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2007 ShortDocs challenge:
Dollar Storeys

In 2007 we teamed up with the Dollar Store Show, a monthly(ish) reading and performance series inspired by items purchased at a dollar store. If it worked for short stories and art talks, it would work for radio, right? Right. So one freezing cold day in March, we met DSS founder Jonathan Messinger at his favorite dollar store in Chicago and painstakingly selected three items for the Dollar Storeys ShortDocs Challenge. We even recorded the experience.

Then we invited anyone and everyone to submit a short audio work (2:30 to 3 minutes) inspired by one of these items:     

- mug with feisty feminist banter printed on it
- 4-pack of wooden mousetraps
- old-school bicycle bell

Eighty-two Dollar Storeys were submitted from around the world. Four were chosen as the 2007 ShortDocs, and were presented, with producers on-hand, at the opening session of the 2007 Third Coast Conference. Along the way a few were even presented at Dollar Store Shows.
 

The 2007 ShortDocs

My Life as a Cup, by Sean Hurley

Stiff Peaks, by Jeffrey Letterly

The Trap, by David Maxon

How to be Heard, by Nina Perry

 

Want to hear the other 78 Dollar Storeys? Here they are, listed alphabetically:
 

How to Cheat On Your Wife, by Elizabeth Bloom Albert

Latin Mass, by Chris Angelos

American Dream, by Chris Angelos

The Angel and the Mourning Cloak, by Jim Barfuss

The Wishing Bell, by Max Barry

Mug Stories, by Audrey Berns

You Make My Heart Go, by John Biewen

Viva La Fiesta!, by Diane Bock

The Silent Work of Ordinary People, by Keith Brand and Nathan Long

Little Voices, Far Away, by Jennifer Brandel and Anne Glickman

Well Behaved Women, by Juanona Brewster

The Horrible Truth About Indie Ice Cream, by Gabe Bullard

I'm Not Bossy, by Gabe Bullard

Ayla, by WJ Carlton

Feisty Mama, by Melissa Canciller

Caryll and Sidney: An Unlikely Love Story, by Kay Collins

Sidney, by Kaye Collins

I'm Alive!!!, by Brian Corbet

Don't Touch This, by Pat Corbet

Instant Coffee, by Dennis Conrow

Mouse Trap Music, by Christopher Danforth

Me and Mousetraps, by David Daskal

The Mousetrap Enthusiasts, by Jamie Dell'Apa

Bike Bell Bandito, by Darlene Dennard

Elizabeth's Mug, by Dirk van der Duim

Lapsed Trappist, by Stuart Ewings and Philip Briant

Life Plays On, by Byron Flitsch

Frenchie Movie, by Tim Forrest with Jeff Peters

Unless We Showed Up in Hazmat Suits, by Hillary Frank

Daisy Chaining, by Joe Giovannetti

Learning to Ride, by Janna Graham

What Do You Want?, by Julia Grant

Miss Cholita Pageant, by Ruxandra Guidi

An Orchestra of Bicycles, by Rene Gutel

Thrown, by Roxana Hadad with Shiow-Jiau Yung

A Time to Tip, by David Hain

Thrifty Liquidators, by Michael Hearst and Rick Moody

I Thought I'd Be Rewarded for My Dating Gumption, by Saya April Hillman

House Trap, by Robert Hoare and Steven Sauve

An American Tail, by Anastasia Ivanova

Chinese Pants, by Ramona Jan and Lucy Jan-Turan

Mugs With Messages, by Suzy Kahn

Bells, by Frank Karall and Culled

The Mousetrap, by Donovan Keith and Tamara Keith

Hot Lips, by Yuko Kodama

Can't Catch Us All, by Conor Lennon

My Bike Had a Burger Bell, by Mia Lobel

The Assassin's Bell, by Charles Maynes with Allakhverdov, Uporova and Kislitsina

Mini-Meta-Mouse-umentary, by Sue Mell

Stupid, Stupid Cup, by Sue Mell

The New Pleasant Revolution, by Tony Mendoza and Michael Slaboch

Buddhist Mice, by Karen Michel

Hickory Dickory Mouse, by Karen Michel

Red Baiting, by Joe Milutis

Invasion, by Robert McGinley Myers

In Which the Coffee Mugs Offer Explanation, by Rick Moody and Laura Vitale

Gifts, by Firestone Mulvaney

Actionwomen, by Anna Norberg and Simon Norberg

Living Off the Land, by Nannette Drake Oldenbourg

I've Got a Question for You, by Zak Rosen

Bicycle Belles, by Stephanie Rowden

Curve of the Earth, by Stephanie Rowden with Keith Taylor

Gone Mousin', by Rebecca Sheir

Musings Over Coffee, by Sandra Sleight-Brennan

Well Behaved Women, by Alexander Soleev

Stood There Ringing, by Megan Stielstra and Shiow-Jiau Yung

Tea for Matilda, by Catherine Stifter

I Was a Pre-teen Nightmare, by Jill Summers

Of Mice and Music, by David Swatling

A Tale of Two Mice, or, Dry Sponge Cake, by Catie Talarksi

Tintinnabulation (Florence, Italy), by Lisa Tharpe

The Irresistible Draw of the Dollar Store, by Kevin Theis

Really Nice, by Laura Vitale

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Mousetrap, by Ezekiel Weaver

Avant Guardian, by David Weinberg

The Golden Mug Award, by David Weinberg

Ring it Loud, by Emily Williams

 

 

 

 

Dollar Store Show

Founded by Jonathan Messinger, the Dollar Store Show, no longer exists - but it had fun while it lasted, and proved to be a perfect inspiration for the Dollar Storeys ShortDocs Challenge.

 

mug with feisty feminist banter

 

4-pack of wooden mousetraps

 

old-school bicycle bell

 

where the adventure started...