How Mike Cram got his movie into the Cleveland International Film

How Mike Cram got his movie into
the Cleveland International Film Festival
story by Clint O’Connor, illustrations by Ted Crow | The Plain Dealer
1 Have a great idea
2 Find a partner
August 2006
March 2006 Mike Cram starts writing a screenplay called
“Longshot” about his roller-coaster career creating and selling
novelty gadgets, such as the dreaming dog watch and talking
pizza cutter.
6 Shop the film
December 2008 Decid-
ing to try the festival circuit
in hopes of attracting a distributor, Cram fills out the entry
form, pays the $85 fee and
ships DVD copies of his movie
to the Cleveland International
Film Festival. Thanks to a oneweek extension, Cram barely
squeezes in under the deadline.
7 Wait
December 2008 At her
desk in Cleveland, entry coordinator Beth Radisek plugs the
information for “Lightbulb”
into the festival’s database of
entries. It becomes one of 450
feature films and 800 short
films submitted. “Lightbulb” is
then watched by at least three
members of the 27-person
Features Selection Committee.
Cram reads
several books on independent
filmmaking and meets with
the author (Greg Goodell) of
his favorite one, “Independent
Feature Film Production.” Cram
and Goodell become producing
partners in a film that Cram’s
company, Pacific Direct near
Seattle, will bankroll.
8 Rate on
Bill-o-meter
January The top films from
the selection committee are forwarded to the festival’s artistic
director, Bill Guentzler, who
makes the final choices. (He
already has signed up 107 films
that he scouted at other festivals and, between November
and January, watches about 100
additional films from the submissions pile.) Guentzler likes
“Lightbulb.” A lot. He e-mails
Cram that he’d like to screen it
in the festival. Success!
3 Choose a director 4 Line up cast, crew 5 Shoot the film
Fall 2006 Cram watches
more than 100 independent
films before settling on director Jeff Balsmeyer, whose
previous film was the comedy
“Danny Deckchair.”
9 The switch
January 2007
Casting
director Ronnie Yeskel, who
worked on “Pulp Fiction,” sees
dozens of actors, and the three
leads emerge: Dallas Roberts,
Jeremy Renner and Israeli actress Ayelet Zurer. Cram taps
Tucson, Ariz., as the location
and hires a crew.
March 2007
The movie,
now called “Lightbulb,” is shot
in a nimble 16 days in Tucson.
Postproduction — editing,
sound mixing, adding the music
— lasts well into spring 2008.
10 Showtime!
February
Guentzler likes
“Lightbulb” so much, he wants
to run it as the closing-night
film. He had “The Brothers
Bloom” slated for opening
night because it features bigger names (Adrien Brody,
Mark Ruffalo, Rachel Weisz),
but when he learns none of
the stars can make it to Cleveland, he flops the films, giving
“Lightbulb” the prestigious
opening-night slot.
Thursday night
Three years after Cram typed the first words
of his script, “Lightbulb” will open the 33rd festival at Tower City
Cinemas at 7 p.m. Cram, along with the man who plays him, Dallas Roberts, will be there to introduce the film.