1. Jen whipped up an EPK (Electronic Press Kit) in a couple of days, using photographs from our amazing photographer, David Bukach. She included quotes from fellow screenwriters, the synoposis, our bios and our production & distribution plan. I wanted to find a publicist to do the job, but in the end, the indie-DIY approach seems to work best for us anyway. Jen even quoted Donald Trump ("Think Big & Kick Ass") which just makes me giggle. How many indie's quote The Donald I wonder?
2. I sent off the EPK with a short little email about us as sisters making a film set in Victoria to a few media folks. Michael Reid from the Times Colonist (a Vancouver Island newspaper that goes out to 72 000 subscribers) interviewed us the same night, and sent over a photographer the next morning. Once again, Jen & I were in my garage getting photographed. My neighbours are starting to think I'm nuts. Or maybe they already did? Our feature will come out on Tuesday.
3. I had 3 meetings this week with local businessmen that I wanted to get feedback from, advice & maybe even pledges from. One was particularly awesome. He loves movies and immediately got excited about our journey & being involved. Score! A wicked pledge later (on our kickstarter campaign - we're now at 7%!), and plans for further involvement and I ended the week on a super positive note. Thanks Philip!
4. I did my first ever skype podcast interview with Nick in London, England - from the Clapper Bored. Fun! See this post.
5. Jen came up with a brilliant idea for fundraising - go through the Canadian Who's Who, look for people with an arts interest & ask them via email, including our EPK and the website. So, off I went to the local library (the book costs $200!), to start the hunt. There are 13 000 biographies, in alphabetical order, and...what was I thinking?! It's a daunting task.
2 hours later, and I was only at W. I started at Z.
I decided to include everyone with an email address, rather than focus just on "arts" folks - since my own bio wouldn't show arts, but I would love to receive such a request from a filmmaker. Still, it seemed like an awful lot of time to go through the whole book. Surely, this thing is online?!
We did some more research, this time with wine in hand at home, and found out that yes - the book is online at the U.Vic library (and likely many others!), and with a student or faculty login I can see the whole thing. Only problem is that UVic's latest edition is 2006. The best part is that I can do searches, which highlight the keywords - so I can search for "filmmaker" - go through all 13 000 skim reading...to find the folks I will write about the art of filmmaking with.
Seriously, I just might be crazy to do this.
And I question - is this spam?
I'm thinking no, because each email will be personal to the reader, and each person listed in the Who's Who wants to be in there, recognized as a Canadian with klout. So, surely they want to be contacted?
Anyway, lots to be said there. BTW, the book exists in America and England - go nuts!
6. Twitter fun! I always meet such interesting folks on twitter. One mortgage broker tweeted on Friday that his schedule was quite light the next few weeks, so if any tweeps want to meet up let him know. We've never met in person, so I threw my name in the hat. We're meeting on Monday to discuss Locked in a Garage Band. Stoked! Can't wait to hear what he thinks, what advice he has, and hey, maybe he'll make a pledge? That would rock.
7. Design fun! Met with our designers via skype and I must say - these two seriously rock. It's refreshing to speak with web designers who know movies. Every time I make a reference to another flick, they know it! Again, score! Check out their "Prostrate Czech" website - so funny.
8. Received an email from a fellow Victoria filmmaker that pretty much said, "Call me. I have input for you." - Oh. God. My heart skipped a beat. I worried that we were doing everything back-ass-wards and this guy with 25 years experience (that I don't know btw) was going to tell me as much. I even called Jen to ask what I should do. She, being the wise sister, told me man up & make the call. This guy was awesome! He loves what we're doing & had loads of great feedback for me. Woohoo!
9. Just found out - mercury is retrograde from March 26-April 23rd. So. We're shooting while Mercury is retrograde. Shit. We have to be really clear, really prepared, and patient with delays & miscommunications. Did I mention we're shooting over 10 days?
10. My nephew turned 5. Took a break from focusing on the movie & got to play soccer in the park with a bunch of little kids. Perspective is everything.
11. We managed to watch the entire season 1 of United States of Tara. I call it "research." I love this job!
Wonder what's going to happen this week?
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