Still very surprised that the Indie Film Blogger Road Trip clip has been viewed more than a couple of hundred times. So far the clip has been on YouTube for 3 weeks, and we just passed the 1500 views mark. If 25% of that number of people end up buying the DVD at any point in the future, the cost of production for that doc probably would be covered (haven't added up all the receipts yet, but the cash expenses were not very high for IFBRT - even by ultra-low budget DIY DV film standards, if I recall correctly). Anyway, very cool.
Review - doing difficult things well - making a period movie about the early 1980s with teenagers - Blake Calhoun's CASEY MAKES A MIXTAPE
By Sujewa Ekanayake * Blake Calhoun is an experienced indie filmmaker - but, it's very difficult to do period movies well - movies set in another era - on a low indie film budget, and it can be difficult to have several teenagers in your cast as the main characters - to get great performances. Calhoun has managed to do both things well in his new movie CASEY MAKES A MIXTAPE. The early 1980s Texas in Calhoun's movie looks - and more importantly feels - believable. Great cinematography and color grading work. And his teen actors do a great job bringing their characters to life. I think the movie is being promoted as a mainstream accessible, realistic, light comedy-drama. And perhaps it is also being marketed to a teenage audience. But, as an old person in NYC, I found the movie to be almost an observational movie - documenting a summer in the life of the main character (played in a low key, somewhat dramatic, and overall an entertaining way by the excellent Presle...
