“Shelved: The Rise and Fall of 11:11” arriving in November

(Cross-posted at LArevivalist)

ModMyth Media is all about the new cinema of grassroots, online-distributed filmmaking. Orange County is just far enough outside the hills of Hollywood that there is a definite alternative feel to the operations of filmmaking outlets here. Huntington Beach-based Hourglass Pictures, headed by Rocky Costanzo, is a virtual poster child for this kind of DIY ethos in 21st century vid-cinema.

I had the pleasure, in 2009, of documenting the making-of process for a long-gestating Costanzo project, 11:11. The film was suddenly undone, at the 11th hour (pardon the pun) by the kind of production problems that reveal just how temperamental and frail the filmmaking process can be outside the protective barrier of the big tentpole operations.

But the footage I shot throughout the process is getting to see the light of day with a new doc, Shelved: The Rise and Fall of 11:11. Here’s the full press release:

Huntington Beach, CA (PRWEB) July 22, 2011

The new Independent Film Production/Distribution Company of filmmaker, Rocky Costanzo, is proud to announce that they will be making a feature-length documentary on Costanzo’s seven year-long film project, “11:11.” The highly-anticipated film, which began production back in 2004 and has still not been released. Although the title for this documentary; “Shelved: The Rise and Fall of 11:11” is tongue-in-cheek, it is also quite symbolic, as the mentioned film, “11:11,” found itself near the top of popularity charts of film industry sites, such as the Internet Movie Database. The online promotional trailers for the film have been viewed by the tens of thousands, and several festivals around the world have invited the film to premiere. Yet, the film remains on the shelf collecting dust. So what is the deal? The answers will come out in this documentary with the untold story.

When developing 11:11, Costanzo brought in an aspiring filmmaker, Gary Iacobucci to shoot an extensive “making-of” documentary to be used as a special feature on the film’s Blu-ray/DVD. What he captured instead, was the rise and fall of his film. Costanzo said, “Gary’s camera was with us every step of the way, including the development meetings, auditions, location scouts, the table read, and of course every day on the set. He had hours and hours of footage.” This footage will appear in the documentary, along with current interviews with every major onscreen and behind-the-scenes player and visual anecdotes sprinkled throughout. The production team is working around the clock with plans for release this November …the year of 11/11/11.

Costanzo, who is expected to oversee the project (though gives the “Director” credit to Gary) will sit in on the editing process. “The support for this film has been so incredibly overwhelming.” says Costanzo. “It’s very important to me that, since we are not sure what the future holds for “11:11,” this documentary will at least give the audience something in return for their patience of waiting so long. In other words, if we can’t give them 11:11, we need to give them the next best thing.

‘Shelved’ is expected to be included in a four-picture distribution deal through Hourglass Pictures and will be exclusive to the digital distribution market, including iTunes, Netflix, Amazon and VOD. Costanzo’s past films, “Hallowed,” “Amhurst,” and “Return to Innocence” will round out the other three.

About Hourglass Pictures:
After dissolving the independent production group, LifeLine Entertainment, Inc. after a ten-year run, filmmaker, Rocky Costanzo launched his privately-owned production company in 2010 with the mission of creating and developing cutting edge films and presenting them in true independent style. Titles, which target niche audiences who appreciate the smaller-budget art house films. New projects are already in the works.

I’ll post more as info becomes available.