DETOURS to be Released on Amazon Prime November 25!

I'm delighted to announce that my 2nd feature film,  DETOURS, will be released on Amazon Prime on Friday November 25! Prime members will be able to watch for free, while rental will start at $2.99 for non-members.

I'll share the Amazon link, as soon as it's available, but it will also be accessible via the IMDB page, as they're owned by Amazon.

DETOURS is a road-trip dramedy about a newly-single New Yorker (played by Tara Westwood ) who re-locates to Florida for a new job. She travels south with her widowed dad (Carlo Fiorletta ) and her mom's ashes in a coffee can. 

The wonderful supporting cast includes Richard Kind, Michael Cerveris, Paul Sorvino, and Phyllis Somerville. The director is Rob McCaskill; I wrote the screenplay and produced it. The wonderful cinematography is by Chris Eadicicco.

The soundtrack features music by Lane Turner,   Michael Cerveris, Jon Lee, Katherine Hughes, and Andre Fratto. 

 Our terrific new poster by photographer David Spagnolo is here too!

I'm delighted to share DETOURS, our story about family, over Thanksgiving weekend,

Photo Shoot for a New DETOURS Poster

As we prepare to launch DETOURS feature on Amazon Prime, we've realized that it's time for a great new poster, so it was a pleasure to spend this past Monday at the Brooklyn studio of photographer David Spagnolo. He did a tremendous job with our 2 stars Tara Westwood and Carlo Fiorletta. It was clear that David had not only watched DETOURS, but he had a great handle on the characters and how to show their essence in a single photo.  I'm very excited to see what he comes up with.

Be sure to check out David's work at www.davidspagnolo.com - his combination of fashion and sports photography is amazing.

More to come soon, including our release date!

DETOURS: Coming Soon to Amazon Prime!

I'm delighted to announce that DETOURS will be released soon exclusively on Amazon Prime! This means that it will be free to watch for members, and available to rent or buy for non-members. I'll post an exact date as soon as I have one.

It's great to be working once again with Distribber on this - they've been terrific with my first feature, Surviving Family, and I'm looking forward to continuing the relationship.

Here's a small taste of Detours - one of my favorite scenes featuring Carlo Fiorletta and Peter Graham, with Tara Westwood at the wheel.

Lower Prices, or the McDonald's Effect

One of the challenges of indie filmmaking - like many other small businesses - is figuring out the best price point for your product.

My first feature, Surviving Family, is available on iTunes and Amazon Prime. Prime members can watch for free but for iTunes and regular Amazon, I set the price. The split is 70/30 for iTunes sales and 60/40 for their rentals; it's 50/50 with Amazon. I work with Distribber for the set up and to collect revenue; they do not take a percentage of sales or rentals.

I recently decided to reduce the rental price in both places to $0.99 - it took a bit of persistence (and help from the Distribber support staff) to make that happen, as it's what the companies consider a "promo" price rather than a "regular" price.

Why did I do it?  For a small movie with some recognizable actors (Billy Magnussen, Tara Westwood, Katherine Hughes, Vincent Pastore, and the wonderful Phyllis Somerville) but that is not widely known to movie watchers, I need people to take a chance with their entertainment budget. I figure $0.99 is the cost of a cup of coffee at McDonald's and a reasonable amount to gamble on an unknown movie.
 
Was this a good move?  I'll let you know in 6 months!

Golden Door Festival Awards & Nominations

Tara Westwood - Best Actress Winner

Carlo Fiorletta - Best Actor Nominee

We had a great DETOURS screening at the Golden Door Film Festival this past weekend, which culminated in terrific recognition at the awards ceremony.

The Loews Jersey City theater is a beautiful movie palace that opened in 1929; it's only been partially restored so far but the lobby is spectacular, the screen is enormous, and the

Richard Kind - Best Supporting Actor Winner

was very good (stereo not Dolby, alas). Our road-trip comedy looked and sounded amazing. A great aspect of the location is that it's across the street from the Journal Square PATH train, which runs from Manhattan, and that's where much of our (very appreciative) audience came from.

The terrific festival wrapped up on Sunday with the awards ceremony: our wonderful star Tara Westwood won the Best Actress award; Carlo Fiorletta, who is equally good as her dad, was nominated for the Best Actor award; and the always excellent Richard Kind received the Best Supporting Actor award.

All in all, it was a very good weekend indeed.

Great DETOURS Screening at The Strand!

We had a great screening of DETOURS on September 18 at the Strand Theater in Lakewood, NJ - it was a terrific return to one of the Ocean County locations where we shot back in October 2014. The team at the Strand was wonderful, both then and now, and I hope to have the opportunity to work with them again.

The crowd included a lot of our wonderful extras, and I was so glad to see that they really enjoyed the movie. It was such fun to actually HEAR when people recognized themselves on the screen.

Photos: 
Top left: Actress Celia Schaefer, director Rob McCaskill, stars/producers Tara Westwood and Carlo Fiorletta, me, and actor Craig Wollman.

Center: Stars and producers Tara Westwood and Carlo Fiorletta

Bottom: Carlo Fiorletta taking photos with our extras in the lobby of the Strand before the screening

Our Return to the Jersey Shore - DETOURS at The Strand, Sunday Sep 18 at 7 PM

Carlo Fiorletta at Bay View Cafe

Tara Westwood & Paul Sorvino

We're very excited to be screening DETOURS at the beautiful Strand Theater in Lakewood, NJ on Sunday September 18 at 7 PM!

It will be almost exactly 2 years since we went into production right here in Ocean County, New Jersey.  Everyone was wonderfully helpful and supportive, and we're thrilled to bring the movie back home.

In addition to shooting at The Strand Theater itself - a gorgeous venue that dates back to the roaring 20's - we hit a lot of great local spots. The photo at the top left is DETOURS star Carlo Fiorletta on a return visit to the delightful Bay View Cafe in Lavallette, with a photo that was taken of him, his co-star Tara Westwood, and director Rob McCaskill by our stills photographer Hank Gans.

At the top right is the wonderful Paul Sorvino with Tara Westwood at another great Jersey Shore location - Charlie's Farm Market in Normandy Beach.

Tickets are $15 in advance at www.strand.org and $20 at the door. Join us on the 18th for a delightful father/daughter road trip comedy from NYC to Florida, with a lot of Jersey beautfy!