Hell Yeah

Digital Video & High Def Festival 2008

We were nominated for 3 awards - Best Score, Best Drama, and Best Story/Writing. I would have been happy with any one of those. The first category we lost was for Best Score. Okay, I thought, there's still two more. We sat through endless awards - almost as many as the real Academy Awards. (However the organizers did an excellent job of emulating the Oscar ceremony - complete with film clips of nominated movies, and an attractive hostess ripping open the envelope with the award winner).

About two-thirds of the way through, we finally got to Best Dramatic Feature. Since there were only two movies nominated in this category - us and someone else - I figured this was our strongest chance. A 50% chance. If we lost this one, we would be the ONLY LOSER. (Conversely, if we won, that would mean we were only better than one other movie. But who cares, I would have taken that. I wanted the gold statue.)

The clip they showed for 'Defying Gravity' was the one in which Shore is in the cemetery teasing Cassandra with the sketchpad and beanie baby. This was possibly the least dramatic scene in the entire movie. I watched it and thought, Even I wouldn't select this as Best Dramatic Feature. So no surprise when we lost to the other drama.

At this point I was extremely discouraged and wanted to go home. But that would have been bad form. There was still one other category we were nominated in. I gave up mentally rehearsing my acceptance speech.

Finally - I think it was the second to last of at least 30 categories and a 3 hour ceremony - we got to Best Story/Writing. There were 5 or 6 nominated movies in this category. Our clip was shown last. It was the one with Jorge and Shore driving in the hearse, and Shore is ranting about Mormons and Muslims and Jehovah's Witnesses. I was pleased with that clip.

The attractive hostess ripped open the envelope and handed the slip of paper to Tony, the Festival Director/co-host. He glanced at it, looked up, and said, "I just want to remind you folks, this award is for Best Writing. As in a story." I realized he was making a disclaimer. The kind of thing you would say so that your festival wasn't sued for religious defamation. That's when my heart started to flutter. That was my potentially offensive movie he was talking about. So I wasn't surprised when he said DEFYING GRAVITY.

I threw down my glasses and handbag and headed for the stage. I can't remember if Craig was following me or if I was pulling him up with me. I blathered some thanks to those who were there with us that night ... Bea Bernstein, Abbie Bernstein, Craig, and Wendy. I told everyone that Abbie was my first writing partner, and we'd come a long way since our first collaboration: "The Six Million Dollar Man Goes to the Planet of the Apes." Which I still think is a viable concept.

Craig took the microphone and thanked his father for dying last year so that we could spend his inheritance on the movie. I swear, that's what he said. I looked at him like he was crazy. So did the hostess, festival directors, and the entire audience. But he somehow managed to back pedal and say something about spending money on something that both our fathers would have been proud of. Without exaggeration, I think ours was the most memorable acceptance speech of the evening.

I carried my gold statuette around with me all night and the next day. I took it to school and shared it with all my students and fellow math teachers. Now it is on my desk, staring at me. This is even better than the trophy I won in 12th grade for 'Best Expository Speech'.

Next up: Riverside Film Festival this Friday.

Winning isn't Everything

Well yeah it is. Whoever said that was obviously a loser.

I am currently suffering a dangerous addiction. It's called Entering Film Festivals. I've entered a lot of them so far. I'm not going to tell you how many, because if I don't get accepted into 21 of them - oops, I mean 10 of them - it will be obvious how many rejection emails I received.

This is not new to me. I used to enter a lot of screenwriting competitions. At one point I was writing out a check to something like 'Dubious Distinction Screenwriting Competition' when suddenly it occurred to me, "Who are these people? How do I know if they know anything about good screenwriting?" At which point I decided to start my own screenwriting competition. I enlisted some judges peripherally connected to the "industry", started a website, and was on my way. Pretty soon those checks were coming to ME.

Note - it was a lot of work, I read a lot of painfully bad scripts, and I did not get rich. So don't try this at home.

So now here I am, nearly 10 years later, in the position of entering contests again. However this time I am smart enough not to think, "Who are these people? How do I know if they know anything about good filmmaking?" Actually I do think that, but only when I am rejected, and I do not follow it with, "I'm going to start my own damn film festival."

Here is where the addictive behavior comes in. 'Defying Gravity' has already been accepted to two of them. (One of them is the Digital Video & High Def Festival in Beverly Hills, screening next Sat. 3/29, and the other is the Fallbrook Film Festival, screening 4/26.) It's like getting high. It is so EXCITING to get accepted, it's such a RUSH, that you want to keep doing it again and again. So kerplink, I keep hitting that 'submit' button on withoutabox.com.

However, I have become a little more discriminating. I've learned not to submit to any contests which are 3 days length or shorter. This really cuts down your chances of being accepted. I've learned not to submit to competitions which have traditions of favoring movies involving B-list actors whom they want to entice into attending.

This is my new strategy. Apply to festivals with niche interests:

1. LGBF themes (there are a lot of them!)
2. containing the word "Women" in the title
3. listing any kind of mission statement like this:

• a movie that inspires us, lifts our spirit or transforms our lives. .. makes us feel more hopeful, more thankful, more connected, more passionate and better about life in general. We identify with the Film's characters on a deep, emotional level, and are motivated by their stories to pursue positive change in our own lives ... honors the belief that simple choices can change the world and inspires us to make a difference.
• films that make a positive contribution to our world
• The overall festival mission is to prevent violence against women and girls through education and art.

When I realize, in a few months, that my movie addresses none of these issues, and I am resoundingly rejected from all festivals promoting positive deep insights, then I will have to rethink my strategy.

Or start my own festival.

No Such Thing as Normal - The Making of 'Defying Gravity'

Click to Play

Behind the scenes with the cast and crew of 'Defying Gravity'.

The Trailer

DEFYING GRAVITY - THE TRAILER

The Premiere!

The premiere fell on a rainy Sunday evening, however everything went beautifully. We almost filled the 150-seat theatre to capacity with friends and family of the cast and crew. It meant so much to me to have both old and new friends show up.

I cannot describe how surreal it is to watch your own movie on the big screen. And people genuinely seemed to enjoy it! I heard laughter at the right spots, and even laughter at some spots I never imagined were funny. Like when Shore told Jorge, "We have to find her. I don't think she's playing with a full deck." I guess they realized this was like the pot calling the kettle black.

The Chaplin Theatre at Raleigh Studios was beautiful, and they were great to work with.

At the end of the screening, Craig got up and thanked everyone involved (he's good at that), and then I answered questions from the audience. I was a little nervous at first, but then I got into it. I think the best question was when Wendy's friend Zane (with Aspergers Syndrome) asked, "You filmed at a lot of different locations. How hard was it to get all those permits?" This got a big laugh from the audience too, which was enough of an answer in itself. I told Zane, "I don't want to bore everyone with the details. Next time you come over to the house, I'll tell you all about it."

Some other questions were about the meaning of the title, and how I got the idea for the story.

It was nice to answer questions about something other than math problems.

We received so many compliments afterward. I don't know how to say this without bragging, so I'll just say it. It was a hit. Maybe, just maybe, this movie will be the little engine that could.

Exciting news this week. Received the finished soundtrack from Cosmo, and Craig is now laying down the music tracks. We'll have a finished product in a few days! I've rented the Chaplin Screening Room in Raleigh Studios for the premiere, which will be Sun. Jan. 6th.

I wrote a "Making of ... " article (a 4-page condensation of this blog) and submitted it to Indie Slate magazine along with some photos. It was accepted two days later! My first magazine article! It will be printed in the March/April 2008 issue. I am now officially on three weeks Winter Break, and plan to spend most of it working on the press kit and entering film festivals. And bolstering myself for inevitable rejection ... if only it will be tempered by some acceptance and adulation.

You must remember this ....

Not longer after this escapade of hearse pick-up shots, Justin had the opportunity to view an early edit of the movie in its entirety. He called me and to make a few suggestions, because he felt it was worthwhile to put in a little extra to make a big difference. He said that he thought this movie really had a chance - and I hope he was being truthful rather than trying to wrangle an extra few hundred bucks for a few more days of shooting.

Justin explained that the current ending - which jumped from the highway showdown scene to Shore back at college - was too abrupt. There needed to be something in between, to help transition from an intensely emotional climax to the perky everybody-lives-happily-ever-after resolution. (my paraphrasing). I had never thought about this before, because when you work on something one page at a time and out of sequence, you lose sight of the organic whole. But I realized Justin was right. He suggested two scenes which I now feel are amongst the best in the movie.

The first scene he suggested was something to help bridge the previously mentioned awkward transition. This ended up being the police station scene. One thing Justin was emphatic about - "Give the audience their kiss. They sat through this whole movie waiting for that kiss." I was ambivalent about that. Technically, that kiss constituted statutory rape. But hell, the characters already had grand theft auto and kidnapping on their hands. And the kiss was really little more than your first experience playing spin the bottle. I also recall the first thing Lexie's mother said after reading the script. "What, no kiss?" And this is from the 16-year-old actress's mother. If she had no problem with it, neither did I.

The second scene Justin suggested was some sort of montage of Shore and Cass at the very end. He felt it wasn't clear enough that they were together at the end. Now, this suggestion was coming from a non-sentimental 25-year-old guy (redundant?) Not some prepubescent girl. If he wanted it clear that Shore and Cass ended up together at the end, I was going to give it to him.

Now I was thrown back into production mode. Michael and I agreed that both scenes could be done in one day. The end montage would be easy - we would take them back to the beach in which we first met Shore at the beginning of the movie. But a police station? Where the hell would we find a police station? An internet search produced a sound stage already dressed as a police station. Perfect - if it wasn't ridiculously expensive. To hell with them. I was going to make my own police station. All I needed was a very big nondescript room.

Craigslist again to the rescue. An acting troupe in Hollywood was renting out their practice room by the hour, dirt cheap. I booked the room and rounded up all the props shown in the photo of the ridiculously expensive police station set. Let's see - a flag. A computer. A phone. Wanted posters. Misc. office clutter. The only thing I needed was a counter for the policeman to stand behind. I called several prop houses and they had nothing. As Craig and I were driving to the set on the appointed day, we passed a used office furniture warehouse off the 5. "Stop! Go back!" I yelled.

They had exactly what we needed. A metal bookshelf turned on its side ($15), with a formica table top ($25) perched on top of it. Instant counter. I felt like the Martha Stewart of budget set design.

The last thing we needed - a policeman. Gavin Moore, who had rented us our police cars, was more than happy to fill that role wearing his own uniform. (and thus killing two birds with one stone). Somehow, like always, everything came together at the last minute.

And the kiss in the back room of the police station - I proudly rank it as one of filmdom's top ten kisses.