I can’t imagine anything comparing to screening your film on a massive screen tethered between giant trees under the stars in Big Sur at The Henry Miller Library. We made certain to come prepared with sandwiches, hefeweizen, and smores. IFHY was the first short film to play that evening, to a small, but pleasantly engaged crowd. After an introduction by Magnus Toren, I spoke to the audience briefly about how it was made and some of the unconventional methods we employed.

After the credits flashed by and the applause died down, I spoke a bit more with the audience, answering questions ranging from sources of inspiration to camerawork techniques. Many wanted to know what was next, so even Heart of Now came up. This was easily one of the more sophisticated audiences we’ve had the pleasure to screen the film with. One gentleman in particular, Toby, came directly to our table, sang our praises and presented us with glasses and a bottle of a chardonnay. Later that evening Toby invited us up to his place the next morning, and just before leaving Big Sur for LA, we made a little detour up the ridge to visit him. I still have the hand-drawn map he made us. We are so happy to have met him and look forward to visiting again next time we are in Big Sur.

After the other films played, we spent the remaining hours getting drunk on our beer and Toby’s wine, and being entertained by the local stories of Big Sur from Magnus Toren. Talk ran the gamut from film and music to politics, including how Magnus ended up in Big Sur. Magnus invited us all to return for a special event screening of Heart of Now. And we surely will.

Our deepest gratitude goes out to the community of Big Sur and we are so happy to know that IFHY led us down a path toward meeting some kindred spirits that we otherwise would not have known. We’ll see you all again soon!

Myself, Jamie Cobb, Matt Garrett and Marion Kerr & John T. Woods spent the day exploring Big Sur – driving along Coast Drive and trudging along Pfeifer Beach.

A gallery of yesterday’s trip up the coast to Big Sur, CA.

yesterday the filmmakers drove from LA to Big Sur, CA for the short film fest organized by the people at The Henry Miller Library.

When life gives you lemons (or you snag one from a roadside orchard)…

Carve a face on him for hours of entertainment on long roadtrips.

Here’s a brief glimpse at the genius lyricist who co-wrote the infamous song that John T. Woods plays in our short film. I give you: Mathew Sandoval.

The fires in Big Sur spared The Henry Miller Library and we are back on for the festival this thursday.

Our private preview screening of White Knuckles organized by Larry Strauss in conjunction with the Old Pro’s acting troupe went extremely well!  There were a lot of people that stayed for the Q & A, asking & interacting with the filmmakers, Larry, Martie & myself.  We also got to look at the film on the screen from a technical standpoint, and although the color was great, there are some small adjustments that will need to happen with the mix.  Such is the usefulness of a private preview screening: first reactions, and technical massage.  It didn’t help much that the projectionist was also running his own real time “mix” – i.e. riding the levels as the movie was playing – which is not recommended for any film, ever.  This being said, the story and the film was still intact and not compromised – and I was very happy about the audience reaction.  There was a lot of affirmations that the film is heading in the right direction.

The questions at the Q & A ranged from “are the tears in Larry’s eyes real in the emotional scenes” to “what inspired you to write this story” to “what does the ending mean to you?”   Larry responded to the tear question with a description of how, “at this age, you’ve seen and felt it all – an it’s not hard to get yourself to that place anymore.”  With response to the ending questions, we discussed the possibilities of what an ending of a film like this could mean for the future of the characters. Though there is closure, not everything is completely answered or handed over on a spoon – rather there is something left for the audience to consider, and more importantly “interpret.”

One particularly engaged audience member chimed in, “I love the ending the way it is because it can be showed to 20,000 people and  they’ll walk away from it with 20,000 personal interpretations.”  There was also a little debate about “what happened” after the last shot of the film, to which people had their own thoughts and feelings.  Truth is, I think that the audience is right in whatever they believe happened, as long as they venture to continue thinking about the film days after they complete seeing it.

On a related note, I received a “I’d like to join the White Knuckles mailing list” post-card from someone at the screening that wrote “I loved your film.  Below are some pictures from the introduction to the film, as well as the Q & A afterwards.  Guests of honor in attendance: my parents.  See below for pictures that Larry sent to me today:

Kevin K. Shah fields some questions from the audience

Larry, Martie and Kevin in Laguna Woods, CA

larry and kevin set-up the experience.

Laguna Q & A for the private preview screening.

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