My Short Films Are Headed To UCLA Archive

Over the weekend, I boxed up the 16mm negatives of my two NYU short films SHALL WE DANCE and POOL DAYS for a trip out west to the UCLA Film and Television Archive.  The archive, partnering with Outfest, has created the Legacy initiative to preserve LGBT films for scholars and researchers. It's a massive collection, with thousands of holdings which make it the largest repository of LGBT media in the world.

I had been called by a festival programmer last summer and asked about putting my films in the archive. At the time, I was working on another project and though it sounded like a great idea I just didn't get around to it. Fast forward to last month and this became my New Year's resolution; to get my previous films in order and properly stowed for the future. I THINK I DO, my first feature, will be heading to the archive shortly from a vault in Glendale, where it's been for the last few years. And I'm currently making some transfers to digital media of my Super8 movies from even further back.

For my film school shorts, it's certainly a lot better having these negatives stored in proper archival conditions rather than in a cardboard box under my bed (where most filmmakers tend to put their projects "in storage"). I'm very grateful to Outfest (which has screened 6 of my films over the yeas) and UCLA for supporting this project and making it possible for filmmakers to have some peace of mind, knowing their work is in a safe for place for generations to come. 

NewFest Is Moving On Up...To The West Side

NewFest, the New York LGBT film festival which has been running for 27 years, is getting a big makeover this year with a move upon to Lincoln Center.  The festival, which recently partnered with OutFest, announced their lineup this week with screenings taking place at the lovely Walter Reed Theater on the Lincoln Center campus.  I have had give films screen at NewFest, including AUGUST last summer, so I'm excited to see the festival move to this new venue.

The festival will be somewhat smaller in size/scope this year, running only five days. But the lineup looks great--and I have three friends who have films in the festival this year that I'm really looking forward to seeing: Josh Sanchez has his debut feature FOUR, based on Chris Shinn's play of the same name, Kieran Turner has a doc about the first out gay pop star from the 70s JOBRIATH A.D., and Adam Baran has a short film that I supported on Kickstarter called JACKPOT, set in the suburbs in the '80s. The festival takes place July 27-July 31st and tickets are on sale starting today!

AUGUST's SF Premiere & A Great Review in VARIETY

AUGUST had its San Francisco premiere at the historic Castro Theatre on Saturday night.  It was a sold out house of 1,400 (yes, the balcony was open!) and the response was amazing.  Even the Q&A after was interesting as, in true SF-style, someone asked about all the tobacco smoking in the film and whether it was stylistically intentional (A: Yes!).

Also, someone else asked if the actors were gay or straight.  Eldar's answer to that question, which is that he essentially hired who he thought were the best actors for the roles and did not quiz people on their sexual orientation, drew a hearty round of applause from the crowd.  I remember being asked this question some 17 years ago with my short film POOL DAYS....when will people stop asking this inane and insulting question?  Hopefully sooner than later....

Anyway, VARIETY published our first major review for the film and it was great! You can read the full review here and there should be more coming out soon.  I will try and link/post them here as well.  Next stop for AUGUST is Outfest in L.A....the film will screen at the Directors Guild Of America main theatre on Sunday, July 10th at 9:45pm (with cocktail reception beforehand at 8pm).  Tickets are onsale at www.outfest.org.  Hope to see you there!