POST PRODUCTION JOURNAL

The Bills doing crowd control at Toby's Mom's house

After promising for ages that we would have a San Antonio screening of EvenHand, it is finally happening, courtesy of the San Antonio Police Department and Cypress Films. The film will screen twice on the night of October 30 as a benefit for the 100 Club, Bexar County's widows and orphans organization. The bad news is that the screenings are both sold out.

Other upcoming screenings include:

A benefit for the Historic House Trust of NYC & the Preservation League of NY State on November 6th

The Queens Film Festival on November 16, as part of their 9/11 Remembrance

The Santa Fe Film Festival on December 6

The Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, NY (TBD)

In other recent news, I have finally completed the extras for the DVD. The most difficult was the director's commentary. I polled a number of people before recording it to ask what they expected when they listened to a commentary track. One comment I heard from several people was that the least enjoyable commentaries were the ones for which the directors didn't do any advanced preparation. As a result I spent several days writing my comments, many hours refining them to picture and, finally, a few hours actually recording the comments in the studio. The content runs the gamut from production anecdotes and trivia to thoughtful discussion of the characters. Hopefully, there is a little something for everyone.

Also included on the DVD will be the complete SWAT scene, a hilarious (I've been told) deleted scenes montage and an interview with the incomparable Mike Doughty in which he discusses his inspiration for the songs he wrote for EvenHand, shows us his super high-tech equipment and reveals the secret origins of Go-Go Boy. He even sings a live version of "Get Along" accompanying himself on a Chinese mandolin. Cool!

Mike has also made three songs available in their entirety for us to include on the DVD: "Sweet Francis" (the NEW version that's not in the film), "The Devilish Verve of the Age is Like a Man With a Staple Gun" (there's only about 45 seconds in the film) and "In the Split" (not used in the film, but scores the SWAT scene very effectively). A treasure trove for Doughty fans and a great listen for anyone who likes outstanding music.

EvenHand will premiere on the Sundance Channel on December 6th -- subscribe now and get the best of independent film sent directly to your television!

The DVD & video street date is February 2004 thanks to the folks at Arts Alliance America-- why not buy a copy for your indie film library?

- Joseph Pierson

I noticed the other day that the EvenHand listing on the Internet Movie Database has started getting votes. If you have seen the film (and like it -- don't be mean!), please take a minute and register your vote there. Thanks to all who have left great reviews on the IMDb site! Here's a link: