25 March 2007

some media coverage and the re-emergence of something long-ago forgotten

And now...the update:

Yours truly was profiled this past week on Adam Ross' film blog DVD Panache as part of the Friday Screen Test series. Adam was kind enough to throw in a d press mention. You can read it at the following link.

Some of you have asked how you can promote gravida on blogs, websites, MySpace, whatever. The following code will put the most current gravida promotional image on, say, your blog sidebar and direct people to the dedicated gravida page. Feel free to tweak the size as you see fit, just remember to keep the ratio of height to width the same, or it looks weird. As the image we use changes, so will the image on your end. Pretty damn cool. (also, change all the brackets "[]" to html code "<>")

[a href="http://dpressproductions.com/gravida" title="gravida"][img alt="gravida" src="http://a632.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/36/l_6197234f24879a8bf80ceb3149d40807.jpg" height="133" width="230" /][/a]

Or, if you prefer, grab an image of your choosing from the brand-new gravida media page. If you want a similar image for the fundraiser, let us know and we'll hook you up.

There's a pretty big and pretty exciting announcement coming soon. Perhaps as early as next week. Some of you have an idea of what that is, but in the interest of getting all the details hammered out, I'll hold off on that until it's all sorted out. But be on your toes anyway.

I should mention that we really have zero expertise in the area of business and marketing and such. We're artists who realize the business end is important, but are figuring it out as we go. So, if some of what we do is strange or off-putting, stay with us. We're just trying stuff that we think has potential.

On the fundraiser front, there's been a small change, a tweak, if you will, to the gifts we're giving out. As you may remember, at the $25 level the gift was previously a compilation DVD of guard duty, L'Attente, and gravida, which is a pretty good gift, but we've decided to sweeten the deal with this addition...

For the first time ever, we're going to "open the vaults" (as they say at Disney) and add the poetic and perplexing window shopping (2003) and the rarely seen Joanna Lowe film 4 minutes, which is easily the most obscure film we have on file, to the Special Edition DVD. I'd be surprised if more than ten people have ever seen 4 minutes, to give you an idea of just how obscure it is. Just to reiterate, while you will be able to purchase some variation of a gravida and L'Attente compilation DVD, this Special Edition DVD is unique to the gravida fundraiser. I wouldn't count on these two films being made available for purchase in the near future, if ever.

There's also been some question about the top level of the fundraiser, the one where for a $250 donation we make a zany film for you. If a group were to gather up $250 amongst themselves and donate it, that would work just as well as a single donation from one person. We aren't picky. And to answer another question that's come in, there are some topics we wouldn't be able to do, as they would run contrary to what we stand for. A film about how wonderful genocide can be, for example, ain't gonna happen.

And finally, speaking of the fundraiser, Joanna Stocker, one of our leading patrons, had this to say about her role at d press and the fact that her donation still accounts for over half the total raised [edited for clarity and relayed here at her request]: "...tell [people] that I live with my parents still because I can't afford to live on my own, yet I faithfully tithe from every paycheck and I do my best to try to assist my dear friend Lucas in his pursuit of art in film making. These stingy bastards surely spend more then $50 a year in movie rentals and ticket purchases - so why not donate to someone who is actually working at creating the very media/literary/performing art they so readily throw their not-so-hard earned money into?"

"So i'm a assistant visionary. at least I know my place ;)"

The gauntlet, as they say, has been laid down.

It sounds like hyperbole, but a truly independent film collective like ours cannot exist without the support of people like Joanna. Long-term, it just isn't possible. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is just one more reason why Joanna Stocker is so very awesome.

20 March 2007

d press mailing list: a d press update....now with footage!!!

No, it's not your imagination, you're getting a lot more of these than normal. But that's because we've got a lot going on at d press central these days, what with a new film on the horizon and another one starting to get some notice around the country.

That, and we've re-dedicated ourselves to growing our fan base (such as it is), and keeping people better informed.

So, what's happening this week at d press? Why, I'm glad you asked.

There were some weather issues concerning Thursday's screening of "L'Attente", which prevented the masses from overwhelming the screening, but Sujewa tells me that overall the screening went well, despite the small audience. At very least, no one had anything bad to say about it, so that's something

In the more here and now category, we've added some stuff to the webpage. There's a promotional photo for "gravida", some production stills, and...wait for it...the first 30-second teaser. Excited yet? Of course you are.

You can find the teaser here on MySpace, YouTube, and more importantly, the d press webpage:

http://dpressproductions.com/gravida.html

As of yet we don't have the music lined up, and the trailer is quite rough, but we wanted to get the early promotional stuff out there as soon as possible.

And that's because we're hoping a peek at the finished product will enliven the "gravida" fundraiser, which is off to a start, but not much of a start. Thus far we've gotten nearly $100 (and some tasty food) in donations from the most unlikely of sources. But our patrons understand that indie films can't exist on an island, and for that we're eternally grateful.

15 March 2007

a quick reminder about tonight's screening

For those of you in the Maryland area who won't be glued to March Madness today, remember that L'Attente will be screening with Sujewa Ekanayake's Date Number One tonight at 7.30 in Kensington, MD. The screening costs a mere $5.

I won't be able to be there, but Sujewa will be there, answering questions and whatnot. Date Number One is self-distributed, so feel free to pick his brain about how all of that works.

more info here

The gravida fundraiser is off to a less-than-impressive start, but a start nonetheless. Our largest donation thus far comes from one of the poorest people I know. So there goes your excuse of "I can't afford it."

So go to the webpage and make a donation. It'll take you a grand total of like 5 minutes.

the d press Store

the gravida page, now with some production photos and an early promotional image:

dpressproductions.com/gravida

13 March 2007

the official gravida fundraiser

This is a copy of the recent d press Productions mailing list email, re-posted here because, well, I want to, and because some interested parties aren't on the list.

As some of you may very well know, we here at d press are hard at work on our next film--gravida, which we are billing as a study in loneliness. 99% of the film is in the can and the footage looks pretty spectacular, thanks in large part to the work of cinematographer Dave Eger and gaffer Don Yockey, who composed some pretty cool images. It's pretty exciting, actually. Expect a teaser to show up on the webpage (www.dpressproductions.com) in the near future.

The dedicated gravida page is: here

Of course, while it's pretty easy to shoot a French New Wave film like L'Attente (2006) on the super, duper cheap, a film like gravida has different requirements, stuff like dolly moves and professional lights and a better camera for shooting at night and food for a crew of 10-12 people. Some of it (like the dolly) we were able to build using good old Yankee ingenuity and a trip to Home Depot, but a lot of it had to be rented. Throw in a far-too-close encounter with a certain deer, and we're looking at a budget in the $800-$1000 range. Not bad at all for what's looking to be a 20 minute film, but not exactly pocket change either.

And even though the film will have a Pittsburgh premiere and later be sent out of the festival circuit, it has little to no chance of ever making that money back.

So the idea struck me: we're starving artists. Why not hold a fundraiser? So that's what this is: "the official gravida fundraiser". Your kind donation can help defray the costs of the film and give you the warm, fuzzy feeling that comes with being a patron of the arts and allow your favorite film collective to do what we do best. Plus, at parties you can refer to yourself as a "patron of the arts". Chicks dig patrons.

Already fellow artists have donated a great deal of their time and abilities to make this film happen. Your simple donation would be a greatly appreciated signal of support. I know, I know. I hate asking for money as much as you hate being asked. But this is the world we live in.

Should you decide that it couldn't hurt to create some good karma, there's a couple ways you can do this: You can give us the money in person. This is of course easier if you actually see us in person. You can go to the d press webpage (www.dpressproductions.com) and in the store there's a button where you can donate using PayPal. You actually don't need a PayPal account to do this. It's incredibly easy. Or, you can send it using the US Mail to this address:

Lucas McNelly
d press Productions
1466 Kelton Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15216

Consider this: if everyone on our email list were to give just $5 (you probably have more than that in spare change laying around), we would raise over $250, roughly 1/4 of the entire budget. But any amount, even $1, will receive our sincere and profound thanks (and mad props...everyone loves mad props), in the credits of the film no less. If you're a shy type, you can donate anonymously, but if not, we'll profess our gratitude in a hip, happening way.

Think of this as a PBS drive, only without Big Bird.

$25 or more, and as a gift, we will send you a DVD with gravida, L'Attente, and guard duty on it, so that you can show people just what sort of awesome films you support.

Updated, 24 March 2007: For the first time ever, we're going to "open the vaults" (as they say at Disney) and add the poetic and perplexing window shopping (2003) and the rarely seen Joanna Lowe film 4 minutes, which is easily the most obscure film we have on file, to the Special Edition DVD. I'd be surprised if more than ten people have ever seen 4 minutes, to give you an idea of just how obscure it is. Just to reiterate, while you will be able to purchase some variation of a gravida and L'Attente compilation DVD, this Special Edition DVD is unique to the gravida fundraiser. I wouldn't count on these two films being made available for purchase in the near future, if ever.

$50 or more, and we'll send you not only that awesome DVD, but also a mini promotional poster of gravida, designed by our good friend Ryan Davis and signed by, at the very least, director Lucas McNelly. Stick it on your wall and be the envy of your apartment building.

A gift of $75 or more and we'll not only send you the DVD and the poster, but also a t-shirt. That's right, a soon-to-be-revealed, custom t-shirt. That's right, custom. Wear it with pride around town, knowing that you've supported a progressive, innovative production company. We can't even describe to you how cool it'll be. We should warn you, though, that someone might be so jealous they'll try to steal it.

If you can find a way to part with $100 or more, we'll not only kiss your feet, but we'll send you the DVD, the poster, the shirt, and you'll get two (2) tickets to see gravida on the big screen as it premieres in Pittsburgh as part of "the body beautiful project", courtesy of Cup-a-Jo productions. (dates to be announced)

And how's this for super cool? If you're feeling way generous and can put together $250 or more, as a special thanks we will make a 2-3 minute film, shot guerilla-style using stuff we have laying around, on any topic or theme you choose. So, if you say "make me a film about aliens", expect to see paper plates spray-painted and hanging from string and a high camp factor. Other topics would probably yield higher-quality results. Regardless, we'll put the film on the webpage and, time permitting, the DVD.