Old friends die hard...thank God

I tell you, friends are the best. Who doesn't love friends?? Within just one married couple, I landed both a set-up (thank you, Lynn!) and a (future) meeting with Octagon's multicultural and entertainment groups (thank you Smitty...uh, I mean Brian). Seriously, that's one efficient bit of business. Now, if only all of my friends were so efficient, I'd be a happily married millionaire by now!
~ Liz
(P.L.H.H.)

The kids these days...

NEW CINEDULCE CHANNEL ALERT: YOUTH FILMMAKERS! Back story: During this year's NY Int’l Latino Film Festival, we introduced a new programming category: Youth Filmmakers Showcase (high five to Kodak Gallery, the presenter, for being so supportive of aspiring teen filmmakers). We sent out a special call for submissions and were shocked by the overwhelmingly positive response: 86 submissions nationwide from teen filmmakers, ages 14 - 19! Even more impressive was the quality of the films we received. In fact, we were so impressed we decided to launch a Cinedulce channel to showcase this new crop of young talent. Dealing with issues ranging from rape and addiction to teen pregnancy and the definition of beauty, these films may have been made by teens but their subject matters are as mature as any film you will see. Check them out and be reminded how the power of film can inspire, amuse, teach, touch and heal. I tell ya, the kids these days...impress the s**t out of me!
~ Liz
(P.L.H.H.)

Blog Check: One-Two, One-Two

Well, it's my first time on the mic, oops on the blog, and all is good. We're gearing up for our first DVD and if all goes down as planned it will be hot. The DVD will be a combination of films featured on the site along with new titles not yet shown on CD. In addition, the DVD will feature some extras, including a "Cinedulce Unwrapped" with some of the filmmakers. Putting together this disk is proving not to be as easy as I thought, from picking the films, to running them through everybody, to getting the deals done, to making sure we close the production of it and deliver on time, to creating the art and on and on. This thing is a production by itself. Yet, it's something we're all excited about because it will get the films to the public's hands and give people even more of a taste of what we're about. If all goes according to plan, expect it to arrive in time for the holidays (gifts anyone?). To all who read this, thank you. I will try to start writing a bit more often and give you a gist of how we work as far as programming the site. I'll maybe even throw in some drama for good reading every now and then. My everyday adventures may not be as exciting as Liz's, but I will try to throw down some insight and food for thought. So here's to my first blog entry!
Peace
-Calixto

I Heart Comcast.

So, I just received feedback from Comcast...already! That was ridiculously fast; I just sent the proposal on Friday. Apparently, those Comcast folks are nothing if not efficient. Anyway, it turns out they want me to f/u in January with someone in the Content Acquisitions Group. They had already told me it would likely take a few months before they could meet (if interested), so I think (hope!) this is positive news. I mean, I assume the alternative to this response would be a big fat “PASS”. So, woo-hoo for Cinedulce! STAY TUNED…

Comcast, here we come!

Phew! I just finished the Comcast proposal. That's no joke. I'm telling you, if we have the opportunity to partner with Comcast...well, that would just be Super-Fantastic with a capital S and F. Plus, this is the first distribution (vs. sponsorship or marketing) proposal I've written. So, you know, it took a bit of time to finesse -- positioning the company and all that jazz. Now, I need to call Netflix (contact anyone?...) and I really want to check out Vudu. Did you read that NY Times article on 10/02? Honestly, I think the writer, David Pogue, might have literally drooled on his keyboard; he was frothing with enthusiasm. But, that's a great thing and I can appreciate a man with passion...so, rock on David.
~Liz
(P.L.H.H.)

Slow but steady...

Okay, today has been a much more relaxed day vs. the mad chaos of yesterday. You know, sometimes you just gotta sit at your desk and bust out the fundamentals - writing proposals, paying bills, organizing, etc. It's not sexy, I'll give you that, but it keeps the train rollin' along and builds the foundation that, hopefully, leads to partners and $$. On a groovier front, we're putting together our first DVD compilation (yay us!) in partnership with this great company, Indiepix (indiepix.com). We're going to make a DVD comp. for Cinedulce, incl. a variety of shorts - comedies, dramas & docs, and then a second DVD to celebrate the festival's 10th anniversary, including some past Best Short Film winners. If all goes well (fingers crossed!), we'll release the Cinedulce DVD in time for the holidays (I smell a gift for mom + dad, folks!) and then the NYILFF one in Q2 '09, to coincide with our marketing ramp-up. We're pretty psyched about the DVDs b/c we've been wanting to do something like this for a while and now is the perfect time. Anyhoo, the point is, this afternoon, I spent some time re-watching some of our Cinedulce shorts b/c we're trying to decide the right combination for this first DVD. You gotta check out the dramas "Chronicle of A Hitman", "Fireflies" and "The Wannabe". Oh, and check out the doc "Just Ralph" - it's SOOOO relevant to the current political situation...

Over and out,
L
(P.L.H.H.)

mi dia loco!

Holy smokes - total insanity today. We had a great meeting this AM with the NY Daily News, the official paper of our film festival. We're hoping to have a whole special section for the 2009 event, which would be killer. Fingers crossed! Then, we met with our financial consultant about how to adjust Cinedulce's projections to reflect some recent changes we made regarding our shorter term (5 +/- years) growth and revenue strategies (no money = no Cinedulce...ay dios!). Then, we had our weekly Cinedulce meeting. Other than basic timeline and deliverables crap, we talked about film vs. TV on the Internet (as opposed to TV on the Radio, for all of you music fans out there...;)). Pretty cool conversation. And THEN, I had a call with Kodak, another festival sponsor, about this amazing video shot and edited by Cinedulce's Content Manager and all-around creative genius, Lyndon McCray. He shot all of this behind-the-scenes footage of Nely Galan getting ready for her big event (screening of "Celia the Queen"), where Kodak Gallery and the NYILFF honored her. She had her make-up done by mark., which we also shot. For the record, she's totally cute and great. Anyway, the final video is pretty damn good, if we do say so ourselves, and we're going to load it on Cinedulce soon. So, keep an eye out!
And, on top of all of that, I just finally got out my proposal to one of Verizon Wireless' agencies b/c it would be the bee's knees to have a really strong telecom partner for the festival, but also, almost more importantly, as a wireless distribution partner for Cinedulce. Are you feelin' me??
Anyhoo, so much for things slowing down after the festival ended...
~L
P.L.H.H.