I just discovered an article in the Valley Scene regarding 5th annual WildWood Film Festival which took place April 14-15 at The Big Picture in Appleton, that deserves to be archived...

How to draw a Doggie
By Jim Lundstrom

Eric Carter was so inspired to see his work on a big screen at last year’s WildWood Film Festival that this year he not only has his own short film – “How to Draw a Doggie in Four Easy Steps” – entered for judging in the comedy category, but he also took part in the filming and editing of works entered by two filmmaking friends who also have works entered in the 5th annual WildWood Film Festival.

“Last year I had two shorts in Wildwood,” said Carter, a 33-year-old Green Bay resident. “It was awesome. I think it’s great to have the chance to show your films.”

WildWood is a two-day event that begins with a single viewing session Friday, April 14, and continues for two more sessions on Saturday.

For the past two years it was held in the small hall at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, but this year moves to the large-screen format movie theater The Big Picture in downtown Appleton, a move that Carter applauds.

“That should actually be better,” he said. “The PAC is a prestigious place, but they didn’t have the best equipment for showing films.”

Still, he said, “It was just exciting to see something I did play on a big screen.”

That’s exactly why WildWood founders Craig Knitt, Tom Thorne and Jason Buss created the festival, to shed light on the largely underground film community in Wisconsin. They hope this year’s crop of films give wider exposure both to the filmmakers and the film festival.

“We had close to 50 submissions this year,” Buss said. “Quite a few of those are returning filmmakers. That’s good to see.”

“We’re proud to encourage Wisconsin filmmakers,” Thorne said. “We’re hoping this fifth year will be the breakout year for us. We’d like to have multiple venues around the state in the future – Green Bay, La Crosse, Wausau.”

Carter said he enjoys taking part in WildWood for the pleasure of seeing his work in public on a big screen, but last year’s event also turned into opportunities to work with others.

“I was just surprised to find there are so many actors and people who want to make movies around here,” said Carter, who makes a living as a picture frame and wedding video editor.

“I made a lot of short films in high school,” he said. “I really wanted to go to college for film, but I didn’t want to go far away, so I ended up studying photography and art (at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay).”

In 2004 he took an editing class at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay that led to his entry in this year’s festival, “How to Draw a Doggie…”.

“The assignment was to do an instructional video, and I really didn’t want to do an instructional video,” Carter said. “I wanted to do something a little more creative.”

What he came up with could be seen as a comic take on the creative process, but Carter insists it’s all arbitrary stuff designed to fulfill the class assignment.

“In art school, I was into surrealism and dada,” he said.

So, the four steps to drawing a doggie include 1. Coffee, with Frank Sinatra on vocals; 2. Drawing a doggie, which Carter does; 3. A Levitating Strawberry (part of the assignment called for inserting a clip, and Carter found this one on the Internet); 4. Crabmeat Rangoon, which requires a trip to a Chinese restaurant.

“I never knew the WildWood Festival existed until someone at NWTC told me I should enter my couple of films in it,” Carter said. “It was cool to see there were other local people making movies. I was in my own little bubble and didn’t even know there was a group getting together to make movies.”

That led to his discovering the Independent Filmmakers Guild, which operates out of Green Bay, and put him in touch with other likeminded filmmakers.

“Scott Harpt started the IFG, and he’s the guy who wrote and directed ‘Chester McPhail’ (another comedy in this year’s WildWood lineup),” Carter said. “I did all the filming and editing on that. Then there’s a documentary, a short profile called ‘Menzel.’ I helped with the editing on that.”

All of which has inspired Carter to do more.

“I have a lot of ideas,” he said. “I’m trying to figure out how to write using scriptwriting software and write an actual story instead of just piecing stuff together. I’m studying stop-motion graphics because I want to get more into the animation side of things.”