This weekend, I'm back in production on a new short, involving a entomologist struggling with the memory of her dead husband during the summer of cicadas.  It's a great scrīpt, written by a very talented friend, and has won a Sloan Foundation grant, given to film projects that promote science in a positive manner.

This coming Monday, August 11, we're looking for about 100 extras to play students in a couple of university scenes.  We're looking for both men and women, all ethnicities.  The only restriction is that you must look like you're between the ages of 18-22.  OH, and you have to own a backpack, or book bag because, well, we're an indie film and having to supply 100 book bags would be our entire budget and then some.

Shoot Date: Monday, August 11th
Location: New York City

If anyone here is interested in hanging out on a movie set for a day, or knows anyone who might be, please send an email with your name, age, and contact info to tymbalsfilm@gmail.com.

Feel free to repost!  Thanks!

Yesterday, a good friend of mine emailed me about a young woman named Michelle Maykin who is battling for her life.  Michelle is 26 and lives in the Bay Area.   A year ago, she was diagnosed with leukemia.  She has endured extensive chemotherapy and this winter, her cancer entered remission.   But a week ago, she relapsed.

In order to live, Michelle needs to find a bone marrow donor by June 21, in less than six weeks!  That is the earliest that doctors think she will be strong enough to withstand the transplant.  Bone marrow donors must be matched, and so far, she, her family, and her doctors have been unable to find a match for her.  SHE NEEDS A BONE MARROW MATCH TO SAVE HER LIFE.

To read about Michelle's amazing story, check out her website.  Read her blog, she's truly incredible.

Below are a couple of really simple things that people can do  to register as a donor (cutting and pasting from the original email that I got).  PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!

As part of our participation at Sundance, both THE SECOND LINE and MAN are being distributed on iTunes and Xbox Live (MAN is currently blacked out for Directors Fortnight, but will be back at the end of the month).

To find THE SECOND LINE on iTunes, go to the iTunes Store, then select MOVIES, then SHORT FILMS, then click on SUNDANCE.  The download is really cheap, just a couple of bucks, less than the price of a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

Other films that I would recommend are MADAME TUTLI-PUTLI (amazing story and animation), SPIDER (funny and twisted), and CROSSBOW (really moody).

Sadly, I don't have Xbox Live (actually this is a good thing, otherwise I'd probably get nothing done), so I'm not actually sure how to get to it through this portal.  If anyone finds it and feels like posting instructions, that would be awesome.

OH!  And if you like the films, please consider leaving a nice review.  Shorts usually don't have the benefit of a big, recognizable star or cast to attract an audience, so reviews are often the only way people will decide whether or not to download a film.


Dane Rhodes, Al Thompson, and JD Williams in THE SECOND LINE

Trailer for the Columbia University Film Festival...

Video: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=210630021

This morning, I found out that Myna Joseph's MAN had been accepted to the Directors' Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Fest!!  I co-produced MAN last winter.  Outdoors, on a mountain, in upstate New York, in the middle of January.

It was a little chilly.

But now the film is bringing some serious heat!  In the past few months, it's played at Sundance, New Directors/New Films, and South by Southwest.

The film, about two teenage sisters wrestling with adolescence and budding sexuality, has an incredible cast that includes Sarah Steele ("Spanglish"), Adam Scarimbolo ("A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints") and Addison Timlin ("Cashmere Mafia," "Derailed").


Sarah Steele stars as Maggie

The second bit of news is that Nelson Kim's LONG DISTANCE, which I also produced, was just accepted to the Asian American International Film Festival here in New York!  The fest slot comes off of our awesome showing at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival last month.  The film stars the talented Jai Chun ("West 32nd") and  the mesmerizing Di Quon ("Maid in Manhattan," "My Life Disoriented").  Coincidentally, the film's moody production design was done by fellow AnD artist Chia-Yi Renee Chao.

The film's postcard...



The logline, which is a little hard to read above, is:

Boy meets girl.
He speaks no Korean.
She speaks no English.
It's going to be a long night.