California Dreamin'

Well, after a very busy Winter Olympics here in Vancouver, it looks like I have something to add to the old blog... finally.

Serum 1831 has just been accepted into 1 more film festival, and has been invited to screen at another. That's 2 more screenings scheduled for the short film! While I was hoping for more than a total of four festivals at this point, I'm grateful that the film is getting noticed. Where it's getting noticed, however, interests me.

Out of the 4 film festivals that Serum 1831 has been selected to screen at, 3 of them are in Northern California. And on top of that, my previous film, Alternative Dispute Resolution, was selected to screen at 3 festivals, 2 of those in Northern California. Northern California loves me! So, as a few people have mentioned, maybe I should pack my bags and head to San Jose. Naw, I love Vancouver too much.

Off to bed I go. I've got a photo shoot to attend tomorrow. The website beyondrobson.com is revamping their site, and they are looking to feature some of Vancouver's up-and-coming talent, including yours truly. The interview took place before the Olympics, tomorrow I get pictures taken for the site, and all should be up on the inter-web by mid month. Should be interesting.

Screening night

Well I've finally got something to type about. It's been a pretty slow couple of weeks, no months, on the Serum 1831 front. But tonight, I finally got a screening in Vancouver. Yay! Hometown crowd finally gets to see the thing.

So down I went to the good old Chapel Arts building on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, and sat patiently in the crowd watching a whole bunch of short films. Some were the same old drivel that I've been ranting about before on this blog, leaving me wondering why this thing got made, but the majority of these shorts were funny, entertaining and a pleasure to see. I had a great time and it seemd that Serum went over well. Although, I thought it was unfortunate that my film was shown after 2 great funny little films. Unfortunate only in that the audience was in a laughing mood, and for the first few minutes of my film, they thought it was also a comedy, and laughed at some of the lines. That didn't bother me much, but I think it may have confused the audience a little, who quickly realized the film wasn't that funny at all. Oh well, they quickly got the picture.

Question and answer period at the end of the film was more of a "here's the mic, talk about your film". Me don't talk goodly in front of crowds, but after soliciting a few questions, things ended up going ok.

At the end of the evening, I have to say I was pleased with the number of people that came up and said how much they enjoyed the film. I would have liked to stay a little longer, but someone has to wake up in 5 hours to go back to work, and it was already WAY past her bedtime.

I would like to thank Films Talk Entertainment and the Celluloid Social Club for making me a part of the I Heart Van Art preview screening. I wish them the best of luck with their festival, and I hope that Serum will be seen somewhere during the festival in mid-February, but as I've been told, "the subject matter is a little inappropriate to be screened for the general public outdoors". I hope they change their minds and slot us in for a late night showing. I know a bunch of people that would love to come out and see it. Me front and centre.

And me learn to talk gooder in public if it gets the chance.

Promise.

Happy Birthday!

Geez, I've been so busy over the past few weeks, that I totally forgot about a very important birthday.

The BLOG! it's been one year since I've started writing the blog, and now that the film has been completed, I thought it would be nice to go back and read what I had written earlier. I'm interested in seeing if I made the mistakes that I ridiculed others about, and seeing if I followed the advice that others had given to me along the way.

So I think I'll do that tomorrow, and maybe I'll write what the ride was like.

As for the short this blog was about, Still only the two screenings to date, and none in my home province. Hopefully that will change in the next month or so.

Nothing to report

After the euphoria of being granted screenings at Shockerfest and the Edmonton International Film Festival, it seems this short has stopped short. No screenings to write about. Can't say I'm not disappointed. Was hoping to get into Vancouver and Whistler, but that didn't happen. It's hard keeping the chin up and trying to be positive when what you know is a really good film is being rejected by festivals left and right. Now I have to wonder if I'm really going to get that Oscar nomination. Oh well, At least I'm in good company. This article in the Vancouver Sun proves my point;

http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/VIFF+logic+reason+just+rejection+filmmakers/2109436/story.html

I'm just glad I didn't come off as some cry baby director in a newspaper that thousands of people read, unlike the cry baby director that I sound like in my blog, that no one reads.

Come on festivals, show the movie!

What a day!

Screening Day! Just under a hundred family, friends and crew members wandered down to the Vancity Theatre in downtown Vancouver on a beautiful Sunday afternoon to watch the official private screening of Serum 1831. It was son nice to see everyone that worked so hard on this film come together again, this time to enjoy the fruits of their labour. And some good food. And wine. But no one drank any pellegrino today, which I think is odd. It was the first thing to go at the mini-screening in June. Go figure. Anywho, from the response of the assembled cast and crew, and friends and family, the film will be very well received.

Well, at least by some people. The Vancouver International Film Festival will not be showing Serum 1831. A bunch of people have asked me if I was really surprised. Well, yeah! But everyone I bitched to about this decision told me the same thing. And upon further review, and counseling from friends and family, I have to realize that they are right. My film never stood a chance.

It seems that VIFF is becoming more and more of a thinking man's film festival. Just speaking to some of the people there gives you a strange feeling. Not that strange feeling you get from eating a day old hot dog. But almost an inferiority complex type of feeling. They can't be bothered by "normal" people. This festival is showcase of the world's greatest cinematic arts! Yeah, whatever. The majority of films at this festival lacks any entertainment value. After reading the festival's literature pertaining to the films available to view this year, I have to say that I'm not really interested in seeing any of them. I try to go to at least, and I mean at the VERY LEAST, one film per festival year at VIFF. This year, it will be a chore to find one I really want to see. Art indeed.

Now you may say that that is just a bitter filmmaker whose work has been refused by the festival talking. But I'm not the only one that is grumbling.

I've asked my co-workers, and friends if they were planning on attending this year's film festival. The standard response was "When is it"? It seems that unless you have a stake in this festival, you don't know when it is. And this is a problem for the film community in Vancouver. If people in the industry don't know when their film festival is, but can tell you without hesitation when the Toronto International Film Festival is, that is a big problem. There is no interest in seeing the films at the Vancouver International Film Festival. The organizers need to change something.

And maybe that something is programming some films made by homegrown talent. This festival needs to change it's mandate. It should start promoting local filmmakers, performers and films. It needs to create a buzz within the local film making community. It needs to change it's programming. Something entertaining. Something that will draw in the general public. Now have I got a film for you.

But alas, they have already rejected me. No artsy-fartsy film festival for me. I'm happy to have Serum 1831 screening at the Edmonton International Film Festival in October. And at the Shockerfest screening in Modesto at the end of September. Two film festivals where people go to be entertained. Who knows, having not been selected for the Vancouver International Film Festival may be the best thing that could have happened to my film. It just means it's too entertaining for this festival.

So thanks Vancouver, for not screening my film at your festival. Confirms what I had set out to do in the first place. To make an enjoyable movie.

Going places

Well, I know it's been awhile since I last updated the blog, but haven't had too much to talk, or bitch, about.

Things are moving forward on the short film front. Looks like we're going to be screening the film for cast and crew on the 13th of September. Invites will be going out late this week. I'm really looking forward to showing it to the people who donated their time, equipment and expertise in making Serum 1831. I hope they are as proud of it as I am.

And they should be. This film is going places. I've sent the film off to 24 film fests and the notification dates are starting to creep closer. I've already heard from 2 of these fests and so far, we're 2 for 2! Serum 1831 will be shown at the Shockerfest FIlm Festival in Modesto California and at the Edmonton International Film Festival in beautiful Edmonton. That be Alberta. Tee-hee.

So great news, and hopefully more great news to follow! Would be awesome to get into the Vancouver Film Festival, and that's one of the next ones on the notification schedule. Hopefully when I screen this film on the 12th, I'll have a few more feastival dates to share with the crew.

Bedtime now.

Now taking Blu-ray pre-orders

So It's been a while since I last updated this blog. I haven't had much to talk about, other than a 3 week vacation to Australia, where the film was screened for a few family and friends to overwhelmingly good reviews, (hey, they're family. They're not allowed to give anything but), and a weekend of camping. So other than that, not much to write home about, Serum 1831-wise anyways.

But Now I have some news. The DVD and blu-ray versions of Serum 1831 will soon be available for you to view in the comfort of your own homes. For those who worked on the film either as cast, crew, background performers or suppliers, you deserve a FREE copy of the regular DVD version of the short. For those who didn't have anything to do with the movie, we'll talk. For everyone, we will be printing a VERY LIMITED NUMBER of blu-ray versions of the movie. This will be the Hi-Def, Dolby 5.1 surround sound version of the movie. Alas, as blu-ray authoring is still very expensive, I can't afford to give away free copies. So there will be a charge for the blu-ray version of the disc. I'm not looking to make a profit on the discs, I just need to cover the costs. I expect it to be in the $35 to $40 range per disc. However, the more people that order the blu-ray discs there are, the cheaper the cost gets.

So with that in mind, I am offering a pre-sale of the blu-ray version of Serum 1831. Please let me know if any of you would like to purchase a blu-ray version of the disc by August 3rd, 2009. On August 4th, I will send out an e-mail to those interested in purchasing a blu-ray version letting you know exactly how much it will cost. You will be able to pay for and pick-up your blu-ray disc at the cast and crew screening of the film, expected to be in mid-August.

Drop me an email at anand.kanna@silverdolphinfilms.com to let me know if you want to buy a blu-ray. All those who didn't work on the film, but do purchase a blu-ray or regular disc, get free admission to the cast and crew screening. All those who don't purchase one, we'll chat ;-)

Mission Complete

7 months and 3 weeks after being notified that I was selected as one of this year's recipients for the Kick Start award, the film is complete. 2 days of filming, 2 months of editing, 3 weeks of sound and video processing and we have a completed project.

The short looks awesome and sounds just as good.

I could not have done this without the help of a boat-load of people. Firstly, the Executive Producer, Grace Gilroy. Without her support on the application form, at the last minute, I might add, this project would never had made it off my desk.

Producer Geoff Teoli. Creatively challenging me and supporting me at the same time. Thanks dude.

Shane Vieau, the most easy going Production Designer around. Beautiful sets, masterfully decorated, and all done on the cheap. Shane worked his ass off on this short film, and all of his hard work shows. Thank you man!

Our on again / off again / on again Production Manager Monty Bannister. Put me through a lot of stress, but I do that to him on a daily basis so I deserve the payback. I know he had fun and his guidance steered the production in the right direction, at this point, which is under or near budget. Thanks.

Catherine Middleton. Deserved to be named a Producer on this film. Went above and beyond the call of duty in, a) bringing me back to earth after I axed a key person working on the film the night before we went to camera (I don't think I ever told that story on this blog, and I still think I was justified) b) playing peacekeeper to bring that person back into the fold so we could film the next day, and c) chauffeuring that person to and from set along with his entire production kit to make him happy. Thank You Catherine for putting the train back on the rails on the eve of production.

Then there's Alan Bartolic. A guy who has no business being a locations scout (even though he is a very good one) and should be an editor full time. The amount of time and effort he put into this film is simply unfathomable. Great ideas, great assembly. Alan made this film what it is today. He made this film his. Thank you, Thank you Alan Bartolic.

Tom Braidwood, my Mentor. Just watching you on the set taught me a lot of what to look for in filming a scene. Your eyes and ears honed the vision I had for this film. And you wrote a pretty good score for the film as well. Is there no end to your talents Thomas?

Mr David Pelletier. A little forward off the top, but definitely the right man for the job. Perfectly lit, well shot and you helped me look at things from a different perspective. More often than not, a better perspective. Thanks Dave.

The amazing cast, Kevan Ohtsji, Shaw Madson, Reese Alexander and Denyc. You brought these characters to life, and I have never regretted casting you in these roles. Here's to much success.

And I can't forget the crew. There are too many of you to name here. Everyone who came out, donating their time on a weekend, not asking for anything in return. Hard working, creative, and they all seemed like they were having a good time. Thank you all.

The fine folks at Post Modern and Finale Editworks, thanks for making this film look and sound amazing. You were gracious and really made us feel important, as if we were spending tens of thousands of dollars producing a feature film and not the couple of thousand that you did. Thanks Linda and Don.

And last but not least, I have to thank my wife Anu. Thank you for believing in me and supporting me the entire way. Without you, I would be a shadow of what I am today. Thank you and I love you.

So this film is now complete. I say "this film" instead of my film because it truly is not my film. This film was made by all of the people above. They made my vision come to life. I am just lucky to have been the director on this film. They have fulfilled a dream of mine, and deserve wheelbarrows full of credit for it's success.

Now that the film is complete, you may think that this is the end of the blog. no more entries. Well, YOU'RE WRONG! This is just the beginning. Serum 1831 now has a life. Public screenings, film festivals, awards! Well, maybe the awards part is a bit pre-mature, but one can hope. I will keep posting the life of Serum 1831 on this blog, so stay tuned for updates. No getting off now, the ride has just begun...

The End Is Near....

Tomorrow I go to Finale to take a look at my completed project. The Colour timing has been done, the sound has been added, and all of the effects are in as well. By this time tomorrow, I should have in my hand a copy of my completed short film. So exciting!

But for tonight, I have to try and get some sleep. Not easy to do in a house where the temperature is sitting at 29.5 degrees C. And That's the temperature inside. Ouch.

So off I go now, trying to sleep with visions of igloos dancing in my head.

I Love This Game!

Monday morning. We all got together at Post Modern Sound to watch the wizards of the mixing board do the sound mix. The experience was awesome! Music, Sound effects, dialogue, all came together and the movie sounds just awesome! Seeing it on the big screen with a pounding Dolby 5.1 surround sound mix was just awesome! It was quite the experience. Did I mention it was Awesome?

And we me with the folks at Finale Editworks on Tuesday. Looks like we'll be getting together in the next few days to do the on-line edit of the picture and start playing with the colour. After that, it's just a matter of days until this Kick Start film is Done! I can't wait!

Oh and speaking of Kick Start films, I was going to write a post-mortem about the films, but decided against it. I couldn't get rid of the headache I had from watching these films. Actually, the headache was not a direct cause of watching the films, it was from the banging of my head against the wall after watching these films trying to figure out how these people get their grants. I'm still trying to figure out why these some of these films were made.

Entertained I was not.