There is a working trailer up on the website now and I'm pretty happy with it. I think it captures the tone of the film without giving too much away. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be to make a trailer. I still think I'll give it another shot and try and cut something more substantial, but this little teaser will work for now.

I talked to a guy about getting the film on DigiBETA for SXSW, and it seems like the best thing to do is export from Final Cut onto DVCAM and then clone that onto DigiBETA, so it won't be too big of a deal. I'm still considering dropping some money for some nice color correction on a few of the scenes, but I'm still not sure I can afford that, or if it's even worth it.

I made my first attempt at cutting a trailer for the film last night. It did not go so well. I pulled certain shots and snippets of dialogue and just kind of strung them together. The people who have watched it have all kind of commented that it's just a 90 second version of the movie, which is pretty much true. I need to separate myself from the film, and just see it as sounds and images. I also need to spend some more time thinking about what a trailer is, and what it can be. I should be creative and try new things, the same way I approached the editing of the film. I'll going to give it a whirl.

The trailer is just one of the pieces of marketing that I'm now having to think about for the festival premiere. I haven't put together a press kit before, or any of this promotional material, and it's weird to now think of the film as a marketable object that we have to sell. Even if we don't sell it to a distributor, we have to sell it to a potential audience, so that our festival screenings are packed and we get invited to more Fests. I'm going to need help on this stuff from someone who's not as close to it as I am.

I have Ethan Hayes-Chute working on a poster for the film. I've seen some of his rough drawings and photos, and they look great. I can't wait to get them. It's going to be big and bright and eye catching. I should use this as an inspiration for the trailer.

I'm also thinking about technical issues. I have to get the film onto large format tapes for various festival needs. I need to make some DigiBETA tapes (probably just one to start with), and some BETASP dubs, and probably some DVCAM dubs, so I can be prepared for whatever a festival screens. But first things first I still need to mix the sound, color correct the picture, and shoot the titles. And I have to do this soon!

Once I have a cut of the film that I'm really happy with, I will become more active with the submission to festivals. I want to play it smart, and not send it to too many fests. Only the big ones to start with. I can always play the smaller fests next year, if all goes well.