From Here to Awesome

Over the last several weeks I've been doing a lot of thinking about how to get Running Funny out into the world. Film festivals are great to gain exposure and to talk to people about your film, but in terms of acquiring theatrical distribution, it's still extremely difficult to break through unless you get into a festival like Sundance or Toronto, and even then only a few films are lucky enough to get distribution. So how the heck do I get people to see the film that I worked so hard on for 2 years? I think the answer is online.

There is a new online film festival called From Here to Awesome and once you submit your film, audiences vote how "awesome" your movie is. The top ten features get some sort of distribution. Anyway, the point of this festival is that is democratizes distribution so you can build as big of an audience as you want. I think it's a really great idea and I intend to sign up. It's interesting how the internet and sites like myspace and youtube are changing the way we access music and movies. You don't have to leave your home anymore to discover new talent. It's all right there in front of you. It's give the power back to the artists who can build their own fan base without having permission from a record company or a movie studio to do so.

Having realized the potential the internet offers a no-budget film like "Running Funny," I intend to follow where the market is going (online) and I hope to bring the film to as many different people as possible. Stay tuned!

-Anthony

I'm Back!

I know it's been a while since my last blog, but I've made a new year's resolution to post more regularly and I intend to keep it. Over the last two months I've been focusing on other projects while waiting to hear back from a few festivals, which is why I didn't keep up the blog.

I shot a short film called "Skeeball" with Gene Gallerano that I am beginning to edit now. I'm hoping to have it finished within the next two to three weeks. I'm working with a new editor, Dan Solel, and I think the film is going to turn out really well. Gene and I have also been writing a feature film screenplay together. It's about an estranged father and son who find themselves on a road trip together. It's essentially about two strangers who try to reconnect and I'm really excited about it. If all goes according to plan I'll be shooting that with Gene in the starring role sometime in the next year, so keep your fingers crossed!

I plan to continue the "Running Funny College Tour" this semester with tentative screenings at Syracuse University and George Washington University. Running Funny will also be screening at the Contemporary Arts Center in Princeton, NJ on March 14th. Stay tuned for more information about upcoming screenings.

Also, look for an article about Charles Evered in the new issue of New Jersey Life on newsstands January 15th.

My other new year's resolution is to finally learn to play the guitar. I intend to keep that one too.

-Anthony