Film Score Focus on Eulogy Maker 89.5 KMFA!

Brian Satterwhite, who did the music for Eulogy Maker, is going to be highlighting the music from the film on his show, Film Score Focus on 89.5 KMFA, this Friday December 31^stat 8pm and Sunday January 2nd at 7pm, or stream it live via the internet at kmfa.org. Brian is brilliant and his show is awesome. The music he did for the film is outstanding and I highly encourage you to check it out!

I wanna go to Alaska!!

It would be so wonderful to go to this festival!! It has awesome buzz and Eulogy Maker is screening three (3!) times in their Best of Super Shorts competition. I wish I could be there to thank everyone for supporting independent film, and especially thank the Anchorage Film Festival. If anyone has an extra ticket to Alaska just drop me a line!

Some things don't come naturally for me, like mornings and afternoons.

Anchorage Film Festival

I'm thrilled that Eulogy Maker is an official selection for the Anchorage Film Festival, and in their Super Shorts competition! They're screening my film three(!!!) times and with a festival log line of "Films worth freezing for!" what's not to love! I wish I could go.

Orlando Film Fest

Eulogy Maker

Official Selection

Orlando Film Festival.

3:00pm, Sunday November 7th.

Plaza Cinema Cafe

Orlando Florida.

Austin Film Festival 2010

My short film Eulogy Maker, had it's premier at Austin Film Festival this past weekend and what a great screening! At times I thought I was going to fall over dead from nerves, but it was overall thrilling and wonderful. Most of the time I was just thinking "Wow, that's my beautiful little film up there."

Thanks to everyone for who came out to see it. I'm so happy it did well and was so well received.

THANKS!

Next up Orlando Film Festival!!

Eulogy Maker World Premier!!

Eulogy Maker is having its World Premier at Austin Film Festival, Saturday, 3pm at the Arbor Theater and on Sunday at 5:30 at the Hideout!! It's in the Family Series Showcase, so all of the short films are family friendly. Bring the kids, but get their at least 30 minutes before the screening to make sure everyone gets a seat. These thing can sell out!!

See you soon!!! (I'm so excited!!)

CANCERPANTS

CANCERPANTS: At the crossroads of life & breast cancer, a woman becomes a warrior.

Recently, I got my results from my scans/blood work, and thankfully(!), I continue to be in remission from cancer (7 months)!!! With this in mind, I ask my friends to consider lending financial support to help offset post-production expenses for CANCERPANTS, a doc that my friend Nevie is making. It is real and brave and expresses many things I felt in my own journey with cancer.

Thanks everyone for being so awesome !

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1559662955/cancerpants-at-the-crossroads-of-life-and-breast-c

AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL

I am very happy to announce that Eulogy Maker has been accepted into Austin Film Festival!! How wonderful that my little film will be having it’s world premier, at such a prestigious film festival and in my home town too!

You can catch it at the Arbor 3pm on Saturday October 23rd and at the Hideout 5:30pm on Sunday October 24th.

These days I’ve been focused on writing and submitting my short film Eulogy Maker to film festivals, but I am also an actress and a few weeks ago, I was cast as Mrs. Schnabel the Home Ec teacher in ABC’s, My Generation. If you’re unfamiliar with the premise of the show, it’s “an hour long comedy-drama and mockumentary that follows the lives of members of a Texas high school 10-years after they graduated. The fresh new series catches up with a group of young adults whose lives were being filmed for a documentary just before their high school graduation from Greenbelt High School in Austin, Texas in 2000. They realize their dreams didn’t turn out as planned. Takes place in present day with flashbacks from their high school days and years leading up to the present.”
Tonight is the premier of the show and even though I’m not in the pilot, I’m trying hard not to be nervous. I mean, it’s out of my hands, but still, I’m hoping it rocks!
Anyway, I just wanted to post that this shoot was great. I’ve been lucky that almost every job I’ve been on, the cast, crew and director have been pretty nice, but this set was beyond nice. Everyone was super friendly, supportive and really fun. The whole atmosphere was positive and enthusiastic. I loved that Jamie King who plays Jackie Vachs, was fun, easy and gracious to work with in our scene. Then while in hair and make up we talked about her work on these incredible PSA on cancer awareness and my own struggles with cancer. I loved that Sebastian Sozzi, who plays The Falcon, was super fun in our scene with changing things up (and I really appreciated that he invited me to sit at his table for lunch, so I didn’t have to stand there and feel like a dork). And I have to say that I completely loved the director Stephen Fay. He is the nicest, coolest, actor’s director and I would be thrilled to work for him again, anytime and anywhere!
Keeping my fingers crossed that this show will be around for a long time and that my Texas actors and crew friends will get to work on this series!

Busy with FIlm, TV and Kids

It’s been kinda busy. Actually, very busy and I haven’t had much time to blog about what’s going on with acting, film making, parenting and life in general. What gives? Well, I spent too much time playing and procrastinating this summer, and fell behind in getting the kids ready for school. Then I had to hurry and get my short film Eulogy Maker submitted to several more film festivals before their deadlines shot up in price (do not miss the early bird entry date!), then I dropped everything to audition for the new ABC show My Generation. Then I got a call back for the show, but I didn’t hear anything more about it and got back to the kids and their school needs. Then I got the call that I had been cast! Which made me very super fantastically happy.
So it’s been kinda busy. And soon, I’ll post something about how it all went on the My Generation set and what’s going on with my new film Eulogy Maker!!

Nerves

There is a moment before I get on set, where I really wrestle with my nerves. My heart pounds and I think things like, “What are you doing? You don’t want to be here! You hate pressure. You're going to forget all your lines! You're going to screw up and embarrass you acting coach and fellow actors and yourself and your friends and family and… “
Then I think very loudly in my head. “SHUT UP!!” I want to be here more than just about anything in the world, I deserve to be here. And I love this! This is what I do.” And I have this calming feeling and I know it will be alright.
I know I am ready.

Every Night

Every night, once I’ve closed my eyes to sleep, I start telling myself a story. It’s usually one or two that I’ve been sorting out during the day or from previous weeks. For the most part, I just let it bubble up from my subconscious. I try not to analyze things like shot angles, color palettes, costumes, lighting, etc., because it’s already there in the story and if I work too hard thinking about it, I’m taken out of it. So I drift into a different world, where the characters from my imagination, seem to desperately want to tell me something important. Something that is pivotal in their lives. They lead me into dreams, they have adventures, and they become real. As real as you and me.
One day I will bring them and their story to life for everyone to see, and I hope I will tell it truthfully, and beautifully, and I will not disappoint them.

Summer Time

Summer Time

Two weeks left of summer. Two little, they-will-fly-by-in-a-heartbeat, weeks. As usual, there wasn’t enough time from the end of one school year, to the beginning of the next school year, to hurry up and relax. (But “not enough time” is a daily problem, so I shouldn’t be surprised that it’s a seasonal problem.)
I did get a few things done this summer though, which I’m very happy about – I finished the application for the Texas Film Makers Fund and hopefully I’ll get some grant money. I wrapped up my short film Eulogy Maker and it’s now been submitted to 14 film festivals and counting (hence the need for some grant money!), I took the kids to Europe and showed them some sights and visited with special friends whom I love dearly. I worked on the house and we finally replaced our truck that had been totaled.

Which leaves me now with only two weeks left of summer, a craving for Nutella crapes, missing my German friends, need to hurry for back-to-school supplies/clothes/etc., for the kids, and the realization that I didn’t finish any of my scripts.

So I didn’t get to relax, but let’s face it - for me, relaxing is stressful. Which means it’s been a great summer!!

kinda getting a little tired

I don’t mean to sound like I’m complaining, but I’m getting tired of not quite being done with the film. It’s getting so that I cringe when someone asks me how it’s going and I reply that it’s almost done, and then I realize I told them the same thing a 3 months ago. This film making stuff is so complicated and it takes so loooong. Don’t get me wrong - I love writing, the excitement of getting ready for the shoot , the thrill of being on set, seeing it put together in editing and then finally having it come together in post with music, sound mixing and color correction. But I’m really getting tired of it taking week after week, month after month, to get done. Of course this is what happens when you don’t have studio money, and your thankful for any and everything that people will do. (I am so very thankful!!!)
Please, oh please little film, please be done soon. Please be done in time for me to submit it to the Austin Film Festival. Please be done, so that I can finally stop worrying about it and thinking about it and hoping it will turn out as beautiful as I know it can be. And most importantly, please be done so I can start this crazy, exciting process all over again!!

Picture Lock for Eulogy Maker

Every Sunday for the past two months, my producer Nancy Gresham, and I have sat down in my office for eight to ten hours to edit my short film Eulogy Maker. Since the film is only about five minutes, that means we’ve spent between 10 and 15 hours on editing for each minute. O.K. so there were a few hours in there were we grabbed dinner downstairs, or chatted about wonderful silly girl stuff, but even if it’s on the low side, say 10 hours a minute, that’s still a huge amount of time. But it’s all good! We went through each shot and every bit of footage with a fine tooth comb. We moved scenes around, shaved frames here and there, looked for just the right expression or turn of the head, or which foot is taking a step and then looked through it again. We scrutinized and even agonized over every little thing. Was a cut away necessary or just in because it was a beautiful shot? Should the walking scene go here or there. What about the house shot, what about the pacing? When we had something to show, we would send it to our friends for comments and start all over again the next Sunday.

To put it mildly, editing Eulogy Maker has been an eye opener in efficiency. A shot can be unbelievably beautiful, but if it doesn’t move the story forward, it shouldn’t be in there. Everything must support the story and everything is story. Editing has also been a lesson in tough love. Nothing quite like cutting a cherished shot. (Who knew editing could be so heart breaking! )

So I am happy to announce that I’ve finally reached picture lock. It looks great and I’m thrilled and proud of it. I really love this little film and it’s starting to show through.

NINJA JAMES AND THE BEAST BOY

If you happen to be in Harrisburg, PA, check out the screening of Ninja James and the Beast Boy at the Artsfest Film Festival, Saturday May 29th at 1pm.

Patience

I wish my film was done and ready to be sent out, but it’s not. I’m still editing and even after that, it needs to go back to different folks for titles and credits, color correction, original music and sound editing. I realize now, that I was terribly naive to think that I understood film making enough to complete this one in a few months. I knew I would need a good story(check), talented crew and actors (check, check), beautiful location (check), and commitment to the project (check!), but I didn’t realize it would take so much time and I’d need so much patience! (nada, zip, zilch).

Fortunately though, when I’ve committed to a project, I’m stubborn enough to see it through to the end no matter what. But I’m also really lucky, in that there are folks in my life, that are pulling for me. They are there with words of encouragement to finish this film, to keep on acting and writing, to make more films … They pull me out of the details and show me the big picture.

Thanks!!

Good, Bad and Bitchy

Just can’t seem to get going on my blog these days (or I should say these weeks).

I’m getting a website, biz cards etc with links to this blog and I’m supposed to report happy, cheerful news and blog about how my filmmaking and actress career are going great. But that’s not what I do - I blog about what’s going on in my life, the funny and sad and I throw in some complaining every now and then. It’s who I am and this blog is a very simple extension of … well, me. The good, the bad and the bitchy.

So here is some of all of that:

Bitchy Part : Everything is going in super slow motion. For a person who would rather be traveling at 90 miles an hour, 6 days a week (7^th day is rest ya know), this lack of momentum feels more like suffocation.

Bad Part: I have decided to be selfish and put my needs as a film maker ahead of other family members. Hence the pile of dishes, laundry, still unrepaired crack in the ceiling, unpaid bills and no food in the fridge.

Good Part: Little by little, I am learning and making films. By not allowing frustration to deter my ambitions, I am currently working on three short screenplays, and my last short film is nearing it’s completion date. I’m working with creative, giving, positive people and ultimately I’m grateful to not be dealing with cancer, so that I can hold and play and laugh with my children, and focus on living a creative life.

grrr.

I had planned to shoot my next film in May, but I’m not ready and May is just around the corner. Once again time snuck up on me. I know I’ve been really busy - Making Spring Break plans and submitting Ninja James and the Beast Boy to film festivals, and working with my kids on their projects and driving them places, and working on Eulogy Maker in post and researching cars to replace our old decrepit wheezing ford explorer (plus doing a hell of a lot of daydreaming about making films and acting and working on a set!). But I wasn’t working on my screenplay. Grrr. enough whining, I need to get writing!!!

EULOGY MAKER

Here's the opening shot from my short film Eulogy Maker. The photo is a little stretched, but you get an idea of the look and feel of the film.
I'm really proud of the way it's coming together and I can't wait until it's finished and sent out into the world.
Just a few more weeks of editing...

Copies ready for you!!

Cast and Crew and Everyone who helped in the making of Ninja James and the Beast Boy,

Thank you so much for all of your hard work, effort and patience. We greatly appreciate everything you did to help put this film together!!

We now have copies available for everyone(!!), and they are ready to be picked up or if you're out of town, I can get it to you snail mail.

Let me know (email me or leave a reply here) and I’ll get back with you. J

THANKS!!!!

!!!YEAH!!!

Leslie

NINJA JAMES AND THE BEAST BOY

I’m very super incredibly happy to report that Ninja James and the Best Boy is back on track!! The DVD’s should be available to cast and crew in the next few weeks and I am in the process of submitting it to the film festivals.

Congrats to everyone who contributed to the making of this little film and thank you for your time and patience.

Learning Then and Now

When I was little, learning was often a process of overcoming the difficulty of sitting still long enough, to focus on rather boring material. I enjoyed writing or performing, because those were imaginary wonderful worlds, but facts and figures never stayed concrete for long. Soon equations would start making up their own stories and by the end of the assignment, the numerators were the pompous elitists and didn’t realize that the denominators were plotting to overthrow them. Seven times six equaled 42, which sat under the eves in a rain storm, while Eight was a large medieval ogre that bullied and intimidated the lower numbers. Fortunately the Nines were angels that curved protectively around the others and helped deliver them to the land of Tens. Wonderful strong Tens. The first little numbers that used the buddy system.

Needless to say - I didn’t go far in math and sciences.

Jump ahead by a whole bunch of years, and while I have conquered basic math and can even balance a spreadsheet, I’m learning about a whole new world that is taking my love of make-believe and stories and turning them into images for other. I’m learning how to write and make movies. Not in a formal setting, but in every film I work on, with each screenplay I write, and on each set I’m lucking enough to be on. My material is my life, my teachers are my friends and it’s a school I’ll be enrolled in for the rest of my life.

Words and Me

Words to Remember:

When auditioning – The more I want it, the more I’ll screw it up.

When acting – Be in the moment. Nothing else matters.

When parenting – Kids are not little extensions of yourself or anyone else.

When living – Don’t lose sight of the big picture.

More Words to Remember:

Where you are today was through your own choices.

Being vulnerable allows life to happen through you.

Already, you are what you want to be. Your actions allow everyone else to see it.

Thinking too much replaces living.

FEARLESS

My New Year’s Resolution word for 2010 is FEARLESS. It is a word that will be with me all year and if I’m lucky, it will stick with me for the rest of my life.

The really neat thing about this word, is that it gets stronger the more you share it. So I’m giving this word to you. Yes, you! Completely and unconditionally.

Now you are fearless too.

Fearless feels great.