One year ago today, production wrapped on BLACK PAPER.   The months that followed brought many ups and downs for the project.  Post-production moved quickly, and I'm very proud of the finished film.

Distribution has been far more bumpy than the post-production process.  The film was screened for the cast and most of the crew in August with high hopes of sweeping the film festival circuit.  After lots of waiting and a fair share of rejections, BLACK PAPER finally debuted at the Made-In-Michigan Film Festival in October.  The picture was very well received.  Co-producer Ryan Leeder has been discussing some exciting new distribution prospects with me over the last few months.  I can't say much now, but I will tell you that things are looking up.

Beyond that, I just keep thinking about what a great experience the production was.  We cranked out a movie filled with haunting, subtle performances and some lovely camerawork.  I feel so blessed and honored to have had the opportunity to work with such talented people.

Dana Blackstone, you are incredible.  Your performance as Ginny is brave and honest.  I've rarely seen such dedication to a role, and I can't wait to work with you again.  Jack Findley, I don't know how you were able to so deeply embody Max, but you nailed it.  Every little expression is loaded with subtext.  David Gries, Joseph Scott Anthony, Robert William Ford, and Shirley Clemens, you guys rounded out the supporting cast beautifully.  Each of you brought life to your respective role.  You're all awesome.

Anthony Griffin, this movie probably wouldn't have happened without your involvement right from the beginning.  You believed in this project from the moment I pitched it to you, and your work on set was exemplary.  I'm glad that this project finally brought our paths into alignment.  John Kangas, you were a heck of an AD.  You kept me sane and focused.  Liz Merriman, I don't know how you balanced all your jobs, but you brought a ton of energy and hard work to this project, and it made a tremendous impact.  Diane Kowalski, somehow you make the sets and locations look like what's in my brain, and for that I am ridiculously grateful.  Chris Porter, your scores always seem to capture a film's essence, and BLACK PAPER is no exception.  It's beautiful work, man.  To everyone else on the crew, I can only say thank you.  You all did so much work to make this movie happen.

I don't know where BLACK PAPER is going to take each of us.  I only know how proud I am of this film and everyone involved.  It was an ambitious project with a minuscule budget, and we pulled it off.  This movie means a lot to me, and I hope it means something to each of you, as well.  It's been quite a year.  Thank you all.

BLACK PAPER made its festival debut last Friday night at the Made-in-Michigan Film Festival in Frankenmuth, Michigan.  The film received an enthusiastic response from the audience, and I got lots of great questions during the Q&A session after the screening.

BLACK PAPER opened the festival, and during both days, I heard from lots of audience members and festival staff members who said that they loved the film and, in particular, the stellar performance of Dana Blackstone.

I want to take a moment to once again thank the entire cast and crew of BLACK PAPER.  The project wouldn't have made it this far without the hard work and dedication of everyone who participated.  I'm eager to see where we go from here, but so far, we're off to a great start!

BLACK PAPER will make its film festival debut tonight at the Made-In-Michigan Film Festival!  The film will open the festival at 6:00 PM tonight -- October 18, 2013 -- in Frankenmuth, Michigan.  The festival's schedule and other information can be found here.

Please come join us for this landmark event in the life of our movie!

BLACK PAPER is an official selection of the Made-In-Michigan Film Festival, and we're very excited to be screening there!  Two years ago, the Chuck's Boy short films PLAYING HOUSE, DONALD, and NEUROTICA were screened at the festival, and this year VANISHING ACT will also be playing.

So far this is the first festival into which BLACK PAPER has been accepted, and we couldn't be more pleased to be returning to Made-In-Michigan this fall.  Our entire cast and crew worked extremely hard to get to this point, and we're hoping that this is only the beginning for BLACK PAPER.

We'll continue to post schedule details as they become available.

Well, folks, BLACK PAPER is finished.  The sound designer turned in the final mix earlier this week, and it was promptly merged with the locked picture.  I watched the finished product the other night, and I'm very happy with how it turned out.

I've been talking with co-producer Ryan Leeder about our distribution plan, and we're starting with a number of film festivals.  In fact, I've already submitted the film to two festivals!  We have several leads for more long-term avenues, but I don't want to get into that in any more detail until we have something locked.

We also now have a poster for the movie!  It's on the website and it's also on our IMDb page.  It was designed by Bree Brincat from a photo taken by Liz Merriman.

At this point, I just want to once again thank the entire cast and crew of BLACK PAPER.  This was truly a team effort, and I'm so proud of all the hard work everyone did on this movie.  I can't wait to see where it goes from here.

In the meantime, please check out my next film TWENTY YEARS LATER if you haven't already done so.  I'll be reuniting with a number of BLACK PAPER alumni.  But this time, it's a comedy!

The full trailer for BLACK PAPER has been released!  Check it out on YouTube and Vimeo!

I just had a good meeting with BLACK PAPER's sound designer Adam VanderStelt.  We listened to his work on the first half of the film's audio, and it's shaping up very nicely.  Still lots of work to be done, but the dialogue sounds clean, and Chris Porter's score mixes in quite beautifully.

We're a little behind my original schedule, but that's okay.  As eager as I am to have this project finished, I'd rather have things done correctly than quickly.  I was originally hoping to screen the film for cast, crew, family, and friends early in May.  As it stands now, that's probably a bit too optimistic a schedule.  Still, the film is coming together well, and hopefully we can do a screening late in May or early in June.

In the meantime, please check out the page for my second feature TWENTY YEARS LATER if you haven't already.  It's currently in development, and we plan to shoot in August.  It's a comedy, and I'm really excited about it.  A lot of people who worked on BLACK PAPER will be back for another round.

Post-production is moving forward steadily on BLACK PAPER.  Adam VanderStelt is working hard on the sound design, and Chris Porter recently recorded his score for the film.  He's currently editing and mixing the music.

I've been busy, too.  I took another pass at the color correction, and it's looking very good right now.  I think it's just about where I want it.

I've also been cutting a full trailer.  The early teaser trailer is already online, and it gives a nice sense of the movie's themes and tone.  But this new trailer is longer and delves a bit more into the plot and characters.  I don't yet know when it'll be finished, but it's gotten a good response from a small test audience.

That's about it on my end.  More updates coming as events warrant.

I had a great chat with composer Chris Porter over the weekend.  We did what's called a "spotting session."  That's where the director and composer go through the film and discuss where to put music and how it should sound.

Here's the thing, though: I live in Michigan, and Mr. Porter is in California.  So we did the whole thing via Skype.  I think that's the first time I've done something quite like that.  When he's done scores for my short films, we've always just done a phone call.  But since BLACK PAPER is a feature, we needed to get much more in depth.

At any rate, I'm very pleased with how the conversation went, and I'm confident that the score for BLACK PAPER will be outstanding.

Big news for BLACK PAPER:  The picture was locked over the weekend!  "What does that mean?", you might ask.  Well I'll tell you.  That means that the editing has been completed on the video portion of the film.  All of the shots are in the correct order and at the correct length and pace.  Tweaking is finished, and the film plays how it will play.

So now you're probably asking, "Does that mean that the movie is finished?"  And the answer to that is this: "No."  There are still lots of things to do.  The color must still be adjusted, and the sound must be edited and properly mixed with sound effects and such.  The film must also be scored by the composer.

Nevertheless, this is a huge step for the project, and we're right on schedule.

One more bit of news today: The BLACK PAPER teaser trailer will play this Friday evening at a special screening hosted by the Thriller! Chiller! Film Festival in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Further details here.

It's an exciting time for the film!