Here's a novel promotional e-mail we received today from Todd Rohal, director and sound engineer of
The Guatemalan Handshake. We can't vouch for the accuracy of the story, but we thought you might find it of interest:
"As the news of Tom DeLay's misuse of funds is talked about daily here in the nation's Capital, we at
The Guatemalan Handshake would like to clear the air about our involvement...
"Early on in our search for funding we were set up to meet with a high-profile Washington lobbyist. I bought a brand new pair of pants for the occasion. This lobbyist was the former producer of the Dolph Lundgren film
Red Scorpion, which had very little in common with the film we were pitching to him ... but we figured that time had passed and indie film was now King. He had to be interested in something new and different.
"At our meeting we learned that [his party had had just lost power in the House], so he rented an entire floor at DC's Willard Hotel for his family to stay in for the night. He showed us some old promotional materials (buttons and posters), told us that we should use some boobs and some guns [in our film], looked at our production materials and told us that he wasn't sure if a title like
The Guatemalan Handshake would get anyone's attention. (He raised the money on
Red Scorpion, [he said,] based on the title alone.) He still very much believed in the 1980's action movie ... after all, it did bring him quite a profit and made Dolph Lundgren the star he is today.
"So how much money did we net on this meeting? Nothing. Not one penny. I actually lost money by having to purchase the pants I was wearing.
"[As it turns out,] had we taken money from this guy, we would have been mixed up with some crooked-ass money. It seems our lobbyist friend was funneling money from Native American groups and buying folks like Tom DeLay trips to foreign golf courses. Now he's mixed up with the FBI, the IRS and the Justice Department trying to explain himself out of this big mess. He lost his high-ranking position at the lobby firm he worked for, he lost the big desk and corner office overlooking the White House that we met in, and he's in some hot water right now, taking the blunt of the blame for all this.
"We [eventually] ended up raising the money we needed to shoot [
The Guatemalan Handshake] ... although it all came from people who work normal jobs and who have never slept a night at the Willard Hotel. I've since worn those pants again to a friend's wedding, and I recently caught
Red Scorpion on TBS at 2:30 in the morning in a hotel room in Philly.
"I'd say things are moving along nicely."
.
# posted by Webmaster @ 5/05/2005 10:57:00 AM
Comments (8)
I cant wait to see your film!!!!!
#
posted by @ 6/26/2005 12:06 PM
i really enjoy reading your blog
#
posted by home mortgage lead @ 12/04/2005 4:23 PM
i really enjoy reading your blog
#
posted by consolidation debt credit @ 12/04/2005 10:39 PM
its all a conspiracy!
#
posted by consolidation debt free @ 12/05/2005 1:38 PM
very interesting. kinda makes you think
#
posted by diabetic recipe @ 12/07/2005 4:13 PM
Why did you choose the title "The Guatemalan Handshake"?
#
posted by @ 4/20/2006 12:40 PM
no offense, but this is kinda pretentious. "indie is king"? don't get me wrong indie is cool and all...but it doesn't guarantee good art.
#
posted by @ 2/12/2007 6:00 AM
"Le Guatemalan Hankie" is the best indie quirky romance I've seen since Adolfas Mekas' "Hallelujah, the Hills" back in the early '60s.
I wish Rohan and co. would make an entire feature (non-linear or otherwise) starring "Ethel" and her missing doggie.
Richard Evans
Artificial City Films
#
posted by Richard Evans @ 2/16/2007 12:55 PM
