Little Wonder Pictures

The Jeff Lewis 5-Minute Comedy Hour

2011-06-25T13:55:00.001-07:00

Jeff Lewis, lead actor from The Smartest Person Who Ever Lived, has a very funny online show with a new episode every week. Check it out: The Jeff Lewis 5-Minute Comedy Hour.

Graduation - UCLA Professional Program in Screenwriting

2010-06-15T23:58:00.000-07:00

Tonight I graduated from the one-year UCLA Professional Program in Screenwriting. I wish I had a better picture but it was dusk and the flash didn't go off. This is me with Hal Ackerman, the program co-chair, getting my certificate. I thoroughly enjoyed the lectures with Hal and the workshops. I wrote one script in a workshop with Linda Voorhees and another one with Wendall Thomas. I was thrilled to have these talented women as my teachers and mentors in the program.

Both of my scripts need a rewrite but I learned so much by just pushing through and completing a draft. Also, by the end of the program I stopped feeling like I was going to throw up when people read my pages. An achievement in itself! I met some incredible people and feel so lucky to have had this experience. Now, as Linda says: "Write on!"

Music Video - Tag Für Tag by Schattenfreunde

2008-08-04T12:45:00.000-07:00

Every morning in San Francisco, the dot com buses drive all over the city to pick up hip-looking young people and deliver them to the South Bay for work. Apple, Yahoo, Google, eBay, etc. While working at eBay, I made a fortuitous friendship on the bus with Christian. Christian is from Germany and is in charge of making sure eBay's emails get delivered at the right time to the right people.

But more importantly, Christian is a musician and composer. I told him I was a filmmaker and asked him if he'd write a song for me. The first assignment was a little tune for People Who Ride and I was amazed at what he came up with! I gave him very little direction and completely loved what he did. Then he asked me if I was interested in making a music video for a song his German band recorded. He wanted something in the vein of Massive Attack's Unfinished Symphony but since this was a song about a man feeling trapped in his daily life, I wanted to have him escape into nature and gradually throw off civilization until he felt alive again. I like what we came up with in a weekend but still wish we'd had a better camera and a tripod to shoot with. Next time!

Lyrics:
Day by day
Night by night
I'm dreaming and waiting for
inspiration to seize me
But life takes its course

Day by night
Night by day
I am stumped about what I like
This being without striving
Isn't there another life?
for me... (days and night around)
for you... (rebel until dawn)

Day by day
Night by night
I'm waiting and hoping for
this being called life
will at some point surrender to me

River and sea, ocean
shadowfriends of former times,
tell me what do I have to give!
isn't there another life?
for me... for you...

Web Pilot - Courting Ruth

2008-07-28T13:03:00.000-07:00

My friend commedienne Ruth Otero does these amazing one-woman shows about her crazy family, wanting to be an actress and the search for authenticity in Los Angeles. I asked her if she was interested in making a web series based on a pilot idea she was working on.

After divorcing her high school sweetheart, Ruthie moves back home where her relatives are a constant obstacle in her quest to find herself. As in her shows, Ruth plays herself, her sister and her mother. It was quite a feat to shoot and in the end, I'm not sure the concept of her playing all the characters translated as well to film but it was still really fun to make. Hopefully we'll revisit this one.

Ruth wrote it. I directed, shot and edited. Also starring my friend Gary Clemmer.

Bicycle Film Festival - People Who Ride

2008-05-25T14:37:00.000-07:00

People Who Ride, the short film I made for the Bicycle Film Festival, has been accepted! It will screen in Brooklyn next week. This was a super quickie. I wrote, shot and edited. My friend Malcolm provided voiceover and co-worker Christian composed a quirky little song for it.

Video - A Day At The Getty

2008-03-09T20:59:00.000-07:00

I love the Getty and often find myself expounding on its many virtues. I try to go at least once per year and offer to take anyone who has never been. On one of these outings, my Getty virgin friend brought a video camera and we made an impromptu video featuring me as the ever enthusiastic tour guide. My friend Christian composed this song one Saturday morning and it fit my video perfectly! Enjoy. And if you haven't been, go, go, go!

Video - The Smartest Person Who Ever Lived

2007-10-02T09:45:00.000-07:00

If you didn't get to see this short at one the screenings, now you can see it on YouTube. I wasn't able to get to the festival in Sedona but Alex and her husband were able to go and had a great time. They sat next to Ned Beatty at the screening of the film and chatted with him a bit afterwards. Too cool.

Screenings - The Smartest Person Who Ever Lived

2007-07-01T16:04:00.000-07:00

Two years later and The Smartest Person Who Ever Lived has finished screening and will now be archived on YouTube. We had a pretty good run! Pick of the Day at Palm Springs, featured on KTEH at Cinequest and a Top 25 finalist in the Amazon/Tribeca contest.

Film Festivals

Big Bear Lake Film Festival: Big Bear, CA, September 2005

Palm Springs Intl. Festival of Shorts: Palm Springs, CA, September 2005

Amazon Theater/Tribeca Film Festival: Online, September 2005 (Top 25 Finalist)

Sedona International Film Festival: Sedona, AZ, February 2006

Reel Romance in the Rockies: Crested Butte, CO, February 2006

Cinequest: San Jose, CA, March 2006 (Maverick Short Film Competition)

Now Casting Film Contest: Online, May 2006 (Top 25 Finalist)
Crested Butte Reel Fest: Crested Butte, CO, August 2006

San Diego International Film Festival: San Diego, CA, September 2006

Valley Film Festival: Burbank, CA, September 2006

Reel Slug Film Fest, Echo Park Film Center: Los Angeles, CA, November 2006

Other Screenings

Thursdays at Mike's, Acme Theatre: Los Angeles, CA, July 2005

An Evening of Festival Shorts, The UNLV Short Film Archive: Las Vegas, NV, March 2006

Short Films and Stand-Up, M Bar: Los Angeles, CA, April 2006

Video-i on KTEH: San Jose, CA, May 2007, September 2007

ComedyNet.com: Online Films, June 2007

Commercial - KaMe Noodles

2007-06-28T22:22:00.000-07:00

After watching other people win cool prizes in countless commercial contests, my friend Steve Altman and I finally made one: A commercial for KaMe Noodles. I came up with the idea of a girl ordering from her favorite Thai delivery place and the audience sees behind the scenes that the restaurant uses KaMe instead of making her order from scratch. And it's delicious. Steve shot and edited this in a couple of hours and we won. Of course the prize was like $1,000 and a bunch o' noodles. Doh!

Short Film - Peeing There

2006-11-07T14:16:00.000-08:00

Sometime before I directed my first short, my friend James Graham asked me to produce a short for him. I'd never produced anything before but this was not your ordinary short. The idea was that a series of people would, confessional style, tell outrageous true stories about having to pee really badly and not being able to. James had one of his own that involved going to Paris to propose to a girlfriend and being subjected to a cavity search in the airport after a long drug-induced slumber on the plane. A few of his friends had equally colorful stories and I dug up a couple of friends with similarly entertaining tales.

His goal was to show this to a theater full of people who would have to run out well before the movie was over to pee. He envisioned it as one story after another intercut with images of waterfalls and fountains, for a total length of about 30 minutes. I got the perverse humor of his intention but really wanted it to be much shorter. We shot the stories and the footage was handed over to an editor but at some point the footage was accidentally magnetized it and most of it was ruined. James was about to give up on the film when I asked if I could take a crack at it.

I sorted through the footage and was able to salvage a few bits. I created a much shorter movie with the stories interwoven to make one grand story. It's a little bizarre but I think it's pretty funny even if you don't quite know what the individual stories are. With a few viewings, you may be able to piece together the various threads. I taught myself how to use Final Cut editing this movie and my good friend Steve Altman composed the score. It ended up with the reflective title Peeing There.

48 Hour Film Festival - 24 Minutes To Die Hard

2006-06-28T16:11:00.000-07:00

My friend Gary Clemmer called me. Julia Flint wanted to write and produce a short for the 48-Hour Film Festival and was looking for a director. Naturally, I accepted. Julia got the genre, action, and the elements that we had to include and spent the night writing the script. Cast and crew met for the first time on set in the early morning hours and we spent the day shooting. After a night's sleep, I met up with the editor and worked on the edit with Julia. Films were delivered that afternoon.

We had a large cast in a small location and needed quite a bit of coverage. Of course things get missed with a turnaround like this one but it was a fantastic challenge and we managed to have a great time. My crew was a couple of students from Idyllwild. I really enjoyed working with them and the fantastic cast.

Interview - Video-i on KTEH

2006-03-06T12:30:00.001-08:00

Director Angelique Little and producer Shannon Riggs were interviewed by KTEH for their program Video-i, at Cinequest. The Smartest Person Who Ever Lived was one of five shorts to screen on the program.

Video-i host Blanche Shaheen, Angelique Little and Shannon Riggs.

Staged Reading - So You Wanna Be An Actress

2006-02-22T15:37:00.000-08:00

I spent a month directing a cast of USC drama students and more seasoned actors in this play by USC student Liza Kaplan. She expected a staged reading but everyone threw themselves into the project so it ended up being closer to a full-blown performance. I had a great time and really enjoyed working with Liza and the dedicated cast and crew.

"SO YOU WANNA BE AN ACTRESS"
A comedic look at what it's like to be a serious actress. With great breasts.

A new play by Liza Kaplan
Directed by Angelique Little

At the MASSMAN theatre at University of Southern California
February 24th-26th
Friday and Saturday at 8 PM
Sunday at 6 PM
It's FREE!!!

Palm Springs International Festival of Shorts

2005-09-20T12:29:00.000-07:00

They must screen over 200 shorts at this festival, one of the largest short film festivals in the country. But when I checked in, the guy said "Oh, I loved your movie!" I figured he was just saying that. How could he have seen and remembered my film out of all those? Then it happened again, another person working at the festival recognized my name and said they liked my film.

After a couple of hours, I learned that The Smartest Person Who Ever Lived was the Pick of the Day by festival director Darryl Macdonald and had was featured in the local paper, The Desert Sun. No wonder! It was a boon. Our screening was packed. Sold out! And we had a fantastic reception. A day to remember. What pleased me the most was that Darryl understood that this conversation (in the film) represented an ongoing attempt by this couple to convince one another that they are special. He got it. Thanks Darryl!

Here's how he described it:

A husband and wife face off in a hilarious verbal confrontation over the breakfast table, clearly a repeat performance from countless other breakfasts they’ve had in the course of their marriage.

Behind The Scenes - The Smartest Person Who Ever Lived

2005-08-15T15:58:00.000-07:00

The Smartest Person Who Ever Lived is about to hit the road. Our first screening is the Big Bear Film Festival. Here are the production photos from the fun and easy shoot, courtesy of James Graham.

Short Play - Off The Menu

2005-05-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

I wrote and directed a short scene for Triple Crown at Sacred Fools. A late-night, fun-spirited competition where actors, writers & directors compete against each other. The audience votes each night for three scenes to come back the next week.

"Off The Menu," written and directed by Angelique Little
Starring Steve Altman and Melissa Greenspan
May 28th at 11pm
The Sacred Fools Theater
660 North Heliotrope - Hollywood, CA 90004