Spirit Awards for SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS: The Up With People Story

Woohoo! We are finalizing our application for the Spirit Awards! They are due September 14. It's so much fun to have the opportunity to file for such a prestigious award. In the scheme of things, how rare and awesome is that?! :) And the IFP already recommended SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS for a Gotham Award, so onward! Let the award season begin!

Last week we filed our "Documentary Film Entry for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences." Turns out you are not supposed to include contact information on the DVDs--it was an oversight on our part because we used the same DVD screeners we've been sending to film festivals. However an industrious fellow at the Academy volunteered to "Wite Out" that info so we didn't have to burn another 30 DVDs. Remember that stuff?? Since computers have taken over the word-processing world, I've wondered why Bic (the manufacturer) still sells "Wite Out" and what useful purpose it may have. Now I know!!! Hey, if we get short-listed for the Oscars, maybe Bic will want our endorsement?! We could certainly use the money to help pay for the life-long debt I've incurred in making SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS! Let's hope the industrious A.M.P.A.S. volunteer is also an artist. Otherwise an Academy voter might notice the Wite-Out on our DVDs and think: "Hmmmmm, another struggling documentary filmmaker!" I doubt Sony Classics or HBO would accidentally send in a marked DVD. They have bigger production budgets.

So now we wait! And attend Film Festivals. And pretend we are not waiting. But we are. All of us in that small pool of Oscar contending films are, well, waiting!! In the spirit of 6 degrees of separation, should you know someone that knows someone that knows an Academy voter, please send extra good karma for SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS and well wishes their way!

Toodles for now!