Phobia; The Debut...

Phobia – The Short debuted in NYC at the NewFilmmakers Fall 2007 Film Festival on Halloween night. We were one of eight shorts and two features to play that night. Phobia was the last short to play. In the audience were Zoe- a star of the film, Jason- a singer on the soundtrack, Larry- producer, co-writer, et al. and myself, along with a theater of strangers... and a few friends..

About seven mins into the 18 minute movie the worst thing possible happened. The DVD stopped. So did my heart. Once my heart started again, I jumped up and made my way to the projectionist- whom we had previously met. Luckily, I had a couple of additional copies of the DVD with me. However, it turned out that there was a player problem and not a DVD failure.

Once the film resumed, and my heartbeat slowed to a medically acceptable level, I sat back town. The audience laughed at the few laughing parts and jumped where they were supposed to. When the credits rolled, Phobia seemed to get the loudest applause. Larry and I stepped out to the lobby after our film, before the 1st feature played. I had on my Phobia ball cap and we both were wearing our T-shirts, we were approached by several of the audience members that told us that they loved our film. Everyone said that they could see it as a feature.

The film festival was not a Sundance level but a smaller NYC-based festival for true film lovers that runs twice per year. It was a great experience. Larry and I have been to more than a few dozen film festivals, including Sundance- but up until this point we were always the fans. This time we got to meet some people who could be our fans. Up until this point, everyone that saw a version of the film had been connected to it in some way, shape or form. It was a truly unbelievable and indescribable feeling.

Then, a few weeks later, near Christmas, I had my 1st brush with fame…

I was in line at Toys 'R Us. I had my Phobia T-shirt on. The cashier asked about Phobia. When I started to explain... He asked if there was a scary psycho clown with an ax in it? I said “Yes”. He had seen the film... Now, it is a week before Christmas and there was a long line AND I was taken by surprise, so I didn't get to ask him what he thought. However, unfortunately he would have seen a very rough cut- he saw a cut that Michael- our f/x guru had- which would have been the 1st or 2nd rough cut I believe. Either way, people are seeing and have seen the movie.

When you are passionate about something, it is quite an unbelievable feeling when strangers validate your work. You want people to like your work, but even if they hate it- you have to realize that… people are seeing your work.

Don.