I'm actually not so sad angry and depressed, but I was in a really bad mood when I wrote that last entry! I hope I'm not starting to sound like a manic depressive. To tell you the truth, I forgot that I even had a blog to update. It's been so long I had to go digging around in a pile of papers to even find the password to this site.
Anyway, I'm pleased to announce that I just entered into an agreement with Cinequest to distribute rock & roll Superhero on DVD. For those of you who've never heard of Cinequest, here's some info:
Cinequest is Northern California's premier motion picture institute that produces: Cinequest Film Festival, a soul-stirring and personable discovery festival of international films and digital forums for movie lovers, Maverick film artists and students; Cinequest Online, the Internet's premier film marketing and distribution site; Cinequest Digital Studio; Youthquest; and Cinequest Screenwriting Competition.
This project has been sitting on the shelf far too long and I hope that it will finally get the audience it deserves. I don't have any details yet on where and when it's coming out but hopefully very shortly I will be a millionaire and eating sushi every night (only I won't on account of not wanting mercury poisoning).
I'll have more to say later. Bye!
Folks, the rat race has got me down! Editing 10 Hours plus per day on Extreme Makeover has left me little time to promote this project. But despite the rejection from every film festival I've entered (save one, Thanks, Anthology Film Archives!) I'm going to keep banging my head against the wall, the wall of 'The Industry.'
The problem I'm dealing with is that in order to get distribution, I have to get accepted into a big festival. Distributors don't readily accept unsolicited tapes, rather they go to festivals to 'discover' films that have already gone through the filtering process of a selection committee. So the fact that I've been rejected by every festival means that either RARSH just isn't good enough, or they're not really watching the tape and just taking my money, or there are some other political backdoor deals going on that I'm not privy to. Whatever the reason, it's pissing me off!
Well, I'm not quiting anytime soon. I'll sell DVDs on the street in NYC if that's what it takes to prove that RARSH has a huge audience out there waiting to see it. That and fake Rolex watches.
That's all for now, I'm going to start updating this blog more.
-POD
Last night was one of the greatest nights ever. I want to thank everyone who attended for all their support and a special thanks to the Anthology Film Archives and Barney Oldfield for selecting Rock & Roll Superhero for inclusion in the NewFilmmakers Fall Screening Series.
It's been such a long road working on this project that I never really thought about how I would feel at the screening or how people would react to the film. After making a really brief and awkward speech before the movie started, I ran to the back of the theater and grabbed a seat. My palms were sweating and my heart was pounding. I haven't felt those kind of nerves since I forgot the rings at my wedding (a story for another day).
Every detail that Miranda and I had agonized over in the editing room paid off. I knew from the laughter, groans, silence, cheers and applause that the audience was totally wrapped up in the story.
Afterwards people were shaking my hand and congradulating me and telling me how great the movie was, which frankly made me really embarassed. I wanted to just run out of the theater with my coat over my head!
The live show at the Sidewalk Cafe was a blast. Seeing Watt and Jay perform together for the first time in three years was fantastic. If you missed it, free movie posters and copies of the RARSH promotional comic book were distributed to the crowd.
The overwhelming positive response reminded me that the five years of work on this film were all worth it and strengthens my resolve to get a distrubution deal for this project. So thanks again for all of you for coming out to the show. Your enthusiasm and support are an inspiration to me.
And waking up to find my face on the cover of the Stamford Advocate doesn't hurt either! I told the guy not to take a weird wide angle picture of my face but I guess he wasn't listening.
What a night...! I can't tell you how incredible it was to see such a turn out for the premiere. I feel like I dreamt the whole thing. Reuniting with Jay and Asaf was a great moment--stay tuned for pictures. The acoustic show afterparty was great...I teamed up with my band The SmashUp to kick off the set, and was joined by (original Superhero drummer) Erik "The Eggman" Tonner, and Jay Salley himself as we resurrected "Breakdown". My parents even came! I was glad they enjoyed it, and that my Dad's line in the movie got a laugh from the crowd. The guy is a natural.
Be on the lookout for MUCH more about this film in the coming months--this is just the beginning!
In the meantime, check out:
www.TheSmashUp.com Watt's current band (new site going live by 11/15)
www.EdisonBand.net Jay's current band
Our first article! The Stamford, CT Advocate 11/13/03
http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/scn-sa-stamrock1nov13,0,718464.story?coll=stam-top-headlines
SOUNDTRACK albums: Soon to be available along with official RARS merch via PayPal. For now,
Contact me thru the site or at
WattWhite@aol.com
OK, I'm off to do a run. 2/22/04 will be 10 years of the running STREAK!
w
As I type this, Rupert, a twenty one pound domestic house-cat, is sitting on my chest. Anyway, I can't wait until Wednesday! It's going to be great to see everyone come together for the screening event. I'm going to have some free posters and comic books to give away at the after-party, plus some t-shirts for sale. Watt White will have some crud for sale too.
It's been a little over five years since I started work on this project and what an amazing experience it's been. I always wanted to make a feature length narrative film, but since I didn't have any money or a script, a low-budget guerilla style documentary was my only choice, and thank goodness for that. It's the best kind of filmmaking there is. Everyone should try it. I think I'm going to need a lint brush when Rupert jumps off of me.
Well it's one week until the premiere and I'm pretty psyched...it's wild to have 3+ years of your life documented on film. Things don't always happen the way you remember them, and in this case you have the digital video to prove it.
I have no regrets--OK, maybe there are a few scattered fuckups here and there--but I believe where we are at any given moment is a direct result of where we've been. I've never been more excited about doing what I do, and I firmly believe it's possible to trace back the succession of events from past flubs to present victories. If you are not learning from your life unfolding about you, you are asleep.
NO SLEEP! I'll sleep plenty when I'm dead.
I'm looking forward to seeing a whole mess of people I haven't seen in a while, and the after-screening gig should be a blast. It will be fun to jam with Jay, and with Erik (the original Superhero drummer) and my current band (The SmashUp) in an acoustic setting.
As always, things are getting and bigger and better. I'll rap at ya later.
--peace
WCW3
Ever since I accepted a freelance editing gig working on a reality TV show (I won't mention the name because you'd probably lose respect for me!), I haven't had time to get a haircut or shave. I'm walking around like a hairy ape. My head looks like a big mushroom. I'm working 10 to 12 hour days, six days a week. Life is too short to sit in front of a cathode ray tube!
This is why I've begun to formulate the plan to go out and shoot my next project. It's going to be a 3-D Imax movie about a guy working in an office cubicle. It'll all be shot in extreme closeups of the guy's face, projected on a six story screen. Instead of a dialogue track, it will be presented in morse code. Oh, and it will be filmed all in one static shot, no cutaways! Lawrence Welk will be featured on the sound track. Stay tuned for that one.
Oh, and the other thing that happened today was that I bought lunch at the Sandwich Maestro on Atlantic St. in Stamford and it was excellent. I recommend it!
Watt, if you're reading this hurry up and post something so I stop rambling on like a fool.
Today was an exciting day of work... I worked on my T-shirt order and I ate a delicious apple purchased at a farmer's market. Then I had pork chops for dinner. And some Halloween candy. Then I played with the cat. Oh, and I had a phone meeting with my publicist, she's working like crazy to get the word out.
Many thanks to Jairus and Lauren, who spent the weekend distributing postcards all over NYC and spreading the word about Wednesday's screening.