OK folks, hang on there - I will finally be updating my MySpace profile within a few days. It's been years (litterally) I haven't updated and refreshed it. Too busy making movies. Stay tuned!!

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Entrevue avec Sv Bell - La Presse, 5 juillet 2008

I admit I haven't updated this MySpace blog in a while, but don't worry folks, I'm alive and well! For the past couple of months I've been working on my new feature, Crawler, and believe me it keeps me busy as we are drawn closer and closer to production days, scheduled for June...!



The film is about a group of construction workers who run into problems when they realize their bulldozer has a life of its own... and an insatiable hate for the living! It's a pretty tough challenge to coordinate and plan action scenes, I mean, we can't manipulate a 50 tons mountain of steel like we would with a Cub Cadet tractor.   

So we'll be shooting for two weeks straight, in June, with a cast and crew of about 60 people, and the film should be available in November, right on time for the next American Film Market. This is quite an aggressive production timeframe, but we're well prepared so it should go smoothly.

Stay tuned on the official Crawler website for the latest informations! By the meantime, make sure you watch the advance teaser for the film, that we shot last winter!

Sit tight!!
-sv

Darn, who the heck decided there would be only 24 hours in a day?? There's so much to do out there, and so little time! Incidently that's why I took so long to post something new here, so here we go with some fresh news.

AFM Aftermath
Things went pretty well in Los Angeles, at the American Film Market, we met several studios who are interested in buying the international rights of our latest feature film, Rise of the Ghosts. Some preliminary agreements were drafted with different countries, now our sales agent is on the way of closing the deals. We hope to be able to make official release announcements in the coming weeks!!

New production coming soon!
We are moving forward with a new project, scheduled for entering production in April 2008, with an October 2008 release date. It's still a bit early to go public with the theme of this one, an official teaser should be posted on the Black Flag Pictures website by the end of the year. What I can say though, is that we're now going into sci-fi and action, while keeping the same mainstream approach we had with Rise of the Ghosts. Some of the talents have been confirmed, but we're waiting a bit before singing contracts and all. We want to see how much incomes the sales of Rise of the Ghosts will generates in the next month or two, since that might allow us to make this new film a union production.

Behind the camera, most the crew familiar with our films are back, we have assembled a really great team over the past couple of films, from the writer to the post-production, we all know each other very well; I know what to expect from the guys, what they can do, and the guys know what I want as a producer, so we waste very little time on the set, and things move forward very fast.

And since we have a few projects lined up for 2008 - a comedy, and a thriller/action - I will no longer be editing my own films. While online editing and final post effects are done here in Montreal, the film' offline will be cut by a Vancouver-based professional freelance film editor, a guy I know since 1984 and in which I have an absolute confidence. Editing a film is perhaps the most challenging and critical stage in the whole production line, not to mention the most time-consuming process. Since we'd like to release more than one feature every year, I had to leave that post-production job in the hands of a facility I can trust.

But for now, we will be shooting a short teaser for the film, we planned to do that this week-end, Nov. 24th, but with the snow and ice rain we just had, we will be postponing the filming to next week.

Vacations ahead?
Well no, not quite, however in December I will be travelling to Las Vegas, and get a few beers with friends I have around there. I've been there last year, and I can't wait to go back to Sin City. If you happen to live there, shout this way, and let's hook up!

And the house?
Oh, yes, thanks for asking! Yeah, our new house is coming along nicely. We still have a lot to do, but we can live in it pretty good. Most of what's left to be done is around my studio and home theater. The computer farm is 90% up and running, and in a separate cool chamber so my office is quiet and roomy. I'm not done building all the walls of the home theater, but I just can't wait to kick back on the couch and watch Planet Terror on a 10 foot wide screen...!! (And my son, The Transformers).
But guys, don't worry, we WILL be doing a party once everything will be ready around here!!

And what else?
Well I guess that's pretty much it... I do have some other projects around, I started a little short film, there's one scene left to shoot, which I should do next week - hopefully - and I also joind a group of filmmakers, preparing a compilation of short films on the Frankenstein subject, I hope to find time to make something for them early in 2008. Other than that, I still do photoshoots every now and then, some custom video work, and so on... It all keeps one busy!

sv

It's now confirmed, I will be at the AFM - the American Film Market - in Los Angeles from October 30th to November 6th. Our latest effort, Rise of the Ghosts, will be represented by Critical Mass Releasings, and our booth is located at Le Merigot, suite 245, if some of you guys are attending that show, feel free to drop by and say hi! And if you're a buyer, you can definitely book a meeting in advance with our agent. Critical Mass do have amazing titles in their catalog, from spectacular sci-fi, eerie horror, classic comedies and ala, making it a one-stop shopping for all your needs in video release.

Anyone from the LA area around here? Let me know, that would be fun to meet and have a few drinks!!

Cheers!!
-sv

I am pleased to announce that Rise of the Ghosts won a second award, at Wreck-Beach Film Festival! This time, it's the amazing performance of our lead actress, Chistine Ghawi, that is being rewarded! Christine won the Best Actress award for her contribution to Rise of the Ghosts.

Congratulations Christine!!! You totally desserve this award!

-sv

Hey guys, this is awesome news!! I heard last night that our latest film, Rise of the Ghosts, won an award at the Wreck-Beach International Film Festival!! How cool is that?!?! So I'd like to congratulate everyone involved in the production of the film, you guys made it happen! Keep up the amazing work, and let's do it again!!

Cheers
-sv

OK I have to apologize, I haven't updated my blog for a while, I've been so busy, it's totally unreal. So here are a few news to catch up from last summer...

***

The premiere of Rise Of The Ghosts at FanTasia marked a turning point in my filmmaking career. The reviews and comments were so great, it made me realize I can no longer really make films with limited ressources, people are expecting always better the next time (which is a great thing) so I can't just make a film that is simply on par with the preceding one. This is challenging! That also means that I can't fund the films myself anymore, with my sole daytime job paycheck. Our next production will cost me about $100k, to be confortable and get the results I want, so it puts some pressure on Rise of the Ghosts, since that film has to generate enough to fund the next baby.

***

Speaking of which, ironically, the film is not yet out for sale and hasn't started to generate incomes. Thing is, retail sale was good for my other films, which were requiring under $30k in investment, but I just crossed a line where retail is no longer enough, to make it profitable I have to sell the film's rights to a studio who will have much larger ressources to market it and spread the film all over the place. So there I am, trying to find a good distribution deal on the World market.. I did get a few offers, yet I wasn't impressed with what was put on the table so I'm holding my breath and keep on looking. There's a lot of interest, so it's ecouraging. Winning bid will go to the one who'll show the money. People who know me personally all know I am not a greedy capitalist looking to make money at any cost, but if I want to go higher with our next project, I have to go where the money is.

***

But prospects are good, and I am now assisted by a Toronto-based sales representative, and we're heading to Los Angeles together in November, for the American Film Market, and we do hope to make some very decent sales there. Until then, I'm holding back on entering production on the next project. The screenplay is already written and ready to rock'n'roll, but before starting auditionning and putting things together, we have to know how much we can invest. By the meantime, we've secured a workflow for post-production of the film. That means I will no longer be editing the films myself, but go thru a professional post-production house instead, so I will only direct the film, and won't need to bust my balls to find turnarounds to editing and technical problems. So video digitizing will be done here in Montreal, actual editing and assembling will be done by a facility in Vancouver, BC, sound design and scoring done in Auburn, CA, then the pieces come back to Montreal for online assembling at the original facility, and proceed to final output.

***

We also bought a new house recently, and we've been in heavy renovations on it these past couple of weeks. A bunch of friends gave me a hand in tearing down all the walls, electricity, plumber, everything, and now we're rebuilding it from scratch (or almost). We should be moving in within two weeks. I will finally have a much larger studio, much more confortable and organized, I spend so many hours in that studio, working, editing, designing, it's critical I'm well in it. But wait... what did I just say? Editing?? I've invested this much in a larger, bigger editing studio, and the paragraph above I am pointing out I will be no longer be editing my films...??? Hmm I must be crazy. Unless... unless... I have other plans in my mind...  *evil grin*  Stay tuned!!

***

Ok, so in November we'll be in Los Angeles for the American Film Market, but I also have another trip planned to the US in December. We'll be in Las Vegas for 5 days, just to kick back for a while, have fun, and meet a few friends from the place. Mike, Tim, I'm looking forward to seeing you again, we certainly had a great time at Hooter's last time, let's do it again! Anyone else from LV reading this? Hit me up, that'd be fun to meet in Sin City!

***

So that's about it for now, this post is long enough, I am pretty sure no one will read it to the end, so I'll draw the line here.

Cheers!!
-sv

OK I'm now starting to get my life back, after the crazy days we had around Rise of the Ghosts premiere. Everything went very well, the people really loved the movie, the suspense was great, we managed to keep the audience on the edge of their seats until the very last moment. From where I was sitting in the back of the theater, it was easy to see if people were following the film, or walking out of the theater, or...

What a relief when I realized people really got into the action, and only one fellow walked out of the projection!! The rest of the crowd were sitting there, not talking, staring at the screen, for 97 minutes. The way the film is built really keep the audience puzzled, everyone wonders how it will all end. The pieces of the puzzle slowly land on the table, reach their respective position, and only near the end do the people get to see the colors and the whole picture taking shape. So I'm very happy with the way people receive the film to date! It's so encouraging! One of the most frequent comment we got about Rise of the Ghosts is that the film do not look like an independent production, and this tells a lot about the quality everyone involved in the film has delivered.

Next step now is to knock at the door of distributors and find a channel that will give the film good visibility. Some of them already showed interest in the film and requested screeners and media kit, which are shipping this week. Wish us luck with the paperwork!!