HEY EVERYONE!!!
I’m happy to announce Lovely, Still will be playing this Saturday at the Chicago film festival.
Saturday – October 17th – 5:00 PM
Martin and I will both be in attendance. Martin is receiving a lifetime achievement. Both my film, as well as North by Northwest (By Hitchcock!!) on Sunday the 17th, will be played. What an honor!
What are we gonna do with all the undistributed films? More and more I get articles and stories sent to me about the state of independent films and how none can attain distribution. Good, interesting, unique and inspiring works are being disregarded. Why? It’s easy – Nobody goes and sees them. They aren’t a good investment and the people who run distribution companies don’t love films. They are businessmen. So what do we do now? What do the people who strive to push this medium in a new direction do? The people who want this art form to not disappear and become TV. It is hard. But the truth is – We can’t blame the business. We have to blame the people who are not interested in having a new filmatic experience.
I decided to be a filmmaker when I was 15 for one reason. When I left the theater, after watching a powerful film (New or Old), I felt completely different than the way I walked in. If the movie made me sad, happy, confused, anything I felt satisfied. To feel a new feeling is more valuable then all the money in the world. I worry that not enough people strive for this. I feel nothing when leaving the theater after watching a mainstream film.
So here we are now. On the brink of something new. As more studios shut down the independent/artistic arms of their businesses and distributors stop buying more and more films we step closer to change. What will the new movement be? What will be the next change? The next creative new? It is up to us to answer this question. I’m just putting the questions out there. The sooner we figure it out – The sooner it begins and I promise you – the feelings it will bring will be priceless. Prepare. Think. Create.
Both screenings went great as well as the Q&As Martin and I did afterward. This was the first official US screening of the film with the new psychedelic dreams. They looked amazing on that huge three story Marcus Theaters screen and on a 35mm print! YES!!!!! We also got standing ovations at both screenings. And I hugged lots of people young and old. Mostly old.
Check out that picture above! We had a line wrapped around the block. BLOCKBUSTER! ALSO, HERE IS A GREAT WRITE UP.
Hey yall! Lovely, Still is playing tonight at the Milwaukee Film Festival.
It’s playing at 7:00 PM at North Shore Cinema. Both Martin and I will be there to hang out and talk about filmmaking.
See you there! If you mention this blog I will give you a huge hug.
Nik
Role in Lovely, Still: Composers of the score
I met Mike and Nate about 6 years ago in Lincoln, NE when Mike had a studio there. They were both then and still are very well known for their role as two thirds of the band Bright Eyes. Many years before we even touched Pre-Production of Lovely, Still (I’m talking maybe 4 or 5 years ago) Mike and Nate signed on to score it. Being a Bright Eyes fan I was very eager to work with these two geniuses. And Geniuses they are. No bullshit. Let me break it down.
MIKE MOGIS
For starters, look how bad ass Mike looks! We recorded the entire score in his amazing studio behind his house. While Nate is very quiet, Mike is always full of energy and talking at the speed of a brain- which creates this amazing dynamic between the two. Mike has produced some of the most amazing records and most notably created the sound for a lot of the Omaha music scene. The guy works like an artist and really allows the creative thoughts to flow. Every day he had a new idea and something groundbreaking to share. As well as working with Nate composing – Mike also recorded and mixed the score.
Mike has a new band he is in called Monsters of Folk with Conor Oberst, Jim James and M. Ward. Check them out HERE.
NATE WALCOTT
Working with Nate Walcott blew my mind. To see him at work was like watching… Well, I didn’t really see him at work. But I can imagine it was really intense and similar to that movie Amadeus. You can hear Nate’s work in all of the arrangements on any of the Bright Eyes records. The last record, Cassadaga, was my favorite in regards to showing off Nate’s distinctive craft. His sound and use of melody are truly unique and his talent as a musician and composer make me go weak in the knees. I can honestly say working with Nate was a complete honor. One of my favorite memories of shooting Lovely, Still was when he came to set. He was getting the vibe and energy of the film so he could begin writing the score. It was our last day of shooting and he ended up staying all day and night (A whole 20 hours) until we wrapped at 9 in the morning. At that point I really felt he was part of the team and new anything he wrote would be perfect. And it was.
Enjoy.
I updated the music section with some songs from the newly inspired record. Enjoy.
Journal Entry 2/12/09
“Upon gazing at the stars outside of the city”
First, I must allow myself to concentrate.
Looking up into the stars…. They are placed there to mystify us. To help guide us in the myth creation process. Myths, helping us to build our societies. Imagination and creativity are natural tools our species has to create the unknown and push creation forward. We must create the unknown to justify our own survival. The stars above are a bigger part of the nature creation process. They are a distraction… a beautiful distraction. Helping us to manifest ourselves and the world we create. But beyond the stars. The distractions build new distractions which build new distractions. Because the universes is a living thing and must survive too. The stars are an illusion of nature to help other planets survive and grow. All a process within this un-mammalian colossus.
All of us are a part of a bigger design. It is beautiful. But the beauty is just a distraction, like the stars. All meant to inspire creativity. The awe that keeps us moving. To survive. To feed the universe.
So great news! The investors and producers have decided now is the time to start putting Lovely, Still in festivals! This is great news for me as I get to travel around going to them. It is great news for you if you live near any of the places it will be screening (not in competition).
For sure, in October, it will be screening in Milwaukee (cool), Chicago (radical!), Las Vegas (Get wasted!) and Brazil (Adventure!) .
The dates for the Milwaukee Film Festival are ;
Saturday, October 3 at 7:00 PM
Sunday, October 4 at 1:15 PM
I will be there doing a Q&A. More exact dates coming soon.
I turned 25 over the weekend. What an intense feeling. To have written a film while 17, directed it at 23 and then sat on it til 25. Time has a way of being sneaky.
I had lunch with Martin Landau today at a diner in LA. We talked about how film has changed over the last 50 years and we both agree that this generation in film is by far the worst. “They used to at least try and make good movies. Now it’s just opening weekends.” The people running this thing used to at least have an interest in film, but now it’s been taken over by businessmen. Businessmen who get fired if they say “yes” and promoted if they say “no”. Whole things run on a fear of not loosing a job, not if a film is good or not. But, I suppose it can’t help itself. Money is a beautiful religion. On the bright side, all things will eventually change and move. It’s exciting to be a filmmaker now. The industry is so horrible that the only thing it is capable of is getting better and I want to be a part of that process.
Had a few secret showings of the film to close friends this weekend. Reminded me of how much I love to show it and how great it will feel to show it to a larger audience. I am contimplating the idea of going on a tour this fall. Going from state to state with the film and having secret screenings in each city. That sounds like it would be a lot of fun for me.
Hey everyone,
I have to take a short break for a few days. I’m playing lead again for Derek Pressnall’s band Flower Forever and we have a show tomorrow. I gotta learn 8 new songs in three days. A new Behind the Scenes video will be up on Monday. Thanks for waiting (If anyone is actually reading this thing).
Nik
