"The Nudelmans of Beaver Bay" begins production

We're currently in pre-production on a new feature length comedy. The film will be released in the second half of 2007. Starring Ari Hoptman, Sam Landman, Alex Cole, Alayne Hopkins, Anatoly Liberman and Charles Brin among others, "The Nudelmans of Beaver Bay" is a heartbreaking comedy about family, home, loss, and middle High German prosody, featuring Ari Nudelman, an instructor of linguistics at a large midwestern university, who also does a little acting on the side. When someone will let him. (Believe it or not I couldn't find a photo on the internet of Beaver Bay, Minnesota, so I had to settle for this one - Lake Superior near Beaver Bay. Or maybe that's actually the bay. Yeah, in fact it is. Yep. That's the bay. Beaver Bay.)

Someone asked, "What's up with the North Shore theme? First Two Harbors, now The Nudelmans of Beaver Bay." Actually it was Aaron Gelperin, my cameraman, who asked. But what is up with that? I don't know. Maybe I'm making a North Shore Triology, or something. Although Nudelmans and Two Harbors could not be more different. So never mind.

The film will eventually have its own website here: www.nudelmans.com, featuring news, reviews, photos, a production blog and more, so check it often. I will also have summary updates here.

"Two Harbors" Screens in....Two Harbors!

After a long trek through 22 festivals, five countries and three continents, "Two Harbors" is coming home to its (more or less fictional) location. As many of you know, although the story is set in Two Harbors, and we have a few montages of that charming town on the North Shore of Lake Superior, we really didn't shoot any of the actual film there. But that hasn't stopped the good people of Two Harbors, Minnesota from demonstrating a healthy amount of curiosity about just what might take place in a film named after their little harbor town. So on Saturday, March 16th they'll finally have their chance. The screening is being organized through the kind efforts of Two Harbors-based photographer John Gregor. Thanks, John! More details to follow.

California Premiere of "The Quietest Sound"

"The Quietest Sound" will have its West Coast premiere on Saturday, February 17 at 5:30 P.M. at the Beverly Hills Fine Arts Industry Showcase. This is the same festival that screened "Two Harbors" twice last spring. I hope to be in attendance for the post-screening Q&A. The Beverly Hills Fine Arts Theater is located at 8556 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, 90211 (one block west of La Cienga).

This will be the third festival screening for "The Quietest Sound." At its first festival appearance, as part of the Fargo Film Festival, Catherine E. Johnson was named Best Actress. It has also screened at the Austin Film Festival, where it received a rave review (see 9 November post, below).

If you live in the L.A. area and would like to see the film, email me and I will put your name on the guest list. See you in February!