Home Away From Home

Sound Mix is Finished

Gladly, we finished the sound mix for "Sweet Home" last week and it sounds fantastic.  Thanks to Mike Frank, we're on a path to do our HD-online on November 9th and soon after have completed DVDs for everyone in the Sweet Home family.  Very exciting to have everything completely finished.  Ah, the bills to pay... almost finished.

WOW - C&P Family is Growing!!

It's been a few days since my last post, but it's been an amazing 11 days.  CUT&PASTE has garnered amazing new support in the likes of Wacom, Crumpler, Karmaloop, Flavorpill, Cool Hunting, among others.  Check out our State of the Union at www.cutandpastecontest.com.  Along with Bobbito MCing we've enlisted The Rub and SugarCuts to provide 12-4AM party music.  As we've made this event even bigger, our budget for insurance, promotions, and logistics has grown a bit... where to find the extra cash... *gulp*

I'm really proud of the team - Justin, James, Otto, Henry and now a very smart PR genius in Jeremy.  So psyched to make this a big event and do something bigger moving forward.  Stay tuned.  -J

New Sponsors Joining C&P Family

It's been a great two weeks for CUT&PASTE...  Some amazing partners have joined the CUT&PASTE family offering their financial resources, equipment, products, and promotional efforts to make this event a huge success!!  Some names you might be familiar with:

• Tekserve
• Psyop
• KidRobot
• LVHRD
• myplasticheart
• Mimoco
• Sophomore
• Red Stripe

All of these sponsors have been enthusiastic in helping us share the spirit of the event with their networks and we're working hard to spread the word-of-mouth.  Pass it on!

Paragraph

After looking for an ideal space to write and work over the last 3 years, and having spent countless hours and dollars over lemonade and teas at various places like Tea Lounge in Park Slope and Doma in the West Village, I came across this article on writer's work spaces in today's Sunday Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/09/fashion/sundaystyles/09writers.html

Now, writer's spaces are not new to New York.  There's been the Writer's Room, the Village Quill, and even the Brooklyn Writer's Space here in the Slope.  But each of those sport's a lengthy multi-year waiting list and I'm not that patient.  So I kept going to Doma, but they're a bit overpriced and in spite of the kind baristas, I feel slightly unwelcome by the ownership (justifiably, they dislike people who buy one tea and sit for eight hours, which is why I always get food if I stay for more than 3). Which leads me to my 3PM appointment today for a tour of Paragraph, a fairly new space opened by some recent graduates of the New School.  I hope this will feel like a place where I can work, because if it is, I'll gladly put down for the discounted six month membership.

A History of Violence

(If you haven't seen this, then please avert your eyes).

Coming out of the theater after watching A History of Violence, I can't help but think I was watching The Incredible Hulk.  Centered around a man whose past has come to haunt his quiet Indiana life, we discover that under dangerous circumstances, he becomes another man, able to respond to danger instinctively.  It's a compelling story with the first half of the film built around whether he is or is not from a violent past.  Once we discover the truth, we learn about how he will deal with his family's discovery and whether who he was will now endanger what he has struggled to become.

But for my money, the most intriguing arc lies in his wife, Edie, a woman who seems completely from her peaceful, rural environment.  While she responds with shock at the discovery of her husband's true nature, her accommodation of who he "is/was" presents the film's greatest intrigue.

At first, she is confused and disgusted; then she instinctively defends their family by covering for him with Sam, the policeman.  But what made the story fulfilling was their confrontation on the staircase.  After getting rid of Sam, she tries to leave the room and Tom goes after her, nearly choking her.  This was startling by itself, but it unfolds into a fit of seeming passion as they grab and slap each other on the stairs.  It's a melee that morphs into a pool of lust and punishment (to each other and to themselves), a stark contrast to their earlier sexual roleplay of unrequited adolescence and innocent love.  On the staircase, with every cut and camera move, we observe a man and woman whose identities we're unsure of - is it Tom, the husband, or Joey, the murderer choking her; is it Edie as the sickened wife or as a woman who is drawn to his animal qualities.

By film's end, it's not clear if she will ultimately accept him (thank you, Mr. Cronenberg!), but we get the sense of where her heart is moving - after all, where she comes from, loyalty is the ultimate virtue, and they take care of their own.

Cut & Paste: Call for Entries

To enter the Cut & Paste competition, please e-mail cutandpastecontest@gmail.com with the subject "ENTER CONTEST" with the following information:

1) Name, address, phone number
2) Work info - position, employer, brief job description
3) Link to website, portfolio, or other online proof-of-work
4) Brief bio (3 sentences max)

*** NO ATTACHMENTS PLEASE ***

* 8 contestants will be selected from the submissions and will be contact by phone.
For more information, see:  CUT&PASTE

CUT&PASTE

Some of you may be aware of this, but I've been working with a group called Audio Visual Disorder (AVD) and we're organizing the inaugural CUT&PASTE Competition for Graphic Designers.  Think the "Iron Chef of Graphic Design" meets a magazine launch party in a nightclub setting.  Designers will perform the construction of graphic still images based on a theme medium ("Design a shoe based on the theme of food.  Now go!!!)  :D

We've enlisted some amazing judges:
Tristan Eaton - Thunderdog
Kendrick Reid - VP Comedy Central
Doug Jaeger - Creative Dir. thehappycorp
Jeff Staple - Staple

We've also brought together some great sponsors in thehappycorp, KidRobot, Psyop, among other great creative and product brands.

Set your calendars for the late evening of November 19th at M1-5 in Tribeca.  To learn more see:
CUT & PASTE

Music in a "Quiet" Film

Since completing photography of my new film, Sweet Home, I've been tinkering and playing with how music could work in aiding the story.  With virtually no dialogue (what little of it, in Arabic), it's been a tremendous challenge in weaving the music through the quiet moments, allowing it to follow the action of the protagonist, Khalil.

I realize now the music was meant to follow Khalil, or rather, to let Khalil's action on the screen pull the music.  It was also crucial to let the music play neutrally, not to influence the audience to think one way or the other, but allow anticipation rather than tension.  I'm thankful for this process.