My latest vlog about our Paradise Recovered release. The DVD launched April 24th. For more information on where to get your copy, check out paradiserecovered.com.
World Theatrical Premiere of Paradise Recovered
I’m back in Indiana. Back where it all began in the summer of 2009. After hitting seventeen film festivals in the last year and winning numerous awards, Paradise Recovered is ready for it’s official public unveiling. Tomorrow, November 20th, we’re premiering Paradise at the historic Buskirk Chumley Theater in Bloomington, IN. The fact that we shot a scene in the Buskirk makes our premiere there extra special. For more information on the screening, visit our official Facebook Event page here:Â http://www.facebook.com/events/271219359583929/. To buy tickets to the show, CLICK HERE.
As part of the premiere, we’re also releasing the Official Motion Picture Soundtrack for Paradise Recovered. The soundtrack features fantastic music from Indiana artists like Cara Jean Wahlers, Jookabox, Sardina, The New Old Cavalry, Salaam, newcomer Evan Slusher and more. As part of the big event at the Buskirk, Cara, Evan, Salaam and The New Old Cavalry will be performing live before and after the screening of the film. I’m still amazed at the awesome soundtrack of Indiana artists we were able to assemble for this soundtrack (thanks in large part to the fine folks at Musical Family Tree). We’ll be selling the soundtrack at the premiere and it will be available from retailers like CD Baby , Amazon and iTunes next week!
In conjunction with all this, we’ve been busy editing a DVD extra for our upcoming DVD release. The extra is a short doc that we’re calling Beyond Paradise. The piece features interviews with world renowned thought reform experts like Steve Hassan of freedomofmind.com and counselors from Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center. If you didn’t know, Paradise Recovered has pledged 10% of our profits to Wellspring, a one of a kind facility that counsels victims of spiritual abuse and cults.
So I hope to see some of you at the premiere tomorrow. I’ll post pics and hopefully some video from the event soon. And look for our Paradise Recovered DVD to be released in early 2012!
Summer News and Updates
It’s been a busy couple of months. Here are some of the highlights.
Conversations in Film (July 10th)
I sat on a Conversations In Film panel presented by The Austin Film Festival. The panel was titled Making Your First Feature and I got to participate with some fantastic fellow filmmakers. We talked about our experiences making our first feature films. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed learning from and meeting the other directors on the panel.
Van Wert Independent Film Festival (July 8th-10th)
Paradise Recovered played the first ever Van Wert Independent Film Festival. Writer/Producer Andie Redwine had a great time at the fest and brought home some nice awards. Paradise Recovered won the Audience Award, Best Screenplay and Best Actress (Heather Wallis). So that was very cool.
Lights. Camera. Help. (July 28th-30th)
I was back in Austin representing Paradise Recovered (with Writer/Producer Andie Redwine) at the very awesome Lights. Camera. Help. Film Festival. Lights. Camera. Help. is a nonprofit “dedicated to encouraging other nonprofit and cause-driven organizations to use film and video to tell their stories.” Paradise Recovered was their first ever narrative feature and we were proud to be there championing our favorite charity, the Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center. The Lights. Camera. Help. audience was amazing and I was inspired by all of their films and filmmakers. It was a great festival experience. Here’s a link to a story the Austin CBS affiliate KEYE did on Lights. Camera. Help featuring Paradise Recovered: http://weareaustin.com/entertainment-story?nxd_id=165447&watch=1
Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center’s 25th Anniversary Celebration! (August 5th-7th)
Speaking of Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center, on August 5th-7th Andie Redwine and I journeyed to Athens, Ohio to help Wellspring celebrate their 25th anniversary. On Friday the 5th, we screened Paradise Recovered for a packed house at the lovely Arts West Theater in Athens. Then on Saturday, we volunteered to videotape the internationally renowned cult experts that Wellspring had speaking at their Conference on Cults. Needless to say, I learned a ton (It was a fitting end to a great weekend when we heard that Warren Jeffs was sentenced to life in prison for his crimes against the young girls growing up in the FLDS).
There was a nice write up about the event in the Athens News about the weekend’s festivities:Â http://www.athensnews.com/ohio/article-34521-cult-rescue-center-celebrates-25th-birthday.html
We blogged about the Warren Jeffs conviction on the Paradise Recovered site: http://www.paradiserecovered.com/blog/2011/august/what-we-think-about-warren-jeffs
Down But Not Out (August 4th)
I traveled to Ohio via Indianapolis, where I had the chance to visit with my good friend Alphonso Bailey. Bailey is a former professional boxer who runs a really cool Prison Ministry called Down But Not Out. DBNO teaches character building workshops in prisons and juvenille detention centers. Alphonso has a great life story; a former college athlete, he was arrested for some armed robberies and served two years in a Kentucky prison. On the 4th, I got to visit a prison with him and him in action. I love the way he brings hope to these guys living behind bars. He really believes in them and believes that their lives can change and get better. He is always inspiring and I hope to bring his story to the screen one day.
The Rest
And finally, while in Indiana I got to shoot a bunch of stuff with the new Canon XF100 camcorder. It’s a pretty amazing camera that shoots 50 mb/s 4:2:2 video with a full set of pro features and it’s the size of a palmcorder. We were shooting test/reel footage for a spec project that we’re keeping under wraps for now. But I highly recommend checking out the XF100 if you shoot doc style run and gun stuff. It’s brilliant.
Here’s a link to a Philip Bloom review detailing the XF100:Â http://philipbloom.net/2011/07/09/video-review-of-the-canon-xa-10-xf100-and-xf105/
UPCOMING FILM FESTIVALS
Paradise Recovered still has several film festivals coming up.
I’ll be at the 5th annual Landlocked Film Festival in Iowa City August 25th-28th
And Andie will be at the Central Florida Film Festival over Labor Day Weekend!
Come and say hi if you’re in Iowa or Florida.
Lots of cool stuff happening.
Paradise Recovered Wins Best Feature Honorable Mention
The 2011 DIY Film Festival has awarded Paradise Recovered Best Feature Honorable Mention. I’m headed to LA tomorrow to attend the awards banquet on behalf of Team Paradise.
Here’s what they had to say about our film. Paradise Recovered is an “Unlikely romantic comedy about a girl raised in a traditional religious sect that runs into the adventure of her life at the hands of some free thinking friends. Excellent cast and a wonderful exploration of an unusual take on the Romeo and Juliet story.”
A huge thank you to the folks at the DIY Film Festival. And a big congratulations to the other award winners. Look for pics and updates from Hollywood in the coming days.
CHECK OUT the DIY Film Festival’s webpage for more on Paradise Recovered and the other scrappy indies that won.
8mm Vintage Camera iPhone App
Update: I’m looking for more great video apps for the iPhone. Let me know of any you’re using or have heard about and I’ll check them out.
I noticed my review video had over 1000 views in a 24 hour period and wondered what was up. Turns out Philip Bloom included this video in his recent post, Adventures in Film…and fake 8mm.
I saw a review of the 8mm Vintage Camera App posted on Nino Leitner’s blog and I had to give it a try. I downloaded it and took it to hockey practice. This video review shows the results. This little app is really a lot of fun. It has several different film looks, as well as several lens looks that are all easily selectable while the app is recording. Besides being fun, I think filmmakers can get creative with this and come up with some great ideas for how to use it.
Someone asked about the window in the app looking like it’s 4:3 and then my video being 16:9. I thought that was interesting too. I didn’t do anything to stretch it out. I simply saved the clips in the app. Saving the clips transfers them into your video/stills library. Then I downloaded the clips into iPhoto and edited this video using iMovie. All of that worked really seamlessly and the resulting aspect ration was 16:9. I haven’t tried to take any of these clips into Final Cut Pro yet.
If you don’t have the app yet, you can get it HERE.
Storme Wood and Andie Redwine on Film Courage
We were in LA a couple of weeks ago to screen Paradise Recovered. While we were there, we joined Karen Worden and David Branin on their Indiefilm Radio Show, Film Courage. We had a great time. Film Courage is a great show and a great resource for indie filmmakers and fans. Scroll down in the player below to find the show featuring myself and Writer/Producer Andie Redwine. And while you’re at it, check out some of the other shows as well.
Film Courage Interactive and LA Talk Radio
Paradise Recovered Writer/Producer Andie Redwine and I are in LA for the west coast premiere of Paradise. We’ll be talking Paradise Recovered and Indie Filmmaking today on the Film Courage radio show. Tune your computer to LA Talk Radio Channel 2 at 12PM Pacific time today to hear us live. I’ll post a link to the podcast when that’s available as well.
One of the things we’ll be talking about on the radio show is our Monday (tomorrow) night screening. Paradise Recovered will be showing at LA’s Downtown Independent theater as an Official Selection of Film Courage Interactive. If you’re in LA, please come on out!
And stay after the screening for a party featuring Sara Melson and sponsored by Musical Family Tree.
A lot of good things happening for Paradise Recovered right now. I’ll keep you posted. Hope you can join us on the radio today and at the Downtown Independent tomorrow night.
Just Announced! Paradise Recovered to Screen at the Heartland and Austin Film Festivals
Paradise Recovered is blowin’ up. We’ve got three screenings coming up.
First up, our World Premiere at the Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis Oct. 16th (additional screenings the 18th, 20th and 21st). Tickets available HERE.
Next up, the Texas Premiere at the Austin Film Festival Oct. 21st (additional screening on the 24th)
Finally, our LA Premiere with Film Courage Interactive at the Downtown Independent Nov. 29th.
Good things are happening. For more information, check out the press releases on the Paradise Recovered Blog.
Cast and Crew Screenings
Our first cast and crew screening was at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin. How cool is that. It was a huge success. I love the Drafthouse. I think it’s the best movie theater in the country. I’m so glad that all of us who worked so hard on this film got to sit down, break bread, and share the first Paradise Recovered big screen experience at the Alamo.
And thanks to Eddie and the Drafthouse crew for treating us so well!