Under the Distributor's Gun...

Ooh… so exciting to wake up to a phone call from New York with an exotic accent telling you that they “love” your movie and want to represent it!  Los Angeles Premiere with hip after party… ditto in New York… a screening at Cannes Film Festival also with after party, industry peeps, gorgeous people… an article in a renowned indie film quarterly… a pr pro assigned to your personally…

Enough to make one’s head spin!

Right up until the price tag is mentioned... Uh oh.

And then the need to decide quickly!  Double uh oh.

It took us three years to make Mismo because we did everything to the highest standard possible within our meager budget.  Even when we thought there was no way we’d be able to afford something – such as professional color correction – we did our due diligence, explored all options, and found a way to make it happen.  Ditto with our ADR, editing, score, soundtrack, and sound mix.  And that was just in post.  During editing, we worked diligently and intelligently, filling any pauses due to vacations, etc., by conducting focus groups.  When it came to creating our second trailer, we sought audience opinions and held brainstorm sessions.

So, it’s not likely that we’re about to pony up thousands of dollars for the vanity of having a screening and party at Cannes unless we’ve done our due diligence and can guarantee that we’re spending our money wisely.

Right now the jury is out.  Stay tuned!

a visceral creation...

on my way back to san francisco from northern nevada... to spend time with my family... there was a snow storm on highway 80... just outside of truckee... cal trans required drivers to install chains... the snow was coming down... just under 30 degrees...

my first impression when the 'chain control' sign was posted was 'oh shit, i don't want to do that...'... but the beauty about the situatiion was that i didn't have a choice if i wanted to get to san francisco... put on the chains or else park your car and watch it snow...

i got out and put my chains on... turned out to be great... the task forced me to go from thinking to doing... a much healthier disposition for a guy who thinks too much already... and while putting on the chains... and feeling the cold against my face.. and my hands starting to go numb... i was awash in physical embodiment... when i was done... and jumped in the car to take off... i felt alive...

i need to be physically engaged with my environment to feel alive... tapping a story's energy is dependent on whether i have tapped my own personal energy... my stories are stale otherwise...
my body's story comes first... the body's aliveness... then i'm excited to get back to the desk and write...

it's a dialectic between the world of motion... the natural world... the body in that world... and the cognizing world... the world of the pen... the world of the computer... this piece of mental before me...

interestingly enough.... independent filmmaking is a physically engaging endeavor... your body has to respond to the natural world.... location scouting... for instance... sometimes you voyage into caves.. basements.... rooftops... you name it.. you go... just to see if the space will work for your scene...

then on set... you make physical-based decisions especially if you are shooting outside... you are dealing with the elements... wind screws up sound... the sun moves... and sometimes... it rains...

i can still remember shooting the rooftop scene in mismo... rachel and jorge... it drizzled the entire shoot... forcing us to deal with issues you wouldn't if it was nice outside... just keeping the lens dry was a test... but heck... we only had the place for one afternoon... either get it done... or it does you...

and that is true of life.. in general... i guess to... either do life... or have it done to you...

so to all the visceral moments in my life... i salute you... for you help me feel the rapture... enough so that i can feel creative...