Keeping the faith

I just had a conversation with another filmmaker friend of mine who is in the midst of launching her own Kickstarter campaign for documentary film. She asked me to give her some pointers and I said the important thing is that you have to have faith in your project and be willing for it to be the first thing you see in the morning and the last thing at night. Your project needs to be something that you'll not only fight for, but also do some good old-fashioned begging for.

I keep thinking of that as I drag my butt out of bed on this gorgeous Saturday morning in Alameda and plop down in front of the computer again. I'm not gonna lie, it's hard to keep it up creatively when you have a pregnant wife, a wee person on the way, a new full time day job to prepare for the wee person, family commitments, and friends that make up a happy, vibrant life needs your attention as well. But all I have to do is rev up the final cut pro and start attacking the last rough cut and I remember why this film helps me keep the faith.

Right now, we are prepping the rough cut for our screening soiree tomorrow night. I'm putting in a temp track and testing the cut, doing basic color correction because you never really screen a rough for anyone who isn't actually working on the film. I can't help but think ahead of how amazing it will be to finish the actual sound work with a professional post crew.

One of the most exciting parts of finishing a film is the sound design and remix. We have this amazing opportunity to work with EJ up at Skywalker Ranch and hopefully have a subsidy from them to use their mixing theaters and possibly use their theater to have the screening benefits next year. Only catch: we need raise more money because that kind of amazing opportunity can't come for free.

Someone asked me if we could just finish the film ourselves and I said yeah, we could. That's what we planned to do. But using the creative juices of one of the top sound designers and have the backing of a place like Skywalker Ranch is going to take the film to a whole other level of production value. With better festival visibility,  the story will reach more people and then we CAN attract people like Geena Davis and her institute to partner for our screening benefits next year and raise more money for the victims of domestic violence.

So, I keep the faith. I'll open my office door so I feel the cool fall air while I edit. I'll keep writing those emails, asking people for any money they can spare. Because I realize that the time I put in now can do so much more than I ever imagined when I first read this script. And it can actually help other children, like our baby on the way, to lead a better life. To have a chance.

Want to find out more ways you can contribute?

Contribute $250 or more and make it tax deductible: San Francisco Film Society Fiscal Sponsors page 

Contribute directly to appleseeds for any amount or bid on one and only tarot read by Megan Breiseth: appleseeds website

 

Contributing artist spotlight: Osiris Rain

  Artist Osiris Rain contributes his gorgeous painting for us!

 

 

This beautiful little painting from classically trained painter Osiris Rain, a North Carolina based artist known for his contemporary figure paintings. This painting of a reclining nude is streaked with turquoise and pink, giving it a sunny, pleasant feel. 

Bid on this painting: HERE

Osiris Rain trained at the Angel Academy of Art in Florence, Italy where he studied the masterpieces of the Renaissance firsthand. Later he went on to study in the Odd Nerdrum apprenticeship program in Stavern, Norway. Learn more about Osiris' work here: http://www.osirisrainstudios.com/

During out post production drive, we have 3 new ways to contribute!

Ebay auction of art, music and more: appleseeds Ebay Auction

Contribute $250 or more and make it tax deductible: San Francisco Film Society Fiscal Sponsors page

Contribute directly to appleseeds for any amount or bid on one and only tarot read by Megan Breiseth: appleseeds website

Ashley Perryman Quach in our very own Post Production Auction: 6 days to go!

You don't own any artwork by Ashley? Wish you did?

Well, check out her fantabulous artwork in our post production auction:
appleseeds EBay auction: Ashley

Here's a little more about Ashley:
Ashley Perryman Quach, Writer and Executive Producer on appleseeds, hails from North Carolina and brings with her the oral traditions of the South. Her stories are vivid, peppered with tragic heroes and told with the comfortable finesse of a Delta troubadour. Her writing career bloomed from the obsessive character profiles that filled notebooks when she was enrolled in a Stanislavsky conservatory.

Her first full-length screenplay, Fire Sale, was recognized by the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences in the quarter-finals for the Nicholl’s fellowship. Since then she has garnered recognition from the Page Awards, Storypros International and Scriptapalooza for her work. In 2012 her newest screenplay Farewell, Great Leader put her in the finals for the National Youth Theatre writing fellowship.

In addition to her writing, Ashley produces a burgeoning comics website, sassquach.com and donates her time to 826 Valencia, a free-to-all tutoring center in the Mission District of San Francisco. 
 

During out post production drive, we have 3 new ways to contribute!

Ebay auction of art, music and more: appleseeds Ebay Auction
Contribute $250 or more and make it tax deductible: San Francisco Film Society Fiscal Sponsors page
Contribute directly to appleseeds for any amount or bid on one and only tarot read by Megan Breiseth: appleseeds website

Post Production Auction: Contributing Artist John Kincade

The Most Awesome John Kincade has donated three of his amazing Snake Oil cartoons to help us raise much needed post production funds!

Bid on his awesome gift at: EBay: appleseeds auction: Snake Oil Cartoons Don't wait, only 7 days left to bid!

About John: John is a former ad man with a dab hand for collage and satire. His work can be seen at Funny Times and NobleWorks and more. Personally, John and his awesome wife Liz Dobbins, are close family friends who spirit and humor color everything they do. So happy to have them in our framily and really happy to share John's smart and always funny Snake Oil Cartoons.
Read more about John and his work: http://snakeoilcartoon.com/

During out post production drive, we have 3 new ways to contribute!

Ebay auction of art, music and more: appleseeds Ebay Auction
Contribute $250 or more and make it tax deductible: San Francisco Film Society Fiscal Sponsors page
Contribute directly to appleseeds for any amount or bid on one and only tarot read by Megan Breiseth: appleseeds website

In-kind contributor spotlight: Robin Kincade - Producer and Location Scout/Manager

We would not be able to pull this production off without the help of people like Robin Kincade. Her name was given to me by the awesome Jim MacIlvaine: Special Events Coordinator + Oakland Film Office. She gave us access to her files and time for free to find one of our key locations (creepy stairs at The City Team shelter), I would not have found it without her help!


Here's a little more about Robin Kincade and her location scouting services! Can't wait to buy this lady lunch!!


From Robin's bio:

"I started my business in 1990 in Sacramento, California and moved to the Bay Area in 1996. Since then, I’ve been producing and directing for a variety of clients.

Working on projects that include everything from “Confessions of Alien Abductions” to a week in Las Vegas with over 30,000 Bikers, I’ve helped to produced a wide variety of programming. Covering famous celebrities and CEO’s of successful companies to ordinary people in extraordinary situations, I consider myself lucky to have heard so many fascinating stories. 

With over thirty years experience in broadcast television, I can take a project from start to finish depending on your needs.  I have experience in production management in the Bay Area from hiring crews to making sure the production stays within budget all the way through to post production.

Over the past fifteen years producing in the political arena, I have directed the electronic media and purchased the buys with many campaigns including California District races for Congress, Supervisor, District Attorney, Sheriff, District Judge and Assessor.  

As a location scout/manager, I’m familiar with many regions along the Coast of California, from Humboldt County to San Diego. I understand the process of pulling permits, logistics and parking for large and small productions and I’ve worked in various counties all over the state.

Due to traveling over the years for many of my clients, I’ve worked with crews across the United States and have a healthy data base. Using Apple based equipment and the iPhone/iPad, I can have consistent communications with my clients.

My passions are open water swimming (yes, I am one of those crazy people who swim in San Francisco Bay without a wetsuit) sculling, yoga, lost wax sculpture and guitar. I’m a member of the South End Swimming & Rowing Club. "

Link to Robin and Company website: Link

Check out our website and stay tuned for more information about our "save our post production" auction. Okay, we are still trying to find the right name for that but it's COMING SOON!

www.appleseedsthefilm.com

What the film Snow White tells us about our own views on women

I've been really interested in the many different reviews of Snow White and the Huntsman. I saw it on opening night and I have to say, it's visually stunning. First time feature director Rupert Sands definitely knows his way around telling a story with all the visual tools cinema can provide. I also thought the acting was top notch, the best of which was Charlize Theron.

I also wish Sands and his crew had taken the revisionist approach just a step further. I could have used a little more character and story along with a new twist on some plot points. Just a little deeper into the mad queen or the young heroine. Because it stays just on the surface of the story it ultimately it comes up just a little short of a true classic for  me.

What's really fascinating for me how is how reviewers can take the same elements and interpret them in so many different ways.

Take Natalie Wilson's feminist view in Ms. Magazine:
"The film’s modus operandi is to vilify female aging. Of course, that’s the stuff of the original fairy tale, but this umpteenth iteration does nothing to complicate the material. It was a brilliant opportunity for a feminist critique of how we’re sold a bill of goods about beauty and immortality. Instead, Snow White and the Huntsman acts as though the desires for these things spring only from the brains of crazy women. Once again we get the same ole message that not only do women get ugly as they age, but they also get evil."

You know, I actually thought it was pretty easy to understand how the age old story of the Queen reflects the myth of youth and beauty that is still shoved down our throats as women. I felt that while the film doesn't go any deeper than the surface on these issues, I think the point was that the concept of holding on to youth and beauty at all costs is the villain itself, not the woman victimized by that notion.

I also feel like the movie made it clear that there was a vulnerable, damaged woman who has been used by the society she lives in. I feel like there is one very distinct moment where Snow White and the audience has to have empathy for her. True, she is a woman who has given in to her demons but does that ultimately make her a demon? If that's true, then why a moment of redemption?

Or does this show how my (or anyone's) criticism or reading of the film says more about me than the actual movie? Does this show my need to believe people can change and that they don't have to be victims of anything?

Check out this Natalie Wilson's blog and join in on the discussion: Ms. Blog. Because ultimately, I don't feel that one person or review has all the answers... but that engaging and discussing these issues concerning the representation of women is the most important thing we can do.


Duendefilmswest production of appleseeds: Did you miss out on being part of making this film and the benefit screenings happen? You can still be a part of the adventure: stay tuned for information regarding upcoming auction or contact us here for details on how to contribute directly!

In-Kind Contributor: 7th Heaven Yoga and Wellness Center

We are so lucky to have Kim offer her amazing studio space for us to hold our auditions in. The center is gorgeous with all sorts of great classes at all levels. Like an oasis in the middle of Berkeley of calm and beauty. Please go check it out and see for yourself why it's aptly named 7th Heaven!

Here's a little more about the awesome studio director of 

7th Heaven Yoga and Wellness Center:

 Kim Adams:

    Kim's body has been a dancer, yogi and athlete nearly her entire life after that pesky crawling stage was out of the way . She began her yoga practice at 15 in her home town in L.A. then discovered the dance in college. She holds a Dance and Psychology degree from Sonoma State University where she dove into the study of Biofeedback and movement therapies like Feldenkrais and the Alexander Technique. In recent years she discovered aerial dance and began dancing and performing on aerial tissu and other aerial apparatus. To balance this very physical practice she has studied Shadow Yoga with Scott Blossom for the past 3 years to understand and heal many old injuries and create a more resilient practice.    

     If Kim is not hanging off something, you can find her mind in her office at 7th Heaven where she has been the Studio Director for the past 5 years. She is also the CFO of doctorblossom.com after about 8 years of fascination with how business can change and shape the world. She studied real estate investing and apprenticed under a local real estate developer in Berkeley. With deep appreciation and gratitude she left that to study to dive into online business. As CFO of Dr. B she was able to co-create an online Ayurvedic cleanse with Yoga Journal, Yoga International and several other companies that touched over 30,000 people's lives in a little over a cumulative month's time. 

     As for Kim's spirit, it dwells in the relentless pursuit of leaving the world better than when she entered it. After 30 years of living she is starting to realize she has much much more work to do!

Check out out more about 7th Heaven Yoga Center here: 7th Heaven website

Facebook: link