WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 1999

The computer should be fixed by Thursday. It seems like its been down or acting up since SXSW. Hopefully, I will be able to finish this thing in the next two weeks.

The screening has been pushed back to September 3rd. A big factor is that the Austin International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (aGLIFF) is opening up the week we had planned for the premiere (8-26-99), and we don't want Rock Opera to conflict with that.

I talked to John Pierson on Thursday, 7-1. He received the tapes and press kit that I had sent him. He watched the trailer and the "making of". He said "I watched the trailer and it looks interesting, but I'm not sure what to make of it." He went on to say that he liked the "making of" and that it was well done, but not right for Split Screen. He's supposed to call me after he watches the film.

I should know if I'm screening Rock Opera at the IFFM by Monday.

TUESDAY, JULY 20, 1999

No dice on the IFFM. At least they sent back my $400 entry fee. It only cost me a hundred bucks to get turned down (they make you join their club for a $100 before you can submit your film for another $400). What a deal!

The editing system is finally fixed and I worked all last night. Its been nearly two months since I've been in the editing room. The problem was with the hard drive that I bought for Rock Opera. One of the drives kept freezing up. Barna sent the drive back to the manufacturer and they suposedly fixed it. We couldn't access any of the information on drive 3 (of 8 total drives), so Barna sent it back again. This time they fixed it for real. Luckily, we didnāt loose any of the information on the drives and the system seems to be working better than ever.

I am real close to locking the picture. I watched the entire film last night and only saw a few things that I want to tighten up. If I can get in there three or four more times, I think Iāll be able to lock the picture this week, or by the end of the month at the latest.

Hopefully, Kurtis and I can do all the sound work the first two weeks in August (Kurtis and Tracy are expecting a baby on July 30th, and he and Dylan "Chicken" Grifith are starting their own music store/rehersal complex, so Iām sure Kurtisās time is tight). Then, just in time for the screening, we batch digitize the high quality transfer into the system, output it to tape and be done with it.

Still no word from John Pierson. I figure that either he didnāt like the film or he still hasnāt seen it. Maybe I'll give him a call tomorrow to find out. It's been a few weeks since we last talked.

I sat down with Beth Sams (the fine young woman who maintains this web site) and we designed a poster. I initially liked it a lot, but I see some problems in it. I think what Iām looking for is something of a mix between the SXSW poster that myself, Beth and Ben Davis had a hand in designing and this new poster that I made with Beth.

Here's the press release I sent out on 7-15-99:

The Austin Cinemaker Co-op presents
THE THEATRICAL WORLD PREMIERE OF ROCK OPERA AT THE ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE CINEMA, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3RD
(Austin, TX) "Rock Opera, a comedic tale of the underground Austin music scene, will have its theatrical world premiere on Friday, September 3rd at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, located at 409 Colorado Street. The event will feature two screenings: the first will begin at 7:00PM with live music from the Pocket FishRmen and the 9:30PM screening will feature Voltage. The bands will play a half hour set and the movie will follow. Guest speaker Richard Linklater will introduce the film's writer-director, Bob Ray. Immediately after the each screening there will be a short Q & A with the cast and crew. The premiere screenings kick off an open ended theatrical run.

Rock Opera is Austin filmmaker Bob Ray's debut feature Rock Opera premiered at the 1999 South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW), and according to SXSW organizers, "Rock Opera could very well be the consummate SXSW film. Never before has the underground Austin music scene been brought to such glorious, pot-reeking life [Rock Opera] possesses that delicious sense of the absurd for which so many indie films strive but very few achieve. Rock Opera could very well be the next Austin film to inherit the low-budget crown worn by Slacker and El Mariachi."

Marc Savlov of The Austin Chronicle writes, "At once sublimely accurate in its portrayal of the creepier end of the Austin music scene and scathingly hilarious, Ray's film is a spot-on quasi-parody of the day-to-day existence of struggling Austin musicians and their wayward ways."

Austin 360's Grant Tait writes, "Drugs, rock 'n' roll and a brief nod to sex (toys). Violence, guns, foul language and deadbeat slacking. All take front stage. So itās no real surprise that this flick is so bloody funny. If you're not easily offended, this definitely should be somewhere near the top of your to-view list."

Rock Opera tells the story of Toe, a local musician who struggles endlessly to put a tour together for his band. Toe will stop at nothing to achieve his goal, including betraying his friends and becoming an unwilling player in shady drug deals gone bad.

Rock Opera was shot entirely in Austin and utilizes some of Austinās most infamous bands. The score was composed by Kurtis D. Machler (local musician, composer, engineer, and producer) and 16 Deluxe and the soundtrack includes several bands that define the Austin music scene including the Pocket FishRmen, Voltage, Ed Hall, El Flaco, The Crack Pipes, Tallboy, Squat Thrust, Cherubs, the Phantom Creeps, Antebellum, Honky, El Insecto, Los Pinkeys, Horseshit Gunfire, Pong and more. Live performances by the Fuckemos, Pigpoke, Witchbanger, and the only Grammy nominated, fire breathing, non-Austin band in the film, Nashville Pussy showcase the gritty punk rock underbelly of the "live music capital of the world."

The film was shot during the hottest Texas summer ever recorded and came to life with the aid of the local film community, the Austin music scene and many clubs (the Continental Club, Ginnyās Little Longhorn, the Texas Showdown, the Bates Motel), stores (Scott's Pawn, Sugar & Spice, East 1st Laundry, Pleasureland), and homeowners around town.

The screening is sponsored by: The Austin Cinemaker Co-op, The Austin Film Society, The Austin Chronicle, Theme Park, Mike Tolleson & Associates, Inc.

TUESDAY, JULY 27, 1999

I locked the picture! Again. Now I just have to fix up the sound & dump in the good transfer & output it to tape & Iām done! I talked to the Austin Music Network and they're interested in sponsoring Rock Opera. Hopefully, they'll play the trailer. I'm going to fax them our demands tomorrow. Corri Hubbard hooked us up with Ruta Maya Coffee House for the late night party thatāll follow the second screening on Sept. 3rd and feature the Fuckemos. We're going to hit up Lone Star and/or Celis for some free beer.

Beth and I should finish the final poster design on Thursday. Then Joe Emerick of Voltage fame will help me screen print up the posters. Hopefully we can shit some out by Saturday.

Jerry has a casting appointment tomorrow for Richard Linklater's new flick.

It looks like I'll finally be able to finish cutting the Fuckemosā music video the first week of August. Barna is leaving town for three weeks and I'll have a lot of access to the editing system. Iām going to try to cut together a 30 second and a one minute trailer for the flick as well as a music video for the PigPoke song "Kane" that's featured in the movie.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 3, 1999

All right, the god damn hard drive is fucking up again. Tamas is going to try to fix the son of a bitch. Right as I was getting into cutting the Fuckemos video, the bastard froze up. This time, though, it was a different drive (or at least a different light on the outside of the box, indicating that it was a different drive). Hopefully Tamas can fix it or send it back for repairs and have it up and working before I get back from Sleazefest on August 11th (my brother Floyd's birthday).

Tamas is going to design some fancy opening credits for us.

I've been talking with 101X, the local "alternative" radio station and they have agreed to give away a bunch of tickets for the premiere and the week following in exchange for logo placement on all propaganda and allowing them to throw up a banner at the screening.

I talked to the head honcho, Rick Melchoir, over at the Austin Music Network. He;s definitely interested in the project. Weāre going to meet tomorrow and hammer out the details. The Austin Writers' League will run an interview of myself in their September newsletter (they are the non-profit umbrella of the Austin Cinemaker Co-op).

Ruta Maya Coffee House has agreed to let us have our after party at their space, only a block away from the theater. The Fuckemos are going to play if they have all their shit together by then. Guitarist Ed lives in San Fransisco, so who knows.

Brian Dare over at GSD&M has said that they are interested in helping us our, but they need to review the materiel and get back to me, maybe tomorrow.

Beth and I finished the poster design. I'm supposed to print them up tomorrow with Joe.

I sent out a bunch of e-mails asking DVD authoring companies to produce 5 DVDs for us in exchange for promotional consideration. I figure that if we're going to show Rock Opera on video, we might as well do it in a format that wont have drop-outs and thereās no risk of the machine eating the tape. Also, we can promote the fact that weāre screening on DVD and eventually do the first ever DVD theatrical exhibition tour. I got a call from a fellow named Todd Kushnir at California DVD on Monday morning and he seems like a heck of a nice guy. Heās fired up about the project and is going to make the DVDs for us. He comes from a music background as well and seems to like what Rock Opera is all about.