I have some catching up to do, so this will be another MULTI-BLOG entry
I am writing this whilst sitting in the airport with my Spooner-Weasel at my side. Of course, I’ve been informed there will be no Spoons at 10,000 feet, or 2 feet, or ever again if I don’t stop screaming the war-cry of “SPPPPPOOOOOOOONNNSSS” in public.
Here’s the back issues…
May 9th, 2006
Fear & Desire
We’re several screenings in on the tour of Horrors of War. Tonight I leave for Indianapolis, and on Thursday I leave for Austin Texas for this week’s round of Sneak Previews. Now I have made several high profile invites to each screening. No guarantees, as a matter fact it’s against all better odds that the icons will appear, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. In Austin, I sent personal invitations to Rick Linklater & Robert Rodriguez to attend, but it’s incredibly unlikely. Then again, the same could be said for the Kevin Smith invite & he says he’ll be there at the LA screening, so you never know.
Rant time. It’s been a while since I’ve gone off on anything, so I’ll vent my frustrations here again. Last week we had the fourth and absolutely FINAL Look at My Shorts Film Festival. Now the cause of even having this festival was over flow from III, but there was some great material. To say I’m disappointed redefines understatement.
Unfortunately, I was unable to do any sort of promotions for the event because I’m knee deep in the all-important national tour of Horrors of War sneak previews. I had suggested, as I always do, that the filmmakers themselves do the promotions and get word out there about the screening. As per usual, if I don’t do it, it doesn’t get done. Tempered Zealot got in the paper & issued a press release, but it was more about them and less to do with the screening. At least they did get it mentioned in a Suburban newspaper. Jay Brooks, who didn’t even have a film playing, get the calendar listing in. No one else seemed to lift a finger.
I guess that’s why so few people showed up. What a shock. I get nothing but crap, but as I explain often to TJ Cooley – there’s a reason you self promote. It gets asses in seats. How the hell else are they gonna know you’re even doing something? Christ, we had a 20+ minute short play and not one person from the cast or crew showed up. Speaking of cast & crews, Jon Osbeck wasn’t even aware that he appeared in two short films that played. What kind of filmmaker doesn’t tell their own cast or crew about
Now this isn’t even the rant.
The rant comes in with this. I handed off the reigns so that maybe, just maybe the festival can continue without me. Obviously on the promotional end of things, not a chance. I also handed off the presentation and that has now cost me a refund to the other sponsor. Now understand this – the theatre charges us to rent the space. It had to be paid. For LaMS III, we had some corporate sponsorship that paid for it so the filmmakers didn’t ay a dime. Since the 4th one was overflow, I could not charge anyone rental because they were a part of the one that was free. Guess who paid for 2/3rds of the show? Me. Please note, that all I had was a 2 minute short film, and people with 10-24 minute movies never offered up a penny. Now with the refund, guess who paid for 100% of the freakin’ festival? ME.
What did I pay for? I paid for the squandered opportunity of several friends & wannabe filmmakers to get their movies shown on the big screen. I wasn’t aware that was my job, but most (not all) of these pretenders certainly felt entitled. When things go awry, it’s not the person that did it they are looking for, it’s the person ultimately responsible. Now after all this time & all the sharing of credit on the film fest, who’s ass do they chew out for not getting the best presentation possible? ME.
Now I used to be considered the “leader” of indie film in Columbus. It’s not a title or job I ever sought or desired. I never wanted it and I don’t miss it, if in fact it did exist. As I have said on this here blog in the distant past, I as crowned prom queen of Columbus film by other people & then the same people who bestowed this just wanted to knock me off the pedestal they put me on.
After years away from the scene and not being directly involved with most of the players in this town, I see other people taking the ball & running with it. Sadly, I see these people being attacked for not being experienced enough filmmakers, as if that has anything to do with running a monthly meeting. But there’s only one thing missing there. Wanna know what real leadership is? Taking responsibility. When things went bad with the festival, and when there was no money, I took it on myself. It doesn’t matter about the blame game or pointing fingers. Real leadership comes from the actions & reactions to a situation. When confronted with things I didn’t do that went bad at the festival, I took responsibility because ultimately, I am the one that has to own up to it. Want to be a leader? Freakin’ take ownership of your responsibilities, whether it be telling your cast & crew about a screening of their film or spending the extra time to make the event special in some way.
I still don’t view myself as a leader. I’m not a leader to anyone other than myself. Without a doubt, I’m done trying to work with amateurs. There’s no helping those who can’t or won’t help themselves. At best, I’ll help solely by writing articles, answering questions on a few forums, and the occasional Indie Film Tip video.
This is a little confessional for me & a few thousand onlookers.
I went from the worst film review in human history to a powerful endorsement... inside of a few hours.
I was AIN'T IT COOL NEWS' but boy as they tore HORRORS OF WAR a new one, and it was the single most brutal review I've ever even head about nonetheless read, and sure as hell hadn't been the subject of...
Then after a polite "Thank you" email to the reviewer, it became the subject of great controversy as the reviewer changed his mind & gave the film a much more positive review... albeit not perfect, but after the reaming of a lifetime, it was a relief.
review #1 (bad)
http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=23241
review #2 (better)
http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=23252
Jesus, this was a roller coaster. Bad reviews are a fact of life, get used to them. I sure am. I've had plenty of bad reviews of short films & many other things. It was the fallout & ripple effect a bad review on Ain't It Cool News could have on Cannes and other distribution that worried me. Now both reviews are there... not sure how I'm supposed to feel.
Anyone want to make me feel better? or worse?
Later on my Acoloytes,
The Boo His Self
Oh, and we all missthe web docs for HORRORS OF WAR
May 10th
Indianapolis went well. The theatre was amazing and the projection was staggering. I mean, we had the highest possible quality projection, state of the art, High Definition beautiful images, crisp as can be… and there was a digital glitch on the tape in one spot that lasted 10 seconds. I was livid.
Funnily enough, John Whitney up and took a break from the film and went out for a beer. He came back as the credits rolled. I can relate, I am already starting to get such a burn out on Horrors of War. Chip Kocel was with us and he helped work the audience a little. He laughed out loud at a lot of jokes and tried to let the people know it was okay to emote a little.
There were two guys behind us who enjoyed the movie on levels I may not ever know. They got into the “midnight movie” mode and kicked the proceedings up a notch. By the end fight scene, they had the whole entire theatre relishing the “B” movie aspects and hooted and hollered at the film. I both enjoyed it and got concerned.
By the time the end of the end credits rolled, and the magic words “Six Months Later” appear on screen for our 3 minute Coda to the film, people said “HELL YEAH!” and proceeded to take the film out on a high note.
The Q&A was fun. There was a gentleman and his wife who had sat next to me that asked the most questions and said one quote that was most notable, “You know, we haven’t seen a movie like this in a long long time. Thank you. I really really liked it. It was like the old movies we loved and we weren’t expecting that. “
Big shout out to my friend Chris O’Brien who brought in some of the Indianapolis crowd. He’s a good friend who went out of his way to support us. I only wish I could have hung out more.
May 13th
Return to Texas
Brandy and I both flew to Austin for the screening last night. Brandy paid for her own ticket & we were on separate airlines too. I had window seats and slept a lot since we were on 5:50AM flights. The night before I was at the airport’s 24 hour post office mailing EPK’s and press kits for the San Francisco and Los Angeles screenings.
I wanted to wear myself down so I’d sleep on the flights. For the first time in my life, I slept through takeoff. I charged up my portable DVD player and never used it once. I had a cue of unwatched movies and they remain in their holding pattern. I really really want to see Capote. Brandy’s flight arrives less than 10 minutes after mine, and we have a mini-reunion at the gate itself – a rarity in these days living in a state of fear.
Upon arrival we go to a mysterious restaurant that Brandy loves even though she’s only been there once or twice. I fail to comprehend what the deal is, so when we get there I she tells me. Threadgill’s bar & grill is owned by Renee O Connor’s (Gabrielle from Xena Warrior Princess) parents. It all comes together & the food was Texan through and through.
The screening itself goes okay. Attendance is low, but it’s the longest Q&A session I’ve done yet. For so few people, it was the same thing as Indianapolis – everyone feels like they just got let in on a really cool secret and don’t understand why more people aren’t aware and grooving.
This audience seemed to dislike the movie at times. When the final scene kicked in, it made the end credits seem to crawl too slow. People wanted out. Some friends of Joe Lorenzo were there and said hello and ran for the door like we killed their cat on screen. Everyone else seemed to want to know how we did this. One kid said that I inspire him without a hint of irony. He proceeded to tell me how my site (meaning Sonnyboo.com) changed his life and started him making movies. Then I spoke quite a bit with POKE, a moderator from IndieTalk.com where I frequent often online with tidbits of advice for beginners.
No stars in attendance, but that’s okay. I didn’t think they would really show up. What’s most intriguing about Austin is its size, or lack thereof. Austin is pretty small actually, but full of personality.
May 19th, 2006
Uphill Battles
Seattle is a blast. Yesterday we did the Seattle screening. Best attendance yet of the non-Ohio screenings. Thanks be to INDIECLUB for it’s generous support. I got to meet Eric Colley, founder of the illustrious IndieClub. MC helped do the promotions which was incredibly generous and took off some of the load.
I got in at about 3:00PM and got into my rental car. I haven’t been to Seattle in 8 years. My best friend Maurice lives there and the last time I was in town it was to visit him (and write a screenplay called DESCENT INTO INFERNO, which I subsequently did complete). Luckily, I was able to meet up with Moe and pick him up from work and we had a nice dinner and a very long chat. I miss my friend a lot. He’s been gone a long time and married now with a son, who I finally got to meet, little Joseph.
The projection at the Varsity theatre was not the greatest, but it wasn’t the worst either. Screening our movie shot on film digitally is an adventure. Sometimes we get amazing results, like the DLP projection in Indianapolis which looked like a 35mm film print. Then there is the low end projection like we got in Seattle which has terrible contrast, not much color palette and the details are not as sharp, plus it doesn’t fill the big screen as much as it should. Of course, we’ve learned our lesson and we only screen on DVCAM from a nice deck with component (RGB) outputs. Thanks be to Greg Sabo for the loaner for these shows. The deck travels securely in a wrapping of soft cotton underoos and T-shirts in my suitcase.
After making the intro, I tried to prep everyone for the “B” movie stylings, but this crowd seemed to take it more dramatically, that is until the end fight. By that time, the drama seemed to fade away.
May 22nd, 2006
Now I’m on the plane headed west to Los Angeles. Brandy is beside me and we’re each wondering how Jack Bauer wraps up season 5 of “24” and somehow saves our country. When booking these shows I had no idea it was during the end of May sweeps and that we’d miss not only “24”, but the 2 hour finale of “LOST” as well. Thank god for TiVo.
I have a laptop for this little journey as I discovered that without a decent connection to the online world, I keep missing important messages and news bits. At Chicago O’Hare I was disappointed that the wireless Internet failed to connect and I could have sworn that Columbus Airport had wireless, but that ain’t so.
Tomorrow night is the San Francisco screening, then Thursday is the LA show. By this point, I’m so fried, Colonel Sanders can put me in a bucket and sell me to the next family having a crappy picnic and serve me to the fat aunt that nobody talks to because of the unique odor she permeates.
I want so badly to move on and start really delving into the next project. I’m poised to start hard core pre-production work, but I won’t allow myself until after all the screenings, which finally wrap up on June 5th in New York. After that, I’m free and clear (meaning broke and bored) to start the major revisions and start casting on some of the roles intended for day players and potential name stars.
I learned a lot on Horrors of War. Everyone’s first feature is a learning process. I was asked the other day in Seattle what the one thing I learned above all others. After deep contemplation, I can say that in the end I want to be even more assertive about what I want, while never compromising the creative collaboration. I felt I was a little too vague in my freedoms I granted and I need to be a bit more demanding when I don’t like something being done.
This next feature will be done differently on many levels. I’m flying solo and I won’t make the same mistakes twice.
Well, this should satiate the Acolytes of Boo. Muchest muchest words and many perspectives for the many moods of The Rossman.
Peace out, Ya’ll,
MixMaster Rossifer
