Official Rejection

I was one of the few who endured this movie at the Phoenix Film Festival- which, big surprise, is largely featured in this mediocre film.

The root of this film is what other reviewers seem to be ignoring- it's about trying to get the film TEN TILL NOON into festivals, and TEN TILL NOON is quite simply a bad film. Netflix it and see if you disagree.

So you have the filmmakers, the director and writer, trying to get it into festivals. Who cares? We sure didn't. Certainly not after the forced pep rally that the head of the Phoenix Film Festival tried to lead.

The whole event made us a. want to avoid film festivals, especially sad little local ones who court bad movie makers thinking we'll find value in them and b. never see a movie made by Paul Osborne again.

The quality of the film is poor. Some of the interviews are fairly interesting, but I guarantee you can find a brief interview with Kevin Smith et al on youtube in under 10 minutes- saving your time and money.

Just caught this amazing and brutally honest doc at the Hell's Half Mile Film Fest in Bay City, Michigan. And having worked the fest circuit with two features now, I can say this film rings so true that's it's almost painful to watch in places (and I mean that in a good way).

This is the indie filmmaker's life, this is our humiliation, this is our reward, this is our freakin' angst! OFFICIAL REJECTION plays like the film companion to Chris Gore's Film Festival Guide. It covers the life (and sometimes death) of mainly one feature as it aims for Sundance, then reevaluates. As it aims for Slamdamn, then reevaluates. As it aims for SXSW, then...well you get the picture. And it's not all doom and gloom. (Well, OK, there is a film fest meltdown that has to be one of the most uncomfortable moments I've ever seen on film.) But...there is a (somewhat) happy ending here.

If you have any plans to make a film, watch this movie! Learn from it. These are the rules of film festivals. Realize that you will not be the exception.

I love OFFICIAL REJECTION. It is my life. If you are a filmmaker (or are close to any filmmakers), it is your life too!

Funny and great if a bit overlong towards the end. Very revealing and intimate doc about the filmmakers own personal struggle in bring their film to the world. I was shocked to see just how much everything costs and emotionally,perhaps the price is too high. One poor gut seemed to have buy tickets to his own film in some festival just to stop them form taking it off and replacing it with another. Jeesh - what's that all about?! Poor them and thank god I'm not one!! My niece was thinking of becoming a director and on the way out she said no way! We did talk for a long time afterwards about it and if that is the mark of a well put together doc then they certainly succeeded there. A great film and we had a great night. Well done guys and keep shooting!

I was impressed w/ what Paul Osborne and his team were able to do w/ this film. Of course, if you've been involved in the Indie film scene for any period of time, the idea that the fest circuit is a bit of a scam has been pretty well known for a long time. Never the less, makes for a fun and engaging watch still.

I was astounded and flabbergasted at some of the absurd naiveté (and stupidity) of some of the filmmakers, in particular Blayne Weaver.... Seriously bro? Why would you even bother flying from LA to Chicago to attend the 2nd annual Chicago Indiefest? Chicago Int FF, yes, Chicago Underground (CUFF) maybe, but some mickey mouse fest no one's ever heard of? Chicago's a great town but talk about walking around blind w/o a cane, not to mention emails like 'your film may be pulled if you don't sell it out..." I may love, and have roots, in the NY Metropolitan area but ask me if I'd fly from LA to NY to attend the Ozone Park film festival, come on:) What that whole scene in Chicago speaks to, as well as the festival circuit in general, is this self aggrandizing, ego stroke that many Indie filmmakers are looking for. Something the OR filmmakers seemed unaware of is the fact that so many of these scam, mediocre festivals exist because there's an endless supply of self serving, ego maniacal saps who want to get in on the circle jerk of saying, "hey, I made a film, check it out." At a certain point filmmakers have to look in the mirror and be realistic about their place in the Industry, if any at all.

I had a chance to see this movie at the Idaho Film Festival in Boise, Idaho this weekend. As an emerging filmmaker, I thought it would be great to know the inner workings of the festival circuit. Paul and Scott take the audience on the journey of submitting their film "Ten Til Noon" to various festivals around the country. You get to see what life is like after the cameras are put away, and the work truly begins. Independent filmmakers are unique, because they have to sell their work themselves. This film taught me more than I hoped! I would highly recommend it for anyone who makes films. However, it is also entertaining for those who are not in the business. One woman at our screening loved it -- and she does not make films.

Paul and Scott are amazing. I had a chance to meet them this weekend, and they have a passion for making films. Check out this documentary -- not a dull moment. It's out on DVD in November.