A few exciting developments in the world of Aquarium and Labrador Duck (see above for a painting of the extinct bird).

Aquarium made its internet debut recently on Youtube, and will be up for a few more weeks. So far, the film has been watched by over 225,000 people. With over 1,200 votes, the film has 4/5 stars. The film’s opening clearly upset a lot of dog lovers who made their opinions known, but most people seemed to love it and many were clamoring for a feature. In addition, all of the paperwork is in order for the television premiere of Aquarium and as soon as I hear when IFC is airing it I’ll let you know.

A few posts ago, I mentioned that, as the winner of the Atlanta and Santa Barbara Film Festivals, Aquarium is qualified to be nominated for an Oscar, which is a huge honor. A few weeks ago, I submitted all of the paperwork and send in my master only to learn that the only formats the Academy accepts are either a film print or a “Digital Cinema Project” file. I checked the prices on both options and quickly learned that both were incredibly expensive. I called the Academy of Motion Pictures to see if they could make an exception but found that they were very strict on the rules. So it was looking like I wasn’t going to be able to submit Aquarium for Oscar consideration after all.

Then, miraculously, Fotokem, the wonderful post-production house in LA who did great work transferring all of my footage, came to the rescue! They have agreed to be my sponsor once again and do a digital transfer for me so the film can be submitted. All I had to promise in return was that my short would win an Oscar. No problem. So thank you Fotokem! For all the film makers reading this, please support them, they are incredibly generous to new, young film makers and do wonderful work.

Finally, the script for the feature, Labrador Duck, is coming along well. Luke and I finished another rewrite and have received very positive feedback on it. There are still more rewrites and polishes to do, but I think it’s very close to being ready to start seeking out financing.