Dear 'Dancers' and friends, So much has happened so fast that our heads are swimming. I'm starting to recover from the tremendous crash after a month long adrenaline high from the success and good fortune lavished on us by the last 3 film fests.

Dancing on the Edge had it's world premiere at the historic Kiggins Theater in downtown Vancouver on Thursday August 11th 2011 and it was all that we had hoped it would be and more. When the first limo arrived at the front of the theater, the crowd waiting to get in was backed up all the way down the block and around the corner, BOTH WAYS! As the door opened and Co-Producer and award winning actor Tom Zalutko stepped out onto the red carpet , the crowd just roared! There was even the Ft. Vancouver Pipe band there to pipe us in! As each cast and crew member exited their limo dressed in tux and gown, they proceeded to the step-and-walk where the media and friends had ample photo ops of these hometown celebrities aborning!
When we got inside we found the theater full to capacity and many of the cast and crew and my fellow Vancouverites gallantly gave up their seats so others could attend (I tried to but they wouldn't let me). Even Mayor Tim Levitt, who took time out of his busy schedule to don a tux and introduce our film, refused to take a seat as long as there was a Vancouverite who needed one. It's one of the things that make me so proud of being a Vancouver resident! Yet I feel very bad for those loyal folks who supported us for so long that didn't get to see the show. The theater had to turn away about 200 people. When the film ended and the thunderous applause had subsided, we did a short Q & A for the audience then adjourned to Charlie's Bistro where we had our cast and crew and friends party which was a stunning success thanks to the awesome planning by my producing partner Tiffani Fjosne and the great staff at Charlie's. The Director of the Columbia Gorge International Film Festival,
Breven Angaelica Warren awarded us a second screening on Sunday and the Kiggins was nearing capacity even without advertising!

Five days later on August 17 th, Tom Zalutko, Alisa Rakoz, Nicole McCullough and her family, Ricky and Robin Torres, Emily Abramson, Victor Morris, Tara Krick, Russ and Jan Gorsline and Victoria, my daughter Beth and I arrived at the Millennium Hotel in Times Square, New York City for the 2nd Annual New York City International Film Festival and Market.
The Gala opening was nice as we walked the red carpet with stars John Savage, Steven Bauer and Sally Kirkland who was presented a lifetime achievement award by the festival. To be able to meet and talk with these stars was inspiring for our young people. You're not in Vancouver, Wa. any more Toto!

Our Grand Night the following night turned into a bit of a disaster that evolved into a huge blessing!
We all met in the hotel lobby dressed to the nines and the limos we hired swept us off to the legendary Tribeca Theater for our red carpet arrival and screening of our film. When we got there, there was no red carpet, no festival staff and no one there had any idea what was going on. It seems that we were the only ones to plan for Friday afternoon NYC traffic and then the thunderstorms came contributing to accidents that created massive, honking, traffic jams. An hour and a half later the festival folks show up and try to get things organized but to late to give us the step-and-walk that we paid for. We screened the film to a full house and a tremendous ovation. John Savage came as well and loved the film and sang it's praises the rest of the time at the festival. Our DP, Daniel Steely who turned 18 the last day of the shoot won Best Cinematography honors.
Because of the dog and pony show the night before the festival organizers went to the trouble of shaking up their whole schedule and presented us with an opportunity to screen Dancing on the Edge on Sunday night in Times Square al fresco!
As I was called to the mic to introduce the picture to the crowd of about 200 people in the square I was surprised when Roberto Rizzo , the festival founder, awarded me the Best Director Award. The picture promptly started and I was whisked off to the step-and-walk to do a TV interview and photo session for the paparazzi. Then I took a seat next to Tom, Nicole and Emily and was amused to watch the bystanders look to me with the big golden statuette in my hand, then look at the girls, then to the screen where Nicole and Emily were doing a scene, then back to the girls again several times. Finally, recognition struck and cameras began to emerge until there was a wall of photographers shooting us as we sat watching ourselves on the screen. Then Roberto came by and said "Do you see this? Can you believe this? I've never seen anything like it!" I stood and looked around and Times Square was packed with I'm told, by around 7000 totally enthralled people, staring at the screen. It was absolutely surreal! I have goose bumps now just thinking about it! Nobody spoke! Nobody moved! They just watched! When the film ended, the ovation was huge! We were two hours on the red carpet after the film for pictures and autographs, mostly for Nicole, Emily and Tom who were indeed stars!

Not to go into a lot of detail, but the Friday night snafu also led to greater exposure to the distributors that attended of which two are actively interested in a deal.

When I got back to my hotel room after the Times Square screening, I got a call from my wife that the prestigious IndiFest
competition announced the winners and that Dancing on the Edge had won the Award of Excellence for Best Feature Film, and Best Leading Actress (Nicole McCullough) and the Award of Merit for Best Supporting Actor (Tom Zalutko), Best Overall Post-Production (Tara Krick / Rexpost), and Most Motivational / Inspirational Film. Indies are a Big Deal!!!
Counting the Triangle Award from the Columbia Gorge Fest, that's 10 awards in three festivals! Not bad for a first-time cast & Crew!!!! I'm so proud of all of you!
On to the Tacoma Film Festival where we'll screen 6:30pm Monday 10 October 2011 at the Grand Cinema! More fun to come, Sandy

So another monster success for a film that no one gave us a chance of making!

Reflection

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Reflection

I originally wrote Dancing on the Edge in 1980 to help troubled youngsters find help and hope, only to have it languish in my file cabinet for 31 years. I started to produce it several times, only to have to set it aside to get a real job to support my family while working on other peoples projects. Then in January 2011, I had the chance to produce and direct a $12M feature with an Oscar© winning actor. We had the financing all but in hand when it was revealed that the source of the money was morally unacceptable. I turned it down. Losing that financing was pretty depressing. Finally, my amazing wife Victoria said, “You’re a wonderful writer with a cabinet full of good scripts. Why don’t you do one of your own?” Apparently, my time had come, as it seemed like everything I touched turned to gold. Victoria helped me buy a Canon 5D Mk.II set up and I had much of my own grip. I had to rent a dolly, 2 back up C-stands and a car mount kit. After buying insurance and a city film permit I had $4000. and had no idea how I would feed my crew for 23 days. It was nothing less than the Biblical story of the loaves and fishes in the 21^st Century, as we ate like kings every day. We never actively solicited investment (we had no time) but folks would come up to me that had heard about what we were trying to do and would hand me a check for a thousand dollars expecting nothing in return but were just moved to contribute to what we were trying to do.

Then there was my cast and crew.

None of them had any real experience in feature filmmaking or screen acting. I couldn’t afford even the excellent Ultra-Low Budget contract offered by the Screen Actor’s Guild so I had to use non-union talent that became one of the show’s greatest miracles.

No Director ever had a crew more dedicated or professional in their execution of their many duties as my crew. Most of them wore many hats and functioned with distinction in positions well beyond their experience, notably my DP, a 17 year old with a master’s eye, Daniel Steely. I was also blessed with the most amazing cast I’ve ever worked with. Tom Zalutko, my business partner and best friend, Alyssa Rakoz, Emily Abramson (who walked on hoping for an extra job) all first time actors. Heidi Geil a nursing student, and the incomparable Victor Morris the only veteran actor and co-producer, all contributed performances that were beyond belief. But leaving us all in awe was the stellar performance of 13 year old Nicole McCullough, of tiny Warren, Oregon. No actor in the 43 years I have worked in this business has been more of a joy to direct or an honor to know than Nicole. This young lady is endowed with as much intelligence, moxie and class as Jodie Foster and is destined to be a mega-star of the future.

To quote Dale Newton & John Gaspard’s book ‘Digital Filmmaking 101’ “In the early stages of the rough cut, you often make a real switch in your thinking. You stop trying to make the movie you set out to make, and you begin to define the movie you have made.”

How true that has been for me. I knew I had written a good story. I had confidence in my ability as a director of actors, yet I had never worked in the digital format before. I had a cast and crew that were virtually first timers, and I prayed that I wouldn’t have a very expensive ‘home movie’ on my hands. I hoped that the top pros at Rexpost in Portland, OR wouldn’t laugh me out the door. Like the above quote, it wasn’t long into the rough cut when I discovered that under the loving care of my Editor Ben Meader and Post Prod Supervisor Tara Krick, what I feared would be a frog started turning into a beautiful princess and a picture that was far and away better than I had anticipated. My wife was right all along.

Yet , the greatest joy is not the destination, but the voyage. My life has been permanently and profoundly changed by this experience. The conquering of personal fears and insecurities, the confidence that comes from victory over difficulty; and the joy and love I have and will continue to share with my fellow teammates will lead me on to our next picture.

Thirty-one years ago I wrote this script in the hope that if I could just influence one life for the better then I would be a success. I never dreamed it would be mine.

“Sandy” MacKenzie

"Dancing On The Edge" is in the can!

Well Friends, after 21 days of shooting "Dancing on the Edge" is finally in the can and it's GOOD! You can all be very proud of an awesome achievement! Working with a script that called for locations with limited access requirements, Mother Nature giving us fits, long hours and deferred pay, your morale and professionalism during the campaign was above all praise. It was so hard for me to say goodbye to you all at picture wrap and I can't wait until we're back together again shooting "Runaway Hearts" this summer.

As I sit here tonight I can't help but think of how blessed this production has been from start to this moment. Its hard to believe that it was only a few months ago we had our hopes of shooting "Iron Lyncs" this April dashed when we had to turn down the $12M which proved to be from an unacceptable source. It was a knee-jerk reaction to that launched me into producing Dancing... but I knew I had to shoot something or die! So I dove head long into the project and come hell or high water, I was going to put it in the can. I scraped together what little money I had and managed to buy the camera and grip and figured I'd shoot during the day and fund raise at night in the hope that I could find enough to buy you lunch each day. And God did the rest. Each day, the money would appear from mostly unsolicited sources, friends who wanted to help, my partners who pitched in what they could, and another day's shooting went in the can and the lunches and craft services got better and better. Then there's our magnificent cast, who for the most part, being relative if not virtual beginners, delivered performances that were nothing short of brilliant, day in and day out. Then there were the locations themselves. How perfect was "Priority Place" and the grace of all those at Our Lady of Lourdes to allow us to invade their Pastoral Center for the better part of two weeks. How about the day we spent shooting in the Clark County Sheriff's Office where even "COPS" was denied permission to shoot. Or the Sheriff himself taking the time to come out late on day 21 to play a part after driving all day returning from a family tragedy? Or Happy Valley Urgent Care that only came available 24hrs prior to shooting there and just "happened" to have a training facility next door!

But the greatest miracle for me is my awesome crew, many who stuck with this show at great sacrifice! You have all made a permanent place in my heart.

Now we move on to post, the miracles just keep on coming. As I stood in the drizzle on night 21 I was troubled as to where I was going to find the $30K I'd need for post when my phone rang and God provided for that too! Do you suppose He's rewarding us for not taking that tainted $12M? More fun to come, Sandy