Maine Premiere-- Collins Center for the Arts- Orono, ME

The Way We Get By had its Maine premiere on Thursday night. Bangor Savings Bank sponsored the screening for us and treated us all like stars for the night.

It was an unforgettable evening. Bill, Joan and Jerry were picked up in a white Cadillac Escalade limo. They were surpised as it pulled up to the Collins Center for the Arts with a line of military members greeting them as they walked on the red carpet into the building. They were taken to a VIP reception where they as well as the rest of the troop greeters were honored for their service. Aron and I also received a Proclamation from the State Legislators.

People were escorted into the theater--there were about 1300 people in attendance. The Color Guard posted the flags and the Governor and a number of other key people recognized the greeters and our film. The Governor then presented us with a special award for the film and community service. It was all surreal since we hadn't even screened the film yet. Then, finally the lights were dimmed and the film began.

The audience was really into the film--the crowd laughed and cried through all the right spots and afterwards Bill, Joan, Jerry and our film team received a standing ovation. I could see Bill, Jerry and Joan beaming throughout the night. I know they never expected all of this but it was so amazing to see them recognized in this way.

The next day, there was a great film review by the Bangor Daily News in the paper and a front page article about the Maine premiere. We're told this is the largest Maine movie premiere in the state so for us--we're just blown away.

It was a night to remember and I don't think I'll ever forget it.

TWWGB WINS AUDIENCE AWARD AT FULL FRAME FILM FESTIVAL

THE WAY WE GET BY wins the AUDIENCE AWARD at the Full Frame Film Festival!! THANK YOU to those who came out to watch our film in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. We are thrilled to win this prestigious award and are so excited to continue to screen the film to audiences across the country!

TWWGB at Full Frame Film Festival

This is a really great festival. On Thursday, Aron and I did a radio interview with WUNC's North Carolina's Public Radio. Click here to check out the audio clip. Frank Stasio was the host and he did a great job with our segment.

We screened at the largest venue with our 35mm film print at the Full Frame Film Festival. The venue, Carolina Theater-- Fletcher Hall, was absolutely beautiful and the film looked great on the big screen. For a 10:30am Friday screening we had a great crowd and the audience was really into the film. After our screening, we spoke to a group of volunteers for the festival who came in to see the film and they were very emotional afterwards. I told them--hey, you guys don't know what it means to see people connecting in such intimate ways with our film. This is such an amazing feeling for us as filmmakers!

We're exciting to check out more movies this weekend and I'll be back in touch with more updates shortly. Thanks for reading....

TWWGB WINS AWARD IN CLEVELAND

CLEVELAND ROCKS!!
That pretty much sums up Cleveland. We had the best time in Cleveland and the film festival staff were just unbelievable. They really supported the film and helped us with travel for our team. We knew something was special about Cleveland when we first started corresponding with Bill Guentzler--he was just so nice. And then we started corresponding with Beth Radisek, who decided her family was going to sponsor our film. Aron and I couldn't believe the support. We had two screenings scheduled and then our film was also going to play as part of the FILMSLAM program for high school students. Words can't describe how incredible the experience was for us. We were treated so well --and they just truly loved the film. We were blown away by the experience. Aron did three videos on our Cleveland experience....check them out here. This is the only way to really explain it.

Here is Jerry after a screening and with high school students for FILMSLAM.








Last night, we got a call from Beth and she informed us we had won the Greg Gund Memorial Standing Up Film Competition at the 33rd Cleveland International Film Festival. What an amazing end to an incredible festival. Here is a little description on the award category:

Greg Gund Memorial Standing Up Film Competition
The selections included in Standing Up are "films with a conscience." Standing Up celebrates social justice and activism by presenting films with messages that cannot and should not be ignored. The winner is determined by audience vote. Standing Up honors those with a different view of the world we live in and the continual fight to make it a better world. Standing Up honors the memory of Greg Gund.

TWWGB Hits the Road!!

Ok, so this blog post has been a long time coming. But once you read about our whirlwind experience, hopefully you'll forgive us. This has been an exciting few weeks for us. Actually, it’s been pretty unreal. Where to begin….

NORTH FORT HOOD
We had been waiting for SXSW for some time. We wanted to get the world premiere done so we could just play the film at festivals and start getting it out there. Aron and I arrived in Austin in the morning and had to race to North Fort Hood. We had promised a Maine National Guard unit that we would do a special screening for them before they headed out to Afghanistan. They were finishing up their training in Texas and were going to have a surprise landing in Bangor, Maine before they headed over. We knew we had to make this trip—and so we raced to get their in time—knowing we were going to have to drive back right after and start preparing for SXSW.

The trip to North Fort Hood was well-worth the chaos beforehand. We got to the Chapel where the film was to screen and the unit had popcorn and drinks ready and they were waiting to screen off of a laptop hooked to a projector. Not the preference for us but they said they were used to watching movies this way. So we went with it.

They totally got the film—and laughed at parts that only people in the military could appreciate. Aron and I received a standing ovation and on the dark road heading home, we couldn’t stop talking about how great an event it was.

But before we could take a break, we had to register at SXSW. So we registered and then spent the rest of the evening putting up posters wherever we could. We were hoping this was going to be sufficient to get word out about the movie.

SXSW SCREENINGS (click here to see the video at SXSW)

On the day of our 1st screening, Aron and I got to the theater about 90 minutes early. Aron did a technical check and it all looked great. The screen at the Austin Convention Center was HUGE. The film looked great on screen. As we sat down and waited for our screening, we started seeing people lining up for a film. We still had about 80 minutes before the screening so I went over to the group in line and asked them what they were waiting to see. They said, "THE WAY WE GET BY." I couldn't believe it....there were people not only showing up for the film but coming over an hour early! It was awesome and it made us feel really great. We had great crowds and a surprise guest for our first two screenings (I can't give it away because they'll be coming to more screenings!). We had a blast.

SXSW SPECIAL JURY AWARD
Our film was one of eight in the documentary feature competition. Aron and I figured we'd go to the Awards show but weren't really counting on anything. So, you can imagine what a shock it was as we started listening to the judges begin to read a description of our film...Aron and I looked at each other and I thought..."wait a minute--that's us!"... It was pretty awesome having our film recognized in this way and it made us feel so special!

World Premiere...Film Fests...New Website...Oh My!!

Wow! This has been a crazy few days. First we found out "The Way We Get By" was accepted into the South By Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival-- this is where we will be doing our World Premiere as part of the Documentary Feature Competition. I read they received 737 doc features and 8 make the competition, so we were pretty proud to hear the news! Plus, it's always cool when the news comes in the form of Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. Little Bangor, Maine has hit the big time.

I would love, LOVE to find a way to get our three characters from "The Way We Get By" to Austin for the big premiere, but I'm not sure any of them are prepared or able to make a long trip like that. I know my mom would love it--- but I'm not sure her legs and back would like it so much. Either way the three of them will be there in spirit.

On to other news...We've also received word on many other festivals we have been accepted into. In no particular order-- Cleveland International Film Festival, IFF Boston, Florida Film Festival, Philadelphia Film Festival, GI Film Festival (this is one of the most important festivals to us because of the large military audience that will get to see the film) and a couple others that will have to remain secret for a little while longer. Just remember the color GREY and I'll fill you in on the rest later in February.

And finally, our new kick-ass website will (hopefully) be launching tomorrow. This sucker has all the bells and whistles and should really become a one-stop destination for all things "The Way We Get By"-- it's loaded with content, links, screenings & events and much much more!!

So far, 2009 is shaping up to be an amazing year for the film and a crazy, busy, rewarding time for us. I don't think we are really sure what to expect but I am hoping to squeeze in a little fun along the way. The one thing I do hope is that audiences across the country will get the opportunity to connect with the three people in "The Way We Get By", because that is the goal at the end of the day. And so far, we're off to a good start.

Make sure to check out the new website, keep up on all the screenings and help support the film.

--Aron

New Website, Publicity Shoot, Post

Sorry for not writing sooner....we're working on a new and improved website so stay tuned for that. Bluehouse Group in Vermont is making something really special for us. It will have all of these great features that will make The Way We Get By Movie site very cool!

In November, we wrapped up a photo shoot with our three characters in the film. We didn't have the money or crew to get a lot of still photos during production and as a result we were in a bind when it came to all of the marketing material. Luckily, Sean Carnell, a great photographer in Maine, helped us out and worked with us on a two day publicity shoot. This photo is of me and Aron on the Bangor International Airport runway.

The photos came out great and we're so excited to showcase them. Sean is extremely talented and has a great eye. Make sure you check out his website to see the incredible work he has done to date. And now, we've got plenty of photos to choose from when we roll out the film and make our marketing kits.

And now, that brings up the most important point of the blog today.....WE'RE DONE!! We worked through the holiday and finished the film on Dec. 27!! It was such a great feeling knowing that we reached our goal of finishing the film in 2008!! Aron and I watched the most recent cut (80 minutes) and are so proud of it. It took everything out of us but we did it!

Right now, Aron is working with top notch teams-- the post-house, Alpha Cine, and sound company, Bad Animals, to get it all just right before upgrading to HD and getting the masters. Both companies are great to work with and come highly recommended.

Did I mention how EXCITED we are to have our first feature doc done!!

We've got more exciting news to come....stay tuned....we can't announce yet but will shortly.

Thanks everyone for your support. We hope to see you on the film tour this year!