Man, what a roller coaster ride it’s been for Rising Star!

We found out a few weeks ago that we’re going to world premiere at the Seattle True Independent Film Festival on May 6, and last week we got even more good news – our world premiere is sold out! How amazing is that?

Our first exposure to the world will be in a theater with every seat filled. The Seattle indie film community is known around the country as one of the best (and biggest) there is, so it’s an honor that you guys thought enough of us to come and check the film out. It’s a dream come true for us, and we’re so thankful to all of you who bought tickets and who’ll be there.

Now what does that mean for Connecticut, you might ask? Why is it that the west coast gets to have all the fun? I have great news – we’re currently working on a red-carpet Connecticut premiere for the movie too! We should have details out in the next few weeks, but I promise you: this summer, Rising Star will show at home for the first time. We couldn’t be more excited.

Hope everyone’s doing great – talk to you soon!

-Marty

Watch the Official Trailer for Rising Star the Movie below:

Watch the Official Teaser Trailer for Rising Star the Movie below:

Source: http://www.youtube.com/embed/G3hTO0Pmtug

It’s official!

Marty Lang and Gary Ploski announce the World Premiere of “Rising Star” the movie at the Seattle True Independent Film Festival (STIFF).

STIFF takes place from 05/04/12 – 05/12/12 in Seattle, WA.

Join our mailing list:
http://risingstarmovie.com/contact/email-list

Source: http://www.youtube.com/embed/CJh4jprlgh0

Did you know that Rising Star actors Gary Ploski, Michael Barra, Emily Morse, Greg Nutcher, and director Marty Lang all acted in a short film together this summer?

It world premieres Friday night (10/21/11) at Quinnipiac University in Hamden.

A-1 QUALITY ENTERTAINMENT

Check out our flyer and our director in a clown suit…

Phew! What a day that was!

Almost 600 people voting for Rising Star, in what was a record-breaking performance for one-day polling for indieWIRE.

We’re all amazed, and humbled, by the support everyone’s shown us in this process. I want to thank all of you, again, for taking the time to vote, repost, tweet, call, recruit (our actress, Leah Deveau, actually went to Hartford-area coffee shops, asking people on laptops to vote for us!) and everything else.

This Sundance consult is big; we’ll be able to make our case to the Sundance Film Festival as to why we feel Rising Star should be there. Not many films get that chance. And it’s because of you we’ll have it.

Thank you so much for supporting us!

Hope everyone enjoys this beautiful weekend.

From Friday afternoon until Monday morning at 10am the cast and crew of Rising Star along with 500+ other Stars! joined together to push Rising Star into the winners circle in IndieWIRE’s “Project of the Week.” The ground swell of support was humbling.

IndieWIRE released this official announcement: (http://www.indiewire.com/article/iws_project_of_the_week_rising_star_vote_again/)

Congratulations to “Rising Star” director Marty Lang. The filmmaker will receive a digital distribution consultation from SnagFilms and is now officially a candidate for Project of the Month. That winner will be awarded with a consultation from the Sundance Institute.

Marty will be speaking with SnagFilms soon.

Who or what is SnagFilms?

SnagFilms was founded in 2008, our mission is to bring the world of independent film to broader audiences everywhere. SnagFilms.com offers thousands of great independent movies and documentaries for free. Our films entertain and inform, engage and inspire, satisfy every taste, encourage discovery, and create community. We offer free online streaming and viewing via a wide range of devices.

They’re online at http://snagfilms.com/.

Congratulations to The Kitchen and Man-Child teams!

We can’t wait to see your films at the next film fest.

Hey everyone, Marty here.

Just wanted to touch base with everyone, and let y’all know what I (and we) have been up to this summer. Our post-production has been on hold for a little while, because our composer/sound designer, Tom Varga, got an amazing job. He works as a sound mixer on films and TV shows, and he got an offer to sound mix a movie called Gods Behaving Badly, starring Christopher Walken, Alicia Silverstone, Sharon Stone and John Turturro.

So while he’s been on that job, we’ve been working on doing a little bit more editing to the movie. Cutting out scenes that slow the film down, stuff like that. Once Tom finishes the film up (by the end of September, most likely) we’ll be able to get back to work on it.

We’ve also been plotting our film festival strategy, too.

We brought on a Film Festival Coordinator, Leah Deveau (who also plays the Mark Twain House Tour Guide in the movie!), and we’re working to put a list of festivals together we think would want Rising Star. And we’ve already sent the film off to the grand-daddy of them all – Sundance! (Now I know what you’re thinking – the film’s not done yet! That’s okay, because Sundance accepts works-in-progress for consideration.

Even though the film’s not completely done, it’s far enough along that you can see what the whole thing would look like. Hopefully, they’ll like what they see. We’re also planning on submitting to the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas; their deadline is in November, so we’ll be able to work on it a little more before we send it out to them.

I’ve also been snooping around, trying to find places that might be interested in showing Rising Star once it’s finished. I can tell you that the Mark Twain House would LOVE to have us back, and we’ve even gotten a little interest from The Bushnell, in Hartford. That’s in the very early stages, but it could be promising.

Admin note: Contact the Bushnell to express interest in a screening of Rising Star via 860-987-6000.

I’ve also been up to some cool promotional things for the movie, too.

I’ll be in Los Angeles on September 17, talking about the Rising Star Kickstarter campaign at the 2011 Screenwriting Expo! I got asked to speak, along with indie filmmakers Victoria Westcott (Locked in a Garage) and Lucas McNelly (A Year Without Rent), about crowdfunding for indie films, so that’s going to be a blast.

If you happen to find yourself in LA then, come and say hi!

Get tickets at: http://screenwritingexpo.com/program/speaker_detail.php?speakerID=1037

I was also interviewed by filmmaker John Hoff for his blog, where I talked about the movie, and the film scene in Connecticut. You can check that out at: http://wp.me/p1B7Vj-th.

That’s the latest from RS-land.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day, and talk soon!

–

Bushnell image credit

*** SPOILER ALERT ***

Chris (Gary Ploski) learns a big lesson from a most unlikely source – the bus driver (Gary Craig) he saw earlier in the day.

Note: This is not the final version of the scene.

Written & Directed by Marty Lang

A test version of our teaser trailer presented at the CT Film Industry Mixer on 04/16/11.