Blog entries

Australia screening - The Other Film Festival in Melbourne

Hilari Scarl — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:08:24 +0100

It's 4:30AM in Los Angeles as I'm still shaking off jet lag from a week in Melbourne with SEE WHAT I'M SAYING at The Other Film Festival. It was an extraordinary experience, and an honor to be in one of the premiere disability film festivals as the inaugural deaf program. This all-inclusive festival had Auslan interpreters (Australian Sign Language), ASL interpreters, audio description and captions for all of the films. We screened to a packed house at the Melbourne Museum. CJ and I did a Q&a...

Touring with the film

Hilari Scarl — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 20:52:52 +0100

I realize I am a little behind in my blog. I've tried to keep up with posting all the news on our Facebook fan page and on Twitter, but since this is a holiday weekend and I have a few moments to reflect, I wanted to post a little update here.

These past few months have been unbelievable. After our breathtaking fairytale world premiere in Hollywood, we rolled right into two weeks of screenings at the Laemmle Theater in Los Angeles. My favorite part were all of the guests ...

World Premiere - Fan mail

Hilari Scarl — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 20:46:00 +0100

The world premiere was simply magical. It truly was a dream seeing so many people connected with the film come together to celebrate deaf entertainers. It was worth the wait to have it in Hollywood and was the perfect fit. I'm still putting together photos, stories and our glowing reviews while at the Laemmle Sunset 5 this week. I decided to be there all week to personally greet every audience and be available for questions after each screening. Folks are driving down from as far away as Ariz...

World premiere around the corner

Hilari Scarl — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:22:12 +0100

It is now 11:43PM. I have been up since 5:30AM. Here is a short sample of my day today: working on emailing hundreds of schools and organizations about our world premiere, attending a photo shoot this afternoon for Venice Magazine in the park, fielding booking requests from around the world, talking to Amsterdam about their screening of SEE WHAT I'M SAYING last Friday, talking with several distributors about potential deals, booking flights for our deaf entertainers to attend the premiere, ta...

Bremerton, WA screening - February 7, 2010

Hilari Scarl — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:37:46 +0100

I finally have a quiet moment at home to upload photos and reflect back on the incredible experience this past weekend in Bremerton. It was actually a nice break to hop on a plane and escape the madness of preparing for the world premiere. I was dropped off at the airport by my new assistant (don't I feel fancy - it's usually me doing the driving) and was met in Bremerton by my hosts, Maryl and Bryan. We met the Captionfish guys, Chris Sano, Brendan Gramer and Greg Millam for dinner at a Viet...

Fan mail

Hilari Scarl — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 01:58:24 +0100

I am a little behind in my blog, as we just announced our world premiere of See What I'm Saying - March 18, 2010 at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood and have been swamped with emails. This premiere kicks off our theatrical opening in Los Angeles March 19th at the Fairfax Cinemas on Beverly Boulevard.

I landed at Sundance this past week after the announcement to do some business, see some films and take a few days to breath some mountain air when I got the news that we are premiering i...

See What I'm Saying - Music Video of Film's Title Song

admin — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 07:04:23 +0100

I am proud to announce that Sprint has come on board as the film's title sponsor for See What I'm Saying. We are in the progress of gearing up for an official announcement of Sprint's involvement which will include sponsorship of our world premiere, a 25-city tour of the film and the music video of our title song, "See What I'm Saying" that was written and performed by the rock band Powder for the film.

The music video will be filmed in Los Angeles with the professional Cirque Du Solei...

Welcome to the hurricane

Hilari Scarl — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:00:00 +0100

I had a fantastic private screening at Universal last night with a group of industry folks who loved the film. I have been back and forth on the ending and the placement of our credits, and their reaction and comments after the film sunk into my consciousness. I woke up at 5AM today in a cold sweat, feeling that I need to change the ending back to the original ending. I spent most of my morning digging through old footage to line everything up to see if it works with our new cut. It does. Eve...

Sneak Preview of new cut at Arizona State University

Hilari Scarl — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 05:00:00 +0100

This screening was one of the best experiences this fall. Sean Furman of Arizona Deaf Theater had organized the entire event, and did a fantastic job with our workshop and screening. I was picked up at the airport by a young deaf actor named Michael, who filled me about Arizona State University. We drove straig...

Things are happening

Hilari Scarl — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Hello everyone -

I haven't blogged in awhile because there's a very complicated release strategy that has been at work and I haven't wanted to share the details in public while it is coming together. Some amazing things are happening, including a 25 city tour of the film and a world premiere in Los Angeles coming together very soon. Tonight, I realized that it may not be bad to be transparent.

I had the honor of listening to Ondi Timoner at an IDA seminar, the only two-time Su...

Festival Journey - sneak preview screenings

Hilari Scarl — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 05:00:00 +0100

This has been a whirlwind. My last few nights in Los Angeles I felt there were angels all around me - the out of town strangers who bought me dinner, the people next to me on the plane who gave me cookies. After months of struggling with re-cutting the film and the financial burden that was overwhelming coupled with that decision, I start seeing signs everywhere that this decision is supported. Our original cut (which I am considering calling the director's cut) was accepted into the Rocheste...

Changes in the film and testing at Rochester Deaf Film Festival

Hilari Scarl — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 05:00:00 +0100

I've spent the last 3 months doing private test screenings and focus group screenings before any public screenings. Everyone loves the film, but we are making some changes to make the film even better. I have a great team on board helping me, including my new supervising editor Tom Miller and his editor Morgan Stiff. I love the new changes of the film! This new version will be ready very soon.

My test screenings have continued, including a small showing at the Rochester Deaf Film Fe...

Sneak Preview Screenings

Hilari Scarl — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 06:00:00 +0100

I am so very happy to announce some sneak preview screenings of SEE WHAT I'M SAYING at the Philadelphia Film Festival at the end of March and a screening at the Rochester Deaf Film Festival. You will have a chance to see our work in progress gearing up to a world premiere of the film later this year. I am waiting on details from all of these screenings such as exact dates and locations to add to our website and send out in our newsletter announcement.

I am very excited about all of th...

Thanksgiving

Hilari Scarl — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 06:00:00 +0100

I have taken a little much-needed time out for Thanksgiving this week and am visiting my sister and brother-in-law in Atlanta. It's an exciting time for them, expecting their first child in April, and fun for me to see my sister pregnant.

As much as I am enjoying being with my family, I know that Sundance, which is held every January in Utah, is going to start announcing their lineup any day. I know that the film is going to find its way into the world premiere that is right for us,...

Vizual fundraiser

Hilari Scarl — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0100

I am finally getting caught up with everything that has been postponed during production. We had an incredible fundraiser in June to raise finishing funds for the documentary.

My rockin' friends Ninette and Phil opened up their home and their backyard to host Vizual, our Cirque du Soleil style fundraiser complete with aerial acts by Ninette and her Silk Sisters Buffy and Emily. The event was hosted by Gary Anthony Williams and CJ Jones, with entertainment from Kathy Buckley, Dan Thurm...

Other entertainers

Hilari Scarl — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 05:00:00 +0100

After I sent out the last newsletter, I received several emails from other entertainers asking if they were still in the film because they weren't mentioned by name in the newsletter. The answer is YES! It was very important to me to include as many entertainers as possible, for many reasons. First, I believe that I could have done a full documentary on any one of dozens of these talented performers, as they all have interesting and unique stories. Second, I am extremely aware of the limited ...

Challenges ahead

Hilari Scarl — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:00:00 +0100

The biggest challenge the film is facing is convincing people who have never seen deaf entertainers that this film is meant for mainstream audiences. You can show your support by telling others that you want to see deaf performers featured in the media. That open captions isn't just a luxury but a necessity for almost 30 million Americans. You can help out by sending this to 10 friends and encouraging them to sign up for email newsletters on our website and getting them to come to screenings....

Why are there so few trained deaf filmmakers?

Hilari Scarl — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 05:00:00 +0100

Those who say it can't be done are usually interrupted by others doing it. -Joel A. Barker.

I have been getting email requests from deaf filmmakers who want to work with me, and have brought a few on board. I encourage others to keep working and learning because the world needs you, your stories and your unique vision!

When it came time to hire crew for SEE WHAT I’M SAYING, there was only one professional deaf cinematographer - Wayne Betts, and he was pretty booked. Why couldn...

Fan letter and "Audism" lyrics by Dave Showers

Hilari Scarl — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 05:00:00 +0100

I am so flattered that I am already receiving some fan mail and stories by people finding me through our online trailer for the film and through great groups like D-Pan helping me spread the word about the film.

Here is part of an email and song lyrics that were sent to me by Dave Showers, a deaf musician in Indiana who is on a journey.

------------------------

hello,

i want to introduce myself to you. i have visited the d-pan website a couple of times an...

Hip Guy - Robert has a fan

Hilari Scarl — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 05:00:00 +0100

I love my sound supervisor. Joe Milner at Puget sound isn't just one of the most talented sound editors and mixers around, he just happens to be one of the coolest people I have met this year.

Joe sends me fun emails that always seem to make my day. All of the post production people loved the subjects of the film, and would often comment about various entertainers. My colorist loved hearing stories about Bob, one consultant couldn't get enough of CJ, and TL always seems to have fans. ...