Indie Film Blogger Road Trip now available to view from ATLFF site

Check out the feature length doc about film bloggers, free, from Atlanta Film Festival's website.

Sujewa on The Obenson Report podcast on Mon 2/9

I will be one of the guests on The Obenson Report podcast on Mon 2/9 night - show starts at 8 PM (i am on at 8:40 PM). I'll be discussing my new documentary Indie Film Blogger Road Trip (podcast host Tambay Obenson is featured in the doc) & D.I.Y. filmmaking/self-distribution. Tune in, check it out!

Current Blog

Busy with a couple of film distribution things in Feb, will be back after that. In the meantime, I am at DIY Filmmaker Sujewa blog - mostly.

- Sujewa

Opening 9 minutes from new documentary Indie Film Blogger Road Trip

Now blogging at the new Wild Diner Films blog

Right here. See ya there sometime.

- Sujewa

Date Number One, 7/12 - 18, 2007, Kensington, MD!

D A T E ** N U M B E R ** O N E
http://www.wilddiner.com/
a comedy about several first dates
a movie by sujewa ekanayake

Thu July 12 - Wed July 18, 2007
Armory Building
3710 Mitchell Street
Kensington, MD 20895 :: map
7:30 PM daily
$7

Film's Description: "Date Number One", a comedy about several first dates, is made up of 5 different stories: Story 1 - Just Another Ninja Searching For Love, about a ninja who goes on a blind date (ninja is played by John Stabb Schroeder from the DC punk band G.I.), Story 2 - A Romantic Dinner For 3, about a woman attempting to add a third partner to a romantic relationship, Story 3 - Washington "City Of Love" DC/Start Over, about a writer who tries to get back together with his ex-girlfriend, Story 4 - Air Quotes Woman, about a woman who always uses air quotes, and her search for a new boyfriend, Story 5 - The Superdelicious French Lesson, about a first date where a character learns a little bit of French in an unusual way. The movie has been discovered to be: "Witty" (GreenCine Daily), "Funny" (The Chutry Experiment), and "Sexy, Sexy, Sexy" (Hollywood Is Talking).

*
Featuring Hot DC Indie Film Stars John Stabb Schroeder, Julia Stemper, Jennifer Blakemore, Shervin Boloorian, Dele Williams, Steve Lee, Kelly Ham, Christine D. Lee, Fritz Flad, Subodh Samudre, Jewel Greenberg

*
Not Rated * 115 Minutes * yummy

*

SCREENED AT: Goethe-Institut - Washington, DC (World Premiere, May 2006), Northwest Film Forum - Seattle (May 2006), Capital City Microcinema - Kensington, MD (June, October 2006 & March 2007), Sangha - Takoma Park, MD (July 2006), Pioneer Theater, New York City (August 2006), Warehouse Screening Room - Washington, DC (November 2006).
*
Director will attend the screenings. Brief discussion, Q & A period after each screening for those audience members who are interested in such things.

"The film is about as charming as they come...presents a world in which cultures don't clash, they mesh. It's refreshing to see characters who all appear to have a natural optimism, as opposed to the typical indie-film predilection for bitterness and cruelty. "
- Michael Tully, Rotterdam & SXSW film festivals selected filmmaker & indieWIRE blogger
http://blogs.indiewire.com/tully/archives/010529.html

"I found the characters and the premise sexy, sexy, sexy."
- Jerry Brewington, Hollywood Is Talking blog, on Story 2 of Date Number One
http://hollywoodistalking.com/Blog/508/

*

"...witty...often inventive...and, even better, airy: characters are given time and space to spell out their views...views that never bear the artificial markings of a Hollywood screenwriter's compulsion to reduce them to sound-bites."
- David Hudson, Editor, GreenCine Daily blog
http://daily.greencine.com/archives/002353.html

"FIVE really entertaining, fully realized romantic interludes...a shamefully rare achievement"
- Tom Kipp, Seattle audience member, former film reviewer for Seattle alternative weekly The Stranger
http://diyfilmmaker.blogspot.com/2006/05/interview-with-seattle-audience-member.html

"Heartfelt...poignant...I loved it!"
- Jon Moritsugu, award winning filmmaker

*

"...somehow, someway, in the end, the love of the characters, the positiveness of the film, and Sujewa’s disregard for conventions wins you over. The act of making this film wins you over. There is only a positive through line in this film, and that is rare to see, especially when dealing with characters in their late to early thirties."

- Amir Motlagh, director of the popular '04 Atom Films' short Still Lover & upcoming feature Whale
http://stilllover.blogspot.com/2006/10/date-number-one-review.html

"Date Number One is quite funny...twentysomethings and occasional thirtysomethings looking for romance recall Richard Linklater's philosopher slackers and Jim Jarmusch's minimalist attention to conversation...also a subtle, thoughtful film...might be understood as the anti-Crash depiction of life in the city...depicts a comfortably multi-ethnic community...I'd happily recommend it."
- Chuck Tryon, media professor & blogger, The Chutry Experiment blog
http://chutry.wordherders.net/archives/005873.html

*
Date Number One website: http://www.wilddiner.com/
blog: http://www.diyfilmmaker.blogspot.com/
::
!Thanks!

DATE NUMBER ONE screening Sat 11/4 in DC

Please visit the latest blog for the film or the film's website for more info.

Here is the essential info. re: the 11/4 screening:

screening # 12
DATE NUMBER ONE
a comedy about several first dates
a movie by sujewa ekanayake
!The Final Screening of 2006!
SAT NOVEMBER 4 :: 8 PM :: $6
a benefit screening for We Are Family,a DC non-profit that assists the elderly
WAREHOUSE Screening Room
1017-21 7th St., NW
Washington, DC 20001
202-783 3933
directions

Thanks & see ya there!

- Sujewa

Filmmaking For The Poor blog now retired, DIY Filmmaker Sujewa blog is born

Well, this blog has had a good run, about 5 months, maybe a 100 posts or so, recognition from indieWIRE & other indie film VIPeeps, lots of new friends, & some entries w/ a lot of comment activity. Now that my new movie Date Number One is just a few days away (for real this time folks :) from being done, I am going to start focusing more on the distribution work & less on blogging. And, from now on, I am going to blog at my newest blog DIY Filmmaker Sujewa http://diyfilmmaker.blogspot.com/. Most of the entries there will be about Date Number One. I'll post mostly when something important about that movie needs to be communicated. I'll also post relevant stuff @ Indie Features 06 & at LOOP DIY Film Group. I won't be using the Date Number One Movie Blog or my other blogs, but will keep them alive in case I need a back up blog solution. I'll also post @ the new blog when some reaaalllyyy important non-Date Number One item needs to be discussed. And of course I'll post when I am bored.

So thanks friends for all your support for Filmmaking For The Poor over these past few months. I'll keep the blog up so we can look back on some past entries from time to time. I'll see you at DIY Filmmaker Sujewa blog! Please update your links (if u want, feel like it, want to keep reading stuff I write). Here again is the new URL: http://diyfilmmaker.blogspot.com/

Thanks again! See ya soon. Good luck w/ all yer film, blog & other projectos!

- Sujewa
(no, this is not an April Fool's joke :)

Some tips on producing DIY screenings

Fellow LOOP DIY Film Group member Agnes asked about my approach to producing DIY screenings/"4-walled" events, with an emphasis on getting a good audience turnout for the screenings. Here's the short version of the answer (maybe I'll write a book on this issue once I successfully complete the Date Number One self-distribution project). I am sure there are tons of great ways to approach a DIY screening project, these are some of the ways I get it done (feel free to share your tips for it, if you've done it well):

1. Show a film that at least some people want to see (try to have realistic expectations for ticket sales - go w/ low estimates of attendance, spend money accordingly on the screening event).

2. Publicize the event really well, I'd say for @ least 3 weeks prior to the event, also, from the target audience, to get 100 people to show up @ the event, let 1000 people know.

3. Tie the screening in to a longer term money making plan (even if the screening is not too well attended, use the resulting press & publicity from the screening to sell DVDs & merch).

4. If you are not the salesperson/marketing type, hire or otherwise recruit someone who is like that, who is energetic, not afraid to talk to people, will offer people info. on the event in a non-alienating manner, can make people excited about an event.

5. Keep expenses as low as possible, but do not cheat the end user - try to provide an excellent experience/product for the paying audience members.

6. Spread risk out over several screenings. The same amount of work can publicize 1 screening, let's say on a Fri night, or 6 screenings held over Fri, Sat, Sun.

7. Think of distribution/DIY screenings as the 4th stage of film production:
Stage 1. script & pre-production
Stage 2. production
Stage 3. post-production
Stage 4. distribution
Your job as a filmmaker is not done, if u r a DIY filmmaker, until you sell your movie to the ultimate user (through ticket sales to screenings, DVD sales, etc.). Stop expecting distributors to take care of you all the time, try to take care of yourself regardless of whether distributors want your film or not. You created & own the product & you have the most to gain through a proactive approach to distribution.

8. As an artist, develop a community for fans of your work, also a community of peers, keep in touch w/ your audience & peers on a regular basis. This way, as your film gets done & ready to show, a bunch of people will already know about it, makes your marketing work easier. Blogs & website & webgroups will help on this item.

- Sujewa

Hey China, Stop Being Evil, Release Filmmaker Hao Wu

Or at least charge him with a crime & offer a real chance for him to defend himself in court, if he did in fact do something that the rest of us in the civilized world thinks is possibly a crime. What's up China? Are you afffrrrraaaiiiddd that a lone documentary filmmaker & blogger is gonna upset your plans for global domination? :) Civilizations that do not support intellectual & entrepreneurial freedom stay poor, can't cope w/ change, die. Stop digging your own grave man, start treating your artists (& pretty much everyone else over there for that matter) & dissidents like the valuable asset that they are. Experimentation, criticism, checks & balance = growth, new discoveries & stabilization. Stop being so f**king paranoid China. You'll never be able to compete with the West if you do not start respecting intellectual freedom & individual rights. Empowered, fearless citizens make for a more productive & competitive nation. Thanks.

Here's an introduction to Hao's situation:

" Hao Wu, a Chinese documentary filmmaker who lived in the U.S. between 1992 and 2004, was detained by the Beijing division of China's State Security Bureau on the afternoon of Wednesday,February 22, 2006. On that afternoon, Hao had met in Beijing with a congregation of a Christian church not recognized by the Chinese government, as part of the filming of his next documentary. "

and

"The reason for Hao's detention is unknown. One of the possibilities is that the authorities who detained Hao want to use him and his video footage to prosecute members of China's underground Churches. Hao is an extremely principled individual, who his friends and family believe will resist such a plan. Therefore, we are very concerned about his mental and physical well-being."

Read the rest of the introduction here at the Free Hao Wu site.

Here is a link to the blog that Hao was writing before he was arrested by the Chinese government for no good reason that observers can think of.

Thanks GreenCine Daily for the link to Free Hao Wu site.

Sujewa
*******

2 Questions for indie filmmakers & festivals re: Festivals & Money

Two Questions Re: Film Festivals & Money:

1. Should film festivals share some of their ticket sales $s for a given screening with the maker(s) of the film being screened?
- Since the vast majority of films that play festivals do not win awards or get a distribution deal because of the film festival screening, shouldn't at least some of the $s being made by the fest through a given film belong to the makers of that film? I think that would be fair (a lot of work goes into making a movie).

2. What are the festivals that currently give film makers a share of the ticket sales $s?

Let me know if you have any comments & thoughts on these two items.

Thanks a lot!

Sujewa
*********

Capital City Microcinema web page updated

In April - May Kelley Baker ("Kicking Bird", "Stolen Toyota", class on sound design for indies) and David Lowery ("Deadroom", "Some Analog Lines") will be swinging by our lovely town of Kensington, MD (less than 15 mins. from DC) to play their movies, talk w/ the audience at the Capital City Microcinema. I updated the CCM web page last night, a minimal update, will add more info. this week. Check it out here.

Tribeca fest selected doc "The War Tapes" director Deborah Scranton now blogging at Indie Features 06

From director Deborah Scranton's first entry at Indie Features 06:

" February 12, 2004, I got an offer from the New Hampshire National Guard to embed as a filmmaker. I called the public affairs officer and asked if I could give cameras to the soldiers instead? He said yes…but it would be up to me to get soldiers to volunteer to work with the project.

Less than two weeks later I was on plane down to Fort Dix, NJ. I stepped out in front of those 180 men and told them of my vision. I was met with a hailstorm of questions. "

Read the entire post here.

And here's the website for The War Tapes, a documentary about the Iraq war filmed by soldiers.

Where & when can you see this movie? From the website: "THE WAR TAPES will have its international premiere April 29th at 3pm in the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City."

Here's the introduction to the movie from the website:

" THE WAR TAPES is the movie they made with Director Deborah Scranton and a team of award-winning filmmakers. It’s the first war movie filmed by soldiers themselves on the front lines in Iraq. (Read the Director's Vision Statement.)

THE WAR TAPES follows three men: Sergeant Steve Pink, Sergeant Zack Bazzi, and Specialist Mike Moriarty. Steve is a young carpenter with a dark, irreverent sense of humor who joined the Guard for college money. Zack is an inquisitive, ironic traveler and university student. Mike is a husband and father of two, driven to fight by honor and redemption. You will see Operation Iraqi Freedom through their eyes.

The soldiers were not picked by casting agents or movie producers. They selected themselves. 10 soldiers from Charlie Company carried cameras on IED-riddled roads and into combat—and into their own internal conversations. They learned how to choose and tell their stories in constant instant message conversations with Director Scranton. They filmed under unbelievable conditions. The unit was based at LSA Anaconda in the deadly Sunni Triangle, under constant threat of ambush and IED attacks. They traveled, as a unit, 1.4 million miles during their tour, and lived through over 1,200 combat operations and 250 direct enemy engagements.

Because it’s filmed by citizen soldiers telling their own stories, THE WAR TAPES is funnier, spicier, and more wrenching than stories other people might tell about them.

All three men leave women at home – a mother, a girlfriend, and a wife. THE WAR TAPES – like any true story about war – engages the hard, tense, passionate, always difficult and sometimes beautiful way these relationships develop and change.

Director Deborah Scranton is a single mom with a journalism background and a passion for the infantry (her last documentary was about WWII vets). With Deborah’s guidance, the soldiers shot over 900 hours of videotape during their yearlong deployment. Another 200 hours of footage was shot back home by Deborah and her crew – all distilled into a 94 minute film. Deborah worked closely with Producer Robert May who executive produced the Academy Award winning FOG OF WAR; Producer and Editor Steve James, best known for the documentary HOOP DREAMS; and Executive Producer Chuck Lacy.

The unseen collaborator on the film is the internet. This is a Web 2.0 outside the wire – the intimate power of the internet exploding on the movie screen. Without instant messaging, the soldiers could never have become filmmakers – without email and cheap video, they soldiers could never have told their stories as they happened.

The soldiers’ unfailing candor and honesty defines the heart of this film. THE WAR TAPES is not afraid to show soldiers as fully complicated human beings –this is not reality TV, and it’s certainly not mainstream media coverage of the war. This is real war. These soldiers got the story the 2,700 embedded reporters never could. "

3 DIY film events for April-May (early notice): Baker & films in DC, Ekanayake & "Date Number One" in Seattle, Lowery & "Deadroom" in DC

3 D.I.Y. film events for April-May (early notice): Baker & films in DC April 19 & 20, Ekanayake & "Date Number One" in Seattle May 19-21, Lowery & "Deadroom", "Some Analog Lines" in DC May 25.

(this is a re-post of items from indieLOOP DIY Film Group earlier today)

:: Baker & films in DC area, April 19 (sound tech class), April 20 (screening)

Kelley Baker will teach a sound design for indies class on Wed 4/19 @ Kensington Row Bookshop (home of Capital City Microcinema) in Kensington, MD. There is a fee, will announce it by Mon 3/27. Baker was the sound designer on several films by Gus Van Sant.

Angry Filmmaker Kelley Baker at Capital City Microcinema, Kensington, MD on Thu April 20. Baker will play one of his features and several of his short films, introduce the work & discuss/do a question & answer session afterwards. $5. More info. on this event coming by Mon 3/27.

Screening venues interested in booking Baker & or his films can contact him here.
Bloggers & other media interested in talking about Baker & or reviewing his films can contact him here.

:: Ekanayake & "Date Number One" in Seattle, May 19 - 21

DC based Filmmaker Sujewa Ekanayake will appear at Seattle's Northwest Film Forum from May 19 until May 21 to play his new feature "Date Number One" and discuss the work. Tickets: $8 general, $5 NWFF member, $6 children & senior. More information on this event will be available by early April. Visit the "Date Number One" website for info. on the film.

Screening venues interested in booking "Date Number One" can contact Sujewa Ekanayake here.
Bloggers & other media interested in talking about & or reviewing "Date Number One" can contact Sujewa Ekanayake here.
note: Date Number One screener DVDs available starting 1st week of April

:: Lowery & "Deadroom", "Some Analog Lines" in DC area, May 25

Texas based filmmaker, blogger & former Dallas film reviewer David Lowery is tentatively scheduled to appear at Capital City Microcinema in Kensington, MD on May 25 and play his most recent feature "Deadroom", short "Some Analog Lines" and discuss his work. $5. More information on this event will be available on Mon 3/27.

Screening venues interested in booking "Deadroom", "Some Analog Lines" can contact David Lowery here.
Bloggers & other media interested in talking about & or reviewing "Deadroom", "Some Analog Lines" can contact Lowery here.

Update on post re: AIVF fundraising

Read the original post here.

3/24/06 UPDATE:

* My membership fee is on its way to AIVF
* I called & e-mailed AIVF on 3/22 to see if I can do more to help/to discuss some potentially useful fundraising ideas that I have, no call or e-mail back from them yet (probably very busy, I hear the staff is down to 2-3 people at this point)
* indieWIRE did a front page article on 3/22 re: AIVF's troubles & future plans.
* There may be benefit events & other fund raising work happening soon, will have more on this next week.
* If AIVF closes down, there is interest among several prominent figures in the US indie film world in spearheading the formation of a new indie filmmaker advocacy & support group to make up for the closure. More on that later as information becomes "unclassified" :)

Matt Zoller Seitz interviews "Puzzlehead" director James Bai

Filmmaker & critic Matt Zoller Seitz interviews sci-fi feature "Puzzlehead" director James Bai at The House Next Door blog. Here is one exchange from the interview:

Matt Zoller Seitz: Did you think of it as a Frankenstein movie from the beginning?

James Bai: Not at the beginning. When I was first writing it, I was actually dealing with my identity issues as a Korean-American, and wanting to reflect that dichotomy of this Americanized personality that I have, and the Korean personality that I wasn’t sure existed. In philosophizing about this, I came to the conclusion that my Korean-American identity was a creation that eventually took the place of whatever identity was there beforehand, if there was one. I didn’t want to do a James Bai, you know, biopic, a Saturday afternoon, Korean-kid-growing-up-in-America kind of thing. That felt too goofy to me. I wanted to something where I could have characters that personified these sides of me and illustrated the conflict between them. I had this image, almost kind of a dream, about a robot, and a man that looked just like him. I wrote the first act of the screenplay as part of a requirement for a writing class at Columbia graduate film school, during my second year. I actually didn’t finish it. I had an incomplete all the way through to my last semester. I had to finish it to graduate, so I did finish the first act, and then I graduated, and I was lost. Once I was out of school, I had no structure in my life. I had no idea what to do, so I went to Alaska, and I started continuing to write the screenplay, They had a great public library up there, so I read a lot of books, drank a lot of beer, smoked a lot of cigarettes, and taught myself how to play the piano at a church nearby. I was renting a room in a house, and I would play my CD in the room, memorize the music – I was learning Bach – and then I’d go to the church and try to figure out how to play it. Sometimes I’d forget as soon as I got there. It was a very laborious process, but these were the things I was doing. And it was in Alaska that I read Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein.”

Read the entire interview here.

"Puzzlehead" plays at Two Boots Pioneer theater in NYC from Friday, March 24 until Wednesday March 29.

The long introduction to the indieLOOP DIY Film Group

When I created the DIY Film Group in indieLOOP a couple of days ago I wrote a brief description/introduction to it. Today I wrote a longer introduction that touches on some historical background and sets a supportive & creative, community oriented tone:

Ultra-low/"no"-budget D.I.Y. (Do It Yourself) filmmaking and distribution/self-distribution, as odd or unusual as it may sound in light of the well known Hollywood or Indiewood production & distribution methods, is probably one of the most practiced methods of film production & distribution in the history of film in U.S.A. D.I.Y. Film, and all other D.I.Y. media making practices (depending on content of course), are very American in a positive sense: the focus on self-reliance, the belief that projects of staggering scopes may be accomplished chiefly through the ideas & labor of one or few people (with help from a lot of sympathizers, a community), the living-out of the democratic notion that each individual matters and is capable of accomplishing valuable things and becoming a positive & useful link in a community, and that size or wealth does not necessarily determine the outcome or that all is not hopeless for the player who seems like the underdog. D.I.Y. is hope for the financially ordinary/non-super-wealthy individual artists or collections of artists, specially in the creative entrepreneurial arena of motion pictures in America that is ruled by gigantic corporations with more money (and thus the ability to buy action & results) then most countries in this world.

How's that for a lofty introduction? Let's get down to the nuts & bolts. This DIY Film Group at indieLOOP was started on March 21, 2006 when indieWIRE publisher Brian Clark suggested to me that it would be cool to see such a group in this independent media social network. LOOP had made the tools available, so it was very easy for me to set up the group. LOOP DIY Film Group can be: a space where we can get encouragement by seeing that others are doing what we do or plan on doing (such as Joe Swanberg making not one but two movies each for under $5,000, playing them at prominent festivals, entering the distribution realm), a place to hang out & talk with each other/like minded artists, a place to promote our projects (perhaps like MySpace we will have samples of our work to check out here, film instead of music in our case), also a place to celebrate the awesome history of indie/DIY film - a place where names such as Jon Moritsugu, Oscar Micheaux, Sarah Jacobson, and yes, even the excellent & about to be widely distributed Caveh Zahedi (inspite of Caveh's recent stress-induced, let's hope, statement that DIY is a "myth" - which he recanted pretty much immediately), Liz Nord, John Cassavetes, Andrew Bujalski are mentioned regularly, and, most importantly, a place where a curious visitor can get a snapshot of the PRESENT and the awesome future scene of truly independent, ultra-low budget, often self-distributed, hopefully always creatively brave U.S. & elsewhere based filmmakers.

Once you join the group, feel free to make it fully yours. This group is essentially a pure democracy (w/ some minor oversight by yours truly & Brian Clark), use your best judgment and participate fully in the community, offer your ideas & talk about your projects, the industry, whatever seems relevant to this space. Everyone here is important & valuable, their projects & their opinions are important & valuable too. I would like to see this space grown into a place where indie filmmakers can go to have a comfortable space to talk to others, talk about their own projects and generally grow as artists & entrepreneurs and collectively as a positive community.

Thanks a lot for being part of something new, exciting & let's hope :), very, very good, fun, nutritious & of course super-delicious like 10,000 juicy peeled, ripe, golden mangos covered with honey & whipped cream.

Sujewa Ekanayake
March 23, 2006
http://www.wilddiner.com/
http://www.filmmakingforthepoor.blogspot.com/

Visit the LOOP DIY Film Group through here. !Thanksalot!

If Paul Harrill's Sources (and my math) are right, then 1500 people sending $50 each (or joining the association at $70 each) can save AIVF

If filmmaker Paul Harrill's sources (and my math) are right, then 1500 people sending in $50 each can save AIVF:

"And my sources have told me that if AIVF doesn't raise some substantial cash (around $75,000) in the next few weeks the organization might be closing its doors for good." Says Paul at his blog entry about AIVF's financial emergency.

Really people - all you indie filmmakers & indie film fans out out there, do it, save AIVF. Here's a little bit of info. about AIVF - The Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers, from Paul's post:

"First, if you’re new to independent filmmaking, AIVF is the organization behind The Independent, one of the few magazines for filmmakers. Its back pages — listings of calls for work and funding opportunities — are a great resource. Besides publishing The Independent, AIVF sponsors lectures and discussions, has a resource library, and provides its members with discounts (on things like insurance, car rentals, and legal services)."

Spread out over several hundred people $75,000 is not much. You need to join AIVF anyway (all kinds of benefits & useful discounts for indie filmmakers, including insurance, read all about it here). Skip 1 cup of Starbucks coffee every day for 2 weeks & send that money to AIVF! And if they have not performed perfectly in the past, once you've given them some money/become a member of the association then you'll have some very legitimate grounds for complaining & fixing the problems.

An individual membership to AIVF for 1 year is $70. Students $40. Do it, be a star, become an AIVF member right now baby.

Get all the details you need from Paul's post (such as what AIVF is doing to prevent this kind of an emergency in the future & how things got to this point), or from AIVF, then join by paying the membership fee or if you can't afford that, donate whatever you can, and if you have lots of cash to spare at the moment, then donate lots to AIVF, I am sure they will appreciate it, so will lots of other cool people.

If you are set up for web payment & or donation, there are many options for helping AIVF. One is to donate throught the Network for Good. Do it, join or donate, help AIVF & yourself out, be nice, feel good about yourself.

I am sending AIVF my money later today (it's 12:31 AM right now here), gonna buy a 1 year membership, as soon as the post office opens or AIVF opens.

If you've donated money, become a member of AIVF recently & you want some extra publicity, press, linkage, whatever, let me know. I am going to start a COOL PEOPLE WHO GAVE MONEY TO SAVE AIVF LIST right here on this blog, as soon as I give my $s to AIVF.

Thanks a lot! Save AIVF! Do it! Let's do it to see if we can. I am sure AIVF will become very useful to us indie/DIY filmmakers & self-distributor types almost immediately.

Thanks a lot!!!

Think "s-a-v-e A-I-V-F". Then do something to make it happen. Be awesome.

- Sujewa
http://www.wilddiner.com/

3/24/06 UPDATE:

* My membership fee is on its way to AIVF
* I called & e-mailed AIVF on 3/22 to see if I can do more to help, no call or e-mail back from them yet (probably very busy, I hear the staff is down to 2-3 people at this point)
* indieWIRE did a front page article on 3/22 re: AIVF's troubles & future plans.
* There may be benefit events & other fund raising work happening soon, will have more on this next week.
* If AIVF closes down, there is interest among several prominent figures in the indie film world in spearheading the formation of a new indie filmmaker advocacy & support group to make up for the closure. More on that as information becomes "unclassified" :)

A response to Zahedi's "DIY is a myth" post

In this post, Caveh Zahedi, director of the upcoming IFC Films distributed indie film "I Am A Sex Addict", said the following:

"the do-it-yourself ethos is ultimately a myth. No one makes a film alone, and no one distributes a film alone."

Here is my response to it (I left this as a comment to the post mentioned above):

I do not think the DIY ethos is interpreted by any sane person as: a whole film made & distributed entirely by one person. However, in light of the following production & distribution structures: Hollywood & Indiewood, DIY filmmaking & distribution is a real thing. I know because I am doing it right now with "Date Number One" and I've seen Jon Moritsugu, Todd Verow do it w/ many of their movies. DIY filmmaking & distro is: low budget film production & distribution where the filmmaker or a collection of filmmakers have the final say in all significant creative & business decisions regarding a project, and where the filmmaker(s) also physically do most or all of the production & distribution work. "Sex Addict" at this point is not DIY distribution according to that definition since IFC Films is a relatively wealthy (compared to most indie/DIY filmmakers) entity & one of the dominant companies in the US independent film industry. All that, not being DIY, does not however affect the quality of "Sex Addict"'s achievements. It is an excellent film & I look forward to seeing it again. DIY is a process, and it is a valuable & useful process for many artists, and in America it has evolved, most recently, in the media making arenas, from ideas popularized by 80's Hard Core punk bands (see the new doc "American Hardcore" for more on this). Bottom line, DIY is not a myth. See some proof here: http://www.wilddiner.com/. And here (look through for links, entries on Sarah Jacobson, Todd Verow, Jon Moritsugu & other DIY artists & organizations): http://www.filmmakingforthepoor.blogspot.com/.

In the music arena check out Dischord Records, K Records, Kill Rock Stars, Asian Man Records for proof of the existence of DIY production & distribution.

Just because you are very aware of the existence of indiewood, that does not mean DIY does not exist.

Thanks.

Sujewa
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LOOP successes (so far, about 2 days later)

I've spent some of my free time over the last couple of days playing w/indieWIRE's new social networkin' thingy indieLOOP. It's pretty cool (i am used to MySpace & Friendster, so LOOP is pretty easy for me), specially since it is so brand new. No one is too jaded yet, people write back to you when u e-mail them through LOOP & ask if they want to be your LOOPfriend. [btw, forgive any spelling errors on this post, i am not using my usual computer, Blogger doesn't do spell check on this computer yet] So far I've had some very useful success at LOOP: over 5 friends, 1 invitation to send a screener DVD of "Date Number One" from a writer for an excellent film blog, & made contact w/ a screening venue that I've been meaning to talk to for a while.

Looks like a little over 200 people have signed up for LOOP in just a few days, including many filmmakers, bloggers, some festivals, & some screening venues. Go join it & try it out if you are at all into making & showing or writing about or most of all watching indie films. You'll probably dig it.

Come by my page & say hi after u get LOOPy.

Sujewa
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Awright! Joined indieLOOP

Here's my profile there. if you join, let me know, maybe we'll become LOOPfriends.

LOOP is like a MySpace for indie filmmakers, from the mighty indieWIRE. worth joining I bet if u r in the indie film game. u can probably make some new & interesting friends who may help you out w/ yer film stuff.

i had to create a new ID w/ iW in order to join, who knows why, maybe my old one would have worked. anyway, happy w/ the situation at the moment.

sujewa
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"September 12th" on 3/21 @ Pioneer, NYC

Over at Indie Features 06 "September 12th" producer Lou Giovino says:

"We are also getting ready for our screening at Two Boots Pioneer Theater in New York on Tuesday, March 21 at 6:30 PM. It would be great to meet any Indie Features 06 bloggers in and around New York who can come to the screening. There will be a pizza and beer party afterwards."

Read the rest of the blog entry here. It's got a link to a new review.

Tickets for the screening can be purchased here.


Sujewa
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Still no luck w/ indieLOOP, will try again in a week

Tried to use indieLOOP features again, no luck, it keeps taking me back to the sign in page even after I've signed in once. Maybe it's my computer, maybe iL is not fully active yet, who knows, not much time to spend on it right now, will try again in a week. The idea is very exciting though - a MySpace for indie filmmakers, looking forward to being able to test drive it.

Sujewa
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indieLOOP: The Independent Media Social Network (indieWIRE's brand spankin' new social networkin' thingy) is up

I can't figure out how to like join it or use it yet, but maybe I'll try again tomorrow, when I am less blearrryyy eyed. Here's the link to the MySpace like new community tool for indieWIRE members & I guess anyone else who want to join. It looks good. See ya there soon. Link courtesy of AJ Schnack's blog.

Sujewa
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Tips on getting the UPC bar code label for cheap for an indie DVD

Yesterday at Indie Features 06 I posted 2 perhaps useful links re: getting the UPC bar code label for a DVD at a relatively inexpensive price. Check it out & explore if you are thinking about releasing your own DVD, specially if you want a lot of retailers to carry it. Some helpful clarifications in the comments section too.

Sujewa
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Double SXSW award winner Eric Byler, director of AMERICANese, on Crash, racial conflicts & film

Eric Byler's new film "AMERICANese", a drama about a romantic relationship, recently won the Narrative Feature Audience Award and a Special Jury Award for Outstanding Ensemble Cast at SXSW '06. In an article at The Austin Chronicle, Byler is quoted as saying:

"In AMERICANese, you're actually looking at how people of color cope with the issue in real life, not the way that it's dramatized in the movies."

"Crash is a really good example [of that]," he continues. "Ever since [The] Birth of a Nation, it's always been racial conflict erupting in violence. For a person of color, you don't need to have somebody hanging upside down by a seat belt about to catch on fire to conclude that racism is bad."

Read the entire article here. Thanks GreenCine Daily for the link.

Here's the blog for AMERICANese, looks like Byler has written all the entries so far.

Of course Byler, who is half Asian-Am, half-Euro-Am aka "white", being included at SXSW will keep me from complaining about the possible existence of a "soft" segregation at the larger US indie film festivals & the overall liberal indie media/art scenes for ummm, let's see, at least a week I think :)

Rock on Byler & team AMERICANese & SXSW. Looking forward to checkin' out that flick.

Sujewa
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IFC Films No Longer Afraid of Nipples

Read all about it at Caveh Zahedi's blog. IFC Films is releasing Zahedi's excellent "I Am A Sex Addict" starting in April.

Sujewa
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AIVF reinvents iteslf, fights for survial :: The Anywhere Effect of Jem Cohen's "Chain"

AIVF is reinventing itself & carrying out a fundraising drive to meet an emergency need. Read all about it here & help out if you can, 'cause it is entirely possible that AIVF stuff has helped you in the past or that they may help you in your future life as a rockin' indie filmmaker star.

And from AIVF, an article on Jem Cohen's most recent film "Chain": The Anywhere Effect.

Sujewa
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Date Number One Completion Week (hopefully), John Sayles Week (definitely)

And here's the latest on my new movie Date Number One: lots of editing has happened, lots of editing ahead. Hopefully by 3/15 I'll have it done. That'll give me over 2 months to promote the Seattle May 19 - 21 gig @ Northwest Film Forum, and over a month to promote the late April DC screenings once those are set up late next week or as soon as the film is done.

In other news, took a break after dinner & caught the last 75% of the excellent John Sayles movie Eight Men Out. I need to see it from the beginning, maybe I'll do it after Date Number One is done.

I am going to do a Minimalist Week Long Blogging Project on John Sayles this coming week. Let's start it right now:

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Minimalist Week Long Blogging Project on John Sayles
Entry # 0 ('cause the week in question has not started yet):

Return of the Secaucus 7


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3/13/06 Update:

Eight Men Out

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Sujewa
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Filmmaker Amir Motlagh Sees a Negative Race Based Programming Habit in the US Independent Film Festival Industry

Amir Motlagh: "I have now found a discrepancy in the film fest world which might ultimately relate to the indie film world as well. now, my last two films, both of which have been docs have had asians as lead subjects. i myself am not asian but as the tracking record goes for these last two works, asian american festivals are program friendly whereas the other fests are not. however, my white lead and iranian american voiced, fiction film "Still Lover" which preimered at DanceswithFilms played at those same fests where the new work is not."

Read Amir's entire post at Indie Features 06.

Here's the basic problem, as I understand it at the moment:
1. Amir's short "Still Lover", well made, featuring a Euro-American/"white" lead was accepted by festivals that do not explicitly program for one specific ethnic group
2. Couple of years later, his short "My Break Ups Into A Million Pieces", well made, featuring an Asian-American lead was rejected by the festivals that accepted "Still Lover", but was accepted by several Asian-American film festivals

I have seen both "Still Lover" & "My Break Ups", liked them both a lot, but thought "My Break Ups" was a greater accomplishment due to the relative complexity of the film.

Are bigger/more numerous/more Euro-American/"white"er indie film festivals rejecting "My Break Ups" because it has an Asian/Asian-American lead? Or is the reason for rejection something else?

This comes at a time when Hollywood is looking much more integrated then ever before (recent Oscars = a film featuring a multi-ethnic cast, a gay cowboy movie, Asian director wins an Oscar FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER). Is the US indie film fest & film scene actually more conservative & backwards right now when it comes to ethnic/"racial" integration? Is Hollywood actually more liberal & "indie in spirit" on this item right now?

Perhaps now is the time to create competition for the indie film fest $s by creating Integrated Indie Film Festivals. By creating indie film festivals that feature films by African-American, Euro-American, etc., gay & lesbian & straight, etc., all competing in one event, instead of forcing minority themed/created by minorities indie movies to compete in their own, often smaller, often less celebrated festivals. Perhaps the progressive visions of many of the existing mainstream/larger/"white"er indie film festivals have not been adequately fulfilled, at least not on the ethnic/"racial" diversity account. When Hollywood is looking more diverse then the indie film fest scene, is an indie film festival scene still relevant? Like I said in a previous post, in order for independent media/entertainment to matter & also financially survive & succeed, it has to offer positive things Hollywood is not offering, or offer larger quantities of those positive things that Hollywood may be offering in smaller quantities. All you upstart indie film entrepreneurs out there, time to do some market research, the existing large indie film festivals may not be serving all segments of the US population too well, it may be time for some regime change open-market capitalist competitive style. There certainly is money to be made through indie film festivals.

Will follow up after I speak w/ Amir or will continue the discussion in the comments section. In the meantime, check out his post, feel free to comment here or there.

Sujewa
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Goodbye Gordon Parks and Garrett Scott

Gordon Parks I knew about, Garrett Scott I didn't. Both of them were filmmakers and both of them left this world during the last few days.

Gordon Parks was a highly acclaimed still photographer & filmmaker. Reportedly the first African-American filmmaker to direct a Hollywood feature. The ever reliable GreenCine Daily has a post w/ several links that lead to stories on Parks.

Garrett Scott was a young documentary filmmaker. I read somewhere that he was inspired to make movies after seeing an insane man steal a tank and wreak havoc in his town. indieWIRE has a tribute to Scott.

Soon I will have to track down at least 1 movie each by both Parks & Scott & watch them in order to celebrate their lives & work.

Sujewa
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Caveh Zahedi is blogging

Just found out today that Caveh "I Am A Sex Addict" Zahedi is blogging. Recently he has written about the Sex Addict trailer, dealing with IFC Films. To read, go here.

Sujewa
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"American Hardcore" gonna be rockin' w/ Sony Classics

Here's a bit from the indieWIRE story about Sony Classic's acquisition of punk rock doc "American Hardcore":

" Through interviews and rare footage, "American Hardcore" charts the roots of hardcore in the U.S., which in part, grew out of a reaction against the rise of Reagan conservatism and a backlash against American suburbia. The pillars of American punk, including Henry Rollins (Black Flag), Ian McKay (Minor Threat), H.R. (Bad Brains) and others recall the era throughout the film. "

Looking forward to checking that baby out. And btw, that's Ian MacKaye, not McKay iW :) Dude is a secret hero to a lot of DC punk rock fan kids like me. He played in Minor Threat, then Fugazi, and now plays in The Evens.

The hardcore punk scene of the 80's can be a source of inspiration to today's D.I.Y. indie/self-distributing filmmakers. It is at least to me.

And while we are on the subject, check out the excellent book "Dance of Days: Two Decades of Punk in the Nation's Capital" by Mark Andersen and Mark Jenkins.

Thanks friends!

Sujewa
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Why Be Indie? :: & briefly on AIVF, IFP * looking @ 70's makers methods * unnecessary segregation in liberal indie art/media/ent scenes

(this is a slightly re-worked version of a comment I left at Self-Reliant Filmmaking blog re: the topic of building a new self-distribution/screening/microcinema scene)

On 1) Indie film orgs/institutions, 2) 60's & 70's indie filmmakers as models for the late '00 self-distro scene, 3) unnecessary segregation in liberal indie media scenes, and finally 4) a good reason for being an indie filmmaker:

I need to look at joining AIVF, perhaps this month, and also need to look into IFP & any other orgs that may be of use in self-distributing my new feature Date Number One & making more low/no budget D.I.Y. features & self-distributing them.

Looking at how indie filmmakers were doing things, what they were doing in the 70's (and even 60's) could provide very useful models for me and other indie filmmakers who are engaged in self-distribution & creating a new self-distro scene at this moment. But essentially a new wheel will have to be invented, as far as I can tell. Looking for help from non-profit org backed aspects of the indie film culture/industry is cool, but those orgs alone would create (& have created) a relatively low number of opportunities for indie filmmakers - compared to a D.I.Y. indie rock type artist & audience driven culture/industry (which results from individual artists working a lot to build an audience for their projects). The combination of the two would be ideal - institutions/orgs will secure a constant base of support & a minimal audience at least, and individual films/filmmakers will build on that by pulling in (and of course sometimes driving away :) different audiences to the scene, project by project.

One of the weird developments/aspects in liberal independent media/entertainment (both in indie rock & indie film scenes) in America is the kind of soft "racial" segregation that exists there. As far as I can tell, most indie rock shows & indie films, for the moment, draw a predominantly "white" audience while at the same time relatively large non-"white" audiences such as Asian-Americans (tons of Asian American film festivals around, feels like, they certainly made The Debut & Robot Stories successes), African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans have created parallel scenes/industries. There are no strong or valuable philosophical justifications for the low level of integration in the liberal independent media scenes. Fuller integration just hasn't been done yet. There are very powerful benefits to developing more integrated scenes: $s (more people, more money), new ideas (or new combinations of ideas resulting from different cultural starting points/group experience starting points), and the wider diffusion of useful & positive ideas (the relatively anti-materialist, pro-D.I.Y. & self-sufficiency, & pro-community activist stances of indie rock & indie film can perhaps be very useful to teens from all backgrounds who may not have those ideas & examples as options in their Hollywood created entertainmentscape). The independent scene in America, in both music & film, stand in relation to the more mainstream scene/industry and is defined to a certain degree by the mainstream industry (Hollywood, basically). We could do the good things that Hollywood is not doing at any given moment. Otherwise being independent may become a relatively useless & redundant thing. That's one good reason for being an independent filmmaker in America: having the ability to do positive things that Hollywood & Indiewood are not doing.

Asian Man Records

“ Asian Man Records is run out of my parents garage in Northern California. I have one full time employee (Skylar) and my mom helps out by picking up the mail at the post office.”

- from About Asian Man Records page

Musician & activist Mike Park runs this fine little D.I.Y. label. Asian Man has released albums by over 57 bands (!!!) in its 15 or so years of existence. All this by a couple of people working out of a garage in California. Here are some of the bands that have worked w/ Asian Man:

Alkaline Trio

Blue Meanies

The Chinkees

Kevin Seconds

Mike Park

Lets Go Bowling

The Peacocks

Yoko Utsumi

Teen Idols

See a fuller list of bands here.

Asian Man is an inspiration for us indie/DIY filmmakers working on doing self-distro. Asian Man has kept a small but active production & distribution operation going for a long time now. Aside from releasing albums through Asian Man, most bands on the lable tour the US & other countries, bringing their tunes live to people.

Info on 56 US Indie Film Venues

I did a search at Microcinema International (they have an awesome database) for venues seating 30 people or more. Some of the venues found are film festivals, others theaters & microcinemas. See all the results here (take an evening & play w/ the database, you can probably figure out all the info. you need on potential venues for your short or feature).

- Sujewa
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Matt Zoller "Home" Seitz Interview

Matt Zoller Seitz's debut feature "Home" will have its theatrical premiere and a one week long run at the cultural capital of the western world, The City That Invented Independent Film (where John Cassavetes, Jim Jarmusch, Spike Lee made their breakthrough & genre defining work), New York City. "Home" starts playing tomorrow, Thursday March 2, and runs until Wednesday March 8 at the Pioneer theater.

To celebrate the occasion I did a 5 question e-mail interview with Seitz. See my review of "Home" here. Here's the fan-tabulous interview:

Sujewa: Hi Matt, thanks for taking time out to answer some questions about your movie "Home". What was your filmmaking experience prior to making this, your first feature, and what made you decide to tackle a feature length project?

Matt: At Southern Methodist University in Dallas, my hometown, I was going for a double major in film and video production and in creative writing. But I fell into journalism and ended up having success with that, and I got sidetracked from filmmaking for 10 years after graduation. In spring of 2002 a low-budget producer-director named Kenneth del Vecchio invited me to be a "creative producer" on his third movie, "Tinsel Town," a microbudget thriller that's sort of like a cross between "Blue Velvet" and "The Dukes of Hazzard," if you can imagine that. It was an amazing learning experience. I did everything on that set, from loading and unloading lights to going over shooting schedules, to managing crew members and actors to making sure equipment got where it needed to go. I learned the proper way to wrap an extension cord and how to handle hot barn doors on movie lights. And on top of that, I got to storyboard shots with the cinematographer and direct a few scenes myself. At one point I storyboarded a chase sequence involving a borrowed police car, an Impala and an 18-wheeler driven by a guy who let us rent his truck for $100 that night. I think Kenny might have just met the guy that afternoon, just saw him in a parking lot behind the wheel of the truck and asked him if he was doing anything that night, and if not, would he like to be in a movie chase scene. About half the interiors were shot in mocked-up offices at an abandoned textile mill in Paterson owned by the movie's principal investor. At one point our two lead actors were driving around an office park somewhere in Paterson on a rainy night, improvising dialogue with a camera guy and a boom guy in the backseat while being chased by a police car at 50 miles per hour. It was great. I really enjoyed filmmaking and felt I was ready to do it again immediately, and direct and write this time. So that summer in 2002, I got together with some friends and we started shooting "Home." It started out as a 30-minute movie, basically a long short film, and ended up expanding into a 91 minute feature, a short feature. It just sort of grew like a garden. Total production time was 24 days spread out over 18 months. The days were difficult to schedule because there were often a lot of actors in the same scene. In the middle of the movie there are like 50 or 60 speaking parts and there are times when you need to see those people in the background behind two main characters, otherwise your shot-to-shot continuity is ruined. The whole movie was like a Rubiks' cube that had to be assembled in a particular pattern.

Sujewa: Having your house serves as a set for a film can be a nightmare, I have experienced it first hand. How did that go on the "Home" shoot? I read that the film was shot at your house over the course of several months. How did your family and neighbors react to the "never ending" production period?

Matt: They were about as understanding as you could possibly hope for. The landlord, Stan Murray, who lives on the fourth floor, threw extension cords out of his window to give us extra power, and had new outlets installed in our apartment to handle the juice from the lights. He was incredibly supportive. My family was complicit in the whole thing. I co-produced the movie with my two brothers, Jeremy and Richard, my wife Jennifer and my friend Sean. Most of the people on both sides of the camera are friends of mine or friends of friends of mine. There were a few times when I could tell they were wishing they'd never gotten involved with me professionally, because I got into this demented Captain Ahab mode where I was determined to get the movie done, even though we only had about 50 minutes worth of the narrative in the can and there was this whole other half that wasn't shot yet. Jeremy went out and raised some money from private investors to complete principal photography, and then to do sound work. We had to re-record some dialogue, we recorded multiple offscreen conversations to lay over the onscreen conversations to make the party sound more real. Then my brother Richard mixed the soundtrack, which is quite dense for a movie this cheap. I was a little worried that I was traumatizing my daughter Hannah, who was four and then five years old during principal photography in 2002 and 2003. But she's a movie buff and a cartoonist and a person very interested in the artistic process, so she ate it up. She didn't complain when we basically kicked her out of her own room so we could use it for craft services and a dressing room for the actors. In fact she really seemed to look forward to shooting days, and she has a PA credit on the movie because she actually was PA. She'd go bring the actors food, she helped make meals and sometimes she helped set up and break down by bringing extension cords and light stands to and from the storage area.

Sujewa: I felt that "Home" was a blend of documentary like story telling, mini romantic drama moments, with a little bit of absurd & surreal/colorful characters thrown in (here I am thinking about the dream interpreter & the guy who offers his romantic philosophy). Was this what you first envisioned when you wrote the script? Does the finished film tell the story in the way that you wanted it told?

Matt: The finished film doesn't tell the story exactly as I wanted it to be told because we had no money and that level of fanaticism isn't possible when you're not paying people. There were days when we stuck very close to the script and shot according to meticulous storyboarded shot lists that I'd made with my brother Jeremy. And there were days when we just kind of had to wing it because there were 40 people jammed into my kitchen in 110 degree heat and they were starting to get cranky. People often ask how much improvisation there is in the movie. It's about 60 or 70 percent scripted in some fashion, but the rest involves a degree of improvisation, anything from rewriting the scene on the spot to improvising in real time from a list of plot points and a scene outline. As a general rule, the more people are onscreen at any one time, and the more characters are onscreen at once, talking over each other, the more likely you're seeing a scene where both the dialogue and camerawork were improvised.

Sujewa: I liked the photography in this film. At points it reminded me of the black and white cinematography in certain 60's art/indie/foreign movies (Cassavetes?, French New Wave?). Which is kind of weird since this movie was shot in color digital video, less then 2 years ago. Can you speak a little about the visual design of the film?

Matt: Jonathan Wolff, my director of photography, asked me right off the bat if he could light it high contrast, as if it were an early Technicolor movie or a black-and-white 16mm movie from the late 50s or early 60s. I had envisioned the movie with a flatter, more evenly lit look, since that's what all the books and web sites told me you had to do with digital video to get a usable 35mm blowup. But when Jonathan said he wanted to go high contrast I didn't hesitate, because that's my favorite kind of lighting. Steve Hopkins, who came in the following summer and finished photography on the movie, mimicked Jonathan's lighting design and added some touches of his own. Their work matches pretty seamlessly, which was a relief when I finally sat down to edit it all together. We did a lot of things you weren't supposed to do when shooting in DV, but the three biggest were shooting high contrast, moving the camera rather dramatically, and using a lot of fairly wide master shots. All these things are a big no-no in DV because you get light trails and flicker. But my feeling was, we're shooting in video, let's get over that and do whatever we think looks interesting. I like high contrast, I like fairly flamboyant camera moves if the moment warrants it, and I like wide shots. The whole time I reminded myself that this could be the only movie I ever make, it might as well look like the sort of movie I'd enjoy looking at if I were a viewer. It's just an approximation of what I saw in my mind because of the limitations of our technology, which is low res, and the limitations of my own experience as a director. But there's a personality to it. The most influential piece of advice I got before going into this was from a director who's been working in the film and TV industry for a while now and has been very successful. He told me if you're making your first movie, you should do whatever the hell you want, and make the kind of movie you want to make, even if it annoys or confuses or angers people, because you might not get to make another movie, and you don't want to be kicking yourself later for not having scratched certain itches. The rest of the world may forget about this movie in a month, or in an hour, if in fact they ever notice it in the first place, but you're going to be living with it for the rest of your life, so it might as well reflect your personality and tastes. Plus, if by some freak chance your first film is a success, and you get to make another movie with a bigger budget, there will be more limitations on what you can do, more people to answer to, more people who can tell you no. He basically told me to make whatever I wanted to make and don't waste a minute worrying about what the world wants or expects. That was good advice.

Sujewa: Can you speak a bit about the film festival and distribution experiences related to "Home"? What was the reaction of the first film festival audience that saw the movie? What were the best & worst film festival experiences? How has the process of attempting to secure distribution gone? How did the upcoming week long screening at the Pioneer come about?

Matt: Distribution has been rough, and anyone who sees the movie knows why. It's an elliptical movie that's sort of real and sort of not real, and there are some very peculiar things in it, including a guy who interprets people's dreams in the backyard and a montage of people kissing scored to the sound of a guy on the front stoop reciting a poetic monologue in Spanish. And to top it off, there's no stars, no sex, no violence, and some would say no plot. It's kind of a vibe of a movie, and most of the action is internal. It's not the sort of movie one can easily sell to a huge audience. You have to get it in front of people who like this very specific kind of movie, and not being telepathic, you really have no way of knowing who those people are, or where they are, or how to find them. Incredibly, we did have a few inquiries from distributors, but most of them changed their minds after they saw the movie. One of them told me it was "the opposite of commercial," and another one said I might as well dub the entire thing into French because it's a foreign film anyway. I don't think he meant that as a compliment, but I took it as one. Another distributor told me that if I had just one actor in the movie who was on a TV show, I could get a pretty good deal. But there are basically two kinds of actors in "Home," hungry young professionals from the New York stage and indie film scene and amateurs who I kind of hauled off the streets of Brooklyn and stuck into the movie. Finally things worked out with a New York theatrical run at the Pioneer, which is run by Ray Privett, who had a strong, personal response to the movie and was very aggressive about convincing me to show it there. Audiences have generally gotten it, often to a degree that I find kind of bewildering considering how odd and personal the movie is. My least favorite showing was at the Long Island Film Festival, where the crowd just wasn't into it at all. The best showings were at the Brooklyn Underground Film Festival, which was sort of a gimme, and the Trenton Film Festival, where we won a couple of awards, and at the Independent Film Festival of Boston, where people were very vocal and caught every joke, even the ones in the margins that you're not supposed to notice until the second or third time you watch it. We've also accumulated fans who see the movie at a festival and then track me down through my blog, The House Next Door , or through the movie's production company, Brooklyn Schoolyard, and want to know when they can see it again. The ones who live in New York are coming to the Pioneer. The ones who live outside New York will have to wait for the DVD, which is probably coming out later this year, on a reputable label that I can't name right now because we're still closing the deal. I'm finishing a second screenplay, an adaptation of a crime novel set on the Jersey shore, and I'm in production on two short films, both science fiction. The shorts will be done and posted on the Internet some time this year. The feature will roll when I get the money to do it.

Thanks a lot Matt! Hope you have an awesome time at the Pioneer this week.

- Sujewa

In A Town of 90,000 People, They Sold 10,600 Tickets To A Doc Festival

The word is that in a town of 90,000 people (Columbia, Missouri), they sold 10,600 tickets to a documentary film festival (True/False). I ain't no expert, but thems some fabulous numbers. Read all about it at AJ "Gigantic" Schnack's blog. !Go T/F!

Sujewa
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"Home" Review

Home
Directed, written and edited by Matt Zoller Seitz
2005, Brooklyn Schoolyard LLC

Review by Sujewa Ekanayake

I may be the wrong person to review "Home" due to my relatively narrow taste in movies (some favorites: "Amelie", "Mystery Train", "Annie Hall", "The Unbelievable Truth"), however I do want to talk about this movie because: I can see that Matt Zoller Seitz, the director of "Home", is very talented, his next feature may be a major breakthrough, and "Home" might be the ideal film for some people. In its promotional material "Home" is billed as a romantic comedy-drama that takes place one night at a party at a house in Brooklyn. "Home" plays like a combination of: a well made documentary like re-enactment of a 20-30 something year old, city-dwelling creatives party where much happens but not much of significance, a collection of a few comic and surreal moments, and several short stories about dramatic moments in several romantic relationships. Due to the fact that "Home" does not fit neatly into any one currently existing category of movies, I would classify it as an Experimental Romantic Drama and approach it as such in order to get the most entertainment value from it.

Bobby (played well by Jason Liebrecht), a mid-late 20 something man dressed in a black suit, shows up early to a party being thrown by the housemates Susan (Nicol Zanzarella) and Rose (Erin S. Visslailli). The film stays with the party from its under populated beginning to its over crowded peak to its "time to clean up, no one's here to help" ending. The key story being told is the one between Bobby and Susan. Bobby pursues Susan throughout the night, has to figure out how to deal with the presence of Susan's ex-boyfriend Tomaz (Pavol Liska), and I'll leave it up to the viewer to find out if Bobby gets Susan or not. Within the frame established by the Bobby-Susan story we get to witness dramatic moments from a couple of other relationships. One involves Susan's housemate Rose and another involves a pair of guests who are a constantly squabbling couple. In between these stories we get to see some odd, some mundane moments from the party: two beefy dudes trying to figure out who is the strongest, few people hanging out on the front steps and making music at times, a guy who hangs out alone in the back yard interpreting people's dreams.

The dream interpreter (played very well by Dennis Cabrini) scene was probably my most favorite scene in this movie. It is well acted by all, and beautifully lit and filmed. In this scene two party guests (including Bobby) approach the dream interpreter, one at a time, get their dreams interpreted, and leave. This simple scene has an almost David Lynchian surreal quality to it, but with sweetness, not the Lynchian dread.

The cinematography by Jonathan Wolff is excellent. Even though the film was shot in color digital video a couple of years ago, at points it felt like I was watching an art/indie/foreign
16 MM black & white film from the 60's. There is also a lot of great music (performed by King Radio, Matt Wilcox, Kristin Mainhart, Dave Zoller, and several others) spread throughout "Home".

This debut feature by Seitz shows promise and I look forward to seeing what he will do next. "Home" is probably fun to watch on a big screen, with a bunch of upbeat people who are talking back to the screen. So for all you indie film fans in NYC, your chance to do just that is coming this week. "Home" plays at the Pioneer theater from Thursday March 2 to Wednesday March 8.

Press Action for Matt Zoller Seitz's "Home" run begins

Filmmaker & critic Matt Zoller Seitz's film "Home" starts playing at the Pioneer theater in NYC this week. Press coverage has begun. Here is a very positive article from the Downtown Express. Enjoy.

Sujewa
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Shifting Gears

Right now, as I get very close to releasing "Date Number One" to reviewers (mostly my fellow bloggers in this round 1 of press submissions), submitting to film festivals, dealing with screening venues, preparing promotional material & packaging DVDs, the interest in blogging about general indie/D.I.Y. film matters is rapidly decreasing. Right now my brain is full of info. about Final Cut Express audio mixing capabilities, not the details necessary to compose blog entries about the latest developments in indie film. So, the number of new posts on this blog will be going down starting this week. During the last couple of months I've posted at least 2-4 (sometimes 5) times a week. That will be changing. From now on I will be blogging only when very important developments happen and specially when "Date Number One" related news breaks. The sweet days of blogging a lot about many indie film related subjects are over, but the sweeter days of gettting the movie out & blogging mostly about "Date Number One" self-distribution are here.

Jon Moritsugu Interview

(a September 2005 interview)


"Jon Moritsugu is a LIVING FUCKING UNDERGROUND MOVIE GOD"
- New York Underground Film Festival

Jon Moritsugu has played his movies in, and won awards at, underground film festivals and he has also played his movies at international, mainstream forums including the Cannes film festival. He once made a 16 MM Panavision movie for PBS with a budget of over $350,000 and he has also made feature length movies for under $5,000. This versatile, very creative, always super independent, punk rock influenced and inspired American filmmaker has a two decade long resume and body of work that most creative professionals anywhere would envy. Moritsugu's latest feature "Scumrock", shot on the shockingly amateur and inexpensive Hi-8 analog video format and starring, among others, musician Kyp Malone from the well respected indie band TV on the Radio, won Best Feature award at the 2003 New York Underground Film Festival and Best Feature award at the 2002 Chicago Underground Film Festival. His career is being celebrated locally and abroad. In 2004 the Anthology Film Archives in New York City presented a one week long retrospective of Moritsugu's work. This year, from October 12 to 16, the Lausanne Underground Film Festival in Switzerland will present a week long retrospective of Moritsugu's films. The following is an interview conducted through e-mail in September 2005. Interview By Sujewa Ekanayake :: September 2005
Copyright 2005 Sujewa Ekanayake/Wild Diner Films

Sujewa: Hey Jon, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk (through the miracle of e-mail) to me. You shot your most recent feature "Scumrock" on Hi-8 analog video. And the movie won several festival awards and received excellent reviews. Do you wish you had used inexpensive video as a shooting format earlier in your career (possibly to save thousands of dollars and have a less of a waiting/fund raising period between projects)?

Jon: I definitely would have used video earlier on, but the problem was that in the 80's and early 90's, video was still really expen$$$ive. Digital video (DV) did not exist, desktop editing didn't exist, no protools, etc, etc, and video was still pretty low-fi, unless you stepped into an online studio (which could cost you major buckage). I actually stuck to 16mm cuz it was a low-cost option. Even my feature MY DEGENERATION cost about $5000, which is a large chunk of money, but if you're talking about shooting and completing a feature film (color 16mm), it really is quite reasonable. I actually totally appreciate the fact that I was able to crank out a bunch of movies in the waning days of 16mm production. I think the movies have a certain look and feel that just wouldn't be the same if they were shot on DV. As far as SCUMROCK, it was shot in 2000, and at that time, DV was still pretty expensive. I shot it on analog Hi-8 because that format has incredible color saturation and does look a little like film, plus all the gear was real cheap (our main production camera was purchased brand-new for $300 vs. a couple thousand for a DV camera).

Sujewa: I read somewhere that one of your movies played at a theater in France for over a year. Amazing! Which movie was it and could you reflect on that whole seemingly mind blowing experience? Did that year long theatrical engagement in France increase the number of your groupies and did it make you obscenely wealthy?

Jon: HIPPY PORN played at the Action Christine theater in Paris for almost a year. This was in 1993, when indie film in America was just breaking and getting huge. This upstart French distribution company took the film (and 4 others) as examples of the "West Coast new wave" and put a lot of energy and money into the theatrical release. Quite exciting actually. I was flown to Paris and ate lotsa cheese and had a great time, but really didn't make any money. I don't think anyone made money, though it was a great way for people to bond as a community trying to change the face of filmmaking, and also for this company to get a start in the industry. It was a cool experience, though, where I felt the French audience (with all of its artsiness and pretension), connected to the raw, revolutionary and punkoid nature of the flicks.

Sujewa: Your movies and public personality makes me think of, a little, John Waters and Greg Araki. I'd say all three of you have a gleefully subversive art/punk/trash/underground/subcultural quality in a lot of your work. Am I totally off base here or do you see some similarities between your work and that of Araki & Waters?

Jon: Sujewa, you are totally on base! I definitely was inspired early in my filmmaking days by some of John Waters' early work. Greg Araki and I also go waaaaay back - I met him at an Asian film fest in the late 80's and we bonded on feeling like freaks at the event. We did some hangin' out in the early 90's and kept sane by shooting the shit and trying to fight the power for the Asian brothers and sisters.

Sujewa: As far as I know you are the most famous filmmaker to come out of Hawaii (I am assuming here that you are from Hawaii, correct me if I am wrong). Does Hawaii love Jon Moritsugu? Are there Moritsugu statues and streets in Hawaii yet? Do Fidel Castro style gigantic portraits of Jon Moritsugu hang on buildings & streets of Hawaii? I'd like to visit there, it seems lovely. Is Hawaii lovely?

Jon: Yeah, Hawaii is lovely. I was born in da islands and lived there recently for a year, and it finally feels like independent film production/DIY culture has arrived there. My films have played at a couple of fests and venues in Honolulu, and there is definitely some type of humor in the films that the Hawaiian audiences totally dig. Very sarcastic and messed-up humor, actually. No streets named after me, but lotsa people named Moritsugu who I don't even know.

Sujewa: Dogme 95 changed the indie film world. Until they came along filmmakers who used formats other than 35MM or 16MM film were not taken seriously by the Hollywood/Indiewood related culture. How do you feel about this change? Some commentators have said that the DV revolution makes things worse - more movies, less quality projects, more competition for distribution - how do you feel about the DV revolution?

Jon: Rock on DV! I'm all for cheaper movies and filmmaking being a more "democratic" form of expression. I like the fact that you can now be your own movie production studio - you don't have to invest millions of dollars to get your story/ideas up on screen. Just like punk rock, the 4-track, and now digital home recording freeing the music scene and making it immediate/accesssible to more people, I feel digital video is doing the same. Hallelujah.

Sujewa: Your life and work seems to be heavily influenced by the punk rock scene. How did you discover punk rock and what about it made you want to become a part of that scene/culture? Jon: When I was a kid, I remember going to a record store with a friend one afternoon. He grabbed the last copy of "Never Mind The Bollocks" by the Sex Pistols (very hard to find, as this was Hawaii) and I grabbed some live Frank Zappa album that Rolling Stone highly recommended. We took them to his place, had private record party, and I was totally floored by his choice and bored by mine. Later that night we spray painted the school. Very nice memories and my intro to punk rock. I've been into punkoid shit ever since, and it has also inspired my filmmaking. In the mid to late-80's in the USA, I really had no sense of there being a "film scene" or community of people doing lo-fi, underground, or independent work. On the other hand, the music scene was exploding with bands, clubs, and labels like Dischord, SST, Touch & Go really getting the music to the people out in the scene. I was totally stoked and inspired by all of this and decided to make it a model for how I should pursue my filmmaking and distribution activities. I've always appreciated the practicality and lack of pretense (generalization) in the punkoid scene. You know, punk rock = modern day quaker.

Sujewa: When I saw Jim Jarmusch's "Mystery Train" for the first time in '91, I realized that most American movies & television, including most indie movies, do not reflect the diverse ethnic make up of American society. "Mystery Train" had Japanese tourists characters and an African-American character in lead roles. Your recent film "Scumrock" too contains casting that could be called diverse or casting that reflects the multi-ethnic nature of America. Why do you think that most American movies & television have refused to portray & reflect the always multi-ethnic nature of the American population?

Jon: Yeah, I love that "Mystery Train". Anyway, I think the bland homogenization is all about creating projects that will not be challenging and ultimately controversial. It's about capturing the largest audience by using the most "acceptable" ideas. And that is why stereotyping is used. Oddly, I feel a lot of the public WANTS to see change. The public wants to be presented with strange or different ideas. You know, the Asian American character who doesn't speak with an accent and who is bad at math. The African American character who doesn't play sports. etc. But it seems like the networks, mainstream producers and studios really don't want to take too many chances. Even something as normal as inter-racial + same-sex couples is rarely seen, which is why we need the revolution, man!

Sujewa: As far as I can tell you have engaged in theatrical self-distribution for several of your projects. I am finishing up a feature called "Date Number One" at the moment and I am looking forward to theatrical self-distribution of that project. What advise do you have for me and other filmmakers who are contemplating D.I.Y. distribution?

Jon: I have done a lot of self-distribution of my movies, though I have also worked w/ distributors on theatrical releases. As far as this all goes, I've been able to "control" my release as well as make a little more money through the self-distribution route. However, it can be a big job and I certainly rely on the help of others. For instance, I have a European theatrical distributor, Jack Stevenson, who I've worked with for years. He's in Denmark and also handles all the print traffic, which simplifies my life. We save tons on postage since he's got prints of all the films plus he's really familiar w/ the various territories, their nuances, and the language. It definitely is good to form alliances with people you trust, especially over the long term. Theatrical releases have gotten a lot harder to do recently because the audiences are shrinking. But there has been a microcinema revolution, which is pretty cool. Look into "alternative" spaces (art galleries, cafes, your living room) and also plan for a DVD release of your film - maybe even overlap it with the theatrical release. Get these DVDs into rental stores, record stores, websites, make them available to distributors, and also check out alternatives like streaming video.

Sujewa: I believe your film "Mod Fuck Explosion" played at Cannes. Was that your first film at Cannes? Have you been there since? What was the Cannes/M.F.E. experience like?

Jon: Yeah, MOD FUCK EXPLOSION played at Cannes, though it was in the film festival market, which is sorta considered the "meat market" and "blood and guts" of the festival. Lotsa softcore porn movies, action and cop flicks, everything up for sale and being pushed by sales agents. Needless to say, MOD FUCK (with its artsy sensibilities and strangeness) stood out like a sore thumb. People were baffled and confused by it. I didn't actually make the trip out to the fest, though in hindsight I should have just for the sheer experience. $1500 hotel rooms and $20 cocacolas on the French Riviera, who can resist?

Sujewa: I read somewhere that the 9-11 attacks significantly changed your perspective on film and filmmaking. Can you please elaborate on this? Does this mean that future movies of yours will take a broader view of the world, a view that takes in people and lives outside of the American punk/indie/underground culture?

Jon: I shot SCUMROCK before 9-11 and was just starting the editing when the attacks occurred. The movie was originally supposed to be much more cynical, but this all changed. Though SCUMROCK definitely does not have a "happily ever after" ending, the negative vibage was toned done. It just didn't seem right to release something that was totally bleak into a world that felt totally bleak.

Sujewa: I have not seen your film "Terminal USA" yet, am looking forward to checking it out. I read that it was created on a budget of $200-$300,000 for public television. What was it like to work under such a budget and production entanglements, as opposed to working completely independently at (I assume) a much lower budget on a project such as "Scumrock"? Which production environment do you prefer, of the two mentioned above?

Jon: TERMINAL USA was shot in 1993 with a budget of $360,000. This was a complete shocker, since my previous feature was completed for about $12,000! We used panavision color 16mm equipment, had a crew of 50, and still had a really hard time. Everything felt rushed and there was a certain lack of flexibility and spontaneity throughout the production. Plus we were on an insane nocturnal schedule shooting from early evening to early morning (baaaad idea but necessary for clean sound). On the other hand, SCUMROCK was shot over 5 months with a crew of 3 for far less money (movie "in the can" for $5000). It too, was a challenging project, but it definitely was more intimate and felt much more like a "family" thing. I think it would be great to make a movie somewhere in between these two extremes. You know, have enough money and help to get the shooting done quickly and not too painfully, yet not go overboard and create a "film army" situation.

Sujewa: The prolific filmmaker Todd Verow (of Bangor Films fame) was the photographer of your movie "Mod Fuck Explosion". What was it like working with Verow? And what was it like working with lead actor Kyp Malone (from the band TV On The Radio) in "Scumrock"?

Jon: It was great workin' with Todd (he also shot TERMINAL USA). Very talented DP and really great w/ lighting. We had lotsa laughs on these productions. Kyp Malone was awesome! I met him in San Francisco and he came to an audition for SCUMROCK. We ended up casting him as the lead actor because of his natural abilities and "presence", though he had never been in a movie before. The role was originally supposed to be for an Asian-American actor, but Kyp totally broke through all racial boundaries and barriers.

Sujewa: It looks like you have traveled a lot for you work (film festivals, screenings, etc.). Do you have any amazing, spectacular or horrible stories from the road that you would like to share? Accounts of unforgettable things that have happened at festivals or screenings or while getting to those events or while coming back from those events?

Jon: Ok, here's a funny experience: MOD FUCK EXPLOSION played at the Freakzone Film Festival in Lille, France a few years ago, and I traveled out for the event. Since the audience was mostly French speaking, they actually hired some actors to sit backstage and do "live translations" of the movies from the scripts. So we're in the middle of MOD FUCK, a particularly dramatic moment, when the audience starts laughing like crazy. I'm baffled, then a friend who speaks French (who's also laughing) leans over and tells me the actors have lost their place in the movie and are flipping through the script, saying things like "shit, are we on page 6 or 7....I'm totally lost, how about you?" etc. But this really isn't the funny moment. So I'm at the awards ceremony where they're picking the "best feature" of the festival. I've heard rumors that MOD has a really good chance of winning. So speeches are being made (of course in French), and after a really long speech by the festival director, my name is called out! WOOOOHOOOOO! I'M THE WINNER!!! MOD FUCK EXPLOSION WINS!! I run down the aisle, jump up on the stage, and shake hands and hug the director. I make a very passionate speech about "how we are all winners in life-there are no losers-there is no room for jealousy-we are all filmmaking brothers and sisters," then they hand me my prize (it's supposed to be $$$), a stack of French comic books. This is sorta odd, I think, as I walk back to my seat. I sit down and my French friend whispers in my ear, "you do know that you didn't win first place... you just won the honorable mention award, right? They're going to announce first place now..." I was totally embarrassed, man.

Sujewa: Wow, great story. On a different note, even though feature film production is very affordable and the knowledge required for production is easily available (through the internet, library books, etc.) right now, it seems to me that a lot of people who make indie movies in America are not coming from a ethnic minority background. I think the situation is much different in the arena of American music or literature - lots of minority artists participate in those two creative areas. Why do you think indie filmmaking has not caught on more with American minorities at this time? Do you think this will change in the near future?

Jon: I actually think there is a sizable and growing group of minorities doin' the film thing. Maybe it's because I'm seeing it all from a West Coast perspective (I've lived in Frisco, Honolulu, and now the Pac NW), but the whole stereotype of "you can't be artsy if you're a minority" is rapidly breaking down. In the Bay Area, for example, there are lotsa alternative film fests (Latino, Asian American, Hong Kong, African American) as well as "minority" theater companies, film organizations, non-profits, etc.On a worldwide scale, it's also really cool that some of the most cutting-edge and exciting filmmaking is coming from countries like South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, even Brazil and Mexico. Woohooo.

Thanks Jon!

LINKS

See Jon Moritsugu's official web site here
Buy Jon's movies through mail-order from here
Download several of Jon's movies here

12 Year Old Texas Filmmaker & Her Zombie Feature

I just posted a link at Indie Features 06 to an '05 AICN story about a 12 year old Texas filmmaker getting a grant to make a zombie feature.

Sujewa
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"Matt Zoller Seitz in person at every screening!" ("Home" @ Pioneer, NYC, 3/2 - 3/8)

"Matt Zoller Seitz in person at every screening!" screams the Pioneer theater's web page w/ info. on Seitz's 2005 film "Home", and of course they are referring to the upcoming 1 week long run of the film. Seitz is a filmmaker & a critic and "Home" is his first feature. What do Seitz's peers in the dark & sexy art of film criticism think about his first full length effort?

"An intimate, intoxicating chamber piece about an all-night house party at a Brooklyn brownstone, Home perceptively details the niceties and nastiness of friendship, romance, and sexual affairs.", "A convivial portrait of love-struck and lovelorn twentysomethings searching for contentment and companionship, Home coasts along on an enchantingly boozy groove."
- Nick Schager, Slant Magazine.

"The feature debut of the film critic for the New York Press, Home is the kind of modestly scaled, unflashy ensemble piece Seitz often scolds other critics for overlooking: witty, sharply observed, sweet but not treacly."
- Sam Adams, Philadelphia City Paper

"Seitz has a gift for authentic and funny dialogue and convincing character sketches."
- Peter Keough, The Boston Phoenix

Pretty decent reviews I'd say. The accomplishments of "Home" include the following film festival recognition: Best Feature Trenton Film Festival, Best Supporting Actor Trenton Film Festival, official selection of over half a dozen film festivals so far, including the Independent Film Festival of Boston, Brooklyn Underground Film Festival, Cinequest 15 San Jose and the River Run International Film Festival.

So go check out "Home" for yourself in March @ the Pioneer (yeah, the ease of DVDs & the hot new developments in VOD, etc. are lovely, but the most exciting & mythically satisfying way to watch a movie is still at a big screen in a dark movie theater), and give Seitz your take on the film (since he'll be there in person at every screen). But be warned, Seitz is a Tom Waits fan, so you never know what he'll do if he doesn't like your criticism.

Sujewa
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Joe "LOL" Swanberg's 3 Day Rule

"If you can't get your hands on the movie in 3 days or less, we are doing something wrong" says director Joe Swanberg as he talks about screening & distribution plans for his new movie LOL. Read the entire post at Indie Features 06.

Sujewa
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Liz " Jericho's Echo" Nord's Top Screening Spots

Liz Nord, the director of the doc "Jericho's Echo: Punk Rock in The Holy Land" (now available on DVD), recently blogged about some of her favorite places to screen.

The venues are:
Coolidge Corner Theatre Brookline, MA
Cornell Cinema at the Willard Straight Theatre, Ithaca, NY
Grand Illusion Cinema, Seattle, WA
The Capitol Theater Olympia, WA
Castro Theater San Francisco, CA
Victoria Theatre San Francisco, CA
Cinematheque Tel Aviv, Israel

Here's what she says about The Capitol Theater in Olympia, WA:
"Also run by friendly volunteers, this place is home to the Olympia Film Society. It is a wonderful mix of grand-classical and modern-funky. They also host bands and other cool events."

Read the entire post here.

I'll need to start getting in touch w/ some of these places next month for "Date Number One" screening action down the road. By the way, DNO is still being edited. I should be able to make the 3/1 fest deadlines & the flick is looking very good/am very happy with it.

Sujewa
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An Interview with Amir "Whale" Motlagh

As he mentioned last night at Indie Features 06, Amir Motlagh is at work on a feature film titled "Whale" and one of his short films will be playing in San Francisco soon. I interviewed Amir last year re: his prolific yet for the moment relatively unknown career in indie film (that'll change when "Whale" gets done).

Interview from February 2005. First published in Sujewa's DIY Filmmaker Webzine.

AMIR MOTLAGH

Amir Motlagh's filmography as writer/director includes the films "Dino Adino", "Lover @ 11:47" and "Still Lover". In 2004 he added to this output by finishing two beautifully hand crafted documentaries titled "Pumkin Little" and "My Break Ups Into A Million Pieces", both set for release in 2005. The first three films have played in over 30 festivals and film related shows, winning five awards including an Audience Award at DancesWithFilms 2003, Best of the Fest at YardFest 2003, Outstanding Lead Actor WestFest 2003 and two Audience Awards at Friday Night Shorts. His film "Still Lover" was also named Top Ten AtomFilms of 2004 and is going on an 18 city world tour in 2005. Motlagh recently released a lo-fi 6 part video series titled "Lessons in Self-Destruction". This filmmaker is a trained actor and holds a BA degree in Psychology from UCLA. As a part of his 2005 tour Motlagh will make a stop at Washington, D.C.'s Capital City Microcinema on April 21 to present his film "Still Lover" and offer a special preview screening of "My Break Ups Into A Million Pieces". Interview conducted by DC DIY filmmaker Sujewa Ekanayake in February 2005.

Sujewa: Hi Amir, thanks for doing this interview. Why did you become a filmmaker and how did you become a filmmaker? What formats do you use, 16 MM, DV, etc.?

Amir: Well, that's a tricky question. I can't really answer the why to that question. Maybe I can reply with a why not? I've had an ambivalent relationship with film for many years. Some films and images have stayed in my head, and have always hurt me emotionally, or caused a deep understanding of my own struggles. Sometimes I can't escape the cinema, and feel that my own life has really turned into a film of sorts, a beautiful one, that's slow moving and has a pretty young man, isolated, and affected who thinks he's going nowhere as his social anxieties climax to a bitter revelation with a soundtrack that I performed, and then during the ultra late inciting event the character meets this enigmatic woman who destroys his heart by drinking every night at the local bars and destroying both their lives with her devil may care attitude. That sounds good doesn't it, but it's sad, no ? The other side being that I can barely watch most movies these days. The insincerity in most films is a disease. In terms of format, what suits the film first, what is realistic, and how fast I want to create the piece, meaning, the aesthetic consideration of the project is the first consideration for format and then, the reality and costs of production. Artists generaly shoot with anything they can get there hands on, while professionals will wait for exactly what they want, although they compromise the urgency of the film. I tend to side with the artists. To deem DV as soulless as many still do is laughable. DV has aesthetic merits and potentials yet to be realized in full and is damn beautiful.

Sujewa: How many movies have you made so far? Can you give a synopsis of each one, or as many as you feel like talking about at the moment?

Amir: I have made five films ranging in length from 5min. to 40min. and a six part video art series, and a feature fiction in development and a feature treatment in the future. Barely anything but a whisper in the wind.

And here are their obligatory synopses:

"Dino Adino": Dino is turning 23 and his friends decide to document it. Although he dreams of a life as a graphic artist, much is revealed about his conflicted character as the night goes on in the growing suburb of Irvine California.

"Love @ 11:47": A film about the obsessions that drive three characters into uncontrollable action as the clock turns to 11:47 PM in a place and time like any other.

"Still Lover" : A man, a woman, life and love one shot at a time.

"Pumkin Little": "And we shall dance to see another day", A documentary about a young Filipino American searching for himself, as a sea of labels (gangster, break dancer, student, boyfriend, son, Asian, American) proves his struggles and hopes.

"Lessons in Self-Destruction" #01-#06: A six part epic into things that lead to joy and hypertension.

"My Break Ups Into A Million Pieces": A short documentary about the daughter of the Filipino Fine Artist Santiago Bose, as she tries to escape the memory of her father after his death. She ventures to a strange new land (Southern California) and copes with the myth of Americana, while rediscovering all the beauties of life.

"Whale": My first fiction feature. That you will have to wait to hear about.

Sujewa: Which general area of the world do you live and is there an indie film scene there in your town/city/village? How about an indie/punk rock scene? Is it easy or difficult being an indie filmmaker where you live? Is it easy for you to find collaborators to make the movies & also is it easy for you to get publicity for your screenings?

Amir: Right now I live in Orange County, California. Did you say an indie film scene? I also lived in Los Angeles for five years. Everyone makes movies there, lots of shitty films and there are lots of egocentric people running around talking about getting so and so signed on their project and how everyone is in pre-production and so and so is financing the film. Just general bullshit, so yeah, not much else but hype. Of course, there are lots of really talented people doing interesting things, but they don't get much press. Those are the types that unfortunately resist making the calling card type of film. Everything in this area is a little tougher because of the shear volume of productions. In terms of an indie scene in music, yes in Los Angeles, particularly the east side, many many good bands. In Orange County, a few good bands. Orange County has always been a hub for punk rock. The surf, skate punk. When I was growing up, I was the only Persian kid skating, surfing and snowboarding it seemed and so it was pretty amazing. Before that I was a B-Boy in a crew called OSB (old school beats) going to West Coast Roc Steady Crew practices and battling all the local crews at house parties, in the streets and malls. I was always looking for my identity. Music was big in my life and still is.

Sujewa: I saw your movie "Still Lover", liked it a lot, how did that movie come about? Who is the actress in that movie and what were some of her thoughts about the movie - the process of making it and reaction to the finished product? A short film made up of still photos is relatively unusual, but after a while I felt that the still photos were kind of moving or alive, full of moving people who spoke, like a scene in most movies.

Amir: Thanks, it generally is the film most liked out of my catalogue for some reason or another. I guess it has the most universality to it, using the phrase, "personal to universal". But when most people like something, you have to be suspicious, so I feel somewhat reluctant to accept the praise. That film is somewhat difficult for me to revisit. It was practically a response to my own relationship with the subject in the film. The actress, if she could be called that, was a girlfriend in the making. One day I showed up at her house at 6 AM armed with my old Nikon 35mm SLR, some slide film, a soft light, a tripod, and a hi8 camera and started shooting photos without telling her what I was doing. I followed her around and shot a day in her life from sun up to down, limiting the location to her house. I few weeks later, drinking at a bar by myself, I scribbled the narrative on a napkin and I had a film. Next I composed the music and recorded it with my sound man Reza Pormansor and production was done. The film moves fluidly I believe. That was really one of the goals. She was my first real love, and I think it's strange to have that captured for both her and I. It creates an extra dynamic. I thank her for the openness and trust, letting me examine those feelings in a time before we really knew each other. I can only wish her the best now, since we don't talk anymore. I edited that film at a small studio space at Cal Arts that was lived in by my friend Tuan Andrew Nguyen. I lived in this tiny space for a few weeks, with no air conditioner, it was about 100 degrees everyday in Valencia, CA. It was a wonderful time because all the students were playing music and partying like crazy with these art punk bands performing in small studios all night long. It was chaotic, and frustrating at times, but we finished it and all the kids would come in and check it out.

Sujewa: What's the full & official title of the movie that I keep referring to as "...Thousand Pieces...", and tell us about that movie - what's it about, why did you make it?

Amir: The title is "My Break Ups Into A Million Pieces". The film was partly made because I felt I needed to finish the migration pattern first questioned in my documentary "Pumkin Little". In that film, my main subject was a Filipino who was born in the US, and was a male, and in "My Break Ups" the main subject is a Filipina who was born in the Philippines and migrates here to discover a new life. Instead of delving head first into my own situation, these films were a mechanism to make some sense of my own perspectives while observing others, capturing their joys and struggles. What I love most is that I constructed two films about relatively normal people. They aren't famous, and there is nothing sensational. Its all about aesthetics, honesty and intimacy. Maybe I was in a proletarian phase, who knows? My next film is about an Iranian American and these film experiences help that. But the making of the film came about in a peculiar way. I was recording an EP with my two man band Shanks and the Dreamers at Bassland studios in Santa Ana, CA. There, I meet Lilledeshan one late night after her ex-band was rehearsing, and we got into some argument about literature (I didn't know she was a writer). Well, my "Tentative Years" DVD was in the studio and she watched it one night, (because she lived there) and called me about getting some help on making a film of her own from a short story she had wrote and published a few years back called "Break Up Stories". After spending some time and hanging out, she invited me to this vigil she was doing for her father. When I went and saw what she had organized, the work of her father Santiago Bose and her sincerity and intelligence, I was going to make a film. And it so happened that it would complete my documentary cycle as well. I see myself working in the fiction mode for some time though.

Sujewa: What do you think about the current relationship between the US & Iran (since you have roots in Iran)? If you've been to Iran, tell us about it, do we get a full & accurate picture of that country through our media coverage?

Amir: I was born in New Mexico and immediately moved to Iran. I lived there until I was 6 or 7 during the Iraq-Iran war. I remember the sirens going off in the city and running into the bomb shelter at the bottom of the apartment building. We could see explosions like fireworks. The elders would try to laugh it of and amuse us, telling us that it was just for fun. I thought "shit, then why did we have to run to the bottom of the building with the cockroaches"? I also went back about 10 years ago to visit my grandmother. My head was shaved for being at a party by some rough neck type police with a bunch of other kids that were only trying to enjoy their sex drives. What's wrong with being young and horny anyway? These experiences are always enjoyable in hindsight. I believe that we get as accurate a view as we can from any media. Media operates under a set of beliefs implicit to the place they hold loyalties. Iran is a beautiful country with deep history and wonderful poets, intellectuals, artist, and filmmakers, but is a completely problematic state that I fortunately do not belong to.

Sujewa: Feel free to talk about anything that you want to communicate to other humans in this world at this point in time, on any topic at all. Thanks.

Amir: What has become of our intellect? Evolution is self-destructive, as humans, since we tend to continue to destroy the ones that don't look and feel like our own. Be nice, kind and offer a smile sometimes. Or, if you don't like me, don't fucking pretend to.

Sujewa: Are you excited about your upcoming multi-city US tour [note: now past, this interview was conducted in Feb '05]? Tell us more about it - dates, places, the movies that you will show, all the specifics.

Amir: I rarely show my excitement about anything on the surface. The tour is in the works. Exact dates can't be expected of me, since I have a new film I'm working on. The films that will be screening are "Pumkin Little" and "My Break Ups Into A Million Pieces" in a small "preview screening tour" with about 15 dates. I also hope to have some festival dates for "My Break Ups Into A Million Pieces" and "Pumkin Little", individually. My video series "Lessons in Self-Destruction" has a few dates and "The Tentative Years" with my three films "Still Lover," "Love @ 11:47" and "Dino Adino" has some shows in a few galleries. And others, like Capitol City Microcinema are mixed shows with other filmmakers. I'm flexible. I will compile an up to date tour schedule on my website http://www.amirmotlagh.com/. Oh, and word on the streets is that "Still Lover" will be going on an 18 city International tour in May 2005. These are the variables. What is for certain are the first five shows including RatPoweredFilms in Santa Ana, CA March 4th, Pusod in Berkley, CA March 19th, Anthology Film Archives in NY April 20th and Capitol City Microcinema in DC April 21st, 2005. I'll have more dates in the upcoming days and weeks.

Sujewa: How can people get in touch with you, purchase/see your work?

Amir: Easy, check out my website http://www.amirmotlagh.com/ or www.amorproductions.com/amir_motlagh.html or my upcoming http://www.ayafilms.com/ site that will list my complete catalogue under my years as "A Year Alive Films". You can buy some of my films directly from me and they are available on some web stores, but it's always better to buy directly from the artist. You can always reach my company phone at: 310.951.4884
Or mail to:
A Year Alive
attn: Amir Motlagh
9 Coromande
Irvine, CA 92614

Thanks Amir!

indieWIRE loves us baby!

Filmmaking For The Poor has been selected as a "Blogs We Love" blog by the mighty indieWIRE. This I consider a major accomplishment since indieWIRE is probably one of the most visited indie film related websites in America. And like I told indieWIRE's Brian Clark, I "grew up" on iW: much of my thinking about the indie film industry has been heavily affected by stuff covered, opinions offered by iW - even if I haven't always agreed w/their take on things or the kind of projects that they sometimes choose to pay attention to.

Looks like indieWIRE is about to go through a major growth period - they have a new community section coming on line later this month. Looking forward to seeing what they've come up w/ & looking forward to seeing Filmmaking For The Poor headlines showing up on iW.

It took about 3 months and over 50 blog entries to get selected by iW. Looking forward to continuing the blogging over here & also growing my group blog Indie Features 06.

And right now over at Indie Features 06 there is a conversation going on about working w/SAG, and Amir Motlagh updates us on his new feature "Whale" and on upcoming festival play for his short "My Break Ups Into A Million Pieces".

Thanks again iW!

Sujewa
*******

Blake Calhoun's "Killing Down" SAG Experience

When I was getting ready to cast my new movie "Date Number One" in early 2004 I thought about possibly using some SAG (Screen Actors Guild, primarily & historically a union for Hollywood actors) talent. But that idea had to be quickly put away when SAG sent me a 500-600 page document (I think it was a contract) after I inquired about working with them. So I chose some fantastic non-union actors and got started on shooting my film.

One night, while shooting late at an old house in the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood of Washington, DC, a werewolf tried to eat one of my actors. I retrieved the gigantic SAG document from my car and threw it at the werewolf's head, knocked the creature out, and the cast & crew got away safely. My DP had captured the entire incident on high quality digital video (on an XL1s), and after reviewing the footage I decided that the werewolf had a certain useful screen presence. Later, following some intense negotiations that involved vast quantities of uncooked goat meat, I was able to recruit the werewolf (his name is Oliver) to appear in several scenes in my movie. Oliver is now thinking about directing.

Anyway, over at Indie Features 06, director Blake Calhoun talks about his recent SAG experience, had while making the upcoming feature "Killing Down".

Here is a bit of interesting info. from his entry (SAG talent looks more affordable now):
"The Ultra Low Budget Agreement is basically the same contract only now scale is $100/day, but now there is no deferred amount owed. Only the normal SAG residuals that you pay on any contract."

And another bit of info (perhaps we do not need to fear distribution roadblocks from SAG anymore):
"Also, now, none of the contracts (even the "experimental" ones) have SAG owning your film or any distribution rights. This is very important for the low budget indie filmmakers out there (for short films too)."

Check out Blake's post for the whole story. There is a link to SAG in that entry, so that you may pursue the story further and possibly get SAGs take on their new "indie filmmaker friendly" programs.

When I get ready to shoot my next feature, I'll call up SAG again. Hopefully at that time none of their documents will be 500-600 pages long. I will however keep the '04 SAG document handy for special purposes.

Sujewa
*******

Rockets Redglare Doc's Website

I think I've seen Rockets Redglare in a couple of Jim Jarmusch movies.

Was he the liquor store clerk who got shot in the "Lost In Space" (segment title?) segment of "Mystery Train"?

If so, he may also have been one of the characters in the Willie & Eddie-cheating-at-a-card-game scene in "Stranger Than Paradise".

I will have to look those items up at some point.

I found the link to the website for the Rockets Redglare doc, titled "Rockets Redglare!", from the recently discovered comments at the Filmmaker Magazine's blog.

Here's the website.

And here's a recent Miami Herald article about the makers of "Rockets Redglare!" suing its distributor (thanks Filmmaker Magazine's blog for the link).

Sujewa
*******

Self-Distribution Action: "September 12th" @ The Pioneer, NYC, March 21

Over at the Indie Features 06 blog I learned that the well reviewed post-9/11 drama September 12th will be playing at the Pioneer theater in New York City on March 21st.
Magicfying Films, the creators of the movie, are self-distributing it. As I said in an earlier entry, Film Threat highly recommends the movie. Several other reviewers, including Chuck Tryon, have said very good things about the movie. See some quotes at the front page of the movie's site.

As regular readers of this blog know, I am all for self-distribution but I am surprised that a movie that apparently deals well with such a mainstream & well known and yet cinematically under-explored topic (is there anything more well known in America right now then the 9-11 attacks?) has not been picked up by an established distribution company (or that indie theaters from around the country are not seeking out the movie and booking it for longer runs. is that something they even do these days? if not they should, programming their own unique choices will give them a competitive edge over "indie" chains & theaters that only program whatever few films the few indie distributors are offering at any given moment) . Perhaps the right offer has not come along yet, or perhaps Magicfying Films are stubbornly D.I.Y. like a handful of other filmmakers I know (no names please :).

Anyway, I plan on interviewing director John P. Touhey and producer Lou Giovino re: their distribution experience w/ the film and re: the film in general in early March. Perhaps we will get all the details on the self-distribution situation at that point.

In the meantime, if you live in NYC, make plans to go check out September 12th at the Pioneer on March 21st. It will probably be time well spent.

Sujewa
*******

The Easy Path to Becoming A Professional Indie Filmmaker

PREPARATION
forget the wide release (for the moment)
forget wall to wall media coverage (for the moment)
forget Hollywood (for the moment)
forget Indiewood (for the moment)
forget the multi-million dollar paychecks (for the moment)
forget confusing fame, wealth, power for love & health (forever)
* P R O D U C T I O N
make a movie [feature length, or several shorts that can work as a feature length program]
(if u do not have sufficient filmmaking skills, learn them by reading books & websites & watching movies, also through trial & error - grab a video camera, mics, lights, some cheap editing software, work on your craft 'till u get it to a point where u & those whose opinion u care about will think the skills are awesome)
use DV or another accessible, affordable format
make it excellent
make it inexpensively
- forget the typical indie film financing insanity & B.S.
* fund your film from some cash saved up from your dayjob paychecks
(it's alright if it takes a while to get the movie done)
- also can do benefit events for the film project, can make merch to raise $s for the film, can get small loans from friends & other supporters, & small investors are cool as long as they know the full risk of investing in the project - the key is maintaining financial independence and not getting into a crippling debt situation
* D I S T R I B U T I O N
Once The Movie Is Done:
* call up a local theater/club/bookstore/record store/video store/someone w/ a space - anyone w/ a space that can accommodate several dozen people, a large TV or screen, projector if possible if there is a large screen, some audio amp/playback system
- set up a showing of your movie
- set up a website for the movie
- set up a blog for your movie, blog regularly - build up some readers/friends
- let all local media know about your movie and the upcoming show
- mail out some review copies of the movie to interested people on the web & in other media
- constantly promote the upcoming screening & the movie, self through all available avenues
Make Some DVDs to sell
* talk to media & other people who are interested in discussing your movie
- submit the movie to film festivals
- do your public screening, charge money for entrance if appropriate
- sell DVDs to whoever wants them
- keep track of sales, put some money aside on a regular basis for taxes & emergency film distro related expenses
The Road Show
- get in touch w/ other venues in town, see if you can play/show your movie
- rent some spaces to play if you have to
Contact Venues In Other Towns
- try to get some gigs
- get some gigs
- go play the movie there when you are off from your dayjob, sell some DVD's
Mail Order
- make the DVD available for sale through your website
- promote the movie, the DVD, self through other people's/friends/co-indiefilmmaker's websites, blogs
The Future:
* Make Another Movie When It Feels Right, Repeat The Steps mentioned above
* When You Have Plenty of Money Coming In Through Your Filmmaking Work, Quit Dayjob
* Continue To Make Movies until you don't feel like it anymore
* Enjoy yourself at all times. U R a lucky soul.
- This work is not very difficult, takes patience, action, creativity. You can do it if you really want to.
*
Playing w/ Indiewood & Hollywood:
once you have a feature film done & in self-distro, Indiewood & Hollywood may be interested in working with you, choose carefully and select collaborations that benefit you & your indie filmmaker career. If Indiewood & Hollywood gets in the way of living well & being productive, pull back, go back to your ultra-indie roots FT, get work done & out. You & your fans will be happy.

[And on a purely creative note:
creativity is a powerful gift & ability, use it wisely
being able to make a movie is a rare ability in the history of this world, use that power well
seek out things that should be celebrated but aren't, celebrate them, your peers will reward you for it
seek out things that should be articulated (because doing so will make life more livable for some or many people), no matter how painful, articulate those things through your art, you will be making the world a better place]

Sujewa
*******

indiewire is cooking up some awesome community stuff

Ran out of web stuff to read while eating lunch, so I was clicking through the indieWIRE site, and finally read their plans for the upcoming community section. Looks like they are trying to do a MySpace or Friendster type thing here. Could be awesome. Here's a paragraph from the description of the upcoming community section (bold selections mine):

"Your indieWIRE member "homepage" will be a lot more than just a simple profile: it will be a place to publish your thoughts to a journal, have your own discussion board, organize digital photos, share bookmarks, manage events and create a network of your friends who are also indieWIRE members. Even more importantly, you'll be able to control who has access to those details, from sharing your journal with the world to sharing discussions with just your accepted friends list. The indieWIRE community will also include a more vigorous classifieds system for buying, selling, trading, swapping and hiring. Those entries, like everything else in the social network, are also searchable in a number of ways across the entire community."

Read the whole description here.

AJ "Gigantic" Schnack Joins the DIY Distribution Conversation

AJ Schnack, the maker of "Gigantic: The Tale of Two Johns", a doc about the indie band They Might Be Giants, has joined the recent conversation on Do It Yourself indie film distribution that has occurred on this site, David Lowey's Drifting blog and Paul Harrill's Self-Reliant Filmmaking blog. Read Schnack's post here. Lots of other useful & interesting info. on Schnack's blog, such as a response from Mark "Landmark Theaters" Cuban re: a conversation had on the blog re: Cuban's Truly Indie distribution initiative. Links to other blogs mentioned here can be found at Schnack's entry.

New group blog forming: Indie Features 06

I've started a new blog, a group blog, called Indie Features 06, for select indie filmmakers who have features in distribution this year (any type of distribution: theatrical, DVD, microcinemas, film festivals, VOD, whatever - as long as the work is available to the public in some form) to blog about their projects and other films.

So far feature filmmakers David Lowery (Deadroom, coming out on DVD this year) and Chris Hansen (The Proper Care & Feeding of an American Messiah, currently at festival stage) have signed up as blog team members. Some other invitations are pending.

Check out the site. The purpose of the blog is explained in greater detail on the first post. If you are a filmmaker with a feature in distribution this year and you want another space to promote your project, let me know. Maybe your project/blog posts re: it will be a good addition to the kind of films that will be written about at IF06 (indie/arty stuff, w/ low-budget D.I.Y stuff heavily favored, pretty much the kind of stuff that I've written about in this blog for the last few weeks), and maybe you'll become our latest blog team member. Should be fun & worthwhile.

And this new blog should also help me fulfill my goal of writing about 52 D.I.Y. films in '06. I'll probably learn about some new & previously unknown DIY movies through the IF06 blog. Not sure how many D.I.Y films I have written about so far this year, will have to go back & do a count at the end of this month.

Oh Kay, later on, have a lovely weekend.

Sujewa
*******

"Date Number One" Playing at Seattle's Northwest Film Forum May 19 - 21

In this scene from "Date Number One" Karate woman Anne (played by Julia Stemper) chats with her date Ninja man Mark (played by John Stabb Schroeder) at her place before the two head out for the night.
PHOTO COPYRIGHT 2005 SUJEWA EKANAYAKE/WILD DINER FILMS

Yup, that's right, my new comedy feature Date Number One will be playing at the cool Seattle indie film venue Northwest Film Forum (or, as it is known on some shady street corners: NWFF) the weekend of May 19 - 21. 6 shows are scheduled, and hopefully this will be the first of many Seattle engagements for this flick. Reviews, stills, maybe a trailer, additional play dates, benefit screenings info, an updated website are all coming in the next couple of weeks.

If you are a indie film/art/culture blogger type person or a film booker type person for an indie film venue, let me know if you want to see a screener DVD for the film. I am going to have a batch of them available Thu 2/16.

For people who've already requested a screener months ago, fear not, they will be on their way to you next week. Hopefully the film will be good Valentines Week entertainment for ya.

I am going to start submittin' the flick to film festivals late next week. Gotta update my Withoutabox account & see what neat festival deadlines are rolling up. I know I will be submitting to Chicago Underground and Los Angeles Film Fests. I am going to try to play as many festivals as possible.

All the ultra-low/"no" budget indie/D.I.Y. distro adventures will be chronicled in sweet detail at the movie's official blog.

Thanks, and start putting some nickels & dimes in a piggy bank so that you can catch a showing of Date Number One when it plays in your village or in case you want to fulfill that burning, unstoppable desire to buy the DVD.

Sujewa
*******

A Waitsian Moment Discovered In The Production Notes For "Home"

A Waitsian Moment:

"Another night shoot was interrupted by a man with a crowbar chasing another man down the middle of the street."

From Production Notes page for "Home", a film by Matt Zoller Seitz.

"Home" is playing at the Pioneer, NYC, 3/2 - 3/8 (thanks GreenCine Daily for the link).

Sujewa
* * *
_____
_____

"September 12th" Highly Recommended by Film Threat

Photo Courtesy SEPTEMBER 12TH Website

*

I received an e-mail today from the producer of the film and now I know about the existence of "September 12th". The film's website says: "set in New York on the third anniversary on 9/11, September 12th is a powerful drama about memory and those left behind". I requested a DVD so I can watch the movie and blog about it. Here's a little bit of what Film Threat has to say about the movie:

"While Oliver Stone and many other big wigs in Hollywood prepare their big budget, star studded spectacles tackling that horrible day, in comes “September 12th”, a heartfelt exploration in to a family’s grieving of their daughter. Touhey’s approach toward the story harkens back to “Moonlight Mile”, resembling many of its themes and plot point, but “September 12th” deals with how death can in many ways alter our perception of a loved one in more ways than we know. It can erase all the bad memories and faults they had and set in our consciousness a denial that in many ways lasts forever. “September 12th” is a dark elegy about how we perceive our loved ones, and how sometimes we choose to perceive them, but it’s also a truly unique drama about tragedy that even touched a nerve on a few occasions."

Read the full review here.

Film Threat highly recommends this award winning (Best Feature, Long Island Film Festival 2005) movie directed by John Touhey. I am looking forward to seeing it. The DVD can be purchased here. So far the film has been screened at several events and venues, including the Anthology Film Archives in NYC.

Sujewa
*******

Adam Carolla & CBS Vs. Asian People

What was that saying about a land war in Asia? Perhaps it should be updated to include advise against getting into a media war w/ Asian-American activist groups over racist remarks. The latest round finds radio personality Adam Carolla & CBS taking on various Asian-American activist groups over a racist joke recently made by Carolla. Angry Asian Man has been following the developing story.

From the 2.6.06 Angry Asian Man update on the story:

This is a letter from the Center for Asian American Media, condemning Adam Carolla for his racist remarks and CBS Radio for its lack of response:

"I am writing to condemn Adam Carolla for his racist and insensitive comments on his radio program on January 24 ridiculing the Asian Excellence Awards broadcast on AZN Television. Even sadder has been the lack of response by CBS Radio's 97.1 Free FM (KLSX-FM).

The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), a proud supporter of creative work that often pushes social boundaries, encourages challenging humor. But this situation is an example of bad humor that has gone too far. Within the spoof, Mr. Carolla's show substituted "ching chong" repeatedly to ridicule a show that was in English. We all know good humor is often shocking, but Mr. Carolla's skit merely revived age-old stereotypes that have no place in today's America.
Clearly Mr. Carolla found the rare example of the celebration of Asian American achievement an easy target. While he does have the right to express his humor, doing so with racial epithets is unconsionable. Mr. Carolla should be held accountable for his derogatory antics."

Read the rest here.

And I was just starting to forget my Sarah Silverman, Etc. post.

LOL to play SXSW, indie fest Boston

photo courtesy LOL site
LOL, the new film about relationships in the digital age by director Joe Swanberg, will premiere at the SXSW film festival in March and will play the Independent Film Festival of Boston in April. Read all about it, see related art work & notes, and see a clip from the movie at the website.

Focal Easy Guide To Final Cut Express, Stat Counter

(published this entry last night, did not show up on the blog properly, so here's a copy)


I found a great how-to book for Final Cut Express: The Focal Easy Guide To Final Cut Express, For New Users And Professionals.

Here's why I like this how-to manual:

* It's only 157 pages (and that's including the index, the other 2-3 books I have on FCE are all over 400-500 pages)

* Its got a lot of photos & has very colorful pages (most instructional books are dull)

* It covers the basics fast so that you can get started w/ editing instead of having to read a book on editing for like a month and still not feel confident about using FCE

* And perhaps most importantly, it's only $19.95, an affordable price for the Poor Filmmakers out there. I got it from Borders in Silver Spring, MD.

And in other news, I added a stat counter to this blog. Should have done this a couple of months ago, oh well. Check it out on the right hand side of the Home page, below the links & above the Blogger icon.

Later, back to editing Date Number One.

Sujewa
*******

DC Shorts Film Festival Now Accepting Submissions

The last two times this festival happened I was too busy trying to get my new feature Date Number One off the ground, but this time around I am definitely going to try to go see some of the no doubt excellent short films Jon Gann & co have gathered from all around. Looks like DC Shorts takes care of their filmmakers really well:

" Filmmakers at DC Shorts are provided with opportunities to meet and exchange ideas with other filmmakers in our unique Filmmaker's Lounge, a gala red carpet party, sightseeing trips in downtown Washington, DC, as well as housing and meals. "
- from DC Shorts Film Festival website

So all you short filmmakers out there, submit yer flicks, maybe you'll have a good reason to come hang out in DC in September.

"Over 100,000 books published in the US last year", possible direction of growth in the film industry

Just heard a conversation on NPR re: books & the publishing industry. The guest on the show said something like that there was "over 100,000 books published in the US last year". This made me think about the increase in indie film production following the DV Revolution, and the new distribution initiatives popping up this year ("Bubble"/Landmark/HDNet, IFC Films, Withoutabox, self-distro by various filmmakers) and how the US film release landscape may look in a couple of years. I guess Hollywood releases, theatrically and on DVD, also through cable/TV play, a few thousand movies a year at this point. With new individuals and companies engaging in indie film distribution, the number of films released in the US is bound to go up. In a few years the film scene could look like the book or music scene: with blockbusters or best-sellers, with pop stars, but also with relatively unknown indie bands with dedicated followings, with indie publishers putting a few thousand copies of a book out. Basically a more diverse field with more productivity, several thousand more films coming out each year. This is a very good thing, 'cause for decades many individuals and population groups were not served well by Hollywood or mainstream TV releases. Now there will be more choices, and more opportunities for work in filmmaking.

Self-Distro Action & Talk: Ekanayake, Baker, Lowery Playing in DC in Spring, Lowery's Self-Distro Essay - The Sequel

I am producing two upcoming indie/D.I.Y film screening events for other filmmakers and several events for my own movie, all events happening in or near Washington "City of Love" DC:

Date Number One in DC in March & April

In March & or early April there will be 1 or 2 benefit screenings that use my new movie Date Number One. The events will happen in the DC area and once all the elements have been finalized, I will announce who the events will benefit (both very worthy causes). All the info. (venues, dates, etc.) coming in mid-late February, stay tuned. Date Number One reviews should be hitting the web in late Feb.

Related: Regular screenings of Date Number One will start in DC at some point in April. Info. coming in Feb.

Kelley Baker playing in DC in April

In mid-late April (exact date tbd, will know in a couple of days) the Angry Filmmaker Kelley Baker will be here to play his movies at Capital City Microcinema (& possibly other local venues).

David Lowery playing in DC in Spring

In late Spring (will announce exact date this month) David Lowery, famous indie film blogger & sexy Texas outlaw filmmaker, will be here for another Capital City Microcinema event (and yes, there is also a chance that Lowery will play other local venues too).

Indie film self-distro talk in action babies, check it out. Makin' it happen in zero zero sixxx.


David Lowery's Self-Distro Essay Part Two

And on the talk front, David Lowery posted part 2 of his thoughts on indie self-distribution.


Like I predicted back in December '05 (I am pretty sure I did), 2006 is gonna be The Year of Indie Self-Distro in the US of A!

How To Make Friends In Indie Film

Just got through talking (via e-mail, phone) w/ a couple of indie filmmakers that I've gotten to know recently through the web, people who live very far from DC. I am helping them set up screenings in DC and I plan on hanging out w/ them when I play my new movie in their cities (if they are around & not busy). So basically my network of indie filmmakers is growing, specially since I started this blog. I wrote down some things indie filmmakers can do to grow their filmmaker network, see them here at the Date Number One Movie Blog. Definitely check it out if you are an indie filmmaker, maybe it'll help you turn your self-distribution & touring dreams into reality.

Motlagh's "My Break Ups" to Premiere at San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival

Amir Motlagh's excellent short documentary "My Break Ups Into A Million Pieces" will have its US festival premiere at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, which runs from March 16th- 26th, 2006. The film screens in a program called Mystery Arcade Shorts Program with two screening dates: March 19th at the Kabuki 3 at 5:45 PM and March 23 at Kabuki 4 at 7:30 PM. Complete fest program goes up on the web on Feb 14th (a nice Valentine's Day gift isn't it?). Catch this doc all you Frisco kids. It's about a painter, as remembered by his daughter. And it's also about moving to America.

Amir tells his stories through the use of poetic images, narrations, home movie footage, and with the help of music that he composed & created. His previous short "Still Lover", a romantic-drama tale told using still photos, was popular on AtomFilm. He is currently at work on a feature called "Whale".

An '04 NPR Story on "Afro-Punk", A Documentary by James Spooner

Have not heard this NPR story before. It's pretty cool. Includes Spooner talking about his motivations for making "Afro-Punk". Check it out here.

Houses Burning, Bands Playing, Trixie DVD

Trixie DVD is a label started by Fugazi's Brendan Canty. The label makes movies - live performance videos - featuring indie bands from various places. The other interesting element of each of these videos (called Burn To Shine 01, 02, etc.) is that the house that the bands perform in is set for demolition. At the end of the video they show the house being torn down. A comment on mortality, the transient nature of things, just a cool art concept? I don't know, perhaps all of the above. I saw their first DVD - featuring bands from DC area, and it was excellent. Go here to learn more.

On an indie/DIY filmmaker interest note, Trixie can be a model for us. Just make the movie, make it available through the web site, get it to retailers who would have it. Then you can of course set up some theatrical screenings (at actual movie theaters or any other venues) to promote the movie & the DVD. Completely avoiding Hollywood & Indiewood gatekeepers & also no doubt making some much needed cash for the current/future projects/the prod & distro work, getting the project out with the power of a web site, DVDs & some screenings. Of course you would have to do press - blogging, submitting the DVD for reviews, etc. But you've got to do press & publicity work no matter how a film is released. Look into it baby, look into it.

3 Indie Filmmakers On Self-Distribution

In the order that their fully formed & detailed (at least around 1 page long) manifestos, musings, thoughts & strategies re: self-distribution appeared on the web w/ in the last 6 months:

1.
Sujewa Ekanayake (yup, that would be me),
related: interview that states reasons & clarifies plans re: current distro project
related: The DIY 2005 Film Movement
current distro project: Date Number One, 2006 film

2.
David Lowery
current project (production): The Outlaw Son

3.
Caveh Zahedi (thanks GreenCine Daily for the link!),
current distro project: I Am A Sex Addict, 2005 film

The New & Ultimate "Date Number One" Blog Is Now Alive

Here's the new blog for my new movie. Prior to this we had the production blog, and then I started the road blog (On The Road With Date Number One) - which would have covered just the distro stuff. But this new blog will cover everything about the movie - distribution news as it happens and notes regarding the production of the flick, and whatever else that comes up. There's a nice new pic from the movie there now.

Now I am off to try to meet the 2/1 Seattle International Film Festival deadline (even if I don't get in, having a big deadline is a big motivator). More about that at the new blog.

Withoutabox gets into the self-distro game, More on Sex Addict distro

And all this from IndieWIRE. I must say that so far in '06 IndieWIRE has been doing a kick-ass job on covering subjects relevant to Filmmaking for the Poor or covering DIY filmmaking & distro related items. I've been linking to their docs a lot lately. Go IW!

And the latest news items are:

Withoutabox is getting into the self-distribution game w/ a pilot program that includes distro of "Four Eyed Monsters" (here's some good news, I think, for all you F.E.M fans out there, maybe now perhaps the filmmakers can get out of debt some & move back out of the parent's house). Read all about it at this IndieWIRE article.

Caveh Zahedi's new flick I Am A Sex Addict will be a part of IFC's new Day And Date release initiative. Read all about that at this IndieWIRE article.

Later on DIY Players!

Didn't care about "Annapolis" 'till I learned Roger Fan is a star

Yup, the actor from Justin Lin's "Better Luck Tomorrow" is a lead in the upcoming Hollywood sailors-boxing flick "Annapolis." Justin Lin is also the director and he is the reason that Fan is a star in this movie. Read all about it here at this SDAFF article. And to give praise when praise is due, good job Hollywood in giving the director gig to an Asian-American filmmaker & making one of the stars Asian-American. I am gonna check this movie out to see if it is good.

I wasn't a fan of "Better Luck Tomorrow" but the fact that the cast was Asian in an otherwise ordinary suburban-kids-gone-bad movie was interesting.

OK, must get back to blogging about DIY movies & related events. Will let ya know what I thought about "Annapolis" after I see it.

The New World is excellent

Did it really happen that way? Did the Native Americans really move that way? What exactly was the kind of relationship that Princess Pocahontas had with Captain John Smith? Was the Native American tribe's way of living so "pure" in real life, as Smith observed in the movie? I do not know. But, if you think you will like a deeply involving, meditative, beautifully shot, well acted, well scored movie that gently rolls by, and is somewhat of a hallucinatory experience, then go see Terrence Malik's The New World. This movie is the first candidate for my top ten list for this year. I am going to have to see it again. It's not indie/DIY, but it is most excellent. Swelling orchestral music, epic shots of nature, a beautiful girl/woman, a confused man and a noble man, it's all there. Some thought's I had during the movie:
* man, America didn't always exist as I know it, looks like a lot of work was done to bring it to the current level
* was it possible for those two civilizations to meet & work well together, instead of how it went down?
* that's the best cinematic representation of the reason for Thanksgiving I've ever seen
* I guess people worked a lot back then, hung out - took long walks with each other, what would it be like to not have movies, DVDs, music, the internet, blogs, e-mail, cell phones, etc? it may be cool for a while
* what is this world?
* those people in history books were actual, fragile people with emotions, creatures who could bleed & break, they did not know the future the way I know the past, the way I know their stories
* dude, this movie is making me high
* that actress is beautiful
* how come I do not see a lot of Native Americans in DC?
* what if I used Malik's filmmaking style to tell a very contemporary story - a romantic-drama thing? is anyone doing that at the moment? maybe Amir Motlagh's new film will resemble this idea a little. Amir's got some atmospheric, beautiful stuff going on in his movies.

OK, that's enough for now. Go see The New World.

Supporting Sarah Silverman and other anti-Asian habits of Hollywood

Sarah Silverman, a mildly funny comic who uses racial epithets to get laughs, was recently the star of the relatively widely distributed movie Jesus Is Magic . Silverman was criticized by a media watchdog group a few years ago for using the C word and offending Asian-Americans on the Conan O'Brien show. But as a "controversial" performer, there is money to be made, so Hollywood (or, to be exact in this case, the more independent distributor Roadside Attractions) rewards her by playing her movie across America. Nevermind increasing the hate quotient in the general public sphere, Hollywood sees blood in the water, it needs to feed. This is certainly not an isolated event. Let's take a look around and check out a few other instances of Hollywood making a buck, or trying to make a buck, through racist, anti-Asian entertainment:

But first, more on Sarah Silverman's anti-Asian habits, from Asianweek.com:
"The debate between Silverman and Aoki aired on Aug. 23. Silverman argued that she had used the word chink to bring attention to racism in society. But many APIAs who have written Aoki felt differently.

"Said Carolyn Chan of Albuquerque, N.M.: The flip side would have been to ask Ms. Silverman, who is Jewish, how she would have felt if someone of color or even of European American descent had told her joke and substituted the racial slur chink with the racial slur kike or hebe. I am sure the Anti-Defamation League and other civil rights groups would be in an uproar and demanding an immediate apology for the offense."

1/23/06 UPDATE re: Silverman:
My perception of anti-Asian attitude in Silverman's act is questioned by many commentators to this blog entry (see Comments below). Many commentators (is it commentators or commenters? not sure) below believe that Silverman's act is not anti-Asian. One also states that Silverman apologized to Aoki re: the O'Brien show incident, for causing any pain.

From Bright Lights Film Journal:
A Certain Slant
A Brief History of Hollywood Yellowface
" But while the history of blackface has been well documented in American film criticism, with such classics as The Birth of a Nation and The Jazz Singer featuring whites pretending to be blacks, the history of yellowface has received much less critical attention, and considerably less public censure. Long after it became politically unacceptable for a white actor to appear in blackface (Ted Danson's ill-advised appearance at the Whoopi Goldberg roast notwithstanding), white actors and actresses continued to accept yellowface roles."

Another good one from Bright Lights Film Journal:
Dis-Orientation: Japan from a Western Viewpoint in Topsy-Turvy and The Mikado
" Furthermore, the actors' "Asian face" seems as disturbing as blackface. This odd mixture of homage and mockery can leave the viewer uncertain about Gilbert and Sullivan's attitudes toward Japan. A Topsy-Turvy viewer might also wonder why Leigh has resurrected an opera that seems offensive today."

What I Learned from "Memoirs of a Geisha":
"Memoirs of a Geisha offers a very scary anti-feminist, anti-Asian package wrapped in a very, very pretty bow."

DVD Town reviews Memoirs of a Geisha
"Actors like Koji Yakusho (who plays Nobu, The Chairman's friend) choke on their dialogue, and actors like Tsai Chin (who plays a worker in Chiyo's geisha house) employ exaggerated enunciation patterns that reek of racist fare from Hollywood's past."

Asian Men Deliberately Excluded From Star Wars?
" The utter absence of Asian men in the latest installment is even more glaring in light of the promises Lucas made in response to Asian protests over the omission of Asian actors coupled with suspicious attachment of Asian cultural traits to unsavory alien grotesqueries in The Phantom Menace."

Stereotypes in a Distant Galaxy -- Racism Reaches Outer Space:
" Within seconds, viewers are introduced to the evil Trade Federation, which is attempting to shut down and dominate the trade routes of the peaceful Naboo (white) people. Nute Gunray, the sinister slant eyed Viceroy of the trade federation and his aide talk in broken English reminiscent of Asian characters in the past like Charlie Chan."

Short Round (Re: Indiana Jones movies):
" On an additional note, the fact that they had an Asian friend seemed to make the situation acceptable, even more so because he was the type of guy to laugh at his Asian-ness. It is like a white guy following up a joke about a black man with, ' Oh, don't worry about it. I'm not a racist because I have a black friend.' Bullshit."

"For the record, I never laughed at the joke and to this day, I continue not to laugh at jokes about Asian stereotypes."

I wonder if a class action suit can be brought against studios that release racist movies? Everyone whose lives were messed up by racist imagery and portrayals in a given movie should get together and try to get for themselves some of the money made by Hollywood at their expense. Maybe it is possible in some cases.

Perhaps an easier way to affect change, at least on television, is to target the advertisers with the possibility of a boycott, as this web page suggested re: the 2001 Silverman incident on Conan O'Brien.

While we sort those possibilities out, let's support Asian-American indie filmmakers who have taken the cinematic myth making & image making abilities on to their own hands to offer an alternative to evil Hollywood drivel. Info. on several Asian-American indie filmmakers and their films can be found at Asian American Film. com.

IFC Films picks up Zahedi's "I Am A Sex Addict"!

Saw some awesome news in IndieWIRE today: IFC Films has picked up Caveh Zahedi's new film I Am A Sex Addict for distribution. I spoke well about Sex Addict a couple of months ago, and many others have also found it to be an excellent movie. Sex Addict was the #1 film in my Fave Movies of 2005 list. Zahedi was self-distributing the film up to this point, due to lack of distributor interest. So it is very cool to see a deserving indie get picked up (even if it is after many people have sung its praise, many festival awards, and after the filmmaker launched a self-distribution effort).

Here's a part of the article from IndieWIRE:

"IFC Entertainment president Jonathan Sehring announced a pair of pacts as Sundance begins. Caveh Zahedi's "I Am A Sex Addict" is described as a look at "the life of an insecure young man who becomes addicted to prostitutes, and finds himself unable to stop even though it destroys all of his relationships. He decides to make a movie about his predicament..." The movie debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival last year and won a special Gotham Award for an undistributed movie."

Rock on Caveh! It is about time that hard working & innovative indie filmmaker got some solid film industry attention & support. Looking forward to seeing the flick again when it opens in DC.

Let us now discover a filmmaker condemned to death for tarnishing Egypt's reputation

Getting condemned to death in a developing country for making a movie (I single out the developing world for this honor because in the developed world we do not condemn artists to death, we just boycott theaters & stuff, which usually leads to a bigger box office) is a sure way to get some attention from this blog. To be fair, the condemnation received by filmmaker Jocelyne Saab does not seem to be coming from the Egyptian government, here is the relevant text from the IndieWIRE article:
" Today, a new wave of violence and controversy is surrounding the film, [in which] polarized Egyptian public opinion [is resulting in] a love or hate stance and propelling debates concerning freedom of speech and FGM into the public sphere. This whole frenzy culminated with an article recently condemning me to death for tarnishing Egypt's reputation. "

FGM is female genital mutilation.

The movie in question is a fiction feature, a drama called "Kiss Me Not on the Eyes", in competition in Sundance. The film seems to be about youth sexuality in Egypt.

By the way, the article, an interview on IndieWIRE, caught my eye this morning because it is titled: "I was sipping my coffee and staring at the Nile. I was asking myself, 'why is everything so hard?" That gets my film biz headline of the day award. Sipping coffee and staring at the Nile is always a very interesting situation for someone like me who lives very far from the Nile and likes coffee.

Anyway, enough hype, check out the excellent interview at IndieWIRE. Looking forward to checking out this movie.

And here's another article that sheds more light on the plot of the movie. Apparently the movie deals with Sufi poetry. Very cool.

The Proper Care & Feeding of an American Messiah

Photo Copyright 2005 Theoretical Entertainment

The Write about 52 D.I.Y. Films In 2006 Project
Film #2: The Proper Care & Feeding of an American Messiah
For Week # 2 - January 8 - 14, 2006
A review by Sujewa Ekanayake

The Proper Care & Feeding of an American Messiah
A film written and directed by Chris Hansen
Length: Feature
Year of Production: 2005
Starring: Dustin Olson, Ellen Dolan, Joseph Frost, Heather Henry
Co-Writer & Music By: David Lovic, Producer: Brian Elliot, Director of Photography: Damon Crump, Editor & Website Designer: Josh Marshall
Production Company: Theoretical Entertainment
Website

Unlike Jesus - the most famous messiah in my part of the world, Brian - the messiah in Chris Hansen's pseudo-documentary The Proper Care & Feeding of an American Messiah does not have a large following. In fact his followers at the beginning of the film consist of just two people, his brother and sister - two people who, due to their birth relationship, probably could not stop supporting Brian the messiah even if they wanted to. Increasing the number of his followers is one of several objectives Brian the messiah tackles in his own laugh inducing, under-prepared and ill-informed way during the course of the movie. Now, if you are religiously inclined, you may be moved to whisper to yourself at this point that a movie making fun of the messiah concept may be a bad idea. However, Brian the messiah repeatedly states, when faced with such questions regarding the validity of his messiah claim by various characters in the movie, that he is not THE messiah but A messiah, a regional messiah. Trust me, this messiah offers no real competition to Jesus or for that matter to other more ordinarily human religious leaders of ancient or modern times. Brian the messiah also adds that the federal government had a role in him discovering that he is the messiah for the 100 mile area starting at the center of the town. Messiah was filmed in part in Waco, Texas. And judging from the closing credits of the movie, it was made with the support of the local government and various businesses and residents. Perhaps Waco is attempting to distance itself from the grim spectacle of the David Koresh/Branch Davidian tragedy. At least they seem to have a sense of humor. So who is this regional messiah that hails from a town in Texas? What is his mission, what problems will he have to overcome, what adventures will he take us on?

Brian the messiah (Dustin Olson) is a thin, balding, possibly middle aged man who looks like an older Neil Patrick Harris. As Brian the messiah Olson even sounds a little like Harris. Or perhaps I've seen too many episodes of Doogie Howser, MD. Brian the messiah lives with his wife Cecelia (Heather Henry), brother Aaron (Joseph Frost) and sister Miriam (Ellen Dolan). Those three characters appear to be in their later 20's or early 30's. Brian's brother is not too bright. Brian's sister worries a lot, looks out for her brothers and does not speak much. Brian's wife is happy that he pays the cable bill. Brian seems to get along pretty well with his wife, except when she interrupts his "messiah time", which I think lasts from 3-5 PM or something every day. Brian believes that he is descended from a long line of messiahs - except that his father and others may not have claimed their messiah identities and perhaps suffered because of that mistake. Brian also believes that he has special powers and is able to perform miracles. One funny scene shows Brian performing a "miracle" called the Miracle of the Fruit. Brian wonders what grand mission he should undertake, and what plans God has for him. Other then sending vibrations of peace through the town, shouting unwanted advice at pedestrians at a street corner, reflecting on the possibility that his mission in life could be to help heal people's stomach pains, Brian the messiah does not have a solid idea about his divine purpose. But as the film gets close to Act II, a way is found to help discover God's special plans for Brian.

Brian's sister Miriam insists that Jesus did not have a posse and that his followers were known as apostles, but Brian claims that a posse is the modern version of apostles and that he may be able to get some and discover his true purpose if he held a grand celebration to announce his existence. Thus a plan is hatched to rent the town hall, have a rally to announce Brian's messiahship, introduce himself to "his people" and create an opportunity for God to tell Brian about his special mission. Two major problems confront Brian and his siblings when it comes to holding the rally: coming up with the rental money for the town hall and coming up with the money to buy a large quantity of specially designed t-shirts. Brian believes that t-shirts aimed at kids will reel in families to his ministry. Brian decides to raise the necessary cash by performing messiah services for hire: baptisms at a lake, praying away unwanted guests and similar tasks that call for his unique gift. The degree of success achieved by these fund raising schemes lead us to two surprising developments at the end of the movie.

The rally does happen and it changes Brian's life in a completely unexpected way. By the end of the movie it became clear to me that even though Brian the messiah may be massively deluded, he is uncritically loved and supported by his family. That is perhaps as good as any divine gift or special designation that can be had by one of us mortals.



Extras:
Trailer
See another still photo from this movie here
Read another review of this movie at The Chutry Experiment

War In Sri Lanka, Films, Peacemakers

US To Back Sri Lanka In War Against LTTE

Looks like the US is going to back the Sri Lankan military up if war breaks out again with the Tamil terrorist group the LTTE. Most excellent (as in, the threat of US support could make the LTTE think twice about starting the war back up on a large & open & obvious scale). Not sure exactly why Sri Lanka has not yet used its massive army (I believe the government armed forces outnumber the rebels at this point 20:1 or about 100,000 strong gov't forces against 5,000 or so LTTE fighters) against the LTTE despite recent violations of the cease-fire agreement. Maybe because of the high civilian casualties that will result when fighting an open war against a guerilla group - both among Tamils and everyone else, both from traditional organized, collateral damage heavy, warfare conducted by the Sri Lankan armed forces and the relatively indiscriminate suicide bombing tactics used by the LTTE. Nothing pretty coming from this situation. Peace and not having a whole bunch of people killed & seriously injured is preferred but seeing the fascist military dictatorship of the LTTE being destroyed is also very attractive.


Films Inspired By The War

And here are links regarding 4 films that were inspired by the war in Sri Lanka:

The Forsaken Land

Cannes 2005 Camera d'Or award winning Sri Lankan filmmaker Vimukthy Jayasundara had to flee Sri Lanka due to the Sri Lankan military's displeasure with his movie. His film is called The Foresaken Land or Sulanga Enu Pinisa in the Sri Lankan language Sinhala. As this event shows, for some people in this world movies are not just entertainment, but a matter of life and death or staying and possibly getting imprisoned, killed or going to France and being a sort of an international cinema artist in exile. Perhaps Jayasundara will make a movie about his post-Cannes life, about being banned in Sri Lanka, being on the run. That would be an interesting story.

Saroja

Here are two takes on the film Saroja, a film about two young girls caught up in the war:

Looks like this is the site of the company that produced the film, a positive review & links can be found here.

And a not so favorable review from WSWS, which thinks the movie is government-friendly propaganda.

The Terrorist

Article and links about the Indian film The Terrorist, a drama about a female suicide bomber. A story believed to be inspired by the activities of the LTTE.

Death On A Full Moon Day

Purahanda Kaluwara or Death On A Full Moon Day (well, title officially translated to the English speaking world as Death On A Full Moon Day but the actual meaning of those words is something like Full Moon, Darkness. there I go, flexin' my limited Sinhala skillz) by
Prasana Withanage is an award winning and initially banned film that tells the story of a blind father who must accept the government's word that his soldier son has died.

You can buy a DVD of Purahanda Kaluwara from here.


Peacemakers

Nonviolent Peaceforce

Nonviolent Peaceforce, a US non-profit with US & international peace workers, is active in Sri Lanka, attempting to get both sides to honor the ceasefire, protecting civilians and in general doing what they can to try to bring peace to a troubled land.

Sarvodaya

This Sri Lankan NGO has been active in development and peacemaking in Sri Lanka for a long, long time.

Angry Filmmaker On The Road In Early 2006 In US & Europe

Just got a tour announcement e-mail from Kelley Baker, aka the Angry Filmmaker - DIY filmmaker & distributor, re: his early 2006 touring activities. Here's the word directly from the man himself:

Kelley Baker says:

" It's 2006 and I'm still ANGRY! You gotta love consistency...

So what's up? I have named the new tour for 2006. It is...

The Angry Filmmaker's "Frankly Hollywood, I don't give a damn!" Tour 2006. Like I said, I'm still Angry, just look at what's been coming out of Hollywood lately. No wonder their numbers are down.

I want to thank all of those people who helped me come up with names, and those who helped me decide.

Now the important stuff. I am heading to the UK in February. I am in Dublin the week of February 13th, (screenings and lectures to be announced), at the macrobert in Stirling, Scotland, (Feb 21-23) and Calendar House in Fallkirk, Scotland (Feb 24). Then it's on to London. I'm waiting to hear back from some other venues, so I will be announcing a lot more UK dates shortly.

I am also booking the Spring US Tour and those dates are starting to fill up, March 13th thru Memorial Day. If you want to talk to me about booking, please drop me a line at angryfilminfo@aol.com.

You know I want to see you all... "

Angrily yours,Kelley
http://www.angryfilmmaker.com/

Messiah Pic # 1, Review Is Near

In this scene from The Proper Care & Feeding of an American Messiah, Brian, the Messiah for his city - not THE messiah but A messiah (Dustin Olson), accompanied by his loyal brother Aaron (Joseph Frost) and sister Miriam (Ellen Dolan) prays a prayer of blessing over the work of a road crew filling potholes, just before asking for a little donation to ‘defray the cost of’ his big messiah rally.

Photo Copyright 2005 Theoretical Entertainment

I just took a brief spiritual break and checked out a few scenes from Chris Hansen's new flick The Proper Care & Feeding of an American Messiah. They were funny & intriguing. I am looking forward to checking out the entire flick tonight or tomorrow AM, as soon as I am done with this shoot out that I am having right now with a very short pimp (while Tom Waits' Anywhere I Lay My Head plays in the jukebox, some of the stray bullets are hitting the jukebox & causing it to play various show tunes). So, in the meantime, before I break out my Messiah review, in anticipation of it, presented above for your enjoyment is a still from the flick. Enjoy. More soon. I get Napoleon Dynamite type vibes from this project.

Baby We're Linked From GreenCine Daily!

Filmmaking Accomplishment #1 of 2006: getting listed & linked in the Bloggish section of the most excellent film blog GreenCine Daily.

Yes kids, getting publicity for this film work propaganda disseminating web based tool is an actual filmmaking accomplishment. Gots to have press or no one will know about yer flick.

Time to par-tay. Well at least for a lil' bit. OK. D-o-n-e. Now it is time to go do some editing on the movie. Except I am a little worn out from the partying that I just did.

Check out something worthwhile here: David Lowery reflects on DIY film distribution. I've been leaving waaay too many comments there today.

"Race Films" in Baltimore, Feb. 8-22

" "Midnight Rambles", late-night screenings at segregated black movie houses, provided a screening venue for African American filmmakers and a counterpoint to the often demeaning black roles in Hollywood."

At the Creative Alliance.

Ninjas Need Love Too

This is John Stabb Schroeder (one of the original DC punk rock stars, of G.I./Government Issue fame) playing a ninja who goes on a blind date. A still from Date Number One, the ultra low budget D.I.Y. film that I am editing at the moment. Thought I play with the image adding function of Blogger today.

Photo Copyright 2005 Sujewa Ekanayake/Wild Diner Films

The New US Indie Film Frontier: D.I.Y. Distribution

(Originally published in Watch This Movie blog on Monday, October 24, 2005)

Making Distro Low Budget Indie & D.I.Y: Searching For & Building The New U.S. Indie Film Frontier. Thoughts On Expanding & Developing A New Field Of Existence For The American Indie Filmmaker, A Sub-Goal Of The "Date Number One" D.I.Y. (do-it-yourself, completely independent) Distro (distribution) Project.

By Sujewa Ekanayake

I am the maker (Producer/Screenwriter/Director/Cinematographer/Editor) and the distributor (D.I.Y. ultra-low budget self-distro effort including a 2 year U.S. tour) of the upcoming U.S. indie feature film "Date Number One" http://www.wilddiner.com/. The film is being edited at the moment and the low-budget/no-budget pre-distribution promotional & publicity work will kick into a higher gear on Dec. 1 with a talk at Kensington Row Bookshop in Kensington, Maryland about the making of the movie http://members.verizon.net/~vze4nbyt/talks.html. I expect to begin theatrical screenings in Spring '06 - most likely in April, starting in Washington, D.C (the film will also be submitted to festivals world wide starting in Nov/Dec of this year). The primary goals of the self-distro project are of course to get the film seen by a lot of people and to make a profit from the project. There are secondary goals for the distro project, they are: 1) to see if an unknown, ultra-low budget/no budget filmmaker can successfully mount an ultra-low budget theatrical distribution effort for an ultra-low budget/no-star DV feature, and 2) to document the experience, make the notes available to the general public/other filmmakers so that they may be able to use the experience in distributing their own movies. Real indie distribution exists in the indie rock world to a very high degree, but, in the indie film world, at this point in time in the U.S.A., the same is not the case. Distribution, real indie/D.I.Y. distribution, is a new frontier for development in the U.S. indie film industry/scene and I will be jumping enthusiastically into that field of exploration.

So what may be the layout of this new frontier that I am attempting to discover more directly and further illuminate through the "Date Number One" self-distro project? Glimpses of this area can be seen by examining the distribution stories of "The Debut" http://debutfilm.pinoynet.com/home.asp and "Robot Stories" http://www.robotstories.net/. I do not know the exact dollar figure for the self-distribution expenses on either of those projects, and I do not know if the filmmakers (at least the directors) of those projects were able to make a living through the self-distribution process during the distribution period or eventually were able to pay themselves adequately for the work performed on behalf of the films. One of the questions that I expect to answer for myself through my distro project is whether self-distribution can be a day job for an indie filmmaker. I sense that D.I.Y. distro can pay the bills/keep the filmmaker/distributor alive, given the right film project and given a filmmaker/distributor who has relatively low living expenses. I know that in the indie rock world disciplined and committed bands make a living through touring and performing their work and through selling their songs on CDs and other formats. Can something very similar be done in the indie film world? Can an indie filmmaker side-step the entire Hollywood and Indiewood distribution culture and mechanisms (except when collaboration with those entities is a massive benefit for the project and do not compromise ownership and control of the project, here I am thinking about arrangements Jim Jarmusch http://brokenflowersmovie.com/home.html makes for his movies) and make a living through self-distribution? Just as Fugazi http://www.dischord.com/bands/fugazi.shtml and Ani DiFranco http://www.righteousbabe.com/ani/index.asp do in the music world, it may be possible for one or more filmmakers from a given film project to make all the money they need for a given period of time through working on distribution of that project. It may be possible to make a living through making and distributing quality art/indie ultra-low budget, no-star movies. With DV technology such movies are easier and more affordable to make now, just add years of hard work, talent & skill to make them excellent (see Rick Schmidt's book "Extreme DV At Used Car Prices" for info. on making DV features for under $3000 http://lightvideo.com/ and for an intro to the basic work necessary), and through touring, selling DVDs and other low cost D.I.Y. distro efforts (possibly Video On Demand? see GreenCine for info. on that http://www.greencine.com/main , and see my web page for the D.I.Y. 2005 Film Movement http://www.wilddiner.com/diy2005.htm for more info. on the punk/indie rock industry/scene & Amir Motlagh http://www.amorproductions.com/amir_motlagh.html, a CA based indie filmmaker who tours often, inspired approaches to indie film distro) it may be possible to make money back, make a profit, and perhaps even make a living. The New U.S. Indie Film World may already contain but can certainly contain, in significant numbers in the very near future, filmmakers/directors who distribute their work through touring, through DVD & other accessible methods, and do this as their primary or only source of income. To be able to do so without having to become entangled in Hollywood or Indiewood and the limitations imposed by their economic needs, processes, protocol, preferences and prejudices would mean the achievement of a new level of excellence in the business side of American indie film. To be able to do so will also open up new creative vistas for the filmmaker. If the filmmaker is able to self-finance (through profits, fame, connections and most importantly experience gained from previous self-distro projects) and self-distribute a given low-budget art/indie project, she can have greater control over the cost of production, casting, subject matter, aesthetic choices and all other aspects of her movie. Indie-distributors-for-hire services offered by companies such as Artistic License http://www.artlic.com/ and Truly Indie http://www.trulyindie.com/ may be useful in expanding self-distro campaigns for certain features (perhaps after the filmmaker/distributor makes some money back from several dozen theatrical screenings and a lot of DVD sales or other project related revenue sources created by the initial self-distribution efforts, because hiring another company to expand self-distribution will most likely be more expensive than doing the work directly yourself). I will explore all these tantalizing possibilities through the "Date Number One" self-distro project from Spring '06 to Spring/Summer '08, and will report the results of this experiment.

And a parting, somewhat related, thought: more indie film theaters/screening venues may have to be created/the economic possibility for creating more such venues may exist at this point. Just as the birth and development of punk and indie rock gave rise to dedicated venues to perform that work, the increase in production due to DV and popularity of the indie process may be an opportunity for opening more indie theaters that cater mostly to art/indie low-budget/D.I.Y. films. Creating and operating such venues can also be a day job for the indie/D.I.Y. filmmaker. Something worth looking into (check outthese venues for examples and possible inspiration: Ragtag Cinemacafe http://www.ragtagfilm.com/, Northwest Film Forum http://www.nwfilmforum.org/index.shtml, Storefront Cinema http://www.storefrontcinema.com/storfrnt.htm).

How to come up with $7300 for your '07 feature

Yup, I said '07, as in 2007, as in the year that begins about 365 days from now.

Here's the simple strategy:
Put $20 away in a piggy bank or a bank account or a treasure chest buried in your back yard EVERY DAY THIS YEAR. By 1/1/07 you should have about $7300.

$7300 is plenty to shoot a no-budget/ultra-low budget indie DV feature with. If you need tips on working on such a budget check out some of Rick Schmidt's low budget filmmaking books, such as Extreme DV Filmmaking At Used Car Prices. Extreme DV has tips on making a DV feature for under $3,000.

So what are you going to do until January 1, '07, until you save up that $7300? Hone your craft. Figure out how to write your scripts or how to improve your screenwriting skills. Figure out how to direct better. Figure out how to shoot and light. Master sound recording. Master editing, learn Final Cut Express, Final Cut Pro, Premiere, etc. really well. Learn graphic design, try it out. Learn web design, there are cheap & easy ways to make a good web site. Research self-distribution and other distribution options, companies, individuals that you may need to connect with on that front. Take one or more acting classes, learn about what your actors have to go through so that you can become a better director. Start a blog, a sure way to generate some press for your career and projects. Finish up a bunch of scripts. Make some shorts, make them excellent without using a lot of money (and definitely do not pull from your savings for the '07 feature).

Before you know it, it will be January 1, 2007. Then if you did well on your save-$20-a day project you'll have the $s you need to start production. And if you used your 2006 to refine your skills, the money you saved in '06 will be put to good use in '07.

Good luck. Do things and things will get done.

My 2006 Blog Project: Write about 52 D.I.Y. Features. Submit info, get some press filmmakers!

Time to help build the m*****f***ing US (& world?) D.I.Y. indie film scene up baby! Time to take the overall US (& world?) indie film scene down to the proverbial next hot & sweaty level. Since I have at least a dozen, maybe 15, readers at this blog, my help-my-D.I.Y.-film-brothers-&-sisters-in-2006 project is to write about 1 new (new to this blog in '06) D.I.Y. (do-it-yourself), ultra-low budget/no-budget, self-distributed (or willing to self-distribute) feature length film every week of this coming year.

So, low-budget/no-budget D.I.Y. filmmakers out there:
* Post a comment here about your new feature and include the URL for the project's web site
* E-mail me directly if you do not want to leave a comment, tell me about your movie (e-mail:
wilddiner at aol dot com), my e-mail addy link is available from this blog's About Me type page, or you can go to my web site & e-mail me from there: http://www.wilddiner.com/.
* When you have some preview DVDs, send me one, no guarantee that I will watch it & write about it, but most likely I will, whenever I am not busy with distro work on my new movie Date Number One. Actually, send me an e-mail first and let me know about the film, will let ya know if I wanna see it, so that you don't have to waste time & money on it otherwise. Will give my snail mailing addy through the e-mail.
* Both US & international filmmakers are welcome (but if you are gonna send me a foreign DVD, make sure it can play in the USA - NTSC region 1 I think is the local format)

All right, let's get this thing started. For Week 1 of 2006 (Sun 1/1/06 - Sat 1/7/05) I am going to point my dozen or so readers to an '05 project called Kissing On The Mouth. So here we go:

Filmmaking For The Poor 2006 52 D.I.Y. Features Blog Project
Week 1 - 1/1/06 - 1/7/06, Film 1
Title: Kissing On The Mouth
A film by: Joe Swanberg, Kris Williams, Kate Winterich, and Kevin Pittman
The goods:
This film caught my attention due to a Braintrustdv interview where filmmaker Joe Swanberg revealed his affinity for indie rock scene/industry inspired self-distribution:

"As really good projectors become cheaper and cheaper, and more and more independent-minded people create microcinemas to showcase outsider films, I can image a network that would allow a filmmaker like me to get in a car and travel around the country showing the film to audiences and charging for tickets at the door."

And also because apparently this film openly and clearly depicts people having sex, which is not something you find everyday in the art/indie/DIY films that I check out (haven't seen 9 Songs yet). Anyway, Kissing On The Mouth is about the romantic and sexual drama of four young people. I'll write more about this project after I see it. In the meantime, check out this excellent Braintrustdv interview and check out the film's site.

UPDATE :: 12/31/05 3:17 AM
What am I doing up at 3:17 AM? Don't ask. But the good news is that this blogging thing works pretty well. Less then 24 hours after publishing the above entry, I learned that a couple of filmmakers are already sending me their DVDs to review. One of the movies that I will write about in the near future is The Proper Care & Feeding of an American Messiah. It sounds like a funny & interesting movie. Chuck T. wrote about it a while back. Oh, and Happy New Year!

UPDATE :: 1/1/06 10:38 AM (January Freakin' First 2!0!0!SIX!!!!!!)
Happy New Year for real kids! Kissing On The Mouth's Joe Swanberg just finished making a new feature film called LOL. Here's a part of the synopsis from the site:
" The relationships of three men are explored through their use of technology. Tim is an Internet addict, struggling to give his girlfriend the attention she craves. Alex can't commit to real girls because he's holding out for one he met online. Chris is home from college for the summer, and his cell phone is the lifeline between he and his girlfriend. " Joe's influences include
Caveh Zahedi, Larry "Curb Your Enthusiasm" David and Michael Winterbottom, a pretty fine creative, funny & productive set of peeps to be inspired by I'd say. I believe I will be able to review LOL here on this blog this month. Looking forward to it.

Best Film Blog of 2005: GreenCine Daily

I choose GreenCine Daily as the best film blog of 2005. I first stumbled upon this excellent blog, written for the most part by David Hudson, in early '05 and moved on thinking that it is not a blog but a newspaper or a magazine or something because the production values and the quality of the writing were so insanely high for a mere blog. Then, a while later, I interviewed Jon Moritsugu, and I e-mailed several indie film press outlets, including GreenCine Daily, about the existence of the interview. David mentioned my Moritsugu interview, and from that point on I was an avid reader of GC Daily (now that it was proven that GC Daily is in fact an actual blog in spirit and practice for reasons that I find valuable - accessible to probably anyone who is into film/who is willing to shoot David an e-mail re: a relevant matter). Anyway, GC Daily embodies excellent craftsmanship and a sense of high quality egalitarianism (David writes about unknown excellent indie filmmakers as well as excellent Hollywood classics) and even though it is joined at the hip with the video on demand and mail order DVD company GreenCine, the scope of material covered at the blog makes it evident that GC Daily is not just the house organ or a promo newsletter for GreenCine. Also GC Daily embodies well the D.I.Y. news coverage and direct communication possibilities that live at the very core of the whole idea of blogging. So GreenCine Daily, you rock, excellent work in 2005, looking forward to reading you daily in 2006.

10 Filmmakers To Watch In 2006

Merry Christmas everyone! And of course Happy Holidays, for all you non-Christian inclined rock stars like myself out there. It's early morning in Kensington, MD and I am still high on the Christmas food, family & assorted holiday related dramas, and I am still in a year-end list making mood. So here's a list that looks forward, all the way to year 2006 - it's the future but it is only 7 days away! All of the filmmakers listed below have recently completed or released interesting sounding movies, will be playing festivals and theaters in some cases, and their work should be available on DVD now or at some point in '06. Some of their recent works I have seen and liked, and for the rest, I am looking forward to checking out their movies in the new year. And finally, applause & drum roll please, here's my !10 Filmmakers To Watch In 2006 list!, in alphabetical order:

1. Kelley Baker
The Angry Filmmaker. He tours with his movies, teaches workshops, has done sound work for Gus Van Sant, has a cool D.I.Y. film distro philosophy, and he's got a 2005 film called
Kicking Bird that I am looking forward to checking out. What will Kelley do in '06?

2. Andrew Bujalski
Andrew's Mutual Appreciation has appeared on several "best of 2005" lists. I saw the movie and liked it a lot. Mutual Appreciation is about an indie rocker who moves to New York City, tries to get settled and working, and starts to draw some special attention from his best friend's girlfriend. Mutual Appreciation played in several festivals in '05, I am looking forward to seeing this movie go in front of a wider audience in '06.

3. Andrew Dickson
As I discovered yesterday, Kensington, Maryland has several connections to the L.A. indie and Hollywood production worlds. Yesterday I met 3 people who live in L.A. and are involved with the movies as producers and or directors. They were all visiting family in Kensington. Andrew Dickson is one of them and he is definitely the more indie of the three. Andrew is currently busy with a very interesting and hilarious sounding performance art piece called AC Dickson eBay PowerSeller. He's got some film projects cooking too, but I won't go into those details here. I am sure we'll hear about them as the new year unfolds. The fact that Andrew took his movie Good Grief on the road like a touring punk rocker in '01 has placed him on my filmmakers to watch in '06 list.

4. Miranda July
How do you follow up a Cannes win and an excellent, odd romantic comedy? I do not know but Miranda probably has some ideas. Looking forward to seeing what she does in '06.
In the meantime, here's the web site for her '05 movie Me And You And Everyone We Know and the blog for that movie.

5. Jon Moritsugu
Last time I spoke with Jon he was working on a script and getting ready to shoot a new feature. So, if it all goes well, Jon should have a new feature done or close to completion in '06, I think. His very enjoyable '03 movie Scumrock was shot on Hi-8 and it won all kinds of awards. Here is a September '05 interview I did with this legendary & inspirational* punk/underground/indie filmmaker. [*Scumrock: !an award winning feature shot on Hi-freakin'-8 (& edited linear using 2 VCRs!!!)!]]]

6. Amir Motlagh
Amir is the hardest working man I know in this indie film show business. He is working on his first feature Whale at the moment. I liked his shorts Still Lover and My Break Ups Into A Million Pieces a lot, so I am looking forward to seeing Whale in '06.

7. Elizabeth Nord
Did you know there is a punk scene in Israel? Never thought about it did you? Me too, until I heard about Liz's documentary Jericho's Echo: Punk Rock in the Holy Land. Looking forward to seeing it in '06.

8. Todd Rohal
Todd's new film The Guatemalan Handshake got into Slamdance '06. I've been checking out his production blog, so it will be very cool to see the results of all the effort.

9. James Spooner
James has a new movie called White Lies, Black Sheep. I still have not seen his previous movie, the documentary Afro-Punk. Will be checking both those flicks out in '06.

10. Caveh Zahedi
Caveh's movie I Am A Sex Addict was my favorite movie of '05. Sex Addict will be playing in theaters in '06, starting with Seattle's Northwest Film Forum on January 6. Looking forward to seeing the theatrical self-distribution campaign unfold, and then the DVD, and then seeing what Caveh will do next. Whatever it will be, I am sure it will be wild.

And of course I am looking forward to seeing how people will react to my new feature
Date Number One when I show it all over America next year. Showed a bit of it to a friend from Seattle last night, he liked what he saw and thinks the kids in Seattle will dig it. We'll find out for sure in '06.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays & Happy 2006 everyone!

Sujewa
*******

A New Romance, "Good Grief", Fave Movies of 2005

It's been a most interesting & delicious birthday week over in these here parts. Met an awesome new girl at The Cassettes show on 12/9 Fri, been hanging out w/ her a lot, and had my b-day a few days ago, so not much film or blogging work got done this week but I think a lot of important life work - possible raw material for future art work - happened.

When I got to work today I found on my desk a Punk Planet article written by Andrew Dickson about him touring with his movie Good Grief. It is an interesting account of his adventures on the road. Since touring is the preferred & recommended way of low budget/no budget theatrical self-distro for myself and a couple of other DIY film people I know, I am into what Dickson is talking about. Here is a page w/ info. on Good Grief.

And now, ladies, sea horses and gentlemen, my Favorite Movies of 2005, as of 12/17/05 (being movies I saw for the first time in '05, one of these was first released slightly earlier):

1. I Am A Sex Addict
2. Good Night, And Good Luck
3. Mutual Appreciation
4. The 40 Year-Old Virgin
5. Melinda And Melinda
6. Me And You And Everyone We Know
7. Broken Flowers
8. Scumrock (a '03/'04 release, but I saw it for the 1st time this year)
9. Junebug
10. March of the Penguins

Note: This list may be revised on or before 1/1/06. I have not yet seen Syrianna, Munich, The New World, or Match Point.

Thank you & good night! It's back to Date Number One editing for me. Talk to you again in a few days.

- The Sujewa

Romper Stomper comes to life in Australia

Some news accounts say it was 5,000 White youths attacking Muslim/Lebanese looking people on an Australian beach, and other stories said it was 20,000 - 30,000 people. Well, time to cancel my travel plans to Australia. I don't really feel that having to fight off thousands of neo-Nazis or just drunken idiots or whatever they are as they attempt to stick a broken bottle into my neck would be a fun way to spend my free time. First France, and now the Land Down Under. 1992's "Romper Stomper", one of Russell Crow's pre-Hollywood fame movies, took a fictional look at racial violence in Australia. Come on France & Australia, get your intergration thing going, that White power stuff (or Muslim power or Laotian power or Sinhala power or Tamil power for that matter) is a dead end.

We all die at some point babies, keep your ugly tribalism in check in the meantime. Evil hate action gets in the way of commerce, creativity and productivity and more importantly it gets in the way of enjoying the little bit 'o life granted to us by this sweet and bitter universe.

"Birthing is hard and dying is mean-- so get yourself a little loving in between."
- Langston Hughes
American poet

And while we are sort of on the subject, check out these blog entries I wrote a while back about the false and dangerous but very popular concept of race. People do all manner of wicked stuff to belong easily and to have an easy & simple identity. Flex your head: recognize individuality, reject negative groupthink, hold only the guilty accountable for evil actions - not people who just look like them, and use the legal system to punish people - that's why we have that thing people.

I Am An Award Addict: 1 Question w/ Caveh Zahedi Re: The Gotham Award

I spoke w/ Caveh Zahedi, director of the film "I Am A Sex Addict", in mid-November when he came to Silver Spring to show the movie. A few days ago he won a Gotham Award. I asked him about how it felt to win the award. Here's the question and the answer:

SUJEWA: Caveh, how do you feel about winning the IFP/Filmmaker presented "Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You" Gotham Award?

CAVEH: It feels great. The Awards Ceremony was a lot of fun, and it's wonderful to be recognized for your work, but the high only lasts a few days, and then you have to win another award...

*

For more on this topic see this December 3rd blog entry from the Filmmaker Magazine's blog.

King Kong And Racism

I read an article in Premiere magazine about the making of Peter Jackson's "King Kong." The impression I got from that article was that the remake is very faithful to the original. The original 1930's "King Kong" was a mass entertainment product made by a racist and segregated society featuring a giant ape-like, non-human creature who is capable of certain human emotions. The creature lives in an island inhabited by dark skinned primitive people. Subsequently the creature becomes attached to a blonde woman, gets captured, transported overseas in chains, exhibited to the public as a curiosity, and is ultimately killed by members of the woman's society. How do people in 2005 feel about the images from a racist and segregated era movie, loaded with stereotypical images common in anti-black/anti-minority propaganda of an earlier and more hateful America, playing again in our movie theaters and television screens? I do not yet fully know how I feel about this question, or if this is even a fair question to ask regarding a mass entertainment product of 2005, but my general feeling at the moment is that faithfully remaking a movie that COULD HAVE BEEN a reflection of racist attitudes and propaganda prevalent at the time of the making of the original may be a very bad idea. I looked around the web to see what other people are thinking about this topic. Here are links to some interesting posts:

Daily Kos: What's the Matter with Peter Jackson [Explicit]?
Lots of interesting comments on this one.

"Between the portrayal of women and the resurrection of antiquated racial stereotypes, this black woman can find little good in the King Kong story. Which means that this remake will join the other blockbuster films of 2005 on the 'this bitch won't even watch it on cable' list."- AngryBlackBitch
Lots of interesting comments on this one too.

Rotten Tomatoes: Is King Kong A Racist Movie?

Feral Scholar: King Kong and the White Woman
Lots of theory in this one, including criticism of Hustler magazine, and with a couple of interesting comments.

Kelley Baker: Makes Movies, Travels

Filmmaker Kelly Baker AKA Angry Filmmaker has a new movie called Kicking Bird. Baker travels the US and shows his movies, teaches filmmaking workshops.
He's done sound work for Gus Van Sant and Todd Haynes. And he's got a blog. Baker is a source of inspiration for DIY filmmakers.

Here's the description for Kicking Bird from Baker's website:
"KICKING BIRD (2005) is the story of Martin "Bird" Johnson, a 17 year old white trash high school kid who runs. With his Mother in jail, his father gone, one brother in a work camp and his bitter grandfather beating him, there is nothing else to do but run! One day the manipulative high school cross country Coach sees Martin out run his entire team, (they want to beat him up), and thinks that Martin is his ticket to a college coaching position. On a budget of $6000 and an 18 day shooting schedule this movie was shot in digital video. It features an original Soundtrack also available on CD."

Thanksgiving movie: Pieces of April. Cause of the day: Human Rights Watch

Pieces Of April

Yeah, it's not really indie if Katie "TV Star" Holmes is in it, but, the project is an InDigEnt project (I believe $100K DV movies is the goal of the program) BUT all indie/DIY pedigree aside, it's a good movie. A movie about Thanksgiving.

I just moved to a new grouphouse, and my new roomies (or is it housemies?) are blissfully unaware of the nitty gritty of indie film, so, I have the pleasure of getting them up to date on the works & the movements (perhaps much to their pain :). I will be taking Pieces Of April home for Thanksgiving weekend viewing.

Here's why I recommend the movie: 1) it's shot on DV (always encouraging for us lo-budget filmmakers to see a DV film get distro), 2) it deals with mortality (too many of us humans don't realize often enough that we are only visitors here), 3) it deals with family (can't live with 'em sometimes and wouldn't want to live without 'em), 4) it's got a little bit of multi-ethnic casting (looks a little more like the real New York City then Friends or Seinfeld, in my perspective [but I guess it all depends on who you're friends with, hang out with, perceive & reflect on everyday]), 5) it tells a good story, 6) I can't think of a better Thanksgiving movie, 7) I like the hair color of Holmes' character.

Human Rights Watch

And in the spirit of Thanksgiving, let us look beyond art/entertainment and pay some attention to people who are constantly working on making the lives of others better, let's check out Human Rights Watch (and perhaps share some of your good fortune with them by making a donation to them). Thanks a lot for your excellent & important hard work Human Rights Watch.

Have an awesome Thanksgiving everyone.

Sujewa
*******

Film Production Tips From Greg Pak

Greg Pak, director of the theatrically self-distributed feature "Robot Stories" (now available on DVD & VHS from Kino), has been operating a web site called Film Help. Its got useful info. for anyone about to make a movie. Some of the tech info. is old (such as the review of the VX-1000 camera) but still very useful (if you know how to use a VX-1000, you won't have too much trouble figuring out how to use its current siblings such as the PD-170). Check out various sections of Film Help for useful tips on other areas of the whole indie filmmaking game. Check out resources like Film Help and go make that no budget/no star but still excellent movie rock stars.

A Brief Conversation With Caveh Zahedi Re: "I Am A Sex Addict"

Caveh Zahedi has written and directed a very funny and apparently brutally honest film called "I Am A Sex Addict." The movie is an autobiographical comedy-drama with a whole lot of reenactments, done with an excellent sense of humor and quick structural gymnastics that I have rarely seen before. "...Sex Addict..." tells the story of Zahedi's long struggle with and ultimate recovery from his addiction to sex with prostitutes. The film played at the AFI Silver theater in Silver Spring, Maryland on Tuesday, November 15 as a part of the Under The Influence film series. Following the film there was a moderated discussion with the audience. This discussion included a psychoanalyst who went to great lengths to illuminate the issues that Zahedi's character deals with in the movie. It was an educational and amusing experience. After that official post-show discussion, three other audience members (including blogger and media scholar Chuck Tryon) and I sat down with Zahedi for a more informal discussion and a quick interview:

Sujewa: Can filmmaking be dangerously addictive?

Caveh: Yes.

Sujewa: All right. Did success, or lack of success, in your pursuit of a filmmaking career, contribute to your sex addiction?

Caveh: Yes, like I said at the beginning (of the movie), I was frustrated in my career, my marriage was frustrating, my career was frustrating, and in that vortex of frustration, something just kind of snapped.

Sujewa: Got it. Earlier on in your life, did being an Iranian-American propel you towards being a filmmaker? Since there are not a lot of images of Iranian-Americans in our media?

Caveh: No, that's not why I went into film. But one thing that is interesting is that if you look at Iranian cinema, a lot of it is very self-reflexive. It is a very metaphysical kind of cinema, and it's very much like what I do in a way. But I started doing it before I had seen any Iranian films. It might be like a genetic thing. The issues that interest me seem to interest other Iranian filmmakers as well, and it is weird because it is very much an Iranian cinema thing.

Sujewa: So you see similarities between how your films and their films go about addressing the issues raised in the works?

Caveh: Yeah, I mean they seem to be interested in the whole question of representation and revealing that it is a movie. They are very interested in the fiction/non-fiction relationship, and all of my films are kind of like that.

Chuck Tryon: The 9-11 film that you did, if I remember correctly, your film was about a class, about the process of making a film. I thought it was a really interesting way to address the trauma of September 11.

Caveh: Yeah, the film is all about how one student does not want to be in the movie. And I am trying to get him to be in the movie, and being coercive. I threaten to throw him out if he doesn't sign the form, but he doesn't agree to sign the form, to give permission to be in the movie. And I eventually persuade him to sign the form, and we see him sign the form and hand it to me. So it's kind of like it's a drama on two levels. That kind of thing is very Iranian I think.

Another Person At The Table (I did not catch his name): Do you think this film will have a role in bringing more attention to sex addiction and establishing it as an actual addiction?

Caveh: Yeah, I think it will, and that's kind of why I made it. I really made it because when I went to my first sex addiction meeting I found it to be a very healing thing. I heard men talk openly about their sexual addiction problems. I'd never heard anyone talk about that before and I had always felt very alone. The shame is much greater when you feel like you are the only person doing something, so I kind of wanted to do for others what the men in the meeting had done for me by being honest with me. And since I am a filmmaker, the natural thing to do was to make a film about it, in order to reach more people and put it out there so that it would be less shameful for others to say "me too". People come up to me at screenings and say "me too." They feel that they can say that because I've created a space where they feel that they can do that.

Sujewa: Do you think distributors have turned down this movie mostly because this movie deals so directly with sex addiction?

Caveh: No, I think they just want to make a profit. They are afraid that it is too edgy, too threatening to people. They are always going for the middle of the road kind of thing that will maximize profits, the what-will-play-in-Kansas kind of thing.

Sujewa: No one's offered anything that you thought was a decent amount of money?

Caveh: No one's offered anything at all.

Sujewa: Wow, that's silly.

Caveh: The movie has played a lot of festivals, about twenty so far. Distributors have had the chance to see it. They know that people really like it.

Sujewa: I read that The Debut made like 2 million dollars through self distribution. I think you might end up all right with self-distribution.

Caveh: I think I will be.

Sujewa: About going from film to DV in your career, "A Little Stiff" was shot on film and the rest of the movies on video right?

Caveh: No, "I Don't Hate Las Vegas Anymore" was shot on film too.

Sujewa: What do you think about the two formats?

Caveh: I like them both, but for me it's great to be able to shoot & reshoot & reshoot. I am not a purist about it.

Sujewa: What are the upcoming theatrical self-distribution play dates for the movie?

Caveh: January 6 at the Northwest Film Forum in Seattle, January 27 at the Alamo Draft House in Austin, February 10 at the Cinema Village in New York City. Those are the only dates set so far.

Sujewa: Your past work has been concerned with spirituality and God, what do you think about life after death?

Caveh: I hope there is life after death.

Sujewa: What do you think about aliens and UFOs?

Caveh: I've never seen any.

Sujewa: Have audience members been hostile towards you after seeing the movie? Today's audience was very sympathetic I thought.

Caveh: Most audiences have been overwhelmingly sympathetic. There's always somebody who is pissed off but generally, surprisingly, most people have been sympathetic.

Sujewa: That one actress in the movie, was she really a French porn star?

Caveh: Yeah, she's a real French porn star.

Sujewa: In general the film was great. I liked the reflecting-on-itself type of structure, and how you made it all funny. Good job Caveh.

Caveh: Thanks.

And after that we talked some more, I turned off my camera and got quiet so other people at the table could ask some questions from Zahedi. After about 10 minutes or so the organizers of the film series pulled Zahedi away. Three of us from the table walked off into the warm Silver Spring night to get some coffee at the Tastee Diner, and we were thrilled to have been able to talk with the maker of the excellent "I Am A Sex Addict".

Caveh Zahedi's "I Am A Sex Addict" nominated for a Gotham Award

The new award is from Filmmaker Magazine & IFP. Read all about it here:
http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/blog/2005/11/attractions-from-far-away.php

On a related note, coming in a day or two to this very same blog, a brand spankin' new interview w/ Caveh Zahedi, from the 11/15 Silver Spring, MD screening of the film.

Keep rockin' babies.

Sujewa "The Transcriber"
************************

"Punk: Attitude", a documentary by Don Letts

Started watching the recently released 2 DVD punk documentary feast that is Don Letts' movie "Punk: Attitude". Finished watching the main film this morning, it was an informative & inspiring piece of work. This film fills in the gaps in my chronological knowledge of how the punk scene came into existence and grew into the many tentacled post- creature it is now. Important history covered includes info. on how the NYC punk culture affected the London punk culture (in the first wave of punk), and how Black Flag (of the Hard Core punk wave in the early 80's) was the first American band from that scene to set nation-wide and constant touring as a standard in that new D.I.Y. culture (creating the foundation & building the circuit for the scene that, 15-20 some years later, gained a whole lotta mainstream media exposure with the large scale marketing of the Seattle band Nirvana in the early 90's). A must-see for anyone interested in youth cultures and music. Personally, it was a joy to witness several of my secret heroes & Creative People of Interest: Jim Jarmusch, Fugazi, Minor Threat, The Clash, etc. in one movie. Henry Rollins, along with Jarmusch, is one of the several amusing and insightful commentators who show up throughout the film. Here's the web site for the movie: http://www.punkattitude.co.uk/.

Also saw the extra item about the L.A. punk scene, a short doc made by Dick Rude. It was funny & informative. Apparently it was possible to be young & very miserable in sunny California in the early 80's (and, on a separate note, I really liked Rude's movie about Joe Strummer, it's called "Let's Rock Again", saw it last year). Looking forward to checking out all the extras on this DVD set.

Let's hope a whole new generation of young musicians, other artists, and activists discover the spirit of creative rebellion, non-conformity with evil, righteous indignation and the do-it-yourself ethic through this film. We can definitely use it right now.

Show Report: Jem Cohen's "Chain" at the Hirshhorn Nov. 10, 2005

Went to see "Chain" at the Hirshhorn, it was, all in all, a lovely experience. The real world, the world outside of television and the internet, can be very fascinating under the right conditions. I took the metro to the Hirshorn, an excellent looking museum. The place was packed. Lots of people waiting patiently at the door to the screening room, hundreds of people, some talking with each other. Can't get that with renting a DVD at home by yourself (a note to all you kids out there trying to eliminate the theatrical experience). Got in to the theater, the 500 seat auditorium (at least I heard that it was 500 seats) filled up fast, people had to be turned away. A second show was announced, immediately following the first show. The programmer (whose name I did not catch) introduced executive producer Guy Picciotto (of DC bands Fugazi & Rites Of Spring fame, according to some rock writers the inventor of the Emo genre of punk/rock music). Guy said that they were having technical difficulties and that we would have to watch the movie from a VHS tape, not the digital tape as Jem had intended. No one protested too loudly. Guy also said he would come up to answer questions about the movie, after the show (Jem was traveling in Europe). And the movie began. The Hirshhorn screen is huge (I was in the front row, an excellently designed theater by the way, the screen size sure beats the "large TV" size screen at the Goethe). The movie unfolded in its hand made charm. Indie film stars Miho Nikaido and Mira Billotte played two transient women, propelled by vastly different causes, who spend a lot of time in the American mainstream/suburban landscape. I won't give too much away, there are a lot of neat and small elements to each woman's story. Since I see the world mostly as a comedy I liked Mira's character a lot, her approach to the world is laid back and perhaps unintentionally humorous. Miho's character is a very dedicated employee and thus we were not privy to her own personal experience outside of work, she talked a lot about her company's goals and the role she plays within those ambitions. Even through VHS Jem's images have an accessible charm, maybe all it is just seeing familiar locations projected large on a movie screen, malls and parking lots have rarely looked that poetic before. Maybe it's just the arresting magic of cinema, removing us from our environment and allowing us to observe and reflect on it. Maybe it is the fact that this movie was shot on 16 MM, and that I have been on a steady diet of digital images for some time now. Anyway, it took about an hour for me to fully realize that the movie that I am watching is a work of fiction, not a documentary. This, my friends, is a new and more accomplished model for a mockumentary or an intentionally fake documentary. Even though and perhaps because of the minimalism (compared to all the sensory overload that comes with even an Indiewood talking heads picture) of this movie, it was very easy to start caring about the characters on the screen. Some mildly shocking statements were made by the characters. Statements that revealed that even though the US and Japan may have cities and suburbs that look identical, the mainstream view of how the world operates, held by the populations of each country, are still very different. Perhaps the insides of nations, or world views, change at a different rate than the outside of nations, or business and retail complexes and housing developments. The movie came to an end with some relatively unique images. People clapped. Guy announced that the second show would be done using the digital copy of the movie, technical problem fixed. Some people left, some people stayed behind to ask Guy questions. Questions asked covered the following topics and more: production (Jem shot this movie over a 7-8 year period), budget(unknown), how the film was cast (Jem had seen Miho in a movie, met her in NYC, Mira was recommended by Guy & Ian "Fugazi, The Evens" MacKaye). I asked a complex question linking the movie with French architecture and the recent French riots, Guy agreed that the question was complex, but an audience member from Germany informed me that the French cities w/ the African & Muslim immigration population in the center suffered little or no damage, compared to those areas where the immigrant populations were less centralized or were on the margins of the city (or something like that, was not able to focus fully on the explation in that environment & moment). Can't get that kind of an exchange watching a DVD at home. Guy said several more interesting things about the project, which I will not elaborate on here because I do not want to ruin your live "Chain" experience ('cause I am sure all of you will go check this movie out when it plays near you). The next show was about to begin, we said goodbye and left. On the way back to the metro I talked with another person from the audience, a stranger, about the movie and related topics, and he told me about Kirkegard's theories about the effect of the environment on the aesthete and what it means.

Like Jim Jarmusch's "Stranger Than Paradise" or like experiencing a church basement Positive Force DC indie/punk rock show, "Chain" offers a technically simple (seemingly), accessible, but totally inspiring and dare I say positively transformative experience that made me want to go home and work on editing my movie and made me notice the ordinary surroundings that I walked through daily in a more romantic light (at least for three hours or so at full effect). Can't get that from your average recent Hollywood or Indiewood movie or DVD (I know 'cause I tried all last week to recharge my creative batteries with the help of those movies and failed). Those movies, like malls, allow you to escape but at the same time alienates with glitz and slickness. "Chain" uplifts by bringing you closer to the beauty and sadness of ordinary existence and the ordinary man-made environment but at the same time neutralizes the psychological threats brought on by that same existence/environment by showing you its mortality and humanness. Good job Jem, Miho and Mira. !Thanksalot! Guy & Hirshhorn for a lovely evening of art/entertainment.

Caveh Zahedi in Silver Spring, MD on 11/15 w/ "I Am A Sex Addict"

I am off to see Jem Cohen's "Chains" at the Hirshhorn (see Chuck Tryon's write up on it here: http://chutry.wordherders.net/archives/005121.html), but here's info. on Caveh Zahedi's upcoming trip to town:

Filmmaker Caveh Zahedi (who played himself in Richard Linklater's "Waking Life") will be in Silver Spring, MD on 11/15/05 to present his new film "I Am A Sex Addict" at the AFI Silver, as a part of the Under The Influence film series.

Here's some useful info. about the screening series and the film, from http://www.recoverynetworkfoundation.org/uti.htm :

All films are shown at American Film Institute Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD. 20910.
*Show times are 6:30-9:30 PM
*Admission is Free but you must have tickets.
Tickets are distributed at the AFI Box Office one hour before show time; two tickets per person maximum.
*Post-Screening discussions with addiction treatment experts, recovery advocates and filmmakers.

I am A sex Addict November 15, 2005

The eagerly anticipated Washington, D.C. area premiere directed by and starring Caveh Zahedi in the title role. "While the story is at once realistic and very serious, the cinematic construction and comedic exhibitionism make it wonderfully absurdist." Margaret Parsons, Guest Curator, Under The Influence. Director Caveh Zahedi will join the audience for the post-screening discussion and will talk about his own experiences in recovery.

Here's Caveh's web site:
http://www.cavehzahedi.com/


Sujewa
*********

Sarah Jacobson, Inspirational DIY Filmmaker

"What is DIY, you might ask?..."Well, it's a term co-opted from the punk rock movement and it stands for Do It Yourself. For as buzzword-y as the label is, it stands for a very important concept in the independent world -- the idea that you don't need a big company or lots of money to validate you."
- Sarah Jacobson, 1997
from IndieWIRE

Sarah Jacobson (1971 - 2004), produced and directed the following widely seen & praised indie movies:
"I Was A Teenage Serial Killer"
"Mary Jane's Not A Virgin Anymore"
She Started a production and distribution company called Station Wagon Productions.
Her film "Mary Jane..." played the Sundance Film Festival in 1997.
She worked on television shows for Oxygen and VH1.
She traveled the country (and various parts of the world) showing her movies.
She inspired, and continues to inspire, many people (myself included) and was loved by many people (see the comments section of the IndieWIRE article cited below for more on this).

I spoke with Jacobson once on the phone regarding a screening event (at some point between '01 and '03 I think), it was a pleasant conversation, definitely all business, and then I got busy with my work & life, and the next time I heard about her to a very significant degree was in early 2004, when I heard that she had died. Life indeed is cruel (no matter what the "death is a part of life, relax & accept it" crowd says), for it is not acceptable, by any standard of excellence set by humans I respect, for a young and vibrant indie filmmaker to be taken away forever from existence.

Here are some links for further exploration:

a most excellent article about Sarah Jacobson:
Remembering DIY Queen Sarah Jacobson 1971 - 2004
http://www.indiewire.com/people/people_040218sarah.html

GreenCine Daily: Celebrating Sarah Jacobson
http://daily.greencine.com/archives/000379.html

Amir Motlagh, Filmmakers Touring Like Indie Rockers, DIY 05

As filmmaker Amir Motlagh http://www.amorproductions.com/amir_motlagh.html (whose new & first feature "Whale" http://www.whalefilm.blogspot.com/ is now in production) can attest to through experience, it is possible for one lone filmmaker to book his film to microcinemas and theaters, get it into festivals, travel and do Q & A sessions, do radio interviews and get the word out on the film, and get DVD sales of the film going through the exposure gained. In addition it will be possible to make some money from ticket sales to certain screenings. Both Amir and I were inspired by the self-distribution and touring successes of punk/indie rock so we have adapted the methods of those creative communities to suit the needs of the indie/DIY filmmaker, and in order to easily discuss the approach we have labeled it the DIY 2005 Film Movement (or DIY 05 for short). Touring with the film is not meant to replace the more well known "distribution company funded/simultaneous opening in several markets" film distribution strategy, but to remind indie/DIY filmmakers of another low-budget distribution option that allows them to have a certain valuable amount of control over their careers. As The French New Wave helped democratize the film business by promoting production with lightweight & more affordable 16MM equipment and as the Dogme 95 film movement promoted digital video film production and digital exhibition, it is my hope that DIY 2005 or the idea of touring with the film, which has been in practice for a long time by a few filmmakers, will promote greater indie/DIY film distribution. The three groups of filmmakers: New Wave, Dogme 95, filmmakers who tour, all highlight novel approaches to the business of filmmaking and distribution that make the cost of entry into the film field more affordable to more people, thus all are valuable examples for poor filmmakers.

Here is the web page for the DIY 2005 Film Movement:
http://www.wilddiner.com/diy2005.htm

3 relatively recent touring indie filmmaker heros who successfully distributed a feature film to theaters:
1. Sarah Jacobson/"Mary Jane's Not A Virgin Anymore"
New York Times Review: http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=154622
IndieWIRE article on the life & career of Sarah Jacobson (1971-2004):
http://www.indiewire.com/people/people_040218sarah.html
2. Gene Cajayon/"The Debut" http://debutfilm.pinoynet.com/home.asp
3. Greg Pak/"Robot Stories" http://www.robotstories.net/

My Blog "On The Road With Date Number One":
This new blog will allow me to easily post updates while I am traveling with my new feature film “Date Number One” during the '06 - '08 theatrical distribution period (hopefully only the Phase 1 of distro on that project). Here is the URL:
http://datenumberonemoviedistroblog.blogspot.com/

And here’s a lengthy October ‘05 blog entry of mine called Making Distro Low Budget Indie & D.I.Y..., on self-distribution and other related matters:
http://watchthismovie.blogspot.com/2005/10/making-distro-low-budget-indie-diy.html

Thanks!
Sujewa
*******

Todd Verow: Prolific DV Filmmaker

Todd Verow has made over a dozen movies on digital video. I can't point to a document that talks about the budgets of his movies, but, in my "professional indie/poor filmmaker" opinion, his movies look as if they can be made for very little money (unless of course the talent & the small crew are paid tons of money). Either way, very inspiring. Check his web site out over here: http://bangorfilms.com/.

Sujewa
*******

How I Assembled A Digital Editing Set Up For Under $1500

Of course even $1500, a paltry sum by Hollywood standards, is a lot of money for a lot of the poor filmmakers on this planet, but that amount is within reach for the disciplined American indie filmmaker with a dayjob of some kind (that pays in cash, as opposed to livestock or some other form of currency, I do not think the Apple Store trades their goods for chickens or pigs, yet).
Here is the digital video editing set up that I assembled for cutting my new feature "Date Number One" http://www.wilddiner.com/, along with the cost of each item:

Mac Mini, 40 GB storage (from an Apple Store in DC area) - $500
Firewire cable - FREE (already had it, would be less than $20 to buy)
PC Monitor, 17" - FREE (had an extra one at work, would be about $100-$150 or so to buy, I think)
Apple Keyboard - $40
Apple Mouse - $20
Final Cut Express - $300
Speakers (w/ a sub-woofer - weird name for a gadget - from Radio Shack) - $30
Headphones (from Radio Shack) - $15
Extra, external storage drive from Lacie (not bought yet) - $150
DVD burner (not bought yet) - $150

Total Cost: $1375

I am loading my footage in from a MiniDV camera that I already owned. If such an "edit-camera" had to be purchased, you could do it for around $300 (the Canon ZR 100 por ejemplo).
In that case the total cost of the editing set up will go up to: $1675.

So if you've got a burning desire to make a movie, and no one to fund it, now you know that for less than $2000, you can get everything that you need to edit a DV feature. Hope this helps. Go get a PT job, save up $s, get the gear, & be your own Executive Producer baby.

Keep making excellent movies. More poor-filmmaker friendly postings coming up.

Sujewa
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