BUDGET ROCK CONFIDENTIAL aka MUMMIES MOVIE Teaser 3 mins.

My first narrative feature and off and on collaboration with garage rock legends, the Mummies. Both professional and non-professional actors make up the large cast. We’ve really leaned into a true DIY approach making our own props, costumes and asking for tons of favors. A total out of pocket and sometimes out of mind experience. Inspired by the Monkees TV show, Roger Corman and 60’s low brow comedies, our film is COMING SOON TO A DRIVE-IN NEAR YOU IN 2026!

A delinquency epidemic has broken out in San Lameo. The Mummies, caught up in the hysteria, are being pursued by an angry TV journalist, a deranged cop and a slimy group of scenesters who attempt to dethrone the Kings of Budget Rock.

Directed, Produced, Co-Written, Co-Photographed and Edited by Jim Granato

A DAY WITH MY BOY : SLUG WAR (2014) 4 mins.

As an 80’s kid, I never did make that army soldier movie young budding filmmakers were supposed to make in their early teens. After I turned 40, I decided to give it a shot and introduce movie making to my kid. I consider this short film (shot on Super 8 and an iPhone 4) as something of a hybrid between narrative fantasy & experimental documentary. At it’s core it is a snapshot in time, a reflection of love, family bonding and frustration.
Selected by PBS for their online indies series.

Army soldiers, on a mission to protect a satellite dish, are caught up in a battle with an unexpected visitor. Meanwhile, filmmaker Jim Granato collaborates with his son, Alex Rey (age 4), competing with his unstoppable energy and spontaneous creativity.

Directed, Produced, Written, Photographed, Edited and Co-Starring Jim Granato

ANGELS (2013) 6 mins.

I was asked by the Roxie in San Francisco to make an original short film to screen at a fundraiser they were having, with Thee Oh Sees and Sonny & the Sunsets performing. I needed to include the Roxie in this and then I remembered this silly idea I’ve had ever since I moved to SF… my first week there? Fleet week. Nominated for a Golden Gate Award SFIFF 2013. This is my tribute to the Roxie cinema, SF’s quirky denizens and a quick run through some of the city’s infamous film history.

Also made available through Fandor.

An innocent man walks through San Francisco clueless to the fact that the Blue Angels are in town practicing their air show. After several encounters with the mysterious roars from above and the city's more colorful characters, our hero snaps and runs amok, seeking shelter. The movies are just around the corner! But, in our hero's case, he's on their corner.

Directed, Produced, Written & Edited by Jim Granato

SO LONG, KODACHROME (2010) 7 mins.

This was originally shot on expired Super 8 Kodachrome magnetic sound film stock in late 2009. I was invited by film curator Melinda Stone to participate in a BAM/PFA program paying tribute to Kodachrome by making a film with one of a handful of rolls of film that was donated to them by a filmmaker who ran an amateur film club. This was also SOUND ON FILM and mostly edited in camera. So rehearsal was necessary before every take! I did have some extra S8 sound film to add to this challenging project making it a 2 reeler. SLK screened at several film festivals worldwide. One festival even asked me to cut a trailer, using an outtake from the film.

A deal goes down in a shady motel room where our (anti-)hero gets more than he bargains for. So Long, Kodachrome is an ode to Super 8 and the beloved, now defunct, popular color film stock while paying homage to a famous 70’s American landmark film.

Directed, Produced, Written & Edited by Jim Granato

WEST IS SAN FRANCISCO (2011) Excerpt 1 min.

A frenetic fusion of night and day, movement and stasis, work and play - an iconographic city rides the flux of boom and bust in the 21st century.

Here’s an excerpt from a 32 min. film collaboration between six San Francisco filmmakers, inspired by Vertov’s A MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA. We were to capture SF at the end of the first decade of the 21st century. Related to the film club I help found, the Super 8 Exquisite Corpse, a fellow member provided 30 rolls of S8 kodachrome to shoot before the end of 2010. It was then that the last lab in the world to process kodachome was about to end that service forever. Six filmmakers, each with very different styles came together assigned with different facets that make up a city: transportation, nature, industry, culture, etc. The film was screened twice, both times with live music accompaniment.

A film by B. Berzins, Jim Granato, Nicole Minor, Doug Schultz, Anjali Sundaram, and Phoebe Tooke

Music composed & performed by Bill Cameron, Dina Maccabee, and Pat Spurgeon

Co-Directed, Produced and Edited by Jim Granato

SUPER 8 X-CORPSE! (2001-2005) Variety of themes -3 min. reels

"Pigeon" is one of dozens of short films made exclusively on Super 8 Kodachrome by the SF X-Corpse Super 8 group.

The San Francisco Exquisite Corpse Super 8 group (SF X-Corpse) were made up of a rotating group of artists from a variety of arts backgrounds; painting, photography, sculpture, performance art, and film who participated in the making of these films, in many cases with limited film experience. In a direct sense the films are experiments in a visual narrative and provide alternative ideas about the subject. In an indirect sense these films capture a moment in San Francisco and the lives of those participating in the films.

The impetus for the Exquisite Corpse Films follows from the original surrealist construct presented by Andre Breton in 1920. Each film was created using a 3 minute cartridge of Kodachrome super 8 film and was assigned a topic chosen by the group, with (6) 30 second opportunities to describe the subject. The filmmakers edited their contributions 'in camera' and the films are presented as they were shot.

Co-Directed & Co-Produced by Jim Granato

HUMAN SKINS (2003) 8 mins

In October, 2003 I got together with several friends to participate in the 48 hour film project. At that time it was a fairly new idea that pushed filmmakers to write, shoot, and edit a short film within a weekend. The festival supplied me and my cohorts with a list of specific instructions (as described in the opening sequence) that we, as participants, had to include in our film.

We received our instructions on a Friday evening, and about 15 people deliberated for hours late into the night what the film should be. I ended up writing a script in an hour during the wee hours early that next morning. Then our group shot for about 19 hours Saturday, editing all day on Sunday and showed the film THAT evening to an enthusiastic packed Roxie theatre in San Francisco. Good times!

Directed, Produced, Written, Edited by Jim Granato

FAGS AND A PINT (2005) 5 mins.

Filmed on 16mm in the summer of ‘99, these elements sat around for awhile before I put it back together to make its video debut. A funny, dark satire on ignorance and bigotry. Sadly, still relevant today! Based on an actual incident that happened to the writer/director.

A young Englishman takes an evening stroll in his colorful San Francisco neighborhood. From what starts out to be a very casual outing turns into a frightening and strange experience when a couple of strangers mistake him for someone else.

Co-Produced, Co-Edited, Sound Design, Foley & Co-Starring Jim Granato
Written & Directed by Bob Lucas.