Santa Barbara Film Festival picks the winners

The LA Times printed a very informative article about the Santa Barbara Film Festival and speaks highly about Gray Matters being the closing night film and gala. It seems Roger Durling, the director of the festival has a sixth sense for picking award winners and good films. In his first year on the job as executive director, he brought in Peter Jackson and Charlize Theron for honoree awards, and last year, he equaled that feat when he landed George Clooney and Philip Seymour Hoffman. All four took home the Oscar a few weeks after appearing at the festival. This year — the film festival's 22nd — Durling is hoping to mimic himself as all three of the festival's actor honorees, Will Smith ("The Pursuit of Happyness"), Helen Mirren ("The Queen") and Forest Whitaker ("The Last King of Scotland") received Academy Award nominations on Tuesday.

Gray Matters will close the festival on Sunday night, Feb 4th 2007 at the historic Artlington Theater. My executive producer, Alexander Payne tells me this is one of the most magical, impressive places in all of the United States to screen a movie.

I cannot wait! Heather Graham, Tom Cavanagh, Bridget Moynahan, Rachel Shelley and myself will all be in attendance.

Washington DC Premiere

The Creative Coalition has hand picked "Gray Matters" to be the "Welcome Back to Congress" screening in Washington DC on Feb 1st 2007. The Creative Coalition is the premier nonprofit, nonpartisan social and political advocacy organization of the entertainment industry. Founded in 1989 by prominent figures in the creative community, including actors Alec Baldwin, Ron Silver, Christopher Reeve, Susan Sarandon, Blair Brown and Stephen Collins, TCC educates and mobilizes leaders in the arts community on issues of public importance, specifically in the areas of First Amendment rights, arts advocacy and public education.

The event is a two day affair--with both days serving as a tribute to the 110th Congress. The "Gray Matters" evening  will be a screening and cocktail party hosted by The Coalition, Capitol File magazine, Alan Cumming, Heather Graham, Rachel Shelley and myself. The guests are the most prominent leaders of Capitol Hill including distinguished members of The Congress and The Senate.

I feel so proud and honored to be chosen to be part of such an incredible event.

Tom Cavanagh

Everyone in Hollywood is always searching for the next Tom Hanks/Jimmy Stewart. Search no farther. He is right here in our own backyard and his name is Tom Cavanagh. Although people know Tom from starring in "Ed" and "Scrubs"--what they haven't realized yet is---Tom is a movie star. He has it all--charm, sex- appeal, intelligence and comic timing; a rare combination. Tom brought so much to the character of "Sam". He is so likable as a brother but also so "crushable" as Charlie's love interest. Last night I had the privilege of doing a Q&A with Tom at the New York Film Critics sneak peak series, moderated by Stephen Whitty. Tom is so refreshingly humble and knowledgeable about the movie business and has such a pleasent ease with an audience. Sharing a stage with Tom Cavanagh makes me want to take up acting--he made me look so good.

Sisters Matter

"Without inspiration the best powers of the mind remain dormant, they is a fuel in us which needs to be ignited with sparks"

I was inspired to write “Gray Matters” because I have a gay sister. She is my spark. I realized there had never been big, commercial romantic comedy about a girl coming out. And when I say coming out, I mean someone who comes out and stays out. And when I say big and commercial, I am referring to making a film that attracts everyone not one made for a big budget. (Which was far from the case here, we made the film completely independently) My mission was to make a film about being yourself and embracing whatever that is that makes someone who they are.  Because my sister and I are so close, she often would have crushes on my straight friends. This became the seed that grew into Sam and Gray’s relationship. A brother and sister so close that they fall for the same woman.

My sister Carolyn Kramer has a written a brave article for The Advocate this month titled "Sisters Matter" --it speaks with honesty and truth about her coming out story. Please take a look at to learn more about my inspiration.

Hamptons International Film Festival Interviews

Lu Ann deLesseps of VVH-TV interviews Heather Graham of Gray Matters which had its East Coast Premiere at the Hamptons International Film FestivalLu Ann deLesseps of VVH-TV interviews Tom Cavanagh of Gray Matters which had its East Coast Premiere at the Hamptons International Film Festival

New York Film Critics Series, Jan 22nd

"Gray Matters" has been chosen to part of the New York Film Critics sneak peaks. It takes place this coming Monday, Jan 22nd 2007 in Teaneck, New Jersey.  I was born and raised in Fair Lawn, New Jersey so this is a wonderful opportunity for me the screen the film close to my home town. If you are in the area, please join the series and come on by! I will be there for a Q&A/interview with celebrated movie critic Stephen Whitty from the Star Ledger. For more information go to www.nyfilmcritics.com

Dancing Cheek to Cheek

Agnes DeMille said "The truest expression of a people is in its dance and in its music.  Bodies never lie. " I opened "Gray Matters" with a dance sequence for many reasons. I grew up in a family that loves dancing, old movies, and music. While other kids were watching cartoons, I was watching old Shirley Temple, Gene Kelly, and Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodger movies with my mother. I could watch them over and over again and never get bored.  I thought it would be a nice character trait to make  "Sam" and "Gray" be 1940S movie buffs along with dance enthusiasts.  Since the inception of my idea I always wanted to use "Cheek to Cheek" in the movie.  The dance scene in "Top Hat" is one of my all time favorites. Originally, I was going to use "Cheek to Cheek" for a scene later in the movie when the girls dance together but it was financially  impossible to obtain the movie rights to the "Top Hat" clip which I needed to be playing in the background. The idea of not having "Cheek to Cheek" in the movie was devastating.  The opening scene was always a dance class scene where "Gray" and "Sam" are dance students learning how to to swing in the company of retirees and octogenarians.  My sister actually gave me the idea to open the movie with "Cheek to Cheek"--and the craziest coincidence of all is that my co-producer happened to be the lyricist  Irving Berlin's grand-daughter! Talk about serendipity! Consequently, I got AC Ciulla, a Tony nominated choreographer to design the opening dance.  Heather and Tom, not being dance professionals had to rehearse quite a bit. They certainly make it look a lot easier on screen than it actually was. I remember practically gasping on set when I saw Heather in her red and white 1950's vintage dress.  She looked like Carole Lombard.  I chose to use a stedi-cam that day because I wanted the camera to be one of the dancers. Moving and gliding across the floor. I wanted to tip my hat to Fred and Ginger and movie masters like Stanley Donnen. The result? Check out this exclusive clip.

Hetrick Martin Screening and Q&A

Last night we did a pre-screening of "Gray Matters" for the kids at the Hetrick Martin institute. Check out the photos. It was such a powerful and insightful afternoon. The event was held at the cafeteria at HMI which feeds 1000 teenagers a year. Many of the youth at HMI are homeless or have been shunned by their families predominately because of their sexual orientation. HMI serves as a refuge and an oasis for them. The place was jammed packed. The kids really embraced the film. When it was finished, Molly Shannon, Heather Graham and myself walked into the cafeteria and they all cheered and hollered. Of course many were screaming "Superstar!" for Molly and "Felicity Shagwell" for Heather. Once we sat down and started the Q&A, the kids started asking very intelligent questions about film making and acting. Molly and Heather were both so honest and candid with the kids giving them very personal answers to their questions. One teen asked "You're famous now, how hard was it to get to where you are?" Molly answered: "It was really hard, it doesn't happen overnight, it takes a long time and it can get very depressing because there is a lot of rejection involved. I remember I used to sit home a lot and eat lots of chicken. Chicken, chicken, chicken!" It was so hilarious, the kids went crazy laughing. Molly is so naturally funny--she barely has to do much to make people laugh. The kids seemed to be in awe of all of us but what they didn't realize---we were completely in awe of them.

Santa Barbara Film Festival

Variety has announced Gray Matters has been selected to be the closing night film at the Santa Barbara Film Festival! Feb 4th 2007 is the date. For any of you who live in the west coast or want to attend a film festival--I have heard that Santa Barbara is a wonderful festival. It seems as if they have a very  impressive line-up this year.

Trailer/Cast

The trailer will be on-line in the next two weeks. Sorry for the wait. In terms of my cast--it was a long creative process like fitting pieces of a puzzle together. I searched hard to find the perfect fit for each role. There were many auditions and many meetings. Ultimately, I got the greatest cast. I could not be happier with each and every one of them. They all had so much warmth and admiration for each other which I think is evident on screen. Chemistry is a hard thing to "act"--I think it must be there naturally.