New Poster!

Here's the new poster for THE WHOLE TRUTH - it includes the laurels for both the Seattle International Film Festival as well as the Friars Club Comedy Film Festival - at which we'll be featured this coming Saturday at 3pm in the Paley Center for Media in NYC.

Click on it to get the full blast!

I'll be handing out placards with information to folks in New York City about the film and its screening on one side and the poster photo on the other - joined by John Fugelsang and possibly 2nd assistant director Jessica Hong!

We'll have 2,000 to pass out in several strategic places to advertise the screening and the film itself. With any luck, we'll be meeting with some key distributors as well.

I got my flight information today from the Friars - leaving tomorrow - Wednesday; returning from all the festivities and screening Monday.

It's going to be so much fun - hanging out with Fugelsang for two full days! Plus the luncheons and receptions and other appreciative activities they've planned for the filmmakers. The Friars Club is doing it right - but that's the reason they're establishing this film festival - they believe great comedies have been overlooked and dissed far too long by major awards selections.

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!

Rick Overton and John Fugelsang have their say!

Two American comic geniuses with whom I had the pleasure of working on THE WHOLE TRUTH talk about their experience!

Film distribution

In this still frame from THE WHOLE TRUTH, acting coach Angela Masters (Elisabeth Röhm) coaches a criminal client as lawyer sidekick Brad Sanders (Jim Holmes) approves.

Something special is happening with our movie, thanks to our appearance in the Seattle International Film Festival, my website and blog, the growing numbers of folks watching the trailer on YouTube, the poster for the film, THE WHOLE TRUTH official website, other entertainment websites and blogs, fan sites, word of mouth and "buzz."

We've been contacted by several legitimate film distributors - worldwide (domestic and international), international (outside US) and domestic (US and, usually, Canada).

At this point we're keeping a list of all interested distributors who have contacted us - and will continue to add to that list through our SIFF screenings, as well as including distribution contacts we already have.

We're checking reputations (some promise but don't pay filmmakers their share of the profits, others are spot on fair and honest) and records for supporting and marketing films they have chosen.

Marketing is a big deal. It's a costly endeavor and we can name the films that died because of inappropriate, poor or totally misguided marketing on a roll of toilet paper, there are so many.

I started marketing THE WHOLE TRUTH in a unique way; one that is intended to raise curiosity and promise about the film without giving away the hundreds of surprises contained within. It's also a thriller/screwball comedy whose genres I've turned on their ears, which means that it's, um, different.

I think it's different in a way audiences will love -- but we'll find out if that's true next week, won't we?

We're also looking for a distribution partner, not someone simply wanting to make the most money from just one film, or a "one-off."

We're going to be making films for many years to come, so we want to hook up with a solid distributor who will be with us for the duration. We're only making quality, entertaining films, and we're looking for someone who feels the same way about marketing and distributing quality, entertaining films.

Meanwhile, here is what the SIFF program viewer wrote up about THE WHOLE TRUTH for their catalogue - I think it reveals the tone and texture of the film very well - it's what most distributors unfamiliar with our film are reading:

Angela Masters is an acting coach with an unusual client list.

Instead of catering to Hollywood celebrities, she gives what could be described as personality transplants—“character transformations,” if you will—to accused criminals.

By making her clients appear slightly more sympathetic to juries, Angela has become a specialist in securing acquittals for some decidedly shady characters.

This lucrative enterprise is interrupted when Angela overhears a client she helped set free plan a heinous crime—then she becomes a target for murder.

Portrayed by Elisabeth Röhm, of Law & Order fame, Angela discovers that escaping death and finding who she really is becomes the most expensive—and rewarding—experience of her life.

The plot points resemble those of a pure courtroom thriller, but Seattle director Colleen Patrick, in her feature debut, has turned the genre on its ear to create a fast-paced and hilarious satire about the current state of the legal system.

Billing itself as 'a screwball comedy—with a twist,' the film contains sharp dialogue and strong comic performances.

Filmed at various locations around Seattle and Tacoma, The Whole Truth packs in rapid-fire laughs, but also neatly skewers the sorry state of the American 'justice' system.

Come this weekend, THE WHOLE TRUTH trailer will also be available through the SIFF online catalogue for them to peruse; the official website is already posted.

The Whole Truth is screened!

I'll just say this: it was incredibly successful.

The response was so positive .. and of course we can actually *hear* people laugh, which is the biggest payoff for a comedy.

How difficult it is to sit through a drama you've filmed as the audience sits there tight-lipped - so you never know if they like it until they leave (or you read about it in tomorrow's newspaper).

Stephen Meyers, our editor supreme, and I locked the film today, cutting bits and scenes here and there to make it tighter, a better paced story and staying true to the characters.

I lost two of my favorite scenes. Ow. It hurt to make those decisions. But it has to be done for the sake of a better film. They were fine scenes but the created a small lull in the otherwise fast-paced story. One was just plain downright gorgeous. The other touching.

We'll include them as extras when we create the DVD.

Some of the comments:

"Elisabeth Röhm is phenomenal. She carries the story from the first frame of the film to the last."

"Eric Roberts was unbelievable. I had no idea he could be so f**king funny!"

"I loved Sean Patrick Flanery. He gave the film a real warmth."

"The film is hilarious - and the characters are still believable."

"Loved the music. It was perfect - in the parts where there was music." (The rest of the music is on its way from composer, who will finish scoring the locked film.)

"The film was actually logical. I liked that. Lots of comedies leave logic behind."

"The actors all felt like they were having a great time - like they were having so much fun performing their roles." ('tis true! We all had a wonderful time and want to work together again!)

There were many comments on the excellent acting - straight across the board, from beginning to end - not a weak link in the group.

The most wonderful comments revolved around how entertaining the whole film is - and how it felt like they were seeing a "real movie" - the first they've seen in a long, long time. Our budget may have been limited, but our imaginations and resourcefulness were not. It has the look of a film with a much greater budget - thanks to the whole cast and crew.

Folks left feeling like they were genuinely entertained by a film that didn't take shortcuts or "write down" to its audience or stupid-up the script to get a cheap laugh, even though there are many "over the top" moments.

Producer and hyper critic Larry Estes was in the audience and was *heard* laughing! Executive producer Gary Allen Tucci laughed all the way through the feature. That was *good* news!

Other things viewers loved:

The wardrobe! Rebecca Luke is the general of our clothing batallion in our "aesthetic army!"

The look of the film! Rachel Thomson is our production designer; Ted Barnes the gaffer (lights!)Paul Mailman the DP (camera!), and Greg Smith our grip (action! Moving and coordinating all the electrical cords and stuff).

We can only hope the audience we invite to the January screening feels the same with all the cuts and improvements we've made. We'll also have an elementary sound mix, the proper opening, color correction and special effects included. After that, we have one more go at the edit, proper sound mixing and the film is ready for you to see!

Whew.

Now back to work on pre-production for our next feature, The Lonely Goatherd!