That’s right, we finally picture-wrapped this puppy (a week ago actually, but I’ve been recovering). Yes, we were the first feature-length film ever shot on the Canon 5D, but as long as it’s taken us to finish this sucker, it may as well be the last to be released! What can I say? I like to work at a leisurely pace. Truth be told, I don’t like doing anything half-assed, so I’d rather take an extra six months on the cut than shove an ok movie out the door.

We’ve come a long way on this little film of ours. Our very first cut was two hours and fifteen minutes! Now credits roll at minute 90. I couldn’t be prouder of this film, the cast, and all my collaborators, most of all editor Morgan English who did an amazing job piecing this thing together.

The movie isn’t finished, of course. Now comes the sound mix and the score, but we’re hoping to submit to Toronto this year, then Sundance and SXSW for 2011.

Check out the first draft of our poster:

Gotta get that type for the credits more readable.

Anyway, what else is going on?

Well, my wife Angelyn is now on strict bed rest finishing her own little project. Early labor set in a few days ago, so we’re trying to get Calliope to stay where she is for a week or two more. Lot’s happening in our house! Here’s a shot of Calliope from our last ultrasound (she has her mother’s nose).

Sorry again for disappearing on you, loyal fans, but I promise this wait will be worth it!

Sincerely,

Andrew

The film screens at 1:15pm, April 15, at the Muvico Baywalk 20. I’ll be on hand to answer questions about the production of the film. Please check it out if you’re in the area!

In the meantime, while we get our act together, here’s a bit of peripheral news:

As a huge fan of FOX’s House M.D., I’m excited to report that the show’s May 17th season finale was shot entirely on the Canon 5D, the same camera we used to shoot A Beautiful Belly.

Greg Yaitanes, the director of the episode, had this to say about this method of filmmaking via Twitter: “I loved it and feel it’s the future.” I couldn’t agree more!

For those of you just tuning in, ADR is the “Automatic Dialogue Replacement” process by which unusable production sound is fixed by bringing in the actors to re-record their lines in a studio. This morning we replaced approximately 42 lines with Lauren Brown, and we’re currently dubbing “the Koala Song” with Chris Worley.

If anyone has need of post-production sound work, he highly recommend LHV Audio. They’re located in the offices of Florida Film & Tape, another great company that’s helped us out in the past on other projects.

Dear fans of A BEAUTIFUL BELLY:

Over the past 30 days, you’ve had a lot to put up with in our constant — and let’s be honest, slightly unattractive! — plea for your money. We set an ambitious goal to raise $1,500 in 30 days to contribute to our post-production fund — no small task in this recession economy. These funds were essential to the success of A BEAUTIFUL BELLY, and we could not have proceeded without meeting this goal.

So how’d it go?

We surpassed it! Today we celebrate our fans, you dedicated friends, family members, and yes, absolute strangers who have seen our trailer and believed in our vision enough to reach into your pockets to help us complete this fantastic project.

This is no surprise to us. We have been the recipients of your unfathomable generosity since the beginning of this project. 24% of our budget has come from equity investors, 14% from the filmmakers’ own savings, and 62% from our fans! This is truly an audience-supported motion picture. You, as much as anyone, are the executive producers of this film, and we cannot thank you enough!

This is the end of our fund-raising. From now on, you’ll get only fun behind-the-scenes updates and other news on these pages. We’ll keep our donation button open if anyone ever feels the irresistible urge to lend a hand, but we promise we’re done with the unseemly begging! In the next couple days alone, you’ll see reports on the progress of our ADR sessions, word on the new scene we’re shooting with Chris Worley, and of course, the promised video of Michele Feren slapping John Wright. We’ll also tally the vote and announce the winner of the Adopt a Line, We’ll Upload a Scene promotion.

Once again, we want to thank everyone who contributed financially or just spread the word. We couldn’t ask for a better fan base!

Sincerely,

The Entire A BEAUTIFUL BELLY Team

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and since we must raise $175 in the next 48 hours, we’re making you a new offer. Not only will we send you an iTunes version of our trailer. Not only will we post a complete scene in April. But if you help us raise $175 by 11:59pm, Sunday, we will post a reel featuring co-star and producer John William Wright getting slapped and hit in the face with potatoes, over and over and over again. That’s right, this is a one time offer, and only you can make it happen. You know you want to see this. You know that the call of this video is an irresistible siren’s song that cannot, nay, must not be denied. By our count, we have at least 15 takes of John getting hit in the face with potatoes, and probably a dozen more of him getting slapped. We’ll give you multiple angles! Slow-motion! Set to music! But only if we raise $175 by 11:59pm, Sunday. So click the PayPal button and throw in to watch John get hit in the face for the sake of art!

Some facts and figgers:

• Since launching our latest fund-raising drive three weeks ago, we’ve raised $1,067.29 from just 35 extremely generous fans. That’s an average contribution of about $30.
• We have just $432.71 left to raise and 466 fans on Facebook. If every one of our fans gave just $1 today, we’d pass our goal. Of course, PayPal takes a little chunk of that, so it’s a lot more helpful if just 86 of our fans give $5, or 43 give $10.
• For those thinking about participating in our Adopt a Line of Dialogue, We’ll Upload a Scene promotion, there’s still time to place your vote on which scene we’ll post in April. So far “Is it okay to say ‘Jew’s Harp,’ or is that some kind of a slur?” holds a wide margin over runners up “Nothing X-rated. Just something a little racey. You know, like Top Gun,” and “Little man.”
• Every one of our new contributors will receive a link to download an iPod/iPhone support version of our trailer!
• While PayPal is a quick and easy way to contribute, you can also make a completely tax-deductible donation through the Enzian/UCF Film Graduate Production Fund, so you can feel good about a charitable contribution to local arts while getting a break on next year’s taxes! This is the perfect contribution method for those of you who still like to use checks at the grocery store.

Please make a contribution of $5 today. This film literally would not exist had it not been for the consistent financial support of its future audience, and now our fans have the chance to make a huge impact on the quality of the film’s post-production audio work. Please help us complete this work, so that it can go on to film festivals across the globe in the fall.

Thank you!

-Andrew