Sorry it's been a moment since last update. Here's what's happening:
- Just launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise finishing funds for our feature documentary on poet and environmental activist W.S. Merwin. See select scenes and learn more HERE.
- I've been busy with numerous writing gigs, one of which is currently shooting in Europe and Hawaii. This is the second film written with Chris Silber for Hamburg-based Network Movie and, like the first, it will premiere on the big German network ZDF.
- I've also been busy writing two TV pilots, which my managers at Industry Entertainment will send out to interested producers and network execs in June.
- Finally, a thriller I've been working on has found a producing partner in Honolulu-based Island Film Group. More on that soon.
One of my longest running, and as yet un-produced projects may have some momentum as of this week. Entitled THE SHAREHOLDER, it’s a project written for and with the one-and-only Shirley MacLaine. This week the producing team is in LA meeting with our casting director, Pam Dixon, and with my new management team at Industry Entertainment. We’ll be going out to several actresses who would play Ms. MacLaine’s granddaughter in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for updates. It’s a project I’m attached to direct.
Lots of interesting crowdfunding projects I’ve been tracking coming to fruition. One that’s of particular interest is IronSky. It’s an irreverent Finnish project that incorporated the future audience in developing the screenplay and raised approx 1.5 million dollars of a 9 million dollar budget via crowdfunding. Here are some links...
For those near Atlanta, my recent film MY LAST DAY WITHOUT YOU screens at the Atlanta Film Festival on March 25th @ 2:30. My writing and producing partner, Chris Silber, together with lead actress Nicole Beharie will be attendance. Get your tix before they sell out by going HERE. For those in German-speaking territories, the DVD and soundtrack for the film will come out toward the end of April (title on film there is NIE MEHR OHNE DICH).
My earlier film ARRANGED is back up on Hulu these days, for those who’ve not yet seen it. It’s free right HERE. It's also available on NetFlix, iTunes, at your local video story, etc.
Interesting to be directing a documentary after several years. Such a different process to let a story unfold before you, versus work from a screenplay, creating the visual architecture with your DP, working with actors, etc...
The film - entitled EVEN THOUGH THE WHOLE WORLD IS BURNING - is about renowned poet and Maui resident W.S. Merwin. I was reluctant to jump in, frankly, given the long and sometimes torturous road to documentary completion and distribution. However, once I began to spend time with William, I felt there’s a story here that needs to be told. And having worked for several months now, it's looking like we have a narrative hook; a way to create a sense of journey. We’ll follow him back to France this summer, to a farmhouse where he spent time as a young writer - a place that informed his work, his translations, his connection to the land. Learn more HERE.
Meanwhile, back in NYC, my longtime partner Diane Crespo at Cicala Filmworks is directing the film CLUTTER with many of our filmmaking family. Make it happen, people!
Just received word that a script I wrote with my partner Chris Silber got the greenlight. It begins shooting in Hamburg and the Swiss Alps on April 16th. Network Movie is producing, for the powerhouse broadcaster ZDF. As with a prior TV film we wrote, the film stars Ursula Karven. That film, entitled FIRST LADY in English (and NICHT MIT MIR LIEBLING in German), premieres on ARD on March 23rd.
