one is actually creating that art. When I discovered the real power of movies around 13 or 14, I think I watched my favorites on a loop. I would toss in new discoveries here and there, and it quickly grew into an obsession. But then a funny thing happened, I borrowed a camera from my media production classes in high school and one Sunday afternoon my friends and I made a mockumentary mixing skate culture and free-style walking called " Midwest Money Money. " This rush was similar to watching movies but the intensity was jacked to the nines and I carried that feeling for weeks. I showed our film to everyone and anyone who would sit in front of a screen with me. The filmmaking ...

After participating in the Des Moines 48 Hour Film Project for 11 years, Tiny Explosions has won the big prize; Best of Des Moines . This was an absolute shock, for everyone on the team.  I think we all have gotten used to attending Best of City just to see our film on the big screen one more time. To see our film called as the big winner knocked us all out. There were legit WTFs flying and tears falling. Our 2022 submission "The Run" is in no way a traditional award winner of any sort. It is a broad comedy that relies on body humor that frequently gets associated with middle schoolers, with some moments that will seriously make your brow furrow, turn your head, and ask the open air "What the hell did I just watch?" And I love it. See what I mean? I am pretty proud of the edit, the look, the performances, but for this story to take home any prizes is surprising. The top prize? Just typing that makes me shake my head and wonder if there was a ballot counting error...

One month ago Tiny Explosions made it's 10th 48 Hour Film Project, The Special. Good times were had and here is said film. For the third time in our ten year run, a Tiny Explosions film did not make Best of City and you know what, I was totally cool with it. Why? Because for the last four months my life has been a blur of packing, moving, work, unpacking, and parenting two silly little girls. I've been so busy I was barely able to carve out time for 48. Our old house closed the day 48 kicked off and our new house closed the day The Special screened. I love 48 but the timing this year ended up being counter to practically every responsibility in my life. I barely managed to carve out time to write, shoot, and edit. Our film was written in one hour, filmed in five hours, and edited in eight. In May, I had all these plans for camera tricks I wanted to try, goals I had set for this year's film, and hopes for it's post-48 life. As soon as we accepted an offer on our house I...

 Here it is, Tiny Explosions best (?) film yet, El Engaño! Made as part of the pandemic version of the Des Moines 48 Hour Film Project 2020, I am really proud of this film . It's the best shot film we've made, it is paced really well, there's no over-the-top acting, no gross out humor, it is a stand alone story not a sketch, it has actual visual effects (an explosion...), And oh yeah, it won the award for best editing. Plus I was told it was the runner up audience award for our screening group, always cool. It was nice to win an award that I felt the film was worthy of , and truth be told, this online release is an even better edit on all accounts. To repeat my annual refrain, these awards are almost always mystifying and quasi-meaningless outside of winning it all. And once again there are some head scratchers in the final awards. One difference this year is 48HFP shared their scoring criteria: Artistic Merit 45%, Technical Merit 30%, and Adherence to the Assignment 25% . ...