Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Very Engaging Times...

Hello LCLs:

My apologies for another extended absence. We're buried in writing, and it's difficult to escape from the self-loathing long enough to post here. That is really just lame excuse-making, however, and you should expect more from your faithful Humboldt County writer-directors. We need to deliver MORE to you, and we will.

So let's get started. The biggest and most important news was already covered by Danny in a previous post: I am, in fact, an engaged human. Someone (an incredibly beautiful woman with excellent taste in men named Renee Schuman) has actually agreed to marry me, and I could not be happier or luckier. As Danny indicated (and as you'll soon no doubt notice), my sudden foray into adulthood has rendered me into an unfunny, uncool, ultra-conservative grouch. Fortunately (for me), Renee has already committed to me, and so she is stuck with my sudden boringness.

Next up, Danny and I are back from Minneapolis and would like to thank the good people from IFP-Minneapolis for putting on a great conference. Reilly Tillman, Jane Minton and the entire staff did an incredible job, and they made the experience a winner for Danny and me. Not only did they put us up at the glorious Grand Hotel downtown, but they also fed us delicious food (a very important step to endearing yourself to Danny and Darren) and generally treated us to a first class experience.

We also need to acknowledge the panels and mentor sessions with some interesting and exciting filmmakers. We also thoroughly enjoyed meeting and getting to know our fellow panelists. Perhaps we'll one day be working with some of those folks, and it was exciting to meet firsthand some memberos of another vibrant young filmmaking community. And as for the weather, we actually enjoyed 48 hours of cold and snow, seeing as we returned to more 90 degree southern California madness.

So thanks to IFP-MN, and thanks to all who have sent well-wishes on my engagement. Sorry if I haven't been able to get back to everyone personally, but I appreciate all the love and support.

More to come soon,

-DG

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Links, Links, and more Links!

Hey LCLs!

So Darren and I had our first panel this morning. And we're on a break before another one this afternoon. Good times all around. They served us lunch and misspelled Hummus as "Homos." So Darren and I both had Homos for lunch. Yummy.

Anyhoo - I also wanted to direct your attention to the right column of this here blog, a little ways down. You will find a new section of links that takes you to a plethora of interviews and articles written about "Humboldt County" so that you can get the fix I know you're all dying for.

It is snowing!!!!!
d

Friday, April 25, 2008

Prognosis: Snowy

Well, it's the end of April and apparently, Minneapolis is expecting snow this weekend. Sometimes, don't you just wish our planet wasn't dying?

Anyway, why is the weather in Minneapolis important? Because that's where Darren and I find ourselves for the next couple of days. I write to you, the LCLs, from the Grand Hotel Minneapolis. It's a lovely place filled with lovely people. We're here because we are sitting on a couple of panels for an IFP (Independent Film Producers) convention here. I don't know why we're here and what sort of "expertise" we're supposed to impart to people, but hey, it's a free trip, so how can two Jews turn that down?

In Humboldt County news...well there isn't much at the moment. We're still screening the film for distributors and also deciding on our next move vis a vis film festivals. So, patience would be the key word in that regard.

Meanwhile, we're still at work on our "Three Nights in August" package as well as the script for our next film. Both projects have been going slower than I'd like but you can't rush it. An old, wise Buddhist once said, "Things take shape when they take shape." That same Buddhist, by the way, eventually said so many wise things that he dissolved and was reincarnated as a book of quotations.

Okay LCLs! Let's talk soon. I miss you.
Danny

P.S. By the way, offer a big congrats to Mr. Darren because, as of a few days ago, the man is ENGAGED! Which means, of course, that he is no longer funny, fun or interesting.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

We're in Entertainment Weekly!

Hey LCLs,

A real quick note to let you know that Humboldt County has an incredibly brief mention in this week's Entertainment Weekly, the one with Tina Fey on the cover. There is an article in there about all the new "pot" related movies coming out and we get a super duper brief, blink-and-you-missed-it mention in it. So go buy the magazine (as well as a magnifying glass).

Sweet.
d

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

I AM STILL ALIVE! Just been resting...

LCLs:

Every once in a while, your intrepid Humboldt County writer-directors need to take some time for themselves. A little R&R. I wish it weren't so. I wish I could keep at it all the time, never stopping even to sleep. Danny and I tried to go without sleep a couple times last week, but it didn't really work out so well the next day.

So I've been away. I've been in St. Louis since Friday, taking in a Cards game and a great deal of St. Louis style pizza and toasted ravioli (for those of you who do not know of these amazing things, here's a quick primer: St. Louis style pizza is an amazing super thin crust pizza -- literally cracker thin -- that uses a completely made up cheese called provel cheese. It's some combinaiton of provelone and something else. Any LCLs from the STL, please comment and help me out there. And as for toasted ravioli, well...Let's just say, it's fried. It's got meat. It comes with a red sauce. And it's available as an appetizer in nearly every STL restaurant -- much like queso in Austin -- and nowhere else. No idea why. It's a goddamn crime). I've been hanging with family and my lovely girlfriend Renee, who is also from St. Louis, and it's been a delightful time.

But that's it. It's over. R&R time is kaput. It's time for me to return to LA tomorrow, return to you LCLs, return to Danny (who resembles a lost infant without me) and our projects we're quickly trying to assemble, return to Humboldt County, and return to the world of hard work.

I'm fully charged and rarin' to go. So the reason for this blog entry has nothing to do with Humboldt County or even anything film related at all. It's a reminder, really, to take a little time on occasion for yourself. Do some things you enjoy. Rest up a bit. Take a nap. But don't let your leisure time linger on too long. For there is much to do, friends. And little time to do it.

Until next time...

-Darren in St. Lou

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Screenings and Such....

Hey LCLs,

Sorry it's been a little quiet here on the blog front. Things have been busy. We've been passing the film print around to distributors to take a look at on their own time. Haven't heard much about how they've been going (Dgro and I like to stay out of the loop), but we hear vaguely good things. That is, we hear good things in a vague way, not vaguely good things. Hmm.

Anyway, Darren and I are now hard at work on two separate projects. One is the screenplay for our next film and the other is an outline for a film that we're trying to get ourselves attached to. All I'll say now is that it's a project that Darren and I would kill innocent strangers to get involved with. It would be that awesome. Anyway, so we're double fisting, as it were, for the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, we've just received word that we've been invited to speak at the IFP Producers Conference in Minneapolis during the last weekend of April! Though Minneapolis is not the most exciting city in the world, they are paying for our travel, hotel and meals so as jews, we're pretty darned excited.

Okay, guys! If you haven't checked out "Five Easy Pieces" yet, DO IT NOW!!!!!

Peace,
d

P.S. If any of you LCLs are on Facebook, make sure an do a search for "Humboldt County" and become a fan of the movie!