Last night we had a test screening of my new film, Melvin. 

Test screenings, by their very nature, are really tricky beasts to tangle with emotionally and intellectually.  But I really have to say, there is a MONUMENTAL difference between seeing the film all by your lonesome in a dark room — and sitting in a room watching the film, presented as a film, with other people watching it with you.  I felt hyper-aware and I felt like I could literally feel when the energy of the room was up or down or in between.  It’s an all together mind-bending sort of experience… and as I do them more and more in my filmmaking life, the feeling of hyper-awareness hasn’t gone away at all.

That all said, the feedback and comments were thought-provoking and helped solidify the what’s working and what needs a little more love kind of choices. I’m reminded of an article in Filmmaker Magazine awhile back that said, “Don’t make your festival premiere your first test screening.” I feel like we haven’t with Melvin — and as a result, we’re going to have a better film.

Many, many thanks to the folks who shared a couple of hours in a dark room watching Melvin and I on our journey.

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

For more info, check out the Venice Days site.

The Happy Poet – Official Trailer from Chris Ohlson on Vimeo.

SCREAMING will screen as part of the closing night program, The Texas Show, at the 23rd Annual Dallas Videofest in Dallas, Texas on Sunday, September 26th.  Bart Weiss, the director of festival, has been gracious to enough to screen a lot of my work over the years.  And honestly, I am always excited to see what makes up The Texas Show, as Bart programs and sheds light on works from in and around Texas that I sometimes don’t hear about or stumble across on my own.

Here’s the official blurb about the Texas Show showcase:
Its been the closing night program for 23 years. We take all the shorts submitted that were made, directed or produced by Texans and have an independent jury select the best of Texas shorts. Usually a collection of dramas, comedies, documentaries, and experimental work it offers the diversity as big as… well you know.

And the official blurb about Videofest:
SEPT 23-26, 2010 Angelika Film Center, Mockingbird Station, Dallas
For twenty-three years The VideoFest been a celebration of vision and technology.  VideoFest has a long history of exhibiting work from outsiders.  Some of them have become more familiar then others over the years.  VideoFest special guests have been stars such as: Terry Gilliam(12 Monkeys), Paul Ruebens (Pee Wee), Robert Smigel (TV Fun House), Steve Allen (TV Host), Albert Maysles (Grey Gardens), just to name a few.

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

Purchase tickets HERE.

I wanted to share some great news about Gregory Collins and his new film THOKOZANI.

Some quick backstory…  Gregory and I have been friends for years — and collaborators nearly the entire time.  We’ve helped out on each other’s short films, talked constantly about new projects, and sketched out a handful of upcoming feature scripts together.  Gregory is also one of the reasons that MELVIN was created — he helped kick it all off.  (and hell, we debated having him the play the lead character in MELVIN, for awhile)

So, I am incredibly happy to share, that his first feature film, THOKOZANI, will be the Opening Night Film of the 2nd Annual Malawi International Film Festival.   THOKOZANI will kickoff a 4-day event that describes itself as “Beyond Imagination.”

Gregory shot THOKOZANI in Malawi, literally pulling together a cast and crew from the community he was living among.   The film is truly ‘A Love Story From Malawi’ — and I couldn’t be happier that Gregory’s film will have its World Premiere in the country of its creation.  If you’d like to keep up with the film, jump on over to its facebook page.

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!

San Antonio, TX — Saturday, July 24th, 2010 @ 8:00PM
San Antonio – Unit B Gallery
free screening, more info HERE

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.

I’m late getting this out, as the date/time of the screening has shifted around a little bit…
But, I am happy to report that THE OVERBROOK BROTHERS is playing in San Francisco as part of LOL-SF: A Celebration of Comedy On Screen on Friday, July 9th at 9:30pm at the Vogue Theater (3290 Sacramento Street).

From the LOL-SF Press Release:
LOL-SF: A CELEBRATION OF COMEDY ON-SCREEN — July 8-15 at the Vogue Theatre!
A weeklong festival of funny films introduced and discussed by stand-up comedians.   If it doesn’t make you “laugh out loud”, it doesn’t belong in this festival! Featuring comedians Will Durst, Bob Sarlatte, Father Guido Sarducci and more!

Check out www.sfntf.org for more information or download the flyer below.

LOVERS OF HATE keeps on tearing it up out there in the world… and now, the film’s got a busy July ahead.  If you’re in 1 of these 4 cities, you owe it to yourself to get out and see the film that the New York Times calls, “Viciously Amusing.”

I am so very, very happy that the movie keeps finding its way to people/audiences — it’s been the ‘little movie that could’ from the get-go and I really think that that’s a testament to making a great film from what started as something great on the page.  It was a very well-written script by Mr. Bryan Poyser — that morphed into a very, very well made film.

Check out these screenings dates/venues and see if you can’t find your way to one of them:

San Francisco, CA — June 28th thru July 1st @ 9:30PM
Roxie Theater
tickets and more info HERE

Fort Worth, TX — July 22nd @ 7:00pm
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
tickets and more info HERE

Chicago, IL — July 23rd, 24th @ 8:00pm and July 29th @ 8:30pm
Gene Siskel Film Center
tickets and more info HERE

Austin, TX — July 25th @ 9:00pm
Cinema East
more info HERE

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!

Our NEW YORK PREMIERE of THE HAPPY POET — during the 2010 Rooftop Films Summer Series!

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

Purchase tickets via TicketLeap

And please, check out our trailer here:

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

We’ve got a great FREE SCREENING of THE OVERBROOK BROTHERS on Wednesday, June 16th @ 7:00PM.  Presented by The UT Documentary Center and Screen Door Film, the screening kicks off at 7:00PM and will be followed by a panel with writer/director John Bryant, the lead actors Nathan Harlan and Mark Reeb — and yours truly.

Should be exciting — and I haven’t seen the film end to end in about 6 months, so I’m excited to see it (with a crowd) again — and on the big screen!  And if you haven’t seen the film, here’s our trailer to wet your appetite…

Come on out for the screening… it’s the right price.  FREE!

Okay, last plug for Thursday’s fundraiser screening of THE HAPPY POET.  Please come out and help support the poet on its festival run.

June 3rd at 7:30PM at The Marchesa Hall & Theatre.
Cast and Crew in Attendance.
Music, beer, good people, a great movie…   Come on out!

And a great write-up/interview with the one and only (and damn prolific) Jonny Mars (pictured left).

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!

Tickets Available:
7:30PM Screening (Doors open at 7:00PM)
9:30PM Screening (Doors open at 9:00PM)

The Venue:
The Marchesa Hall & Theatre
6406 N. IH-35, Suite 3100
Austin, TX, 78752
DIRECTIONS TO THE THEATRE

LOVERS OF HATE has two upcoming screenings in New York City during the month of June.  New Yorkers, here’s your chance to see the film if you haven’t already!

BAMcinemaFEST
BAM – (Brooklyn Academy of Music)
30 Lafayette Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
June 17th, 2010 @ 6:50PM
read the indieWIRE press release

Rooftop Films
Open Road Rooftop above New Design High School
Lower East Side
350 Grand Street, New York, NY
June 19th, 2010 at 8:00PM
purchase tickets here

And of course, if you can’t make it to NYC… you can watch the film via IFC Films On Demand — and you may ask, how do I find IFC Films On Demand?

Enter your zip code and cable provider here — and they’ll do the rest.

(FYI – Time Warner and Cox cable customers – April 16th was the last day to order LOVERS OF HATE on On Demand. Comcast & Cablevision customers, you have until June 15th)

If you are in, or anywhere near, Rochester, New York on Friday, May 7th – you owe it to yourself to get over to the GEORGE EASTMAN HOUSE.  There’s a triple feature playing that night, by 3 very different, very talented filmmakers (and yes, I consider them all friends – but can honestly say that they’ve all made quite good films).

ST NICK (directed by David Lowery)
Friday, May 7, 2010 5:15 PM

LOVERS OF HATE (directed by Bryan Poyser)
Friday, May 7, 2010 7:30 PM

TRUST US, THIS IS ALL MADE UP (directed by Alex Karpovksy)
Friday, May 7, 2010 9:45 PM

This triple feature is part of the 360 | 365 festival Film Festival at the GEORGE EASTMAN HOUSE.  Tickets and more info can be found here.

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.

**UPDATE — The Screening is now on WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16th at 7PM. (same venue)

The good folks at Screen Door Film, with the help of the UT Documentary Center, are having a screening of THE OVERBROOK BROTHERS on Friday, June 18th at the University of Texas.

The Details:
When: Friday, June 18th, 2010 – film begins at 7:00 PM, with a panel to follow
Where: Studio 4D in the CMB Building, UT Campus, 2501 Whitis Avenue, Austin, TX
How much? FREE