We just finished a 24-hour session - well, more like three-week marathon and a 24-hour session - to get our still work-in-progress film of THE HUMAN WAR passable for a Sundance and Slamdance submission.
Tom and I were chatting on SKYPE and iChat until about 4 a.m. my time. I am not sure what happened after that. I remember putting together a rough press kit and dragging the Adobe Illustrator file to an e-mail. The rest is a bit of a mystery.
I am now here on my living room floor. It is 6:41 a.m.. I feel a sense of elation. I am excited to see what will come of the final edits (including a new ending!) in the coming month as we prepare to go to color correction and an audio mix - the final stages for a feature film.
At this point, I would like to give a special shout out to Gabriel Cassia, our Editor, who sat with me for 11 hours straight yesterday, and did the same a day before with Tom. We truly appreciate your hard work, willingness to sing songs with your three-word Persian vocabulary (in an Italian accent), and bring such a strong ending ("Goodbye Mickey Mouse!") and moody pacing to a film that would only come from such a unique and talented human being.
I would also like to thank Daniel Brothers, our Post Production Supervisor, who not only helped edit when we had no editor, and then helped again while Gabriel was working Fashion Week, but also for all the hard work downloading the huge files, setting up an FTP site and all the other 1,001 roles besides his own during the pre-production, production, and post-production of this film. (Tom only told me how fantastic you were before I met you two years ago. Now as our work on this first feature is coming to a close, I can truly say I am glad to see the brilliance Tom spoke of, and bear witness as you embark on your first feature.) Thank you for your hard work, generosity, and creative spirit.
Another expression of gratitude goes out to Sonny Mishra, our Composer, who was willing to put up with Tom and I as we jumped back and forth between different song choices. You were able to point us towards a possibility, and guide us gently. That gift, along with all the amazing material you have given this film, has made working with you a true joy. Thank you for the encouragement, patience, and hard work. We look forward to the sonic palette you will create on the next film.
It is a little early for Tom and I to thank everyone in the world. We still have a couple months to go before we're officially done. In two months time, we anticipate a unique film that will reflect the wit, terror, melancholy, and bewilderment at play on the day of March 20, 2003 when the Iraq War was declared and Noah Cicero's fantastic novella began. We are under no illusions about the competitive nature of the film festival circuit, and we understand that chances our slim to major festivals, but we are both happy to have had this opportunity to work with so many talented people, succeed and fail at bringing our visions forward, and watch as our ideas become reality.
Now I will try and sleep a bit. Who knows? I might just watch the 20th version of our movie.
