Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Beauty Bites Beast

So part of our overall plan has been to get in contact with people with similar goals as ours - people trying to reach similar demographics and make a difference. One of those people at the top of the list for us has been Ellen Snortland, women's advocate and author of the amazing Beauty Bites Beast.

In her work to bring self defense to all women and get the message across that their lives are worth defending, Ellen was a major inspiration for us. Imagine my thrill when I worked an intro through a friend yesterday. I piggy backed off that and wrote Ellen an email explaining what Pistoleras is about and the difference we want to make with young women everywhere.

Not only is Ellen psyched about the project and wanting to talk further. She's recently produced a documentary about training a group of factory worker women outside Tijuana who were being repeatedly raped and sometimes killed. These women have now been trained to defend themselves and have changed their lives! I'm thinking: kick-ass (literally!) DVD extra and what a great person to have in the Pistoleras corner!

Keep it up, Universe.

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Now Hear This

I was checking out the excellent website for Open Plan Film's "Eve of Understanding." Looks like a great film. Looks like they did everything right. Won lots of awards. And I've never hears of it. So it's becoming increasingly clear that we can shoot the most kick-ass movie in the world but if no one knows about it...it's the tree falling in the forest with no one there to hear. Personally, I want to make the kind of tree they cut a hole for cars to drive through and people come from miles away to take pictures of it.

By extension, obviously this awareness has to start now to get funding and get this puppy off the ground. Right. So let's rock. I'm drawing on my broad but thin marketing experience of the last ten years doing, you know, what your parents call "real jobs." Frankly, maybe that thinness will help us in the end because we're not bound by how things should be done. Still, I feel a little like I'm reinventing the wheel. Have to add that skill to the resume when all is said and done.

At the moment we're kicking ideas around that involve PR stunts, tapping into like-minded communities and groups, and of course, talking to everyone we know and everyone they know. I keep thinking someone is going to come hold our hands and say "here, just do x, y and z and all will be well." and then I remember...this
is
indie
filmmaking.

Welcome! Come on in, the water's fine. Sink or swim, baby!

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Marshalling Forces

It has been a long crazy ride so far and we've only just begun! I feel like this whole thing will be a crash course in film making and I know we are up for it.

I think the most inspiring thing is that everyone we talk to gets excited and wants to be involved. Yesterday's production meeting yielded a potential Line Producer who seems like a great fit. Granted it's a guy and we are really pulling for majority female crew. But he would be willing to wear a skirt so that counts for something. He's a perfect example of someone who comes into the sphere of me and Liz not knowing much about the project and leaves offering services and enthusiasm. We have got to start using this magic power around rich people!

Psyched for the No Budget Film School this weekend. With that and the final script next week, we will seriously be ready to roll on this puppy.

Just this morning on NPR, a report from the Rome film fest said that Scorsese has pledged to restore and save one classic Italian film per year. This year's choice: Leoni's Once Upon a Time in the West. As far as I'm concerned, a shout-out to the enduring allure of the Spaghetti Western. We're next, Marty!