Tokyo Cowboys Press

Check out the interview about Tokyo Cowboys over at Broken Projector.

Minding my P's and Q's

Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod...Simon is going to fahlippin' kill us. Well, it's Patrick's fault anyway. He keeps tweaking when I'm not looking. But this is it, this is truly it. Tonight is truly the end. All of the tweaking has been done, and Patrick is burning for festivals. Now I just have to call Simon to let him know that all of the music Q's I sent him last week are now completely changed!

Music to My Ears

Last week I met with Simon, our composer and certified Japanophile. We had a listen to some ideas he's been working on for the score. The stuff he did for the Salaryman/Samurai bit and for the Ask/Answer bit are so kickass that I nearly cried with joy that it's all coming together. We've given him notes, and he's in the studio as I write creating magic.



Today, we watched the cut, yet again. It's clocking in at 83 minutes without credits. Patrick has got a last minute inspiration and wants to cut in a 30 second sequence that brings Daneeta the character back into the film. I'm not sold on the idea, but I'm going with it. Patrick's ideas are usually pretty much on the money. I think my luke-warm reaction to the idea might have more to do with the fact that I'm really tired of the cut, and I just want it to be over. Is that bad to say?

Other than that, I've been dealing with clearances all day, which is the worst possible thing you can do with a hang over.

Jesus save me from myself!

Linus and Lucy

Spoke to Lish over at Warner Chapell about getting rights for Lunus and Lucy. It's the song in the film that introduces Mark. He plays the piece on the piano at one of the EWC events. Lish says it's going to cost us £500 just for festival rights. I've written her a teary email explaining that we're broke and how we've been working on the film for ages and how we haven't been paid and that we would share the wealth if we had any. She hasn't responded yet.

Also put in a request to Universal for "Wherever you will Go." They also own the rights to "I'm just a Girl," which we requested earlier and are still waiting to hear back on. "Wherever you will Go basically ends the film as Aki sings it in Karaoke (hope I'm not giving away the ending here).

Doing all of these clearances sucks. Next time, it will be different.

Festivals...again

Spent the whole day checking festivals. It is mind-numbing work and requires someone about a thousand times more meticulous than me, but there is no one like that around my place, so it's all down to me (poor me!).

I really f*@ked up on Rotterdam and missed the festival deadline, so now I'm all paranoid and have to check all my lists on, like, a daily basis. this can take hours.

Anyway, packaged and posted three festival entries and realized I missed the one in Montana. This sucks.

More Feedback and Paperwork

Received more feedback yesterday and today from two more viewers, and it was good all round with some minor suggestions. Simon says that we can fiddle a bit with the picture until the 30th when he will need everything done and dusted for real. This is how I feel about the project today.

Been working at the day job yesterday, today and tomorrow, so haven't had much time to do much, but I have gotten info back on three sets of clearances we are after. So, on Friday, I will make the calls.

Also sending to Festivals on Friday as well. Two well-known "women's" festivals and a few others. As an aside, "Liza" was accepted to the 21st Stuttgart Film Festival in competition. This is an experimental documentary that Patrick directed in February. I Exec. Produced it, and it is an Elektrik Zoo production, so we're quite chuffed.

Tagged and Bagged

This is a pre-announcement ahead of the official TC Update to be sent out next week. We have locked the picture...tagged and bagged. Now on to sound. Simon is taking a 1st pass at the music as I write. It's all happening.

Is Cinema Dead?

And, if so, what is replacing it?

Thursday night...9 p.m. Central London...Robert Rodriguez's "Planet Terror"...10 people in the cinema.

Big trouble in the cinemas, and the online world is taking over. In an article in this week's "Screen International" ("Film's New World Order") producer Ira Deutchman suggests that studios are struggling to adapt to the online explosion and that this is a good opportunity for independents.

I know he's right I just have no idea what to do...how to exploit the markets and audience streams on the Internet. The thing is that I'm not really interested in that part of filmmaking. I just want to make the films and have someone else exploit those markets. But, it's still the frontier.

What People Said

The other day I received feedback from one of our viewers. He said some pretty cool things about his experience watching the film. Soooo, I thought I'd post a few comments from him and others.

"Satisfying...Gripping...There is something about Mark that is darkly sexy. I think he's on his way to becoming a gay icon."

"Engaging...the Cowboys are fascinating characters. I actually missed them when the film was over."

"A tremendous work that precisely captures the reality of the post-modern world of cowboys in Japan."

I'll post more as they come in.

I'm Just a Girl

Trying to clear the rights for "I'm just a Girl" by No Doubt. Called Universal Music who hold the rights, and they told me that No Doubt songs are notoriously difficult to clear, but I'm hoping that the fact that Gwen Stafani has a strong connection with Japan will bode well. I've sent off an email with all of the relevent information. Now we wait.

In the meantime, Katsura has been working hard on her end to get clearances for all of the Karaoke songs. She's cleared "Ue o Muite," which is the song we plan to use at the end of the film. You can see it performed below by the wonderful Ningyoko. She's also got tentative agreements with some of the other rights holders.

Katsura kicks ass. She was a few years below me at The London Film School and is a director/writer as well as doing fab camera work. Her film Zekuu has been quite successful on the festival circuit. So melancholic and so beautiful...it's very skillfully directed. Check it out if you get a chance.

Oh yeah...the Marketing

Spent most of the day researching on WAB and BritFilms for all of the free festivals. I'm looking for November deadlines. I also have a "Top 40" list from Shooting People. Some of those are free...mostly the European ones. Patrick says this is because in Europe Film Making is subsidized by the Government. In America, it's not, so the festivals have to charge. It's a Capitalist State, remember? For the ones with fees, I have to weigh the cost over the festivals advantages.

Even with sites like WAB and ReelPort, it's bloody hard work. Waaaaaah!

Cloudy's Website

Cloudy has a new website: http://web.mac.com/cloudyb/iWeb/s/Mates..html. Check it out to see photos of his life in Japan and beyond.

Thinking Ahead

Met up with Silvia Cambie today. She runs Chanda Communications, and was introduced to us by one of our investors. She is getting us to think about marketing the film, which is good. For literally years, I have not been able to see beyond finishing the film. But, now that we are so close to finishing, we have to start thinking ahead, and I'm thankful that Silvia came along at the right moment.

We've inter-cut all of the characters, and Patrick had a huge epiphany last night about how to slice and dice them more. He's like one of those Japanese jujitsu knives that they used to sell on late night TV in America. He slices, he dices, he can even cut through corn on the cob. He's finishing off cut 7.3 to hand over to two viewers tomorrow. We're supposed to have the film as close to picture lock as possible by Wednesday. That's when it goes to Simon, our composer. Then it's off to Sweden for 11 days.

Silvia was asking me to think about which bits people will remember when they leave the film. For her, it was Ken...the Jewish boy from New York performing Christmas Mass in his role as rent-a-priest. But, it's funny. Each person that watches the film picks their own stand-out scene. One person said it was Christmas morning with Ken, Aki and the newborn Taiga. The family celebrated a hybrid of Christmas and Hanukkah. Another said it was Hiromi changing Dave's diaper after his butt operation...her devotion to him almost fanatical. And yet another said it was Cloudy, after performing in one of his shows, dropping a tiny girl off his lap. She squealed with laughter even after hitting the ground with a thud.

Of course I like all of the scenes in the film. But, I have to say that I am partial to the pauses...those sort of in between scenes that show Tokyo...complex, ineffable, dense...hiding secrets right on the surface of everything. Shhhh...

Tokyo Guts

Oh, yes. The guts of Tokyo Cowboys. But, if you look closer, there is some order to this.

We are well in the middle of inter-cutting the characters. It is a head f@ck. Patrick will have cut 7.0 done sometime tonight. He says he only has 3 notes. I'm holding my breath. We are so close.

Now, if we can just get around this damn postal strike, we might even make the Slamdance deadline.

As it is Now

Lots of ups and downs over the past few weeks. We finished cut 6.3 and screened it around. I mostly refer to Jaime's crit. He thinks we need to inter cut the stories. This is something that Patrick and I have been kicking around for a while, but we've avoided doing it. Not so much avoiding, just trying to get to a point where we can actually inter cut. We're at that stage now. So, we've put all the cards up on the wall and are trying to fit the pieces together.

In the meantime, our composer Simon is working on some ideas for the film. Before getting Jaime's feedback, I went through the film with him to show him music Q's. I seems a bit premature now. I know we are close, but I had hoped that we were closer.

Today

PJ and I worked a 16 hour day yesterday shooting a corporate gig in Rochester, so, today, we were a bit disinclined to get out of bed, rush to the computer and start on Tokyo Cowboys. But, after returning equipment and a nice walk back to our neighborhood, a coffee and some leisurely paper reading, we were finally ready to give it a go.

This is the first time we've watched the whole film through without the voice over, and, my God, it's working. There is still loads of work to be done, but it is really coming together. We both made more notes, and PJ is incorporating them into the cut.

We also compared the order of the scenes to the chronological order. PJ was expecting some kind of revelation, but nothing was forthcoming. We're swapping a few scenes around to see what happens.

The ending is still eluding us.

Got asked the question the other day "Sooooooo...what's happening with Tokyo Cowboys." Normally I don't mind this question, but I detected a hint of pity in the questioners voice. Like we've been effing about this whole time and why is it taking us so long and the like. I just want to set the record straight now...neither of us gets paid for any of our work on Tokyo Cowboys. I'm not saying this to bitch about things. It's my fault for not budgeting properly in the first place. It's just that sometimes things move slowly because we actually have to stop occasionally and earn a living. And, as all of you know, earning a living takes a lot of creative energy. No matter how much you love your labor of love, it is difficult to get your ass to the editing suite when you've just worked at 16 hour day. That's pretty much why we are taking so long.

Birthday

Well, here we are again...at my birthday, and it's actually quite depressing. If I got the idea to shoot this thing in March of 2002, then this is my 6th birthday spent working on this film. But, some of the footage is home video stuff from 1997, so...well...you do the math.

Actually, it's coming along wonderfully. The new direction devoid of personal voice over is like a fresh new start. But, there is that nagging feeling in the back of my mind that if I've spent this long on the film, I should really pull off a masterpiece. The pressure is tremendous. I try to release some of it by thinking that I've done other things in the mean time...I've produced a few shorts, published a few things, worked on a couple of features, etc.

Must not let any of this negativity get in the way of finishing this thing.

So...off to writing, and off to re-visiting interviews, which, by the way, make me very home sick for Tokyo and how easy it is to get by there. I'm a bit fed up with the whole money situation. It's not funny anymore, and I'm getting too old to be living hand to mouth. Enough all ready.

Constructive Criticism

MG came over yesterday to give us feedback on the film. She basically picked the whole thing apart and left us bleeding on the floor (but in a nice way). We were devastated at first. But then... slowly...during a twilight walk along the Thames Southbank, we started to digest her critique...talk about it...formulate ideas of how to carry on. And, you know what, it's gonna be alright...better than alright.

Getting criticism is difficult...especially when you think that you are almost at the end. But, all of this has been good for us...not just with regards to Tokyo Cowboys, but as writers/directors in general. It's good to be able to take criticism and use it for all its worth...for the betterment of your art. And, we've been lucky so far. None of our critics have been mean. They've just told it like it is.

Patrick says that, in a sense, we are going back to some original concepts that sort of got lost during the long cutting process. So, we are stripping out all of the voice over, which was problematic anyway, and going back to basics. MG says "Trust the footage," and that was genius. Let the guys tell their own stories. We are not getting rid of the voice over entirely, though. From very early on, we had these sort of post card style voice over bits...bits about Tokyo and her relationship with gaijin. Those will stay and serve as breaths in the film. But there will be only about six of them and probably recorded by a professional voice over artist. My first choice, of course, would be Alexandra Stewart...the most sublime voice of Sans Soleil. But, that might be just too much to ask for...

A pile of shit

Tried to write today, but nothing was forthcoming. Sometimes I just write shit for hours and hours. Shit, shit, shit. The thing is working without hardly any narration, which is really good. But, that means the narration that's in there has to be perfect. And, here's me writing a load of shit.

Saw "Running Stumbled" last night at LFS. It was made by a native Louisianian...a documentary about his fucked up family. He was there to give a Q&A, and I had a brief chat with him. But, I was so tired that I couldn't do proper networking.

I am certain that if guys had periods, weed would be legal.

Fighting it through:

Patrick and I are fighting every day now about the film, so I guess that means we're getting close to finishing. Today we pretty much finished Cloudy. There are some tiny details to work on, but he's basically finished (for this cut, at least).

I think I mentioned before that, after the last feedback session with Martin, Francois, Claire, Barney and Val, we cut out all of the V.O. to see if we really needed so much. It turns out that we hardly need any of it at all. This prompted Patrick to ask the question that's been on both of our minds: Do we need voice over at all? I kind of think we do. But, I'm thinking maybe we don't need it for exposition. We need it for the poetry. That tells a story as well.