The tentative date for the blog to restart will be fall of 2010.

Tune in to the CFAFF podcasts to hear interviews with Filipino American filmmakers.

Tony Soto graduated Columbia College Chicago as a Theater Directing Major and has continued to direct local theatrical performances and is currently directing a who-done-it television pilot for Advancing Wolf Inc. titled Mob Rules to be shot in the Fall that may prove to garner him interest from the industry.

The UnScene asked Soto about the origins of his current works.

Soto: I got started with the project when my friend Wolfgang decide to do something for cable access…so i was a featured as a character on the show for five episodes that were on cable access last fall…we shot about 7 episodes in one day for cable access.

The UnScene Chicago: On a stage?

Soto: In a loft apartment

TUC: What a grass-roots beginning.

Soto: (laughs) Yes it was…but I’m just trying to get my hands into as much as i can right now since i finished school.

TUC: What were you doing just before all of this?

Soto: I was finishing my bachelors degree at the ripe old age of 28.

TUC: Were there any projects beside Mob Rules that you directed or acted in after school?

Soto: I haven’t acted in some time…but i am currently updating my resume and head shots because i think i will audition some in the future. I directed two great shows while at Columbia. The first was Hiding Behind Comets by Brian Dykstra and I co-directed The Rocky Horror Show with Andrew Williams…who is and an amazing young choreographer and director. I have also directed a couple music videos for a few artist which can be seen on my Myspace.

Soto is currently directing the upcoming production, Moon Over Buffalo, a comedy performed by the Saint Sebastian Players at St. Bonaventure Church. Learn more about the play at ChicagoPlays.com. Moon Over Buffalo is playing from October 17 to November 9.

Stop by and visit Tony’s Myspace

Michael Barlow invited The UnScene Chicago team into his artist’s den on 140 S. Michigan Ave, Chicago’s Landmark artist-in-residence building, the Fine Arts Building. This fifty year old painter and printmaker was very cordial, welcoming us grandly into his approximately 900 square feet studio as if it was his palace.

He first explained each of a series of paintings done like a pop art, Warhol print, but they are not printed. Each painting has a specific meaning or story behind it articulated very well by the artist. The common thread in every piece is the artist’s wife. She is silhouetted abstractly as a face that is, at once, personal to Barlow and representative of the African American face. Some of the paintings have social or political discourses subtext.

His creative life is certainly as close to his hearts as his encouraging wife, an extremely personable and candid individual. She flew in to introduce herself with a smile from ear to ear spoke with friendly sophistication amidst ambient jazz that grounded us in the city. As our amiable hosts fed our bellies with delicious cheese and crackers, our evening came to a close with the satisfaction that someone and something unscene would soon be seen.

At the Fine Arts Building every second Friday of every month from 4:30 to 9:30, Barlow holds an open gallery event free to the public to see his work. Barlow is also an Art and Design professor at Columbia College Chicago.

We encourage you to view the full video of this indelible evening.

Please visit the website of the Fine Arts Building for more information on its history, programming, and artists in residence: Fine Arts Building

Miles of Empty is a three piece indy-rock band from Chicago. The band came together in the fall of 2000 with a fresh, original, style. With Mario Kaehn on lead vocals and guitar, James Kaehn on bass, and Carlo Cooper on drums; Miles of Empty developed a unique sound derived from each member’s diverse musical background.

Their music has been aired on several major radio stations as well as the national college radio circuit.

For four days in May, Pilcrow Lit Fest will bring authors, writers, poets, librarians, booksellers, and publishers from around the country together in support of small presses and independent media through small workshops, panel discussions, lectures and author readings.

On the first evening of the Pilcrow Lit Fest programmed and curated by Amy Guth and hosted by the Fix Coffee Bar and other local joints, a humble gathering of writers/readers and listeners took pleasure in two essays by two very entertaining and intelligent women.

Katie Schwartz makes us wince with disgust over her maintenance man, Shitwardo she calls him, and his bowl violation of her blessed bathroom. A lesson on how not to let guests use your toilette facility.

Jami Attenberg reminds us why we stop seeing that ex-boyfriend, because you are worth more. Advice: It will never be like it used to be and even it were it wouldn’t be good anyway and you’d still be sleeping with men you used to date because you let yourself drink too much and fall into familiarity.

Visit the Fixx Reading Series on the web

“Night of the Fireflies,” is a short film written and directed by Matthew Vasiliauskas shot here in Chicago. Matthew is a senior at Columbia College majoring in screenwriting and he is also a critic and interviewer for Film Monthly. He has interviewed the likes of David Lynch, Elijah Wood, and other notables. But this time Matthew is at the helm.

His hopes is for Night of the Fireflies to be accepted at the festivals and we here at The UnScene Chicago will be right there to cheer Matthew on.