Craftmaster Independent

We're happy to announce that The Bicyclists has been chosen to screen at The Columbia Gorge International Film Festival

The festival takes place August 18-22, 2010 in the downtown Hilton in Vancouver, Washington. The Bicyclists will screen on Friday, August 20th at 8pm. It sounds like they'll be plenty of other local filmmakers around and the screening quality looks to be top-notch.

Another film we worked on "Shaniko" with the illustrious Melissa Goad, aka Lissa Valentine, was accepted to screen at the festival also.

I think this calls for a group bike ride across the river to watch them both.

We're happy to announce that The Bicyclists will screen as part of BikeFilmFest. It is one of many activities at the 11th Annual Pioneer Valley Bike Commute Week in Amherst,Massachusetts.

The photo used to illustrate the festival in The Valley Advocate's Cinema Dope by Jack Brown is perfect, but of course I'm biased in the favor bicyclists sporting mustaches, angel wings, fishnets and boas. (Not all at once of course, but to each his own.)

If you know of, sponsor or have an event that benefits your community or a non-profit in your area and you'd like show The Bicyclists as a part of a fundraiser or the festivities please drop us a line we'd love to talk. We can provide a copy of the film, posters, and help coordinate with the venue whether it's a theater, bar, coffee shop or outdoor venue.

We are very proud of The Bicyclists soundtrack. It took a lot of earwork to get songs that backed up the storyline, sounded cohesive and were within our reach budget wise. I asked friends for suggestions, watched bands and scoured the internet for appropriate tracks.

After a month of searching I started cutting scenes to different music tracks until just the right track was found. Each piece of music I tried added to the film in ways that I couldn't have predicted when I wrote the script and while several tracks might work for a given scene, in the end only one track would stand out as spot on.

The test edits helped us focus on several bands and musicians like Laura Viers, The Spokes, Buoy LaRue, The Little Sue Band, Morgan Grace, Teri Untalan and Phillip Roebuck. They were mostly “local” musicians, had a sound that fit within the scene and still, while different in style, felt part of a whole.

Morgan Grace - Photo by Jim Aldred

Morgan Grace's name and work quickly popped up to the top of the list. In fact I had a hard time picking which song of hers I wanted to use, because there seemed to be albums full of music that would work for The Bicyclists. Ultimately “The Rules of Dating” made it into the soundtrack for its happy tone that masks the insecurity of the singer about relationships much like the film's character Steve Jones.

Elle Poindexter as Steve Jones

Now its sweet payback time for Craftmaster Independent. We inked a deal with Morgan Grace to create a music video for her new song, “Vampire Love”, it will be on her next album due out in late June. Check out Morgan Grace's Morgan Grace's facebook page and become a fan like me.

The Indie Spirit Cocktail Menu from The Red Martini in Colorado Springs. The Bicyclists: red wine, brandy,lemon juice, sugar, orange, berries, apple, soda. Served in Collins with ice.

The Bicyclists had its best audience ever at its first sold out show on Saturday April 24, 2010 at The Indie Spirit Film Festival in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Only a handful of showings sold out at the fest.) The audience laughed at every joke and was moved by the dramatic moments. We also met with some local community bike leaders after the screening to talk bikes, bike riding and beer.

The Sunday screening had a very good showing and the audience was enthusiastic. The Q&A at the end was lively and it was fun to speak with an engaged audience that asked thoughtful questions. It was an oasis of encouragement in the business of independent film that keeps filmmakers making films.

The Indie Spirit Film Festival organizers and volunteers took good care of all the filmmakers and made the whole weekend enjoyable. They had hung posters all over the festival and at several bike shops throughout the town. The projection in the theaters was spot on and the sound blasting - having a drink named after the film was kind of cool and tasty.