The Video Box Art I made for the VHS "Special Edition" of WORMWOOD.

The film is not yet available on VHS, but, it soon will be.

Photoshop is so cool!

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November 5, 2001

Sorry I haven't updated this sooner, but I have been busy with trying to distribute WORMWOOD and with life in general.

Soon after the last update, WORMWOOD was accepted to the Chicago Underground Film Festival. Lourdes (my favorite STAR) and I traveled to Chicago and saw WORMWOOD on the big screen for the second time. I must say, it looked EXCELLENT projected on the big screen. I became a total convert to the idea of showing digital films with video projectors. I decided right then and there that we were no longer going to waste our time trying to find someone to finance the 'blowing up' to 35mm. It would cost $40,000 and why waste the money when WORMWOOD looked fine as it is.

I also pretty much decided to forego trying to enter any other film festivals. It just costs too much money (we spent a bundle on our trip to Chicago). Film festivals are a good way to show your film, but you get very little return on your investment. More on that later.

I also have become convinced that there is some kind of conspiracy to keep digital films from being distributed, well, digitally. Perhaps it is Hollywood in general, or Kodak in particular. Whomever it is, they are doing an excellent job at keeping the 'revolution' from gaining momentum.

Video projection has come a long way in the last year or so. The projectors are amazing (although still quite expensive).

Now, here comes the really exciting part, the part that will undoubtably excite any other digital filmmaker out there:

I heard about a film called MAU MAU SEX SEX, made digitally by Ted Bonnitt. He has done something no one else (to my knowledge) has done before: He is distributing his film on his own, without transferring it to 35mm. He is successfully showing his film in 40 cities nationwide by himself!!!!!! Am I the only one that is totally amazed by this development? Is the silence out there deafening?

Why are there no reporters from the major filmmaking magazines banging on his door for his story? Why is this major story, this major part of 'the revolution' not reverberating throughout the ultra-low budget filmmaking world? I personally have my own paranoid ideas, but will keep them to myself for now.

For starters, check out http://www.maumausexsex.com

You can check out his trailer and the cities his film has and will play in.

I have been in touch with Ted and am getting as much information from him as possible for an in depth article I want to write about how he is doing it - a primer, if you will, on the detailed aspects of booking a digital film into REAL theaters. I will put the info here at this web site and hopefully get it published in some magazine that cares about digital filmmakers. The so-called REVOLUTION cannot succeed without the support of the media.

As Bush recently said, "You're either with us, or you're against us!"

More about this later...

M

MAY 8, 2001

A 118 minute version of WORMWOOD was completed about 3 months ago. Several crummy VHS dubs were made (by me) and then sent off to several film festivals. None were interested. We were told that film festivals will not accept films longer that 95 minutes, no matter the content or worth of the film. This holds true especially for beginners' films.

We had a screening of WORMWOOD here in downtown Tucson and a pitiful number of people showed up (Tucson is not a great 'film' town). The best thing about the screening was the reactions (or lack thereof) by the audience, mostly made up of cast, crew, and friends and relatives.

Many people walked out in disgust and anger. That was fine. I expect that. Some walked out from boredom. I didn't like that, and realized the film was too long. Some scenes were not as funny as I had hoped. So, I went back to the Final Cut Pro edit bay and began re-editing WORMWOOD. I got a lot of feedback and took many people's advice (at least some of it).

I chopped out some boring speeches and tighted several scenes. Jokes that didn't work were cut out and I even took out a few entire scenes.

In the end, the film was shortened to 105 minutes. It has become much tighter and, I believe, much better. I didn't cut out anything offensive. I didn't cut out any nudity or politically incorrect things. In other words, I didn't compromise my beliefs or gut the film of its anger.

Some people have suggested that I could, at a later date, release the longer version as a 'directors' cut. I have seen many DVD's and Laserdiscs with longer versions of films, or deleted scenes, and I must say that, unless they contain nudity or violence or something 'poetic,' those extra scenes are pretty goddammed boring on the whole (a good example is the deleted scenes from ALIEN).

Why would I ever subject people to several boring tidbits that add nothing to the story??

I have been told by certain individuals in the know that even at 105 minutes, my film has little or no chance of ever being accepted at any film festival...Not only because of the length, but also because of the extreme controversial nature of the film. Film fests just don't like the headache of having to defend themselves and fight to get through angry picket lines.

Also, it would be very counter productive to go out of their way to offend Hollywood by showing WORMWOOD. Why make powerful enemies?

Oh well.

Let's face it, no matter how old I get, I'll always have some naivete mixed in with my cynicism. So, in keeping with my fatalistic hopefullness, I will try a few more film fests before giving up.

Then, after being turned down, we will embark on the not-so-fun journey of 'self-distribution.' I will soon be obtaining DVD Studio Pro (a DVD authoring software) and learn how to do my own DVD authoring. I said it before, and I'll say it again, I like to learn!!

In the meantime I am busy trying to get the 105 minute WORMWOOD out of the computer (editing a feature-length film on a computer is extremely easy - getting the whole thing out of the computer is very difficult).

Simultaniously, very soon, you can, if you are so inclined, read an interview with me in the film magazine CINEMAD. It is a film mag published locally by Mike Plante, a fellow film lover and filmmaker (and former student of mine). I believe the issue about WORMWOOD will be out in June. Check it out. It is distributed worldwide, especially at Tower Records. CINEMAD's website can be found in our LINKS section.

Also, Jeff Edson and Michael Block (two of WORMWOOD's crew) are putting the finishing touches on a documentary about the making of WORMWOOD. It is called INSIDE LARRY FOSTER'S WORMWOOD (their title, not mine). It is 30 minutes long and will air on Tucson's local Access TV station, Access Tucson. It will also appear on any DVD I make (if it will fit).

I also need to complete a trailer for WORMWOOD and then learn (there's that 'L' word again) how to stream it and put it on this website. That is my immediate concern after getting several copies of WORMWOOD out to DVCAM, DVCPro and BETA SP.

I am also thinking seriously of the next movie to be made. Yes, there is life after WORMWOOD and it won't have anything to do with Hollywood. Soon, if all goes well, I will begin writing the next screenplay, but, until then, WORMWOOD rules our lives.

Stay tuned for further updates on the progress of this never ending saga!

Be

Many