You can NOW BUY TICKETS to the Aug 31, 9 PM NYC premiere of Date Number One! :: less than 84 seats left

Want to experience the superdelicious, no-budget, ninja-errific DIY filmmaking & self-distribution glory that is Date Number One when the flick has its New York City premiere? Want to hang out with the filmmakers & actors, possibly make some new cool friends? Then go HERE to buy tickets to the Thu, Aug 31, 9 PM NYC premiere screening of Date Number One at the Pioneer Theater. As far as I know, less than 84 seats are available now. Buy tix, spread the word, let's have an awesome time on 8/31!

- Sujewa
ps: I am going to be speaking about self-distribution at an IFP panel event in October, it would be very nice to have a DNO NYC premiere tix sales success story to tell :) thanksalot.

A Hollywood MESSIAH?

The hits just keep on coming this week for The Proper Care & Feeding of an American Messiah. FAIF International Film Festival, which unfolds in the heart of Hollywood at Mann's Chinese Theatre October 5-14, has invited us to screen!

This is our Hollywood premiere, so naturally I'm excited and really hoping to go.

Date Number One NEW YORK PREMIERE Thu Aug 31, 9 PM at Pioneer Theater!

DATE NUMBER ONE
http://www.wilddiner.com/
a comedy about several first dates
a movie by sujewa ekanayake

Thursday, August 31, 9 PM
The Two Boots Pioneer Theater
http://www.twoboots.com/pioneer/
155 East 3rd Street
(between Avenues A and B, closer to A)
New York, New York
212-591-0434
ticket prices:
$9 adults, $6.50 members

:: link for advance ticket purchase will be available soon ::

Director will attend the screening.

"The film is about as charming as they come...presents a world in which cultures don't clash, they mesh. It's refreshing to see characters who all appear to have a natural optimism, as opposed to the typical indie-film predilection for bitterness and cruelty. "
- Michael Tully, Rotterdam & SXSW film festivals selected filmmaker
http://blogs.indiewire.com/tully/archives/010529.html

"I found the characters and the premise sexy, sexy, sexy."
Jerry Brewington, Hollywood Is Talking blog, on Story 2 of Date Number One
http://hollywoodistalking.com/Blog/508/%22Date+Number+One%22+Review.html

"FIVE really entertaining, fully realized romantic interludes...a shamefully rare achievement"
- Tom Kipp, Seattle audience member, former film reviewer for Seattle alternative weekly
The Stranger
http://diyfilmmaker.blogspot.com/2006/05/interview-with-seattle-audience-member.html

"Heartfelt...poignant...I loved it!"
- Jon Moritsugu, award winning filmmaker

"Date Number One is quite funny...twentysomethings and occasional thirtysomethings looking for romance recall Richard Linklater's philosopher slackers and Jim Jarmusch's minimalist attention to conversation...also a subtle, thoughtful film...might be understood as the anti-Crash depiction of life in the city...depicts a comfortably multi-ethnic community...I'd happily recommend it."
- Chuck Tryon, media professor & blogger, The Chutry Experiment blog
http://chutry.wordherders.net/archives/005873.html

Film's Description:"Date Number One" is a comedy about several first dates. This 115 minute movie is made up of 5 different stories: Story 1: Just Another Ninja Searching For Love, about a ninja who goes on a blind date (ninja is played by John Stabb Schroder from the DC punk band G.I.), Story 2: A Romantic Dinner For 3, about a woman attempting to add a third partner to a romantic relationship, Story 3: Washington "City Of Love" DC/Start Over, about a writer who tries to get back together with his ex-girlfriend, Story 4: Air Quotes Woman, about a woman who always uses air quotes, and her search for a new boyfriend, Story 5: The Superdelicious French Lesson, about a first date where a character learns a little bit of French in an unusual way.

*

Featuring Hot DC Indie Film Stars John Stabb Schroeder, Julia Stemper, Jennifer Blakemore, Shervin Boloorian, Dele Williams, Steve Lee, Kelly Ham, Christine D. Lee, Fritz Flad, Subodh Samudre, Jewel Greenberg

*
Not Rated * 115 Minutes * yummy

website: http://www.wilddiner.com/
blog: http://www.diyfilmmaker.blogspot.com/

Copyright 2006 Sujewa Ekanayake/Wild Diner Films

* see you there *

More MESSIAH news

The latest on "...American Messiah" -- just found out that the film will screen at the Atlanta Underground Film Festival, August 23rd - 27th.

DVD news

Today I recieved the print proofs for the packaging of the HEAD TRAUMA DVD. It was wild to see the final proof on a nice paper. I also ran through the DVD check disc and gave the replicator the go ahead.

So in 7 days I'll have the finished packaged DVDs. They will arrive just in time to send out for promotion and sales. Even though the DVD doesn't street until September 26th the earlier you have it done the better. It helps to get it in front of the press for long lead pubs and to also give the sales team a good lead time.

Fangoria ran a news piece about the HEAD TRAUMA DVD specs today. I`m really excited about the the DVD - the packaging is killer and there are a ton of special features. The DVD hits stores nationwide on September 26th. The DVD will have a limited run of two collectable covers.



Here`s what fangoria had to say.

Virginia Film Festival

Sorry to post two in a row, but I had to share the good news: THE PROPER CARE & FEEDING OF AN AMERICAN MESSIAH was just invited into the prestigious Virginia Film Festival. Their theme this year is "REVELATIONS: Finding God at the Movies" -- so AMERICAN MESSIAH is a great fit.

They're working on some great guests and fascinating films. You can check out the fest director's blog at http://vafilm.blogspot.com/ and the festival site at http://www.vafilm.com.

We'll be in Charlottesville in late October -- if anyone is around, hope to see you there!

American Messiah on iFilm

I was contacted by the head of the INDIE section on iFilm, to feature the trailer for The Proper Care & Feeding of an American Messiah. Check us out on there at:

http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2754595
And hey, if you're there anyway, leave some nice comments about the film, the trailer, or whatever.

jumping off bridges fall tour in the works

We're putting together a fall tour of jumping off bridges. Here's what we have so far. We'll be adding dates and locations to the list as we lock them down. If you live in one of these cities, please come check out the film and say hello.

back from the show

I just returned from a video dealer's convention in Vegas. I was invited to speak and ended up talking about my distro plans for HT. I meet some very cool people and made some great contacts. The show is the largest gathering of video dealer's and buyer's from around the country. I promoted the upcoming DVD release of HT with some mini comics of the website. I used a similar promotion at the LA FILM FEST a couple weeks back. There a great cost effect promotional tool with a strong impact. I do a limited run at kinkos and print them up on a laser paper. They end up costing about .22 cents a piece.


Front cover of the comic

On the theatrical end of things I've just booked the 12th screen of the run. Three more to go. I'll be posting a list of cities and venues within the next two weeks so stay tuned. If you happen to live in one of the cities let us know info @ headtraumamovie.com

The alternate soundtrack has a new release date. It will be coming out on Oct. 10th on Park the Van records. We're currently working on putting together a couple of shows that will feature some of the bands on the soundtrack accompanying the movie live. The soundtrack is called Cursed - the HEAD TRAUMA music project and features performances by:

Bardo Pond
The Capital Years
Dr. Dog
The A-Sides
National Eye
Marshal Allen (SunRa)
Greg Weeks (Espers)
Steve Garvey (Buzzcocks)
and many more...

This coming week I'll be unveiling the final package design for the HEAD TRAUMA DVD's. I'm so excited about the way the whole thing came together. I'll be posting some hi-res photos for everyone to see. More details about what's on the DVD and within the packaging will be announced very soon.

Lastly, I started yet another social network experiment for HT. So far I have a myspace and tagworld profile. And now the newest addition to the social networking family is a filmmaking social network called iklipz. It's too early to tell what I think of it. I'll keep you posted.

IFILM wants more trailers & clips from real indie movies

Read all about it here!

- Sujewa

Killing Down Update

Hadn't posted anything in a while on this blog. Been reading it though regulary and glad to see the progress of everyone's projects.

Currently we're finishing the final-final color correction and about to do the final-final sound mix. I say "final-final" because I had to do a complete temp color grading and temp sound mix back in May for our premiere screening at the USA Film Festival in Dallas. That was a great event, but it put us way behind on getting the film, well, finalized. So, here we are two months later about to finally finish. :)





















We've been creating some new artwork gearing up for our industry screenings (these should happen in late August into September) and I've uploaded a preview of a new poster look here. If you don't know anything about the film it's a psychological thriller about a guy named Steven Down who thinks people are out to kill him - so we're trying to play up the paranoia angle.

Hopefully we'll have some (good) news to report in the near future about our distribution on "Killing Down".

-Blake

Date Number One screening, Thu July 13, 8:30 PM, Sangha, Takoma Park, MD

DATE NUMBER ONE
http://www.wilddiner.com/
a comedy about several first dates
a movie by sujewa ekanayake

"The film is about as charming as they come...presents a world in which cultures don't clash, they mesh. It's refreshing to see characters who all appear to have a natural optimism, as opposed to the typical indie-film predilection for bitterness and cruelty. "
- Michael Tully, Rotterdam & SXSW film festivals selected filmmaker
http://blogs.indiewire.com/tully/archives/010529.html

"I found the characters and the premise sexy, sexy, sexy."
Jerry Brewington, Hollywood Is Talking blog, on Story 2 of Date Number One
http://hollywoodistalking.com/Blog/508/"Date+Number+One"+Review.html

Thursday July 13, 8:30 PM, $5
SANGHA
7014 Westmoreland Ave
Takoma Park, MD 20912
301.891.3214
website: http://www.sangha.ws/
directions: http://www.sangha.ws/VisitingSangha.html

Director & some of the stars will attend the screening.

"FIVE really entertaining, fully realized romantic interludes...a shamefully rare achievement"
- Tom Kipp, Seattle audience member, former film reviewer for Seattle alternative weekly
The Stranger
http://diyfilmmaker.blogspot.com/2006/05/interview-with-seattle-audience-member.html

"Heartfelt...poignant...I loved it!"
- Jon Moritsugu, award winning filmmaker

"Date Number One is quite funny...twentysomethings and occasional thirtysomethings looking for romance recall Richard Linklater's philosopher slackers and Jim Jarmusch's minimalist attention to conversation...also a subtle, thoughtful film...might be understood as the anti-Crash depiction of life in the city...depicts a comfortably multi-ethnic community...I'd happily recommend it."
- Chuck Tryon, media professor & blogger, The Chutry Experiment blog
http://chutry.wordherders.net/archives/005873.html

Film's Description:"Date Number One" is a comedy about several first dates. This 115 minute movie is made up of 5 different stories: Story 1: Just Another Ninja Searching For Love, about a ninja who goes on a blind date (ninja is played by John Stabb Schroder from the DC punk band G.I.), Story 2: A Romantic Dinner For 3, about a woman attempting to add a third partner to a romantic relationship, Story 3: Washington "City Of Love" DC/Start Over, about a writer who tries to get back together with his ex-girlfriend, Story 4: Air Quotes Woman, about a woman who always uses air quotes, and her search for a new boyfriend, Story 5: The Superdelicious French Lesson, about a first date where a character learns a little bit of French in an unusual way.
*
Featuring Hot DC Indie Film Stars John Stabb Schroeder, Julia Stemper, Jennifer Blakemore, Shervin Boloorian, Dele Williams, Steve Lee, Kelly Ham, Christine D. Lee, Fritz Flad, Subodh Samudre, Jewel Greenberg
*
Not Rated * 115 Minutes * yummy

website: http://www.wilddiner.com/
blog: http://www.diyfilmmaker.blogspot.com/
Copyright 2006 Sujewa Ekanayake/Wild Diner Films

* see you there *

At Sujewa's Capitol City Microcinema

Hey all -- I just posted on my own blog about my experience showing the film at Sujewa's screening series in the DC area... rather than reposting it here, I'll just provide a link:

AMERICAN MESSIAH at Capitol City Microcinema.

Thanks again, Sujewa. Had a great time.

Off to Vegas

Well I’m getting ready to leave town again. I’m headed to Vegas for the VSDA show. The VSDA show is one of the largest gatherings of video retailers in the country. I’ve be invited to speak. A few years back I started a program called the Filmmakers of Tomorrow. FOT was all about putting independent filmmakers directly in touch with independent retailers. After doing our own distro with TLB, we saw first hand how great working with independent retailers could be. It made a lot of sense to cut out the middle man and the independent retailers were looking for ways to give their customers something different. At the time there were over 10,000 independent video stores. Well the program has since changed names and expanded. I’m excited to return and see how its grown.

Theatrical bookings and a long lead press push have been taking up a lot of my time since getting back from the LA Film Fest. I’m close to locking the 12th screen! The theatrical run is going to be great. I’ve been able to secure some excellent venues. I’ll have a final list of venues in the next few weeks. If you happen to be in a city and would like to have HT play there let me know.

Well we turned over all the final print materials for the DVD on Friday. The packaging is killer. Sparkart did an amazing job. Between the movie, the 2 hours of bonus features, the collector’s booklet with linear notes by Stephen Susco (the Grudge & Grudge 2) and some original artwork from famed comic book artist S.R. Bissette (Constantine and Swamp Thing) - I’m jumping out of my skin to get my hands on the final version. If all goes well we should have check disks next week and then final packaging the week after! The DVD release date is official SEPTEMBER 26th and then 2 weeks later the alternate soundtrack will hit stores OCTOBER 10th, thanks to Park the Van records. The alternate soundtrack is meant to be lined up with a special scene in the movie - so when you turn down the tv and turn up the stereo you'll experience an alternate version of the movie.

There are some other exciting things in the works for HT but it's too early to tell . BUT I can say they involve the trailer and also a very special screening!

Until next time…

Eve of Understanding

Hi. I'm Alyson Shelton, writer/director of 'Eve of Understanding' a feature currently doing the festival circuit. We also have a blog we've been keeping since August 2004, that goes into detail about all phases of productions.

The film has screened at:

The Sedona Film Festival
MethodFest (Nominee for Best Actress)
Waterfront Film Festival
Female Eye Film Festival (Winner for Best Feature)

and on Sunday, July 23rd at 7:15pm at Laemmle's Fairfax 3 in Los Angeles, CA in the Competition Section of:
Dances with Films.

We're in the midst of the selling game. We decided to spend some of our last dollars to hire a publicist for Dances with Films to help us generate some buzz. It felt like the right thing to do. Dances with Films is a discovery festival - that's us - no name talent or crew - and we felt like we wanted to do a full sales push at this festival. It will be interesting to see if it pays off the way we hope. We'd really like to have the film sold by the end of the summer. We'll see.

Back from the LA Film Fest

We got back early Friday morning after a long night of travel. The festival was excellent. Almost 800 people saw HT during its two screenings. There were lines down the block. The audience reaction to the movie was overwhelming. They laughed in the right places and the scares made people jump out of their seats. It felt so good to finally share the movie with an audience!

The move to Westwood seemed to serve the LA film festival well. Westwood has some amazing theaters and the ease of walking everywhere was nice especially in a city like LA. The festival also held a retreat for all the feature length filmmakers, which was a great way to get to know each other before the festival started. The retreat was held at skywalker ranch just outside of San Francisco. I hope more festivals follow suit and provide networking opportunities for the visiting filmmakers.

We received quite a bit of press out of LA. Here are some additional write ups about the movie. As I have more I’ll post them.

LA Weekly - review

HEAD TRAUMA (USA) In this game melding of the conventions of the modern Japanese ghost story with those of the standard American amnesia melodrama, writer-director Lance Weiler delivers a fair number of chills, a modicum of thrills and some downright nifty pyrotechnics. Tracing the doomed efforts of its whiny protagonist (Francis Coppola look-alike Vince Mola) to salvage the run-down and apparently haunted house he’s inherited from his grandmother, Head Trauma unassumingly works its way under the skin, raising neck hairs while teasing us to pry open its psychological puzzle box of unpaid pipers and arrested development. (Majestic Crest, Sat., June 24, 11:59 p.m.; Landmark Regent, Mon., June 26, 10 p.m.) (RS)

Movie City News - Festival pick

Head Trauma. George Walker returns to his claim his dead grandmother’s home in a rural backwater. His intent to find a safe haven in an otherwise chaotic life quickly evolves into his worst nightmare as neighbors harbor suspicions and something horrid in the basement of the ramshackle house begins to make its presence felt. A low-tech horror outing that revives the under appreciated monster of the id to great effect. [10 p.m. Landmark Regent] - Leonard Klady

Feature article from the Beach Reporter - click here to read

Now the focus will shift to prepping the movie for its national theatrical rollout, which kicks off August 18th and continues until September 26th. So far I’ve confirmed venues in Portland, Seattle, Tucson, Albuquerque, Philadelphia, Providence and a number of other smaller towns and cities.

Check back for more details in the coming week.

Until next time…