Cerise - a short film by John T. Trigonis » john https://cerisemovie.com Thu, 25 Oct 2012 16:33:42 +0000 en hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 Cerise https://cerisemovie.com/cerise https://cerisemovie.com/cerise#comments Sat, 25 Feb 2012 23:24:33 +0000 john https://cerisemovie.com/?p=703 It’s finally happened –– Cerise is now available for all to watch on Vimeo.

It’s been an exciting ride over the last two years, from crowdfunding on IndieGoGo, shooting, editing and scoring to three successful “Crusades for Cerise,” our little short film about a former [...]]]> It’s finally happened –– Cerise is now available for all to watch on Vimeo.

It’s been an exciting ride over the last two years, from crowdfunding on IndieGoGo, shooting, editing and scoring to three successful “Crusades for Cerise,” our little short film about a former spelling bee champ haunted by the word that took him down has screened at over twelve film festivals, was nominated for four awards, won an Award of Merit, and participated in the 2011 Cannes Short Film Corner and now comes to YOU to view time again.

So if you have yet to see this 22-minute masterpiece, click the link below and enjoy the word that took Josh Kermes D-O-W-N!

Cerise

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cerise [suh-rees, -reez] adjective, noun 1. the word that took Josh Kermes down. 2. a short film by John T. Trigonis. 3. moderate to deep red. (from Dictionary.com, mostly)

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Carmine https://cerisemovie.com/carmine https://cerisemovie.com/carmine#comments Thu, 27 Oct 2011 20:28:20 +0000 john https://cerisemovie.com/?p=699 Hello, and here’s a very brief update about the Cerise/Tilt screening in Los Angeles and what’s ahead for the word that took Josh Kermes down.

Cerise/Tilt at the Downtown Independent Los Angeles
This past Monday, Cerise was shown on a truly ginormous screen at LA’s famed Downtown Independent on Main Street as a prelude [...]]]> Hello, and here’s a very brief update about the Cerise/Tilt screening in Los Angeles and what’s ahead for the word that took Josh Kermes down.

Cerise/Tilt at the Downtown Independent Los Angeles
This past Monday, Cerise was shown on a truly ginormous screen at LA’s famed Downtown Independent on Main Street as a prelude to the very first test screening of Phil Holbrook’s upcoming thriller Tilt.

The filmic festivities were sponsored by Film Courage, part of their monthly Interactive screening series. The house teemed with plenty of Twitter friends, Facebook supporters and even a few backers of Cerise. Immediately following my 22-minute short, which garnered a lovely response from the audience, a Q&A was orchestrated by Film Courage hosts David Branin and Karen Worden, in which I answered some of the standard as well as a fair amount of new questions about Cerise, my inspiration behind it, and what I plan to do with it in the months ahead.

All in all, it was a splendid night for Cerise, but perhaps the best part of the screening was meeting so many awesome people like Phil and Jeremy Doyle, DP of Tilt, Meg Pinsonneault, Nathan Cole, writer and co-producer of the fantastic feature-length film The Waterhole, Mike Merell, now an even prouder backer of Cerise, and Zak Forsman. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to meet everyone who was there, but to all of you who attended––thank you so very much for your continued support of Cerise!

What’s Next For Cerise?
In the early months of 2012, I’ll be submitting Cerise to a few more film festivals internationally, mainly those whose earlybird deadlines I missed the first time around, like Tribeca Film Festival and Berlinale, to name a couple of biggies. It’s been a wonderful run submitting over the past eight months, and with twelve “Official Selection” laurels, four nominations, one “Award of Merit” and a spot at the Cannes Short Film Corner, Cerise has already done better than I could have ever hoped for.

Around February, I’ll be launching a “Fourth and Final Crusade for Cerise” for anyone who’d like to sponsor a submission fee so that Cerise can have a shot at getting into a few more festivals before I release it for free to the public via our Vimeo channel in the spring of 2012.

The Tao of Crowdfunding Goes to Print
After that, I’ll be taking a bit of a hiatus to pen my very first book––The Tao of Crowdfunding for Filmmakers––for Michael Wiese Productions. I’ve given myself six short months to turn a series of helpful blog posts into a 200-page book that will offer DIY filmmakers some tips and tactics on how to run a successful crowdfunding campaign for their film projects, just like I did with Cerise. The book is scheduled for either a 2012 or 2013 release.

That’s it for now, everyone. The Cerise updates won’t stop, but may be a bit less frequent for the time being by the time I make some headway with The Tao of Crowdfunding for Filmmakers. Until then, keep updated via our Facebook page, and when I we do return, hopefully we’ll do so with some exciting news about the word, the short, the spelling: C-E-R-I-S-E!

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Carmine [kahr-min, -mahyn] adjective 1. a crimson or purplish-red color. (from Dictionary.com)

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Blood-Red https://cerisemovie.com/blood-red https://cerisemovie.com/blood-red#comments Tue, 30 Aug 2011 18:29:05 +0000 john https://cerisemovie.com/?p=686 Greetings Cerise lovers! A very short update about our exciting September/October screenings. But first…

Festival Recap: NYC International Film Festival
Cerise screened at the second annual New York City International Film Festival on Monday, August 22 to an audience of…well, three! There was me, that is Trigonis, and my two droogs (er, fellow filmmakers [...]]]> Greetings Cerise lovers! A very short update about our exciting September/October screenings. But first…

Festival Recap: NYC International Film Festival
Cerise
screened at the second annual New York City International Film Festival on Monday, August 22 to an audience of…well, three! There was me, that is Trigonis, and my two droogs (er, fellow filmmakers of one of the other films that screened that afternoon.)

And it was in the afternoon: 1:30pm on a Monday. Enough said, and totally understandable, too.

On the upside, it’s still an “Official Selection” for the word that took down Josh Kermes, and I did get to watch a couple of really good shorts alongside my own, which makes any experience all the more worthwhile.

September Screenings: Back-to-Back in Georgia. Sort Of…
If you happen to be in the Atlanta or Rome areas of Georgia, you may want to catch Cerise as our short film screens at Atlanta Shortsfest and Rome International Film Festival, which we are very excited for.

The catch? These two festivals are happening the same weekend: September 8 – 10!

I was hoping I’d be able to take a little road trip down to Atlanta, then perhaps shoot up north to Rome, but (1) it’s 15+ hours of driving (one way) which makes for a lot of card-swiping at the gas pump, and (2) I might not be able to fight against my desire to journey further north and west into Tennessee and explore that state, which I’ve had a hankering to do for about two years now; that, of course, means I’d have to lose a few days of work, which means a few days of money, and I can’t have that!

If anyone will be out there, please let me know. Maybe we can get your two cents about how Cerise fares at either of these two much talked about festivals.

OktoberFest: Home Town & Home Away From Home Screenings
My favorite month will be epic!

First, Cerise will be screening at the inaugural Golden Door International Film Festival of Jersey City (say that five times fast!) which happens from October 13 – 16, which is very exciting since Jersey City is not only where I currently live and received the best college education Uncle Sam’s money could buy, but it’s also where Cerise was born, shot, and cut! It’s a homecoming of sorts, and I’m proud to be a part of it. Then, Cerise will be screening at the 8th Annual Poppy Jasper Film Festival in Morgan Hill, California, from October 14 – 16!

Then later in October, Cerise will screen before the feature-length thriller Tilt (written by my good friends Julie Keck and Jessica King and directed by indie film rock star Phil Holbrook) as part of Film Courage’s prestigious Interactive at the Downtown Independent in Los Angeles! Tilt, like Cerise, is a film that was made partially due to a successful crowdfunding campaign. Julie, Jessica and Phil told Team Cerise that they took a lot of inspiration from our campaign for Cerise, which made us happy. But like any great campaign, Tilt the Team also innovated on those techniques and brought them to the next level.

I’ve been dying to see Tilt ever since I showed the trailer at Cerise’s Big Apple Preview back in December, but I never dreamed I’d be able to screen my own film with it…and be there to experience it––Yes, I, along with Marinell and Alain, will be in LA to take it all in!

Dreams do come true after all.

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Blood-red [bluhd-red] adjective 1. of the deep-red color of blood (from Dictionary.com)

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…The blood-red blossoms,
brambles tilted, briars cerised and strange,
stained with

secrets…

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Wine https://cerisemovie.com/wine https://cerisemovie.com/wine#comments Mon, 29 Aug 2011 19:22:26 +0000 john https://cerisemovie.com/?p=674 ‘Ello everyone, and Happy August! Just a short update about upcoming screenings, our Third Crusade and our six month “Official Rejection” update!

Festival Recap: NewFilmmakers NY
On July 6th, Cerise screened to a very receptive audience (gotta love those NYC crowds!) at the Anthology Film Archives as part of NewFilmmakers NY’s Summer Screening Series. [...]]]> ‘Ello everyone, and Happy August! Just a short update about upcoming screenings, our Third Crusade and our six month “Official Rejection” update!

Festival Recap: NewFilmmakers NY
On July 6th, Cerise screened to a very receptive audience (gotta love those NYC crowds!) at the Anthology Film Archives as part of NewFilmmakers NY’s Summer Screening Series. Plenty of supporters came out for our quirky little tale of Josh Kermes and the word that took him down, including two of our IndieGoGo funders––Ralph Greco, whom I’d had the pleasure of meeting for the first time that night, and David S. Mitchell, the man who designed the popular iPhone/Android app Dave’s Tiles.

Lots of great conversation about film, acting, and life followed at the fabulous Heartbreak Restaurant. After all, it’s partly about seeing Cerise, but it’s also partly about spending time with friends and supporters who always push you to be the best you can be.

Where Will Cerise Screen Next?
If you’ve yet to see Cerise, our next screening will be happening during the 2nd Annual New York City International Film Festival from August 15th – August 25th. We should know the exact day and time Cerise will screen within the next week or so, so please check the Facebook page or our “Screenings” tab for updated information.

LA or Bust!
Cerise
may also (finally!) be screening in Los Angeles all thanks to FirstGlance Film Festival’s Bill Ostroff and his “Show Us Ur Shorts” screening series (with a very special thanks to my good friend John Paul Rice, who’s been keeping his eyes peeled for any chance for Cerise to be shown in LA.)

More information on that when it’s available.

Georgia Peaches and Jersey Cherries…
And in September, Cerise screens at Rome International Film Festival (in Rome, Georgia, not Rome, Italy!) Again, more information coming soon!

Fought Well and (Almost) Won
The Third Crusade for Cerise has been our most monumental yet! So many wonderful people have been sponsoring film festival submissions and supporting our short film via Facebook and Twitter. And, we’ve got a limited-time incentive for anyone who sponsors the final three festivals––your own DVD copy of Cerise!

Check out our “Sponsor a Festival” page and find out which festivals still need your support and help us put an end to this amazing crusade!

The “Official Rejection” List
With every “Official Selection” Cerise gets, there undoubtedly must come an “Official Rejection” (a title borrowed from Paul Osborne’s documentary). So after six months of submissions, a very fair amount of “Official Selection” laurels, a trip to Cannes, three nominations and one win, I’ve decided it’s time to show off our rejections:

  • New Mexico International Film Festival
  • Aspen Shortsfest
  • American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at Cannes
  • Cannes Independent Film Festival
  • deadCENTER Film Festival
  • Zero Film Festival – London
  • NYC PictureStart Film Festival
  • Palm Springs International ShortFest
  • Maui Film Festival
  • Melbourne International Film Festival
  • Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival
  • HollyShorts Film Festival
  • SF Shorts: San Francisco International Festival of Short Films
  • Albuquerque Film Festival
  • New Zealand International Film Festival
  • Los Angeles United Film Festival
  • Tulsa United Film Festival
  • Academy Alumni Film Festival

As with anything good, there always comes something not-so-good. But rest assured, there are a ton of festivals to go, and miles to go before Team Cerise sleeps, and many more “Official Selections” paving the road ahead!

IndieGoGo Funders L-O-V-E Cerise!
Lots of Cerise’s $50+ IndieGoGo funders have received their DVD copies of the film in the mail and we’ve been getting some great responses. If you’ve watched Cerise and enjoyed it, please share that love on our Facebook page and on our IMDb page in the form of a “Review” since it’d be great to know what you think in a line or two (or a half a page, if you feel so inclined!)

If you haven’t received your DVD copy, it’s most likely because I don’t have a shipping address to send it to, so please be in touch via email ([email protected]) and I’ll send you out a copy right away.

That’s all for now. Enjoy August, everyone, and I’ll hope to see some of you at New York City International Film Festival this month!

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Wine [wahyn] adjective 1. dark red in color (from Dictionary.com)

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Vermilion https://cerisemovie.com/vermilion https://cerisemovie.com/vermilion#comments Mon, 04 Jul 2011 17:47:36 +0000 john https://cerisemovie.com/?p=636 Greetings everyone, and Happy July 4th! Just a bit of a recap about Staten Island Film Festival, plus news about backer DVDs, two new “Official Selections” for Cerise and its first W-I-N!

Festival Recap: Staten Island Film Festival
Cerise screened at the Staten Island Film Festival (SINY) on Thursday, June 9 at 10pm to [...]]]> Greetings everyone, and Happy July 4th! Just a bit of a recap about Staten Island Film Festival, plus news about backer DVDs, two new “Official Selections” for Cerise and its first W-I-N!

Festival Recap: Staten Island Film Festival
Cerise
screened at the Staten Island Film Festival (SINY) on Thursday, June 9 at 10pm to the tune of about 15 heads (impressive for that time frame, which was pushed forward to 10:30 because the other shorts block went into overtime.) All in all, Cerise got a great response, which is always good.

And of course, as most of you know, it was at SINY that Cerise was nominated for three awards––Best Short, Best Cinematography, and Best Actor. Marinell, Alain and I went to the Awards Ceremony on Sunday night, but Cerise did not win any awards that evening, but we did win the hearts of everyone who got to experience Josh Kermes and the word that brought him down.

Big Announcement #1: Cerise Wins Its First Award!
Like I wrote above, we didn’t win any awards that evening, but Cerise did win an Award of Merit at The Indie Fest, an online website that promotes short and feature-length films in the hopes to land distribution deals and screening opportunities. So this is some pretty exciting news!

Big Announcement #2: Cerise Screens at NewFilmmakers in July!
Mark those calendars yet again, New Yorkers, the Big Apple L-O-V-E-S Cerise! Our little short will be screening on Wednesday, July 6 at 7:30pm at the Anthology Film Archives. Tickets should only be about $6, so head to the website and book your tickets in advance so I can see you there!

Big Announcement #3: Cerise Screens at Vegas Cine Fest in August!
Josh, Shivam and the rest of the gang will be going to Las Vegas during the next to last week of August (the 25th, 26th and 27th). There’s no schedule as yet of when Cerise will be screening, but heck, it’s Vegas!

Backer DVDs Have Been Shipped!
I just received word from my good pal Gregory Colletti, proud backer and CEO of Triple ACE Productions, that the DVDs are duplicated and shipped, so all you $50+ funders should receive your copies of Cerise sometime within the next two weeks.

However…There’s a fairly large number of $50+ funders who didn’t supply a mailing address, which sort of makes mailing your copy of Cerise a bit difficult. So please check your IndieGoGo pages to see if you’re one of our address-impaired backers and send me a message on IndieGoGo or Facebook, tweet me on Twitter, or email [email protected] with your mailing address and I’ll ship your copy right away.

The 3rd Crusade Is In Full Swing!
After two successful Crusades for Cerise, I’ve launched a third, and this time, there are plenty of B-I-G festivals on this list (like a little festival called Sundance and another called Slamdance!) Check out our “Sponsor a Festival” page and please find a festival and help us get into it by sponsoring the cost of submission. You get knighted as a “Film Festival Crusader” and get a really cool sticker! And in the days ahead, we’ll be doing special giveaways, so keep up-to-date!

So far, we’ve been sponsored for Calgary International Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival, New York Film Festival, Los Angeles New Wave International Film Festival, Glasgow Film Festival, Love Your Shorts Film Festival, and the highly prestigious Sundance Film Festival! But there’s plenty more biggies like these that need your support!

That’s all from the front lines of Cerise (actually, that’s quite a bit, truth be told!) Hopefully next month we’ll have even more goodness to spread your way, and a recap of our NewFilmmakers NY event! Until then, stay vermilion!

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Vermilion [ver-mil-yuhn] noun 1. a brilliant scarlet red (from Dictionary.com)

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Maroon https://cerisemovie.com/maroon https://cerisemovie.com/maroon#comments Tue, 07 Jun 2011 16:56:44 +0000 john https://cerisemovie.com/?p=614 A brief update about Cerise’s trip to Cannes Film Festival, backer DVDs, and our three nominations at this year’s Staten Island Film Festival!

Doing the Cannes-Cannes with Cerise!
It’s been about three weeks now since Team Cerise (myself, Marinell, and Camiren) has [...]]]> A brief update about Cerise’s trip to Cannes Film Festival, backer DVDs, and our three nominations at this year’s Staten Island Film Festival!

Doing the Cannes-Cannes with Cerise!
It’s been about three weeks now since Team Cerise (myself, Marinell, and Camiren) has been back from the 64th Annual Festival du Cannes on the always sunny French Riviera, where we were supporting our Josh Kermes and company at the Cannes Short Film Corner.

Unfortunately, the Corner was the part of Cannes that received the least amount of sunshine.

I won’t say much about the trip here, but in short, as far as experiences go, it was an experience to remember and to learn from. If you would like to read up in much more detail the exploits of our travails at Cannes, check out my post on Film Threat (re-posted courtesy of Film Courage.)

Backer DVDs Are Our Top Priority!
Crunch time! I’ve sent off the Cerise master DVD off to my good friend, Cerise Executive Producer, and co-owner of Triple Ace Productions Gregory Colletti so that he and his partner, my equally good friend Louis Affortunato, can get our DVDs done. The box art should be sent by the end of this week; Marinell is hard at work on putting that together (amidst myriad other marketing duties!) Then we’ll be mailing them away in late June/early July, so backers, please make sure that you’ve included an address on our IndieGoGo page or we won’t be able to mail ‘em out to you.

And the Award Goes To…
Despite a few rejections received from some film festivals while we were in Cannes, we also got word of some stupendous news: Cerise has been nominated for not one, not two, but three awards at this year’s Staten Island Film Festival (SINY for short––Best Short, Best Cinematography (nice goin’ Alain Aguilar!) and Best Actor (good stuff, David Arkema!)

Cerise will be the fourth film I’ve had screened at SINY (Perfekt screened there in 2008, and Ryan Mooney’s Something About Ryan and Lou Affortunato’s The Welcoming screened in 2009), but this is the first time one of my own films has been nominated for anything, so this is not only a milestone for Cerise, but a milestone for myself as a filmmaker, and I am super-stoked about it!

So mark your calendars, New Yorkers––Cerise screens at SINY on Thursday, June 9 at 10pm. Hopefully we’ll see a bunch of you there showing off your true color.

The Third Crusade Has Begun!
Well…unofficially, at least! This past Thursday, Alain and I had pleasure of being interviewed on Film Snobbery – LIVE where we chatted candidly about Cannes, shooting Cerise, and the nominations we’d received. Later on that night, Marinell and I saw that Cerise had received a contribution from our wonderful friend Michele Simmons! She’s proudly sponsoring our submission to the Calgary International Film Festival! Thanks so much for all your support, Michelle, and welcome to the Cerise Table (and yes, it’s Round, too!)

The Road Ahead
While I recover from the expenses of a two week trip to France, we will still (somehow!) be submitting Cerise to CIFF and some other film festivals across the globe. We also plan to officially launch the Third Crusade for Cerise in the weeks ahead, asking once more for your support in the form of love and dollars to help us spread the word that took Josh Kermes down. See you next time!

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Maroon [muh-roonnoun 1. dark brownish-red (from Dictionary.com)

 

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Cherry https://cerisemovie.com/cherry https://cerisemovie.com/cherry#comments Fri, 06 May 2011 18:29:36 +0000 john https://cerisemovie.com/?p=609 Greetings everyone!

Here’s a lightning fast update on two recent film festival screenings, the plan for Cannes, and info about backer DVDs, film festivals and free merch!

Festival Recap #1: NYC Downtown Short Film Festival
On Tuesday, April 26th, Cerise screened at the 7th Annual NYC Downtown Short Film Festival, and let me tell [...]]]> Greetings everyone!

Here’s a lightning fast update on two recent film festival screenings, the plan for Cannes, and info about backer DVDs, film festivals and free merch!

Festival Recap #1: NYC Downtown Short Film Festival
On Tuesday, April 26th, Cerise screened at the 7th Annual NYC Downtown Short Film Festival, and let me tell you, our little film about former spelling bee champ Josh Kermes got the greatest audience response yet! (I know I said that a few updates ago, when Cerise screened at NYC Downtown’s Audience Choice screening, but there’s just something about a New York City audience!) And though we didn’t win any awards (I mean, how can you when you’ve got God of Love on the playbill?!) it was just such a thrill screening Cerise to such a lively, vibrant audience at Duo Multicultural Arts Center!

Festival Recap #2: Bergenfield Film Festival
On Cinco de Mayo, Cerise screened at the Bergenfield Film Festival, and sadly, it marks our first unsuccessful tryst with the film festival circuit. The audience and the Clearview Cinemas 5 seemed to enjoy the film despite the volume being too low and a few moments of freezing frames and skipping beats because of the shoddy portable DVD players the festival organizers were using to screen the films. But as with anything, we learn to take the positive with the not-so-positive, and I took away a few valuable lessons from this whole nightmarish ordeal. We’ve got bigger words to spell!

Oui Cannes Do It!
As many of you already know from our prior post “Burgundy,” Marinell and I are going to Cannes Film Festival to promote Cerise at the Cannes Short Film Corner. Also joining us on the French Riviera is one of Cerise’s talented producers, Camiren J. Romero. Our plan for Cannes is to stay there for the first half of the festival, check out some films (and lots of shorts), promote, promote, and promote Cerise at the Festival proper, at parties, in hotel lobbies, then train north to Paris, take in the City of Light for five days and fly back to Jersey between $5 and $10K in debt (hey, if dying in debt is good enough for Mr. Twain, it’s good enough for me!)

“Hey, wasn’t I supposed to get a DVD of Cerise?”
So, as many of you may have realized, I’ve been a bit quiet about the DVDs for our $50+ backers who supported us during our IndieGoGo campaign. I haven’t forgotten or anything of the sort; things have just been very busy with Cerise and submitting to film festivals. On top of that, my muse has just moved back into my mind and has been pushing me into overdrive lately, so time has not been of the essence for me. But fear not. I will be pushing the DVDs to the foremost burner of the metaphorical stovetop. However, instead of being packed with “Bonus Features!” and “Special Features!!” and even more “Additional Features!!!” it’ll most likely have to be the film itself packaged in a sweet looking box brandishing our awesome cover artwork and maybe some festival laurels. No doubt that it will make a lovely addition to your personal DVD collections.

Sixty Festivals (and Counting)
And as I mentioned above, I’ve been very rigorous in submitting Cerise to film festivals, and at present, we are up to over sixty film festivals! Our Second Crusade for Cerise was a wonderful success, just like the First, and we will be taking a slight hiatus before launching our Third Crusade, with even more and even bigger festivals for you to help sponsor.

That’s about it for now. Please remember to visit the Freebees tab to get some free merch to show your support for the word that took Josh Kermes down!

See you when we get back from France!

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Cherry [cher-ee] noun 1. the fruit of any of various trees belonging to the genus Prunus, of the rose family, consisting of a pulpy, globular drupe enclosing a one-seeded smooth stone… adjective 10. bright-red; cerise. (from Dictionary.com)

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Our Second Crusade Yields a Second Victory! https://cerisemovie.com/our-second-crusade-yields-a-second-victory https://cerisemovie.com/our-second-crusade-yields-a-second-victory#comments Sun, 24 Apr 2011 16:55:41 +0000 john https://cerisemovie.com/?p=604 It’s official! The Second Crusade for Cerise has come to an end!

Thanks to a handful of wonderful Film Festival Crusaders Brendon Fogle, Marcella Selbach, Marinell Montales, Kerry Wilson, Gavin Ap’Morrygan and David Ulery.

In case you might be wondering just what the heck a “Crusade for Cerise” actually is, here’s the lowdown: Film festival [...]]]> It’s official! The Second Crusade for Cerise has come to an end!

Thanks to a handful of wonderful Film Festival Crusaders Brendon Fogle, Marcella Selbach, Marinell Montales, Kerry Wilson, Gavin Ap’Morrygan and David Ulery.

In case you might be wondering just what the heck a “Crusade for Cerise” actually is, here’s the lowdown: Film festival submissions are costly, so the Team and I have been reaching out to all our family, friends, and our followers on Facebook, Twitter, and beyond to cover the cost of a festival submission fee. By doing so, you get knighted with the title “Film Festival Crusader” and get a cool Cerise sticker featuring artwork by Jersey City artist Matt Caputo, as well as a personal thank you card from me!

So far, and thanks to all of our Crusaders from the First and Second Crusades, we’ve been able to submit Cerise to almost 60 film festivals worldwide! 60 festivals! And already we’ve been invited to screen at EgoFest, NYC Downtown Short Film Festival, Bergenfield Film Festival and Staten Island Film Festival! Four fests! This is truly an exciting time for our little tale of about a former spelling bee champion who’s haunted by the word that took him down!

Sound like something you wish you’d taken part in? Well, don’t be too bummed that the Second Crusade is over––we’ve got a Third Crusade coming your way soon, so stay tuned to the website, the Cerise Movie Facebook page, and watch for updates from myself and Marinell on Twitter!

 

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Burgundy https://cerisemovie.com/burgundy https://cerisemovie.com/burgundy#comments Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:08:30 +0000 john https://cerisemovie.com/?p=586 Un mise à jour courte —er, I mean, a short update about Cerise, including our latest festival acceptances, rejections, and upcoming screenings for April and May.

We’ve got B-I-G news: Cerise is going to Cannes!!

Now, before you get too excited –– it’s not the Cannes Film Festival proper (I didn’t submit to them this [...]]]> Un mise à jour courte —er, I mean, a short update about Cerise, including our latest festival acceptances, rejections, and upcoming screenings for April and May.

We’ve got B-I-G news: Cerise is going to Cannes!!

Now, before you get too excited –– it’s not the Cannes Film Festival proper (I didn’t submit to them this year!), BUT Cerise will be part of the Cannes Short Film Corner at Cannes Film Festival from May 11 until May 22. Marinell and myself are doing our very best to actually fly to the French Riviera, since it’s obviously a wonderful place to network, get Cerise seen by programmers and buyers, and rubbing elbows with the Weinsteins of Hollyworld. More details to come!

FESTIVALS! FESTIVALS! FESTIVALS!
Speaking of wonderful, we’ve got more wonderful news. Cerise has also just been invited to screen at Bergenfield Film Festival on Cinco de Mayo (May 5th) starting at 7pm! So mark your calendars if your closer to Bergen County than Cannes, ’cause I’ll hope to see some friendly, familiar faces there (and afterwards, we can all go out for some margaritas to celebrate Mexican independence, American-style!!)

 

And if you’re more of a New Yorker, well, as you may already know, you can check out Cerise when it screens alongside the Tribeca Film Festival at the NYC Downtown Short Film Festival, happening on Tuesday, April 26th at 8pm.

Get your advance ($12) tickets here: https://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?showcode=7TH6

“OFFICIAL REJECTION” (or “UNOFFICIAL ACCEPTANCE?”)
With acceptance of course comes rejection, and Cerise has just been rejected by the Cannes Independent Film Festival and the American Pavilion Showcase at Cannes. Getting into either of these film festivals (which would’ve grated Cerise a theatrical screening during the Cannes Film Festival) would have been more incentive to go into some steep debt with a trip to France. But in truth, not ever having to utter the words “What if…?” is incentive enough, I think!

…BUT THE GLASS IS ALWAYS HALF FULL!
With now over 40 film festivals submitted to, I’m hoping Cerise keeps up its momentum. When I submitted my last film Perfekt, it took over two dozen rejections before getting the first acceptance. With Cerise, we’ve got more acceptances than rejections, and that’s hopefully a good sign of greater things to come!

BECOME A FILM FESTIVAL CRUSADER TODAY!
Our Second Crusade for Cerise is not over yet! If anyone wants to help out Cerise by sponsoring a film festival, please go to https://cerisemovie.com/support-cerise/festival, choose a festival and click that “Donate” laurel today; these submission fees can be quite costly, y’know, and your help is most appreciated (AND, you get a cool sticker Cerise sticker as a thank you!)

STAY “IN THE KNOW”
with up-to-the-minute updates about Cerise on our Facebook page!

Follow me or Marinell on Twitter for up-to-the-second updates on Cerise (and our daily goings on) on Twitter!

Have a great month everyone! Spend it (and spell it) correctly!

*            *          *

Burgundy [bur-guhn-dee] noun 1. French, Bourgogne a region in central France. 2. wine, of many varieties… 3. red wine with similar characteristics made elsewhere. 4. a grayish red-brown to dark blackish-purple color. (from Dictionary.com)

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Nacarat https://cerisemovie.com/nacarat https://cerisemovie.com/nacarat#comments Tue, 01 Mar 2011 15:12:25 +0000 john https://cerisemovie.com/?p=546 A short update on the Connecticut screening, the Cerise DVD, EgoFest and the onset of the 2nd Crusade.

THIS PAST SUNDAY, Cerise screened to a very appreciative audience at The Palace Theatre in Danbury, Connecticut for an afternoon of indie cinema sponsored by Film Snobbery – LIVE, hosted by Nic Baisley.

Cerise, the second film amongst 2095, Meth, and The Crimson Mask, was followed by a brief Q&A with myself and Cerise producer Camiren Romero. Then I had the opportunity to partake in my very first spelling bee––a “cinema spelling bee” to be precise, spelling words related to filmmaking (I spelled “Macguffin” right, but almost tripped on “distribution.”) Go figure!

"Distribution. D-I-S-T-R..."

 

FOR ALL OUR INDIEGOGO BACKERS: I’ll be working on the Cerise DVD this month and am hoping to have them authored, packaged, and signed by April, which as many of you might know is National Poetry Month. I’d like to include the film, audio commentary with Camiren and I, two deleted scenes, and a couple other surprises.

The DVDs are a limited edition disc specifically for our $50 and up IndieGoGo backers.

IN MARCH, Cerise will screen at EgoFest in Brainerd. Marinell Montales will be heading out to EgoFest to be a part of the festivities put together by good friend and supporter Phil Holbrook. More information coming soon!

S-U-C-C-E-S-S-! I’m proud to announce that our 1st Crusade for Cerise was a colossal success thanks to Brenden Fogle, Ben Gerber, Eric Damon Walters and James F. Broderick for becoming Film Festival Crusaders in the name of our little short film.

We’ll begin a 2nd Crusade this week, so if you’d like to show some chivalry to Cerise and sponsor a festival, which will include some big, big festivals. We’ve a long year and change ahead for submissions, and the recognition has begun with our acceptance to EgoFest, and who knows how many other festivals we’ll spell out by the end!

Nacarat [nac-a-rat] noun – A pale, red color, with a cast of orange. (from Dictionary.com)

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