Distribution is a fascinating beast.  I hope it’s soon a beast that gets Troublemaker to your screen soon.

Troublemaker also just played at Louisville’s International Festival of Film, and I’m bummed that I wasn’t able to make it out there to the event.  Next up are the San Diego Asian Film Festival and the New Jersey Independent South Asian Cinefest.  Will there be more fests in our future?  I’m not sure…each festival submission costs some green, and I think we’ve had a good run so far.  It’s getting time to send my little baby out into the big, bad world on a bigger scale.

Keep checking in for more updates, and keep an eye on our Press section.  Also, stay tuned for a website revamp – the one I’ve been promising for many months now!  Catch you on the flipside.

I haven’t blogged since April, but there have been many Troublemaker updates this summer!  There will be  announcements over the next month or so, so stay tuned.

What have I been up to?  Well, after meeting and speaking with countless distributors, producers’ reps, and DIY fellow indie filmmakers, I’m a little bogged down by all the chatter.   Time to make some spreadsheets?  Are spreadsheets my security blanket?  I need  way to organize all the marketing/PR/distribution strategery, and believe me, it often feels like marshalling troops for a battle.  Theatrical, DVD, VOD, all sorts of digital options, worldwide, domestic, all-inclusive, educational…Good lawd.  Lots of learning as I go.

I’m itching to get Troublemaker revved up and out into the world, but it’s a long, long, loooonnnngggg process.  Still waiting to hear back from many festivals; still taking meetings and chattering away; still determining the best process for the film in the long run.  It’ll happen.  Oh yes, it’ll happen.  It will be mine.  Is it weird that I still make Wayne’s World references?  That movie is embedded in my brain.

I saw a slew of fantastic films, the best of which was the sublime Udaan, about which I’d heard rave reviews. It lived up to each one of them – a gritty, disturbing, beautifully realized and poignant character study of a young man struggling with his scarily dominant father.  It’s so exciting and refreshing to see new voices and sensibilities coming up in Indian cinema.  Though, even as I write that sentence, I’m reminded of classics like “Masoom,” “Arth,” and “Khatta Meetha,” all movies made outside mainstream sensibilities, and made decades ago.  I suppose there are always groundbreaking films, and always brave filmmakers who tell excellent stories.

IFFLA was once again an inspiring event that connected and reconnected me with creative, passionate people.  God, I love movies.

And the next festival we’ll play at is the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles!  This festival is near and dear to my heart.  I attend it each year, and they played my thesis film, “Beast,” back in the day.  It’s always a great experience, and I’m honored to have my feature have its LA debut there.  Especially since it’s at the sweet Arclight theater out in Hollywood.  Next step – get it to play in the DOME…Maybe 3-D?  Blow up to IMAX?

In the meantime, I’m applying to more fests, compiling press about Troublemaker, and working on marketing/distribution materials.  And I’m staying in touch with the awesome cast and crew, many of whom I still see on a regular basis.  It’s great to have some distance from the shoot at this point, and I only remember the golden, beautiful moments of magic, instead of the harrowing tales of near-disaster.  :)  Not that we had any of those, right, guys?

Keep checking in for more updates!

The festival takes place from March 1st – March 13th, so Bay Area folks, keep your calendars open.  Screening times are posted on the website, and you can buy tickets there.  I’m hoping we can fill those theaters up.

I love film festivals.  I’m excited about meeting new people, pressing the flesh, showing the movie around, and talking about the experience and what’s coming next.  I think these are great opportunities to get the movie out into the world and to also really get the wheels moving on the next project…Which I’m still figuring out.

It still seems daunting and exhausting to try and start the whole process over again for the next film, but my hope is that, despite what I’ve heard from other indie filmmakers, that it gets easier.  I’m choosing to be blindly optimistic right now until I can get my energy back up.  :)

More festival news to come soon!

In the meantime, I’m spending a lot of time researching, eyes glazed over, staring at the computer and willing it to give me answers about next steps. Luckily, I have a lot of excellent resources from film school, industry contacts, and other advice-givers, such as people who have been through this process themselves. It’s just a matter of reaching out and getting in touch.

Facebook, Twitter, blog, constantly staying in the public eye, but not giving away too much…It’s a fine balance. It already feels like ages ago since I finished the movie, and eons ago that we actually shot it…Though I passed by Acapulco restaurant yesterday in Westwood, and smiled fondly!

I’ll have a trailer up soon, and have big plans to post the best outtakes from the shoot as well.  Check out our Facebook page and join up for more updates!

Speaking of mail, if any of you have tried to send anything to our PO Box, I’ve just been informed that, unless it was addressed directly to “Shetani Films,” it was most likely sent back.  I slapped my forehead and asked them to put my name on the PO Box as well, and added the Troublemaker name.  Hope that solves it!

And now, back to editing, and thinking about editing.  I dream about editing.  I wake up and my  mind is immediately racing through scenes, sound ideas, keyboard shortcuts.  I also keep re-living the shoot through each cut, but I’m trying to distance myself and be merciless.  Merciless!  I’m channeling Edward Scissorhands.

Keep checking back for more updates, and join our Facebook and Twitter pages!  Thanks!