GRADUATION Theatrical Release and DVD by Magnolia Pictures

So...this info is a long time in the making, as the fine details have been constantly changing. But...without further adieu (because the 'go ahead' to post the info has been passed along)...

GRADUATION is being released theatrically in limited/selected U.S. cities by Magnolia Pictures in association with Redwood Palm Pictures this May 2, 2008. The only theatres that will be showing the film are select Landmark Theatres. (Landmark's website only lists one theater now if you go there to look...but that will change as the release date gets closer). The film will screen in digital DLP projection and 5.1 surround at the theaters chosen.

Cities:

San Francisco, CA Berkley, CA Seattle, WA Austin, TX Minneapolis, MN

There will be a premiere screening at a location TBD in San Francisco on Thursday May 1, 2008.

Whether the film plays longer than 1 week or expands to other cities for a second weekend or not is entirely up to you the audience and the ticket sales at the initial theaters chosen, etc...

In a quick turnaround effort to still hit the graduation time frame this year...Magnolia Home Entertainment will release the DVD of GRADUATION on May 13th, 2008.

It is a full featured DVD with a commentary track, deleted scenes, alternate opening to the film, storyboard segment, blooper reel, etc...As well as Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and a direct digital transfer from the HD-SR film master. It looks and sounds amazing. Brian's friend Lisa Fowle did a wonderful job on the sound design and special sound mix for the home theater version of the film.

The DVD has been sold through to Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Blockbuster Video, Hollywood Video, Netflix, Amazon.com, DVD Empire.com, and more retailers. So...one should be able to buy it pretty much anywhere on May 13th, 2008.

There will be a new trailer soon which will be up at Apple's iTunes/QuickTime website. And, there also some new websites you might want to check out (with more to go online soon).

GRADUATION MYSPACE PAGE GRADUATION YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Go out and see the film folks! Or at least buy it. It is a great, fun indie film. You won't be sorry.

Exciting announcements coming soon!

So...there will be a couple exciting announcements coming soon! Stay tuned and keep checking back.

GRADUATION Gets Great Review In Houston

Houston Chronicle movie critic Joey Guerra gave GRADUATION a great review this past Tuesday, April 24th, 2007. The review is titled "Crime caper makes a grand Graduation - Likable cast, filmmaker's light touch make film worth seeing." Guerra says the following, "Graduation takes one of the most pivotal days in teenage life, 'high school commencement' and adds to the madness with a cleverly planned bank robbery. Far-fetched, sure, but filmmaker Michael Mayer pulls it off with a light, likable touch and a photogenic, young cast...what Mayer does from that jumpoff point makes the film work. Instead of making just another teen throwaway flick, he's infused Graduation with nicely realized characters and action that rarely lags. The crime caper that makes up the final third of the film sparkles with energy. CLICK HERE FOR THE ENTIRE REVIEW

Brian featured in Sundance article

Brian was featured in a print article published in the Park City Digital Report this past January 2007. 40,000 copies of this industry trade paper are distributed throughout the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT and Salt Lake City, UT every January. To read a scan of the actual print article CLICK HERE! The article "9/Tenths - Behind The Music" briefly discusses Brian's approach on scoring the independant feature film 9/Tenths and some of the techniques and tools he used in creating a dense symphonic score in the independant film world.

New 9/TENTHS Poster

A new theatrical poster for the film 9/TENTHS has been released. 9/TENTHS will be released soon. A screening of the film will take place at the American Film Market in Santa Monica, CA on Sunday November 5th, 2006 at 11AM. Unfortunately this screening is not open to the public and is for the AFM attendees only.

Photos from the GRADUATION sound mix.

Here are some photos at the GRADUATION sound mix of Brian and director Mike Mayer. The mix was done at the Wilshire Stages (Stages A & B) in Hollywood, CA which has been the sound mix location of many blockbuster and independant films such as The Fast & The Furious, Legally Blond 2, Donnie Darko and Hustle and Flow. The photos below were taken by GRADUATION producer Bob Degus.

Mike and Brian posing for a photo in Stage B at the Harrison MPC 166 track mixing console.

Listening back to the final mix of a scene.

Can you tell Brian had not slept in 3 days?

Brian wins an Aurora Award!

Brian has won a PLATINUM - BEST OF SHOW AURORA AWARD for his original score to the short film THE RECE!PT. The Aurora Awards are a film and video entertainment industry award, judged by a jury of one's peers. The "Platinum Best Of Show" award is the highest honor the Aurora Awards can give. The Aurora statues are cast in the same foundry that creates the Oscar, Emmy and Clio statues.

THE RECE!PT short film won two Platinum Aurora Awards this year, one for Best Original Score and one for Sound Design.