If The Movie "Multiplicity" Were Reality....

"Multiplicity" starred Michael Keaton and Andie MacDowell;
it was directed by Harold Ramis, better known for "Groundhog Day"
and "Ghostbusters"

There's still only one copy of me - and I'm sure plenty of people think that's more than enough!  But I've recently found myself thinking about the movie Multiplicity, in which Michael Keaton accepts an offer to make multiple copies of himself.  It was directed by Harold Ramis, who also teamed up with co-star Andie MacDowell in the far superior  Groundhog Day. In Multiplicity, Keaton's copies take over his life, and are also paler and paler versions of himself. 

This has started to seem like an attractive (if impossible) option with the festival schedule over the next few days.  The Columbia Gorge International Film Festival starts tomorrow, Aug 15 , in Vancouver, WA.  Surviving Family screens there on Saturday night Aug 18 at 7 PM - director Laura Thies and I arrive Friday night, and will be there until Sunday afternoon.  Then we fly to Action on Film (AOF) in Monrovia, CA, which starts Friday the 17th, and Surviving Family screens Tuesday evening Aug 21 at 6 PM.   Laura and I are (I think?  I hope?!) on the same flights from Newark to Portland OR (near Vancouver, WA), and on to LAX. 

That all sounds great, until you add in The Indie Gathering in Hudson, OH which also starts Friday Aug 17 and is also screening Surviving Family on Saturday night at 7:55 PM.  Fortunately, our executive producer Carlo Fiorletta is able to represent us there.

So - THAT's why Multiplicity starts to look like more than a silly little movie, and more like a fantasy. Oh well.  Maybe next time!

In the interim, I'm thrilled to be able to screen our movie for festival audiences in 3 such varied locations.  And hope to have this problem many more times in the future. 

A Great Premiere at a Great Fest: Woods Hole



Director Laura Thies (left) with Surviving Family's leading lady,
Sarah Wilson

We did it!  We put the people in the seats, had a terrific screening and q&a, and on top of that, Surviving Family was the runner up for the Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature at the Woods Hole Film Festival.  All in all, a terrific premiere.

It wasn't an easy start, though.  On the drive from Newark Airport (where director Laura Thies had arrived on a flight from her home in Germany), it rained.  And rained.  And then it came down in buckets.  A drive that should have taken 4 1/2 hours took 9 hours.  But it was worth it.

The town of Woods Hole, MA is home to both the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (which gives a college town look to many of the buildings) and a LOT of summer tourists who are there to enjoy the ocean and bay views, go boating, eat lobster (yeah!), and maybe take a side trip to Martha's Vinyard.  

Whether despite or because of the scientific tilt of the town, this is a place that loves and supports indie films.  We spent much of the week handing out postcards to tourists (aka potential movie goers) and leaving cards with local stores and restaurants, all of which were delighted to have them.  The festival has been running for 21 years, and seems to be supported by every local business.

So despite knowing no one in town, we nearly sold out the 220 seat Redfield Auditorium (a beautiful space!).  After the screening, almost half the crowd stayed for the q&a with star Sarah Wilson, director Laura Thies, and writer/producer Mara Lesemann. 

What's next?  We have 4 (count 'em!) festivals coming up between now and Labor Day.   Executive Producer Carlo Fiorletta will be hosting the screening at the Indie Gathering in Hudson, Ohio (near Cleveland) on August 18, while Laura Thies and Mara Lesemann host a screening the same night at the Columbia Gorge Film Festival in Vancouver, WA, followed the next week by Action on Film (AOF) in Monrovia, CA.  The current schedule wraps up with the Central Florida Film Festival over Labor Day weekend.

Indie or big budget: it's all about people in the seats

I found myself getting a bit jealous of the movie TED this past weekend.  Not because it features a talking stuffed animal - hey, I wrote a play about talking cats, so been there, done that!  No, because they get to inundate us on TV or on-line with ads about how cute the bear is, and how much you should want to see him with Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis. 

The more I thought about it, however, the more I realized that there really isn't a whole lot of difference between what Universal Studios is doing and what indie filmmakers do:  it's all about putting people in the seats.  Yeah, they have a few (hundred) million more dollars to play around with than I do.  But the goal is the same.

So you'll see Surviving Family on Facebook, and Twitter, and Blogger rather than on Dancing With The Stars.  And we'll use posters in stores in Woods Hole, MA during their film festival.  And we'll hand out our postcards person-to-person.   But in some ways that's nice, in an old-fashioned sort of way, because you never know who you'll meet, and talk to, and maybe make friends with, as you hand out the postcards and explain to people why THIS is the movie that they should see.

Don't miss us when we come to a film festival near you:

Friday August 3 at 9 PM, Woods Hole Film Festival in Woods Hole, MA
Saturday August 18 at 7 PM, Columbia Gorge Int'l Film Festival in Vancouver, WA

AOF Film Festival in Monrovia, CA, date and time to be announced
Central Florida Film Festival, Labor Day Weekend, date and time to be announced

More coming soon!