The following is a re-post from my old, dead blog. Please enjoy!
Back on August 12, 2018, my short film “EMOTIØNLESS” was released to the public with fantastic reception! So far, it has been a great experience promoting it. I have had some offers to have it be featured on websites and blogs, but nothing official, as of yet. Talks are still in session so I can not dwell much on those in case they do not happen (fingers crossed everyone). At the time of my writing this, the short film has done very well on Youtube; better than most things I have created and better than most other things I have seen. The feedback I have received has been overwhelmingly great! Of course, I encourage criticism, as I am always looking to improve in my craft, but so far, everything has been positive!
Before the online release, the cast/crew and I decide to put on a mini-movie premiere pool party for the short film. I wasn’t expecting much, but we went all out on marketing the different elements of this pool party: prizes, merchandise, the party itself, short film, etc. I, personally, was not expecting a big turnout. In fact, I was not expecting any turnout at all! It’s part of my “lower your expectations so low that even if it bombs, you’ll be pleasantly surprised” mentality when I go see movies. (Spoiler: it doesn’t always work). So, much planning went into this one night. I’m pretty sure everyone involved (about two others) had just as much fun helping plan and setting up the event. Sure, I was stressed, but I had help. I still couldn’t be more grateful for my crew. I’m generalizing because I don’t want to get into much detail for fear of my memory being off and springing off into tangents, BUT those that helped me were my talented friends Savannah and the star of the short film, Jessica. *Modern-Day Ivan Editor’s Note: Jessica has been a model for my photography for nearly all of our friendship. I took her senior photos, her engagement photos, and her wedding photos. Okay, Modern-Day Ivan, out* We decided to really capitalize on the event and get a bit of marketing going for the film. I designed a simple T-Shirt (colors: maroon, navy, grey, and white) and four posters to sell, while also having two giveaways. We had EMOTIØNLESS themed cupcakes, candy, snacks, and beverages for our guests to enjoy alongside tabletop board and card games, with a pool outside for anyone to enjoy.
The party was a success! I was blown away at the massive amount of support that came from all of my friends who showed up, even from those who couldn’t make it! It was a great time and experience for me, especially this being the very first premiere we had ever done. All our shirts sold, posters weren’t the biggest success (granted, we neglected to advertise those by accident, oops), raffles were bought; it was the biggest turnout I had ever seen from something I had done. It encouraged me greatly!
We even had a Q&A, which I forgot to film due to the excitement of having shown my film to an actual captive audience, and had announced more EMOTIØNLESS stories were in the works, including a sequel comic and spin-off short film titled, VERTIGØ. In the end, I was amazed by everything that had transpired. Again, the massive support that I received blew me away. I felt cared for… I felt… important… for the very first time in my life, I felt important and as if people cared and wanted to know what I had to offer. That’s not a feeling I grew up with just being around the various peer groups I somehow constantly found myself in.
I enjoyed this night. As I said before, I have other projects in the works and I CAN’T wait for the time to come where I can share them with you all! Thank you for the support, even on this blog. it means SO much to me!
Back to Modern-Day Ivan
I look back at this premiere and smile at what I had accomplished. It honestly has led me to my most recent entrepreneurial expedition – but that won’t come to fruition for YEARS to come. Plans have been set in motion, that’s all I can say for now. In the meantime, my latest short film, VERTIGØ , has been cut together and color graded and is now in its third stage of post-production. I am excited to reveal more details about that then! In the meantime, subscribe to my blog for entertainment news, stories, and advice on the creative arts.