Director Thomas Newman CBC Radio Interview
Visionary Director of the zombie film Bong of the Dead, Thomas Newman appears on the CBC Radio show – On The Coast. Listen to the complete radio interview to learn more about the film and the director along with some background to the movie. If you enjoy the interview please leave a comment!
Listen to the radio interview here
Here is another great article that’s most recent about the premiere! Shit now I have a full time job Googeling articles! I’m a sucker for work aint I!!
Wire Service Canada
Canadian Free Press Release Service
May 17, 2011 – 09:08 PM
Entertainment
The $5000 epic zombie film by writer, producer and director Thomas Newman had its Canadian premiere at the Rio Theatre on May 15 and the sellout crowd was treated to not only the cult classic film Bong of the Dead, but also received giveaways, and prizes.
Members of the cast and crew including makeup special effects and co-producer Mike Fields, and actor Mark Wynn were on hand for the movie premiere.
May 17, 2011 Vancouver, BC Canada – Since the feature length movie Bong of the Dead received notice that it made the Cannes Independent Film Festival lineup, the press, fans and members of the film industry have been lining up to get a piece of the film and the visionary director Thomas Newman. Newman has been very busy since the premiere with TV and radio interviews on top of a flood of fan interest for his zombie movie.
It’s been some time coming, but Thomas Newman finally premiered his epic $5000 one man, one camera film on May 15th at the Rio Theatre in Vancouver. Even prior to the screening in Vancouver it had actually played at the prestigious Cannes Independent Film Festival in France for two separate showings as part of the official selection for the 2011 ceremonies. It has also been receiving rave reviews from critics abroad and fans alike who have accepted the film with open arms and are already screaming “Cult” favorite after only one screening! These reviews are from credible resources such as the Rue Morgue Magazine who go as far as quoting in their full page article about the film – “Bong Of The Dead has Cult hit smeared all over it!” The filmmaker went even as far as tracking down the iconic king of pot humor Tommy Chong who said after a private screening, “This is a sure winner!”
The hugely positive reaction to his movie has finally put the filmmaker in the spotlight after spending two years in his basement in post-production compositing hundreds of shots. This is work normally done by entire companies – but it was done by one man and his pimped-out Mac computer.
When asked if he was surprised at the sudden interest in and success of his hard work, Thomas Newman stated, “Actually no not at all to be quite honest with you. I’ve been planning and plotting this film and its success from day one before I even had a script. Everything I do for this film is planned to the finest detail. I always said to people that I needed to go for a home run first time around and I believe I did that.”
As a result May 15th has been a date on a lot of Vancouverite’s minds. People who have been following the filmmakers work and progress via Facebook, Twitter and other such social mediums showed their support by lining up outside the movie theatre on a rainy Sunday evening during one of the hometown Vancouver Canucks most important playoff games! Fans showed up as zombies and victims and then there was Thomas Newman in his flashy Bong of the Dead t-shirt.
And the rumors are true, the premiere was such a success and the demand for another filming has been so great that a second screening date has been booked! Bong Of The Dead will be playing at the Rio Theatre again on August 18th 6:30 PM! More ticket information is available on the main web page.
Fans interviewed after the premiere were stating that they were genuinely impressed with the great stylistic directing by Thomas Newman who definitely pushed the limits of digital technology and created the best with what he had.
About Bong of the Dead
Learn more about the film by visiting the official website at www.Bongofthedead.com
Follow BOTD on Twitter
and be sure to read the Zombie Blog
Thomas Newman meeting fans before movie premiere
Photo op with fans
Vancouver Premiere Press Release
The $5000 epic zombie film by writer, producer and director Thomas Newman had its Canadian premiere at the Rio Theatre on May 15 and the sellout crowd was treated to not only the cult classic film Bong of the Dead, but also received giveaways, and prizes.
Since the web is so complex sometimes people who read my Blog may not be reading my Tweets or visa verse or you may not even know the articles exist. Ive decided to post any cool article I find on my movie on the world wide web by posting it here for those who missed it or never thought it existed to begin with! Enjoy!
WIRE SERVICE CANADA
It has arrived. The feature-length zombie movie by Thomas Newman has been completed, and on a budget of only $5000.
Rave reviews are starting to roll in.
“The Citizen Kane of zombie films.” – Alex Browne – The Peace Arch News
Writer, producer and director of Bong of the Dead, Thomas Newman took a chance of a lifetime to complete his first feature film. Being a veteran of the special effects industry, Thomas was able to turn his love and passion for film into a movie which is now being sought after by multiple distribution companies from across the globe. The process of creating an entire film and compositing over 350 shots himself by hand – frame by frame is typically usually the work of dozens of people. Driven by passion and fueled by his hunger for success he was able to overcome many personal and technical hurdles throughout the last two years. Along the way turning the movie into what it is today.
Members of the media are invited to contact Thomas Newman for interviews.
Distribution companies are invited to contact Thomas Newman for more information including screener material.
Zombie movie fans will love the new website and can find all the information on the movie including the cast and crew.
Official website for Bong of the Dead
Obviously I’m having a crazy week now that my movie is finally completed and its doing its thing via festivals and press etc! I feel like a mother whose just released her baby into the wild. I’m anxious, excited and nervous and scared all at the same time that people are going to tear it up! BUT… so far its been incredible reviews left right and center! I cannot believe my eyes at the way the world has responded to BOTD but I kind of knew they would! Im not trying to sound arrogant Im just stating the fact about being a dreamer. Heck that’s what dreamers do…we dream the best possible scenarios and work towards making them come true. Whats the point in having a small dream? Dream big or wake up and get a regular job and be ordinary! I tried that but I was dreaming so much that I ended up sleep walking and actually becoming a zombie myself! Not for me sorry.
Ok so on May 3rd Tommy Chong gives a wicked quote to use for my movie….
“This is a sure winner!” Tommy Chong.
Then on May 5th my agent sends me an email from Cannes committee which says this:
“We’d love to include Bong of the Dead in our programme (which should
be ready by the end of this week). Feel free to use our Official
Selection logo (attached).”
http://www.cannesfest.org/OS2011.htm
Before that I had Alex Browne of the Peace Arch news say in his article “The citizen Kane of Zombie movies!”
2 days ago I found out that Michael Moore on of my favorite documentary filmmakers will be watching BOTD himself in consideration for his festival the Traverse City Film Festival! Not a committee but actually himself! I’m honored! Maybe a future project there…”Bowling for Bud!”.
Today May 9th Mike Fields drops off a copy of Rue Morgue magazine which is one of the biggest and most wildly spread Horror genre entertainment magazines known to man! They wrote the article that I’m going to go public with in the next few hours hopefully. In the article they said,
“Bong Of The Dead has cult hit smeared all over it!”
The Rue Morgue
Yup…that’s gonna be on the new poster as soon as I get clearance! LOL Soon I’m going to need a bigger poster! It feels so good that all the long days which blend into nights which blend into infinity are finally paying off! People are genuinely loving my first film and that to me means I have an audience to make movies for! That means the world!
I love the amount of momentum the film is picking up as I get closer to my directorial Debut and movie premiere! Speaking of premiere it looks like my good friend and sound Producer Andres has hooked me up with an official red carpet ceremony for the premiere! We’re talking big lights, red carpet and velvet ropes! Its all been put together as a generous donation by Javier Badillo who is one of the Rain dance film festival affiliates! Thank you Andres and Javier for the awesome gift! I hope you can all make it to the premiere for Bong Of The dead on May 15th at the Rio downtown! More info at www.bongofthedead.com
I cant stop smiling 
Thomas
The Bong Song – Keep Sucking Don’t Stop
House Track for Bong of the Dead – “Keep Sucking Don’t Stop”
Download Your Free Song Now
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This file is free to share please just credit Bong of the Dead – www.BongoftheDead.com
I guess I’m totally behind in delivering the good news as it rolls in but I honestly did not have the time. If you noticed from any of my previous blogs they are usually written in the late hours of the night or late early mornings when all normal people are sleeping. This is my first day light blog I think. Anyways, I have to break it up into parts because so much has developed for Bong of the dead that to fit it into one blog would make it ridiculously long.
Anyone whose read my other blogs has seen the emotional roller coaster ride Ive been on since day one of taking the step towards making my own movie with barley anything but passion. I’m happy to say that by holding true to myself and my views I have been able to accomplish what most filmmakers are still discussing in stuffy cafes with their peers. I wrote a script, filmed it and secured global distribution! What more can I ask for? Well I want to make more movies which is what its all about for me. As they say in Hollywood, “You’re only as good as your last picture”, or I think that’s what they say. In any case I am trying hard to not be stuck in the moment and to always be ahead of the game so that I may be able to jump right in should the opportunity present itself.
May is a crucial time of the year not only for Bong Of The dead, but also for zombies and zombie enthusiasts alike. May is the official Zombie Awareness Month! This is according to the Zombie research society who ask that we show our support by sporting a crossed gray ribbon. I shall do my bit! Since we are in May now I am officially less than 2 weeks away from my directorial debut and film premiere for Bong of the dead! I never thought I would be writing those last words but I guess we have finally arrived at our destination. Since Ive hired Rob Straight from Horizon Motion pictures great things have begun to happen for BOTD. I received news the other day that my movie will be presented not once but twice at the prestigious Cannes Festival on May 14th! WOW! That makes me very happy. I will then be premiering BOTD in Vancouver the very next day on May 15th at 6:30 PM at the Rio Theatre for a local audience. Then further down the festival line in September Bong OF The dead will be screed at TIFF! As if that were not enough good news I was also approached by the Traverse City film festival which was founded by the legendary Michael Moore. They actually came to me instead of the other way around. That’s a sign of good news meaning that the world is finally paying attention. To top it off the Province News paper which is our local paper finally came through and asked me for information about the movie so that they can write an article about it.
It looks like so far BOTD has been featured in Rue Morgue Magazine, Girls and Corpses and two other local magazines that have a pretty nice size audience. I’m hoping all this new press will bring even more people to the URL and launch my Google numbers from 1 million clicks to 1 Billion!! Dare to Dream right?
Of course with all this new founded publicity comes more hard work! It seems that the work never gets any easier it just becomes more as Q&A’s start coming in from random horror websites and other such interested parties. Dont get me wrong I am NOT complaining! I have never been a slacker and hard work has never scared me! Unless its a useless dead end job at a manufacturing factory, or lumber mill, or any of the other horrible jobs I’ve ever had to do in the past just to keep my “normal” life on track so that I can continue with my “creative” life! It could be way worse! I could be sitting around and not having an agent who wants a sequel script, not being hounded by websites who all want to do an article on this $5000 epic film made by some gut in his basement. All that adds up to the fact that what I am working towards is finally happening. That is what I truly live for, that’s making movies!
I am so grateful that I have been able to walk this road and without studio support or a massive budget or hundreds of people helping me in order to make it easier. If the road was easy then I would not learn anything from my experiences because my hardships would be shared by hundreds of others who would worry for me in order to make my life simpler and lesson the blows. That to me would not be the right way to conquer something new that you’ve taken on. I believe you have to face the dragon yourself and slay it yourself in order to become a true dragon slayer. Now that I have walked it and learned what I have learned it has only made me stronger and somehow wiser. Ive literally played every major role in making a movie from pre to actual to post to business post or marketing as it truly is. Al these skills will help make me a better Producer and Director because I will know the risks I took and learn from them for all my future projects. The only difference is this time I will have the studio support but they cant ever say that I wasn’t on the front lines! Its kind of like the army general who everyone respects because hes actually been to battle and crawled through the trenches. His men will follow him anywhere because they know he’s proven himself as a soldier. Yes I know right a war analogy? Where the hell did that come from? Well lets not forget film making is much like war at times if you think about it. There are external battles when you’re making your film from weather conditions to people deliberately trying to screw you over down to Murphy’s Law where anything and everything that could go wrong does. Then of course there the toughest parts of the battle the ones with oneself! The self loathing, self pity and insecurities and self doubt. Those are the ugly ones. At every angle something is ready to blow up in your face and you have to think fast in order to lessen the casualties.
Still don’t think film making is war? Try making a movie!
That is it for my part one of the Blog for the 2nd of MAY! I have to go and do more towards the premiere of the film because I am less than 2 weeks away! If you are local and would like to come out and see this film finally then please follow the link below and join us on MAY 15th at 6:30 PM at the Rio Theatre ( http://bongofthedeadmovie.ticketbud.com/bong-of-the-dead-movie? ). If you are expecting to be at Cannes this year then you can see it there the night before on MAY 14th at 4 PM at the Riviera.
Thank you all for your continuous support!
Thomas
Ok so I know that my last blog was on the negative side so I want to formally apologize for getting negative at a time when I should be positive. I seem to have trouble with not being able to express myself without sometimes coming across as harsh or pessimistic. For the record I want to say that although I don’t approve of “The System” in my industry I realize that I have to follow it in order to succeed…..for now anyways.
I understand that distribution companies and agents all have their purpose in the whole scheme of things. I guess if you were to refer to it as the machine that “It” or “the system” is, then all the parts of the engine have their place in order to move the whole vehicle forward. I just hate starting out as the whole engine and body myself then after its said and done being reduced to a nut;). At the end of the day I’m still in a far better position than most first time filmmakers out there. I have distribution offers coming in! I mean that is a lot more than some others can say about their films. I should be happy and grateful that people are paying attention and that my work is getting noticed. I’m actually getting a lot of emails from random people who want to either congratulate me on my achievements and talk about how they really enjoyed the trailers and posters etc. The film has been featured on over 200 websites to date and climbing. I just landed a large spread in Rue Morgue magazine, Girls and Corpses and Fango is coming around finally after 2 years of me pestering them! All these things are more than any lone filmmaker can wish for. I suppose I should be grateful and jumping up and down with joy and not stuck in this funk!
I am also grateful for my Agents efforts and I actually genuinely like him. He answers my calls and my e-mails even though I’m not the only filmmaker he has on his watch list. Hes a tough old dog with a lot of experience under his belt and hes got a lot of fight left in him still and doesn’t bullshit me which is the most important part of doing business to me. I’m also happy to have friends in the distribution circle who are keeping an eye on me and give me advice when I need it. You space cowboys know who you are. Thank you for your words of encouragement during my darkest hours and thank you for always being there when I need your advice regardless if I ask or not. Especially thank you for catching my bad tweets with missing links and missing pictures now and then;)
I think its time I stop wasting precious time and good blogging space with whining and flip the script! I need to do what every other creative does when they enter the darkness….self destruct with booze and drugs until I’m in a self induced coma! Just kidding…I’m not much of a drinker. Nope, I think I will do what the next best thing is and that is keep going and doing whatever I can to move forward. Ive been working on my new Bong posters and now I’m about to cut a new demo reel for myself since I need to start looking for work while Bong does its thing. Its time I update my old demo reel and include my biggest achievement to date! I know that I will get out of this funk and the positive energy will come pouring back into me before I know it. Its just tough being in my position and trying to remain positive. I think I need to read “The Secret” again starting tomorrow!
In the mean time here is my latest poster!
Another new poster art!
Well I have to admit it has been a while since my last blog but things have been kind of crazy since I walked through the doors of Independent film distribution. You think making a movie is a lot of work especially when your stuck in the dark by yourself days in and says out trying to piece together the rest of your life one digital frame per second. Well my friends wait until you get to the distribution phase of things and you’re now trying to get the film into the right hands! Its kind of like trying to swim from one small island across to another without getting eaten by dozens of sharks who can smell you coming from a mile. Those who have walked or swam I should say, before me and are reading this probably know exactly what I mean by that analogy. I imagine that every aspiring filmmaker/dreamer out there knows that making a movie with blood, sweat and a whole lot of passion takes courage, faith and the ability to not give up. I wont lie to you I have had my share of days and nights wanting to close my eyes and simply crawl up into a ball and go into a self induced coma! That may seem a bit extreme but its not far from the truth.
I would have to say that one of the best decisions I have made during my process of trying to make it was finding a good sales agent. If you find the right sales agent or Producers Rep then they could be the life raft that will carry you to the other island keeping you safe from the sharks. If you you don’t know who the “sharks” are by my analogy then Ill just go ahead and say it. There are “distributors” out there who dont care if you cut off your right arm or if your mothers life was on the line in order to make your movie. All they see is a tasty dollar sign and they will do whatever it takes to get your movie for nothing and leave you with nothing. If you think that you can make more money by shopping your movie around yourself then good on you! However if you are not sure whats out there lurking for you then find a great Sales Agent and let them represent you. After all they know the business end of things and most importantly they have the connections! That said do be careful as to who you try to use as your rep because sometimes they have bigger teeth than the sharks in the water!
If there was one piece of advice I could give anyone who is thinking about making a movie is this:
Stop what your doing now and BUY “The Insiders Guide to Independent Film Distribution” By Stacey Parks.
This book is the holy grail of indie film making! If you want to succeed you need to get that book in your hands because it paves the road to success for you! I had a quick exchange of words with the author, Stacey and I have to say she is legit! The fact that she has had so much knowledge and willing to share it is incredibly cool. Thank you Stacey for helping me find several homes for my movie;)
Well I have a meeting tomorrow with my sales agent to see whats on the table and drop off some screeners for him. Im looking forward to the future and cant wait to get BOTD out there so I can jump into the next 4 scripts I have lined up!
Thomas
Official 2011 Bong OF The Dead Trailer!
After 2 years of hell and back I have finally manged to cut the official trailer for Bong of The Dead! Here it is so please enjoy!
( VIEWERS DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED )
