Brighten The Corner

Upcoming Narrow Books Events

October 22nd, 2009 » no response

Gotta announce these events coming up on the calendar; if you’re in Los Angeles, hope you can make it out.

First: Freak City / October 25th

A sale event at Freak City’s grand opening of their amazing 5000 square foot space on Sunday, October 25th. Featuring vendors and participants including Dim Mak, Flock Shop, Evil Genius, Delicious Vinyl and Rojas.

crowdposter Narrow Books will be there offering hardcover titles from Megan Whitmarsh and Esther Pearl Watson, T-shirts by Mark Todd, and this awesome Travis Millard poster courtesy of Blood is the New Black.

2PM to 8PM, followed by an after-party till 2AM with DJs, drinks and… a taco bar!? Yeah.

But also: DesignerCon / November 21st

DesignerCon at the Pasadena Convention Center on Saturday, November 21st.

[Save the date on this one-- I'll have more information on this show soon.]

Dallas Fest Retraction

October 7th, 2009 » 1 reponse

You might have noticed last week we had a notice up about Texas 1960 being selected for the Dallas Video Fest.

We were recommended for inclusion to the fest organizers on short notice… Unfortunately, it turned out we were selected as part of their “Texas Show” showcase on the final night of the fest, which is reserved for Texan filmmakers. Though it pained me to do it, I had to come clean that we weren’t from Texas. Our cast includes folks from Lousiana, New Mexico, Georgia, even Hawaii… I’m from Missouri… but no Texans.

Of course the film was de facto disqualified, but the organizers were very gracious about the mix-up… they even told us their jurors took an extra bit of time looking for a way to include the film, which was great for us to hear.

But anyway, you heard it here first, and now, if you will, you can un-hear it. Congratulations to our little crew anyway, especially the actors! If a Texas-based festival liked the film enough to include it on short notice, that’s quite a kudos to their performances with regard to dialect and accent. Jessie Birschbach, one of our actresses, took the time to prepare and share a digital package including MP3s of West Texas dialect which we sent around to all the cast before shooting, and I think her work paid off.

Music Clearance for Your Short

August 28th, 2009 » no response

This might be a situation where I created work for myself. I’d seen friends place their films into festivals without bothering about rights clearance, and a lot of festivals have a “not my problem” attitude towards rights, so they keep mum… But I wanted to have my bases covered…

The steps involved are pretty simple, and they’re summed up nicely here: “Getting Clearance, DIY”.

There are two types of clearance you’ll need, synch rights and master rights… The first pertains to the rights of the song’s author, the second to the actual recording being used.

(Just so you know, once you’ve asked to negotiate a price for a song, the rights owner probably won’t forget about you. I decided to wait on final negotiation and payment of music rights on TEXAS 1960 (which uses two period songs, one by Marty Robbins and one by Chet Atkins) and was surprised when the rights owners (a mighty music conglomerate) contacted me (relatively speaking, a fly speck) again recently to find out when I was going to pay. Don’t get me wrong, they were totally friendly, and agreeable when I told them I planned to finalize only after the film was accepted into a festival… but once on their radar, well, you’re on their radar.)

I wouldn’t bother trying to make a special plea for cheaper rates on your song use, at least not initially. I’d had guidance from a friend who used to work in rights clearance, and most of the time, things are pretty rote… They look at how long you plan to use the song, what your budget is, how popular the song is… Don’t bother with a lengthy explanation of how you can’t afford much, that you’re on a shoestring… Later on, if you do get sticker shock, then maybe try to ask for leniency… Ultimately, though, I thought the figures I was quoted were fair.

Next time though, we’ll record all the music ourselves. Just to be extra safe. And cheap.

Trailer up for TEXAS 1960

August 16th, 2009 » no response

A trailer is up on Vimeo now for our recently completed short film, TEXAS 1960, written and directed by Christopher Lepkowski.

Starring Milly Sanders, Shawn Petersen, Dixie Perkinson, and Jessie Birschbach.

From a synopsis: In West Texas circa 1960, two men stumble into the hills after a robbery gone wrong. Witnesses recount details of the crime, but the more the Sheriff hears, the less he really gets.

Narrow Books DJs the Goodreads Bookswap with Koji Taco Truck

August 10th, 2009 » no response

book_swap_poster If you’re looking for something to do this Saturday afternoon, come out for some book swapping action. That’s right, if you’re never going to read that book again, bring it down to the Goodreads Book Swap at Book Soup in West Hollywood and trade it for another slab of tree pulp or treasure. It’s recycling for readers!

The Kogi Taco Truck will be there, and the Narrow Books crew (Myself, Mark, and author Joseph Mattson (Elana couldn’t make it)) will be spinning LPs while you barter. August 15th from 1-4 pm at Book Soup, don’t be late or the good reads may go home with someone else!

UPDATE: Photos from the event. A load of people showing up, of course, for those famous tacos.

Narrow Books visits NYC bookstores

July 24th, 2009 » no response

Back from a trip to NYC and some Narrow Books store visits.

Highlights:

Cinders gallery, where I got to meet Sto, the head man in charge of a gallery that shows work from a lot of our favorite artists like Mark Todd, Esther Pearl Watson, Megan Whitmarsh… I was going to hit him up with Hey Fudge but he already had a copy on the shelf behind me!

smoke_prelim_cover Desert Island book and comic store, who recently put out the “Smoke Signals” comics mag with cover and comics inside by Travis. Great store, run by the friendly Gabe Fowler, who also gave me an awesome trade– I walked out with the new David Mazzucchelli book, Asterios Polyp.

Word bookstore in Greenpoint. When I was walking up I saw a sign in the window, a sort of friendly manifesto on supporting independent publishers. And it was no lie! The manager, Stephanie, was super-hospitable. I think they’d even invite Narrow Books for an event there if I could figure out how to coordinate one from here in LA.

Also got to attend a book event at ArtBook at X for For the Love of Vinyl: The Album Art of Hipgnosis, put out by PictureBox, and scored a copy signed by Aubrey Powell for a friend of a friend who designs album covers.

Ah, NYC, the city of friendly people. Now I just need to remind people LA isn’t all suck.

Book Events, July 11th and 16th

July 6th, 2009 » no response

Two events coming up to tell you guys about:

Funk Rumble Block Party! 12pm-10pm, Saturday, July 11th - The first Funk Rumble Block Party is happening in Chinatown this weekend, in conjunction with the Chinatown Artwalk (6pm-10pm). This “half music festival, half block party” is going to feature some amazing soul and funk… homegrown LA stuff no less! And Narrow Books will be there too, selling books and t-shirts. There’ll be food vendors (including vegetarian), a load of designers and artists, and a full bar open over at the Grand Star Jazz Club. Admission is $5 before 4pm, $8 after. And kids under 10 get in free.

** Special for this event, we will have a limited amount of signed copies of Yeti Logic (Rojo) by Megan Whitmarsh. Each copy has a unique yeti drawing!

Joseph Mattson reading at Book Soup, 7pm, Thursday, July 16th - Author John O’Brien sadly committed suicide two weeks after hearing that his first novel, Leaving Los Vegas, was being made into a film. But he left behind several hard-hitting novels that were published posthumously. The amazing press Akashic Books has just released his final unpublished work, Better, and Narrow Books author/editor Joseph Mattson will be reading from that novel along with writers Jerry Stahl and O’Brien’s sister, Erin.

Been super busy lately, sorry about the lack of posts. Several on the way, well overdue.

New Site for Narrow Books

June 17th, 2009 » no response

Working with designer Paul Thiel on a new site for Narrow Books. Am excited.

(He jotted these drawings in like three minutes, by the way.)

Our Book on the Urban Outfitters Blog

June 17th, 2009 » no response

hf_icon1 Check it out! Our book Hey Fudge by Travis Millard is featured on the homepage of the Urban Outfitters blog!

With luck, UO will consider carrying the book in their stores. They’ve recently had a hit with Farts: A Spotters Guide, which has illustrations throughout by Travis.

farts

Jules Feiffer at Cinefamily!!

June 10th, 2009 » no response

I used to keep an informal list in my head of writers and artists whose hearts I’d eat to steal their talents.

I don’t keep the list anymore (somehow the way I think about that sort of desire has changed), and the actual phrasing was stolen from an Evan Dorkin strip, I believe where he pictures himself eating Jaime Hernandez’s heart. (For the record, Evan Dorkin was never on my list, nor was Jamie Hernandez, but the metaphor for talent-envy was spot on.)

Jules Feiffer was on that list.

767px-jules_feiffer

Jesus, Jules Feiffer!

Talk about multi-talented. Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist who scripted “The Spirit” with Will Eisner and cartooned for the Village Voice for four decades, but also an Academy Award-winner for animation, playwright, novelist, artist…

Talk about a sharp mind, and an ability to crystallize the human condition into short, bite-sized pieces. Give me a six-panel Feiffer cartoon strip over any page of poetry to hit a note smartly, sharp and subtle at the same time. (Each such feat is a tiny miracle, and his work is full of them.)

He’s speaking in town on June 21st thanks to Cinefamily and Family bookstore. I’m probably not going to be able to go because of prior obligations, but you definitely should! You must. They’ll be screening the odd, ground-shifting (even by over-three-decades-later standards) film Little Murders.