Screenwriter and author John August

Splinter, tonight

October 29, 2008 Follow Up, Indie

Following up on my [earlier post](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2008/indie-film-contd) about alternative distributions for indies, Splinter has its debut on HDNet Movies [tonight](http://www.hd.net/movies_schedule_by_title.html#M1627), in anticipation of its theatrical roll-out this weekend. (And in competition with a certain presidential candidate’s national address.)

I haven’t seen the movie, but it got a nice [review today in Variety](http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117938819.html?categoryid=31&cs=1), and awards at [Screamfest](http://www.screamfestla.com/winners2008.html).

The Nines, recut

October 29, 2008 Education, Projects, The Nines

Since before its debut at Sundance, one of my goals for The Nines has been to let viewers recut it to their whims. It’s a film that lends itself to wild reimagination, so I suspect there are some fascinating versions out there waiting to be assembled.

We were able to do it to a small degree with the [trailer competition](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2007/trailer-winners), but I’d ultimately love for an editor to load in all of the assets and go crazy. ((Yes, an ambitious cutter could rip apart the footage from the DVD — that’s how most parody trailers are made — but it’s not the same as having the real footage. It’s like rewriting a sentence with only ten words and two pieces of punctuation.))

This spring, we’re going to do a test run. In USC’s Advanced Editing class, students will get every frame of dailies for The Nines on their Avids, so they can work through the process of making a real feature with the real footage. Editor Doug Crise and I will visit to help explain some of our choices, but it will be up to the student editors to figure out what movie they want to make and how.

Given its relationship with filmmakers, USC’s School of Cinematic Arts has done this with many features over the years. But my hope is to find a way to make it possible without the infrastructure of a film school, so that any aspiring editor could get her hands on the real footage. There are legal and technical obstacles, to be sure, but I’m looking forward to seeing how this dry run goes.

Insomnia 2008

October 29, 2008 Challenge, Follow Up, Video

insomnia_2008 I’m going to be one of the judges for the 2008 Insomnia Film Festival, an Apple-sponsored competition for U.S. high school and college students. Entrants get 24 hours to write, produce, edit, score and deliver a three-minute short film incorporating specific elements they only announce on the day.

The competition begins at 9:00 a.m. on November 15th, so you have just two weeks to get your team together.

Last year, I wrote up [ten suggestions for participants](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2007/insomnia-festival), which is certainly worth a re-link.

I voted

October 27, 2008 Rant

voting sticker This past week, I trekked down to Norwalk for [early voting](http://www.lavote.net/VOTER/PDFS/EARLY_VOTING_INFO.pdf). I hadn’t originally planned to, but I kept envisioning getting hit by a car on my way to the polls, and watching the returns from a hospital room with two broken legs, despondent that I missed my chance at exercising my democratic right, and exorcising a democratic wrong.

It will shock exactly no one that I voted for Obama. Twenty months ago, I attended an early fundraiser for his campaign, and left with guarded optimism. “Wouldn’t it be great if..?” was how I spoke of his candidacy, trying to imagine a president who would inspire rather than infuriate. At every step, I tried to temper my hopes and brace for disappointment. But I was constantly surprised by the intelligence behind the eloquence, and the consistency of message and tone he maintained over a ridiculously long trial. It was a great pleasure to ink the dot beside his name.

While the presidential campaign has been going on since the Pleistocene, the more recent and urgent issue in California is Proposition 8, a ballot measure that would take away my marriage by amending the California constitution. I’ve written about it before, particularly in [Off-Topic](http://johnaugust.tumblr.com), and have had a virtual yard sign on the sidebar for months.

On Saturday, I sent a long email to friends and colleagues making sure they understood how urgent it was that this ballot issue be defeated. While only Californians can vote on this proposition, the impact will no doubt be felt nationally and beyond. So in that spirit, I’m reprinting my letter here. I know that a huge portion of the readership lives outside the state — and nearly a quarter of readers are overseas — but if it helps a few voters understand what’s at stake, that’s something.

We’re ten days away from the election.

Which seems as impossible as it is welcome. Can you even remember a time when the news wasn’t dominated by election coverage? What did we talk about? What did we do? I look forward to rediscovering it all on November 5th.

In all the non-stop coverage of the candidates and their foibles, a tremendously dangerous ballot initiative has gotten much less attention than it deserves:

__Proposition 8 would eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California.__

Mike and I got married on June 28th. We want to remain married on November 5th. And without your help, we won’t.

[Read more…] about I voted

« Previous Page