Awards at the DGA

To Rest in Peace screened at the Directors Guild of America yesterday, with a showcase of USC films.

We took home the Fotokem bronze award, and the First Look audience award. Congrats to the cast and crew!

Congrats also to John Dion, our 1st A.D., whose thesis film Cupid won the faculty award for best screenwriting.

And thanks to everyone who came out and made it such a special night.

LACMA Muse Young Directors Night

To Rest in Peace is being showcased at the Los Angeles County Museum of the Arts!

Saturday, March 10th at 7:30 PM, for the LACMA Muse Young Directors Night.

This will be one of the last major stops for To Rest in Peace. It's been over a year since we started our festival run, and the film is still going strong. There are a couple of festivals I haven't announced yet, and we get the occasional random screening request. But my main focus now is on other projects: the mini Roman epic I recently shot, and a new feature script I'm writing. More info to come.

Congrats also to my friends Michael Koerbel for In Captivity, and Isaac Ergas for Snow, both screening at LACMA's Young Directors Night. I'm looking forward to seeing those films, and their directors again soon!

The picture of LACMA above is by Sean Conaty, director of photography for To Rest in Peace.

Mini Roman Epic

[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! 

More info coming soon.

Two lectures on Art and Film

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 really experience 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. 

If you're in town, we'd love to see you there. If you're not, you can see Luc's lecture by live or recorded webcast. And you can check out his book, Touching the Art: A New Approach to Art Appreciation.

Stay tuned for a report from Mizna's Twin Cities Arab Film Festival. 

BFF Best Short Film!

To Rest in Peace won Best Short Film at the Brantford Film Festival! Congrats to the cast & crew.

This was a particularly significant award for us, since it was our Canadian premiere.

Jason Teakle of Brant News interviewed producer Josh Clavir and I for an article about To Rest in Peace, which he called "a story of inner strength."

We had a great time in Brantford. The people were warm, the city was lovely, and the films were good. There is nothing better you can ask for in a film festival. I look forward to returning in future years, whether or not I have a film playing there.

SoCal Best Student Short!

To Rest in Peace won best student short at the SoCal Independent Film Fest! Congrats to the cast & crew.

The picture above is of me and Mir Waiss Najibi at the screening. Mir played one of the dead men that Malek buries in To Rest in Peace.  We were so grateful for his involvement, and for Ralph Lopez. They were both on set for several days, early in the morning, getting into dead man make-up, and always cheerful.

One of my fondest memories of set was a blooper that Mir and Ralph created. We were filming a close-up of the two dead bodies, and before I yelled 'cut,' the bodies came to life, looked around in a daze, and decided to leave. The whole crew had a good laugh.

Our festival run continues. More news to come.

Charles Anteby

Charles Anteby's latest demo reel includes a scene from To Rest in Peace.

The scene was shot on our third day of production. During the screening in Kuwait, several people tried to guess which local hospital we filmed in. But this was actually filmed in Santa Clarita, California. Kudos to our production design team.

The third day of production was particularly difficult, because of a big technical setback we had in the morning. We were not able to get our first shot in until after lunch, and then only because of some major problem solving by camera department, grips and electrics, and producers. Having a professional cast with a good attitude helped us rally and rescue the scene. My biggest concern when the crew is working against the clock is: will the stress of the day affect the performances? But I was very happy from "action" to "cut."

Congrats to Charles on your continued success!

Vote on Kuwait's Got Talent

Student Talk magazine is running a "Who is the Most Talented?" contest, based on their Kuwait's Got Talent series.

You can vote for To Rest in Peace director, Fawaz Al-Matrouk... that is... me :^) through this link. Voting is open for the month of August.

Awards at the Kuwait International Film Retreat

To Rest in Peace won three awards at the first annual Kuwait International Film Retreat! We placed second in editing and directing, and first in cinematography.

If you attended the screening, and missed Leah Curtis's award-winning song for the end credits due to the technical glitch, you can listen to it here:

Congrats to the other winners, Dawood Shuail, Meqdad Al-Kout, Marwa Marafie, and Jude Chehab. And, of course, Mousaed Khaled and Mansour Al-Mansour, who won special jury prizes for acting. There were also some great legends of Kuwaiti and Egyptian cinema who were honoured at the event. It was wonderful to see them in person.

Congrats also to Hasan Abdal for his excellent film War Zone. I've had the great pleasure to see several films by Hasan over the years. This one starts off as an action drama, but turns into an Abdal-esque comedy of the imagination. There is such a quality of childlike wonder to his vision, reminiscent of E. T., Hook and Indiana Jones. If his career fulfills its promise, I imagine some future Drew Casper will be lecturing on his oeuvre as the arab Steven Spielberg.

The picture above is of me with Ali Younis, the talented cinematographer for War Zone, who was indispensable for the Kuwait unit of To Rest in Peace.

Unfortunately, my friend Vachan Sharma's film Tokai was not screened, but you can see it on YouTube. The film was co-directed by Abdulrahman Alaskar, and Abeer Tebawi.

This was a great beginning for Kuwaiti cinema. Thanks to the visionaries who put it together. And a personal thanks to Sheikh Nasser Al-Sabah, Sheikha Al-Zain Al-Sabah, Yousef Al-Malik and Abdul Sattar Naji, who very generous with their hospitality and praise of the film. Thanks also to Abdulreda BenSalem and Tarek Jammal, who went above and beyond to organize the events.

I look forward to what the next year will bring!

Ridley Scott

DGA Quarterly has a great interview with Ridley Scott in their Fall 2010 issue. The bit about his early directing days is particularly interesting. I won't spoil it with a summary here, but look for the advice he got from actor Ian Hendry. "From that moment on, I just changed gears."

Ridley Scott's work was an inspiration for To Rest in Peace from the very beginning. Sean Conaty and I watched Body of Lies and Black Hawk Down. And Leah Curtis and I listened to the score of Black Hawk Down and Gladiator.

Going way back, it was Gladiator that inspired me to study history in undergrad, with the dream of directing historical epics. Which is why it was such an honour to have Mr. Scott as an Industry Mentor on To Rest in Peace. His guidance raised the film to a whole new level.

Enjoy the interview!

Remembering Nina II

Two years ago, Nina Foch passed away.

Every once in a while, I pull out my notes from Nina's class, and try to relive her presence and teachings. There are pages and pages of notes from every session. In remembrance of Nina, here are a few quotes I found while perusing the notes today.

If you're smart about your brain, you will memorize things all the time. It keeps your brain alive.

Whenever a student in class used the colloquial "sort of," "just," or "basically," as in "well, the story is basically about..." Nina would interrupt and make them rephrase.

'Basically' is a cop-out. Because if you say 'basically', you can deny what you've said.

She demanded the best from us, and was very direct, harsh and critical with her notes.

My purpose in life is to be as harsh as possible, to make sure you're ready. Because I'm nothing compared to what you will face.

I can still hear her voice when directing, writing or even editing, commenting on the scene, making it better, stronger, more alive.

This is the second post 'Remembering Nina.' The first one is from April 20, 2009.

Since then, a tribute DVD has been produced by Randal Kleiser. It includes hours of footage from her classroom, and some interviews about her approach. It's a great glimpse of her for anyone who wants to discover or remember Nina Foch.

Editor's Cut

Monday was the grand unveiling of the editor's cut.

There's an old expression, that your film is never as bad as the first assembly. Something often happens between script and production, that leads to a near heart attack when a director first sits down to see the footage all cut together in script order. That's when the editor comes to the rescue with ideas on how to rearrange, reconceive, and rewrite scenes, so that, draft by draft, the film starts resembling the original spirit of the story again.

So I went to visit Zach's editing suite with our favourite Starbucks drinks, and braced myself for the experience.

Needless to say, Zach delivered a great first cut. So great, that I completely forgot my part in this film, and just enjoyed watching it. He disproved the old expression. We watched it again for notes, then had lunch to talk over the scenes.

The cut is just over 19 minutes, which is a perfect length for what will eventually become a 15 minute film. Editing will last for the next couple of months, as we refine the 'lean-forward moments', and shape the character arcs.

Toys

Little toy cars are very helpful when you've got a complicated set up to plan. (The red one has the two dead bodies in it).

While playing with... err... while seriously planning out the car moves, Sean and I figured out how to shoot our discovery scene in a much simpler and more beautiful way than previously planned.

The fun of making a movie is in all the little discoveries. (And in the toys you need to make them).

It all comes together...

Last week Fawaz, Brad and I had our first visual design meeting with Sean (DP), Katie (PD), Prasanna Iyengar (Costume Designer) and Henry Alvarado (Art Director). It was really incredible for me, because it was the first time everyone in charge of the visuals put forward their ideas and unique take on the film. Don't ask me why, but most exciting of all for me was seeing that Prasanna had already created our badges for the Red Crescent volunteers... There's just something really official about the film now. I can't believe we are less than three weeks away!