ARTHOUSE FILM NEWS - Cosmic Disco Detective Rene at Facets, Chicago 11/29/23

Looks like I will be interviewed for a Variety article next week. It's for an upcoming indie film issue of theirs (didn't know they had indie film issues, very cool). Will write more about this after the interview happens. Also, speaking of new indie film opportunities, last week I was invited to speak at an IFP panel event in October re: self-distribution & using new media/alternative publicity methods, etc. Will do a full post about this in the coming week. The panel event sounds interesting & useful. One that I would attend even if I wasn't a part of it. I've never been on an indie film panel before, so this is exciting. & the event will be in NYC, which doubles the excitement level. Still not motivated to submit Date Number One to film festivals. Fest deadlines come & go w/out having any real impact on me. I've had good luck with 4-wall screenings & a couple of excellent bookings, so I think I'll just keep heading in that direction. Fes

I've been on an indiewood/Hollywood new flick watching kick lately. Who knows why, maybe thinking about what to avoid in my next flick (& perhaps what kind of things to consider adding). Saw Woody Allen's new movie Scoop last night. Scoop was photographed well and there were at most 3 moments that I found to be lightly funny, but overall the flick is not very engaging, or, the flick is dull. But I did like Match Point quite a bit. And Woody Allen will remain one of my film heros 'cause he made Manhattan & Annie Hall & several other excellent movies. Anyway, out of all the indiewood & Hollywood flicks seen recently, Clerks II is the clear winner for "the best movie seen in a while" title. Now I will return to watching & writing about excellent indie/DIY flicks that most mall movie goers will not hear of and of course promoting the NYC premiere of my flick Date Number One on 8/31, 9 PM @ the Pioneer Theater. If you only get to see one movie this

Just got back from watching Miami Vice (a dude's gotta take a break from a steady diet of d.i.y. film activity & sample some hyper-hyped hollywood stuff every once in a while :). What sealed the deal on going to see MV was the New York Times review I read today, it said something like that MV is an art film for action fans or an action film for art film fans, something like that. Plus a little bit of decadent shiny-ness reflected back from the 80's was thought to be a welcome diversion for a couple of hours. Anyway, back to the artiness of MV: yeah, it's arty. A lot artier than most Hollywood action flicks. At one point the camera pans away & focuses on ordinary highway activity, this happens at the end of an intense confrontation between the two MV cops & an informant, then the flick completely surprises us by....(see the movie for that :) and then jumps into the next, unrelated to the previous, scene as if nothing happened while the audience collected their br

Here's the link to the post . Thanks a lot AsianAmericanFilm.com! See Date Number One 's website for all the info. on the film. The flick screens at the Pioneer Theater on Thu, 8/31 @ 9 PM, buy tix here ASAP if u r interested in attending the event (if the 8/31 screening sells out by 8/1 Tue or so, Pioneer may add more screenings & that would be sexcellent, so let's get the 8/31 show sold out!!! :). Thanksalot! - Sujewa

At his blog Angry Filmmaker Kelley Baker says: " Michael Moore Can Bite Me! I just finished reading an article about Michael Moore's new film festival. "Moore Hopes Film Festival Sends Message" (AP). GIVE ME A BREAK!!! He is showing films like The Wizard of Oz, and is ending the night with a special screening of Woody Allen's new movie SCOOP. In between we are getting films by Jeff Daniels and Larry David. And let's not forget a film starring Julianne Moore and Woody Harrelson. Atta boy Mike, that is INDEPENDENT!I am so sick and tired of all of these Hollywood movies acting like "Independents". Is it because they have budgets under 10 million dollars? Wow, that is "indie"! And a few moe paragraphs of anger later, we get: " Hey Mike! How about a film festival featuring movies made for under $100,000 with good actors that no one has ever heard of? How about lending your name and your publicity machine to actually helping REAL Independe

At Indie Features 06 you can now read about the self-distribution adventures of several indie flicks: Date Number One playing at Pioneer Theater in NYC on 8/31 (info link)- 9 PM (tix link), upcoming LOL & Jumping Off Bridges screenings in NYC (Pioneer again), The Proper Care & Feeding of an American Messiah getting into several festivals & its director driving cross country to screen his movie in MD, Angry Filmmaker Kelley Baker's DIY touring & screening adventures with Kicking Bird & other movies of his, Lance Weiler's ambitious multi-city theatrical screenings & nationwide DVD release of his new movie Head Trauma, and that's just info. on a few titles off the top of my head. Indie Features 06 is THE place for news on real indie films right now. Tired of reading about fake Hollywood indies in every other blog & magazine baby? Then stroll on down to IF06 , spend some time reading through the blog - there's over 100 entries there - all from th

Want to experience the superdelicious, no-budget, ninja-errific DIY filmmaking & self-distribution glory that is Date Number One when the flick has its New York City premiere? Want to hang out with the filmmakers & actors, possibly make some new cool friends? Then go HERE to buy tickets to the Thu, Aug 31, 9 PM NYC premiere screening of Date Number One at the Pioneer Theater . As far as I know, less than 84 seats are available now. Buy tix, spread the word, let's have an awesome time on 8/31! - Sujewa ps: I am going to be speaking about self-distribution at an IFP panel event in October, it would be very nice to have a DNO NYC premiere tix sales success story to tell :) thanksalot.

From the outside, the event looks pretty simple, as a lot of complex occurrences may appear: 1. man in DC makes a movie, 2. man submits movie to a NYC movie theater to get a screening, 3. the movie theater offers a screening, 4. man accepts the screening offer & begins promoting the event. Step 1 took about 2 years to complete. Steps 2 - 4 took about 2 weeks. The completion of step 4, promoting the screening until it happens, will take about a month. But there is more inside this seemingly simple process, read on. I noticed the Pioneer Theater through my web searches on indie film at least three years ago, around 2003. And about two plus years ago I decided to make an ultra-low budget, 100% indie, self-distributed feature on digital video. Prior to that I had created a feature on 16MM, spent a lot of money, and the result was less than expected, so the film never made it past (i didn't let it get past) my hometown, Washington, DC. But the plan this time around was different: d

It looks beautiful. Letters in various bright colors on a black background, quotes from Michael "Cocaine Angel" Tully, Jerry "Hollywood Is Talking" Brewington, Jon "Scumrock" Moritsugu & Chuck "The Chutry Experiment" Tryon, and a description of the flick. Go here and scroll down until you see DATE NUMBER ONE at the August 31 slot. The BUY TICKETS link should be active in a few days. Thanks Pioneer! - Sujewa

Ananda (Subodh Samudre) & Missy (Jewel Greenberg) from Date Number One. photo copyright 2006 sujewa ekanayake/wild diner films I just discovered a new site, thanks to filmmaker Agnes Varnum (she's hip to new useful teknological stuff - also introduced me to Flikr), called Upcoming.org. Looks like its a tool to help plan & promote outings. The link above takes you to the Date Number One NYC premiere notice/upcoming.org page for it, which is happening on 8/31 @ 9 PM at the mighty Pioneer "Independent Film Without Excuses" Theater . Thanks Agnes! - Sujewa

DATE NUMBER ONE http://www.wilddiner.com/ a comedy about several first dates a movie by sujewa ekanayake Thursday, August 31, 9 PM The Two Boots Pioneer Theater http://www.twoboots.com/pioneer/ 155 East 3rd Street (between Avenues A and B, closer to A) New York, New York 212-591-0434 ticket prices: $9 adults, $6.50 members :: link for advance ticket purchase will be available soon :: Director will attend the screening. "The film is about as charming as they come...presents a world in which cultures don't clash, they mesh. It's refreshing to see characters who all appear to have a natural optimism, as opposed to the typical indie-film predilection for bitterness and cruelty. " - Michael Tully, Rotterdam & SXSW film festivals selected filmmaker http://blogs.indiewire.com/tully/archives/010529.html "I found the characters and the premise sexy, sexy, sexy ." Jerry Brewington, Hollywood Is Talking blog, on Story 2 of Date Number One http://hollywoodistalki

Date Number One distribution project is just getting started (9 screenings so far, DVD v1 coming around 9/1 - will be available through wilddiner.com 's STORE, $12, & lots more screenings coming starting in September) but I am already thinking about the script for the next flick. Unlike in the past I won't give too much away until the flick is made, but this much I can tell right now: the next feature will be shot in early '07, John Stabb Schroeder (ninja from Story 1 of DNO) & Jennifer Blakemore (Sunshine in Story 2 of DNO) will reprise their roles (in the case of John he will play the ninja's twin brother, a bartender, seen in one scene in DNO, Jennifer will play the same character - Sunshine). Making decisions on the plot & story right now, collecting notes for characters & scenes. This next feature will also be an ultra low budget, DIY, self-distributed flick. But for the rest of this year & until the next flick is ready to play at some point ho

In about a month or so, 8/22 & 23 it looks like. Get the info. here . - Sujewa