"AWESOME CALL TO ARMS"
OK, everyone... some of you I am meeting for the first time and some of
you lived
with me in a basement for 6 months.
Need to call in a favor.
I know what you're thinking "another favor?! you've been nothing but an
emotional/financial and social black hole as long as I've known you"
I don't want to argue over the small points. I'm sorry if I've offended
anyone when my
"initial prediction" for finishing the film ended up being off by about
half a decade.
I'm a filmmaker, not a mathematician.
I've gotten a fair share of hate mail about the process taking so long,
and it's funny because some of them make it seem like I've been
deliberately putting off finishing the film... Like, I sit around thinking
of ways to draw things out just so that I can live with my parents in a
room with no windows a little longer.
It's taken so long because, unfortunately we want to do it right.
If you haven't already, this is your LAST CHANCE to support the film in
the "From
Here to Awesome" film festival.
Which basically, among other things, would give the film a limited theatrical
release on three continents.
Oh, but "that doesn't count as a real release because it won a popularity
contest and
wasn't hand picked by some 50 year urban art critique...with long purple
hair and
filed canines"
Blow. popularity contest = audience = people actually see the film.
The release strategy Grant and I have put together really hinges upon this
as its fulcrum. We don't win and win big here and now, the train gets
derailed.
Help. This goes double for Cast and Crew. Our credit list is close to 300
people deep.
I know who hasn't voted yet. Sure, this voting thing is a pain, but wasn't
standing in snow 14 hours a day?
Don't run 25 miles of a marathon just to go chase some butterflies in last
ten feet.
VOTE
Here's how:
You'll want to got to two sites:
Site 1:
http://www.fromheretoawesome.com/bookofcaleb
You will need to register before you can vote. Have a pen handy. The site
doesn't
let you pick your own password.
Vote by clicking “this film seems awesome” and following instructions
Site #2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0upLEBV3as
You have to create a youtube account.
then:
1. rate it five stars: click the red ones
2. add a text comment
3. favorite: click the heart--most important.
4. subscribe to the channel, by clicking subscribe button in top right
corner.
You are not just supporting one film, you are supporting a worldwide
experiment that uses the
internet as a way to democratize the distribution of content we watch.
It's a contest for anyone who has ever left a movie theater wondering,
"why was that
so dumb?" or clicked off primetime network television after 30 seconds
because it “sucks so bad”.
It's the beginning of letting people decide for themselves what content
they would
like to view. It's the new age of entertainment, and it's going to be
personalized,
direct and very very addictive.
Please, ride the crest of the wave with us.
If you have any problems with the voting sites you can contact me
directly.
mmanahan@bookofcaleb.com
--------------
“SNEAK SCREENING AT LUTHER COLLEGE IN IOWA”
I wouldn’t call it a premiere, but we showed the finished film to a bunch
of college kids to see how it played to an audience…
It played well check out the highlights on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofLYrYu07CQ
Read what the student paper had to say about it:
http://chips.luther.edu/2008/05/08/alum-screens-film-receives-rave-reviews.html
----------------
"DVD UPDATE"
Justin Barber is working on the DVD, Grant and I have viewed the first
draft of it and all we can say is…
It’s hot. Like not in the “noble effort” kind of way we expected a small
little film like this to have.
It’s hot. like it’s better then any DVD I’ve seen in a long time. The
opening menu alone gets you pumped up.
Here is what you can look forward to seeing on it.
1. Widescreen format of the film:
-Which is cool if you have a rectangle TV, but whatever.
2. Behind-the-Scenes Featurette.
-See how some of your favorite scenes came about. It’s not how you expect.
3. Commentary track with director
Matthew Von Manahan, plus actors Michael Hampton (Montag) and Jeff Berg
(Scar).
-We basically just laugh at Jeff for an hour and a half.
4. Bonus extras include short films with characters from "The
Book of Caleb", still gallery, and original trailer.
-Yeah, some of these are my student films from FSU. It’s neat to watch the
story evolve. The earliest one was shot in November of 2001.
You can pre-order your copy here:
http://www.bookofcaleb.com/index.php?left=store&right=store&nav=on&title=on
What's great about pre-ordering your copy, is first of all they are about
5 dollars cheaper, but also the more dvd's we sell by pre-order the faster
we will be able to get them out because we use the money from the
pre-orders to make the actual discs.
----
"ANOTHER STORY FROM THE WINTER FRONT"
Remember Cast and Crew. Send in a production story. The more points of
view we have
the more interesting the story the making of BOC is.
Here is a good one from Set Decorator Inna Levin on her blog:
http://honeyspider16.livejournal.com/65740.html
She writes:
----
...I mean, I was doing this thing for three months. That’s a fucking long
time. That’s
the span of my average dating-type relationship. So as you can imagine [or
perhaps
you can’t], I grew pretty close to some of these people…
…And now, sadly, it is over. I must return to my daily toil. “Can I tell
you about
our specials this evening?” will be my warrior cry, instead of “Duct tape!
We need
more duct tape!” or some such...
...And I really can’t explain vividly enough what it’s like, working with
so many people on the same project. I mean, it was a lot of people. Just
our art department alone was what? Around ten people. Usually, I only
associated w/ the other art department ladies. But when I ran into anyone
from any of the other departments, it was like a treat. 'Cause you knew
that all these people were doing their little part and you were doing your
little part and at the end, when we added them all up, all those hundreds
of little parts, it would result in this one giant movie. That people
could actually go and see...
---
Yeah, so please vote and more people will see it.
Thanks,
MM
