A big blog on the Big Apple…

August 29, 2011

One day later than expected, Andrew and I are flying home from New York City following the East Coast premiere of “The Power of Two.” You probably all saw on the news that Hurricane Irene came as a surprise visitor to all of us. My prayers and thoughts go out to all the people who have suffered from injury, home damage, and financial insult.

Fortunately, Andrew and I were able to enjoy two stable days in NYC. We arrived on Wednesday night, 8-24-11, and made our way to Murray Hill in Manhattan, where we were staying with a generous 85 year old mother of a friend. She offered us a king size bed in a very expansive apartment like no other that we’ve ever stayed in in NYC. Andrew and I changed and head out to see Andrew’s favorite Broadway musical, “Anything Goes” for his birthday celebration. Though Sutton Foster wasn’t performing, the understudy Tami Kelly was absolutely phenomenal. The tap dance numbers made me want to dance!

The next day, Thursday, Andrew and I spent most of the day on the 43rd floor of the Times Square Building, at his office, just working on our laptops. This film is the source of a tremendous amount of work involving details of which most are unaware. We are having two screenings in San Francisco and Washington DC that we’re planning from scratch, which involves ticket sales, catering, recruitment, volunteer management, creation of and printing of the programs, parking lot rental, hiring of PR agents and coordinators, press releases, grant applications, website updating, coordinating with non-profit community partners, etc. Andrew has been the mastermind of all of this. My major task has been to invite everyone I know personally to attend the film events. I also continue to apply to film festivals.

To be honest, whenever one is invested in a major creative project of the scope like this film, it can become all-consuming and my view of the world and others becomes very myopic. I admit that. I know people have their own lives and have so many things going on. The film is a huge ordeal to Andrew, Ana, Marc and me but not necessarily to others. So, naturally, not everyone is going to be able to attend a screening and that’s perfectly understandable. I don’t mean to sound totally self-absorbed here. But, making a film is a big deal. If any of my friends created a film, I would certainly go out of my way to support them. To be really honest, in this process you realize who your real friends are. Those who respond to our personal invitations, explain their excitement, or their regrets that they have a conflict, are truly appreciated and wonderful. It’s surprising how many people completely ignore our invitations or don’t say a word about the film. What a view into human courtesy this effort offers. People we expect to be supportive aren’t, and people we never expect to be supportive are! It is really interesting. That being said, I am truly grateful for the many people who write a brief email or call saying how excited they are for us. Thank you to everyone who bought tickets or has/will attend a screening!!!! There are people who travel great distances to see the film- thank you! And we are so grateful for those people who donated to this project to make it happen. This project is a reflection of an entire community’s effort.

Back to New York, we were able to enjoy intimate meals with some very dear friends like Ann K., Chris C., Joel D., Harry K., Jostelo G., Nicholas and Laura, Ted L., Andrea E. and Steve, and Jerry C.. I still cannot believe how expensive NYC is. I’m not used to spending over $50 per person for dinner. If I order an entrée, why should I pay extra for some pasta or vegetables, if the main dish of fish or chicken is already $25??? Oy vey. Maybe I’m just a cheap mo fo.

Okay, then came Friday. We spent the morning at the office again. My sister Ana finally decided to go on disability (I’ll let her write her blog about her events of the week) and I had a 79 page application to fill out for her. It seems cruel to have someone in critical condition required to go through that kind of paperwork! But by 3pm we head to the IFC Center to catch a few friends coming out of the first screening of “The Power of Two.” My friend from Packard Children’s Hospital was there, visiting his brother, and we enjoyed a great time afterwards having a snack at a restaurant. We also met Harry, from the transplant games, who donated a kidney and a portion of his liver to two recipients. What a hero! Both offered very positive comments about the film.

Then came the 7:30 screening, which was amazingly… sold out! I feel bad for whoever tried to get in, as I heard they had to turn people away! Marc Smolowitz joined us from San Francisco, as did our Director of Photography, Nicholas Rossi and his warm girlfriend Laura. After the film, we had a dynamic question and answer period, and then we head to a great Cuban dinner.

The next day, Saturday, was more of the same, but the storm was coming. Andrew and I bought water and groceries nearby before heading out to the theater again. We saw a different film (“The Mexican Suitcase”- very well done) during the 12PM screening of “The Power Of Two,” since you can only watch the same movie so many times! Afterwards, we spoke to a few friends in the lobby, and then the theater closed. The streets were starting to become abandoned. There was a dreary darkness, and a nervousness you could feel among passerbyers. Andrew and I had a quick meal on our long walk back to Murray Hill. This was our date night! It is so precious to work on a project together, and despite plenty of bickering, we still adore each other. The winds and rains picked up, and I struggled to hold an umbrella while scooting in my knee scooter for 20 blocks.

On Saturday night we braced ourselves for the big storm. The news made this scarier than it was. We went to bed early while listening to the howling rain outside. Then, Sunday morning arrived.

For us, Irene was more of an inconvenience. With the subways shut down, the attendance at our screenings was lower than expected throughout the weekend. Sunday came with cloudy skies and light drizzles. That was it! So much for a lot of hype. But thank God the city was as prepared as could be. We spent the morning relaxing and talking to our hostess Joan P. about her history and life, sharing and learning from each other. It was wonderful to slow down, relax and chill. Such a rarity these days, and maybe this was the purpose of Irene for many in NYC.

Because of the mild weather, Andrew and I head out again in the afternoon. We met Marc at the theater and went to see another film called “Phumh Phem Lullaby” (sic) which was dark, depressing and about one family’s life among Cambodia’s sex, drugs, poverty and crime. Wow, now that’s a documentary.

Mercifully, we left the film early to make it to our Q & A, and again we had a small but inquisitive group of viewers who arrived by car or taxi (subways were still down). Many friends were very disappointed they couldn’t come because of lack of transportation. Even our DP Nicholas walked 5 miles to join on Sunday! We met some new Stanford/Japanese friends and spent the evening having dinner with them (my 3rd Italian meal in a row!) and getting to know these new friends.

Monday came quickly, and it was more of the same: a slow, long morning on our laptops, rushing to near the theater around 3pm to meet friends for snack, then hanging out to greet people who came out of the 5pm screening. This time Andrew and I met our friends from the CF community for dinner at a lovely outdoor restaurant. Andrea had just arrived from Ireland and managed to be strong enough for socializing! That’s dedication!

My dear friend Alanah from NJ still couldn’t get to the theater ☹, so hopefully film attendance will pick up Tuesday-Thursday. We will see. All of the films suffered due to the storm. But such is life. Like Ana and her bowel blockage, some things are out of our control. We can moan and groan but it won’t change anything. I remind myself to keep things in perspective… as long as we and others are safe, attendance to a film is so unimportant! (Though DocuWeeks looks at attendance for distribution and financial reimbursement reasons).

I head home now, feeling grateful to all our friends and supporters who went out of their way to see the film! We are grateful to Boomer Esiason Foundation, Jerry Cahill, Andrea Eisenman, TRIO, and New York Organ Donor Network for spreading the word of the film. When I get home I’m most looking forward to seeing Ana who was discharged and drove home late with Trent on Monday night. Andrew and I managed to squeeze onto the same 6am direct flight, which is another blessing (though he’s in first class and I’m in economy). My foot is slowly getting stronger and I can walk more and more since the doctor gave me the OK last Tuesday. There are so many things to thank God for. Life is really blessed.

Thank you for your support, and for your interest in our blog. I wish you rest, safety and no more hurricanes!

Love,
Isa

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