Looks like we are having some problems accessing the TEAM feature of Indiegogo. We hoped to start loading more teammates but its been malfunctioning since Saturday.

We received word, on Saturday night, that OISIN was ACCEPTED into the Doorpost Film Festival. I’m told there were several thousand submissions and OISIN was accepted into the top 100. This was the very first festival we submitted to, and if this is any indication of OISIN’s future in the festival circuit, Ritual Pictures & Escape’ Design will be having a wonderful year. The more attention our project gets, the more likely we are to get funding for MALICE.

THIS IS A HUGE VICTORY FOR OUR ENTIRE PRODUCTION TEAM AND A TESTIMENT TO THE HARD WORK AND SACRIFICE THAT WENT INTO MAKING THIS SHORT!

More Soon!

We submitted the film to about 8 festivals thus far. We submitted the film to one festival by mistake. I didn’t read the submission requirements close enough, and it has a time limit of 7 minutes; Oisin runs a little over 12 minutes. The programmer actually contacted me, to tell me that he really liked the film and asked if there was anyway for us to shorten it to 7 minutes.
“Of course”, I shouted!
Granted this is our first festival submission, but from what I hear, its not often that a programmer will take the time to call you about you film during the jury process. From what I’ve read on festivals, and its only 9 books on the subject, programmers are extremely busy. Mistakes like mine would have normally resulted in my film going straight into the trash, but the guy called me. Told me that he liked the film, and I should resubmit it before the deadline. Needless to say, I spent the next 12 hours hovering over my iMac cutting 5 minutes and 12 seconds off the film. I finished about 1:45 this morning. As soon as I get it test screened, its out the door.
WHOOT!
I’ve been on cloud nine since yesterday. Though, I tried to get ahold of my production staff to tell them the news and no one is answering the phones. Its maddening. I gotta tell someone! It figures though, I get news like this and have no one to share it with. WOW!

Everything else is running smoothly. We have gotten our websites launched and the Oisin trailer posted on it. Check it out.
http://www.ritualpictures.com/oisin.htm

On friday, Feb. 6, 2009, we placed the last of the Sean William’s score in the timeline of Oisin. That was it. With that last song in place we finished our post-production, and our 4 month adventure has come to an end. We have finished our first film, and are now burning the first DVDs to send out to festivals.
I sent thank you e-mail to all the cast and crew, along with the film’s status. It was important to let them know how things were going. Not daily, or even weekly of course, but when ever there was great progress made, they needed to hear it. From what I’ve heard, too many new film makers give up at a certain point and leave their film to fizzle out. Whether they quit during the pre-production, the middle of filming, or during port, we filmmakers hit walls that seem unmoveable. So quit, and some force there way through. I needed my cast and crew to know that I was still working on the film. Having a strong group of friends helping you along is so important. They keep you motivated and honest. I can’t tell you how many times I walked into my favorite coffee house and was given shit for not having a completed film yet.
Most of my filmmaking buddies feel the same way I do. You spent a ton of your own money, people gave their personal time to your project for little more than a credit and the fact that they beleved in you and your project. Its our responsibility to make sure we don’t walk away, that we don’t let them down.
Now we hit the festivals; there is no better example of “Hurry up and Wait” than submitting to festivals. It will be 4 months or better, before we hear anything about the DVDs we send out today. Long wait after so much work…fingers crossed.