The Closer She Gets -- Now on Youtube

Today is my mother's birthday.
She would have been 71 years old.
It's amazing to think about that.
71 years old.
She'd be a grandma. She'd  be lively. And she'd still be proud of her boys.

But that's not how the world worked.

Instead the time has come to officially release my award-winning feature documentary "The Closer She Gets", about my mother's battle with cancer.

The movie has screened at festivals like Slamdance over the years. It has been shared on DVD with folks who asked for it, or at private screenings. And now I'm going to put it out there into the world on YouTube.

I have to admit, this has been a difficult thing for me to do. This isn't a movie you watch in pieces. Or something you casually have on in the background while you're checking email. And I've been worried that people will watch it that way. That they won't take 90 minutes of their lives to meet my Mom and understand how wonderful life and love can be. And how terrible.

I hope that you'll set aside some time to watch it. To leave your comments. To know my Mom.
She was the most amazing woman. She taught me so much. And I wouldn't be half the person I am today if not for her love and support.

So grab some kleenex, and a warm blanket, and take a journey with us... I know you'll be glad you did.

 

Please VOTE for Craig Ouellette's short film

Hi Team!

We made a short film, "T is for Truth" for the ABC's of DEATH feature film contest. If we win, our short will be included in a feature film with movies from hot, known horror directors and shown throughout the world! But the only way to do that is to get VOTES.

So if you have a couple minutes, please head to:

http://26th.theabcsofdeath.com/t-is-for-truth/

Please be sure to VOTE by clicking on the button in the upper right:
VOTE FOR THIS AS THE 26TH FILMMAKER,
and respond to the email that they send you. It's easy, fast and prevents cheats.

(Don't just "like" the film, as that won't help us win).

NOTE: There's another film with the same title, but the link above sends you to ours. Also, look for my name "Craig Ouellette", or an image of two lovely ladies in a candle lit room as the still image).

And if you love it, (or even if you don't :), feel free to help us get the votes we need by forwarding this email OR copying the url OR sharing on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr (there are easy buttons to do so at the top of the page), OR all of the above. :)

And thanks again for all the support over the years. I figure we should aim for at least 1000 votes to have a good shot at being in the top 10, which gets us to the final round.

Thank you so much!

CraigO

"T is for Truth"
Starring: Denesa Chan, Sadie Katz, Caitlin Rose Williams
Director / Writer / Producer / DP / Editor: Craig Ouellette
Production Designer / Gaffer / Boom Op / FX Makup: John Elfers

More on Straight On Till Morning's Kickstarter campaingn

Hey Team,

Thanks so much to all of you who have supported "Straight On Till Morning" so far! It's been amazing how generous everyone's been with pledges and contributions for our independent horror feature film. This past week has been particularly amazing!

But we're not there yet: We've only got until JUNE 18, FRIDAY at 11:55pm to raise the rest.
We're at $12,857 of our $18,222. And this is ALL OR NOTHING. If we don't make it, we get nothing, and you're charged nothing.

Now 12 days might seem a short time to raise another $5,000+, but it really isn't so bad at all. Every pledge from $10-$250 makes a huge difference, adds up, and makes this film more of a reality. You'll even get cool things like pre-ordered DVD's of the film, Blu-Rays, Movie posters or visits to the set depending on your level of involvement.

For more about Kickstarter, here's a video our lead actress Laurel Marlantes, and I did talking about it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTQnSQEvi1w

So if you've pledged already, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. If you've been thinking of supporting, we wanted to let you know that the deadline is fast approaching and every dollar counts. Just click the link below and it'll take you right there:

KICKSTARTER LINK: http://kck.st/cZnK3u

Thank you all, we're so excited about this movie and about having you all involved.
And for the support over the past few years.

Straight on till Morning!
CraigO
www.SOTMmovie.com

A Bloody Good Photo Shoot

So tonight we did a photo shoot for
"Straight On Till Morning". We were
shooting the poster for a movie that hasn't been made yet. The goal is to make a captivating image that we can use to drum up excitement as well as get investors interested by using it as part of the website and business kit. Hopefully the image will turn out great enough to use as the actual poster so it will become a very familiar "branding" for the film.

We shot at good old Feet First, home of many (many!) of the www.TrespassingOnTheLot.com shorts. Natalie Young was the fantastic photographer. I highly recommend her for professional images of all sorts. She's super cool and has a great eye and I can't wait to see the images. Katie Chandler and Alysha Marcoantonio did the bloody good blood. I'd never worked with them, but they came highly recommended from the Blood Queen herself. So we took a chance and they were great. And for our models we had the ever awesome Laurel Marlantes and Scott Tompkins. One to loom, the other to be beautifully bathed in blood. (Okay, we didn't get to crazy, there is romance in the movie too).

It was a new experience for me. Even though I've taken photos since I was like 9 years old, and I did professional headshots for a couple years, I've never actually done a shoot like this. Where it was all designed and planned out. It took 5 hours from set up to tear down, but I thought it was really fun. Everyone seemed in a good mood and up for the creativity.

So will it work? Will it be the image that helps drum up excitement for "Straight On Till Morning"?

We shall see -- But I feel pretty excited about it!