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Tulsa's young star power, circa 1998
Published: 8/23/2012 11:36 AM
Last Modified: 8/23/2012 11:36 AM

That's a young Bill Hader in one of the short films shown in the early days of Tulsa Overground Film Festival, which ran for 10 years beginning in 1998.

"The Apparition," the Warner Bros. horror film written and directed by Tulsa native Todd Lincoln, opens on Friday in theaters, with fan-favorite cast members including Ashley Greene (Alice Cullen in the "Twilight" movies), Sebastian Stan ("Captain America's" sidekick Bucky) and Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy in the "Harry Potter" movies).

We should equally consider the not-yet-a-celebrity factor that attended the first Tulsa Overground Film Festival, when a 21-year-old Todd Lincoln helped found the event in 1998, an annual short-film party that he and his friend Jeremy Lamberton would stage for the following 10 years.

Staged at the tiny and long-closed Fox 4 Theater, in the shopping center on the southeast corner of 51st Street and Harvard Avenue, the inaugural Tulsa Overground was packed with dozens of short films as well as a substantial amount of Hollywood talent for the future.
And that was just among the young guys in the audience.

Lincoln showed his own short film at the festival, and so did Lamberton, whose wacky "Biker Fox" documentary was accepted at the Slamdance Film Festival a couple of years ago.

Another of their friends in the audience: Tulsa native Josh Fadem, who today is a prominent Los Angeles-area comedian as well as a frequent contributor to the "Funny or Die" website.

And who was that guy sitting up close, watching his own short film that he had submitted? None other than Bill Hader, the "Saturday Night Live" cast member and film regular.

At that point, Hader was a 20-year-old aspiring filmmaker himself and a close friend of Lamberton. Hader would watch Lincoln’s progress in Hollywood and later decide to give it a try himself, Lincoln said.

"Bill kept hearing these stories, like 'Todd is working on this,' or 'Todd was on-set with Quentin Tarantino' (a production assistant on "From Dusk Till Dawn"), and he eventually came out to Los Angeles," Lincoln recalled.

"I first gave him a cheat sheet on where to go, and where to avoid, and he just stayed out here and kept at it. Of course, now we know the rest of the story."

"The people we had there that first night was amazing," he said of Tulsa Overground, which featured an eclectic array of short films including narrative stories, experimental works and animation -- from Tulsa artists as well as filmmakers from around the country and the world.

Then there were the added-value moments like belly dancers, mariachi bands and magicians to entertain. Then there were the legendary after-parties, which truly made Tulsa Overground an all-night affair.

"Overground is still one of my best achievements," said Lincoln, who recalls the many times Overground was held in downtown locations more than a decade ago that “parents were scared to let their kids come to down there in some of those empty buildings and warehouses.

"Now a lot of those places are where suburban, khaki-short dads are eating chips and salsa and watching the Oklahoma City Thunder on the big screen, so we feel good about having been down there back then."

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232867 (6 months ago)

Michael,

Are you going to see "2016"?

PrayingHam (6 months ago)

Wipe the foam off your mouth 23.

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I See Movies for Free

“I was born a poor, black child” … not me, actually, but Steve Martin’s character in the “The Jerk.” That absurd opening line is just one of the absurd number of film facts, quotes and minutiae contained in movie critic Michael Smith’s brain, at his disposal to toss out on a moment’s notice. It’s a key requirement as Tulsa World film critic to know these things. Michael learned a few other life facts along the way (seven years as a Crystal’s Pizza & Spaghetti manager) before attempting journalism and joining the Tulsa World in 1996, where he’s covered everything from a school shooting in Fort Gibson to a tornado in Stroud to witnessing an execution. A little community theater coverage was sprinkled in there, too. Movies engender many of his happiest memories, from standing in line for “Star Wars” and “Grease” at the Southroads Cinema to the James Bond and Pink Panther movies that always premiered at the enormous Continental Theater.

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Past Articles By Michael Smith

2/16/2013		Broken Arrow movie theater moves to discount showings
2/15/2013		Review: 'Amour'
2/15/2013		Review: 'A Good Day to Die Hard'
2/15/2013		Review: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/14/2013		Review: 'Quartet'
2/14/2013		Shirley MacLaine to speak at Osage Casino
2/14/2013		Weekly rewind: February 14
2/14/2013		REVIEW: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/12/2013		Belgian best picture hopeful 'Amour' opens in Tulsa on Friday
2/10/2013		'Die Hard' marathon at AMC Southroads on Wednesday ends with new film
2/9/2013		Review: 'Identity Thief' a stupid movie from stupid idea
2/8/2013		Oscar audit: Critics choices for best picture hold up over time

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