Sunday, July 27th, 2008
by Zak Forsman
what a ride. we are all so proud to have been a part of the best film festival in los angeles. the audience responded really well to IFHY. and a lot of the questions during the Q&A were directed specifically at our little film. does that really say anything? i don’t know. but it sure feels good.
thanks to everyone who came out to support us.
Saturday, July 26th, 2008
by Zak Forsman
The Wall Street Journal lists Arin among the top 20 new media moguls, and applauds the co-creation of the popular independent film and online video series, Four Eyed Monsters. In late 2002, Arin met his future co-director and collaborator, Susan Buice, beginning a relationship that evolved into the creation of Four Eyed Monsters. The project has become a cult phenomenon. To date, the video podcast has received over two million views, theaters across the nation have booked the film due to its online fan-base, the film was nominated for two Spirit Awards and in June 2007 became the first feature film to be posted in it’s entirety to YouTube. Now with all of this online exposure the film has been licensed to IFC TV to air April 25th and be released on exclusively in Borders across the US April 29th 2008. Now 27-year-old Arin Crumley is busy promoting the DVD release as well as the 5 new final episodes of the online component to Four Eyed Monsters and is in pre-production on several new projects in the works for 2009. Also in development is a brand new film festival he co-founded called From Here to Awesome designed to demonstrate a new distribution model available to all filmmakers that have internet connections.
Friday, July 25th, 2008
by Zak Forsman
I can’t imagine anything comparing to screening your film on a massive screen tethered between giant trees under the stars in Big Sur at The Henry Miller Library. We made certain to come prepared with sandwiches, hefeweizen, and smores. IFHY was the first short film to play that evening, to a small, but pleasantly engaged crowd. After an introduction by Magnus Toren, I spoke to the audience briefly about how it was made and some of the unconventional methods we employed.
After the credits flashed by and the applause died down, I spoke a bit more with the audience, answering questions ranging from sources of inspiration to camerawork techniques. Many wanted to know what was next, so even Heart of Now came up. This was easily one of the more sophisticated audiences we’ve had the pleasure to screen the film with. One gentleman in particular, Toby, came directly to our table, sang our praises and presented us with glasses and a bottle of a chardonnay. Later that evening Toby invited us up to his place the next morning, and just before leaving Big Sur for LA, we made a little detour up the ridge to visit him. I still have the hand-drawn map he made us. We are so happy to have met him and look forward to visiting again next time we are in Big Sur.
After the other films played, we spent the remaining hours getting drunk on our beer and Toby’s wine, and being entertained by the local stories of Big Sur from Magnus Toren. Talk ran the gamut from film and music to politics, including how Magnus ended up in Big Sur. Magnus invited us all to return for a special event screening of Heart of Now. And we surely will.
Our deepest gratitude goes out to the community of Big Sur and we are so happy to know that IFHY led us down a path toward meeting some kindred spirits that we otherwise would not have known. We’ll see you all again soon!
Friday, July 25th, 2008
by Zak Forsman
Myself, Jamie Cobb, Matt Garrett and Marion Kerr & John T. Woods spent the day exploring Big Sur – driving along Coast Drive and trudging along Pfeifer Beach.
Thursday, July 24th, 2008
by Zak Forsman
A gallery of yesterday’s trip up the coast to Big Sur, CA.
Thursday, July 24th, 2008
by Zak Forsman
yesterday the filmmakers drove from LA to Big Sur, CA for the short film fest organized by the people at The Henry Miller Library.
When life gives you lemons (or you snag one from a roadside orchard)…
Carve a face on him for hours of entertainment on long roadtrips.
Monday, July 21st, 2008
by Zak Forsman
Here’s a brief glimpse at the genius lyricist who co-wrote the infamous song that John T. Woods plays in our short film. I give you: Mathew Sandoval.
Monday, July 21st, 2008
by Zak Forsman
The fires in Big Sur spared The Henry Miller Library and we are back on for the festival this thursday.
Monday, July 14th, 2008
by Zak Forsman
okay, it’s monday. midnight and change. so i’m going to spill the beans on the distribution deal I have.
it comes down to this. I submitted IFHY to ‘From Here To Awesome’. this is a discovery and distribution project run by Lance Weiler (Head Trauma, The Workbook Project) designed around a “pull” distribution model. meaning, instead of a distributor deciding what films to make available to the audience, the audience decides what they want to see distributed.
and the audience selected IFHY.
http://showcase.fromheretoawesome.com/2008/07/i-fcking-hate-you/
so now I find myself in a wonderful situation. I have a film that cost practically nothing to make. i spent about $2000 to promote and send it to festivals. I have a deal in place with Heretic Films and IndieFlix who are acting as sales agents on my behalf. they have made deals with Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Amazon Unbox, Joost, cable companies for VOD and many others that aren’t coming to mind right now. I receive 90% of revenue generated from sales, rentals and advertising played in front of my short online. there will also be theatrical distribution in the very near future as a block of “From Here To Awesome Showcase Shorts”.
and best of all, I retain the rights to IFHY. this deal is non-exclusive so I can keep sending it to fests, selling my own “Special Edition” DVD and HD digital downloads, and using this exposure to elevate those sales and the “brand” of Sabi Pictures.
and that’s it. it’s hitting the trades tomorrow. I’m proud and fortunate to be on the cutting edge of the evolving distribution models being defined minute by minute. some google alerts have already come in to show that Variety has something on it. good things ahead
Monday, July 7th, 2008
by Zak Forsman
Not only did we win an Audience Award (really wish we had attended), but we also received one of two Honorable Mentions from the Grand Jury… which equates to second or third place in my mind. 
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