Back in New York
We are finally catching our breath after a busy trip and an even busier return. We were flung directly back into our not-so-fun workaday lives, but so it must be at this stage in the game.
To summarize our trip to Los Angeles for the premiere of Contemplating Emily at Outfest: if we were virgins going in, we didn’t return as such. The festival and all the various activities surrounding it quickly ushered us into the world of Independent Film with no holds. We met with all sorts of people from within the film industry as well as many, many filmmakers doing their work completely outside of the system.
We gained some wind under our sails as we gear up for the next phase of our quest, and we strongly sensed that there is hope. Some people were determined to let us know that it couldn’t be done, that we didn’t know what we were doing, that we would need big name actresses in all the key roles, that we should misrepresent our project in order to seem more appealing etc…But certainly by far, there were many more people that shared with us their stories of success and their journeys along the way, no matter how bumpy. They liked what we were doing and they believed that we have every reason to sally forth – as do we.
Highlights from the last few days:
We screened again on Sunday July 16 at the Barnsdall Art Park, a Frank Lloyd Wright complex used for many various arts events. This was a smaller screening room holding about 400 people. Over 100 people were turned away at the door, which was unfortunate, but a sign that the film they were coming to see (not us – we screened in front of Loving Annabelle) was a major draw. The projector was not as good as the one at the DGA, but hey, it all went over well and I think people were pleased – they laughed, they cried, they applauded loudly – what more could I want? Well, our DP was there, CC, as were some personal friends - DB from my teaching days at Baruch College and BR and his partner from my graduate school days at UNC-CH.
The awards ceremony was a good old gay event hosted by comedian, Bruce Vilanch. My Oberlin friend, Rex Lee gave an award (Rex is on HBO’s Entourage http://www.hbo.com/entourage/interviews/rex_lee.html ) Loving Annabelle, the feature film we opened for won two awards, one for HBO’s Outstanding Narrative Feature and Diane Gaidry, one of the lead actresses, was recipient of the Outfest award for Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film. One of the judges for the awards was Mia Riverton who was an actress and producer for Red Doors, the feature film that did so well last year at Outfest and with which we share actress Kathy Shao-Lin Lee.
The awards: http://www.altfg.com/awards/2006/outfest.htm
To summarize our trip to Los Angeles for the premiere of Contemplating Emily at Outfest: if we were virgins going in, we didn’t return as such. The festival and all the various activities surrounding it quickly ushered us into the world of Independent Film with no holds. We met with all sorts of people from within the film industry as well as many, many filmmakers doing their work completely outside of the system.
We gained some wind under our sails as we gear up for the next phase of our quest, and we strongly sensed that there is hope. Some people were determined to let us know that it couldn’t be done, that we didn’t know what we were doing, that we would need big name actresses in all the key roles, that we should misrepresent our project in order to seem more appealing etc…But certainly by far, there were many more people that shared with us their stories of success and their journeys along the way, no matter how bumpy. They liked what we were doing and they believed that we have every reason to sally forth – as do we.
Highlights from the last few days:
We screened again on Sunday July 16 at the Barnsdall Art Park, a Frank Lloyd Wright complex used for many various arts events. This was a smaller screening room holding about 400 people. Over 100 people were turned away at the door, which was unfortunate, but a sign that the film they were coming to see (not us – we screened in front of Loving Annabelle) was a major draw. The projector was not as good as the one at the DGA, but hey, it all went over well and I think people were pleased – they laughed, they cried, they applauded loudly – what more could I want? Well, our DP was there, CC, as were some personal friends - DB from my teaching days at Baruch College and BR and his partner from my graduate school days at UNC-CH.
The awards ceremony was a good old gay event hosted by comedian, Bruce Vilanch. My Oberlin friend, Rex Lee gave an award (Rex is on HBO’s Entourage http://www.hbo.com/entourage/interviews/rex_lee.html ) Loving Annabelle, the feature film we opened for won two awards, one for HBO’s Outstanding Narrative Feature and Diane Gaidry, one of the lead actresses, was recipient of the Outfest award for Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film. One of the judges for the awards was Mia Riverton who was an actress and producer for Red Doors, the feature film that did so well last year at Outfest and with which we share actress Kathy Shao-Lin Lee.
The awards: http://www.altfg.com/awards/2006/outfest.htm
posted by Sesame at 6:44 PM
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