Boom!

Nice work, Dick-heads! 

Radio Free Albemuth Needs Your Help!

I don't ask you for much, dear readers. But I'm asking today. As you already know, John Alan Simon's Radio Free Albemuth is raising funds through Kickstarter right now. In fact they are more than 90% funded. But they're still a little over $5k from their goal and Kickstarter is all or nothing.

Let me take a moment to talk about how much I hate the mercantile nature of this exchange. I hate that in the 21st century we're constantly being hit up for money or attention - by our friends! It's a tragic state of affairs really. I mean if you're on Facebook, your newsfeed is an endless parade of hands out - all for very worthy projects mind you. But I go to numb to it.

On the other hand, this new business model which allows artists to get their product to very small target audiences is a really cool new development and the first legitimate antidote I've yet seen to the homogenizing forces of Big Capitalism.

And this project really is a perfect candidate for Kickstarter.

I've seen RFA in a theater with a a bunch of PKD fans, and it was a special experience - and I think more people should have that opportunity. We're so close to making it happen.

There are some really cool incentives and prizes, check 'em out. I went for the DVD package. But I want you to consider even a small donation. Like I said, we're really close to making this happen.

Lastly, the producers have released a tie-in role playing game called Left Coast where one player pretends to be a SF writer and other players invent weird shit that happens to him - it seems really cool. Be sure to read the updates to the Kickstarter to find the download codes for that.

Go here now.

Radio Free Albemuth Takes It To The Dick-Heads With Kickstarter

Director John Alan Simon and producer Elizabeth Karr have set up a Kickstarter with the goal of bringing their vision of Radio Free Albemuth to theaters in at least ten American cities. They've set the fundraising goal at $85,000 by July 3. There are lots of unique deals including a package featuring a guided tour of PKD sights in Berkeley, California, by yours truly. The project already has 100 backers.

Head on over to Kickstarter to have a look.

If you're in the New York area be sure to see RFA at Lincoln Center on June 4.

RFA to Screen at Lincoln Center Film Society

In news from the Movie Roll Out That Never Ended, Radio Free Albemuth, Director John Alan Simon's indie take on PKD is being shown at a prestigious film festival at the exalted Lincoln Center in NYC on June 4.

Here's John Alan Simon on the latest development: "I'm really excited to screen RFA at Lincoln Center in NYC.  It's a great honor to be selected for their prestigious indie series.  We hope the success of this one-night only event will be the kick-off for our theatrical launch in the fall.   We're counting on the help of PKD fans to spread the word to  friends in New York to make this the same kind of sell-out, standing room only success as we had at the Philip K. Dick Film Festival Event in December.   Plus I look forward to talking about all matters PKD to all the real PKD readers out there.   Thanks to David Gill and all the other other PKD fans and scholars out there for helping us get this indie labor of love out there!  Like the Aramchek conspiracy, we've put up a great fight against the forces o darkness - now there appears a wondrous ray of pink light at the end of this long tunnel."

I know from your comments that many of you just want to see this film, and you don't particularly care if you watch it in a theater or streaming on Netflix. I get that. But, need I remind you, Hollywood is an evil, soul-crushing place which, in the past, has committed great crimes against our sainted SF writer: Next, Paycheck, Adjustment Bureau. Surely you can wait a little longer to see an adaptation unsullied by either Tom Cruise or tacked on car chases. And if you can't, well don't be mad at RFA's makers, instead be angry at the heap of tepid garbage Hollywood prefers to fund (and ruin).

Here's a write up and a link to buy tickets.

Radio Free Albemuth to Play NYC at Philip K Dick Filmfest!

Those of you not submerged by Hurricane Sandy but still located in the New York area should be sure to check out the Philip K Dick FilmFestival. It's Dec 7,8, and 9. Check out the schedule here. And if you were paying attention to the headline, you would have noticed that Radio Free Albemuth will be showing. Buy your tickets here.

Sadly, I am underfunded to attend. If one of you gets to this, please write something up for us.

Dick-Fest 2012 Totally Recalled

 Photo: That's me interviewing Jonathan Lethem, Laurence Rickels, Rudy Rucker, and John Alan Simon. Click to see the rest of the image: Rucker and Simon have been cut by the auto-formatting...

Though I'm still pretty tired, as well as behind in my grading and housework, I guess I better put my thoughts down about the Dick-Fest before the memories start to fade. They tell me it was an unqualified success. I actually didn't get to see much of the Fest as I was running from emergent situation to technical catastrophe almost the entire time.

First off, there were more than 130 who registered. The big lecture hall/theater where we were staging the fest only holds 140, and people were still registering the night before. I was sweating. Talk about sweating, I met Dr Laurence Rickels at the airport and drove him to his "Hospitality Suite" on campus - only I couldn't find the damn place.  Talk about an anxiety dream! But Rickels is a cool cat, a nice guy, and I drove him around on Friday before the fest. I can't say I "get" his book now, but he did offer this kernel of wisdom: Naziism is Psychoanalysis in reverse. That sure got me thinking. Rickels also had a cool video presentation of old space race stuff.

The next night I drove Jonathan Lethem to his suite and we had a nice talk. I knew we'd be pulled in different directions at the fest, so I was glad to get the time. Very nice guy. I've got some friends that call me "Dave" and some friends that call me "David" - Lethem is a "David" friend. I got him to sign my copy of "Men & Cartoons" too! His keynote was funny, touching, and revolutionary - more on that when the videos come out -- more on when the videos are coming out later.

The highlight of the event was the screening of Radio Free Albemuth. Well before that we had a nice dinner in the "Nob Hill Room" at my school, with an open bar, and pretty good food. But the movie was a hit, and seeing it with a theater full of Dick-heads was wonderful and rewarding for me personally.

I finally got to meet Umberto Rossi. A gentleman and a scholar. And of course got to catch up with old friends Lord Running Clam, Perry Kinman, Frank Hollander, Laura Entwisle, and more. The whole thing reconfirmed for me that Dick-heads are some of the nicest, smartest, and most generous people on the planet. In addition, I met lots of cool new people: Chris Rudge, John Burton, Doug Mackey. I can't list everyone.

The Verge has just posted their video and article about the fest, and they're great! Check them out here. More pictures to follow.

A Little Update For Us Tempunauts

Preparations are now in high gear for the PKD Festival, now just two weeks away. Things are really falling into place.

Stuff I'm really excited about:

Grania Davis will be talking about her experiences with PKD. As will Charles Platt, one of the first PKD told of 2-3-74.

Lethem will be talking!

Laurence Rickels will be discussing The Simulacrum - will we finally decode the mystery?

We're screening Radio Free Albemuth - it's gonna be really cool to see that with a theater full of Dick-heads! And then we'll have a Q & A with director John Alan Simon afterwards...

Did I mention we've got 85 registered attendees?! I'm both nervous and excited. And also afraid it'll all be over too soon.

Need some reading material to get you through these long weeks? Well I just had my first short story published by the good folks over at the Jersey Devil Press. It's really more Lethem-y than Dickian, but it's called "The Guitarist" and you can read it here. Let me know what you think. I've got another story coming out in the October issue of Theurgy magazine, and my writing buddy and co-editor at Pravic, Nathaniel K Miller is also going to be in same issue. So I'll link to that soon!

Radio Free Albemuth Racks Up Another Win!

Just got off the phone with director John Alan Simon (yeah, that's how we roll) and he was excited to announce Radio Free Albemuth won the award for Best Film Adaptation at the London Science Fiction Film Fest. Not only that, they sold out the first screen and added a second, the festival's organizers proclaiming, "In our view, the best adaptation of PKD’s work to screen by far!"We've even got pictures!

 Simon at the Fest

 

RFA Producer Elizabeth Karr and an English Guy

High praise indeed. So when are you we going to get a look at RFA stateside? Good question. We are working hard on arranging a showing of Radio Free Albemuth at the Philip K Dick Festival scheduled for Sept 22-23 in San Francisco, so there's yet another reason to attend. Stay tuned for more info about the Festival to come shortly. 

 

 Photo: Director John Alan Simon and another British Guy

This news about RFA will no doubt provoke commenters to lament their lack of eye laying on this movie. One thing talking with John Alan Simon makes very clear is that Hollywood is a terrible place, a Skynet-already-won wasteland. And here's John; he's carrying this movie on his back through the muck. Just reserve the movie on Netflix, like it on Facebook, and get your ass to San Francisco for our screening in September.

Ridley Scott to Re-Visit Blade Runner

Pictured above: biting visual mockery from io9 commenter.

Just got back from vacation, this was on io9.com. If you haven't read it, I guess you have a life or something, but go read it now, we'll wait...

Can you believe that? Pointing out that Hollywood isn't doing anything original is only slightly less original than all the remakes, but, c'mon. Really?! I vote for a sequel where Deckard is in an old folks home being cared for androids, like an old Daryl Hannah model?! And he's all weirded out because he has PTSD from fighting them, but humans and andys have made peace.... OR HAVE THEY?! And also Clint Eastwood, old android, Oscar ROLE! Don't talk about four-year lifespans, we can write around that. They see an egg in a pool and feel young again, like Cocoon! Note to Ridley Scott: I'm available.

Radio Free, on the other hand is kicking some serious ass. I'm off on a gnostic journey to the Reno screening this Saturday night. If you're at the Worldcon or the Hugos or whatever hit me up. I got bluetooth in my Yoda ears!

RFA to Show at Renovation Film Fest Aug 20

In another blow against the Empire, Radio Free Albemuth will be screened at Renovation Film Festival on August 20 right after the Hugo Awards, and there will even be a Q&A with director John Simon! Read more about it here. I'm just wrapping up my vacation in Hawaii and so I'll keep this brief. But I am thinking about making the drive to Reno myself for this. If you're in the area, well first of all I'm sorry, but second, make sure you get to the screening.

RFA Reviewed by Variety

The Logos cannot express how good it is to see this film starting to get some momentum! Hollywood Bible, Variety's got the write up and they say good things, among them, Simon's screenplay is "consistently absorbing," and "Gritty HD lensing and imaginative, old-fashioned-in-a-good-way effects showing the alternate world surrounding Nick and Sylvia. A terrific score by Canadian composer Ralph Grierson and British singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock is the jewel in a first-class tech package."

Here's what else they're saying:

"Engrossing adaptation"

"Should connect strongly with Dick's fanbase and attract upscale auds seeking sci-fi with political and philosophical substance"

"Delivers satisfying intrigue and suspense"

"Pic operates successfully as a study of enlightenment and a straight-ahead conspiracy thriller."

This is Variety folks, not Harvey Stolkes of the Des Moines Wheatseeder, ferVALIS'sake! Or some Dick-head blogger for that matter. What they say carries a fair amount of weight in Tinseltown.

It's making me think the empire may have ended. But then it's pure Black Iron Prison out there. Maybe RFA is the redeeming entity we need at exactly this moment - or at least until we see what Gondry can do with Ubik.

Remember, like the movie's Facebook page, put it in your queue on Netflix (site search engine is down, sorry, no linky). The signal has arrived. Now we must broadcast it.

Radio Free Albemuth Wins Special Jury Award!

I got word a few days ago that Radio Free Albemuth won the Grand Prize - Special Jury Award for Science Fiction at The WorldFest Houston International Film Festival (boy, that's a lot of nouns!). Congratulations to John Alan Simon (pictured above doing director stuff) who has been working tirelessly for years on this project! It really is a great film with a hell of a script and a ton of heart.

Those of you in the Dallas area will have the opportunity to see RFA next Friday April 29 at the Angelika Film Center. Have you 'liked' the film on Facebook? Have you ever seen Swimming with Sharks? Hollywood strikes me as a brutal place, and here's John Simon carrying this movie, this great piece of art, like a flickering flame in the wind. It's a Dickian, not to mention Herculean, struggle. Nice to see the film get some recognition. I really hope it gets a broader release soon.

In Defense of Art

As you probably already know the Internet can be a very frustrating place. On the average day, after reading about how teachers unions are destroying the foundation of America, I try to cruise io9.com and see what's up with our SF community. A couple days ago, io9 posted the trailer for John Simon's adaptation of Radio Free Albemuth, and, well, believe it or not, commenters said some stupid stuff. Among the complaints:

"No one can complain about the production values in the upcoming Atlas Shrugged release after seeing this...."

"This looks like something the guys in IT threw together on their lunch breaks."

"Is this from the SyFy channel? I keep expecting a Dogosaurs or Pigeonraptor to swoop in an kill indiscriminately."

I will now address these concerns specifically. Dear Geeks, Radio Free Albemuth is an independent film done on the cheap so as to avoid the most common Hollywood pitfalls. You know, like when they take a PKD book and slice the science fiction idea out of it, and then get some guy like Tom Cruise to play a protagonist that has only a name in common with Dick's original. Gone are all the characters, the layers of doubt and resolve, the depth of vision, and in their place is a long scene during which the audience worries that Tom Cruise may drink THE MILK THAT'S ALREADY GONE BAD!!!1! Remember, Phil Dick said his stories don't just ask 'what if?' - they ask "MY GOD! What if?!" I mean, that milk looked really gross, but WTF?

Just today as we are hearing reports about a Total Recall remake, and Blade Runner prequels, sequels, and mini-series, you people have the gall to pan a movie that dares to be slightly original? Guys, you're ruining it for the rest of us, those of us that want to see people take Dick's literary vision in new and interesting directions. I mean you guys are right: this doesn't look like a slick Hollywood production, but how have those worked out for you? Can you even remember the name of the main character in Paycheck or Next (no the answer is not Ben Affleck and Nic Cage)?

Remember the Washington Post article from last week? The one that said this:

"Dick's fiction also is highly regarded because it tends to avoid the typical elements found in Hollywood science fiction - alien invasions, battles in outer space, time travel, etc. - and is more character-driven, featuring a small group of people in confined settings and environments."

And yet, with the notable exceptions of Blade Runner and A Scanner Darkly, the typical adaption of Dick's work avoids characterization like the plague, instead we get an extended chase scene.

I guess I can't really fault the commenters over at io9. I don't really think they're Dick fans per se; they get pretty turned on by special effects and the like over at that site. But I know my readers and Dick's fans in general will give this film a chance. Please. PLEASE!Head over to that comments section and let these guys know they just don't know.. Help reawaken my trust in the Internet...

Radio Free Albemuth Trailer Online

Events on the ground are moving rapidly as we approach the Friday release of The Adjustment Bureau. Personally, I'm more excited about John Simon's adaptation of RFA. The trailer showed up on the Internet today...



Radio Free Albemuth movie trailer
Uploaded by blankytwo. - Full seasons and entire episodes online.

Radio Free Albemuth Debuts in NYC Tomorrow

The post's title says it all. But Director John Simon says it too:

"We are screening next week [tomorrow October 7] at the Gotham Festival as an opening night film."

All you New York Dick-heads need to be there. Read more and buy tickets here.

Update: Director John Simon needs Dick-heads in the seats tonight in order to further his dream of a wider release for this movie, so if you call yourself a fan of Phil Dick and you live in New York, you need to walk the talk tonight. Remember, I've seen an earlier cut of this film and really loved it. I wrote about it here.

Sedona Film Festival to Screen Radio Free Albemuth

Photo: Shea Whigham as Phil

Exciting news from director John Simon:

"We are having a sneak preview of Radio Free Albemuth at the Sedona Film Festival in Arizona this upcoming week.

There will be two screenings - a small one on Thursday, Feb. 25 at the Studio Live Theatre at 7:30 pm.

and a larger one in the main Festival screening theatre on Saturday night, February 27th at, the Harkins Theatre 2 at 9:55 pm

My personal suggestion would be to go to the Saturday screening - bigger screen, better sound.

It's being billed as a "sneak preview" "work-in-progress" screening. The film is for all intents and purposes complete - really just the end titles need to be finished.

It's not inconceivable that reactions to the screening might cause us to reconsider the length - which right now is 114 minutes without credits.

So there is some possibility, this will be the only chance to see the movie in this version --- which represents my sole cut and vision of the film.

Obviously, we're hoping/anticipating a good reaction - as we've had so far to those we've screened the movie for, including yourself.

Here's a link to the Festival website. Tickets are $10 for the screenings.

If any PKD fans or listers show up, I'd love to have them introduce themselves to me. I'll be there for Q&A at the end of both screenings.

We could use your support and that of PKD readers."

Here are some more production stills from the movie:


Jonathan Scarfe as Nick Brady with FAP Guards


Scott Wilson as President Fremont


Shea Whigham as Phil, science fiction writer.

Photos courtesy of Radio Free LLC; all rights reserved....

Sunday Reading Roundup

Between late night diaper changes and the first week of a demanding new semester teaching second-year literature, I'm just barely maintaining. And of course I'm really falling behind here on the blog. So here, in digest fashion, are some of the stories flowing through our great series of tubes.

1) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep the Prequel. The comic-centered and PKD knowledgeable blog, nutintheshell, has the details:

DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP?: DUST TO DUST #1
Written by Chris Roberson, art by Robert Adler.

A science-fiction publishing event! Who hunted androids before Rick Deckard? Taking place immediately after World War Terminus ends, the problems with artificial life -- androids -- become apparent. The government decides they must become targets, hunted down, but who will do the dirty work? Two men are assigned: Malcolm Reed, a "special" human with the power to feel others' emotions, and Charlie Victor, who's the perfect man for the job -- or is he? Meanwhile Samantha Wu, a Stanford biologist, fights to save the last of the world's animals. John W. Campbell Memorial Award-nominee Chris Roberson writes the prequel to John W. Campbell Memorial Award-winner Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, one of the greatest science fiction novels ever published!

32 pages, $3.99. Releasing: April, 2010

Yeah, but will it have Jar Jar Binks in it?!

2) The Electric Ant comic book. Is it out yet? I'm not a huge comic book fan, but I'd like to hear the opinions of some in the comments section...

3) I've saved the best for last: LA freelance writer Scott Timberg, has written a pretty extensive series of articles on PKD for the LA Times and his blog. Scott and I talked a lot during the writing of the article, and I'm impressed by his work (and not just because he quoted me a few times). Here's a link to Scott's main article for the LAT. Then Scott wrote more extensively in subsequent posts. Links to parts one and two here. The rare pic of PKD and Tessa posted at the top appeared on Scott's blog; I don't think I've seen it before.

4) Scott also has ins over at io9.com and recently posted an interview with Radio Free Albemuth director John Simon, and talked about his sneak peek at the film...

Radio Free Albemuth Update Part II

We are really lucky to have a movie director working on a PKD adaptation who is willing to talk about the experience in such detail. I've learned a lot from John Alan Simon, both on this blog and in our private correspondence, and again, I would like to thank him for the attention and concern he's shown us fans.

Prepare to geek out even farther as he delves into the intricacies of post-production tedium and the soul-crushing process of getting a film to theaters where people can see it in part two of my most recent interview with John:

Q: What are you currently working on with the movie?

A: Sound design, credits, conform and Digital intermediate. The conform means the ingestion of the high-def digital tapes to a server in order to, in essence, re-create the movie from the Final Cut Pro project files. Editing in Final Cut is really a "proxy" for the actual editing of the original footage itself. Because we shot in data-stream mode with the Thompson Viperstream camera, the hi-def footage has totally neutral color values - i.e. when you look at the footage, it's basically like black and white, but in this instance, green hued. We were able to apply preliminary color "looks" to the highly compressed footage edited in Final Cut, but in the Digital Intermediate process we'll work with a company called Hollywood DI, run by Neil Smith, and a very gifted colorist named Aaron Peak to use all the color latitude in the digital data stream to create a totally color balanced and rich color palette for the film. This is why I say to people that all movies today are bascially digital whether shot on film or not. Starting with the Coen Brothers, "Oh, Brother Where Art Thou?" virtually all movies, even those shot on film, are transferred to digital for the Digital Intermediate process before being outputted to film again. With a "digital" movie, you're just skipping the initial step of shooting on film.

As I mentioned, all of our ADR has already been done and some very gifted foley artists led by sound engineer Walter New working with his wife Bridget have done a really first-rate job re-creating all the sounds of anything done by the actors, including walking on various surfaces, handling items, etc. This is a very pain-staking process that either enhances the realism of a film or destroys it.

The digital visual effects are being given final tweaks right now also. A new effects company called Angstrom - Ergin Kuke, Yas Koyama and Klaus Seitschek have all dedicated many months now to helping me get this facet of the movie right. Another artist, Shawn Hunter also made significant contributions in this area to certain specific visual effects sequences. There are well over a hundred and twenty visual effects shots and I wanted them to be of the same caliber as the story and acting values of the movie. And again, with out limited budget, we had to find a way to turn that to an advantage, so created effects that have a retro or 'handmade' look that coincides with the 1980's time period of the movie.

I believe the results are worth the effort and dedication. I'm worried about the general economic climate for indie films right now but still confident that the same spirit that guided us through an arduous production will lead this film to the right distribution channels and ultimately, the right audience. In the final analysis, I made the film that I wanted to make. And I had some very dedicated collaborators in this adventure. And some very supportive producing partners, including Dale Rosenbloom, who began development of this story with me over ten years ago, and producer Stephen Nemeth. My wife, Elizabeth Karr was also roped in for casting and ultimately as a "co-producer," and she has worked hard with me throughout post. I also have enormous gratitude to Executive Producer, Philip Kim, our primary production financier.

The only limitations were the budget and my own talent. I have received helpful suggestions along the way from many people, for which I'm also appreciative. It's not always easy to assimilate so many viewpoints. Finally, I realized that I'd rather make a film that a relative handful of people might potentially "love" rather than a movie than a larger number of people merely "like." Studio interference and cutting of Terry Gilliam's Brazil and Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America to make them more "commercial" didn't really succeed for their initial theatrical release. Only in the versions intended by the directors, did these movies achieve any success at all - passionate enthusiasm by a small, but strong base of viewers, including myself.

From this point forward, it's up to the audience, really. Probably not a huge audience in this time of G.I. Joe and Transformers 2. But I made the Philip K. Dick movie that I myself wanted to see as a more than twenty year reader of PKD. And that was a tremendous honor and privilege.

Of course, the PKD fan base will be instrumental in making this indie a success or not. they will be on the front line of viewers and hopefully they will spread the word to those who have not yet discovered the brilliance of PKD...

Thanks for your time John! If anybody wants to know more about movie making (especially screenwriting) may I suggest this series of Youtube videos that explain why The Phantom Menace is such a terrible film.

P.S. Also, interesting to note that John recently told me that his entire special effect budget for RFA was equivalent to what Cameron spent on one second of Avatar...

Radio Free Albemuth Update

Here's an interview with Director John Alan Simon about his progress on his cinematic adaptation of Radio Free Albemuth:

Q: When will the general public get to see this movie?

That's hard to forecast. Needless to say, we have to finish the film first. Then we need to find a distribution deal - or most likely two primary deals -one distribution deal for international and another for North America. Chances are, the film will be sold territory by territory by an international distributor, which really means an international sales agent. Then outside the U.S., the French distributor, the British distributor, etc. will each make an individual decision as to how best distribute the film in their individual territory. Theatrical, TV, DVD, any or all of the above. Prior to those oversea country releases - or basically simultaneously, we hope the film will get exposure at various international film festivals. Just prior to the American Film Market in Los Angeles in November, we screened the movie as a work-in-progress for several distributors, all of whom expressed interest. I would say it's pretty definitive that the movie will be offered on a territory-by-territory basis at the Cannes Festival market in May. Or possibly, if we're able to organize it in time at the Berlin Festival market in February.

In the U.S. the distribution forecast is a great deal more murky. The climate for indie movies has badly deteriorated. Many of the companies that would have been logical candidates for RFA have either gone out of business, or greatly scaled back within the last 18 months - companies like Warner Independent, Paramount Vantage, the Weinstein Company, Netflix's theatrical distribution company, Fine Line. There aren't many companies left that are still in the business of distributing and marketing indie movies. Lionsgate for example, has for some time now had a business model now that only strives to acquire films that can gross $20 million and upwards theatrically. Much as we love RFA, that's not its business model!

So we'll have to see what the best way is to get this movie out in the U.S. will be. I'm certain there will be some theatrical release but it may be limited to the top major markets and in what used to be considered "art house" or "calendar" theatres. Unlike most filmmakers, I have an extensive background in distribution and film sales, so I don't look at the prospects for our movie in the current climate with rose-colored glasses. But it goes without saying that we will undertake the distribution struggle with the same tenacity and determination that's been the driving force of the movie's production. It's a very tough time out there at the moment for indie films, that are basically "review" rather than "marketing" driven. It's something of a marketing/distribution challenge that this PKD movie is probably more in keeping with the outsider/indie spirit of PKD's work. That's the movie we wanted to make, but the downside is that we don't have a big studio to get behind us and get the movie out there. We're doing it all on our own.

I may be asking for volunteer "helpers" among the PKD fan base very soon. And devising some interesting incentives. Not of hard currency type, I should hasten to add. But we will definitely figure out a way to make it all both entertaining and educational. More on that later.

Q: What's left to do in order to complete the film?

This might be more detailed info than you wanted, but here goes:

Since October we've been engaged in all the sound work that had to wait until we "locked" picture. It's amazing how much difference sound makes to the viewer's movie experience. David, you watched RFA with "unbalanced" dialogue and with all the distracting, unplanned background noise still in the movie. Our sound designer, Evan Frankfort, has for about the last eight weeks been putting together all the various tracks - cleaned-up dialogue, foley, sound effects, music. Next, he and I will make the decisions on a scene by scene basis how to "balance" and "mix" these elements. However we've already done the ADR, which is re-recording of dialogue for scenes where location or other problems made good sound difficult to capture during producing. It's amazing how far the art of ADR has come in recent years. Directors like Spielberg and Fincher virtually ADR their entire films now - or close to 80%. It's a far cry from the days of the Spaghetti Westerns of Leone or the early horror films of Dario Argento where "lip-lock" synch was so obviously off even when the original actors "dubbed" their parts. I've gotten to hear both David Fincher and James Gray talk extensively about sound and then speak to them a little about these issues. Try listening to a film like Zodiac with good headphones and without watching the picture itself, and you'll get some notion of how vast the palette of sound can be to enhance a movie and help tell the story.

Q: Was this a difficult or easy film to make? Why?

Nothing about making movies is ever easy. It's not for the faint of heart. Just negotiating the PKD book rights took well over a year. Writing a script, finding financing - these are actually the hardest parts of the process. I turned down the opportunity to make this movie for two or three times the budget we ended up with, because I didn't want to compromise the story with action sequences, fights, explosions unnecessary violence, actors with "name value" who were wrong for the roles, and other elements that would have made the movie more "appealing" for the foreign sales companies that typically step up to finance indie-budget level science fiction films.

I wanted a high degree of artistic/creative control and the trade-off was working on a very limited budget for the scope of the picture I envisioned. But because it was Philip K. Dick and because the script was faithful in spirit to the book, we attracted people at every level of the film that were willing to work for less than their "quotes." Of course, that spirit has to start at the top. My producing partners, Dale Rosenbloom, Stephen Nemeth, Philip Kim, Elizabeth Karr and myself all deferred our entire salaries, so that the limited financial resources could go fully to what you're going to see on screen.

Production itself is a pleasure because now finally you're getting to actually make your film. But some films are easier than others. The perfect indie movie is something like the Jennifer Jason Leigh movie "Anniversary Party" - one location. Or the Danish film, "Celebration." By contrast, RFA had close to 40 locations on a 24 day shooting schedule. The "perfect" indie movie also has very few speaking parts, for example, Darren Aronofsky's PI, which I greatly admire. RFA has something over 35 speaking parts. So just from a logistical point of view it was an arduous production schedule for 24 days of shooting. We never worked less than 14 hours on a six day week schedule. Some days more.

At the beginning of the film, the impending Writer's Guild Strike made the movie extremely difficult to cast. Hollywood was "rushing" movies into production to stockpile in advance of the strike and almost every actor in town was "working" on bigger budget projects. Usually with indie films, if you've got an interesting script, you're able to get well-known actors onboard once they know they're not doing a big studio film in that same time frame.

In our case, we ended up with a relatively unknown cast - but in many ways I think that serves the material. I think that for a very offbeat story like RFA, it would be undermined by "stars." Of course, unknown doesn't mean inexperienced or untalented. There were many well-known actors who wanted to play the leads, but weren't quite right in my view. We ended up with actors who really loved and understood the script and appreciated the opportunity to move beyond usually supporting parts in studio films. I'm really pleased with the performances of the lead cast and also proud of the caliber of actors who came onboard to play supporting roles. Every actor on the movie worked for SAG minimum. As I mentioned, the producers all deferred their salaries. I also deferred my directing fee. So in a true sense, it's been a labor of love for everyone involved. For me, it's been two years of unpaid work.but it's also been two years of artistic freedom with the only constraint being insufficient funds to finish the film any faster.

Towards the end of the production, the worst fires in recent LA history made several locations unavailable at literally the last minute. We were scrambling all the time to find and replace locations. So even on my "day-off" Sunday, I was working just as hard as during the regular production week. What I lost in sleep, I made up for in weight by eating too much to keep my energy up. I'm looking forward to shedding some of the excess when the movie's completed.

Post production has its own stresses. Trying to do extensive special effects (nearly 150 CGI shots) on an indie budget is very challenging and more problematic than I anticipated at the outset. But editing has been a wonderful experience working with Phil Norden, who was recommended to the project by director Walter Hill. Phil has been a real collaborator, working for over a year now without any pay, and helping me with many of the post-production supervising duties. It's also been great working with the composers involved in the project. I'm a former music critic and contributing editor to Downbeat magazine, so music is incredibly important to me. I've been very pleased with the contributions of both Robyn Hitchcock for both songs and score and the other primary musical contributor, Ralph Grierson, who I've worked with very closely in his studio. Our sound designer, Evan Frankfort of Wouldwork Sound, has also been amazing in his work ethic and creativity.

Thanks John, and keep up the good work!
Don't miss part two of the interview - coming soon!

My First Look At Radio Free Albemuth - The Movie

About a month ago I had the opportunity to drive down to LA to see a screening of Radio Free Albemuth with director John Alan Simon. Pretty cool, I know. John wanted me to take a look at the current cut of the film before any further changes are 'locked out' and they begin the painstaking work of mixing and cleaning up the sound, correcting the color-timing, tweaking the special effects, and putting on the final polish.

I really enjoyed the movie and think most Dick-heads are also going to like this film 1) it's an independent release, so it's free of dodgy chairs, high-speed chases, fight scenes, gun battles or Keanu, Tom, Nick, Arnold, or any other Scientologist; 2) and best of all, it's very true to the book. While writer/director John Alan Simon was forced to cut some of the material from the novel, I think he did so in a very effective and sensitive way.

Above: Director John Simon with Katharyn Winnick playing Rachel, and Shea Wigham, filming of one of my favorite scenes.

Although most of the autobiographical material about Philip K Dick as a young child has been excised, John still manages to get us to care about these characters pretty quickly. John mentioned that he kept the 1982 director Ivan Passer's film Cutter's Way in mind while writing the script and shooting the film. Having never seen it, I rented it last week, loved it, and instantly saw its influence in Radio Free Albemuth. Both are loving portrayals of counter-culture heroes whose personal moral codes triumph over The Man - though at a supremely high price.

Above: Jonathan Scarfe who plays Nick Brady pays the price.

If you remember, John Alan Simon filmed this movie on a modest budget with private financing in a fast 27 days, using the high-end digital Viperstream camera system which David Fincher used for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Zodiac. and Michael Mann used for Collateral. Currently, Simon is deep in post-production. What I saw was a version very close to the final edit of the film but in much lower resolution image quality than the final film will be. The lighting, sound effects, and musical score were still at a pretty early stage, so I had to use my imagination during some points. The film had a very 'indie' look to it, kinda like Cutter's Way.

Like I said, I think Dick-heads will like this film. It's really interesting how Simon positions the film in an alternate world through the clever use of dialog and scenery. Try as you might, you cannot locate this film in time. Also there are a few establishing shots that seem to encompass several of the book's themes in their composition; one of my favorites was a shot of a palm tree with barbed wire strung in loops before it.

Aside from Alanis Morrisette, who turns in a good performance as Silvia, the actors in RFA are relatively unknown. I thought the guy playing Phil , Shea Wigham, is really good. I think he's the first person to play PKD, and my only complaint is that when he appears onscreen writing, I wanted to yell, 'Type faster!'

Above: Shea Wigham as Phil.

As always, there will be some armchair quarterbacking going on afterwords, but John Alan Simon has made a very gutsy PKD adaptation. He has bravely filmed the novel's many visions and dream sequences, which, I'm sure, was no easy feat, and explains why the film has taken somewhat longer than usual in post production due to creating complicated digital effects on an "indie" budget. I felt like this movie is a labor of love, a tribute to Phil from a screenwriter and director who really gets him, not one who simply sees Hollywood gold in adapting his stories. You have to respect that.

Stay tuned for a forthcoming interview with John Alan Simon when we'll learn more about the production, and when we can expect to see the film in theaters.

More production photos can be found here.