Purgatory Comics at the Bellmore Theater May 21st

Last Thursday evening, Purgatory Comics made its Long Island premiere at the Bellmore theater. This was a private screening for cast, crew, family and friends, and the turnout was amazing. I couldn't believe how many coworkers swung by after work to check out my little flick. Plus I had friends from high school and college, and family too. It was bizarre seeing so many different "worlds" colliding like that, but the overwhelming support was probably the most rewarding experience of my life. Not to mention, I got to reunite with my talented cast...

Here's my leading man Tim "Evan" Kelly standing outside of the theater with me. It was great seeing the name of our flick up on the theater marque. Tim brought a small crowd from Staten Island to check out his performance, and there was a thunderous applause when he appeared on screen.

Here's some of my family inside the theater: my brothers and sister. I sat behind the little one and covered his eyes during the nudey scenes.

Here's leading lady Angela "Cola" Benedict with Bob "Peter Whales" Socci. Both brought their families to the screening. I think Bob's family was a little shocked as his character's foul mouth.

Here's one of several crowd shots I took from the stage before I said a few words. I basically thanked everyone for coming, the Bellmore theater, and a handful of people who got involved with the project late (so they weren't in the end credits). I also thanked my family for their unconditional support.

The screening went great! People laughed at all the right moments and the response was extremely positive. After the credits finished rolling I saw that Jonathan "Berner" Zungre did make it (he got stuck in traffic so came in right as the film began). His character definitely became classic.

After the film screening wrapped, I got to mingle a little and hear some people's great responses. Then I got to snap a few shots with the reunited cast.

Here's me with the leading cast, with DP Mike lurking in the back. We're in the theater lobby glowing from the excitement of seeing Purgatory Comics projected gorgeously on a big screen.

Here's DP Mike in the lobby with Bob.

After the screening, some of the audience joined me across the street for a few drinks at a pretty cool bar. In this picture is my longtime best friend Howard and his wife, me and Angela, and a guy who hilariously photobombed us in the background.

I got to mingle with a lot of friends (again, from all different "worlds"). Finally the night ended and I headed home. The next few days I got to hear a lot more positive reactions and learn everyone's favorite parts or lines. It was amazing. I think a lot of viewers were genuinly impressed, and a few even said they could relate to the story (the greatest compliment I could possibly get). Since I first decided to do a film, an image of this screening was on my mind. It was great to finally experience it, and it was everything I hoped it would be.

Cast & Crew Private Screening Next Week

There's a secret theater screening of Purgatory Comics next week for the cast, crew, family and friends. If you fit into one of those categories and haven't heard about this, drop me an email and let me know (email address is on right side panel). Should be awesome...I'm excited and terrified.

Star Trek: The Return of the Theater-Going Experience?

I've seen the new Star Trek twice already: the first was an advanced preview screening with a limited audience (friend in radio hooked me up), and the second was opening weekend with a large crowd. After the end credits began rolling on the second screening, I saw a father and his son - must've been 3 0r 4 years old - walking out of the theater. The father asked what the boy thought, and the boy absolutely loved it; but he was in too much shock and awe over the visuals he'd just witnessed to really elaborate further.

This triggered a flashback for me: I was about that boy's age when I saw Return of the Jedi in the theater, and I remember feeling the exact same way. And scattered memories of watching Jedi on the big screen during its original run still stay with me to this day: Ewoks, Yoda's death, Lando blowing up the Death Star...to my young impressionable mind, it was absolute magic.

I like to think - and I hope - that the new Star Trek may become sort of what the original Star Wars trilogy was to this new generation. I think our culture desperately needs that right now. Sure, Pirates of the Caribbean and Iron Man and even Transformers were imaginative visual romps, but I feel Star Trek is something more (before I go into this, keep in mind I knew NOTHING about Star Trek before seeing it): the film is a near-perfect blend of action, comedy, drama and sci-fi. The pacing is wonderful, the cast is likable, and Michael Giacchino's score is epic. From a marketing perspective, I'm inspired how they were able to package a product for everyone from ages 3-103. From a screenwriting perspective, I'm blown away by how one movie is a sequel, prequel, and reboot all in one.

I don't really do movie reviews on here (maybe I should?), but the whole point of this entry's headline is about the experience of seeing this on the big screen. Yes, theater ticket prices go up while DVD prices go down. The gap between national screenings and home video release is getting smaller and smaller. And we can all agree Hollywood has been putting out a lot of crap lately. The big question has become: what will become of the theater going experience as time marches forward? The threat of losing it all together is depressing for a guy like me. Not only do I love movies, but I dream the big dream that one day I'll see my own flick projected up there.

But Star Trek revived my hope, if only for a couple of hours. Needless to say, I enjoyed my second viewing more: an audience of all ages experienced a full range of emotions together, and applauded in the end not out of courtesy, but because they had experienced a type of movie magic that reminds me why people like me got into film in the first place.

If I can ever capture a fraction of that audience response in a screening, I'll feel accomplished. While I work on that, you see Star Trek. It's not the perfect movie across the board, but it's the exact kind of movie I think we need right now.

Three and a half stars ***1/2

Reporting from Lancaster PA

Today we took a drive to Lancaster Pennsylvania for the Lancaster Area Film Festival that I've been writing about for a month now. Above you see me with some local stormtroopers securing the area. Here's the building where it took place:

Here's a spread from the program, where you'll see Purgatory Comics got a special spotlight:

And here's me and DP Mike backstage. We got to screen both of our projects in hi-def because Mike hooked up his PS3, which was really cool.

Overall, it's been a pretty neat experience so far. My friends and I are crashing in Penn. tonight and we're looking for something fun to do tomorrow. The festival was a blast, but the downside was that multiple theaters were screening multiple films at once, dividing the ticket-buyers substantially. So I didn't get the big audience I was really hoping for, but I did get to watch my flick projected in beautiful quality. And the audience reaction was positive, which makes me happy.