In praise of the library

Our new, soon-to-be-finished website states that during the production of "Out Here In Kansas," we made 52 trips to the library.
I'm not completely sure how our web designer came up with that number, but I'll bet it's at least that many.
The Wichita Public Library, mainly the downtown and Rockwell branches, are the ones I've visited most. They were especially helpful in helping me search old microfilm, and I made sure to thank them in the closing credits of the documentary.
I'm pretty sure they also know my face at the libraries in Andover and Augusta. I've also used the libraries in Derby, Towanda, Wichita State and the University of Kansas. I'm probably forgetting about a couple.

Kansas film festivals: What are we missing?

One of our goals is to be invited to every film festival the state of Kansas has to offer.

But just how many are out there? 

Obviously, we know about Wichita's own Tallgrass Film Festival. They were kind enough to show our trailer at the festival last year, and we hope to make our world premiere at Tallgrass this fall.

We've already been accepted into the Kansas International Film Festival, as well as Lid Off, a quirky little film showcase in Lucas (home of the Garden of Eden.)

Of course, we know about our friends at the Doc Sunback Film Festival in Mulvane. Our editor Kenny helped start the event in his hometown, and we had a test screening there over the summer.

Today I learned  Hutchinson has an annual film event, which unfortunately would have interfered with Tallgrass.

So Kansas ... what are we missing? Because I'm sure we're missing plenty.
Out Here In Kansas is a 32-minute documentary, and you can see the trailer here. 

Aug. 31 update: I've been told I forgot about the Freestate Film Festival, held every summer in Lawrence. 

We have an IMDB page

That's the Internet Movie Data Base, in case you didn't know. My brother made me aware of IMDB about 10 years ago, and I still refer it all the time to learn more about the movies I watch.
Anyway, you can find the IMDB page for Out Here In Kansas here.

Watching with Pastor Joe

We've been discussing this privately for weeks, and tonight it finally happened. We screened "Out Here In Kansas" for conservative Christian pastor Joe Wright (pictured far right). In case you're not a regular reader of this blog, he is a key figure in our documentary.
"After all the time and cooperation he's given us," I explained to Kansas.com journalist Matt Riedl (pictured far left), "we felt it was only right he see the movie before it hits the film circuit."
And what were Pastor Joe's feelings? I'll let Matt explain them in his article, sometime in the near future. (You can follow Matt on Twitter here.)

Monday night football

OK, that headline is a bit misleading, although "Out Here In Kansas" does have a heavy football theme. Tonight my girlfriend and I showed it to four girls, ages 16 to 20. (One of them was my daughter, who was surprised to learn she makes a brief appearance in the film.) They all gave me positive feedback, and we spent at least an hour afterward discussing religion, sexuality and the eternal conflict between both.
Their favorite part was the discussion/debate between the two main characters. I was a little surprised to hear that, since it's the one scene with no B roll or action to speak of.
Next week, editor Kenny Linn and I have a private screening scheduled with Pastor Joe Wright, a major figure in our film. I plan on sharing some good news before then. Stay tuned.