MAKING OF DEAD WEIGHT DETAILS

I'm taking a few moments away from editing to talk a little bit about why Dead Weight is being released as a two-disc set. Aside from the wide array of special features, such as three commentaries, outtakes, a photo gallery displaying hundreds of Mary Manchester's gorgeous photos, extended scenes and much, much more, we will also have an extremely in-depth making of. This making of, titled 685 Miles To Wausau, will occupy the majority of the second disc. 685 Miles will take you through the entire process of making Dead Weight; from story origin, writing the script, location scouting, casting, production and all the way through post-production, and every other aspect associated with the film. We sat down with not just the cast, but also the crew, to hear the experience of making Dead Weight through their voices.

Did we forget to mention that 685 Miles is going to be three to four hours long?

See, now you understand why we need to release this as a two-disc set. The reason I say three to four hours is because I am still editing it, and will be until the last minute (our deadline to send out the DVD masters is fast approaching). Three to four hours, is that even necessary?! In our eyes, yes. It's important for us to let everyone know what this journey has been like. Not just for Adam and myself, either. There's a reason we sat down with the many members of the cast and crew, because this film is as much theirs at it is ours. Dead Weight began as an idea between two people, and as we near the official release, has blossomed into a project that took the involvement of many to bring to life. We owe it to all those who sacrificed time, talent, effort, sweat, blood, and sleep (just to name a few), and got behind this project from day one, to let their voices be heard.

As you are (hopefully) aware of, Adam and I wanted to make Dead Weight as much of an inclusive project as we possibly could. We've opened up ourselves and the film so you could follow us every step of the way. 685 Miles will now take that to a whole other level. For many of us involved, Dead Weight changed our lives. Sadly, unless you were on set, you will never fully grasp this notion. However, we hope that you'll get a better understanding of it from the 17+ hours of interviews, 5+ hours of behind the scenes footage, and photos… All coming together in a three to four hour making of.

SPOTLIGHT ON THE FAMILY: LORA BARTLETT

My mother emailed me asking if she could submit her own little story about how she was introduced to Dead Weight. She knew very little going into the script, as John and I generally had an agreement that we wouldn't be talking with anyone about the story. So here is my mother, Lora, and her own personal account of her first encounter with Dead Weight, formatted in her own little script style with very little editing on my behalf... and all extreme motherly biases untouched.

Lora may say she hates zombies, but she didn't have a problem dressing up for the Zombie Walk

My Dead Weight Beginnings

Setting: Early February 2011

              Lora's cell phone rings, she checks the ID, it's Adam,

she answers....... They exchange the usual greeting.

             Adam continues..... (continued after the break)

APPLETON POST CRESCENT INTERVIEW + WRITE UP

Many thanks to Duke Behnke over at the Post Crescent for interviewing us and doing this write up. Much appreciated! Duke has a good understanding of what the main heart and focus of Dead Weight is. The people, the energy, and the Wisconsin-based centric production. We're glad he chose to focus on those aspects when writing the article.

http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20120216/APC0503/120215107/Low-budget-thriller-filmed-Fox-Valley-ready-its-debut

DEAD WEIGHT PUBLIC PREMIERE ANNOUNCED!

The time has come, dear friends, to finally release Dead Weight to the world. This is a day that sometimes seemed would never arrive, but here we find ourselves. Not much else in life could bring us greater joy than to finally share this film with you.

For date, ticket info, and the rest of the formal press release information, including details on the DVD release that will be available at the premiere, hit the "read more" link below the trailer to view the entire blog post. We can't wait to see you there.

UPDATE FIESTA, NOW WITH DVD COVER ART!

Hey, look at that... we did it again! Two entire months without a blog update. We are terribly sorry for the lack of effort we've put forth keeping you, our treasured fans and followers, in the loop. Please forgive us for this transgression.

The amount of work we have put in over the last two months can hardly be measured by any reasonable scale. I wish we could put into reference all of the feelings John and I have experienced recently, it's nearly an impossible task. But you can bet your ass that I'm going to try anyway! So, without further ramblings of the caffeine-induced variety, I present you with the shoddily constructed and relatively inaccurate Dead Weight progress report, 2012 edition! Tons of words, photos, and maybe some videos after the break...