When Good News Feels Bad

I just got word that a film called HAMLET 2 was sold for $10M at Sundance. I believe it's the second largest Sundance purchase price of all time, following LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, which sold for $10.5M. Great News! The general story lines for HAMLET 2 and ODD BRODSKY seem similar. This validates the fact that there's a market for this right kind of movie right now, which is also good. And of course I'm sure our films are actually quite different.

So if this is all such good news, why do I feel bad? Because I pride myself on innovative ideas. I hate that this other film will have come out first, even though I know these things happen all the time. In fact, it happened with my first feature PURGATORY HOUSE. And that was a much worse situation because we shot our movie a year before the film THIRTEEN was shot, but because THIRTEEN was released before us, critics and audiences thought THIRTEEN gave us the idea for our movie. It was frustrating for many reasons. But at the end of the day, it helped our movie reach a wider audience. And I have a feeling that HAMLET 2's success can be a great thing for us too. Now I need to be a good business woman, and use this fully to our advantage.

The coincidences between ODD BRODSKY and HAMLET 2 do seem a bit uncanny though: Both films star aspiring actors who have no talent. (There's is a guy, ours is a gal). In their film the high school puts on a re-invented production of "Hamlet". (I believe this is the climax of the whole film). In ours, the third grade class puts on a production of Hamlet. (Thankfully it's just a VERY tiny part of our film, but how crazy is that?!) In their film Hamlet 2 is a musical, which incorporates time travel and Jesus. We also have a musical in our film (but ours is a very minor sub-plot) that's called "Hell is Here: The Musical", which stars God. (So they have Jesus, and we have God). Our film stars Rachel Dratch from SNL, and theirs features Amy Poehlar from SNL. AND I had Amy Poehlar in mind to play one of our roles (Zoey, the angry angel). It sounds like the tone of their film is more broadly over-the-top and sarcastic, where ours is a more quirky with earnest, likable characters. I know these movies will be entirely different, but the similarities are just too crazy not to mention.

I'm sure this is all REALLY good news, and this happens all the time. But right now I'm feeling as blue as that darn Sundance Logo.

Monday and Rainy

Mondays are always hard for me. But they are especially difficult after I've taken week-end time away from ODD BRODSKY. Now with the rain, how will I ever get motivated and accomplish everything I want for today? And I certainly do NOT feel like going to the gym in this weather. It's so hard working from the house. A friend of mine has an office in Hollywood that she's not using, and offered it to me. But a 1/2 hour drive each way would take a full hour out of my day that I can be working! Today I have 2 meetings: one for lunch and one for dinner, and so I feel like I'm not going to get anything done! Maybe I should use at least my friend's office for my meetings, instead of restaurants, which take so long. Oh I don't know. I guess I've got a case of "the Mondays" times two! Maybe I'll go back to bed.

Movies and TV That Make a Difference

Boy, what a busy industry-filled weekend. Today I was on the judging committee for the 2008 Prism Awards, which honor movies and TV shows that make a positive difference in the world, by accurately portraying addiction in the media. My categories were TV comedy and non-scripted, non-fiction. This years televised ceremony airs September 4th on FX. Tune in to see all the nominees and winners!

The above photo is from last April's Prism Award Ceremony at the Beverly Hills Hotel, where Maurice Benard received an award for his acting work on General Hospital portraying someone with Bipolar Disorder. (I'm a actually a big fan of General Hospital and have been watching since I was 8 years old!) Matt thinks I look like an awards statue myself in my gold dress... he he. Last year in addition to my 2 listed categories, I also judged "movies of the week" and PSA's. Good fun.

2008 ASC Awards

That's my favorite D.P. (hubby Matthew Irving) with our pal Diane Upson from Technicolor. We had a blast at this year's ASC (American Society of Cinematographers) Awards, and almost beat the rain, too! We made it there fine, but then I got caught in a down-pour returning from the ladies room. I ironed my hair straight for the event and feared the rain would add the curl back. I'm sure you'll be relieved to know, it remained straight. Life is good. (Reading my own writing I sound like such a girlie-girl. But I actually don't get made-up on a daily basis. So these sort of events are especially fun.)

Dinner was a surf and turf combo: strip steak and salmon with mashed potatoes and veggies, preceded by a lovely salad of roasted tomato, green beans and cream cheese. I'd give the salad an A and the main course a B. Desert was a chocolate brownie-cake with cream on top, and vanilla ice cream in a crunchy brown sugar shell.
And in case you can't wait until tomorrow, here's a sneak peak at this year's award winners.

The Recipients are...
International Award: Walter Lassally (TOM JONES)
ASC Career Achievement in Television: George Spiro Dibie ("Growing Pains", "Night Court", "Barney Miller")
ASC Presidents Award: Richard Edlund (vfx for STAR WARS, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK)
Motion Picture, Mini Series or TV Pilot: Ben Nott ("The Company")
Board of Governors: Annette Benning (actress)
Lifetime Achievement: Stephen H. Burum (THE OUTSIDERS, THE UNTOUCHABLES).
Theatrical Release: Robert Elswit (THERE WILL BE BLOOD)
The Laszlo Kovacs Heritage Award: Andrew Mark Davis (Chapman University) and Sean Michael Stiegemeier, (AFI)

And now, I bid you good night. I'm off to lay my sleepy head down and drift away to the soothing sound of rain.

Note: Photo #2 of Matt with Andrew Lesnie (LORD OF THE RINGS), and Photo #3 of us with Patti and Russell Carpenter (TITANIC) were taken at the 2006 ASC Awards.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Okay, now don't get me wrong. I LOVE the rain. I long for rain. To me rain is like a sign from the Universe to relax, breathe, take it easy, tune in to my senses, be present! I mean, there's almost nothing better than opening the windows and listening to the lulling sound of the rhythmic pitter-patter on the roof. So I'm not complaining, really. All I'm saying is that the timing could have been better. It took us 2 hours to pick Robin up at the airport. And see photo #1: This is what happened to her on our hike at Runyon Canyon Park Thursday. Thankfully, the rain cleared up just enough for a very nice mailman to snap a photo of us in front of the Hollywood sign. See photo #2.

Friday was her big day on "Wheel of Fortune". We actually made incredible time driving in the rain to Sony Studios in Culver city, thanks to Matt's clever route through Hollywood --avoiding the freeways. Robin did GREAT! She won a one-week trip to Venice, Italy and over $6,000 in cash! I take her to the airport in an hour. Tonight Matt and I have the ASC Awards. Luckily that's at Hollywood & Highland, so there'll be a cover overhead to protect our formal attire. Nothing like looking like a drowned rat at a fancy awards dinner. Ug. Wish me luck!

Did They Just Say Tornado Warning??

The national weather service has just issued a tornado warning for Los Angeles County! If you live in Malibu, Topanga, Pacific Palisades, Long Beach, Hawthorne, Torrance, San Pedro and Lakewood... this means you! How crazy is that?!

Robin Brodsky on "Wheel of Fortune"

Last summer my childhood friend Robin Curtin (AKA Robin Brodsky --who's last name I borrowed for my movie title) auditioned to be a contestent on "Wheel of Fortune" when they came to Boston, where she lives. A few weeks later I told Robin about Dances With Films' short film contest, and suggested she enter by writing a 2-minute script. She wrote a script called "Wheel of Misfortune" about what could happen if she went on the show. Well, her script was chosen to be produced, and I was chosen to direct. We shot and edited the short in 4 hours! (That's the premise of the contest). And it screened at the Leammle on Sunset Blvd. last July.

Now, 6 months later, "Wheel of Fortune" finally called Robin to be on the show! They flew her to Los Angeles and we tape it tomorrow! Katrina Gourley (the actress who played Robin in the short film) will be at the taping, along with Matt and me. We visioned it and now it's happening! Now lets vision her winning the top amount of money: $200,000!!!

My Theme for the Year

2 Words: Innovative (see photo) and Delegate

Last year's theme was 2 sentences: "Tuning into the magic of my life" and "My life falls easily into place".

The Illusion of Busy

Today was one of those days where I worked the entire day, but felt like nothing was accomplished. As I spent ALL DAY on the computer (with the exception of going to the gym and food shopping --in preparation of Robin's visit) I wanted to be doing other things that I deemed more important. But truly, what I was doing was important. I just wish it was less time consuming. I mean, it needed to get done. I just don't have time! As it is, I don't respond to 1/2 my emails, because there would not be time for anything else. The problem is that every time I write an email, I get another email reply. And even the awesome emails which contain referrals that I am LUCKY to get, depress me, because it means more work. Sigh...

Things I accomplished today:
1. Pitched another product placement company about placing a car . 2. Got a personal referral from Dave to a fantastic production company (now need to pitch it!) 3. Got a referral from my genius friend Ren to a producer. 4. Got caught up on ALL MY EMAILS! (huge!) This includes responding to the pile of "Purgatory House" fan emails. 5. Proofed Matt's bio for the Santa Barbara Film Festival. 6. Followed up/Checked in with several producers, filmmakerss and friends who may think I've dropped off the planet. 7. Sent an announcement about Robin getting on "Wheel of Fortune". 8. Updated MySpace Pages for all films. 8. Scheduled a meeting with my potential new Mentee/intern. 9. Went through a weeks worth of mail. 10. Planned Robin's visit.

STILL WATERS at SBFF

A film Matt shot called STILL WATERS starring Lake Bell and Clifton Collins Jr, will be screening at the Santa Barbara Film Festival next week. It's a classy film noir inspired film that feels like a throwback to the 70's with a lyrical pace and stunningly gorgeous photography. The festival calls it "A dramatic thriller with very strong performances and beautiful cinematography, STILL WATERS will keep you guessing and rethinking what you know until the very end." Check it out January 24- February 3.

Updating the Budget and Schedule

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! Today I'm inputting a few new little scenes into the schedule. They're not really new scenes; they're part of a sequence, but each one needs to be accounted for in the planning. For instance: I added scene 49A, which is just a shot of Audrey walking down the street. Also added Scenes 86A,B,C,D,E and F which are some shots at various locations of Audrey's day-to-day life. Also added back in a little scene that had been cut. I missed it. Then I have to integrate these notes into the appropriate department breakdowns and budget. I hope to finish my work on OB by 2:30pm today and take the rest of the day off.

Today I'll honor MLK day by paying extra appreciation to all of the opportunities and freedoms I have as a woman living in the United States in this day and age, which was made possible by the courageous freedom fighters of yesteryear.

CLOVERFIELD

CLOVERFIELD What can I say? I dug it.
It was what it claimed to be: A studio's version of BLAIR WITCH. It was an "Independent Film" conceit made with the budget of a studio behind it. I loved the premise of a disaster movie shot/told entirely through the lens of a little hand-held video camera of a person who happens to be at the event as it unfolds. Certainly Innovative; which happens to be one of my theme words for this year. Also loved that they used unknown actors. (This movie certainly would not have worked using recognizable faces). My one note: I would have liked it better if it ended one story beat earlier (at the spot where it seemed like it would end). --I don't want to give away any spoilers. But overall. Loved it!

Initial Casting Ideas: The Boys

"Camera One"
Jason Swartzman, Brian Dietzen or maybe even Wes Anderson (How cool would that be?)


"Spuds"
Andy Samberg or Jon Heder


"Rex" (The Boss)
David Koechner or Richard Riehle

Ten Years Ago...

January 19, 1998. This is the very first photo of Matt and I together, which was taken about an hour after we first met! Matt had already arrived at the Sundance condo when I "came bursting through the doors" as he likes to put it. I immediately enlisted Matt's help (along with my friend Kristy and Matt's friend Jeff) to clean up the condo, which had been trashed by party-ers the night before. We laughed and laughed as we whipped the place into shape. We had so much fun with it, in fact, that I gathered us all for a group photo afterward and snapped this picture. Who knew that it would mean so much to us, ten years later?

Our Sundance Anniversay

It's 10 years ago tomorrow that Matt and I first met at the Sundance Film Festival. He was there with his very first feature as DP (Tony Barbieri's "One"), and I was there with people I'd worked with as an actress. We ended up in the same condo with about 20 other people, and the rest is history. Ironically, just in time for this 10-year anniversary, a reporter from the Salt Lake City Tribune contacted us and told us he was doing a story about married filmmaker couples that first met at the Sundance Film Festival. His newspaper story came out today, and we're the first couple mentioned! So although we could not be there in person this year, we are certainly represented! And of course we're there in spirit. Maybe someone can bring us back a hard copy??

Department Notes

As Matt and I shot listed the script, it made me think about the visual style in much greater detail. The story definitely has the comedic tone and earnestness of a Wes Anderson Film (wonder why?), and it's interesting to decide what visual aesthetics to use in which place. For me, I feel almost like an architect. I like to make sure everything is balanced in terms of structure and timing, and the way all the little jokes pay off.

In going through the script with a fine-tooth comb, I found all sorts of things that need to be clarified for the shoot. For example, when the montage of "Little Audrey" begins, because the shot starts on an adult with a child, I needed to add in a line of dialogue for the adult to say, such as "Now it's your turn Audrey!" (Calling Audrey by her name) so it's clear that the child is Audrey. The joke won't play if we think the adult is Audrey! It's a fun process for someone who's crazy organized and enjoys detail work the way I do.

So this week I've been making all kinds of notes for prop people, make-up, fx, myself and other departments to remember on the set. For example: There's a scene where Little Audrey is in the school's Shakespeare play, and there are 2 kids that would need to be on stage dressed as Horatio and the grave diggers. Since they have no lines of dialogue, I must make a note for the costumer! Fun stuff like that.

A Good Life

Last night my husband dreamed we were 97 years old and still as much in love as we are today. We were sitting together at the counter of a little cafe' that we owned (not sure why we own a cafe' in this dream). He turned to me and said sweetly "I've had such a good life with you" and I smiled and said "Yes, it's been really fun." Sometimes I wonder how I ever got so lucky...

WAL MART: THE HIGH COST OF LOW PRICES

What an amazing documentary. If you haven't seen it, I hope you will. What's so great is that it presents the problem, and then shows many people who's succeeded in battling the problem. I love that! I can't believe that one of the richest companies in America pays it's employees so little that the majority of them live at the poverty level, can't even afford health insurance and have to have assistance from the state. And did you know that when a Wal-Mart comes to a small town, most of the mom n' pop shops are forced out of business within months, because they can't compete with the low prices (which are low due to importing from other countries where people are paid as little as 50 cents/week!?) It's so sad.

Well, I'm doing my part. I called up the manager of my IRA account and asked if I had any stocks in Wal-Mart. When I found I did, I changed funds! I don't want to support them, or make money from their success at such a cost. I feel really good.

Goin' Hollywood

Alright, so I guess we've already gone Hollywood, but it sounded good. Tomorrow Matt has a meeting with ex-brat-packer Emilio Estevez for his next directorial gig, called THE PUBLIC. (Emilio directed the critical acclaimed film BOBBY last year.) Matt says this script is really good; Emilio wrote it himself, and in fact it's the most well-written screenplay Matt's read in a long time. --I have not seen my hubby this excited about a project in awhile!

The Perfect Packet

I wish I had the kind of personality that came up with my ideas all at once. Instead I think of things in pieces. It's frustrating sometimes.

When I arrived in Vegas, I brought the tailored promo packet for the pitch containing: the project overview, synopsis, key crew bios, casting info, budget, schedule, comps, revenue scenarios, marketing plan, demographics, the one-sheet for PURGATORY HOUSE and a few relevant articles from high profile publications to support my pitch.

After a few hours in Vegas, I realized what I really needed to include was a bullet-point list in four categories: why them, why me, why this project, and why now. So I quickly put those 2 pages together, found a printer, and added it to my packet. A lot of last minute work, but completely worth it. It brought the packet to the next level.

Now I'm back in L.A, wishing I had brought my flip-book for PURGATORY HOUSE! That would have been so impressive! It's page after page after page of the publicity we received. Very fun to thumb through. I completely forgot I even had it. And I should have included a PH DVD, so they could see the extras that plugged the company...

So now I guess I'll make a pdf of the packet, and email it over? Not the same "feel" as flipping through it...but better than nothing.

The Pitch

It's nice to be home! Tonight I'll be back in my own bed after 8 days on the road. Yesterday was the big day! I pitched ODD BRODSKY to Canon USA, asking them to finance the entire budget of the film! I feel so grateful to have this opportunity to present my project to the top dogs there.

I've gotta say... it went well! It may sound strange to ask a video company for money for a movie that's going to be shot on film, but it's actually a GREAT opportunity for all of us. In ODD BRODSKY there is a character called "Camera One" who carries around a video camcorder for about 1/2 the movie! Talk about great product placement for the Canon XH-A1! (which by the way is an amazing camera!) And a few of his segments would be shot on video. Plus we can shoot all of the "behind the scenes" and DVD extras with their great cameras too!

You see, many large companies (companies that are not even in the entertainment business to begin with) have started financing films! Companies like PepsiCo, Burger King, Chrysler, Dove and Gatorade. They're seeing this as not only a great change for long-term advertising, (writing off the money as a marketing expense in a traditional way), but as an additional chance to earn a revenue if the film makes a profit! So it's like spending money you'd spend anyway... and yet having an opportunity to get that money recouped and earn money in an innovative new way!

Although Canon has never done something as big as this in the past, I still have a really good feeling. And I am the PERFECT candidate! My first feature gave them a lot of mileage for very little cost, and was one of their greatest success stories! Every time someone watches the "Behind the Scenes" of the DVD they rent, Canon is showcased. Keep your fingers crossed...

Canon-4-Kids Fundraiser

Last night was the "Canon 4 Kids" Celebrity Gala to raise money for Missing Children at the Mandelay Bay in Las Vegas. We had a blast. The dinner was spectacular with prime rib, sushi, shrimp, and yummy pasta bar. The Beatles Tribute Band "The Fab Four" rocked the house. Matt and I saw them in 1999 on Catalina Island, when we were falling in love. Matt and I met Robert Hayes from AIRPLANE. What a funny guy! (See photo).

Also met Joel Gretsch from "The 4400" and the mini series "Taken".
I love both of those shows. Here's a snapshot of us at the party. I keep trying to think if there's any role he'd be right for in my next film, but nothing comes to mind... Let's see, who else was there tonight... "The Beev" -Jerry Mathers, Blair Underwood and his beautiful wife Desiree (who are going to rent "Purgatory House), and Colonel Cunningham who flew the first Apollo Mission!

And look who's hugging me! It's DAVY JONES from The Monkeys!
Ahhhhhh!!! Davy Jones is hugging me!

Later that night, he got on stage and sang "Daydream Beleiver" with "The Fab Four" and brought the house down! And as you can see if the life of the party.

I hear the benefit raised over $300,000. Way to go Canon USA! We love you!

Life is good.

Best Sandwich EVER!

If you are in Las Vegas, YOU MUST stop by Capriotti's Sandwich Shop and get their "Bobbie" Sandwich. It's a turkey dinner in a sub! Real turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce. Three words "OH MY GOD!" This is incredible! On their website we noticed they now have locations in several new states, but none in California. My husband and I are thinking maybe we should be the first to open a franchise. We'd make a fortune!

Ringing in the New Year

Welcome 2008. It will be pretty hard to top 2007, but I'm ready to try!

Matt and I rung in the new year with a delicious lobster dinner at Delmonico's Lobster House, and then cuddled up by the fire to watch "It's a Wonderful Life". And you know what? I do have a wonderful life. I have the best husband in the whole world. Sometimes I just don't know how I got so lucky!

New Year's day was pretty fun too. We started out the first day of the new year by being interviewed for a story in the Salt Lake Tribune. A reporter is doing a feature article on married filmmaker couples who met at Sundance. I guess there are more of us out there! I can't wait to see who else shares a similar story.

Afterwards, we traveled out to LA Arboretum, and took photos of the beautiful scenery, waterfalls, flowers, exotic trees, and peacocks. ("Say Cheese").
For dinner I made Matt's favorite meal.

Later we continued our "30 Rock" marathon. We're watching Season 1 on DVD. Twas a good day! Of course I had to write my New Year resolutions before bed. I really have only 1 this year: ODD BRODSKY!

Casting Ideas

So now I'm thinking that Jason Schwartzman is my first choice to play the role of "Camera One" in ODD BRODSKY...

THE DARJEELING LIMITED

One word: AMAZING! Wes Anderson is a filmmaking genius. He's the king of killer music and slow-motion montages. The cinematography is outstanding; the movement, the compositions, the way the camera pans and the way the actors hit their marks perfectly. The acting is "right on". Earnest and skillful. The production design is spectacular. (Do trains really look like that in India, or is this all the doing of an amazing designer?) The color pallet -ooh la la!

And the story. If you know me, you know that this is my kind of plot: a spiritual journey with a sense of humor, that tugs at the heart. I never expected this film to become so very deep, or to come around full circle,but it does! AND there's this one last symbolic moment toward the end, that set my soul soaring. It was like icing on the cake.

The film begins with Bill Murray missing his train, and being left behind. Ha! (Fans of Wes Anderson know that Bill Murray has been in every Wes film since BOTTLE ROCKET!) The story: Three brothers are on an adventure which includes finding their mother who left them (although 2 of the brothers don't know that's the real reason for the trip). After they find their mother, it's clear she has not changed. But the adventure releases their baggage, but not their scars. BRILLIANT!

It was especially poignant for me, since I have not seen my mother in 21 years, and have decided to find her... This definitely seemed like a sign from the Universe.

Where is the kindness?

Alright, I'm upset. It's one thing when legitimate critics are overly harsh on a film, but when my dear friend's little blog slams my husband's film, it makes me wonder: has the whole world gone mad?

My friend writes of Adrienne Shelly's WAITRESS " I don't think critics would have been so nice to it if she hadn't died. Sorry, someone had to say it."

Someone had to say it? Really? And of all people, you felt it had to be you; the close friend of the filmmaker's wife?

I'm an artist. I like when people having an opinion. I like when they speak their minds. What I don't like is when people think their 0pinion is the only opinion. That's one of my biggest pet peeves. My second biggest peeve is the diminishing amount of kindness in the world. So you can only imagine how much this short statement triggered me.

Being a filmmaker, I know MANY filmmakers. And being on the screening committee for a film festival here in Los Angeles, I see a LOT of films. I see a lot of SUB PAR films. One thing remains true: I am always kind.

Maybe not many people have "said it" because... not many people think it. Maybe it was a completely different experience for the critics and audience who saw the film in a theater up on the big screen, in a proper environment, surrounded by other people laughing and crying, than watching it at home alone on video, (which would certainly explain the drop in rating since it's release to the masses on DVD).

Reviewers are NOT a kind bunch. They look for any reason to tear a film to shreds. And in this modern age everyone's a critic, thanks to the internet. People are cruel. To me this means they actually liked the film, even if my friend did not.

And if the tragic circumstances subconsciously made some reviewers look at it with more love, GREAT! Shouldn't all filmmakers have the experience of critics actively seeking to find the value in our films? But, just so you know, it wasn't just the critics who liked the movie. Audiences did too. In our extensive travels around the country and Canada this year , we came to realize that nobody outside of LA and NY even knew the director had died. (It was quite refreshing). And for the critics who did think it, kudos to you for holding your tongues for once, and being respectful.

It's one thing for a stranger to be unkind... But I just can't understand how a friend can be so mean? Where is the abundance mentality? Don't you know that when one little film does well, it opens doors for all of us?

OK.. Wow. I actually feel a lot better. Maybe this is why people blog!

So now the question is: Do I tell my friend how much this upset me? Growing up an only child to an absent mother, I never learned to tell people how I feel, work through things, and let them go. Maybe this blog will be a great opportunity for me to grow.

The shot-lisitng for ODD BRODSKY is done!

Today Matt and I finished shot listing the entire 108-page script for ODD BRODSKY. Normally this would be something that the director and cinematographer would do about 4 weeks before the shoot, but since Matt will be prepping/shooting his next feature (Rob McKittrick's PICTURES OF YOU) right before I hope to begin our shoot for OB, we had to do it now. It's so exciting to see it all there on the page. Every single shot of the entire film! wooooooooooooo!!

I AM LEGEND: Lighten up the darkness

Matt and I saw Will Smith's latest film I AM LEGEND yesterday. We see most of our screenings at the Director's Guild Theater, so it was a thrill going out to the local multiplex and getting to watch trailers for a change, (although the trailers turned out to be a bit depressing). There's just so much darkness in movies these days. One movie trailer was for the most ridiculous-looking film that appeared to be a studio version of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, only with lots of torture. It's strange to see a studio film using ugly (and seemingly inexpensive) video aesthetics to emulate a small indie. I guess it's a way they can save money too. But the real kicker for me was the premise: hundreds of videotapes are found that were shot by a serial killer, showing his victim's deaths as he recorded them. OMG! I'm sorry, but I'm so over this torture genre.

Getting back to I AM LEGEND, it had a great theme to it. The Tag-line was "Lighten up the Darkness", which really spoke to me (and seemed particularly apropos considering the preceding trailers). Will is such a talented actor. You've got to love his passion and commitment.

Todays films are teaching me more and more about myself. Over the past several years I've come to realize that I don't respond to film (or art) that is out of balance, showing only the dark side. Like I AM LEGEND says: Lighten up the darkness.

Goodbye 2007, Hello Blog

2007 really was an incredible year for Matt and me. I hate that it's over! Here's a quick recap. In January, Canon USA traveled us up to San Francisco to talk about their cameras at MacWorld. A week later, my first feature PURGATORY HOUSE was wide-released on DVD. It was fun to see it on the shelves of Blockbuster and Hollywood Video stores as we traveled throughout the land this year!

Later in January, Matt and I found ourselves back at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, where his film WAITRESS (starring Keri Russell) was the hit of the festival! Seeing it with it's first audiences was amazing. They laughed, cried and cheered. Fox Searchlight picked it up the night after it's world premiere, gave it a high-profile theatrical release in May, and it reached #4 at the Box Office! This latest Sundance success led directly to new agents for Matt, who landed him a lyrical, true-story 1940’s period piece called THE PARDON (starring Jaime King), which whisked Matt away to Shreveport, Louisiana for ten weeks.

Only four weeks after getting home from shooting THE PARDON, Matt was whisked away to Toronto for another ten weeks to shoot THE ECHO, where he learned to speak Canadian, eh? THE ECHO is a remake of the Filipino hit SEGAW, produced by the same people who did THE GRUNGE, THE RING, and THE DEPARTED.

Meanwhile I spent the year gathering forces for my next feature film, a quirky comedy called ODD BRODSKY. Hot off the success of PURGATORY HOUSE, I landed a meeting at Sundance (in January) with Saturday Night Live alumnus Rachel Dratch. She read the script and loved it. I think it could be a break-out role for her. With Dratch attached (Matt loves to say that rhyming pair), I began a string of meetings with potential producing partners, meticulously laying the groundwork and building a strong team. Later in the year, I met up with Chris Wyatt (the producer of NAPOLEON DYNAMITE), who said he’d loved what I did with PURGATORY HOUSE and hoped to work with me! Pretty wild!

Between pre-production work, film festival screenings and Canon shows, I also acted in 3 films this year, was a judge for the Prism Awards, Cine Eagle Awards and served on the Selections Committee for the Dances With Films Festival. And somehow I managed to travel out to both Shreveport and Toronto and spend a decent chunk of time with Matt while he was shooting those 2 films! On our time away from the set, we took in all the sights of Shreveport… well, not much to do in Shreveport, but we had a blast in Toronto! We even went down to Niagara by the Lake, and Niagara Falls—which featured the most spectacular rainbow we’ve ever seen! (See photos). I attended the Toronto Film Festival with Diane from Tehcnicolor, and Matt saw the Blue Jays play at home, adding to the extensive roster of stadiums he’s visited across North America.

Other travels included our yearly pilgrimage to Portland to visit Matt’s dad and family, and my trip to Austin, to visit my brother Josh and his fiancée Amy. Later, while Matt was still working in Toronto, my friend Katrina and I drove up to Napa to attend their beautiful wedding. Around this same time I completely redesigned our little bathroom and turned it into a whirlpool spa that Matt hardly recognized when he got home!

Considering the busy-ness of the rest of the year, our last couple months have been quiet and restful, including a relaxing cruise to Catalina and Ensenada. We’ve enjoyed driving around in our new Prius, and would recommend it to anyone, especially with the high gas prices right now. It's getting an average of 47 miles to the gallon. That about does it for this year. Goodbye 2007. You were very good to us. Life doesn't get much better than this. We'll miss you...

Wishing you a very happy holidays, and spectacular New Year!