WE'VE BEEN BUSY!

June 5, 2007

Before we fill you in on what we've been up to, we need to let you know that "I am the 13th crew member" DGW t-shirts have been awarded to Allison Firor (Logan's co-editor) and Jarrard Cole (Logan's assistant editor). These two amazingly talented folks should have been at the top of our list and were "overlooked" only because they truly already ARE 13th crew members!!! Our film could never have been made without their tireless efforts.

Last weekend, several of us (Daniel, Tbarn, John Harmon, Sam, Ben, Collin, and Kevin) went to Colorado for the Mountainfilm Telluride Film Festival. We flew into Grand Junction late in the evening and had a 2.5 hour drive to Telluride. We weren't sure if we would make it in time for the Q&A of our one and only screening at this festival, but we walked into the theatre just as the closing credits were rolling. The place was packed, and the crowd was amazing! In the house was Tom Shadyac (Bruce Almighty, Patch Adams, Liar Liar, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, etc.) and Charlie Ebersol (Ithuteng), who both stood up and said how much they loved the film. In fact, Tom even announced that he wanted to fly Darius, his mom, and the entire crew out to Los Angeles in mid-June for the premiere of his new movie, Evan Almighty (with Steve Carrell) We are working on making that happen and will let you know if it does.

While in Telluride, we participated in the festival's "Next Step" program, which involved manning a booth and handing out Charley's Fund literature. The crowds were very receptive to our cause. Also, Tbarn and Daniel went extreme mountain biking, and Tbarn wiped out and almost went off the mountain!

This past weekend, Collin, Kevin, and John Harmon (all special education majors) went to Berkeley, California for the SuperFest International Disability Festival, where DGW won a Merit Award. The audiences there were amazing. DGW also screened at the Hoboken International Film Festival last weekend in New Jersey. Unfortunately, we got our acceptance to this festival too late to send any crew members. But we have received fan mail from audiences there who saw the film.

Right now, many of us are at the Declaration of Independence Film Festival in LONDON! Logan, Ben, Sam, Tbarn, Daniel and Andrew flew to the United Kingdom to represent DGW. Thank you Delta Airlines for the flights, and thank you Picadilly Backpackers (the coolest hostel ever) for providing us with free lodging.

The first thing we did when we arrived in London was go out for fish and chips (although Sam ordered barbecue chicken). Our first screening was a fundraising gala with proceeds split bteween Britain's Muscular Dystrophy Campaign (MDC) and Charley's Fund. This event attracted an awesome and enthusiastic crowd. The morning of the gala, we had a live radio interview on BBC Radio with the Breakfast With Joanne Show, which is huge over here. It went really well. After the gala, the MDC arranged to move us to free rooms at the Hilton for the remainder of our stay. Sweet! Today was our festival screening, which also went well.London loves DGW!

Before and in between our screenings, we've been doing a lot of sightseeing--and gotten hopelessly lost. One morning, we set out for Trafalgar Square and ended up at Buckingham Palace. We've also checked out the National Gallery, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey--plus on Sunday morning, we went to mass at St. Paul's Cathedral.

Logan brought his musical saw with him and has been playing it in Trafalgar Square. One morning, we climbed to the roof of our hostel and watched the sunrise. Later that night, we got to know some cool Swedish girls at a bagel shop, and we've been hanging out with them ever since (know about it!).

Oddly enough, while in London, we've seen some familiar faces. Ali Selim from Minnesota (who we met at the Cleveland International Film Festival) was there. His incredible film, Sweet Land, opened the Declaration of Independence Film Festival, and we'll be seeing him later this month at the Solstice Film Festival in Minneapolis. Also there was Max Ruston, who hosted us at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. And one day on the streets of London, we randomly ran into Lindsey Crouch from Oconee County! Go figure!

We're having a blast and promise to post pictures soon. Cheerio for now!

Know about it!