I am a photographer for the wire service Retna and I just finished covering the 30th Starz Denver International Film Festival. I covered all the red carpets, saw a bunch of films, but one film REALLY jumped out at me. "Being Michael Madsen" was one of the highlights of the festival. It is a "Mockumentary" that takes you into the life of celebrities and the paparazzi. It centers around actor Michael Madsen and a paparazzi named Billy Dant who has written an tabloid article claiming Madsen killed a girl. This send Madsen's career into turmoil and forces Madsen to take matters into his own hands. What happens next is hilarious and sometimes reflects today's reality for celebrates in an almost scary way. I got to meet and photograph Director Michael Mongillo who is a very friendly and approachable person. He and two members of the cast Jason Alan Smith who plays Billy Dant and Doug Tompos who plays Mark Pollard were in attendance and gave me their time. We talked about the film and did some great photos. This film features cameos by some very big Hollywood talent such as Daryl Hannah, David Carradine, Virginia Madsen and Harry Dean Stanton and the mostly unknown cast is just as strong. This film needs to get the attention it deserves and it really needs to get full distribution so everyone gets a chance to see it. If there is anyone out there in Hollywood that would like to be responsible for finding the "Spinal Tap" of the movie industry, pick up this film NOW! Go on DO IT!!
