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

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