I know things have been a little on the ultra-quiet side lately. That’s pretty much been because we haven’t been doing much at all. Bjorn, Jody, Paul, and I have met a few times to watch the existing film and try to get the film cut down to a reasonable length and keep the pace and excitement level up. After a couple of these “brain dump” kind of meetings, we met up again last night to watch the newest cut.

Jody’s pulled together all of our input, worked some of his Final Cut magic and made what we all feel is the just-about-perfect cut. The film is now down to around 102 minutes (from something like 128 minutes), though we’re still trying to determine the best closing to the picture. Jody has a couple endings put together, both look great, though I’m partial to one in particular. Hopefully within the next couple of weeks we’ll have a cut that we’re all happy with.

For anyone that watched the private screening at the library, you probably remember the film being a little slow and having a ton of walking in it. Well, that’s pretty much gone now. Everything moves along at a nice pace, nothing really bogging it down anymore. Even though I’ve seen almost all the other versions that have come after that initial screening, it felt like a new film when we watched it last night. I’m excited to watch it again with some other people that haven’t seen all the iterations, just to get their feedback and see if we really have made valid improvements.

Ok, so it’s been a long time since I wrote here but things have been happening with the movie. After a number of viewings and feedback we decided that 125mins was too long for this film. So we decided to pull it from the festival circuit until the film was really ready. We got together and figured out a preliminary plan to try to chop out twenty to thirty minutes to make the film run faster and tighter. And thanks to our Executive Producers Alan and JoAnn we have a new Editing Suite to work in (So much faster than editing on a laptop in a basement). Jody’s been able to cut out 14 minutes and thanks to some ideas and trim suggestions from Mike and Paul we should be done with the majority of the trim and cuts by next week (Beginning of October). Exciting stuff but still a little long, just the results of realizing what it takes to finish our first Movie.

It’s been awhile since there’s been any sort of update on the film, mainly because there hasn’t been that much going on. After the private screening we’ve been laying low and taking a little break since there wasn’t much else to do. Now that we’re on to the marketing phase of the film, it’s not nearly as exciting as earlier production.

Jody packaged up a screener copy of the film and the application and sent it off to SIFF earlier this year and it’s been a waiting game ever since. In the meantime, we fired off applications to a number of other festivals including Port Townsend and Hollywood via the Without a Box website. These applications should give us a larger audience for selection and hopefully for viewing. And the more people that see it, the more likely that someone will purchase the film for distribution.

Still haven’t heard anything from our second round of festival applications, but we did hear back from SIFF last week. Unfortunately, we didn’t make the cut. I didn’t see the actual letter, but Bjorn indicated that it was like the standard college rejection letter. “You made a great film, but we had so many good entries this year, blah, blah, blah.” So now we’re just waiting for word from the others. We want everyone that was involved with the film in some way to be able to see it, so if we get accepted into another festival, we’ll be sure to keep you posted.

Up until last Saturday evening, there was only a small handful of people that had seen the film. While those of us that had seen it provided some initial feedback, we really don’t count. Being close to the project throughout the entire process made it a little too easy to say “wow, that looks great, I can’t believe how well it turned out.” The real test was going to be when our actors, friends, and family saw the film for the first time. We finally got that test last week at the private screening, and I like to think that we passed.

I’ll admit, I wasn’t the least bit worried about the showing. It was just going to be people we knew, nobody that we really needed to make an extra effort for. While we did invite Gov. Gregoire, the Washington State Film Office, the City of Seattle’s Office of Film & Music, and some other local film scene folks, the only ones that indicated that they were coming were people we already knew. That lack of nerves changed on Saturday when we started getting ready to make our way to the Seattle Public Library. Seeing Bjorn in his tux really made it hit home. “Wow, we’re really doing this. Guess we just go with it and hopefully everyone likes it.”

The entire drive into Seattle I kept thinking that we’ll have maybe 70 people show, nothing to get too worried about. As it turned out, we weren’t the only ones looking forward to seeing the film on the big screen. When we arrived, there were already people waiting in the auditorium. “Ok, good sign.” Then more people showed up. And they kept on coming. There was even a line to enter the auditorium at one point. “Holy cow, are these people sure they’re at the right place?” I don’t know what the final count was, but I figure that we had close to 250 people that night.

Once everyone we were sure was coming was seated, Jody kicked things off with an introduction and a little raffle. There was some good stuff to give away, just a little way to say thanks to everyone that came out. Swords, helmets, a shirt, and a poster with everyone’s signature on it. I was really hoping that I’d win the poster, but no dice. You’d think that as a co-producer I could hook up a poster with signatures, but it’s looking pretty unlikely. Maybe if we get a distribution deal it’ll happen.

Jody handed the mic over to Bjorn for his director’s minute, during which he ran through some thanks, told the story of how I got tricked into helping out with the film, and got everyone prepped. Next thing you know, the doors are closing, the lights go down, and we’re rolling.

The watching of the film was pretty uneventful, apart from having to switch DVDs halfway through. “Note to self: find better compression technique when transferring to DVD.” There were some gasps and an “oh no!” when certain characters were killed off, people were leaning forward in their seats, and even some laughter. People definitely seemed to be enjoying it. Then, it was all over and I felt much better.

It was really fun listening to all the applause and the “there you are!” comments as credits rolled. It felt great to have produced something that so many people seemed to enjoy. Bjorn will tell you that he was tired of the film after watching it over and over and over during the editing and sound mixing process, but I know he loved finally being able to see it on the big screen. I know I did, hopefully you did as well.

As cheesey as it may sound, a huge thank you goes out to all our actors and extras that were so central to this film. Without you, we wouldn’t have had a reason to get together and enjoy last Saturday evening. You guys are what turned a dream shared by a couple friends into a reality. Congrats.

So what did you think? Were all the weekends that you drove out to the mountains and suffered through bee stings, bad weather, and guys that really didn’t know what they were doing worth it? I’d love to hear what your thoughts were on the evening.

If you have any pictures from the evening that you’d like to share, let us know. Thanks to Kevin Freitas for these ones.

It’s time.

Warrior’s End is complete, and we’re ready to celebrate! But we’ve spent right through the budget, all the money’s on screen. So while we’d like nothing more than to take 300 dates to the movies, we’re forced to ask: Won’t you go Dutch with us to the film?

We’ve divvied up the cost of everything for the screening, and a donation of five dollars per ticket would help to cover the cost. This also enters you in a raffle for some Warrior swag: posters, props, even a few swords used in the film.

There are a limited number of seats, and to guarantee that everyone who worked on the movie has a chance to see it, we’ve all been assigned a number of tickets in advance. To guarantee you get your ticket, you need to contact us by February 24th.

At that point we’ll count all the unclaimed spots, and those will be allocated on February 26th. Yes, it is possible to request extra tickets. The chance of getting them will depend on demand and the number of unclaimed tickets.

• Everyone who participated in the film gets access to reserve one ticket.
• You must respond by February 24th to claim your ticket. (a donation of five dollars per ticket is suggested)
• Send orders to:
  Warrior’s End
  c/o Bjorn Anderson
  2714 70th Ave S.E.
  Mercer Island, WA 98040.
  Please include your e-mail address and phone number in your response.
• You will receive a confirmation E-mail when your response is received.
• Check the website blog for updates
• Please address your questions to warriorsend@hotmail.com
• The private screening will be held at the Seattle Public Library March 3rd, at 7pm.

Warrior’s End Private Screening
Cast, Crew, Family and Friends
Seattle Public Library
Microsoft Auditorium
1000 Fourth Ave.
Seattle, WA 98104
March 3, 2007 7:00pm