Lights, Camera, Action!

I know a man who had a dream
to tell stories with a camera;
to make that dream come true he started small
so he could not fall.

He worked and worked each day
till the job was done.
Finally he got to say
lights, camera, action!

- Bethany Henderson, 2008

Phil Cooke made an interesting observation:

The people who complain the most, are the people who have no stake in the outcome.

People who’s job depends on performance don’t complain much because if something fails, it’s their fault. But the members of you team or employees in your office that aren’t directly responsible for the success or failure of your project or company, are usually the first ones to whine and moan.

Good constructive criticism is good. But whining and complaining sow seeds of strife that will destroy a project, company, or organization.

So make sure every member of your team has a stake in the outcome. Make sure they’re responsible for something that matters. It will make a dramatic difference in their attitude – and your chances of success.

Blogging, podcasting, rss feeds, comments, trackbacks, pingbacks, twitters…you name it.  The internet has truly evolved into something different, something interactive.

Seth Godin explains it well:

You can contact just about anyone you want. The only rule is you need to contact them personally, with respect, and do it months before you need their help! Contact them about them, not about you. Engage. Contribute. Question. Pay attention. Read. Interact.

Then, when you’ve earned the right to attention and respect, months and months later, sure, ask. It takes a lot of time and effort, which is why volume isn’t the answer for you, quality is.

That’s a great way to get a job, promote a site, make a friend, spread the word or just be a human.

The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.

Plutarch 

Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.

Helen Keller (1880a-1968)

Here’s the story of a guy who spent three years making a full-length feature animated film, and he talks about why he chose self-distribution over traditional distribution.

M dot Strange: Berlin Talent Campus 08 from M dot Strange on Vimeo.

Fissure is being featured on this week’s cover of the Dallas’ Downtown Business News. They are promoting the upcoming AFI Dallas Film Festival.

Inside the magazine, they quote me saying:

Director Russ Pond, whose thriller FISSURE will make its world premiere at the festival says it’s the fulfillment of a lifelong dream, “My dream of making movies was birthed here in Dallas years ago, and to see that dream fulfilled at AFI Dallas is both exciting and humbling. Having lived in Texas all my life, I have a heart for Texas films.”

It is an honor that our movie has been included on the front cover photo with great actors like Robert Deniro, Helen Hunt and Josh Brolin.

Soon, they’ll be excited to be grouped with us!

We are very excited to announce that Fissure has been officially accepted into two, upcoming film festivals: AFI Dallas and FirstGlance Hollywood.

AFI Dallas

We will be having our World Premiere at AFI Dallas this year! It is an honor to be kicking off the Texas Competition with a screening on opening weekend, Friday, March 28th at the Angelika Theater at 5:00pm. We will also have an additional screening of Fissure on Thursday, April 3rd at the Magnolia Theater at 7:30pm. Tickets go on sale this weekend. You may purchase them from the AFI Dallas website.

For those of you in the Dallas area, we will be giving away two tickets to the opening night screening of Fissure. Our lead actor, James Macdonald, along other cast and crew members will be joining us as well for the screening.

Here’s how you can win tickets:

Register for the movie eNewsletter by clicking on this link. Under “How did you hear about Fissure?”, be sure to select AFI Dallas.

We will be notifying the winners prior to the start of the festival. We look forward to having you join us at the AFI Dallas film festival this year.

FirstGlance Hollywood

We are also very excited to announce that Fissure has been accepted into the FirstGlance Hollywood Film Festival. Fissure is one of only three feature films that will be screening at the festival. Fissure will be the opening night feature film at the festival.

We are very honored that we are part of this influential film festival.

For those of you in the Hollywood area, Fissure will be screening on Friday, April 11th at the Raleigh Studios Chaplin Theater at 5300 Melrose in the heart of Hollywood. You can get ticket information from the FirstGlance website.
FirstGlance Hollywood was named “one of the top 10 film festival investments” by MovieMaker magazine. And, Time magazine names FirstGlance Hollywood “one of the top ten festivals for the rest of us.”

We hope you can join us in Hollywood!

We received another movie review this week from Matt Mungle of Mungles on Movies.

Matt writes:

Webster’s defines “fissure” as: The process of splitting or separating; division.

Fissure is a perfect title for this film for two reasons. One, it defines the plot of the movie and two, the final product is in itself a splitting or separation from what you would normally expect from an Indie film. Director Russ Pond creates an engrossing thriller that though not perfect is an intriguing ride that keeps you guessing until the end.

Written by Nicholas Turner, the story is a mind bending journey where time and dimension are living characters. Paul Grunning (James MacDonald), a police detective recovering from a personal tragedy, is called out to investigate what should be a simple disturbance call. What he finds is a dead body lying within a chaotic reality. As he begins to investigate he finds that nothing is as it seems. At least for any length of time.

This element of bent reality helped me enjoy the story as I went through the same confusions along with the character. I knew something was odd, but like Paul, I wasn’t sure what was actually going on. It could have been in his own head, or maybe there was some twisty dimensional thing occurring. I liked the way you were eased into the chaos and at first you think the characters are simply being eccentric, then you discover why.

I thought the film looked fantastic. It was rich with depth and style. Most Indie films I view are a little grainy due to artistic desire or just plain lack of knowledge, but this one had that professional look that I think raises it above most. The story takes place primarily in one house so it had to be sort of a character in itself. The red’s inside the house popped and added a nice contrast to rest of the film. It is a mental film and so the blast of color seemed even more prominent.

Fissure is a superb film for the Indie realm. It is always pleasing to see film makers not use “Indie” as a crutch to cut corners, but instead a springboard to leap outside the norm and do something clever. Fissure made that leap.

Today kicks off a very busy weekend for our project! We have a lot going on, but it’s going to be a blast! My wife and I are headed to CBS Studios in Burbank for a few different events:

First, we’re having a screening of the movie at CBS Studios today at 4pm. We’re expecting about 40 people. Some of the team will be joining us as well–James Macdonald, Crystal Mantecon and Nicholas Turner. Also, some other industry folks will be attending as well. What fun!

After the screening, I was invited to speak at the Biola Studio Task Force Dinner. Between 120 and 140 industry professionals and students will be attending the dinner. I will be speaking about my production experience.

Then, on Saturday, we’ll be having our final sound mix at Fox’s sound stage. It’ll be great finishing our last major task for the movie.