One Small Film, One Giant Leap Online

With our theatrical release behind us, our next step is to introduce the movie to the world. As per our deal with Indie Rights, they would open distribution doors for us but we had to do the hustling to get eyes on our movie.

The first step was reviews. We were one review shy from the minimum five reviews on Rotten Tomatoes to get a TomatoMeter ranking so our producer/PR Rep Katie kept following up with reviewers. It took a few weeks until we got that fifth review. Unfortunately, that reviewer didn’t post it on Rotten Tomatoes, only his own site, so it took some back and forth for him to get it, and make it official:

We made it to the big time!

The day after our theatrical run ended we were available On Demand on Amazon. This meant people could rent or buy our movie. The price was set, and we started hustling for viewers.

The only problem; there is no way to tell how it is working. The best gauge is by using a link for the film that can be tracked. We chose Bitly, and created a link to our Amazon movie page. The link doesn’t tell us how many people watched the movie, only how many clicked on the link.

After our first week (which was a partial week) 256 people clicked on the link.

By November 10th (10 days after being online) 1,010 people clicked on the link.

We’re going to be famous! Everyone will watch the movie! Producers will throw money at us to make our next one.

Another method of guerrilla marketing: get everyone who has seen the movie to rate and review it. We put out the call to our loyal fans to write reviews on Amazon, IMDB, and Rotten Tomatoes. Those numbers started increasing as well.

But it’s a long haul. We won’t know how we did on fourth quarter 2019 (October through December) until mid-April 2020. Until then we are flying blind on how we are doing.

But as promised by our distributor, we were added to more platforms. In December, we became available on TubiTV.

Dee Wallace welcomes you to Closure on TubiTV

TubiTV is free for anyone, even without an account. You just have to sit through the occasional commercial break.

In February, our reach expanded to two more platforms: we were now available for rental or purchase on YouTube and GooglePlay.

Simple, yet elegant.

We expanded to other English speaking countries and were now available throughout the U.K. and Australia. Could world domination be next? Surely we would make our investor money back in no time. And start paying ourselves. And start raising funds for our next movie!

Then COVID-19 hit. Things got hard for all of us, and movie promotion definitely took a back seat to child care, worrying about work and finances, and panic drinking. As the days turned into weeks and we realized we weren’t going anywhere, we figured with people at home we could push for more viewers.

We took out Facebook ads and got more hits. By early April we hit 3,000 Bitly hits on Amazon. Moving up!

April 15th was the first payout day. The income we would receive would reflect the 4th quarter of 2019. It would be a short quarter for us, as we weren’t in the theater until the last week of October, then only on Amazon starting in November, then Tubi in mid-December. What would we make?

As the days crept closer to the 15th we allowed ourselves to fantasize. Would we crack $10,000? Maybe more? We could pay off our owed expenses in one shot, start paying our Producer’s Rep, and start paying back our investors.

The 15th was another day during Coronial Times: ALL DAY with the kiddos. Not much to do about that. But then at 4pm the email came in:

It was bad.

Real bad.

Without going into the financial numbers, I can say that during the fourth quarter we were rented a total of 157 times. Only 44 units of our movie sold. Not encouraging.

Silver lining: We did very well during our week’s release in the theater at Arena Cinelounge, becoming one of Indie Right’s top box office movies at that venue.

Black lining: Because of COVID-19 Arena Cinelounge, like all movie theaters, was closed indefinitely. And they did not pay us before they shut their doors.

Oh. Shit.

Coming Next: Things WILL get better. Right?

Closure’s “Theatrical Run”

As mentioned in the previous post, the road to distribution was long, ending with a deal with Indie Rights. They would own our movie for three years and can make any deal they feel is worthwhile. In return, we receive the vast majority of the money earned.  The trade off: we will be responsible for delivering the movie and all marketing and advertising cost.

So what is delivering the movie? It’s exactly what it sounds like: we delivered the movie to Indie Rights.

Great answer, wiseass. But what does that entail?

“Deliverables” are every aspect of the movie. Yes, there is the movie itself, set up to the specifications that will allow it to be streamed on any platform. This includes sound broken down into different folders for stereo sound and mono sound. Also, subtitles for closed captioning as most platforms (including Amazon) require it. Plus a music cue sheet which consists of every sound cue in the movie in a big spread sheet detailing when it runs, the length of the clip, and the recording artist and publisher information (so these good people can get paid).

In addition there are marketing materials: still photos, bios of the important people, and new poster art recommended by our distributor:

Plus, the very important Chain of Title, which are legal documents proving that I wrote the movie, that I sold the movie to the production company,  and that we did it without stealing content from anyone. This involves sending documents and the movie to the U.S. Copyright Office.

Plus much more! And it was all due 30 days following the signing of our contract. A lot of busy work for people who are all working other jobs.

In addition, Indie Rights mentioned we might want to do a theatrical run. Every other distributor we spoke with discouraged that as the costs are extremely high: in addition to renting the theater (one screen at a theater can run $10,000 – $25,000 a week, depending on the size) we would have to pay for advertising and marketing. Those seats ain’t gonna fill themselves.

And why would we need it? We’ve played in theaters… six of them so far, ranging from 75 to 300 seats.  So what does a week-long theatrical run give us that we don’t have already?

1. Award Consideration – We would be eligible for Oscar consideration (Ha!) and Independent Spirit Award consideration (hmmm…)
2. Reviews – If your movie opens in Los Angeles, the L.A. Times has to review it. Other publications would also likely attend.
3. A bigger audience – If the reviews are good…

Okay, those are worthwhile things to consider, for sure. Also, our distributor was able to secure us a week long run at a Arena Cinelounge, a movie theater in the heart of Hollywood. This small boutique theater is perfect for us because…

1. Our distributor has a deal with the theater so we could get a week long screening for much cheaper than regular movie theater prices.
2. We will have an opening date so we can send our press release to critics.
3. A final chance for the audience (and us) to see it in theaters.

It was a no brainer. We’d do it. Closure would have a theatrical run on 1 screen, 1 screening a day, lasting 1 week. To put that in perspective, the biggest box office movie of the year, Avengers: Endgame, opened on 4,662 screens, with multiple screenings a day, lasting 44 weeks.

“We will crush you, puny indie movie.”

Our producer/PR Rep Katie Rosin put together a press release and sent it out along with our press kit. We set up Facebook events, scheduled TWO parties (one on opening night, one two nights later for star Catia Ojeda’s birthday), spent four hours filling out the Independent Spirit Award submission, and waited for the reviews and accolades…

…and waited…

…and things started to happen. People bought tickets. A great review and another trickled in. No word from the L.A. Times, but that was okay after all we were weeks out.

Then one Wednesday afternoon I went to our theater to watch two different movies made by friends of mine. The first one had only one other person in the theater: the filmmaker. The second: I was the only person in the theater.

And as I sat there BY MYSELF as a movie screened it dawned on me: “Oh shit. No one is coming to see our movie. No one cares.”

A writer once gave me a piece of advice early in my career: “no one cares if you finish your script.” This is not meant to be a deterrent, but rather that I, the writer, must care the most. I have to tell the story.

But our story won’t live without an audience. So we worked just like we did with our Off-Off-Broadway shows in New York and lobbied hard for people to turn off the streaming TV, get off their couches, and pay for parking (and a movie ticket). I would not tolerate a goose egg audience (a.k.a. 0 audience members). We can do this.

Ticket sales were trickling in. We had arranged for at least one person from the team to be at each screening for a Q and A. And then… it was opening night.

No red carpet, just a star and a poster.

Not as glamorous as the red carpet screenings in D.C., North Hollywood, Spain, or New York, but we savored it since it’s probably our last big screening for a while.

The line to get in: definitely more than zero people (and it wound around the corner)

Our opening Friday night audience was great, a nearly packed theater. Our next show, a Saturday afternoon screening, took a slight dip but there were definitely people there.

The next night, Sunday, was a combo: a cast Q and A and a birthday party for our leading lady after.

From left: John Sloan (Jack), Catia Ojeda (Nina), Michael McCartney (O’Leary), some blogger, Cynthia Addai-Robinson (Yasmina) and Marcelo Tubert (Iskandar) . This cast reunion photo was taken 2 1/2 years after we wrapped shooting on the movie.

This screening was crowded and we all moved to a rooftop bar to celebrate. A good end to our opening weekend.

But there were four screenings left, and I was determined not to get any goose eggs, even though we were screening at 6pm on the next four weeknights. We’d get an audience.

It took hustle, but we did it. The audiences were small (one screening was only three people) but we survived our week long run without an empty theater. Our movie played on the big screen to an audience every show. And that was a victory.

HOWEVER… we did NOT receive an L.A. Times review. Apparently the old line (If your movie runs in Los Angeles the L.A. Times has to review you) is no longer true. Too many movies come out each week.

Which was a good warning for us as we geared up for distribution. If this movie succeeds, it is up to us to get the audience. One chapter closes, and another opens in three… two… one…

 

 

How to get Overnight Distribution for your Film (in only seven months)

We filmmakers have heard all the stories: the movie screens at Sundance to an ecstatic standing ovation. Assistants run out of the theater, phones pressed to cheeks, excitedly yelling to their bosses. An offer comes in, then another, then a back and forth. By dawn, the bidding ends and the filmmaker walks away with $4 million and a three picture deal.

Easy Peasy!

But of course, that is not how the journey goes for most filmmakers. Including us.

Last fall we had momentum. We had just returned from Marbella, Spain, with our second award in three festivals. We were about to screen in our home town at The Valley Film Festival, located less than a mile from where we shot most of our movie. We knew we were off to Austin Indie Fest in a few weeks. The time was right to sell.

So we brought in a big gun. We hired a Producers Rep, who acts as an agent to our film and meets with and negotiates deals with distribution companies. Kristen Moser was referred to us by one of our Executive Producers. She watched the movie, loved it, and we agree to terms. Between our L.A. premiere, the American Film Market in Santa Monica a week later, and Austin Indie Fest the following week, we would no doubt sell our movie quickly.

We took home the Best of Fest award from Valley, and three additional awards from Austin; we were on the rise! Kristen was a hustler, and giving me daily updates on all the companies she contacted. In fact, most of the companies she spoke with expressed interest, which surprised me. I didn’t think an ensemble dark comedy would have mass appeal, but people were intrigued. And many of them watched and liked it. And said they would prepare an offer.

It was only a matter of time…

…and then our first offer came in! I eagerly anticipated the details. What would be their MG? The MG is “minimum guarantee” i.e. the advance paid to the filmmaker. At last year’s Sundance Mindy Kaling received a $13 MILLION MG for her movie Late Night. Surely we would get enough to pay back our investors and make a little for ourselves, right? Surely $500,000 for a multi award-winning feature film isn’t too much to ask.

And then the offer came in…

$15,000. Well, that’s something. A little bit to start paying back our investors-

No. Not a minimum guarantee of $15,000. This company wanted us, upon signing, to WRITE A CHECK for $15,000 to earn access their distribution contacts.

Wait. What?

We quickly learned the hard truth about the independent film world. There are a LOT of indie films nowadays which means that content is easy to come by. And if you don’t have any stars-

-wait a second. Our star Catia Ojeda is a series regular on the hit Amazon show Just Add Magic! And Cynthia Addai-Robinson starred in the USA show Shooter and the Starz! shows Spartacus and Power, and starred opposite Ben Affleck in the movie The Accountant!

“Can you believe Cynthia got cast in Closure and they didn’t invite me to audition? That’s crazy, Anna Kendrick!!!”

And Dee Wallace, come on, she was top billed in a little movie you might know:

Pictured: A real life movie star, and E.T.

Unfortunately, these talented actors don’t count as STARS in the eyes of distributors (at least, not yet). Current A-listers sell movies, not great stories and great acting in award-winning films.

And this was the line we heard from many distributors, big and small. They all said there would be interest in our film, but not at blockbuster numbers.

Not all offers were as bad as the pay-to-play one that started us off. Most companies were very encouraging. Even big companies like Sony Pictures Classics had multiple people  watch enjoy our movie, but in the end (after nearly a MONTH of deliberating) felt that without stars there was little they could do to promote us properly.

So how did we go to nothing to having six offers at the same time?

It’s very easy: one offer had an expiration date.

In early July we received an offer from a decent distribution company. They were selective in that they had a relatively small roster of films and even rejected a larger budget film that Kristen was also representing. The offer had no up front money for us but also had limited expenses. Most offers come with expenses that range between $15,000 and $45,000. These are for costs incurred by the distribution company (like flying to Cannes to try and sell our film) and are taken out FIRST. Which means that it could take years for us to get our money back.

But of more importance: we could now go to all the other companies dragging their feet on making an offer, and tell them that we have a deadline and we need their offer now.

And they responded.

A second offer, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth came to us. None of them were amazing, but we now had leverage. And Kristen used it.

She constantly kept me updated on the phone, and multiple companies spoke with me personally to tell me why they were the best for our movie. One movie even gave us projections for how much we would make over a few years, and according to their estimate it looked like we would be able to pay back our investors in 2-3 years. The attention was flattering, except that no one was actually offering us any money.

But now they all wanted to hear our best offer, and beat it.

In the end, Indie Rights made us the best offer. Others couldn’t match the terms and length of contract, which is only three years. Some companies wanted our movie locked up for 11 years, and we’ve heard of companies that want the rights for 20 years! That said, Indie Rights says that 99% of their filmmakers renew after the end of the term, so we are happy for that flexibility.

Our new home!

We signed in mid-August and had 30 days to deliver the film, which means not only sending them the movie to their specifications but a ton of supporting materials. It was steady work; the last week of delivery I was putting in at least four hours of work a day.

And then, one warm sunny afternoon in September, I walked into our distributor’s office in DTLA (Downtown Los Angeles to you outsiders) and dropped off a palm-sized one terabyte hard drive which contained over four years of work.

And that’s when things got REALLY busy.

(Coming next: our theatrical run!)

 

Festival Wrap Up

Another city, another festival. Except…

…this one had deep meaning for us.

New York City! Where I lived for over 15 years. Where Catia and I met. Where I had my first professional play staged, and where my first feature film (and second) were shot. New York City has long been on our list and we were thrilled to show our movie.

A happy writer/director and his star/muse on the red carpet (Photo: Don Heller)

Unfortunately the festival couldn’t screen the best version; they waited too long to test the movie and by the time they did (an hour before our screening) they couldn’t get it to work. (I asked them for a test a week earlier but, oh well…) We had to screen the only back-up I could get, which was a BluRay with Spanish subtitles (from our Marbella adventure). The color and framing were off. But it was still our movie, on the big screen in Union Square.

And it was a packed house. Friends from all walks of life made it, and many joined us for a rooftop party at Bar 13 around the corner. Like a high school reunion, college reunion, family reunion and wedding all rolled into one.

Skidmore College represent!

And we took home another award! The Audience Choice Award for Best Dramatic Feature. After three glorious days and nights we headed back to Los Angeles.

This was a perfect end to our festival run.

Mementos from our fantastic world tour.

Wait, what?

Yep. We’ve been on the circuit for over a year. It’s time to hang up our shoes before becoming the old horse in the race.

Mind you, we’re not opposed to more festival screenings. We are just no longer submitting (a.k.a, paying) for festival submissions. If someone wants to screen our movie, we will happily oblige.

And what a great run it has been. Six festivals, and seven awards:

Best Feature – Washington D.C. Independent Film Festival

Best Feature – The Valley Film Festival

Audience Choice Award – Austin Indie Fest

Audience Choice Award, Best Dramatic Feature – Manhattan Film Festival

Best Screenplay – Austin Indie Fest

Best Actress (Catia Ojeda) – Marbella International Film Festival

Best Actress (Catia Ojeda) – Austin Indie Fest

We are thrilled and honored for all the recognition we have received so far, and in return, I’d like to give out some awards to the festivals we have attended. Some did things a little better than others, and they deserve a shout out.

So, without further ado, here are the awards Closure would like to give to film festivals!

Best Filmmaker Relations – D.C. Independent Film Festival
Our first film festival set the bar very high for how filmmakers were treated. Different staff members in each department timely answered each email, whether it was about PR, our screening, or random festival questions. When our Saturday night screening started to fill up weeks in advance they brought in catering and a musician to entertain in the hour prior. The events were all well organized, thought out, and on time. Each talk back session was moderated by a staff member who had watched the movie and asked knowledgable, thought-provoking questions. And after our screening the projectionist personally delivered the DCP of our movie safely back in our hands (although I certainly would have trusted them to hold it). I assumed this was the standard filmmaker/festival relationship. I was wrong. (Runner up: The Valley Film Festival).

Best Built In Audience – Vero Beach Wine and Film Festival
We had screenings at other festivals with larger audiences than our two screenings in Vero Beach, but those were in cities were we brought in a huge crowd. in addition to the (ahem) plentiful wine and beautiful beach, the festival brought in audiences hungry for movies.

Best Award Trophy – Marbella International Film Festival
Don’t get me wrong, we are grateful for ALL of our festival awards, but this fancy glass award that Catia Ojeda won for Best Actress is truly mantel-worthy. (Special merit goes to D.C.I.F.F. which did not actually have a trophy for Best Feature but we happily accepted a $1,000 cash prize instead).

Best Indie Spirit – Austin Indie Fest
I mean, BESIDES the fact they have “Indie” in their name this young festival is doing everything right: hosting the entire festival in a hotel so filmmakers can bounce from screenings to the bar to the room without missing a beat, a diverse group of filmmakers who are truly happy to be there and making movies, and since the fest falls on Veterans Day weekend, a special program of films made by Vets. Plus a bunch of prizes for the winners. Hard to believe this festival is only two years old! (Runner Up: The Valley Film Festival)

Best Location – Manhattan Film Festival
New York City is the greatest city in the world, and the festival theater was right in the heart of it, in Union Square. (Runner Up: Marbella Film Festival takes place in a beachside resort town in the south of Spain. Very hard to top that.)

Best Overall Quality of Screened Movies – The Valley Film Festival
It is standard for the quality, budget, and storytelling to vary WILDLY at film festivals. Each festival has their own method of determining how movies are accepted. We saw some wonderful, entertaining and thought-provoking movies. And we saw some “how the hell did this get selected” movies. But at VFF, the overall quality was high. (Full disclosure: I did not attend Vero Beach WFF and I only saw a series of shorts at Manhattan Film Festival so I can’t weigh in on their selections).

Best Parties – Marbella International Film Festival

As fantastic as it was, Marbella’s closing night gala with it’s live entertainment and five course meal wasn’t even the best party of the week.

Each night, another party… and sometimes multiple parties in one night. Whether it was poolside at a fancy casino hotel or in a beachside bar with a known classic rock band on the bill, there was usually free booze, live entertainment, random VIPs (at one party I had a conversation over excellent cava with the Ambassador to Spain from Cyprus!) and lots of merrymaking and networking for all the filmmakers and a ton of locals.

After taking the above picture of our awards and festival badges it’s bittersweet to walk away from it all. Those of us who create art having a burning desire to tell stories, even if it takes all our time, energy and money to do so. We all want our work to be appreciated and to entertain people, and to see it happen in theaters large and small all across the country (and Spain!) has truly been a magnificent experience. And I can’t wait to do it again with another movie.

But first… time to take Closure to a larger audience… including YOU!

Momentum

I listen to music all the time. Whether it’s in the car, while I’m jogging, or working, there’s always something playing. When it comes to my writing, whatever the project needs dictates the playlist or radio station, and I will stick with that music throughout the creative process. Outside of the actual writing, there are a handful of songs that keep me going throughout the writing process, sort of like a creative cycle mix. Before writing something new I always listen to My First Song by Jay-Z, which is about treating every new project like it’s your first and your last. Another great motivator is The Distance by Cake.

Also on my playlist: Aimee Mann’s Momentum.

“Even when it’s approaching torture I’ve got my routine.”   Aimee Mann – Momentum

The lyrics may be vague but the music is on message: a strong driving beat that propels you; you have no choice but to keep moving forward. Plus, it’s featured in the excellent P.T. Anderson movie Magnolia, not only one of my top ten favorite movies of all time but like Closure, a great film set in The Valley (see what I did there?!?).

This past fall I felt the stars were lining up with my career, and everything was moving forward. Closure screened at three festivals over a five week period, winning five awards total. We signed with a producers rep. Distribution seemed imminent. I started breaking out the story for the next film.

On top of that, my writing career also had momentum. I had staged readings of two different plays, productions of my play IT IS DONE at a lovely 200 seat theater in Raleigh, North Carolina in November and another fantastic production at Theatre40 in Beverly Hills scheduled for January. Starting in late September I had my writing being presented somewhere around the world through February. It was actually happening. There was momentum.

The promotional poster for IT IS DONE in Raleigh, North Carolina.

I did a push for agents. Reached out to friends in the business to see if they would connect me with representation. Many people were supportive, but said they couldn’t help (which I totally understand). There were a few people who actively offered to connect me to agents and manager, of which I was thankful.

New Years Eve rolled around. Like any couple with young children, my wife and I had our champagne around 8pm, toasted to a productive, happy and healthy year, and went to bed by ten.

January rolled around… and crickets. The first few weeks are usually quiet in this town as many in the industry get settled after the holidays. Some say that nothing happens until after Sundance. But our phones and email inboxes were silent throughout January.

I distracted myself with the production of IT IS DONE that opened at Theatre 40 in Beverly Hills in the middle of the month, continuing to push for distribution and for an agent. It was all happening at the same time, and I was calling the shots… as long as I remained active.

That was my promise to myself. As long as this show was running I was still active. I diligently pushed for representation, massaged contacts at theaters across the country, and kept hustling for Closure distribution.

Reviews for It is Done were spectacular. Three different theaters expressed interest in mounting their own production, on top of the half dozen contacts I was working on across the country. This was my time to move on to the next level where I would be managing my productions, creating new content, and being paid regularly. I was ready for the next level.

After a fantastic five week run the show closed… and the machinery ground to a halt.

No agent or manager meetings. No word on productions. Distributors for Closure liked the film but were dragging their feet on offers. Our plan for a spring film festival tour evaporated with each rejection. For the first time in over a year I had nothing on the calendar.

And it felt terrible. Despite all the successes of the past year, suddenly I felt obsolete and kept asking myself “is any of this worth it?”

The same went for my wife and our film’s star. Despite the release of the final season of her television show Just Add Magic in January and the upcoming release of a Netflix series of which she will be a recurring guest star, she had nothing going on as well. Zero auditions. And that number is not an exaggeration.

In the days following the closing of my play we’d sit down for dinner and not talk about the zero emails we received during the day. Or the zero phone calls. We also didn’t talk about our mortgage. Or our two young kids and how we were going to provide for them if the phone doesn’t ring.

Days turned into a week. Which turned into weeks. Then a month.

JUST FUCKING RING. One call. One ping in my inbox.

Momentum had ground to a halt.

So what to do? Exercise more and work off the pounds I put on traveling the world with the movie. Write more. I finished a play I had set aside for a year. I outlined and broke out the story for my next screenplay.

And we waited. It’s the worst part of the show biz life when that loud voice in my head says that it’s done. It’s hard to write something new if the universe (or what I think is the universe) screams “nobody cares about you” in my ear.

But I kept writing. Because that’s all I can do.

And then…

…the phone rang. First Catia’s phone. An audition. Then another. Then a callback. Then a booking.

Distributors started returning phone calls. And sharing our movie with people in their office.

And we got our next film festival acceptance. We are taking our movie to New York.

Back to the mothership where I lived for over 15 years and where Catia and I met.

And the wheels are turning again! Things are slowly picking up. It’s hard to keep faith when nothing is happening. And it can all go away again, but in the meantime I have to keep up the hustle. Keep writing. And keep working to get as much exposure for this movie as possible.

Hopefully this time the machine doesn’t stop. But if it does, keep the faith that as long as I work at it, something else will come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the Love of Making Movies

The festival circuit has been a whirlwind recently. A week after our “10 Degrees Hotter” Award for Best Feature in The Valley Film Festival we were off to Texas for Austin Indie Fest.

But in between our path to distribution had begun. We hired a producers rep who overnight drastically increased our connections in the distribution world and she spent some of her time at the American Film Market in Santa Monica plugging our movie…

…and it worked. Companies requested to watch the trailer. And then requested to watch the full movies. Small companies mostly, but some really big companies. Like companies you know, companies that have made movies you love.

We were pinching ourselves that big wigs (and small wiglettes) were actually interested in our film, but we all know that there is nothing until you have a contract signed. After all, as the three of you who have been reading this blog since the beginning know well, we spent nearly four years working on making this movie before we received funding.

So we will easily distract ourselves with the next festival. And this time, we’re bringing an entourage!

Catia and I on the plane with our assistants. They aren’t good at taking notes or messages and their script coverage is subpar, but they sure are cute!

A family adventure is a nice break, especially with more family in Austin to help out so we could go to movies. And Catia’s parents graciously rented a house for our entire family which gave us freedom to go to the fest, and still… you know, not totally neglect our children.

The fest, now in it’s second year, was a bit smaller than previous festivals. Turns out we were one of the larger budget movies in the fest, which certainly was a first for us. We watched as many movies as we could and mingled, all the while juggling calls from L.A. about distribution. Could it happen?

Also, could we win any awards and add more laurels to our poster? There appeared to be an award for almost everything, so the odds were even in our favor. There were even two awards in the category “Worst Film” which seemed like an odd thing to celebrate. Turns out, after talking to Matt the festival director, this wasn’t as insulting as it sounds. “Worst Film” was a category that people could deliberately submit their film, usually really low budget movies made quickly. A campy category, but still… I couldn’t imagine submitting my film.

We enjoyed the festival experience, bouncing from movie to movie and meeting fellow filmmakers, including an enthusiastic team from Seattle who raved about our movie. We got to town too late to see their feature, but they didn’t care, gushing on about how great ours was and that we would surely win awards. Very kind of them.

Award time came and Catia won her second Best Actress award and I took home Best Screenplay.

Not too shabby for a writer husband and actress wife.

The award ceremony was long (Catia joked that there were awards for Best T-Shirt) and many people gave passionate speeches without worrying about being cut off. It was fun for all of us award-winners to get recognition, even if it meant little outside this room. In the huge world of show business we were a tiny bar in a rural, barely traveled village but the fire was warm and the company was great. We were filmmakers celebrating ourselves, and that is much needed as outside this little corner we were preoccupied with distribution, and deliverables, and legal documents, and searching for representation, and everything about movies unrelated to actually making or watching them.

And then came the award for Worst Film. The kid who won it bounded to the stage and tearfully (tears of joy) accepted the trophy, pleased that his movie got made and that he got some recognition. His speech was witty and heartfelt; he was happy to be there. Following that award was the Cult Classic Award, for a movie off the beaten path. The winner was our new friends from Seattle, who also gave an impassioned, tear-filled and hilarious speech about how they made their movie for $850 and how hopefully no one ever sees their Amazon purchasing history.

Both of these winners and the enthusiasm they expressed reminded me of why this all started. Of course we want success and maybe a little money and more job opportunities but in the beginning and the end (and hopefully much of the middle) we made this movie because we love movies and wanted to make one ourselves. We put it out in the universe and now it is here forever, or at least as long as movies exist.

Yes, we want the world to see it, of course. But on a smaller level, when dozens of people pull us aside at a film festival and tell us how much they loved our movie, that is just as important. So with that in mind, I am very thankful that we got to tell this story, and happy for any and every audience that gets to see it.

And there was one more award to be announced…

Thank you Austin for welcoming and loving Closure!

Coming Home

It has been said that the greatest part of traveling is coming home.

I’d like to amend that: the greatest part of traveling to film festivals is coming home to a film festival!

After my time in Marbella I was home for three days, then off to Raleigh, North Carolina for a production of my play IT IS DONE. Between the various time zone changes and having a four-month-old at home (and a four-year-old) everything was a haze and a blur.

But we had to stay focused. After all, our screening at The Valley Film Festival would be our West Coast Premiere, not to mention our Los Angeles Premiere. The majority of our cast and crew lives in The Valley. Over 75% of our movie was shot within two miles of the festival home base:

Our main apartment location, just a hop skip and a jump from the Laemmle NoHo.

Last year while in post Beau and I attended a seminar on indie film marketing and PR at The Valley Film Fest and I mentioned that this would be a great festival for us. Beau slyly mentioned that a film he produced won the festival’s “10 Degrees Hotter” award for Best Feature nearly a decade ago and thought it was a great place. (“10 Degrees Hotter” because The Valley is always 10 degrees hotter than the rest of Los Angeles.) So we applied. And I sent a personal email lobbying for our movie. And we attended a pre-festival mixer to meet the team. And then, months after we first submitted, we were accepted!

We had to strike while lightning was in the bottle, to completely mix metaphors. All the cast and crew needed to be invited; some of the cast literally NEEDED to be invited since their contracts call for comp tickets to the Los Angeles premiere. Since we are starting our path towards distribution (more on that in another post) we needed to invite distributors to attend the screening. In all likelihood they will want to watch a link from the confines of their offices but on the slim chance they can make it, watching a movie collectively amidst roars of laughter (hope, hope) is the best way.

And there will be an audience! Unlike Marbella, where our second screening had three audience members not affiliated with our movie, we knew we could pack the house, as we promised the fest. And we backed it up: we quickly sold out the 130 seat venue and were moved into the big room which seats 250. We threw a pre party for the cast, crew, investors and friends and then made our way to the theater. And the crowds were waiting…

Waiting for Theater 1 to open (Photo: Kristen Moser)

Even though it was a 10pm screening time (actually, after two shorts our movie wouldn’t start until 10:30 but we didn’t tell our audience that part) the crowds were eager and excited, exactly what you want from an audience.

A few moments to pose on the red carpet…

From left: Beau Genot (producer), Herb Hall (actor), Jamie Christopherson (composer), Katie Rosin (producer), Alex Goldberg (writer/director), Catia Ojeda (actress), Milena Govich (actress), Marcelo Tubert (actor)

,,, and down go the lights. And we’re off.

Nina (Catia Ojeda) and Yasmina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) get uncomfortably close on the big screen.

The audience was with us every step of the way: the laughs, the gasps (“did she just slap her?!?”) and the important lean ins when the plot twists happen. After the credits and the applause died down we did a brief Q and A, which I honestly can’t remember as it was after midnight and all I could think about was our five month old who would be awake for the day in less than six hours. And then our L.A. premiere was over!

But it wasn’t all over. Another joy of a festival 10 minutes from home is being able to pop in and see movies whenever I could, and with family in town to help with the kids, I took advantage. The quality of films was excellent. I saw compelling features and shorts that were as thought-provoking and entertaining as our movie; we were clearly in great company.

On closing night Beau, Catia and I went to the festival wrap party. Over free wine, beer and pizza we chatted with other filmmakers and awaited the awards. With such a high quality of movies I had no expectations to win the big prize. But then…

Winners of the 10 Degrees Hotter Award for Best Domestic Feature Film!

…shocked! I remembered to thank everyone at the festival; at least, everyone who’s name I remembered. You can check out us winning the award here (jump to the 13 minute mark if you don’t want to watch all the awards).

Fleeting thought: this is our second time winning Best Feature Film at a festival. Maybe we’re on to something?

And speaking of seconds, congrats to Beau for producing two different features to win the top award at this festival! Future filmmakers: want to win Valley Fest? Go to Beau!

After the awards, another drink, a quick handshake and meeting with one of the festival sponsors who happens to be a distributor (stay tuned) and then the brief 10 minute drive home.

Our fourth film festival concludes, and while travel has been a lot of fun it is a thrill to be on the home team for this one.

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Coming up next – Festival #5: Austin Indie Fest, and the road to distribution.

Marvelous Marbella (and a look behind the glamour)

Spent a glorious week celebrating our European Premiere at the Marbella International Film Festival on the Costa del Sol in Spain. And as you can imagine, it was a tremendous experience. Hotel near the beach…

The lovely view from my hotel room balcony.

…meals with views…

A nice relaxing meal before our first screening.

Just your run of the mill fancy restaurant on the beach.

…visiting new places…

Me and co-Producer Laurence Leonard and behind us, the glorious view of Ronda.

…meeting filmmakers from around the world…

Me and Ashley Barrie, the Scottish producer of the Spanish movie Luz.

…getting to enjoy Spain with some of our team…

From left: Sarah Tubert, Marcelo Tubert, V. Lucas, Alli Joseph, me, Jane Ojeda, Gabriel Ojeda (not pictured, Laurence Leonard)

…lively entertainment…

…and of course, watching movies…

Hey, look at us outside the theater!

The festival gave us seminars, mixers, and parties that went late into the warm, breezy night with seemingly endless amounts of champagne and appetizers.

However, one thing was noticeably lacking:

The above photo was taken three minutes before our second screening. Not pictured is the ONE audience member awaiting our film. By the time the film started there were 11 people in the theater, and EIGHT were from our group. That means three people outside of Team Closure watched the screening.

Fortunately, our first screening was better attended.

A bar in the back of the theater, how cool is that?

We were lucky to have our first screening on the opening night of the festival, immediately following the kickoff reception. About 40 people attended the party and most took their champagne down the steps to the seating area.

And we were lucky. Many screenings had less than 20 people in attendance. I attended a few screenings with less than 10. One film, Morine, had two people in attendance and one was the director. And for the last movie I attended for most of the screening I was THE ONLY PERSON IN THE THEATER.

So how does this happen? Clearly the festival (in its 13th year) is not focused on audiences. The parties and networking was great, well planned, and heavily attended. People just weren’t interested in the film part of the film festival.

But should it matter? We make movies to share stories with people. Whether it’s watched in a theater or on your TV in the comfort of your home theater, we are nothing without an audience. While it is always fantastic to see the movie on the big screen, it’s somewhat depressing when there is no one in the audience.

Some film festivals have a built in audience. The Sundances and South Bys sell out theaters right and left. Those communities crave seeing new movies. But other festivals I guess are just about the parties and networking.

I certainly don’t regret going to the festival. It was a fantastic time. And it’s an extra laurel on the poster. I’m just bringing it up to show that this experience is very much an analogy for show business in general. We like to get dressed up and celebrate and hype ourselves, but frequently behind the scenes it is hard to get people to see your product. We promote the successes, and try to bury the struggles. And there are a LOT of struggles.

Oh,, and another reason there is no regret… we won an award! Well, more specifically, Catia won Best Actress!

The 2018 Award Winners! And me, of course, accepting on Catia’s behalf.

The festival would have been an unforgettable experience even if we didn’t win an award, but taking home the hardware does make it a bit more of fun. And in the end, that is what everyone can see.

Oh, and as for the movie Morine which had less than 10 people combined at two screenings? In the center of the above picture is Tony Farjallah, a Lebanese filmmaker, who won Best Director! Tony was a very nice man and he and I had numerous conversations throughout the festival. I’m glad I got to know him a little bit.

And maybe THAT is the real reason we go to film festivals.

 

 

Festival #2 in Review

As I mentioned in my last post going to the Vero Beach Wine and Film Festival was going to be bittersweet because Catia wouldn’t be with us. She’d be home nursing our newly born baby. Because our first kid was born two weeks early and the festival is a week after the due date, we figured the new kid would be three weeks old. And her OBGYN says that ovens usually cook the same, so we were in the clear. I’d attend the festival and as a happy side bonus, sleep like someone who wasn’t up all night with a newborn. Win win!

Well, you know what they say about plans…

…three weeks before the festival, all quiet. No baby. Two weeks, all quiet. A week out, all quiet except for my rightfully pissed off wife who was feeling a ton of pain and aches 24/7. So the cutoff day for me to attend would be Monday. Have the baby Monday, I get on a plane Wednesday. First screening Thursday afternoon. No problem!

Monday came and went.

Tuesday came and went. Cancelled my hotel, got a voucher for my flight, and hoped the baby would be born on Wednesday so I go Friday, in time for our second screening on Saturday morning.

Wednesday came and left. Trip officially postponed.

It’s a bummer to not attend our second film festival and see the movie with a new audience, one who doesn’t know anyone involved with the movie. But I was proud that Closure would be well represented.

Beau stayed for the duration, and sent back photos:

Not pictured: intense humidity. After all, it’s Florida in June. (Photo courtesy: Beau Genot)

Also in attendance, one of our actresses, V. Lucas!

V. Lucas and Beau Genot (Photo courtesy: V. Lucas)

In addition, one of our investors/co-Producer Laurence Leonard flew down from New York just for the screening. So we were well represented.

And it went well! (So they said). The audience was engaged, stuck around for the Q and A, and came up to Beau following the screening to say how much they enjoyed the movie and how they could relate to Nina’s journey. They also vowed to spread the word. Or so they said. Catia and I were still at home. And Catia was getting LARGER.

Two days later we had our second screening, at 9:30am.

No confirmation as to whether or not Manolo Blahnik attended. (Photo courtesy: V. Lucas)

Word must have spread because this second screening was packed. More Q and A, more fans. Which is what festivals are about, meeting new people in the industry and getting festival audiences to watch the film.

Sunday afternoon the festival wrapped. And Sunday evening, Catia and I were able to introduce our latest collaboration:

Me and the little dude. (photo courtesy: Catia Ojeda… you know, the one who did all the work bringing this kid into the world)

Did I miss out on the experience? Absolutely. But ABSOLUTELY worth it for this little dude.

Mom, dad, baby and big brother are nesting and trying to get sleep when we can. In the meantime, we are under consideration for nearly 20 festivals from mid-August through the end of November. And with a little luck (and if the programming gods are in our favor) I’ll get back on the festival circuit soon.

In the meantime, I hope you all enjoy a full night’s sleep. Please tell me what that’s like!

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Coming up next: more festivals? And taking steps towards distribution.

Raise a Glass!

In my last blog post I wrote about the steep drop on the roller coaster of Closure’s (and my) career. Rejection after rejection after rejection after-

-well, you get it.

But things will turn around, right?

After publishing that post a few more rejections came in. I (briefly) considered retirement. I threw an enormous pity party for myself (no one came). But then…

Ding!

We have a bite! We are officially going to our second festival!

Great grapes! We’re going to Florida!

That’s right, the Vero Beach Wine and Film Festival. We are thrilled.  Another chance to show our movie to a paying, public audience. Actually, TWO chances:

Thursday, June 5th
5:30pm
Vero Beach Theatre Guild

Saturday, June 7th
9:30am (GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING, VERO BEACH!!!)
Costa d’Este Beach Resort and Spa

After the cycle of rejection and hard work (I am still working 30 minutes to three hours A DAY on this movie, months after we completed our edit) this is an exciting development. A beautiful beachside location. Lots of movies. And apparently, even more wine (don’t forget, film is second fiddle in the name of the festival).

But this festival is slightly bittersweet, because-

“Oh shut up, Goldberg. We’re all tired of your complaining, Mr. Movie Man. Just close your trap and enjoy yourself for one minute.”

I promise you, I am enjoying this moment. And I will enjoy my entire time at the festival. I mean, how could you not enjoy Watson the Waterborne Wine Waiter!

I’m pretty sure he walked this viognier over directly from France.

But someone will be noticeably missing.

Catia is pregnant. Like, VERY pregnant. Like, by the time you read this blog there might be another squishy bundle of joy in our arms. I am NOT COMPLAINING about having another child. We asked for it. We literally made it happen.

But this means that she will not be joining in on the adventure to Vero Beach. We thought about all traveling as a family, but taking a three-year-old and a newborn across country is a recipe for disaster, very expensive, and since we wouldn’t be sleeping much I wouldn’t be working to my potential at the festival, making connections and networking as much as I can.

We wanted to take our baby moon (a.k.a. a brief vacation before the newborn chaos begins) to a festival together in March or April. A grandparent or two would have stayed with our older kid and the two of us could have celebrated our film together at one of eight festivals in San Francisco, or Dallas, or Nashville, or Atlanta, or New York, where we first met and lived for a long time.

But no, we got rejected. From all of them.

Again, I’m not complaining. I will very happily attend VBWFF and take in every adventure and opportunity I can (plus, enjoy sleep in a hotel room without an infant crying every 3-4 hours). I am extremely grateful for the opportunity. It’s just bittersweet that the woman who is my muse, my partner, my soulmate, and the inspiration for the script can’t go.

Catia and I started dating nearly ten years ago. I was instantly smitten. I remember very clearly on our third date as we were in a fantastic Italian restaurant in Astoria, drunk on the early stages of love as well as great food and wine, she told me that she booked a role in a play and would be leaving town for three months. While my heart wanted to scream “don’t go” at her I knew that she was a talented actress and the worst thing I could do for her career (and her soul) was to get in the way and be anything but encouraging. I congratulated her and told her it will be an amazing adventure. I said I’d miss her but knew that she had to take the opportunity. And, if she’d let me, I’d come visit and watch her onstage.

A month later she left for the job. And we kept dating long distance. And I did visit her…

…twice.

And proudly watched her perform at Riverside Theatre…

…in Vero Beach.

Young lovebirds at the poolside restaurant at the Costa d’Este Beach Resort and Spa. Nine and a half years later, our movie will screen in this very same building.

In June I will happily celebrate the movie and all the hard work everyone has done. Beau and I will definitely network, socialize, see other films, and meet a lot of people…

…and I will raise a glass or two in honor of the star of our movie. Next festival, we’ll do it together.