ANALOG LOVE at the Majestic in Tempe, AZ!

In pre-pandemic times, Analog Love was scheduled to make it's world premiere at the Phoenix Film Festival at the end of March of 2020. The same week, LUCKY, the horror satire I produced, was scheduled to premiere at South By Southwest. And that would've kicked off the festival tours for both films, which in a lot of ways I spent my whole life prepping to make. I was so beyond proud of both and the incredible crews that were responsible for making them both a reality. And I was so, so thrilled to finally put positive things out into the universe. And then... Covid happened and derailed it all. 

Had those premieres happened and we weren't in lock down, I don't think the smear campaign against me would've happened. At least not in the unfair and cruel way that it did. But this is, sadly, the time line we're stuck in.  And all we can do is focus on the day ahead of us, not the past. Two years after our original intended premiere date, and one full year after the release, we finally got to screen Analog Love in Arizona, the state it should have premiered in in the first place. 

Both this screening, and the NY one, came about totally organically. In this instance, I have a small group of friends that have been successfully hosting some incredible genre related screenings in the Phoenix area. Aaron Hudson and my old friend from the NY days Samantha Hurdich. And once I learned about Zia Records regularly scheduled Sunday Soundtrack Series, it seemed like the perfect fit. And it was!

We screened it at the Majestic, located in Tempe, AZ on Sunday, September 11th and it truly felt like a homecoming. More so than even the NY screening in a weird way. Aaron and Sam had waited until the night of to actually watch the movie, despite me having given them Blu-Ray's months earlier, and I really appreciated it, because I got to sit next to them and hear their genuine laughs and reactions. It was a slightly smaller space than the NY venue, and hence slightly less people, but the people that were there truly got it and were responding with extreme enthusiasm, and I could feel it. 

Aaron and I did a Q & A afterwards, but it turned more into a general conversation between the group of people that stuck around and ourselves. I particularly found it heartwarming and sweet when a couple started telling us about their great mixtape story, but both disagreed about the details surrounding said tape. It's one of the things I love about our little film - it always instigates conversation and inspires people to share their mixtape story, whatever it might be. 

I know some friends in attendance walked away inspired to make mixes!  

And I'm just so, so grateful for the opportunity to share this documentary whenever I get a chance. It means a lot to me. It took my crew: myself, Buz Wallick, Joe Maddrey, Travis King, about 6 years of our lives to complete, and while its bittersweet that we didn't get to screen it for more festivals during what became one of the oddest times in our human history, seeing it these two times this year was a beautiful gift and reward in itself. I truly hope people keep sharing it with loved ones and it continues finding an audience. 

I'll be sharing more playlists / mixes that tie more directly into the film on this blog in the near future. But for now, I'll cap this off with a recent song by Liam Gallagher of Oasis that really has helped put things into perspective this year, "Too Good For Giving Up."