My film about a FEMA trailer park after one of the hurricanes a couple of years ago is going on sale on June 23rd.

Things are getting set for the screening in FL.  I started sending out the press release to the local media around Port Charlotte and Ft. Myers.  We set up an in-studio interview with WINK TV (CBS) for day of the screening.  That will be good for pushing people there and getting the word out about affordable housing and the lack of it (believe it or not during this down market).

Am looking forward to the screening so the folks in the community can see the final product. 

Haven't been as lucky with lining up more screenings for the same weekend.  We'll do the 500-seat venue and I've tried emailing other local orgs and Florida Gulft Coast University to try and line up another screening that I could attend.

Once the screening is over I'll be starting a full-on push to colleges/universities for showing the film.  I am developing lesson plans and sheets for leading discussions about the topics raised in the doc.

DVDs arrive a week from tomorrow and I'll be hauling those with me on the trip.

Tomorrow, off to Hawaii until Sunday.

Work.  Today is the birthday and I'm working on the screening.  That is just the way it goes sometimes.  I don't mind because I want to get the word out.  It is important to me to get the screening info to all the folks in Charlotte County since it is all about their residents.  Am starting to email, make phone calls to the people who participated in the filming, and will be working at that for days to come.  As most of us indies on Myspace know, promotion is a full-time job done in a part-time way.

If you want to come out to the screening, check out the screening listing for February 1st.

So the subject line sounds like I'm high on life after attending a Tony Robbins seminar.  I'm not high, but after years of people calling me a loser, I can officially say I'm a winner. 

Over the holiday weekend I made a quick trip to Kissimmee, FL (neighbor to the more famous and more populated Orlando) for the Central Florida Film Festival.  The doc played twice over the three-day festival and was quite honestly sparsely attended.  Hey, it is an up and coming festival that is only in its second year, so don't knock it because you haven't heard of it.  The great group of folks who run the fest are doing a good job of getting the word out and will see it grow even next year if they keep treating everybody so kind.

Anyways, I was a finalist in the Best Documentary category, but lost out to "Finding Kraftland", which I saw at one of the screenings.  It is a very entertaining and breezy piece of work that I would suggest you check out for some light entertainment with a nice little message about the importance of family.

The big news is I won the Florida Filmmaker award.  I know, I don't live in FL, but the film was entirely shot in Florida, I used to live in Florida a few years back, and it is about people and a place in Florida so it qualifies.  I commend the judges on their stellar choice and am happy to have some kind of win under my belt.  Its always great to be recognized by your peers, so thanks.

Check out this article in the Charlotte Sun.  The reporter, Steve Reilly, did a very nice piece on the doc.

http://www.sun-herald.com/Newsheadline.cfm?headline=9024