WE SCREENED IT!!!

Last night was one of the most nerve wracking, yet exhilarating experiences of my life. For those of you that aren’t aware last night Megan and I held the first ever, world premiere screening of END for cast and crew, family and friends. Needless to say I was a nervous wreck throughout the whole movie, so much so that I couldn’t sit down in a chair. I had to stand at the back of the theatre and pace back and forth so I didn’t lose my mind. I’m very happy to report that I apparently had nothing to fear.

This was easily the biggest audience that has ever seen anything we’ve done. Several years ago Megan and I made a trio of short films and when we screened those we did it in someone’s living room (Funny enough the same living room where we shot END, now that I think about it, how surreal is that?). This time around we did it in a theatre at Cal State Fullerton with an audience of close to 100. Obviously this made the situation even more stressful because if people didn’t like it there would be a whole bunch of them shifting uncomfortably in their seats and checking their watches.

I’m more than happy to report that people really seemed to like the movie. Now I know what you’re thinking, they’re your friends and family of course they said they like it. That’s what I would have thought too if I hadn’t been there. People gasped and laughed when they were supposed to and they had the EXACT reaction to the end of the movie that we had hoped for. Plus afterwards people kept coming up to me and telling me how this thing affected them or how they understood what it was really all about once it was all over. People’s reactions to things can’t be made up, at least not the kind that were given to us. People were mentioning things that Megan and I have been praying people would understand when they watched the movie and it looks like at least this group of people did. I’d really like to think that people left the theatre thinking last night and that’s the exact point of the movie.

Simply put last night was one of the single greatest nights of my life. After all these years of talking the talk people were able to see that Megan and I can walk the walk. Even 24 hours later I’m still beaming with pride that people not only got to see our little “zombie movie with no zombies” but that they also seemed to like it. It is a memory that I will never forget one that I will cherish forever. I can only hope Megan and I get to relive it in the months ahead as we start getting accepted into film festivals.

Prep for Tomorrow

My sketches always look like cartoons. This is for a donation box for the cast/crew/friends screening tomorrow. We're poor and are hoping people might want to help us get submitted to festivals...

Fast Fact

Originally uploaded by Sameli

"It is worth pointing out that zombies produced through magical or simple chemical means are slow moving, and often smell from decay. Although it should be noted that the apparent slow movement is sufficient speed to keep the zombie no more than a few yards away from even a running Olympic caliber athlete."

Pop Culture Maddness

MC

The cast & crew screening of the film is rapidly approaching and thankfully my younger brother Jonathon has agreed to MC the night. It's also thanks to him that we have such a cool little space. While I have the typical nervous fluster about everyone seeing the movie I am also really excited to have everyone (or at least a lot of us) together again. It's been nearly a year since I've seen some of the cast & crew and I am sure it will be a good time!

Last Year

Project 365 - Day 223
Originally uploaded by mrbosslady

At this time last year it was official that Christopher and I were making END. It was a scary thing for me. I had a still-new job I’d only been at for about four months, a new car payment because my old car had just blown up (literally), and it finally meant that I was going to have to put my passion and education to the test.

Most of June through August of last year is a blur for me. I can’t even remember the shooting days too clearly – they all seem like one long day. What I do remember is a constant state of exhaustion. The one huge saving grace of it all was that the downtime for my job is the summer. This meant not only that my exhaustion did not affect my work days but that while working I could also do pre-production. END would not have happened in 6 weeks if work had been slamming me.

Typically, I would do my day job, get everything done and use any and all downtime at work to do what I could for the movie; things like researching equipment, casting notices, schedules, script breakdowns, and all the other odds and ends would get done at work, and then I would commute home, sit down at my computer and do the exact same thing until it was time to go to bed and do it again. Thank God that He gave me such an opportunity.

Again, I am in the down season for my job. The difference is that this year I do not have a movie in pre-production that requires my constant attention. No, this year I have a finished movie. A movie that as I type this is in consideration for multiple film festivals. The most I do with it is complete submissions, send it out and then pray that God gets my little movie into the right festivals, to be seen by the right people, and hopefully help all of my cast and crew onto that career path we all want so much.

Shockingly this is much more nerve wracking than trying to cram 6 months of pre-production into 6 weeks.