TWT Friars Club Comedy Film Festival schedule

L-R: Kristina Lilley, Pisay Pao, Sean Patrick Flanery, Elisabeth Röhm.

We just received notice that THE WHOLE TRUTH will play Saturday, September 26, 3 p.m. at the Paley Center for Media (25 W 52nd St.) for the Friars Club Comedy Film Festival.
It's a short festival, only four days (Thursday, Sept. 24-Sunday Sept. 27), with films playing in just three venues, so we appear to be in carefully selected company.

The full schedule of films playing have not yet been posted, but the opening night film is the premiere of A SERIOUS MAN, the Coen Brothers' new comedy.

I'll be there all four days, attending as many screenings as possible, networking and hanging out with John Fugelsang ("Prosecutor Jordan Smith" in TWT; he's also a TV and radio personality, actor, stand up comic and writer), other filmmakers, actors, performers, distributors, celebrities who show up and comedy writers. The Friars Club Comedy Film Festival advisory board is a who's who of comedy and TV personalities - they should be dropping by!

This is a photo of John and one of his New York City fans.

The Friars Club has been America's comedy central for more than 100 years - most people know it from their famous "roast" dinners of celebrities.

They are establishing this film festival because they believe too many great comedies are overlooked when it comes to major awards selection. Very kewl for us.

Most importantly, the Friars prevent mirth control, protecting our right of laughter.

The freedom to laugh at ourselves, the privileged and those in power is the canary in the coal mine of democracy - a freedom Friars Club members take very seriously.

They want us to feel free to sing those canary songs and create works that make us fall over giggling, guffawing, howling, roaring, chuckling, cracking up, chortling, rolling in the aisles, snickering and snorting liquid through our nose!

The Key Trailer for THE WHOLE TRUTH!

The screwball story of a gifted acting coach who pays dearly for using her skills to help criminals become so symptathetic to juries they're aquitted!

Starring Elisabeth Röhm, Sean Patrick Flanery, Rick Overton, John Fugelsang, Kristina Lilley, Pisay Pao and Eric Roberts.

It's on its way to a screening for distributors soon - so far everyone invited is coming!

To be perfectly honest - distributorship representatives almost always attend screenings of a new film so they won't miss out or have a competitor pick up a film that might do well.

Sure, making a film is hard work - but!

Eric Roberts tells why THE WHOLE TRUTH was so much fun for him!



Kristina Lilley speaks to her millions of Spanish speaking fans - and translates for English speakers. THE WHOLE TRUTH is Kristina's first English speaking film role; as you can hear for yourself, she speaks both Spanish and English without an accent!



The last behind the scenes interview honors to be posted online for THE WHOLE TRUTH go to Rick Overton and John Fugelsang! There will be more on the bonus DVD - which hopefully won't be out for a long time (after the theatrical release!). Stay tuned for more news following the screening for distributors in LA soon!

More EPK interviews from THE WHOLE TRUTH!

Executive producer Gary Allen Tucci talks about his passion for films - and unlike just about anyone in the industry, he goes to see films in theaters, sitting with audiences at least three times a week!



Jim Holmes talks about playing successful lawyer Brad Sanders:





Producer Larry Estes learned not to gamble on set!



I chat about working with Eric Roberts, Sean Patrick Flanery, Elisabeth Röhm and Kristina Lilley!

Superstar in Spanish speaking nations Kristina Lilley

She plays Detective Winslow in THE WHOLE TRUTH - talks about working with me as an acting coach!

What Kristina Lilley says about my acting coaching!

For those who don't know, Kristina Lilley is a famous actress in Spanish-speaking nations and on Telemundo (NBC owned Spanish speaking network) in the US.

She's especially well-known for her roles as villains - bad bad sexy vixens - but in THE WHOLE TRUTH, she plays a good cop (a role she's always wanted to portray!). This is her first role in an English-speaking feature film!

I was her acting coach for two years when she lived in Seattle with her then husband, who was taking advanced studies at the University of Washington. At the end of his studies, they moved back to Colombia, South America, where she resumed her work in television and films.

Kristina got the role by auditioning. Me being her former acting coach did not play a part in her getting cast. But being familiar with her skills, background, dedication, non-diva attitude and how easy she is to work with definitely made me think of her when we were looking at actors to audition for the role.

Here she talks about how she found me through this website - and why it persuaded her to contact me!

First TWT EPK interview posted with Elisabeth Rohm!

Translation:

The first series of backstage interviews (EPK=electronic press kit) for our screwball comedy feature, THE WHOLE TRUTH (TWT), are edited and the first one, featuring leading lady Elisabeth Röhm, is now posted on YouTube. Here it is:


Four more are going up tomorrow - with TWT actors Sean Patrick Flanery, Eric Roberts, Kristina Lilley and the dynamic duo of Rick Overton and John Fugelsang (who interview one another!).

Following that will be more interviews with them well as EPK chats with me, executive producer Gary Allen Tucci and producer Larry Estes.

We're talking about - demystifying - the process, the hard work and the fun that will be engaging and informative for audience members as well as those who are budding filmmakers. I hope you check them out!

The TWT World Premiere is tonight!

After many months of pre-production, the shoot itself, and the laborious details of post production and marketing, the premiere of THE WHOLE TRUTH takes place at the Seattle International Film Festival tonight.

Tickets to the event are completely sold out.

I'll be on hand with my business partner Gary Allen Tucci, accompanied by stars Elisabeth Röhm, Sean Patrick Flanery, Jim Holmes, Rick Overton and Pisay Pao. Eric Roberts is shooting a film with Sly Stallone ("The Expendibles") in New Orleans, John Fugelsang is performing his one-man show in London, England, and Kristina Lilley is working in Colombia.

Producers Larry Estes and Jennifer Roth, editor Stephen Myers and composer Ragnar Rosinkranz will also be there to answer any questions from audience members after the screening.

The day goes like this: Birthday brunch for a very dear longtime friend, joined by her partner and my brother, who flew in from the Midwest to see the world premiere. Back to work with Aaron making last minute arrangements for the night and the rest of the week.

Late this afternoon I get dressed (up, for me), then my make-up will be done by the wonderful Danyale Cook (hair and make up artist - she did a phenomenal job on our actors' hair styles in THE WHOLE TRUTH).

Gary and I are having a private reception for friends, family, cast and crew before the screening, then watching the movie with nearly 300 other folks, after which we're joining the usual suspects as we respond to the audience in a q&a session.

It will be a memorable evening; I'll tell you about it tomorrow - reporting some of the pithy comments from those who were there. I'll also post photos I'm taking.

Meanwhile, there are still a few tickets available for the 4:30 screening tomorrow (Wednesday) at Pacific Place. Again, tickets for tonight's show are completely sold out.

Wish us luck!

THE WHOLE TRUTH World Premier

Will take place at the Seattle International Film Festival.

We were *just* notified, so we'll know more later - date, time, etc.

Hopefully, our stars Elisabeth Röhm,
















Sean Patrick Flanery,

Eric Roberts,
Jim Holmes,










Kristina Lilley

John Fugelsang
Rick Overton and Pisay Pao will be on hand to see the movie for the first time themselves!

Here's the 4-1-1 on SIFF from its invitation to include THE WHOLE TRUTH:

"Now in its 35th year, the Seattle International Film Festival is the largest and most highly-attended film festival in the United States, showcasing more than 400 films from over 60 countries to an audience of 150,000 attendees annually.

"While new festivals have seemingly emerged in every small and large city worldwide, SIFF was listed by Variety as one of the world’s “50 unmissable film festivals,” and continues to be recognized as one of the top festivals in North America.

"In terms of Seattle, the profile we offer for film is recognized as extremely important in the US. The Festival combines the best aspects of a casual film marketplace with our well-established reputation as a great audience festival that filmmakers love to attend.

(Here's the best part)

"We would be honored to present this film to our audiences and we look forward to receiving your confirmation of its availability."

Kewl!

THE WHOLE TRUTH is shot

Finished the film's "martini" today.

Martini is slang for "the final thing to be shot." Probably from a time when the last thing shot meant everyone went out for a martini.

We were as sad as we were happy - we have had an outrageously good time filming and proud of the quality of our work. Coming to an end may mean more sleep, but it also means we don't see one another at 6:30 am or so every week day, so we're going to miss one another.

Elisabeth Röhm wept as she said good-bye to all of us. Fortunately, our leading lady's last scenes required her to cry. She will be missed terribly, though she's already agreed to be in my next feature, THE LONELY GOATHERD. As I've said so many times here, audiences will love her and be shocked at her comedic acumen, not believing this is actually her first stab at comedy.

Today was also Kristina Lilley's last day - she's on her way back to Colombia. Her fans will also be thrilled with her turn at being a veteran police detective - in Spanish speaking nations all over the world, she is known as a sexy villain or a sexy vixen or a sexy-- you get the idea.

The crew was nothing short of marvelous. When a feature wraps, it's time for celebrations and sweet cards and special gifts.

My partner, Gary Tucci, was on hand to witness the last day of production. That was fun.

I thanked every crew member who made THE WHOLE TRUTH such a professional, smooth, quality production. It was their passion and daily dedication that contributed so heavily to this production's success.

I am an extremely happy writer/director. My vision was realized in ways that exceeded my expectations on many levels and met them spot on in most.

Next task: editing, which I love, alongside veteran comedy film editor Stephen Myers. He has been editing dailies (what we shoot every day) since we started and has been sending very positive reports. He requested only one "pickup" shot throughout the whole production, which we picked up earlier this week. Usually there are several more requests because more is missing in the way of "coverage" necessary to visually tell the story properly.

Thanks to a magnificent cast and crew, the film will, I believe, look and sound terrific, attracting an audience looking for a great time at the movies as well as please film affectionado with its multiple visual and conceptual layers.

Tomorrow night is the "wrap party," with lots of music, dancing and karaoke for the crew and cast members who remain here, as well as my formal thank you speech to one and all involved with the success of this production.

Meanwhile, I'll let you know about ongoing developments for development of THE LONELY GOATHERD as well as the evolution of completion and distribution for THE WHOLE TRUTH -- and news about my new script, our third feature, SPARE CHANGE!

Counting down ...

Only two days left to finish shooting THE WHOLE TRUTH.

Eric Roberts left today .. I missed him before he left, so I can assure you there's a little hole in my heart, left empty with the departure of him and his wife Eliza (a certified genius, talented and successful in her own right as well as a wonderful person).

I asked Elisabeth Röhm if she knew of any directors who dropped to the floor and hung on to a departing actor's ankle to prevent him/her from leaving. You know, in a way they'd have to drag me along with every step ...

Miss Law and Order responded, "Colleen. That's assault."

Hmm. Maybe she hasn't heard about directors who do this because they know she'd turn them in... ;-)

John Fugelsang also left - what a magnificent human being this guy is, not to mention super talented and a gifted performer. He put on his one man show for us last Saturday night, FOR ALL THE WRONG REASONS (written and performed by him). What an honor to be part of his audience. It's played successfully in New York City off Broadway and in Los Angeles.

He, too, was missed by me before his plane departed. I had to consider that he's a little smaller than Eric -- thinking I might injure him if I clung to his ankle. He'd probably pull a muscle trying to drag me along. Not that he'd want to .. escape .. my grasp. Or anything .. like that.

Rick Overton, Kristina Lilley and Jim Holmes remain ... they are in scenes we're shooting the last two days, along with Elisabeth, our leading lady, of course. I don't even want to think of dealing with that separation. She and I have enjoyed such a wonderful journey on this film, personally and professionally. Her life will never be the same after audiences worldwide witness her magnificent performance. I'm so proud to have participated in her artistic evolution. She leaves Saturday to start a new film on Monday.

*SOB!*

The crew is already getting sad and nostalgic with the end so near. I don't blame them. We've had such a great time making this film, and the outlook for its distribution and success are optimistic. The wrap party is Saturday night, then I'm off for the first vacation I've enjoyed for such a long, long time. I'll be away for a week while my personal assistant Matt Schmidt holds down the fort and takes care of the three wee dogs and kitty.

The big occasion for me today is that I directed a couple action scenes - which ROCKED!

I don't do action scenes the way the industry ordinarily shoots them. You'll have to see the difference for yourself, but it was extremely exciting for me to have everyone land exactly where they had to in the brouhahas.

My energy is greater now than when I started, which makes me very happy. I know why that is and I'm going to continue to work the way that is most beneficial to the film and my energy. It's different from the way films are ordinarily shot, and some people will have to adapt, but that's fine. The point is that the film that gets made for you, the audience, maintains an unsurpassed quality of story, character, writing, production and entertainment values.

I am so blessed to have had this experience, to meet and work with the exceptional professionals I have the past three months (6 weeks full-tilt pre-production, 6 weeks of principal shooting production).

Interestingly, what a lot of people don't understand who don't know me very well is that I am so very busy, I'm not in a position to take on new enterprises or causes other that those with which I'm already involved through Heart Break Productionz and my personal life. I've been approached recently to consider working on or with a number of new projects or causes and attend events - which, unfortunately, I can't join in because of these limits.

And the only actors I now coach are those cast in my feature films.

I haven't changed a bit, but the tasks and passions and relationships that claim my time and attention prevent me from extending myself much farther.

Tonight, I am so extremely happy and proud I am of the hard work we've all done, day after day, getting up at 5am, having such a smooth shoot thanks to these great professionals and all our preparation in pre-production.

And, after directing those action scenes this morning? I. Am. On. Fire!

Beginning of shoot day #5

Yesterday's shoot went *very* well. Elisabeth and Sean are at the top of their game, Kristina Lilley kicked butt and Pisay Pao came through like a champ. Little pup TinTin was FABulous.

The crew cannot be praised highly enough. Today Megan Griffiths gets a special shout-out. She's the 1st AD (Assistant Director), who keeps the whole team glued together. She's calm, cool, collected; extremely knowledgeable and professional.

We had a later call yesterday and a call today (start time) at noon, so I'm getting a couple things done today before going in and starting a long day that will go late into the night.

Stephen Myers, our editor in LA, started to receive our dailies (the film already shot and developed - we're shooting 35mm), and says they look fantastic! He should finish editing the first two days of shooting today, and we'll keep progressing daily for the editing from now on.

That means we'll have a rough cut of our film shortly after we finish shooting. I'm taking a week off after the shoot to put my brain back together, then I'll be sitting with Stephen every day as we finish the editing process.

I've already been working with Ragnar Rosinkranz, our composer - he'll be looking at the rough cut as it is built and coming back with more themes and scoring music that we'll finesse along the way and at the end.

Following that is sound perfection and "sweetening." That's where I add all the birds and other ambient sounds that we've been careful to avoid during the filming so I can put them in just the right place.

I'm not posting pictures until the film is finished so you'll want to see it and get a kick out of the "behind the scenes" snapshots that were taken.

Two seniors from the University of Arizona arrived yesterday to begin the process of doing a documentary on the making of THE WHOLE TRUTH. A total of six students will be "covering" us without getting in the way. One of our producers, Larry Estes, teaches a film producing class there - in his "spare time."

They get credit for working on THE WHOLE TRUTH.

Me, too.

writer-director and some sort of producer ... ;-)

Back to work!