Oh my god, it’s finally here.

This was one of those projects. None of the lovely people — Lily Susskind, my mighty co-director; Matt Ferro, our genius behind the camera; STE’s own Jake Teresi, our enabler, producer, and host in New Orleans; Carsie Blanton, our musical muse and sponsor – had any idea if and when it would suddenly (in my unsteady hands) transform itself into something lovely, hard and brilliant, and I had only the slightest inkling (and only sometimes).

Certainly, it was a project with the makings of something good. Carsie had managed to round up a veritable who’s who of the world’s greatest swing dancers – Chance Bushman, Giselle Anguizola, Peter Loggins, Amy Johnson, Reuel Reis, Laura Manning and Lisa Casper — and we’d constructed a tiny crew equally versed in dance and film primed to push the boundaries of the dance on film we’d seen before. Thanks to the generosity and excitement of the performers who joined us, our time in New Orleans and the footage we’d collected was unbelievable. But in the editing process, trying to capture the spirit of all of these dancers and their opposing styles, to respect the dance and still cut it mercilessly, to delight in the magic of New Orleans without reverting to cliché, and above all to fit everything into barely three minutes of song seemed an impossible task.

And yet, at long last, here it is! Shot in the streets of the 8th Ward, inside a St. Charles streetcar, on the balcony of Mimi’s in the Marigny, and in the abandoned Six Flags in Michoud, Baby Can Dance is a celebration of life and joy and dance and a city that’s always pregnant with all three. Please enjoy.

To kick off 2012, we’re rolling out Dumb Dumbs, a co-production between Greg Hanson of Greth Productions and STE.

Dumb Dumbs is Greg Hanson’s beautiful homage to drug-scare films of the 1930s with a slap of Godard and an acute sugar high. It’s a music video for the maniacally talented teen-girl outfit, SUPERCUTE!, with Rachel Trachtenburg (watch for her in Ruchiki) at the forefront.

The Company’s own Liz Phelps and Matt Paley were tapped to produce and jumped at the chance to work with those brilliant fellas over at Greth. Be sure to watch for cameos by Andrew W.K. and Kate Nash. Enjoy!

The boys (and girls) over at Greth Productions have long been a source of inspiration for us here at STE. Their work is alive and electric – crackling with humor, ingenuity, and a love for cinema that we see in the eyes of every zombie, cannibal, and bloodthirsty nun they throw on screen. I’ve counted Greg Hanson and Casey Regan amongst my closest friends and favorite collaborators since they lent us a hand on the set of Ruchiki, but hadn’t yet gotten to pay back the favor – until now.

Dumb Dumbs is Greg Hanson’s insane fever-dream of a music video for Rachel Trachtenburg (of Ruchiki fame) and her teen-girl outfit, SUPERCUTE! An homage to the drug-scare films of the 1930s and 40s, Dumb Dumbs is pure Greg – stylish, innovative, twisted and absurd. Liz and I were delighted to be asked to produce – almost as delighted as we are to share a little piece of the madness with you now. Enjoy!

I first visited New Orleans this past February and — like nearly everyone I know who’s made the trip — I found myself quickly ensnared in nets of magic and, from the very moment I left, anxious to return. How lucky I was to find myself, not three months later, back in Nola at the helm of a project that combined so many of my favorite things: a lovely folk singer, some extraordinary dancers, nightclubs, streetcars, and an abandoned six flags… the result (in whatever forms it settles into, still very much a mystery) is the Baby Can Dance project, a collaboration with Lily Susskind, Founder of Baltimore’s Effervescent Collective, and folk singer-songwriter Carsie Blanton and her delirious mix of folk, pop, jazz and, in this case, swing.

Carsie, Lily, the insanely talented Matt Ferro (whose camerawork can be seen in Pitkoff’s La Vie and No Sleep) and I descended on New Orleans (and on STE’s own Jake Teresi, who produced the hell out of this crazy shoot) and came together with a number of the very best swing dancers in New Orleans — and, thusly, the world — to photograph their dancing in ways it hadn’t been captured before. I think we very much succeeded. Below is a first little taste of what we’re playing with, featuring Laura Manning and Reuel Reis.

Much more to come.

Our very own Brian Barth has officially stepped on to the festival circuit!

His experimental film RICKETS (2010) will be premiering at the Boston Underground Film Festival ’11 and the Kansas City FilmFest ’11.

RICKETS explores a transformed landscape as it follows the simplest aesthetic narrative — white to black. The textures and rhythms of the image come from the serious digital distortion (achieved entirely in-camera) of the perfectly scenic setting of a boat trip down the Hudson River. The camera captures an alternate, underlying world, an almost microscopic vibration that pervades our existence.

Keep an eye out (for all our loyal Boston followers) – make sure to pick up some tickets for BUFF.

And while you’re there, be sure to also check out the extraordinary nunsploitation film Thy Kill Be Done (2010, dirs. Greg Hanson and Casey Reagan). It’s exactly what you think it is in the best way possible.

Our shoulders are all waxed and ready to rub. Come out and support Brian, the Company, Boston filmmaking, and, heck, just to see some really great film.

We’re sorry we haven’t kept in touch (you look great, by the way). But while 2011 has, thus far, proved a year of bad communication, it’s proving to be a great year for work. Over the next few weeks, we’ll finally begin talking about Adam’s new short, Giampaolo’s Hollis Frampton opus, Jake’s new screenplay(s), Peter’s Kenneth Bowser project, Brian’s first festival appearance(!), and more. There are some structural changes coming to Saint Eliot as well; expect some changes to the website in the coming months, to reflect the changes brewing under the hood.

Today I have the pleasure of introducing my latest project (with Brian Barth and Skin Horse Theater’s Brian Dorsam), a four music-video cycle starring folk-rock goddess Devon Sproule, to be released with her upcoming album, I Love You, Go Easy.  I’ll let the teaser do most of the talking for now; suffice to say, we’re very excited about the new album, about the project, and about the work to come.

For the past couple months, I’ve been working with a few of the funniest people I know (including company writer Peter Warren) on A Show About Us, a filmed sketch comedy show in the vein of Mr. Show, Kids in the Hall, and The State.  The show is about three 20-somethings – Sasha, the L.A. transplant; Ken, the alpha male Celtics-fanatic; Christian, the sardonic prep-school kid – living together in Somerville, MA.  Although the show is broad in scope (the actors also play the characters on their TV, for instance, as in the promo below), many of the sketches focus on their efforts to figure out Boston and for Boston, too, to figure them out.

The above summary makes it sound like the show is all dropped ‘r’s and references to Lansdowne street.  Writing and speaking a lot about the show the past couple of days, I’ve felt the need to clarify my position on living and working in Boston.  Even as Boston has become a more popular place to film, its pop-culture identity hasn’t matured.  It’s not that there’s anything wrong with The Fighter, The Town, or The Social Network; it’s just that they all present Boston as one of the two popular cliches: a tough Irish neighborhood, or Harvard.  A Show About Us – and every project I undertake — looks to poke and prod at these stereotypes.  I (and I know I speak for the five Saint Eliot members that grew up in Boston) am very proud to be a Bostonian.  Part of the impetus for Saint Eliot’s creation was the shared dream of living and working here; even as we disperse (Jake is off to New Orleans!), we constantly talk about a shared future in Boston, with a new wave of young artists committed to expressing our peculiar point of view.  We believe that by telling the stories that matter to us — or, in this case, expressing what we find to be funny — we’ll add to a cultural conversation we’re hoping to grow here.  That doesn’t always mean writing about Boston.  It means writing from Boston.

It was my unexpected thrill yesterday to be invited to share this view on WBUR 90.9, Boston’s NPR news station.  You can listen to my interview with Ken Breese (who writes for and stars in A Show About Us) and host Sacha Pfeiffer here.

A Show About Us has called Improv Boston home for the past few months; we’re delighted to finish our run with a big Holiday Extravaganza! finale at The Brattle Theater tomorrow night. (what’s that you say? you’ll be in the area tomorrow? well, come on by!)  Shortly after, we’ll be launching a new home for our sketches online.

I’m new to directing comedy, and not that funny myself, so the creation of this show represented a huge step into the unknown for me.  I want to take this chance to thank the absolutely wonderful Sasha Winters, Ken Breese, Christian Kiley, and Casey Regan (the show is about them), as well as Mike Salomon and Peter Warren, our incomparable wordsmiths, for making this initially horrifying prospect a truly joyful experience.

Below I’ve included our promo for the Brattle show.  Enjoy!

I produced I’ll Be Okay (with Ruchiki producer Liz Phelps) for music-video director Matt Pitkoff, who I’m excited to announce will guest-direct Ruchiki‘s own music video, Mermaid Princess.  I’ll Be Okay will make its television debut on MTV networks in the coming month; check back in for more specific information soon.

I’ll Be Okay represents something a little different for Saint Eliot, and we hope you like it.  Here’s a little teaser; the full video will make its debut on MTV (and youtube, of course) in the next few weeks.

Summer has been a busy time for all of us at STE–a time spent settling accounts (as two of the boys graduated from college), reassessing work (as the first major Ruchiki shoot came to an successful close), and starting fresh (new projects in new places, with a few of us in new cities).  We’ll be back up and running at full speed soon, but for now, let me kick off the coming fall with a happy announcement: Ain’t That The Way has started its festival run.

We’re looking forward to screenings at LA International Film Fest, Vegas Cine Fest, and Young Cuts Film Fest (and crossing our fingers for more), and we do hope, should any of you be in any of those fine cities on the nights in question, to see you there (more on the exact dates and times later).

We were especially excited to learn (in the same email that informed us of our acceptance, strangely enough) that the judging at LA International was complete, and that Ain’t That The Way had won Best Costume Design (Music Video), and had come in third overall in the Best Music Video category!

We hope you’ve had a lovely July and August, and are ready for an exciting fall.  You’ll hear quite a bit more from us soon enough.