Keynote on Indie Film from Graham Taylor

Great speech from WME's Global Graham Taylor. Check it out here.

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Take Me Home Finds Home in World Cinema Section of the Chicago Film Festival

Gosh, I love our film Take Me Home! I'm so happy others like it too. We just learned that we have been accepted to the World Cinema section of the Chicago Film Festival in October.

Being from Detroit, I grew up driving the 5 hours to Chicago to enjoy the amazing Windy City. I really can't wait and I'm so happy Take Me Home is getting such a wonderful reception. We had a great time making the film. It was truly a labor of love. And when something is borne of love, it has to succeed, right?!

If you are in the Chicago area, please join us for the Chicago premiere of Take Me Home!

Here's the super awesome trailer our editor created:

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Shooting a Documentary on the Keystone XL Pipeline

We are currently shooting a documentary on the Keystone XL Pipeline. It's a very controversial topic as many believe we need the pipeline for jobs and less dependence on Middle East oil. And others believe we absolutely will ruin the environment with increased greenhouse gases and irreparable damage to sensitive regions and taint our drinking water for oil that will be shipped most likely to China and raise our gas prices.

I am not a radical documentary filmmaker. I normally shoot narrative films about love and relationships. I have chosen to work on this documentary because as an American, I feel that I don't have enough information on what is truly happening in my own country. Why are these pipelines being built from Canada to Texas? What are the impacts socially, environmentally, politically? I wanted answers myself. So Leslie Iwerks and I took on this journey.

I want to be clear that I am not taking sides on this issue. I truly want to present what we find and then we can all make our own decisions.

We are trying to be as unbiased as possible and present the issue from all sides. We want to provide a film so all Americans can see what is happening and decide for themselves what should happen.

It's not easy being balanced. Many pro-pipeline politicians and companies will not get on camera. The EPA and the State Dept will only give us written statements and off the record comments. What I'm finding is that it is very difficult to be unbiased when making a documentary. We are doing our best.

We interviewed landowners in Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota and Montana, along the proposed pipeline route and the current Keystone I pipeline route. We rented a car and drove the route. I think we put about 1,000 miles on our car in one week.

These landowners could be me or you. They really are good people, despite most being put on hateful landowners lists by the pipeline corporation and lambasted by pipeline proponents. The Keystone I landowners saw the destruction firsthand and are dealing with the leaks that have occurred to date and the Keystone XL landowners fear what they believe to be inevitable destruction of their land and water and livelihoods.

These landowners are truly trying to protect the land and their family. They say they are willing to negotiate and talk it through with the foreign pipeline organization but they have said they have been given no opportunity to have their voices heard. Instead they are harassed to sign easements for little money that in the end will be used to fix their land after the pipeline is put in. They are making no money and dealing with the destruction of a portion of their land while the pipeline organization will be making billions per day once the pipeline is working.

Overall we found the largest issue from all of landowners to have been how they were treated and harassed by land agents and threatened with eminent domain. One was even told that if she signed her easement they would do their best to keep her son from going to Afghanistan. That gives me the chills.

To look at the other side, we also interviewed a union representative who is for the pipeline for jobs. He was a really great person and truly passionate about making sure his members have jobs. He makes a very strong argument for his position. Every day he deals with members who have no jobs. That is his reality just as the landowners and the oil industry and government have theirs.

I do want to say that most of the landowners are actually for a pipeline and less dependence on Middle East oil. But when land agents show up on their land and tell them to sign over an easement to the foreign pipeline organization or they will invoke eminent domain and the land will be taken anyway, the landowners are immediately put on the defensive. They are feeling threatened and unprotected by the government.

As an American, I do feel the landowners have a right to be heard just as I would expect that right if it were happening to me. And at the same time the environmental impacts along with the social and political impacts should be considered as well.

We realize America is addicted to oil and we need it. Our goal is not to ignore the need for oil and jobs. But we also don't want to ignore the impacts to the environment and the landowners who are feeling attacked and threatened. There were many tears from hardworking farmers who help to feed the world as they feel threatened with eminent domain from a private interest and foreign company. Let's listen and protect them too. And when we finished filming, a leak occurred in an oil pipeline that spewed oil into the Yellowstone River this past weekend. It was quite a punctuation mark on our shoot.

We want to make this film to bring public awareness to this topic to all Americans. I can honestly say, I had no clue about this pipeline until the National Wildlife Federation called us and asked if we would look at this issue. How many other Americans are like me? A lot.

Let's get the information out there so we can all ring in on what is right for this precious land of ours. Let's get to the bottom of this pipeline. Is it being built so oil can get to China and our gas prices will actually rise and not go down? Or is it truly being built so we can get away from our dependence on Middle East oil and help stem the wars and bring jobs to America? Does it really have to be built through the Sandhills in Nebraska and through our largest drinking water source - the Ogallala Aquifer? What is really going on? I'm not sure we will ever really know if we can't get the right access but we need to try. For America's sake and our own.

If you are interested, here is our IndieGoGo site for more information: http://www.indiegogo.com/Keystone-XL-Pipeline-Documentary.

After this shoot, I will need to make another rom com!!

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Laura Ziskin Interview - RIP

Here's a great interview with Laura Ziskin, who recently passed away from cancer. She was a great producer and an inspiration to all female (and male) producers.

Read it: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/spider-mans-laura-ziskin-her-202147

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Documentary v. Narrative Filmmaking

For the past year, I have been doing both documentaries and narrative films. I find both are really satisfying and enjoyable. Where documentaries fulfill a side of me that enjoys true stories and bringing public awareness to a topic, narrative allows me to become wrapped up in the lives of fictional characters and introduce them to the world.

How cool is that? To be able to express yourself in two very different ways. I feel so lucky to be doing what I'm doing. Granted it took a lot of hard work and sacrifice but it's so worth it.

So when it comes down to documentaries v. narrative, why choose? Do both!

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Not Since You: Audience Keeps Growing

Not Since You has been airing on Showtime since May 1, 2011 and the amount of interest keeps growing. It also starting streaming on Netflix the same time and that has also helped.

We have been getting a lot more movement on our Not Since You Facebook page and user reviews keep mounting each day.

It's been a slow burn but the interest keeps growing. I guess my point is to believe in your product and just keep pushing, pushing, pushing. It may take a while but your efforts will help and even though you don't sell your film at Sundance, you can sell it over time.

Don't give up!

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Thanks Brooklyn! For a Great Homecoming for Take Me Home

We had a wonderful Brooklyn premiere of Take Me Home. Our friends from Brooklyn came out and it was super cool to show them the film we'd been working on for half a decade! They've listened to us talk about the film for years and now we could finally show them.

We've come full circle. Started in Brooklyn - Showed in Brooklyn. Sweet.

The craziest and best part of the trip was going to Coney Island with our close friends and riding the Cyclone for the umpteenth time and drinking beer at Ruby's on the Boardwalk and eating zeppolis. The Alexander McQeen exhibit at the Met was pretty amazing too.

Oh and lunch in Bryant Park and chocolates from a chocolate bar for dessert. And of course running through Park Slope and Prospect Park to counteract the bagels, chocolate, beer and wine!

Did I say we had a great NY premiere? Let's do it again.

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