debor009

I'm drawing up my grocery list in preparation for a day of cooking turkey, but I just saw that Shawn Christensen's film Before I Disappear is opening this week and I had to say a few words. I saw his short film Curfew , which won more than 40 film festival awards before taking the Oscar for short film in 2012. It was very funny and clever and an example of what a writer can come up with if his take on life is prefaced with "What if....?" Before I Disappear is Curfew taken to feature length. Here's the gist: "At the lowest point in his life, Ritchie gets a call from his estranged sister, asking him to look after his 11-year-old niece, Sophia, for a few hours." (The film actually opens with Ritchie in the bathtub cutting his wrists. I will say no more.) Christensen has added a few name actors to the feature, like Ron Perlman , but he still stars himself as Ritchie and has retained Fatima Ptacek as Sophie. I actually thought Ptacek was the weakest link...

The Goblin Baby , Shoshana Rosenbaum's supernatural short, premiered to a full house on September 27th at RiRa's in Georgetown. Michael Gabel , Oriana Oppice and I were among the cast who attended. Well done, Shoshana! On to the film festivals! (L to R) Actor Michael Gabel, actress Kathryn Browning, writer/director Shoshana Rosenbaum (and son), actress Oriana Oppice, and production staff Robin Noonan-Price and Victoria Buksbazen.

A post script to my note on Los Angeles below.  I was out there primarily to attend the LAWebFest, along with other members of the cast and crew of CapSouth (see photo), a WebFest official selection and the political comedy in which I play Congresswoman Gracie Todd Englewright. Well CapSouth took home no prizes from the WebFest, but at the Indie Series Awards last night at the El Portal Theater in L.A., writers #RobRaffety, #AndrewHeaton, and #SatyaThallam took home the prize for "Best Comedy Writing."  Well deserved and well done Guys! Rob had L.A. actor Mike Moser on hand to accept.  Rob texted everyone at 1 a.m. and was absolutely beside himself, especially since the competition included Hollywood pros and a writer/producer for Buffy the Vampire Slayer!  Here's a clip of the ISA award announcement.  By the way, rumor has it that Sat'ya Thall'am is changing his name to John Smith.  Hah! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8jHWlGsluM&feature=share...

News just in that Rob Raffety's political comedy series CapSouth  - which was shot over the summer with me in the role of Congresswoman Gracie Todd Englewright - has been named an official selection at this year's LAWeb Fest !  Naturally I'll be heading out to Los Angeles for the festivities and to connect with film industry friends in the area. The LAWebFest is the world oldest and largest web series festival in the world. Last year saw entries from 33 states and 19 foreign countries. Workshops, networking, lots of good times. The New Year is already looking up.