Indie Film Blogger Road Trip at Anthology this Tuesday

If you're in New York on Tuesday, I hope you'll head on over to Anthology Film Archives for the World Premiere of Sujewa Ekanayake's documentary Indie Film Blogger Road Trip, a film that I had the pleasure of being interviewed for last summer.

Opening 9 minutes of Indie Film Blogger Road Trip.

Here's all the details below, and for more info, visit the film's official blog here.

Indie Film Blogger Road Trip
World Premiere
Tuesday February 17, 2009
8 PM
Anthology Film Archives
32 Second Avenue
New York, NY 10003
$9 ($6 for Anthology members)

Director & several bloggers featured in the film will attend the screening. There will be a brief Q & A session/discussion following the screening.

About Indie Film Blogger Road Trip:

In the feature length documentary Indie Film Blogger Road Trip independent filmmaker & blogger Sujewa Ekanayake (Date Number One, DIY Filmmaker Sujewa blog) travels to several U.S. East Coast cities in the Summer of 2008 and discusses the thriving world of indie film journalism on the web, related Internet writings & other matters relevant to the indie film community with over a dozen bloggers who write about indie film and or media professionals who rely on indie film blogs to accomplish their daily work. Subjects discussed in the film include: professional development and breakthroughs as film journalists, the intersection of race and indie filmmaking, the role blogs play in keeping indie film fans & writers who do not live in major cities connected to the scene, several takes on the amount of participation by women in both the indie filmmaking world & indie film blogging world, debates regarding the value of blogs when compared to traditional/print media reviews and articles, the effect of digital production on minority filmmaking, several view points on whether the indie film blog world is an actual community in a traditional sense, motivations for blogging about indie films, benefits of blogging about indie films, difficulties involved in being an independent blogger or journalist, questions and many answers regarding whether blogs are ultimately a positive thing or a negative thing for the indie film world, promotional & distribution strategies adopted by makers of independent horror movies, the role blogs play in supporting work done by media production organizations, screening events, film festivals, and museums, what the near future may hold for both indie filmmakers and indie film bloggers.

Indie Film Blogger Road Trip features: Anthony Kaufman (indieWIRE, Village Voice, Anthony Kaufman's blog), Brandon Harris (Cinema Echo Chamber, Hammer to Nail, Spout, Filmmaker Magazine), Stu VanAirsdale (The Reeler, Defamer), Melissa Silverstein (Women and Hollywood), Erica Ginsberg (Docs In Progress, Docs Interactive), Chuck Tryon (The Chutry Experiment, Newcritics, Fayetteville State University), Gabe Wardell (Atlanta Film Festival, Gabe's Declaration of Principles, ATL 365 blog), Paula Martinez (Atlanta Film Festival, Paula's After Thoughts), Tambay Obenson (The Obenson Report, Beautiful Things), Noralil Ryan Fores (ShortEnd Magazine), Armando Valle (Horror 101, Armando Valle blog), KJ Mohr (National Museum of Women in the Arts, My World Bank Lunches), and Brian Geldin (The Film Panel Notetaker). Film was produced, directed, videotaped, edited by Sujewa Ekanayake, and features music by Kevin MacLeod. Indie Film Blogger Road Trip is a warm, multi-faceted, reflective introduction to - and a celebration of - a young, influential 21st century creative community.

Check out first nine minutes of "Indie Film Blogger Road Trip"

Here's the first nine minutes of Sujewa Ekanayake's documentary Indie Film Blogger Road Trip. These segments feature interviews with Anthony Kaufman and Tambay Obenson. The full 95 minute documentary (including my interview) will be available at screenings and on DVD in 2009. Enjoy!

Docs in Progress Open House

Over the weekend while visiting my family in Maryland, Sujewa Ekanayake and I met up with Erica Ginsberg, Executive Director of Docs in Progress, at the not-for-profit organization's new "Documentary House" in Silver Spring, Maryland, just a few short blocks away from the AFI Silver Theater, home of Silverdocs. Erica told us about the open house Docs in Progress is holding this Thursday night. Wish I could be there myself, but will be back in New York. If anyone in the DC/Maryland/Northern Virginia area would like to attend, here's more of the details courtesy of Erica.

You are invited to join us at an Open House this coming Thursday, December 4 between 6:00-9:00 pm at "The Documentary House" in downtown Silver Spring.

This is an opportunity to tour Docs In Progress' new space which serves as our administrative offices and as a training and educational center for aspiring and experienced documentary filmmakers.

We look forward to this event to recognize alumni of our programs, thank our program sponsors and partners, introduce our new board, and welcome both the DC/Baltimore-area film community and Silver Spring's local community.

This Open House is also serving as our end-of-year fundraiser. Since this is our inaugural year in the space, there is no door charge, but, if you have not already made a tax-deductible contribution, we can accept your donations (checks, cash, or online credit card transactions).
We look forward to welcoming you!

Erica Ginsberg, Executive Director

Adele Schmidt, Director of Programs and Services

Sam Hampton, Director of Planning and Special Projects

Docs In Progress
Although our offices and training center are in Silver Spring, we will continue to hold screenings in Washington DC and Baltimore. A special thank you to The Documentary Center at the George Washington University and Creative Alliance for being amazing and generous sponsors of our screening programs.

Docs In Progress
The Documentary House
8700 First Avenue
(corner of First and Fenwick)
Silver Spring, Maryland

We are only a few blocks from the Silver Spring Metro. Drivers can park in the gravel lot behind our house or in the Cameron Street Garage (garage parking free after 7 pm)

A DIY Filmmaker Sujewa Weekend

DIY Filmmaker Sujewa came to town this past weekend. Saturday night, I went with Sujewa and Tambay Obenson of The Obenson Report to see a sneak preview screening of Princeton Holt's DIY feature Cookies & Cream, which was playing at the Sexy International Film Festival. While I thought the concept of the film was quite interesting-- a young woman who works in the adult webcam world and can't seem to settle down with the right guy, all of whom pretty much only go out with her because of her profession, finally finds a guy she really likes whom she doesn't tell about her job, because she wants him to love her for who she is and not what she does...and a pretty solid performance by the lead Jace Nicole as Carmen-- I found the execution the be somewhat amateurish...pivotal scenes are poorly lit, little to no chemistry exists between Carmen and Dylan played by Brian Ackley, and quite a bit of out-of-sync ADR (additional dialogue recording). It's a nice first-time feature effort, but needs a lot of polishing if it plans to travel far. I do understand the limitations of low-budget, indie, and DIY filmmaking, but at the end of the day, the presentation is still very important. Princeton had a great show of support that evening as much of the cast, crew, family and friends came out.

And Sunday, I finally got to sit down and see Sujewa's documentary that I was lucky enough to be one of the interview subjects in, Indie Film Blogger Road Trip. We gathered at Cinema Echo Chamber's Brandon Harris' pad in Brooklyn. It was Sujewa, Tambay, myself and of course Brandon who was preparing for his big day at MoMA where he would be introducing two films for the Best Films Not Playing at a Theater Near You program.

In Indie Film Blogger Road Trip, Sujewa takes a journey on the East Coast from his hometown of Kensingon, Maryland, to New York where he interviews staples of the indie film blog community including Anthony Kaufman, Brandon Harris, Stu Van Airsdale, Tambay A. Obenson, and myself. Then he heads south to Fayetteville, North Carolina and talks with Chuck Tryon of Chutry Experiment (see Chuck's write up of the film here), and even deeper into the South to Atlanta where he meets up with Noralil Ryan Fores of ShortEnd Magazine, and Gabe Wardell and Paula Martinez of the Atlanta Film Festival. And finally back up to Maryland where he talks with Armondo Valle and Erica Ginsberg of Docs in Progress.

I like Indie Film Blogger Road Trip as a social commentary on a growing community...a kind of multi-city film panel discussion on digital video. Sujewa makes great use of a diverse bunch of unique bloggers, each speaking about the state of indie film blogging and how it's evolved from and its affects on more traditional means of film journalism and criticism, what each of us brings to the table, and where we see things going. Structurally however, since the film is a road trip, each interview is shown chronologically. There's no special editing employed to build any sort of thematical archs, so topics are spoken about by each of the indie film bloggers individually one after the other, and no interconnectedness. I was however pleasantly surprised at my own little segment, as I'm usually camera shy, and I didn't seem to fluster as much as I thought I did, and came out sounding intelligible and succinct, though there was one moment where I flubbed and called indieWIRE, Indiepix :)

Indie Film Blogger Road Trip is definitely the first documentary about indie film bloggers that I'm aware of, and I hope it gets some play at festivals. I look forward to hearing reactions from audiences and other indie film bloggers, of course.

On the Road With 'Jack' Ekanayake

Sujewa's now back in Kensington, MD, after his road trip with girlfriend Amanda to meet and interview indie film bloggers for his documentary The Indie Film Bloggers: A Portrait of a Community. Sujewa and Amanda made stops in North Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia. Among those interviewed were Noralil Ryan Fores of ShortEnd Magazine (who has a really great podcast interview with Sujewa & Amanda), Chuck Tryon of The Chutry Experiment and Atlanta Film Fest's Gabe Wardell & Paula Martinez. Also previously interviewed on Sujewa's last trip to NYC were Tambay Obenson and Brandon Harris. Sujewa returns to NYC July 25-27 where yours trully's brain will be picked for the documentary. I am very excited to be a part of this project, and can't wait to see how it's all put together.

One-on-One Q&A: Tambay Obenson - Director, "Beautiful Things"

The Film Panel Notetaker’s

One-on-One Q&A with…
Tambay A. Obenson

Director, Beautiful Things and Blogger, The Obenson Report

As previously reported, I met filmmaker and blogger Tambay A. Obenson a few weekends back when Sujewa Ekanayake was in town shooting interviews for his upcoming documentary, The Indie Film Bloggers: A Portrait of a Community. Here is my One-on-One Q&A with Obenson.

TFPN: How did the idea of Beautiful Things come about?

Obenson: I’ve always been interested in exploring relationship dynamics. We seem to spend a significant part of our lives in some stage of coupling – we’re either looking for a partner, or we are with a partner and are working to make the relationship long-lasting. The need for companionship is after all very human. I wanted to deconstruct that notion on film.

TFPN: Is the story at all autobiographical?

Obenson: Not really, even though I play the lead male role. It’s not based specifically on any previous relationships; but as the filmmaker, I certainly drew from my own personal experiences as I created material for the project.

TFPN: Were you actually dating Hallie Brown (who plays Schola) while you were shooting the film, or was she merely someone you just cast in the part? Your chemistry seemed very realistic.

Obenson: Hallie was an actress I cast for the part. We were not dating, and never have. While there was a script for the film, about a third into production, I threw out much of it, and decided that I’d rather use improvisational methods to give the film as realistic a look and feel as possible. I felt it was crucial to do so, given the subject matter and my intent.

TFPN: I noticed your hair grew out from the "interview" segments compared to the "flashback" scenes or main action of the film. Was there a time gap between shooting those segments? How long did it take to complete the entire film?

Obenson: Yes there was a time gap of about 2 years between the flashback scenes and the interview segments (which happened in the present). During that time, I let my hair grow a little, although the film had no influence. So, the results, the effects it had on the film, were unintentional - happy accidents, I suppose. I completed the film – production and post – in about 2 years; however, not continuously; there was a lot of down time. Actual shooting happened over 9 total days between 2003 and 2005. Post production (editing, sound design, etc) lasted maybe 4 months.

TFPN: Can you talk a little bit about each of the short films that are also on the DVD? Were those made when you were living in San Francisco?

Obenson: Yes, both I made while taking a film workshop in San Francisco in 2000/2001. Both were first and second attempts at filmmaking for me. "She Is," the longer piece, was a rather spontaneous production. I had no idea what I was doing; I just wanted to get as many "interesting" shots as I could of the young lady I was dating at the time, at various locations, and then eventually edit it all together into something coherent. The second "Eye See" was planned. With Hitchcock as an influence then, I storyboarded the entire film, from the first frame to the last, in detail, prior to production. I haven't worked in that fashion since then because it was quite labor-intensive, but I'll admit that it made for a much more fluid shooting effort, even though I slipped a few times. I haven't made a short film since, instead choosing to focus on feature narratives.

TFPN: How long have you been doing The Obenson Report? Why did you create it? Has it been helpful to you as a filmmaker?

Obenson: The Obenson Report started as a Podcast before becoming a blog - a podcast I created in the summer of 2007, and which I hosted through February of this year. My focus was on black cinema and still is mostly, even with the transition from audio to the written word. I created the podcast as an extension of the work I was already doing - beating the drums for change within the realm of black cinema. But the weekly schedule proved to be quite consuming, and earlier this year, as I went through my usual New Year self-analysis, I realized that I missed the filmmaking process, and wanted to return to it. So, I gave up the podcast in mid-February to focus on writing. The blog picked up where the podcast left off, although my focus has broadened a bit. I found blogging to be less involved - not as much prep time, and much more organic to me. I figured that I already spent a lot of time gathering news and opinion pieces on and offline, for my own use, so simply moving those interesting bits and pieces of information onto a blog made sense to me. The transition hasn't been difficult, though it still takes time to put together. Has it been helpful to me as a filmmaker? Yes, certainly. I've been able connect with people like yourself, and many, many others - bloggers and readers alike - and it's boosted public awareness of me and my efforts, generating interest in people like yourself, as implied by this profile questionnaire.

TFPN: What is your next film project?

Obenson: I've been writing a screenplay off and on for the last 4 months - it's something I'm hoping to produce later this year, or early next year, provided I can raise the necessary funds. I can't give much info about it just yet, as I'm still discovering it myself. But I'll definitely announce its arrival when I'm much more certain of it.

TFPN: Are you looking forward to seeing yourself in Sujewa Ekanayake’s documentary about film bloggers?

Obenson: I most certainly am! I’m looking forward to seeing and hearing others share their individual stories, and how Sujewa puts it all together. I think it's a timely piece of filmmaking, given the "cold war" that's been brewing between the old and new school. It's certainly topical, and I think it could generate a lot of interest and dialogue.

Tagging Along on "The Indie Film Bloggers" Shoot

Yesterday, I tagged along with Sujewa Ekanayake to Brooklyn to meet up with filmmaker and blogger Tambay Obenson, whom Sujewa interviewed for his documentary The Indie Film Bloggers: A Portrait of a Community. Sujewa will also soon be interviewing me for the film. Tambay's blog is The Obenson Report, which not only reports on African and African-American cinema, but also on "a delicate mix of complex ingredients including, but not limited to, random thoughts, reminiscences of the day, memories from the past, love, friendships, relationships and all those 'ships,' songs I heard, things I saw, and other peronals..." I'll be watching the DVD of Tambay's self-distributed indie film Beautiful Things and will then do a One-on-One Q&A with him about it. Check back for that soon.