HC Newsletter - November 30, 2007

Friends,

A quick note to let you all know that the film itself is nearly (and finally) complete. In the next few weeks we will be making prints of the film from the negative, which is the last step in this LONG process.

As we start to determine when and where we will premier the film, we are also working on putting together the marketing approach that we feel will optimize our chances at securing distribution. One aspect that we have recently finalized is our festival poster, and we are tremendously excited about it, so we thought we'd share it with you. Many of you were polled on the multitude of options our designer created, and this one was the clear winner.

We're eager to hear your feeback on it.

Regards,

Jason

HC Newsletter - October 22, 2007

Friends,

Some big news to share about our cast today:

- Chris Messina has been named to Variety's "10 Actors To Watch." Each year Variety, the premier daily magazine covering the entertainment industry, identifies and profiles a handful of actors who it deems as on the verge of breakout success, and Chris recent and forthcoming performances have earned him this coveted accolade. Congratulations, Chris.

- Jeremy Strong has been cast in the lead role in a new off-Broadway play. Starting in January, Jeremy will play the role of Baruch de Spinoza in "New Jerusalem," to be directed by Tony Award-winner Walter Bobbie. The show is about the trial and excommunication of the legendary philosopher Spinoza from Amsterdam in 1656, and apparently it is already creating buzz (though we would assume not because of the comedy). Well done, Mr. Strong.

- Peter Bogdanovich's latest directorial effort, "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Runnin' Down A Dream," has been released to outstanding reviews. Peter has been working on this documentary, which details the rise of the legendary rock band, for several years, and finally last week it premiered across the country in theaters for a one-night-only event. It is now available everywhere on DVD and will begin airing on the Sundance Channel on October 29th. If you are a fan of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, it is a must-see.

In addition, the rest of our ensemble of actors continue to be cast in television and film projects. We will continue to keep you appraised of their successes.

As for "Humboldt County" itself, we are currently finalizing its conversion back to 35mm film, as we await word on our festival premier. In the meantime, we have nearly completed the design of our poster, which we will share with you in the coming weeks, soon to be followed by our film website.

Regards,

Jason

HC Newsletter - September 14, 2007

Friends,

After a wildly successful run on the festival circuit -- including Best Feature awards at LA and U.S. Comedy Arts -- the romantic comedy "Ira & Abby" was released theatrically today (Friday) in New York and LA. The film stars two of our lead actors from "Humboldt County," Chris Messina and Frances Conroy, and it is getting a good deal of positive press.

"Ira & Abby" marks Jennifer Westfeldt's return as a screenwriter and star following 2002's "Kissing Jessica Stein". She plays Abby, a free spirit who works in a gym and is better at solving her friends’ problems than selling memberships. Chris plays Ira, a brilliant neurotic who has so many issues that 12 years of analysis have only scratched the surface. The film is about their unusual relationship, and offers a sly and subversive take on marriage. It also boasts an all-star ensemble cast, including our very own Frances Conroy, as well as Judith Light, Robert Klein, Fred Willard, and Jason Alexander. In the coming weeks, "Ira & Abby" will also hit theaters in cities such as San Francisco, Denver, Dallas, Miami, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Chicago. We encourage you all to see it. More information about the film and its release dates across the country can be found here: http://www.iraandabby.com/.

As for "Humboldt County," we continue our forward progress. Last month, at the suggestion of our editor, Danny, Darren and I returned to the editing room to revisit what we had been calling our "final" cut. After several consecutive Sundays of tinkering, we now have an new version of the film that has improved pacing and increased tension, while being 4-5 minutes shorter. We should be making a decision on a sales agent in the next month or so, and we are simultaneously developing the film's marketing image with a designer who helped create the iconic posters for dozens of memorable films, including "A Few Good Men", "The Untouchables", "American Beauty," and "Sideways". We will, of course, keep you all appraised of any news.

Regards,

Jason

HC Newsletter - July 31, 2007

Friends,

As the filmmakers and I continue our efforts to secure distribution for "Humboldt County", we are pleased to announce several of our principal actors have recently leveraged their involvement in the film to secure exciting upcoming roles.

You may recall that four of our ensemble cast of seven leads are established film actors (Fairuza Balk, Peter Bogdanovich, Frances Conroy, and Brad Dourif). Not surprisingly, since completing production, they have each been cast in several more upcoming films. The other three actors with significant roles in "Humboldt County" -- Madison Davenport, Chris Messina, and Jeremy Strong -- previously had only a handful of film roles between them. However, the industry now appears to be recognizing what we have known to be true for well over a year: that they are outstanding actors.

In last month's newsletter, I reported that Chris had recently played a lead role in a new HBO pilot and is currently acting in Woody Allen's next film. In the past few weeks, we learned that Madison has also been shooting a major motion picture, "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl Mystery." The movie is based on the immensely popular line of American Girl dolls, and Madison plays the best friend of Abigail Breslin, academy award nominee and star of "Little Miss Sunshine".

Finally, for the trifecta, last week Jeremy, whose acting experience prior to "Humboldt County" was solely theatrical, was cast opposite Mark Wahlberg in the next movie from writer/director M. Night Shyamalan ("The Sixth Sense," "Signs," "The Village"). Jeremy begins shooting in Philadelphia shortly, and "The Happening" will be released next summer.

More on the future of "Humboldt County" in the weeks and months to come. In the meantime, we hope you will join us in congratulating our friends on their recent successes.

Regards,

Jason

HC Newsletter - June 8, 2007

Friends,

The last several weeks have included many long and stressful days, but the music and sound for "Humboldt County" are finally complete, and we are elated with the result. We have a number of process-oriented tasks ahead required to convert our work from a digital medium back to 35mm film, but -- for all intents and purposes -- we have at last finished the production process.

Now it is time to shift our energies toward marketing and ensure the film secures distribution. This means scheduling meetings with sales agents and prospective buyers, submitting to the premier film festivals, and designing and executing our marketing plan. It will be a new set of challenges, but we have already received promising signs in several of these areas.

In other news, one of our cast members, Chris Messina, has had an extraordinary month. His last film, Ira & Abby, was purchased by a Magnolia Pictures and will be released later this year. He was also cast as the lead in a new HBO series pilot that will be directed by J.J. Abrams, who created "Felicity," "Alias," "What About Brian," and "Lost." And finally, Chris was selected to play a major role in Woody Allen's next film, which is being shot in Barcelona this summer. He will be starring with Scarlett Johansson, Penelope Cruz, and Javier Bardem. We are all thrilled about Chris' positive momentum.

As we have nearly completed the "product development" aspect of the filmmaking process, these updates will likely become less frequent. When we receive news about screenings and sales, you will of course be informed. In the meantime, do not hesitate to contact us with questions or even a few words of support.

Regards,

Jason

HC Newsletter - April 30, 2007

Friends,

Another month, another step closer to the completion of "Humboldt County." Our energy since the last update has been focused on music and sound. Our composer has been toiling for weeks to arrange a score that successfully elevates the emotion of the film to an unexpected level. Also, we recently brought on board a talented music supervisor, who is working to identify the handful of songs that will round out our soundtrack.

Simultaneously, in another part of town, a small army of creative technicians is enhancing and creating the film's sound (dialogue, effects, and ambiance), which is a highly complex and fascinating process.

By month end, we will have begun to mix the music and sound with the picture. This critical improvement will transform the project into what we anticipate will be the marketable and compelling film it has always promised to be.

Stay tuned.

Regards,

Jason

HC Newsletter - March 31, 2007

Friends,

Apologies for the lapse in communication, but there haven't been many notable milestones to share since the last "Humboldt County" newsletter. I don't mean to imply that we are not ecstatic about the film's progress, but we are in a phase of the filmmaking process where creativity is favored over speed.

The majority of our time over the past six weeks has been spent evaluating prospective crew for this critical stage. Though we had narrowed our composer options to just a few by mid-February, it took another month to select our guy. He is now diligently working toward writing and recording the music that will significantly elevate the story. We have also recently selected the individuals who will edit, design, and mix our sound, so the film's audio soon will be as impressive as the visuals. Additionally, we are currently working with other professionals to design our titles and create our optical effects -- which are comprised of scene transitions (like fades and dissolves) and other digital trickery that we hope you will never notice.

Our current schedule puts completion of these elements at early June. At that point, we will have a number of steps to port the digital version of the movie back to 35mm film, but the creative aspects of the process will be behind us.

Many thanks for your continued support,

Jason

HC Newsletter - February 15, 2007

Friends,

It's official: the light at the end of the filmmaking tunnel is finally visible. A few weeks ago, after more than three months of editing, we locked picture on "Humboldt County," meaning we are no longer editing the visuals. Danny, Darren, and I are all very pleased with the results. That said, we still have plenty of work to do.

Now that we know the order and length of every scene, we can undertake the myriad of other processes required to complete the film. As I've mentioned before, our highest priority is music. We have spent the past several weeks interviewing many talented composers and music supervisors who are eager to help us with the score and songs. We are currently negotiating deal terms with our top candidates and plan to have them on board within the next week.

While we finish the film, we are also beginning the next phase of our endeavor: securing distribution. To that end, we are awaiting word from several high profile film festivals about their interest in premiering our film, as well as initiating discussions with a number of sales agents. We will, as always, notify you of any news on these fronts.

Warm regards from sunny Los Angeles,

Jason

HC Newsletter - January 15, 2007

Friends,

It is a few weeks overdue, but Happy New Year from the "Humboldt County" team.

After a self-imposed two week time-out over the holidays, we jumped back into the editing process with gusto a couple of weeks ago. Our fresh perspective has inspired numerous changes, both subtle and substantial. As a result, the film is tighter and more compelling than it has ever been, as evidenced by the progressively favorable test screenings we have been conducting recently.

In addition, over the past four days we reassembled a scaled down cast & crew and filmed several pick-ups (shots we missed) and new scenes that we feel will further enhance the end product. We will incorporate this new footage tomorrow, and in a little over a week we plan to "lock picture," meaning we will have completed the visual edit of the film. From there we will start to edit the various sound elements, which -- largely due to the musical score, which will need to be composed -- may take another few months.

We are nearing the finish line, and optimism is relatively high. Despite the fact that we are painfully stretched on the financial side, we continue to make forward progress. One indication was the call we received last week from the South By Southwest Film Festival in Austin, one of the top five such events in North America. They have invited us to premier "Humboldt County" at their festival this March. Though we may decline the invitation (because the film may not be ready in time), being selected for this festival is not only an enormous honor, but also a strong testament to the quality of our project; over 3,000 films were submitted for around 100 spots.

Now for the less optimistic news: as I have discussed via email or live with many of you, we continue to be painfully stretched on the financial side. Unless we are able to raise the remainder of the funding we need to complete the film in the next several weeks, our forward progress will stall. If you know anyone who might be interested in participating in the project -- or if you are intrigued by the idea of increasing your involvement -- please contact me as soon as possible. Keep in mind that the investment is tax deductible...

One fact is for sure: the closer this film comes to completion, the more excited we are to show it to you.

Regards,

Jason