I got back from Stuttgart, still coughing (albeit less), and slept for about 2 days. Now I’m slogging through my backed-up emails and figuring out what to do next. I looks like I’ll be touring the Eastern Hemisphere most of June and July, and sub-letting my Hell’s Kitchen apartment. Interested parties please get in touch - the apartment comes with my cat Bruno, who needs daily food and love.

You’d think I’d be all overjoyed about this, but actually I’m stressed and confused. Will Sita get a distribution deal? Will it win an award? Awards drive me crazy - I always want one, “for the sake of the film,” I tell myself, but surely it’s for my ego. Press too is like coke, I always want more; google blogsearch is becoming a compulsion. I compare Sita’s progress with other films, which can’t be good. I’d like to detach from all this, but what about the festivals? This is my big chance to attend film festivals, it’s not like I can postpone them all until next year. But film festivals are orgies of comparison: who’s getting the most press? the best reviews? whose shows are selling out first? who’s getting the award? These are enemies of the Muse, and I’m not sufficiently mature to maintain my equilibrium in their midst.

Also, I am out of money and racking up expenses like you wouldn’t believe. Take “film festival rights”: publishers charge at least $500 a song just to play the film at festivals - and I don’t get money at festivals, I spend money to make the prints and stuff. I’m spending money I don’t have to get the film out there, and although something always works out, I have no idea how I’m going to pay for French subtitles (the “honor” of attending the Annecy Animation Festival is costing me over $5,000), or legal fees, or rent. Someday the film could bring money in, but I’m not sure how I’m going to make it to that day, if it ever comes.

What a whiney post this has turned out to be. On the brighter side, I’ll post next about all the sweeet reviews Sita got at Tribeca, with tasty little quotes selected by Publicity Bitch herself. But I am not Publicity Bitch. I am a servant of the Muse who is losing her way.

Apparently an American distributor rejected Sita Sings the Blues because, culturally, “it only relates to a tiny slice of the world.”

w00t!

You gotta get up pretty early in the morning to hear Sita Sings the Blues mentioned on the radio. That’s what will supposedly happen on WNYC tomorrow (Tuesday April 22) around 6:30ish (FM) and 8:30ish (AM), during Morning Edition. I think it’s local only, but you can hear it online (hour 2, about mid-way through). That’s what I’m gonna do, since I plan to be asleep when it airs live. (Big ups to Publicity Bitch, whose work seems to be paying off.)

Since I can’t afford a publicist for Sita, I’m doing my own. Yes, it’s a full-time job. No, it doesn’t suit my character. Yes, I have created an alter-ego to handle this, a new sub-personality I call “Publicity Bitch.” She is shameless and aggressive and refers to me in the third person. She writes my press releases. If you’re a journalist, Publicity Bitch kindly requests you get in touch: press at sitasingstheblues dot com.

Fortunately, some press has come to me unasked, notably a new NBC documentary/reality show called My First Time. The first episode follows me and 2 other first-time feature filmmakers as we get ready for our Tribeca premieres. It will air in New York on Saturday May 3 at 7pm on WNBC; if that goes well, NBC will broadcast it nationally. Above are photos (click to enlarge) of producer/director/cameraman Jesse Zook Mann shooting yours truly here at Nina Paley Media Empire HQ.

I recently met a film producer who, after congratulating me on Sita’s admission to Berlin, patiently explained that I’m a “shiny little fish about to enter a shark tank.” I’ve long avoided thinking about the real business side of my feature film endeavor, but suddenly I’m paying attention.

Which calls to mind this audio clip. Sound Designer Greg Sextro recorded numerous improvised conversations for the ironic “Intermission” scene. Some of these are very clever; some take advantage of Indian accents; and one is even in Hindi. But I’m thinking of this one, where Will Franken channels a Hollywood executive discussing the film’s sales potential, or lack thereof. Enjoy.

Today I did a google blogsearch on my name (no, I’m not ashamed) and look what came up:

Not just a monster, a bargain monster. This may be my only five-star review.

Get me with no regrets. Beware of invalid information about me, there’s plenty out there.

Quality the me, conveniently located.

(I had a link to the squatter-site that generated this crap, but it’s since been replaced by sex ads.)

Speaking of raising $30,000, anyone who invests can have a credit of their choice in the film! Director, Writer and Animator are all taken, but there are so many more:

Best Boy
Key Grip
Caterer
Location Scout
Makeup
Sita’s Gowns by
Hairdresser
Set Dresser
Animal Trainer
Third Unit Supervisor
Grand Poobah
Executive Poobah
Associate Poobah
Pyrotechnician
Stunt Double

…and so many more. Buy your credit today!

Yesterday I received a package from Istanbul: 3 copies of Turkish art magazine Hillsider.

As you can see, Sita’s on the cover! And inside too.

Big ups to journalist Gülenay Antep for writing about my film!

Fellow animator Lee Rubenstein came by last week with a little video camera, and now here I am on Youtube. The piece above is almost 8 minutes long (that’s close to infinity in animator time) so Lee also made a short (01:40) version for today’s on-the-go interweb entertainment audience:

Thanks, Lee!