Monday, January 19, 2009

Happy MLK, LCLs!

As we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. day (well, not McCain, but the rest of us), it occurs to me that this is a time of renewal. The 4,731 hours of inauguration coverage are in full effect and the estimated number of attendees in Washington changes by the second. With all that chaos ongoing, I thought it a time to think and ponder....

On January 12th, 2009, we had a screening in LA of "Humboldt County" to commemorate the DVD release the following day. It was a lovely affair (Darren will upload photos as soon as he figures out how to use his wife's spankin' new camera). A lot of friends came out and people we've known in the industry for a long time. Most poignantly, our very Jewey mentor, Mr. Jake Kasdan (director of such notables as "Zero Effect", "Orange County" "TV Set" and "Dewey Cox") moderated the Q&A. Jake recounted the story of how we came to know him and how he became a flagship member in the "Danny & Darren Mentor Program." We got his phone number (how, I will not divulge) and left a message on his answering machine, in no-doubt ridiculous fashion. And the rest, as the ubiquitous "they" say, is history. Every 4-6 months Jake would take us out for a scrumptious meal at The House of Pies in Los Feliz and dispense drops of wisdom from his decidely large fountain of knowledge. So, it was with great pleasure, and a touch of surreality, that Jake moderated our Q&A after the screening.

The Q&A featured cast members Chris Messina and Madison Davenport as well as our composer, Izler (Like Madonna, he has but one name. Deal with it.) Fairuza Balk and Brad Dourif came to the screening beforehand for some press stuff, but sadly, neither of them could stay around after.

It had been a long time since I had seen the film up on the big screen and I stayed around for the first 10 minutes or so to watch. I kind of wanted to stay for the whole thing but instead, joined the cast and a few others for dinner. It occurred to me, though, that this was likely to be the last public screening of the film in the United States for quite some time. Because now, the film exists out in the world - on DVD everywhere. And speaking of, if you want to buy the DVD (which you can literally do anywhere) please buy it from our website. It's a better deal for us (and for you).

Lastly, Magnolia finally got the numbers back from the first 3-month Video on Demand window for "HC" and they were pretty darn good. The reason it takes so long for us to find out how many people watched the film on VOD is a long, sordid and frustrating tale but nonetheless - the numbers did come in and apparently, all across the country, people have been checking out the film. So many people, in fact, that Magnolia is bullish about our DVD prospects and has ordered 25,000 DVDs for the release.

How many of those DVDs get bought/rented remains to be seen. But as we near the final, homestretch of this fantastic run, we wanted to say "thank you" to all of you LCLs that have been there since the beginning. Keep checking this blog because we'll continue to update it (more regularly than we have, we promise) with "Humboldt County" news as well as progress reports on our next project.

Until then, enjoy your endless inauguration coverage and remember: Don't sit idly.
d&D

P.S. Whenever and wherever you rent or buy "Humboldt County" please rate it highly and write a positive review!

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