Iowa guys get movie greenlight

By Kate Bullen / THE DAILY IOWAN / May 13, 2004

It only takes one film to make stars out of the unknowns. It worked for Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, who became celebrities with Good Will Hunting, starring in a film with script they had written. Now first-year UI student Scott Beck and Bryan Woods are hoping to do the same.

Beck and Woods, a student at Scott Community College in Bettendorf, put together one of 1,700 submissions to Affleck's and Damon's Project Greenlight. According to the website www.projectgreenlight.com, Damon and Affleck started the contest in 2000 to give aspiring screenwriters a chance at fame. The 2001 event added a cate-gory for directing, in which Beck and Woods entered a three-minute scene titled "Amber," a story of a man struggling to find his life's direction.

Beck and Woods have been making movies together since sixth grade.

"We're sort of like the Coen brothers or the Farrelly brothers, except we're not related," Beck said. "In the past three years, we have come an extremely long way and have improved 1,000 percent. During our sophomore year [in high school], we became more serious about filmmaking and created a name for ourselves - Bluebox Limited." Information about the pair's films can be found at www.blueboxlimited.com, including the pair's newest one, University Heights, which will première June 26 in Davenport's Adler Theatre.

Following "Amber," Beck and Woods were required to make a biography video for the next round of competition.

"Most of the contestants have just set up a camera a filmed themselves talking," Beck said. "Bryan and I worked on several concepts." Ultimately, the video demonstrated the pair's varied shooting style, using several camera-handling techniques.

"We figured it was a long shot to get in the Top 50 and that our journey was over. We were happy enough placing in the Top 250," Beck said of the biography-video submission. On April 27, at 6 p.m., however, Beck found out that he and Woods had made it to the Top 50.

"I got several phones calls back to back from my friends, and my parents were going crazy," said Beck. "It is so incredible to make it to this point, and even if Bryan and I don't progress any further, we feel very satisfied. Our main priority is to create films that entertain but are thought-provoking, smart, and fun. Our goal in filmmaking is to get our films seen by mass audiences."

The Top 10 finalists were announced Wednesday night. The final level consists of interviews in Los Angeles with the panel of judges, including Affleck and Damon. The winner of this round will have her or his film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.