13 April 2007

the calm before the storm

this is an email sent to the d press mailing list

A short word before we begin: As I'm sure you've all heard by now, the great Kurt Vonnegut passed away recently. Vonnegut was a major influence on the way we do things around here. As he once wrote, “We are healthy only to the extent that our ideas are humane.”

So it goes.

In Kurt's honor, and in anticipation of the still-pending news we promised a couple of weeks ago, we're going to unveil a little document we like to call, "The d press Productions Statement of Purpose in Regards to Merchandise and Other Potential Revenue Streams". Catchy, eh? Don't you love how it just rolls off the tongue? The idea behind the Statement of Purpose is to set up some guidelines as to how we can turn films into merchandise that doesn't make you roll your eyes in disgust. Effectively, it's a safeguard against selling out the art in pursuit of profits. Will it hurt the bottom line? Almost definitely. Is holding ourselves to a higher standard worth it in the long run? We think so. As you might have guessed, it's on the webpage.

link

Matt Reed's a big fan of this document because it affords him the opportunity to make Citizen Kane jokes. The document itself will be more relevant in the near future.

On the gravida front, we should very soon have some promotional art for you to peruse, as well as an actual premiere date and a new teaser as we approach the hectic stretch to come. What you're seeing now is the calm before the storm. But we do have this:

Nothing has been finalized yet, but it looks like one of the songs in gravida will be provided by the one and only Jerome Wincek. Go to his MySpace page and check out some songs. Or, better yet, go here and buy a CD. Jerome, as some of you know, is an insanely talented musician, a former Geneva College student, and one hell of a nice guy.

You'll notice when you go to the d press webpage that there's a larger number on the fundraiser icon, but that doesn't mean the fundraiser is over, just that it's starting to pick up momentum. Quick, get your donations in before you're left out, sitting outside on the steps, muttering to yourself that you should have contributed when you had the chance. Look through the window. You know what that is? It's the cool kids, patrons of the arts. Don't they seem happy? That, my friends, is the inner glow one gets from being a charitable soul.