Congrats to Leah Curtis, and the artists who brought her score to life! You can listen to the To Rest in Peacesoundtrack online.
Leah was also recently nominated for two categories at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards, for her Exitus Roma song, 'Animal Vagula,' with vocalist Lisbeth Scott. Their previous collaboration, 'Salamun Salam' from the To Rest in Peace soundtrack, won 'Best World Song' in 2010. The award ceremony will be held on November 15th.
Two other thesis films I worked on are also screening at First Look. John Dion's Cupid, a comedy I edited, is screening at 5PM on Saturday. And Cat Youell's The Mischievous Case of Cordelia Botkin, a historical drama I produced, is playing the following day, at 3:45PM on Sunday. (John was the 1st AD on To Rest in Peace, and Cat was one of the producers).
Looking forward to watching some films I've been wanting to watch for some time, and re-watching others I've seen and enjoyed. Should be a good First Look! See you there.
Mizna's was one of the best experiences I had on the festival circuit. Lana Barkawi, Rami Azzazi, Marya Morstad, and their team played excellent hosts, and I met a lot of very talented filmmakers, including Tania Khalaf and David Hamilton, who have been supportive allies ever since.
I often get asked about festivals in terms of what possible deals you might get out of them. Sell your film, sell your feature, get an agent, etc. But though To Rest in Peace has been very fortunate, the best rewards you get are the people you meet along the way.
One such ally is Lisa Robertson, who I met at the Breckenridge Film Festival with her short film Commerce. Lisa made a big impact on Exitus Roma. She gave notes on an early draft, helped us find our leading lady, Teri Reeves, and gave notes on an early cut that led to a lot of positive changes. The best aspect of the festival circuit is the opportunity to do better work, by seeing other films, and meeting very talented filmmakers.
To Rest in Peace continues its festival run, on its own momentum. I've shifted focus onto Exitus Roma, and other projects on the horizon, but will continue to update the blog until my new, not project-specific blog is up and running.
[You can now join us on Facebook!Exitus Roma was made for the Ridley Scott + YouTube competition, 'Your Film Festival.' If we make the semifinals, we'll rely on our fans (you!) to get to the finals. You can watch the trailer here.]
Here are some early images from my new short film. It's a mini epic about roman refugees from the barbarian invasions, AD 410.
The film was produced for the Ridley Scott + YouTube competition, Your Film Festival. It's been filmmaking in the fast lane! I wrote the script at the end of January. My amazing producer, Anna Elizabeth James of Majek Pictures, put it together in three short weeks. We wrapped production last Friday, and I watched the editors' cut on Sunday!
Starring Teri Reeves, David Landry, Brad C. Wilcox, and Nevin Millan. Written & directed by me. Produced by Anna Elizabeth James. Cinematographer: Jonathan Barenboim. Production Designer: Bonnie Bacevich. Costume Designer: Pheobe Boynton. Make-up Artist: Cara Liedlich. 1st Assistant Director: Michael Koerbel. Fight co-ordinator: Bill Leaman. Editors: Daniel Hanne & Nick Wenger. Sound: Alexander Burstein. Composer: Leah Curtis. And many more on an amazing crew!
Here's a Mingling Media TV interview with Majek Pictures' Michael Koerbel & Anna Elizabeth James, writer-producer-directors of Goldilocks the mobile series, and me, editor of eight episodes, including episode 5, which was nominated for Best Editing at the IAWTV Awards. We had a grand time!
Over the last year, I've been working on a documentary about the novel Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I started off as an Assistant Editor, and eventually became an Associate Producer. Today, almost a year after I started, we are having our big premier at the ArcLight Hollywood! The film is also playing in over sixty theaters throughout the United States, and it's on the front page of Apple Trailers.
Ayn Rand & the Prophecy of Atlas Shrugged is directed by Chris Mortensen, who describes the film as "a biography of a book and an idea." We had some great interviews, including Albert S. Ruddy, producer of The Godfather & Million Dollar Baby. You can see an excerpt from his interview here:
This was a great project to be a part of. I read Atlas Shrugged when I was in high school, recommended to it by my biology teacher, Mr. Bramwell. The novel was breathtaking. I couldn't put it down. It's such a great mystery, such a great love story, and the ideas in it were challenging and engaging. I eventually read all of Ayn Rand's novels, and through her, discovered my favourite novelist, Victor Hugo, and my favourite playwright, Friedrich Schiller. I have three dream projects to adapt and direct one day. Hugo's The Man Who Laughs, Schiller's Don Carlos, and Ayn Rand's We the Living.
Unfortunately, Ayn Rand has become an icon for political campaigns, often used by people she would have disagreed with. Her ideas are constantly being misrepresented and mischaracterized. Recently, the founder of Lululemon Athletica, a yoga clothing company, put a quote from Atlas Shrugged on the company's shopping bags. "Who is John Galt?" To him, this represented the company's vision to "elevate the world from mediocrity to greatness." The public outcry, though, was astounding. People came out calling the quote "offensive," and readily admitting they had never read the novel!
I'm hoping this documentary helps present a more objective view of who Ayn Rand was, and what Atlas Shrugged is all about. We interviewed biographers, CEOs, colleagues, critics. The angle Chris Mortensen took was to look at the novel as a predictive work. There are sections of it that, as radio host Dennis Miller said, read like a modern day AP News story. But the novel was written in 1957!
How did Ayn Rand predict the financial crisis? It's a very interesting story. But the most interesting story is the basic plot of Atlas Shrugged: A mystery about the question "Who is John Galt?" And a drama about Dagny Taggart, whose greatest allies keep disappearing, one by one.
Congratulations to Majek Pictures on their continued success!
Goldilocks is a mobile series shot entirely on the iPhone. It's been featured in the New York Times and CNet as a "sign of things to come." In 2010, I edited eight of nine episodes of Goldilocks, the last of which was cut entirely on the iPad 2. That was an all-nighter! But it was fun, and it became the first professional video to be edited on the iPad 2.
It's one of the most exciting projects I've ever worked on. And I hear there are more exciting things to come from team Majek...
I have the honour of joining Luc Travers, of Touching the Art, for a double lecture on 'Storytelling in Art and Film' this Saturday, November 19th at 2PM in Aliso Viejo, California.
Luc will be speaking on John William Waterhouse, and I will be speaking on 'The Cutting Room: How Filmmakers Shape Their Story," with reference to Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven.
Here are the descriptions of the two lectures:
2PM Introducing Waterhouse
by Luc Travers
Waterhouse is beloved for his poignant and evocative visions. However, he is a master "storyteller" as well. In this lecture, we will discuss some of his masterpieces as well as some little-known works to gain a better understanding of how to "read" the "story" in an artwork.
3:30PM The Cutting Room: How Filmmakers Shape Their Story
by Fawaz Al-Matrouk
Editing has been called "the final rewrite," when the various pieces of a movie are shaped into the story we see. Fawaz will discuss the filmmaker's art, using two very different versions of the same movie, Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven.
I first met Luc on his tour of the San Diego Museum of Art. He showed me a new and more enjoyable way of looking at art. I used to go straight for the information plaque, but Luc makes you reallyexperience the art, and enjoy it without knowing anything about the history, artist, style or subject.
I've been very excited by Luc's work in bringing this experience to people through his tours, and now his book. So it was doubly an honour when Luc asked me to give a lecture about storytelling in film. And I had the perfect subject in mind, something I've talk about informally, and have always wanted to give a presentation on. Kingdom of Heaven.
Ridley Scott's epic about the crusades was released theatrically, and later re-released with a director's cut. The differences between the two versions are astounding. Subtle changes make for two very different stories, with different characters, obstacles and themes. Comparing the two is a great way to understand a filmmaker's choices in building a story.
For the lecture, we will watch the opening sequence from each version, and discuss the differences, and how they change our experience.
The challenge was to create a Porsche commercial with the theme of "My Daily Magic." What better team to pull it off than Michael Koerbel and Anna Elizabeth James of Majek Pictures?
Their entry into the Porsche competition is called It's a Magical Life, and portrays the stages of life as seen from the car's trunk. Falling in love, going off to school, coming of age — Each vignette is full of nuanced emotion. I found the ending, between a father and his son, so touching, that I had to give my dad a call and say hi.
If you have a moment, please watch the video, and if you like it half as much as I do, please vote. They are currently number one, and we would like to keep it that way until the voting closes on September 21st. You can vote once a day. Michael Koerbel. It's a Magical Life.
At this stage of the competition, the scripts are narrowed down to the top 25 in each category. Shining Path is an espionage thriller based on a true story, so it made it into the historical film category.
The picture above is of Abimael Guzmán, the leader of Shining Path. Our screenplay follows a peruvian detective and a rogue CIA agent as they try to bring down Guzmán, who at the time was considered the most dangerous terrorist in the world.
I say 'our' because I'm developing this screenplay for producer Brian Zager. He came to me with the story after he saw To Rest in Peace. We are still in development, working on the next draft. And we have started research on our next project, which will utilize my skills as a historian, but takes place instead in the near future.
Congrats also to semi-finalists Nate Ruegger, and Kristin Ellerman! I had the good fortune of working with both of them while at USC, and will be cheering them on in the next stages. Nate has Furious Angels in the action/adventure category, and Kristin has Riding Pine in the family film category.
In other-project news, my feature screenplay Shining Path is a quarter-finalist at the PAGE International Screenwriting Awards!
Shining Path is an espionage thriller set in Peru in the early 1990s. It is based on the true story of a rogue CIA agent and a small time detective who brought down the world's most dangerous terrorist organization. I wrote it for producer Brian Zager, who came to me with the story after he saw To Rest in Peace. He thought that I would love the idea, and he was right. It shares a theme that runs through most of my work, and is very dear to me: the story of someone trying to do a little bit of right, in a world of wrong.
I have a bit of a history with the PAGE Awards now. To Rest in Peace won the silver prize in 2009, and News from Kuwait, the feature length version, was a semi-finalist.
Two short films I edited will be premiering this Sunday, May 15th, 6 P. M. at the Eileen Norris Theatre, University of Southern California.
Cupid, directed by John Dion, is a comedy about a disillusioned Cupid, who wants to quit his job and go home. He is tired of making people fall in love, only to see them fall apart. But before he gets a ticket back, he has to finish one final assignment.
Found, directed by Anthony Bushman, is a drama about an adopted young man, who discovers new information about his biological mother, and begins a search into his past and identity.
One of the fun projects I've had recently is editing the web series Goldilocks, which is shot and distributed on the iPhone. The story is a Bourne Ultimatum or Alias sort of thriller, about a former spy, now mom, whose espionage life comes back to threaten her son.
This episode was cut on the flight over to Dubai for the festival. I had a little LaCie Rugged hard drive, and Avid Media Composer on my laptop. Put the tray table down, put the head phones on, and suddenly the Emirates A380 becomes an editing suite. One of the things I love about making films in the digital age.
The series is up for YouTube's Telly Awards. If you enjoyed watching it, you can help us win by voting here.
You can also check out the producers and directors of Goldilocks, Michael Koerbel and Anna Elizabeth James of Majek Pictures, in the New York Times, and at MacWorld Expo.
