The feature, written and directed by J. Rick Castañeda, has won five film festival awards including Best Narrative Feature, Director’s Choice, and the Audience Award. The screening will be attended by Castañeda, who will host a Question & Answer session after the movie.
The feel-good comedy is the feature debut of writer-director J. Rick Castañeda, and stars veteran improv comic and Oakland resident Dwayne Bartholomew, TV personality Kristina Guerrero (E! News), Australian TV host turned actor Nathan Sapsford (MTVAustralia, Network TEN) and television and film actor Shawn Parsons (Parks and Recreation, Torchwood).
The film tells the story of Franklin (Bartholomew), the best wine salesman in rural Central Washington, who discovers his girlfriend is cheating on him but can’t bring himself to confront her. When he accidentally befriends the “other man,” who turns out to be a great guy, Franklin decides it’s time to let go of some baggage.
"More than anything, this is a film about letting go," said Castañeda. "Writing the film was a way of giving myself the courage to actually take chances myself."
Castañeda truly took a chance on this authentically independent film. He saved up the funds for production by making promo videos and commercials for other companies, and raised $18,920 from a KickStarter campaign with over 200 backers. The film was then picked up at the Dances With Films Festival by Gravitas Ventures, a company specializing in VOD releases. “The digital revolution has placed our film right alongside big Hollywood films on a lot of these platforms,” says Castañeda.
The filmmakers are also taking advantage of new filmmaker tools like Tugg, which is being used for the San Francisco screening. Tugg is a Web platform that uses crowdsourcing to schedule theatrical screenings across the country. If enough tickets are reserved, the screening takes place and the filmmaker gets a cut of the proceeds. But if enough tickets are not reserved, the event is cancelled, and nobody’s credit cards are charged. “This really seems to be the new model for indie film distribution,” says Castañeda.
Castañeda is an accomplished writer and director, with a large body of award-winning short films, commercials and new media, including the popular comedy Web series “Coma, Period.,” starring comedian Rob Delaney (who received Comedy Central’s Funniest Person on Twitter award). Cement Suitcase was produced by Psychic Bunny, a production company based in Los Angeles, co-founded in 2005 by filmmakers Castañeda and Cement Suitcase Producer Doug Spice, along with their fellow University of Southern California alums Asa Shumskas Tait and Jesse Vigil, who both served as executive producers.
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The feel-good comedy is the feature debut of writer-director J. Rick Castañeda, and stars veteran improv comic and Oakland resident Dwayne Bartholomew, TV personality Kristina Guerrero (E! News), Australian TV host turned actor Nathan Sapsford (MTVAustralia, Network TEN) and television and film actor Shawn Parsons (Parks and Recreation, Torchwood).
The film tells the story of Franklin (Bartholomew), the best wine salesman in rural Central Washington, who discovers his girlfriend is cheating on him but can’t bring himself to confront her. When he accidentally befriends the “other man,” who turns out to be a great guy, Franklin decides it’s time to let go of some baggage.
"More than anything, this is a film about letting go," said Castañeda. "Writing the film was a way of giving myself the courage to actually take chances myself."
Castañeda truly took a chance on this authentically independent film. He saved up the funds for production by making promo videos and commercials for other companies, and raised $18,920 from a KickStarter campaign with over 200 backers. The film was then picked up at the Dances With Films Festival by Gravitas Ventures, a company specializing in VOD releases. “The digital revolution has placed our film right alongside big Hollywood films on a lot of these platforms,” says Castañeda.
The filmmakers are also taking advantage of new filmmaker tools like Tugg, which is being used for the San Francisco screening. Tugg is a Web platform that uses crowdsourcing to schedule theatrical screenings across the country. If enough tickets are reserved, the screening takes place and the filmmaker gets a cut of the proceeds. But if enough tickets are not reserved, the event is cancelled, and nobody’s credit cards are charged. “This really seems to be the new model for indie film distribution,” says Castañeda.
Castañeda is an accomplished writer and director, with a large body of award-winning short films, commercials and new media, including the popular comedy Web series “Coma, Period.,” starring comedian Rob Delaney (who received Comedy Central’s Funniest Person on Twitter award). Cement Suitcase was produced by Psychic Bunny, a production company based in Los Angeles, co-founded in 2005 by filmmakers Castañeda and Cement Suitcase Producer Doug Spice, along with their fellow University of Southern California alums Asa Shumskas Tait and Jesse Vigil, who both served as executive producers.
The feature, written and directed by J. Rick Castañeda, has won five film festival awards including Best Narrative Feature, Director’s Choice, and the Audience Award. The screening will be attended by Castañeda, who will host a Question & Answer session after the movie.
The feel-good comedy is the feature debut of writer-director J. Rick Castañeda, and stars veteran improv comic and Oakland resident Dwayne Bartholomew, TV personality Kristina Guerrero (E! News), Australian TV host turned actor Nathan Sapsford (MTVAustralia, Network TEN) and television and film actor Shawn Parsons (Parks and Recreation, Torchwood).
The film tells the story of Franklin (Bartholomew), the best wine salesman in rural Central Washington, who discovers his girlfriend is cheating on him but can’t bring himself to confront her. When he accidentally befriends the “other man,” who turns out to be a great guy, Franklin decides it’s time to let go of some baggage.
"More than anything, this is a film about letting go," said Castañeda. "Writing the film was a way of giving myself the courage to actually take chances myself."
Castañeda truly took a chance on this authentically independent film. He saved up the funds for production by making promo videos and commercials for other companies, and raised $18,920 from a KickStarter campaign with over 200 backers. The film was then picked up at the Dances With Films Festival by Gravitas Ventures, a company specializing in VOD releases. “The digital revolution has placed our film right alongside big Hollywood films on a lot of these platforms,” says Castañeda.
The filmmakers are also taking advantage of new filmmaker tools like Tugg, which is being used for the San Francisco screening. Tugg is a Web platform that uses crowdsourcing to schedule theatrical screenings across the country. If enough tickets are reserved, the screening takes place and the filmmaker gets a cut of the proceeds. But if enough tickets are not reserved, the event is cancelled, and nobody’s credit cards are charged. “This really seems to be the new model for indie film distribution,” says Castañeda.
Castañeda is an accomplished writer and director, with a large body of award-winning short films, commercials and new media, including the popular comedy Web series “Coma, Period.,” starring comedian Rob Delaney (who received Comedy Central’s Funniest Person on Twitter award). Cement Suitcase was produced by Psychic Bunny, a production company based in Los Angeles, co-founded in 2005 by filmmakers Castañeda and Cement Suitcase Producer Doug Spice, along with their fellow University of Southern California alums Asa Shumskas Tait and Jesse Vigil, who both served as executive producers.
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The feel-good comedy is the feature debut of writer-director J. Rick Castañeda, and stars veteran improv comic and Oakland resident Dwayne Bartholomew, TV personality Kristina Guerrero (E! News), Australian TV host turned actor Nathan Sapsford (MTVAustralia, Network TEN) and television and film actor Shawn Parsons (Parks and Recreation, Torchwood).
The film tells the story of Franklin (Bartholomew), the best wine salesman in rural Central Washington, who discovers his girlfriend is cheating on him but can’t bring himself to confront her. When he accidentally befriends the “other man,” who turns out to be a great guy, Franklin decides it’s time to let go of some baggage.
"More than anything, this is a film about letting go," said Castañeda. "Writing the film was a way of giving myself the courage to actually take chances myself."
Castañeda truly took a chance on this authentically independent film. He saved up the funds for production by making promo videos and commercials for other companies, and raised $18,920 from a KickStarter campaign with over 200 backers. The film was then picked up at the Dances With Films Festival by Gravitas Ventures, a company specializing in VOD releases. “The digital revolution has placed our film right alongside big Hollywood films on a lot of these platforms,” says Castañeda.
The filmmakers are also taking advantage of new filmmaker tools like Tugg, which is being used for the San Francisco screening. Tugg is a Web platform that uses crowdsourcing to schedule theatrical screenings across the country. If enough tickets are reserved, the screening takes place and the filmmaker gets a cut of the proceeds. But if enough tickets are not reserved, the event is cancelled, and nobody’s credit cards are charged. “This really seems to be the new model for indie film distribution,” says Castañeda.
Castañeda is an accomplished writer and director, with a large body of award-winning short films, commercials and new media, including the popular comedy Web series “Coma, Period.,” starring comedian Rob Delaney (who received Comedy Central’s Funniest Person on Twitter award). Cement Suitcase was produced by Psychic Bunny, a production company based in Los Angeles, co-founded in 2005 by filmmakers Castañeda and Cement Suitcase Producer Doug Spice, along with their fellow University of Southern California alums Asa Shumskas Tait and Jesse Vigil, who both served as executive producers.
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601 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102
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