Come See a Movie I Wrote and Produced Next Weekend!

Hello reader! I’m crash-landing in your inbox on a Tuesday for a quick word about some very important business.

By now, you’re probably used to getting an email from me every week about a film that was made by someone else. But I’d like to send you another email this week…about a film that I wrote and produced.*

The film is called Don’t Die! It’s a feature-length Southern crime thriller about a man named Jenks who robs a rural drug store and gets caught in the web of a black market pharmacy. Lots of extremely talented people worked together to make it happen, and I’m really proud to be one of them.

Now here’s the big news: Don’t Die will be premiering at the Sidewalk Film Festival in Birmingham, Alabama, on Saturday, August 26th at 8:30 p.m.! You can buy tickets here.** Many of the people who worked on the film will be there, so please say hello and party with us before and after the screening.

But wait, there’s more! We’ll be doing a (free!) panel at the Alabama School of Fine Arts in the Black Box Theatre at 2:00 p.m. (also on Saturday, August 26th). It’s called Surviving Today’s Indie Film Landscape With the Team From Don’t Die, and it’ll include our director, Benjamin Stark; our producer, Colby Leopard; and our lead actress, Virginia Newcomb, as well as myself.

Speaking of people who worked on our film, I’ve got a special guest writer lined up for this Friday. That’d be none other than Director Ben, who’ll be breaking down how Seconds, a remarkably good film, was a major influence on him when we were crafting the story of Don’t Die together back in 2020.*** Trust me, it’ll be a good read.

Anyway, if you live in or near Birmingham and you’ve never attended the Sidewalk Film Festival…first of all, what’s wrong with you? Second of all, I can’t tell you just how wonderful this festival is—you have to experience it for yourself. But here’s a hint: Sidewalk was recently named to MovieMaker Magazine’s list of the 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World!**** It’s listed right next to a couple of film festivals called Sundance and South By Southwest, if that helps paint a picture for you.

If you’re unable to join us for the festival, that’s okay! There’ll be opportunities to see our film in the future. In the meantime, you can always follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or what’s left of Twitter. That way you’ll know when in-person screenings may be happening in your area or (eventually) streaming options become available.

This film was absolutely a team effort, so my collaborators and I will be celebrating all next week as the festival’s going on. And we hope you can join us for that celebration.

*Many of you have been hearing me talk about this project for 3.5 years now and you might be sick of it. Well, I’m in Promo Mode, baby, so you’re gonna have to deal with me for two more weeks!

**If you have a day pass, a weekend pass, or a VIP badge, you don’t need to buy a ticket! Just make sure you get there a few minutes early.

***If you want to hear me, Ben, and Colby talk about another John Frankenheimer film (as well as our own!), check out the most recent installment of the Sleep In Cinema radio show! (Thanks to Dust On The VCR paid subscribers Gareth Jones and Craig Ceravolo for having us on the show!)

****It wasn’t their first appearance either! Sidewalk’s been on this level for a while now, folks.