City Skies

Yesterday we took a drive downtown.

I literally gasped when I saw the sky as we headed south on the West Side Highway, and lucky for us, we had the camera.

That's Jersey across the river.

Tell Me, Is it Wrong?

To love your dish soap?


This stuff is expensive, but when I do the dishes with it, I am a happier person.

No joke.

Happy Birthday Claude!

Claude Rains

I Forgot...

...to post this picture of Annie's cake on her birthday.

From "Overheard in New York"

Drunk guy #1: "What's the closest star to Earth?"

Drunk girl: "The Sun!"

Drunk guy #2: "No... It's Alpha Centauri."

Drunk girl: "I just don't think I can agree with you on that. Anyway, Alpha Centauri is a galaxy!"

Drunk guy #2: "Let's bet on it."

Drunk girl: "Ok. But only money. No sexual favors".

~85th St & Amsterdam

Coffee Quote

"The morning cup of coffee has an exhilaration about it which the cheering influence of the afternoon or evening cup of tea cannot be expected to reproduce."

~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.,1891

An Italian Store Warns...

No robbing or killing, and don’t even THINK about bringing in an automatic weapon!

Photoshop Phun

An Important Warning

Once you know the pleasure of boots, there will be no turning back.

I Love...

...how my brother's wife looks at their children.

Rumsfeld Resigns!

This day's just getting better and better.

Changing Climate

Dennis Kucinich

Ancient Indian Proverb

Treat the earth well.
It was not given to you by your parents,
it was loaned to you by your children.
We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors,
we borrow it from our Children.

Cleaning Up the House

It's a damn good start.

Had to...

Just Some More

Sweetness

On Election Day

"It's Hard to Keep...

... 9 burners hot at the same time."

(A phrase I heard in a dream this morning, just before waking up.)

I Will...

...go to India.

I Overheard in New York

Subway Worker Woman#1 to Subway Worker Woman #2:

"I thought he had an earring in his tongue, but it was a meatball! It was like a little extra piece of meat on his tongue!"

"A" Train 184th Street Station

I'm Screwed

Annie says to me: “Trust me, on YOUR side you have the power of punishments, on MY side I have the power of screaming, crying and anger.”

12:49 a.m.

What is life?
It is the flash of a firefly in the night.
It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime.
It is the little shadow which runs across
the grass and loses itself in the sunset.

Crowfoot, Blackfoot warrior and orator 1830 - 1890

Cold Tea

Cold Tea

Katie Bowen, director
PRESSKIT

DIRECTOR STATEMENT

My father, Roger Bowen, wrote COLD TEA as a very short story more than 20 years ago. It's a romance about two people who may appear to be quite odd, but who really aren't -- they just know exactly who they are and what they want. A woman who loves the cold and treasures pictures of bones and brains as the essence of who she is, is strange only to a stranger. To the man who loves her, she is the woman he's been searching for all his life.

I think my father wrote the story as a metaphor for the artistic soul. I hope David Kosh (screenwriter and co-producer) and I have transferred some of my father's artistic soul to this film.

PRODUCTION NOTES
"Art vs. Life"

Cold Tea was shot in two days in February of 2006, one for interiors and one for exteriors. The exteriors were shot in Ft. Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan. We hoped for a day with snow to really emphasize the oddness of Eve, played by Julie Fitzpatrick, appearing comfortable without a coat on a wintery day. Instead of snow, we had a gorgeous bright sun and a sub-arctic wind whipping off the Hudson River, which was great for fictional Eve, but not so great for actress Julie (who carried on bravely despite being turned into a human icicle), and that snowy look we so wanted. Art refused to imitate life, and as always when making a movie, we had to make the best of it.

Roger Bowen: Author of Adapted Material

Roger Bowen was a founding member of both the Compass and Second City improvisational troupes in Chicago, and was also a member of the San Francisco-based troupe, the Committee. As an actor, he was best known for his portrayal of Col. Henry Blake in Robert Altman's M*A*S*H*. He was a novelist, playwright and short story writer as well. Roger passed away in 1996.

Vladimir Subotic: Cinematographer/DP

Vladimir Subotic is rapidly creating quite a name for himself in the industry. The New York Times described his cinematography on the 2005 feature, LOVE, as "exquisitely shot." Other features include GOING UNDER, and the upcoming documentaries, THE GOLDEN GREEK: THE HARRY AGGANIS STORY, and PLAY YOUR OWN THING: A STORY OF JAZZ IN EUROPE.

David Kosh: Coproducer, Writer

David Kosh is primarily a playwright and screenwriter. COLD TEA is his first stab at producing. He graduated from NYU’s film school and is a member of the Dramatists Guild. Some of his plays are THE SHOW MIGHT GO ON, based on the novel by Roger Bowen and produced Off-Off-Broadway by the Michael Chekhov Theatre Company, TEMPTATION, which appears in the Smith and Kraus book, THE BEST STAGE SCENES OF 2003, and is published by Playscripts, Inc., and DIFFERENCE, published by One Act Play Depot. Screenplays other than COLD TEA include GRAND CRU, written for Opal Films in Los Angeles and chosen to be part of Dreamago’s international screenwriting workshop in Switzerland, and the screen version of THE SHOW MIGHT GO ON.

Katie Bowen: Coproducer, Director, Picture Editor, Sound Editor

Cold Tea is Katie Bowen’s first directorial effort. As an editor, her credits include THE IT FACTOR for Bravo, ESPN’s Emmy- and Peabody-award-winning documentary series, SPORTSCENTURY, as well as various projects for the History Channel and MTV. Katie also produced and edited several segments for ESPN OUTDOORS. She is currently in pre-production for THE CARD, a short film that she also wrote.

Gary Regina: Original Music/Composer

Gary Regina, a professional musician and composer for 30 years, began his career in his native New York. He attended Berklee School of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, and now makes his home in Northern California.

Gary has performed at the Concord Jazz Festival, San Jose Jazz Festival and Monterey Jazz Festival, and has opened for artists such as Miles Davis, Spyro Gyra, Yellow Jackets, and John McLaughlin.

COLD TEA is Regina's first film score, and he is currently working on the music for THE CARD, Katie Bowen's second short film project.

Seth Says:

"...If you trust yourself, then your responsibilities are automatically fulfilled. But if you do not trust yourself, there is no responsibility that you can fulfill, and no one that you can truly help.”

Eat Now, Pay Later

Annie and I are walking to meet David at a restaurant. She has failed to complete her homework and I let her know that her dad won’t be pleased.

Annie: “Don’t tell him now! Can’t you just wait until AFTER we’ve had a peaceful dinner?”

Quote

“A poet is someone who stands outside in the rain hoping to be struck by lightning.”

~James Dickey

In the Mirror

Annie calls from the bathroom:

“Mommy, my eyelashes are SO long! They’re like a centimeter long!”

Fellow High School Drop-Out

Ansel Adams. American wilderness photographer; photography book author; Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient.

Note: Don't drop-outs just look happier than other people? ~Katie

Sound On

I would say that most of us, on a conscious level, are unaware of sound. We know if it’s too high or too low, and although we can clearly hear the things that displease us, we are often unaware of the multitude of sounds that surround us in every moment and that can turn an ordinary day into a work of art.

There is an entire life inside sound, a world all its own, existing in harmony with everything else. It’s the clicking of a heel across a wooden floor, the delicate tap of a teacup, the turn of a page.

Listening to at the Moment...

Gotta Move

No blog today. xoxoox

late

I'll be up all night editing, preparing for a sound mix tomorrow.

Once I again I have waited until the last minute to finish a job, my computer crashed about 16 times, it took me forever to extend a piece of music to my satisfaction, and all I want to do is sleep...

Missing Him Today...

My Pop.

Thursday Afternoon

“A photograph never grows old. You and I change, people change all through the months and years, but a photograph always remains the same. How nice to look at a photograph of mother or father taken many years ago. You see them as you remember them. But as people live on, they change completely. That is why I think a photograph can be kind.”


~Albert Einstein

I Wish I Could

Quote

“Sometimes it's necessary to go a long distance out of the way in order to come back a short distance correctly”

~Edward Albee

A Man Should...

...forgive me for being imperfect, and confused... and uncertain.

Secret...

This kid is going to play hookie today with her mom.

Indian Summer Where I Live

The Value of Art

Annie is beside me, falling asleep in my bed. She’s heard me on the phone talking about the completion of my short film.

Annie: “I hope we win all the festivals Mommy.”

Me: “That’s so sweet of you to say.”

Annie: “Then we’ll get a lot of cash.”

Me: “No honey, we won’t get any cash.”

Annie: “Then what do you get?”

Me: “Well, you get recognition for your work, and the satisfaction of knowing that your creative expression has touched other people.”

Annie: “I’d rather have the cash.”

Moments of Simple Bliss

That split second before I cross from waking to sleep, that tiny moment when, just before I fall, I make the slightest moan. I'm no longer awake but not yet asleep, but I hear it, the little moan, I hear the sound, acknowledge how good it feels, and then... I am gone.

A Choice of Words

David, Annie and I were sitting in a theatre, Annie looked up at the painted imagery on the ceiling.

Annie: “Mommy, look at the centaur!”

Me: “Do you know what the significance of the centaur is?”

Annie: "I don’t know what the word ‘significance’ means."

From Katie's Toybox

I got a new cell phone last week, (as shown above,) and recorded into it the first cut from the soundtrack for my short film, “Cold Tea.” Now, when the film’s composer calls me, the melody will play as a ring tone, and when Annie calls, instead of hearing a bell or a chime, I will hear her shout, “Hi Mommy!”

I can easily see myself letting a precious day slip away while trying to find fitting sounds and songs to represent everyone who calls me on my cell, but I won’t do it, I would never do it. Okay, so I might do it.

My Super Girl

night