Newsletter #12 - Feature on the horizon?

Hi, this is Lennox. I'm very excited to share news about developing opportunities for Marbles. Remember Reel Life Media, the production company that facilitated our audio remix at Disney? Well, they've expressed some interest in producing the feature-length version of Marbles, potentially as early as next year. Allen Taylor of Reel Life Media asked our permission to show the Short to a few people at Disney Studios. It was well received; in fact, Allen tells us there has been a fair bit of buzz. Though no commitments have been made of course, we see potential for collaboration with RLM to shoot the feature independently next year, in hopes of securing distribution further down the road. Before we can pursue that conversation, Reel Life Media needs to see a completed version of the screenplay. Two things need to happen. 1) We need to pay off remaining costs on the short. 2) We need to give Melody four months to write full time. Here's how you can help. You can make a donation directly to Reel Life Media. All proceeds go directly to pay off the short film and facilitate the feature script. (All donations are tax-deductible) It's been a huge honor and amazing experience for me to work with someone of Melody's talent and vision. I believe in this project and I'm inviting you to participate in sharing a much-needed message about what's really important in life. Thanks for your support! Lennox

Track our progress here.

	Director's Statement May 7, 2009 I wrote "Marbles with Thoreau" because I was tired. A Junior in college, 21 years old, I was exhausted to the core. I would spend the days in class, the evenings studying, and somehow fit a job, extracurriculars, and film projects into that equation. Social life? Relationships? Family time? Sleep? Out of the question. It was hell. I was tired all the time. And it didn't help to realize that I might actually enjoy the subject matter I was studying, if only I was given the chance to digest it at a proper rate. It was only when I started seeing similar signs of exhaustion in my close friends that it dawned on me: Humans--even American ones--were not intended to live in this way. At the time, we were reading Thoreau in my "Classics in Western Thought" class. Here's a man who threw all societal norms to the wind and went to live as a hermit in the woods for two years, just for the sake of finding out what really mattered to him in life. His book, "Walden," inspired me so deeply that I wrote "Marbles with Thoreau" and finally--four years later--finished the film. I remember explaining my inspiration to one one of my professors early on in pre-production. He reminded me of the hellish nature of filmmaking, the long hours, sleepless nights, and obsessed months of work. "You realize the very making of this movie will basically negate everything you set out to say in the first place." I agreed, begrudgingly. And he was right. It absolutely did suck every trace of balance from my life for the past year. But at the same time, I loved it. It's what I was born to do. I guess what I've learned--and if there's anything I hope people will take away when they watch "Marbles"--it's that we ought to find out what's really important to us in life, and make time for that. Heaven forbid that we should waste our precious days working for bigger homes and nicer cars, at the expense of our families. Heaven forbid that I should study late into the night to get perfect straight A's, at the expense of my friendships. Thoreau asks, "Shall we always sacrifice the present moment to the elusive, distant future, and never live for now? God himself culminates in the present moment, and will never be more divine in the lapse of all the ages." I know there will be times of imbalance in my life. But I'm living my passion as a filmmaker. I don't make a lot of money, but I've made time in my life for the people I care about. And I consider myself among the wealthiest women in the world. I hope "Marbles" will inspire others to throw their artificial wealth to the wind in trade for something better. As Thoreau would say, "Give me the poverty that enjoys true wealth." Melody George

Copyright 2009 Handwritten Pictures