The SITGES FILM FESTIVAL screening of THE SHELTER has come and gone and here are my quick thoughts on how it went down. When I presented the film I said: “You know me for films with tits and gore” and the crowd went wild and then I said “Well, this isn’t one of those” and the crowd groaned. This was the first day of the Fest, the audience wanted to party and if there’s one thing THE SHELTER is NOT is a party movie. With that aside; the crowd didn’t boo (those trustee whistles) which I saw as a positive thing and they all clapped at a certain point which at least told me they were involved in the happenings.

PS: It was star Michael Pare’s B-Day on that day – thanks to the crowd for their well wishes 🙂

PPS: When the flick finally rolled, I did a double take. The image didn’t look too good with the colors being all over the place. Not sure if it was my DCP, the projector or a bit of both, but the film never looked this bad on a big screen. I am still in Spain now, but when I get home, I will get to the bottom of things as I NEVER want the movie to look like that on a big screen again.

Post screening, I corresponded in person with folks at the Fest and online with people who enjoyed the picture and on the flip side I read some negative things online but nothing that I would call too thought out i.e. no sweat off my bulldog balls. Hence overall my SITGES was a positive one , saw old amigos (too many to name, you know who you are), made new ones, saw one film that I LOVED (Julien Seri’s Night Fare – see it), dealt with one sucker-punch burst of negative energy in a surprisingly admirable fashion (I impressed myself… God bless this new maturity), appreciated all of the fans who came to see me (signed some Shelter and even Dead Shadows stuff) and that supported me and left Sitges to hit Barcelona with a smile on my face.

I am now talking with varied distributors who are interested in putting out THE SHELTER, say prayers, knock on wood, do whatever you do – send that positive energy our way! In closing: big thank you to the Sitges Film Festival and specifically to the great Mike Hostench for having me and making my stay there yet another memorable one. See you with the next film!

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