One Last Festival & Awards Ahead of DVD Release

Carlo Fiorletta and Tara Westwood

Surviving Family had its (probably!) last festival screening at the Northeast Film Festival, where we were thrilled to pick up 6 awards.  Tara Westwood received the Breakout Performance award for her great work as Jean Malone Fulton; she's pictured at left with our Executive Producer Carlo Fiorletta.  The two will co-star in the upcoming feature About Us, shooting fall 2014, and are also on board as producers.

We were also delighted to receive awards for Best Feature, Best Director (Laura Thies), Best Screenplay (Mara Lesemann, who is also the screenwriter for About Us), Best Actress (Sarah Wilson), and Best Supporting Actor (Vincent Pastore).

We'll be out on DVD via Redbox (those red kiosks in your supermarket, bank branch, and pharmacy!) later this fall, and will announce the official release date as soon as it's available.

Great Time at Trail Dance

Writer/Producer Mara Lesemann

Festival Director's Award &

Sarah Wilson's Best Actor Award

Surviving Family had a great screening at the Trail Dance Film Festival in Duncan, Oklahoma!  We had a large and (very) enthusiastic audience, which included many local film lovers in addition to the filmmakers who were attending the festival.  Their questions and (very) positive feedback extended through the q&a session and into the adjoining snack bar.

At the Saturday night awards ceremony, it was great to receive the Best Actor Award for Sarah Wilson (Trail Dance gives one award among both the men and women) as well as the Festival Director's Award, which goes to his choice for best combination of high quality movie plus audience buzz.

This is definitely a festival that will be on the list for the next movie project.

Next up:  the Green Bay (Wisconsin) Film Festival the first weekend in March, followed by Los Angeles Women's Film Festival , sponsored by the Alliance of Women Filmmakers, which takes place March 21-24.

A Fest, 3 Nominations, & a Trailer for the New Year!

We're delighted to kick off 2013 at the 7th annual Trail Dance Film Festival in Duncan, Oklahoma.  Surviving Family will screen there on Saturday January 26 at 2 PM, at the Simmons Center Theater.  To make the occasion even better, we've been nominated for 3 awards:  Best Feature Drama, Best Actor (male or female) - Sarah Wilson, and Best Director - Laura Thies.

To mark the occasion, we're rolling out a new trailer this week; you can check it out here:

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.