First of all, it's not a premiere, it's a "first screening." More on that later.
 
We finally cut together a trailer and got it up on YouTube. Cutting a trailer for a movie like this seemed almost impossible. It's at times a slow, quiet, and subtle movie. It's funny, too, but there aren't any car chases, or explosions, or obvious and classic "trailer moments," to really sell the film.
 
Our writer, David Hamilton, cut together our trailer, and he did an AMAZING job. It's honestly, in my humble opinion, one of the best trailers I have ever seen. It tells the whole story of the movie in three acts without revealing the end. If you were to actually read the script and summarize it to someone, this is what you would say. He totally nailed every key beat and moment, and told a complete version of the story in 2:25 that makes you want to see the whole film. I have no idea how he did it, but this guy should teach a class on making a trailer. I mean, other than leaving my name off the credits, he did everything perfectly.
 
The real discussion around the trailer should be more about building an audience and generating buzz while you seek distribution. Did you notice that we're nearing 30,000 YouTube views in just our first week?
 
Plus, most of the 174 comments are from German fans, actually writing in German about how much they want to see the film in Germany. Amazing! We just lucked into this, and are thankful they're so excited about our movie.  I don't think this will cause someone to instantly purchase foreign rights, but it certainly can't hurt.
 
Let's use Yahoo! Babelfish to translate some of their comments:
 
Die Deutschen sind so klug! = The Germans are so intelligent! 
 
hi ich finde alle deine videos toll ! supertoll! = I finds all mad your videos! super madly!
 
Ich will den Film auch sehen = I want to also see the film
 
Ich will dass der Film ins Kino kommt!! in Österreich!! = I want that the film into the cinema come in Austria!! 
 
Warum sieht das alles wie ein 1:1 Abklatsch von American Beauty  = What that looks like is a poor 1:1 copy of American Beauty. 

So, now on to the screening. We're having what amounts to a test-screening / cast and crew screening / first public screening tomorrow (May 7), in Muncie, Indiana, where we shot the movie.
 
It's not really the premiere, more of a way for us to screen the film and get outside feedback for the first time. The screening is being hosted by a local magazine and we're also having a $35 VIP event just prior to the movie in an effort to raise money for festivals, etc.
 
Doug and many of the other actors will be on hand as we watch our film, complete with titles, sound mix, music, etc, for the first time. I haven't even seen anything other than the assembly edit myself, so I'm a bit excited.
 
If you happen to be close to Muncie, feel free to check out the movie for $10 - info is available at http://mynameisjerry.eventbrite.com/
 
If you're not close, we plan on having Chicago and LA screenings this summer, and will then hit the festival circuit.
 
Wish us luck! I'll be back after the screening with pictures and another update.