Stro

[Drunk Monk]

[Greg]

I've never liked you.

Not a big fan of that song either.

[King Bob]

Eventually my mother forgot how to use the phone. So if you're lucky...

[Drunk Monk]

I've never liked you.

Not a big fan of that song either.

I have to yell into the phone so my mom can hear me and enunciate - it's like my radio voice on steroids. Sometimes that works. Often she just talks over whatever I'm saying.

[Greg]

I hear the bells, Cinando.

My favorite film festival(name to be mentioned later) festival wants me to take part in professional filmmakers viewing site called Cinando. It's also for the press to view the film for review. I upload the film. Film Industry Professionals and the Press can watch it. I said yes because why wouldn't I want Industry Professionals to watch my film?

Still no validation from Boston. Although, someone else did watch the film there. Or two people watched half of it. And a third person in Gloucester clicked the link and never watched it.

[Greg]

Just got a note from the Boston FF. They have pushed the date of the festival by a week and they will be making their selections of films this weekend.

[Greg]

I'm checking on the Vimeo Analytics too often. But it does keep changing so my bad behavior is being rewarded.

I now have had three complete views in the Boston Area.

But I also had a view in Orlando, which notifies on Tuesday.

September is going to be a busy notification month. I see lots of mood swings in my future.

[cranefly]

I did a search on "fencing in the Boston area".  Among the hits was yelp's Best 10 fencing clubs in Boston.  On the surface, it seems to have a thriving community.  If so, that seems promising.  But what do I know.

In writing circles, when we get a story rejected, the prevailing advice is not to revise and try to fix the story, thinking it's defective; instead, send it out elsewhere.  The theory is that there are lots of reasons for rejection.  Sometimes the magazine just bought something similar, and there's nothing fundamentally wrong with yours, it's just the wrong time.  Or the editor is just having a bad day or has a blind spot to what you're writing about.  Eventually, if you're persistent enough, you'll find an editor who appreciates what you've done.

So I'm hoping you've hit a fencing hot spot in Boston, or a judge or judges who have a keen interest in fencing.  Or who knows?  Judges who say, Hey, this mixes well with our selection.

Not to get your hopes up unnecessarily.  But as Confucius once said (and yes, I know, I've been quoting him too much of late), "It is what it is."

[Greg]

When you play roulette in the casinos, they have a sign that shows what numbers came up previously. This lets you choose wisely about what bets to make.

It's too bad statistics say what has come before has no basis on what will come in these games of chance.

I have the same feeling about people seeing the movie in Boston. It could be they always have three people see a film before they make a decision. Rather than, as it is in my head, more people are seeing it so someone is telling them to watch it because they want it in the festival....

[Drunk Monk]

But as Confucius once said (and yes, I know, I've been quoting him too much of late), "It is what it is."

Confucius didn't say that. He didn't say that silly quote about enemies bodies floating down the river either. He did say 'Don't quote me'

[Greg]

I don't know if today will be a validation day or not. Boston did say after the weekend. As we know, all life now, is after the weekend.

By checking the Film Freeway page, I did see a couple of festivals had pushed their notification dates. San Diego was supposed to announce tomorrow, but now will be out on Sep 10. For now. Orlando is still supposed to notify tomorrow, according to their listing and they have been actively watching films, mine anyway.

I also noticed that Marina Del Rey has pushed back to October. This is their second push.

[Greg]

Happy Validation Day! Maybe! I feel like the Boston FF is ghosting me. I also envision the Boston festival programmers locked in room duking it out over including Stro in the festival.

If there is any validation today, it should be from Orlando. where they have at least watched the film once.

[Greg]

No validation from the festivals, yet, but I did get the following note from the Production Representative. He said:

"Stro is quite the mensch.  What a guy, what a life, what a friend, what a holy terror to face in battle.  Great doc!  I'm at a loss for words except it's excellent and there's definitely an audience out there for it.  I'd be totally confident I'd be able to bring you multiple distribution offers on it, especially now in lockdown, and also because sports docs are hot right now.

I'm also a fan of The Last Captain.  It's a different type of storytelling, more formal and at arms length.  It's good though.  Also totally distributable (if that's a real word)."

How is your day going?

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Please don’t take this wrong, but since it is 2020, my thoughts are:

Nice words are nice — just waiting for the “oh, it will only cost you $XXX.XX to have us leap into action and find distributors for your fillums.”

[Greg]

I'm totally going to take that wrong, destroyer of dreams!

The Queen aired similar sentiments.

I believe we are still feeling each other out. But when they ask for money, I will ask for another dance partner.

***UPDATE***
I felt better about the email exchange until I checked Vimeo Analytics and saw no one in Los Angeles has seen the film in the past week. Or even in California. The only viewers are in MA and FL.