Hello all. Sleepy after a long day, but wanted to get some news out there for anyone who was curious.

Finished the trailer today. That, our poster (s – there’s more than one design!) and production stills will finally be coming out this week with the help of our newly-hired publicist, David Magdael.

I’m really happy with the trailer. Hope you all enjoy it. We’ll get it up here in the next few days.

Also, we now have a facebook page! http://www.facebook.com/lebanonpa So stop by and friend us up!

After getting out press materials this week, we’ll do some more planning for the big premiere. It’s going to be awesome. Looks like all the cast will be there with the exception of Mary Beth Hurt, who’s opening a play at Lincoln Center in NYC…

Ok, have to get some sleep – then back at it tomorrow! – Ben

Hello Interweb!

So after a marathon day, Cody and I finished the new sound mix. This may not sound like a big deal, but we did more than just tweak a few things. We went through every moment of the movie and made it better! This new mix has really made me more confident about our Premiere. We went from having a technically consistent and sound (heh) mix to one where we approached it as artists – focusing in on what was important to heighten the emotional ride of the audience. I really think it is a great improvement, and Cody should be proud of all the extra work we put into it. He’s actually probably still at the studio “bouncing” out different versions for DIVE… the full mix, just music & effects, etc…

Cody is awesome. Milkboy is awesome. And for you Matt Pond fans out there, this new mix highlights the music even more!

With this new mix, the film is really feeling finally “done” to me.

Up late editing the trailer so we can get it in before the SXSW deadline… It’s *so* different than editing the movie, obviously. Completely different pace… and priority. I’m building it on a Matt Pond song that is from an earlier album… to save the new stuff for when you see the movie itself. I think I’ve finally cracked the egg… it’s getting into decent shape now. *After* a full day’s work… But it’s still only very rough. Have to get it done this week.

The poster and production stills, however, are all but complete.

You may be wondering what’s going on with the movie at the moment… as I broke my tri-daily promise. (Slaps self). There’s actually a lot, but it’s all happening behind the proverbial OZ curtain. “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!”

Mostly it’s a lot of talking. Talking to sales agents. Talking to publicists. Getting ready to talk to journalists. Apparently a lot of people have heard of this SXSW thing …I’ve hardly slept in the last week since we announced. And we’re just getting started.

We’re getting a lot of stuff together that will be out to you very soon… Gary E. Irwin from GI Creative has almost finished work on an awesome poster. You’ve seen the new website design, I take it. We’ll be releasing publicity stills soon… and down the road – a trailer! So keep checking back. Each new thing will likely be given to a website or other media outlet first, but will all be right here soon after!

Also behind the curtain: Cody & I are almost finished the sound mix. It takes the film to the next level and I’m so glad we’ll have it in time for SXSW… as part of that, we looped Josh in LA yesterday (re-recorded his dialogue for one scene). Wish I had asked him take a pic of himself in the booth for you. See – I *do* need a publicist!!

No, no… I’m not going to show you dailies, not when there’s a full film to be seen so soon! I was just being “clever.”

The next thing y’all will see is the poster. And that’s coming very soon…

I called this “dailies,” b/c I’m going to try to write pretty much daily from this point until the Premiere… or maybe semi-daily… tri-daily??? (more…)

Oooh, it was tough sitting on this one…

Lebanon, Pa. will have its World Premiere in March at the SXSW film festival in Austin, TX !!!!

For a long time we felt SX would be an awesome fit for the film, and we were beyond pleased as it all came together in the last few weeks…

We’ll need everyone’s help to get the word out. Much more coming over the next days and weeks (including the debut of our new poster!).

I cannot wait to finally share our film with, well, everyone. – Ben

Check out the official SXSW site – We’re in the “Spotlight Premieres”section…

This is the year you can see this movie. (I think. I hope!).

Welcome to 2010, everyone. I happened to have an especially wonderful holiday season with friends and family this year and I can only hope the same was true for all of you.

I know I said the movie was “done,” and it mostly is… but we actually went into Milkboy Recording yesterday to do some ADR work with Rachel. We were re-recording a little bit of dialogue that upon reflection we thought just wasn’t clear enough (and by that I mean sound quality, not content). We’ll be doing the same with Josh soon… here’s a pic!

Rachel looping at Milkboy

In other news, we are currently waiting to hear back from festivals and sales agents regarding the film. It’s nerve-wracking, but the wait is expected. I can’t wait to show you all this awesome movie! – Ben

More pics below the break! (more…)

Hello hello.

So I don’t really know how to say this, but the movie is *done*.

Crazy, right? (more…)

Over Rob Giglio's Shoulder

Hello people! So last week was essentially the busiest week I’ve had since shooting the movie a year ago… Not only did I have my usual work and pursuits, but was prepping to produce/AD a short for my friend Amy Roy, which we just wrapped yesterday. *And* last Mon-Fri we also happened to be color correcting a little film called “Lebanon, Pa.”

Yes, it is official. We have changed the title. Alert the media.

(More photos and details in the full post!) (more…)

So I stopped by our image post-production house today to take a look at the FX shots for Lebanon…

Will (Josh Hopkins) is a Philadelphia advertising executive, and he’s in charge of a popular campaign for  ”Eagle Valley Ice Cream.” (Can you believe I just googled them *now* to make sure they didn’t exist? Doh! That would have sucked… Ah, I probably did so when I wrote the script… but it’s been years since then!!)

Anyway, billboards for this campaign keep appearing as the film unfolds, and we decided long ago it would be much more cost effective to have those billboards put in digitally than to produce and rent actual billboards. I knew The Dive, our post-house in Philadelphia, was good, but the stuff I saw today looked better than I had imagined. They haven’t even finished the work yet, but already they look real.

It just boggles my mind that I could write these things on a page years ago, and when it came to shoot we just shot an empty field, or building, and now there they are… as if we had shot them in real life.

Credit also goes to Gary E. Irwin who designed a hilarious campaign that I can totally imagine Will guiding with a sh*t-eating grin (he doesn’t always love his job… you’ll see when you see the movie).

Can’t wait to share it with everyone… the day is coming.

Final tidbit: We’ve entered Sundance. Cross your fingers. It’s so hard to get in. But we have a great film, so maybe, just maybe, it can happen.

- Ben