SHOOT IT, CUT IT, CAN IT, SCREEN IT FILMMAKING ON THE FLY IS THE IDEA OF ELEVATE.

Byline: SANDRA BARRERA

>LA.COM 

"Did you hear that? The director just said, 'Action!' "

That's comedian Shelley Berman.

He was in the Saban Center for Health and Wellness in Woodland Hills on a recent afternoon, leading a group of showbiz veterans in a poetry reading. The gathering of animators, writers and actors meets at the center weekly to recite their favorite verses and engage in lively, thoughtful conversation.

Only this time, a film crew was hovering over their shoulders, hoping to come away with a winning documentary short for tonight's Elevate Festival of Film and Music at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.

The competition challenges an international contingent of established filmmakers to create 10-minute works of social and global importance in the categories of documentary short, narrative short, music video or commercial.

A total of 21 projects will be screened at the festival, which is free to the public by wristband on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the box office.

"Because the films are so short and the subject matter is so deep, it really forces the filmmaker to get straight to the heart of a story and trim away all the fat," says Mikki Willis, the award-winning filmmaker who launched the festival in 2005 at the Golden Bridge Yoga Studio in Hollywood.

Subsequent events at the Ford Amphitheatre and the Pasadena Civic Auditorium continued to generate buzz among established filmmakers.

It's no wonder. Filmmakers are given only 48 hours to produce the project, from start to finish, whether it's a documentary about a Detroit man dying of cancer, a narrative in search of the divinity in President Bush, a music video for a new song by Alanis Morissette or a commercial for a collapsible kayak.

"A lot of projects take years before you see the final product, but with this you're forced to have a final product in 48 hours so it's a nice creative process," says Chris Bradley, a participating filmmaker who produced a documentary short about a married couple of fire performers for the first Elevate Festival.

The idea wasn't his own.

Filmmakers draw the topic they are to produce from a hat full of submissions from outsiders, festival organizers and in-house writers workshops.

Bradley, whose latest film is the hybrid documentary "Pittsburgh" starring Jeff Goldblum, says he was told about the poetry reading on his way to the Woodland Hills location for the shoot.

"Immediately, you're brainstorming ideas of how you're going to tell the story and make it visually interesting and make a complete story, especially within the time limit," he says.

Now standing behind his crew, Bradley crosses his arms as he meditates on the interaction between the elderly members of the class.

There's the animated Berman, the elegant screenwriter Tony Lawrence and character actress Lillian Adams, whom the camera zeroes in on at this moment.

The plump 85-year-old woman is reading a poem she wrote about the death of her son.

He drowned nearly 30 years ago; the spare, powerful poem came a decade later, but Adams says she rarely reads it out loud.

"When I first brought it to class a couple of weeks ago, I couldn't even open my mouth, so I handed it to somebody else to read for me," Adams says.

Even now as she reads it, she weeps.

"We share, Lilly, we share," Berman would later say.

But it wasn't always so intense.

"It's an interesting mix of comedy and heart so we're trying to bring that out," Bradley says as he wraps up the shoot.

So, what next?

"Go back to the editing room, see what we have and stay up until it's done," he says.

Sandra Barrera [phone]

[e-mail]

The Elevate Festival of Film and Music

In a nutshell: A guerrilla filmmaking competition that challenges the international film community to create groundbreaking works of social and global importance on a tight deadline.

Where: The Kodak Theatre, 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood.

When: 7:30 tonight.

Admission: Free, but limited guaranteed premium seats are available for $22 at the Kodak Theatre box office.

Information: www.ElevateFestival.com.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2) Director Chris Bradley, above, makes his documentary -- which screens tonight -- on a senior poetry reading class in Woodland Hills. At left, Bradley listens to comedian Shelley Berman, one of the subjects of his film.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer