Notes about The Signatures Movie Tour

Oct 09, 2009 

A Long Road, Consolidated

Once again I return to the blog with over two weeks worth of accumulated adventures stacked up in my mind, and curse myself for being so goddamn unable to keep up with it all. It’s hard to believe that this year we have twice as many people working on the tour (4), and yet everything still seems as hectic and disorganized as it did before. One can only hope that that is a sign of good business, and not fraying sanities! At this point it seems a bit ridiculous to attempt to recount all the shows put on, all the days on the road, all the DVDs shipped (self-distribution does save you a good bit of money, but when you are in a moving short bus stuffing your 200th DVD into an envelope and licking it closed with your parched desert-dry tongue, the reality of the work begins to dampen the romantic grassroots appeal), all the media agencies contacted, all the interviews given, all the invoices written, all the– but this is a run-on sentence that probably already has most of you confused, and my English professors rolling in premature graves, and my own head in a state of turbulent depression as it remembers yet more work yet to be done, so I’ll cut it short and say that we’ve been busy out of our gourds.
While I can’t begin to detail each show, and while looking back I realize that I’ve already completely forgotten many, I would like to say that Vail, Breckenridge, Crested Butte, Colorado Springs, and Denver have been rather awesome, with wonderful crowds and invincible vibes. At the same time, we’re always suckers for the little shows, like Leadville. Those shows where you can show your movie in a coffee shop, and for a little moment forget the constant stress of projector malfunctions and tomorrow’s four hour drive– you can just chill, lay back and… I’m struggling with the word, but its something approximating contentment. You get the same feeling after a big show is over, and your responsibilities for the night have evaporated and you are free and, indeed, encouraged to stick your nose into a bottle, but its never quite as ripe as those small experiences with friends where you’re just watching a movie, and doing so in good company.
And of course, I have digressed. These blogs easily warp out of all control during times like these. To be perfectly honest, during chaotic times like these I have absolutely no set plan when I sit down to write a blog, and I shotgun a bunch of ideas out of my head, through my fingers and onto the screen, and hope that the pellets that hit to form the final product don’t sound absolutely idiotic. My secret is out.
Bringing this back on track, yes, we have all been exceedingly busy, driving nightly from show to show and hoping to god we don’t get arrested before showtime. Afterwards is ok.
Lena Williams has been doing an awesome job with the press, and on the day of the Denver show in particular we had a back page article in the Denver post, as well as two morning television interviews, on CBS and FOX. Which is infinitely amusing to me, the recent college graduates that we are. If only they knew what worthless packrat ski bums we really are! As amusing as it is to us, though, people seem to be responding very well to the film and we are bombarded with compliments, to the extent that I am starving for some constructive criticism. If we should ever meet, please do tell me what you disliked about the film. Don’t be shy! One guy in Crested Butte told me he absolutely despised the soundtrack, and I wanted to hug him. Even though we’ve heard the opposite from dozens, as filmmakers, honest feedback like that is what helps us grow artistically and getter better at our trade. Make my day and tell me you hate it, please. Really!
What else. Film festivals. I’m preparing to go down to Taos this weekend for the Taos Mountain Film Festival, where we’re showing our film again this year. We’ve also been accepted into Banff again, which is of course wonderful, as well as pretty much every festival we’ve submitted too. Kendall Mountain, Boulder Adventure, and the like. This film really is a festival film, and those are the right kinds of venues in which to see it, as you are most likely to be surrounded by people who will appreciate it for what it is.
While I’m gearing up for Taos, the rest of the crew is in Fort Collins, getting tonight’s show there ready to go. Tomorrow morning, Nick heads off to Japan to meet up with Yuki in Tokyo to kick off the Japanese tour. He’ll be gone for two weeks, rocking through the countryside to spread the word across the pond– although its sounding like Yuki is doing a pretty good job of that already, as DVD sales in Japan are exceeding stateside sales by quite a bit! While Nick and Yuki are up to their shenanigans, Zach, Lena and I will wrap up our Colorado tour with the Telluride and Durango shows before launching ourselves northward, towards Salt Lake City and Jackson Hole. Then, we’ll all reunite shortly before Halloween in Nelson, British Columbia (assuming our merchandise-filled psychedelic short bus can make it over the border) to keep the ball rolling into Banff and onwards.
I just got interrupted with a phone call and totally lost my train of thought, which probably had already derailed anyway, so its probably a good time to sign off. Eloquence and coherence suddenly seem impossible. That’s most of the big news anyway, so it’ll have to do. Hopefully it won’t be two weeks before the next one of these! Oh, one p.s. of note– its snowing like a frozen hell outside my Denver window. Dig out those long johns.

Posted by: Derek  |  category: Uncategorized |  Tag: