Palm Springs. Hot. Sunny. Gorgeous. California never ceases to amaze me.

Arrived at the airport, grabbed our bags and raced to the hotel. We had about a 50 minute window to dump our stuff and get to the theater. It was fantastic to see my family again. They’d been out here for two days already. Putting up posters, postcards, handing out key chains and the like. My brother in law, Avi surprised everyone by flying in from Vegas. My sister was wearing a big red cowboy hat with her CENTIGRADE ‘filmmakers’ badge and looked the perfect publicist/producer. My Dad had already done some interviews and Scotland, my 5 year old niece, had little ‘Centigrade’ postcards pinned all over her dress. And it was so, very, exciting. Nobody’s family is better. Nobody’s.

I quickly got a tour from my Mom of the media center and was introduced to a few filmmakers she’d been chatting up over the last few days. I then took a quick peek of the filmmakers lounge. The place was buzzing.

We made it to the theater with about 20 minutes to spare and waiting for me were some of the best friends a man can have. Rob and Brandon Stilson. Mark and Claudia Rickerby. And one of my greatest and coolest friends in the world, Scooby Sorkin.

The theater was 1/10 the size of the theater in Montreal. Perhaps a hundred or so people (I gave my seat up to a guy who didn’t have one. I just sat on the floor at the back).

But be it large or small we were ‘Sold Out’.

The program consisted of 8 films. We were 8th. And once the first film began I felt nervous. Some of them were damn good. And so, I decided then to feel complimented to even be in such company. There are some seriously good filmmakers out there.

Granted, there were one or two that made me wonder who was smoking crack when they were first accepted, but then again, what the hell do I know? As for our turn at bat, well… the sound was a bit of a mess, but nobody noticed but me. It crackled and clicked throughout. Strange. The theaters sound system certainly wasn’t cutting edge, but it played well played enough in spite of it all.

Palm Springs votes by ‘ballot’. Basically, the audience fills out a ballot that’s handed out to them as they walk in to the theater and they check off which film they thought was best etc. And I had to laugh as being the director, I was walking in and out of the theater constantly checking on things, and had to remind the older guy at the door every time, NOT to give me another ballot. I felt like an illegal alien voting Democrat.

Anyway. It was a little unfortunate that a few people left before we even got to CENTIGRADE. I think they felt the ‘Twilight Zone’ program (to which we were a part) may have gone a little long. And so, a some of them began to split. And I was dying because I wanted them to VOTE for my film!! Hell, at least vote for somebody. But finally enough did in fact stay, the whole thing wrapped up and we all headed out for a drink.

I had trouble getting a connection on my cell phone, so I couldn’t call Madison immediately. It was too bad she couldn’t make it to Palm Springs. But the money has just gotten so stupid. Time to reel it back in. She eventually called ‘me’ to say that our 3rd and final screening in Montreal was perhaps the best of the bunch.

She said there were tons of people asking her a thousand questions and that the same day there was a journalist who had mentioned CENTIGRADE as the best film in it’s category. The category of course, WORLD COMPETITION. Cross your fingers.

Anyway. So after the screening we all went out for a bite to eat and had a great laugh. Afterwards we all went to the Hilton and sat by the pool and had another great laugh. This morning I woke up, packed my bags for Vancouver and started cry. Okay. Maybe I didn’t. But it’s just been so much damn fun following this thing around. What a blessing.

And so… Now I sit upon yet another airplane and it’s hot as hell. It’s got to a thousand degrees in here. What the hell is it with these airplanes?!

I don’t believe this. The woman across from me is freezing to death. It’s like krakatoa in here and this gal is bundled up with more cotton than Osama’s granny. She’s got her blanket, my blanket, double socks and a hood. She looks like an Afghani Drivers License.

A fitting end to a fine beginning.

Look out world. Here we come.

C.

MONTREAL -

Hot. Muggy. Raining. Canadian summers never cease to amaze me.

If you like cities, and you’ve never been to Montreal… it’s a must. It simply can’t be touched above the 49th parallel. The people are alive, passionate and (with the exception of the cancerous taxi drivers) very friendly.

The festival, wonderful. No pretense or Hollywood bullshit, just great people with a great love for film. As for myself, Madison and Bri, there was a great love for our beds because the travel and jet lag was absolutely paralyzing. Unreal. The red eye, the time difference. At times I would hit a wall that was un-movable.

But to give a bit of a picture as to the ‘spirit’ of the festival… They have this massive outdoor screen in one of the town squares. At night the screenings are packed with people splayed out all over the square. Numerous ‘park benches’ brought out for the occasion are now lined up like church pews. Though many people were quite happy to stand or sit within the large rise of steps leading up to yet more plastic tables and chairs.

Anyway, what I wanted to mention was that one night it began raining. Only instead of everyone scattering like ants (hell bent on saving their hairdos), instead, umbrella’s just began ‘popping up’ everywhere. Nobody moved. No one made a sound. They just popped open their umbrellas and continued intently focused on the illusion being projected onto the screen.

That’s my kind of festival. My kind of people.

As for ‘our first’ screening?

Fantastic. Full house. We handed out CENTIGRADE thermometers. Basically, a plastic key chain with a real thermometer in it. We brought 500 of these puppies and handed them out to everybody. (The other 500 went to Palm Springs where my Dad, Sister, Mom and Brother in Law are battling 120 degree heat to get the word out.)

Attendance in Montreal? Awesome. Granted, the press and audience percentage that was in the house was primarily there for the feature we were partnered up with, Kuru Obi (Black Belt), but unfortunately I don’t think the the press stayed very long. But it was OUR short that came up FIRST. And it worked.

Very proud.

The house lights dimmed, our opening credits began to roll and Madison, Bri and I all held hands… then held our breath for the next 17 minutes and 40 seconds.

And it was awesome. Remember, this was the first time anyone had ever seen the film. (And our first time in ‘seeing’ people see it.) Add it was great. Everyone responded in all the right places and it looked GREAT. The transfer looked better than ever.

Colin Cunningham and Madison Graie, Montreal 2007. © Turn Up the Heat Productions 2007

Madison and I were especially proud. This began with her. She was the person who said we should try for KICK START in the first place. She’s the one who put together all the paper work. The entire development of the project. If anyone has ever earned the credit of Producer, it is her. That’s why I insisted that her credit be FIRST up. Not mine. One cannot direct thin air. So, it was a great thing. But we also reminded ourselves that this was just the warm up. Our first screening was more of a ‘press screening’. There was the big massive theater to be screened in later that night. Theatre Maisonneuve.

Jonathan Tyrrell was there as well, having flown in from Vancouver the Friday before and we all began the task of getting the word out, finding strategic places for posters, post cards, etc.

Bri had set up a radio interview for me at one of the most listened to radio programs in Montreal. Time? 7am. Ehhh. So, the next morning we were up at 5:30 and making our way to the studio.

The shows producer, Andrea, was fantastic, but apparently had a bit of trouble getting me on as a guest. The head jock Andrew, simply felt that there was too little time to do anything. So, she rattled off a few of my credits.

Elektra?

“Nope.”

DaVincis’?

“No time.”

6th Day, X Files, Stargate?

“STARGATE!!!!”

Well, turns out the guy is huge fan of Stargate. Been trying to get ‘Andrea’ to watch the show for months. I had to laugh ‘cause the guy said that anytime he sits down at home to watch tv and that first shot of the ‘gate’ comes on, his wife shouts out, “NO SPACE!”

Anyway. I’ve worked on many shows, a thousand credits. But it was good ol’ Paul Davis that came through for me.

So…

Note that the French are very proud of their culture. (As so they should be.) But what that means to an outsider is that it’s in your best interest to at least make an attempt to speak French. The odd ‘bonjour’ and ‘merci’ never hurt anybody. But the one thing I DID need to pronounce was the name of the place our film was playing at.

The artistic hub of the festival is the Place d’ Arts. (Pronunciation, “Plas d’ Ars”.) So, Bri wrote up the phonetic pronunciation for me and away I went.

Well, apparently in my bid to sound cool, I declared to 150 thousand listeners in Montreal that CENTIGRADE was now playing at the ‘Plastic Arse’. Perhaps not the strongest start to my radio career.

But it’s been work. And that’s why I haven’t written a thing. At times we had to ‘remind’ ourselves to have a little fun. We were in Montreal after all. Speaking of which, our screening at the ‘Arse’ wasn’t technically our ‘first’ screening in Montreal.

Two nights before, Madison, Bri and I went out for a celebratory drink. The place, Bocconcino’s. There, we were befriended by Georgio (bartender extrordinaire) and Jimmy, the restaurants owner. Two of the greatest guys you’ll ever meet. Hospitality off the chart. Anyway, we had a few drinks and promised to come back with a DVD of the film as thanks for such a great night.

So, the next night (late Friday night) we went back and before you know it Jimmy had locked the doors, cranked up the sound and played the film to about a dozen or so people on the 5 jumbo-tron televisions above the bar. Our own private screening at Boconccinos. Unreal.

Jimmy opened some very fine bottles of wine, a few whiskeys were poured and I cannot remember what time we got home.

What I ‘do’ remember was that I was a tad hung over for our World Premiere. Not the most noble beginning I admit, but if it’s not all about the people, then what the hell? The beauty of making something like a film is the experiences that come about because of it. The people. The places. The other filmmakers. The camaraderie. Sure we were there to work, but we were also there to laugh. And we did. Then I took a Tylenol.

Thank you Georgio and Jimmy. Much appreciated.

Palm Springs, here we come.

C.

Palm Springs ranks as my number one favorite place in the world. From the forgotten 70’s when it was an abandoned bomb shelter, to the spring break riots of the 1980’s. I’ve spent 30 years returning to the Aqua Caliente for its tranquility and Peabody’s for their mango salsa.

Something about this little desert town speaks to me and it’s a bias I can’t really describe. I used to hike Tahquitz Canyon with an empty garbage bag, work my way up to the falls, have a swim, then return with a bag full of garbage. Do that today and they’ll arrest you.

Still, we’ve been accepted to the Palm Springs International Short Fest, the largest short film festival in North America and we’re ecstatic. Madison and I had an ‘audience favorite’ there at the Nortel Festival about 8 years ago with our feature Zacharia Farted, and there is nothing better than to mix ones love of film with sunshine and sage.

I mention this only because the last few entries on this blog have carried a more ‘poutine’ kind of slant and it was about time I made an effort to balance things out.

We are having TWO PREMIERES on the same weekend. And we’ve been absolutely scrambling in our attempts to attend both. It’s incredibly expensive, but at the moment it looks possible.

Our first screening is in Montreal, Saturday night at 9:30pm. Later that evening, at around 3am, Bri and I will leave Madison and Jonathan behind and head for the airport to hop a plane to Palm Springs. We’ll make stops in both Chicago and Denver, arriving in Palm Springs at around 2pm. From there we’ll check into our hotel, drop our bags and cab it over for our 2nd premiere at 3:30pm.

Unfortunately, Madison can’t make it to Palm Springs. Just as unfortunate, Derrick Garland (Producer) can’t make either. (In spirit Derrick).

But as for me and Palm Springs…There, I will get to see my family and friends, Mark and Claudia Rickerby (who both worked on the film), Rob Stilson (dear friend) and his son Brandon (fag)… not to mention my Mom, Dad, Sister Lorraine and niece Scotland. Most will have been there days before, handing out fliers, enjoying the festivities and getting the word out.

Best of the best.

It’s the coolest thing in the world to share something like this. Granted, these are the kind of people who would support me regardless (all gold), but it is also kind of cool to give them something unique to take part in. Something aside from their own personal obligatory. That, and what better reason to go to Palm Springs than to see your kids movie, or your buddies, etc.?

Part of the sacrifice in doing this kind of crap is that you don’t get to see the people you love. Friends take a back seat. Girlfriends do their best to understand. ‘Family’ becomes a thing to be scheduled. And at the end of the day, you may actually end up with a movie that blows.

That’s one hell of a gamble.

BUT, if you succeed…

IF you’re able to pull it off…

IF the film is good…

Then their existence. Their memory. Their influence, becomes tribute. A mirror. An explanation. A thank you card. And ALL are able to celebrate together. One and the same.

Vicarious, perhaps. But all guilty… and proud.

As my father has always said,

“You’re dead a long time.”

See you in the desert gang.

CAMELOT Theatres. SUNDAY 26th. 3:30pm 2300 E. Barista Between Tahquitz and Ramon

760-325-6565

C.

A Karate movie. That’s what we’ve been paired with.

A Japanese Karate movie.

‘KURO-OBI’ (Translation: BLACK BELT.)

Here’s the trailer:

Don’t have much to say really. From what I gather from the trailer, it’s about a group of Karate students whose master is killed and they set out to avenge his death.

Perhaps not the newest spin on the ol’ Karate genre’, but hey… the film did play at Cannes.

And it looks pretty good if you ask me. I mean, they were invited to Cannes, right? (Then again, so was ZOO. A movie about gay guys who have sex with horses.) But hey, who am I to argue ‘art’? Perhaps next year I’ll take the Palme d’Or with a film about lighting my own farts.

Rehab.

Anyway. So, it’s CENTIGRADE and BLACK BELT… together at last. And why the hell not? You know, it could have been worse. I mean, we could have been paired with one of those obscure French films where all anybody does is take a bath. Ever notice that? French movies are always the same. Two people sit in a bath. They stare out the window, then take a bath. Stare some more. Take another bath. Stare. Bath. Then they jump out the window and kill themselves.

So all I can say is that you simply got to go with the flow.

Can’t wait to meet my new Japanese filmmaking friends. We’ve got a smokin’ little film to help them kick off their Montreal experience.

(Granted, it may not be as ‘progressive’ as getting buggered by Seabiscuit, but what the hell.)

I wonder if the liquor store will trade a sixer of Kokanee for some sake?

C.

Just got some great news.

Our schedule has been changed. Instead of screening Friday, Saturday and Sunday (opening weekend Montreal). We are now screening twice on Saturday and once on Sunday (opening weekend in). A small bump.

My friends, schedule is everything. A Thursday at 8am, bad. Saturday night at 9:30pm, good.

But dig this, there is a ‘press only’ screening on Saturday morning. That’s press ONLY. That’s very good. So whatever feature that’s playing is getting it’s own press screening. But dig again, after that screening… there is a press CONFERENCE for that feature. That means that our little short is going to start BEFORE that feature and a press conference follows that screening!! Awesome.

Okay. So, plan ‘C’. Find out who the producers are. Find out who the lead actor is. And… ask them if they’ll share a bit of the light and at least mention the short that kicked off their screening. It’s a huge opportunity. And we will do everything we can to attend that press conference. Just to physically be there could make all the difference for this film.

But wait, there’s more. Later that night. Saturday night. The film is screening at 9:30pm. A killer time slot. So, it’s got to be something big. And to top it all off, the film is playing in the big mama theatre. The one where they hold their Gala.

This is good. This is really good.