Notes from a NewFilmmakers NY Screening

ABYSS: The Greatest Proposal Ever Movie Poster on display during the NewFilmmakers NY Winter 2014 Screening Series at Anthology ArchivesHaving just returned from the World Premiere of my short film “Abyss: The Greatest Proposal Ever” in New York City; I cannot begin to describe how good it feels to bring closure to a project that has been two years in the making.

It’s almost hard to imagine how not too long ago, I was wondering whether the screenplay would ever be finished and then running around trying to assemble all of the necessary elements to shoot this thing.

Later, I would be in a frenzy over setbacks that popped up just when one was being worked through during the post-production and fundraising stages. The time then came for submitting, waiting and hoping and more waiting for rejections that followed.

The movie that began as a mere list of random scene ideas and outlines in my notebook survived through Hurricane Sandy and a New Year’s tragedy that affected one of the people involved with this project. So it was a delight to watch “Abyss: The Greatest Proposal Ever” screen in front of audiences during the NewFilmmakers NY Winter Series 2014 at Anthology Film Archives Theater, last Wednesday. There is no match for the joy of one’s own visuals being projected on a big screen; looking and sounding better than expected – especially in a field where things tend to go the opposite way.

l-r: Me with DAVID At DAYTIME director Jason Pierre and RED director Channing Godfrey Peoples during the Shorts Program Q&A session.To hear people laughing and gasping at scenes -- all one can really hope for – is sign of a win in my book of this seemingly masochistic illness that is filmmaking.

I have nothing but great things to say about NewFilmmakers NY; they are true champions of independent film and my movie was lucky to be among those selected to screen at their event.

This experience reignited my belief in the relevance of film festivals and related series that showcase a wide selection of movies not playing in a theater near you.

In a world of exorbitant submission fees, red carpet fever, commercial agendas and the general politics of show business, it is a pleasure to have my work shown by an entity that puts the films, and their makers, first and foremost. I’ve attended and/or worked at several film festivals and movie screening events over the years and this latest one is by far one of my most favorite.

Showtimes of films playing at Anthology Archives The premiere of “Abyss: The Greatest Proposal Ever” brought a lot of firsts for me including showing a film in New York, visiting Anthology Film Archives, participating in a NewFilmmakers (I read somewhere that there is one in LA too) event and my first time hosting a reception for a screening.

This – especially the reception part -- was a whole new ball game for me that brought back the kind of lost and isolated feelings I had while trying to get the movie in the can.

Thanks to suggestions on table settings by my aunt, who is a part-time wedding planner, I created a theme around my film that was based on the main character’s marriage proposal. Using a Cupcaketree, a cool cupcake tower that is shaped like a wedding cake stand (Can be ordered from www.cupcaketree.com), I served snacks and dip as well as some drinks while chatting with folks about the screening.

I’m no Martha Stewart when it comes to hosting parties -- let alone planning them, so this cupcake stand came in handy, providing two benefits. It helped me consolidate most of the edibles, leaving additional room for the flyers and other promotional materials that contained information about the movie and screening time. The Cupcaketree also created a central attraction to our reception area, which built enough initial interest in what was going on that I could participate in open dialogue with strangers whom I would likely be hesitant to approach, otherwise.  

Would I do it again? In a New York minute! Well…maybe not all of these things in the exact same way, of course, but I’d be damned if I passed up another opportunity to have such an exciting experience.

It was fun meeting other filmmakers with stories to tell and sharing the joy of movies with most of the cast and crew who were instrumental in helping me wrap mine.

Also, much thanks goes out to the locals and folks from out of town who came to see a good show.

Stay tuned for audience responses and other notes from the World Premiere of ABYSS: The Greatest Proposal Ever!

Photos by: Myself, NewFilmmakers NY and Torian Holt.

Sunday Synopsis - The Gift from Steve Jobs and an Actor's Call of Duty

Earlier this month, I imposed a challenge on myself to create 30 videos in 30 days, leading up to the World Premiere of "ABYSS: The Greatest Proposal Ever" (or TGPE, as I will be referring to it as from time to time). These videos are part of my YouTube webseries "30 Days - The Making of ABYSS: The Greatest Proposal Ever" -- a collection of mini documentaries chronicling the making of the project, with many behind-the-scenes images, interviews and footage clips not shown until now.

The point of it all is to help build more buzz for the January 15th screening and also re-launch my YouTube channel since I've neglected it for a long time. 

After starting this challenge, however, I soon realized that some major techinical limitations would make it very difficult to produce them on a daily basis. Now, I'm planning to make and post them in batches, to figure out if that can help make the process less stressful and the web series project more likely to be completed. While the first episode serves as a quasi-trailer, here are the second and fourth episodes about how Steve Jobs simplified our workdays as well as why actor Rodney Benson answered to the call of duty for participating in this movie. 

Episode 2 - The Gift from Steve Jobs, or What the iPad 2 Taught Cast & Crew about Multitasking:

Episode 4 - Why actor Rodney Benson took on the Call of Duty

Boy, it seems like year flew by so fast. Tell me this...

What are YOUR plans for New Year's?

*Those of you who are on Twitter -- if you feel like sharing this post or the links to these videos or commenting on them via a tweet, please use the hashtags: #TGPE #30DAYS #ABYSSMOVIE #GreatestProposalEver 

Monday Movie Meme - And the Award Goes To... #UWFF Edition

The 17^th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival, presented by BET Networks, recently announced its 2013 Award Winners. Among them are Best Narrative Short winner “CRESCENDO,” directed by Alonso Alvarez. The period piece set in 18^th century Holy Roman Empire, about one woman’s life-changing experience, took home a $5,000 prize, presented by HBO.

The narrative feature "FULL CIRCLE," directed by Solvan "Slick" Naim, won an Audience Award. Having just returned from this festival after celebrating new independent films with veteran and budding talent, it’s only fitting that the theme for this week’s Monday Movie Meme honors all of the narrative, screenplay and documentary works that were in competition at Urbanworld: And the Award goes to….

Share on your blog or in the comments section, movies featuring scenes that involve some type of award ceremony.

The ritual does not have to be fancy but it does have to involve a group of people who gathered to give recognition to at least one or more individuals.

It doesn’t matter if anyone actually receives said awards, so long as the intent to give them is present in the scene.

This is unlike our previous Sisterhood of the Award Recipients meme, in that it focuses more on events in movie scenes, rather than specific awards given to a character in a scene. Here are my selections for this week’s And the Award goes to… theme.

Troop 491: the Adventures of the Muddy Lions

Badges of honor are distributed to a group of boy scouts in this Family film about a boy named Triston who struggles with following the “no-snitching” policy of the streets and living up to the code set by his new circle of friends, after witnessing a homicide. Directed by Praheme, “Troop 491: the Adventures of the Muddy Lions” opens on October 4^th at Criterion Cinemas at the Movieland; 331 North Boulevard, in Virginia.

Beverly Hills Cop 3

A police detective creates an embarrassing scene during an awards dinner by the local law enforcement, honoring community service work, in this action comedy starring Eddie Murphy.

The Bodyguard

Tension flares during an Oscars broadcast in this romantic drama starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner. The main character – a famous singer is nominated for Best Actress for her performance in “Queen of the Night” but that doesn’t stop her security agent/lover from remaining on the job during one of the craziest events ever experienced by the characters involved in this movie's awards show scene.

Think like a Man

Lauren (described as “The Woman Who is her own Man”) gets a rude awakening from her new boy toy during a company event where she is honored for her strides at work, in this romantic comedy starring Taraji P. Henson and Michael Ealy.

Also, Some Honorable Mentions from my Family:

Here are movies that I either didn’t watch or did see but don’t have much interest in trying to remember what type of awards ceremonies took place during these films, but they make the list nonetheless...

Dreamgirls - a musical drama, set in the 60s about female soul singers who cross over into the pop genre, topping the charts, starring Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Hudson.

Blankman – an action comedy about a low-budget superhero, starring Damon Wayans, David Alan Grier and Robin Givens.

The Five Heartbeats – another musical drama about the trials and tribulations of a black all-male singing group…also set in the 60s, starring Robert Townsend, Michael Wright and Leon.

What movies have YOU watched that feature award ceremonies of one type or another?

*Solvan Naim photo by Terrence Jennings