8.20.2026 - Missy Bell, Film Director

She discusses the Word Premiere of her film, "Erased," on August 29, 2026. For more information about both that and other tour dates, click: https://mousehouse.productions/erased-film/.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Good morning. This is the Blaine's World Podcast, where conversations are worth hearing and seeing. You can watch us each week on Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn. You can also listen in on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. And for more information about uh past episodes and this show as well, you can look to my website behind me, which is Blaine'sWorld.net. I'm your host, Blaine Greenfield, coming to you from my Zoom studio in lovely downtown Fairview, North Carolina. Each week we focus on positive news and uplifting stories by people and organizations in both Western North Carolina and through throughout the country. And toward that end, it's my pleasure to introduce Missy Bell, who is a film director, among other things, being my guest today. And Missy, feel free to wave to all your fans and friend who are watching this. Okay, and this is kind of a real treat for me, Missy, because we've been talking about this for a while. I've had you on the show a couple of times in the past. And I think the last time we were talking about this is what you were working on, and now you have it.

SPEAKER_02 0:58

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

And that's pretty cool. So now it's actually done the film.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:03

Ready to go. Okay, well, we're very exciting. So talk a little bit about this. So this is now you tell me off the air. This is the first time you actually uh direct a full-length film.

SPEAKER_00 1:13

Yes. Yes. I've done many shorts, 14 shorts, um, but this is my debut feature.

SPEAKER_01 1:19

And so what's been the difference then between doing the shorts and just doing your your debut feature feature?

SPEAKER_00 1:26

Doing a feature feels like directing a whole short every day. Um, and I I have to remember that. You know, like going in each day, it's very exhausting, it's a really grueling process. I love it, um, but it's many, many hours. It's 10 to 12 hours every day was our sort of goal on set. Um, and it it's just it's a very big grind. And I think that I really learned how much more I needed to take care of myself. And like physically, I needed to make sure I was eating better and getting as much sleep as I could in the little bit of time that I would have to do those things and remind myself also to sit down. All of my crew will tell you I struggled to sit down when I'm working. Um, and so for this film, I really worked very hard, knowing that it was going to be a much longer process to and when I had an opportunity to sit, to sit.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

So that's funny because I sometimes have a statement or belief that sometimes I have to slow down to speed up. You know, sometimes I'm just doing so many things at once. And just like you said, just catch my breath is sometimes is needed.

SPEAKER_00 2:45

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 2:46

And so the process itself. So how long have you been involved in putting this film together?

SPEAKER_00 2:51

This particular film, um, let's see, we I wrote it, I believe, in let's see, 2023. We shot it at the end of 2024. It was 54 days after Helene. We were on set. And then throughout 2025, it was in the post-production process. Um, and then we had our screening for just the cast and crew in December. And since then, we've been working on building up marketing, putting a tour together, um, submitting to festivals, things like that. And so now we're at our world premiere, which is the first public screening um happening August 29th. And we decided to premiere it here in town.

SPEAKER_01 3:39

Okay, pretty exciting. The um when you're putting the film together, so talk about that process. Did you you wrote the film also? I did, yeah. Okay. So wow, it's like a Woody Allen type thing, yeah, where you do everything. You know, so you wrote, you directed, you you helping walk any helping with the film.

SPEAKER_00 4:00

Uh I'm the co I'm a co-producer.

SPEAKER_01 4:03

Okay. Yeah. So that that means you get the right to do everything. And she give a shout out. So I like a co-producer. You had another co-producer with you, and who is that?

SPEAKER_00 4:12

Yeah, that's Michael Bell. Um, we're married. Uh but he's my co-producer, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:17

Okay, you were lucky because I guess that's pretty exciting that he was, because otherwise you you have situations like too many times that he could be bitching and moaning, but here he's not going to because he's involved in it now. Exactly. In there. And and he said also, aside from being co-producer, he's doing other work on the film.

SPEAKER_00 4:37

He was the cinematographer as well. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:40

So what is it like everybody does a little bit of everything in this film?

SPEAKER_00 4:43

That's independent filmmaking. Um, yeah. So everyone really pitched in. It was a huge labor of love. I don't let my actors do crew things. I don't let them carry and schlep or like do things like that. I want them to work on their emotional stuff and stay um focused. But everyone in the crew really helped each other and carried things and took on different jobs um and you know made sure there was coffee. We were all just helping each other.

SPEAKER_01 5:17

So you would tell me how many actual days did the filming take?

SPEAKER_00 5:21

We um we were actually shooting for 15 days. Um, and then there were two prep days for like the the crew would show up to prep the space in the different locations, and we had two full days of that and then 15 days of shooting.

SPEAKER_01 5:38

Now, how did you learn all this stuff?

SPEAKER_00 5:41

Well, I actually got started. Let me go way back. Um I've been directing theater for a long time. I did that for many, many years. Uh, since I was 19, I directed my first stage play. And then in 2018, um, I directed my first movie short film with the Asheville School of Film with Brad Hoover, which the Asheville School of Film is not functioning right now. Um, but Brad, who is a mentor for me, he really encouraged me to direct. I directed the student film with him, and then he actually made possible my second short film by shooting it for me, helping me crew it out, um, helping me find locations and kind of guided me through the process. Um, so I learned a lot through theater and the school of film, and then after that, just doing it. Lots of trial and error.

SPEAKER_01 6:42

Now, before this, you mentioned you did theater. I didn't know you, I guess, at a point in time as an actor, or what were you directing?

SPEAKER_00 6:48

Uh so I acted and directed. I did um a lot of work. I started in theater in Pennsylvania, and then I moved to Maryland and did work kind of regionally there. And then here in Asheville, I got involved with Anumkara Theater Company really early, and I directed and acted for them um quite a lot before they kind of lost their space at Toy Boat.

SPEAKER_01 7:11

And so when you were doing in Pennsylvania, where were you in Pennsylvania?

SPEAKER_00 7:15

I was in the Harrisburg area. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:18

So at all the stuff then you're doing in terms of the acting, directing, film, theater, do you have a preference? Uh what I typically ask actors in particular, so you've acted and you've directed, do you have a preference to acting or directing?

SPEAKER_00 7:31

Oh, it's definitely directing. Um yeah, acting acting still feels to me like putting on like a comfortable jacket. Um, I, you know, I started acting way before I directed. I was like three the first time I got on stage. Um and so how old were you? Three.

SPEAKER_01 7:49

Yeah. What was that role?

SPEAKER_00 7:51

Oh, it was like a church play. My dad's a pastor, so I had the opportunity to like play the Virgin Mary 11 times. So like it was a lot, and you know, churches of performance y anyway, so I got a lot of chances to do then you got upset by being podcast, you know.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

The virgin I digress. Who's what's the church? And I participated in a couple times that does the the story of Christ, you know, every year they do the the yeah, the passion.

SPEAKER_00 8:20

I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 8:21

Anyway, a church does it and they go through the steps of the visit. I was always upset that um I wanted to be baby Jesus and they never chose me, you know. They said they want to be a jackass, and that I said I could do, you know. No, you you don't know, I forget the name of it, but it's one of the local churches, and they have like 50 people act in it, and you walk through each of each of Christ's steps. It's very interesting. But if you gave up then Virgin Mary, you got kicked out of being Virgin Mary. You can know being Virgin Mary anyway. By the way, uh is there a record of this anywhere in these films?

SPEAKER_00 8:54

Oh man. Well, those are stage plays. I'm sure my parents have pictures. Um, but my first my first like very legit, like not a not a school play or whatever, um what was I I did a very serious at a very serious like high school musical theater program. Um, and I was in a funny thing happened on the way to the forum as a younger person. That was when I really got into it and decided, like, oh, I want to do this. And then in college, I was in plays, and then I had a professor tell me that I was really talented in directing. I I directed like a little thing I wrote, and she pulled me aside and she was like, I think, I think you're a good actor. I really like if you want to pursue that, do it. But I see you as a very gifted director, and I think that you should try to do that.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

By the way, put you on the spot. The person's name is is that person's uh Valerie Flower.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

She is yeah, she teaches in Philadelphia now. Um, she's still a uh a theater professor, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:00

Okay, but we'll have to send a copy of this clip to say we that's very cool that you remember because I like it that people recognize the teachers, but you're not telling the absolute truth, I contend Miss here. Some people don't. I like so many actors they prefer acting or directing, and oftentimes they say directing, but the real reason, if you were honest with me, you'd tell me because you don't have to memorize the lines, you know.

SPEAKER_00 10:24

I don't like, I mean, that's the least favorite thing, right? Uh for sure. But mostly I think it's uh directing. I really like painting these pictures um and seeing like I like directing the audience's attention. I think it's it's maybe it's a control issue, but I do love it.

SPEAKER_01 10:45

Also interesting, I've never spoken to you or anybody about this, but the difference between directing stage versus film, what is the difference?

SPEAKER_00 10:55

In in stage, you have a lot less control of what the audience sees. Uh they're seeing the whole stage the whole time. So you can you can move their attention around with lighting, things like that, um, with costumes like make this a brighter color, put them in the spotlight. But in film, I can have someone look at the text in a cookbook. I can have them, you know, I want you to look at this wine glass right now. And so there's so much more. It's people say it's a difference between like a telescope and a microscope, and film is a microscope. So you're seeing, and then acting is much more subdued in film. Uh everything is here in the eyes, not a lot in the body. And in theater, you want to project like really big in your body, you want to have bigger facial expressions, and film, you have to kind of bring everything in.

SPEAKER_01 11:48

So when you're writing something or directing something, I guess that's the idea you have a vision of how you want it to see. Like you can read a book or you can write a story, and as you're doing it, you kind of can see in your mind how it's going to look.

SPEAKER_00 12:02

Yeah. Oh, yeah, for sure. I when I'm writing, I definitely have a really clear picture. Then I try to put my writer self away in like a closet and put on my director hat and think, okay, now, you know, I saw the movie sort of in my mind as a writer, but now I'm gonna be a little bit more realistic as a producer-director. What can we really afford? And how can I make the most of every moment um and really tap into the right emotional things to get the audience to feel what I want them to feel.

SPEAKER_01 12:36

So when you wrote Erased, and right, you were the writer of it as well.

SPEAKER_00 12:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:39

You'd write it with the idea that you're going to make a film out of it.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

Oh, yeah. Um, I it is really hard in the film industry if you've never made a feature film to get to make a feature film. People are like, Well, have you ever made a feature before? And I have to say no. And then they say, Well, we don't know if you can handle a feature until you make one. So I thought to myself, if no one is gonna hand me this opportunity, I will make this opportunity. And so I wrote erased um with in mind, like, I am going to make this in Asheville, I'm gonna cast people I know, um, and I'm gonna just get a feature on my resume. So that's it started there.

SPEAKER_01 13:22

This reminds me almost like a Mickey Rooney, Judy Gallan type thing, you know. Let's all get together, you know, we're gonna get together, we're gonna make a film and and get everybody acting in it. Yeah, that's almost like what it was, I guess. You just had this idea. And did you ever think like race? Could it have been a a play as well, or would would that ever happen?

SPEAKER_00 13:42

Would would it ever be a play after I I don't see it as a play, I think it could be one. Um, I think most things can be translated into plays if you have the right mind for that. Um I think it's better as a film because it can be much more intimate. Um, like there are moments where like I see the camera as sort of another person, and so I like try to put the camera right with the people. So in a film, you can be in their conversation so close um in ways that you can't in theater. So that that would be my preference for this.

SPEAKER_01 14:20

Did you say that? I'm thinking of the film once. It was one of my favorite films, but did you ever see the show? I didn't, yeah, and I didn't like it nearly as much. I loved it as if it was one of my favorite films of all time. The show is okay, even though I won lots of awards. Yeah, but that rarely happens, right? It oftentimes a film will become a movie with a musical, or vice versa, but it's rarely that it happens the other way around, right? That a show becomes a movie.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

Yeah, yeah. Sometimes, but yeah, it's hard, it's hard to if it's written for one thing, I think it's hard to make it something else.

SPEAKER_01 14:56

So talk about a race, then I'm gonna put you on the spot.

SPEAKER_00 15:05

Yes, absolutely. Yeah, so it is about a man named Evan Henderson, and he is about to make the business deal of his life. He his boss says, if you can get all this together by 9 a.m., we're gonna get this merger, you're gonna be wealthy. His girlfriend, who up to now has said she doesn't want to get married, says, if you get this deal, I will marry you. Like this is a life-changing. Um, and so it's this life-changing thing. And he starts to work on it. And it's night and it's raining, and there's thunder, and suddenly this kid is at his door. Um and it's his son who he had when he was 15, he got his girlfriend pregnant, and he decided he didn't want to be a dad, and he has tried to erase this boy from his life. Um, but now Tristan, the boy, um, is at his door and wants to know why. Why did you not want to be my dad? And so Evan has to choose between am I gonna work on this deal? Am I gonna get this m this deal that's gonna make me successful? Or am I gonna build a relationship with this stranger who is my son? And so that's the story.

SPEAKER_01 16:29

Did the his girlfriend who wants to get married, did she know about this boy for him? Oh no.

unknown 16:35

No.

SPEAKER_01 16:36

But she eventually finds out.

SPEAKER_00 16:38

She does. I don't want to spoil too much, but she does find out, yes. Um, she but she did not know. No, and they they even have a discussion in the very first scene um where she says, You haven't changed your mind about wanting to have kids. And he's like, No, I'm really happy with what I have. I don't want they he they didn't want kids ever.

SPEAKER_01 16:59

So, what gave you the idea for this?

SPEAKER_00 17:02

So um, I was sitting in the car thinking about how am I gonna make myself a feature and I thought about two actors I've worked with a lot, um, Thomas Townsend and Elias Hamilton. And uh yeah, you probably know Eli from local theater. And um, I I've worked with both of them a lot, and I thought, I think that they would work for me, and I think that they would be on board. And I thought about their age difference, and Thomas is in his 30s and Eli is young, and I thought, well, what about a father-son story? Um, and when I did the math, um, Thomas's character would have had to be a teen dad. And so that started forming the story for me. You know, how can I make a conflict around this dad and son? And immediately I thought, okay, well, they're estranged. There's there's something wrong. They're just meeting each other for the first time. And so I started writing it with just those two characters, thinking it might be just a two-character movie. But then I kept thinking about I'm a mom. And so I kept thinking, this kid's mom is worried about him. Like somewhere, she's somewhere. He's only 18. He's not, he's an adult, but not really. And so then the character Stacy came to mind, and that's um Lauren H. Davis is playing Stacy. Um, and she's phenomenal. I found her. I knew I knew I needed a Stacy, and I was working at the magnetic theater. Uh, we were in the one act there together, Eli and Lauren and I, and I was in the dressing room and I saw Eli standing next to Lauren, and I thought, they look kind of alike. And I asked Lauren, I said, Hey Lauren, um, we've worked together a lot. Would you be interested in being in my movie? And she said, I'll I'd like to read the script. I can't just say yes. Um, it's a huge commitment. And so I invited her and Thomas and Eli to the table read. And we read it, and I asked Lauren, I texted her right after, and I said, Okay, you read the script. Are you into it? And she was like, Yes, like I'm absolutely interested. I loved it, let's do it.

SPEAKER_01 19:20

So magnetic, it brings back memories when there was a magnetic theater. I know so much. And also, you said you're in the dressing room. I remember too, they had this remember the spacious dressing room at the room. Oh, yes. Just comes to mind. So people then to their credit, these actors mentioned eight, eight in the play, and eight in the movie. It's I guess a labor of love they're doing this for.

SPEAKER_00 19:45

So um, we how we set it up was that they are all none of them were paid up front, right? Um, but they all have shares in the film. So that's not normal. Like a Hollywood movie, usually the actors don't get a piece of the profit. Um, but these actors, every single person that worked on it, um, cast and crew, if the film makes any money, they will also make money. So they really did it because they believed in it and in me and the story. Um, and they know that like they might not get anything. I fed them really well. I we were really, we had a really kind set. Um, but yeah, they are they all own part of the film. Um, and if the film makes money, they will make money.

SPEAKER_01 20:36

How about also is that the same to your crew?

SPEAKER_00 20:39

Do they um say the majority of the crew has shares in the film? Nice. Um, a couple of the people on post, uh, my editor and colorist, and some of these people who didn't know me, um, they got some like a kind of a combo pay and profit sharing. So some of them got like a smaller profit share and more actual pay. Um, so it was an interesting, everybody had a little different contract.

SPEAKER_01 21:08

And talking about just putting together the film, so this is something else you had to do. Not only did you have to film it and get it done and to mark it, but you had to also, I guess, finance it. That's that's a big thing with any film, financing it uh as well. I'm trying to recall, and if I participate in it, did you do any GoFundMe stuff like that?

SPEAKER_00 21:28

Not for this one. So for this one, I took out a loan, which um I took a huge bet on it, um, on myself. Not as huge a loan, like uh, this is not a million dollar movie. Um, we didn't have that kind of money. Um, but we we took out enough that we could pay for the locations, everybody's food, um, some of the equipment to pay some of the people in post production, um, and to get uh we got some lenses for the camera because lenses are a good. A really good investment for filmmaking. Um, yeah, and all the production design. So um some of the wardrobe, some of the like set dressing, things like that, uh, we had budget for those things.

SPEAKER_01 22:13

So I guess that's one of the toughest things to have to put into this film to figure out how to pay for it, you know.

SPEAKER_00 22:19

Yeah, it's terrifying. It's the hardest part.

SPEAKER_01 22:21

Had you before you started, did you have a budget in mind?

SPEAKER_00 22:25

So we the actual amount of money that was spent on the film was a little under 40,000. Um the and that includes like everything. If we had paid everyone it in the in the traditional manner, and they there was not profit sharing, it would be a budget, like a Hollywood budget of like 150,000, which is nothing for Hollywood, but quite a lot in uh for a small-time filmmaker. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:56

So let's now talk about then. So we know the film is about. Mention it, you have a cast of eight, mention a couple of names. Who else is in the film?

SPEAKER_00 23:04

Sure. So my leads are Thomas Townsend, Elias Hamilton, uh Lauren Davis, and then uh Adrienne who's the girlfriend that I mentioned. Um she is played by Jamie Burroughs. She's the only actress that isn't local, she's from the DC area. Um, and then some of the smaller supporting cast, uh Molly Graves plays, no. You know Molly. She plays one of the cops.

SPEAKER_01 23:30

Great. Okay. Very pretty. I loved her when I see her on stage. She's a very talented actor. So great. I know Molly. Who else?

SPEAKER_00 23:37

Yeah. Aaron Yarbara, okay, um, who you're probably familiar with. Molly and Aaron play the police that come when the mom realizes her kid is missing, doesn't know where he is, so she calls the police. Um, and so that's Molly and Aaron. And then uh Mark Sandara plays the doorman at Evan's penthouse apartment, and we see him for a couple moments in the film. And then finally, Laura Quayar uh plays the waitress.

SPEAKER_01 24:08

Um I'm so excited because again, I know Molly and Aaron are familiar with their work, so that's kind of exciting, so I'll I'll know somebody to it. But that's really cool. So you got it? Yes, you got how 15 days is relatively short time for film, was it?

SPEAKER_00 24:24

So short. Uh, you know, when you see a movie like, you know, in the in the movie theater, you see an A-list production, it they the average that they shoot is 90 days. So shooting a feature in 15 days, a lot of people in independent film are shooting 30 days and under just to be able to afford it. And so, because the thing that's the most expensive on a film set is a day. Um, and so we shot it in 15 days, um, and it was really hard. Um, really hard. And I think that the way that we made it work and the the the choices that I personally made uh were to do less setups, less camera setups, and more focus on the actors and on blocking, which I feel grateful for my theater experience to be able to effectively block a scene. And I there aren't as many shots like you see, a right uh a standard Hollywood film has like 700 to a thousand shots, sometimes more. Our film has less than 400 shots, and so yeah, it's it's a simpler feeling, much more like the older movies that we've been talking about. There's not as much camera movement, for example. Um, the camera is still a lot more often than we're used to now. So that's how we kind of save the time. I wanted to not sacrifice emotional work and acting so like so I could really spend time with the actors, so we did less shots.

SPEAKER_01 26:00

Were they 15, I guess, long days though?

SPEAKER_00 26:03

Yeah, we we uh we averaged like between 10 and 12 hours on set a day.

SPEAKER_01 26:08

And so I guess also then the retakes were minimal in terms of when you started seeing.

SPEAKER_00 26:14

You didn't go back and yeah, I think the most takes that we had, I think the min the most takes we had were 12. But I'm a short take director anyway. I usually see what I want to see by the second or third take, and um every actor kind of has their own little process. So some some actors like warm up into takes, and some actors give you their best thing right away. So you kind of learn this person is like a one or two take person, this is like a four or five take person, and you work with it. But I I like to stay, you know, I I I think we averaged four takes, something like that.

SPEAKER_01 26:55

So after then the uh the film was done after the 15 days, yeah. So it didn't show next day, it took you then almost another year or two to get it ready.

SPEAKER_00 27:07

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 27:07

What was that entail?

SPEAKER_00 27:09

So um first we had to, you know, kind of put all the data together. Our assistant editor, um, Movie Marcos did that. Um, she's also one of the vocalists in one of the songs on the film. Uh she put together all the things for my editor, who then started putting together a very rough cut of it. She, the first cut is actually an assembly cut, so she's just like, this is the order I think it goes in. And she sends that to me and says, What do you think about the order? And then we start into a rough cut, and it's more about kind of the pacing of things and which take we're definitely going to use of that shot. And she worked on that for a couple of months, and then once she had it pretty close with my notes, we we went back and forth and I gave her notes many times. Uh, she was in DC, so she would send it to me uh via internet and I would send notes back. And then I spent a week in DC with her at her apartment working on the fine cut together. Um, so getting it really, really finished and fine-tuned. Um, and that that was about see January, February, March. That was like a four-month process, all of that. And then we sent we had a sound editor who did kind of a sound pass and finalized all the sound and did the foley art on it and added in sort of sounds like like bugs outside and things like that, and rain, thunder. Um, and then I had a colorist who made it look beautiful, and a uh composer who did all of the scoring, um, all the musical scoring. And so all of those people took time with it until it was really ready to go.

SPEAKER_01 28:58

So when you were doing that, did it cut down the length of it? In other words, originally you had like three hours worth of film, and then you get it down to 80 minutes?

SPEAKER_00 29:06

So I I think yeah, I think we shot, we didn't cut out a whole lot. Um, I think we probably cut about 10 minutes um of what we had, and I think that my editor was right to do that. Um, there were just some moments that didn't work as well with the pacing. Um, there's a beautiful shot that's actually in the trailer that is not in the movie of Evan. Uh, his girlfriend leaves the house and he finds out or his apartment and he's like, Okay, I gotta work on this deal. It's big, all this pressure. And uh what was left in the movie is that he looks at his cell phone and he kind of tosses it behind him. It's kind of comical. And then we cut to the next scene. And what we shot was that he he puts his phone down. He only threw his phone in one take, but we were going with like a more funny moment. Um, and so she used that take, the editor. But what we shot, what I intended was that he put his phone down and then he had his his shirt was unbuttoned because he had been ready to like go to bed, done with the day. And he goes over to the window and looks out the window, and he sees his own reflection and he buttons his shirt back up because he's gonna go back to work. Um, and you saw like the rain on the window, and it's really beautiful, but it was a long time of footage that we ended up not needing, so we cut it.

SPEAKER_01 30:35

By the way, you mentioned the trailer. Is that available now?

SPEAKER_00 30:38

It is, yeah. There are a couple, there's uh there are a couple different trailers that you can definitely watch.

SPEAKER_01 30:45

Um well, can you do this at your convenience? Don't mention on the air, but send that to me and I'll put it in the description so you can see the trailer. Um, that'd be great. Uh if you want to see get a feel for the film, because now you got me curious. This is a token. You and I have been talking about this. Uh you're getting ready now for the first public showing, I guess. And that's going to be when and where?

SPEAKER_00 31:08

That is August 29th at the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts.

SPEAKER_01 31:13

Okay, so that's pretty exciting. And there a bunch of tickets can be sold. If you want to come to that, what's the procedure?

SPEAKER_00 31:21

So yeah, so you can get tickets at the Wortham Center website. Um, they're on there. We're on their like front page of events right now because it's coming up very soon. Uh, or you can go to um mousehouse.productions slash erased dash film. And at that spot you can see uh right at the top is the world premiere tickets. You can click on it, it takes you right to the ticketing site. And I do recommend getting them in advance because it is um assigned seating, it's not general seating. Um, and at that event, I'm very excited about it because it's not just a screening of the movie. Uh, we're gonna have our composer Josh is coming down from Connecticut. He's gonna play a prelude on the grand piano based on the score. Um, I'm gonna talk to people, we're gonna watch the movie, and our soundtrack band from Philly, which is a punk band, uh, they're coming down and they're gonna actually play the credits live. So the credits will be scrolling in there, they're gonna play, and then afterwards we're gonna have a mixer where you can meet and greet with the casting crew. Um, there'll be merch for sale. Um, our key artist, Ronnie Nielsen, will be there with their um, they designed like the poster art and that all of the art that's on all of our merchandise, and they're gonna be there selling their art and they can sign things for people, and it'll be a really cool opportunity.

SPEAKER_01 32:48

Yeah, I have to ask you, will they also get a chance to see you and others walk down the red carpet?

SPEAKER_00 32:52

Are we going for the there's a red carpet, yeah. So the event starts at 7:30 on the 29th, but the red carpet starts at 7, and there will be, you know, the backdrop, it'll say a race, there will be a red carpet. We have a photographer, and um, yeah, people should dress fancy, and I think it'll be a really fun night.

SPEAKER_01 33:11

Okay. So talk about the fact I told you unfortunately I won't be able to come and I really want to be there. But if people miss that, so you mentioned, and by the way, send that to me. Also, you'll send me the list of other absolutely and also how to get tickets and dates and stuff like that. And I'll I'll put that in the description uh below. Um, if they miss the 29th, which I'm going to, how else do they get to see it?

SPEAKER_00 33:36

So we have a whole tour that's um being put together as we speak, but there are many local screenings that will be coming up after the premiere. The first one is September 5th at the Lamplight. Um, and that is gonna be oh my hair's doing a weird thing. Um, and that is going to be a really special screening with the key artist, Ronnie, who I mentioned, and we'll show the movie, and then they're gonna talk about how they did the art for the film. Um excuse me. There's gonna be a screening at the hop that's actually gonna be free. Um, the hop is actually making a custom ice cream flavor for the premiere.

SPEAKER_01 34:14

Um can you reveal the name of it yet?

SPEAKER_00 34:17

I can. This Friday, they're actually doing a flavor release party, and it is called Honey question mark, trust me. And it's from the movie. Um, in the movie, there's a sort of through line where Evan, we see Evan make coffee for his son, and it's he puts honey in it, which is not a kind of a non-traditional thing to put in coffee. And then later we see that Tristan's mom makes her coffee that way too. And so we see that even though they're so estranged, there's been this connection.

SPEAKER_01 34:53

And we'll since you mentioned we'll give a shout-out to the garrisons, you know.

SPEAKER_00 34:57

Absolutely, yes.

SPEAKER_01 34:58

That is so cool that Greg and Ashley are doing this. I can't believe you have a uh ice cream for it as well. So it'll be at the hop. When when's that going to be?

SPEAKER_00 35:08

Um, so the one at the hop, let me check my calendar to make sure I'm I'm saying the right thing here. Uh the hop screening is September 12th. It is late night. It's at nine o'clock. It's gonna be later at night. They're having a special thing called late night at the hop and pop.

SPEAKER_02 35:23

I love it.

SPEAKER_00 35:24

Um, and so it's gonna be late. And it this the film is actually for mature audiences. I wouldn't, it's not for kids. Um, so it's gonna be later at night so that we're not showing it to young kids who maybe shouldn't see the content.

SPEAKER_01 35:39

Well, just to move to closure on this, but what's really exciting to me is the fact that you're getting a lot of the community involved in this as well. You know, sometimes the other places it's shown. So it's the hop, and a couple other places it's going to be shown.

SPEAKER_00 35:52

Yeah, um, Lamplight and the Hop, and then um at Story Parlor, there's gonna be a screening. It's part of their Just Us Girls series, so it's only for women. Um and it's gonna be kind of a sleepover vibe uh at Story Parlor, and that is September 25th. Um, and then there's a screening that's specifically for men. Um and that's gonna be at Asheville Pizza and Brewing on October 20th. And that one is special because um we're gonna talk about sort of like the issues that are brought up in the film about like fatherhood and the pressure that kind of our culture puts on men to be successful, to make money, and all of these things that are, you know, more pressure for that kind of the male experience. And um, I'm not gonna be there. Um, but we we actually have um two like mental health professionals who are gonna be there to kind of run a panel about that, and also the lead actor, uh Thomas Townsend and Eli will be there, and um my partner and co-producer Michael, um, they will all be there to kind of run a panel after that screening so that men can talk about these issues that they don't often get to talk about kind of at all, and um and kind of go through an emotional experience like no offense to all these screenings, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:24

But when do I instead that get see it the fine arts or it gets it the Carolinas, you know, when do we get it?

SPEAKER_00 37:30

So here's the thing about that. Um the fine arts is not doing as many screenings that are focused on independent films right now. Um, as far as independent small-time local filmmakers, um, I'm trying to convince them. So give them a call and tell them that we should do a screening there. Um and then um as far as like the Cinemark, things like that, I would love to screen with them. Unfortunately, uh the only way without a distributor, which I don't have, I'm doing distribution myself. Um, the only way without a distributor is to do a rental and to rent something like the Cinemark, uh AMC, things like that, they charge a whole lot. It's like $2,500. And so doing multiple screenings there, I couldn't even make my money back on a movie ticket. So uh that's why we're doing it in all these different venues.

SPEAKER_01 38:24

And it's a shame as you're saying that the grail is no longer here because I used to love the grail.

SPEAKER_00 38:29

They're my people, yes.

SPEAKER_01 38:30

I I love the grail, but um I'm hoping we'll talk about it off there. I hope they come back. Me too. Talk about it. Anyway, exciting, exciting stuff. So, wrap up if folks want to get more information about the film or what's happening, what's the best first bet?

SPEAKER_00 38:46

Uh, I would go to mousehouse.productions. Um, that is my production company's website, and it has all the information on the film. It also links to tickets for all of the screenings, including the world premiere at the Wortham. So I would definitely go to mousehouse.productions first off.

SPEAKER_01 39:06

Okay. And people also want to contact you for the your next film or the next three films. They can get contact information there as well.

SPEAKER_00 39:14

They can, yeah, absolutely. And all of my projects in development. So the script is written, it's ready to go. We're just waiting for funding. All of those projects are listed there with log lines and posters so people can kind of get a feeling for what that is.

SPEAKER_01 39:31

Exciting stuff, Missy Bell. And especially, like I said, since we've been talking about this for a while, you know, so now we're just seeing it come to fruition. Yeah. I'm just upset I can't come next week, but lots of luck with it. Thank you. It sounds very exciting. So I'd like to thank you for being my guest on this edition of the Blaine's World Podcast. Also, like thank my producer Kim Jones. And uh one of these days, if not sooner, we'll see you. Do you plan to be at each of the screenings?

SPEAKER_00 39:55

I will. I should be at all of the screenings. Um, and hopefully some more festival screenings and screenings all around the country coming up. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:03

Okay. Lots of luck with it, and I'm so proud of you. Great job.

SPEAKER_00 40:06

Thank you. Appreciate that.