A LONELY PLACE FOR DYING

A Lonely Place For Dying Podcast 001

2011-08-11T14:33:00.000-07:00

Podcast 001 - August 9th, 2011: Thanks To Our 1.1 Million Fans!

A Quadruple Win for A Lonely Place For Dyng at the Van Wert Independent Film Festival!

2011-07-18T19:51:00.000-07:00

A Lonely Place For Dying continued it's amazing festival campaign and won four awards at the Van Wert Independent Film Festival! Our film won Best Picture (Grand Prix), Best Director (Justin Eugene Evans), Best Actor (Ross Marquand) and Best Editing (Brad Stoddard.) The festival's director, Len Archibald said that 2 of the 4 judges gave A Lonely Place For Dying a perfect score. In addition, two audience members drove 7 hours to see the film. "I'm always stunned when someone walks up to me and mentions they came to a festival just for our movie." said Justin Eugene Evans. "I'm truly humbled that our film inspires that kind of loyalty from our fans. What an amazing experience."

While at the Van Wert Independent Film Festival A Lonely Place For Dying was accepted into two more festivals. This brings A Lonely Place For Dying's festival records to 40 official selections, 45 award nominations, 23 awards and 15 best pictures.

A Loney Place For Dying featured on WPT's "Director's Cut." Watch it now.

2011-07-10T13:06:00.000-07:00

The PBS show "Director's Cut" featured A Lonely Place For Dying and interviewed director, screenwriter and cinematographer Justin Eugene Evans during the 2011 Beloit International Film Festival (where it also won the award for best feature). The 30 minute episode aired on July 7th and is now available for streaming via Wisconsin Public Television's website.

Learn about the genesis of the story, see clips from the film, and find out how the ALPFD team made an epic movie on a micro budget.

Watch it here. (Note: Sorry, iOS users. This is a Flash video.)

And don't forget, you can start watching A Lonely Place For Dying right now! Download the first episode of the serialized version at Vodo's website!

A Lonely Place For Dying Begins Sneak Peak On Vodo Before US Theatrical Release

2011-06-27T21:57:00.000-07:00

A Lonely Place For Dying will begin a serialized distribution deal with VODO on Thursday, June 30th! The film will be broken into five installments which can be downloaded through VODO and it's network of online distributors. The fifth and final installment will be available after the film's theatrical release beginning in January, 2012.

"I'm thrilled to have the film made available through VODO." said director Justin Eugene Evans. "VODO can get an independent film seen by millions of people. It has helped filmmakers from around the world find an audience. And, while some of our movie theaters are nervous about this decision we believe that the torrenting audience isn't necessarily the same as the theatrical audience."

VODO proves we live in a very big world with seemingly contradictory answers; one can have a movie seen by millions and still only have reached 1% of the potential US theatrical market. While fearful distributors in Hollywood are terribly scared of this technology we are thrilled by the opportunity. We control the distribution of our content, we reap the financial rewards of our efforts and we find an online audience...and then a theatrical one as well.

"I can't wait until we begin our theatrical run. I'm incredibly excited." said Justin Eugene Evans.

In the meantime, A Lonely Place For Dying will conclude its festival run this fall. So far the film has played in 38 film festivals and been seen by roughly 10,000 ticket buyers. Justin Eugene Evans added "For the timid distributors who don't think there is a theatrical market for independent film all I've got to say is this; film festivals are ten times more crowded than any multiplex and individual movies have negligible opportunities to market their movie. Many festivals screen 200 films over 3-4 days with 7-8 films screening simultaneously. And yet, our film has packed theaters across the country. From Santa Fe to Wisconsin we've seen hundreds of people fill a theater..and the word of mouth was so strong our audience would be bigger the next night! Those are real ticket buyers plunking down 8-10 dollars a ticket to see our spy movie. Thanks to VODO and some very courageous investors we're going to prove to the world that the theatrical market is alive and kicking for independent motion pictures this January."

In addition to the film's VODO release they'll be releasing never-before-seen merchandise from the film including rare interviews with their special forces consultants, limited edition prints of the film's poster and a behind-the-scenes hardcover book.

Watch us on VODO...then watch us in the theater this January!

A Lonely Place For Dying's Festival Record Update

2011-06-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

A Lonely Place For Dying's continues to accumulate festival awards across the country. The film's current track record is 38 official selections, 45 award nominations and 19 awards including 14 for best feature film...and festivals continue to ask for screeners of our motion picture!

"We've begun to turn festivals away. We're releasing the movie theatrically in January and while we hate to do it we've been declining requests beyond this December." said director Justin Eugene Evans.

On behalf of the entire film's cast and crew we are humbled and honored for how wonderfully the festival circuit has treated us. "I never thought our Cold War Spy Thriller would go this far." Justin added." Its been a wild, crazy ride. From Santa Fe's original rough-cut sneak preview to our final festivals this fall, I'm grateful to them all!"

TOTAL OFFICIAL SELECTIONS: 38
TOTAL NOMINATIONS: 45
TOTAL WINS: 19
BEST FEATURE: 14
NOT YET SCREENED IN: 3
ADDITIONAL INVITATIONS TO SUBMIT: APPROXIMATELY 20

Santa Fe Film Festival
3 Nominations:
Tamalewood Best New Mexico Film
Audience Choice
Best of Fest
1 Win:
Heineken Red Star Award

Durango Independent Film Festival
2 Nominations:
Audience Awards: Best Narrative Feature
Filmmaker's Choice
1 Win:
Narrative Feature Jury Award

Sedona International Film Festival
2 Nominations:
Best Cinematography
Best Feature Film

Delray Beach Film Festival
1 Nomination:
Best Feature Film Audience Award

San Diego Film Festival
3 Nominations:
Best Narrative Feature
Best Actor - Ross Marquand
Best Screenplay

Cinema City Film Festival
1 Win:
Best Feature Film

Flipside Film Market
1 Win:
Best Feature Film

Eugene International Film Festival
1 Win:
Best Action Film

Clearwater Film Festival
2 Nominations:
Best Director
Best Feature Film

Wild Rose Independent Film Festival
8 Nominations:
Best Makeup & Hair
Best Music
Best Editing
Best Lighting Design
Best Ensemble
Best Actor - Ross Marquand
Best Director
Best Feature Film
2 Wins:
Best Visual Effects
Best Cinematography (Certificate of DIstinctive Achievement)

Maverick Movie Awards
7 Nominations:
Best Cinematography
Best Actor - Ross Marquand
Best Supporting Actor - Michael Wincott
Best Production Design
Best Special Effects
Best Special Effects Make-Up
The Precious
1 Win:
Best Stunts

SNOB Film Festival
1 Win:
Best Action Film

Best Of Fest
1 Win:
Best Feature Film

Mountain Film Festival
1 Win:
Sir Edmund Hillary Award For Best Feature Film

Beloit International Film Festival
1 Nomination:
Best Soundtrack
2 Wins:
Best Feature Film
Best Screenplay

Myrtle Beach International Film Festival
2 Wins:
Best Big Budget Feature Film
Best Feature Film (Second Place)

Indie Spirit Film Festival
1 Win:
Director's Choice Award for Best Feature Film

Park City Film Music Festival
1 Win:
Silver Award For Best Original Score - Brent Daniels

Las Vegas Film Festival
1 Win:
Golden Ace Award For Best Picture

Van Wert Independent Film Festival (July 8th - July 10th)

8 Nominations:
Grand Prix (Best Feature Film)
Audience Choice Award
Outstanding Director - Justin Eugene Evans
Outstanding Actor - Ross Marquand
Oustanding Screenplay - Justin Eugene Evans
Outstanding Cinematography - Justin Eugene Evans
Outstanding Editing - Brad Stoddard
Outstanding Original Score - Brent Daniels

Future Festivals
SoCal Film Festival
Burbank International Film Festival

...and 20 more requests from festivals occurring through the end of 2011.

And, there are many festivals that do not disclose all the nominations, so these are the ones we could verify. The list could be longer.

A Lonely Place For Dying Nominated For 8 Awards At Van Wert Independent Film Festival

2011-06-22T21:46:00.000-07:00

A Lonely Place For Dying has been nominated for eight awards at the Van Wert Independent Film Festival in Van Wert, Ohio! Nominations include Grand Prix (Outstanding Feature), Audience Choice, Oustanding Director (Justin Eugene Evans), Outstanding Actor (Ross Marquand), Outstanding Screenplay (Justin Eugene Evans), Outstanding Cinematography (Justin Eugene Evans), Outstanding Editing (Brad Stoddard) & Outstanding Original Score (Brent Daniels.)

Our film will be playing at 9:15 PM on Saturday, July 9th in the Niswonger Performing Arts Center. Justin Eugene Evans will be conducting a Q&A after the screening! If you are in the Ohio area we hope to see you there!

A Lonely Place For Dying Spotlight On WPT's Director's Cut

2011-05-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

A Lonely Place For Dying was invited onto WPT's "Director's Cut," a PBS series that highlights the best in independent cinema. The show will air on WPT and a variety of PBS affiliates throughout the United States starting this July.

The show's producers and staff were wonderful. Thanks for the wonderful opportunity WPT!

A Lonely Place For Dying Wins At Indie Spirit Film Festival!

2011-05-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

A Lonely Place For Dying won the Director's Choice Award at the Indie Spirit Film Festival in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Ross Marquand (Nikolai Dzerzhinsky) attended and raved about this wonderful festival; professional staff, fantastic venues, quality projection...Ross Marquand walked away a fan of the fest and we're incredibly grateful the festival treated him so well!

Thanks again, ISFF!

A Lonely Place For Dying Wins Two Awards At Myrtle Beach!

2011-05-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

This weekend A Lonely Place For Dying won two awards at the Myrtle Beach International Film Festival; "Best Big Budget Feature Film" and took 2nd Place for "Best Feature Film." We're a bit shocked by Best Big Budget Feature Film considering our 200 grand budget...but we'll take that for the accidental compliment it is; if someone wants to think our microbudget film is a big budget movie that's fine by us!

That brings our total to 33 official selections, 33 nominations, 17 awards including 12 as Best Feature Film.

As always, we're incredibly grateful to our fantastic cast & crew. Thank you Myrtle Beach!

Alabama Int'l Film Festival: 33rd Official Selection

2011-05-02T21:08:00.001-07:00

We've been accepted into the Alabama International Film Festival! Thank you Alabama!

Seattle True Independent Film Festival: 32nd Official Selection

2011-05-02T21:07:00.001-07:00

A Lonely Place For Dying has been accepted into the Seattle True Independent Film Festival! That's our 32nd official selection. We're thrilled to be part of this fantastic festival!

Downtown Boca Film Festival: 31st Official Selection

2011-03-29T09:20:00.000-07:00

We're thrilled to announce that A Lonely Place For Dying has been accepted into the Downtown Boca Film Festival in Boca Raton, Florida! This is our 31st Official Selection.

If you saw the work-in-progress of A Lonely Place For Dying at the Delray Beach Film Festival this is your chance to see the completed film. Thank you DBFF!

Indie Spirit Film Festival: 30th Official Selection

2011-03-26T16:01:00.000-07:00

We're thrilled to announce that A Lonely Place For Dying has been accepted into the 4th Annual Indie Spirit Film Festival in Colorado Springs, Colorado! This is our 30th Official Selection. Ross Marquand (Nikolai Dzerzhinsky) will be attending the festival.

Thank you Indie Spirit!

A Lonely Place For Dying's Current Festival Track Record

2011-03-15T18:37:00.000-07:00

TOTAL OFFICIAL SELECTIONS: 29

TOTAL NOMINATIONS: 29

TOTAL WINS: 13

BEST FEATURE: 9

NOT YET SCREENED IN: 10

ADDITIONAL INVITATIONS TO SUBMIT: APPROXIMATELY 30

Santa Fe Film Festival

3 Nominations:

Tamalewood Best New Mexico Film

Audience Choice

Best of Fest

1 Win:

Heineken Red Star Award

Durango Independent Film Festival

2 Nominations:

Audience Awards: Best Narrative Feature

Filmmaker's Choice

1 Win:

Narrative Feature Jury Award

Sedona International Film Festival

2 Nominations:

Best Cinematography

Best Feature Film

Delray Beach Film Festival

1 Nomination:

Best Feature Film Audience Award

San Diego Film Festival

3 Nominations:

Best Narrative Feature

Best Actor - Ross Marquand

Best Screenplay

Cinema City Film Festival

1 Win:

Best Feature Film

Flipside Film Market

1 Win:

Best Feature Film

Eugene International Film Festival

1 Win:

Best Action Film

Clearwater Film Festival

2 Nominations:

Best Director

Best Feature Film

Wild Rose Independent Film Festival

8 Nominations:

Best Makeup & Hair

Best Music

Best Editing

Best Lighting Design

Best Ensemble

Best Actor - Ross Marquand

Best Director

Best Feature Film

2 Wins:

Best Visual Effects

Best Cinematography (Certificate of DIstinctive Achievement)

Maverick Movie Awards

7 Nominations:

Best Cinematography

Best Actor - Ross Marquand

Best Supporting Actor - Michael Wincott

Best Production Design

Best Special Effects

Best Special Effects Make-Up

The Precious

1 Win:

Best Stunts

SNOB Film Festival

1 Win:

Best Action Film

Best Of Fest

1 Win:

Best Feature Film

Mountain Film Festival

1 Win:

Sir Edmund Hillary Award For Best Feature Film

Beloit International Film Festival

1 Nomination:

Best Soundtrack

2 Wins:

Best Feature Film

Best Screenplay

Not Yet Screened In:

Buffalo Niagara

Sene

ECU

Indie Spirit
LA Film + Music

On Location: Memphis

Fort Meyers

SOHO

SoCal

Burbank

And, there are many festivals that do not disclose all the nominations, so these are the ones we could verify. The list could be longer.

A Lonely Place For Dying Wins Best Picture And Best Screenplay!

2011-03-13T11:19:00.000-07:00

A Lonely Place For Dying won Best Feature Film and Best Screenplay and was nominated for Best Score at the Beloit International Film Festival! Rod Beaudoin, founder and festival director, said the film was the highest rated in the festival's six year history.

Videos of the awards ceremony can be seen here.

BIFF is a fantastic regional film festival tucked into the small town of Beloit, Wisconsin. Venues are "movie speakeasies" hidden in ordinary storefronts but with long lines in back hallways leading to discreet screening rooms. My favorite venue was a hundred seat theater hidden in the back of an organic grocery store.

The festival staff is truly passionate about filmmakers. From hotel rooms to the filmmaker's lounge, from the after parties to the hand-blown glass awards, this festival that puts filmmakers first. And, they know how to deliver an audience. Our average attendance was about 110 per screening.

Thank you Beloit!

A Lonely Place For Dying Screening In Eight Upcoming Film Festivals

2011-03-11T17:47:00.000-08:00

A Lonely Place For Dying continues its amazing festival run. We've now been accepted into 29 film festivals, been nominated for over 30 awards, won over 15 including 9 as Best Picture and have been asked to submit to roughly 30 more. If you're interested in seeing the film here are the festivals we'll be playing in during March and April:

Fort Meyers Film Festival
Fort Meyers, FL
March 24-27, 2011 

LA Film + Music Weekend
Los Angeles, CA
March 25-27, 2011

ECU (The European Independent Film Festival) 
Paris, France
April 1-3, 2011 

SENE Film & Arts Festival
Rhode Island, RI
April 6-10, 2011

On Location: Memphis
Memphis, TN
April 7-10, 2011

Buffalo Niagara Film Festival
Buffalo, NY
April 8-17, 2011

Indie Spirit Film Festival
Colorado Springs, CO
April 14-17, 2011 

SOHO International Film Festival:
NY, NY
April 15-21, 2011

Official website for A Lonely Place For Dying launched!

2010-10-15T11:21:00.000-07:00

We're proud to announce the launch of the official website for A Lonely Place For Dying today, featuring plenty of content including images, video, the debut of Brent Daniels' A Lonely Place For Dying music video and more.

Have a look around the site, and if if you have one, view it on your iPad, as the layout of the site was designed to fit beautifully in the vertical orientation of the iPad. But it will also rock on your other Apple iOS, Android and WebOS mobile devices, and of course, your desktop! (And surely you'd like to download some wallpapers?)

Have a look around the site, and let us know what you think via the A Lonely Place For Dying Facebook page. Enjoy!

ALPFD plays 10/1 and 10/2/10 at the Clearwater Film Festival

2010-09-10T14:58:00.000-07:00

A Lonely Place For Dying is playing in Clearwater, FL at the 2010 Clearwater Film Festival:

• Friday, October 1st @ 11 PM - Clearwater Cinema Cafe

• Saturday , October 2nd @ 5pm - Largo Cultural Center

more details can be found at the Clearwater Film Festival website.

The countdown has begun

2010-09-07T00:10:00.000-07:00

Hi, Brent Daniels (aka Free) here. I'll be contributing to the blog occasionally, along with Justin. For those of you who aren't familiar with me, I served as composer for A Lonely Place Dying, acted as re-recording mixer and sound designer, and wore several other hats in post production, including most recently, ALPFD web designer.

And so, the countdown has begun for the launch of the official A Lonely Place For Dying website, which will bring with it some cool features and exciting new ALPFD-related content. Here's the link, feel free to bookmark it:

http://www.alonelyplacefordying.com

While you're at it, feel free to follow A Lonely Place For Dying on Twitter, and become a fan of the film on Facebook.

And stay tuned, cool stuff is coming!

Los Angeles Sneak Preview On April 7th

2010-03-23T21:12:00.000-07:00

A Lonely Place For Dying will be holding a sneak preview on April 7th, 2010 at 8:00 PM. Tickets are already going fast! Academy Award Nominee James Cromwell and indie-favorite Michael Wincott will both be in attendance. It's going to be a great Q&A!

Albuquerque Sneak Preview Post Mortem

2009-12-23T01:09:00.000-08:00

Last week's sneak preview of "A Lonely Place For Dying" was a stunning success!

SEATS: 315 out of 325 reserved
ACTUAL ARRIVALS: Approximately 230
COMMENT CARDS: Still being processed, but 85% of the responses rate the movie as an 8.5 and a definite recommend. Here are some of the comments:

"I'm from NJ and I was out in Albuquerque last week for a short vacation. My girlfriend and I attended the screening on the first night that we were there. The movie defied our expectations. We anticipated slight enjoyment, but never did we think that we would be overwhelmingly impressed! Congratulations to the whole crew and cast for putting together a remarkable film!"
- John, New Jersey

"The interaction between the two main characters reminded me of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."
- Catherine, New Mexico

"Solid acting and high production values make this first-time-out-of-the-gate indie film well worth your time."
- Rob Raucci, KUNM 89.9 FM

"I loved this film and can't wait to see it again. I want it on blue-ray."
- Ryan, New Mexico

"I collect geniuses. Justin Evans is a genius...and he'll now be added to my collection."
- Extremely Aggressive Fan At The Q&A, New Mexico (and, yes, unfortunately...this was actually said!)

It was a magical evening. The theater staff was wonderful. Cosmos Tapas did an amazing job with the appetizers. The audience was enraptured with the movie. The Q&A was smooth, professional and entertaining. The audience gasped when we discussed the budget and some of our visual effect techniques. Several audience members asked when they could buy the movie. As we left the building and proceeded to One Up for the After Party the praise followed us down the street, up the stairs and continued for two more hours.

From a technical standpoint, this was the first time we screened the movie in high def and in 5.1 surround sound. Our composer & sound designer, Brent Daniels, spent four hours with the KiMo's technical staff adjusting the audio. It was as close to his original mix as possible. The audio was simply breathtaking.

We are incredibly grateful to the city of Albuquerque, the Albuquerque Film Office, Ann Lerner, Jesse Herron, the staff of the KiMo, the Art Center Design College and Cosmos Tapas for a fantastic experience!

The City of Albuquerque & The Albuquerque Film Office Present A Lonely Place For Dying

2009-11-18T18:54:00.000-08:00

I'm incredibly grateful to Ann Lerner of the Albuquerque Film Office. This is such a blessing! She's giving us the opportunity to show our film to our home town...and she's going all out!

We'll be screening in The KiMo Theatre, which is my favorite venue in Albuquerque. We'll be screening in HD and in 5.1 Surround Sound.

If you're interested in attending the screening of "A Lonely Place For Dying" please send an email to abqscreening@gmail.com. Request however many seats you need. The screening is free. The seating is not assigned, but one has to be on the list to get into the theatre. There will be a pre and post reception. We're also holding a Q&A with myself and five members of the cast and crew.

It's going to be a great event! We hope to see you there!

A Lonely Place For Dying Secures Foreign Distribution

2009-10-23T21:23:00.000-07:00

See that logo at the bottom of the new two-sheet? It's pretty small because of how blogspot displays images. The words read "Forward Motion Entertainment". They're are foreign distributor!

After San Diego we had seven distributors vying for foreign rights to A Lonely Place For Dying. Seven. And, we weren't finished with the movie!

Luckily, Michael Edwards, one of our executive producers and our sales agent, vetted the various companies. Forward Motion won the bid because:

1.) They were extremely aggressive.
2.) Their previous relationships gave them glowing reviews.
3.) Their owner, Paco Alvarez, truly understands our movie.
4.) They've succeeded with low-budget genre fare in the past.
5.) They were willing to sign a fair contract.

So, here we are, we're finally going to market the proper way. We have a distributor who truly loves the film. We have a team who understands how to sell low-budget projects. And, according to Paco, he believes we have an unusually good movie on our hands...something worth putting into theaters.

We just jumped the hurdle that most indies cannot overcome. We have someone with capital who wants to push our movie into theaters and onto TV's around the world. That means one more full year of promoting the movie. That means my job is far from over. But, I can't complain. I finally get to go to Berlin, Cannes and a host of other film markets around the globe selling my movie. It's going to mean lots of late nights, juggling my duties as a father and husband, frustrations, negotiations and compromises...but, I can't complain. This is going to be fun!

San Diego Film Festival, Part Three

2009-10-07T19:10:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to have one of the audience members record the panels. If you're interested in hearing the panels, here they are:

San Diego Film Festival Panels

San Diego Film Festival, Part Two

2009-09-28T08:35:00.001-07:00

The festival started off with a bang! We were invited to CW Channel 6 for an interview. The audience attendance was fantastic. The audience was about 100 on Friday and 120 on Saturday. The response cards were overwhelmingly positive. When asked if the audience would recommend the movie to a friend about 90% circled "highly likely" or "definitely". Audience members stopped me throughout the halls to rave about Ross Marquand's acting, the screenplay, the visual effects and the music.

It appears the only demographic that doesn't like our movie is senior citizen women. We had about 6 show up on Friday and 4 on Saturday. They really don't like the guns, blood and cussing. I don't know how to tell them that the title is "A Lonely Place For Dying" and has two men pointing guns at each other on the poster...we've been as honest and straight forward in our advertising as possible. All I can figure is they see that James Cromwell is in the film, they remember that he was that nice farmer in "Babe" and they decide that if "Babe" was such a sweet film then perhaps "A Lonely Place For Dying" will be a sweet film as well.

If you're looking for a family film, let me save you your money now. This is not a sweet, tender movie. The title and poster are accurate. This film may be a character drama, but the characters all carry guns and knives. They use them frequently. There will be blood.

The rest of the audience loves the movie. The praise is effusive. I'd be riding an escalator down to the lobby and someone would grab my shoulder and praise the writing. Someone else would talk about the camera work. Everyone would talk about Ross' amazing acting. At least six people asked me if Ross was Russian.

Thanks, San Diego! We're glad you loved the movie!