A Trilogy of Premieres

This week I reaped the benefits of many hours of rehearsals, filming, and ADR -- it was red-carpet time! (Although I didn't actually see any red carpets. I did walk on some gray carpet in one of the theaters. But I suspect it was already part of the floor and not spread out for me specifically.) Hatter, Animas and Snake all debuted in the last seven days. (Please note that I am not in a film called "Hatter, Animas and Snake," as marketable as that sounds. I'm just being typecast as a guy who stars in one-word titles.) These three shorts were an absolute delight to work on.

Hatter premiered to a full house at San Francisco State's Senior Thesis Undergraduate Film Festival. About a dozen of my friends showed up, and luckily it was well worth seeing. (Fewer things are more humiliating than a big turnout to a crummy film.) This was such a fun character to play and I was thrilled to see the audience's reaction. The 35mm looked gorgeous, and director Jason Michael Noel matched our ADR juuuust right.

Animas bowed in all its disturbing glory at the Stanford Student Film Festival, directed by Stephanie Adams-Santos. Even though I had seen most of the film already during our dubbing session, experiencing it on the big screen with all the sound effects and music was really frightening. (In a good way.) Sarah Catherine Bradford played my wife Nikki, and even though this is her first film, she is an absolute natural on camera. She has to carry the film and she does so brilliantly, with real depth.

Finally, the absurd comedy Snake premiered at Stanford as well, and directors Tim Gregory and Chris Sonne pulled off a wonderful short. They also produced slick posters and DVD packaging, and I'm a real sucker for a hot font.

The week was special for me because I've learned not to take premieres for granted -- so many calamities can befall a production before it ever reaches the screen. Props to these directors for staying focused.