CHEATIN' Tour, Part 1

So my booking agent, Michael Tuckman, set me up on a 15-cinema, 10-city tour to help promote my film CHEATIN' as a theatrical release, and also to help get some national publicity for the film's Vimeo-On-Demand release on April 21.  And he did a great job - it's extremely complicated to arrange all of these screenings in all of these locations, plus to figure out travel, hotels, publicity and screening formats.  So far Michael and John Holderried, my office manager and itinerary planner, have made my trip work like a fine watch.

My first stop was the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago.  It's a wonderful arts cinema and I had a lot of young animators studying at the Art Institute show up to hear me talk about animation and how I survive as an independent filmmaker.

                              With Emily Esperanza at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago

The next stop was Minneapolis/St. Paul, a screening at the International Film Festival there, which is located in a huge multiplex cinema right on the banks of the Mississippi River. It was a beautiful day and everyone was sitting out in the cafés and taverns, feeling the cool spring breeze.  What a great location for a film festival!  It's called MSPIFF - so it sounds like you're spitting when you pronounce it. 

                                       Drawing sketches at the Minneapolis/St. Paul screening

I got to hang out with Rebekah Maysles, she's Albert Maysles' daughter, and she had a film there called "Iris", which her father directed.  So we talked about documentaries and getting releases, since I'm working on a new mockumentary called "Hitler's Folly". 

It's a wonderful festival, you should all enter your films there and be sure to attend!

Part 2 of my tour blog to follow shortly!

--Bill