To Mill Valley... And beyond! (PT. 1)

Justin and Evan got invited to the Mill Valley Film Festival and Justin was kind enough to see to it that I also got to attend.

Despite having been to San Francisco and even living in Northern California for a lot of my childhood, I had never been to Mill Valley. If you have never been, I highly recommend it. It's a very romantic and magical place. You might compare it to Carmel (if you've ever been), only it's a little less, um, sleepy. In other words, you can still get dinner at 11pm if you want.

The Festival has a lot of support behind it (Lucasfilm, AMPAS [Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences], Whole Foods), and because of their generous sponsors, they are able to really take care of their filmmakers. We were nominated for, and later won, the Best US Feature Audience Award (shared with the stunning PARIAH).

While we were there, I got to see BUTTER which had a stellar cast and was a pretty funny (thinly veiled political parody) film. I also ran into Michelle Yeoh, who I've known for years, whose film THE LADY received very strong word of mouth and also won an award at the Fest.

GIRLFRIEND played its first (sold out) showing across a bridge and down the road a bit in San Rafael, Ca. at the Rafael Theatre. San Rafael doesn't have the quaint, village-like feel of Mill Valley proper... it somehow feels like a cleaner version of Haight Ashbury... at least the part that I saw, which was a four block stretch of 4th Street.

Our next showing was in Mill Valley, but neither Justin nor I could be there, so Evan did the Q & A himself. I hear it was a great success.

After a great two days in the Bay Area, we drove home to LA before Justin went off to the Festival in Ghent and I headed for North Carolina to make a little money on the Disney film I'm working on.

North Carolina, while beautiful (see below), is not a place I will necessarily be rushing back to. Truth to tell, I'm not much for nature - and there's lots of it there. Lots and lots of it. We were shooting additional photography on the Biltmore Estate. 80,000 acres of stunning foliage. The first day, it poured rain on us, but the second day was pleasant enough.

 During that first week in North Carolina, I found out I would going to New York for the weekend. Friday, I'd be helping out during ADR for the Disney film and maybe have some free time in the city before flying back out on Sunday.

I arrived into JFK and, while waiting for my bags, met a very nice woman from San Francisco (but who is Malaysian). She is an architect and was in New York to see a performance by her favorite dance troupe.

Since she needed to get into Manhattan and my cab was being paid for by Disney, I offered to share the cab to my hotel, after which, she could continue on (for far less money) to her destination.

We talked all the way into the city and when we arrived at my hotel, exchanged cards. It was just the beginning of what was going to be a great weekend... and the beginning of e new idea I will tell you about in the next blog.

This has been a short(er) blog than usual, but the next will be coming soon!

Thanks for reading!

S

Hell's Half Mile and Beyond...

 I arrived in Michigan for the Hell's Half Mile Film and Music Festival and, along with filmmakers Rider and Shiloh Strong & Alexandra Barreto, we were driven from the airport into Bay City, where the festival takes place.

Bay City is a sleepy town on the Saginaw River that has a rich and storied history - in addition to being a fascinating area from a historical standpoint, it's also a place that's ripe for film crews... it's a very picturesque town and no matter where you stand, you can envision any variety of scenes. The one that kept coming up in my brain was a zombie flick - odd since I'm not a huge horror fan. But yeah. Zombie apocalypse. You're probably thinking: "Why zombies?" Well.

Here's a picture of Bay City at around 2pm in the afternoon:

Here's another:

Curious what Bay City looks like at night?

So, yeah. Not much different. Now, to be fair, there is a thriving bar scene just across the River, but in general, Bay City proper, looks pretty much like these photos.

Anyway. The Strong Bros., Rider's girlfriend Alexandra (herself a filmmaker with a short in the Fest) and I got into town just in time for the opening night party...

Festival Director Alan LaFave and I at 

the Opening Night Party.

The next few days were pretty great. I got to see a stunningly beautiful film by writer-director Jasmine McGlade Chazelle called MARIA MY LOVE based on an extremely personal story by her friend (and now my friend) Lauren Fales, who also co-stars in the film. 

I also became fast friends with Rider, Shiloh and Alexandra.

Rider, Shiloh and Alex had three short films in the Fest that they had either written, directed, produced, or acted in. In a few cases, they had done all three.

The shorts all played together as part of a Shorts program and, when viewed as a whole, demonstrate a fascinating amount skill, creativity and talent... the first film in the series is called IRISH TWINS and was very impressive both in it's storytelling and tone. It's a drama that comes together very quickly and goes somewhere you didn't expect. 

The next short is called THE DUNGEONMASTER, which, not surprisingly, has garnered the brother interest in expanding the short into a feature. A unique and funny story that is well told and, again, impressive - especially when you know how low-budget it was.

Finally, I saw Alexandra's short METHOD about an actress who goes to some pretty extraordinary lengths to inhabit a role. If you know the film business and you know actors, it's pretty hilarious.

Living in LA and being in the indie film business can sometimes be a kind of soul-crushing affair. You love movies and telling stories, but the "business" end of "show business" is so often stifling... and trying to find money, particularly in this economy, is just hellish. Trying to shepherd a project through the development phase can take years, and that's just to get a script or property to a place where you feel comfortable taking it out to find funding. Funny thing is, these days, it's not too different in the big budget industry. The studios don't seem to have any interest in telling unusual stories or in creating challenging material - oh, sure, they'll do one or two a year to be able to champion during Oscar season, but by and large it's up to the indies to tell stories that don't have massive explosions or men with guns.

Sorry. Went off on a tangent there.

Going to Festivals is great because it offers you a lift - it reminds you that there are other people out there just like you, which as strange as it sounds, you can kind of forget.

Anyway. I was surrounded by inspiration at HHM.  Since I had been at the Festival before, in a way, there was a "coming home" element for me. Alan LaFave (the Festival Director) and I had become friends in the years that followed my last trip and so, when someone else fell out, Alan asked (on short notice) if I would be willing to moderate the panel on "Acting in Film." I was a little freaked out (not a fan of public speaking), but figured I could get by since the panelists would do most of the heavy lifting.

I raced back to my room and pulled up IMDB to get a better idea of everyone's work. It should be mentioned that, for a panel of people who are all younger than I am, they are a particularly accomplished group.

The panelists were: Rider Strong, Alexandra Barreto and Shiloh Strong (of the above mentioned short films), Lauren Fales and Brian Rieger of MARIA MY LOVE and Lynn Mancinelli who had appeared in a film which had played in an earlier year at the festival and who, in fact, was shooting a film in town while the Festival was going on! (She's fantastic, by the way!)

Me. Moderating the f*ck out of the "Acting in Film" Panel.

Shiloh Strong (L.) Lynn Mancinelli (C.) Brian Rieger (R.)

Rider Strong & Alex Barreto

(Thanks to Kari Maples for these shots)

After moderating the panel, we all hung out some more. And again the next day. And the next. We went to a few parties and had a really nice time. Somewhere, within those few days, GIRLFRIEND screened. I was really nervous, especially since I was the only person who worked on the film present and I knew I had to do the Q & A after... something I actually like to do, but get incredibly uncomfortable doing, nonetheless. 

Everyone else had already screened their projects (and they were uniformly good) which only added to my stress level. Don't get me wrong, I know GIRLFRIEND is a good film... what I didn't know was how it might play in Michigan. And since film is a subjective medium, one never knows how it will hit an individual. You'd be surprised at the range of reactions we've gotten in the past year! The end of the film is particularly polarizing, as you might imagine. Would my new friends, my peers, like it? Would they be moved? Or would it not work for them?

Lauren Fales, as it turned out, would end up being my cheerleader. A little ways into the screening, she grabbed my arm, looked at me and gave the most reassuring smile... "It's really good," she seemed to be saying. It instantly calmed me down.

After, at the Q & A, my new friends got the ball rolling by asking some questions (something we had done at their screenings) and ... it was just a great experience.

Since I've been back, I've spoken either by phone or email to all of them - emailed some scripts back and forth with a few of them and hung out with two of them... I'm looking forward to hanging out with them more and, hopefully, working with them.

So, uh, thanks HHM!

Well. I feel like I've written 47 pages and whoever is reading this probably got bored 9 paragraphs ago... so, I'll continue next time. A bit about the fabulous Mill Valley Film Festival and then on to a brief stop in North Carolina before heading on to New York.

Thanks for reading.

S

Having A Wander...

In recent months, I've had the great opportunity and good fortune to do quite a bit of traveling - first with (and on behalf of) the filmmaking team who created GIRLFRIEND and then along with writer-director Peter Hedges during the post-production process for the new Disney production of THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN.

What follows is the tale of my latest adventures...


This little travelogue begins this past July, when GIRLFRIEND opened theatrically at the QUAD CINEMA in New York, just a few blocks from Union Square.

The Quad is an old-school art house theater. As you can see in the photo below, our film was playing opposite an Oscar nominated foreign film, and an indie directed by John Turturro among a few others. Initially, GIRLFRIEND was only booked for a one week run, but after our receipts were higher than all of the other films that week, the theater decided to hold us over for an additional week... a phenomenon which has continued at recent venues.

I flew out for the opening weekend and grabbed this video on the night of the premiere...

 

We had a great showing - continuing our streak of sold out screenings going back to our premiere at Toronto in 2010.

Here's an unusual artsy photo I took of our one-sheet in the "Now Showing" case at the Quad:

After the July showing in New York, I returned to Los Angeles and, with bills mounting, took a job... a job that would turn out to be one of the best of my career in the big-budget film biz...

The reason I would say it has been one of, if not the best experience I've had in the business, is because I began working, as I mentioned above, for writer-director Peter Hedges. Peter is an extraordinarily generous, kind and talented man. I have had the good fortune to learn a great deal from him during the process and I am proud to have been a part of his latest film. I will honestly be quite sad when it comes to an end in just a few weeks.

In the midst of post production on Peter's film, I also took on an additional job working for the lovely and talented Ms. Anne Hathaway on THE DARK KNIGHT RISES. I'd say more on that topic, but I'm afraid the Warner Bros. security detail would come smashing through my windows and cart me away only to lock me in the water tower with the Animaniacs. Not that that wouldn't be fun...

During these months, GIRLFRIEND began adding awards to our mantle...

We picked up the Audience Award for Best Feature at Woods Hole Film Fest as well as the Jury Award for Best Feature Drama.

Evan Sneider was there to collect the Award.

A short time later, the film screened at the White Sands International Film Festival, where we picked up Best Director and the Grand Jury Award for Best Feature...

Anne finally had a weekend where she wasn't scheduled to work on DKR, and I headed off to Michigan to the Hell's Half Mile Film and Music Festival, where only a few years earlier, DAKOTA SKYE had picked up the Fest Best Award.

Taking GIRLFRIEND there would turn out to be an amazing experience - not only for the reception the film received, but also because of the people I would end up meeting. A group of amazingly talented filmmakers with such unique and exciting creative voices that I left feeling truly inspired.

Check back for the next installment!

Brushes With Greatness

Over the years, I've been extremely fortunate to have worked with some of the film industry's best and brightest both in front of, and behind the camera... I've studied them, learned from them and, on occasion, spoken with them.

The other night, I had the opportunity to speak with one of my cinematic heroes - Academy Award winning composer Hans Zimmer.

Now, though he's certainly one of only a small handful of "marquee" composers in the business, the average film-goer may not know the name... but you absolutely know his music. The self-proclaimed "procrastinator" has scored over 100 films going back nearly 25 years!

Have kids? You may know this one. Like sweeping epic Oscar winning films? Maybe this is one you'll recognize. More into romantic comedy? Try this. Or, maybe you're an action junkie... Go here. Here or here. DARK KNIGHT. DRIVING MISS DAISY. RAIN MAN. THE ROCK. The list goes on.

In short, he's absolutely brilliant and he's in my top 5.

So, last night (as I begin to write this), I got to meet him. Not just meet him, actually. We sat and talked... and he offered to get me some of his unreleased stuff. This was, in a word, amazing.

Anyway, it got me thinking about the opportunities I've gotten in my life to meet some of my childhood heroes and, in a few cases, talk with them like I did with Mr. Zimmer.

I suppose the biggest one was when I got to talk with Steven Spielberg about filmmaking. Just him and me. I'll start with that story and circle back around.

I had been working on AVATAR foe several weeks with the exceptional Zoe Saldana (who was so kind to me, by the way) when I head the door to "the volume" (the name James Cameron gave to the Performance Capture stage) open. I heard Cameron talking as he came through the door and myself and everyone else on that stage were well trained to recognize that when "Jim" stepped in, we all snapped to attention.

I looked over and nearly collapsed. Behind him were two more cinematic titans... Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson. James announced to the crew that he was going to give the actors several days off so that he could "loan" the stage to Spielberg and Jackson so that they could test drive the technology - it seems that the two director's were toying with the idea of filming a new joint venture with Cameron's Performance Capture technology and they even wanted to use a good friend of Jackson's - a man with previous Performance Capture experience. You can see the results of this test here.

Well. Even though Zoe would be off the next day, you could be damned sure I wasn't going to sit at home.

I showed up the next morning at about 8am and made my way onto the lot at Playa Vista Studios (where Howard Hughes built the famed 'Spruce Goose') and walked through the door to find Spielberg already in the volume. He was running around like a kid in a candy store, holding this kind of steering-wheel looking thing that Cameron and his team of geniuses had created. Spielberg was, for all intents and purposes, operating his own camera... even though it wasn't actually a camera.

To get a sense of what the volume is and how Performance Capture works, check out these two clips (one and two). Anyway. I watched for several hours as Spielberg. Jackson and Cameron ran around shooting tests. On the big screen (a very large television just off the stage floor), you could see a sort of rudimentary example of what your final shot would look like... as you shoot it! Cameron asked his team to set up a 50' crane move for Spielberg who then moved the steering-wheel rig in an arc motion from above his head down to his knees... on screen, the image showed a 50' crane shot that came down to reveal his actor on a tramp steamer of some sort. The image on screen showed a rough sketch of the TINTIN character who would be played in the film by Andy Serkis - and whaddaya know... there, on the volume, was Andy Serkis.

I hung out the entire day, watching them play, experiment, talk and troubleshoot. It was literally watching two of the greatest living filmmakers teach their equal how to use a new toy... and they all became kids again. It was stunning to witness.

Around lunch time, I was standing by craft service. The stage was empty and I thought I was alone. I was just waiting for everyone to come back in... when suddenly, someone was standing next to me. I look up and there he is: the guy who is absolutely the reason I got into film... Steven F'ing Spielberg. I looked around. It was just him and me.

"How ya doin'?" he asked.

I managed to choke out, "Good. Good."

"So... what do you think about all of this?" he asked as he turned to face the volume. I turned around to look at what he was looking at... a big grey stage full of nothing. "Are you learning it all? Do you like it?" He went on.

What do I say? Do I say I love it even though I don't? Gotta say something... anything, for God's sake!

Finally, I answered:

"Well... to be honest, I'm not learning much about it because with Jim, none of these guys have the time to explain anything to me. Besides, I'm not a techie. It's all a foreign language to me..."

"Mmm." He nodded.

"And, uh, do I like it? Uh... no. Not really."

He turned to me. "No? Why not?"

"I'm a kid of the 70's. I grew up on your movies. On sets, props, models and not cg... I even named my company after a character in one of your films..."

"Oh, yeah?" He asked. "Which one?"

"My company is called 'Ravenwood Films,' " I told him. He smiled.

"From RAIDERS," he chuckled... "That's very kind of you."

"Yeah, well. You're the reason I'm in this business..."

We both looked out at the stage... empty. Silent.

"I'm the guy who nearly cried when I heard they were dumping the ILM Model shop, so yeah... I don't really care for all of this stuff. Set extensions... no costumes... "

Silence again.

Then he looked at me. "Well. You know... guys like you will keep all of that alive. Look at me... George has been on me for years to shoot digital, cut digital... but I don't. I mean, this little experiment aside, I'm a purist so... yeah. We'll keep that around. There's room for all of it. That's the good thing."

I then pressed him for info about another INDIANA JONES, to which he just smiled. "We'll see," he said. "We'll see." That's when the crew started to file back in and my hero went on to play some more in Cameron's sandbox.

I surreptitiously snapped a camera phone pic (came out blurry) of the three guys chatting, but I've since upgraded my phone and so that image lives on my old phone in a drawer.

Months later, I would find myself standing on a massive stage at Downey Studios watching Harrison Ford, in full Indy regalia, leading Russian soldiers through the Warehouse from the end of RAIDERS, with Spielberg calling the shots.

Back to Zimmer.

If you follow me on Twitter, you'll know I mentioned talking with him was like getting a free Master Class... and it was.

We talked about how he started. We talked about how he created the score for RAIN MAN in director Barry Levinson's cutting room (!) We spoke briefly of Christopher Nolan and their working relationship.

In the end, I geeked out a bit in front of him. I showed him my computer which contains about 11 1/2 hours of his music and I told him I'd love to get more - especially the unreleased stuff.

2 days later, I received all of his masters for RAIN MAN (of which only two cues were ever released), THELMA & LOUISE (of which only one cue was ever released, and about 34 cues from THE HOLIDAY including some tests with Imogen Heap (an artist I love) who did vocals for the score.

It's rare that anyone in this business keep their word. The fact that he did is huge for me.


S

The Next Thing...

With so many projects in various stages, it's always dificult to tell which one might get to the starting line first... but one project has emerged as the front-runner... and while I'll be preforming producing duties on a micro-budget legal thriller this summer, the one that is the closest to my heart... and something I've been developing, will be the next official project for Ravenwood Films as well as my feature directorial debut. The film is called IN THE SACK and was written by Arthur Tiersky.

SACK, which Ravenwood Films optioned this May, is an offbeat, edgy comedy-drama about a lonely, curmudgeonly bachelor who gets so fed up with disappointments in life and love that he decides to wear a black sack over his body everywhere he goes. His entire body. The intent is to automatically repel people and, in particular, women so as to kill all his hopes and thus all chance of disappointment, but gradually, the sack has the opposite effect, making him a source of intrigue and fascination for others as well as changing his personality. Freed of his usual anxieties and fears, he becomes much more relaxed, out-going, friendly and most of all, confident. He is convinced that the sack has solved all his problems, but of course, he eventually comes to realize that it's only a temporary fix, a shortcut around the real issues he has to deal with. The script is a penetrating, funny and brutally honest portrait of the fears that can cause loneliness and vice versa, and the right and wrong ways to go about facing them.

So there you go. We're talking to various investors as well as considering crowd-sourcing options and hope to have that together in the near future.

Stay tuned!

An Update From Toronto!

Click
HERE to view a short interview with Evan Sneider (and Justin Lerner) regarding their recent trip to Toronto on behalf of "Girlfriend."

EVAN'S BLOG - PART V

ON ACTING

I have always loved acting since I was very young. The very first time I acted was in a recreational program's production of Delia Ephron's "How to Eat Like a Child". I still remember that I had so much fun. I continued to act in every school play possible and also in a youth summer theater program, Weston Drama Workshop in plays like "The Philadelphia Story," "Carousel" and "Camelot." My director from "The Philadelphia Story" asked me if I would like to be her assistant director on a middle school's production of "The Music Man." I enjoyed this experience and learned a lot and loved working with this director, but I knew that acting was what I liked to do most.

After post-graduation studies, besides working, I began auditioning for community theaters. So far I've been cast in more than 20 productions! Since I'm I'm a huge Stephen Sondheim fan, two of my favorites have been "Into the Woods" with the F.U.D.G.E. Theater Company and "Assassins" with The Lexington Players. When I was still in school, I was also cast as Doc's assistant in "West Side Story."

Before filming began on GIRLFRIEND, I was in "The Sound of Music" by Stephen Sondheim's mentor (Oscar Hammerstein and his partner Richard Rogers). I've also performed in "Annie Get Your Gun" whose music and lyrics were by Irving Berlin, but was originally produced by Rogers and Hammerstein. I've also appeared in Rogers and Hammersteins's "Cinderella" and "Carousel."

During my filming on THE REPLACEMENT CHILD and GIRLFRIEND I've learned that acting in film is very different than acting in theater. Justin explained it to me by saying acting in theater is 'big' and acting in film is 'small' and more true to real life. There are other differences in theater and film work too. When you are in a play you perform the same story from beginning to end at every performance. When you act in a film you usually prepare for different scenes of the story each day. This was really fun and great for me. I'd get a Call Sheet the night before so I could study the script and be prepared for the scenes we'd be shooting the next day.

Some nights after shooting Justin and I would talk on the phone in case I had any questions or concerns or in case he wanted to talk some things over with me. I think these talks were helpful to both of us.

Another difference between theater and film is the time you work. Plays I've been in have performances mostly at night with a couple of daytime matinees. On a film shoot you might have to work during the day and on other shooting days you might have to stay up all night to shoot night time scenes. As I mentioned earlier, while filming GIRLFRIEND I learned that in film you usually shoot scenes out of order, because of different actor's schedules and availability to work. I usually didn't have a problem with this except on one occasion. I had shot an emotional scene at the the start of filming, but the scene that made me feel emotional was shot much later. I had a hard time when the later scene was shot because I felt my character should respond emotionally. Justin talked me through it, reminding me that when the film was edited together, the way I felt my character should respond is exactly what would be seen. This was a learning experience for me.

I love both theater and film and hope to have the opportunity to do all kinds of acting. I'd like to do more film, television and theater work. I'd like to perform in dramas, comedies, romantic comedies or maybe even a soap opera like "Days of Our Lives"! I'd even like to do commercials and voice-over work!

CLOSING

I am so glad and so lucky that Justin's family moved to Wayland in our junior year of high school and that we became friends. It touches my heart so much that Jerad, Kristina, Justin and everyone that worked on GIRLFRIEND had belief in me and gave me this amazing opportunity. The entire experience of making GIRLFRIEND has been an amazing, incredible fun experience. I loved being able to act every day, to learn so many things and to get to work with everybody who worked on the film, in front of and behind the camera! Many of them are now dear friends to me that I love very much. I have so many wonderful memories of this amazing experience, acting in what I hope is only my first feature length film.

WRAP-UP. A MESSAGE FROM EVAN:

To Our Supporters, Fans, Family and Friends:

I'm looking forward to all the fun stuff that can happen for our film GIRLFRIEND. I want to thank every single person who has donated to Indiegogo to help get our wonderful film out to as large an audience as possible. Everyone who worked on the film put a lot of effort and love into it. Each of your donations will help spread the love and help us reach our goal. Please continue to tell about GIRLFRIEND and our Indiegogo campaign. "Like" GIRLFRIEND on Facebook and post the Girlfriend-Indiegogo link (www.indiegogo.com/girlfriend-2) there too! Spread the love by continuing to get the word out to family and friends. Every little bit helps and counts.

Again, thank you all so very much for your help and generosity to help GIRLFRIEND be released in as many theaters as possible.

Remember to keep checking in here on Shaun's blog and GIRLFRIEND's official site for updates.