A LONELY PLACE FOR DYING

Coming To A Theater Near You

2012-04-03T21:28:00.004-07:00

On September 7th we'll begin our theatrical release. Our original goal was to do a Red State style roadshow around the US using the BryteWerks Model One. To our great surprise, independent theaters across the country are booking our movie just like any other mainstream release. We'll still support some theaters with the use of The Model One but the scope and size of our theatrical release is growing daily.

We've had people ask us who we secured to oversee our theatrical release. The answer on Box Office Mojo is Humble Magi. And that's true, but it's worth pointing out that Humble Magi is us! It's our parent company which means we're releasing the film ourselves.

During our two-year festival run we learned so much about theatrical exhibition (and how thoroughly corrupt most Los Angeles based companies are) we decided we could do our own theatrical release. From booking to reporting, from television ad buys to radio spots we're doing it all.

This is usually where most filmmakers give up. I suspect it starts to feel too much like an ordinary job and they'd rather shoot another movie than do the daily grind of booking theaters, printing posters, shipping trailers and strategizing media buys. I must be built differently because I find it to be refreshing and a lot of fun!

Although we'll be hitting about 100 theaters across the country we're opening in only one; the Al Ringling Theatre in Baraboo, WI. Why? There are many reasons. It is the first movie palace ever made in America. It is also a stunning, majestic space. It also hasn't converted to digital yet and is an excellent place to demonstrate The BryteWerks Model One. It wasn't on our radar...not until an interactive database we created called The Master Venue List helped us identify it. Once we saw pictures of the marquee and the interior I fell in love. This is a sacred space for cinema; a majestic hall that takes our art form seriously and embraces the ideal that cinema is to be a communal experience.

What better way to launch a theatrical release than at America's first movie palace!

Film Festival Record - The Final Tally

2012-03-23T18:04:00.005-07:00

TOTAL OFFICIAL SELECTIONS: 46

TOTAL NOMINATIONS: 53

TOTAL WINS: 29

BEST FEATURE: 18

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

4 Nominations:

Audience Choice Award

Oustanding Screenplay - Justin Eugene Evans

Outstanding Cinematography - Justin Eugene Evans

Outstanding Original Score - Brent Daniels

4 Wins:

Grand Prix (Best Feature Film)

Outstanding Director - Justin Eugene Evans

Outstanding Actor - Ross Marquand

Outstanding Editing - Brad Stoddard

Burbank International Film Festival

2 Wins:

Best Live Action Feature Film

Best Picture

CineSol

1 Win:

Best Picture

SpyThrill Film Festival

1 Win:

Best Picture

Saint Regis Film Festival

1 Win:

Audience Choice - Best Picture

Oaxaca International Independent Film & Video Festival

Opening Night Film

Unfortunately, a few festivals slipped through the cracks. Our nominations are probably higher but many festivals don't publish their list of nominees. We were also invited to screen our feature film twice; by the City of Albuquerque at the KiMo Theater and the Downtown Independent in Los Angeles.

If someone asked me which awards meant the most I'd probably say the Van Wert Independent Film Festival. It was one of the tiniest film festivals we attended but the festival director is such a decent fellow and is so passionate about motion pictures that the VWIFF's awards carried tremendous gravitas.

The Past Six Months & The Road Ahead

2012-03-18T09:47:00.001-07:00

It has been a long time since I last blogged. Here's the skinny on the past few months...

We concluded our festival run at the Oaxaca International Film Festival. We were the opening night motion picture and played to a packed house (roughly 385 seats out of 400) at Oaxaca's prestigious Teatro Juarez. This concluded our epic festival run of 46 official invitations, 53 award nominations, 29 awards and 18 best pictures. Phew.

Now we're gearing up for our theatrical release! We'll be hitting North American theaters on September 7th. We've already booked our first six theaters in Wisconsin, Illinois and Ohio. Our intent is to play in roughly 100 independent theaters across the country. What makes our theatrical run different than most is that we can play in both traditional movie theaters as well as non-traditional performing arts spaces. Why? Because while we were touring film festivals we were busy inventing The Model One, a portable, powerful, intelligent cinema projector. This device changes everything for independent filmmakers. It puts professional exhibition directly in their own hands.

Independent film demands independent distribution. Let's face it, the halcyon days of independent cinema were mostly a marketing myth. For 20 years filmmakers have been able to make their own motion pictures with relative ease...but distribution has always been a hazing ritual in which the various distributors lie, cheat and steal while "independent" filmmakers accept whatever crumbs are offered for their work in the vain hope it might lead to a career. For a precious few that's been true. But ask the 99% of official Sundance filmmakers if they enjoyed the distribution process. Ask them if they felt they got a fair shake. With only a few exceptions my guess is almost everyone will say the same thing; distribution feels like a game of Russian Roulette with six loaded chambers and the filmmaker is the only one pulling the trigger.

I kept hoping for a fair deal. I kept hoping some producer's rep would have integrity, some sales agent would have skill, some Hollywood insider wouldn't ask for a 20 grand retainer just to watch our film. Time and again we met with distributors, reps and agents...and each time I had to turn the deal down because it was just plain wrong.

To prove the film had an audience we begrudgingly agreed to release our film as a five-part mini-series on VODO. The first 22 minute episode took off like a rocket, was downloaded over 1.5 million times, was the most downloaded file on earth for nearly two weeks, was subtitled into forty languages and redistributed with a localized title so many times we lost track. Six months later it is still one of the most downloaded files on the planet.

Unfortunately, VODO proved to be as dishonest as the distributors we dealt with in Hollywood. After two bounced checks and a half dozen violations of our contract we entered a half-year long stalemate. They refused to meet any of our (reasonable, rational, logical) demands and we refused to give them more episodes. And that's why we've been so damn quiet. Until we knew where we stood with Bit Torrent and VODO we chose to be silent...even though it cost us tremendous momentum. Our film was riding high and then BAM we were forced to be silent for half a year while we negotiated round after round after round to simply have VODO honor their agreement...and in the end we got nowhere.

Once it was clear that neither Bit Torrent nor VODO would budge our decision was clear. It was time to leave. So, we requested our VODO page be pulled and we informed our VODO donors of the reasons for our departure.

But there's a silver lining in this dark cloud. Along the way we learned several things. Outside of the major studios and mini-majors no one has a clue how theatrical distribution works. I'm not talking about the man on the street...I'm talking about the roughly 500 so-called distributors that claim to distribute movies. In fact, I'll claim most of the studios don't really understand distribution anymore; if they did they'd adopt a business model that isn't the equivalent of James Dean playing chicken.

The independent distributors are far worse because they imitate the studios. Ladies and gentleman, if you don't have 20 million to spend on marketing then distributing a motion picture in an identical fashion, only smaller, isn't clever. It's shutting your brain off and flying on auto-pilot. We spoke to dozens of these companies and despite the volume of words escaping from their slick, capped teeth it was mostly blather.

To put it simply, we realized that we didn't want any of these companies distributing our movie because they didn't actually know how to do it. They'd never stepped inside a projection booth. They didn't understand how long it takes to clean a movie theater between screenings. They'd never operated a concession stand. They didn't know how to do a media buy. They'd never printed a movie poster. They'd never physically stuck a screener in the mail and sent it to a critic. They'd never actually booked a movie screen on their own. They hired other people to do these things.

These other people had the skills. The distributors? They had shiny suits.

Once I realized this a tremendous amount of strain disappeared from my shoulders. I'd spent two long years thinking I'd somehow failed when it turns out the system was the problem. The independent level is overrun with fools and wannabes pretending to be film executives and distribution experts. And once I realized the entire system was a house of cards built on the exploitation of naive and insecure artists I was free...because my team is filled with intelligent, hardworking people. Our team's collective experience included professional offset printing, trailer duplication, shipping & logistics, managing movie theaters and media purchasing. We discovered we knew more about distribution than most of the people we were courting! We didn't need these people. It was a moment of clarity.

More importantly, we realized that any distributor would need to earn 1,000% more than we could in order for us to get the same paycheck. Read that insane sentence again about three times. It takes a long time to fully grasp it's meaning. If we can distribute our own film and make 200 grand in the box office on our own then any distributor would need to earn 2 million for us to make the same 200 grand. Why? Because that's the deal for first-time filmmakers. Don't believe what you've read in the funny papers. If a distributor is offering you X then they are assuming they can make 10X. We realized we could not possibly be 1,000% worse at distribution than these (famous, recognizeable, small scale, crooked) "professional" distributors. We have an excellent film that's already loved by millions of fans around the world. We've packed theaters from San Diego to Wisconsin to Oaxaca. We've done our own market research by turning festival screenings into surveyed sneak previews. We've collected nearly 500 reviews from audience members and know exactly what their candid feelings are about our film...and the overwhelming majority absolutely love our motion picture! We've already competed against a thousand independent motion pictures at film festivals on two continents and almost always sold more tickets than any of the films screening at the same time...and that was without any marketing.

I truly mean without marketing. Every other film would have stacks of postcards and mini-posters. They'd paper the town. They'd do radio interviews. They'd hustle. I just never had the energy or time. I'd stick a big fat standee in the lobby and call it good. And that's all it took for us to pack theaters.

Festivals are hyper-competitive. Most of the festivals we played in had 5 or more venues screening films at the same time. Many had parties and lectures competing with our screening. At one festival we were screening in one theater and nominated for best picture in the awards ceremony across town. Talk about a bizarre scheduling conflict.

With every festival a decision-fatigued crowd of strangers chose to buy a 10 dollar ticket to see our film. Any festival that screened us more than once always saw our second screening's attendance grow. The best example of this was the Beloit International Film Festival; our first night's audience was 65 people. Our second night's audience was 180. Our third and fourth screenings were around 200. The only thing that causes that kind of growth is word of mouth, the most sacred and important form of advertising. It can't be bought. It just is.

We realized that through the two years we spent on the festival circuit we'd learned so much about distribution that we didn't need a distributor. The festival circuit had accidentally educated us on the exhibition and distribution process. We could do this on our own. And, thanks to the massive popularity of our teaser episode we found an investor who helped us form Lonely Place Distribution, LLC and gave us the capital to release our film theatrically.

For the last five months we've been quietly planning how to release A Lonely Place For Dying on our own. I can't go into all the details on our plan. Superficially, it looks like most movie releases. We're booking movie theaters while simultaneously paying for television, newspaper and radio ads. However, don't be fooled. We're not doing it the way anyone in Los Angeles would...and I can't explain what I mean by that yet. Just remember this phrase: space and time. That's the key to our release. Space. And. Time.

One of our theaters in Madison, Wisconsin told us "I've never seen anything like you guys! You're a fuckin' super nova dynamo!" I'm not exactly sure what a Super Nova Dynamo is but I'm going to assume it is a compliment and be happy they booked A Lonely Place For Dying for a guaranteed seven day run.

So, if you're an independent filmmaker what's this all mean?

Here's the bad news...there is no such thing as a fair deal to be had in Hollywood. Everyone I've ever met who has signed a distribution deal did so with the full knowledge it was bad business for their investors and for themselves. What we experienced is exactly what everyone I've ever known has experienced. I know people who got into Sundance, were convinced their life would change and then experienced...nothing. I know filmmakers who naively paid retainers to a dozen different so-called producer's reps and experienced...nothing. I know filmmakers who knowingly signed distribution deals, screwed over their investors, moved on to their second bigger budget feature films and were pigeonholed into doing crap and therefore got...nothing. I know NYU and USC graduates who will take any job that comes their way no matter how illogical or demeaning and they have...nothing.

The system is so thoroughly broken that the so-called distributors, producers reps and sales agents don't actually know what to do with with a motion picture. They just want some of your hard earned money. And they don't understand what is wrong with that because you were, in their words, dumb enough to make a movie so you're probably dumb enough to plunk down another six (ten, fifteen, twenty) grand for them to shop your movie to the 250 buyers in the world...who have been broke since 2007 and no longer have lines of credit. For many independent filmmakers the problem is that their movie is out of focus, poorly lit, poorly written with lousy sound, terrible music, bad special effects and no compelling marketing hook. For the few independent filmmakers who defy that list and have made something of value it still has no merit in these people's eyes unless you are willing to give it to them for free.

The bad news is really, really bad, isn't it?

But, here's the good news...if you're willing to do the work yourself then you no longer need them. We have never lived in a more integrated and empowering time. If you're willing to roll your sleeves up then it is as simple as convincing an audience your work is worth seeing...and listening to their honest response.

It won't be sunshine and roses for all. But, at long last a filmmaker can form a direct relationship with the audience without the interference and exploitation of the "professional distribution industry."

So, to our fans in Estonia who told us A Lonely Place For Dying "left them shaken and stirred," to the flannel shirt wearing millionaire in Beloit who grabbed me by my lapels and said "Do you realize you've made a REAL FUCKING movie?", to the 7-11 attendant in Durango, Colorado who raved about the film in between slurpy sips, to the Marines in San Diego who loved the film so much they showed up a second night with a bunch of Navy buddies, to the projectionist in Clearwater, Florida who said it was the best movie he'd seen in years, to the standing ovation in Oaxaca and the 30 people who came up to me afterwards asking for my autograph and photo...

...thank you! You're the reason we're doing this. Every time someone in Los Angeles said "It's only a little movie" I'm going to choose to believe the people who paid ten bucks to see our film...and mobbed me after a screening. I have a feeling they are the most honest and accurate barometer of all. And, starting September 7th we'll be coming to a movie theater near you.

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!