A Single Woman the Movie

The last few weeks have been amazing in so many ways!

We had overwhelmingly positive response to the film when we screened it in Washington DC at the Capitol Building on October 30th at 3.30pm for Congressional staffers, NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) and seven members of Jeannette Rankin’s family!  Photos will be posted soon. Our profound thanks goes to Congressman Dennis Kucinich and his wonderful aide, Catherine Veith, for facilitating this important event.

While in Washington we shot footage and stills of our experience there, including comments from the Rankin family and great interviews with the library staff of the United States Institute of Peace - whose library is named after Jeannette Rankin!

I will be editing a short film of the Congressional Trip for our DVD extra as I begin the preparations and fundraising necessary to move the film to DVD and make it available to the public.

We also completed editing, producing and duplicating a new four-minute trailer (thanks to Sven Shelgren, Eric Murphy and Shirley Harlan!) which we distributed at the Congressional Screening. We plan to use the new trailer to broaden awareness of the film and as a tool for our upcoming tour.  Viviane Hahn, our Outreach Coordinator, is in the process of organizing a college and museum tour of the film and can send this trailer to any such group that may be interested in hosting a screening of the film.  You can reach her at: outreach@asinglewomanmovie.com

We recently sent out our first official newsletter, which hopefully you received.  If you didn’t, please sign up for it, as I will be shifting most of my news updates to the newsletter and you must be signed up to receive it.

More news to come soon so please sign up and stay informed!

Thank you, as always, for your support of “A Single Woman.”

With much love,
Kamala
 

Maria Armoudian interviews me on KPFK to promote the upcoming screening of "A Single Woman" at the Culver Plaza Theaters on Sunday Sept 21st.  

Click here to listen to the interview

 Lisa Guido, producer of GRITtv sent me an email tonight saying that they decided to run the clip from "A Single Woman" now because

" with all the Palin buzz, we need to hear about a Republican woman we could stand behind!"

From their website: 

"Here's a clip from the film "A Single Woman" about a Republican woman we can get behind: Jeannette Rankin. Never heard of her? She was the first woman to hold a seat in Congress and voted against both WWI and WWII. She was not only a Republican, but also a life-long pacifist. "

A Single Woman the Movie on GritTV from Joel Marshall on Vimeo.

Click below to watch the entire episode of GRITtv with Laura Flanders

760-831-7349 

"Each occasion when a woman dares to stand up for who she is and what she believes in, no matter what others might think, is an important contribution towards changing the status of women in the world,"  say Johanna McCloy and Patricia Howard, editors of                                                  website: www.daretobefabulous.com

Hello Everyone!

I wanted to give you an update on what's been going on with the film as it has been ages since my last blog entry!  

First of all, I have submitted the film to thirteen film festivals so far:

The Hamptons, Sundance, Toronto, Big Sky Doc Festival, AFI, L.A. Femme Festival, Telluride, Austin, Santa Barbara, Sebastopol Doc Fest, Boulder International, Santa Fe and Fort Lauderdale.

Unfortunately, just two days ago I found out that Toronto has decided not to include us, but we must not let that get us down given that it is, after Sundance, the most competitive film festival to get into in the world.

Besides the festivals, I have been seeking out potential distributors all summer.  We have been doing this in various ways including holding small private screenings at the homes of supporters specifically for sales agents and distribution execs.  

A wonderful person by the name of James Otis came to the original cast and crew screening at Sony and contacted me afterwards.  He had been very moved by the film and Jeannette Rankin's story and was determined to help get the film out into the world.  He offered his beautiful home to show the film in and gave me a great deal of important advice on how to try to position the film to distributors given that he had been in the same position with his documentary about the CIA years ago.  

We have met some great people at these small screenings who have been giving us leads and helping us brainstorm on how to achieve our distribution goals.  Here are a couple of examples:

Karen Hunte, the executive producer on "Wired Science" (the show I hosted for PBS last year) saw ASW at one of the private screenings and really responded to it.  She was kind enough to take it directly to the Senior Director of Programming at PBS  in Arlington, VA.  After many weeks of waiting, Karen let me know that many of the top brass at PBS had watched the film and felt it was an extremely impressive and creative approach to the material and subject.  However, they couldn't see where it would fit with their brand and therefore didn't feel it had a home at PBS.  I must say I was disappointed, as I thought ASW would have been a perfect fit, but I nonetheless was very appreciative of Karen's efforts on our behalf and happy that it was seen by decision makers. 

Another one of the executives present at one of the private screenings, John Hegg, took the film in to his company, Lonely Seal Releasing.  While they specialize in international distribution, and we all agree that securing international distribution will be difficult without first getting a domestic deal, Grant Rayham, a partner in the company met with me and offered to show the film to a colleague  who specializes in selling to the major cable companies.  This person, Seth Kittay at All Channel Films, responded well to the film and is presently submitting it to the domestic cable outlets he thinks are most suitable which include The History Channel, Ovation, Stars Encore and others.  Again, getting responses from these large companies can take excruciatingly long but I'm pleased that ASW is coming to them through a source that they trust and purchase from regularly.  That should help us go to the front of the line, hopefully, and get an answer one way or another in a reasonable amount of time.

As well as these private screenings, I also traveled to New York City for the HBO Latino International Film Festival where a short film I directed in Spain called "Ese Beso" was in competition.  While in New York I was able to also talk about ASW to the various media outlets that interviewed me for the festival including an appearance on the top rated morning show in the Tri-State area which airs on Univision (in Spanish).  At one of the panels at HBO I connected with a CBS executive and told him about ASW, gave him a package and am presently following up with him.  He was in charge of bringing the film "Swing Vote," that Kevin Costner produced, to the Eye Network and was very politically oriented.

While in New York I also had dinner with an old college friend who may (fingers and toes crossed) be able to connect me with the new (and sole) executive at OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network, which is set to launch in 2009.  That would really be wonderful!

Also while in New York, I was able to give Grit TV, the show hosted by Laura Flanders, some clips of the show that they have agreed to air in conjunction with a "hook," meaning some newsworthy item about the film like a screening or release date or some such.  Sven and his wonderful editor Eric Murphy also worked very hard on cutting together a new, and longer, trailer of the film which is almost finished.  Once complete, I think this will be a very helpful piece to post on this site as well as send to media outlets to try to secure press. 

I am still working on securing a firm date with Dennis Kucinich's office for the Washington DC screening of the film.  Unfortunately all the dates in September were taken and we are now trying for various dates in October.  Cate Veith in Dennis' Congressional office is a huge supporter of the film and has been working very hard with me on trying to get this done; there is a great deal of paperwork and bureaucracy involved with booking a screening room and one has to have the patience of a... well, more patience than I have, let's put it that way.  One of the issues is that at this point it is not clear if Congress will actually be in session in October or not...! Although they are on summer break now, and do not return to DC until after the first week in September, they may go back out in October!!  If this is the case, we may still go ahead with the screening in October because top legislative aides (who are more likely to be our audience in any case) will still be there and may actually have more room in their schedules to attend a screening.  

Until this past Friday I had been working feverishly on securing a three minute slot at the Democratic National Convention for a clip of our film - Patricia Foulkrod put me in touch with Victoria Hopper and Jaime McGurk who have organized a series of screenings during the DNC including Mary Lambert's "14 Women" (about the female Senators).  Originally I had hoped to screen the entire film but there was no slot left open and then they agreed to show a three minute clip if Dennis Kucinich would introduce it and speak.  I have been trying to make that work but unfortunately I couldn't arrange it with Dennis' office and the organizers were not willing to show it without his introduction...  That was a bit of a bummer as well but, hey, no one said getting the movie out there was going to be easy!

Viviane Dzyak Hahn, PhD., is our new Outreach Coordinator.  She is located in Northern California and a close friend of my sister, Nina's (who is a world renowned educator; see:  www.ninazaragoza.com ).   Viviane has agreed to take on the very important job of reaching out to the universities, museums and other educational outlets to set up a tour of the film this fall.  She has been working tirelessly writing, calling and emailing and is finally (now that summer is over and people are getting back to their offices) getting initial positive responses from those potentially interested in hosting the film.  If you have any strong leads to universities or museums, please let me know so I can pass these along to Viviane.

Frank Dorrel and I are planning a fundraiser screening of ASW at a movie theater in Culver City in the immediate future.  This will be a great opportunity to invite all those folk who were not at the cast and crew screening and who have expressed an interest in seeing the film.  I will let everyone know the details as soon as we nail them down.

In the meantime, thank you for your continued support and good wishes.  I look forward, as always, to hearing from you.

With much love,

Kamala

Yesterday Luisa Roque, Frank Dorrel and I got back from Minneapolis where we attended the National Conference for Media Reform.  It was an absolutely mind-blowing experience - I don't think I have ever been more galvanized by a group of people than those participating in this conference.  I felt like I was part of something so large and unstoppable... I won't get too deep into it but I entreat each and everyone reading this to check out freepress.net and watch some of the amazing speeches by progressive leaders such as Amy Goodman, Bill Moyers, Naomi Klein, Arianna Huffington, Van Jones (!) and on and on...  And I highly recommend planning to attend the conference next year - it truly is the heart and soul of the new and powerful progressive movement. People from all areas, geographic and ideological, coming together to protect the interests of the citizens of the United States against the erosion of our rights under a government whose allegiance lies primarily with big business.

While Frank manned a booth in the large Exhibit Hall (with Mansoor and Jeannie from Global Voices for Justice), Luisa and I attended panels and spoke to everyone we could about the film.  It was extremely gratifying because literally everyone we met was supportive of the idea of a film about Jeannette Rankin and genuinely interested in it.  We passed out over a thousand postcards and handed out many many business cards, picking up quite a few as well.

The first night of the conference we saw Phil Donahue's powerful film "Body of War." This film is a must-see.  The movie has a very strong message but isn't didactic and the protagonist is extremely charismatic and funny.  After the screening Phil told the audience how difficult it is for him to get distribution for it (!) - all the majors have turned him down, saying that they just don't see the financial upside, that it won't sell enough tickets.  He did get a PBS deal - it will air the evening of Veteran's Day, and some of the small independent theaters in the major cities are showing it, but it really is outlandish that he can't land a good theatrical deal - I mean he's Phil Donahue for heavens sake!  

There is something very wrong with the system of media distribution in this country if "Body of War" finds itself in this situation.  I believe that there is the need for this type of film to be available to the public and, whether or not it will rake in multiple millions on its first weekend should not be relevant.  Media is entirely too important to be run as a simple bottom line business.  I had this argument many years ago with Richard Gladstein at the Sundance Producers Lab when he was working for Miramax.We had both just been at Cannes and I questioned why they had not picked up an amazing and important film I knew they saw and passed on.  Their argument was that no one would go see a movie with subtitles, despite the content (times have changed a bit since then because of some foreign language blockbusters like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Life is Beautiful") and this dismissal of what was truly important about the film, and about the artform in general, made me livid.  I told Gladstein that it was Miramax's duty as a purveyor of art to distribute such films and the rest of the room jumped all over me with the "It's show business" argument, which I just see as a cop out.  

And I still feel the same way:  I highly doubt that distributing films that benefit the public good will adversely affect the bottom line of the major media corporations in any significant way.  In fact, they should see it as good PR, if that is the only way they can wrap their policies around doing something not just for the cash. But let's just go ahead and call a spade a spade here:  the premise that the corporations' only raison d'etre is the perpetual increase of quarterly profits is flawed and ultimately destructive, not only to the public, but to the corporation itself.  It is a short sighted, philosophically corrupt "law" upon which to base our economic structure - and, as we are all witnessing, it is taking this country down the drain and everyone else with it.

The bottom line is that we need to exert pressure on our government representatives to rewrite the Telecom Act, to insure that further media consolidation does not occur and that the public interests are served by providing space for diverse voices and content that are, at present, utterly (and legally) squeezed out.  They are trying to do the same thing with the internet as well, which would put an end to the free exchange of information that has so invigorated us and re-created a sense of community in the last decade.  

Over the course of the three-day trip I was able to speak with Mr. Donahue, as well as Laura Flanders, Arianna Huffington and Amy Goodman's staff about "A Single Woman," and they were all very receptive and interested.  

I will be following up with all the wonderful contacts made in the next few days by email or phone and I hope to get interviews, leads and support from many of those I met.

The next order of business, as we wait to hear from film festivals and distributors that Jon Fitzgerald is approaching on our behalf, is to organize a fundraiser screening for Cindy Sheehan who is running for Congress in San Francisco as well as a screening in Washington DC that Dennis Kucinich has offered to set up for us for members of Congress.

Saturday May 31st was the Cast and Crew Screening and the first time the finished film was seen by an audience.  Thanks to the graciousness and generosity of my old and very dear friend, Jimmy Honore, we screened the film in the beautiful William Holden Theater on Stage 5 of the Sony Studios Lot.  Both the sound system there and the screen are amazing.  We were able to screen the D5 Master, which was full resolution HD and quite beautiful. 

It had been extremely stressful leading up to the screening as we encountered various technical snafus with the render and creation of the D5 - first of all, Justin's machine went on the blink and he had to rush the film to an outside post house to record the film to a master tape.  Then the outside house misunderstood when we needed it by (which was Friday morning so we could run a print check at Sony during the Friday lunch break - The Holden, the Novak and the Cary Grant are in constant use at Sony as they are dubbing stages and they are mixing the new Will Ferrell film, "Step Brothers" in the Holden at the moment) and our print was not ready in time to check it Friday... 

So we were actually not able to check the print until half an hour before the screening - that was horrifying.  Justin had given me a back-up DVD in case the worst case scenario occurred... but I told him I would rather slowly slice my head off with a butter knife in front of the audience for ninety minutes than screen a DVD (very dramatic of me and probably not very appealing to our particular audience).

As we ran the print test Saturday evening I noticed that the sound synch was off and I started freaking out.  Peter Carlsted was there too and he agreed that the synch was soft.  Luckily, the staff at Sony, starting from Mike Rizzuto (Director of Post Production), to Mike McClarin (Tech Director for Projection) to the 2 projectionists, Nate Oishi and Greg Giacona and Mark Onks, who was in charge of running all the dubbing stages on Saturday were not only top notch in terms of their training and ability, but extremely sympathetic and helpful to me.  They easily made the adjustment to the sound, by delaying it about two and a half frames, and it fell into synch.  The incredible thing is that the D5 was not out of synch, but the room was so big that by the time you heard it, it was!  Apparently these things always need to be adjusted based on the space in which they are being projected.

Once the print had been adjusted both for sound and color, we were ready to let in the audience; and what an audience it was!  Many of our wonderful cast came including Jeanmarie Simpson, Elizabeth Pena, Judd Nelson, Karen Black, Rich Flisher, Mary Kay Riley, Kate Connor and Andy Hirsch, Traber Burns, Cassidy Lehrman, Joel Marshall, Jeff Simpson, and Terri Simmons. 

And at about 7.05... in came Joni Mitchell with her dear friends Shell Burton, Chris, and Valentino -- that was absolutely thrilling.  Joni had never seen the film or heard how we had used her music throughout it.  Danette Christine, our Music Supervisor, had been hoping against hope that Joni would be there to see the film and there she was!  The screening was ready to start!

I spoke a few words before starting the film, thanking the crew and cast for their invaluable support and passion for the project.  It meant so much to me to be finally standing up there with a film that I was proud of and having all the people there who had believed in it and in me, that I just sort of lost it.  Hopefully most of what I was saying was intelligible.

Earlier in the day I had received a letter from Dennis Kucinich, an idol and role model of mine, the Congressman from Ohio whose efforts on behalf of peace stand head and shoulders above anyone else in our present government.   I was so touched by his letter; I read it before the screening.  Here it is:

"Dear Kamala, 

Congratulations on the screening of A Single Woman.  We can't wait to see it.  Your work will make it possible for the singularly important life of Jeannette Rankin to receive much deserved attention.   Her life becomes more relevant for this nation and the world as we continue to proceed along a path of war.  Perhaps your film will point the way to a different path, the road less traveled, the path of A Single Woman.  All of our love is with you as your work begins to emerge.  We look forward to introducing it to Washington, DC so that our nation's Capitol can rediscover the deeper meaning of Jeannette Rankin's life, and, in doing so, it may discover the possibility of peace.  

Sincerely, Dennis Kucinich"

This really made me cry.  Anyway, I made my way back to my seat and my mom leaned over and said, "What a crybaby!"  (Note that she was crying when she said this!) My husband grabbed my hand and the movie started.  Through the whole film the audience was very quiet and I was shaking like a leaf.  I though I was going into hypothermia.  It was much much scarier to watch a film that you've directed with an audience than watching one that you've acted in - at least for me it was.

After the film, people were very effusive.  Many stayed for hours afterwards talking. Our close friend Alex Webber (who had also catered the film shoot) catered the reception and the food was fantastic.   Joni Mitchell really enjoyed the film and even suggested other songs of hers that could be used, should we ever open up the sound again - that was the greatest compliment ever and something to keep in mind when a distributor steps in.

I would like to share with you some of the highlights of what people said about the film.  Elizabeth Pena's daughter, the beautiful eleven year old Fiona, kept telling her mom throughout the movie, "That lady is right!" referring to Jeannette Rankin.  After the screening I spoke with her and she thought that the film would be very good for middle schools and high school kids to see.  My dear friend Lily Moussa's daughter Rebecca, who is fifteen, also really loved the movie.  

Here is what Lily said to me later by email: 

"I was going to bring a date with me to the screening and decided on Rebecca instead. I was so grateful to have had Becky there because it's a movie every young female should see." 

That to me is SO important and such a coup.  If I can speak to these young women, I have accomplished one of my main goals with "A Single Woman."  Now it's a matter of getting it in front of them. 

Other wonderful comments included, from Police Officer Guillermo Campos, the Law Instructor (specializing in teaching ethics) to the LAPD (Los Angeles Police Department):

"Hello Kamala!

I was truly blown away by the story and the film.  Best wishes to you in a broad exposure for the film.   It was truly enlightening and it makes one truly ask again, have I settled for the situation?  Am I doing enough to make a difference in the world or settling for the status quo?  Her life is an inspiration.  If only all of us had the courage to live our convictions and beliefs about what is right and wrong.  It is truly dangerous, but the rewards are everlasting. 

Thank you for living your life that way.  It will help change the world." 

And from Thomas Carter, Chandra Wilson's manager and owner of management and production company, Station 3:  

"You obviously put a lot of work and research into this project. Rankin was a major influence on many issues that I wasn't even aware of and I am compelled to thank you for being a conscious 

filmmaker and perpetuating the spirit of this important woman.  I can imagine that because of your efforts many will be inspired to do the same or maybe take up the same fight as Rankin. Congratulations on your achievement!"

From filmmaker and friend George Hickenlooper ("Factory Girl," "Hearts of Darkness"): 

"Suzanne and I really enjoyed ourselves. You film really moved us. Congratulations on an impressive effort." 

From Patty and John Sharaf, activists and filmmakers who made "Citizen Stan" about Stanley Sheinbaum and are working to finish a film about the flawed Diebold voting machines: 

"What an inspiring movie!  Thanks for the terrific evening and congratulations on all your hard work.  You have accomplished a creative feat that Joni Mitchell can be proud of too. Bravo."

From Sally Marr and Peter Dudar, the fearless and dedicated filmmakers of "Arlington West," who spend their lives going to schools and presenting an opposing view to the military recruiters that are on the public school campuses by showing their film and holding discussions with the students:

"Kamala,   

Thank you for a wonderful evening and for sharing your beautiful film.  It will inspire so many women, girls to stand up and be heard!  We loved being there!!!!"

From our marvelous cast member Traber Burns, who flawlessly portrays Truman and Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn in the film: 

"Kamala, that was a profound experience to finally see the film Saturday night - the love and passion you've poured into it was a perfect union with the love and passion Jeannette Rankin brought to her life and work.  You should be very proud and hopeful."  

From Jeanmarie's brother, Danny, who has dedicated his life to helping others all over the world in the Peace Corps and working for Habitat for Humanity, most recently in Madagascar: 

"Just a quick note to thank you and congratulate you, again and again, for the terrific work you did on your film.  My experience in the screening was remarkably similar to my experience reading an early draft of the play.  I had expectations, of course, that I would enjoy it, based on numerous conversations with Jeannie, simpatico politics, your involvement, etc.  But in fact the experience far exceeded my expectations, caught me by surprise in many ways and made a fresh impact.  In translating the play to film, you've added tremendously to how the values of the material take shape in my mind.  Two obvious examples are the seminal story of the young mother with her baby and the Indians, and the young woman's recounting of an atrocity in Nanking.  You really embraced the moral challenge and difficulty of Rankin's philosophy and so did an excellent job of creating a context for her politics."

And from our dedicated and ever supportive co-producer (and co-star) Rich Flisher and his beautiful wife, Leigh, who have stood by the project with their support and resources when times were very tough: 

"Congratulations. Your movie made us so happy, inspired and proud. It has such a strong, relevant, timely message, a message so poignantly and visually pleasing. It's uniquely informative and beautiful. Passionate. I've never seen anyone make so much, so well, so powerfully, with so little money, time and support. Your tenacity and commitment are impressive. You have worked so hard, in such an honest manner, that I can't wait to see you receive some payback. And you will. We want to be on your team." 

I want to thank everyone who came to the screening for making it a profoundly rewarding experience for me. My deepest gratitude to all of you who have been and continue to be of great support to the project and to me personally.  And most of all, I want to thank Jeanmarie Simpson for writing this play and bringing the life of Jeannette Rankin to my attention.

Hopefully this is film is the beginning of a movement to bring her legacy into the mainstream consciousness, where her message and her life can live on and show us another path - a path towards peace and non-violence.  

With love,

Kamala 

Jeannette Goes to Cannes!  

I just took these 10 babies over to J. Fitz's office. 

He's going to Cannes tomorrow and taking them with him to give to select distributors. Vive la France!

The past week has been pretty intense as we move truly past the post production period and firmly into the post post period, also known as the "holy f**@ what the bleep do I do now period?!"  I got the 22 page Marketing and Distribution Blueprint from Jon Fitzgerald and what is exceeding clear, in answer to the question is:  a lot and in all directions.

Film Festival Submissions:

This is critical and has to be ongoing but the lag time between submitting and being notified is so excruciatingly long that it cannot be the only plan in motion to get the film out - at least in our case where timing is of the essence.  

This week I submitted the film to The Hamptons International Film Festival, which has a perfect category for us called "Films of Conflict and Resolution - films that utilize the power of cinema to increase awareness and understanding of the human realities of war and conflict."   How can we not be picked for that?!!

I also submitted the film to the Telluride Film Festival, which, by all accounts is the most enjoyable, although non-competitive film festival around.  Apparently the Telluride Festival is really interested in cinema itself, as an art form and as a tool to be used consciously within society.  Some fantastic filmmakers have had their first films shown there - I really hope we get selected to that one. 

Here's a quote about it from their website: 

“The most exclusive film festival of all is Telluride. Why? Because it is the most difficult to get to, it doesn’t announce its program in advance, it charges the press for a pass and it has as its guests some of the best filmmakers in the world. It’s one of the friendliest and most democratic, as if the least important attendees were just as consequential as the most distinguished.”
– Derek Malcolm, The Guardian (London)

Next Step:  Producer's Reps

The next person that I need to find to join our team is a Sales Agent, otherwise known as a Producer's Rep.  What this person does is contact distributors on our behalf and sell the film for us.  They look at the contracts, have the contacts, and they work on a  commission basis so they have incentive to make the best deals possible.  I'm not sure how much they take but from what I understand it ranges from 5 to 15% of all sales.  These people are not to be confused with Foreign Sales Agents - these reps specialize the Domestic and North American markets.

Last fall I did the Film Independent Distribution Summit, in anticipation of this post post period eventually arriving and I met a few of these mythical creatures - Producer's Reps.  My immediate impression was that they were pursued like the prettiest girls at the Hollywood Dance, which makes me not want to pursue them at all (I have a bit of a contrarian nature, unfortunately).  In my brief conversations with them, or watching them speak on panels, they seemed very nice, bright and true film lovers. Some were also attorneys (which is great when there are contracts to be read through) and those had that certain gleam in their eye... you know, a little less "lover of film" and a little more "lover of green."  But all of them looked a bit harried and overwhelmed - at that point they were all heading to Sundance and somewhat crazed.  Now, of course, they're all heading to Cannes and completely nuts.  And then it will be Toronto or whatever.  Regardless of timing, I have to find a way to get to them and distinguish myself from the crowd.  I have some of their phone numbers (from a list from Jon Fitz) and I suppose I'll have to start getting on the phone and cold calling them.  But that never really seems like a great plan - I need personal connections to these people.  Anyone?  

I've left several messages for Jeff Dowd (the producer's rep who was the inspiration for The Big Lebowski character) because when I met him at the DGA, he actually KNEW who Jeannette Rankin was, which was a first, and he seemed really interested.  He has not, however, returned my calls so far...  What up with that?

In the meantime, my neighbor's son, Joel Heller, who is a documentary editor, referred me to a friend of his, Sarah Jo Marks, who reps very select documentaries that she really loves.  Her company is called At Risk Films and one of the films she repped was "Can Mr. Smith Get To Washington Anymore?" which won the Audience Award at Silverdocs (the premiere doc festival in the US).  Sarah only reps docs and we aren't really a doc, but I'm hoping that she will fall in love with our film and what it stands for and want to take it on.  Otherwise, maybe she'll give me a lead to another rep more suited to "A Single Woman."  

Political Fundraiser Screenings:

While we wait to get into one of the big festivals, we are planning to have a Fundraiser Screening of "A Single Woman" for Cindy Sheehan, who is running for Congress in San Francisco (aiming for mid June) and also for Dennis Kucinich, who is an incumbent Congressman in Ohio and one of my idols.  I am very excited about this plan as it serves so many excellent purposes:  it helps candidates that promote peace and who are essentially continuing to forge forward with the policies and positions held by Jeannette Rankin; it brings the film to the attention of progressive and politically minded people, who are our audience base; and it gives us a tangible event that Luisa can publicize.  It is very difficult to get press attention without anything to attach it to, such as a release date or an event screening.  These screening will be newsworthy!

Other Screenings:

There are two other screenings that we are planning to do in the near future.

First and foremost, the Cast and Crew Screening, which hopefully will be at the end of the month at Sony.  I still don't have a firm date... but I'm working on it.

Also the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (of which Jeannette Rankin was a founding member) is having their triennial congress in Des Moines, Iowa from June 25-29th and Jeanmarie Simpson (who stars in and wrote the film) is also a very active participant in WILPF.  We are hoping to do a screening there as well, which will help continue to create interest and buzz for the film while being true to Jeannette and her message.

Foreign Sales Agents...  I'll leave this topic for another day, I've got a lot of studying to do on that score before I have anything of substance to say about it.

Thanks for checking in - please comment here and tell me if you have any leads for my on reps or just want to weigh in on anything!