Pressure Cooker Opening Night

Sat in a wonderfully packed IFC theatre last night to watch the 7:45pm show of Pressure Cooker. Jen and Mark offered a Q&A session along with three of the principle subjects of the film. It was the first time I had seen the entire completed film and it was lovely to see the fruit of everyone's labours.

Opened NYC: 27 May @ IFC Center
Opens in LA: 5th of June @ Laemmle's Sunset 5
Opens Philly: 12th of June @ Landmark's Ritz at the Bourse

Not to sound too much like a plug but I honestly encourage everyone to go see this film. Michael Lerman of INDIEWIRE said it best: "It's hard to beat the humanity of ... Pressure Cooker " In the final scenes we sit watching, waiting, rooting and hoping for the hard working culinary students of Frankford High as they await the ever-important scholarship decisions. Even having already seen all the raw footage, I still found a knot in my stomach equal to that of any parent sitting in that room; thinking "please, please, please, please!"

After the screening and Q&A there was a fun get-together at the nearby "Cabrito" restaurant. Good times and strong Margiritias were enjoyed by all. So great to see everyone again!

Pressure Cooker: Check it out people!

PRESSURE COOKER PREMIERE @ IFC

PRESSURE COOKER will premiere at:

The IFC Center on

Wednesday, May 27th.

" Mark and I are really looking forward to it and hope you all will be able to make it. We're not sure of the screening times yet, but will send out an email when they go on sale, May 25th. I would buy tickets online in advance because we are hopeful that it will sell out, especially since Wilma, Fatoumata and possibly Dudley will be in attendance."
- Jennifer Grausman, co-director

A Transparent Mind: Update!

Paul Docherty and I met over the weekend and began construction our physical effects for our short film "A Transparent Mind."

Paul suggested to me that we use a type of insulation foam, and cut out the individual letters and eventually hang them on strings. A sort of puppeteer version of type-setting. Isn't that cool?

I selected a rounded bold font, one that Paul and I agreed would be easy to read as additional elements on screen, as well as something that was practical to build (i.e. Sans Serif!).
Paul printed large 6" letters, all matching a particular scale (this will most likely affect lens choice during the effect shoot).

We stenciled the letters by putting charcoal on the back of the print outs and outlining them atop the foam.

Then Paul, using the hotwire machine carved out the letters.



We created over 50 characters in this first step. Next will be the creation of additional characters to aid in completing words, followed by a light sanding and paint job.

Thanks for the hard work Paul!