DETOURS in Jersey City - Saturday Sept 24 at 4 PM

Historic Loews Theater in JC

I'm very excited to announce that DETOURS will screen at the historic Loew's Theater in Jersey City, NJ on Saturday afternoon September 24 at 4:00 PM. It will be part of the 6th annual Golden Door International Film Festival.

The theater is directly across the street from the Journal Square PATH train station, so I'm hoping to see lots of NYC friends as well as Jersey City people there - and yes, the PATH accepts your Metro card :)

Click the link below to buy tickets - they're just $10.

DETOURS at the Golden Door

The Strand Theater - More Prep & Promotion for DETOURS screening

Exterior

Fran Whitney of the Strand Staff

Today's DETOURS project was a visit to the beautiful Strand Theater in Lakewood, NJ, which is where we'll have our New Jersey premiere! We shot a great scene there - through the magic of cameras and editing, Tara Westwood and Carlo Fiorletta walk through a theater entrance in Florida (the The Palladium Theatre in Saint Petersburg, FL) and the subsequent interior scene is in the Strand. This beautifully restored theater was built in 1922 and is a national historic landmark.

I dropped off our posters for the event, tested the hard drive with their tech guru (it worked, always a good sign!), and got a tour from the delightful Fran Whitney.

DETOURS screens at the Strand on Sunday evening September 18 at 7 PM; tickets are $15 in advance at www.strand.org or $20 at the door. The address is 400 Clifton Avenue, Lakewood, NJ. There's a municipal parking lot across the street.

DETOURS at the Strand Theatre - Sunday September 18 at 7 PM!

Photo of Tara Westwood & Paul Sorvino

Shooting a scene from DETOURS

I'm very excited that we're having our New Jersey premiere at one of our great filming locations - the Strand Theatre in Lakewood on Sunday night September 17 at 7 PM.

We shot a lot of DETOURS at the Jersey Shore, at terrific local spots like the White Sands Hotel in Point Pleasant, The Ark Pub and Eatery and Used To Be's, Charlie's Farm Market, and the beaches in Lavallette.  I've been visiting a lot of them this week to ask them to hang our flyer for the screening, and I really love the support that we continue to get.

The best part has been seeing photos from our shoot on display at several of our locations. First  I stopped by the delightful Bay View Cafe, which, through the magic of movies, serves as 2 separate locations in DETOURS. I was delighted to see a lovely photo on their wall of  director Rob McCaskill (in hat) discussing a scene with stars Tara Westwood and Carlo Fiorletta.

The next day I visited Charlie's Farm Market, and was thrilled to see photos of the great Paul Sorvino with Tara Westwood in a scene from DETOURS and also chatting with line producer Caryl Pierre.

Click the link below to get tickets to this great event, which will be followed by a q&a session with McCaskill, Westwood, and Fiorletta...and me.

Tickets to Detours at the Strand.

Screenplay Consulting Plus Re-Writes & Adaptations

As we continue to roll out my new feature DETOURS (with upcoming screenings at The Strand Theater in Lakewood NJ and the Golden Door International Film Festival in Jersey City in September), I look forward to working with both new and returning screenplay clients.

My services include feedback on how to improve your existing script, re-writing it if it's time for a fresh eye, and turning your short story or novel into a screenplay. Check out my web site at the link below for more information (including pricing) as well as feedback on my work.

Mara Lesemann: Screenwriter & Script Consultant

DETOURS Nominated for Best Feature Film

It was a great follow-up to last Saturday's screening of DETOURS at the Long Island International Film Expo to learn that DETOURS was nominated for the Best Feature Film award. We didn't win, but it truly IS an honor just to nominated.

Next up is our screening at the Strand Theatre in Lakewood, NJ on Sunday September 18 at 7 PM. More on that next time!

Director Rob McCaskill, Actors Celia Schaefer, Carlo Fiorletta,  Peter Graham, & Marguerite Stimpson

Great DETOURS Screening at LIIFE 2016

Peter Graham & Marguerite Stimpson

Director Rob McCaskill & Star Carlo Fiorletta

We had a terrific screening of DETOURS on Saturday night at the Long Island International Film Expo (aka LIIFE) at Bellmore Movies in Bellmore, LI. I was joined by Rob McCaskill and star Carlo Fiorletta, along with supporting actors Peter Graham, Marguerite Stimpson, and Celia Schaefer. The audience reception was terrific, and many stayed for a spirited q&a session, even though is was well after 11 PM.

Next up is a week-long run at the Sutter Creek Theatre in Sutter Creek, CA starting July 22, and a special one night only screening at the Strand Theater in Lakewood, NJ on September 18 (tickets are on sale now!). We shot a beautiful scene at the Strand, and many other scenes in and around Ocean County, NJ and are very excited to return.

Working With Police on Film Sets | Rolling Tape interview

I had the pleasure of being interviewed earlier this week by Forris Day Jr. for his podcast Rolling Tape. We had a terrific discussion about working with police on film sets, which I did for both of my features: Surviving Family and DETOURS. We discussed the differing experiences in Jersey City and Ocean County, NJ, shooting with a process trailer (check out some great shots of that), and the police officer who let us use his house as a location.

It was a fun interview to do, and hopefully it will take a little bit of the mystery out of something that many low-budget filmmakers find intimidating.