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!

Great DETOURS Review

A good review is always a thrill, and I'm especially happy with this one:The Independent Critic on Detours.

It's especially complimentary about our two lead actors: "[DETOURS is] a rather quirky yet relatable piece of cinema that benefits greatly from the co-leading performances of Tara Westwood and Carlo Fiorletta who humanize the film's dramatic and humorous moments with emotionally honest yet laid back performances."

And on our terrific DP: "Chris Eadicicco's lensing is clear and intimate despite the challenges of shooting a road picture on a lower budget."

All in all, it's great to see our entire team, including musicians, get such positive feedback.

Interview With Artist Carson Grant

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing artist  Carson Grant about his upcoming shows at the pop-up gallery 11 Kenmare Street. You can check it out here:

Interview With an Artist

DETOURS Nominated for Best Picture at AOF; Will Screen Saturday Sept 3

I'm absolutely thrilled that DETOURS has been nominated for the Best Picture award at the 12th annual Action on Film (AOF) festival! Our screening will be on Saturday September 3 at the beautiful Krikorian 12 Movie Theater in Monrovia, CA; tickets are available HERE.

I've been a part of AOF as both a writer and a filmmaker since 2007 when my very first short, Albert and Mandy, screened there. Founder and Festival Director Del Weston has done a great job of developing the festival since its earliest years, when movies screened at the Long Beach Convention Center (and I was overjoyed to be there!).

If you're in the area - Monrovia is just 45 minutes north of L.A. - I hope you'll come out to see DETOURS on the big screen.

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