It's a pretty bizarre notion to think that after more than 40 festival appearances and a 7-month theatrical run, more people will see 51 Birch Street tonight than all of those screenings combined. As someone whose formative years were spent in darkened theaters watching movies on the silver screen, the theatrical experience is still somewhat sacred to me (only slightly dampened by the advent of blackberries, cell phones and sandwich wrapping paper).
Which isn't to say the broadcast on Cinemax tonight is anti-climactic. It's just that the reality of television is very different for a filmmaker when you're not there to witness the audience laughing or crying, or to take part in intense discussions afterwards. Instead, it's transmitted over the airwaves to an invisible viewership and... poof, it's gone. Dissolved into the vapor. (Actually, I'll miss the broadcast altogether, since I agreed to moderate a panel on documentary self-distribution for New York Women in Film & Television long before I knew the airdate.)
The panel and broadcast are the culmination of one of the amazing weeks of my life. It kicked off with a great Tribeca premiere screening and party for A Walk Into the Sea. A few days later came a fantastic, gala HBO screening and reception for 51 Birch Street, which led to several rounds of drinks at the legendary Algonquin round table c/o our wonderful Exec Producers, the Priddy Brothers, who flew in from Boise for the occasion. Two nights later, A Walk Into The Sea won one of the the top documentary prizes at Tribeca, then Esther and I and our sales rep, Josh Braun, were up to the wee hours hammering out the fine points of a distribution deal (details to come soon). Next came a full day of interviews set up by HBO, and a meeting where I agreed to a one-year option with a high-powered producer to turn 51 Birch into a work of fine fiction. Hopefully with gobs of money coming my way, in the process (and, what the heck, perhaps Brad Pitt playing Yours Truly). Today, a whole new round of amazing reviews for 51 Birch came in from newspapers and magazines around the country. My favorite was from Newsday ("soul-jarring yet heartwarming"), while winner of the most over-the-top goes to -- who else? -- the New York Post (referring to my mother's diaries: "Block agonizes and then finally reads them. Oh baby.").
According to the New York Sun, this Doug Block fella is having his "New York moment." And on the eve of getting my film before hundreds of thousands of fresh eyeballs, I've gotta agree. Screw the theatrical experience - this is, indeed, quite a moment.
