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That quality of life thing

WHO THINKS A PLACE WITH A WAR OFFERS A BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE? A very close relative of mine just relocated to Sri Lanka because the quality of life there is better for that person. Sri Lanka is of course a place that has had a war type situation for the last 20 years or so. Granted, it is not widespread, mostly limited to the north, but still, how can a place that has a freakin' WAR/armed conflict going on be better than the most productive & one of the wealthiest, most free, and safest countries on the history of this planet; the US of A? I guess it all depends on what you use as your criteria to figure out which place provides a better quality of life. Living in Sri Lanka is certainly far cheaper. A person can live comfortably in Sri Lanka for about $200 a month. That's right, two hundred dollars a month. And if you are from that culture or immersed in that culture and a big fan of it, then there is probably no place better. ONE POSSIBLE PROBLEM WITH SUCCESS Livin

The Academy should add an independent category to the Oscars

Not independent as in Little Miss Sunshine independent, but real independent, produced and distributed outside of Hollywood, like: Mutual Appreciation, The Debut, Jumping Off Bridges, Robot Stories, Head Trauma, Four Eyed Monsters, etc. The Oscars already have a foreign film category - for films made outside of the US & without (i think) Hollywood involvement to any significant degree (i may be wrong on that for certain "foreign" projects, but nevertheless, there is a line that separates domestic films from foreign films - thus the separate category in the Oscars). Certain Indiewood projects like Half Nelson are recognized by the Academy/A.M.P.A.S ., but it would be cool if they added a complete new category for real indie/DIY movies - movies that were made completely outside the Hollywood/Indiewood system & are distributed outside that system. Now why would they want to do that you ask? So the Oscars would be more complete in recognizing domestic (US) filmmaking and

breaking news - US ambassador hurt in Sri Lanka

UPDATE 12:18 AM, 2/27/07 According to this post , the US ambassador & the Italian ambassador were "slightly hurt". Read it here . :: 11:55 PM, 2/26/07 Just heard about this; sounds like the US ambassador to Sri Lanka has been injured by a mortar attack. Here is what's available at Forbes so far: "COLOMBO (XFN-ASIA) - US ambassador to Sri Lanka Robert Blake was wounded in an artillery attack by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels in eastern Sri Lanka, human rights minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, who accompanied him, said."

About my '07 feature comedy FILMMAKING FOR THE POOR

2/26/07 GreenCine Daily Mentions Filmmaking For The Poor Movie Project :: Update On Script Thanks GreenCine Daily ! The script is now going to have multiple stories about the making of low budget movies. I may or may not keep the storyline inspired by the making of Date Number One . Maybe the DNO production & distro stories are better saved for the DNO DVD v2 - for the extras. Either way, FFTP should be rocktasticly entertaining. 2/25/07 The title of my next film is FILMMAKING FOR THE POOR That's right, I am going to use the name of a blog of mine, Filmmaking For The Poor , as the title of a new feature length comedy-drama about low budget filmmaking. I've been working on several possible scripts for some time now, and this one is the one that I am most excited about, the one that I want to shoot next (I've actually started shooting a little bit of stuff for this movie a couple of days ago). I plan on starting full-on production around May 15 to June 15 of this year

Run Cody & This Is My Home at Busboys and Poets, WDC, March 10, 10 PM

Go enjoy excellent food and drink and see 2 great short movies to benefit Hurricane Katrina victims. RUN CODY (30 MIN.), directed by Amy Flannery is a fiction piece in which the hero is a victim of Hurricane Katrina. THIS IS MY HOME (25 MIN.), produced by Advancement Project is a documentary about people in New Orleans trying to reclaim their homes post Katrina. WHEN:March 10, 10 p.m. (doors open at 9 p.m.) WHERE:Busboys and Poets (seating capacity -- 120; first come first serve) 2021 14th Street, NW Washington, DC 20009 202-387-7638 www.busboysandpoets.com It costs $3 to attend the screening. All the proceeds will be donated to a reputable charity to benefit Hurricane Katrina victims. Larger donations are welcome. ABOUT THE FILMS: RUN CODY Thirteen-year-old Cody escaped hurricane Katrina, but can he survive life in Washington DC with his drunken father? A little man with big aspirations, Cody plots to sail away from his troublesome world with the woman of his desires. Always jus

note on new post presentation format

an upcoming screening events post for Date Number One & an ad post for the DNO DVD (which is for the moment a post about the coming 3/15 availability of the DVD) will precede any new posts for a given day. so even if u see familiar looking posts at the top of the page for several days, that does not mean new posts have not been made, just scroll down a couple of posts to make sure. thanks a lot. - sujewa

Turning your festival experience into cash

Alright, so you make an indie film. Maybe, like me, you are self-distributing thus you do not care about some distrib exec watching yer film at the fest & picking it up & possibly making you rich (well, at least a tiny, tiny bit more than before) & the movie famous (at least a little). So, on that front you can ignore fests & go on with your DIY screenings. BUT, there are many, many, many, many, many festivals. And festivals are a gathering place for film enthusiasts and the press (also hot, intelligent members of the gender you like to play with who think indie filmmakers are sexy?). So, participating in a festival maybe fun (i have not been attracted enough to festivals to try to participate in them thus far with Date Number One , but i have done a few group screenings in the past with other movies, & those were fun) and you may get a cool critic at a big local paper writing a nice review about your little film out of the deal. From what I can tell most indi

Is Saudi Arabia beheading people with 15 year sentences, with the help of possibly unfair trials?

This news story from Sri Lanka indicates that Saudi Arabia maybe sword-happy when it comes to capital punishment. Apparently a Sri Lankan who was sentenced to 15 years in jail was beheaded in Saudi Arabia. Perhaps Saudi Arabia is a place that needs a regime change - or at least an overhaul of their capital punishment system. I wonder what other evil stuff is happening in Saudi Arabia. Time to start looking. - Sujewa

Interview with The Loft Cinema's Jeff Yanc

Lance Weiler talks with Jeff Yanc, program director and the film booker for the indie theater The Loft Cinema in Tucson, Arizona. Lots of helpful tips for self-distributing filmmakers, specially on screening your film at Loft Cinema. - Sujewa

Thinking outside Hollywood & Indiewood time frame for DIY success

What is the Hollywood & Indiewood time frame for the initial most significant period of distribution of a film & making money back from the project? I'd say usually 12 - 24 months. Within that time a film will have its theatrical wide release (if Hollywood) or have its premiere at one of the famous film festivals (if Indiewood, and now some Hollywood films too) and, if Indiewood, may go on to some level of theatrical distribution (most Hollywood theatrical goes far wider), or will go to DVD and other markets (both Hollywood & Indiewood stuff). All that happens within a 12 -24 month period, as far as I can tell, for most Hollywood & Indiewood projects with a theatrical & DVD distribution component. And through all that the Hollywood or Indiewood companies that own the films may make a lot of money, and may make the film and its director and perhaps some if its actors famous. And all that work would have been accomplished by spending a lot of money (hundreds

Mike Tully's COCAINE ANGEL opens for a 1 week run tomorrow (Wed 2/21) at PIONEER THEATER, NYC!!!

Go here to buy tix for tomorrow's screening. Pioneer's website with info. on the other 6 upcoming screenings of the film (scroll down 'till you see COCAINE ANGEL). Here's the Cocaine Angel website . About the movie: "The flip side of the sunshine state. COCAINE ANGEL is caked with legitimate, unforgettable grime, one that makes similar Hollywood efforts seem as fake as an orange juice commercial." - FILMMAKER MAGAZINE "Another American low-budget highlight, first-time director Michael Tully's convincingly grimy Cocaine Angel goes a long way toward rescuing the addiction drama from junkie stereotypes and self-help cliches, thanks in no small part to star/screenwriter Damian Lahey, whose shambling presence is well matched by his gift for free-ranging monologues.” - THE VILLAGE VOICE "Most impressive about the film is its conclusion, which hits just the right note of optimism; Scott may be doomed, but the world he's living in turns out to have

Rob Nilsson plays movies about love

Received an interesting screening announcement from filmmaker Rob Nilsson today. Here it is: " CITIZEN CINEMA SCREENINGS I am inaugurating a series of screenings at the Edwin Johnson Screening Room here at 1418 5th. St., Berkeley, home offices of Citizen Cinema, our new film institute/production company. The newly completed screening room, designed and built by Charlie Wilson of Sonic Zen Records, also located in the building, is named in honor of Edwin Johnson who was a major force in all of the Tenderloin yGroup films from CHALK to the 9 @ Night series. We will begin with a 12 week series on the subject of love. Capitalized or not, in or out of italics, it is everyone’s sacred cow. Without love there would be no human race. Without an interest in sex the human race would be over in 40 years. Without eroticism, Art would end up desiccated and dead. Without friendship and comraderie we might live in isolation chambers viewing porn, which could happen anyway, because pornography ha

Full Movie - SNEAK PREVIEW - Cosmic Disco Detective Rene And The Mystery Of Immortal Time Travelers

NEW - COSMIC DISCO DETECTIVE RENE (2023) - TRAILER!

The Secret Society For Slow Romance (2022) - available to rent as a new release starting January 1

Werewolf Ninja Philosopher at Vimeo VOD

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