THE HAPPY POET is currently selling his wares as part of the Venice Film Festival — but on the horizon, this month, we’ve got a slew of other screenings as well. (and this is just September!)
So, if you happen to be in Brooklyn, New York; Oldenburg, Germany or Cambridge, UK, here’s your chance to see THE HAPPY POET. Please spread the word and let’em know the poet is coming! Writer/Director/Actor Paul Gordon will be in attendance at most of these screenings, and I’ll be at a handful of the screenings in Brooklyn.
THE HAPPY POET will play 3 times in Venice in the coming month — and Writer/Director/Lead Actor Paul Gordon and Producer David Hartstein will be in attendance. This is the film’s INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE and a very, very exciting time for all the folks in our poet camp.
Screening Dates/Times:
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 (Press Screening)
15:00 hours at Sala Volpi
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
18:15 hours at Sala Darsena
Tuesday, September 7th, 2010
22:00 hours at Sala Volpi
THE HAPPY POET will be playing in Austin, TX at the Alamo Drafthouse on Monday, August 30th at 7:00PM. This is one of my all-time favorite places to see a film — and Fandango recently called the Alamo Drafthouse their “Best Overall Theatrical Experience” of 2010. What else do you need to convince you?
Details on the Venue:
Alamo Drafthouse – The Ritz
320 East 6th Street
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 476-1320
THE HAPPY POET has got its International Premiere set — in Venice! We’re incredibly excited to be able to screen the film for the very first time outside of the US. The film will screen as part of Venice Days, which runs from September 1st through September 11th.
From the Official Press Release: The Venice Film Festival’s independently run Venice Days section has unveiled its 12-title largely European lineup comprising nine world preems. Modelled on the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, the Lido’s Venice Days splinter section, now at its seventh edition, will feature works by name auteurs, including Oscar-winning Bosnian helmer Danis Tanovic, Gaul’s Bertrand Blier and Belgium’s Marion Hansel, alongside works by lesser known filmmakers, including four first works. The only U.S. entry unspooling is ultra-indie comedy “The Happy Poet” by Austin helmer Paul Gordon.
And if you’ve got access to the Variety site — you can read the announcement here as well.
I realize there are literally hundreds of film related Kickstarter Campaigns going right now — but I have to throw my arms — and support — around the campaign that Rooftop Films has launched. Mark Rosenberg and Dan Nuxoll run an amazing summer series program (that EXPECTING, LOVERS OF HATE and THE HAPPY POET all played in last 12 months) and above all, at the end of the day, they’re great guys.
If you can give anything, in these tricky economic times, this is an organization incredibly worthy of every dollar you can give. Follow the widget below (or this link) to help out Rooftop.
About Rooftop Films:
Rooftop Films is a New York based non-profit whose mission is to engage diverse communities by showing independent movies in outdoor locations, producing new films, coordinating youth media education, and renting equipment at low cost to artists.
Well, we’ve got a handful of screenings coming up in the next month… THE HAPPY POET is finding his way out there, for sure. If you would, please forward this on to anyone you might know in these different cities… we’re covering a lot of ground in less than a month’s time, so we need all the help we can get in drumming up interest for the Poet!
Traverse City, MI — Friday, July 30th, 2010 at 12:00PM Traverse City Film Festival – Programmed by Michael Moore
July 27th-August 1st, 2010
tickets and more info HERE
Flagstaff, AZ — Opening Night Film, Monday, August 14th, 2010 Flagstaff Film Festival
August 9th-16th, 2010
tickets and more info HERE
Salt Lake City, UT — (our screening time is still TBD) Salt Lake City Film Festival
August 12th-15th, 2010
tickets and more info HERE
On Friday, July 30th, THE HAPPY POET will be playing as part of the 2010 Traverse City Film Festival. The film plays at the Lars Hockstad Auditorium at 301 W. Seventh Street in Traverse City, Michigan on Friday, 7/30 at 12:00PM. Both the writer/director/lead actor Paul Gordon and producer David Hartstein will be in attendance.
To visit the festival’s box office, follow this link.
About Traverse City:
The Traverse City Film Festival is a charitable and educational non-profit organization that holds an annual event in one of the most beautiful areas of the country — Traverse City, Michigan. The festival is committed to showing “Just Great Movies” and helping to save one of America’s few indigenous art forms — the cinema. The sixth annual Traverse City Film Festival will be held July 27 through August 1, 2010.
By all accounts, the screening this past Friday Night of THE HAPPY POET at Rooftop Films in NYC was an outstanding success. (note – due to a very much last minute family emergency in Maine, where I am typing this entry from, I was not able to attend the screening at Rooftop, but was getting text updates throughout).
The total number in attendance for the screening of THE HAPPY POET was somewhere between 600 and 700 people. Many, many thanks go out to Mark Rosenberg, Dan Nuxoll, and the whole Rooftop Films Team — as they continually and consistently have packed-house event-style screenings. I give them a hell of a lot of credit, as it’s really difficult to get people to go out and see a small movie in a theatrical setting these days. So again, many thanks have to be given to both Mark and Dan for all that they do…
And I might add that LOVERS OF HATE also had an amazing screening last weekend as part of the Rooftop Films Summer Series, on June 19th.
Keeping up with writer/director Bryan Poyser’s blog for the most up to date sort of info on LOVERS OF HATE — is a really, really good idea… the film just keeps on truckin’ and he’s doing a much better job (than I am, for instance) of sharing upcoming screening and venue information. So get on over there and get your fill of LOH info!
We’re incredibly excited to be a part of Rooftop’s programming this year – and this is our FIRST public screening outside of Austin, Texas. During the 2010 SXSW Film Festival, the film premiered to rave reviews and had 3 standing room only, sold-out screenings. The event kicks off with Live Music by Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez – followed by a screening of THE HAPPY POET (85 minutes) – and will continue with a open-bar/afterparty at Fontana’s. Writer/Director/Editor/Lead Actor Paul Gordon (aka the Poet) will be in attendance (and I’ll be there as well).
Event Info: Friday, June 25, 2010 / $10 at the door (or online)
Open Road Rooftop: LOWER EAST SIDE / 350 GRAND ST., NEW YORK, NY 10002
8:00PM – Doors Open / 8:30PM – Live music by Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez 9:00PM – Film begins / 11:30PM – After-party: Open Bar at Fontana’s (105 Eldridge St.) Courtesy of Radeberger Pilsner
And if you still need convincing — this what a few folks have to say about the film:
“My favorite movie so far at this year’s SXSW is a little comedy, at once wistful and wonderfully dry-witted, called The Happy Poet. Shot here in Austin the film tells the story of one debt-ridden man who attempts to change his lousy fortunes by opening up a vegetarian food stand. It sounds modest. It is modest! But damned if my heart didn’t swell during the film’s great climax to say nothing of the last shot that left me touched to the point of tears. Austin filmmaker Paul Gordon, who wrote, directed, edited and starred in the movie ought to be mighty pleased with himself.” -Karen Valby, Entertainment Weekly
“The Happy Poet, a deadpan charmer directed by Austin filmmaker Paul Gordon, moves along at the brisk pace of a light romantic comedy. Gordon stars as a loner hoping to turn his organic food cart into a success, but the finances never come together. (There’s probably a helpful metaphor here for the state of the independent film itself – trimmed down and in business against all odds…) Everything about The Happy Poet is cheerily conventional, save for Gordon’s hilariously monotonous delivery, an ironic performance that incessantly contradicts the movie’s title.” -Eric Kohn, IndieWIRE
“Admittedly, the film’s muted rhythms take a little getting used to, but once you’re acclimated to Gordon’s long takes and just-short-of-painful pauses between reactions, it’s easy to understand and sympathize with Bill’s ambition…Even better, the film’s dry sense of humor belies sincerity, rather than the kind of ironic detachment that seems to pop up frequently in independent films…The Happy Poet is a modest, funny little charmer – a textbook ‘independent film’ in many ways – but it’s got the romantic heart of a mainstream movie, which is why you want to see its dreams become reality, and after watching it, you feel like yours can, too.” -Todd Gilchrist, Cinematical
“Director/star Paul Gordon’s film is right up my alley, which is to say that I tend to revel in the awkward…The Happy Poet is nothing but awkward, a slice-of-life tale about a weird guy who feels that he should sell organic, mostly vegetarian food out of a hot dog cart…I really, truly dug it.” -Mark Bell, Film Threat
“If Slacker defined the shaggy eccentricities of Austin life circa the early ’90s, then Gordon’s similarly low-key comedy is a delightful, deadpan reappraisal of the town’s prototypical charm some two decades later. …What makes the film so winsome, beyond a lively supporting cast of believable kooks, is Gordon’s sincerity, both as a performer and filmmaker.” -Aaron Hillis, Greencine Daily
On Thursday, June 3rd, we’re throwing a big event/fundraiser for THE HAPPY POET. 2 Screenings of the film (7:30pm and 9:30pm) will take place at the Marchesa in Austin, TX. We’ll have DVDs, tee shirts, buttons and all sorts of other goodies available — many of the cast and crew will be in attendance. Should be a helluva good time! Come on out and support the poet!
Playing as part of ROOFTOP FILMS wonderful summer series, THE HAPPY POET will be playing in New York City on Friday, June 25th at 8:00pm. Many of the cast/crew will be in attendance, including writer/director/lead actor Paul Gordon, producer David Hartstein, actor/co-producer Jonny Mars, and yours truly.
My short film, EXPECTING, played at Rooftop in 2009 — and I had an absolute blast attending the screening and seeing the film with a standing-room-only crowd. Mark Rosenberg and Dan Nuxoll run a great screening series — and they’re able to program great works, from all over the world.
Tickets are available for the June 25th screening of THE HAPPY POET via Rooftop’s Ticket Page.
For more information, check out THE HAPPY POET page on Rooftop Films’ site.
We’re constantly updating news about THE HAPPY POET in a couple of different places… but for now, the most up to date info can be found on our facebook page. Jump on over and become a fan of the poet!
I’ve posted a couple of collections of press breaks for THE HAPPY POET (set 1 here and set 2 here) — and here are the final couple of post-SXSW press mentions.
Cinematical “Because The Happy Poet is a modest, funny little charmer – a textbook “independent film” in many ways – but it’s got the romantic heart of a mainstream movie, which why you want to see its dreams become reality, and after watching it, you feel like yours can, too.”
Slackerwood Wrap-Up “Paul Gordon’s story and performance really resonated with me, I was rooting for Bill and his clueless perseverance of wanting something better for himself and others was disarming. The Happy Poet is a great example of the power and value of “small” films worthy of greater attention.”
Blog Review “Man, I loved this indie gem of a movie about a poet, saddled with student loans after finishing a Masters in Creative Writing, who decides to open an organic food stand (named The Happy Poet) to make ends meet.”
We’ve got a couple of new poet announcements to make… but we need to keep them under wraps for a little bit longer. Check back real soon though.
Well, I posted our first round of reviews during our SXSW run of THE HAPPY POET. Here’s the second round of what folks had to say about the movie.
Hollywood Elsewhere “Writer/director/star Paul Gordon plays Bill, a man with uncommon intellect who can’t bring himself to submit to an “ordinary” life. He decides to open up an organic food cart called “The Happy Poet” to compete against the flood of indistinguishable hot dog stands littered across Austin. He picks up a following and a couple of assistants, and things hum along nicely. He meets an attractive young woman who digs poetry and what he’s trying to do with his food cart. Going further than that would spoil the movie. The thing I like most about Poet is that it’s about something. It puts forward a forceful argument about the power of an individual to affect change in the world. Few films try to do this anymore, and even fewer do so effectively. In a way, the various people and institutions that surround him with doubt and pessimism awaken a sleeping, mostly-vegetarian and organic giant.”
Smells Like Screen Spirit “I think The Happy Poet is currently enjoying its position as my favorite film of SXSW 2010 (though Cyrus, Putty Hill and Lovers of Hate are not far behind). I think part of the reason that I enjoyed The Happy Poet so much was because I actually related to the lead character, Bill (Paul Gordon), and that character was so perfectly written for Gordon by Gordon. The Happy Poet is a perfect example of a writer and director knowing their own strengths and range as an actor.”
indieWIRE “The Happy Poet,” a deadpan charmer directed by Austin filmmaker Paul Gordon, moves along at the brisk pace of a light romantic comedy. Gordon stars as a loner hoping to turn his organic food cart into a success, but the finances never come together. (There’s probably a helpful metaphor here for the state of independent film itself—trimmed down and in business against all odds—but that’s probably taking things too far.) Everything about “The Happy Poet” is cheerily conventional, save for Gordon’s hilariously monotonous delivery, an ironic performance that incessantly contradicts the movie’s title.”
Well, after two wonderful, sold out screenings of THE HAPPY POET, we’re starting to generate a lot of great press — as well as serious interest in the film. Here are a few of our first press breaks, with many, many more to come! You’ve got one more chance to see the film at SXSW — Thursday, March 18th at the Alamo Ritz at 6:15PM.
EntertainmentWeekly.Com “My favorite movie so far of this year’s SXSW is a little comedy, at once wistful and wonderfully dry-witted, called the Happy Poet. Shot here in Austin the film tells the story of one debt-ridden man who attempts to change his lousy fortunes by opening up a vegetarian food stand. It sounds modest. It is modest! But damned if my heart didn’t swell during the film’s great climax—to say nothing of the last shot that left me touched to the point of tears.”
Slackerwood (review #2) “I have to say that The Happy Poet is my favorite film so far at SXSW. Writer/director/star Paul Gordon’s delivery are very deadpan yet reflect the earnest wish of a man with little resources and no food service experience to open up an organic food stand. The cast is a charming ensemble, all portraying characters rooting for Bill (Gordon) as he struggles to start a business and find his voice.”
Film Threat “Director/star Paul Gordon’s film is right up my alley, which is to say that I tend to revel in the awkward. I like the type of films that have characters that are so embarrassingly awkward that most normal people can’t watch out of a sympathy for the feelings of the characters… which usually means I’m laughing and enjoying the fuck out of myself at the same expense of said characters. “The Happy Poet” is nothing but awkward, a slice-of-life tale about a weird guy who feels that he should sell organic, mostly vegetarian health food out of a hot dog cart on the outskirts of an Austin, TX park, His severe lack of social skills, coupled with such a random dream of healthy convenience food, make for tons of awkward moments and… I really, truly dug it.”
Slackerwood “The Happy Poet is the kind of indie film that puts Hollywood to shame — a low-key comedy with a simple story that leaves you with a smile. The comedy isn’t outrageously insulting, and the protagonist isn’t hamming it up to force laughs. Instead, it’s a genuine story that people can relate to, carnivores and vegetarians alike. With the food-stand renaissance Austin is enjoying these days, Bill’s dream of micro-entrepreneurship is particularly topical. But it’s not about the food, it’s about the dream, the perserverance to realize it, and the people who matter along the way. The Happy Poet is a contemporary American Dream with a Keep Austin Weird twist that will make you wish there was a Happy Poet food cart near you. So far it’s my favorite of SXSW 2010.”
FlickSided.com “…Austinite Paul Gordon has served up my favorite of SXSW in this comedy about an organic food stand that feels, well, organic. Gordon stars as Bill, the Happy Poet, an insecure dude with a graduate degree in creative writing trying to find his way. Gordon’s dry personality and natural acting style carry the film. But it’s his co-star Jonny Mars — as Donnie, a delivery boy who delivers at least a laugh a minute — who steals the show…”
The Scorecard Review “This is the little gem I was looking for. Big fan of this film. The humor comes from the non-humor of Paul Gordon. Incredibly dry, yet you cheer for him to succeed.”
Make A Stand. I think it’s a great tagline.
Big shout-outs to Jason Wehling and Jonny Mars for doing a lot of the hard work getting this created and finished… The final poster for THE HAPPY POET.
And if you haven’t already, sign up for updates and franchise information over at THE HAPPY POET’S official site. And what the hell… become our friend on facebook too.
I’ve been working with THE HAPPY POET team as we get ready for the World Premiere — 2 weeks from tomorrow. We’re in that time period that is the amazing onslaught of finalizing everything pretty quickly, but working with Paul, Dave, Jonny, Jason — and now publicist Matt Johnstone — has been a treat and I am really and truly excited to see how the film plays when it’s unleashed to the world. Paul Gordon (as actor/writer/director/producer/editor) has such an amazing/unique comedic film ‘voice’ — that getting to see his film with a crowd — will be really, really intriguing. And the tagline is pretty stellar… MAKE A STAND.
More info coming real soon, but here are some screening times for our 3 screenings at SXSW.
Paul Gordon’s new film has an upcoming Narratives-in-Progress on January 27th. (sadly, I won’t be in Austin to attend). Register at austinfilm.org to check it out. Attendance is free, but seating is limited.
The details (from the AFS website)
Wednesday, Jan 27 @ 7 PM
Austin Studios Screening Room (1901 E. 51st St.)
About the film:
THE HAPPY POET follows a one-time poet’s attempt to run a successful vegetarian foodstand despite pressure to sell something easier—hot dogs. Complications with the foodstand jeopardize budding friendships as well as Bill’s sense of self-worth and faith in humanity.
About the Narratives-in-Progress series
Filmmakers screen their “rough cuts” (or “near-fine-cuts”) for a filmmaker-member audience, and receive constructive comments and feedback. The meetings are moderated by experienced Austin film professionals. Participants will be expected to agree to confidentiality regarding the film and the comments received, as the films to be screened have not been finalized. Read more here>>
