There are no end products.

The screening went well. I was surprised who came, to tell you the truth. The Temple Bar is really kind of a music venue/bar. Not exactly the sort of place you expect to see short films. But the place was full, and as I walked in (late) I saw four or five people to wave to. All of the people that I thought "wouldn't it be great if they came."

Visually the movies didn't look great through the video projector (it looked good enough but Justina wouldn't have been happy) but the sound blasted through the music venue speakers, and it was a wonderful thing hearing all the work that Dom and I did. All of the dog barks and subtleties. And I was really surprised. My movie showed second and after the first minute people got quiet and watched. And they laughed at Andrew and understood Jake. More or less it worked, and I felt pretty good about it. Afterwards I hung around with Lily and it was like a dream where all of the people you have met show up. That's what happened. So many of the people I have met out here in the last year went out of their way to come by to say hi and talk about the movie. Even the director of "Harold and Kumar" was there... and he liked the way it was directed and edited, said it was pretty good. Not bad.

There are no end products. Nothing that can happen at a screening or anywhere else can really live up to all of the work that goes into making a movie and all of the high hopes you experience. The work is where all of the good stuff happens, I think. That's what I was thinking the whole day before the screening, and I had a great time. I was really happy throughout the whole night. The movie screened with four other shorts at the IFP LA Cinema Lounge programmed by Julianna Brannum, who has herself gone out of the way to help me out. Things like this are very important when you're making movies and you aren't sure what to do next...

What'd you guys think of the Oscars? I didn't have too many thoughts, really. I enjoyed the show kind of mindlessly. Thought Chris Rock had some valid points and that Sean Penn looked like Bob Hope or someone standing up for Jude Law... Watched the whole show all the way through. Earlier in the week I had seen them setting it up down on Hollywood Blvd. Screwed up traffic all week... I thought that Eternal Sunshine and Sideways won for good reason -- and I always like the screenplay category. I saw Million Dollar Baby two weeks ago and it blew my fucking socks off. There are some good theatres out here for seeing movies, I must say.

And speaking of awards ceremonies, I have tell you all that my dad, who has taken up coaching hockey since my brother and I left our highschool hockey careers behind, coached his way to his first State Championship last night!!! It was my highschool's first since my brother and I were on the team. The Burroughs Bombers played at the Blues arena (they weren't using it anyway) and beat St. Charles West 4 to 1. Not bad for my dad's first year coaching highschool hockey!

It made me think, do I know anyone else who would learn how to skate and teach hockey, out of the blue? It's a good question. Would I? I gotta try to be more like that. I watched my dad talk to his little guys (he started out coaching 10-12 year olds) before a game and I saw how he did it more than once. He was pretty good at it: he would come into the lockerroom and tell them to shut up and quit calling each other gay and saying bad words to be cool and all that. And once he had their attention he gave what he called the "they hurt your dog" speech. Basically what he did was, he convinced them the other team was responsible for hurting their dog! The little kids would get psyched up and mad and run out onto the ice in their skates, ready to play. He saved it for the big game of the year... Anyway, how cool is that.

We all need a good "they hurt your dog" pep talk once in awhile, I've decided. (Maybe even one every day?)

"How I Got Lost" IFP Screening in LA

how i got lost

Monday, February 28 7:30pm
The Temple Bar in Santa Monica, CA
Wilshire & 11th St.
IFP Cinema Lounge Screening

classic Blatantly Subtle on Triggerstreet.com

Two movies from the past -- "Bulletin Board" & "Personal Soundtrack" -- managed to make become a part of the most recent Triggerstreet online festival. If you haven't checked out this site, I'd really recommend it. If nothing else it is a great way to get kneejerk feedback.

Also, check out the responses to the films below.

Clearing the Way

It's the new year. I went to the Rose Bowl yesterday and it was a pretty amazing way to start off 2005. Jared and I walked around drinking orange juice and vodka out of plastic one-litre bottles and everyone had this look on their face. Or at least it seemed like they did to me. It was the new year.

I have been burning special edition dvds for cast and crew. If you are one of the lucky few, hold onto to your copy. Someday it will be worth thousands on eBay...

I've been clearing the music for my movie, which is overwhelming and educational. So far, the Sufjan Stevens song featured at the end of the movie (from the Michigan CD) has been cleared! And all I can say is that the people at Sounds Familyre -- specifically Lenny Smith -- are terrific and I'm really grateful to have befriended them. (Lenny had 2 questions: do you need all the f words? & can you use more of the song? my answers were yes & yes). I also was lucky to get to get festival rights to use the Walkmen song "138th St" and Matt Sharp's song "Shadows."

All of this has been pretty cool. I really have to thank everyone who has dealt with me over the phone, via email, and through the bane of my existence, the fax maching... Thank you for your patience and willingness to listen to me long enough and enough times so that I either convinced you to help me out or to get rid of me.

Happy Holidays from Blatantly Subtle!

Happy Holidays! It's 80 in Burbank today!

We have just produced special edition copies of the movies featured in "Love, Lost & Sold," the screening held recently in New York. There is also talk of having a screening Los Angeles this spring!

First things first -- the special edition DVD of "How I Got Lost" includes special features like a commentary with me and Dominic (the sound designer), behind the scenes footage and outtakes, a slide show, and the trailer to the movie... All of which is overwhelming I'm sure. In any case a select few have been sent out to cast and crew. Enjoy them with eggnog or hard alcohol.

Also, we are mass producing these things, so let us know if you'd like a copy -- or a bunch of copies. The more copies that are out there the
better, as far as we're concerned.

In terms of the future for "How I Got Lost": I have sent it out to several festivals, including Tribeca, Firstglance Philadelphia, Sedona and South by Southwest. And I will continue to send it out for festivals through the season. We will hear from many of these festivals in February and March. I
am optimistic about the chances of having a modest festival run, and should it get in to a few, cast and crew are certainly encouraged to attend!

Finally, some breaking news: I recently got a job out here in LA as the Post-Production Supervisor for "The Great New Wonderful," an independent feature that was shot in New York, starring Maggie Gyllenhaal, Tony Shalhoub, Judy Greer and a few others -- so I'm going to be out here through most of Christmas and New Years, with a couple days in St. Louis. Then in January I'm going to Sundance, where I'll be directing traffic, watching movies and trying to talk to people about our movie.

If I don't get a chance to talk with you -- have a wonderful Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa season and don't get too hammered on New Year's Eve, or you'll have to do that whole "resolution" thing with a hangover, which is annoying enough on its own. On second thought, try to overdo it SO much that you will miss the ball dropping entirely. That's my technique.

Screening our movies - "how did it go?"

I will do my best to remember, but honestly my memory feels spotty, and I feel like I'm trying to remember a dream now that I've woken up. Here, to the best of my memory, is an accounting of how the screening went...

I got in town a few days early. The first few days back in New York I slept on couches, stayed out late and got up early, and fought off a cold; I spent my first night in New York looking in vain for a cellphone charger. I went to see Jace in "Heartbeat of Baghdad" at the Flea. It thought it was great. I ran into my friend Kaki on the street. New York is still everything I always thought it was. At one point, on accident, I ran into Sam and Bryan on one block. Bryan came to town from Toronto with his girlfriend Janice, and showed his movie "A Quarter-Life Love." This was a very good weekend even before it got started.

The days before the screening Sam and I cold-called agencies and production companies. It was a good thing to do, since everything else was ready to go. But still, it's a terrible way to spend a day... We sent out emails and faxes of our press release and our press kit. All of this led to exactly one person showing up -- who we already knew. But then, maybe we are out of touch thinking that the film industry types would be interested in our work. Or maybe someone else is out of touch...

Regardless, we stuck to our plan and sent out our emails (and our spam emails) and called everyone we knew for the fifth time.

And then... we didn't know what to do. Honestly, every other screening we have done we have been struggling up to the last minute to finish the films. This time we had our shit together. We had made the best movies we knew how. We put months into it, and we didn't lose focus for a moment. Before the screening even happened, I was proud of us. I was proud of Sam and Jill and Justina and Jace and Bryan, and Dom and Pete and everyone else who followed through and helped finish these movies.

My big job the day before was to get red carpet. This I found in Chinatown.

Before the screening we had friends and family helping us set up. Lexi and Kate were our hot ushers, handing out programs, making signs and in general being wonderful. Sam, Bryan and Dom did the sound and picture check. Jill and I set up a table with handouts and things. And we practiced our speech, which was a very difficult thing. Jill was on fire by the way. She looked great and couldn't have been happier. Before people started walking in we took some pictures on the red carpet.

I was so happy to see the people who came: like Ian Cohen, Ishai Setton, Mark Arywitz, Barbara Malmet, Riley Gallagher, and far too many more to mention. Lily's mom, aunt, uncle and cousin Beth came. My parents were there. Remnants of the NYU hockey team showed. People I didn't know at all, reached through NYU or some other mysterious means, came out of the woodwork. The actors and their friends piled in, and before we knew it we had a completely full 300 seat theatre, and it was time to give our speech.

After that it's a little bit of a blur.

And then after the movies we hung around a little and talked to people from the cast of The Wire, who came to check out what we were up to. Then we went to a bar around the corner and stayed there until it closed down on a Sunday night. Then, I think the few people left (Sam, Jace, Kate, other people, me I suppose) went to the Blind TIger, which amazingly was still open. And then we stayed there for awhile. I just didn't want the night to end at all.

The next morning I woke up early in my parents hotel in midtown, and stayed up all day, continuing my new philosophy in New York of waking up early to beat my hangover. It was a beautiful, cold, New York day. The kind that makes you realize where you stand, what matters to you.

Today's it's raining in Burbank. My life has not changed drastically, as I imagined it might on occasion. But things are looking good. I recently got a job out here working as a Post-Production Coordinator for "The Great New Wonderful." So I'm working on that through Christmas. And I'm sending "How I Got Lost" off to festivals...

And that is how I got lost and where it left me.

Review of "Love, Lost & Sold"

Check out the link above for a review by a fan who attended our screening.

Thank you everyone for attending!!!

Attention: Cast & Crew of "How I Got Lost"

I doubt you've forgotten how cold it was in February when we shot this thing.

Well, it's finally time to see it. In the last month or so, Dom and I have been working on the sound design and it's been way too much fun. Most of what we did involved making noises and doing foley work (re-creating sound effects, essentially) in the sound booth, and of course drinking beer. Kevin and Graham also came in to record some stuff, and it was great to get back to working on the movie with them. I guess I've more or less lived with this movie over the summer, and I know it will be hard for me to admit that it's all done now that it's over with.

Which is why this premiere is going to be great. Everyone's going to be there.

I'm sure by now you know the details of when and where, and I hope you've gotten postcards and enough emails to clog your mailbox already. And most of all I hope you're looking forward to seeing the end result of all of that hard work -- and of course there are also two other movies to look forward to that will be shown with "How I Got Lost." Basically, there's going to be a lot of good stuff to see. Let everyone you know... know, or something. (Also, check the back of next weeks Village Voice!)

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns, or if you just feel like saying hello. It'd be great to hear from you. Otherwise, I will be in town next Wednesday, November 10, and I'm free for drinks or coffee anytime. I'm more than happy to show you the movie ahead of time if you wanna check it out. And I think it'd be great to have BRUNCH the Sunday of the screening! So I'm going to be looking into that. Did I mention that we will have DVDs for you at the screening? And of course I will be able to give you whatever footage you would like in raw or finished form for your reel. Just let me know. Now that the movie's done I don't know what to do with myself.

So over the next week while we're calling production companies and agents and sending emails, keep in mind the following picture: a theatre filled with 200 or so screaming fans, a red carpet, and myself wearing a dress that is also a swan. Ok, maybe not.

But it's going to be almost that good, so bring your friends.

The Premiere

Blatantly Subtle invites you to an exclusive gala premiere...
LOVE, LOST & SOLD: three shorts filmed in new york
Sunday, November 14TH, 7:30 pm
Cantor Film Center –36 East 8th Street NY,NY   FREE

A Quarter-life Love
Dir. Bryan Friedman
Starring Jill Frutkin & Jace Mclean

How I Got Lost
Dir. Joe Leonard
Starring Kevin Kane & Graham Hamilton

Sell Out
Dir. Sam Mestman
Starring Peter Karinen & Kate Dulcich

Show up in jeans, a ball gown, or cabana wear. Come early for a good
seat and stay late to have drinks with us!


a blatantly subtle screening
backing up our good ideas with debt

The Cardinals Lose the Pennant

It was still the best season I remember.

LA screening of "Personal Soundtrack"

A short film I directed called "Personal Soundtrack" (starring Jill Frutkin) is playing tonight at the IFP event at the Temple Bar, on 1026 Wilshire Blvd at 7:30 PM. It's a free event, and I don't really know the details other than that the program is called the "Cinema Lounge," and apparently there's going to be a Q&A, which ought to be interesting... It'll be my first LA screening since moving here.

I apologize for the late notice. If you can make it I look forward to seeing you there. Otherwise, hope to catch up with you soon.

A month to go

Things to do before the screening:

1. Distribute and mail postcards
2. Send out presskits
3. Make a list of production companies, agents, producers, etc.
4. Make cold calls
5. Turn 25
6. Write a program
7. finish final touches on the movies
8. Get cast and crew of movies excited
9. Write emails and opening speeches...
10. Make dvds
11. Spend an hour a day on it.

What I missed

For the last two weeks I have been working on the sound design for How I Got Lost and living in New York. And there isn't any place like New York. People ask me, "oh, no shit, Los Angeles? How's the working out?" It's great, but yknow it's not New York. And they nod. They know it isn't. But I don't really think you appreciate New York living here. Or at least I stopped, in the crucial part of my imagination where I imagined New York was a romantic place.

And that's what my movie's about. The romantic part of New York. But in the movie the character Jake ends up still back in New York, having conquered something. But I'm not Jake. I'm not a sportswriter, or an actor, or an idea, the way the character of Jake is. I am just who I am.

I have been drinking a lot in New York and enjoying it with the people I love. It has been a very, very good trip.

I mentioned in my last post that I sent out a VHS of the movie to dozens of people. I received a lot of replies, and in the last three weeks I made big changes that I wouldn't have been able to make if I hadn't had at least one person call who hated it, one person who was confused, and one person who loved a few little things in it. Part of the process of every movie being finished should include and absorb the responses you get, positive and negative, to your project. That's my theory. It's funny getting feedback because you really have to consider: is this person right, or wrong? And of course, am I right or wrong? It's always a toss-up and once again you have to make these crucial decisions. I decided on a catch phrase for the movie. "It doesn't matter where you're going." This is partially because there was some feedback that the movie didn't know where it was going.

Most feedback is 100% right, but it's always from a perspective, and always pretty personal. That's how all the feedback I give is anyway.

For the last two weeks I have been pretending I live in New York still. It has been wonderful. But now tomorrow morning I have to leave and get back to work in LA. I don't mind so much. But it's hard packing up an apartment.

For the last two weeks I have been finishing my movie with Dom, one of my best friends and one of the people I value working with most. It has been great.

I will miss New York until I'm back in November.

Finishing the movie

It only takes one or two bad screenings to fix a movie that you know is close. In this case my mom, Mary Bonner (an actress in the movie), Lily (my girlfriend), and Dom Bartolini (the future sound designer) all had the misfortune to see the work-in-progress. Immediately I knew there was something wrong. The moving parts were all there, but it lurched. The scenes moved and looked right to me, but there was still something unclear about it, and I could see it as my viewers watched with blank faces. It was clear there was still work to do.

So back to the drawing table. There were problems with the beginning, just getting the movie off the ground, and with the end, pulling it all to a close. I focused on the basketball scene, at fives minutes the most challenging film editing I've ever done. I spent more time on it than any of my previous movies, and quite clearly, it didn't work. It was too long, too much basketball. The two hours plus of footage with two cameras yielded choppy results, a movie in of itself. I decided to table the second half of the scene and see if I could put it back in later, as a flashback. I did the same with the other scene at the beginning of the movie, a scene in a cafe, pausing only to introduce the characters and what they faced.

No movie can be too good out in the real world when you lock yourself in a room and stare it for a long time. But you gotta do that to know your movie, to find it, I think...

I set up a camera with a shotgun microphone and forced myself to read voice-over for an afternoon. I wrote and re-wrote, I made stuff up. It is amazing what a rolling camera does for your creativity. It forces the issue. I watched the movie, I drank beer and wine, I watched it more, and drank coffee. It started to come together. I started to see it.

When you get to the point where you can add credits, it's actually pretty fun. You are there.

It feels good, like there's a weight off my back. Today I made 40 VHS copies of the cut and sent them out to friends for some final feedback. We'll go from there... Anybody up for a drink?

"Personal Soundtrack" Screening in NY and LA

"Personal Soundtrack" will be screening as part of IFP/NY's Buzz Cuts program on Tuesday, September 14 at the Pioneer Movie Theatre in the East Village, and at the IFP/LA’s Cinema Lounge shorts program on Monday, October 25th at 7:30pm at the Temple Bar in Santa Monica (Wilshire & 11th St)!

Buzz Cuts (in New York) costs $5 but you get free pizza and beer if you come to the reception beforehand. Cinema Lounge (in LA) is free and open to the public, so we encourage you to spread the word to get people to check out the program.  It is a fun, relaxed atmosphere that serves drinks and food and a band usually plays right after the program ends at 9pm.

IFP is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting independent filmmakers and films, and both branches seem to have their own spirit, which is why this is pretty cool.  Some of their efforts include publishing Filmmaker: The Magazine of Independent Film and presenting the annual Independent Spirit Awards and Los Angeles Film Festival.  With over 10,000 members, IFP is among the leading non-profit film organizations worldwide.