FAMILY TIE at Film Fest Reloaded

Tomorrow night, "film guy" Bill Woods is hosting his weekly Film Fest Reloaded show in Staten Island and will be screening THE FAMILY TIE along with several other of my shorts and videos including the NEW YORK STALKER trilogy. Here's the release for the event...

Thanks Bill!

This Tuesday, May 20th, we welcome filmmaker, Matthew Glasson.

The filmmaker brings in an ultra violent black comedy romp, The Family Tie, about a young man who witnesses the destruction of his family at the hands of a psychotic business partner of his father’s. Swearing vengeance, the boy seeks out to destroy John and will stop at nothing.

Glasson, born and raised in the Chicago suburb of Mt. Prospect, IL, Matthew Glasson began allocating his energies at an early age as a performer, writer and filmmaker. He went on to attend film school at Columbia College in Chicago before moving to New York City to start a rock group called "God The Band."

During this time, he kept his filmmaking chops fresh by directing and producing music videos for the band and developing other short films. He currently lives in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, where he works as an editor and filmmaker.

For the film’s website, check out www.familytiemovie.com.

For the trailer, check out www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY5GFTBQ9xY.

So please join us this Tuesday, May 20th with filmmaker, Matthew Glasson at FilmFest Reloaded. Admission is free.

See you at 8 PM at Karl's Klipper, 40 Bay Street, across from the St. George post office in Staten Island, just 1 block south of the SI Ferry Terminal.

Thanks for jumping in...

Bill Woods
FilmFest Reloaded
www.filmfestguy.freewebspace.com

The Family Tie Returns!

Please join me next Tuesday, Feb. 19 for a screening of my short film THE FAMILY TIE at Sugar in Tribeca. The event kicks off at 8 PM with some comedic shorts from the comedy troup MEAT (which i helped edit) as well as some of my own short films followed by the screening of my ultraviolent romp. Happy hour specials until 8, so please come early and join me in a toast. Unless you're overseas or otherwise geographically restricted, I hope you can make it!

http://www.sugarnyc.com
http://familytiemovie.com

Watch FT for free!

While this isn't really a news flash, we have made THE FAMILY TIE available for free viewing on the website without any user registration or shopping cart interface. The film is still available for streaming on the Vividas platform or as a quicktime download - perhaps a flash version is in the works for the future.

And if you haven't yet seen it, what are you waiting for? It's proven that there's no better way to ring in the new year other than a screening of some ultraviolent camp.

Premiere Screening

The Family Tie
New York Premiere Screening
7:30 PM Weds, Dec 12
Hope Lounge
10 Hope St., Williamsburg BK

SO yeah, been running on all cylinders pushing out the word about the "premiere" screening for FT next Weds. It's hard to tell if any of it will be effective at getting people out - the overall response to my marketing thus far has been pretty disappointing. Maybe it was the timing - I felt having the movie launch on Thanksgiving had a nice ring of irony to it, but perhaps people have enough family ties to deal already on that family-heavy holiday. This is not to say that NO ONE has seen the film or watched it online, but I was hoping for just a little more reaction, response, interest, whatever. Again, perhaps it's just a matter of time for FT to find it's audience, but I think it's more like a matter of when the audience will find IT!

But yeah - that's part of it - FT hasn't really played to an audience at all yet save for an informal screening here and there over the years. And when it does play, it seems to play well, though I'd have to be pretty delusional to think that everyone's going to get it or even like it at all - it's a niche sort of taste, and one that is most likely acquired.

Ultimately, my fear is that if the audience never does find my movie, am i going to look back on this exhaustive project as a complete waste of time, a colossal failure? My guess is no, but it will still be hard not to feel slightly dispirited if the years of effort and passion I put into this end up ultimately only playing to an audience of one.

So on that positive note, please come to the screening and make let's make it an audience of two! Major kudos to Reza Kahn for pulling some strings and making it happen at Hope Lounge - Thanks dude!

Ta-dah! And that's that...

It feels a little silly to officially "release" FAMILY TIE three years after I "finished" it and a staggering ten years after I started it, but life has a funny way of throwing those curve balls every so often. Plus, and more importantly, when you're managing every aspect of the film's post-production existence, it tends to take a bit more time.

But having said that, i do feel "the weight has lifted" somewhat. I've done what i can to make the film tight and effective and, finally, have put it out there for anyone and everyone to have a serving. Something about that final stage when you have your premiere (which we have not officially had) and no longer feel that need to "finesse" it anymore finally allows me to disconnect from the process. Of course, the film's life on the festival circuit and any other screenings is a whole other thing, but the actual creative process of making the film can be called complete. I am liberated to pursue other projects, date other ideas, etc.. I can finally be the creative whore I've always wanted to be, and be polygamous with my whims...

Really what I guess that means is that I won't be nagging myself when i start on something else with the whole, "but what about FAMILY TIE? Are you ever going to finish anything or just start lots of things?" And sure, some projects you start and they get abandoned with good reason, and maybe I would have been wise to cut my losses and move on earlier, but I really don't regret a minute spent on it. Hell, half the reason it took so long to edit it was that I loved creating the world that is THE FAMILY TIE. I loved watching and studying the actors (in moments good and bad) and deciding the best choice to "create that moment." Definitely the editing of a project is something I relish, and this was a particular treat.

I have learned lots of lessons in making FAMILY TIE, namely that doing everything yourself is NOT always the best way - certainly not the fastest! But that sounds pat and kind of simple. I could rattle on about what I learned as an artist but it's a bit early to share that type of observation (not to mention a tad pretentious). All I wanted to do was make a fun and offbeat movie that would entertain people in a challenging sort of way. And I THINK it works like that...

now if only people would watch the damned thing

Three more days!

We are mere days from the online launch of the film Rick Brown hailed "a disturbingly visceral thrill ride," THE FAMILY TIE.

While there are plans to have a screening in the near future as well as a DVD release in early '08, the film will be available to view online using the technology of Vividas. For those uninitiated, Vividas (editors note: I am employed by said company) is a full-screen streaming technology, giving viewers an opportunity to watch high quality video with a standard broadband connection. Watch the teaser and the trailer to see this unique player in action.

Look for the big announcement this Wednesday and get ready to get your freak on…

Cheers

matthew

Closing in... the final countdown

Well it's exactly one week away from the debut of FAMILY TIE. I'm busy wearing about 10 different hats right now trying to get everything ready in time including a postcard mailing. Speaking of which, if you or anyone you think might appreciate FT, would like one for yourself, shoot me an email at matt@familytiemovie.com with your address and I'll include you in the batch. Yay! A souvenir!

I briefly considered going back and tweaking some of the edits since the last output in Dec 2004, but with all the stems already mastered (stems are basically the complete mixes of dialogue, music, FX as separate stereo mixes) I'm not changing a frame. Color, however, was another matter altogether, so I've gone through and changed "the look" (if you want to call it that) of the film in terms of color intensity and saturation; now it's more desaturated and muted, giving it a slightly grittier, '70s feel, which I'm quite OK with. It just feels like the right thing to do, given that the film's photography isn't exactly its strong point (a role I regrettably undertook alone, but whatever, it's a glorified home movie with some fantastic gore).

Now I just need to tie (no pun intended) the closing credits into the final sequence and start outputting it for web. When I say "start outputting" it means that, that too, is a process and will take some trial and error as I try to make it hold up as well as possible in its transition to the world wide web. I've been doing this encoding gig at Vividas for over two years now and I'm still figuring out what looks best (short answer: it varies).

Then there's all the marketing fun, like organizing the postcard mailing and, then, more importantly the mass email which will go out next Wednesday to finally announce that the film has gone live. It all feels somewhat pointless sometimes, as if anyone is really going to care about this thing, but then I also feel like it's something I have to finish out. To finally say, "you may or may not care, but it's done" and not second-guess the status of the project ever again.