Dear Dan

It is with regret that I inform you that your film, “Rectify,” was not selected for screening at the 9th annual Port Townsend Film Festival in September.

All submissions were reviewed by at least two judges. In cases where they did not agree, a third and sometimes a fourth reviewer was asked to watch the film.

As is often the case, we had far more good films available to us than we can screen and something had to give. I’m sorry that are unable to show your film.

We appreciate your interest in our festival and hope you will keep us in mind with your future efforts.

Regards,

Peter Simpson
Artistic Director
Port Townsend Film Festival

Well, crap.

» Click here to get the special OurStage registration link and watch Rectify on the house.

It’s official. OurStage is way cool. (junior?) Since we made it into the From Here To Awesome showcase OurStage has started another promotion like the last time but this time we get FOUR bucks! Here are some of the details:

• You have to use our link when you sign up in order for us to get credit
• Every registration needs to be a unique person not just a unique email address
• It costs you nothing to be an OurStage member
• You will get 30 free downloads on OurStage
• Please be sure to complete the registration process so we can get credit
• The free viewing of Rectify is not directly tied to OurStage so you will need to come back to this site to see the film.
• If you have problems feel free to email us at - support [at] rectifyfilm [dot] com

There are a number of cool things happening regarding the release of Rectify not the least of which is to say that it’s available at all. Who knew we could make a short that would “get distribution”. Here’s what’s going down so far:

• Rectify is currently available on Caachi
• Rectify is currently available on IndieFlix
• Sometime this week Rectify will be available on Heretic Films and Bside
• Sometime next week Rectify will be available on Amazon and Joost
• The week after Rectify will be available on Hulu and Vuze
• Sometime in the future Rectify will be available (in the FHTA short film package) on Netflix
• AND… starting AUGUST 1st OurStage will be running another sign up promotion but this time we get $4 per new person signed up! The promotion will run through August and I will make Rectify available for free viewing to anybody who signs up as part of the promotion.

Stay tuned for more details!

So I’m back from L.A. and the entire experience was awesome. DIY Days was a complete success. Here is the breakdown of the day:

OPENING KEYNOTE
Robert Greenwald (Outfoxed, Wallmart the High Cost of Low Price, Iraq for Sale)

10:45 AM - NOON
Panel #1: THE REALITIES OF DIY

Discussion Leader: Mark Stolaroff (producer and founder of the No Budget Film School)
- Arin Crumley (Four Eyed Monsters)
- Ondi Timoner (DiG, Join Us, We Live in Public)
- M dot Strange (We Are the Strange)
- Hunter Weeks (10 MPH and 10 YARDS)

NOON to 1PM - LUNCH

1PM to 1:45PM:
Arin Crumley - FOUR EYED MONSTERS case study

1:45PM - 2:30PM:
Lance Weiler - EXTENDING THE STORYWORLD case study

2:30PM - 3:15PM
KEYNOTE
Marshall Herskovitz (Blood Diamond, Quarterlife)

3:15PM - 4:30PM
Panel #2: MOVING BEYOND THE SCREEN

Discussion Leader: Lance Weiler (Head Trauma, The Last Broadcast)
- Marshall Herskovitz (Blood Diamond, Quarterlife)
- Tommy Pallotta (A Scanner Darkly, Waking Life)
- Femke Wolting (filmmaker, cross-media producer and designer)
- Mark Pellington (Henry Poole is Here, Arlington Road and Mothman Prophecies)

4:30PM - 4:45PM
Break

4:45PM - 5:30PM
M Dot Strange - WE ARE THE STRANGE case study

5:30PM - 6:45PM
Panel #3: WHEN THE AUDIENCE TAKES CONTROL

Discussion Leader: Saskia Wilson-Brown (Current TV)
- Arin Crumley (Four Eyed Monsters)
- M Dot Strange (We Are the Strange)
- Miki Krimmel (expert in social media and online community)
- Alex Johnson (digital media strategist / filmmaker)
- Lance Weiler (The Last Broadcast, Head Trauma)
- YOU

6:45PM
Closing Remarks

7PM - 8PM
Social Hour @ Mountain Bar

The amount of information was intense. Thankfully the whole thing was recorded and will be made avialable on the DIY Days and Workbook Project websites shortly.

I want to extend a huge thanks to Lance Weiler, Arin Crumley, M dot Strange and everyone else involved in making it happen. It’s great to see some of the pioneers of the current media revolution turning around and sharing their experience with other artists.

In other news: my first real experience of L.A. felt very inviting. I see a possible change of zip code in my future.

Last March I posted a blog entry about entering Rectify in the From Here To Awesome discovery and distribution festival. I am pleased to announce that Rectify has been chosen from over 120 entries to be in the FHTA showcase. For those who don’t know what’s up with the festival here is the official blurb:

About FROM HERE TO AWESOME :: DISCOVERY AND DISTRIBUTION FEST
The first edition of FROM HERE TO AWESOME, an open-source discovery and distribution film festival is coming to a theater, living room, computer, and / or mobile device near you. The festival kicks off July 26th in Los Angeles and roll outs out over a six-month period with stops in New York, San Francisco, Boston and London. Filmmakers retain all the rights, see direct revenue from each of the outlets and enjoy global audiences. The goal is to create a direct connection between audience and filmmaker.

From Here to Awesome is an extension of the Workbook Project a social open-source experiment for filmmakers.

What does it all mean?

The showcase consists of 10 feature length films and 10 shorts. The shorts will be packaged together as one unit. These will then be made available through various different outlets including Amazon.com, Vudu, Heretic Films, IndieFlix, Hulu, Joost, and many more. Unlike most distribution deals in which the distribution company consumes most of the revenue from a film through various “fees” and “marketing expenditures”, the majority of any revenue generated by someone’s film in the FHTA showcase will go back to the filmmaker.

What does it REALLY mean?

As exiting as that is, I don’t feel that is what makes this festival so special. As I mentioned in my previous post, we are experiencing a tidal wave of change in how media is created, distributed, and consumed. When was the last time you bought a cassette tape or even a CD? Do you still use a Walkman® style CD player? Probably not. Do you watch any movies, TV, or videos online yet? If not, you will. Digital media is giving us more options as to what, when, and how we enjoy our entertainment.

I believe that by embracing the changes we can learn to surf the wave of change while others, who are stuck in the old way of doing things, fight to keep their heads above water. The FHTA festival is at the forefront of trying to get up and ride this thing. As with any period of great change it pays to get an early start. When the new media landscape begins to become clear a few people will be in a position to benefit greatly, while most of the others will be playing catchup.

New opportunities are rapidly emerging for artists to create their art, share it with a wide audience, and connect to that audience like never before. At its core, art is communication and the ways in which we communicate are evolving.

Not to sound overly dramatic, but we are truly living in a significant point in history. The question is, how do you want to leave your mark?

For my first festival experience is was good but I do question the value of paying to submit my film so it may or may not be shown to a small number of people. (For the record STIFF entry was free for local filmmakers.) With the current state of technology and new media distribution I think the importance of traditional film festivals is lessening. This is especially true for short films. The reality of making a short film is that at best it is a calling card for future projects, otherwise it’s just an good practice. Feature films still have a chance of benifiting from “doing the festival circuit” but I think there is much more oportunity for short films online. That said, I think I will limit the number of festivals I submit Rectify to the ones that I have a posiblity of attending. Spending $40 or $50 to send my film accross the county so a few dozen people, that I will never meet, can see it doesn’t seem to make much sense for this paticular project.

The official schedule for STIFF has been released and I am pleased to say that both Rectify and The Addict have weekend screenings. The dates are as follows:

• Rectify - Saturday, June 7th at 6:15pm at the Jewel Box Theater
• The Addict - Sunday, June 8th at 6:15pm at the Jewel Box Theater

Also playing will be:

• Ordinary Angels (by Todd Downing) - Sunday, June 8th at 1:30pm at the Jewel Box Theater

For more information including the complete schedule and directions to the Jewel Box Theater please visit the STIFF page under RECTIFY SCREENINGS in the upper right corner of this page.

See you there!

The Rectify / OurStage promotion has been going so well that the fine folks at OurStage have decided to extend it until May 12th. If you haven’t already done so, please sign up for an OurStage account by clicking here. It only takes a minute and they don’t do anything lame like sell you out to the Nigerian Spam Mafia. I promise.

I got the call on Saturday. Both Rectify and The Addict have been invited to screen at the Seattle True Independent Film Festival. This is the first time I have had one of my films accepted into a festival so I’m pretty excited. The festival organizers are still creating the schedule so no word on dates or venues just yet. I will post new information as it comes in.

Also, this is the final week of the OurStage promotion so if you haven’t already done so please take a minute to go here and sign up for an OurStage account even if you have already seen the film. They won’t spam you, I promise. =) So far we’ve raised enough money for one festival submission but I would like to double that by the end of the week. Thanks!

To be honest, Casablanca was better than I expected. In general I’m not a big fan of older movies. Maybe it’s because the movies I enjoy most stem from the time period that I live in, grew up in or heard a lot about from my parents. Maybe the romance of the stiff acting, soft focus, and harsh lighting is lost on me. Maybe I just find it hard to relate. Whatever the reason is I don’t normally go out of my way to see the old black ‘n’ whites; but this was an exception I was glad I made. The story explains itself enough that you didn’t have to be alive in the 40s to appreciate what was going on. Rick’s character, while uber-cool, was still relatable. The story was interesting with plenty of twists and turns. I actually found my self hurrying back to my chair after a mid-DVD pit stop to find out what was going to happen next. It was a well made film in all respects.

I’m sure that to the die hard fans of Casablanca find my review akin to saying Mozart was good at making pretty sounds. I’m fine with that. If you are a die hard fan of Casablanca then this review isn’t for you anyway. This review is for the average movie watching person like myself who might skip over a good movie it because it looks “old”. Yes it is old but it stands the test of time. If you haven’t seen it yet then toss it into your Netfilx queue and let me know what you think.

Next on the list… Easy Rider.