‘Throw’ Is Chosen As Vimeo Staff Pick
2/20/2016
With a host of festival screenings under our belt, we’re thrilled to finally be able to share that Throw, presented by YoYo Expert, has been selected as a Vimeo Staff Pick by Vimeo Curator, Ian Durkin and the Vimeo team in New York.
Directed by ELM’s David Larson and Darren Durlach, Throw tells the story of Coffin Nachtmahr’s journey from a misunderstood teenager in East Baltimore to a national yo-yo performer who has transformed the simple activity of yo-yoing into a transfixing dance of creativity, innovation, and connection.
We hope you enjoy Throw as much as we enjoyed creating it. We have a lot of people to thank (check out the list below!), but we are especially grateful to Coffin for letting us share his story.
We are always open to ideas, especially for stories that shine a light on something or someone that doesn’t get a lot of attention. If you have something to share, please shoot us an email at [email protected].
Film Credits
- Directors: Darren Durlach & David Larson
- Executive Producer: Jody Weldon
- Producer: Liz Norton / Cerebral Lounge & Iris D’Arcangelo / Cerebral Lounge
- Associate Producer: Alexander Glass
- Filming: David Larson, Darren Durlach, Alexander Glass
- Writing: Darren Durlach & David Larson
- Cast: Coffin Nachtmahr, Satarian Montgomery, Eon Duzant
- Aerial: Jody Weldon
- Design: Jody Weldon & Darren Durlach
- Sound Design: Nick Sjostrom / Cerebral Lounge
- Sound Mix: Nick Sjostrom / Cerebral Lounge
- Licensed Music: Warner/Chappell Production Music
- Special Thanks: Coffin Nachtmahr, yoyoexpert.com, Clean Cuts, Mitch Silver, YOYOSAM.com, Bomb Squad, Paul Han, Iris D’Arcangelo, Liz Norton, Kathryn Durlach, Ashlene Larson, Jennifer Weldon, Stan Heist, Amy Marquis, Maribeth Livingston, the wonderful City of Baltimore and all the dreamers.
Throw is Official Selection at Mountainfilm
We’re excited to kick off our new passion project film series, Invisible Thread, in Telluride, Colorado with the debut of Throw at Mountainfilm 2016.
Throw tells the story of an outsider from East Baltimore, an area challenged by gang violence and poverty. Often misunderstood, Coffin Nachtmahr found acceptance among a subculture of “throwers” and it turns out, he’s a virtuoso. He now helps others find a creative and social outlet by sharing the very toy that inspired him.
David Larson, the co-director of the film, was walking through Patterson Park when he discovered Coffin playing with a yo-yo. Coffin is hard not to notice with his gothic appearance, eye makeup, and prodigy-like throwing moves. After a brief conversation we decided to learn more and now we’re proud to finally debut the film later this month. Please stay tuned to watch the full version that will soon be available on our website and social media channels.
This was an exciting and humbling project for us to undertake. Thank you Coffin for letting a couple of awkward dudes with cameras tag along with you for a little while, and of course thank you for having the courage to share your inspirational story.
What we do as a company is capture the human experience. That’s our promise because that’s who we’re passionate about. People. The Invisible Thread series is fueled by our passion for telling people-driven stories and will be an ongoing project that explores human connectivity, life, death, and all the moments in between. We want it to be diverse, funny, serious, and informative. We plan to have a section dedicated on our website to the series in the future, and we welcome any and all story ideas that you would like to contribute to our love of storytelling.
If you plan to attend Mountainfilm this year, come to say hi! Drinks are on Dave.
Throw Wins Mountainfilm Festival Director’s Award in Telluride
We are thrilled to announce that our short documentary about a young man from East Baltimore, who found a creative outlet in the art of yo-yo “throwing,” was selected to win the Festival Director’s Choice Award at the 2016 Telluride Mountainfilm Festival.
Throw, which was co-directed by ELM founders Darren Durlach and David Larson, was selected by festival director David Holbrooke for the award. The documentary’s subject, Coffin Nachtmahr, was also at the festival to receive the award with the filmmakers.
It was amazing to see how well the film was received by audiences at Mountainfilm. Everywhere we went in Telluride, people gravitated toward Coffin. He’s a remarkable person and an awesome performance artist. We were grateful for the opportunity to tell his story.
David Larson / Co Founder, ELM
The 10-minute documentary, which was shot in prominent East Baltimore locations, such as Patterson Park and the Baltimore Cemetery, unfurls Nachtmahr’s story about finding his place through the unlikely pursuit of yo-yoing. Growing up in East Baltimore, he never felt like he fit in, until he discovered a subculture of “throwers.” Using a simple toy and doing something he loved, Nachtmahr found purpose, acceptance and community.
Throw is the first in the Invisible Thread series of documentaries that we have planned for production. The series will explore universally relatable, people-driven stories.
“Coffin’s story is about finding joy in a simple thing and place where he belonged. That’s something everyone can relate to, no matter where you’re from,” said Durlach. “The Invisible Thread series is fueled by our passion for telling people’s stories and will be an ongoing project that explores life, death, and all the moments in between.”
Throw will premiere in Baltimore at the Patterson Theatre in the Creative Alliance on August 24, 2016. The short documentary will also be shown at screenings across the U.S. and internationally, as part of Mountainfilm on Tour.
We hope you will join us for the premiere and will be sure to keep everyone updated through our social channels and blog.
Throw Wins Best Storytelling At The Addy Awards
We are thrilled to share that Early Light Media was honored with a Special Judges Award in “Best Storytelling” for the short documentary Throw, last night at the 43rd Annual Baltimore American Advertising Awards Show (the ADDYs). The ELM team also took home a gold ADDY in the category of Cinematography for Throw and a silver ADDY in the category of Branded Content over :60 for Vulnerability is Sexy, a short film that was produced in partnership with Round Table Companies.
Throw, which unfurls the story of Coffin Nachtmahr, a self-proclaimed “outsider” from East Baltimore with a supernatural talent for yo-yoing, has been honored with a number of awards in the past year, including the Festival Director’s Awards at Mountainfilm in Telluride and a Vimeo Staff Pick. The branded documentary, presented by YoYo Expert, was completed in April 2016.
We are humbled to win this award and we share the honor with Coffin, who is an inspirational human both in how he views the world and as the subject of REALLY compelling images.
Darren Durlach / Co Founder, ELM
