Defiled Screening Updates

THE DEFILED - WORLD PREMIERE AT THE CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: Oct 13-15-17. BRAM STOKER (UK) Oct 14, BUFFALO SCREAMS (NY) Oct 22. For more information, please visit: www.thedefiled.com

For Immediate Release:
Sept 22/10

THE DEFILED - WORLD PREMIERE AT THE CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: Oct 13-15-17.

THE DEFILED - USA, Black & White, 100 Minutes Written & Directed by Julian Grant

In a post apocalyptic world, science and technology have backfired leaving unfathomable destruction and a permanently diseased planet in its wake. A virus is mutating the human race turning innocent survivors into mindless cannibals. In a savage future world devoid of hope, a man infected with the deadly viral disease must cope with the burden of a new born son, ensuring his survival. Though he is infected, he does not allow his growing desire for human flesh to overcome his responsibility to the newborn. Along the road, traveling from town to town, he saves an unaffected woman from a certain death by facing down her perpetrators. Ultimately she joins him on his odyssey, a journey through hell on earth in search of a safe haven in which they can perhaps start a life together, both becoming committed to doing whatever it takes to make sure the child survives.

WORLD PREMIERE

Chicago International Film Festival,
October 13, 2010 10:15 pm
October 15, 2010 11.15 pm
October 17, 2010 9:30 pm
http://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/films_and_schedule/movie.php?show=defiled_the


Bram Stoker Film Festival, Whitby England,
Thursday October 14, 2010
http://www.bramstokerfilmfestival.com/programme.php

Buffalo Screams,
Friday October 22, 2010
http://www.buffaloscreams.com/news.html#defiled

For more information, please contact www.thedefiled.com

Advance Poster

Just a few days (hopefully) away from sharing the big festival news for thebFall. Have a number of really great showcases lined up and more events getting ready. Am prepping the sale site on Amazon and have a number of very interested distributors making enquiries and the like. All good signs. Here's a look at the advance art for the film and the video box. Confirmed festival names are hidden right now until I get the go ahead to say I'm officially in the film festival.

Ooops. Looks like my iPad Wong let me access it right now. Will post again

Film Festival Updates

As the summer winds on, we continue looking for the right pal e to be seen first in the world. Our film is so unique and so beautiful. It's really not for the casual film viewer or the faint of heart. We have two big premieres in the USA and the UK in October and I just want to show the darn thing right now. The video masters in HD CAM look fantastic and I really owe Columbia College Chicago a big shout out for mastering for me.

So keep watching these spaces. There will be more information as we get closer to screenings and I will report live from Britain and right here in Chicago at the appropriate times.

The Defiled - V2 Trailer

This just in from Laura Madalinski, a talented Chicago editor, who created this spot for online and broadcast sources. We're actively submitting THE DEFILED to film festivals worldwide and have our UK Premiere set in October at The Bram Stoker Festival (http://www.bramstokerfilmfestival.com/) in Whitby. I'll travel to that one to present the film in person. So, keep looking out for these posts as we wait for the word from over twenty-five festivals worldwide.

Check out our first trailer: The Defiled - Trailer

Check out this video: The Defiled - Trailer

Screening Copies

For those cast and crew that cannot make tonight's event at CCC - please drop me a line for screening copies of the film.

Sneak Preview Tonight

Well, this is it - the first public look at our film. I'm optimistic that the work will be well received. I must thank everyone who worked on the picture for their hard work and dedication. I believe that they will be happy. Screening copies for cast and crew tonight. I think we'll have a good turnout.

Sneak Preview Announced

Well, the day is finally here. Detailed below is the official press release for our film. I am thrilled by the final results and I hope you will all attend. Please feel free to bring family and friends and anyone interested. If I don't see you in person until then, I just want to let you know how much your contributions mean to me and my work. I am forever indebted to you. Here's the poop.


For Immediate Release:
1/6/10

Julian Grant to SNEAK PREVIEW his new feature film, THE DEFILED at Columbia College Chicago's Film Row Theatre on January 25, 2010 at 7:00 PM.

Filmmaker Julian Grant will sneak preview his new fine art/horror feature film, "The Defiled" on Monday, January 25th at Columbia College Chicago.

"When I relocated to Chicago last year, my goal was to start making independent films outside of my regular comfort zone. I had spent twenty years making movies for theatrical and television distribution and wanted to create new and exciting cinema beyond my regular output. THE DEFILED is my first film that speaks to these sensibilities."

Set in a near distant future where an N1HI style of virus has decimated the populace, an infected man, his new-born child and an enigmatic beauty must seek food and shelter in this world-turned-wrong. THE DEFILED was shot on location in Chicagoland, IL and neighboring La Porte, Indiana.

For more information, please visit www.juliangrant.com or contact Julian Grant at jgesq@yahoo.ca or 773-968-4676.

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Mix is almost done

The sound mix is almost over. It sounds so good. Composer David Findlay and Sound Designer Kevin Schwartz have done an outstanding job...truly incredible. Full detail in all sound effects, Roger sounds wonderful and the music.... oh, the music. DF will release an official soundtrack album for us (I am blessed) and it will go on sale first quarter in 2010. One more day to go plus playback and I am off to color correction on the 27th with Post Production guru David Ransley. DR is my guy - the man who masterminded "Robocop: Prime Directives" back in the day and here we are - ten years later - working together again on my best work since Robo. The airwaves may be filled right now with my damn Xmas movies ("Crazy For Christmas", "A Dad For Christmas" and "Christmas In Boston" - aka 'Pen Pals or 'Instant Message')... but this is the Christmas I remember that THE DEFILED came to life.

Long Time No Updates

Been swamped with school and prepping another film as Post Sound continues on THE DEFILED. Am back in Canada for Xmas from Dec. 21 - 28 where we will mix the picture and have it read for a sneak preview in January 2010. Right now I'm working on the festival and marketing strategy (87 film festivals identified) and getting all of our ducks in a row. I'm using Without A Box (http://www.withoutabox.com) to submit materials to a number of festivals and just clearing up paperwork in anticipation of the film's release. There's lots of paper that accompanies a film's screening - press kits, posters, ads and write-ups not to mention interviews and critical papers. I'm working with a number of my colleagues at CCC to provide full documentation of the film from a critical perspective and will conduct a sit-down interview to discuss what the film is really about. All of that good stuff will be then be posted here in early February, 2010.
We'll spend about 2 years promoting the film to festivals as prestigious as Cannes, Sitges, Berlin, Edinburgh, South By Southwest, Fantasia and many, many more and making digital downloads and hard copies available through ITunes worldwide and on Netflicks. So, promoting (and selling) the film is a lot of work too! Already have small distributors circling the project asking for screening copies and have a list of genre celebrities (Clive Barker, Rob Zombie, George Romero) I will be sending a copy to for their comments and endorsement. A big celebrity blurb can go a long way!!! I have fifty film blogs and reviewers lined up to receive copies and the Horror Writer's of America membership for soliciting as well. I will send out a total of 200 DVDs including cast, crew and the above mentioned celebs, press and festivals, before we even get going!! Keep watching this space for fast breaking news and I promise to update in a more timely manner from Canada. HAppy Holidays everyone!

Open Indie Website

Those who know me have heard about the importance of viral marketing, the internet as a viable distribution medium and the revolutionary new ways to share media content. The model for OPEN INDIE (below) is just great. Check it out.

Advance Poster

Started working today on the advance poster/ dvd cover for the film. This is my initial design and I will continue refining. Feel free to let me know what you think.

Fine Cut Update

Am working all through the weekend to complete the fine cut on the film. All is swell and it is just a matter of fine tuning al of the work and making it the very best it can be. Had a chance to screen it for Brian Shaw and he was instrumental in pointing out small things that worked - and didn't work - for him. This is one of the reasons why you screen works-in-progress. It's not a question of doubting oneself - it is really all about getting a 2nd or 3rd opinion. Julie has been instrumental in keeping the cut in line and has spent many hours watching, revising and reviewing the material. She is the best producer I have ever worked with - and it shows in the work. We will mix in Canada in December and have an ADVANCE SCREENING in January for cast and crew and friends-of-the-film. Alden Moore is in the UK so I will send her a DVD in PAL format so she can watch the film when we do. As this portion of the edit comes to a close (and we begin 6 weeks of Sound Editing), I am thrilled by what we achieved.

Defiled CGI Title Credit

Am entering into the CGI (computer generated imagery) phase of the production - as I alternate between the fine cut (now on Reel #10) and the needs of the show. Here is a look at the head credit as the city of Frankfurt, Germany stands in for a desolated and destroyed cityscape. WIll refine and rework all composites over the next month as the sound department begins work on the music and key sd. fx.

V4 Trailer WIP

Added Roger and will recut this many times before I am happy. Have so much more to show but this is just an idea I am riffing on. Fine Cut goes well. Am on Reel 7 and looking at a restructuring of first three reels (but more about that later). All is swell.

V3 Trailer WIP

My experiment in ambiguity was perhaps a little too vague. Peeps liked the visuals but weren't sure what the damn film is about. With that in mind, here is V3 with original music by our composer David Findlay and text added with a new tag line.

Final Cut now underway

Am finished the rough cut and indebted to my colleagues for their insights and notes on the material. Have locked the first two reels of picture and working diligently to have Picture Lock for October 31st. Now, with that being said, here is an exclusive look at the first trailer I have put together. There will be three in total - this short one (which is a work in progress) and two longer trailers that tell the story and allow for festival notices and celebrity endorsements. So, have a look...it's fun, it's gross and there's so much more to come.

Post Production Update

Composer David Findlay and I are starting to chat about original score and our needs. Am 100 minutes in and the end is in sight. Will complete my rough cut by Next Sunday and begin the tweaking process. Have 1 hr. of baby inserts to cull through and assorted fine edits to make. Oct. 31st is the Producer's Screening and reels will be sent out to the sound editors in Canada as they are locked. All is going gangbusters!!

Feeding the baby

At Wm Powers Park, Kathleen Lawlor (Janice) must fed Roger for the first time. As the film evolves and I look at running time, this is a moment that may find its way to DVD Extra Land (we shall see). My producers will be a good sounding board and give me some solid advice.

Back to CCC

Am over the 80 minutes mark now and have to return to teaching. Am responsible for the D2 Directing Class showing students how to work with actors and camera - and a new course on VFX Supervision. I'll keep to my schedule of a rough cut for my producers by October 31st and continue to look at Xmas or sooner for the fine cut.