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 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!

Congratulations to our editor!

Congratulations to Stephen Myers, our editor, who edited the documentary short DOWNSTREAM - it's on the short list for an Academy Award nomination.

This after the Pixar documentary feature film he edited received an Emmy nomination!

Tomorrow marks the halfway point of finishing THE WHOLE TRUTH. Stephen says it's cutting together beautifully, that the acting is "excellent."

Whew! Just three more weeks before we hold the wrap party!

I mean ... before we shoot our last scene, of course... Yes, yes. That's what I mean...