World Premiere

We have been accepted into our first festival!! Here is hoping for the start of a long and happy run.

Official Poster

So far I've done about a dozen festival submission, but that is a long game. Both in terms of time spent submitting and time spent waiting to here which ones we'll get into. Patience and perseverance are both required. In the meantime I found someone to give us a hand with the marketing. Many thanks to Alexandra Lambdin of the University of Central Missouri.

Ghost Tours is ready for the world

Ghost Tours is officially finished. I am making "hard copies" to be kept on file at school as a record of my thesis. The thank you gifts for the donors are all in the mail if not already in your hot little hands.

I want to take a moment to thank all the folks who didn't have any spare cash to offer a financial contribution, but who still offered the invaluable assets of love, support, and encouragement. It was a huge endeavor, partly because it was a fairly ambitious film, and partly because it was my master's thesis film and so had a bit of extra Importance. Knowing there were people who believed in what I was trying to do and in my ability to do it really helped keep me going. I appreciate each and every one of you.

The goal now is to bring it to a festival near you so that everyone can see it. I've started a few festival submissions, but mostly I'm waiting to have a moment to think so that I can set myself a festival strategy. Submissions aren't free (usually) so it's important to maximize the budget by focusing on festivals that are a good fit, and playing a long game so that you're always getting the early bird rates. If a likely candidate is on their late deadline (and therefore likely twice as expensive) then mark it in the calendar and submit on the next cycle. Festivals usually accept anything finished within the last two years. Patience will get you more viewers in the long run.

Stay tuned here, and subscribe if you haven't already. As we get screenings I'll make announcements and post dates, times, and where to buy tickets.

Ghost Tours Official Trailer

You have all been so patient, I finally have a reward for you.

There are still finishing touches left to be done. I have drafts of the score from the composer, but we will be doing a live recording session so the music will get even better. Sound design is a work in progress. And I am still touching up the titles and transitions. It's so close to done I can taste it.

Fantastic news all around

Please join me in welcoming the newest member of the Ghost Tours team: composer Benn Cole, who will be doing a custom score for us.

Benn is currently part of the Film Scoring program at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, MA. If you want to learn more about Benn and listen some of his music cruise on over to his website Benn Cole Music.

Part of what makes this such an exciting announcement is that it means I'm at picture lock. The story is in place. There's still plenty of work to do, even on actual pictures, despite the name. There are two sets of images that are currently placeholder that I need to do some work on. But the story won't change and the timing won't change so it's safe for Benn to start work and it's safe for Dan the sound designer to start work.

They say sound is 70% of any film you see, so these two guys will be doing some very important stuff for me in the next few months.

Workshopping the current draft

I am very excited because I have a chance to play the current version for a group of people who know nothing about the story. I am working this summer at a place where everyone is involved in film or photography. It is obvious that the instructors and students in the workshops are creative, but in fact everyone is. The TAs and interns and staff all needed portfolios in order to get hired. So they have started doing artist lectures for the seasonal staff. Anyone who wants to share their work can get a block of time on Wednesday evenings. I expect it will be a very good group for providing critique.

Scene 2

In fact, my good news for this post is more than an image from scene 2. I reached a big milestone this past week. I have finished my first rough cut. It's Very Rough, but then that's the point. I heard someone say once that your first draft is always a success because its only requirement is to exist. Now I have about 6 weeks to get from rough cut to fine cut. That's achievable. I have my hunk of marble now and I just have to chip and polish until my David emerges.