Posted by Paul Devlin:
Wammo is the multi-talented front man for one of America’s most distinctive bands, The Asylum Street Spankers.
Wammo was also featured in our film SlamNation. He visits often when he’s in New York City and offered to write a theme song for the movie, BLAST! while it was still in post-production. The result is this charming, exclusive performance edited by Rina Svet in her early days with DevlinPix.
Posted by Paul Devlin:
Could we have ever guessed at the start of this project that it would culminate with my astrophysicist brother appearing on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report? My science adventure movie, BLAST! was very popular internationally. It screened on television all across Europe, Japan, Canada, even had a weekend of global broadcasts that reached 120 countries on BBC World News.
But the United States is the toughest market for independent filmmakers and BLAST! received a lot of resistance from both film festivals and broadcasters in the U.S. – even though the movie was a suspenseful story by an American filmmaker about an American scientist. Was it because of too much science? Too little science? Too much religious discussion? No “Voice-of-God” narrator? Too personal – breaking convention by examining scientist’s family sacrifices? Who knows? But the traditional gatekeepers kept BLAST! from a national broadcast in the U.S.
That didn’t stop my brother and me. We knew there was an enthusiastic American audience we needed to reach. So, we went around the gatekeepers, distributed to regional PBS stations and found other important allies. These included Leonard Lopate of WNYC Radio, Ira Flatow of NPR’s Science Friday, and Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report. We reached the nation despite it all – the Colbert Nation, that is.
Sometimes it’s about the quality of the people who get your work, not the quantity. Colbert almost never shows movie clips, so I consider it a personal triumph that he showed a clip of BLAST!
Posted by Paul Devlin:
One of the amazing things about the shoestring movies made by independent filmmakers, is the disproportionally vast reach and impact they can have.
BBC World News is available in over 120 countries. Impossible to collect ratings information but based on surveys, they claim an overall viewership of 70 million per week across the planet.
After BBC World started acquiring independent films from BBC’s Storyville strand, both Power Trip and BLAST! had what amounts to GLOBAL broadcasts on the channel, 4 screenings over a weekend.
When they also invited me to do this interview for the news program Weekend World I jumped at the chance to reach that many people.
Posted by Rina Svet:
Thank you so much everyone for your recent support of BLAST! in our On Screen/In Person tour! It was a fantastic run, and we’ll have more updates for you soon!
In the meantime, a walk down memory lane… in this extra from BLAST! at our World Premiere… at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto in 2008! BLAST! was shown twice during the festival, and we had an amazing time. Check out the video for all the details!
The festival this year starts April 26th and runs through May 6th! They have some fantastic movies showing, so if you’re in the area, make sure to drop by!
The group at opening night!
BLAST! has received a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts, through the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation for a two-week tour in April, as part of the On Screen/In Person Touring Film Program.
Director Paul Devlin with be appearing with the film on the following dates. Come join us! (You can also buy the DVD here).
Check out the video interview above from Erie, listen to this podcast from the Program, and check out more interviews here!
Follow Paul’s tour on the On Screen In Person blog!
Wilson Auditorium, Monmouth University
400 Cedar Avenue
West Long Branch, NJ
Monday April 9th, 7:30pm
Join the event on Facebook
Read Paul’s recap on the On Screen/In Person blog!
Allentown Symphony Association
Da Vinci Science Center, 3145 Hamilton Blvd Bypass
Allentown, PA
Tuesday April 10th, 7:00pm
Join the event on Facebook
Read Paul’s recap on the On Screen/In Person blog!
Mary D’Angelo Performing Arts Center
501 East 38th St
Erie, PA
Wednesday April 11th, 2:15 & 7:15pm
Join the event on Facebook
Read Paul’s recap on the On Screen/In Person blog
Press Coverage:
Filmmaker to Discuss Science’s Universal Appeal at Mercyhurst
A Galactic View Podcast
MDPAC Blog: On Screen/In Person: Paul Devlin
Video Interview with Jaime Grady
Rutgers University– Busch Campus
Physics Lecture Hall
120 Frelinghuysen Road
Piscataway, NJ
Saturday April 14th, 4:00pm
Join the event on Facebook
Read Paul’s recap on the On Screen/In Person blog!
Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts
801 Chase Street
Annapolis, MD 21401
Tuesday April 17th, 7:00pm
Join the event on Facebook
Read Paul’s recap on the On Screen/In Person blog!
Cultural Arts Center
15 West Patrick Street
Frederick, MD 21701
Thursday April 19th, 7:30pm
Join the event on Facebook
Read Paul’s recap on the On Screen/In Person blog!
Press Coverage:
Frederick Film Series Looks to the Skies
Filmmaker Tells the Story Behind a Telescope Launch in Sweden
Rehoboth Beach Film Society
Movies at the Midway, 29 Midway Shopping Center
Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971
Friday April 20th, 7:00pm
Join the event on Facebook
Read Paul’s recap on the On Screen/In Person blog!
Posted by Paul Devlin:
I believe it is vitally important for filmmakers to share their experiences. Even failures and embarrassments. These happen to all of us, and it’s good to be reassured that we’re not alone. Whenever the opportunity arises, I like to speak up. And when I think I have enough to say for an article, I publish.
Releasing my science epic film BLAST! theatrically in the U.S. turned into its own epic story. When I wrote it out, I wasn’t sure how such an in-depth piece would work in a magazine. I structured it episodically with built-in cliffhangers, in case it had to be divided up into pieces. I fully expected to have to cut it way down for publication.
indieWire completely ignored my submission, but Scott Macaulay, Editor of Filmmaker, picked it up and published the article in its entirety in Winter 2010. The fact that it was the longest piece the magazine ever published became a selling point for the print edition of Filmmaker. I’m very happy to have contributed a comprehensive New Yorker-style story to our community of independent filmmakers.
Check out the article here!