'The Deal' world premiere a success

Wednesday — Well, it all came off without a hitch. Over two years of work on "The Deal" finally paid off last night as we celebrated it's world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. The day began under a bright blue, crystal clear sky in Park City with the ground pure white from a fresh snowfall.

Tom Hall and I hung out in the morning discussing the films we had seen before going out to see "Towelhead," a new rather controversial film by writer/director Alan Ball. Alan spent a great deal of time in Sarasota and is best known for his screenplay of "American Beauty" and for creating the HBO series "Six Feet Under."

The film has received mixed reviews, but both Tom and I like it and are relieved since we hope to bring producer Ted Hope into the festival in April. "Towelhead" is a coming-of-age story about a young Arab-American girl with an incredibly dysfunctional upbringing who is sexually abused. Tough subject matter, but that type of dialogue needs to find a voice.

After the screening, I headed back to the condo to rest and get ready for the world premiere screening of the film that I co-produced, "The Deal." By the time I left the condo to meet fellow producer Keri Nakamoto for dinner prior to the film it was snowing hard outside and the temperature had dropped considerably.

Cadillac sent a beautiful Escalade to pick us up with our guests and take us to the screening. It was held at the Eccles, a high school with a large performing arts auditorium that seats more than 1,200 people. The movie has been sold out for two weeks, but I had gotten up at 6 a.m. to wait in line at the box office to see if they had released any more single tickets.
I was about 75th in line when in got to the box office at 7:20 a.m. I asked some filmmakers who were well in front of me to purchase tickets to "The Deal" when they got to the front of the line. They had released 18 tickets and they were all gone before I could purchase any. In fact, they were selling these tickets on Ebay earlier in the week for $200. Unbelievable!!!

All day friends were calling for extra tickets and I had to turn them down. Standing in front of the theater I greeted all of our investors and made sure they had their tickets. They have flown in from Sarasota and Bradenton to see the film and attend the after party. Each one received a red Yarmulke with "The Deal" stitched onto it. It's a running joke in the film.

Former president of the board Neil McCurry walked in and we decided to sit together. It's a great feeling that so many people fly in from Sarasota and Bradenton to support the film. Steven Schachter the writer/director is introduced by Geoffrey Gilmore, director of the Sundance Film Festival, and we are on our way.

The film flies by quickly and I'm proud to see Keri's name as a producer and mine as a co-producer flash on the screen. The audience really seemed to enjoy the film and I'm particularly happy to see our investors names listed in the credits along with a special "thank you" to the Sarasota Film Festival.

Steven and Bill Macy walk out onto the stage and are greeted with a huge ovation. They begin to tell the story of the making of the film and say that it all started in Sarasota at the Sarasota Film Festival. Bill talks of how he had been coming to the festival for years and how each time he was there people had given him cards saying they were interested in investing.

He talked about how he had called me and sent me a script and how I had brought Keri into the project and how she had helped pull so much of the financing together from Sarasota and ultimately how she had helped bring PeachArch in to complete the financing after some of the money had fallen through.

It was a great plug for the Sarasota Film Festival from the stage of one of the biggest and most important festivals in the world and I could not be more proud. Meg Ryan and Jason Ritter joined Bill and Steven on stage and answered a number of questions before being swarmed by press, fans and photographers. Keri and I grabbed a ride back to the Cadillac Lounge where Cadillac hosted the after party for "The Deal."

It's already jammed. I'm pretty low key ... happy, but subdued as if a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. People seemed to really enjoy the film and I think the investors are really pleased. Bill, Steven, and Jason are giving interviews on the red carpet in front of the step and repeat. Meg had done press earlier in the day and was off to the side. I had the opportunity to speak with her alone earlier in the evening and she could not have been nicer. Everyone remarked how great she looked.

Josh Groban is at the party. I also spoke with him about coming to Sarasota. Very nice guy. His manager hands me a card and they are off. People are discussing Heath Ledger's death, the lack of sales at Sundance, and projects.

Everyone has a project and everyone needs money to finance it. People are dancing now and more and more people have found a way to get inside the party. It's turning into a scene and it's late. Nearly 2:30 a.m. I'm toast and need to leave ... remember, I had gotten up at 6 a.m. to try to get extra tickets. Bed feels good and I'm going to pass on the 8:30 a.m. screening. — Jody Kielbasa