ONE - DIY/indie/arthouse Filmmaker Sujewa Blog - 53 FILMS IN 53 MONTHS PROJECT

The epic event is here folks, see ya at the show - those who are bold & sexy enough to attend :) And, one last time, here is all the info, including link for tix purchase: 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/monthly_programs/2006-08.htm#DateNumberOne 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 Buy Tix Now: http://pioneertheater.tix.com/Event.asp?Event=65968 Film's Description:"Date Number One" is a comedy about several first dates. This 115 minute movie is made up of 5 different stories: Story 1: Just Another Ninja Searching For Love, about a ninja who goes on a blind date (ninja is played by John Stabb Schroeder from the DC punk band G.I.), Story 2: A Romantic Dinner For 3, about a woman attempting to add a third partner to a rom...

One of the problems I had with American cinema back in the early 90's was that there weren't enough good roles/lead roles for minority actors. Not the biggest problem in the world by any stretch, but, since the world is very diverse ethnically or "racially"* & since America is very diverse, I found it very odd that most of the leads in most of the movies around me were "white" (I do however live in a very diverse part of the country, the Washington, DC area, so for someone who lives in an area that is not this diverse, it may feel perfectly normal not to see non-"white" people in movies). So, when I decided to become a filmmaker in '91, I also decided to have a very diverse cast in my movies & to create roles for minority actors. I was able to follow through on that goal in Date Number One . Date Number One, a film made up of 5 stories, features a diverse cast that includes 5 minority actors in lead roles: Shervin Boloorian in Story 2, ...

Regarding Date Number One , David Hudson at GreenCine Daily says, in part: "... witty (I particularly like the recurring references to a band's unlikely popularity in Ohio), often inventive (the story in which the first date isn't really the first date at all is particularly well-written and performed) and, even better, airy: characters are given time and space to spell out their views on abortion, Buddhism, quantum physics or the ongoing war in Sri Lanka, views that never bear the artificial markings of a Hollywood screenwriter's compulsion to reduce them to sound-bites." Read the whole review here . Thanks for watching the movie & writing a review about it David! Very exciting to see a review of my movie in GreenCine Daily (best indie film blog in the western world, no doubt), which is my favorite indie film blog (even if David's verdict on the film is a mixed one :). - Sujewa

Read all about it here: http://indiefeatures06.blogspot.com/2006/08/indie-features-07-is-alive.html Filmmaker/bloggers interested in participating in the 2007 version of Indie Features 06 should go check out IF07 blog & if their projects seem like a good match for the blog, can e-mail me at wilddiner AT aol.com w/ a description of their films. We'll take things from there. Thanks! - Sujewa

Just spent some time on the Greyhound website, looks like it is possible to travel relatively fast by land & for relatively cheap. The US is huge, but DC to LA in 2 days is not bad at all, for like $180 (1 screening with decent ticket sales can cover that easily). Also, if I work in some stops along the way - some screenings, like in Chicago, etc., the trip can be more bearable & useful. This of course is also a chance to imitate Jack " On The Road " Kerouac's cross country travelin', re-live my 18 year old self's fascination with (which happened the first time back in '91 when I was in Chicago) traveling America by land. And I am not crazy about flying. Feels weird. I'll do it if I must, but I prefer not to. Land travel by fast buses, w/ screening stops every few hundred miles may be the trick to getting around the air plane issue that comes up when considering a US wide screening tour. & bus travel is cheaper than air travel. Yeah, it could...

Read it here . good stuff if the top link does not work due to your irrational fear of registering with the Globe, read about the article here . - sujewa

i am trying to figure out the whole round trip dc-nyc/staying over night? thing for the thu 8/31 screening of Date Number One at Pioneer Theater in NYC. let's see: driving is a possibility, but doing 4 hours of driving each way/total 8+ hours in one day/24+ hour period may not be healthy, plus I may be sleepy + tired after the show lets out around 11 PM (later if Q & A goes long) - will most likely have to rent a hotel room or bug a pal for crash space if I am not going to drive back the same day. flying & train travel seem too expensive, plus not something that can be easily duplicated for other shows in nyc, due to cost of course. so, greyhound maybe the best alternative for a lot of east coast (let's say mid-atlantic area - DC, NYC, philly, baltimore, etc., i can handle being in a bus for 4-6 hours i think) travel for the diy filmmaker. they have round trip tix, dc-nyc, for around $45 - $70. and they travel overnight. so, if i want to, i can leave nyc at 1 am & ...

yup, due to a scheduling conflict at the bookstore, the Capital City Microcinema/Kensington Row Bookshop screening of Date Number One that was set for Thu 9/28 has been moved to Thu 10/5. more on that next week. in the meantime, here is the link to the info & tix for NYC Premiere screening of Date Number One, happening this Thu 8/31 @ Pioneer Theater. - sujewa

my previous post was about possibly moving to NYC in mid-'07. but i wonder if it is better to keep living in the DC area & keep making movies here, since so few people do something close to what i do (ultra-low budget, DIY features, comedies, self-distribution) in this area. either way, the key is to make good movies & then distribute them, where i live is not that important in comparison. also, due to the internet, i may not need to live in NYC to grow my career, i think i just need to keep making good movies & getting them out. who knows, but on to more important & immediate things, like the 8/31 NYC Premiere of Date Number One THIS WEEK!!! posts re: the film, a very important review, & a reminder or two about the screening coming this week. talk to ya soon! - sujewa

that's a quote about writers & paris that i am re-working up there. yeah, US indie film as we know it was invented & re-invented in nyc - thus each indie filmmaker in the US (& also US indie inspired world cinema) has a second home - a spiritual/creative soul home if you will - in nyc, the way i see it. the filmmaker(s?) who inspired the french new wave were from & were making their movies in nyc, i am pretty sure john cassavetes worked in nyc, & more relevant to my generation of filmmakers: jim jarmusch became the filmmaker we know & luv in/through nyc. and also (and this may be the biggest reason to move to NYC :) :) :) fellow MD New Wave filmmaker & "movie star of the future" Mike "Cocaine Angel" Tully is living & causing trouble/breaking hearts in NYC now. it will be fun to try living & working in NYC for a year. i am thinking brooklyn (got a few friends there now, plus jonas mekas lives there, also indieWIRE lives there n...

See ya there. Say hello, I'll be there hanging out in the theater lobby before the show, & then will do an intro to the movie, & then will do a post-show Q & A session, & then will be hanging out for a bit at the theater lobby after the show. Maybe a party after that at some nearby cool place (more on that soon). Here's all the info for the show. Advance tix are on sale now , buy some. See ya at the show! 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/monthly_programs/2006-08.htm#DateNumberOne 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 Buy Tix Now: http://pioneertheater.tix.com/Event.asp?Event=65968 Film's Description: "Date Number One" is a comedy about several first dates. This 115 minute movie is made up of 5 differen...

Here are the stories in this week's edition of Seattle anti-homelessness activist newspaper Real Change: Resettled and Homesick : Tate Lazard survived Katrina only to experience a greater loss (page 1) In Light of Katrina : City disaster-response agency adjusts approach (page 5) The Change : Ad-hoc group pushes for transgendered policy in county jails (page 1) Radio Static : Community station KBCS aims to balance talk, music (page 3) Still Bearing the Scars : Interview: Dr. Joy DeGruy Leary says people of color need to tune into slavery’s aftermath (page 6) Just Heard : schools levy split; no food at the 13 Coins; expunging the Needle Exchange from 2nd and Pike (page 3) The Six-Ounce Problem : Tuna, America’s affordable seafood, endangers mothers and infants (page 2) This Week’s Action : End the unfair, arbitrary death penalty Elsewhere : Dr. Wes says the lifeless have only themselves to blame (page 9), The Iliad: the world’s greatest epic poem for the price of a sandwich (page 8),...

yup, that's the pioneer theater. another pic from my nyc trip earlier this month. Photo Copyright 2006 Sujewa Ekanayake

took this photo when i visited nyc 8/12- 8/14/06 to promote the 8/31/06 Date Number One screening at the Pioneer Theater. more photos coming in the coming days photo Copyright 2006 Sujewa Ekanayake

So, as some of you indie filmmaker/distributor types know, most newspapers require a week long run of a movie in order for them to review the movie. Now, if the movie is screening for one or two nights in a given city the major newspapers (mainstream & alterna) may write some type of a story about the movie, but there won't be a full review. Not sure how this practice evolved, but it is with us. Now, in the music world, a well regarded musician or a band can play one show in a given city & the local newspapers will write a story about that show & they may also publish a review of the show the next day. This practice should be adopted for film reviewing. Otherwise the newspapers are mostly going to be writing about Hollywood product (as they do now), not new indie movies or foreign movies that are being self-distributed or are being distributed by small distributors (unless they are playing for a week). On the bright side, the internet is around. Here we can write about ...

Less than 10 days to go until the Date Number One NYC Premiere at Pioneer Theater on 8/31 ! So, in celebration of that fact I will be re-posting some of the best/most useful posts about Date Number One. Here's one from May: "Date Number One" review # 2! (very positive) Check it out here at the Hollywood Is Talking blog . Very glad that Jerry Brewington liked the movie. Here's a segment from the review: " Story 2, ‘A Romantic Dinner for Three’, was my favorite because I have to admit, I found the characters and the premise sexy, sexy, sexy. Shervin Boloorian plays Kamal and Jennifer Blakemore as Sunshine are a hip, progressive couple in the most diverse region of the Americas, Washington DC. Sunshine wants to learn about Buddhism and meditation from her friend Rupa ,played so well by Dele Williams, but she has an ulterior motive as well and, ummm, it involves the number 3." Looks like Date Number One 's got some fans in LA area now. Will write more about...

Due to dayjob work & the 8/31 NYC screening of Date Number One promotions, I am running behind on getting the latest version of DNO screeners finished & mailed out. About half a dozen indie film people, mostly bloggers, to whom I promised the screeners should get them early next week. I expect to have the screeners in the mail by this Sat. Sorry about the delay folks, but it will be worth the wait (let's hope :) The retail DVD of DNO, v1, should be available for purchase in mid-late September. More on that soon. - Sujewa

See ya there. Say hello, I'll be there hanging out in the theater lobby before the show, & then doing an intro to the movie, & then doing a post-show Q & A session, & then hanging out for a bit at the theater lobby after the show. Maybe a party after that at some nearby cool place (more on that soon). Here's all the info for the show. Advance tix are on sale now , buy some. See ya at the show! 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/monthly_programs/2006-08.htm#DateNumberOne 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 Buy Tix Now: http://pioneertheater.tix.com/Event.asp?Event=65968 Film's Description:"Date Number One" is a comedy about several first dates. This 115 minute movie is made up of 5 different stories: ...

In a post today at Indie Features 06 Lance Weiler says: " The Hard Costs DIY on a large level can be a challenge and the biggest issue is finding a way to make money and then how to not spend money along the way. To help offset travel expenses I booked about $1500 worth of speaking engagements at various schools and film societies. This not only helps with cash but in most cases will lead to free lodging and also free meals. It also helps drive people to the theater. I made a run of really high quality 27 x 40 posters, which I can sell for $10 bucks each. In my experience I sell about 5 to 20 posters in a night. This money is great for food and miscellaneous expenses." Read the rest of the post here . Take notes future DIY filmmaker/distributors, take notes. - Sujewa

I am a big fan of early Hal Hartley features, looking forward to Fay Grim. And I've watched a few Godard movies since he is considered an important figure in film history. Hartley interviews Godard here, a good read, from 1994, a Filmmaker mag article: http://www.geocities.com/glen_norton/Hartly.html - Sujewa

Date Number One's screening #11 is set: back to Kensington, MD! yeah! The first time around, when the film screened here in June, a lot of the locals who wanted to see it missed it, so the Kensingtonians will get another chance to see my comedy about several first dates on Thu, 9/28 @ 7:30 PM. Here's the basic info: Date Number One screening Thu 9/28/06, 7:30 PM, $5, Capital City Microcinema / Kensington Row Bookshop 3786 Howard Ave., Kensington, MD 20895 301.949.9416 MapQuest , Directions see ya there kensingtonians & other washingtonians! * Of course screening #10 is happening in New York City on Thu, August 31 at 9 PM at Pioneer Theater. Find links to show details & advance ticket purchase through here . see ya there new yorkers! - Sujewa

LOL , Date Number One , Head Trauma , Four Eyed Monsters , Mutual Appreciation , The Guatamalan Handshake , Jumping Off Bridges will all screen in New York City starting late August (LOL & Date Number One at Pioneer Theater in August), through September (4eyed, mutual, HT & more in September), and into late '06 (Bridges in Nov at Pioneer). All of the films mentioned are being fully or partially self-distributed. I am preparing a more detailed post re: this wonderful occurrence, will have all the info - dates, places, film summaries, soon (let's say by Tue, got a few Date Number One edit things to do this weekend). Post comments here about other DIY distributed low budget indie/real indie flicks that I may have missed/not heard about yet. Will look into them to include in the upcoming more detailed post re: The Heavy DIY Season New York '06. In the meantime, check out this awesome indieWIRE article about Head Trauma & Four Eyed Monsters & their DIY distributi...

Stuff Done Today/Need To Do soon: - Got about 300 fliers out in the East Village neighborhood promoting the 8/31 Date Number One screening at Pioneer theater - Spoke w/ about a dozen enthusiastic NYC people about the film, they said they will spread the word about the 8/31 screening. - Got the contact info for the IFC center programmer (one of many?) at the IFC Center itself (right by the West 4th subway station, where I got off last couple of days to go to East Village), wll be attempting to get Date Number One screenings there. - Lots of NYC theaters to contact re: DNO screenings, will be doing it this month. * if you know ,or if you are, a NYC indie screening venue (indie theater, microcinema) programmer, let me know, will tell ya all about Date Number One so that we can look into doing some screenings. e-mail me at wilddiner AT aol.com. - Date Number One Posters & post cards need to get done, DVDs need to get done - working on them this week * had some yummy sri lankan food at ...

The world is, compared to any one person, huge. Getting a movie out even nationwide is an enormous task, even if that task is to be accomplished over time - over several months. DIY distribution is a powerful & effective tool. Instead of waiting around for approval & acceptance from film festivals/theater programmers/critics & other media/other distributors, a filmmaker can interact directly with the audience and conduct business by offering his/her work for purchase at screenings or through DVD or VOD. In the final analysis, two groups of people matter above all others in the film creation & consumption area of activity: filmmakers & paying audience members. DIY distribution is the shortest route between those two groups. The down side of DIY distribution is its limited reach. Unless the filmmaker has access to a lot of money & can hire/create a distribution operation that can take the film out wide, the film will only be seen in a few places, and even that wou...

Hung out in East Village today. Met & talked w/ Pioneer programmer Ray for a bit, found an "authentic" Sri Lankan restaurant called Sigiri near Pioneer, must try their food to see if it is in fact authentic (seems like it, Sri Lankans were working there, went in & said hello, there was a 1 hour long wait for dinner, so we ate at an Indian restaurant called Gandhi nearby - good food), put some Date Number One 8/31 Pioneer screening flyers out in East Village w/ the help of Brian Geldin & Allie, watched "Satellite" at the Pioneer - well shot & well acted, nice theater (reminded me of Visions, former indie theater, in DC). Need to get an early start tomorrow - back in East Village to get more flyers out, & got plans to hang out in West Village & maybe Brooklyn too. Did not run into Jim Jarmusch today, but I DID see a Stranger Than Paradise poster that is signed by Jarmusch to Two Boots, at Pioneer Theater (must get a pic of it tomorrow, will pu...

Had some excellent brunch at a diner near Ho-Ho-Kus (in Paramus?). Man, NJ diners know how to make eggs & home fries, yums. Took a bus to NYC. Saw the cityscape gleaming in the sun for the first time on this trip around 7 PM before the bus disappeared into the Lincoln Tunnel. Entered the city on foot from Port Authority Terminal. Walked through Times Square, met up w/ Samantha E. at Grand Central Station. Samantha gave me an overview of the subway system, which trains I need to take to get to the places I need to get to tomorrow for the promo work (thanks samantha!). Samantha took me & Allie to East Village. Had dinner there, walked around, figured out how to get to Pioneer Theater. On the way back from dinner I walked past the IFC Center. Very cool to see a place that I had only seen up to that point through pics on indieWIRE. Direct contact with NYC is exciting. It's a real place. I was here briefly in '91. Other than that all of my contact with NYC has been second ha...

So me & housemate & valiant producer's assistant Allie are on a nyc trip to promote the 8/31 screening of Date Number One at Pioneer Theater. Made an awesome flier, several hundred copies of it last night in Silver Spring (will add it to the blog later), MD before heading out on the road trip. We drove for about 4 hours, 1 stop in Delaware, saw a sign on a plush toy game machine that said "The Game Is Not Over Until You Win". And as Allie pointed out, that was not some wisdom statement but literally how that machine is set up - your turn at it does not end until you get a toy. For $2 I think that's a pretty good deal for a kid. Anyway, that sign in that toy machine put a smile on my face. I will have to put that in a movie at some point maybe. Off to get some brunch at a NJ diner (Allie tells me that they've got some "real" diners here, not like the ones in DC), & then off to NYC - meeting up w/ Samantha E., who I've only hung out w/ on t...

It's about 5 AM on Sun. The NYC trip is fully on, we just got to the "temp home base" aka Allie's mom's house in Ho-Ho-Kus (what a name :) New Jersey. Some sleep & we are off to Brooklyn in the morning. More later today. - Sujewa

Let's see, I've got my own website going ( Date Number One/Wild Diner Films ), and I've got MySpace & Friendster & iLOOP going (& a few other places that I have not done much w/ yet). But it would be cool to have one place on the web where I can promote the show & hang w/ people who are coming to the 8/31 screening of Date Number One at Pioneer Theater. Sooooo, if you are planning on coming, & you want to introduce yourself to the readers of this blog/other people who may be coming to the screening, post a comment or send me an e-mail/pic(s) at wilddiner AT aol.com, & I am going to start posting stuff, introducing DNO 8/31 NYC Show people to each other, & generally turning this blog into one long social/promo/party situation for the next couple of weeks. It's too hot to do too much real work man. Time to party, promote & hang out. Alright, 1st 8/31 show VIP to introduce is Brian Geldin! That's right, Brian THE FILM PANEL NOTETAKER Gel...

There are great advantages to showing your movie on a large screen. The larger than life image & the necessarily loud sound are overwhelming & it creates a unique, memorable & in my opinion more forgiving (of any technical flaws in the movie) experience. Re: that forgiving item, what I mean is that certain minor things (not huge visual problems of course) that need to be fixed in the movie may not be noticeable when viewed on a large screen because the brain is busy taking in the huge image & loud noise. Those same mistakes are more noticeable on a TV/computer screen, when watching the movie from a DVD. Anyway, I've learned a lot by watching Date Number One w/ 9 different audiences in 4 different cities over the last 3 or so months. Right now, using the acquired knowledge, I am making some changes to the movie, before it has its 10th screening in NYC on 8/31 @ Pioneer Theater ( get your tix now ). More on that later, this post is about the hard cost, the venue rent...

Super blogger David Hudson @ the mighty indie film blog GreenCine Daily mentioned the 8/31 NYC premiere of Date Number One today. Here's the link (go there & scroll down 'till you see a ninja). Thanks David! - Sujewa

Thanks to Brian "the hard working publicity dude" Geldin , I discovered a new site that other indie filmmaker/distributor/publicist types may want to check out (if ya didn't know about it already; i didn't know). It's called PR Web Press Release Newswire . At the moment I am not sure exactly what they do except that a whole lot of people are using it, press releases can be found there, & the press release (content below also) that Brian posted on PR Web re: the 8/31 screening of my movie Date Number One ( buy advance tix here ) in NYC seems to be directing more traffic to my flick's website. Here's the rest of that 50 mil page views quote from the PR Web site: "50 Million Page Views Each Month – Each month PRWeb delivers over 50 million page views of press release content from its sites, PRWeb and eMediaWire. This is separate from the traffic that we don’t measure from our distribution network. This is the highest online visibility of any commerc...

Yeah, there are plenty of wars & unrest & under-development in South Asia/the Indian subcontinent BUT also some of the hottest women in the world live there & come from there or have roots there. Prompted by my recent blogging about Date Number One 's NYC premiere on 8/31, 9 PM at Pioneer Theater, several South Asians e-mailed me & said they will be coming to the event & one, a very attractive young lady w/ obviously great taste in new films, just invited me to a party in NYC this weekend (I will be in NYC this weekend to promote the 8/31 screening). So there you go, one of the fringe benefits of making & showing indie movies: partying with hot South Asian women. Several hot South Asian women will be attending the 8/31 screening, so, you know, get ready.

I received this comment today (also a shorter version of this was e-mailed to me): " Dear Sujewa, We have taken off your program from our email list. The only reason we advertised it was because Ray from the Pioneer called us and asked to do so. We had no financial gain from the screening. This is commonly known as "Co-Presenting" or "Outreach" for Film Festival Marketing. A non-profit group with a target audience is asked to invite their audience to a specific program. We do provide free marketing to a core audience for South Asian independent films for the Pioneer Theater when they ask us to do so. Apologies for any misunderstandings. Good luck with your release. Best wishes, 3rd I NY " Sounds good to me. The whole argument could have been avoided had 3rd I NY contacted me prior to claiming that they are showing the movie. Co-presenters are fine, but taking all the credit for an event, after the event was arranged & promoted by others, is not fine. N...

The happy ending of the story is that the South Asian media organization 3rd I NY will tell the 3000 or so people on their mailing list about the NYC Premiere screening of Date Number One at Pioneer theater on 8/31. Which is very cool, thanks 3rd I NY! But before we got to that point today, there were a couple of hours of confusion, mild panic, early preparations to stop a possibly unauthorized screening, e-mails & phone calls. Here's what happened: I check my e-mail early afternoon today to find an e-mail from an organization that I've heard about (3rd I NY) but never dealt w/, & from a person named Shilpa Mankikar, a person that I do not know, and the relevant part of the e-mail read: "we are screening your film for 3rd i in new york this month. can you come up for a q&a?" I was like: interesting, that's news to me. I did not agree to or authorize a screening of Date Number One for 3rd I NY. In fact I had never dealt w/ them re: Date Number One (or r...

So I bought a blog ad. Definitely to promote the Date Number One screening on 8/31 @ Pioneer Theater in NYC & also to show some appreciation to Anthony Kaufman's blog - which is one of my favorite daily reads. Anthony regularly grapples with difficult, important, not-too-sexy but very relevant indie & foreign film matters. Check out the ad here (look to the right, below the ad about filmmaking in NY): http://blogs.indiewire.com/anthony/ An apostrophe (sp?) has appeared as a question mark in the ad. Will see if I can get that fixed. If not, no biggie. I like the ad. Go BlogAds & iW & AK's blog! - Sujewa

Yup, that's right, blogging about Araki films are happenin'. Go here to get all the details. Being Boring blog is the home of this event. While I have not fully enjoyed any Greg Araki movies I've seen so far (The Living End, The Doom Generation, the one w/ the alien - Nowhere?) I do enjoy & appreciate the existence of Araki & he is an inspiring indie filmmaker w/ DIY roots. & he is an Asian-American filmmaker w/ DIY indie/punk roots, there aren't too many of us around, so I always check to see what Araki is up to when his name surfaces in the media. Since I am not in love with any of his movies that I've seen, I will contribute to the blog a thon by writing about his career. Expect the post at some point this week. & maybe I'll check out Mysterious Skin also. & maybe I'll blog about that flick. But I'll definitely blog about Araki's career. - Sujewa

I will be very happy for a while with just GreenCine carrying the Date Number One DVD, if it happens, when we get to that point - will be submitting the flick to them - BUT there are people, including many indie filmmaker people, who are crazy about Netflix & would probably love to have the DVDs of their films be carried by Netflix. If you are one of those filmmakers, here is the link to the page where Netflix offers info. on submitting your film to them. Good luck. - Sujewa

I started a new blog called Positive Humans . PH will feature info. on inspirational people & groups & events. Will be writing in it at least once a day. The first post points to the peace activist group Nonviolent Peaceforce. Check out the blog here . Thanks. - Sujewa

It is also available through several other retailers, but we'll focus on Netflix first. Here's the link to the Netflix page for HOME. Here's a brief description of HOME (from the Netflix page), in case you missed all the blog entries re: it when it played in NYC a few months back, at the Pioneer Theater: " In this existential indie film helmed by movie critic Matt Zoller Seitz, a few dozen partygoers converge on a Brooklyn brownstone for an all-night bash. Among the revelers are a dream interpreter, a blathering salesman and uninvited guest Bobby (Jason Liebrecht), an aspiring playwright who's hoping to run into his ex (Minerva Scelza). While the evening wears on, a series of minidramas unfolds as the alcohol flows freely and inhibitions disappear. " Here is the website for HOME , for all the info. you will ever need on the project, most likely. Will have more HOME DVD links in the coming days. - Sujewa

The Sri Lankan government troops have re-taken control of a disputed town (killing 152 rebels, according to SL gov) & the rebels (LTTE) have pulled back to their former positions in territory that has been controlled by them for several years. This BBC article gives some useful background info. & analysis regarding the last few days of fighting, triggered by the rebels denying water to thousands of farmers. - Sujewa

NYC Trip Hey everyone, I am coming to NYC for a visit! Time to go put out some flyers & other promo material for the Date Number One 8/31 NYC premiere @ Pioneer Theater, help make some tix sales happen. Also looking forward to checking out the city, hanging out w/ some friends, making some new friends. I'll be in NYC from Sat 8/12 until Mon 8/14 (leaving on Mon PM or Tue 8/15 AM), if ya wanna hang, let me know (wilddiner AT aol.com). New Direction Through my own work & through the work of a few other DIY filmmakers/projects (The Last Broadcast & Head Trauma/Lance Weiler, Greg Pak's Robot Stories, Gene Cajone's The Debut, etc.) it is fully clear to me that an interesting & excellent feature length film can be made for a very low budget, can be self-distributed, and can be profitable. So I know I will always have a way to make movies & get them out. I am currently planning two films to be shot back to back next year. So far my films have been mostly self-...

Blogger & media professor Chuck Tryon caught the World Premiere of Date Number One on May 13. Here are a couple of paragraphs from his review of the movie, which was the very first review of DNO: " Like the characters in Jarmusch's Coffee and Cigarettes who reflect on concepts of celebrity and fame, Date Number One's twentysomethings find themselves returning to certain questions, in Date's case the potential relationship between quantum mechanics and Buddhism, with varying degrees of seriousness and authority. The conversations provide some degree of unity between the various episodes, but more importantly, the conversations seem to suggest the way in which ideas or concepts can weave their way through a community of artists and readers who spend a lot of time in bookstores and coffeehouses. An overheard snippet of conversation might be picked up by someone else, and the questions about Buddhism and quantum mechanics take an unexpected direction. Finally, I think...

Found Alex "Repo Man, Sid & Nancy" Cox's website last night. Here's what he has to say about a new film project called Searchers 2.0 : " The virtue of the microfeature is that it costs very little and is intended to be viewed primarily on TV and on DVD. If it plays in the cinema, that's cool too. But films don't make money in the cinema: they lose money there, thanks to the print, publicity and marketing costs, and the producer ends up in debt to the theatrical distributor. SEARCHERS 2.0 is at the point that REPO MAN was in 1983 - just before we made the deal with Universal. It could be made as a low budget feature by a studio (or by one of the studios' London subsidiaries). Or it can be made as a free-standing, independent feature, by a limited company set up for that purpose. " Read the rest here. - Sujewa

I received this request from Mel Duncan, Executive Director of the international peace activist organization Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) today. Heavy fighting broke out in Sri Lanka earlier this week and NP workers & other civilians are caught between the LTTE & Sri Lankan Government's fighting. Here's the NP request: EMERGENCY ACTION REQUEST: Immediate Ceasefire and Respect for International Humanitarian Law in Sri Lanka 3 August 2006 Dear Friends and Colleagues, I write to you about an emergency. Almost unnoticed by the international community, heavy fighting has broken out in Eastern Sri Lanka this week. Since Tuesday, LTTE (Tamil Tigers) and government forces have been battling in the Muthur, Sampur and Mavil Aaru areas of Trincomalee District, where our teams have been active for almost three years. In Mutur town the entire civil infrastructure has collapsed and the civilian population – Tamil, Muslim and Sinhalese alike- is seeking refuge in mosques, churches and s...

Just spent a few minutes chatting with DC based filmmaker Jeff Krulik . Jeff was at the Kensington Row Bookshop to videotape a friend talking about his book about Jim Morrison of The Doors & the time Morrison spent living in Alexandria, VA. I am going to try to do an interview with Jeff re: his films & upcoming projects. He is famous for making Heavy Metal Parking Lot. AMIR MOTLAGH DIGS DATE NUMBER ONE ! Amir makes good movies (he is working on a feature called Whale right now), so when he called me around 2 AM this morning & told me that he just saw Date Number One & congratulated me on it, told me that he likes the movie a lot, it was a very nice moment. Amir said he will write & publish on the web a review of the flick very soon. Will post the link as soon as I see it. Thanks for checking out the movie Mr. Amir. Brian "The Film Panel Notetaker" Geldin ( website , MySpace ) is the publicist I hired to help get the word out re: the 8/31 screening of Dat...

20 cities! Kat Candler's SXSW 06 selected film JUMPING OFF BRIDGES is about to embark on a screening tour. Here are the dates so far: 8/9, Dallas, TX, Dallas Video Festival , Angelika Film Center, 7pm 8/11, Lubbock TX, Flatland Film Festival 9/13, Seattle, WA, Broadway Performance Hall 9/15, Albuquerque, NM 9/15 - 9/21, Overland Park, KS, Kansas City International Film Festival 9/30, San Antonio, TX, Historic Guadalupe Theater at Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center , 7pm October, Baltimore, MD, TBA October, Washington DC, TBA October, Chicago, IL, TBA October or November (week run), Jacksonville, FL, San Marco Theater , TBA 10/3, Austin, TX, Alamo Drafthouse South , 7pm 10/3 - 10/8, New Haven, CT, Connecticut Film Festival 10/6 - 10/7 (weekend run), Tallahassee, FL, All Saints Cinema 10/7, Boston, MA, Capital Theater , 6:30pm 10/14, Nashville, TN, Belcourt Theater , 2pm 10/14, Houston, TX, Rice University Media Lab , 7pm 10/26, Portland, OR, The Hollywood Theater November, Los Angel...

I drew this on a post-it note a couple of days ago. Jerry "Hollywood Is Talking" Brewington & friend Bill Coy helped me turn it into the appropriate size for web purposes. Thanks a lot Jerry & Bill. I am now working on pulling stills & coming up w/ posters, post cards, flyers, etc. Also need to learn some graphic design programs quick. Lots of fun ahead. - Sujewa Date Number One NYC premiere 8/31, 9 PM, Pioneer Theater Buy Tickets Now! t h n x!

I am still getting used to the idea of giving some of the Date Number One distro work load to someone else, but I think it will be worth it in the long run. The whole situation is not as indiewood as it sounds, I already knew the publicist & he gave me an excellent deal on the work - to promote the Thu 8/31, 9 PM screening of Date Number One at Pioneer Theater, NYC. Once I get more comfortable w/ the idea of employing a publicist (for the 9 screenings of DNO so far, only I did the publicity work, now this 10th screening will have 2 peeps doing publicity - self & the publicist, pretty strange & new to me, but NYC is huuuge & the Pioneer screening is important, so I am very grateful for the help) & some publicity work has been done, I will introduce the publicist to the readers of this blog & will talk about some of the useful work that a publicist may be able to do for your film. Even an ultra-low budget publicist may be very useful in getting the word out about ...

A flick that so many critics are having a problem with, according to the IFC blog , may be worth checking out, specially since it was directed by Luc Besson. The new movie Angel-A features a dude from Amelie in the lead male role, & is a black & white flick that sounds inspired by It's A Wonderful Life. There may be some good ideas & moments in there somewhere, even if the whole thing may not have come together too well. Looking forward to seeing it. - Sujewa

The list is of course relatively meaningless because there are 100s of new filmmakers worth watching right now (about 15 of them at Indie Features 06) and it is indie film (meaning anyone who makes a good film is worth watching, it is a wide open field, open to all, which is very, very cool) but it put a smile on my face to see Mike Tully on the list (#18!) and also Todd Rohal (somehow not as much a surprise). Congrats Todd & Mike! We will have to celebrate at the next secret meeting of the MD New Wave (so secret, even the members do not know when it is & do not know about the exact activities of the movement. secret but powerful. the veritable nexus of the DIY, Indiewood, Hollywood film worlds). One more time, go Mike & Todd!!! - Sujewa note to self: see The Guatemalan Handshake, Todd's flick. ps: here's para 1 from Mike Tully's section: "Filmmaker, musician, blogger and housepainter Michael Tully has been keeping himself busy the past year. It was only a...