Times Square. What a strangely perfect place for the NYC Premiere of MEDITATE AND DESTROY. At the crossroads of the world, where ubiquitious advertising seeps into our collective consciousness, the seeds of inner peace are rarely found or actively sought. It is a place representative of America’s over-consumption and constant need to find fulfillment in external objects.
The Times Square Art Center where the upcoming film screening will be held is a modestly sized 80-seat theater. The rampant advertising and materialism outdoors isn’t likely to end anytime soon. But, how wonderful that a few amongst the millions will turn their backs on the bright lights, meet in a dark theater, and dare to go against the stream.
Q&A with Director, Sarah Fisher
Screening will be preceded by Raffi Asdourian’s samurai short film, “Ai”
Location: Times Square Arts Center 300 W. 43rd St, Ste 309/310
For more info: Official FHTA-Live website
*it is highly recommended to purchase tickets in advance- the show will SELL OUT
**we also encourage you to check out the other indie films in the FHTA festival- there are some good ones!
VIRTUAL WORLD SIMULCAST
See the film for FREE wherever you are- from Wichita, KS to Malaysia!
MEDITATE AND DESTROY will be simulcast in the 3-D virtual world called Multiverse Places- Times Square on FRIDAY Oct 24 @ 9 p.m. EST. Fans from around the world can create an account on the Multiverse Places website (www.mv-places.com) and login to see the a live stream of several films- broadcast at the same time as the real life screenings at the Times Square Art Center. Flatscreen TVs inside the Times Square Art Center will show the virtual world simulcast. Fans can interact within the virtual space to build community around each film. A virtual after-party with dancing in MVP Times Square will occur after each screening with live Shoutcast radio streams.
Get the full instructions here: http://www.fhta-live.com/timessquare/mvp
An interview from Theworkbookproject.com:
What is currently wrong with the film industry from your point of view as a DIY filmmaker?
The film industry doesn’t currently foster exposure or ease of distribution for independent filmmakers. There are too many hoops to jump through to get your film distributed widely. While the production process has become democratized, theatrical distribution remains in the hands of a few gatekeepers.
Read the full FHTA Interview
Fans showed up to the Mezzanine in San Francisco on Friday August 15th to cast their votes via text messaging for MEDITATE AND DESTROY at the Myspace/Cinegogo “You’re a Film Programmer” contest.
Three films were chosen out of 6 to be screened. MEDITATE AND DESTROY fans held a civil uprising (I wouldn’t expect less of you) to demand the film be shown indoors @ the Mezzanine as opposed to the Mint Plaza outdoor screening area. That made me chuckle. It was FAR too cold outdoors. It was a nail-biting experience not knowing whether M&D would actually screen until the last minute.
All the films in the FHTA are worthy and I would have been happy to see those films. But, I do greatly appreciate all the hardcore support for M&D. What is also interesting is that fans who otherwise might not have come out to see the film showed up for this cutting edge film distribution experience. It was thrilling to be a part of something so experimental.
Love and light,
Sarah
We are extremely thrilled to announce that MEDITATE AND DESTROY is an official selection in the upcoming From Here to Awesome Film Festival. The From Here to Awesome Film Festival (FHTA) is a new model, open source film festival that will reach audiences around the globe. MEDITATE AND DESTROY was selected out of over 115 submissions.
Over 25 screening dates (in both theatrical and alternative venues) will be announced in the near future- including cities such as London, Paris, Montreal, New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington, DC, Seattle and San Francisco.
Over 3 months ago, we created a submission video and asked our fans to vote for us. The popular demand for our film paved the way to be chosen for inclusion in this amazing, radical, forward-thinking festival! Thank you to everyone who voted!!
The FHTA festival will launch in Los Angeles on July 26. The launch of the festival will be a special event called “DIY Day” which will start an engaging industry conversation on the state of indie film distribution: www.diydays.com.
All of the festival showcase films will be available in several online outlets (including Amazon Unbox, Vudu, Hulu, Joost, Caachi, Indieflix and Heretic Films)- as well as living rooms, handheld devices, and theatrical screenings.
From Here to Awesome has assembled partnerships with sites and services including MySpace, Withoutabox, Current TV, IFP, IndieFlix, Heretic, Breakthrough Distribution, Tubemogul, indiegogo, Miro, OurStage, Bside, Viddler, BlipTv, Spout and YouTube.
In the next few weeks, there will be a lot of announcements made regarding our participation in the From Here to Awesome Film Festival.
* Bookmark our page on the FHTA website and leave a comment——>Click here
* Read the full story in Variety: click here
*Check on our blog for all the breaking news (including a full report from Director, Sarah Fisher on the 7/26 DIY Day in Los Angeles): click here
The screenings in Vancouver and Victoria were AWESOME! What a great turnout for both screenings. The Vancouver screening- held at Rhizome cafe— completely sold-out. Around 20 people were turned away at the door (sorry!). We hope to bring the film back Van sometime in the near future because of the demand. Damn, that food at Rhizome was so yummy too (I ate the thai veggie dish). The Q&A session was lively and we had a fun time jamming to old school punk at the after-party with DJ Fresh Lee Cut.
Victoria screening on July 6th @ Lucky Bar was amazing too. It was great to see so many folks come out on Sunday night to this alternative venue. There was a certain irony in showing a film about a straight-edge Buddhist (with an entire segment of film dedicated to Buddhism and Recovery) in a bar. I could feel the sobering effect (no pun intended). It nearly brought me to tears to see so many people engaged in the film viewing who probably would never come out to see the film in a traditional movie theater.
There were a few problems with the projector which was quite nervewracking. For instance, when I arrived at Lucky Bar an hour before the screening I noticed the venue had a skylight right above the stage. It stays light in Victoria until 11 p.m. in the summer so I had a moment of panic. The manager and his crew actually climbed on the roof to work magic by covering the entire skylight with some black material. As the film played, the projector kept flickering out to the blue screen of death. But, the Canadians were very gracious and mellow. The after-party with 49th Peril, The Easy Brothers, and The Mags ROCKED. Read a review about the event from Abort magazine here:
http://abortmag.com/?p=1670
See photos from Van and Victoria on our Flickr feed:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/diyfilmgrrl/
THANKS to the organizers for all their hard work (Vancouver- Jackie Drozdowski and Victoria- Stacie Rosentreter) and all the volunteers. It is very heartening to know people care enough to bring independent media to their communities.
