OTHER: Drawing With Chalk Feature Film Trailer

Todd

Keep us all up to date. I read your posts and I hear you clearly. I am in almost the exact same situation as you. Heading for a December screening for cast and crew in NY. Festival submissions coming up... acted, directed and produced the film, no names, etc. and I'm in NY TOO. So I am very interested in your progress.
I'll try and get to your screening.
 
Thanks Justin.

You said amazing things that really mean a lot to me. And yes, I (and my partner Chris, too) would love to talk to you more about any up coming projects.

The fact is I loved making this movie. As much as a pain in the a*s it's been, I'd do it all over again. I know the film will play well and people will 'get it'. HBO recently looked at the trailer and really liked what they saw but the truth is that a small film like this isn't what their acquisition department looks for. He went on to state that our film will more than likely be a straight to DVD film (and mentioned it's still a struggle since we don't have any name actors on the box).

Everyone started somewhere. Ed Burns was at the right place at the right time. Darren Aronofsky (ironically we lived in the same small building in NYC for years) had a vision and Kevin Smith made us smile... These stories happen and nothing says it can't happen to one of us next.

Todd

btw, russc, good luck with the screening in NYC and keep me posted about your film as well.
 
This looks pretty good, definitely a well put together trailer. Nice work.

I will be sure to pick this up when its available.
 
I'd highly suggest submitting this film to the Heartland Film Festival. It's in my hometown (Indianapolis) and this movie would be right up their alley. Here's and excerpt from their site:

Heartland Truly Moving Pictures, a non-profit organization, was established in 1991 to recognize and honor filmmakers whose work explores the human journey by artistically expressing hope and respect for the positive values of life.

They also have the highest monetary awards in the US, I believe. Definitely check them out: http://www.heartlandfilmfestival.org/default.aspx
 
I will definitely let everyone know once this film is released (either through a company or self-distributed).

Thanks Chris F. I will send the film to them for next year's festival. This is the type of festival who would appreciate what this film is saying.

Todd
 
Hello Everyone,

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Thanksgiving. I just received news from Michael (my DP) that the screening we had scheduled for December 12th has been canceled. A company with more money than us (they were going to give us the theater at no cost) wanted that date and we got bumped.

I apologize for anyone who was planning on attending, but will notify everyone once we have a new date.

All the best.

Todd
 
Man that was great! It seems like this is going places man! I actually love Pooja Kumar, I know one of her best friends because I too live in NYC! If you ever are shooting again please message me and I can definitely help out on your sets man!
 
bashnaran said:
Man that was great! It seems like this is going places man! I actually love Pooja Kumar, I know one of her best friends because I too live in NYC! If you ever are shooting again please message me and I can definitely help out on your sets man!
Click to expand...

Pooja is fantastic. Fun to work with, a real talented actress and, of course, she's beautiful. And yes, I do hope this film goes places!

I'll let you know if we ever shoot here again (let's hope so).

Todd
 
A little OT...

A little OT...

I just have to say that I just watched the film with the PS3 (Christmas came early). This was a SD DVD upconverted to 1080p to the Panasonic AE1000 LCD projector on a 90" screen and I was amazed at how the PS3 upconverted the DVD. The image was clean of artifacts and noise and was sharp. I had been watching with the XBOX 360 HD-DVD upconverting player and was shocked at the difference. No, this is not an ad for the PS3, but SONY got it right (and I haven't even played any games on it yet).

I think the technology in these types of upconverting players for displaying our indie films is only going to help our final products and gets us that much closer to getting that 'Hollywood' quality we (and others) are so use to looking at. Of course, the original image has to bee decent, but since we are on the age of HD TV's that are becoming the common place in most homes I'm happy that these little HVX films upconverted can look so good. I'm curious as the to the process of the upconversion (and I wonder how many upconverting DVD players will give similar results to the PS3) but I was hard pressed to find a difference in my original source film to the SD quality of the DVD.

Now I'm going to do a Blu-Ray copy of the film and see what that looks like (of course the costs of manufacturing/license fees of Blu-Ray at this point is out of the question). Of course we can't control how someone views our films (depends on the player/TV/projector/computer) but just knowing that these DVD's can look so good is comforting.

Sorry for the OT post, but for those looking to get a new DVD player, don't overlook the PS3.

Todd
 
Todd,

Another note to tell you how much I enjoyed seeing this trailer. Just top marks all the way around. Also, the lack of major name talent, while it might be somewhat restricting when going to market, is a real asset to this particular piece.

Not once did I get the distraction one sometimes feels when watching a-listers in a deeper drama like this. In studio pictures, I always feel like I'm watching Phil Seymore Hoffman or Hillary Swank - and don't get me wrong, their performances are incredible - but it is hard to suspend that you know them as celebrities.

That can also be an asset, because you have an inherent feeling toward that person when you walk into the theater. At any rate, having Kal Penn as the brother-in-law would be an amazing cameo, but could he do the same job without the baggage he brings?

Again, incredible work. I can tell by your dilgence (and talent) so far in seeing this through that you'll have great luck with it as you market it forward.

e
 
Erik Olson said:
Todd,

Another note to tell you how much I enjoyed seeing this trailer. Just top marks all the way around. Also, the lack of major name talent, while it might be somewhat restricting when going to market, is a real asset to this particular piece.

Not once did I get the distraction one sometimes feels when watching a-listers in a deeper drama like this. In studio pictures, I always feel like I'm watching Phil Seymore Hoffman or Hillary Swank - and don't get me wrong, their performances are incredible - but it is hard to suspend that you know them as celebrities.

That can also be an asset, because you have an inherent feeling toward that person when you walk into the theater. At any rate, having Kal Penn as the brother-in-law would be an amazing cameo, but could he do the same job without the baggage he brings?

Again, incredible work. I can tell by your dilgence (and talent) so far in seeing this through that you'll have great luck with it as you market it forward.

e
Click to expand...

Thanks so much Erik,

Ironically, Debargo Sanyal (played the brother-in-law) is probably the most recognizable actor in the film. He has several national commercials out now and about 6 films coming to theaters soon (one with Robert De Niro). We did think about trying to get celebs (Steve Buscemi was one) but considering we weren't shooting with film, I was an untested filmmaker, and we didn't have a lot of money we made a forgone conclusion that we didn't have a shot in h*ll.

I've always felt that no celebs did help with this particular film. Say Johnny Depp or David Grohl played Jayson and Jack Black played Matt you could have a hit. But at the same time you would know it was Johnny Depp and Jack Black. With us playing the roles, there is no prior 'relationship' with the actors so the characters become more 'real' (I'm extremely glad you and others see this the same way). Of course selling the film will be difficult because of the 'who's in it' variable (I had received an email from one of the largest sales agents a few hours after Sundance made their official selections -we didn't get in- saying that they liked the film but couldn't rep us at this time and to contact them in the future; I take this that they thought the film had a chance for Sundance and waited to reject/rep us until Sundance's final word was known). I can't blame this sales agent for not taking us on. The pitch to distributors is difficult without a name (hopefully a large festival will take a chance with this film and help 'give us a name'), afterall, this is film business and the bottom line is to make money (for the distributors).

The film is one that a majority of people will get and enjoy, but is a risk for Hollywood and such but I'm not giving up and I'll push the h*ll out of this film and get it out there.

Todd
 
Its good to see a trailer that makes people want to see the film, no easy trick. I also think your DP did a really good job of lighting this, practicals and all. Motivated light that looks natural and doesn't scream indy film, how novel. Nice work on this and I wish you luck with it.
 
As an aside, I didn't notice the practicals issue (or non-issue). I always carry in-line dimmers in my reality light kit for just this purpose and am really aware of blown out practicals in video.

You must've done a good job in the narrative, because if there was a problem, I was too distracted by performance and the edit to notice it. :)

e
 
I think the whole practical blown out thing isn't that big of a deal. I was just watching a movie last night made on film with the shot being indoors with windows in the back. The background was completely blown out (as it was daytime outside - a white fence). And this was film. I've seen blow outs in several hollywood movies, practicals included. I just don't think it's that big of a deal. I mean if you can knock 'em down cool - but unless the blown area takes up more than - I da know - 25% of the screen, I doubt it'll matter especially if the direction and performances are good.
 
Just burned a Blu-Ray version of the film and aside from the audio being out of sync (silly me, I hadn't updated Toast to the latest version; I'm burning a new copy now... hopefully it works) but I have to say the quality was fantastic. Of course I wouldn't ever be able to sell the film as a Blu-Ray (OK, I shouldn't say 'never'). Fortunately I will be able to show in HD for my Cast/Crew screening at the Tribeca Cinema next month.

Also as a side note, my cross promotion is working.... a little bit. I had sent out a song from the soundtrack (a Christmas original) to various radio stations across the US and I found out today that one of the stations is already playing the song and had mentioned the film on air. Of course, I didn't hear what they said, but the word got back to me and I'm pretty excited. Hopefully the tune gets more play since it is the season.... Granted, this station is located near where I had shot some of the film, but I'll take what I can get!

Todd :)

Todd
 
Hey All,

If anyone is in the upstate NY area, I'm doing a phone interview on Power 105.3 FM at 7:35 am to talk about the film and then they're going to play the song 'I've Been Good This Year' (a Christmas song that is on the soundtrack).

Boy, I should get my butt to bed...

Todd
 
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Wow!

Wow!

Coming from someone who hasn't shot an inch yet, hopefully soon, and is about to turn 40 and was a musician who gave up music for his wife, let me say WOW! I really hope to see this film.... very rarely do the "previews" make me want to see an independent film, but this is something i really hope to see... great work!
 
rustyschramm said:
Coming from someone who hasn't shot an inch yet, hopefully soon, and is about to turn 40 and was a musician who gave up music for his wife, let me say WOW! I really hope to see this film.... very rarely do the "previews" make me want to see an independent film, but this is something i really hope to see... great work!
Click to expand...

Thank you Rusty,

I'm finding that so many people relate to the story that I'm glad I'm telling it. The struggle between age, reality and admitting when it's time to let a dream fade is one that many people don't want to face and unfortunately so many of us have to deal with (I'm going through the same thing myself). And trust me, I hope you get a chance to see this film too!

At this point, we are still waiting on a festival to bite (Sundance and Slamdance passed) and we are waiting to here from several other big ones, but I have to be honest and say I don't really expect them to jump on this film. The film lacks a name and isn't really 'festival risky' cinema. I guess I have to sit back and wait :)

btw, I recently made a big color correction to the film (several others had commented on the 'washed out' look) and I made a white balance change to the footage that gives it more of a natural desaturated look. I'll update the trailer soon.

Todd
 
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