Subject: 2008 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL NOTIFICATION From:"programming@sundance.org ..(External Utility Mailbox..)" Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2007 11:07:08 -0700
RE: Film ID#2675 - Praxis
Dear Alex,
On behalf of our programming staff, I would like to thank you for submitting your film to the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Unfortunately, we are not able to include it in our program this year. We received nearly one thousand more submissions this year (over 8,500 in total) than we did for the 2007 Festival, so many tough decisions had to be made in order to narrow the field down to under 200 films. Please rest assured that your work was carefully considered by our programming team, and the decision was incredibly difficult to say the least.
My sincere hope is that this decision does not discourage you in any way. I would like to wish you the best of luck with your film, and we look forward to having the opportunity to view your work in the future.
Sincerely,
Geoffrey Gilmore
Director, Sundance Film Festival
Subject:
SLAMDANCE 2008 NARRATIVE FEATURE SUBMISSION
From:
Sarah Diamond
Date:
Tue, 04 Dec 2007 12:09:16 -0800
To:
Sarah Diamond
Dear Filmmaker, We am so sorry to tell you we were unable to include your feature into the 2008 Slamdance program. Thank you so much for submitting. Slamdance is limited by space constraints in Park City to program 15 narrative features, though the quality of submissions would allow us to program many more than that.
Please keep in mind that Slamdance is just one festival out of hundreds of others. Our film program is based on the subjective decisions of our programming committees. Please don’t take this rejection as any indication of the quality of your film, or its potential for a successful, well-regarded future.
hard to believe that it's december already. the year seemed to fly by, but in reality, there have been lots of really great things that have happened this year. but the cold air is coming really soon, and it's a great time to stay in, and work.
i've been watching a lot of an show called BROTHERHOOD, that's on showtime, and i guess they're hoping for it to replace the sopranos. anyhoo, if you haven't seen the show, i highly recommend it, particularly because the acting is incredible. ethan embry and jason issacs are both amazing to watch, and i think the thing about the show that i find appealing is that the story is told heavily on what's implied, on the visuals, the subtle and umcofortable feeling that develops when you don't know what people are really up to. there isn't a ton of background music to influence how you should feel about a scene, and you end up feeling pretty edgy about what's going to happen next. i love this kind of visual storytelling, and i definitely find it inspiring in the kind of filmmaking that i'm into. anyhoo, if you haven't seen the show, it's definitely worth checking out, and a definite must see for any aspiring actor.
on the film distribution end of things - i picked up a book called the insider's guide to independent film distribution by stacey parks, and so far it's right on target. the film industry is completely different than what it was even only a few years ago. when i first started writing PRAXIS, it was still difficult to make an indie feature, but in the time that it's taken to produce the film, the film distribution market has been flooded by miniDV features that it's incredibly difficult to get your work even shown. it helps to have something screen at a festival, but at the same time, if you think of the number of every film screened at every festival every year, even a distributor has a hard time figuring out what's worth investing in. it's not the distributor's fault - if you just think about it on your own terms, if a filmmaker came up to you and asked you to give up your own money to invest in distributing a film, what would it take? for me, it would be the least amount of risk and a higher chance at return and even a profit.
even though this is all the business side of things, it's the area that i need to do more research on, particularly on promoting PRAXIS. none of this has anything to do with art. it's all business. what it is that it's a new day, and it's important to remain patient and realistic. and also to develop a plan A, plan B, and plan C. in the meantime, i'm also working on some new scripts too, which gives me a good respite.
i think it's important to remember why you chose to make films, and to stick to it.
so, it's been a few days from the trip out to l.a., and i've needed almost every bit of free time to recover from the trip. i'm not very good with jet-lag, and i've had a really tough time figuring out what time it is, pretty much as soon as i stepped on the plane. when people ask me how was it, i pretty much respond with, "it was a rough trip." being in santa monica was cool, and there were parts of the trip that were really cool. but the market itself was rough, and not a really fun experience. but i learned a hell of a whole lot from the trip, and it was good for me to get out there and really experience what it's like. and i'm happy to share my experiences and thoughts about the market to anyone out there who's curious about what it's like.
(i wrote the following few paragraphs while waiting at the gate at LAX for my flight back home):
the past few days of attending the American Film Market could be literally summed up in one word: insane. it's hard to describe the how crazy the market has been for the past few days. but because the market is what it is, i wasn't able to vlog about it, which i initially thought i would have the time to do. the sheer number of filmmakers and screenwriters and distributors and buyers and sales agents, it's hard to believe that they all can be at the same place at the same time making million dollar deals to the latest teen slasher flick. but as with any convention type atmosphere, it's difficult to get your worked noticed.
i was able to meet quite a number of people of various levels of experience and professions and the lot. lots of business cards exchanged, and i was fortunate enough to meet with several potential distributors. it's hard to say if anything will result from these meetings - even though i think i make pretty good movies, my pitch isn't always on target. but i'm learning, and that's important.
there seems to be this general conservative attitude to all studios and distributors. the bottom line is that they're in the business of making money. the film itself is not important - the box office is. this attitude has a serious negative backlash to any filmmaker struggling to get their work seen, and i'd like to say that the general feeling i got from most of the people i met at the market was that of a very cynical attitude toward the industry and hollywood. i was able to find commraderie with other east coast filmmakers, either those based in new york or the like. the east coast/west coast attitude was clear to me, and in a way, it helped me re-enforce what type of film PRAXIS is, and what it represents.
PRAXIS is not a specific genre piece. when i describe the work to some as arthouse/experimental, i generally got a blank look on people's faces. but as soon as i mention kurosawa, kubrick, and david lynch, it all of a sudden makes sense. while when i described the project to anyone from the east coast, they totally get it. tho, i did meet a few 'old school' hollywood film people, ones who've been in the town for more than thirty years, making movies back in the early sixties and seventies. they were very cool to talk to, and they were surprised that i should mention names like kubrick and kurosawa. one told me that he was pitching an idea to a distributor, and mentioned 'the french connection', and the distributor had no idea what he was talking about. sad as it is, this is what the industry is, and what it has become.
in a lot of ways, it's a little early for me to attend the market with PRAXIS - the film was only completed this past june, and still needs a good two years of playing at the festivals. after that, then it would a good time to come to the market. but there's also a possibility that one of the distributors that i met with might really get into it, and it can all go from there. ya never know...
on a lighter note, i recently had a friend tell me his thoughts about PRAXIS. i sent him a screener a while back, and he finally let me know what he thought of the film. even though he didn't get it, he compared it to the work of hungarian filmmaker bela tarr. i was thrilled at the comparison. quite honestly, if i could achieve even one tiny bit of the same filmmaking ideals and experimentation that bela tarr has done, i would be incredibly happy.
between bela tarr and the AFM, me and paul have decided to shift the whole marketing and focus of PRAXIS to more european markets and festivals that cater to more experimental/arthouse films. i think reaching out to more of a european audiences versus an american audience may help PRAXIS do better, and really get to people. someone at the market told me that teen slasher flicks and/or huge action or horror gore flicks don't really do well in europe. rather, the artsy dramatic intellectual films do really well. PRAXIS definitely challenges the intellect. so, let's see if this new direction will work.
if anything, the American Film Market experience has totally re-enforced the whole reason of why i make films, and to stick to that mentality. i've always been very punk-rock about this, and maybe that's the approach that the marketing for PRAXIS needs to go. the work needs to get seen by any means necessary. it may not be for everyone, and that's okay. but if and audience can get into it, it can be a totally amazing experience.
so, i'm glad to be home, and i'm glad to be back on the east coast. and, as always, it's back to work...
this past week, there were two very different events that had a profound influence on my general outlook, and a new way of approaching PRAXIS and the American Film Market. on saturday, i got a chance to go see a screening and performance of Bob Mould and his film Circle of Friends at the Lincoln Theatre as part of the Reel Affirmations Film Festival. initially, i was very indecisive about going, since it was a relatively odd time slot, saturday around 11:30. anyhoo, the crowd was very small and intimate, but it made the film and performance all the more enjoyable. after the screening, i got a chance to formally meet bob, and he was very kind and he signed a copy of the dvd for me. needless to say, i found the music and performance absolutely incredible - there was so much heart and straight up raw emotion in the music. there was no posing, or bullshit. bob was up there pouring out his heart, and it was incredible to share this event, and feel such a connection. it was beautiful. because bob used to be in the bands husker du and sugar, his music has always been rooted in the punk rock ethos. it reminded me where PRAXIS came about, and really how i should look at the film and the AFM. PRAXIS is an incredible film, and i shouldn't be pandering to the potential distributors at the AFM, it's the other way around. anyone who doesn't take notice of PRAXIS is losing out. it's their loss.
the other event was that i got a chance to watch NO RESTRAINT, a documentary about Matthew Barney. up until this point, i had never got a chance to see an on-camera interview with Matthew, i had only read interviews in magazines, seen some of his work, and read reviews in newspapers and such. in any case, this documentary was about his process of making his new film/performance/exhibit with bjork on a whaling ship in japan. this was incredibly beautiful, and so visually compelling...it's hard to describe in words. but i think that the coolest thing about this documentary was that Matthew seemed like a genuinely nice guy, very personable, very passionate and focused about his art, but also no pretention or ego there. he just makes things, and has been fortunate that other people have supported him throught out his career. but i think the main thing that i got from the doc was that matthew's work has always been about disconnecting the analytical mind to reach a higher state of experience. basically, it means that people should approach his work with an open mind, and not one that is purely there to make specific sense or reasons for what things represent. instead, let the work speak for itself, and let the experience take you to places that you couldn't attain without letting go of the analytical mind. i totally feel that PRAXIS is like this in it's experimental narrative - let go of the analyical mind, the need to make specific sense of it all, and let the visual experience take you to higher states of experiences.
Both bob mould and matthew barney have reminded me what PRAXIS is really all about.
thank you bob for reminding me about the punk rock ethos and that PRAXIS is all heart.
thank you matthew for reminding me that film is art, not science.
for the past few weeks, i've been preparing a ton of stuff to get ready for the American Film Market, which is a couple of weeks away. i'm excited about the trip, and have done a lot of research into a lot of the companies that are attending this year, trying to target the ones i think would be interested in a film like PRAXIS. but i'm also trying to be realistic about it. there are literally hundreds of companies and projects, and scripts, and vendors, etc. that are attending - how can you make your project stand out?
i'm definitely trying to be realistic about the market - it's not the end all be all. what it is is a strarting point, a chance to network with potential companies, meet other filmmakers, exchange war stories, etc. the companies are there to not only there to evaluate yourself as a filmmaker with a single projects, but also as a filmmaker with future projects and as someone they can work with. at the same time, you also have to get a feel for the companies and reps as to whether they are someone you can work with, or whether they're some sort of scam. basically, you have to be a total professional, and everything you do, including any after parties and such, is a reflection of you, and your potential as an overall creative filmmaker.
i've definitely posted a ton of questions on different filmmaker message boards to get a feel for what the market is like for other people - generally, the response is a little mixed. they mainly warn against potential scam artists, and companies that deal with way too many projects that they essentially put your project on a shelf. whatever the case may be, you definitely have to be incredibly alert a focused on everyone you talk to, and go with your instincts as to whether they're legit.
again, i'm still being very realistic with the market - i hope to meet potential distributors, but if not, it's not the end all be all.
on a lighter note, i've been attending a lot of the local film festivals and other local filmmaker functions to get a better feel of what a lot of the local organizations may have to offer. so far, it looks really cool, and because they are local, they are more willing to promote something if it was made in their region. it's also easier to get screenings and you have a higher chance of getting featured in a newspaper or magazine. i've just started with a lot of the local festivals, but hopefully they'll find a place for PRAXIS somewhere...
whatever the case may be, it is important to be both realistic, and positive and ethusiastic about the film - PRAXIS is a visually compelling work. knowing that this is it's strengths, and using that as leverage to set the film apart from other indie films that are out there.
so, i decided to put together a shorter version of the Making of Praxis on-line and on our myspace page. the longer version is about 20 minutes or so, and is basically meant for DVD extras and other publicity stuff. this 5 minute version is a lot more concise, and will hopefully help promote the film in a different way, mainly for the upcoming American Film Market.
watching this short video is incredibly encouraging. and i hope posting will help inspire other filmmaker to continue to make movies in their own way.
so, at the last minute, i've decide to attend the American Film Market in Santa Monica, CA the first weekend of november, and now i'm in a flurry of a ton of things to get ready for that week. i've always wanted to attend the American Film Market, and now that PRAXIS is done, i thought that it would be a good idea to fly out there and talk to a few people about the project.
a few people who i've talked to have only good things to say about the American Film Market, and it seems a lot more legit that other film markets. even though it's too late to screen PRAXIS there, i figured that PRAXIS is such a niche market type of film, that if i just set up meetings and talked directly to possible distributors, then this would be a lot better than trying to coax them to a screening that a ton of other people are trying to watch as well. if someone is seriously interested in the film, i'd rather let them watch it on their own time, take it all in, and consider the film in its own context. there are so many projects at the market, i think it would be easy to get mixed up. but ultimately, i think PRAXIS will do better with a smaller distribution company rather than a huge one.
the market is also a great way to meet with a bunch of film festivals as well, so hopefully, i'll be able to talk directly with specific festivals, and get gauge as to whether PRAXIS is something that they would be interested in screening.
so, with the market being only a month away, i've got tons of things to do - i don't know where to start. i definitely plan to contact some of the people i've met over the years to see if they have any advice about the AFM, and maybe some war stories as well.
the good thing tho is that the AFM has given me a huge boost in motivation to promote PRAXIS in a whole new way, and even possibly pitch new ideas to future projects. based on this experience, i am also now thinking that it would be worthwhile to attend SXSW as well, even if i'm not screening the film there.
but for now, let me get all my stuff together for AFM and a trip out to the west coast in about a month....
A good filmmaker friend of mine recently emailed me to congratulate the completion of PRAXIS. i met him a few years ago at the IFP in New York when i was promoting the script for THE DEAD SOLDIER, and back then he had completed his first feature. he said that this point of the production was the most frustrating time - when you've completed the film and you're sending it out to festivals and simply waiting, and waiting and waiting. there are no guarentees that anyone will like the film, or will it get into a festival, or how it's received. PRAXIS is currently in this state. and yes, it is incredibly frustrating.
i totally agree that PRAXIS seems like it's in a bit of limbo - the cast and crew screening months ago went incredibly well, and the film was well received by those who were fortunate to see it on the big screen. but a lot of that excitement has kind of worn off, and now its a whole new ballgame.
fortunately, what has been keeping me interested in filmmaking is finding inspiration in new ideas and new things to develop. I recently saw this video "Walls" by a band called Now Its Overhead, and i totally dig the animation of static images with motion graphics. creating a lot of the motion graphics for PRAXIS in After Effects got me interested in a whole new realm of creative possibilities, which is a combination of film, narrative, art, experimental, graphics, design, etc...i love the way that the video is done, and i find it incredibly inspiring to watch how the combination of images and music convey different emotions and feelings.
you have to have a pretty thick skin to be able to make films. and you also have to find things that inspire you and spur on the creative juices. i think it's important at this stage of production (more like promotion of PRAXIS) to keep me busy on other smaller projects that keep driving the imagination, and filmmaker's need to create anything that is visual.
as for PRAXIS, the film festival submissions continue, and the promotion continues, and the work keeps going, and going, and going...
So, I've finally done it, sent in copies of the film to sundance and slandance, along with entries to whistler and malibu. i do plan to send in more entries to other festivals as well, but right now is prolly the most frustrating time of the production - "the Wait", as in the waiting to hear from any festivals whether your film has been accepted or not. even thought i've been entering festivals for a good three months now, a lot of the notifications won't be until late september, early october. sundance is such a long shot, but i think praxis could do really well at slamdance if it were given a chance. so, we'll see...
in the meantime, i've been putting together promos for XM on current tv, just to keep myself busy and to add more material to my reel. i've also picked up a book on final cut and after effects, to kind of catch up and make sure i know of all the capabilities of both programs. i'd like to say that i have good working knowledge of avid - the others i can get away with, but really should study more. but i did use after effects to put together this XM spot, which i think turned out great. i just have to work at it a lot more.
there's also a good chance that i may be starting a new job as an assistant editor for an ad agency, which i'm excited about, but i'm also concerned about how much it could affect the film festivals and such. if it takes up too much time, i might bail. but then again, getting your foot in the door at any ad agency can open doors to directing more commercials and such.
i just got an email from an old friend of mine, robert loomis, a fellow filmmaker who i met at the IFP in new york back in 2001. it's been a very long time since i've heard from him, but still, it sounds like he's doing really well. he congratulated me on the film, and also mentioned how this phase of the film, the promotions and festivals and such, was the part that he really didn't enjoy. i have to agree with him. there's no way to tell how people will react to the film, and whether it'll get into any festivals. it seems like the fun part of making movies is the production end of it, not the promotions. sure, festivals can be a lot of fun, particularly meeting other people who dig your work. but all the work that it takes to put it out there is kinda a drag.
anyhoo, in the mean time, to keep myself busy in between the promotions of praxis and the writing and re-writing of other scripts, i've recently put together new promos for Current TV and XM. i decided to put together fun little promos that i could do quickly and easily, without a ton of thought put into it. these definitely help keep me busy on creating work in between the major filmwork, and i think that they are a worthwhile diversion. they ultimately also add to the reel.
so, i think it's worth it to look into other on-line communities that give filmmakers an opportunity to showcase work, and get feedback too. anyhoo, it's all in good fun...
last monday, i met up with tom macy because he and a friend were just stopping into dc to catch a ball game. they were traveling to several cities and checking out different stadiums and games - tom is a big baseball fan. anyhoo, i was able to meet up with him for a couple of drinks before they headed to the game. i kinda gave him the update on what was happening with the film - setting up a myspace page, submitting it to several festivals, sending it out to contacts, and pretty much everything i can to put the film out there. i even sent it to montreal and plan to send it to other foreign film fests too. he was really excited.
so i mentioned something to him that i noticed recently about a lot of the indie films that are out there now, wondering if its the current hip/cool thing to do to get your movie in a festival: animal suits. is it just me? or are there a ton of pseudo -indie comedies out there that involve one if not several characters dressed up in some sort of animal suit? is that all anyone has to do to get into sundance? does this mean that 'mumblecore' is out and 'animal suits' are in? i don't get it.
both me and tom talked about how a lot of the american films that were at canne this past year got snubbed, and that the films that did really well were small foreign films about personal stories - films that had more substances without a lot of dialogue. i kinda think that i seem to prefer these kind of films. sure, putting someone in an animal suit is always funny - but i think it's being overdone. canne's argument is that they totally want to separate their festival from the commercialized sundance fest, and that they want to be on the forefront of 'world' cinema.
i'd just like to see more substance and thought put into making a movie - sort of a 'neo-hollywood' or 'neo-realist hollywood' or 'neo-realist indie'...something along those lines.
fortunately, PRAXIS does not have anybody in an animal suit...
whew...what a busy few weeks it has been...hmm...where do i start?
well, the cast and crew screening at the afi a couple of weeks ago went incredibly well, and i couldn't be happier with the turn out and the response, and pretty much everything else. it was really great to see a lot of people that i haven't seen in a while, though, because i was running around so much, i didn't get a chance to sit and catch up with everyone that i had hoped. anyhoo, i did get to spend time with bob massey, and tom and andrew, and the rest of the crew, which was really cool.
it was really a great article, and hopefully it will boost the chances of the film getting into festivals...hopefully.
seeing the film up on the big screen was both exciting and overwhelming. but ultimately, it re-enforced my whole reasons for making films. there's nothing like it. everyone was talking about the film at the after party - all talking about all different kind of things, and arguing about what different things represented and such...which is all a good thing. anyway, being able to have the screening at the afi for the cast and crew was really cool, and a really great way to end this phase of production.
after the screening weekend, me and paul headed down to florida for a short weekend trip - a chance to regroup and relax on the beach and such. it was sooo relaxing.
but now it's onto a completely different phase of the film - off to the festivals. i've already submitted screeners to a couple of major festivals, but i've also missed a couple as well. my thinking on it is that i do think that PRAXIS is a very strong film - why not submit to the big ones and work your way back to smaller festivals from that? the festivals market is such a game, and everyone tells you that you don't have a chance. but if you don't submit, how will you ever know? so, i'd like to at least submit and see what happens. if it turns out that i need to apply to smaller festivals later, then i'll definitely do that. but for now, i think we should go for it. what do we have to lose?
of course, it's always best to have a plan b, and even a plan c. so, plan a is to apply to the festivals, plan b is to work my old contacts and previous festivals where i've had my other work screened, and plan c is to four wall. either case, i definitely intend to push the film as much as i can, and let it get seen by as many people possible.
having the screening was a little bittersweet - i'm sure that the film will eventually screen somewhere. i just can't determine if and when that happens. that also means that i won't get a chance to see a lot of my friends and crew and such for quite a while.
such is life, but the important thing now is to concentrate on this new phase of the film and do the best that i can to put out there...
So, it's the thursday before the big weekend of the big day, that day being saturday, which would be the first screening of the PRAXIS at the AFI Silver Theatre. a lot of hard work and planning have gone into making sure everything goes well for this weekend, and i'm looking forward to it all. Bob Massey, flies in from LA tomorra, and Andrew and Tom get into town from New York on saturday. the screening is saturday night, and it looks like we'll have a really good turn out. there are a lot of people that i haven't seen in a long time that are coming, so it's going to be really great to catch up with them all.
Bob's staying with us til monday, and i hope that he'll dig me and paul's place - during the shooting of the film, andrew and tom stayed with us, and it seemed like they were both very comfortable here. so, i'm sure that bob will be totally cool here, and it'll be great to catch up with him too.
this past week, i got interviewed by the Washington City Paper, and they did an article about the film. it was totally cool, and the reporter complimented me on giving him a ton of information about the film. he said that usually when he interviews people and asks them questions, he usually doesn't get a decent answer and it's difficult to write about anything. fortunately, i told him that i've been interviewed before, and i also think that we put together a really decent press kit, so between the two, there should be plenty to write about. having a decent press kit is essential - and giving writers a ton of different angles to write about makes their job a lot easier. so there ya have it, the first published article about PRAXIS, and hopefully, many more to come.
after all this, i have no idea how the film will be received. i'm excited to present my first feature on the big screen, but at the same time, i'm a little nervous that not everyone will get it. audiences are always hard to gauge. but, i think ultimately, you have to trust the film itself, and trust that it can stand up on its own. i'm proud to have PRAXIS as a first feature, and i think the sincerity and honesty of everyone who worked on it speaks volumes on the big screen.
so, here comes the big weekend with the big day, and i'll be running around like crazy, but it'll really be awesome to see the cast and crew again, and the film will look incredible on the big screen. i just have to make sure everything works, and that i haven't forgotten anything...i'll be both happy and excited when it's over, and i can have a few beers...
but i better make sure that i not forget to take a picture of PRAXIS on the marquee...
last friday, me and paul stopped by the AFI for a technical run through for the screening of the film in june. we basically, projected the first few minutes of the film and made sure everything looked and sounded just right. it also gave the projectionist time to jot down notes on the specifics of the screening - masks, lenses, etc. in any case, it was incredibly exciting to finally see the film on the big screen, even though it was only the first few minutes.
the screening is going to be awesome. all the hard work has finally paid off, and it basically moves the film into a phase where the concentration will be on publicity and promotion it, and film festivals and distributors, and film markets...yikes. yeah, it's a ton of stuff.
but i guess the most important thing is to enjoy the fact that film has gotten this far. i think the film has turned out beautifully, and i'm sure that tom and andrew will be overwhelmed to see themselves on the big screen at the AFI.
ironically, i'm not sure if i'll stay in the theatre the whole time the film is being screened. i've seen it so much, i might prefer to stand near the back, and sneak out when i feel like i need a drink...
anyhoo, the screening is going to be awesome, and PRAXIS is really finally coming together.
having finished all the digital output of the film from the avid to the digibeta deck that i subrented last week, i've shifted my focus on putting together a decent press kit. everything worked quite well last week - and i didn't have any technical hang ups or probs, and i was able to make several copies of the movie on digibeta, and even dumped the trailer onto a couple of digibeta tapes as well. putting together the press kit is turning out to be a little more complicated than i expected, but so far, i think it's coming together really well. i'm taking my time and focusing on every aspect to make sure that everything that's going into it looks cool. my friend is helping me write a decent press release, which is essentially the most important part of the kit, but i'm also including publicity materials, stills, postcards, and i'm even putting a CD-R with production and publicity stills in both a 300dpi (print) and 72dpi (web) format, along with the trailer and a promo interview comp of everyone talking about the movie. the promo interview seems to be the most complicated so far, there's a ton of material to go through, and it's just a question of deciding what material to include to make it as short and concise as possible.
the screening is in june, which is coming up really soon. i've gotten a really good response on the people i've invited so far, and i think it'll be really great to see everyone again. though, there's still a lot of loose ends that me and paul have to work out so that the screening goes smoothly.
i was able to rent a DVD series off of netflix called A Decade Under The Influence, which was a documentary film series that aired on IFC. i haven't seen it in a long time, but i do remember enjoying the amount of content that was in it: pretty much every major director inside and outside of hollywood is covered, and there are a ton of interviews of famous directors talking about their influences, and who they learned from, and who they looked up to. it's pretty incredible. so far, i think the most important aspect that everyone goes through is that certain directors and filmmakers just went ahead and made the movies that they wanted to make, regardless of everything else - pure independence, and an amazing drive to challenge all the everyday norms of a typical hollywood movie. i started to remind myself that the point of being an independent filmmaker is that you can challenge an audience and express things that a typical hollywood movie can't do.
that's the point of being independent. but sometimes, you can get caught up in all the logistics that you can forget the true reasons of going out and making a movie.
as i write this post, i'm in the process of doing a digital output of the final cut of the film onto a digital betacam deck that i've hooked up to the avid. it's pretty much the final stage of the film other than producing a digital intermediate - though there's a good chance that we'll never have to go to this stage. in any case, it's still kinda funny to have such an expensive piece of equipment hooked up to the avid. so far, everything looks swell. i'm going to have a couple of copies to work with just in case. in a couple of weeks, i'll stop by the AFI for the technical run through of the film for the screening in june. i basically have to have this digibeta copy good to go by then, since this will be the final screening format.
i've sent out a bunch of invitations to the screening, and i think it'll be a great turn out. i'm also going to send a couple of press kits to some of the local press to see if anybody might want to write about it. hopefully we'll get some good press, which will help with the publicity of the film. i'm planning to concentrate on the publicity of the film and the festivals pretty much right after the AFI screening. it's a ton of work, but the film has turned out so beautifully, it would be a shame to be do a half-assed job of putting it out there. i've also been out of the loop when it comes to the festival circuit, and it would be good to jump back in.
this past week, i was able to get a couple of movie posters made as well, and they turned out just grand. the website is up and running, though i'm still going to add a couple of things. this dream of producing my own feature film is finally becoming a reality - now it's time to start working on a new one...lol
it's been a very active and productive weekend. friday, i spent most of the day making travel arrangements for bob, tom and andrew for the screening in june, and i also started to design the invitations as well. the rest of the weekend was spent finishing up the invites and working on the new website - and i'm glad to say that a preliminary version of the site is currently up and running:
praxis.damagedfilms.com
as with anything else, there are a ton of little tweeks and things to fix to the site, and i'm planning to add a lot more cool and interesting stuff on there as well, but at least the current version has the trailer on there and a bunch of cool photos from when we were shooting the film. what i'm finding out tho, is that the site always seems to look really great on my home computer, but when i try to load it on a different computer, things don't exactly come out identically the same. anyhoo, i'm sure over time that i'll be able to fix most of the current website issues.
this week, i plan to mail out the official invites to the screening, and also check out the current version of the film. i'll need to reserve the subrental of the digibeta deck for the final output of the film soon, as the tech rehearsal for the film at the AFI in in the middle of may. sounds like a lot to do, and it is, but fortunately, it's all coming together quite well. and it's nice to feel like iive got a good rhythm going...
now i have to decide who to invite to the screening, which is about as much fun as making invitations to a wedding - which in-laws to invite or not invite...
today, i head to a meeting with the event coordinator at the american film institute in silver spring to finalize a couple of things for the cast and crew screening in june. i'm looking forward to this, and it'll be awesome to see the film on the big screen. hopefully, this will be the starting point for the film's next phase: applying to festivals and putting the film out there for all to see. but of course, before i get too ahead of myself, there's still a ton of things that need to get done before june: posters, invites, after party, website, press kits...tons of stuff...but it's all good, and it's very cool to be at this point of the movie making process.
last weekend, me and paul got a chance to see grindhouse, the rodriguez/tarantino 3 hr plus epic and homage to the exploitation films of the seventies. though it is a bit long, and kinda gets a little boring in the middle, the first film is a straight up zombie gore flick, and the final sequence in tarantino's film is absolutely incredible. in the age of CG and computer effects, back in the day, stunts and effects were done with real people in real danger. old school...needless to say, i loved the film. i thought it was incredible. even though this film has nothing to do with praxis per say, it's still cool to see movies that are genuine good movies - seems hard to do in this day and age.
so, my goal for the weekend is to put together the trailer for the website, and finish some of the other press kit stuff, and maybe even start work on the website.
plugging away at all the things i have to work on: i finished the first version of the poster for the movie, and i like what i was able to come up with. i'd like to make at least one more alternative poster, but for now, i like the simplicity of the first one - i think it represents the movie quite well.
so, me and paul have re-vamped the damaged films web site, and are just starting to make a dedicated praxis website. there are still some minor tweeks to the damaged films website, but i'm glad that me and paul are happy with the results. i've also been working on putting together a 2min trailer for the film, which is a lot more difficult than i initially thought. because the film is so cinematic and not a lot of dialogue, capturing the essence of the film in 2 minutes is pretty hard to do. but i hope to have something by the end of the week.
i got a chance to catch up with both tom and andrew over the weekend, and it sounds like both of them are doing fairly well. andrew just completed a pilot web-tv series called zero, and hopefully it'll get picked up. tom just completed his own website www.tommacy.com and i looks like that both tom and andrew will be working on another pilot tv series that's supposed to be shot in new york in may. i'm glad to hear that both of them are doing well in the acting careers.
i also got and email announcement for the official release of bob massey's new album for the Gena Rowlands Band. i'm glad that bob is doing well too...
anyhoo, me and paul got a chance to watch Le Samourai, a french noir film from the sixties by the director Jean-Pierre Melville. it's definitely a cool little film, a precursor to Blade Runner, and a very beautifully shot movie about an assassin. i also dig the way it captures paris in the sixties - a very stylish and slick film with not a lot of dialogue. tho, the film doesn't have much of a story, the overall visuals are what carry it. if ya haven't seen it, put it on your netflix list.
so, for now, it's back to finishing up the press materials and organizing the screening at the afi.
things have been incredibly busy lately, which is a good thing. far better to be busy, then completely bored out of my skull. so, i've been able to get some feedback on the current version of the film, and it's really cool that everyone seems to be very excited about it. i've gotten some different reactions, but what's cool is that the few who have seen it, have had the film reasonate with them - i'd get a phone call a couple of days later, and they'd be talking about something else that kept them thinking. which is totally cool. fortunately, a couple of my close friends who were on the crew complimented the film on the technical side of things - as in they thought the film turned out beautifully. i think that since i've been friends with them for a very long time, and that we've always concentrated on the technical side - mainly the cinematography, that to get their approval is really grand. so, i think were at a stage where me and paul are comfortable with the current version of the film, confident that it'll do well.
so, me and paul are in the process of re-doing the website and also making a dedicated praxis website as well. this will take some time, but so far, i like the way everything looks. we've also started putting press kit materials together, and have hired a writer friend to help out. the initial way the film was described prior to the shooting, the film was represented differently then the way it turned out in the end. so, a new description and synopsis and a different way of describing the film is needed at this point. so, it's good to have friends who can write.
i've also started to plan the cast and crew screening at the afi silver theater in silver spring, which will be in a couple of months. i met with one of the even coordinators there, and it's going to be a really cool screening. the theater is such an incredible venue, and it'll be a really great way to screen the film before it's on to the festivals and such. we're going to have a nice after party and have a few drinks and celebrate the film in the right way. i think that both tom and andrew will be totally blown away by the screening, particularly seeing it on the big screen. i also have a couple of surprises for them, and bob too. but for now, we still have to buckle down and finish up everything else.
so over the weekend, me and paul got a chance to see the film ZODIAC. i was totally blown away by this film. it's such an incredibly well made film. i don't even know where to begin. even tho the film is nearly three hours long, it was so jammed pack with stuff, that it never dragged on anywhere, nor did it feel slow. there are some pretty intense parts, but fortunately, it's not a typical horror-flick. you definitely have to pay attention or you might miss something.
it's really nice to be able to see something once in a while that reminds me that you can still produce a well made film. something that can inspire and that can really get to people. i think that somethings i get so caught up in the logistics of production, that i forget what a well made film can do - really make people think.
one of my friends said that PRAXIS has a lot to offer if people give it a chance - it'll really make people think. i think that's totally cool.
this past weekend was one of the best weekends in a while. the trip to new york was better than ever, and me and paul were able to show the current version of the film to andrew and tom. they were both absolutely blown away by it, and it's very cool that they're both incredibly excited about it. there are still a bunch of little tweeks that i need to do to the current version. but, the gist of the film is definitely there. for quite a while, i was a little worried that nobody would get the film - that it was too abstract. but so far, the few people who have seen it totally get it. and they're actually elaborating much more into the themes and meanings represented, while is total cool.
so, now that me and paul are back in dc, it's time to buckle down and focus on all the different things that we want to do with the film - final digibeta masters, organize the local cast and crew screening, update the website, put together the press kit, and start submitting the project into consideration for the festivals. it's going to be a lot of work, but i'm definitely trying to take each step one at a time. i'm confident that it'll all come together.
this weekend, i have a couple of other close friends - j, wes, and tim from the crew, and my friends morrigan and mike, they're all gonna come over to check out the current version of the film. i think it'll be good to have other honest opinions about the film, and how to tighten it up even more. tho, i'm confident that everyone will be excited about it as well. fortunately, we're planning to hire a writer friend of ours to help with the press release, and various synopsises for the film. we also have some friends who are going to help with the website stuff, and also organizing the screening too. so, it's all good...
so, i started playing around with movie poster ideas, and messing around with photoshop. i'd like to come up with several ideas, and to have all this material ready. i also enjoy the design aspect of this phase of production. i'll really have to think about the images, and how they represent the film, and if they do that in the best way possible. but it's also fun to play around with images and see what stuff you can come up with.
so, it's time to buckle down, but it's really cool to think that this film will do really well, and it'll definitely make a lot of people think. which, i find, is all really grand...
so it's off to nyc for the weekend, and i'm looking forward to hopefully meeting up with tom and andrew, and to be able to show them the current version of the film. it'll also be great to catch up with old friends, and also relax in the big city - even tho it is new york, and the part of dc that i live in is pretty much like living in soho...it'll just be a different city...and yes, it is possible to be able to relax in a big city....lol
i'll be cool to get some feedback on the film. after working on it for so long, and the years of life that it's take to produce it, i think it's sometimes hard to step back and wonder if anybody will get it. fortunately, my partner paul gave me some very honest and direct feedback last week, and i'm really happy to have that kind of feedback. i really like the way the film has turned out thus far, and i'm eager to see it on the big screen.
over the next couple of weeks, i've got tons of work to do. between organizing the screening, and producing all the publicity materials and re-doing the website, - it's a little bit overwhelming...but i'm going to take things one step at a time, and really focus on all the little details, to make sure that everything represents the film in the best possible way. the last thing i want to do is slap something together and make it look half-assed. basically, everything that i do, and everything that's put out there represents the film. so, i think it's important to remember that, and to keep it on a professional level as much as possible.
lately, i've been really looking closely at different movie posters, trying to develop a couple of different ideas for the movie poster. as with all press materials, i think it good to make up a couple of different ideas, and to have those ready for potential distributors and such. even if they decide to go in a different direction, at least you have a couple of things ready, versus not having anything at all. so, i've been keeping a sketchbook with different ideas and also looking at other movie posters and any other image that i think looks cool. i kind of like this creative part of promotion. and it'll be fun to come up with these promo materials.
i'm also considering putting together a soundtrack and a book deal. if possible, i'd like to coordinate the release of these materials at the same time as the release of the film. even if the book is produced on small press and the soundtrack on a small volume, i think it would be cool to have these things produced. i genuinely think that PRAXIS has a lot to offer, and all these other thinks could add to the success of the film.
last weekend, i spent most of the weekend transcoding the festival cut 1 of the film onto dvd. it took an enormously long time to trancode a quicktime reference movie from the avid, and then burn it onto a dvd-r. anyhoo, i showed the film to my partner and producer paul, and he gave me a lot of honest advice about how to tighten up the film. i know that i'm going to make a lot of changes, but i also feel comfortable at this stage to be able to show this version to a couple of close friends, to get their honest opinions. i'll hopefully be able to show the film to some of the crew, jamie, wes, and tim, sometime this weekend. i've also sent a copy out to bob in l.a. - i think he'll give me the best advice, since he's always done that in the past, and i feel like he's very much of a creative peer.
most of the changes are easy fixes. but i'm also eager to get some feedback on the overall aesthetics. i'm very happy with the way the film has turned out. but i also think it's important to get other opinions, and to see if the film works as a whole. i think it's also important to gauge the different opinions you get, to determine where they're coming from and to see if they're worth changing something specific in the film. for example, if only one person out of the four or five doesn't get a specific scene, then it might not be worth changing it. but then again, if they all agree, then i would definitely reconsider the scene. the important thing throughout this whole process is that you have to believe in the film and to have a pretty thick skin, to be able to take all kinds of criticisms. i think that the more films a person makes, the more they learn that everyone sees the film in completely different ways. so, the only sure thing that you can do is know your own personal reasons for making the film, and why you believe in it.
so, i plan to spend most of this weekend on these quick fixes, and on tightening up the film as a whole. i also need to work on re-vamping up the website, and to start work on press materials...and a trailer...and movie poster ideas... and plan the screening... lots of stuff to work on....
next weekend, me and paul are heading up to new york to meet up with tom and andrew, and i'm going to show them the festival cut. i'm sure that they'll be excited about seeing it.
while i was out in l.a., me and bob talked a lot about blade runner - he was reading an article about how chaotic and difficult it was for the producers, actors, and all - how almost seemingly an impossible task it was to make that movie. we also talked about the director's cut of the film versus the theatrical release. so i sent him a copy of the director's cut, since he hasn't seen it. we both agree that blade runner is an incredible film, and how beautiful and inspiring it is. despite the circumstances that it was made under, and also how it bombed at the box-office, i'm amazed and how much, over time, it has influenced so many other movies, and just how incredibly beautiful a film it is. i prefer the director's cut - it's much more subtle, and doesn't have the annoying voice-overs. it also has a dream about a unicorn, which really gets ya thinking.
anyway, i totally enjoying watching that film, and i find it truly inspiring. i think about that film, and i think about all the possibilities...
so, i got back from l.a. about a week and a half ago, and it was an awesome trip. me and bob hung out, we finalized a bunch of the music stuff, and i also shot a couple of promo video interviews. we shot most of this stuff first, so the rest of the weekend was spent catching up with an old friend, drinking a few beers, and having a grand ole time.
l.a. is a very strange place. everyone is in the business somehow, and everyone is desperately trying to get 'discovered'. everything has to have a 'hook,' something that pulls people in and gets them to fork over the price of a ticket. i kinda feel that this concept is entirely so hollywood. praxis is not a hollywood movie. praxis is an independent film. and it's purely that concept of being entirely independent and not hollywood, not about selling, not about the business, that praxis is all about. to some, this is a very easy concept, but in fact, i think it's really easy to get all caught up in the hollywood business of movie making, that you may lose the whole point of making independent film.
just after i got back, i was able to hang out with an old friend, jamie. jamie helped out on the shooting of praxis, basically doing the majority of the sound work. we've also known each other for a very long time, and we've helped out each other on various projects over the years. jamie came over and i showed him a couple of scenes from the film that turned out really well. i also showed him a music video by The_OutCircuit that i did a couple of years ago. anyhoo, jamie was absolutely floored by everything i showed him. i forgot about the music video, but he totally dug the music, and absolutely loved the abstract pixelization of the video, which is the complete opposite to praxis - which is more about producing clean, clear, beautiful moving images. jamie said that the production value of praxis was ten times way more advanced than that of unfortunate man, my previous short film. he said that he can tell that i've gained much more experience in making films over the years, and that it shows this in the film. he even said that it looked like 35mm, tho i think this is going a bit far...
anyhoo, i thanked jamie for his encouragement. it's way cool for someone like jamie to be this excited about the film, and it definitely makes me even more excited about completing it. i think the film will look incredible on the big screen.
but for now, it's important to enjoy the process of making the film, and to spend the quality time with those who you connect with on both a creative and spiritual level.
it's important to have this kind of encouragement.
tomorrow, i get on a plane and head out to l.a. to meet up with bob massey, to shoot some interview stuff, and also for some much needed r and r. it's kind of a long flight out there, and i get into l.a. kinda late tomorrow night, but i think the short trip will be a lot of fun. i'm planning to meet up with bob on friday, and we're going to finish up all the music stuff that we've been working on for the past couple of months. we're also going to shoot a promo interview similar to the interviews that i shot of andrew and tom while i was in new york back in september. it's good to have these things shot before hand, since it's difficult to get them later on in the film's publicity and advertising stage.
i also suggested to bob that we could easily shoot promo material for his upcoming album. i was thinking of putting together a couple minutes of stuff that would be great for a website and/or press kit or such. the main thing is to cover the praxis interview, and anything else we get to do is gravy. hopefully, we'll be able to go to the beach as well, and maybe shoot some video and stills for promo stuff too. so, the trip is part business, part r n r.
it'll be great to hang out with bob. he's done a wonderful job with composing music for the film, and i'll be cool to thank him in person. it'll also bring the post-production of the film in the final stages. i'm about a half-hour into the on-line edit, and so far, everything is looking really cool.
soon, this first version of the film will be done, and it's on the planning of a local screening, and publicity and advertising, and festivals, and.... and... and...
so, things have finally settled down a bit with the holidays over, and it's nice that things are a bit back to normal. i was able to work on the on-line of the film for a full three days, and apart from a major set-back, i got a good portion of the film on-lined. late friday night, i discovered that during the capture session of the digibeta footage, there was a problem with the audio of about 4 camera rolls: the audio was not transferred properly, and the audio for these files was really low. i initially thought that this was a major set-back. but fortunately, i was able to re-transfer the original DAT tapes of the footage and re-sync each of the camera rolls of raw footage. though it took all day saturday, the fact that i was able to find a solution and work it out made it a lot less worrysome. the point is that i got it done, even though it took a lot of time to re-transfer and sync the footage.
i got a lot of scenes done this weekend, and i definitely feel i've got a pretty good rhythm down. all of my focus is on editing, and not much else. i was able to finish the coffeehouse scene, and it turned out absolutely amazing. so, needless to say, the film editing is going well, and even though i have a lot more to do, so far, i edited a good portion of the film this past weekend.
so david lynch was in town this past weekend, promoting his new book and movie inland empire. i thought about going to see him speak, but instead, i decided to stay in and concentrate on the film. i've read a couple of his books, and my work is heavily influenced by his early work. but i guess i preferred to keep my impressions of david lynch simply on this level. i think he's an incredible director, but i'd like to keep his influence simply based on his films, and not how he speaks infront of an audience.
maybe someday i'll meet him on a more personal level, and tell him the story of how i was thinking of coming to see him speak, but chose to work on the film instead.
so here we are, at the start of a new year. and i can tell that i'm really close to finishing up the festival cut of the film. despite it being the holidays, i was able to get a few hours work done on the first couple of scenes of the film, and also redo the opening titles. i changes a few things and re-edited the titles to fit a newer version of the opening music of the film that bob just sent me. i used after effects for the opening, and tweeked a ton of little things to get them to be just right. in the end, i'm happy with the result, and i think it's a great way to begin the film.
it's tough to find time to yourself during the holidays, and after new years, i totally feel a bit exhausted, particularly with dealing with different people. so, i hopefully will be able to buckle down and finish the editing of the film. i think it's totally about getting into a rhythm at this point, and making it a priority, and trying to assemble all this footage into the finished product. so far, i was able to get the first couple of scenes done, and it's very cool to be working with the highest resolution material. now is all about perfecting everything so that it all comes together. and i love the way the film looks at this point.
i'm also looking forward to my trip out to l.a. in a couple of weeks. it'll be cool to hang out with bob, shoot some stuff, and also get a little r and r as well. but for now, i have to buckle down and finish as much of the film as i can before heading out there.
i have a feeling that this year will be a very exciting year for the film...
