coming full circle...

thank you... thank you... thank you... for the outpouring of support on monday... feels like a rite of passage to share the journey's gift (the film) with those who played a direct role.. it's a great rounding out...

from start to finish... you helped us make it happen... you stepped up to play a character's role... you stepped up to crew... you stepped up with a location... you stepped up with a donation... you stepped up with emotional support... in the end, it was all this wonderful energy together that helped take an idea and make it a communal reality...

seeing your faces in the crowd... the questions you asked me... the vibrations of the applause... it means a lot...

we wish to think that when we make a movie that we are in charge... sure... we create characters... we develop plot lines... we put the characters in conflict... we see transformation within the time frame of the movie...

but when it's all said, the journey of the characters parallels that of the filmmakers too... on all journeys the characters change... they transform...

we like change... it reflects the adaptive aspect of our humanity... it's our effort to fit harmoniously into the big picture...

and on all journeys, characters have their aides... nobody completes the heroic journey without the help of others...

we too couldn't have completed the movie without you... you aided us... particularly when our backs were against the wall...

now as we move into the next phase of the journey... finding ways to share the gift with a larger audience... this too will see new aides...

to all those that have (and continue to) send their energy... we ask that you help us with the next phase too...

gifting the film to others amounts to the ultimate 'rounding out'... and fulfillment of the mismo journey...

We've come a long way baby!

Tonight’s the big night, the long-awaited unveiling of Mismo.  It’s been quite a journey; one that I hope will lead to bigger and better things for everyone who participated in the film. 

And while I’m looking forward, I can’t help but reflect on where we began, which was in a Scary Cow meeting almost three years ago.  Gino and I, like everyone else who joined that community of indie filmmakers, were thrown into a team to make a two-minute trailer.  The idea was that teams would compete and vote on the trailers for technical and story merit.   The winning teams were awarded dollars and advanced to the next round of filmmaking.

As Gino reflects in his Director’s Statement, the making of a film is really the making of three films… and the same applies even to a trailer!  Each person in our team presented an idea and mine was voted the one everyone wanted to work on… and so I wrote a script.  Film number one.

Then came the filming of the script… and since we couldn’t get certain locations, we had to adjust, for example the inside of a pawnshop became a Fence on the street.   Film number two.

And then… editing began and we were under the gun.  Film number three.

And for your viewing pleasure… here are the results! 



Boy, we’ve come a long way:)