You go Adepero!

Congrats to one of The Tested's own. Adepero Oduye, an amazing actress is going to Sundance with PARIAH. We are partial to her as she played Darraylynn in our short.

Congrats to all the other IFP alum as well!

Looking Ahead to 2011

The Tested mentioned on Shadow and Act Films to watch for 2011

SHADOW AND ACT: LOOKING AHEAD

A New York State of Mind at Woodstock FF

A New York State of Mind at Woodstock FF

A Motley Crew at Woodstock

Director Russell Costanzo, Producer Melissa B. Miller, Nathan Corbett "Curtis", and Armando Riesco "Julian Varone"

"The Tested strikes gold"

Review from the Woodstock Film Festival

2:53 p.m. Friday: Big hopes for ‘The Tested’

2:53 p.m. Friday: Big hopes for ‘The Tested’

Documentaries, Backyards, and Deep Breaths

Yesterday we saw Client 9 which was a powerful documentary about Eliot Spitzer and his down fall. Couldn't stay for the Q and A but would love to know the trade off the filmmaker had to make to get Spitzer to cooperate and sit for interviews. What I also found interesting is how many enemies Spitzer had made and how that was a huge reason he went down so hard, no one wanted to lay down a pillow for him. Well, maybe some of his mistresses, but you know what I mean.

Then we saw Eric Mendelson's 3 Backyards, which was a unique tale of three families seemingly not having anything in common. Edie Falco can act more with her face than any actress i've ever seen. There are layers of emotions in her without ever breathing a word. If you decide to see it, I'd love to talk about it over coffee.

Still raining here at Woodstock. Getting ready for our premiere tonight. Many people coming to support us.

deep breaths

Something in the Air

Maybe it was Woodstock, maybe it was the converted barn we were watching the screening in, and most likely it was the amazing film that was Lennonnyc, and maybe the culmination of all the work we'd done to get to this point, but I lost it. cried and cried and became a nuisance to the people next to me. This film was so touching, such an intimate portrayal of a complicated love relationship. Of course they talked about "The Lost Weekend" in LA, and his death, but most of this film was about a man in love and what happened when he lost her. And what happened when he fell into the joys of fatherhood. Looking around the theater and seeing many 50 - 60 somethings (the woman in front of me was playing with the back of her husbands hair, it just struck a cord with me, and how no matter what else is going on in your life, career, success, failure, it sort of means nothing if you don't have someone to share it with.

It was so moving and the director was down to earth and led a great q and a. if this film is any indication of how the rest of the woodstock film festival is gonna go, then i might just have an emotional meltdown.

Hopefully i can hold it together until the end of my screening on Friday.

Houses for Sale?

Getting a little too comfortable in the chalet, and know why people say "hell, let's move to Woodstock". typing at my computer, staring out into the woods, yeah i could get used to this.

Tomorrow the festival starts and things will get hectic. Many films and panels and parties to attend.

Anticipating the screening and excited to see a lot of the cast members. i think there will be some wild cards in the audience as well.

Thanks again to the great sponsors from Manhattan Beer Distributors and Nuvo for helping us out with our party.

Ashewood: How I learned to live in the woods

Arrived at Ashewood, our house in Woodstock last night as the rain and acorns pounded our car, and the dirt road threatened to end us all together.

It's still raining but to be honest, it just makes the experience that much spookier, i mean better.

Currently sitting in the sun room staring out into endless woods and greatly anticipating the festival. We got to check out the Bearsville Theater, and we couldn't be happier with our venue. It's at once modern and cozy at the same time, and is equipped with a bar, if audiences want to loosen up before the screening.

It's time to get your tickets and stop wondering whether you can make it here. You can make it.

get tickets online at or just show up, surprise us, and get 'em when you get here.

Fri 10/1 @ 7:15pm - Bearsville Theater - 291 Tinker St., Woodstock, NY 12498 (premiere)

Sun 10/3 @ 5:30pm - Rosendale Theater - 401 Main St., Rosendale, NY 12401

ONE WEEK OUT: “THE TESTED” GOES TO WOODSTOCK | The Filmmaker Magazine Blog

ONE WEEK OUT: “THE TESTED” GOES TO WOODSTOCK | The Filmmaker Magazine Blog

We On a World Tour

Russell and I will be doing two radio interviews in the next coming weeks leading up to Woodstock, you can listen live by going to their websites and clicking the "listen now" button:
WKZE on thursday, sept. 23rd at 1:30pm http://wkze.com
WDST on Tuesday, sept 27th at 11:30am http://wdst.com

You should get one of these... before there's none left of one of these

Are we laying down a new track or doing some serious DIY looping?

Melissa and Russell hit the studio for some looping. Were we in the film? No. But keeping with the spirit of independent film, we didn't let a small detail like that stand in the way.

Woodstock Launch Party at Libation

From Left: Shirley Rumierk, Armando Riesco, Producer Melissa B. Miller, and director Russell Costanzo

The Tested tickets on sale now

Woodstock Film Festival

The First Review Is In!

Woodstock Film Festival 2010 Preview
Return to the Fantasy Factory
by Jay Blotcher, August 27, 2010

*The Tested (Dir. Russell Costanzo)
Dre (Michael Morris Jr.) attends Manhattan’s Washington Irving High School where he’s trying to stand up to the thugs as much as he covets their brutal power. His mother (the powerful Aunjanue Ellis) remains obsessed by the slaying of her older son. Julian (Armando Riesco), the cop who shot the boy, tries to rebuild his life amid the suffocating guilt. As much an opera as an urban saga, The Tested soars thanks to naturalistic performances from an unknown cast and the nimble touch of its self-assured director.

The After After Party

You've heard of the After, After party... This is the New, New Poster

Woodstock Schedule

Fri 10/1 @ 7:15pm - Bearsville Theater - 291 Tinker St., Woodstock, NY 12498 (premiere)

Sun 10/3 @ 5:30pm - Rosendale Theater - 401 Main St., Rosendale, NY 12401

Finding the right balance between social issues and straight up entertainment.

Interview with actor Tobias Truvillion

Low Down Dirty James

Tobias Truvillion plays a bad ass with family values in the film. Find out more about him at tobiastruvillion.net

EVEN MORE REASON TO STAY TUNED

As if you even needed more of a reason to check in with our blog, In the coming months we'll be sharing news about our premiere, and you won't want to miss it. The film has been called "real", "gritty", and "socially important". And we couldn't be more proud of it. The cast and crew worked in a pressure cooker and went beyond our expectations to deliver this unique film.

Get your ticket

Get your ticket to exclusive behind the scenes footage of The Tested, coming soon. Be lucky that you don't have to be the one to go through all the footage and import it, you just have to sit back and relax and watch all the drama that went on behind the camera to deliver the drama on camera!

check back soon

It's gonna take Air Force One

Getting ready to transport our 55,000 feet of raw footage to it's new resting place. We are starting our much anticipated color correct and conform. Russell has very specific ideas for the look of the film which include keeping the integrity of it's gritty look but with a finished eye. He's excited to play with the saturation and stay true to his original story perception of each character playing within a specific color palette. He worked closely with the costume designer and production designer to tell the color story.

I'm a Fan, Your a Fan

Everyone's got a fan page. click on the facebook button on the front page to become a fan of The Tested.

We're not just blowing smoke!

Whether you call it PUSH or PRECIOUS

I worked in the art department on this film and I'm so proud of all the awards it's won and now all of it's Oscar nominations. I remember reading the script in the coffee shop down the street and felt proud to be a part of it even then and if it had just played at an art house theater, would have been fine with me. Fortunately, it's gone a bit beyond that.

DIY DAYS

I'm keeping my publicity team pretty small for the film. You're looking at her.

The Title of this post is Titles

Very excited to be working on our titles. such an important part of the process. I think it's something that goes overlooked by many audiences but when you think about it, it's the first impression you are giving them of your film. what the vibe is gonna be, what the tone is gonna be, and where you're going with it.

Even deciding to just have white titles over black, is a choice and one that speaks to the type of film you have. If you have a drama, you're not going to have a comic font.

We're thinking of our titles as a bridge to our different storylines and a way to introduce the characters. We're working with Studio Collective and Jon Thomas who has presented us with so many ways to go.

really enjoying this really important part of the process