Sunday, April 9, 2000

So I’m thinking of shooting some pick ups that we never shot and cutting them into the film. Things like Paco stuffing Ned into his van after beating him down, Stu arriving at the PigPoke house with the Whip-Its, maybe Ross finding the PigPoke sticker at the car wash too? And if I decide to do this, I might as well tighten up some of the loose spots, right? I’m still weighing the possibilities at this point.

In the mean time, I’m planning on shooting a three-part short film. The working title is Trilogy of Shit, but there’s really no shit in the flick, so I think it’ll change.

SATURDAY, April 29, 2000

Everyone’s down for shooting pick-ups. It looks like we could shoot it late in May. That gives everyone enough time to grow out facial hair to match the look.

Matt O’Rourke from the MTV2 gig suggested that I send the Rock Opera goods to Jessica Hopper at Hyper PR. So I do.

The No Dance guys pointed out Jeff "The Dude" Dowd to Jerry while at the Nashville Pussy show at Stubbs back during SXSW. Jerry chewed his ear for a while. A few weeks later Jerry calls him up and his assistant, Micheal Peterson agreed to view the film. So I sent the stuff. No word yet.

There is some confusion about the Cannes Market screening time. Everything is still up in the air.

So, Landmark Theaters can’t screen Rock Opera at the Dobie in the prime time slot because it has already been screened in Austin. So now I’m dealing with the midnight booking lady, Audra Freeman. Audra and I have talked a few times and she recently left a message on my machine saying that she liked Rock Opera and thought it was funny, but she believes that it is "too rowdy and encourages bad behavior" and might not be appropriate for a midnight screening.

Sunday, May 07, 2000

Jessica Hopper at Hyper has agreed to help us out in the publicity realm. So I sent her a bunch of tapes and press kits and CDs and shit.

So I talked to Audra at Landmark and told her that there was never a problem with rowdiness at the Alamo (where they serve beer) and that Rock Opera premiered at the Dobie. I had a counter for all hang ups about the screening. I think I may have convinced her. I also talked to Scott Dinger, the previous owner of the Dobie, and he said that he would go to bat for Rock Opera and talk to Audra about the screening. I’ll call her when I get back from Cannes.

Speaking of Cannes, we leave on Wednesday. The official Market screening has fallen through the cracks, but Jim has locked down a screening venue for Rock Opera and all the other No Dance films.

NODANCE.COM AT CANNES

"I have a pretty good grasp on a few French phrases: coup d'état

(I learned that from Les Circle Jerks), menages de trois, and from

the "Lady Marmalade" disco song, Voulez vous coucher avec

moi, ce soir?" That's Bob Ray, director of the celebrated Austin

indie Rock Opera, on the linguistic logistics of his upcoming trip

to the Cannes Film Festival mid-May. Yes, you heard that right:

The quintessential Austin dopin' and dealin' dramarama is off to the

land of topless supermodels and $1,200 hotel rooms as part of

NoDance 2000's touring film festival. What this means for the

girls of the Elite Modeling Agency I shudder to think, though

certainly the band PigPoke can expect some, uh, action to come

their way. The most famous film festival/market in the world runs

from May 10-21 this year, so Ray and company still have a month

or so to clean up their language (Bob, it's menage a trois, not

menages de trois -- you've really got to be careful with that one)

and decide whether to invest in some Jerry Lewis masks to

impress the locals. "I need one of those old Loco Gringos

T-shirts that boasts 'Fuck you, we're from Texas!' and my

wardrobe will be complete," adds Ray. More details on what

promises to be a very interesting trip abroad as the festival nears...

---Austin Chronicle's Short Cuts by Marc Savlov

Thursday, May 11, 2000

Nicole and I arrived in Marsailles and picked up our car. We drove into a town called Aix. There are babes everywhere. The town is beautiful. We changed some of our cash into French francs and bought some cheese from a cheese shop

We got back in the car and drove toward Cannes. The drive was great. Everyone drives like it’s some sort of crazy video game. We drove through Cannes and finally decided to head to Mougins and find our hotel.

We found our hotel with no trouble and crashed the fuck out.

Friday, May 12, 2000

We made our way down to Cannes and wet up with NoDance.com’s Jim Boyd and Will Hartman at the American Pavilion. I ran into SXSW program director Angela Lee while I was there. Small world.

We bailed from the Pavilion and headed to the NoDance.com HQ. We got our badges and books and bags and all the other registration crap.

We met up with the "Show Me the Aliens" guys. Soon after, Echo and Ali, the remaining NoDance.com crew, showed up, and we all decided to head down to the Atom Films Party. We caught a shuttle around the corner from the NoDance HQ. The driver was some sort of methed-up NASCAR wannabe. He tore ass through the tiny streets like a bat out of hell.

The Atom Films party up in the hills was pretty sweet. Free booze and grub. I hung out with the guys from "Show Me the Aliens" and got drunk. There was no shuttle ride back, so about thirty people were all fighting over the random cab that would show up every half-hour.

One showed up and both Nicole and I manage to get into it, but not without a near fight. Some guy got all pushy with me, but he backed off. We arrived back down in Cannes at around 4:30 AM, Nicole and I were walking down the street and some frog grabs her and says some smart-ass sounding thing. So I smack the guy and again, a near fight and lots of shit talking that goes nowhere.

Saturday, May 13, 2000

We have no clock, so consequently, we slept until 4 PM. I wandered around the Riviera building and met some film folks. I talked to the ReelPlay.com people and ended up at their party.

Nicole and I wonder around the Carlton Hotel and we run into Trent Haaga of Troma fame. He invites me to the Troma party tomorrow night and we briefly shoot the shit before he has to bail and go on a Troma parade.

Nicole and I go down to a restaurant and got loaded with NoDance.com crew and the "Show Me the Aliens" guys.

Packed it in early (2 AM).

Sunday, May 14, 2000

Woke up early and took a drive through the countryside. We went to Grasse and just checked shit out. It was pretty freaking cool.

I made it back to the main strip and wandered from hotel to hotel trying to meet with distributors and shit. I talked to some distributors, including Eamon Bowles of The Shooting Gallery. It seems that the best thing for me to do is just introduce myself to these industry folks and let them know about Rock Opera and all that crap, and when we have an LA screening, we’ll invite them down. They’re all too busy trying to unload their flicks on foreign distribs to come down to the screening.

I took a break from business and hung out on the beach admiring all the naked boobies.

After dark, we end up at the Troma party. Trent gets us in and we do more shit shooting and what not. Drink more booze and take in the Troma spectacle of costumed freaks, un-costumed freaks, naked girls and tons of cameras and lights to record the mayhem.

Monday, May 15, 2000

We had the Rock Opera screening today. The turnout was pretty good. No walk outs and lots of laughter. They even hung out til the credits finished. I don’t know of any industry folk at the screening, but I wasn’t trying to pressure them into going anyway, so what do ya expect?

Hung out with all the NoDance.com folks and Bob Leddy Jr., directors of "A Clockwork Maury," in the super-ritzy coastal town that Bob’s staying in called Juan Les Pins. We had all sorts of freaky drinks and did lots of the gum flapping and the like.

Tuesday, May 16, 2000

Relaxed today. Then we went down to the No Dance HQ and saw "Show Me the Aliens." It’s a pretty damn funny flick. Maybe a bit or two too long, but funny.

Went to an Italian restaurant and ate and drank. Bad ass food.

I ended up smoking some hash. A pal of mine bought some from a street vender that was hawking, of all things, bongs and pipes. Needless to say, we got stoned.

Stoned, we ended up milling around La Croissette and just checking shit out.

Wednesday, May 17, 2000

Went down to NoDance and ran into Will Keenan, star of the film "Waiting." We met up in Park City. Somehow or another, I ended up smoking a joint out front.

Jim Boyd and the NoDance.com did a fantastic job of setting up the screenings. All of them were well attended and well received.

I shit talked my way into the Slamdance party, using my SXSW Programmer status on Dan Mirvish. Hung out with Will Hartman, and then Jim, Ali and Echo.

After we left the party, we ended up as part of Dennis Rodman’s entourage and hung out at the Carlton drinking Cristal & Dom Perignon. Here’s what ran in the Austin Chronicle:

"Tell Ariana you saved my life,"says Steven Freidlander.

Thursday, May 18, 2000

Checked out of the hotel in Mougins. Nicole and I had lunch w/ Jim, drew, and Echo. As we were about to bail out of Cannes and head for Marsailles (to turn in the car and gear up for our 6AM flight), we changed our mind and decided to stay in Cannes.

I snuck into a Kodak party and had drinks with a French guy named Oliver that I met at the NoDance.com screening. I saw Ariana Bocco (Acquisitions at New Line/Fine Line) and told her about how I saved her boss’s life during the French brawl.

We met back up with NoDance.com crew and had more drinks

Friday, May 19, 2000

So we leave at 3 AM and drive all night to Marsailles. The car rental folks told us we had to turn in the car with no gas, and we did just that. We damn near ran out of gas in the process. We ended up driving in reverse and the wrong way down a one way street on fumes alone.

We flew into Paris and the plane wing was held together with duct tape, no shit. Duct tape.

So we finally get to Houston and our flight is delayed. So we sat on the plane for an hour and a half before we even left the gate. Then we sat for another three hours on the runway, waiting for clearance to depart. Then we went back to the gate. The flight was cancelled. Got the run around by the Continental Airlines folks. They wouldn’t tell us what was happening. We were told by a baggage guy to go find our luggage on one of the fourteen carousels. And stand in line for a few hours to find out what they were going to do with us. Endless run around. They suck serious ass.

Finally, we are told that we can get another flight on Sunday. We could’ve driven home twice in the time we spent sitting on the plane. We ultimately get one of the last rental cars available and drive through about a half a mile of foot-deep flood water. Got home at 4 AM and slept for a few days.

Allow me to depart on a high note. Cannes is awesome. It’s truly one of the most beautiful places that I’ve ever been. In general, the people were very nice and the trip was well worth repeating. If ever you get the chance to check out the spectacle, jump at the chance. Start by submitting your film to No Dance, and who knows, maybe you’ll be there next year.