Oscar Bound

"Wit's End" Is On a Roll....

I'm really psyched that our sitcom, Wit's End, is starting to gain some attention.  We have now been recognized by three festivals -- Honolulu, Las Vegas & as of today, a TV festival in Muskogee, OK (anyone want to meet me there?!! This is pretty exciting because the festival world has become very competitive and we didn't really know what to expect.

More importantly, having the festival recognition may help us get some meetings in Tinseltown should we decide to head out there and try to pitch the show. Of course...our preference is that our NYC HBO connection pays off and that the person who has it on his/her desk as I am typing this will now have incentive to actually watch it.  And in my fantasies, they will be so impressed with the concept and our ability to pull off a very entertaining low budget project that they will demand to sign us to a multi-year contract immediately :)

Ok...so that's probably not gonna happen...but right now, I'll settle for a meeting in someone's boardroom or maybe a cocktail at a funky bar in the Village or even a latte at the corner Starbucks. 

Here's to Wit's End....the little show that "could"....may the awards keep rolling on...

TO HBO:  I'm waiting patiently...really, I am!

A New Era

As I sit here watching the inaugural coverage I can't help but sense we really are at the dawn of a new era in our country.  Despite all of the very real challenges we are facing, I really haven't felt a sense of hope & excitement like this in my adult life, and am very much looking forward to seeing what the next months and years bring. Just to see the country excited vs. complaining is such a wonderful change (however long it lasts).

I am also feeling all of this on a personal level as well..as if all of my efforts for the last 4-5 years are about to really take off  this year.  I'm on the verge of realizing the dream of launching my own radio podcast show...The Nitty Gritty Cafe (hopefully within two weeks) and am SO looking forward to meeting and talking to all of the people we are lining up to be on the show.  I'm also collaborating on a book which will be a companion to my latest doc, The BlueBelles...and I can't tell you how long I have had the goal of writing a book (probably since childhood).

And, I really feel I'm entering into a new level in terms of my filmmaking career...meeting great people, being offered some interesting (and paying) projects and just taking my abilities to the next level. It's a good feeling and, for today, I'm just going to bask in it for awhile.

So, here's to 2009..to positive changes, new levels of understanding & bright futures for all.

Sincere Condolences to the Travolta Family

I don't know about everyone else out there, but the year has had a bittersweet start for me after following the story of Jett Travolta's tragic death last week. I can only imagine the heartbreak they are going through and just want to send them love.

It is expected, but still disappointing,  to see the media try to  make more out of this tragedy than what it is...two parents who LOVED their son, and did everything in their power to provide him with loving care for every one of his sixteen years, lost him too soon.  You can't look at the photos that have been released and not see that mutual love and deep bond that was there.  My heart goes out to them.

As a parent, the thought of losing a child is unbearable and when I hear about this, the only thing I can do is to hug my kids and make sure they know how much they are loved. I hope you will do the same.

And a big P.S. to the media....this boy had TWO parents...stop referring to him only as John Travolta's son...show some respect and start saying "John Travolta & Kelly Preston's son". Completely inexcusable!

A great start to 2009....Wit's End win's first award!

My partners and I received great news on New Year's Eve...our sitcom pilot picked up an Award of Excellence as part of the upcoming Honolulu Film Festival (which actually doesn't happen until March, but they let us know early). This was very unexpected and a wonderful way to start the year! The sitcom is sitting in the hands of someone "high up" in development at HBO, so we are in the process of letting them know about the award in hopes that it will prompt them to at least watch it if they haven't yet. We shall see what happens :)

In other news...2009 is shaping up to be a very busy year already.

*First on my radar screen is the launch of my radio show, newly renamed:  The Nitty Gritty Cafe
We are finalizing the website and hope to have the first podcasts available in late January. Much more to follow on this :)

*Liz & I have been hired to produce a documentary about Juvenile Arthritis which we will be working on throughout the year and you will be able to follow our progress closely as the project will have a blog and website devoted to the "making of" the film, which is titled "Waking Up".

*We also have some interest in a screenplay we wrote a couple of years ago and are heading into the city tomorrow for a meeting....more to follow, but we are very thrilled about where this might lead.

*Also a priority...I am busy working on a book to pair with The BlueBelles documentary as a gift item...you will be able to purchase the book (with advice/wisdom from the Belles on aging, friendship & living life fully) packaged with the film, as well as a How-to guide for making friends and forming groups.  If you know someone who works in the non-fiction book world, let me know....this is going to have a lot of potential :) (the perfect gift for moms, grandmas, aunts & friends all around the world).

*As if that wasn't enough, we are also in the beginning phases of producing a new reality show as well as my next major documentary, which will feature the world of psychics...a long-standing interest of mine that I need to explore more fully.

So, lots going on and hopefully I will have lots to write about...my apologies for being a bit neglectful of the blog in 2008. But...I'm back & re-committed!

Wishing you all a very happy & healthy new year where you have the energy and resources to pursue all of your own dreams!

Thanks to REFRAME, "What's So Funny?" may have new life!

Last week I attended a film distribution seminar in NYC at which I learned about an interesting new project being launched by Tribeca Film Institute, called Reframe.  Essentially, their goal is to:

"help individual filmmakers, broadcasters, distributors, public media organizations, archives, libraries and other media owners digitize, market and sell their classic and hard-to-find films and video content using the Internet. The Reframe website, www.reframecollection.org, will be a one-stop location and an important resource for filmmakers and distributors wanting to bring films to educators, film scholars and the general public; it will be a destination for scholars, artists, teachers and film enthusiasts to easily search for and locate content."

Although my films are already digital, this will hopefully be a great place for projects that never found distribution to have a new life. For example, "What's So Funny?", my first doc, would be perfect for this.
In speaking to the representative from Tribeca and explaining what the film was about & its journey so far, she actually said I sounded like "the poster child" for the project. Very cool...

Stay tuned...

I'm LOVING Facebook!

Ok, so I'm admittedly a little behind in this concept of social networking on-line, but now that I've discovered it, I LOVE IT! In fact, I think I may even be a tiny bit addicted.

Why do I love it? 

Well, for starters, I've reconnected with several people I haven't talked to since high school & college, which is just plain FUN!

I've also enjoyed being able to easily connect to everyone else's contacts...which is the ultimate in networking. I even had someone contact me based on the fact that we attended the same college in Iowa and we are well on our way to becoming new friends.

Instant messaging has also never been so easy...I've actually never really gotten into it, but it's so simple on Facebook that I've found myself enjoying it.

There is this somewhat strange, but admittedly fascinating, phenomenon where people post what they're doing throughout the day and you actually feel like you ARE connected in some bizarre way to their everyday lives.

Also, there are the photos...how great to be able to see what old friends (or new) look like...literally putting a face to a name. 

And, last but not least,  I actually believe that we WILL make some good biz contacts from this site. One of my partners, Liz, was already invited to do a radio interview strictly as a result of being active on Facebook.

So, if you haven't joined yet....GO DO IT...it's a great resource and a lot of fun...and it's FREE!

Another Day, Another Premiere :)

The last month has truly been a whirlwind of premieres....two screenings for The BlueBelles (which I've already written about) as well as two NYC events for Wit's End, our sitcom. I'm happy to say that all four of these screenings were sold out and went very well.

For more details and photos of each event, check out our website.

Now, the key is....WHAT NEXT?

For The BlueBelles:

-We will be holding another screening (by popular demand) on Thursday, Nov. 13th, at 8:30 at Clearview Cinema in Red Bank, NJ (if you happen to be local, please come out and support us).

-I will be meeting with NYC based film consultant, Robert Hawk, sometime this month to map out a film festival strategy and then start the process of entering the film in several festivals over the next year.

-And, I'm determined to find a way to get the Belles onto Oprah!! I don't know HOW, but just know I have to make it happen.

As for Wit's End:

-We made a few contacts as a result of the screenings and have been able to get copies of the pilot to folks at HBO, Comedy Central, Bravo & NBC (I have a feeling we may actually hear from one or two of them).

-We will also be obtaining some feedback from Robert Hawk on this project and are planning to submit it to all of the upcoming TV festivals.

-More challenging, but doable, is to work all of our various connections and figure out a way to get some "pitch" meetings scheduled where we can get in front of programming execs and convince them our show is a HIT!

And, we are honored to have been asked to appear on The Joey Reynolds Show  (on WOR radio; 710)
on Friday, December 5th at 1 AM in the morning (YIKES...and it's LIVE), with the cast, to talk about the show. We are very grateful for this opportunity, so look forward to that.

I think that's all for now - I hope to be announcing the launch of my new radio podcast show, GOOD to HEAR, very soon, so stay  tuned...

BlueBelle Premiere a Big Success....whew!

I'm happy to report that our premiere went smashingly well last night. Despite the last minute stress of making sure we had a DVD to play, the event couldn't have gone better. We had two packed screenings and had them  laughing  and crying...my personal definition of a good flick.

More later and some photos, but I've got to get some sleep!!

Here's a link to the feature article  in the Oct. 1st edition of the Asbury Park Press

The BLUEBELLES are making a splash...

I'm on the 24 hour count down to the big private premiere for The BlueBelles and am getting more excited by the minute. Our first screening is SOLD OUT and the 2nd is quickly filling up after a great front page article in today's Asbury Park Press. It's been a fun day, taking phone calls from people who want to book tickets and seem excited to see the film.

All that's left is to burn the final DVD...Yes, it always seems to be come down to the wire like this. Just enough time for the theater manager to test it out on his equipment tomorrow morning and then it's in the hands of fate!

Everything else is in order...the pre-party hosted by one of the Belles, the stretch limos to take us to the theater, the red carpet, the flowers, the photographers...yikes, it all sounds very Hollywood!!

But I'm having visions of Oprah....come, on, Oprah....The Belles are tailor made for your audience :)

I'll be waiting for your call....

Happy to Report....

Wow...it feels a bit strange to be back to blogging after a three-month absence, but I think it was a good thing as I was feeling a bit burnt out and am now re-energized and have lots to report. Here goes:

*I am about 90% finished with my latest doc, The BlueBelles, and looking forward to our private premiere on October 2nd at Clearview Cinemas in Red Bank, NJ.  This has been a three-year labor of love and I'm really pleased with how it's turning out...and hope they will be too! No matter the film's ultimate journey, we will have an amazing night complete with limo rides to the theater and a walk down the red carpet in our "little black dresses"...as I've told them, it's not every day you are the star of a film so we plan to live it up that night.  And I would LOVE to see these ladies on Oprah one day!!

*My partners and I finished our sitcom, Wit's End, and are also very happy with this project. In fact, we are so excited about it that we've taken the somewhat bold step of hosting a screening for industry contacts coming up on Tuesday, Oct. 14th at Don't Tell Mama in NYC. We are cautiously optimistic that we will generate some interest in the project as a result of this event. We also plan to continue sending the pilot into various TV and film festivals over the next year.  Although we didn't make it into the NYTV Festival, I really feel it wasn't a reflection on the show, but rather a timing issue....first, we barely made the final deadline and 2nd, right before that, Jim Carrey's people announced a show in development with HBO which sounds somewhat similar to our premise. It hasn't even been written yet (and ours is DONE), but having his name attached to it may have had an impact on the festival's decision-making process. SO, onward and upward...our industry screening feels like a much better venue to me and I believe something exciting will come of the event.

*Liz, Debbie & I finished  the outline for our feature comedy script, Old Bags, and look forward to completing the script over the winter.

*I actually made some great strides on my upcoming radio interview program over the summer. First, I've asked one of the stars of Wit's End, Shecky Beagleman, to be my co-host. Shecky will bring her quirky sense of humor and a sense of levity to the show that will complement me well I believe...you can find out more about her by visiting her website, sheckybeagleman.com.  And, after much consideration and debate, I've decided on the name for the show....GOOD to HEAR! We are now busy recording our first interviews...a preview of which I will blog about separately very soon. Look for this program to debut via pod-cast in mid-November.

*AND, saving the BEST for last, we've had THREE distributors express an interest in Snake Hill as well as reached an agreement with NJN (New Jersey Network), our soon-to-be local PBS affiliate,  to  air  a  re-edited version  of the film early next year.  This is very exciting as it will finally give us the local exposure we have been looking for and get the story out to the public...major kudos to my partner, Debbie Higgins, for pulling this one off!!  We are also looking forward to screening the film this fall at several New Jersey colleges.

To sum it up, it's been a very productive summer on the professional front...and I'm looking forward to an exciting fall!

Personally, I haven't lost that pesky 25 lbs I'm trying to shed...but, I feel a small victory that I didn't gain anything after being somewhat incapacitated for most of the summer due to foot surgery that I had in early July. So, I'm just now able to start moving again and I LOVE fall, so look forward to those bike rides I didn't do over the summer.

Hope yours was a good one...stay tuned for more in the adventures of this evolving filmmaker/writer and soon to be radio co-host :)