See www.anopenplace.com for all news updates.

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Graphic Novel Now Available

http://www.lulu.com/shop/jeremy-waltman/german/paperback/product-20377557.html

253 Pages of original art & story.

Solo Show

5149 College Street
Young Harris College
Young Harris, GA

September 27 - October 26, 2012
Artist Reception- Thursday, September 27
6-8 p.m.

Parsons Lecture

Lecture: Manhattan, March 2012 at Parsons The New School for Design.

In the News

http://collegian.lasalle.edu/en/61/2/1838/

Jeremy Waltman, a professor in the Digital Art department, is in the editing phase of his independent film, Locomotive. Teaming up with long-time friend Adam Lucas as writer/producer and La Salle DArt alum Frank Williams as lead actor, Waltman is optimistic of the post-production of Locomotive.

The film follows musician Dicey, played by Williams, whose problems lie in the balance of relationships past and present, the clash of the big city and small town, and most importantly himself. On the design of Dicey, Lucas said, “He’s a bit hard to approach… [Dicey] has this particular talent, is naturally talented and is not necessarily ambitious with his talent.” The character is supposed to make the audience question whether or not they should sympathize with him or turn their back on him for wasting his talent. Dicey’s attitude is another thing that might engage the audience. “He’s cagey. You have to imagine that this character could lash out, but there’s something interesting there,” Waltman added.

Filming an independent movie was both harder and easier than Waltman and Lucas imagined. On very limited resources, the two were able to make due with the funding raised on Kickstarter.com and an extremely enthusiastic cast and crew. Waltman explained that any problems or obstacles that arose while filming were thwarted immediately. “We were lucky enough to be able to build the right team of people so that anytime things pop up, everyone’s problem solving very quickly. There’s definitely no crisis moments – just collaborative opportunity moments.”

Shooting of Locomotive took place in Brooklyn, NY and Philadelphia, PA between July 2011 and Jan. 2012. During that time, Waltman and Lucas had rewritten the script, cast the actors and built a crew for the film. Filming was typically reserved for weekends, but the crew worked for the first two weeks in Jan straight. “We moved everyone into a sublet [in Philadelphia] together and we shot everyday for two weeks with one day off,” Waltman said.

Despite working with scarce resources and timing, Waltman and Lucas both agreed that there was never a dip in the enthusiasm on set. “There’s something that takes over and it becomes feverish. You don’t want to sleep… You want to deal with the next set of problems. It becomes a really engaging, active and horrifically entertaining process,” said Lucas.

Waltman attributes some success of the shooting of Locomotive to the relationship he and Lucas fostered over the years. “If anything, the process brought us together. The collaboration improves the friendship and the friendship improves the collaboration. There’s someone to go through all the victories and the falls with.”

On what advice they would give to aspiring independent moviemakers, Waltman joked, “What advice would we give to ourselves?” He was quick to add that the first thing one must do is committing to making a movie. “You’re already committed to it, already have a screenplay, already trying to build a cast and crew. Then you ask ‘Do I have money for this?’ but that’s not important because you’re already committed, and you’ll find a way around it.” Lucas added that setting deadlines is also an imperative part of the process. “It’s very easy to talk yourself out of being ready… You can work any project into the ground. You just end up in workshop hell, where you keep reworking a part of it.”

Plans for the release of Locomotive are still in the works. Upon the completion of post-production, Waltman and Lucas will prepare to submit the film to festivals. They are also toying with the idea of playing the film at music festivals, due to its heavy ties with the music community. Even in post-production, which is estimated to take between seven and nine months, Waltman and Lucas are not staying stagnant. The team is currently writing their next film project. With Locomotive under their belts and another film on the way, Waltman and Lucas are two filmmakers to look out for.

Documentation

From the Bloc & Blob Exhibition in Philadelphia, PA 2011.

http://philadelphiaartmagazine.com/2011/08/block-and-blob-art-show-at-storage/

In Production

I'll be shooting through mid January and will update plans for Locomotive after.

Kick Started

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/621475315/locomotive?ref=video

http://filmcourage.com/content/locomotives

A thanks out to all those who have shown support to the film so far!

A Book About Death

QUETZALCOATL GALLERY
Seattle, WA


http://abadseattle.blogspot.com/2011/10/071-jeremy-waltman-philadelphia-pa.html

Feature Article on the Feature

Our new film Locomotive is being featured at Film Courage.
filmcourage.com/content/locomotives