Skip to main content

Posts

Latest from Kensington: new housemates, Knocked Up, stomach troubles, Woody Allen book, g-friend b-day, re-edited DNO Story 2

* Saw Knocked Up last night, good stuff, certainly one way to go with the "keeping an unexpected pregnancy" story line in a comedy, there can definitely be other takes on the subject, the audience at Silver Spring's Majestic theater dug it. Made me think about changes I can make to DNO to play to that audience/type of venue (big suburban movie theater), which leads to the final item in this post, but before that; (oh, spent most of the movie thinking about a recent-ex, very sad :( good thing i was watching a comedy) * New housemates - for the month of June & beyond we had 3 rooms open in the shared house that I live in, got 3 new housemates, one is an Iraq war veteran (lots of sad first hand accounts about the war, dude says it is a mistake for the US to be there now & was a mistake to go in the first place), lots of stuff happening at the house. Should be interesting. * Stomach ache - had me knocked out pretty much all day yesterday, I think it was the Ethio

David Lowery interviews Charles Burnett

Often times the film people I know and the film people that a lot of the indie film media writes about live in two different worlds; almost, it feels like, in two different time periods, but then, sometimes, these two worlds come together as they do here in this awesome & rather lengthy conversation with Charles Burnett conducted by David Lowery . Check it out. - Sujewa

Date Number One should be in NYC & LA this year for 1 week or longer runs

slowly figuring out the details re: Date Number One theatrical for rest of '07. should have the exact dates & venues worked out in/by July, will announce the details, most likely, after the July 12 - 18 DC area run (in Kensington, MD). so, if I can do at least 1 week each in NYC & LA this year (on top of the upcoming 1 week in the DC area), that would be a minor theatrical self-distribution success for DNO (for '07 at least). will have DVDs available for sale in June ( from my website ), working on them as I write this, for everyone who does not live in DC, NYC or LA (or also for those who do & want to see/own the flick on DVD) . hopefully i can screen the film at several more cities this year, aside from the week+ long runs in the 3 cities mentioned. but DC, NYC & LA is a very good start for longer/1 week+ runs (beyond a day or a weekend, we did 13 of those in '06 & so far in '07) for DNO. yeah, it is entirely possible that this initial distribution

Charles Burnett on Hollywood's color barrier

Check it out here , at Landmark Theater's house organ FLM magazine . Here is a sample: "I have been asked a number of times, “Is Hollywood racist?” I fear that the people who pose that question are in denial. I hate when people counter by saying, “If Hollywood is the problem, make your own films, create your own studio and distribution system.” Anyone who knows this business knows that is not the answer. " Read the rest here . - Sujewa

VICTORY! Date Number One actor Steve Lee has been selected for Live Mansion!!!

originally posted 5/21/07 See Michael Rapaport announce the Live Mansion lead actors & director here. Steve is very excited. He did an excellent job in Date Number One (lead male in Story 3, the one with the bell). Looks like he will be getting a bit more fame from this upcoming project. From comingsoon.net (red highlight mine): " The winners of the LiveMansion: The Movie Casting Call and Director Competition are: Damian Maffei is Jack Keelen Monahan is Envin Joe Pacillo is Clyde Steve Lee is Derek Julie Wions is Rebecca Hannah Fierman is MeeGan LaMyra Kinzer is Janelle Melissa Roth is Sabrina Mitch Gettleman – Director LiveMansion: The Movie is the creation of LiveMansion.com, a social network of film fans, actors, directors, producers and those aspiring to be. Over a thousand actors competed to win one of the eight main roles and over two hundred directors competed to win the rights to direct the film, which will be a thriller. More than 700,000 votes were cast

DNO Seattle '06 flashback: Interview With A Seattle Audience Member for Date Number One

* * * * * * * * Julia Stemper as Anne the Karate Woman & John Stabb Schroeder as Mark the Ninja from Date Number One . photo copyright 2006 sujewa ekanayake/wild diner films * Originally published 5/20/06 Tom Kipp, Seattle resident (& former film reviewer for the Seattle alterna weekly The Stranger, if I heard correctly), came to the 7 PM show today. Here's an interview: Sujewa: So Tom, how did you hear about my movie playing at NWFF tonight? Tom: Well, I was checking the NWFF website yesterday for info about LOVE STREAMS, and quite randomly found the blurb about DATE NUMBER ONE. I read parts of your blog, and couldn't resist a film about D.C.! [I lived in Burke, VA for five years--'87 to '92--and used to hang out in D.C. all the time.] Sujewa: Excellent. Glad you came. So how did you like the movie (feel free to elaborate :)? Tom: I thought the framing device you deployed [having all the characters in some way appended to the Adams-Morgan bookstore] was quite e

"The Punk Mariachi All-Stars" (Seznec Brothers & Shervin Boloorian) play sweet songs of D.I.Y. romantic comedy in Date Number One

As I go, for the six hundredth time, over certain scenes in Date Number One while preparing the final version & the DVDs of the movie, one thing that keeps me refreshed is the excellent bluegrass & rock music created by Cory & Yann Seznec (brothers from Maryland by way of France) and Shervin Boloorian (from DC by way of CA & UK & Iran); known, for the purpose of this movie, as "The Punk Mariachi All-Stars" (the band exists in the world of the movie, in our world they do not, thus quotes must always be used when writing their name in our world). More "PMAS"/DNO music notes coming soon. In the meantime, check out the The Seznec Brothers website, they've got some music there. Also check out music by Cory's new band The Groanbox Boys (under Projects, here ). - Sujewa

this is the 3rd summer since we started shooting Date Number One

yup. started shooting Date Number One , my "no" budget self-distributed DV comedy/romantic comedy feature in summer of '04!!! about 3 years later, was it all worth it? F*** YEAH! making this movie has been one of the best things i've done in my life! and the fun is just starting; distribution is gonna kick into higher gear starting this summer. thanks a lot to everyone who has made it possible to come this far with this project. we will all hang & party very soon. - sujewa

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

Reading Material

Indie Film Blogger Road Trip