Read the previous “Doubting Riley” diary entries>>>
Sorry I haven’t updated in awhile, but the truth is, very little has happened. Unless you consider changing the title of the movie from “Doubting Riley” to “Outing Riley”. Reason? It was explained to me by people in the know (I’d reveal names but I’m sure they’re unknowns), that the American audience likes a title that tells them something about the movie. Hence, Star Wars, Kill Bill, and “Girls Gone Wild”. So the movie is officially “Outing Riley”. Mistake? I don’t think so, but what bothers me about me is how easily I can be swayed by a few naysayers. I liked the title “Doubting Riley”, but nobody understood it. Doubting Thomas was the disciple of Jesus who didn’t believe Jesus had resurrected until he felt Jesus’s wounds. The religious reference was lost on all but that tiny remote audience that went to see The Passion of the Christ. If I could only get Mel to promote my film.
Since I last updated, I think I mentioned that we went back in to edit for a few weeks. Those few weeks were the best thing for the movie, but it slowed down the process to finish it. Adding a few weeks in the editing room meant we had to move the mix from January to early March and the biggest time consumption was the opening title credits. What we thought would take three weeks ended up taking eight weeks and the film officially completed, meaning we have actual copies, on May 6th.
It’s different than the film I had envisioned, but I still think it’s pretty damn good. Is that conceited to say? I had hoped to create a somewhat strange, edgy, mostly funny, sometimes moving film. And I found that the strange and the edgy confused people, so I either edited or cut that aspect out of the film. So now I’ve got a mostly funny, sometimes moving commercial film about an edgy subject. It could be worse. That to me is the most difficult part of making a film. Staying steadfast in your belief in what works and what doesn’t work or listening to the notes of a test audience and friends. More succinctly, to be a p***y or to not be a p***y. I read recently that Harvey Weinstein begged Quentin Tarantino to take out the ear cutting scene in Reservoir Dogs. Tarantino stayed strong and in my opinion, that’s one of the best and most memorable scenes in the movie. In this case, which is a great thing about independent filmmaking, I don’t have anyone to answer to. The bad thing is I don’t have a studio suit to blame if the movie blows.
Now it is time to sell it. How? Not exactly sure, but it looks like we’re going to invite a bunch of distributors to a screening and hope they show up. The problem is the Cannes Film Festival takes up the next two weeks and Memorial Day turns into Vacation week so I think the earliest we can screen will be in early June. This waiting is killing me. Whenever it is, I just hope somebody shows up. And if they show up, they’ve got a check that doesn’t bounce and the check at the very least pays back the investors.
Maybe we’ll hear more from Pete soon. Until then, let’s have some Back Talk>>>
