Strike Up The Band!

Sending the rough cut of the movie off to a few spring film festival programmers for their review was a much more surreal experience than I thought it would be...and personally hand-carrying the DVD copy of the film to the Sarasota Film Festival folks was an especially anxious moment. It was like dropping off my only son to his first day of school hoping he'd be accepted as a good kid by everyone and that he'd do OK. I know that competition is fierce on the film festival circuit but I'm hopeful that Beautiful Noise will be embraced and be able to compete in a lot of great fests...starting with a hopeful world premiere right here on the Suncoast come April...

My co-producers Ralph Barnette & Marc Alcorn and a small group of insiders now dive into the final weeks of postproduction with me to shape the final product. We've decided to shoot three new short scenes that will enhance the Storytelling...so Jay, Danielle and Kimber will be back in town soon for a couple of days of filming. Meanwhile, I'll be working closely with my Soundtrack co-producers to wrap up the loose ends on the Music side of things, including the incidental music that sometimes makes all the difference in the overall tone of a film. It's those little guitar or piano or string pieces that often consist of just a few short notes that I pay close attention to when I watch a movie these days. Oftentimes they're a variation on the melody of the primary song in a film, heard ever so lightly in the background...other times they're orchestral stingers that bring attention to a dramatic moment. I really love this part of the process. It's this kind of attention to detail that can make or break a film...and it's an area I'm very focused on. To assist the effort to complete the Soundtrack I've brought in two terrific Sarasota-based musicians: Dean Johanesen & Abe Feder. Dean is a dynamic singer/songwriter I found late in the BN production process who has proven to be an invaluable musical resource. Dean has 2 songs in the current film and will be working with me, in addition to other noteworthy songwriters, to develop the Soundtracks for the prequel and sequel I'm filming later this year. Abe is a heralded member of the Sarasota Orchestra and is featured on 2 of the most important songs in the movie. His understated cello performance on "Lonely Hearts" lifts that duet to new heights - and when you hear his beautiful, haunting instrument come into play at a strikingly emotional point later in the film it will send chills down your spine and a tear to your eye. Abe is creating parts for a string quartet and brass section to perform under his direction on several key songs. His addition to the BN Soundtrack Team is a watershed moment for us.

Hey! We may be a low budget indie Musical...but we're gonna deliver a high quality Film & Soundtrack thanks to great artists like Dean & Abe and all the other talented local musicians who've joined together to help us deliver Beautiful Noise.

Steve