Twenty1 is a lucky number for Griffin and McCallum

Filmmakers A.E. Griffin and Michael McCallum may be thehardest working men in Michigan show business. It’s impossible to counthow many productions they have worked on, both independently andcollectively, because they don’t stop working long enough to draft aproper curriculum vitae.

The pair has organized a fund- and awareness-raisingevent at the Michigan Brewing Co. in downtown Lansing on Sunday.Audiences will see five short pieces from Griffin’s body of work, mostof which feature McCallum in lead roles. A sixth piece by anothermember of their film posse, Justin Muschong, will be included in themix.  

The event will support McCallum’s Rebel Pictures andGriffin’s UnSAFE Film Office’s continued entries into national andinternational film festivals as well as film projects in the works.

The event could be considered a premiere, according to McCallum.

“We’re excited about this because all of those filmshaven’t played together,” he said, nor have they been screened publiclyin the Lansing area.

The films were created for an annualevent called the 21 Day Filmmaking Competition, sponsored by thePhiladelphia nonprofit Project Twenty1. Filmmakers have 21 days tocreate a short film that contains elements specified by the organizers.

Griffin has participated in the competition for the pastfive years. He said the challenge of making a high-quality short filmin 21 days intrigued him: “For me, it meant accepting the challenge totell a strong story; one with an emotional impact in less than 10minutes.”

But while he has enjoyed participating, 2011 marked Griffin’s final year in the competition.

“I feel I’ve accomplished all I wanted to do with a10-minute film in this style of competition,” he explained. To avoidoverstaying his welcome and risk falling into a creative rut, Griffinsaid he “decided that it was time to retire from it when I wasconfident we could leave on our terms and on a high note.”

A quick look at the films, along with the number of awards they have won at various film festivals:

“Red Seven” (best acting winner at the 2007 Project Twenty1 competition; also nominated for best film, best directing, best marketing):  An intense crime caper that is less about the caper and more about the relationships between the trio of would-be criminals.

“Playback” (Grace Anne Rowan wonas best actress winner in a short film at Detroit Independent FilmFestival in 2010; nominated for best acting and best editing at ProjectTwenty1 in 2008): Grace Anne Rowan deserves her win as best actress forthis dark and slightly disturbing piece. While the audience is neverquite sure what has happened, we know through an audio tape narrativeand flashy flashbacks that something bad indeed has occurred.

“Tumbler: The Boom” (best writing winner atProject Twenty1 in 2009): A film by Chris Kapcia and Griffin/McCallumcollaborator Justin Muschong, this imaginative short features avoice-over that tells a fairy tale of New York, while the visualsreveal the sad truth of scam artist Spencer’s attempt to make it big inthe Big Apple.

“Tumbler: The Echo” (best score winner at ProjectTwenty1 in 2009, and honorable mention for best film at DetroitIndependent Film Festival in 2011): Griffin’s piece is a sidewayssequel to “Tumbler: The Boom” and also a cinematographic love letter tothe Chicago skyline.  Wayne,who was Spencer’s unseen partner in crime in “Boom,” returns to Chicagoand attempts to patch things up with Michelle, the woman he left at thealtar. The story is told from Michelle’s point of view, but reality issteeped in ambiguity.

“All of the Highs, None of the Lows”(best acting winner at Project Twenty1 in 2010; nominated for bestactress (Shirley Clemens) and best supporting actress (BrittanyRisner), best original score, best soundtrack, best director, bestcinematography at the Maverick Movie Awards in 2010; nominated for bestactress (Shirley Clemens) at Detroit Independent Film Festival in 2011):  This film could also be called “Days of Vodka and Roses,” as a couple struggles with the husband’s alcoholism.  Thedrama is juxtaposed with scenes of a pretty girl flirting over thephone with her boyfriend while traipsing the sunny city streets. It isa bit predictable that when the two stories collide, it can’t end well.

“The Girl with the Blue Eyes” (best directorwinner and audience choice winner at Project Twenty1 in 2011; alsonominated for best film, best marketing, best sound design and bestediting): The screening ends with a bang with this action-packed piece,a slick, abridged hybrid of “La Femme Nikita” and Hong Kong actionflicks such as “Naked Killer.”

‘Project Twenty1’

7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4

Michigan Brewing Co.

402 S. Washington Ave., Lansing

$5 cover includes live music

(517) 977-1349