Mississauga Missives from the Front

I wouldn't believe this if it didn't happen to me - so I don't expect anyone else to believe this.

I got carded!  I am back in my hotel room, rather than partying after the premiere because I GOT CARDED!  This is not a boast.  I do not look like someone who should be denied entry into a bar for being under age.

SEE...

As if to accentuate the point I have a frikkin' beer in my hand!

Not one week ago I thought to myself "there's something that will never happen to me again" - BZZZZtttT! - wrong.

Just some doorman deciding that everyone had to have valid ID I guess - regardless of how clearly over legal drinking age they might be.  Prick.

Oh well.  It's not really the end of the world.  In the past 36 or so hours I have managed to sleep three times.  Sadly its not a matter of quantity.  And the quality and the duration have been terrible.  I even walked out of the second film tonight because I was concerned about snoring in it - which would have happened if I was watching Jurassic Park or Aliens too so should not be taken as a measure of the film's quality.  I was not being rude by leaving.  I was leaving to avoid being rude.  Warm, dark space with less than 3 hours sleep in the past day and a half... it's a miracle I didn't fall asleep during my own film!

So Beast screened to it's first impartial audience tonight....

The Mississauga Independent Film Festival is small and friendly.  There is only one theatre and it may hold 250 people at most.  I'd say we had a 1/3 audience - which appears to be par for the course.

I would have to say that if we can get the reaction we got from this audience from every small audience we can be proud of what we've done.  They laughed as much as could be expected, and consistently throughout.  You could hear people "getting" the tricks in the movie at the points where they needed to be "got."

I don't think I've mentioned this anywhere else before, but at the cast and crew screening, Mike, Craig and I (Mike mentioned it first to give credit where credit is due) noted that there was one scene that due to some additional cuts could now be lifted out wholesale without harming anything else.  Tonight we screened the version without that scene - possibly the last cut we'll ever make.  I didn't miss it at all, and it helps speed things along more in the last quarter of the film.  Yay!

Anyhow... not meaning to dis the MIFF, but I expect a much better turn out in the Okanagan in ten days.  And so it should be.  The Okanagan is at heart the REAL premiere of the film.

Okay... I must sleep now.  I can't believe I'm still awake.  I should thank that bouncer for carding me... I'd be a mess if I were still out.

New Premiere News

Last night it became official.

The Okanagan International Film Festival had strongly hinted to us that we were being scheduled as the opening night film of the festival - a position of honour that I humbly admit makes sense for our film in the Okanagan... after all, that is where the bulk of the film takes place!

Last night was the gala fundraiser for the film festival.  David - our co-producer, not the star, or the special effect advisor, or the production accounting consultant, or the background extra, or anyone else named David who helped on the film... but I digress - David Jevons was in attendance representing the film.

At around 8:30 last night he phoned me, totally excited. 

It is true... we are the opening gala film.

Apparently we are prominently featured in the program and there was a lot of media there who had questions for David about getting in touch with the key creatives for interviews and stuff - so look for links to that coming soon.

The World Premiere

It has been a long time coming.

And I really only just kind of realized the significance of this announcement this morning.

We know roughly when and where The Beast of Bottomless Lake will have it's World Premiere, and it could not possibly be at a more appropriate place.

While we don't know the exact date and time yet, it is official: the film will first be shown to the public at the Okanagan International Film Festival this July.

We had some discussion about whether premiering at a smaller festival like the OIFF was what we wanted to do, but when it came down to it, the Okanagan deserves it.  We could not possibly find a better way to thank the region than by revealing the film to the world there first.  Of course, we have to thank OIFF for giving us the opportunity.

More specific details will be posted in mid June when the schedule is posted.