Packed to bursting, the Year-End Showdown for the third year of the Loft Cinema’s First Friday Shorts contest was a pure joy ride for contest fans and newcomers alike. For die-hard gong junkies like myself, it was a sentimental journey through 12 months of contests. So many fine films, so much comic talent, and none of the bad films to detract from the pleasure. And from this competitive scrum one champion emerged, and I got the scoop in an interview with the winning filmmaker, but you’ll have to read to the end to get the dirt.

To kick off the night, the mock-macho “Mas Que Nada� tickled everyone’s moustache. Then Shaun Clayton’s “First Date/Last Date� showcased Clayton’s delightfully dark humor, and Beefy Log’s “Senior Summer� suicide contest proved irrepressible. The homicidal alarm clock in “Beep Beep Kill Kill� still flits through my nightmares, and the animated legumes in the brief “Pea Pod Brothers� remind me of my boyhood. I’ll never see another Sonic commercial without thinking of the ingenious “Coney and Tots� spoof. Then came the Tim LaVoie comedy juggernaut with his back-to-back winners, “Crazy Horse� and the skit collection “Shorts With Lust.� Next up who could help but hum along to “Hold On Girl� (where is it on the charts?) and swoon for their favorite brother. And to cap the evening, “Nipple,� a testament to every man’s darkest hour and a laugh-riot with dramatic heft, brought howls from the crowd.

This was not just the Showdown night, it was also a regular contest night limited to six films. One of them, to the best of my comprehension, was a sincere documentary by a local preacher who argues that Jesus was descended from Ronald Reagan (I know the Prez came chronologically after Our Savior, but that was the pitch). I think many of us thought this film was a mock-doc at first, and only gradually realized it was serious. If anyone has more info on the evangelist or his film, I’d like to know.

Although the crowd on this night was huge and vocal, one inebriated heckler was particularly loud, foul and abusive. His verbal vitriol crossed the line during the Jesus documentary screening, and so I give much praise to the Loft staff for removing him. The crowd applauded heartily as the hooligan was escorted out of the theater. Shaun Clayton won the monthly prize with a collection of six spec TV commercials he made for various commercial contests.

For the Showdown, all the films deserve acclaim in their own way, and there were many outstanding comic moments. But one film rose above the fray, and won the ballot vote. That was “Nippleâ€� by budding filmmaker and first-time Loft contest entrant Luke Jacob Howard. Howard’s film earned high praise when it won April’s contest (the month before!) and it deserved to win the Showdown. The Loft presented him with a championship belt (think WWF) so the victory was extra sweet. Check the film out at www.padd.com and click the “Nipple” button.

I talked to Luke Howard on the phone about his film, and I’ll call him Luke here. This is the first short film Luke ever made because he started his filmmaking career by making a feature film with a friend which apparently did not turn out so well. Clearly he learned from his mistakes.

It all came about because he’d been going past the Loft for months, and every time he would see the First Friday Shorts on the marquee, he’d think to himself that he should make a short film for the contest. Luke played the lead in the film, and he brought endearing comic torment to the main character, but he’s not an actor and never intended to act in the film. The guy who was supposed to play the lead flaked out, so Luke, determined to make a film, stepped in as lead actor in addition to writer, director, cameraman and editor.

He has a strong background in writing (majored in English at UA) and the “Nippleâ€� idea came from an assignment for a writing class – a non-fiction essay. Too self-conscious to write non-fiction about himself, Luke came up with the “Nipple” idea while brushing his teeth in the mirror one morning, then wrote it up as if it were true for the class assignment. The class loved it. So when he turned to making the short film, he took the idea and expanded upon it.

The shoot, with only his mom as crew, was tough, and he started it the week before the March FFS, hoping to enter that month. Not only did the lead actor flake, but the actor who was supposed to play the office friend flaked too, the night before. Luke recruited Kevin Morrey (well done Kevin), an acquaintance from high school, at the 11th hour. He finally finished shooting, but after a marathon edit (Final Cut Pro), he still was not finished in time.

So Luke went to check out FFS for the first time, without a film, in March. Alarmed by the rowdy crowd and the gong, he had second thoughts about submitting his film and risking public derision. But his mom, after all her hard work as his crew, insisted that he enter (thanks mom), so he entered in April, to our delight.

I was curious about how he created the nipple drop, and the nipple his character carries around. He used Crayola Magic, a modeling clay like Play-Doh, and made multiple versions, then tested them. The nipple drop scene required a full day of experimenting with the camera, using different nipples, and different combinations of tape and make-up to hide his real nipple, but the effort paid off.

Luke seems quite surprised, and understandably pleased, about the success of “Nipple� and he’s ready to make another short film. He’s glad he won the money, but more than that he’s thrilled about the year of free movies at the Loft because he loves film. Like all of us, he’s very thankful for the Loft and hopes to see the film community grow in Tucson. Thank you Luke for a hilarious film. Thank you Loft Cinema for the contest that inspired Luke to make the film. And thank you to all of the other filmmakers and fans who make the First Friday Shorts event a one-of-a-kind entertainment jackpot. See you Friday night!