Reprinted from JourneyPod’s blog– please check it out!
“journeyPod was live and on the Red Carpet last Thursday evening at the 10th Annual Newport Beach Film Festival. The Opening Night Film, “Lymelife,” featured Alec Baldwin, Jill Hennessey, Rory Culkin and Kieran Culkin. While none of those celebrities were present, we did chat with Adam Gregory, star of the television program “The New 90210.” Originally from Cincinnati, Adam now lives in Santa Monica and apparently isn’t much of a foodie. When I asked him his favorite restaurant, he told me “Subway.”

On the Red Carpet, we chatted with Matt Sobel, director of “X to Y” for the inside scoop on the inspiration for his short. Also on the Red Carpet filmmaker Carole Holliday gave us an inside peak at her film, “Witt’s Daughter.” Her 40 minute film is about a father who comes home from the Korean War and meets his three year old daughter. Carole’s inspiration was the movie, “The Gladiator.” Wanna hear more? Stay tuned for an upcoming podcast show.

The festival, in it’s fourth day now, is packed with filmmakers (who in many cases are the writers, directors, and producers), and actors and actresses. While waiting to screen the “Impact of War” shorts, first-time film maker Tomas Solli from Norway and I struck up a conversation. He is the only Norwegian filmmaker at the festival. His film, “Emergency Exit” debuts today….

What a fun guy!

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A lot of people have dreams, things they want to do. I recently met a nine-year-old boy who already knew he wanted to go to Cordon Bleu and become a chef. Other people want to be teachers or lawyers, photographers or firemen. I wanted to be a filmmaker. But getting from “wanting to” to “getting to” was a bit of a challenge. Coming from a career in animation and diving headfirst into live action was a scary thing, but I wanted to direct, and, with no openings available where I was, I chose to venture out on my own and produceWitt’s Daughter. What I discovered in taking that small step of faith was a giant world of possibilities. 

A lot of times in life, a person finds he or she wants more but feels as though it’s impossible to achieve it because no one’s giving them the opportunity. It’s like that little wind-up toy set on the floor that keeps bumping into the same wall, with, seemingly, no exit. “But I saw so-and-so head this way, and he got though!” The frustrated little wind-up toy person whines as he backs up and makes another run at the same wall. Bonk. Kebonk. Kebonk. “Grrrrrr.”

If only he’d turn to the left or the right, he might see the way out to a brighter day; instead, when he looks, he sees only a dark tunnel of fear and uncertainty. However, just like walking into a dark room is, at first, scary, if one takes the careful steps into the darkness of the unknown and lets one’s creative eyes adjust, one will find the tools needed to lead one through the tunnel into a new possibility.

But turning away from the wall and stepping into the darkness is one thing; knowing what to do once you’re there is another. Look for the tools you need – you’ll find them right under your nose. There used to be these old Andy Hardy films with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland where, at one part during the story, a group of kids would say:
“I’ve got some costumes.”
“My uncle’s got a barn.”
“Let’s put on a show!” 

For me, making Witt’s Daughter went the same way. I decided to bloom where I was planted, using the resources God had given me. I’d saved money to redo my kitchen, but a remodel could wait. I also had a house full of family antiques, a vintage wardrobe and access to a friend’s 1954 Sunbeam Alpine. Suddenly, after years of wanting to be a director - I was!– Read more at Moving Pictures magazine

Looking at the desktop of my computer and thinking, ugh, I don’t want to deal with sorting out the clutter that I saved there in this last mad rush to promote “Witt’s Daughter” for the Newport Beach film Festival.

Between reaching out to viewers and schlepping the hour or more drive (depending on the traffic to Orange county) and seeing movies (ugh, so hard to watch all that GREAT entertainment) it was a wonder I found any time to sleep so something had to give, going to after parties and doing housework… okay TWO somethings had to give–but even missing several nights of awesome parties (so I’m told by folks who were into free Absolute Vodka, Karl’s Beer and lively entertainment) I had a wonderful time.

Looking at the fist full of cards I got from other filmmakers and some members of the press, I judge the trip to be extremely successful.  (note to self, bring business cards–doh!) I will talk about how my film was received in another entry but for now I want to love on some of the films I saw…especially because I’m not looking forward to doing housework.  Ugh!

One thing I want to say to you if you’re a filmmaker– I know it’s tough, but if it’s possible, don’t orphan your film at festivals… meaning if you get selected, try and go with it. (which can be expensive) Just for me on the personal side, there were some wonderful films I saw that I wanted to talk to the director about and they weren’t in attendance. I heard that form other audience members as well. Especially when its a big festival like Newport Beach–you never know who you could meet!

The Newport Beach Film Festival accepted over four hundred entries and though it was impossible to see them all I sure tried to see as many as I could. It was fabulous to see them, because as I saw each awesome film I was reminded, “Wow, ‘Witt’s Daughter’ was accepted to this festival just like theirs!” which is a great antidote to my Groucho Marx self- deprecating mentality  of “I wouldn’t belong to a club that would have me for a member”  

So here they are in no particular order–clicking on the image will take you to their websites

Emergency Exit  (NØDUTGANG )is a tight little thriller by Norwegian filmmaker Tomas Solli that doesn’t disappoint. I met Tomas at the first night after party in a line (okay, so I did go to a few after parties) and thought I wouldn’t see him again for the rest of the week because there were so many people there.  It turns out that God had other plans as I ran into him the next day and we became friends who hung out for the rest on the way into a screening.  He came to see my film on saturday night (gave me some great constructive notes too) So I wanted to return the favor and support his movie.  Let me tell you, I was not disappointed I did. I was really entertained by Tomas’ film. The story is about a young man with a mysterious problem who while closing his bank account gets caught up in a robbery. What happens next is turn of events that leaves the audience on the edge of their collective seats with a movie climax that made me utter a little shocked gssp. It was very cool!

Like I said, it was tight, with a wonderful wrap around that was sweet. He had wonderful acting, great editing/pacing, and the story was compelling. Even though it was subtitled, it wasn’t one of those annoying films that you have to read to understand, Tomas told the film very well with pictures and made you feel for the characters. I’m excited to see what comes next out of this guy, and I’m glad we became friends.

“Finding” by the Salto Brothers was is an amazing action thriller and though I unfortunately missed the very beginning, it was compelling enough that it its ending actually touched me and made me cry. Yes, I was not expecting this from this little story.  The story is about a world weary dark man who takes the job to find the estranged daughter of a mysterious man despite the consequences of reestablishing the connection. What happens next puts the finder in peril himself with a fabulous ending– like I said, It made me cry (and then silly enough when I was talking to the one of the directors afterwards my eyes welled up with tears once again… egad, how embarrassing!)  The cinematography by Jacques Ballard was gorgeous.  The production design sharp and conveyed the world the brothers hope to depict.

As a side note after my screening, one of the people who came out to see Witt’s Daughter t said, “I’m surprised the audience didn’t ask you the two main questions ‘how much did it cost and what did you shoot it on?’”  which I didn’t know was a standard film festival question.  Well the Salto brothers were indeed asked the first (actually I think the moderator was the one to bring it up!)  And the reason was that as amazing as the film looked the Brothers did everything and were able to get the amazing look for pennies–including a shot at an airport with a helicopter landing-what the what? (Jesse Salto somehow found time in post to computer animate his ending credits and did a bang up job at it as well) In talking to the guys afterwards, they’re really approachable and I was surprised to discover that in addition to other thriller features, they also want to do romantic comedies.  Film funding is different in France than it is in the US so they are in the process of making all that happen so they can make the next great thing happen as well!

Words fail me for the film “Viko” by writer director Larysa Kondracki. “Wow” is what I said at the question and answer after the screening, and “Wow” is what I’m thinking of now. Kondracki who is actually a writer has an amazing sense of style and point of view in this story about a young man Viko, in the former Yugoslavia of 1997. Wanting to get out of his impoverished life, Viko takes a job working for his brother in a job that he soon will find is brutal and makes monsters of good men. the production design was gritty and made you feel like you needed a shower. The look and feel totally submerged the viewer into the depths of poverty and squalor  in which this young man lives. With the subtitles, look and feel of the film, it was shocking to find it was shot right here in Burbank California.   The camera work was stunning that forced the audience to look through the eyes of this boy with disgust and horror.  The revealing climax of the film (which you have to see, I wont tell you) is so gripping and so viscerally acted, even though it was brutal, you were compelled to watch in hope for the outcome.  I look forward to more greatness from this director!

“Mildred Richards” By director Marc Kess is a wonderful film based on the 1940′s radio play of the same title.  The story is one filled with vintage intrigue of two wastrel children who return to their dying older relative’s bedside to pretend to be angels in order to get a share of a hefty inheritance.  

The handling of the story was entertaining, I felt like I was thrown back into the time (complete with film artifacting) The cinematography, production design, costume design is luscious and captures the era to a T. There’s a great gimmick to the film (for want of a better word) that I won’t spoil by telling it here– you have to see it for your self. It was really fun watching the film that’s already won several awards and is looking at a great festival run. Please see it if you’re at a festival as you wont be disappointed that you did!

Other films really worth mentioning (though I’ve now reached my saturation on blogging are

William’s Christening- a compelling story of a wealthy young family in the 1920′s who falls prey to a horrible accident when the mother goes sleepwalking with the child and the lengths the go to after the devastating tragedy. The cinematography, production design, costumes and acting was beautiful in this well told story that’s final line is underplayed and perfectly chilling for the film. It literally made me my mind start spinning off what will happen next for these people which is a pretty wonderful thing to have from a short– something leaving you wanting more!

Goodbye Canarsie that I enjoyed because of the quirky  humor, the great ending and the wonderful look and feel of the seventies this film evoked.

So there you have it– and there I’ve have it… hmmm… I wonder what I can do now… I mean besides my housework? 

By all accounts the temperature was above 100º. The wind was not helping us much. Even though we were in an open car on being towed on the back of a flat bed behind a truck at 30mph, the sun was cooking us like pancakes on a griddle.  That was not something I had factored into shooting in the desert at the beginning of July… I don’t know why.  

All of Witt’s Daughter’s principal photography had gone very well.  The cast and crew were very friendly with each other, and the footage was beautiful.  However, during principal we had not gotten the chance to do the car scene between Philip and Adam, and so it was scheduled during the time we were suppose to get shot revisions.  

In spite of being able to lower the cost of the film by using available locations (ie my house) there still was the fact that I had written a scene where the  Witt and his brother Gus were on the way home from Edwards Airforce base in Palmdale.  Originally, I thought that I could get a Uhall trailer hitch and tow the car with one of those video car mounts on it, but that was ruled out because a trailer that tows a car is too high off the ground (spoiling the illusion of driving) and the idea of having Philip drive and act was out of the question as well– being safety minded and all.  Wouldn’t want my actor to be acting, get distracted and end up in a ditch.  No, the conversation had to be filmed in a controlled environment.

I tried to come up with another idea to take it’s place, and someone I spoke with suggested that I use the trick of parking the car on the road and having lights go by every now and again while Phil pretended to drive… It was a great idea–if I wanted to stage the driving scene at night and not put it in a convertible…  Jeff thought of another idea, which was to shoot it with green screen plates.  

Principle photography had been scheduled for eleven days with six on, one off and five on.  So the day when everyone else was doing laundry, paying bills and taking care of their life. Jeff and I drove out to the road leading to Vasquez Rocks.  

“is this insured?” Jeff asked, gesturing to the camera. He wanted to strap it to a make shift rig in the trunk of the car to get the back road shot.  I assured him that it was–but that I didn’t want to make use of it.  He was joking… at least I like to think he was.  We spent all day getting ready, measuring plotting shots.  But in the end, the one thing we had not thought about was the angle of the ground and the shadow of my car.

 Now don’t get me wrong.  Jeff and I are incredibly intelligent people, but we were working out so many problems in our minds that some of the more obvious ones just sort of fell through the cracks like cleaning the windshield or shooting during the middle of a week day and yet modern day cars were still intermittently driving down the road.

oops…

In the end, we abandoned the idea of plates because we had so little time to work and in the end I opted for working with a process trailer. 

Location Scouting.

Well, before I could shoot the scene, I had to choose a location.  I had already driven to Kern county before I first shot.   Kern County was one of the closest counties I could find that would let me shoot for no permit fee (although i would have to hire two policemen)  I was doing this film above boards, permits, insurance, and whatever else was entailed in learning how to do a real production.  But it was not an inexpensive endeavor.  So Kern county, with its three hour drive was a way to save money. I had envisioned the opening scene being one a the bright blue Sunbeam Alpine, cruising along the road with a backdrop of purple, yellow, red and orange flowers on the rolling hills.  Ahhh… so lovely. 

But that was not to be.  The year’s dearth of rain proved to sound the death-knell for my Romantic image. There was not a flower to be had  (except a couple of cheery little purple lupines jutting out of a crack in a rock along the road.  Besides, I was worried about a giant process trailer making up the winding hills that were supposed to double for The Old Road, a part of freeway that parallels the 14 freeway (and was way too expensive to permit to shoot)– Frankly what I should have been worried about was paying for the price of gas.

By this point, I had began to feel more comfortable with asking companies if their prices were negotiable for independent films. On the whole, the companies had given me lower prices– without my asking.  (praise God for His kindness and theirs) But that was not the case with the process trailer people.  Don’t get me wrong. its not a matter of kindness or not.  Like the character in Jerry Maguire, its not show friends, it’s show business.  There were’nt many process trailer companies doing what  the companies I approached were doing.  It was a lot of demand and very little supply. So as I was driving up to Palmdale to scout a location  that would hopefully look halfway decent, I was talking to very harried people on the other end of the phone who were so busy, that they didn’t know if they would have time for my shoot or not, let alone, “give you a lower price?  heh… sorry, no”  There was a price for the truck, a price for the trailer. a price for the DRIVER and a price for the gas.  Not to mention a special insurance policy for truck (in addition to the insurance policy that Palmdale would charge for using the road–and the two cops who who would get an hourly fee for sitting at either end of the deserted road…)

and– oh yes, thanks to Jeff for remembering– a price for the Port o Potty that I rented at eight o’clock the night before–yay, for the man with whom I go to church who delivers them.

To be continued!

Competition to become an official selection in film festivals can be fierce. Sometimes being a well-produced and entertaining movie is not enough; the other component of what it takes to be programmed in a festival is that other films be chosen that share the same theme. Such is the case with the films of the Newport Beach Film Festival’s shorts program entitled “Impact of War” at the Edward’s Island Cinema on April 25 at 8:00pm. The ninety-minute program showcases a variety of documentaries and narratives guaranteed to captivate the audience, with topics ranging from tales of the men who fight in it to the children and families it affects; scenarios of heroism, intrigue, drama and hope.

Films included in the program are director Tim Temple’s documentary  “Why We Serve” which focuses on ten US Air Force officers and their heroic commitment to their country demonstrated in their choice to serve in the military instead of pursuing more lucrative private sector jobs.

Tim O’Hara’s Iraqi documentary “Operation Falcon” tells the story of the relationship between the US military and it’s estimated twenty thousand interpreters who now face retaliation and can only get into America by means of one the five hundred visa slots per year. The film focuses on one Marine’s quest to get his interpreter safely into the United States. a

Filmmaker Elisabetta Bernardini’s narrative short “Retreating (La Ritirata)” set in Italy during the German occupation tells a coming of age story of thirteen year old Rosa who plays with her younger siblings while she guards a dangerous secret.

“Witt’s Daughter” tells the bitter sweet story of a young man who returns from the Korean War and expects everything to be as he left it, but instead discovers that his little girl sees him as an unwelcome stranger. When asked what she thought about her family film being scheduled in a program on war filmmaker Carole Holliday replied, “I didn’t set out to do a war film. I wanted to tell a story about a father and daughter which turned into a tale about what happens when a man comes home from war. With today’s current events, I’m humbly delighted that even though my film is set in the fifties, the emotion which the story evokes is just as relevant today”

Included in the program will be chance for the audience to meet the filmmakers and actors of some of the films in a short Q and A after the screening.

Films will be screened at 

Edwards Island Cinemas

There’s always a little bit of trepidation when you’ve finished your project and have sent it out into the world for people to see.  And when some of those people are critics–the trepidation amps up several notches.  So when Duane L Martin offered to review my film, I was nervous. So much so that I had to use several envelopes to submit it to him because I kept forgetting to put items in the envelope (in the end, the last puffy envelope was sealed with tape because I kept slashing the flaps–and puffy envelopes aint cheap)

Off, the package went into the snail mail void, and I tried to put it out of my mind (even preparing myself for the thought of “Gasp…what if the review is bad–maybe I can find a few good words in it…”  

Time passed…

And then it happened–the review hit the world wide web– and it was glowing!

“Ive been reviewing independent films for coming up on six years now, and it’s a rare treat for me when I get the chance to review a film as heartfelt and special as this one…”  

The review at one point states.  Oh my goodness!  In reading the whole thing, my heart was filled with happiness mixed with a bit of relief– someone else gets the film besides my friends! Wahoo!  Please stop by the website  and read the rest of the review.  Also, let them know you stopped in by voting for the review by clicking on the little stars in the column to the right and selecting the box that says “cast my vote”–it wont take but a nano second and you don’t even have to sign up or anything.

see other reviews at the Crowded Metro Films Website Newpage 

What a wonderful honor to be chosen for the GI Film Festival.  I wasn’t expecting to be as excited as I am, but boy howdy, am I!  I must admit that I was more than a little anxious as I submitted the film.  My story is about a Korean War vet who comes home expecting everything to be as he left it, only to be rejected by his three year old girl–what if the audience that would be most interested in it didn’t like it? So to actually get a “congratulations your film was accepted” notice (a month and a half in advance of the final notice deadline of April 15 even) was a blast and a half!

Horray for Witt’s Daughter!

UPDATE

Witt’s Daughter Screening at the GI Film Festival May 15, 11:30 a.m

“Witt’s Daughter” plays with director Cheryl Fries’ documentary “A Touch of Home” which tells the amazing and touching stories of the Doughnut Dollies who were American women on the front lines of the Vietnam War who brought entertainment, a smiling face and a reminder of home to the millions of young soldiers overseas. 

A question and answer session will follow the program. 

GI Film Festival 

Carnegie Institution of Washington • 1530 P Street NW • Washington, DC 20005, USA • Phone 1-202-387-6400 

Tickets are $10.00 and can be bought by going to the link below 

http://www.gifilmfestival.com/film.friday.htm 

Upcoming performances of the film will include a special program to benefit “Operation Gratitude” an organization that writes letters and sends packages to the fighting men and women overseas at the Fine Arts theatre in 

Beverly Hills on May 29th at 7:30 pm. 

For trailer, excerpts from the film and additional information please visit the Crowded Metro Films website 

http://www.crowdedmetrofilms.com/

Timely Tale of a Military Homecoming: Film “Witt’s Daughter” A Soldier’s Story With Hope

I’ve spoken before about writing on the internet being equated to like working over a manhole, but I don’t want to give you the wrong idea about my involvement with research and the internet.  Frankly, I;m starting to see that writing and getting lost in the internet becomes less of a problem if you do all your research BEFORE you start writing properly.  This can be an area of self discipline because some times, you get these fabulous ideas and immediately want to go incorporate them into your screenplay.  But starting to work on these ideas without fully understanding your subject and characters, is like building a bridge face with faulty support.  The base (the idea) may be there, and the road connecting places might be there, but the faults will find you out and the bridge will buckle and eventually collapse. (like this memorable scene from “The Mothman Prophecies”)

I’m saying that mostly for myself and anyone else who might care to mark it. On my next project, a feature romantic comedy and I have started doing research–no– I did not get in a relationship–but I have started interviewing people to have credible characters and situtions.  Not being much of a reader, I have found a few message boards, which are nice, but more like work to read. But I have also found lots and lots of videos.  You tube is a wonderful resource of home made movies from people who are either pros in their field or big aficionados about it. The home movie quality adds to the authenticity of it, because they’re going to be capturing more of the atmosphere of the location as well as the situation, instead of a movie art directed version of that location or person.  That way you’re taking in pure information so that you can digest it and spit it out on screen with YOUR interpretation.  

A really cool tool that  use to capture these videos for my library of research is Mpeg Streamclip which for now is free and requires a free Perian quicktime plug in to make the files readable once they’re downloaded from Youtube.  I’m on Mac, but it Mpeg streamclip works on both Mac and Windows