Afterglow/Aftermath

[Sold-out crowd at The Wind-Up Space for Smalltimore Premiere - photo by Richard Payne]

Breathing is... nice! And so very foreign to me these days. Monday morning, post-premiere, was not all that rough though I did sleep in until it was time to go to lunch with my friend Shawn (a.k.a. prom date). When he hit the road, I had only a couple hours before going to the CAmm Salon/Cinelounge at the Creative Alliance. If you are a filmmaker, actor, musician, crew member, anyone involved whatsoever (or wants to be) in the filmmaking community of Baltimore, you really need to start going to this. It happens the first Monday of the month, and it is a great way to network and to keep your finger on the pulse of what is going on in the community, plus you get to see several shorts, and who doesn't love shorts!

Yesterday, Tuesday, I finally just BREATHED DEEP. Wrote a few quick emails, avoided the phone, and watched about 6 episodes of Law & Order, and also two episodes online of Rescue Me that I had missed while I was in Seattle. Damn, I love that show.

It was nice, just to chill, not to be on a crushing deadline or feeling guilty because I don't have time to hang out with friends. Just take a day to myself. Today will be a bit more of that, but have to do some real work at my day job, too. I'd like to keep that for awhile longer!

Last night I spent some time seriously slogging through the Film Guide on the website of the Maryland Film Festival, which kicks off tonight. I have to admit, they have some really interesting flicks in there and I am looking forward to seeing several of them. Still stings a bit that I wasn't invited in, but I am pretty well over it, especially considering that I met my goal of being able to cover my flight to London for The Heart of England Film Festival with my take at the door of the "Smalltimore" Premiere. Wouldn't have seen a dime if it had premiered at MFF instead. I do know some other local filmmakers (lots of them actually, since only one local-ish feature film is in the MFF, out of about 90 time slots) who are also disappointed in not getting into the MFF, and some of them are boycotting it because of this. I understand that and I won't deny I considered doing so myself. But once the bruises to your ego heal, you have to look at the big picture. MFF never claimed to be a festival about Maryland films. They even make a point of saying exactly that on their website. It is simply a film festival that happens to take place in Maryland. They are bringing some amazing films to Baltimore, many of which have already done well in the big three, Tribeca, Toronto, and Sundance. I am not going to cut off my nose to spite my face and miss what is likely my only opportunity to see these films on the big screen. Also I have some friends that work for the festival that have been very supportive of me (who were not decision-makers regarding my entry) and they have worked really hard to make this a great event. I've been to it before and it gets better every year. Sometimes you just have to get over yourself, and see the blessing in disguise. I had a SOLD OUT premiere on a night that was mine and all mine; and I'm going to England.

I got an email this morning from the Red Rock Film Festival of Zion Canyon, saying that "Smalltimore," had made it through to the second round. Red Rock is only in its third year, and before finding it on withoutabox.com I had never heard of it. But there are several reasons I submitted to it: 1) I have never been to Zion National Park, where the festival is held; 2) when I saw the outdoor screen when I clicked on their website (http://www.ophilia.com/), I really, REALLY wanted to see my movie on that screen, and 3) it was super-cheap to submit. Like, two cosmopolitans, not including tip. I didn't go out last night, so it just paid for itself!

Smashing Smalltimore Success!

My goodness. I am still on a high, last night was SOOOOOOOO much fun! What was equally great was seeing loads of faces that I know and loads of faces that I don't know, but everyone seeming to have an equally good time. It was the first time I have shown the movie to an audience that was not entirely biased. That's the real test. Of course my friends, my family, and the cast and crew who helped me to make the film are going to say nice things about it, and that is always good to hear, but the ultimate goal of any artist is to have a total stranger love your work. And I had a lot of strangers come up to talk to me after the film with smiles on their faces.

The two questions asked most often were, "When can I buy it on DVD?" and "How can I get the soundtrack?" The answer to the first question is, probably about six months from now, but definitely in time for Christmas, so start thinking about all your Baltimoron friends, here as well as scattered about the country, who would love to have this movie in their Christmas stocking!

The answer to the second question is: click on the links to the musicians websites on the right side of this very page you are reading, buy their music and create your own soundtrack! Some of them have downloadable clips, and some are on CDbaby so you can buy just the songs you want or their whole CDs. Of course I recommend doing the latter!

I can't even count how many compliments I got on the music as well as the movie. During the screening, I heard someone behind me say to her friend, "This music is REALLY good." It is one of the things I am most proud of about the film, and I love that people are both surprised and excited about it all being original music by Baltimore artists. 37 songs! That's a box set.

Speaking of music, as in "music to my ears," another thing I heard from a lot of different people was that they loved that it was SO Baltimore. Again, I was glad to hear this from the people who live here and feel it was authentic and I did them proud, but also from people who came in from out of town to see the movie, people who don't know much about this city, who said to me that from the film they had a very clear sense of the Baltimore that I was trying to show them, and they liked it. That made me very happy.

There were a few sound glitches that surprised me, because I literally got done burning the DVD at 6:35pm and we started the film around 7:15pm! I keep telling you I am an 11th-hour kind of gal, but this was extreme even for me. Eric came to the show, and afterwards I was kind of joking about it, but I was upset that the last song, where Joyce sings, was partially screwed up. Eric kinda yelled at me, not real yelling, but my procrastination annoys him a little, I think. Since I didn't have time to proof the DVD, it bit me in the ass because, "You ALWAYS do this!" he said. Yea, I said, but I always seem to pull it off. Almost every friend of mine that is an artist of any walk of life is the same way. If we didn't have deadlines, we'd never get anything done. Anyway, I think the gag reel saved me a bit because then everyone had a good laugh at the end while the credits rolled, and I think that helped them to forgive the glitches. I hope so, anyway.

I will fix them soon, but I gotta tell ya, I am SO glad to not look at it for at least two weeks. The premiere was a big step and a big event, and I am ecstatic at the turnout as well as how well it was received. I did feel badly that there was not enough seating for everyone and that I couldn't reserve seats for everyone who worked on the film, but I DID tell everyone a million times to get there early, and I am just glad that Russell didn't make me turn people away at the door. The Wind-Up Space's capacity is 240 people, and we were VERY close to that mark, and that head count doesn't usually include dozens of folding chairs.

So, like I said, I am glad to step away from it for a bit, but there was so much fantastic energy in that room that I do look forward to the fall when I can have the DVD release party. I don't know the venue yet, but I promise to have it at a proper theater with seating for all!

Thanks once again to everyone - the cast, the crew, the artists, the musicians, and my friends who loaned me their homes and businesses as locations, and thanks to everyone who came out last night and made the evening such a success! Is this a great town or what?!?!

W to the O to the WOW!!!

FANTASTIC turnout last night. Over 200 people crushed into the Wind-Up Space for the premiere!!! I am exhausted but so, so happy :) WIll write lots more later, going to have lunch with my prom date soon.

KFJ

That would be me - cuz I am FRIED. And yet wired! Spread myself waaaay too thin this weekend, but didn't have much of a choice in the matter. How could I resist being A.D. (Asst Director) on a Steve Yeager project? It has been a lot of fun, but there is a familiar ache in my feet. 10 hours yesterday, another 10 today, smack after getting home from Seattle. Really should not have said I could work in the morning tomorrow also, but I did, so I will. I would never back out on a commitment like that.

Two of my most FAVORITE friends from HIGH SCHOOL are on their way to my place at this very minute!!! Going out to dinner with them shortly. It really means the world to me that they are coming all the way to see me and the premiere. One of them, Shawn, was actually my prom date! I haven't seen him in (mumblemumble) years! The other, Mark, a.k.a. Acey Baby, I saw in March for the first time in almost as many years, though i did see him more recently than Shawn. It was as if no time had passed at all. Ya gotta love those kinds of friends the most.

SO looking forward to the premiere tomorrow and SO have no idea how I am going to find the time to pull it off! Somehow I always seem to manage, though. I work best with deadlines, and I am more likely to stay out of trouble when I am busy. So I certainly have nailed those two criteria this weekend!

See YOU tomorrow!!!

Miss Me?

Sorry I've been slackin', but hey, I'm on vacation! I am waaaaaaaaaay over in Sunny Seattle, been here for a week, got a couple days left. It really is sunny, too! Has been every day since I got here. I have always had Unusually Good Vacation Weather Karma. Out here visiting my friend Tobey. Went up in the Space Needle, ate at a great little place called How To Cook A Wolf, hung out at the Public Market down on the water, saw Carrie Fisher in her one-woman show, "Wishful Drinking" (she is my favorite author, if I have never mentioned that), saw a Mariner's game (nice park, but the Mariner's got their asses handed to them by the Devil Rays), sang "When Doves Cry" at a gay karaoke bar (Tobey sang "Brilliant Disguise" by The Boss), met loads of Tob's friends and drank relentlessly on all but two nights, but my FAVORITE thing we did was we went on a whale watching trip on Saturday and saw LOADS of whales. That was super-cool, and something I always wanted to do.

I have been checking in on the RSVP list for the Premiere on Sunday, have a little over 70 via Facebook, and close to another 100 via email, so it is going to be quite the party! Can't wait!

While I was out here I got an email from Steve Yeager. I've mentioned him before, he is a Baltimore filmmaker who made the award-winning documentary on John Waters, "Divine Trash". I took a class of Steve's at the Creative Alliance back in November. Anyway, he asked if I could AD (Assistant Director) for him this weekend when I get back, and of course I said yes! I like Steve and had told him recently if he needed a hand on anything to let me know. I was an extra for him a few months ago and it seems like he is a pretty laid-back director, plus he is well-connected within the community and one thing often leads to another. Plus, another screen credit for moi! Unfortunately, however, this means I can't attend the premiere screening of "The Mystery Date," on Saturday, a short that I worked on as Script Supervisor last March. I am bummed about that, there are some people who will be there that I'd like to see. But sometimes you just gotta make choices, ya know? But I am psyched to be working with Steve.

While out here in Seattle, we had a little screening of "Smalltimore" for Tobey and a few of his friends, since Tob can't make it to Charm City for the premiere. It was well-received, and a fun night, but his friend Jesse who screened it for us has a sick stereo system and I could hear where I've not done such a great job on the sound in some patches. Sound is SO. DAMN. HARD. But I don't have the $$$ to get it mastered. Grrr. I'll figure something out.

In other news, I may be losing my day job soon, but amazingly enough I am not all that stressed about it. In a perfect world, I won't lose it until I get a sizable chunk of my credit-card debt paid off, but this world ain't all that perfect. We'll see. If it does happen sooner than later, it will give me more time to work on the next script. I have written a four-page outline and have a good idea of what I want to do, but that is as far as I have gotten. Thought I'd get something done on it while I am out here, but Tobey has kept me busy having too much fun. Maybe on the plane home on Thursday!

I guess I am not worried about the job thing because (a) worrying won't change anything, and (b) my life always seems to work out the way it is supposed to. I sort of just trust the wind that carries me, and when I need to make something happen, I find a way to make it happen. I have friends that will make sure I never have to live in a cardboard box. Storage unit, maybe, but not a cardboard box! Nah, Mikey would never let that happen to me. I keep telling him, if only I could find a straight man that treats me as well as he does, I'd be set! Whenever I say this, he just rolls his eyes, shakes his head, and says, "NEVER gonna happen..."

I was in a store here today, flipping through some art prints, though unfortunately I can't remember the name of the artist. They were crude and colorful figurative drawings with very short vignettes written on them. One that particularly caught my eye seemed to precisely sum up what might be considered my own philosophy and why things that might throw other people into a panic or depression don't get to me so much:

"Everything changed when she realized that there was exactly enough time in this life to do all of the things that were very important to her."

If I wasn't soon-to-be-unemployed, I would have bought it.

Flyer:

Thanks to Kyle Holtgren a.k.a. "David" for the design! LOVE the snowglobe!

Comedy of Errors

[Tiffany Ariany as Angela, goofing around on the set]

Sorry about the break, just been busy, AND tired of sitting on my hindquarters (my ass actually HURTS from sitting so much). I drove up to Mikey's cabin last Friday, it is a 200-mile hike. The next day Mikey and I ran around scouting locations for a future project, and in the process logged another 200 miles. That Sunday, Mikey returned to NYC and I only put 140 miles on the car running around without him, then Monday drove 200 back to Baltimore - after an editing session of 9 hours straight from 9:00pm Sunday night to 6:00am Monday morning. That is a LOT of sitting.

But all worth it. I have been so holed up in my cave, editing or doing other movie-related stuff, it was nice to see the light of day, trees, people, etc. And equally importantly I did get a lot done in that nine-hour session - the GAG REEL!

I think it must be everyone's favorite part of a movie. Don't you always hope that you get to see the clips of actors messing up while the credits roll? I don't care if it is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Actually, that makes it even more funny to see the behind-the-scenes.

I was afraid I wouldn't have much to work with. Because we were shooting with the P2 (digital) cards, we did have a limited amount of recording time per day, and there were a couple days where we used up almost every second. So, as soon as I yelled, "cut!" Michelle would turn off the camera to preserve space on the cards. Therefore, when we did have a screw-up, even a funny one, we didn't have the luxury of letting the camera roll to capture it.

Another lesson learned. On the pick-up day that Eric served as DP, we shot on MiniDV tapes, so we could fool around and keep the camera rolling no matter what. Tape is pretty cheap. However, downloading is a bigger pain with tape, as you download in real time (one hour of tape = one hour of downloading), whereas offloading the P2 digital cards is much faster, something like 1/6 of the time. Also the great thing about the cards is that every time you shut the camera off, it stores that bit as a separate clip. With tape, it is one continuous stream and you have to chop it up yourself in post-production. Some people still prefer doing it this way, but I well prefer working with the cards. SO much easier in my opinion.

Except that you can't just let the camera roll. I know (yet another) something I would do differently next time to alleviate that problem, though. There was one day where we were literally down to the last take because the cards were full. If we didn't get it right on that take, we would have had to have gone back and erased some earlier footage to get another take in. An easy solution would have been to have the hard drive on the set and had one of the Assistant Camera people offload what we had recorded so far onto the drive during lunch. That is definitely the way I will work it the next time.

But, turns out I had PLENTY to work with. Everybody screws up sometime, thank goodness! If it hadn't been so funny, I never would have stayed up until 6:00am working on it. I think it turned out really well. I am soooo ready to be done with editing, but I am glad I made myself do this. Sometimes in retrospect it is hard for me to remember how much fun production was, because I was so focused and wearing so many hats at the same time. I didn't have that much time to enjoy it while it was happening because I had to keep myself and everyone on track. But in the gag reel you can hear me laughing at every single screw-up, and it brought it all back to me that I did have fun, every single day, even the days that I wanted to kill someone (or myself).

The gag reel will run at the end of the movie, with the credits. NO ONE has seen it except me, and no one will before the premiere. So you better be there!

Sunday, May 3rd
SMALLTIMORE PREMIERE!!!
at the Wind-Up Space
Doors 6:00pm
Screening 7:00pm
Cover $7
Cash bar