d press Productions

Things to do in Pittsburgh when you're dead**

2009-01-14T11:00:00.001-05:00

**we're assuming, of course, that you'll probably freeze to death before the end of the week.

In order to keep you, dear reader, moderately involved in-between d press events, and in an effort to appease people we'd like to work with again, we give you another run-down of all the things worth paying attention to in the collective.

++ On 22 February Amy Crawford and the hit band Deleon are at long last playing their first Pittsburgh show at the Thunderbird Cafe in Lawrenceville. Naturally you should go, but you should also purchase a copy of Amy's new EP. It's pretty damned good and definitely worth the cost.

++ Jerome Wincek's been doing some interesting things on his MySpace page, essentially releasing numerous cuts and edits and mixes and whatnot of whatever songs he's been working on. You're best bet is probably to just keep checking in every couple of days and see what's new, as he's approaching a rather prolific pace.

++ 21 January is, you guessed it, the start of the 5th season of "LOST". I'm hearing from people in the know that the first 5 minutes or so are awesome, and hit or miss in the middle before finishing strong. Just thought you should know.

++ Yen Tan's film "CIAO" (edited by our friend David Lowery) is currently playing in major cities cooler than Pittsburgh. If you're fortunate enough to live in one of them, get thee to the theater. Per screen averages are key for a film like this.

++ far beyond frail is playing two shows next week in the Dakotas. Really, Shar? The Dakotas in January? Did that seem like a good idea?

++ Steve Vesolich is playing Club Cafe in Pittsburgh on 30 January in support of his album "This Continual Flight".

++ Congrats to our friend Brian Kazmarck, as his short film "Game Theory" just played in competition at the Festivus Film Festival.

That's pretty much it for this quick rundown. And now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a pile of screeners to watch before my awards ballot is due at the end of the month (quick version: there's nothing even close to as good as "Wall*E", although the French film "A Christmas Tale" is pretty good) and the Wii Fit is yelling at me to exercise more.

festival 9.0...and news from around the collective

2008-09-10T18:53:00.000-04:00

Is your fantasy football team reeling from injuries to Tom Brady, Merriman, Colston, and/or Burleson? Well, we've got some good news for you: gravida is an Official Selection of the 2008 Tacoma Film Festival. Click here for more info.

We screen on 4 October and 7 October in Tacoma, WA. This is our third festival on the West Coast and number 9 overall. There's a good chance that this is our last one (unless we get invited to one or highly motivated to send out some more submissions), and if that's the case, then we've had a hell of a good run, thanks in part to your help. There's 2 or 3 more screenings that may or may not happen, and we'll let you know as soon as we know.

Oh, and I'm not sure if I've mentioned this yet, but look what happens when you look up gravida on Wikipedia.

I've been out of town for the last couple of weeks, so let's catch up on what's going on around the collective, shall we?

+++ John Gallagher (a.k.a. the co-producer on gravida) has a short film he produced in the Dare To Direct 2 short film contest sponsored by Chiller TV. The short Wreck Room is a horror short in a horror contest, so if you have a weak stomach and/or aversion to horror like I do, be fair warned. Anyway, you know the drill. Watch it. Give it a "thumbs up". Tell your friends.

+++ Also worth checking out this month (and beyond) is the Pittsburgh Neighborhood Narratives project. Basically, it's Paris, je t'aime, minus all the famous people and set in Pittsburgh instead of Paris. Our pitch for a segment about Dormont (complete with roto-scoping and some dream-like lighting ideas) was actually a finalist for this project (basically our pitch wasn't very narrative, which may have been the problem), but we aren't bitter. Rachel Shaw is in the Homestead film and our good friend Justin Crimone of Zeno Films is doing the Downtown segment.

Anyway, it premieres 25 September at Regent Square and then will show all over the city after that. Go to their MySpace page for more details. You can find the trailer here.

+++ Amy Crawford and her band The Electric have an EP coming out late summer and they're also on tour in a town near you (but not in a town near me....what the hell?)

In other Amy news, she finished 3rd in the 2008 Shure/Montreux Jazz Festival Vocal Competition in Switzerland. Oh, and her MySpace page also has some live tracks up. Check them out.

+++ Ilona V has a new song on her MySpace page, called "Summer's Almost Gone". Check it out.

+++ far beyond frail's song "Portland" is included in the new compilation CD "Hope, Volume One", which benefits the group "Suicide Awareness Voices of Education". Also included on the album are Tegan and Sara, Trisha Yearwood, Kevin Max, Lisa Loeb, and Joanne Cash (I think she's Johnny's daughter). Also, they seem to be using the same webpage template we are, which is weird, especially since they're about hope and stuff.

far beyond frail is also touring the country (and also not playing a city near me). Check them out when they get near you, and tell them I sent you.

+++ jerome wincek & the old hats have a new song up, titled "the intranet man all redd up". The title is some sort of Pittsburgh something that I don't even remotely understand, and I don't really want to.

And I think that's it. Enjoy the warm weather while it's still here.

once more around the block

2008-05-28T10:08:00.001-04:00

Voting continues in the Now Film Festival. So, if you haven't voted...bloody hell...what are you waiting for?

Until we hear those results, a quick run-down of what's happening around the collective...

+ This past weekend was the Oil Region Indie Songwriter's Festival in Oil City, PA. It was quite a lineup (featuring Brad Yoder, The Old Hats, Newmen, Nate Custer, Jeremy Jack, Namoli Brennet, Secretly Plotting Your Burial, and many more) and the weather was nice. Word is there may be more shows in the works, so we'll keep you updated as we hear about it. I can't seem to find the actual article in newspaper's online archives, but the Derrick ran a story about the festival, featuring a photo by yours truly. Click here for proof..

+ In other Oil City news, Jerome Wincek has put out a couple of live videos of himself and the Old Hats. They're available on his MySpace page.

+ Steve Vesolich has a new album ready to drop. "This Continual Flight" will have a CD release party on 27 June 2008 at Club Cafe in Pittsburgh. The cost? $7. More info.

+ The Futility Parade has a new song ("based on a short story by ambrose bierce of which i can't recall the title") on their MySpace page. I'm told it was recorded on the side of the road. They do stuff like that.

+ We may have already told you about this, but Ilona V. has a new-ish song on her MySpace page, "Deliverance Coffin". Honestly, I'm not sure if this is new info or not. The method is to look for songs that have a lot fewer plays than the rest. So...yeah.

And...I think that's it. If I'm missing stuff, let me know. I try to include as much as I can remember and/or find quickly on MySpace, etc. As for new d press stuff...well...we're working on it, but it's so damned hard with all these playoff games on every night.

we won something! (sort of)

2008-05-07T18:02:00.000-04:00

No, the results of the Now Film Festival aren't in. You'll hear as soon as possible, trust me.

But, this past weekend gravida was in the Twin Rivers Media Festival in Asheville, NC, where we nabbed a Honorable Mention in the short drama category. It doesn't seem to be on the webpage anywhere, but I've gotten 2 emails about it, so we're going with it. Victory.

And don't forget, voting continues in the Now Film Festival. So if you haven't voted yet, then what the hell are you waiting for? Click on the sweet button to go where you need to go.

Find the "5" under gravida. Tell your friends. Spread the word. It'll take longer for you to think of a good reason why you didn't vote when we ask, and you'll feel better about not having to lie.

So take 30 seconds and help your favorite film collective out.

vote "gravida"

2008-04-18T18:13:00.000-04:00

Are you ready?

Big weekend here at d press as gravida, everyone's favorite film about pregnancy, is in 2 film festivals (one in West Virginia and one in Chicago) and today voting starts on the Now Film Festival.

Forget the plus/minus stuff. This is the important part. Click on the sweet button to go where you need to go.

You can rate each film on a 1-5 scale. 5 is the highest. So...go...vote vote vote. Tell your friends. Spread the word.

Want to add the "gravida" button to your webpage/blog/myspace/whatever? Feel free to grab the image.

Festival 7.0 (with a twist)

2008-04-11T07:46:00.000-04:00

Howdy,

First, some email history for you:

7 March 2008

"Thank you for submitting to the Lake Forest Film Festival. As we received nearly 200 submissions, we were only able to accept a little over 30% of the films. Many deserving films were cut from the program. Unfortunately, your submission will not be shown at this year’s festival."

Our initial thought was that not making the 30% cut probably wasn't a good sign, but these things happen. We've gotten a number of emails just like this one.

Then, out of the clear blue sky, today I got this email.

"I want to apologize for this late notice and incredibly horrible mistake we made when notifying filmmakers, but also want to congratulate you. Your film Gravida, was marked as not accepted, and it is in fact accepted into the Lake Forest Film Festival and is competing in the short live action category. For information in regards to your screening, please visit our website at http://www.lakeforest.edu/life/orgs/film/default.asp.

I am so sorry for this terrible inconvenience, but am delighted to screen your excellent work next weekend!"

This, of course, is something close to an artist's dream, to get accepted for something he previously thought had rejected him. Kind of the equivalent of having a critic retract a negative review. It's also a little weird and unexpected.

Oh, and Sundance, if you're reading this, there's still time to accept us for the 2008 festival. We don't even care that it's already over. We just want the leafy thing for the webpage.

So what, you ask, do you need to know about the Lake Forest Film Festival? Well, it's April 18-20 at Lake Forest College outside Chicago and we're in competition with Academy Award nominee Binta y la gran idea and fellow Festivus Film Festival entry Simulacra. So, based on that it should be pretty cool.

festival 6.0

2008-04-04T17:32:00.001-04:00

Kids, string up the banjos and dig the gut bucket out of the cellar. gravida is an Official Selection of the Appalachian Film Festival in Huntington, WV. [insert joke here]

We screen on Friday, 18 April at 11.45am at the Keith Albee Theater in downtown Huntington.

And now, news from around the collective...

**gravida musicians and indie rockers extraordinaire The Futility Parade have posted a recording of their song "a january carol" on their MySpace page.

**Also on the MySpace, newly-engaged Matt Reed has posted a few songs, "Put Me In Your Colophon" and "Look Out the Window".

**The general rule with Jerome Wincek's music updates is just to check every couple days, because that seems to be the rate at which he puts stuff out. By the time you read this, he'll probably have released 3 new songs.

**Ilona V. has a couple new songs on her MySpace page (see a theme yet?). Go and check out the "Gone" demo and "Deliverance Coffin".

**Amy Crawford has added "See It Through" to her MySpace page.

**Steve Vesolich's new album, "This Continual Thirst" is done and awaiting a late May release.

**Finally, Justin Crimone's zombie film planet of the living dead is in the running for a George Romero sponsored contest on MySpace. Click here and show it some love.

Unless I'm forgetting something, that should be about it. Enjoy your weekend.

Don't forget to purchase a DVD or a tshirt. Be one of the cool kids.

Let's try again

2008-03-19T14:44:00.001-04:00

As you may or may not remember, last week we got bumped. And since I'm busy filling out my brackets, I'm just gonna use the last email and tweak it.

Tonight, ~~12 March~~ 19 March, yours truly will be featured on BlogCritics Radio. I'll be discussing gravida, the Now Film Festival, and the state of indie film in general. I'm told my segment will start around ~~9.40~~ 9.30 and you can hear it anywhere in the world. Click on the image below to get there.

And for all of you who asked: they archive everything, so if you miss it, you can listen to it later and stuff.

2nite

2008-03-12T09:30:00.002-04:00

Just a quick reminder.

Tonight, 12 March, yours truly will be featured on BlogCritics Radio. I'll be discussing gravida, the Now Film Festival, and the state of indie film in general. I'm told my segment will start around 9.40 and you can hear it anywhere in the world. Click on the image below to get there.

Lucas on the radio

2008-03-04T21:54:00.000-05:00

Here in Pittsburgh we've had a nice run of weather: several inches of snow and sleet this weekend, followed by 70 degrees on Monday, and tonight it's 40 and raining there's a flood warning. So...if we don't get swept into one of the 3 Rivers, here's what'll be happening soon.

gravida is inching closer to our goal of 20,000 views in the Now Film Festival, as we've got a total of 15,685 combined on YouTube and MySpace. It's nowhere near the BAFTA nominee that's in the lead, but it's doing ok, probably in the upper half. But don't worry, the voting hasn't started yet. Still, if you haven't started telling your friends, what are you waiting for?

In other MySpace news, our good friend Justin Crimone over at zeno films is in a contest of his own. His short planet of the living dead is in the running for a spot on George Romero's new Diary of the Dead DVD. You know the drill. Watch it, thumbs up, etc.

Back to gravida. We are currently in the process of being added to everyone's favorite film information source, IMDb. For whatever reason, it's harder than you'd think to get added, and it takes forever for all the information to get uploaded, but we're there. Go here.

And about that radio thing. Next Wednesday, 12 March, yours truly will be a guest on the Blogcritics Radio Network, which you can conveniently listen to on your very own computer. I'll be talking about gravida, the Now Film Festival, and "indie filmmaking in general" sometime between 9 and 10 EST. Want more info? Check it out. This week's guest, you may notice, is Debbie Gibson. That sound you just heard? That was Ryan Estes' head exploding. Remember to gather ye olde kids around ye olde internet radio and listen in. Maybe I'll make a fool of myself.

For the moment, I think that's it. Don't despair, you'll be hearing from us again real soon.

a Pittsburgh screening and festival 5.0

2008-02-21T10:10:00.001-05:00

As I write this, gravida is nearing 9,000 total views on MySpace Film (rating of 82%), and YouTube (rating of 4.8 out of 5). Our goal is 20,000 total views, so we're on the way.

If you haven't watched it yet and rated it, then what are you waiting for? It's so easy (and fun!). You can see it on the front page of MySpace Film as the featured short. But, for those of you having trouble with it, click the image just below this one:

Much thanks to everyone thus far who's been helping us out, either by watching it, or embedding the video on their MySpace pages and/or blogs, or just getting the word out. I'd list everyone, but there's too many and I'll forget someone and then they'll be mad. So, thanks to everyone.

But, wait, there's more.

We've been invited to participate in Viewer Discretion, a Pittsburgh screening thing. (click here for directions) See? It's even on a flyer.

The plan is to play L'Attente and guard duty and maybe gravida, but probably not, as they try to keep things under 10 minutes. So, Tuesday, 26 Feb, 8.30pm. $3. See you there.

Oh, and that festival 5.0? We're in the Bare Bones Film Festival, the schedule just hasn't been announced yet.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna see if I can't get myself added to the Oceanic Six.

publicity and myspace and such

2008-02-18T20:03:00.001-05:00

You may have heard something in the air about a film festival we're in right now. You may be tired of hearing about it. Either way, we've got more information for ya.

The idea behind this festival, as I understood it, was that we were going to be on the front page of MySpace Film for a week. And I suspect that's still the case. I'm told there was something of a crisis situation over at MySpace this weekend and as of right now (7.43pm on Monday), the featured short is still "Bedhead", which I'm beginning to hate the sight of. But, if you click on it, you get us, so that's something. Also, if you go to MySpace TV and go under the film heading, well, there we are as the "hot video".

The other semi-finalists in this fest have amassed anywhere from 5,000 to 20,000 views, so our new goal is to get 20,000 views (and keep our ranking as high as possible). As of right now, we're at 2,170 views with a 87% rating, so we're on the way.

How can you help? View it as often as you'd like. Tell your friends. Click on the "thumbs up" (and not the "thumbs down"). And if you've got a blog/MySpace/whatever, embed the video on your page somewhere. You can find the code here. If you need any help, don't hesitate to email me. I can help you tweak the links on it, if you want.

Also, we've got some media coverage to tell you about. We were featured today on ScreenGrab, the pretty awesome film blog, and the equally cool GreenCine Daily. ScreenGrab called it "the best of the lot thus far" and "a mature character study about a young pregnant woman trying to keep her loneliness at bay."

Go, watch. If you don't have a MySpace account (only needed for rating the film and commenting on how much you love it), then make one. It takes like 5 minutes.

Hey look, we're in the paper...and on MySpace...and elsewhere...

2008-02-15T14:50:00.000-05:00

As promised, the promotional stuff for the Now Film Festival continues. gravida is on the festival webpage for your viewing pleasure, on YouTube, where people are arguing about a pregnant woman drinking wine, and later today on MySpace Film, where we'll be the featured selection for a week.

Today brings a little bit more for your reading pleasure.

First, those of you in Pittsburgh can pick up a copy of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and find us on the back page of the Mag&Movies section. Or, you can read it online here.

Also, there's an interview with yours truly about gravida in Actor's Ink, which is some sort of newsletter/publication with a circulation of roughly 70k. The interview starts with a short review that contains the note that, "With a shoestring budget and a few friends, Lucas McNelly tells a story of loneliness and uncertainty better than most of the filmmakers in Hollywood can imagine." You can read the entire interview here, including the parts where I do some name-dropping of fellow filmmakers.

Speaking of name-dropping our fellow filmmakers, our friend David Lowery has made the cut of South by Southwest, no small feat.

watch us on YouTube

2008-02-13T21:44:00.001-05:00

Just in time for Valentine's Day, everyone's favorite love story, gravida is now online in conjunction with the Now Film Festival. Today we're on YouTube and starting Friday we'll be a featured selection on MySpace Film. It's been up for an hour and I've already started getting feedback from "industry" people.

Exciting, no?

Here's what we need you to do: follow the links and boost our numbers/favorites/ratings/whatever. It won't factor into the voting for the finals (and the Hollywood screening), but it can't hurt, right?

I know what you're thinking. Now that gravida is online, does that mean we won't pester you about buying a copy? No way.

Festival 4.0

2008-02-05T08:40:00.000-05:00

So the good news we thought we were going to bring you, that's not going to happen (but fear not, we shall survive).

Instead, we've got something a little different for you.

gravida (you remember gravida) has been selected to screen as part of the Now Film Festival, which runs primarily via the internets, both on their webpage and the MySpace Film page, and YouTube, with a final screening (if I understand this correctly) in Hollywood on 20 May 2008. More information as we get it.

By my math, we should be up and running around the middle of March, at which point you should all go and check it out. And then, go to the d press Store and buy a DVD.

Ok...um...there was something else...Oh, right. The Pittsburgh Playwrights is running a Spring Reading Series where every day for the month of February, a different play will get a staged reading. Our friends are all over this event, too many to name without forgetting someone. Check it out when you get a chance.

And...that's it. If you can vote this Super Tuesday, make sure you do so. Me, I'll be watching the returns and muttering about how badly screwed up the major parties are.

Festival 3.0

2008-02-01T14:07:00.000-05:00

Quickly on this snowy Friday afternoon:

gravida has been selected to appear in the 4th(?) Annual Mid-Valley Video Festival in Salem, OR. We will screen Thursday, 21 February at 9pm with James Spooner's White Lies Black Sheep at the Northern Lights Theatre Pub.

Also appearing in the festival is David Lowery's A Catalog of Anticipations and the Butler Brother's Confusions of an Unmarried Couple, both films by friends of ours.

Strangely enough, we hoped to get a good news update to you this weekend (assuming the news was good, of course), but about a completely different subject, so stay tuned. Cross your fingers.

tonight (and tomorrow)

2008-01-25T12:48:00.000-05:00

A quick note for everyone in the Steel City (or thereabouts).

Steve Vesolich and Jerome Wincek will be playing Club Cafe in Pittsburgh tonight (that&'s Friday) at 7pm. I don't know how much it cost, but it probably will be under $10. Anyway, you should go. It'll be fun.

And both of them have music for sale on their respective MySpace pages. Go. Buy it. Be a good person.

Plus, you can check out our videos of Jerome in action. Like this one:

Also, our friends at the Hodgepodge Society have a free show tomorrow, 26 January at 9:30pm at the Backstage Bar at the Cabaret at Theater Square.

Um...I'm sure there's more, but I'm short on time. Later. Oh, and thanks to everyone who saw far beyond frail on their recent tour.

Notes from Festivus

2008-01-15T13:05:00.000-05:00

You know you've been at a festival a long time when on day 3 you say to someone, "You know, I vaguely remember watching a zombie movie, like, a week ago." Such is life in the festival world where you routinely watch films from noon until nearly midnight, drink alcoholic beverages, and talk to fellow festival goers about what films they saw that you completely should have seen. Depending on your level of cinephilia, it's either completely awesome or a bit much.

It helps, certainly, when you've got a film in competition and the badge of honor to prove it. Everyone makes a point of telling you they liked your film (even when they didn't), or how they wish they could have seen it. It's no wonder filmmakers love going.

For the inaugural Festivus Film Festival, we hit Denver around 10am Mountain Time and promptly hit a local micro brew house that featured a beer dedicated to the late, great Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. From there, we hit the festival, housed (for our purposes), at the historic Oriental Theater.

The festival kicked off with Wasting Away, a zombie movie about from the zombie's point of view (they see themselves as "super soldiers" and everyone else is infected) and Kill Kill Faster Faster, which looked really cool, but I came in half-way through and was too tired from the jet lag to follow it.

Saturday, we screen bright and early at noon as part of the "Popcorn Matinees" with Maine Story, Taken, In Times of War: The Ray Parker Story (winner for best documentary short), Simulacra, PK-Granny, and Revolver. The screening went well. Maine Story is clearly the best film of the set (or maybe I'm biased because it's set in Maine and the accents aren't all screwed up), but the important thing is that gravida isn't the worst. No one walks out. No one boos. Well, except for these guys:

Then, a Q&A (that's yours truly on the left wearing a "Debs '08" shirt, even if you can't see it):

There were basic questions about budgets and cameras and whatnot, and we got a few questions asked specifically about our film (such as, "Where did you find a pregnant actress?"). And that was it. A number of people came up to me over the course of the day to say how much they enjoyed the film and we were able to make a number of contacts with other filmmakers and pick their brains about the whole festival sequence. Part of the value of going to this festival was to see what other companies do to support their films, and I think we've picked up a number of good ideas we can use for next time.

But there were 2 more whole days of films. Notable films were Avec la Moustache (the best film in the entire festival, I thought), Cabbie, Partially True Tales of High Adventure! (the narrative short winner), Hope Springs Eternal (animated winner), Beauty 24 (a bad documentary about a fantastically interesting photography project, also the documentary feature winner...go figure), Indestructible (a heart-breaking doc about ALS), and Life With Fiona (I didn't see it, but the filmmakers were really nice and helpful).

And that is about it. Don't forget to purchase a DVD or a tshirt. Be one of the cool kids.

a question for our fans, etc.

2008-01-03T11:32:00.001-05:00

simply put:

What can we do better and/or differently? What opportunities are we missing? What would you do if you were us?

any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

thanks a lot.

"un filme" number 5

2008-01-02T11:35:00.000-05:00

Daniel Stiker, Pittsburgh, PA

Jerome Wincek kick-starts your New Year

2008-01-01T21:10:00.000-05:00

A Happy New Year from all your friends at your favorite film collective. Some of us are a little, um, hungover, so we'll make this short-ish and sweet.

Last night I was asked if we had any New Year's Resolutions, and we don't, really, only the constant one of making d press Productions cooler and more kick-ass than it was previously. We did a pretty good job of that in 2007, so fingers crossed that we can do the same in 2008.

On to the good stuff...

Recently I was in Franklin, PA to see Jerome Wincek and his band the Old Hats play a show with Matt Reed. Jerome and I had discussed maybe putting together some video of him, so I took my camera and was able to come up with two lo-fi music videos of him playing live.

Enjoy.

Also, Jerome Wincek will be playing a show with Steve Vesolich at Club Cafe in Pittsburgh on 25 January, if you feel inclined to check him out for yourself.

And now...the feats of strength!!!

2007-12-13T21:02:00.000-05:00

In this update: we hear about festival number 3, we put our mind on our money, a quick tour around the collective, and maybe--just maybe--we'll finally get somewhere in this whole bagel strike...

First..."he finds tinsel distracting..."

Word in my email box this morning is that gravida is an Official Selection in the inaugural Festivus Film Festival, which runs from 11 January until 13 January in Denver, CO. This is obviously cool for a number of reasons, including the fact that the Festivus episode of "Seinfeld" is one the favorites of the McNelly household. It's another Festivus miracle!

If you're scoring at home, that makes gravida 2 for 3 in the festival circuit, with the one negative being Sundance, which was a long shot anyway.

And if for some strange reason you haven't yet seen gravida, don't forget that we're having a Christmas, etc. sale at the store where you can get FREE
Shipping on the DVD and the
"un filme" shirt. The sale runs until 22 December and both items would make excellent presents for everyone you know (including yourself)

On to the section of the update where we pimp our friends & fellow artists...

Ilona V's old band, the Arrangement, has posted one of their old songs (written and sung by Ilona) on the Studio Eight Boston MySpace page. The song, "Sisters of the Storm" is from the point of view of a religious extremist.

Amy Crawford is playing another show at the Bitter End in NYC on Sunday, 16 December at 9pm. Tickets are $5. To quote Amy, "I'm *thisclose* to getting a featured night there, so I would REALLY appreciate it if you came out to support!!" So, you know, go and be supportive.

Check out Amy's MySpace blog for more info:

If for some reason you're going to be anywhere near Franklin, PA tomorrow (like, say, you got lost on your way to the middle of nowhere), Jerome Wincek is going to be playing a show at the Summerhouse Coffee Shop with a special guest, the ultra-reclusive singer/songwriter/folk hero Matt Reed. There are dead musicians who play live more frequently than Matt, so don't miss out on this rare event. Doors open at 7pm. Go to Jerome's MySpace page for info, and to purchase some of his new tunes.

Our good friends far beyond frail have yet another tour lined up, this one visiting such hit towns as Nashville, Charlotte, New Orleans, Austin, and Ambridge, PA (yes, Ambridge). Check out their MySpace page to see when (or if) they're coming to a town near you.

Ok, that's it. If you'll excuse me, I'm off to buy an aluminum pole.

Sundance?

2007-12-03T21:00:00.000-05:00

Hi all,

2 things that happened within hours of each other this weekend:

1. Yours truly broke his nose assembling IKEA furniture. It's not Owen Wilson bad, but you can see where it happened.

2. Contrary to our wildest hopes and dreams, gravida did not make the Sundance cut. This is not a surprise at all, but still. There were over 8500 submissions for 200 spots.

So it goes.

Remember, the Free Shipping sale contines until 22 December. Load up on Christmas presents for everyone you know.

That is all.

"un filme" number 4

2007-12-01T11:44:00.000-05:00

Levi Stahl, Pittsburgh, PA

every Friday is Black Friday

2007-11-26T20:56:00.000-05:00

Here at d press Productions we believe that you should be allowed to
celebrate the religious holiday of your choice, so while most of us around here observe the sacred traditions of Festivus, we understand that others might not. So, in the spirit of cooperation and...um...togetherness, we've decided to offer...wait for it...

A CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY SALE BLOWOUT BONANZA!!!!!!! (or Hanukkah, if you prefer)

From now until the randomly chosen date of 22 December, any and all items purchased from the Store will be shipped to you for absolutely free. That's right, free. A savings of up to $6 on a DVD/shirt combo.

What do you have to do to realize such amazing savings? Simply go to either the DVD page or the "un filme" page and follow the buttons.

What an absolutely perfect way to fill your shopping list and support your favorite film collective at the same time. And if you've got any moody teenagers floating around, word out of a certain high school in Pennsylvania is that the kids love the "un filme" shirt. Everyone wants one.

Also, if you're in a shopping mood, our good friend Jerome Wincek has a new album that you can purchase directly from his MySpace page. I've heard it. It's awesome.

That's it. Get thee to the internets. Happy holidays from your friends at d press Productions

thoughts from 3rff

2007-11-12T20:49:00.000-05:00

In case you'd forgotten, last night was the first half of the competetive Shorts Program of the 2007 Three Rivers Film Festival right here in Pittsburgh, PA. The rest of the 21 films will screen on Wednesday, but they were kind enough to make sure we saw the winning films from that group, so we've got a pretty good idea of where gravida falls overall.

Sadly, we did not come away with any prizes, but you'll have that.

The program was a mix of narrative, documentary, and avant-garde, so it's difficult to compare, but here goes. The judges were all film professors from the city, and the shorts program is more or less put on by Pittsburgh Filmmakers, an organization known for focusing on "art" over narration, which is part of the reason I thought L'Attente would get in and gravida might not.

Anyway, the best film of the 3 winners was clearly Adam Taylor's Adam Taylor's Dracula, a simple comedy that images Count Dracula as a janitor at Pitt. It was a simple premise that was well-written and didn't strain itself in trying to get your attention. The audience loved it.

But it didn't win. The winning film was Elizabeth Henry's Through These Trackless Waters, a montage of wildlife footage representing sex. There wasn't a single shot in the film that didn't come from stock footage, meaning at no point did she use a camera. Some would call that less filmmaking and more editing (actually, it's entirely editing). Numerous people walked out, and I don't blame them. It wasn't very good, even for what it was trying to be. It's the type of film that makes people hate avant-garde cinema.

Third prize went to A. Wallace's El Otro Lado, a documentary about the fence on the U.S./Mexico border. Basically a series of voiceovers paired with a long, tracking shot of the fence, it was interesting, but hardly award-caliber.

Other notable films were Kun-I Chang's Fission, Justin Crimone's Wooden, but wonderful, and Jose Munian's Sampsonia Way: City of Asylum.

As for gravida, something was amiss in the projection, as the film was very dark and the color washed out so that the red light at the end was mostly pinkish. It certainly didn't look as good as it did at the premiere. Despite that, audience reaction was pretty good. You could sense that they were uncomfortable at times, and no one booed, which is always nice. I'd say it was probably one of the 3 or 4 best films of the 12 shown last night. So it goes.

Of course, you can always purchase your very own copy of gravida from the webpage

In other news, Trent Wolfred tells me that the "un filme" shirt will be featured more prominently in this week's "Something to be Desired", so keep an eye out for that.

It isn't up yet (well, it might be, depending on when you read this), but it should be sometime today. Make sure you check it out.

And buy one of the shirts for yourself.

That's all for now.

as seen on .tv!

2007-10-23T20:43:00.000-04:00

In this email: d press merchandise shows up in an unlikely location...people play songs live on the radio...more on the festivals...and, as always, rambling from yours truly

As I'm sure some of you are aware, Pittsburgh has it's very own web-series, which films all over the city on a budget of, like, zero. Despite the complete lack of a budget, they've managed to film 4 complete seasons (now 7 episodes into season 5) and score a cover story in City Paper, among other places. So, when earlier this summer I was in an award-winning play with Trent Wolfred, one of the actors in Something To Be Desired, I got to thinking and we got to talking about films in general and, lo and behold, look who's wearing an "un filme" shirt in the latest episode. So, go, check it out. I'm told Trent will be wearing the shirt over a couple of episodes, meaning a hell of a lot of people will see it in action.

Oh, and when you watch the series and don't know who any of the characters are, don't ask me. I don't know either.

And I know what you're thinking now, "gee, I sure would like a shirt like the one I saw on .tv". Well, you can. Just go to the webpage and buy one already.

Upcoming shows:

24 October (Wed), Steve Vesolich plays live at Club Cafe at 6pm ($5). If you can't make it (and with LOST not on right now, you don't have a good excuse), it'll be on the radio. Check it out on the internets.

27 October (Sat), Steve again plays Club Cafe, but on a Saturday. 7pm. $5

Much thanks to everyone who went to the far beyond frail and/or Any Crawford shows recently. Some of you saw the far beyond frail shows in Boston and NYC (in fact, probably more of you than did in Pittsburgh), which is very cool. Isn't supporting artists fun?

Also fun is film festivals, such as the Three Rivers Film Festival, who's full schedule is now online. Peruse it and you'll find some nice stuff (in addition to gravida), such as Frownland (recommended by David Lowery), Grace Is Gone (that John Cusack film about war), a new print of Woody Allen's Manhattan, and Strange Girls, a Pittsburgh film featuring our very own Joanna Lowe and crew work by some of the crew from gravida (maybe all, I can't be sure).

Tickets for the Three Rivers Film Festival can be purchased all over the place. They're $8 each, or for $40 you can get 6 tickets and a free t-shirt (oooohhhh.....aaaahhhh)

So, that's it for now. Watch the web series. Go to Club Cafe. Buy stuff.

"un filme" number 3

2007-10-16T11:43:00.000-04:00

Everett Lowe, Pittsburgh, PA

Manny, and Amy, and Shar...oh my

2007-10-13T20:36:00.000-04:00

Howdy, all.

The Red Sox are scheduled to continue their romp through the American League tonight (by the way, has anyone seen the Yankees lately?), but before that, here's a quick reminder of some stuff you have to check out.

** Amy Crawford's set at NYC's The Bitter End will be webcast Sunday, 14 October at 9pm. Word is it will not be archived, so if you want to catch it, you gotta catch it live.

** far beyond frail will also be playing at The Bitter End on 13 October ($5), but more importantly, they'll be making their triumphant return to Pittsburgh on Monday, 15 October at the Garfield Artworks (4931 Penn Avenue) for a mere $8. Some of you who don't recognize the name will remember Sharylnn Verner from days past. I expect to see you all there. No excuses.

Also, we have a date now for the Three Rivers Film Festival. gravida will play as part of program A on 10 November at the Melwood Avenue screening room.

Of course, you can still purchase a DVD from the website and the ever-popular "un filme" shirt as well.

And I don't want to be a pest (well...that's probably not true), but a recent glance of our records shows that 6 of you (you know who you are) said long ago, "oh sure, I'll definitely order a shirt" but haven't yet. **sigh**

going to the show

2007-10-05T20:24:00.000-04:00

Dear reader,

As if the day can't get any better, what with the Red Sox winning
yesterday and the Yankees getting blown out tonight, there's this bit
of film festival news, courtesy of my inbox:

Dear Lucas,

Congratulations! Your film, Gravida, has been selected to screen at
the 26th annual Three Rivers Film Festival. The festival will be held
from November 2nd through the 15th. Our Shorts Program will be
presented in two parts with one screening each night, Sunday, November
11and Wednesday, November 14, at the Melwood Screening Room at 477
Melwood Avenue in Pittsburgh. For more information please visit the
festival's official website, www.3rff.com.

The Three Rivers Film Festival has, in the past, had a local shorts
program, but that doesn't appear to be the case this year (this, of
course, could change). If I'm not mistaken, last year's shorts program
contained a film by Canadian auteur Guy Maddin but, again, that's just
off the top of my head.

Anyway, if you haven't bought a DVD yet, now might be a good time.

"un filme" number 2

2007-10-04T11:42:00.000-04:00

Katy Kirkpatrick, Sunbury, PA

putting the "c" in collective

2007-09-26T20:25:00.000-04:00

While there are a hell of a lot of you on this email list, I think it's pretty safe to put you in 2 groups: 1) You're saddened, nay distraught, that you haven't heard anything from your favorite film collective recently. This, of course, is keeping you up nights and affecting your job performance. 2) You're glad, nay thrilled, to have a break from all these damned emails.

Love us or hate us, here's a quick update, powered by the new Breathe Owl Breathe album.

First, some bits of cross-promotion for our good friends:

14 October 2007: Amy Crawford is playing a short set as part of a NYC singer/songwriter thing at the Bitter End. It'll be broadcast on the internets. Tickets are $5

15 October 2007: far beyond frail plays the Garfield Artworks in Pittsburgh as part of their on-going tour schedule. While based out of Kansas City, the band has significant Pittsburgh roots (Sharlynn Verner went to school with us) and this is their very first Pittsburgh show. Tickets are $8

27 October 2007: Steve Vesolich
has a couple of shows coming up, most notably this one at Club Cafe in Pittsburgh. Tickets are $5.

Occasional musician Matt Reed has a new song, "Hymn to Liberty", available at his MySpace page.

For those of you with time to kill at work, there's 2 (!) groups for you to join on your favorite social networks. Both are titled "i [heart] d press Productions", and while we haven't yet figured out what to do with them, surely we will soon. There's one on MySpace and one on Facebook. Join the fun.

And if you're wondering what we've been up to lately over here at d press....well....we're trying to set up some "gravida" screenings in different cities like Philly and New York and yours truly has been working on the next script, although perhaps working is the wrong word. Do you remember the piano player on Sesame Street? The one who would always bang his head on the keys and wail, "I'll never get it right. Never!"? Yeah, it's kind of like that.

But you know what would help? If we sold some DVDs and t-shirts. At very least, it couldn't hurt.

Oh, and if you've bought a shirt, send us a picture of you wearing it and we'll post it on the webpage. And if you reserved a shirt but haven't purchased it yet, what the hell are you waiting for?

gravida and the infield fly rule

2007-08-27T20:13:00.000-04:00

A quick little update while I take a break from packing stuff up for a move across town and drink brandy out of a coffee mug because that's all I can find.

A note on moving: you want to make sure to keep all of your adult beverage stuff together. For example, you don't want to pack the corkscrews apart from the wine, especially if the move is spread out over several days.

There's another gravida review up at the influential blog Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule (that's 10, if you're scoring at home), and like the other nine, it's a thumbs up:

"[McNelly] and Shaw effortlessly illustrate the moment when she grasps the temporal fleetingness of this comfortable, familiar sort of pain and longing, which is about to become but a wistful memory. In the end, the movie slips through our fingers, like a memory itself, which is, as it turns out, its most impressionable, poetic quality. gravida marks the first sure steps in what one hopes will be a long and
fruitful filmmaking career for its director." (Dennis Cozzalio)

In addition to the review, Dennis was kind enough to do an in-depth interview with yours truly about the origins of gravida, as well as tidbits about L'Attente and guard duty. It's quite interesting stuff, if I do say so myself.

After you read Dennis' blog, head on over to the d press store and get yourself a gravida DVD, the coolest DVD out there (not counting all the Criterion DVDs).

Also, don't forget to pick up your "un filme" shirt. We're running low on certain sizes, so get yours before they're gone. And don't forget to send in pictures of you in your super cool shirt for the webpage. Be one of the cool kids.

the tshirts are here. get yours today

2007-08-14T19:58:00.000-04:00

So vacation is officially over and it's back to work at d press Productions, filling DVD orders and catching up on all the things that we let slide during the run-up to the gravida premiere. Stuff like paperwork. Ugh.

Some of that paperwork is the invoices for the DVDs and the "un filme" shirts that have to be paid. So, if you've pre-ordered or reserved or whatever a "un filme" shirt, now's the time to actually purchase it, either via the internets or via mail or in person. There's a couple of reasons for this (in no particular order):

1. That way you can get your shirt and start wearing it proudly.

2. You can get your shirt before the size you want sells out. For example, we are nearly out of the women's mediums, so if you're a medium woman (or just a guy who enjoys dressing like one), you want to act quickly, lest you be out of luck and have to wear a men's size.

3. We can send the rest of the money to the people who made the shirts.

4. You can get your picture taken with you wearing the shirt and we can add it to the webpage, thereby proving both that you are an important and hip person and that we have important and hip people wearing our shirts. Everyone wins.

5. We don't end up selling the shirt you reserved, which we'd rather not do and probably wouldn't, but mistakes happen.

So there you have it. Five reasons you should quit mucking about and purchase a shirt (and a DVD, while you're at it) already.

Also, go see our good friends Steve Vesolich and Jerome Wincek play at Club Cafe in Pittsburgh on the 15th at 7pm (I think). It's a mere $5. That's tomorrow, by the way. You really should be there, and if you want to complain about the last-minute notice...well...we announced it at the gravida premiere, so you should have, ahem, heard about it then.

...moving on...

Around here, we've half-jokingly started calling gravida "the best reviewed short film of the year", because, well, there are no bad reviews, some of them are glowing, and how many short films get reviewed anyway? (answer: not many)

If you're scoring at home, add these to the review pile:

"gravida is an excellent short film. Beautifully photographed with a terrific lead performance by Rachel Shaw. Called "A Study In Loneliness", the film effectively creates a very somber tone that it is able to sustain throughout. It almost works as a silent film, as the visuals are so strong." (TalkingMoviezzz.com)

NOTE: this review also contains an interview that looks at some of the creative process of both "gravida" and "L'Attente"

"Filmmaking in general could use a little bit more of Lucas' talent because he uses the medium perfectly: revealing pieces about characters in matter-of-fact glimpses, letting the audience in on what the other characters don't know just yet...The camera work is also a perfect compliment to the story. Long static shots and few edits help capture the stillness of Kristin's life. The camera rarely moves, instead it sits there often from a distance, letting us take in what we are seeing." (LAZY EYE THEATRE)

Just so you don't think we're only picking and choosing reviews (we aren't. you're getting them all), this is the most negative one we've gotten yet (and overall it's still positive)

"gravida fails to explore its subject matter in any great depth, but it undeniably represents a big step forward for its director...I merely feel that he could have penetrated deeper into the underlying causes and nature of his protagonist's despair...That said, I definitely enjoyed the film (which, incidentally, holds up to repeat viewings), and it contains a number of moments that I like quite a bit." (Andrew Horbal)

"Lucas McNelly has made a serenely confident short film, with which he shows a real facility as a director. He never tries to dazzle the audience with flashy technique or camera work, preferring his style to be dictated by his material. Despite his obvious budgetary constraints, he's capable of some lovely low-key touches, like his use of colored lighting in the climactic revelation scene...gravida is small film in the best sense, one that's exactly the right size for the story it tells. McNelly's direction is subtle enough not to overwhelm the film, but strong enough to assure us that there's a firm hand on the wheel." (Paul Clark)

"[McNelly] has produced a film of understated elegance and thoughtfulness that allows the viewer to glimpse, ever so briefly, a moment in time that will be burned for eternity in the heart and mind of its protagonist...He's the best kind of filmmaker there is, the kind driven by a love of the art not a desire for a contract..."gravida" is not a perfect film but considering the budget and time limitations it is quite an achievement." (Jonathan Lapper)

What's that, you say? You haven't seen gravida yet? What the hell
are you waiting for? Get thee to the store and buy a DVD already. It's
only $8. Most of you will spend that much on lunch (or at least
dinner) and/or watching Matt Damon run around with amnesia. And let's
face it, Matt Damon doesn't need the money. He gets to hang out with
George Clooney and Brad Pitt.

"un filme" number 1

2007-08-01T12:02:00.000-04:00

Jen Blyler, Montreal, Canada

so...how did it go?

2007-07-15T19:51:00.000-04:00

The online reviews are good-to-glowing (with more to come). It was mentioned in City Paper. The city was covered with posters. The emails bordered on annoying and overbearing. But how did the premiere go?

In addition to the crew and other various people who worked on the film, we had 45 paying customers at the beautiful Hollywood Theatre. I'd guess about half of them were people I knew, which means we drew roughly 20 people who I've never met.

The evening started with the music of Jerome Wincek (with special guest Nate Custer). Jerome rocked out on the banjo and mandolin, while Nate played the guitar. Despite some tuning problems with the banjo, the set went over well and a lot of people got introduced to some great music they might not have otherwise.

A quick note: Jerome and Nate will be playing Club Cafe on 15 August at 7pm, followed by our good friend Steve Vesolich, so be sure to check that out.

After Jerome and Nate was an intermission, with a charming little movie with dancing hot dogs. You know, the type of thing you used to see when you went to the movies as a kid.

The three films followed immediately after. All played without incident and looked fantastic on the Hollywood's high-def projector. I dare say it's the best digital projection I've ever seen in Pittsburgh. The response to all three films was very positive. I overheard one person say, "that was tremendous" as the credits for gravida rolled.

Then we all drank wine and socialized.

Almost as soon as the film was over, people started talking about encore screenings and future screenings in the city (and elsewhere), so you could take that as an indication that the word of mouth will be pretty strong.

Thanks to everyone who helped get the word out.

So, the question then becomes, "how can I see the film?" Well, that's easy. For the small sum of $8 you can purchase a DVD of gravida, L'Attente, and guard duty. One of the first things you'll notice is the DVD cover, designed by the brilliant Ryan Davis, the guy who also made our posters. If you have paying graphic design work you need done, you couldn't do much better than Ryan.

To buy a DVD, either get me $8 (checks via mail payable to "Lucas McNelly") or purchase them via the website. Oh, and if we have to mail it to you, there's a $2 shipping charge.

And don't forget the super hip "un filme" shirts. They are here, in a box in my apartment. Get yours now. Plus, if you take a picture of yourself wearing the shirt, we'll post it on the webpage for the world to see.

Those of you who've purchased stuff already, you should be getting it sometime this week.

And now, if you'll excuse me, Tuesday I'm going to Maine for a week of doing little but laying in a hammock by a lake.

critical acclaim

2007-07-12T19:48:00.000-04:00

In case you've been living in a cave the last couple weeks, here's one
more reminder:

tonight (Thursday)
7.30pm
the World Premiere of "gravida"
The Hollywood Theatre in Dormont
1449 Potomac Ave.

Music by Jerome Wincek (plus special guest Nate Custer)
3 fantastic films
Wine
Revelry

all for just $5

Reserve your tickets either by phone (724.544.6417) or email
(lmcnelly@gmail.com) or purchase them at the door.

And to wet your appetite, 3 more reviews from across the globe
(spoiler alert in the full reviews):

"Like the best films about intimacy, it draws you in close but leaves
out enough that you can project your own hopes and fears onto the
characters. This allows for conflicting sympathies and ensures that
not everyone in the audience relate with the characters in the same
way. Loneliness is a mysterious beast, hard to tame. Resisting the
temptation to simplify, gravida invites us to ponder the complexity of
the choices we make, the unreliability of human connections." (Matt
Riviera, Last Night with Riviera)

"Watching gravida, I gained a little more faith in ultra-low budget
filmmaking...it shows that you don't need a lot of money to make a
smart, personal, interesting movie. To do this, Lucas McNelly's film
utilizes the writer-director's ear for dialogue and some intriguing
subtext in it's look at a woman who's dealing with something very
familiar: loneliness." (Bohemian Cinema)

"gravida deals with a delicate subject matter, and could have lost the
audience's interest and trust without a careful hand, but [McNelly] is
certainly up to the task. [McNelly's] camera is never obtrusive,
acting more as an invisible observer even when the story's emotions
peak. Actors Rachel Shaw and Adam Kukic find their stride as the story
builds and are able to sell the idea that their characters are facing
troubling, adult decisions." (Adam Ross, DVD Panache)

For those of you keeping score at home, that's 4 reviews ranging from
positive to glowing. That's enough to safely affix the label
"critically acclaimed"

So, don't miss the World Premiere of the critically acclaimed
gravida. Playing one night only. It may just be the best film you'll
see all year.

Bring your friends. How often can you see a local film with this much
critical acclaim on the big screen?

loose ends and the like

2007-07-10T19:44:00.000-04:00

So the premiere is a mere days away, which means either you're very, very excited to see the film that's already been called "A Huge Achievement", "Artful and Poetic", and "F*cking Fantastic" by some limited test audiences (that would be all of you), or you're really stressed out (that would be me).

Tell all your friends. Drag them to the theatre if you have to. This is something you don't want to miss.

Those of you who've been to screenings via digital projection at Lowe's, let me just say this: the Hollywood has a high-def system. The footage looks crisper there. Hell, L'Attente looks better there than it does on my TV.

And because sometimes that's how life works in no-budget cinema, we've just now finalized the music. Welcome to the gravida soundtrack Amy Crawford who's been generous enough to lend her song "All I Want" to the film. Go to her webpage. Be her MySpace friend. If you're in New York City, go check out her live shows. Tell her I sent you.

In case you were wondering, yeah, that's kind of last-minute.

Thanks to the kick-ass street team, there are now roughly 65 posters scattered around Pittsburgh. One of the store owners even asked me to sign the one in their window. So how's this for a game: if someone can show me a picture of the signed gravida poster, I will give them their own personal signed copy, signed by at least me, and perhaps others, depending on circumstances.

Finally, the media is starting to file in. Those of you familiar with the indie film universe may have noticed the gravida image on the front page of GreenCine Daily, which is pretty cool. Much thanks to Andrew Horbal, who's interview with me was the reason for the prominent placement. You can read the interview at Andy's new blog.

Also, some of you may have noticed the listing in the film section of City Paper. If not, pick up a copy.

That's all for now. See you all on Thursday.

I [heart] antibiotics

2007-07-05T19:33:00.000-04:00

In which we talk about the premiere, music you can purchase on vinyl, poetry, and some clothing (yes, clothing)...

The Rue Snider Cliff Notes (link edition):
Bracken Records
un filme

Well the July 12th premiere fast approaches, perhaps faster than I'd like (does anyone have a working way-back machine I can borrow?), and the posters are starting to pop up all over Pittsburgh, thanks to our dedicated street team. Tell your friends. Hell, drag them there. The theatre seats 282 people. Let's see if we can't fill it up.

We've still got some posters if people want to put them up. Personally, I've been battling strep throat for the last couple of days, which has made it difficult for me to do much of anything that doesn't involve being in a chair, so we're not as spread out as I'd like, and I don't have my voice back yet, so it's been a major headache. We're thinking of referring to gravida as "the film that nearly killed me". All the more reason you should all come see it. And buy copies. Lots of copies.

Ok, real quick. Ilona V, who's awesome song "Good Morning" makes up the opening credits of gravida, has a new single out on vinyl, coincidentally enough it's "Good Morning". So, for a mere $7 (shipping included) you can get yourself a copy of this and spin it on ye olde turntable. And if you don't have a turntable? Well, get one, man. They're coming back. Haven't you heard? These iPods are a fad. Seriously, though, buy a copy. Support the arts.

Now, on to the important part of the email.

Remember when I wrote out the statement of purpose for merchandise? No? Well, it was because we were working on this very thing: t-shirts. And not just any old boring t-shirts, but L'Attente t-shirts. Or, as we like to call them, the "un filme" shirts.

Want to see a picture? Sure you do:

The back is the same font as the front and says, simply: www.dpressproductions.com

The design would not have been possible without the help of our good friend Ryan Estes, who helped me brainstorm the idea over photoshop and email, and Adam Woods at Dotted Line Shirt Company who must have run 20 tests on this and answered hundreds of stupid questions from yours truly.

A word on the shirts. They're made by American Apparel, a very cool clothing company that adheres to some of the same ethical standards we do, meaning they don't employ sweatshop labor. The shirts are all made in the U.S.A. (for those of you on a patriotic kick) and are 100% combed cotton. As someone who wears a t-shirt virtually every day, I can assure you the shirts are nice. Very nice. As in, nicer than any shirt I own. They're incredibly soft and comfortable. We made sure of this. Adam, as part of his tests, got a good screen print which should pretty much last forever. So, those of you who have been burned by blindly buying t-shirts in the past (and I know I have), rest assured. These are nice shirts. They aren't cheap things you'll never wear. Also, American Apparel shirts fit tighter than traditional t-shirts. There's a link to a sizing chart on the webpage.

Which brings us to the price tag. The shirts will cost $16, plus if we have to ship it to you, that will cost extra, of course. If it sounds a little high, believe me, we aren't making a killing on them. There's a reason cut-throat businessmen use sweatshop labor, you know.

You can purchase them either by going to the store and doing the PayPal thing (ideal if you live far away, but not if you live in the Pittsburgh area, especially since PayPal takes a cut), or you can get one at the premiere (assuming they're ready in time), or you can email me now and reserve one, on the chance that we sell out of your size, and get me the money later.

Obviously, if you have any problems whatsoever, let me know.

I should point out that these are NOT the fundraiser t-shirts. Those are still in the works and, well, completely different.

The shirts are being printed as we speak and hopefully (fingers crossed) will be ready in time for the premiere (but the strep may have thwarted that plan). We've done an initial limited run of 50, as a means of limiting our exposure and minimizing the scenario where my brother gets one for Christmas every year for the next decade. Hopefully the demand will exceed the supply and we'll gladly make more as needed.

Finally, in order to have a little fun with the t-shirt roll-out, we commissioned poems from some of the world's great unknown poets (also, I wrote one), taking care to assure them that the actual literary quality of the poems was not all that important. And, really, who else is going to try to sell you t-shirts with poetry? Only d press Productions, the film collective that doesn't shy away from being pretentious. We embrace it. Enjoy.

Rubaiyat
by Matt Reed

a bottle of wine, a book of verse,
wandering the south hills (and how!)

wearing a "un filme" t-shirt:
a t-shirt is happiness for now...

******************

a poem about a t-shirt about a film
by Ryan Estes

I've not been to Pittsburgh
in a very long time
(years, not months)

Yes, and my taste in cinema is on the decline
and even Battlestar Galactica (oh the horror)
suitably entertains

as do films with
car chases, shiny things
or stuff that blows up

and much as I like the starving artist ethos
I am not starving and am unsure
If ethos is even the right word

despite all this
I would still pay $16 for a t-shirt
Telling the world of
un filme de lucas mcnelly

******************

Le chemise a'la filme de lucas mcnelly
by Joshua Edenhofer

The shirts are black
like my soul
they feature Matt & Dan
Is he eating a roll?

"L'Attente" makes my heart throb with pleasure
the shirts cover my body with cotton
or is that a polyester blend?
I sure don't like sweatshop labor
these shirts are a godsend

these shirts won't keep you warm
on a blustery sub-zero degree day
but they will let you freeze to death
in style.

******************

Lucas vs. His Health
by Lucas McNelly

Last week I had strep throat
(believe me, it sucked)
I couldn't talk for three days
and some people seemed to prefer it
that way, I suppose

But worse than the strep throat
(well not really, but work with me)
was the caffeine withdrawal headache
from not drinking any coffee.
Seems I have an addiction.

I'm like that guy in "L'Attente"
(only, not bald)
who can't function without his coffee.
It defines who he is, how he functions
Addictions are like that.

Also, I can't speak French at all
(but I do know some Spanish)
Maybe just some ooh-la-la's and
other quasi-seductive guttural noises
but I don't think that counts

Still, I really wish I knew French
(and Italian)
But I'm lazy, so instead I wear my
"un filme de lucas mcnelly" shirt, hoping
people will think I do.

I don't think I've fooled anyone yet
(how could you tell?)
but that's ok because the shirt is wicked
cool and one of the nicest I own
and I'm not just saying that.

poster

2007-06-26T19:30:00.000-04:00

a poster, courtesy of our good friend Ryan Davis:

a hot date with your secret crush

2007-06-18T19:25:00.000-04:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, gather the kids around ye olde computer and pull out your calendars. It's the moment you've all been waiting for, perhaps even anxiously anticipating.

That's right, we have a release date for gravida. Are you excited? Relieved? Thrilled? Because we are.

The date: Thursday, 12 July 2007 at 7.30 pm at the Hollywood Theatre in Dormont. Our good friend Jerome Wincek will perform for the first time in Pittsburgh in a very long time. In addition, you'll get to see two additional short films and hobnob with the very elite of the Pittsburgh community. Some are even calling it the social event of the year (Ok, so no one's saying that). The cost? A mere $5.

So, what does your ticket get you, in a addition to the first ever public screening of gravida?

A live performance by Jerome Wincek
Some Analog Lines, a film by David Lowery
L'Attente, un filme de Lucas McNelly

By the end of the week, we should have some kick-ass posters ready to be plastered around town.

That's all the key info, but chances are that you have questions. Ergo, we have answers.

Q: What the hell took so long?

A: That's a good question. Buy me a drink some time and I'll tell you all about it.

Q: Where is this place, anyway?

A: The Hollywood Theatre is a classic theatre that's recently been restored. It's at 1449 Potomac Avenue across from the big church in lovely, scenic Dormont.

Q: I would like to pre-order tickets for every single person I know. How do I do that?

A: That's a very good question. You email yours truly, Lucas McNelly, at lmcnelly[at]gmail[dot]com and reserve the tickets that way. Or, call me at 724.544.6417 and leave a message. Feel free to pay when you show up. But fair warning: if you pre-order tickets and then don't show up, we're going to make sarcastic, smart-ass comments about you while you aren't there.

Q: Is this film any good?

A: We think so. The internet buzz is pretty good. In the near future the critics will weigh in.

Q: Can I still donate to the gravida fundraiser and get tickets that way?

A: You sure can. If you donate in November, we'll add it to the fundraiser total. But, if you want to donate and end up with tickets, you gotta do it before the premiere.

Q: A Thursday? But then I won't be able to watch "My Name is Earl" and "The Office".

A: They're in re-runs and if you didn't catch it the first time around, that isn't really our fault. Anyway, here's what you'll miss: Earl helps someone while rocking the best mustache currently on TV, and Michael Scott does something embarrassing. Nothing else is on that night. We checked. Also, your other plans cancelled.

Q: You're playing a short film by the guy from Cracker?

A: Nah, it's a different David Lowery. He's a very talented filmmaker from Dallas.

Q: Does the film have explosions, car chases, and/or buddy cops?

A: Sadly, no. But there are some special effects.

Q: Can I bring my dog/cat/hamster/goldfish/small child?

A: You probably don't want to bring the pets, but feel free to buy each and every one of them a ticket anyway. As for kids, you're responsible for their upbringing, not us.

Q: I mean, is the film appropriate for children?

A: Probably not, but none of us have kids, so we can't be sure. It can't be much worse than what they already watch on TV.

Q: Where can I eat a hearty meal before and/or after the film?

A: Dormont has a number of fine eating establishments within easy walking distance. Also you could go to the gas station down the street. If you get there early enough (as in, early in the afternoon), you can eat at Fredo's Deli next to the theatre and support a business that gave us a catering discount during filming.

Q: Will any celebrities be there?

A: We can't make any promises, but chances are good.

Q: Can I help you put posters, etc, all over town?

A: You sure can. We can use as much help with that as possible, even if it's just putting a poster up in your car window. Email me and we'll figure out how to get some to you.

Q: I am not in Pittsburgh, but would like very much to see the film. Should I fly there just for the occasion?

A: Probably not. But, contact us, as plans are under way to bring gravida to a city near you.

Q: I am unable to have fun without alcohol. Can you help me?

A: Why, of course. After the film there will be wine and socializing (pending the final details) and Dormont has a number of bars that can easily quench your thirst.

Q: My life lacks purpose and focus. What should I do?

A: Come to the premiere, obviously. Oh, and buy a DVD when you get there.

now in the palm of your hand

2007-06-01T19:19:00.000-04:00

Bad news, Rue.

The people have spoken. The short version "is not ok for me" (Sandra Naranjo), and "I personally enjoy the long satirical monologues." (Matt Hunt), and there are more. Looks like you've been overruled. But that's ok, a little reading never hurt anyone. And if you still don't want to read, we're here to help. Just let us know and we will summarize the proceedings for you in an easy-to-read format.

Hell, if I remember, maybe I'll even put it at the bottom of the email.

First things first: Monday, 4 June, yours truly will be turning 28. And while I've got mixed feelings about the whole thing, it gives me a chance to give back to our wonderful fan base (yes, I'm sucking up). Call it my birthday gift to you. Of course, if you want to give me a birthday gift still, by all means. Don't let me stop you.

Right, on to it. You, dear reader, can now watch two of your all-time favorite films on your Ipod or other portable video device--for free. You heard me. Free. Courtesy of those wonderful people at Google, you can now download guard duty and L'Attente for viewing either on your computer or iPod, allowing you to watch them wherever and whenever you please. All you've gotta do is go to the d press store where you'll find all the pertinent information, like directions. Meaning, don't call me asking why it doesn't work, because I won't have a clue.

And for those skeptics out there thinking, "gee, I wonder if this is free because he couldn't figure out how to charge money for it", the answer is yes. Most definitely. I freely admit that I am not the most computer-savvy person in the world. But here's the thing, eventually I will figure out how to charge money for it, at which time it will cease to be free. So, don't mess around. Grab it while you can. Show your friends. If you don't have friends, make new ones and show them. Then (and here's where it gets fun), when the d press fan base is overflowing with people eager to jump on the bandwagon, when we've got more people on the email list than I actually know, you can act all aloof and say things like "This pales in comparison to his earlier work" and "I was a fan back when he was giving things away, back before it was all about money." Won't that be fun? Just a warning: say that too much and you may get beat up.

Ok, enough of that. On to the gravida news, powered, as always, by caffeine.

We realize that you guys are starting to get a bit restless, wondering what the hell is going on with gravida. Fair enough. Here's where we are as of right now.

We're waiting for final confirmation on the third song. Hopefully that'll happen soon. If not, we may have to go to plan B, which is finding a different song. (ugh)

We're also waiting for the score to be finished by our good friends from Memphis, The Futility Parade. But this is more our fault in that we're not 100% sure how much music we want over the final third of the film. Plus, they've been touring, so they're busy. But it's in the works.

I've just now started color correcting it, which is something you do pretty late in the game.

Theoretically, it could be finished as early as next week, even taking into account that I probably won't do anything on my birthday.

There's a 26 minute edit right now that's pretty close to a final picture edit. It's been viewed by 2 people other than me who I trust to give me an honest opinion without worrying about hurting my feelings (so, if they thought it was terrible, they'd say so). The reactions thus far are "pretty good" and "really good". Of course, both of those people were on-set, so this morning I sent the file to a filmmaker friend of mine in Las Vegas who's a lot more detached from the process, but an equally trustworthy source.

So, if that's any indication, you can safely assume that the end product will be one that can at least be placed in the plus side of the ledger, in terms of quality. Now whether or not it ends up eking out a profit? That's an entirely different issue.

Practically speaking, what does that mean for the premiere? Well, we think we've found a really nice location, so it's just a matter of nailing down the specifics for a late June (fingers crossed) date. The plan, as of this moment, is to screen gravida, L'Attente, and possibly another short or two, in conjunction with a live performance by the one and only Jerome Wincek. There will be posters, reviews by esteemed film scholars, and (with a little luck) some local media coverage. We think it'll be a pretty cool evening of cinema and culture and something you do not want to miss.

That reminds me: any of you loyal fans out there who have mad promotional skills or contacts or pretty much any other method of ensuring the premiere is a success, let us know. We have some ideas ourselves, but we're pretty much willing to consider anything.

Finally, for those of you just chomping at the bit for anything gravida related, there's now a "semi-official gravida imix", which those of you who buy your music from iTunes will recognize as a legal mix CD. It's got 17 songs that should put you in the right frame of mind. The thing is, we're not really sure how to point you in the direction of it, so we'll just give you the track listing, and you can do what you want with it. Hell, you might even be able to find it yourself.

1. The Lonely 1--Wilco (Being There) **originally the version from the "Chelsea Walls" soundtrack, but iTunes doesn't have it**
2. Jealous Guy--Jimmy Scott (Jealous Guy) **ditto**
3. Sovay--Andrew Bird (And the Mysterious Production of Eggs)
4. Beyond the Sunrise--Belle & Sebastian (Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant)
5. home--Breathe Owl Breathe (climb in)
6. The Bitter One--Spider (The Way to Bitter Lake)
7. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues--Nina Simone (Best of) **yeah, that's a Dylan cover**
8. River Man--Nick Drake (Five Leaves Left)
9. Christmastime is Here--Vince Guaraldi Trio (A Charlie Brown Christmas)
10. What You Wanted--Bill Ricchini (Ordinary Time)
11. Lonely Lonely--Feist (Let It Die)
12. Winter Song--The Velvet Underground (The Velvet Underground)
13. Buckingham Rabbit--Silver Jews (American Water)
14. I Shatter--The Magnetic Fields (69 Love Songs)
15. All Mixed Up--Red House Painters (Songs for a Blue Guitar)
16. Sea Green, Sea Blue--Jaymay (Sea Green, Sea Blue)
17. Radio Cure--Wilco (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot)

That's it. Enjoy the sunny days.

less is more

2007-05-16T19:17:00.000-04:00

Our good friend Rue Snider was kind enough to point out to me that the email updates are often too damn long. So, in his honor, a short one.

"gravida" teaser number 2 is now up. Go. Watch it. Enjoy it. Get excited.

http://dpressproductions.com/gravida.html

that's all for now.

POW! WHAM! BOP!, and new music too!

2007-05-09T19:14:00.000-04:00

Boys and girls, gather around ye olde computer as we prepare for another gripping tale of life in the indie film world! Watch as our heroes battle villains large and small, real and imagined, in the eternal quest for artistic integrity! Cheer them on as they join forces with other artists in the quest to topple such foes as poverty and malaise! That's right, it's another edition of the d press mailing list, brought to, as always, by Paul's Super-Sharp Razor Blades. Get a clean cut every time with Paul's Super-Sharp Razor Blades.

First, as some of you have already learned, Joanna Lowe's "Body Beautiful Project", the vehicle in which gravida was set to premiere, has been pushed back to the fall due to a pregnancy that's thrown everything out of whack. So, that leaves us with two choices. We can either hold gravida until the fall or find a way to premiere it ourselves. The consensus around here is to go with the latter, as the fall seems like an awfully long time to hang onto a film and gravida is really too long to distribute online. However, it isn't long enough to play by itself. So, the date and the format in which you'll finally be able to see it is, at the moment, completely in flux. If you have any good ideas for formats, locations, etc., we'd love to hear them. We're compiling lists in-house, but this is a very recent development, so it's still in the brainstorming process.

Rest assured, though, it will play live, in Pittsburgh. And, chances are sooner rather than later. We just, as of now, have no idea of the when and where. I'm now pushing for June and, at very least, we'll make it available for a DVD purchase. On the positive side, now we get to move away from competing with "Spider-man 3", so that's something.

Lest you worry, not all news on this Wednesday is bad news. We're excited, nay, thrilled to tell you of a musical addition to gravida. "Good Morning", a song by New York City's own Ilona V, will appear in the opening sequence. It's a lovely song by a talented artist and you audiophiles will be interested to learn that "Good Morning" will be release on vinyl this June by Bracken Records. You should, of course, purchase numerous copies of this album, as it's sure to become a collector's item. To find out exactly how, head on over to Ilona's MySpace page where you can listen to several of her songs and keep yourself up-to-date on the precise drop date.

Remember that storm we promised you? It's still coming, just be patient. The pregnancy thing has thrown us all for a loop (and, no, I had nothing to do with it...I've been holed up editing for weeks). That, and there's been some other delays we hadn't counted on. So it goes.

I'll give you a hint: There will be media coverage. And it probably won't be limited to this country.

Finally, a word about the fundraiser. You may notice we've gone over $500, which is obviously wonderful, but something tells me we can do better. No pressure, I'm just saying...

Until next time, when hopefully the news will be all good.

the calm before the storm

2007-04-13T11:58:00.000-04:00

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.

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

2007-03-25T11:28:00.000-04:00

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.

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

2007-03-20T16:53:00.000-04:00

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.

gravida teaser number one

2007-03-19T19:26:00.001-04:00

No music yet, but here's an early look at the footage.

gravida teaser1

Add to My Profile | More Videos

dpressproductions.com/gravida

a quick reminder about tonight's screening

2007-03-15T12:52:00.001-04:00

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

the official gravida fundraiser

2007-03-13T13:12:00.000-04:00

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.

Life. And other one-man shows.

2006-01-11T17:28:00.000-05:00

Here's the official info on the play, etc.

cup-a-jo productions presents a play by Joanna Lowe

with films by Eric Sipple, Joanna Lowe, and Lucas McNelly

poetry by Sarah Williams, Robert Isenberg, Joanna Lowe, Matt Reed, and Kahmeela Adams-Findley

January 12-28 (w/ opening night soiree) gallery opens @ 7pm, show @ 8pm

thursday-saturday @ Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre
downtown, Penn Ave & 6th Street between starbucks and subway

thurday $8, friday & saturday $10

reservations: 412.334.3126 or cupajoprod@gmail.com

There's a link to the internet feed of L'Attente on the sidebar. Enjoy.

L'Attente

2006-01-11T05:43:00.000-05:00

the film is done and will be showing as one of 3 films prior to Joanna Lowe's play Life. And Other One-Man Shows, which opens downtown on Thursday (I think) and runs for 3 weeks. Either way, you can buy the 3 films for something like $8 at the event, or if you send me $$$ i can grab you one. There's a chance L'Attente may be streamed online, but the quality won't be as good, obviously.

L'Attente (the film on suffering)

2006-01-06T04:38:00.000-05:00

it has changed from a documentary to a french new wave film (it's a long story). here are some still from tonight's filming:

film kitchen

2005-12-24T10:28:00.000-05:00

Just a preliminary heads-up. Reclaiming Our Past, the 2005 edition, will be appearing as part of City Paper's Film Kitchen series on 14 February 2006, just in time for Black History Month (err...actually a bit early). More info to follow.

the 100 films project

2005-10-26T17:44:00.000-04:00

it's not really a d press project, but it's sort of applicable, so i'll post the link here. a couple of us are in the process of watching the 100 All-Time Great Films list that Time published a little while ago. There are reviews of the films as i watch them on my blog and there will probably be more written about the project as we get further along. enjoy.

coffee stains

2005-09-14T18:00:00.000-04:00

ok, so if anyone has any great ideas for the 'coffee stains' re-write, now's the time to voice them. i've started outlining it today. so far, so good.

the film on suffering

2005-07-08T04:02:00.000-04:00

ok, time to get the brainstorming in full gear.

i've gotta do a 10 minute film on the broad theme of suffering, and while it might be interesting to make a narrative film about a guy who gets dumped, i really don't want to and i'm pretty sure no one wants to see that.

so here's what i'm thinking: something completely unscripted w/ no actors of any kind but not technically a documentary. i've been kicking around the idea of a film that feels like an episode of 'this american life' or a similar npr-ish program about how poverty affects people in the richest country in the world (i.e. this one), and not so much homeless people or crack whores or whatever, but people who are fighting windmills trying to keep their heads above water. the types that are working 3 jobs to feed their kids, but i don't want this to feel like preaching at all. i may actually shoot on black and white digital 8 to give it a really grainy feel and i'd kinda like it to feel like a film version of found art w/ all sorts of different stuff weaved together to form some sort of cohesive thread.

thoughts?

NEWS: TV SCREENING

2005-06-24T18:28:00.000-04:00

KDKA is showing a piece on the civil rights tour, including footage from yours truly, this Sunday at 11am. don't miss it. or, if you do, tape it.

the tour: to the best of my memory

2005-06-11T02:52:00.000-04:00

NOTE: What follows is a back-dated daily account of the 2005 civil rights tour, a tour I've been on the last 2 years. The purpose of this is to give people a sense of what the tour entails, as well as some insight as to the mindset behind being a one-man crew hundreds of miles from the rest of your equipment. I'm essentially on board to document the trip on film. No promises on the quality of writing. You can read newspaper accounts of the trip here

The buses--2 of them this year--leave Beaver Falls, PA at 5.30am on this Saturday morning. Because this is normally when I go to bed, the early morning doesn't bother me all that much, and I've got too much caffeine in my system to notice anyway. It's an odd tradition for this trip that I have to skip something important the day we leave, and this year is no different. Levi and Frankie's wedding is later today, but I'll have to console myself with the $25 I won playing poker during the bachelor party.
Anyway, the buses roll and several hours later we're in Greensboro, NC, standing in front of the Woolworths where 4 college students desegregated the lunch counter. Then it's across town to talk to some people who's names I don't remember off-hand as they talk about racial reconciliation in Greensboro and there's some haunting clips of a peaceful march in the 70's that ended in violence when the Klan showed up.
The main speaker is supposed to be wearing a lapel mic, but he's holding it, then he's twirling it around. I have to switch over to the wild mic and watch him out of my one eye as I'm filming, terrified as to what sort of damage he's doing. When he's done, the mic is still in one piece and we head to our first hotel, in Greenville, SC. Normally in Greenville I get a chance to hang out with my friend Matt from back home, but sadly he's away for the weekend. Oh well.

Cliff, Pat, and others view the site of the old Woolworths

The Woolworths facade. They are in the process of turning this site into an interactive museum

civil rights tour

2005-06-09T22:33:00.000-04:00

the civil rights tour starts again on sat morning and matt's had an interesting idea to blog the trip every day, but i can't think of a convenient way to do that. besides all my video equipment, all i'll have access to is my phone. anyone have any thoughts?

KDKA shows "Reclaiming"

2005-06-03T17:52:00.000-04:00

On today's morning show, our good friend Todd Allen was on promoting the civil rights bus tour, and he tells me they showed clips or something of the "Reclaiming Our Past" video. I didn't see it, since it was in the morning, but i'm wondering if anyone else happened to catch it.

a film about suffering (won't that be fun)

2005-05-20T01:33:00.000-04:00

first of all, this was not actually my idea (that is, to do a film about suffering), as much as it may seem like it would be. anyway, joanna lowe has asked myself and 2 other filmmakers to make 10-20 minute short films that deal w/ the theme of suffering to be shown before her play 'Life. And Other One-Man Shows' that i'm told opens in Oct. i want to avoid a situation where everyone does the same type of film, so i'm thinking of working w/ mixed medias (i.e. photos and archival footage) and using real people instead of actors (or a script). so far i've come up w/ 2 potential ideas:

1. filming people society has failed, be it homeless or alcoholic or whatever and construct an image of suffering in modern-day America. Potential problems: clearances and chances of getting mugged.

2. taking my camera to Maine w/ me this summer when i go for my best Maine friend's wedding and sort of exploring how everything i know from my childhood is pretty much gone or changed beyond recognition.

thoughts?

A Review

2005-05-19T13:36:00.000-04:00

From the City Paper review:

"'On a Building Mid-Afternoon Somewhere in the World,' by Lucas McNelly, is almost as long as its title. A man stands on a ledge ready to jump to his death, and an optimistic onlooker tries to talk him out of it while a cynical onlooker tries to get him to jump. You’ve seen it several times before, but wisely, McNelly keeps it short."

To paraphrase Woody Allen, if you believe the good ones, you have to believe the bad ones, but what do you do about the ones that are sort of indifferent and maybe weren't paying attention? Anyway, the full review can be found at www.pghcitypaper.com

Stop It! opens today

2005-05-12T01:41:00.000-04:00

Featuring Lucas McNelly's 'on a building mid-afternoon somewhere in the world' and Joanna Lowe's 'Subtext on a Sunday', 'Stop It!' tickets are on sale now. go to www.blankspacearts.org for more info.

you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll support the arts. (no, really, you will. all three in fact)

a Lowe's premiere

2005-05-09T16:08:00.000-04:00

Tonite, 7ish, our good friend Rue Snider over at Ambulance Films will be screening 4 of his short films at Lowe Cineplex in the Waterfront (Pittsburgh). It costs $5.50 to get in, although it may be sold out, i'm not sure. of course, if you can't get in, you can always head over to Bar Louie across the street for the shindig afterward.

Stop It! opening soon...

2005-05-08T02:04:00.000-04:00

"Stop It!", of course, includes the world premiere of Lucas' original one-act, "on a building mid-afternoon somewhere in the world", partially developed on this very webpage. so go see it.

from the Blankspace release:

Come join Blankspace Arts and STOP IT! , the second production in a
BLANKSPACE ARTS trilogy focusing on revolutionary social ideas.

STOP IT! is hosted by dynamic master of ceremonies A.C. Earing, and
begins with a movement piece, written by Heather Lynn McNeish and
choreographed by Lisa Laura Lucci. Joanna Lowe’s 10 minute play,
"Subtext on a Sunday", directed by Michelle LeWay Fischer, explores
self-censorship and is followed by 10 tenacious minutes of Lucas
McNelly’s politically charged play, "on a building mid-afternoon
somewhere in the world", directed by Daniel Stiker. The evening ends
with a full-length Pittsburgh premier, by New York playwright, Randy
Anderson. Last seen at the 2003 Edinbugh Festival Fringe, "The
Dwelling" is a poignant exploration of the search for meaning in what
has become one character’s reality.

Those involved in the production include: A.C. Earing, Mary Turak,
Lisa Laura Lucci, Lucas McNelly, Steve Vesolich, Joseph Martinez,
Regan Harris, Joanna Lowe, Heather Lynn McNeish, Michelle LeWay
Fischer, Kathy Bartholow, Ben Cook, Charles Schneider, and Daniel
Stiker. A host of local visual artists will show their work in the
/Long Gallery/ and the show will include original music by XARA. Pre
show events include music, short films, and poetry.
STOP IT runs May 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, & 28. Gallery opens
at 7pm, pre-show entertainment at 7:30pm, show at 8pm. Performances
held at The Allegheny Playhouse, 887 Progress Street, Pittsburgh, PA
15212. Tickets $10. Reserve tickets by calling 412.973.6161 or on the
web at www.blankspacearts.org.

a personal blog

2005-04-29T04:49:00.000-04:00

i now have another one of these where i can post things more about me than d press. for anyone who's interested, it's available at the following address:

moments of melancholy

Stop It!

2005-04-27T19:03:00.000-04:00

If you click on the link to your right, the one that says "blankspace arts", you'll find the art for the flyer for Stop It, including the green-apple themed artwork and everything. The play, as you might have guessed, is now "on a building mid-afternoon somewhere in the world", mostly because that was the working title and now it's a bit late to change it. but it looks cool on the thing. the script is available in pdf format if anyone wants it.

play name, etc.

2005-04-19T05:45:00.000-04:00

as you read this, i'm probably finishing up the final draft of the play mentioned in the last couple of posts. i'll email anyone who wants one a pdf file of it (i can't figure out easily how to upload it), but i'm still not set on a name. So far it's been called "jumper", "view from the sidewalk", "the play i wrote in three days", and currently "on a building mid-afternoon somewhere in the world".

last chance, though, if anyone has a brilliant idea. or do we have some semblance of a consensus?

the one act

2005-04-14T01:00:00.000-04:00

since we're getting title suggestions, i thought it might be a bit helpful to let people know what the thing is actually about.

open on a guy on a ledge, threatening to jump for reasons unknown to us. on the sidewalk below are 2 people, one trying to convince him not to jump, one trying to convince him to take that leap into oblivion. they begin by trying to convince him (but minus the part where they actually try to figure out why he wants to jump), then they try to convince each other, then they start arguing with each other, and finally one of them gets upset and leaves. the other one, having in his mind won the argument, leaves, and our poor suicidal fellow is still on the ledge.

Stop It!

2005-04-12T04:14:00.000-04:00

for reasons i'd rather not get into here (although i will if you email me), "Stop It!" has evolved from a big play about censorship to a night of one-acts. I've been tapped to write one of them, tentatively titled "jumper" (that is, unless someone else can think of a better name). there will be more info when i have it

File Under: Do Something Good with Your Day

2005-04-04T05:38:00.000-04:00

Pittsburgh filmmaker Rue Snider will be screening 4 short films (including the one I'm in) at a benefit screening for Retinitis Pigmentosa and Usher Syndrome (two degenerative eye diseases) at the Lowes Theater at the Waterfront in Homestead on May 9. It's going to be $5 per person but all of the proceeds go to RP/Usher research.

So, if you can at all attend (I'm personally skipping out on a thing i'm supposed to do), go and support a) indie film in Pittsburgh, b) Rue (because he's cool), and 3) some eye disease (actually, you be supporting the cure for it, but whatever...)

"The Real Inspector Hound"

2005-03-30T03:22:00.000-05:00

Joanna Lowe's production of the Stoppard classic opens Friday at Open Stage Theatre in the Strip District. I don't have ticket info on me, but if you email me (lmcnelly@email.com) or call my cell (724.544.6417), I'd be happy to track it down for you. I am, as you may have heard, appearing in this thing, and have numerous bruises to prove it, should you require such proof. It would truly be a shame to sustain this many injuries for nothing, so be a good chap and show up.

Happy Easter

2005-03-27T16:45:00.000-05:00

that is, if you celebrate Easter. If not, well, it's raining here in Pittsburgh, so enjoy the rain.

theatre

2005-03-21T14:36:00.000-05:00

those of you in the Pittsburgh area might want to check out the theatre projects we're affiliated with over the next 2 months. Joanna Lowe's Cup-a-jo (i probably spelled that wrong) Productions will be showing Tom Stoppard's "The Real Inspector Hound" starring Everett Lowe, Bridget Carey, Greg Caridi, Joanna Lowe, some other people who's names I haven't yet learned, and yours truly. That runs, let me check, April 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, starting around 8ish, i think, at Open Stage in the Strip District.

The long-discussed, somewhat maligned, "Stop It!" (Blankspace Arts) is currently in development. It stars Steve Vesolich, Joanna Lowe, Joe Martinez, John Reoli, myself, Charlie Modro, and some other people. It's about, well, censorship kinda, but other than that I'm not really sure. Either way, it's a great opportunity to see me curse on stage and generally make a fool of myself. It runs at Alleghany (sp?) Playhouse May 11, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, and 28. The Googlists in our midst will remember that it borrows from the works of Carlos Castaneda, who introduced the world to the shaman Don Juan, who may or may not have been a figment of Castaneda's imagination. Ticket info can be found, I'm sure, by clicking on the Blankspace Arts link on this page.

later.

off-topic essays

2005-03-12T15:05:00.000-05:00

this has really nothing to do w/ d press, but i thought people might find it interesting. someone asked me to write an essay on this topic. what follows is the second draft. i also am not sure how to make a paragraph tab over, so i'll make a new line

“Jesus, etc.”
an essay by Lucas McNelly

I have this idea for a movie where Jesus Christ comes back, but instead of rapture and angelic voices and the four horses of the Apocalypse, he ends up somehow on the talk show circuit and by the end of the movie he's so fed up with the whole thing he goes back to Heaven, leaving us to fend for ourselves. The breaking point, if I remember correctly, is when Bill O'Reilly calls Him an anti-American liberal communist and Jerry Falwell suggests He may be gay.

In my movie idea, no one on the Religious Right finds this upsetting at all.

I'm reminded of this every time someone from my parents' church emails me an article from Fox News about how a cartoon character is gay or how liberal Hollywood is corrupting our youth or how the situation in Iraq isn't so bad anymore or how France must be harboring terrorists simply because one of them had a French passport.

I have an American passport. Does that mean America is harboring cynics?

Ok, maybe that's a bad example.

But what those emails seem to be suggesting is that as a Christian, I will automatically agree that a gay cartoon character signals the end of humanity as we know it. I don't, though, and try as I might, I never can find that section of the Bible. Neither can my roommate, for that matter, and his father is a pastor.

Nor can I find the verses that suggest we should scale back welfare or privatize social security or provide tax breaks for the wealthy or any of the other tenets of the modern Christian faith.

Supposedly it’ll be harder for a rich man to get to Heaven than a camel to go through the eye of a needle, but it’s harder still to keep the Religious Right from voting that same rich man into office.

I’m thinking of writing a book called “Jesus Was a Socialist and Other Things I Didn’t Learn in Sunday School”. The moral outrage alone would make it a best-seller.

And if Jesus was a Socialist then why are all His so-called followers on the complete opposite end of the political spectrum? Is abortion that crucial of an issue that it can make someone deny the basic principles of everything else they profess to believe? Assuming you do save the child’s life, will all the cuts in social services make that life worth living?

To me, that makes as much sense as watching “Van Helsing” instead of “Amelie” because I don’t like the color of the subtitles.

Admitedly, it’s been awhile since I’ve been to church on a regular basis, but I distinctly remember the constant reminder to not be a “Sunday Christian”, that is, someone who only embodies Christ’s virtues on Sunday and raises hell the rest of the week. So how is that different from donating some canned goods to the church food bank on Sunday and voting for someone who will cut funding for poverty on Tuesday?

Exactly how many cans of vegetables does it take to offset those cuts?

Just how many times do you have to volunteer for nursery before a single mother can feel better about leaving her children home alone while she works two jobs?

Eugene V. Debs, the great American Socialist, once said, “As long as there is a lower class, I am in it. As long as there is a criminal element, I’m of it. As long as there is a soul in prison, I am not free.” Jesus urged His disciples to care for the poor and widows. George W. Bush, the compassionate conservative, proposed using $300 million in welfare funding to encourage “healthy, stable marriages” and increasing the welfare working requirements while cutting funding for job training.

One of these men is not like the others. Can you guess which one before I end this page?

Growing up in a Baptist church, it was often assumed every Christian was, by definition, a Republican. To be otherwise was unthinkable. What self-respecting Christian would want to kill an unborn child?

Regardless of morality, voting based on abortion is nothing short of idiotic. It’s worse than voting based on how a candidate looks. If you’re going to vote based on something so inconsequential, you might as well pick the candidate’s favorite baseball team.

Abortion isn’t going anywhere. Not this year, not next year, not in our lifetime. There isn’t ever going to be a meaningful vote on it, and even if there is, it’ll be overturned by the courts. Bet the farm, it’s here to stay. And even if it were to get overturned, do you honestly think it’ll significantly limit the number of abortions? Just like Prohibition, it’ll turn into the sort of underground industry where women die from infections because they couldn’t get it done properly. You end up endangering more people than you save.

Just how many meals do you have to cook to make up for someone’s daughter dying from a coat hanger?

Everyone is always talking about the Ten Commandments, but no one seems to care about the Sermon on the Mount. Why not put that on display outside a courthouse?

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called songs of God.”

“Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”

Socialism.

The early church was socialist. The believers shared everything equally and no one was left behind. Ananias and Sapphira died because they lied about contributing to the general good. Peter and John made it a point to look after the widows and orphans, just as Christ had instructed them. The general welfare of the church took priority over an individual’s pursuit of wealth. That’s socialism in a nutshell: the general welfare of a community is more important than an individual’s pursuit of wealth.

How utterly logical.

They say a chain is only as strong as it’s weakest link. Socialism strives to redistribute the overwhelming strength of the strongest link to ensure the chain can’t be broken by a stiff breeze.

Because what good are two steel rings held together by one made of paper?

My father always tells me that Socialism will never work, and he may be right, but is capitalism actually working? Not really. There’s a continental divide of wealth in this country. The rich get exponentially richer and the poor get poorer, once you adjust for inflation. When the Yankees’ payroll goes past $200 million, everyone screams for competitive balance, but when Bill Gates’ net worth goes past $60 billion, no one says a thing. And sure, a single mother using sheer ingenuity and good old American entrepenuership can compete with someone like Bill Gates, but something tells me she’s got a better chance of beating the Yankees with a local softball team.

What would Jesus do in this situation? Well, I’m quite sure He’d be on the side of the single mother, making sure she didn’t run out of food and, who knows, maybe even serving as hitting coach and scouting the Yankees for weaknesses.

And I can’t imagine He’d spot the Yankees a run and hope it trickled down to make everything even.

So why is it that His followers would? Why is it that they’d be against any sort of advantage for the single mother? It can’t be in the interest of fair play.

Could it be that we only want to embody Christ’s beliefs on Sunday?

Could it be that we aren’t filled with Christ’s love at all, but rather inviting the moneychangers back into the Temple?

Jesus wouldn’t think our single mother vs. the Yankees was a fair fight, and Eugene V. Debs surely wouldn’t, but most Christians, I suspect, would.

Can you guess which one is not like the others before I finish this game?

-- Pittsburgh, 2005

New Vonnegut Article

2005-03-10T03:42:00.000-05:00

fixing bad lighting

2005-03-09T16:57:00.000-05:00

maybe this is only interesting to me, but i find it cool how much color correction can fix a situation where you have less than zero control of the lighting, etc. when you're filming. take these 2 stills from everett's wedding reception (basically it's the same still, only one corrected and the other not). when someone starts talking to the camera, you can't do a whole lot other than just crossing your fingers and hoping it comes out well. (other than, you know, making them start over, but then there's a whole new set of problems). so here they are. first, the orginal shot:

and the color corrected one.

not a lot of difference, but i think it enhances the depth of field and adds more texture.

the mpaa

2005-03-07T02:41:00.000-05:00

maybe someone can explain this to me. saw 2 movies back to back last night. one was a love story (ish) thing inspired by a film noir full of blackmail and double-crossing and "vertigo" and had a film within a film and all that fun stuff. the other was a convoluted psychological drama where a guy who was supposedly time-traveling (i guess, they didn't really bother to explain it) essentially had sex with an 8-year-old girl while he was actually dead. that, was rated "R". the "vertigo" inspired thing, "NC-17" for sexual content. go figure.

short update

2005-02-22T17:34:00.000-05:00

or Lucas sacrifices his looks to help a friend

This weekend, as you may remember, Rue Snider was filming a short this weekend at Eon's bar in homestead (visit there, support places that support independant films) and he asked me to play 2 different roles. Our good friend Brian (from "Do It!") was playing the lead. so on saturday, i have a noon call, i get there, and they immediately send me to hair and makeup. i go to hair and a good-looking woman fixes my hair and beard to make it all greasy (I'm playing a creepy pervert who throws up in the bathroom), then i go to makeup, where another good-looking girl makes me look paler than i am (if that's possible) and emphasizes the bags under my eyes. then, it's on to wardrobe, where a third good-looking girl finds some clothes to make me look creepy. then i do my scene, they put some of the fake vomit in my beard, which doesn't smell bad, but it definitely smells. Rue's got a steadycam for the shot, and on pretty much every take it bumps me as i go by, but we get it in a couple of takes and i'm done by 5, making it pretty much the easiest day i've ever had on a shoot.

the next day, i'm a different, cooler character, so the night before i have to shave my beard off. my call is 8am (the horror!), and when i get there, it's the same routine, only making me look cool instead of creepy, which is nice. and i'm sitting there thinking i could definitely get used to this--wake up, have good looking women figure out how you should look. sunday's shoot is a lot more involved--maybe 40 extras hanging around--and basically i spend nine hours standing in one place so that i'm not missing from the background of any shots. then, the last shot of the day, the camera sweeps by me and i lift my glass of some blue liquid to acknowledge it. really, the whole thing was pretty boring, but that's a film set for ya. although, i did get to talk to some people about some projects we've got going, so that's something i guess.

short film

2005-02-15T00:24:00.000-05:00

well, the rumors are true, i've been cast in Rue Snider's next short film (filming this weekend). i play 2 different roles. I play a creepy guy in the bathroom and a cool guy in a Jesse Malin t-shirt.

that, my friends, is range.

awards

2005-02-14T12:53:00.000-05:00

this really has nothing to do w/ anything d press related, other than the fact that i listen to their music a lot when i write, so i guess that's something. but in case anyone missed it, d press favorite Wilco took home 2 Grammy Awards last night--best alternative album, and best album packaging. congratulations to them, even if "a ghost is born" is no "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot".

general statistics and other things...

2005-02-11T12:38:00.000-05:00

as much as i hate to do it, this entry will move the picture of george peters (the old guy) down possibly so far you'll have to scroll down to see it. it's a shame too, b/c i really enjoy that still of him. oh well.

i got one of them new-fangled trackers that tells me all sorts of cool stuff about whoever visits the site. for example, i know that someone (mike?) visited from the duquesne campus system and i know that matt used windows xp when he visited (either that, or there's someone else from fredrick, md). the total, btw, is at the bottom of the page, and my isp is blocked, so it won't count me checking to see if there's any comments.

rumour has it the blankspace people have given up (or at least modified) the censorship theme for "stop it" and were instead basing it on some guy who's name i've forgotten. they mentioned something about being avant-gard or whatever. i just im'ed them and they aren't yet responding, so as soon as i find out who that is, i'll put it in the comments here, in case anyone wants to do any quick research (or already knows who they are).

stills

2005-02-09T15:39:00.000-05:00

i've just now learned how to get photos on this thing. So here's a couple of stills:

from the legendary "guard duty":

James Perkins, Jr., mayor of Selma, AL, as seen in the civil rights documentary, "Reclaiming Our Past":

and this one, from everett's wedding:

so now then

2005-02-08T16:40:00.000-05:00

it occurs to me that w/ the mass email i just sent (and the reply by our good friend mike rectenwald), that some people may be reading this for the first time. so it goes.

if so, welcome to the d press blog, where you'll find all sorts of d pressing things. browse, leave a comment, pretty much do whatever you want.

lucas

Ossie Davis (1917-2005)

2005-02-05T23:20:00.000-05:00

click on the above title for link.

we lost a great actor this week and a great humanitarian. and the sad thing is that when i mention this to some of the people i work with, they have no idea who i'm talking about.

acting

2005-02-01T13:01:00.000-05:00

Somehow (I have no real idea how), I've gotten roped into auditioning for an Aquafina commercial...

yeah, that was my reaction too.

film in general

2005-01-29T01:46:00.000-05:00

nevermind that i'm still really annoyed about paul giamatti's oscar snub, in my mind, the best picture front-runner has to be "million dollar baby". it's as perfect a film as I've seen in a very long time. it's so stunningly good, better even than "mystic river", which is saying something. and now i'm torn b/c i very much want to see marty win best director for "the aviator" (which i still haven't seen), but it seems like it'll be awfully hard to deny clint for this one.

oscars, cont.

2005-01-25T13:19:00.000-05:00

so "Before Sunset" picked up a nomination in Adapted Screenplay, which is fantastic, but honestly, where is Paul Giamatti?

that's just a stunning snub. it's the best performance of a career full of fantastic ones.

oscars

2005-01-24T16:48:00.000-05:00

nominations will be announced tomorrow at some ungodly hour when i'll be asleep. Is it too late to hope for Julie Delpy to be nominated for "Before Sunset"?

football

2005-01-24T15:08:00.000-05:00

New England 41, Pittsburgh 27

turns out i overestimated the Steelers (as did everyone else in this city). originally had the pats by 10 but that sounded like too much, so i cut it in half. and now, i will spend the next couple of weeks gloating all over Pittsburgh. (cue evil laugh)

let's just hope i don't get shot.

more work ahead

2005-01-22T04:39:00.000-05:00

rumor has it that achieva (the non-profit) has an upcoming project (feb 05) that should involve more money coming my way, which is always nice.

oh, and not that anyone cares what i think about football (at least not in this space), but New England by 5. If not, i'll have a long winter in pgh.

more censorship

2005-01-19T16:48:00.000-05:00

the thing is, everyone is against censorship in some form, and for it in another (i.e. i don't want my kids watching that crap). i sent an email once to a bunch of people that had a little bit of profanity in it, and this one guy was so upset b/c his kids could have read it (nevermind that he lets his kids read emails from people he doesn't even know, but whatever). you'd have thought i insulted his mother or something. and i'm sure he's against burning books and all that, but when his children are involved, it's a whole different story. part of the power that the religious right has in these situations is that they're protecting the "family".

but, attacking censorship in an art form, well, that's a bit tricky...the other day i'm watching the South Park movie (don't ask) and after about an hour i come to the realization that i'm essentially watching a film about censorship. the whole thing, of course, is satire, but the focus of the film is censorship. only we don't realize that b/c we're focused on the humor and satan having an affair w/ saddam hussein and the war w/ canada and the storyline that the point of the film doesn't seem forced to us. some other stuff does, but not that. at least, not a lot.

how do you do that in a play called "stop it"? the play-within-a-play idea is good and i agree w/ johanna that it probably would work better if it was produced, but i'm still not convinced those things would work, and i'm leaning toward saying this is probably a bad overall idea.

anyway, the next meeting on this is saturday, i think, so if anyone has any other wonderful ideas, we sure could use them

pitching the pitchless

2005-01-18T14:40:00.000-05:00

this is mostly for matt, but i'll leave it open for other input...if you had to describe "recurrence" and "coffee stains" in that generic method of "well, it's (movie) plus (movie) plus (movie) w/ a little bit of (random other thing)" how would you do it? yeah, it's a weird question, but it's not mine.

MLK

2005-01-17T14:35:00.000-05:00

It's of course Martin Luther King, Jr. day, a perfect time to remind people that the movement still goes on. The battle is not won. And let's remember that civil rights extends to race, creed, gender, and sexual orientation. It's not just where you get to sit on a bus, but where you can go to school, who you can worship, and who you can or can't marry.

music recommendation

2005-01-12T18:13:00.000-05:00

Lately been listening pretty much non-stop to michigan singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens (www.sufjan.com) who sort of a more orchestral (that's probably not the right word) of Iron & Wine. Either way, he's fantastic, and as I've just discovered, used to be part of the Danielson Famile, which we used to play all the time on WGEV. amazing, ain't it?

year-end nonsense...

2005-01-10T04:58:00.000-05:00

Since there's nothing big to report news-wise and I haven't posted anything since I got back in town, I figured it was as good a time as any to include my top 10 films of 2004. Not because I think anyone really cares, but mostly because I'm taking a quick editing break and needed something to do at 4am. So here they are, a rough list. Oh, and keep in mind I haven't yet seen everything (most notably "the Aviator" and "A Very Long Engagement", but also "Fat Albert". Hey hey hey, you never know.)

I'll try to not write too much because, well, I have to get something done tonight. If nothing else, take the time to check these out.

1) "Before Sunset" (Richard Linklater) The sequel to "Before Sunrise" (1995) is a perfect example of a European film done by Americans. Jesse (Ethan Hawke) is in Paris promoting the book he wrote about the one night he spent with Celine (Julie Delpy) nine years ago in Vienna. She shows up at the reading and they spend the hour and a half before his flight walking the streets and trying to figure out what went wrong, how their lives have changed, and where it's all headed. Linklater (who also co-wrote it with Delpy and Hawke) films in real-time and the performances are so organic and sincere you begin to wonder if it's actually scripted. It reminds me of Bergman and Truffaut and everything else I love about film, and Linklater is proving to be the best director of the indie generation, hands down.

2) "Garden State" (Zach Braff) The kid from "Scrubs" has a real director's eye, sort of an indie version of early Woody Allen, and uses a mixture of music and cinematic flair to create the perfect mood for his film about finding your way back home. The first-time director does a great job of creating a cohesive film (unlike such veterans as O. Stone, Mel Gibson, and--yes--Wes Anderson) that's one of the most enjoyable of the year. Ian Holm, Natalie Portman, and Peter Sarsgaard give solid performances.

3) "Sideways" (Alexander Payne) Paul Giamatti's pitch-perfect performance carries this film about a wine-tasting road trip. Virginia Madsen is amazing, and Payne ("Election", "About Schmidt") shows real growth as a director, although not quite as much as most critics are giving him.

4) "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (Michael Gondry) Charlie Kaufmann is my hero. His trippy take on love gone wrong involves Jim Carrey hiring Tom Wilkinson to erase his memory of his time with Clementine (Kate Winslet) as a means of avoiding the heartbreak, but of course it finds it's way through eventually. Another brilliant script from the man who gave us "Adaptation" and "Being John Malcovich".

5) "Closer" (Mike Nichols) Nichols ("Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe", "The Graduate") specializes in character dramas and this may be one of his best. Clive Owen (who was also in the original play) and Natalie Portman give the standout performances here and Julia Roberts and Jude Law hold their own as a pair of couples working through their various relationship problems. A difficult film to watch, but well worth it.

6) "Farenheit 9/11" (Michael Moore) Forget all the controversy, this is easily the best edited film of the year. The footage of President Bush reading a children's book on 9/11 is just stunning, and the film as a whole (which was fact-checked by the New Yorker) is informative and entertaining. Not quite on par with "Bowling for Columbine", but considering the target in question, an exceptional documentary.

7) "I Heart Huckabees" (David O. Russell) If you have no initial interest in philosophy, you will probably hate this film. If you, say, minored in it, you'll love it. Lily Tomlin and Dustin Hoffman play existential detectives who follow Jason Schwartzman aroud as a means to solve his "coincidences". The thing is absurd and silly and maybe profound at times and definitely weird, but it's entertaining as hell and easily the most bizarre film you'll see all year (yes, even more so than "Eternal Sunshine"). Mark Whalberg gives his best performance in years as a firefighter obsessed with petroleum.

8) "Finding Neverland" (Marc Forster) Johnny Depp is amazing as J.M. Barrie, the man who wrote "Peter Pan", in this look at the backstory of the boy who went to Neverland. Freddie Highmore ("Peter") gives perhaps the best child performance since Haley Joel Osment, and Forster manages to merge reality and fantasy in a believeable way. Kate Winslet plays the mother of the boys who inspired the classic. The ending is heart-wrenching.

9) "The Motorcycle Diaries" (Walter Salles) Gael Garcial Bernal ("Y Tu Mama Tambien", "Amoros Perros") plays Che Guevara in this film based on Che's own journals of the road trip through South America that heavily influenced his political activities. Bernal may just be the best actor in the world under 30, and Salles manages to bring the audience to the same conclusion as Guevara as he's coming to it, without resorting to preaching or cheap sympathy. The visuals are stunning, especially as they visit some of the most rural parts of South America.

10) "Dogville" (Lars Von Trier) Filmed on an essentially bare stage, using basic props and outlines of the buildings, "Dogville" explores a small American town as they attempt to help a woman (Nicole Kidman) in hiding from mobsters. The lack of props and sets forces you to focus on the actors, universally solid, and their eventual cruel treatment of a woman in danger. An extremely difficult film to watch, "Dogville" nevertheless is an effective morality tale by one of the most daring directors of our time.

Ok, enough of my pretension. Back to work.

lucas

...

2004-12-28T02:04:00.000-05:00

so the holiday travelling all went well. almost missed my connecting flight from detroit to pgh b/c i decided at the last minute that i needed a coffee and the detroit airport is just big enough to make that a very long walk.

anyway, the question of the moment is thus: i'm working on a play w/ blankspace arts, tenatively titled "stop it" that's about censorship and, i would assume, artistic integity and other things of that ilk that everyone agrees is a generally good thing. oh, and we're developing the thing from scratch, which means no original script and no actually idea...yet. only most of the ideas and scenarios that have been developed seem to be trending towards "censorship sucks" and "artists are oppressed" and other things that may be well and good and even true, but make for pretty awful theatre. mostly, it just comes off as preaching or whining when i take it to its logical conclusion.

so if anyone has any ideas, send them along... matt had a couple he told me about in the airport, but i can't really remember the details.

merry xmas, etc.

2004-12-25T10:37:00.000-05:00

basically, enjoy any of the multitude of hollidays you may happen to celebrate, or not celebrate, or aren't really aware of.

lucas

xmas and other things...

2004-12-20T01:31:00.000-05:00

i know this will just break people's hearts, but i'll be in maine for the next week, trying not to go crazy over the hollidays, which may be pretty much impossible, but i'll try.

needless to say, there won't be a ton going on this week.

lucas