Happy Halloween Premiere!!!
We still can’t believe it’s already been four years since our amazing cast and crew shivered for two nights in a Charleston cemetery as we filmed High Heels & Hoodoo. We’ve been very lucky to play festivals around the country (and even one in Canada), but now we’re ready to share our film with the entire internet. Or at least as many people as we can persuade to watch it. And it’s free, so hopefully that will help lure people to our spooky film.
Word of mouth is really important for short films, so please share High Heels & Hoodoo with your friends and family: email the link to people you think will enjoy it, and share the link on Facebook and Twitter and whatever other social networking sites you use. We will be very, very grateful!
We really appreciate all the support our family, friends, and fans have given us as we made High Heels & Hoodoo and participated in film festivals. Thank you so much!!
Now go grab some popcorn or a chocolatey snack and enjoy the show!!!
A Ghostly Outtake
When we were invited to screen High Heels & Hoodoo at the DC Shorts Film Festival, they asked us to send a quick introduction saying who we were and where we were from. Of course we decided we had to film our intro in a graveyard for that proper ambience.
Because we’re not great on camera (okay, that’s mostly Jocelyn), it took many, many, many takes. During one of them, Jocelyn noticed a small orange light on the screen that she swears was not there during any of the previous takes. It appeared to be hovering right over their heads, so of course she thought it was a ghost. Brian quite rudely dismissed her concerns. Then during that take, strange things happened off screen, vindicating Jocelyn’s ghostly concerns.
So for today’s countdown to the big online release of High Heels & Hoodoo on Halloween, we’re sharing the silly outtake. Have fun laughing at us!
And make sure to come back tomorrow for THE BIG HALLOWEEN PREMIERE!!!
The Trailer You’ve Always Wanted
We made a trailer for High Heels & Hoodoo a while back, but for some reason we never got around to posting it here. Oops! So for today’s countdown to the big online release of High Heels & Hoodoo on Halloween, we’re finally sharing the trailer.
We actually found the music for this first. We were looking for creepy music, but found this piece by Kevin MacLeod at Incompetech. We thought it was perfect because of the “Whatcha want” refrain, since the film is driven by Tiffany’s greedy desires. From there, we paired footage with the music for a rockin’ sneak peek of the film. We hope you enjoy it. And we’d be very grateful if you shared on social media!
Haunted High Heels
We have to admit we have been a bit … slack about keeping the blog updated. But on the bright side, that gives us fun stuff to post about in the countdown to the big online release of High Heels & Hoodoo on Halloween.
Today’s fun stuff is the poster for High Heels & Hoodoo made by Will Bryan.
Will was our first assistant director and production designer for the film, but he’s also a super talented artist. He made the awesome cat poster for Saying Goodbye, and he offered to make the poster for High Heels & Hoodoo as well. We LOVED what he came up with – the eye-catching red shoe with the subtle graveyard inside. So cool! We used it in our press kit, business cards, and other promotional material. We’re just sorry it took us so long to share with our fans. Hope you like it as much as we do!
Finishing Our Festival Run
We were honored to make our swan song festival appearance for High Heels & Hoodoo at the Reedy Reels Film Festival in Greenville, SC. We were excited not only because it was the festival’s inaugural year, but also because we got to end our festival run in our home state. Unfortunately, Jocelyn was not able to make it, but our sister Joanna was there to keep Brian company.
Also of note, the festival took place just one week shy of the four-year anniversary of that cold October weekend in St. Lawrence Cemetery when we filmed High Heels & Hoodoo. How could that possibly have been four years ago?!?
Being the first year for the Reedy Reels Film Festival, we weren’t quite sure what to expect, but we were really impressed with the crowd that gathered to watch the films in our block. It’s always fun to watch short films, but our block was special because it featured shorts made by SC Filmmakers. And since all of the filmmakers were in the audience, it made for a great Q&A session afterwards. From robots and hoodoo, to robberies and murder, the films in our block were a lot of fun!
Another highlight of the festival was running into Ron and Rebecca Tucker. They are the dynamic duo responsible for the amazing Beaufort International Film Festival, and it was great catching up with them.
The Reedy Reels Film Festival staff did an excellent job launching their festival, and we were honored to be a part of it. We see great things on the horizon for them based on the attendance levels and quality of films in their inaugural year!
And now that High Heels & Hoodoo has officially finished it’s festival run, we are planning to release it online. And what day is better for releasing a spooky movie set in a graveyard than Halloween? So join us each day this week as we share other aspects of High Heels & Hoodoo as part of the countdown to the big online premiere on October 31st!
Firsts and Lasts
Whoa! It’s been another really long chunk of time since we last posted, but we wanted to share some news. High Heels & Hoodoo will be playing at the Reedy Reels Film Festival in Greenville, SC. This is the first year of the RRFF, and we’re honored to be in the first group of films that are part of their mission to “promote the appreciation of the art of film-making while generating support for independent film-makers especially in the Upstate.” While this is a first for RRFF, it’s a last for us. This will be our last film festival for High Heels & Hoodoo, and then we plan to release it online.But if you live near Greenville and want the full theater experience, please come to our screening on Friday, October 16th at 8:00pm – we’d love to see you! Click here to buy tickets and here for information about the venue. Hope to see you there!
Enjoy a Film Festival from the Comfort of Home
Yikes! It’s been over a year since we posted on this blog, but we have some exciting news to share. High Heels & Hoodoo is playing in the Unofficial Google Plus Film Festival (UGPFF). Saying Goodbye screened at the UGPFF two years ago, and we’re thrilled to be part of this unique festival again.The cool thing about the UGPFF is that it all happens online, so anyone from around the world can attend. It also means you don’t have to shower or get all fancied up – just plop your comfy self in front of your computer to watch a bunch of great short films. It’s also free!
High Heels & Hoodoo is in Film Block 1, which is screening on Friday, November 14th from 7:00-9:00 pm EDT. There will be a live Q&A session with the filmmakers (including us) via Google+ Hangouts immediately after all the films finish.
Here’s how it will work:
Refresh your browser when you finish watching the films and watch the live Q&A session with filmmakers from all over the world.
Use your favorite social media site to ask your questions live to the filmmakers with the hashtag #ugpff14
The host will ask the filmmakers your questions for you.
If you don’t have film festivals near you, this is a great way to sample the film festival experience without stepping outside your house. We hope you’ll join us for this screening of High Heels & Hoodoo!
West Coast Premiere
It’s been quiet around these parts lately, but we have some exciting news to share: High Heels & Hoodoo will be having its West Coast Premiere at the Lady Filmmakers Film Festival (LFFF). Saying Goodbye played there two years ago and even won an award, so we’re thrilled to be invited back to screen another film at this festival.
LFFF celebrates Lady Filmmakers in key leadership roles during the making of films, so a woman must fill the role of writer, director, cinematographer, editor, producer, or production designer. Last year Bryce Dallas Howard and Olivia Wilde screened their films there, and two years ago Diablo Cody was a guest speaker, so we feel like we’re in pretty awesome company.
The festival takes place in Beverly Hills, CA, on September 27th – 29th. High Heels & Hoodoo will be playing on Saturday (Sept 28) at 8:30pm at the Charles Aidikoff Screening Room (150 South Rodeo Drive Beverly Hill, CA 90212). The block of films we’re screening with is actually called the Halloween Teaser block – how fun is that?
Unfortunately, we won’t be able to make the cross-country trip out there to attend, since we’re already committed to several other events happening that same weekend. But we hope we have friends and fans in the area who will be able to attend – please spread the word to film lovers you know who live near Beverly Hills. Click here for ticket information (and scroll to the bottom).
Neighbors to the North
A while back we were invited to submit High Heels & Hoodoo to the Reel Shorts Film Festival. We are excited to announce that it was accepted and will be screening on Saturday, May 4th at 8:30pm in Grande Prairie, Alberta. Yes, you read that right – Alberta, as in Canada! This will be our first international film festival, and it sounds amazing, so we really wish we could be there, but sadly we can’t make it.
High Heels & Hoodoo is screening in a block of short films called Criminal Minds, which is an awesome name for a group of thriller and horror shorts. There’s even a Criminal Minds after-party directly after the screening. If you live near Grande Prairie, we hope you can go watch it. And if you have any family or friends in the area, please pass this info on to them. The screening will be at the Second Street Theatre at 10130 – 98 Avenue, Grande Prairie, AB, T8V 0P6, and you can click here for ticket information.
Bravo Beaufort
Last Wednesday we headed down the road for a return trip to the Beaufort International Film Festival (BIFF), and it was just as awesome as last year. Joanna, our sister and paparazza, came to support us and you can see all her pictures here. We also borrowed some pictures from the super talented Susan Deloach to round out the photo album.
The opening night reception was Wednesday at the Old Bay Marketplace Rooftop, and it was a beautiful night with just a bit of chill in the air. We don’t know if it was a more outgoing group of filmmakers than usual, or maybe it’s just us who’ve gotten more outgoing as we’ve gained experience at this festival thing, but we met so many fun filmmakers this time. And it was such a supportive bunch – showing up at everyone’s screenings to cheer each other on. Special shout outs to Christine and Victor Romero (Besa: The Promise), Angela Alford (Granny’s Got Game which was scored by Fred Story, who scored both of our films), Ben Hall and Chris Frith (Sergeant Townsend), Chad Mathews (Detention), Gary Weeks (Bad Advice from Good People), and VW Scheich and Uyen Le (Wallenda) – they all made great films, so check them out if you get a chance. That night we also got interviewed LIVE on the radio by Anneliza at 104.9 The Surf, which was super scary, but we don’t think we embarrassed ourselves.
The screening of High Heels & Hoodoo was at 1:25pm Thursday. Like last year, it was a surprisingly large crowd for the middle of a Thursday afternoon. The BIFF audience is so amazingly supportive – many of them show up for the first screening and stay through the whole day, and some even brought coolers of food for lunches and snacks. As filmmakers, we are so appreciative of that kind of dedication, and it really makes all the hard work worth it – thank you! And special thanks to two of Jocelyn’s Beaufort friends – Kami Kinard and Janet Gregory – who have shown up both years to be cheerleaders for us.
Also like last year, the audience was very responsive, with laughter at both expected and unexpected places, as well as gasps at the end followed by enthusiastic applause. They had lots of great questions during the Q&A, both about High Heels & Hoodoo and Saying Goodbye. It was gratifying to learn they had such fond memories of our screening last year. Afterwards we were interviewed by Mark Shaffer and Jeff Evans at Lowcountry Weekly, which you can watch here.
The rest of Thursday was packed with screenings of other films, a presentation by Haden Yolin on How to Sell Your Screenplay, and a wine and cheese reception with enough delicious food to feed an army.
Friday we tried to balance catching a number of screenings with exploring Beaufort. Then on Friday evening there was a special ten year anniversary screening of Radio, in which we were surprised to find Rebecca Koon, the star of Saying Goodbye, as a waitress serving Radio pie in two different scenes. This gave us the perfect opening later to talk to the director Mike Tollin, who was there as part of the celebration. He was very gracious and even asked about our current movie, which made us feel like we were hobnobbing with Hollywood bigwigs.
The screening of Radio was followed by a panel discussion with Mike Tollin, Gary Smith (the Sports Illustrated reporter who first told Radio’s story), and the real life Coach Jones and Radio. It was extremely moving listening to them talk about their actual experiences. Afterwards, Jocelyn went up to Radio to shake his hand and tell him how much she liked his movie, and he grabbed her in a giant bear hug. Such a joyful man who inspires people to appreciate the life around them.
Saturday was even more screenings before the festival came to a close with the awards ceremony. Sadly we didn’t win anything, but we were excited to see most of the prizes go to the new filmmaker friends we made during the festival. We had an absolutely wonderful time at BIFF, and we encourage filmmakers out there to apply to this fantastic festival. Thank you so much to festival directors Ron and Rebecca Tucker – y’all are fabulous hosts!