Thanks to an INCREDIBLE outpouring of support, we've exceeded our Indiegogo campaign goal ahead of schedule! We couldn't be more thrilled and humbled at the generosity and enthusiasm we've seen in the past four weeks. Now it's on to the film festival circuit and hopefully a premiere screening near you in the not-too-distant future. Stay tuned and check back for updates!
And in the mean time, have fantastic holidays and may 2016 be as exciting a year for you as 2015 was for us!
Today, Dichterliebe: POETLOVE launches its crowdfunding campaign to cover our post-production and festival-related expenses. We've put together a quick video you can watch, along with a plethora of information on our Indiegogo page. Please support us and help get us to the finish line! We're so close!
Our final trip to the recording studio happened earlier today, when Music Director Renate Rohlfing and Director David Paul headed (Metro) north to Yonkers, in order to rerecord some of the piano tracks for the film. As we were shooting the NY scenes in June, we realized just how much our lead performer's Geoff understanding of the words and the music had deepened since the start of the project, and we simply had to rerecord some of his singing to reflect that -- which in turn meant that we had to rerecord the piano, as well. Lucky for us, Oktaven Studios has an incredible Steinway concert grand piano and an even more incredible engineer/producer in Ryan Streber, who was able to graft together all kinds of things to help make Renate's beautiful piano playing sync up with Geoff's singing. POETLOVE thanks Ryan and his team for the excellent work they did for us.
The POETLOVE team has been hard at work with its editor, Aaron Crozier, assembling hours upon hours of footage from our NY and New Hampshire shoots. We feel like we have enough beautiful material to make a film for days, but alas, there's only 20+ minutes of music, and we don't want to overstay our welcome.. As it takes shape, it's increasingly obvious just how novel the challenges and exciting the results can be. We can't wait to share it with you. (even though Aaron's cat can't wait to have his full attention again..)
We did it! With the most incredible cast, crew, and family of supporters, we managed to film POETLOVE and are officially wrapped. Day 6 brought a whole new set of exciting challenges, including a walk on the High Line with a thunderstorm seconds away from exploding all over us, and converting the stunningly beautiful St. Paul's Church of Chelsea into our protagonist's dreamscape, Virgin Mary and all. We can't wait to show all of the imagery we were able to capture, and the fantastic performances our cast gave. Now it's time to sleep.. and then onward to the editing room!
What a two days it's been.. with about a hundred people on set shooting more than 10 scenes, this was the toughest and tightest part of our shoot. But once again, the footage we got was incredible, and between the wonderful architecture of the "Villain" warehouse, the beautiful Williamsburg waterfront, and staging a fantasy wedding with our "hipster partier" background actors, we had a total blast. Dancing your heart out at 90 degrees.. now that's some kind of POETLOVE!
Two more action-packed shooting days are in the can, taking us all over the beautiful borough of Brooklyn -- Bed Stuy, Eastern Parkway, Carroll Gardens, Gowanus, you name it, we've been there. Weather has been great, and with a fantastic crew, nothing has been impossible. There are so many great images to share, here's a small taste to keep you wanting more!
A beach, a rooftop lunch, hanging in a Bushwick loft and a walk down the block.. Day 1 sounds more like a perfect Sunday than a first shooting day, but we managed to grab some pretty stunning locations, and the team is thrilled with the results we got. The weather Gods couldn't have been kinder, and we're psyched and jazzed for day 2 tomorrow!
PoetLOVE recently hosted two successful events to raise awareness and funding for our project. We were overwhelmed by the generosity and enthusiasm of our supporters both in New York City and in Santa Barbara, CA, where we were especially grateful to the Dall’Armi/Hahn family for hosting a fantastic performance/dinner event. We have successfully raised about half of our budget, and continue to count on the support of visionaries who recognize the unique potential of this project to bring the arts, and specifically classical singing, to a whole new audience. If you'd like to know more about supporting the film and making a tax-deductible donation, please click here.
Over the course of three chilly days in January and February, Music Director Renate Rohlfing and Singer/Actor Geoff Hahn completed audio recording for POETLove, laying down the first ever recording of Director, David Paul's new translation of these classic German songs by Robert Schumann and Heinrich Heine. Our team traveled to Water Music Studios in Hoboken, NJ in order to take advantage of their state-of-the-art recording facilities. Musicians such as Blondie, Sonic Youth and Grizzly Bear used this same studio.
A true working session, we were experimenting with different words and sounds throughout the recording, in our quest to find the perfect balance between classical sound, modern urgency, and language that is both poetically beautiful and directly relatable. While the text and the singing are obviously the primary means of communication, the piano part in Schumann's music is arguably just as important, continuing the conversation between Henry and his world when words no longer suffice. Finding the perfect balance between the elements is a high goal -- we're excited to share the results with you soon, after editing and mixing is completed!
Henry escapes to his family's cabin...
After 3 days of braving the February elements (with -20 temperatures, knee-deep snow, and icy winds), POETLove wrapped a fantastically successful shoot in Moose Mountain, NH. Surrounded by forests and hills, we were able to capture some incredible scenes illustrating Henry's psychological downfall, including a particularly beautiful hallucination sequence in the woods.
The light was just perfect so we had to catch this moment.
Director David Paul watching footage in real time.
Director of Photography: Josh McKie
POETLove has added an invaluable asset to its creative team: cinematographer Josh McKie, a rising star in commercial and film work. A recent transplant from Australia, Josh has worked in an impressive array of settings, from music videos to narrative features to Reebok and Lacoste commercials. He’s been awarded the Gold ACS award by the Australian Cinematographer's society in 2012, won a Gold Award at the California Film Awards, and his work has appeared at a number of film festivals including Cannes and St. Kilda. We're excited to have a creative talent like Josh contributing his elegant and innovative sensitivity and aesthetic as we articulate this new genre of filmmaking.
For more information about Josh McKie, please click here.
Production Design: Peiyi Wong
Our latest addition to the POETLove team is Peiyi Wong, a rising talent as designer and creative artist. Raised on the beaches of Santa Barbara, CA, Peiyi earned degrees from Cal Arts and Columbia (where she first met Producer Justine Raczkiewicz and Director David Paul) and has worked as production designer and multi-media artist. Peiyi's theater work has been shown at REDCAT, Automata, HERE Arts Center, P.S. 122, The Ontological-Hysteric Theater, The Chocolate Factory, Access Theater Gallery, The Brick, The Prague Quadrennial, and multiple other venues and institutions in New York, Los Angeles, Berlin, New Orleans, Indianapolis, and Mount Desert Island, ME, while her film design work and art direction has been screened at Tribeca, Toronto, and Asian-American International Film Festivals. Her innovative and outside-the-box sensibility, as well as her broad range of experience, makes her an invaluable addition to the POETLove creative department, and we're very excited to welcome her on board.
For more information about Peiyi, please click here.
Costume Design: Karen L. Young
We couldn’t be more thrilled to add the seasoned pro, Karen L. Young, to our team. Karen’s extensive costume experience on set has taken her across the country from places like Atlanta, Indiana, North Carolina, Montana, California, Ohio, and now to New York. She has worked for Disney, Marvel, Paramount, Universal, Warner Bros., and 20th Century Fox to name a few, and on such projects like “X-Men: First Class” with director Matthew Vaughn, “Captain America 2” with director Joss Whedon, and with Jeff Nichols on “Mud.” Karen brings big-budget quality and background to all her design work, whether film, television, or commercials. Her passion is the creative process of the smaller independent movie. Telling the story through the characters and what they wear is what the focus of her work is.
POETLove is excited to announce completion of major casting, featuring Geoffrey Hahn as the film's protagonist Henry and Kerri Sohn as his love interest Amalia.
Geoff is a singer/actor originally from Santa Barbara, CA, where director David Paul discovered him as a chorus member in David’s production of “The Rake’s Progress”. They have since collaborated on a production of Chekhov’s “The Seagull” in New York City, where Geoff played the leading character Konstantin. Geoff's versatility as an actor in theater and musical theater, as well as being a Juilliard-trained classical singer, makes him a perfect fit for the hybrid demands of POETLove, where he will both sing Schumann's music and play the role of Henry on screen.
Kerri Sohn comes to New York by way of Miami, where she received her education, and brings her impressive skills as an actor, sketch comic, and improviser to POETLove. Her first collaboration with David Paul, Kerri knocked the socks off of our creative team in her audition and screen test, bringing to Amalia both strength and graceful vulnerability -- and passing the "muse" test with flying colors. Kerri has performed extensively on stage and screen, including as an actor, movement-based performer, and comic, and we're excited to welcome her onboard the team.
Please click here for full bios and more information about Geoff and Kerri.
We packed the living room for this intimate concert. The doors wide open and several people watch from outside.
Happy New Year everyone! Our team traveled from New York and Asia to Santa Barbara for our first fundraiser. We had a great time talking to people about our film, answering their questions, and of course, performing some of these beautiful songs. We are so grateful to the Hahn family for hosting this incredible event at the Rose Story Farm. Please visit our Support page to learn more about how you can make a tax-deductible donation!
Director David Paul (left) and singer Geoffrey Hahn relax after a successful event!
Over the holiday break, our team went up to Moose Mountain in New Hampshire to scout locations for our upcoming shoot in February. They got hit with eight inches of fresh snow which made for some stunning snowscapes, diverse animal tracking, and fun walks around the mountain. We can't wait to get back up to this slice of solitude in a couple months!
Our team so so excited to announce that we have received fiscal sponsorship from The Film Collaborative. What does this mean?? It means that any donation you make to our film will be tax exempt! We're thrilled to be partnered up with such a great organization that supports independent filmmakers like us!
Hey everyone! Want to see more pictures? POETLove is on Instagram and we would love for you to follow us.
Two weeks ago, the POETLove team assembled in New York City to shoot our promo reel which you will be able to see very soon! Our adventure began on Saturday in Brooklyn where Henry (played by Sam Balzack) and Amalia (Anya Whelan-Smith) first meet. Amalia was dancing to her favorite song in a bright pink dress when Henry spotted her and had to talk to her.
After a lot of great takes and a few curious looks from people in the park, Uber got us back to Manhattan to shoot the apartment scene where Henry professes his love to Amalia. This is where the story gets interesting… you'll see!
On Sunday, we filmed an interview with director David Paul before dashing two avenues to the metro to make it to our next locations where we spent the late afternoon filming songs with baritone Geoff Hahn and pianist Renate Rohlfing. This was the first time any of us had heard David's English translation of "Dichterliebe" and we were all blown away. If you're skeptical, I don't blame you but you have to hear them!
Just before sunset, the sun got so intense in the room and we were able to get some great shots of Geoff. We spent the rest of the evening shooting scenes of Henry walking through the streets of New York. At 8:30pm, the happy, excited, yet exhausted POETLove team wrapped a wonderful weekend shoot.
We can't wait to share this amazing reel shot by Sam Gordon and edited by our very own producer Justine Raczkiewicz.
