TRIUMPH67

Triumph67 screens at the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival

Dan — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 04:22:25 +0000

Triumph67 screened at the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival, which I’ve been told is the second longest running Arab film festival in the country. It was well received and we had what I thought was a highly enjoyable question and answer session after the film with Mohannad Ghawanmeh, Jeremy Wilker, Heidi Haaland, and myself (Dan Tanz). It felt particularly gratifying to screen the film for an Arab audience and get their reactions. It was a true honor to be able to show the film in this setting, discuss how Arabs are portrayed in cinema, and how are film breaks that mold.

It was wonderful to be part of such a prestigious, yet also intimate setting, and I want to thank the board of Mizna everyone they brought on to make the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival happen, bring film makers together with the consumers of fine cinema and culture, and establish a setting where alternative voices can be heard outside the mainstream cinema.

Hey, and also, the coffee was great, and location was cozy at the historic Heights Theater, the films were moving and provocative, and the company was first rate. Experiences like this make me want to make another film…

Kickstarting TRIUMPH

Jeremy — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 18:22:35 +0000

How we raised $12,000 in 30 days for our feature film.

Upon first hearing about crowdfunding via kickstarter I was obsessed with how I was eventually going to put it to use on a film project. I had thought it would be for a documentary project that has been in the works for several years, but when we got close to finishing post-production on TRIUMPH67 and ran dry of funds (and time) I reexamined what I thought I knew and realized that kickstarter would be the perfect fit for us to bring the feature film project to completion.

I started following and making mental notes of the various successful campaigns, especially film/movie projects, and began an outline of my favorite techniques and approaches. I stumbled upon another Minnesota filmmaker in the process of a kickstarter campaign, Phil Holbrook and TILT, and made a contribution. His group really seemed involved and motivated and it was easy to become engaged. I was particularly thrilled to see them meet their goal of $15,000!

Then, one project really lit a proverbial fire under my ass: an extremely detailed writeup about funding a book publishing project called “KickStartup” by Craig Mod (thanks for the inspiration, Craig!).

Not only did Craig provide a scintillating story with great pictures, he did some really useful analysis on his numbers and figured out what pledge levels were most productive. I decided it was extremely spot-on, and jived with much of what I had found elsewhere, and went ahead and created our pledge levels at what were the most apparent productive levels: $25, $50, $100, $250, $500, $1000 and $5000. We knew it was a stretch to get anything at or above the $5000 level, but we thought it looked good to have on our campaign! And who knew, maybe some deep-pocketed benefactor would emerge and desire to help TRIUMPH67 (nope, they didn’t).

We launched our kickstarter post-production campaign on October 5th, 2010 and set it for a standard 30-day duration. I would recommend this length as any shorter and it might be hard to build up enough awareness for your project and any longer and you (and your audience) will likely run out of energy to continue the fundraising. However, if you truly believe you can do it in a shorter amount of time, go for it. You will be working hard every day for every dollar in your fund. Can you dedicate 30 days of your life to this? Let me answer that for you: Yes! Of course. This is like free money! Of course, you have rewards you need to fulfill for each pledge and it takes a lot of your time, but you know what I mean. And you are building your audience!

If you read Craig’s story of his campaign you saw that he outlined their strategy for promotion of their fundraiser. They focused on twitter, facebook, emails and online media (blogs and magazines). Their daily approach of tweets and status updates were bolstered with four unique emails to their contact list, each of which meant an approximate increase of an extra $500 in donations. Nice, especially considering that sending emails is super low-cost or even free! The really inspirational bit of information on their strategy was that they got their campaign mentioned on at least fifteen different blog or magazine sites (mainly dealing with design and art). That kind of push and publicity would be phenomenal for any independent filmmaker and we hoped for some of the same.

The T67 Analysis

Here’s the rundown on how we approached our promotion: We knew that the director, Dan, and myself could tweet and facebook on a daily basis, along with supporting help from a few close people. This is where we really took advantage of HootSuite to keep track of what we were doing in separate locations and to not send out redundant posts. Brilliant. Dan and I could quickly and easily see what each other had already posted or scheduled to post and not repeat the same messages.

We had hoped to do more full-on email blasts, but we only did one official TRIUMPH67 email a few days before the end of the campaign, which, tied with the impending end of our campaign, gave us a boost of over $1000 compared to the previous day (which was a Sunday, by the way (weekends were always more challenging)). We did, however, act on our own personal email contacts and sent out several direct messages to our friends, families and coworkers. The great hope we had of getting supportive mentions in media or movie blogs never panned out at all, mostly due to our own lack of effort in this area. This is something I’d recommend not skipping over in your own campaign — build your audience and followers at every step in your filmmaking process and get some media mentions!

Our biggest boost, and perhaps our biggest secret recipe that we stumbled upon and we are now revealing directly to you, was in engaging our connections on Facebook in direct chats. Since this personal, one-on-one communication was almost as good as being face-to-face with our acquaintances, they were far more likely to agree to a pledge. Maybe it was too hard to say no directly to us in this manner or maybe the personal connection was just really convincing, but once we got on this groove, we had our single best day in pledges with over $2800 raised (about 24% of our total)!

In summary, we worked our 30 days pretty hard and consistently, although we weren’t terribly engaged during the four days we were at the wonderful Flyway Film Festival screening our work-in-progress cut of the film and it was patently obvious — we only raised $200 during those four days. Remember, you will work for every pledge.

If you think that you will build it and they will come, you are sadly mistaken.

When you launch your own crowdfunded fundraising campaign, be ready to devote every free moment to working it! We found that tweeting and facebooking at least twice a day seemed to be the right amount of social mentions on our part (with additional retweets or rementions a bonus on top of that) and didn’t seem to alienate or annoy anybody with the frequency. We definitely should have sent one or two more official emails to our list of subscribers (don’t just send one!) and we should have spent more time on some good media/blog mentions. Personal conversations led to our best pledge day and we’d recommend spending time either talking in-person to people or on the phone or chat/Skype/etc. Our first four and our last four days were highly productive, likely due to the excitement of launching and wrapping up our campaign. It was the middle 20 days that were the the long-slog of working hard for every donation, and weekends were just tough in general. If you don’t already have several hundred friends and followers on twitter or facebook (including several who are quite influential themselves), you will have a harder time of effectively running a crowdfunding campaign, so build up your social profile and your respective personal brands, every chance you get, not just when you need to raise money. You may find, as we did, that you will receive donations through other means as well!

After all, people are making a contribution based somewhat on your project, but mostly upon their belief in you.

Days without a pledge: 2
Days over $25: 28
Days over $50: 25
Days over $100: 19
Days over $250: 12
Days over $500: 7
Days over $1000: 4
Best day amount: $2830
Average pledge/day: $379.47

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3 Years since “wrap”

Dan — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 02:01:47 +0000

This summer marks the third anniversary of wrapping the Triumph67 shoot. So much has happened since then for the filmmakers, the cast and crew, and in independent film as a whole.

Triumph67 won an honorable mention at the Minneapolis St. Paul International film festival, and screened to sold out crowds. Lavish praise for the film was mentioned on MPR, and the producers had a great interview on KFAI staple, Art Matters. Colin Covert of the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Chris Hewitt of the St. Paul Pioneer Press had great things to say about the film, going so far as to call it “poignant and moody… recalls Blow Up…” and “a handsomely shot psychological drama, respectively.

So where is Triumph67 now, and when will it be screened next?

DSLR filmmaking has made independent film even more accessible to up and coming filmmakers, the market has been supersaturated with DIY films, and festivals have become more competitive than ever. Where did this leave Triumph67, a thoughtful and understated work with a focus on characters who have been misrepresented traditionally in Hollywood?

These are all questions we have been pondering. We are sending the film out to the next round of festivals, preparing to launch into the promotional campaign necessary to build an audience and convince people of what we already know: Triumph67 is a film that sticks with you, and begs for a dialogue between viewers, long after its last image fades from the screen.

We’re looking forward to the next round of festivals, and to upcoming new projects from the cast and crew. Until then, remember to keep checking back for when the official film release becomes available for our dear fans and supporters.

Dan Tanz

A Part of 10,000

Jeremy — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 03:14:32 +0000

Last fall we ran a Kickstarter campaign for finishing funds on TRIUMPH67 and were pretty successful with our efforts and we were able to connect with old and new friends to make the film complete. Kickstarter just announced they’ve crossed the 10,000 successful projects threshold and we are proud to be a part of that impressive number! And we are part of only about 1500 projects that crossed the $10,000 mark.

World Premiere of TRIUMPH67 – SOLD OUT

Dan — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 02:29:37 +0000

We recently got the great news that the world premiere of TRIUMPH67 sold out at the Minneapolis - St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF).

After three years of labor, we finally have delivery!

Our film was the FIRST film to sell out at MSPIFF in 2011. Many thanks to our cast and crew, friends, family, and the film-arts community for this remarkable show of support. In response, a second screening has been slated for Tuesday, April 19th, at 4:30pm. All tickets are through the MSPIFF website. We sure would love to see you in the theater and chat with you afterwards!

Official Trailer Released

Jeremy — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 19:38:22 +0000

It has been a long-time coming and it is finally here! The official TRIUMPH67 trailer! Check it out below or over on Vimeo and then make sure you stay tuned for information on how to buy your April 15th MSPIFF premiere tickets! See you at the movies!

StarTribune article about TRIUMPH67 and kickstarter

Dan — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 00:39:50 +0000

The morning of the Oscars, TRIUMPH67 was featured in a StarTribune article about successful kickstarter projects. It even features our pal up in Brainerd, Phil Holbrook (@philontilt). Next year, maybe we’ll be in tuxedos!

Festival Gamble

Jeremy — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 22:20:56 +0000

The process of submitting an independent film to a major film festival is uncannily similar to gambling: you put on your tuxedo (make your film), place your bet (pay the fees and submit), and then the wheel is spun or the cards are dealt (pick your casino analogy here) and it is out of your hands and up to luck, or fate, as it may be.

You may believe that you have studied up, that you are a shining star, that you’ve got the mojo and that surely you will win this round, but the odds are steeply against you. Go ahead and sit down if you are cruising along reading this on your iPhone, because no matter what you may think you’ve done, it all comes down to chance, and a slim one at that.

How slim? Well, I’m no mathlete, but according to the numbers I ran, it looks like our chance of getting into Sundance was three percent. Yeah, you say, sure, that is the biggest festival and chock full of big names, big films, big budgets… but what about Slamdance across the street? Um, two percent.

Let’s take a look at other things that could happen to you in your lifetime:

Excuse me for a bit while I go fill out my application to Harvard!

Kickstarter Success!

Dan — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 19:30:38 +0000

Thanks for your support of Triumph67!

With 33 hours yet to go, Triumph67 has blasted past its goal of $10,000, as folks just like you realize the value of independent cinema, and the importance of contributing to film that matters. A huge thank you to those who have contributed! We will always remember your kindness when we asked for your support. Funds raised through this campaign go toward hard costs that are involved with finishing our film, and bringing it to its audience. It means so much to have so many people come out of the woodwork, and demonstrate their excitement, support, and enthusiastic willingness to PARTICIPATE in the process of making films happen. Thank YOU!

Dan Tanz,

Driftless Pictures.

Reflections on Flyway, Part 2

Dan — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 22:37:19 +0000

I wish I could go back and live the day one more time that we got to watch Triumph67 at the Flyway Film Festival, as a work in progress. What a great venue (next to the wonderful pie shop), and what great company! Many thanks to the filmmakers who stuck around and gave feedback. The Lake and drive up were so beautiful, and I truly recommend this film festival to anyone in years to come, filmmaker and audiences alike.

I want to thank Rick Vaicius again for his interest in our film, kind words, and for his accommodating our film as a work in progress. Rick has really forged a special community of filmmakers and artists in the Driftless Area. Entrepreneurs with an eye for art and its place in building and sustaining community are so important in keeping the Midwest relevant, and I am very impressed with Vaicius’ knack for the business, and his cultivation of a place for artists and film enthusiasts to come together and find one another. I think everyone involved agrees how special it was to be part of the experience, from the opening night kickoff party to delicious coffee and pie next door. My experience with the Flyway Film Festival is one I hope to revisit and reflect upon further when I fully come down from the joy of sharing my work with such an intimate and appreciative audience.

I want to also thank the cast and crew for coming out, and our wonderful friends and families for such amazing support and understanding over the last two and a half years during the making of Triumph67.

Dan T.

Reflections on Flyway

Dan — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 01:44:57 +0000

It is the day after the work in progress screening of Triumph67 at the Flyway Film Festival.

I drove down to Stockholm, Wisconsin with butterflies in my stomach, and had to stop at a Freedom station for something to soothe myself with. I felt like a rare and endangered bird, stepping into a Freedom station on the boarder of Minnesota and Wisconsin wearing a fancy suit jacket, on the eve that the Vikings and the Packers played. I bought a Lime Crush on a passing fancy. I sipped it, and it wasn’t as sweet as I had anticipated, but it washed down the Advil. I drove down 35 along the River, and the trees were exploding in red clusters all along the bluffs ahead of me. White birch skeleton fingers jutted this way and that through the color, as I drove toward the town of less than 100 people where my film would be screened (as a work in progress).

I made it there with a few hours to spare, and immediately found the venue where our film was showing. I dropped in for a cup of joe, and brought it with me down the street to the Amish furniture shop, where I found a comfortable rocking bench made with the finest craftsmanship my arse had sat in for a long while.

After fifteen minutes I felt as though I should give someone else a chance, though there were seldom sidewalk guests at this time of the day. I walked down to the river, and a ways along the train track. I felt awkward walking in my fancy shoes along the uneven rocks, amidst rusty railroad nails and a trickling gutter under a metal bridge that said: CAUTION, AUTHORIZED PERSONS ON BRIDGE ONLY. I turned back, and walked to a cafe table near the theater. The afternoon was relatively mild for this late in October, and if I hadn’t been so nervous, I might have even found it relaxing.

At last my film partner, Jeremy answered my texts, and I met up with him when he pulled into town from neighboring Pepin, Wisconsin. I had a hot chocolate, and he had a chicken burger, probably his fourth of the weekend. We went over to see the afternoon screenings of a short and a narrative film, and I was impressed by both. When I made my way outside at about 4pm some of the Triumph67 crowd had started to filter into town. Of course, many were friends and family, and it was a pleasure to chat them up. A number of surprise friends came too, and I felt very grateful that they made the treck on a Sunday evening. It was quite amazing after a while. People just kept coming, and a sizable crowd had formed outside the theater entrance. What a feeling. I felt like a should pay attention to it, because it was almost surreal, and I could hardly believe that so much effort was about to pay off… sharing the film for the first time with so many people. Anxiety about the state of the film started to fade, although it was not really done yet, it was close enough to watch, and it was being billed as a work in progress after all. But when friends and family gathered around, it occurred to me that this might be the most supportive audience I would ever experience. So relax… enjoy yourself.

Cast and crew poured into town, and it was a great feeling to see the people who had forged such a strong bond in the making of Triumph67. The film before us let out, and our crowd started making their way up the stairs into the building where our film would show. It was a slow moving line, and I was glad that someone snapped some photos from across the streets for posterity. I made it up after most of the other folks had found there way in, and sat down with my wife, Lisa. Rick Vaicius, the man responsible for the Flyway Film Festival gave an introduction that made me proud and humbled at the same time. We had brought in record numbers to the theater, and he gave us some much needed praise for our first effort, Triumph67. I was quaking in my shoes when the lights went down, and “a driftless pictures production” appeared on the screen.

My icy hand found my wife’s warm hand, a complete role reversal for our usual hand holding routine. She was shocked, but did her best to warm it. Should I have asked for a DO NOT RESUSCITATE? I would find out.

The film played, and I noticed lots of things to fix, but that is probably what every parent notices about their children. Mine was up there in front of me, almost as though it didn’t need me anymore. How can art move and live without the artist? I wondered. I relaxed. It had taken on a life of its own. Independent film, if you will.

Out of the corner of my eye I searched through the dark to see if I could sense reaction from the audience. It was a quiet crowd. Barely a chuckle, even when I anticipated there might be some movement. I held my breath. A whirlwind of thoughts. Times passed. After a while, I realized the film was about to be over. The lower half of my body was numb, and I remembered the scene in The Producers when Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel leave their show to have a drink in anticipation of what might happen when the curtain closes.

Fade to black. Total silence. Then the credits. awaited applause, and when the last word vanished from the screen, the applause came, and I exhaled with more than a little relief.

Rick Vaicius called Jeremy and I up to the stage to answer questions and talk about the film. I followed Jeremy, who took a great photo of the audience from center stage. I called up the other producers, and then the cast and crew came up onto the stage. It was a night I’ll never forget, made only more special by the understated and intimate surroundings that were so much part of the Flyway Film Festival.

Dan T.

Fifty-Fifty and an Interview

Jeremy — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 13:50:45 +0000

We just hit the half-way mark of both pledges and days left in our Kickstarter campaign to raise finishing funds thanks to your humbling support and efforts! THANK YOU. No really, thank you for your time, for your pledge, for your passion, for your willingness to share, and for the kind words. Keep up the great efforts!

We are about to have our work-in-progress screening at the 2010 Flyway Film Festival (Sunday October 24th, 5:00pm) and we are very eager to see you there and hear your thoughts before we truly finish this movie project’s post-production. Meanwhile, we continue the marketing, PR, social media, blogging, designing, printing, and submitting to film festivals around the globe.

And while you wait for our official film trailer, check out director Dan Tanz on local TV show BelAhdan. He really lets you in to his thoughts and ideas for the film, shares some sample clips, and tells some behind-the-scenes tidbits.

Day 5, Kickstarter

Dan — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 15:46:23 +0000

What a rally! What support! We have raised over 30% of our hefty goal on Kickstarter, in the first four days. So today, let’s keep up the momentum. Everybody counts. Your support counts! We need your help, and appreciate your service to independent film. Be a patron of the arts. It will come back to you.

Contribute to our Kickstarter campaign today!

Day 5 on kickstarter.com

Day 3, Kickstarter

Dan — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 02:29:39 +0000

Kickstarter is a go! How amazing! In three days, we raised well over two thousand bucks for our feature film, Triumph67. But we have to make it to $10,000, or its bust! Can we do it? Go GO GO!

Check out the video on our kickstarter page. There you’ll see a few precious clips from Triumph67, along with me humbly asking for your support in raising finishing funds. I truly believe that with your help, our ambitious goal to raise $10,000 can be achieved. I am so thankful to my friends, family, and to folks who are coming out of the woodwork to help make Triumph67 possible. Every contribution helps, every person makes a difference, and everybody is welcome to help support us finish our film. Be part of our family. Contribute today: Contribute to Triumph67 on Kickstarter

Kickstarter Campaign is a Go!!!

Dan — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 03:23:35 +0000

Late last night we kicked off a 30 day campaign at Kickstarter to raise funds for post-production and finishing costs. We can do it, but we need help. So please, contribute to Triumph67, the labor of love that we have poured everything into for the last 2 and a half years. Our first day was a remarkable success, but we need to keep up the pace to achieve our goal. Yes, YOU can support an independent film in your life. We need you!

Thanks!

Dan Tanz

Director’s Journal: Flyway Film Festival (Work in Progress Screening) October 24th, 2010. 5pm.

Dan — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 03:17:05 +0000

Through the very social and hard working prowess of Jeremy Wilker, our co-producer and DP, we have worked out an extra special arrangement with Rick over at Flyway Film Festival. Triumph67 will show as a work in progress (not quite fully completed, but getting sort of close) for those of you who are interested in checking out where we are at with the process. I think it will be well worth the journey along the beautiful Mississippi River as Autumn winds to a close to check out Stockholm MN. It’s a cool little arts town, and within range for a short stint into the beautiful Driftless Area where my film company got its name.

The flyway festival is getting a lot of great buzz, so we are thrilled to be showing there as a work in progress. Hope to see you soon.

Director’s Journal: Festivals Festivals Festivals

Dan — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:48:25 +0000

After about 5 hours last night and 3 hours last week, we have applied to around 14 festivals. We identified a list of almost 50 festivals that seem worthwhile, and we will spend the next three to six months working with festivals to find a good match. Talking about festivals like Cannes and Sundance gets us excited but conflicted. What are the chances for our indie film to get noticed? Whom do you have to know, how much is politics, and how much has to do with the film that will determine whether or not it gets in? Even between producers we have different expectations and levels of confidence, different levels of experience in working with festivals, and different ideas of what it will mean to get into festivals. I wonder about how I’ll work festivals into my schedule, how I’ll raise funds to be able to attend, and how I’ll react to criticism. I think about what I can and should say when asked about being a Jewish director, working with a Palestinian producer. I wonder how nervous/excited to talk to the press about the film, or be interviewed.

And so, I have to shake off my nobody coat and put my somebody coat on. And as I walk proudly out into the sun, wearing my somebody coat… a bird shits on it.

Director’s Journal, Postproduction, Part 3

Dan — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 19:12:54 +0000

Looking forward

As we approach the end of the summer (nooooooooo!), I reflect back across the last three summers, and the long road that has been the making of Triumph67. I have been in a working relationship with some wonderful people over the course of these last few years, and wouldn’t trade the experience for any amount of success. There are so many challenges that we have hurdled up to this point, and everyone who has lasted this long is as excited as me about the project. This excitement increases with the impending completion of the film itself, as we wrap up the postproduction stage, and prepare to enter the part of the process where we reap the rewards, people throw money at us, and we achieve levels of fame and success unimaginable to modest folks such as ourselves. Thoughts of hundreds of thousands of dollars course through my mind. Dare I say millions? Stacks of money. Suitcases full of dough. Enough to finance my next big picture. A moment goes by and the opposite scenario runs through my mind. Mediocre reviews. Slander, a whimper of a response. Bankruptcy. My brother’s friend’s dad is a famous bankruptcy lawyer in Minneapolis. I used to baby sit for his kids. I shun the negative thoughts out of my mind.

The reality is, most films don’t make money. The other reality is, this film was made with the noblest of goals: to make a good film. It wasn’t made to sell cereal.

So here I am, about to go back to my teaching job, and about to let go of my baby’s hand. After all this writing, scheduling, rehearsing, fund raising, shooting, editing, coloring, music making, sound tweaking, planning, and fretting, I am about to do what is the equivalent of sending my teenager off to college: shove the film in the mailbox and send it to Sundance. And Dubai. And SXSW, and Slamdance, and others…

The last couple months has involved a whirlwind of work, both scheduling and creative, to accomplish the feat of nearly being ready to send off this film. When I last wrote, I was sitting down to watch color correction happen at Crash and Sues. This was a gratifying process. Their facilities are beautiful, and every shot started to look the way they should. Consistency of appearance was achieved, as well as bringing colors to life the way I had wanted to see them. Sue was wonderful, and really listened to what we wanted as we proceeded through each shot. Several shots that I disliked before suddenly became among my favorites. The film is so visual, and so much time and effort was placed into making every shot just right, that it was wonderful to see it being treated so nicely in post. Meanwhile, I had finished overseeing the musical score development, and felt good about how the film had found a matching voice through the talents of Reid Kruger at Waterbury Music and Sound. The music making process happened in a fraction of the time that was spent on editing, but Reid was wonderful and a hard worker. I love the music in the film, and believe that it matches our visual style in tone, mood, and color.

All of this was going swimmingly, and the other element of postproduction had been happening outside of my everyday participation. This was the sound design. The producers had decided that we would give the film to one of our interns to work on sound design, mixing, etc. He had been at it for a few weeks, and I had met with him a couple times to talk about what I had in mind. So with about three weeks to deadline left, I paid him a visit to check on the progress. He said that he was wrapping it up, and I came over to his house expecting to be blown away by solid sound treatment of dialogue and even room tone.

As I watched the film (over the sound of his roommate’s TV blasting), I began to question to myself how this fellow had been able to hear the intricacies of the film well enough to address the hundred’s of major issues that I knew needed to be fixed. As I watched scene after scene, it slowly dawned on my that he had put a lot of effort into this project, but the dialogue was still very uneven, and room tone was distracting and scratchy as the day we recorded it. When I heard tropical birds begin to sing (and they weren’t the ones floating around my head), I realized we were in serious trouble. To make matters more ridiculous, the upcoming weekend happened to be my wedding to my girlfriend of six years, followed by our honeymoon to the North Shore. How was I going to make this happen? Breathe… Repeat.

As I drove home, I counted the days till the deadlines for festival application submission. We had around three weeks. Three weeks to find someone to completely re-do the sound, mix it with the music, put it all together with the color-corrected picture, and press copies to mail to the festivals. And all of this with how much money? I wondered where my bank account was at.

After talking with Producers, Jeremy Wilker and Mohannad Ghawanmeh on the phone and trying not to sound too panic stricken, I called my buddy Reid Kruger at Waterbury Music and Sound. Miraculously, Reid had four days open the following week, and agreed to do our sound design and mix for a somewhat reasonable amount of money (though I had to put my big plans of having my house painted onto the back burner).

So I tried to put everything out of my mind except the wedding, and the weekend came, and I got married to my wonderful girlfriend… I mean wife, Lisa. Then I tried to keep everything out of my mind for a few more days while we went on our wonderful honeymoon to Tofte, MN, where we rented a beautiful little cabin on the lakefront.

When we returned it was back to Crash and Sues, and then to Reid’s to make sure everything was okay. As the week went by the sound was completed to standard, and the color was looking great. Mohannad had left town for a three week trip to Europe, and Jeremy had gotten very booked. So by myself at Crash and Sues, I reviewed the film with Mark Anderson, the online editor who had put the picture together with the sound. It looked good, but needed a couple more tweaks in sound (a thunder roll here, a bump in dialogue there), and I realized I needed to add one more shot toward the end. So I scrambled, and got what I needed, and met with Jeremy on the weekend to start the application process for the film festivals. I paid the fees, filled out the forms, and scheduled one more day to bring the updated film changes to Crash and Sues where they would put it all together and give us a DVD for festival release.

Which brings me to this afternoon. It is my last day of summer vacation. Three summers ago I had the idea to make Triumph67. Tomorrow (if all goes according to plan), I’ll go to Crash and Sues during my lunch hour and give them the data that they need to, in turn, hand me a DVD for the festival applications. We’ll have to review the DVD to make sure there aren’t any issues, and then follow the rest of the directions for submission on the festival websites. I’m not sure when this will happen (Jeremy’s on a photo shoot all week, I’m back at school, and Mohannad is gallivanting in Europe), but one way or another, it has to get done.

As I prepare for another school year of due process and high standards, I’ll dream of flickering film. Dream with me.

Director’s Journal: Postproduction, Part 2

Dan — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:06:58 +0000

The status of postproduction for Triumph67 has advanced to a place much closer to finishing by our self-imposed deadline of the end of the summer. After working with Reid Kruger at Waterbury Music for an intense week pouring over every scene of the film, I have signed off on the score of the film, and am leaving him to mix it to perfection. Reid is a master at dynamic piano playing and sprucing up a melody with a luscious symphony sound from his string machine. The music brings a sweetness and sense of hope to the film that will serve as counterpoint to the heaviness of the content. It also beautifully brings out a sense of inevitability that compliments the themes of family cycles and the father-son relationship.

Reid’s energy and expertise were a windfall for our project, and I should probably thank Dena Gad (who played Doctor Elfouley in the film) for steering us in his direction. I met Reid at Dena’s house gathering over half a year ago. Dena had mentioned him as as someone she respected the first time I met her in 2009, and believed that he could do a good job with the score. I was impressed with his work from scoring the Listening Project, as were Mohannad and Jeremy, and we were lucky that he could squeeze us in before our deadline when we were finally ready to address the score.

Meanwhile, Dominic Hanft is working on mixing the sound, which covers everything from smoothing out the dialogue to adding the distant sound of waterfalls and the faint chirping of crickets. Dominic is recording foley into a handheld Zoom recorder, making fixes and replacing mic noise. His most important job will be to make sure the dialogue is even and clean, and the audio transitions from scene to scene are smooth.

While Dominic works on sound mixing, we will spend today at Crash and Sues in downtown Minneapolis, where the film will be spruced up with state of the art color correcting technology. Sue, herself, is working on the color. Her job will be to bring each shot to life, making it pop where it is supposed to pop, and settle into the background where it is supposed to settle. My job will be to sit at the polished wooden desk in a thousand dollar office chair, eating muffins and sipping a bottle of orange juice and coffee. They really know how to take care of you at Crash and Sues. I’ll be sure to be on time.

Director’s Journal: Scoring Triumph67

Dan — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 04:57:38 +0000

It is the last week of July, 2010. One year ago we shot Triumph67, and now, I’m staring at the footage that has been seared into my brain and scrambling to finish the film in time for application deadlines for Sundance and Dubai. I have been meeting with the talented and personable guy who is scoring the film, Reid Kruger, who operates out of his home studio, Waterbury Music. Reid agreed to take on the job, and we have been watching each scene, marking the places where music should and shouldn’t appear. Given the time crunch, I am apprehensive about whether the score can be finished with the level of quality that the film deserves within the deadlines that we have set for ourselves. That being said, the alternative is to miss the regular deadline cycle for Sundance. Between producers we have been debating on the role that music should play within the film. Though we love the idea of a sparse, understated score, the question becomes how sparse can we get away with, given the deliberate pacing and several dialogue-free scenes.

Though I think Reid initially anticipated drawing from previously recorded material from his extensive collection of recorded work, we end up playing live along with the film after initial attempts to drop in canned music leave me wanting. I am much happier with the live music, and much of it is piano based. After the third day of meeting, we find a sonic mood that suits the film. The music varies from apprehensive, slow tempo R&B progressions to minor key classical harmonies that evoke a moody, baroque vibe. At the right moments, reflective, almost childlike melodies are sprinkle throughout.

This morning we work on the opening sequence and Reid tries three or four different themes that have already appeared in the film. We lean toward one that seems to be emerging as the film’s main theme (a melody taken from one of Reid’s older songs that I felt worked with the Sami character), but discover that the rising piano run of the last idea that we try is perfect for the transition between the title sequence and the memory sequence that introduces us to our narrator, Mohannad. After this development, we move quickly through the first several scenes with relative ease, laying down the appropriate music where necessary.

We break at lunch for giant Chipotle burritos which we breathe down in about five minutes. No time to dilly-dally, and we jump back in the car for the second half of the day. My stomach is killing me as we drive back. Reid doesn’t seem to be phased by the brick that is sitting in his stomach. We resume work, and make as much progress as possible before I have to leave at 7:15pm to make it home for a meeting with my parents and Lisa’s parents about our upcoming wedding in exactly one week. After scrambling all day to try to at least get something down for the whole film, I am tense and jittery. The burrito has worn off hours ago, and is replaced by the jitters from the cold press I had at around 3pm to stay conscious. My mom takes pitty on me and brings out a plate of food. Tamales.

As my brain transitions from score mode to wedding mode, I accidentally eat all of the tamales. My mom asks: are you okay?

Director’s Journal: Postproduction, Part 1

Dan — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:35:37 +0000

Postproduction. What would it mean for Triumph67?

We wrapped production of Triumph67 in early August of 2009. Immediately after production, the producers sat down and bludgeoned our way through numerous meetings on how to proceed into post-production. The first question at hand was how we would approach finding the right editor. The three of us producing at the time deliberated for several weeks to determine the best approach, often coming up against disagreement. We eventually landed on an interview process in which we would figure out who would be the best candidate for the role of editor.

After all the fuss, two editors (including Jeremy Wilker, who was the director of photography) were available to meet to interview. We met with both, and both seemed quite capable. After a couple weeks we chose Jeremy Wilker to edit the picture. Being new to filmmaking, I hadn’t heard until recently that conventional wisdom frowned upon the cinematographer editing the film, but our budget, needs, and personal experience with Jeremy left us most confident with him for the job. We decided that I would co-edit (also frowned upon amongst the traditional approach to filmmaking), and we began meeting at his home in Golden Valley.

It was the end of summer, and we worked in the shared home office space with Jeremy’s wife Meghan. Eventually we would move to the basement where Jeremy set up a makeshift office where there would be more room and less distraction. We worked on Jeremy’s two year-old Mac Book Pro, and viewed the progress on an external monitor. We backed up all of our data on various external hard drives, and used Final Cut Pro to edit. In our first couple of sessions we crafted an unofficial trailer for our wrap party. Jeremy’s wife, Meghan gave us some brutal but much needed feedback, and we ended up scrapping the original for a second trailer that worked significantly better. We set it to a Nick Drake song for ambiance. The wrap party trailer was a success, and set a mood for the film that we felt was appropriate.

The next couple of sessions were spent projecting all of our developed Super8 footage in Jeremy’s projection room, where we captured the projected Super8 footage on Jeremy’s Sony EX3. We discovered that the capturing of this footage looked brighter and better without the adapted lenses. We went through somewhat of a hassle trying to figure out the best way to shoot it, and in the process, Jeremy’s projector bulb blew. Luckily I had mine (the one that appears in the film), and we successfully were able to move all of out Super8 into Final Cut. This was satisfying, and opened up a new palette for us to paint our picture with; the soft and chunky, fluid images from the real-life film camera.

We began editing the project based on the script into a large, rough file. The idea was to construct each scene as it appeared in the script, and then come back for adjustments afterward. The method to our approach always involved Jeremy at the keyboard, and me at the script. From our three week shoot in July, the handful of days we shot B Roll, and the handful of days we shot Super8 before summer, we had over 20 hours of footage to work with, half of which had been organized with descriptions and notes of which take was best by the interns from during our production period. This helped us move a bit quicker, but we still often looked through other takes not marked as suitable to weave scenes together when complications arose. Overall, most of the footage came together well, and it quickly became clear which scenes were working with minimal scrutiny, and which needed a lot of thought and resources.

We spotted numerous minor production errors, many of which were fixable with CGI. It turned out the Jeremy was a total wiz with visual manipulation of images. It helped that almost all of our film was shot with a stationary camera, no pans or tilts, dolly shots or zooms. Jeremy’s prior experience with photo manipulation and technical prowess, along with both of our imaginations opened numerous doors toward supporting the illusion of reality. Time and again, we saved shots and made up new ones from what we had that was well beyond expectation.

Looking back, I entered into the process holding my breath, not sure if we would be on the same page when it came to pacing, use of B Roll as transitional space, or willingness to “kill our babies,” which describes the reluctance of someone who is intimately involved in shooting a film to eliminate favorite shots that don’t work in the context of the larger film. I was amazed as to how much we saw eye to eye, and I wondered if the process for deciding wasn’t partly due to the limited choices we had, or if it was because we were on the same wavelength in regards to what the story called for. In either case, I enjoyed my days with Jeremy immensely, and though editing cut my weekends in half month after month, the time spent was certainly entertaining and enlightening.

Our first rough cut was completed, and we decided to call our intern and script supervisor, James Jannicelli for a viewing and feedback session. We made it through the cut, which was well over two hours, and immediately realized we had to make significant cuts on numerous levels. The next several months involved making increasingly hard decisions (but never in disagreement) about what could go, and what couldn’t. In this period we also began reworking the scenes, eliminating our weaker material, and doing everything that responsible editors should do. But responsible to what standards? Hollywood? Independent film? Art film? We decided to be responsible to the mood that had been cultivated. At times we questioned the clarity of the story, and often to juggled how much we could take out without losing clarity.

Toward the end of the winter, I bought a full HD camera, and the necessary lenses to shoot beautiful filmic shots with adjustable levels of depth of field. I was able to schedule additional time to shoot some inserts that we missed during production, including a few close ups of hands, some B Roll, and whatever else I could do to help enrich the film. This process was wonderful for me, since it forced me to learn the skills needed to shoot film-like footage with a digital camera, at a standard of quality that met our requirements. After becoming proficient on the camera, I scheduled pickup shots (second unit type stuff) with actors. I shot some close-ups of Flora’s and Mohannad’s hands, some fire kites, and some scenery. We integrated this second unit material into the project, and it helped quite a bit. At the same time, I began recording ADR with the actors, syncing up cleaner and better vocal performances where it was necessary. Several scenes were dramatically improved following this process, and the actors were very gracious, many coming in almost a year after production to re-record some of their dialogue.

The summer had returned, following a long winter and spring, of editing on most Sunday’s and whenever we could squeeze in additional time. Anxieties and impatience for completing the project became part of the factor in the editing process. The fact was, we had been editing for almost a year, and had sacrificed a lot of time as a labor of love. But our love for the film was competing with paid work, weekends with family and friends, and time to ourselves. I had become a regular fixture in Jeremy’s home, tromping through the house to the bathroom, taking Jeremy into the basement for ten-hour days. Jeremy’s two year-old son thought I was part of the family. He was speaking my name after a while. The time away from his family was hard on Jeremy, and it was hard on his family. This is the biggest price of the independent film; the sacrifices of the people in the real world for the ones on the screen.

Since our meetings at the beginning of the summer, Jeremy had become an equal producer, and we were making business decisions together on how to proceed with everything form completing editing, to building connections facebook and twitter. Deadlines were nearing, and we needed to make hard decisions about rushing for the deadlines, or going at our current pace, in which the end always seemed near, but never seemed to come. After some meetings between producers, we decided that we had to finish the film in time for the deadlines. We made a number of interim deadlines, which addressed all of the creative and technical steps that needed to be reached before we could submit to festivals, and set about putting those into action.

We had a small group feedback session with Kitty Aal, Associate Producer, including Melody Gilbert and her husband, Mohannad Ghawanmeh, Producer, and Clever Kate who was working with us on PR. We showed an almost completed film, and got some mixed feedback, which widely varied from person to person. I was surprised to find that Melody’s husband (a sports writer for the Star Tribune), caught almost every subplot of the story, vague as they were. Melody told us to rework the middle section, and rely more on what she considered our film’s strengths: Mohannad’s memory sequences and the poet narration that he delivered so beautifully. I was most nervous about what Kitty would think, as I have been in collaboration with her longer than anyone else involved on this project, but she surprised me by not lambasting the film. Our confidence was greatly improved after this feedback session, but none confidence improved more than Mohannad, who was a self-proclaimed nervous wreck at the onset of the viewing, since so much of the film revolved around his character.

Though Melody suggested we take a few weeks to work out the middle section, we decided to stay on schedule to meet the festival submission deadlines. We only had one more scheduled day to edit, and did our best to interpret and address the feedback provided, along with preparing the film for the next stages: sound and color. We locked picture late at night, and I drove home feeling like I did my best. A film doesn’t exist in a vacuum. There are deadlines and all sorts of constraints that factor in to when it will be considered finished. If I sat on the film for another year, then would it be finished?

So we locked picture, and called Dominic Hanft who began mixing the sound and sweetening the rough spots. We called Reid Kruger at Waterbury Music, and he agreed to squeeze us in to his packed schedule in order to finish a score by the deadline. At the same time, we dropped our picture off at Crash and Sues, and they began the process of color correction.

Part 2: Coming Soon

Eliaza and I (Part 1)

Mohannad — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 21:23:35 +0000

Her name was Eliaza. She was like the sun (to paraphrase from the script). For two years, she was my seasonal lover—a 1973 Mercedes Benz 280 SE 4.5.

I’d fallen in love with the car during my adolescence, probably after I’d seen Roger Moore, as 007, having removed the tyres and somehow got the car on railway tracks, outpace a train while driving in reverse!

I’d picked her up in Anoka, for a little over a grand then spent over a year having her restored, mostly with parts I would find on Ebay. I had her painted. Oh, what a specimen she became!

In April or so of 2009, three months before we would shoot the film, the producers sat down to talk about production and fashion design elements. Not that we hadn’t talked about them before. Super 8mm to be used for and depicted in the memory sequences; vintage clothing, décor, and gadgets; and locations had been talked about on many occasions.

Yet, now we sat down to try to approach the conclusion of the design discussion. I had mentioned in a previous producers meeting that I’d fancied having Mohannad drive Eliaza (I hadn’t used that name or the pronoun “she” in talking about her because I didn’t want to freak them out about some over-attachment condition.) I came in ready to argue for the car’s place in the film, having gathered reluctance on Dan’s part.

At some point in the meeting, we got around to talking about vehicles. We agreed that my old Volvo station wagon would work well for Flora. “How about Mohannad?” I mentioned that I thought that Mohannad ought to drive the Mercedes. Dan responded by saying that he thought the car so big as not to symbolize something worthy of emphasising visually, namely Mohannad’s emotional entrapment. He thought that Mohannad should drive a Pinto. I didn’t disagree or vomit, but pointed out that the advantages were far more potent: The car could well have been one that his deceased Palestinian Ophthalmologist father would have driven, back in the day. Thus, Mohannad would have elected to drive a token of memory as he does in riding his brother’s Triumph motorbike to Flora’s.

Secondly, I remarked on the car’s following our film’s visual interest in things retro, as signifiers of memory.

Thirdly, I alerted them to something that I hadn’t thought that any of them knew: the iconic status of Mercedes in the Arab world. Yes, I know that it is iconic here as well, but not in the same way or degree. If you’ve spent time in the Arab World or even the greater Middle East you’d know what I was talking about. Haven’t an idea and would like to get one, get into a shrine rendered 30-year-old Mercedes taxi in Amman and ask the driver what he thinks of Mercedes!

Finally, I exclaimed, “And because its fucking gorgeous!”

We agreed. And Eliaza was in, but not for long…

The Death March, or An Evening with Heinous Feta

Mohannad — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 17:54:53 +0000

We were now in the middle of the second week of shooting and had moved the set to Kim and Kareem’s house. Exhausted and strained after the first week of shooting and hardly having recovered during the single day off the we’d got after seven or eight days of 14-18 hour days, we hadn’t yet adjusted to the rigor and intensity, which I think we had by the third week.

We had decided to start our day late, at noon, because there were plenty of night scenes scheduled and we realized that we would be shooting well into the night. We had misjudged our capacities!

Trouble began when Sarah seemed not to give Dan what he was looking for. She was, like most of us, obviously enervated and was acting daffily. We took a break, she collected herself and we pressed on.

Later, by now evening, Adam and Mohannad had a scene to be shot in which Mohannad demonstrates the proper way to consume feta, a complex scene in terms of the number of lines and precise movements: dressing the feta, breaking the pita, scooping, depositing, chewing, and more—all quite orchestrated by Dan. Needless to say that we had to execute multiple takes before we had delivered an appreciable one. By then I had lost patience with having to repeatedly taste some wretched pita and feta! Look for the outtake related.

By about midnight, two things had become obvious: that we had grossly underestimated how late we would have to go to deliver the scenes scheduled and that the majority of cast and crew were dog tired. Yet we persisted, because our shooting schedule was decidedly tight, as of course was our budget (What budget!) Dan understandably didn’t want us to fall behind.

Around two, while shooting a scene, Dan exclaimed “Cut!” then asked Jeremy, “Why is this out of focus?” Jeremy responded somehow and we set up again. Dan again hollered “cut” before Mohannad and Flora had concluded the lines for the scene. “What’s going on?” I asked Dan. He discreetly told me that our cinematographer must be out of sorts, so as not to focus his camera.

When we moved to discuss this with Jeremy, he responded that it must have something to do with the “death march that we had been on for the last couple of weeks.”

Dan insisted that we try to march on, citing the importance of our staying on shooting schedule. Jeremy then turned to my sister and said, “Aman, let’s go for a run around the block!” Always a good sport, Aman obliged. I watched them take off, Jeremy high stepping and charging at once. “What a pro!” I thought to myself.

Yet, the run was not enough. We managed to wrap one, maybe two, scenes upon Jeremy’s return, but soon realized that our second wind wasn’t going to carry us far. We wrapped the day at around 3, with several scheduled scenes not having been shot.

We were concerned, but not overly so, and by the middle of the third and last week of shooting, we had caught up. We went on to shoot the film on schedule and within budget. Oh, yeah, what budget!

Rough Cut Done!

Jeremy — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 00:17:34 +0000

We set ourselves a deadline of the end of the year to get the rough cut edit done and even with various delays and extended timelines, we met our goal and finished the rough cut tonight! It feels great to reach this milestone, even though we are well aware that we still have a lot of work left with sound mixing, soundtrack and color correction before the film is ready to be screened. Wow! Excuse us while we pour a celebratory drink and get ready for the new year… 2010 is going to be amazing.

Editing has begun!

Jeremy — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 04:19:32 +0000

Dan and I (Jeremy) spent the past two days capturing all the Super8 film reels in HD video for the rough cut editing process. It took longer than expected as one projector went on the fritz and then we had some technical issues (a rolling-type shutter effect) for which we had to find a solution (and did). We finally got all the reels in digital form and started editing the rough cut of the film! It is really amazing to see scenes shot on various days and in multiple locations come together to form something cohesive. Keep in mind that this is the rough cut and we are aiming for year’s-end for a finished film.