FEELING THE WEIGHT FOR ONE YEAR

One year ago, we held the public premiere of Dead Weight. One year ago the cast and crew reunited at the Time Community Theater in Oshkosh, WI to show the world what we all have been working on for over two years at that point. Since that time, we've been taking the film all over the country, showing it when and where we can, and meeting tons of fantastic people.

In honor of this moment, I reached out to the cast and crew to hear their thoughts about this past year, the premiere, and/or any other moment related to Dead Weight. Let's jump into it, shall we?

We came. We saw. We kicked it's ass. Congrats to Adam & John, and all those involved with Dead Weight. The progress in the last couple years has been nothing short of impressive. Beyond that, it's allowed each of us to get together at least a few times a year to pick up where we left off. My question is what comes next, and when can I sign up? I think it would be great to work with everyone again and put some more elbow grease into another project. As with all art, direction can only get better each time, and production can only become more fluid. "It's only a matter of time."

   -Jess Ader, "Drew"

It's jarring to think that we had the premiere one year ago. How can that be accurate? In many ways, it feels so much further away, like a childhood birthday or something. If it weren't for the pictures, I'd almost swear it didn't happen.

I've been trying to figure out why the premiere feels so far away. The closest conclusion I come to is that so much can (and has) happen in a year. I don't mean for the film (though it's been a busy year in that regard). I mean personal and professional life changes. In the past year, those involved with Dead Weight have gone on to new projects. Folks got engaged. Some changed professions or continued school. Some suffered great losses. Some made babies.

So maybe that's why the premiere feels like a million years ago? Maybe. It's the best I can do, in any case. Time is slippery, and for that, it's kind of a bastard.

DEAD WEIGHT ON TV, AWARDS, AND UK PREMIERE!

It's been a while, friends. Too long to be exact. How the hell are you?! We are faring well these days, almost as busy as when the film was about to premiere, just less than a year ago. So hard to believe it's almost been a year, not to mention how much we've accomplished in that year. And the fun continues!

Dear Kansas City, you rule.

Where shall we start? Last month, Adam, actors Joe Belknap and Jess Ader, and I went to Kansas City for a special screening hosted by Jill Sixx of Slaughter Movie House and Down Right Creepy. Between the incredible hosts we had (who made one hell of a tasty breakfast for us), the huge turnout for the screening forcing us to move into a larger theater, seeing old friends while making new ones, and laughing more than we probably should have, it was truly a fantastic weekend. Down Right Creepy even recorded our post-screening Q&A for those who weren't there, or those who were and want to hear us ramble once again (for whatever reason that may be).

That following Tuesday, Adam and I headed down to Madison to be guests on Wisconsin Public Television's show, Director's Cut. The morning was an absolute blast, we started out being interviewed by Doug Gordon for the episode, then popped up to WPR to sit down and chat a bit with Terry Bell. We just received word that our episode of Director's Cut will air (on WPT) Friday, May 3rd at 10pm (CST), followed by a special presentation of the film. Mark your calendars and/or set the DV-R, you don't want to miss it. Or better yet, WE don't want you to miss it!

A few days after Madison was the Green Bay Film Festival, where we were accompanied by the lovely Mary Lindberg, and her whole family as well (who are all incredible individuals). The film played really well, and the audience treated us to a really strong (and fun) Q&A afterword too. And before we returned home, we were rewarded with Runner-Up for Best Wisconsin Film in the festival. 

By luck, happenstance, or the power of Greyskull, we also have received nominations for two online awards series. First up, the Rondos. Now, for those who don't know, the Rondos are kind of a big deal. In their eleventh year, these are kind of like the online version of the horror Oscars. However, there's no Academy, only YOU, the fans. We happened to receive nomination for Best Independent Film. We are so immensely honored by this achievement, and we're up against some great titles too (not to mention a few I've been dying to see). Then, we received at total of five (!!!) nominations for the Dead Letter Awards at Mail Order Zombie. We're up for Best Actor (Joe Belknap), Actress (Mary Lindberg), Screenplay, Director, and Movie. Again, not sure how this all happened, but we are eternally grateful and appreciative. Congrats to the entire Dead Weight family!

Rondo Awards, vote here (until April 7th)! 
Dead Letter Awards, vote here (until March 18th)!

Screenings, we have some more of those coming up as well! Next weekend (March 22-24), we'll be part of the 2nd Annual Little Rock Horror Picture Show. We're still awaiting screening time, so stay tuned. And, we've been pretty damn lucky with how much we've screened in the States, but it's time for us to hop across the big pond known as the Atlantic and have our UK premiere at Sci-Fi London! Full details haven't been released yet, but the fest will be from April 30 - May 6, and looking at previous year's line-ups, we are going to be in some AMAZING company. Who knows, maybe one or two of us will be at the screening...

Us on WPT's Director's Cut, airing May 3rd at 10pm!