North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 117, No. 4, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 19, 2019 Page: 3 of 6
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ARTS & LIFE
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2019
NTDAILY.COM
Page 3
Nonprofit pa rs patients with companies for creat ve collaboration
SALOOD CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
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‘Nosebleeders’: filming a Denton movie within 168 hours
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Local artists find community through Handmade Harvest
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By Maria Lawson
@marialawsonn
By Julia Lopez
@julia_13_01
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Tanner Tovar, “Nosebleeders” director of photography, and Matthew Gray, co-director, stand inside Denton County Brewing
Company on Sept. 15,2019. Hope Alvarez
a
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creative thing possible,” Mitchek said. “But with a
movie, especially with one that is based off a true
story, you don’t have as much freedom with just doing
whatever you want to do because it’s real people’s
lives. You’re trying to tell their stories in an honest
and truthful way, you don’t want to do anything
wrong. You wanna keep your full crew and actors
happy. It’s just a larger thing that you’re taking on, so
you have to be more careful with how you approach
it, and it was really refreshing and inspiring to film
this movie because that is what I always wanted to
do.”
Mitchek said directing this movie was a difficult
challenge because it was his first film, and they were
restricted by a limited budget and a need for the film
to be shot in one week. Gray said almost all of the cast
members were skeptical of whether the film could be
completed in that time frame.
“I was worried about [filming], feeling it was
Igto
Lovers of all things local can mark their
calendars for Nov. 2, as The DIME Store
will be hosting their annual Handmade
Harvest event at the Denton Convention
Center. At this event, local handmade
item makers have the opportunity to sell
their work to a large market of people.
The DIME Store is a local business in
Denton that consists of handmade items
to support and encourage local artists.
The store has been on Denton Square
since April 2013 and has grown since its
start.
The Handmade Harvest is an annual
festival that the DIME Store puts on
to exhibit new work from already
established artists and expose new artists
to the Denton community. This year is
the 10th Handmade Harvest, so those
in charge are looking to make this year
especially remarkable.
The convention was formed 10 years
ago by two Denton women that got to
know each other through creative mixers
hosted by a City Council member. They
felt a call to action to support creativity
in Denton.
Marissa Castilleja, The DIME Store
manager and Denton resident, said she
looks forward to Handmade Harvest
every year because it is like a family
reunion. She loves seeing everyone
that she has known for years, as well as
community,” Landry said. “Those people
contribute to your local culture, so you
want to support them.”
Aside from Handmade Harvest, The
DIME Store hosts workshops and events
in-store year-round to encourage all
locals to immerse themselves in art. In
The DIME Store, students can receive a
10 percent discount with a school ID.
Tickets have recently become available
w
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Salood co-founder Kenny Freeland speaks about Makenna’s story at Charming at
The Market on Sept. 14,2019. The nonprofit collaborated with Makenna and her
family to fundraise for their family as well as other pediatric patients.
Meredith Holser
for purchase on The DIME Store’s
website or in-store, and the event is
slightly over one month away. The team
at The DIME Store has been working to
get this event put together for the guests.
“[People going to the festival] can
expect lots of energy,” said Castilleja.
“It’s a really inspiring environment. This
is our 10th year, so we are going to make
it big.”
Most films take at least a few months to film. In
one week, though, actors, a production team and
a director united together in Denton to take on a
project titled “Nosebleeders.”
Cole Mitchek, the director of “Nosebleeders,”
came to Denton from Denver to shoot the movie on
Aug. 19 and wrapped filming on Aug. 25. The movie
is based off the real life experiences of the Denton
band, Matthew And The Arrogant Sea. Matthew
Gray, vocalist for the band and writer, co-director
and producer for the movie, told Mitchek a story that
spans from 2005 to 2009, a story that Mitchek said
needed to be told.
“He started going more in depth as [the
conversation] progressed and regarding everything
that happened, his story, family story and people
he knew evolved,” Mitchek said. “He wanted to talk
about his truth and so from there I wanted to explore
more and hear everyone’s side of the story and all this
crazy stuff that happened to the band 10 years ago. It
just sort of evolved into this big thing that eventually
became this movie that we filmed in a week and it
was pretty awesome.”
Between 2005 and 2009, during the band’s early
days in Denton, Gray said they had paranormal and
other-worldly things happen to the group. They
were recording music at haunted cabins and grave
sites because they were trying to seek something
supernatural. Gray noted that they were trying to
seek spirits, but it ended up being much deeper than
that.
Gray said that after he told Mitchek his story,
Mitchek was so fascinated by the band’s experience
that he wanted to make it into a movie. Gray
described him as determined.
“I don’t think I ever sought out to make this movie,
but it was more I was encouraged and it came together
in the right way and that was my whole thing: If we’re
gonna do this, it has to be done correctly,” Gray said.
Mitchek and Gray knew each other prior to the
film from working together on previous projects for
the band. Mitchek said their first collaboration was
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filming a series of music videos called “A Bump on
the Head in Three Parts,” and these videos were
directed to tell a short story.
“Before this movie, we had made six music
videos together in a span of 10 months,” Mitchek
said. “That was some of the stuff we did leading up
to ‘Nosebleeders.’ And it was cool because we were
always creating things and everything we were
working on was leading to this movie.”
Mitchek said there was a big difference between
filming the music videos with Matthew and the
Arrogant Sea and filming a movie about Gray’s life.
He said filming a movie is obviously a larger project,
so it required a production team to put it together.
The production was paid for by fans of the band.
Mitchek also said he had less freedom filming the
movie than he did with the music videos.
“With music videos, we go to a location and
experiment a lot of the time and make the most
It'd
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tough to get everything we wanted to get done
each day,” Mitchek said. “But what was reassuring
about the shoot was that we were ahead of schedule
almost every single day and that left room for a lot
of creativity and improv, and all the actors were
musicians so we filmed a lot of jam sessions. Which,
realistically, is a thing that would’ve happened, which
really gave it a natural feel. I’m proud of [the movie]
coming out of it because it felt like a success and we
had time to get pretty much everything done that we
wanted to accomplish.”
The director of photography from Denton, Tanner
Tovar, said he did not feel stressed with the time
frame they had to shoot the film, but his challenge
was getting the correct angles to shoot a scene.
“We got some underwater shots, which is hard
because I have to stay underwater the whole time,”
Tovar said. “[But] if you know your equipment and
know what scenes you’re shooting, it should be pretty
easy.”
Gray said it was neat to watch the film come
together and said he is happy with how well filming
went.
“I give all that credit to Tanner and Cole,” Gray
said. “Cole is a monster of a director, when he sets his
eyes on something, he gets it everytime and keeps us
on schedule.”
Mitchek also praised Gray and said he was glad
to have Gray on set with him. Whenever he had a
question about what a character was feeling, he said,
he could go to Gray and ask.
“It made it more authentic and that is what I found
that was really special about this movie,” Mitchek
said. “You can get the locations you want and get
actors who can play the characters in really beautiful
ways, bringing your script and lines to life. For me,
it’s exactly what I want to be doing.”
Mitchek said the plan is to release the movie in
2020. He and Gray intend on submitting it to film
festivals and premiering the movie in Denton.
“It was a beautiful and surreal experience
witnessing one of your stories come to life, one of
your personal stories,” Gray said. “It was definitely
a beautiful experience and I’m very happy with how
the story was portrayed.”
ambassador. She was diagnosed with
leukemia in 2015 and has been cancer-free for
19 months. Castillo said they matched with
her because they were looking for someone
energetic and outgoing, and he described her
as the “coolest 11-year-old in the world.”
“I cannot picture a more ideal patient to
work with,” Freeland said. “Just from the
beginning, she walks in and has one of the
most infectious personalities that makes you
smile.”
Freeland talked to Makenna’s mother about
the financial side of pediatric care that the kids
don’t really see. He said she mentioned how
hospital copays, gas from driving to and from
the hospital and food from eating out because
you’re never home has made for a costly few
years.
“Actually meeting a kid like Makenna who
is a patient in remission and going through it,
and then seeing her mom who is the mother
of someone who just went through that and
to talk about the emotional challenges that
come with it, but also the financial challenges
— that just showed us the ‘why’ behind what
we’re doing even more than we ever thought it
would,” Freeland said.
Jennifer Rodolph, a Frisco resident and
Makenna’s mother, said she was contacted
about the opportunity four to six weeks ago
by a social worker from the hospital. Rodolph
said Freeland and Castillo have been working
hard to make Salood and the launch event for
Handmade Recycled uses recycled glass
and wood to create useful products in a
sustainable way.
“My wife and I started [Handmade
Recycled] as a way to make gifts for
friends for the holidays,” Mountain said.
“Everything we sell is handmade from
materials that would normally get thrown
in the trash.”
Handmade Recycled will be selling a
variety of products, such as lamps, back
scratchers, wooden cutlery and glasses.
Another business that will be selling
its products in the Handmade Harvest is
called Landry Print Co., run by Denton
resident and owner Jude Landry. Landry
Print Co. is a locally-run screen printing
company that makes T-shirts.
“I studied graphic design and have
always been into art, and I learned screen
printing in college through a course
that I took,” Landry said. “I worked a
few summer jobs for a screen printing
company and got introduced to screen
printing that way. Eventually, I learned
how to sell it so I could make some
money.”
Landry said that local handmade
artists are important to the community
in order to maintain Denton culture.
Denton is a unique town, he said, so it’s
interesting to reflect on what everyone
has to offer.
“It is important to have local artists
because there are always people doing
great things, you just have to find it in the
Makenna successful.
“[Salood] has a lot of growth potential,
versus just asking for donors,” Rodolph said.
“I think that’s what makes it unique is that
they’re actually having a product, and that it’s
got the special aspect to it.”
Alicia Clay, a Seagoville resident and the
co-owner and creative director of Charming at
the Market, has been preparing for the launch
event with Freeland and Castillo for around six
months. The three met Makenna at her store in
mid-August, and Clay said Makenna was very
intentional in creating her floral arrangement.
She chose a gold vase to represent the
childhood cancer ribbon.
“I thought that was so intuitive of her as a
young girl to even think about that, which also
just kind of contributes to her journey,” Clay
said. “She thinks way outside the box.”
The launch event, which ran from 4:30 to 7
p.m. at Charming at the Market, aimed to share
Makenna’s story while also promoting Salood.
The event featured food and drinks, live music
and a demonstration from Clay and Makenna
showing how they created the bouquet. This
was the first time customers were able to buy
Makenna’s Masterpiece, which will be sold for
$65 both in store and online. Freeland said in
preparing for the event, they mulled over the
small details to ensure that the launch was as
special for Makenna as possible.
“What kind of music does she like?”
Freeland said, “What kind of snacks does she
like? [We considered] all those little things so
h
that when she gets there, she really realizes,
yes, this is a flower shop, but this is about me
and my story.”
The months of work that went into creating
Salood and hosting the first launch event
included some challenges along the way.
Freeland said that in order to be innovative,
you have to be OK with being misunderstood
by others, and they were frequently turned
down.
“Having to talk to people and sell them on
your idea is difficult because they could either
go with it or shut the door on you,” Castillo
said. “You never know if they are going to
misunderstand you or not get the importance
of the cause, so that was nerve-racking.”
Castillo and Freeland are looking forward
to their next partnership, which they said will
allow a patient to collaborate with a T-shirt
company. Salood will stay local for now, but
eventually Castillo wants to expand to cities
like Austin, Houston and San Antonio. He said
he dreams of having kids design Nike shoes or
McDonald’s McFlurries. Ultimately, though,
he said their mission is to spread hope, and
both Freeland and Castillo said that seeing
their work come together makes the challenges
worth it.
“Seeing [the patients] smiling and having
fun during the collaboration, you’re like, ‘I
want to give this opportunity to everybody,”’
Freeland said.
Makenna’s Masterpiece is available for
purchase at Charming at the Market in Dallas.
>
Owner Shelley Christner sits at The DIME Store. Christner opened The DIME store in 2013 after three
years of hosting Handmade Harvest Festivals at her Denton home. Kare Gray
el
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meeting new people.
To sell items in Handmade Harvest,
makers have to apply in August, then go
through a screening process by The DIME
Store staff to narrow down the selection
and decide who will be featured at the
festival.
The leaders of Handmade Harvest
want to foster an environment that allows
the buyer to meet the creator of their
product face-to-face.
“A mission of the Handmade Harvest
is we’re trying to connect the maker to the
customer,” Castilleja said. “In our world
full of automated things and technology,
the personal side of consumerism has
been taken away.”
Over the last decade, Handmade
Harvest has grown in ways that The
DIME Store owner never expected.
“Considering it started as a casual
barn sale at my home with 14 makers,
to growing to fill a large ballroom at
the Denton Convention Center with
54 makers, I’d say that is quite a
development,” The DIME Store owner
and Denton resident Shelley Christner
said. “I have also seen it become one of
Denton’s favorite shopping events- the
turnout has grown from a couple hundred
to nearly 2,000 people.”
There will be many creators at
Handmade Harvest displaying their
products for sale. One company is called
Handmade Recycled, run by owner and
Denton resident Starfire Mountain.
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Najera, Rebecca. North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 117, No. 4, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 19, 2019, newspaper, September 19, 2019; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1281518/m1/3/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.