New Site

As you’ve probably noticed, we just moved Phasmamovie.com over to a new host.  Please head on over and check it out!

For Our Friends in NYC

Well, we’re headed back to New York tomorrow to have some fun at Independent Film Week and there’s a few events we’d love to see you at.

The first is an outdoor screening of our trailer.  It goes down Sunday night at 8:30 in Brooklyn.  See the below image for more info.

The second is the annual Minnesota Film Board Icepack party.  The fun begins Monday evening at 5:30 at The Vig in Nolita.  Show up and tell us we all have accents like Marge Gunderson – it’ll be fun.

The Shoes Worked

“But it wasn’t a dream. It was a place. And you and you and you…and you were there. But you couldn’t have been could you? No, Aunt Em, this was a real truly live place and I remember some of it wasn’t very nice, but most of it was beautiful–but just the same all I kept saying to everybody was “I want to go home,” and they sent me home! Doesn’t anybody believe me? But anyway, Toto, we’re home! Home. And this is my room, and you’re all here and I’m not going to leave here ever, ever again. Because I LOVE YOU ALL. And… Oh Auntie Em! There’s no place like home!”

 

Back to NYC

Monday, August 10, 2009 (New York, NY) – IFP, the nation’s oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers, announced today the line-up of its Project Forum of the 31^st Annual Independent Film Week taking place in NYC September 19-24. 

A total of 116 projects have been invited to the Project Forum. Acceptance is by invitation only, and free of charge to filmmakers. All projects are accepted based on artistic merit.  Projects participate in one of three sections: Emerging Narrative (for first-time feature directors currently in post seeking representation, completion funding, and festival invitations), No Borders International Co-Production Market, and Spotlight on Documentaries.

Emerging Narrative

PHASMA EX MACHINA, directed by Matt Osterman, produced by Jennifer Kramer

AU PAIR, KANSAS, written and directed by JT O’Neal, produced by Joan Jerkovich, Catherine A. McCabe & JT O’Neal, starring Traci Lords (ZACK & MIRI MAKE A PORNO, CRYBABY) and Spencer Daniels (THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON)

CITY ON A HILL, directorial debut of actress Amy Seimetz (ALEXANDER THE LAST, WRISTCUTTERS: A LOVE STORY), executive produced by Justin Barber (MEDICINE FOR MELENCHOLY)

THE IMPERIALISTS ARE STILL ALIVE!, written and directed by Zeina Durra, produced Vanessa Hope, starring Élodie Bouchez (THE DREAMLIFE OF ANGELS; SORRY, HATERS)

THE MYTH OF TIME, directed Miller “Jaguar X” Koepenick and produced by Scorpion Hernandez

PERFECTION, the debut feature from actresses Christina Beck (SUBURBIA) and Annette Murphy (STAR MAPS)

POSTALES, directed by Josh Hyde, produced by Claire Connelly, Dan Fischer, Maxim Holland and PJ Fishwick

STRANGER THINGS, directed and produced by Ron Eyal & Eleanor Burke (Filmmaker Magazine 2009 “25 New Faces”)

THE TESTED, directed by Russell Costanzo, produced by Melissa B. Miller, staring Aunjanue Ellis (“True Blood”), Nathan Corbett (“The Wire”), Tobias Truvillion (BROOKLYN’S FINEST) and Armando Riesco (CHE)

WANDERLOST, directed and produced by David Kabler, produced by Dan Judson and Mitch Rumfelt

Read more here.

Poland Hearts Phasma

A very cool Polish movie site, opium.org.pl,  just posted a fun interview they did with me last week.

Here’s a bit:

Does the PHASMA EX MACHINA story have any reflection in your own convictions? Do you believe that there is something highly spiritual/metaphysical in high technology?

Absolutely, but maybe in a different way. I read a great quote the other day.  It was something like, “humans are a clever bunch, but our cleverness is far outstripping our intelligence.”  I took this to mean that humanity has the ability to create world-changing technology, yet we may be too stupid to understand the implications of doing so.  Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease.  As an example, the main character in the movie, Cody, creates this device to make up for his past mistakes.  In his attempt to create the machine, he neglects the people around him and ultimately makes his situation even worse.

We live in an interesting world that is going to be increasingly so in the coming decades.  A really smart guy named Ray Kurzweil predicts that computers will outperform human intelligence as early as 2050.  Once computers are allowed to improve their own source code, all bets are off.  I don’t want to get too philosophical, but the lines between technology and spirituality are beginning to blur.  At some point, science may indeed be the key that answers all our big questions about life, death, and god.

Check out the rest of the english version or click here to read the translated version for all you Polish speakers out there.

Back From the Lab

We’re back and we’re exhausted…

An entire week of workshops, parties, panels, and subway hopping will do that to a person.  We couldn’t be happier and more proud of how the experience turned out.  A huge thanks to Amy, Scott, Gretchen, Rose, Iyabo, Lee, Lance, Alan, and all the other IFP mentors and workshop leaders.  In addition, I’d also like to send out a huge thanks to all the other filmmakers who made the week a fun and unforgettable experience.

I Like New York in June

Wow.  We’re having a complete blast in NYC.  The Lab has been a phenomenal experience thus far and the feedback has been extremely validating and illuminating. 

Our fellow filmmakers are all very cool folk and their respective films are as amazing as they are unique. It’s hard to share any significant developments or epiphanies we’ve had at this point, but I know once we return we’ll have quite the to-do list.  So long for now!

A Nice One

The Minnesota Film Board just posted a complimentary article/interview about the film and our acceptance into the Lab.

Here’s a bit:

Acceptance into the program is just one achievement out of several that point to the fact that the film is headed for great things. Osterman was one of seven nominees for the McKnight Fellowship for Screenwriters last year for the Phasma script. And when they put the trailer online back in March, they had websites all over the world talking about it and sharing the video within two days. They experienced a tremendous rush of interest; festivals and sales agents swamped them with requests for the film. But Osterman, speaking like a true Minnesotan, warns that no one has seen the finished product yet so it may all be a moot point. “I think everyone got excited because they saw a spooky flick that didn’t fall back on cheap gags and or talk down to them,” he said. “I’ve found there’s a big subset of movie fans who abhor things like the Saw franchise and are desperate for smart supernatural fare.  It seems most people pinned the trailer as a Primer-meets-The Six Sense.  I’d say that’s pretty close to accurate in the most obvious way.”

You can read the entire article here.

And don’t forget to bookmark their MNdialog website.  It’s always a great source of local and national film news/opinion.

More Media Mentions

Phasma just got a few more write-ups in the trades and some other film-centered websites. Most of them are just re-purposing  the IFP press release, but it’s pretty cool none-the-less.

Variety
Hollywood Reporter
IndieWire
ScreenDaily
Filmmaker Magazine

I’ll continue to add to this list on this post if more press comes in.

2009 IFP Narrative Lab Fellows

IFP just announced the fellows for their 2009 lab.  We’re extremely lucky to be one of them:

Au Pair Kansas 

Director: JT O’Neal
Producers: Joan Jerkovich, Catherine A. McCabe & JT O’Neal 
Editor: Brad Roszell

Helen, recently widowed, hires Oddmund, a fun-loving Norwegian soccer player, to work as a male au pair in a small town in Kansas and help raise her two boys and work on their bison farm. Featuring Tracy Lords (Zack & Miri Make a Porno, Crybaby) and Spencer Daniels (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button).

City on a Hill

Director: Amy Seimetz
Producer: Justin Barber
Editor: Adele Romanski

Present and past begin to merge when Paul finds out his old fling and quasi-revolutionary partner committed suicide. From the producers of Medicine for Melancholy, City on a Hill marks the directorial debut of actress Amy Seimetz (Alexander the Last, Wristcutters: A Love Story).

Phasma Ex Machina 

Director: Matt Osterman 
Producer: Jennifer Kramer
Editor: Matt Osterman 

A young man tasked with raising his brother after the death of their parents invents a machine intended to be a conduit to the supernatural.