Fire-Wired Blog

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 ...

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...

 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% . ...

And thus the sunset has set on Palle Amorevoli 's time on the screen. That's right, the Des Moines 48 Hour Film Project season has come to a close for 2018, and our latest and zaniest film is officially out in the wild for general audiences to enjoy. Each year is a roller coaster. Some years you know you have some special, some years are a little more shaky. This year I knew we had some thing... special*. Yes you're reading that right; italics and an asterisk. If you have yet to see the film, Palle Amorevoli is a romantic musical set inside a bitter bowling anti-romantic comedy. The quick synopsis is "A delusionally romantic bowling alley chef falls for his musical whims and discovers two of his alley's balls have found love; however, just as their romance buds, bitter bowling rivals threaten to end it." I'll save the musical portion of it for you to discover inside the film. Once again, we didn't win any judges awards. Instead we walked away...