A whole new chapter

I think the tipping point was my friend Ragnar deciding to take the leap, thanks to the influence of Paul and Linda McCartney.

I knew my time had come.

I couldn't deal with the realization that too many animals suffer far too much to feed us when we have so many other healthy alternatives.

Realizing just how inhumane corporate slaughter is finally did it for me.

As of January 1, I am eating veggie.

I have been considering it for a very long time. Problem is, I - basically - do not cook. I don't eat "fast food," either. It's easy for me to grab prepared foods - and there are more vegetarian dishes that are actually tasty now.

I pay more attention in the frozen healthy foods freezers at grocery stores now - and have been choosing more and more veggie selections as I find what tastes best.

I actually love vegetables and find steaming them is fast and easy. I'll still eat dairy products, so massive amounts of broccoli with cottage cheese and/or tofu actually sounds good to me these days.

My start to consciously making this decision was choosing to eating eggs from cage-free hens fed organic meal. More expensive, yes, but I've cut back my servings from two to one - which is plenty for me.

Even though fresh vegetables and fruit are expensive, I've actually started to save money as I learn how to waste less food - how to shop properly by preparing menus.

My attitude toward cooking is changing - it does consume time, but I am finding I can prepare stuff, toss it in the pan to steam while I do other things, then bingo - it's ready. The frozen meals are also a snap.

The fewer ingredients, the faster the process, the less money I spend, the happier I am.

Some vegetarians I've known have had a certain pungent smell in their homes that I'd just as soon avoid; come to think of it, they probably feel the same way about my house. I'm avoiding the seasonings that apparently permeate walls.

Interestingly, one of the world's foremost vegetarian icon/cooks shares my name.

Colleen Patrick Goudreau is not only an expert in vegetarianism, but holds cooking and other classes IRL and online, running a virtual dynasty to educate the world in a way to help its people make informed choices about what they eat.

We have expressed a mutual admiration for each other, but I've been a little queasy about staying in touch because I haven't gone completely veggie - which is my problem because she has never been judgemental about the what anyone chooses to eat.

I believe I was uncomfortable because I knew I could treat myself, animals and the world a little better by going veggie. So making the firm decision feels like I'm taking better care of myself, animals and by extension, the world.

It's going to be a challenge - changing longtime habits is always a tough go. But I've been working at it for a couple years. First, becoming more aware of what I'm eating instead of eating stuff just because I always do. Or have. Or it falls into the category of "comfort food."

I have generally seen eating as something that I must do rather than a spiritual experience - and when I consider all the evidence, it seems like the way we treat our bodies is in fact a spiritual relationship. I've always thought of my spirituality taking place in my head, soul and heart - a key component was MIA.

No more.

Anyone who knows me knows that my favorite thing to do is learn - and I know I have much to learn in this new way of eating.

I think the first thing I'll do formally is figure out the tastes I like; actually write what I love and don't love; seasonings I like and don't, and grow from there.

Simple and easy does it for me.

Baby steps.

I guess even with great veggie knowledge and educators, we students need to be ready to listen and willing to learn in order to make the difference in our own lives as well as others.

I figure this is a much easier time to go veggie - thanks to so many like Colleen, Linda McCartney, Amy's frozen foods and more who have developed good veggie choices for us uninitiated folk still finding our way.

Having said all this, I'm sure to let my friends know that this is my decision, which is significantly affecting several aspects of my life, but I don't expect anyone else to do what I do. I will only share the experience of my journey.

Second TWT screening - even more successful!

For one thing it started at 4:30 pm, which made a big difference. Tuesday night's world premiere didn't start until about 10 pm. That's late for working folks and students heading for school the next day and folks who flew in from the east - where it's up to 3 hours later in their bodies.

Aaron (Heinzen - my assistant) and I were NOT expecting another sold out screening - the last we heard, several tickets were still available.

But when we arrived? There was an extremely long line of ticket holders and several people who could not get tickets but were hoping for some no-shows to fill empty seats.

I was a little confused. Was there another film showing, too?

"Is that for US?" I asked Aaron.

"Looks like it is," he said.

Sure enough, the place was completely packed.

And the laughs were a-plenty during the film; the applause plenty and often through the credits to the very end. When there was more applause.

Sadly, Elisabeth Röhm had a family medical emergency (NOT life-threatening!) about half an hour before the screening, so she was still in town but could not be there. She was extremely disappointed, as was the audience, but like all of us at Heart Break Productionz, family comes first with Ms. Röhm so they understood.

I conveyed her regrets because she does love this film, our HBPz filmmaking family and Seattle!

My partner at HBPz, Gary Allen Tucci and I started off the q&a, and had the pleasure of introducing our composer, Ragnar Rosinkranz - whose music is such a standout in the film. Again, part of the reason is that not only is he a gifted artist, but we started collaborating at the script level, so he had so much more time to create his phenomenal sounds!

The audience also got to meet Bob Marts, our sound guy. Quite truthfully, I said I hated to show him off because it's like telling everyone about the beautiful woman you're dating; once they know her they'll want to date her, too! But, other filmmakers and TV show guys - hands off! He's OURS!

There was NO ADR (automatic dialogue replacement) or looping required from the actors because of his fantastic work. I am such a sound freak that I've never had to ADR or loop any of the short films I've made - but ADR and looping are *standard* in feature films. None of our stars has ever done a film or TV show that didn't require it. Until THE WHOLE TRUTH!

Character actor Jim Holmes ("Brad Sanders" in the movie) chatted a bit about working on the flm and how much fun he had - he wants to do it all over again on another HBPz film!

Editor Stephen Myers talked about working with me, too ... we had more than our fair share of fun putting it together ("OK .. is this funnier than this? Or is this funnier .. ")

Overall audience reaction: they want to see it again (and again), and can imagine it filling theaters with filmgoers from around the world! From their lips and imaginations to God's project managers ...

This blog is short because I've got a lot of catching up to do around here (especially on sleep); we're getting hot on the distribution leg of our journey. As I explained in an earlier blog, I have a marketing plan that is unique in the industry, but so far seems to be catching on and effective - at least in its early stages.

This coming weekend, I'm posting photos from the reception!

Thanks to everyone who paid your hard earned money to see the film - as I told Mireille and Caitlin, who flew in to see the film - everything we do may be our passion and life's work, but we do it for you, our audience. We *never* take you and your support for granted!

A special thanks to everyone who has sent me emails, notes, cards, flowers, gorgeous plants(!), candy (esp dark chocolate with nuts!) and left comments on my blogs saying how much you loved the film.

If you saw the film and enjoyed yourself (even unexpectedly .. one person told me, "Wow. The film was really great! I never expected it to be nearly this funny..")?

Um .. thank you, too ... ;-)

Consider yourself part of the HBPz family!

THE WHOLE TRUTH World Premiere!

First, the private reception was a *blast!* Family, friends, crew and cast gathered at the 7 Salon with great food, conviviality and conversation.

Andy, our host at the magnificent, huge salon, created a perfect atmosphere - complete with a dj and music that he didn't play so loudly we could actually talk at a reasonable decibel, two bartenders, three film posters strategically placed, tables, glassware, the works.

The food was fantastic - it flew off the plates so we quickly ordered more!

Seattle's film industry folks are known for serving weak, meager, tasteless finger foods; we dished out substantial sustenance for our guests to show them the way to feed guests properly.

Don Woods from the Icicle Ridge Winery in Leavenworth brought his magnificent, award-winning wines for all to taste and drink. A beautiful backdrop graced his table as well.

I got many compliments on the make up job Danyale Cook did for me. Gosh, I hardly recognized myself .. ;-). Lots of photos will be coming soon - I ended up not taking pictures because I was running around so much, but our set photographer took lots of piccies, so I'll share them as soon as Frank sends them to me!

It was a genuine pleasure meeting you blog readers at the reception - Amanda, you looked FAB-ulous! As well as seeing so many of the crew members who made a qualitative and personal difference in making the film. Without them, not only would it not have the quality it does - it wouldn't have the heart. My partner Gary Allen Tucci put it well: we felt like a production family.

And we're all ready to do it over again on our next film THE LONELY GOATHERD as soon as we get the distribution situation taken care of with THE WHOLE TRUTH.

Several folks showed up expecting to buy a ticket when they arrived, only to find there were no more tickets on sale. See how it pays to read my blog? I said tickets were selling out, then sold out right here and they didn't read it.

Many people hoping for "rush" tickets did get seated, however. These are tickets that are sold if there are any seats empty left minutes before the screening.

Because of that, previews and other SIFF business - not to mention me introducing most of our guests - the film started late, and it was already a late screening. Which means it started a little TOO late for most working folks.

But, the comments after the film were wonderful - what a fine film it was; how much they enjoyed it from start to finish, how amazing the music was, how well written, how terrific the performances were, how great the casting, etc. It was all I could have hoped for. The cast, my partner executive producer Gary Allen Tucci, producer Larry Estes and composer Ragnar Rosinkranz all joined me at the front of the room to answer questions and whatever the folks left wanted to say.

Mireille and Caitlin - readers of my blog (you read their comments all the time) and HUGE SPF fans, who flew in from Montreal and the Midwest respectively for the film's WP and will see it again later today(!) at the Wednesday screening - loved the film, got *my* autograph for Louise, a friend of theirs in England and of course spent time with SPF who had a great time entertaining them.

Local folks were impressed with how down to earth Sean is - how fantastic and real all our actors are. But I tend to work with folks who are good people as well - I find them better performers for the very most part.

As for me - to be frank, I was so nervous about how the crowd would react, I was a little distracted - listening for every little chuckle, guffaw, belly laugh, giggle, snort. The thing I was most aware of: there was no fidgeting. This is a good thing.

In a crucial scene that required the audience be silent, a complete hush filled the room. I could not even hear anyone breathing.

I sat between Sean Patrick Flanery and Elisabeth Röhm. Since it was the first time he saw the film, Sean was of course a bit contemplative of his (fantastic) performance and has a soft laugh. Elisabeth was totally relaxed and laughed out loud many times, as did other cast members.

At the end, Sean told me he "Loved it;" that he was "Excited as hell" about the film and its future. Whew. He's a tough critic of his own work and (rightfully) others, so that means a lot to all of us working on and with the film and its distribution.

The audience applauded several times at the end of the film, and because of the late hour, many had to leave at its completion - but several troopers stayed for the q&a with the cast, Gary, Larry, Ragnar and me, which was a lot of fun. I shared a sample of the singing that went on during the shoot. Some of the stuff captured by our sound crew during the shoot will be featured on my blogs as time goes by as well as on the dvd's.

When we left, Elisabeth had to return to relieve her babysitter - she brought her 14-month old. The babysitter noted that Elisabeth's daughter Easton was "amazing." She had never met such a contented toddler - especially after flying! Elisabeth is a phenomenal mom! Easton's dad Ron Wooster was on hand, too for all the festivities - and he's another reason Easton is so well adjusted!

Editor Stephen Myers, Jim Holmes, Rick Overton and I had a sarsaparilla in the bar at their hotel to chat about the film. Everyone considered the film and its premiere a complete success. I think *that* is when I started to breathe again.

Coming home to so many laudatory emails was also rewarding!

OK, well it's going on 3am and I have to get up in just a few hours to rush around running errands with Elisabeth and my assistant Aaron - whose mom came all the way from Yakima to see the film - before the next screening!

To everyone in the audience who shared the world premiere and special evening with us - thank you from the bottom of my heard. You are, after all, the reason we do what we do!