Sedona!

One of the coolest things about making a movie is getting to travel. Because of THE AIR I BREATHE and my friendship with Jieho, I spent six weeks in Mexico City for production, a week in Seoul for Jieho's wedding, and several days in New York City for the Tribeca Film Festival last year. Now, I've spent a couple days in Sedona, Arizona. Check out the pic above and I'm sure you'll agree...it's beautiful.

The Sedona International Film Festival sponsors monthly screenings and this month, it was the Arizona premiere of AIR. Pat, the head of the fest, was kind enough to fly Jieho and I in to appear at the screenings. We started in Scottsdale, with a Q&A for a packed house. The film played great and the audience was wonderful. We got to meet a couple of fans from imdb.com and Myspace. The pic is below. Thanks for coming out, you guys!



Then, Jieho and I drove a couple hours into Sedona, which is famous for being near a "vortex". I don't really know what that means, but the place does have a quirky, relaxed vibe. It's also famous for Pink Jeep Tours, which the festival was kind enough to arrange for us. What is a Pink Jeep Tour? Basically, they put you in a back of a Pink Jeep, take you into a mountainous region near Sedona, and drive you up a very rocky terrain...so rocky that they drive you UP the rocks. It's a little crazy. The pic at the very top is Jieho and I, right before we escaped from the Pink Jeep before anything REALLY dangerous happened.

That night, there were two screenings in Sedona, both completely sold out! We surprised the audience with Walt Lloyd, the film's director of photography, who drove up from L.A. on a whim. The Q&A's were great, filled with fun questions from a very appreciative audience. Below is a pic of Jieho, Walt, Pat (the fest's director), me, John (one of the fest's founders), and Kung Fu Panda, who was nice enough to pose with us. In other news, I guess I'm not getting any taller. Damn.



It was a quick trip, but a great one. We got to show the film to three audiences who loved it. Thanks to everyone who came out.

And coming up? Plenty of great stuff. The trailer should be in Los Angeles and New York area theaters starting this Friday with an online debut to follow. Next week, there WILL be a premiere, here in Los Angeles. I plan on looking spiffy.

Til then, keep spreading the word...

Rainy L.A.

It's a rainy day here in Los Angeles. Feels very Northwest. My heat's out and my apartment gets cold so I bought a little space heater which makes it pretty comfy in my little pad. Funny how I've lived here for over four years now. Moved in pretty much right around the time Jieho, Christopher, and I first partnered up with producers Paul Schiff and Tai Duncan and decided to have a go at making THE AIR I BREATHE. Left the place empty for six weeks when I headed off to Mexico City for the shooting of the movie. While I was gone, my neighbor and one of my best pals, Josh Flaum, picked up my mail, left it in my place. Josh was a part of AIR, too, shooting a couple days as Julie Delpy's assistant. A couple months ago, he moved out of the building and got a room in a larger place with some good friends of ours. Things change fast, don't they?

Tomorrow, I'm getting on a plane with Jieho, heading out to Arizona. There's an AIR screening in Scottsdale tomorrow night, then another two the following day in Sedona. We'll be appearing with the film, doing a Q&A afterwards. If you're in the area, come say Hi.

Rumor has it we may have a special guest joining us in Sedona. None of the cast, unfortunately (they're are all pretty busy at the moment) but someone else close to the film who's never seen it with a crowd before. I hope he makes it...

Every day, I'm getting cc'd on the emails between the producers and THINKFilm. It's a tremendous amount of effort to open a movie. Marketing plans need to be executed, theaters booked, promotions scheduled. The final trailer should be out any day now. The Myspace page is up and running. If you haven't already, stop by and join.

The website is about to be fully revamped. Reviews will start appearing soon. Theaters are booked in NY and LA, and it looks like the second wave of cities will be Austin, Portland, Seattle, San Diego, San Francisco, and Chicago. Funny how I have at least one friend in every one of those places. They better see the movie and bring a few hundred friends.

Just found out that AIR is showing at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, which is not too far from here. Not sure if we'll be making it over for that, but if you're in the area, I hear it's a great festival.

I guess I'm being a little link crazy today. It's just that the machine is rolling now. The release is coming and all I can do is keep blogging, keep working the Myspace page, just keep getting the word out. This is our baby. It's taken six years to make this happen. Six years...for something that you can enjoy in 97 minutes. I hope with all my heart that those 97 minutes are spent in a movie theater, enjoying our work on the big screen where it belongs.

Dreams come true every day. On January 25th...it's our turn.

Kung-Fu Charisma!

Guess who learned how to add an image to his blog? That’s right, ME! I guess it’s about time. For someone who’s had a blog for the last couple of years, it’s silly how little I know about creating a cool page. For instance, over the holiday, I was wondering why no one was commenting on my blog anymore. Turns out I have to read and accept comments before they appear. Ooops. So I’ve since accepted about a year’s worth of comments. Thanks to everyone who was writing me and sorry for seeming to vanish. But I’m back now, and ready for action!

So how about that poster? I’m thrilled with it. Jieho, the producers, and everyone at THINKFilm did such an amazing job with it. I think it really captures the mood of the film. As for the official trailer, I can tell you that I have seen it and it is so VERY cool. I’ve heard rumors that it’ll be online by next week.

As for our other marketing efforts, please check out our official we-really-mean-it-this-time Myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/officialairibreathemovie

You’ll find some brand new photos there as we well as some of Jieho’s original storyboards! Please be our Myspace buddy, then add us to your top friends and if you’re feeling particularly excited, add our poster as your profile pic. By the way, in case you didn’t know, that’s how you sneak into my top friends on my personal Myspace page…

I hope everyone had a great holiday. I got a little treat while I was laid over in the Dallas airport (for THREE HOURS). I was checking out some magazines and thumbed through PASTE and what did I find but a FOUR AND A HALF STAR review for THE AIR I BREATHE! It sees reviewer Sean Edgar LOVED our film. Here’s a quote:

"Brilliant...a cinematic jack-hammer of sound and fury that resonates with enough moral complexity and kung-fu charisma to parade the entire spectrum of human emotion.”

I love the phrase “kung-fu charisma”, so much that I wish I’d written it. Grab a copy of PASTE and check out the full review.

Jieho and I are heading out to Arizona next week to appear at some special AIR screenings, one in Scottsdale and two in Sedona. Here's the link for the events:

http://www.sedonafilmfestival.com/show.php?x=26

If you live nearby, come check it out! It'll be the first time I've seen the film with an audience since Tribeca and I can't wait! See you there!

Florida Tour '07

I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday. I'm currently on my Florida Tour '07, spending time with family and friends from Tampa to Orlando to Jacksonville, with multiple cities in between. Everyone I've seen has two questions for me: "Are you still on strike?" The answer, sadly, is yes. The other question (which usually comes first) is: "When is the movie coming out???" It's amazing to finally be able to answer them. "January 25th in Los Angeles and New York. After that, hopefully...EVERYWHERE!"

Not much business happens at this time of year, but that hasn't stopped THINKfilm, Jieho, and all the producers from putting the finishing touches on the AIR marketing materials. I recently saw the completed poster and boy, is it amazing. Very different from Jieho's Tribeca poster, but it is is elegant and mysterious and is going to look incredibly good on my wall someday.

I've also been fortunate enough to see some recent cuts of the final trailer. It too is so very cool. They're definitely using the trailer to play up our unbeatable cast as well as the ambitious energy and mood that Jieho has created with this film. I can't wait for everyone to see it. And it's going to be SOON.

Because before you know, the movie will be in theatres.

And then this particular butterfly will finally get to fly...

Random Stuff

Hey everyone! Lots of random stuff today:

-- We finally have a Myspace page up for THE AIR I BREATHE. Check it out at: Myspace.com/theairibreathemovie

A big shout-out to our good friend Byran Hill, who did an amazing job designing the page. The page’s look is based on the poster that Jieho designed for the film’s Tribeca premiere. We’ll be updating the page with as much cool stuff as we can find: blogs, exclusive photos, maybe even a contest or two. If you’re on Myspace, please go there now and add THE AIR I BREATHE as a friend.

-- THE AIR I BREATHE had its Italian premiere at the 17th Courmayeur Noir in Festival. Jieho attended the festival and had a great time. To our surprise, AIR won a special jury award! Here’s a link to the fest’s website and an article featuring Jieho:

http://www.noirfest.com/eng/newsdettaglio.asp?id=158

-- Yet another trailer leaked online recently, this one with a THINKfilm logo. But I can tell you that this is only a test trailer. The official THINKfilm trailer and a new poster will be out soon.

That’s all for now. Til next time, take care and enjoy the holiday season.

BOB

Coming Soon

Hi everyone,

Remember the good old days? Seems like only yesterday I was in Mexico City, describing all the weird and wonderful things about getting a movie made. Bullfighting with Brendan Fraser? Check. Watching future Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker practice his moped skills? Yep. Getting my butt kicked by Sarah Michelle Gellar? Oh yes. Blogging is EASY when you’re somewhere far away, hanging out with amazing artists and watching your dreams come dream.

Well, blogging about post-production is pretty hard. And kinda boring to read, I’m guessing.

But you know what’s fun now? BLOGGING ABOUT A MOVIE’S RELEASE!

And that’s what brings us together again, my friends. Because THE AIR I BREATHE is COMING SOON to a theatre near you! Hopefully. Let me explain.

Been a crazy year. In April, we premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival to packed houses and a fantastic response. After that, indie distributor THINKfilm bought the film. Which, it turns out, is not a speedy process. But the deal is done and the date has been selected…

JANUARY 25th, 2008, THE AIR I BREATHE will open exclusively in New York and Los Angeles. This is what’s called a “platform release”. A lot of indie films open in one or two big cities, and then slowly expand around the country. It sure worked for Little Miss Sunshine. But there’s at least one interesting snag we have to deal with…

Heard about that little writer’s strike? Well, if you live in Los Angeles, I’m sure that’s ALL you hear about. Well, I’m on strike now, which is no picnic, I tell ya. And I’m walking the picket lines because I absolutely believe in this very complex battle that is being waged between artists and the companies that employ us.

But how does this affect AIR? Well, the main thing is this: when you have an indie passion project, an ambitious drama by an exciting new director (and his trusty writin’ sidekick), you want to have your exceptionally gifted ensemble of actors out on all the late-night talk shows, promoting the hell out of the movie.

Which sucks right now, because the strike has forced the biggest late-night shows off the air. No Andy Garcia chatting with Jay Leno. No Kevin Bacon trading quips with David Letterman. A huge tool for promoting independent films is gone.

But we’re not giving up without a fight. We’re taking this to the streets. Or at least the Internet. THE AIR I BREATHE is coming and you can help spread the word. First of all, there will official AIR pages on Myspace, Facebook, and other social sites. I’ll announce it here. When I do, please go add us as a friend. Those pages will be a portal for all kinds of cool stuff, including photos, blogs, and maybe even some exclusive video footage. On top of all that, THINKfilm will soon release a final (we mean it this time) poster, as well as a brand-new trailer.

In the meantime, I’ll be updating my blog weekly (at least). Have you seen my Tribeca diaries on Myspace? If not, I’ll reprint them here soon.

The wait is almost over. AIR is coming. Be a part of it.

Year-End

So I was sitting down to write a year-end blog and decided to check the website, just to see how long it’s been since I last blogged.

It’s been three months…to the day. It feels like I wrote the last blog, blinked, and here I am. But that’s how a lot of this process has been.

Thinking back, I probably haven’t told you much about the early days of AIR. Starting back in December 2001, Jieho and I spent two years writing the script. We wrote multiple drafts while Jieho was traveling back and forth to Korea, directing music videos, and I was here in L.A., writing studio projects that will probably never get made.

Then, the next two years were all about “packaging” the film…that means finding producers, actors, and financing. If it sounds easy, trust me, it’s not. Imagine two solid years of good news, bad news, worse news, awesome news, heartbreak, triumph, more heartbreak, over and over again. But as you know, it all worked out.

This year, our fifth, was actually making the movie. Six and a half weeks of production in Mexico City, and very timely blogs from me. Then, from March until now, post-production. And what a journey that has been.

Jieho and our amazing editor Robert Hoffman have practically lived in the editing room. John Paul, their dedicated assistant editor, lives next door. There were weeks where I was in there almost every day, helping Jieho fine-tune the film’s voice-over narration. There was several private screenings where the producers would watch the film and offer their suggestions. I think I was at all those screenings, and they were exhilarating. The movie Jieho and I had envisioned all those years ago was finally coming to life. A few weeks ago, Jieho and the producers locked picture. The editing was over.

Time to rest, right? Maybe for me. But for Jieho and Robert, the work was just beginning. They traveled daily, all over the city, overseeing the many facets of movie post-production you never think of. There was an army of professionals at work on our movie, creating special effects, looping dialogue, color-correcting the digital intermediate…what the heck does that even mean?

On top of that, Jieho was meeting regularly with Marcelo Zarvos, who was creating the original score for the film. I made sure I stopped in on the day when they were recording Marcelo’s beautiful music. I went to the Fox lot, which coincidentally was the first studio lot I ever set foot on in Los Angeles. Five years ago, it was to audition for a small role in a student film (I got the part). This time, it was to hear a forty-piece string orchestra play Marcelo’s haunting score…live.

I can’t really describe the feeling of that day. I walked into the studio and saw about a dozen monitors, all with a paused image of Sarah Michelle Gellar which I instantly knew was the moment leading up to one of the film’s most powerful sequences. Then, someone hit play, the action resumed on the monitors, and the orchestra played that first note, and it was just astonishing. Watching the sequence play out while hearing the music live…it was just about the coolest thing ever. Here’s a link to some pics and a small article about that day:

http://www.soundtrack.net/news/article/?id=871

After that, the momentum really picked up. Opening titles were created and the sound mix was finished, all of which led to…today.

Today, we watched the entire film, ON FILM, for the first time. And the difference is stunning. All those times watching it on a video monitor, and now seeing it blown up on the big screen...I just have to say that Walt Lloyd, our director of photography, is the best. The absolute best.

At this point, I have no idea what’s actually left to do…some little technical things here and there, I imagine. It’ll be sometime early next year before I actually get to see a final, yes-we’re-totally-done print of the film.

And that, my friends, will be OVER FIVE YEARS into this journey, for both Jieho and I. It’s not over, of course. There’s still the matter of when the film will be released into theatres. I can honestly tell you that I don’t know for sure when that will be. But when there’s news to share, I’ll be here…hopefully more often than once every three months.

But for now, there are holidays, and family, and maybe just a little time off. Thanks so much for reading our blogs and for all your kind messages. It means a lot that so many of you are excited about THE AIR I BREATHE. Keep talking things up on all the message boards, from imdb.com to smgfan.com and beyond.

Most importantly, have a great holiday season and we’ll see you in 2007!

Bob DeRosa AKA FLASH

12/19/06