MIKAL EVANS FROM KISSES, CHLOE IN CONCERT

Mikal Evans
From KISSES, CHLOE
On the Red Carpet Opening Night at HIFF 2010

Mikal Evans, the actress and singer who contributed lovely songs and sophisticated acting to the indie film KISSES, CHLOE at The Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF 2010) will be in concert Thursday, Nov 11, 2010 9:00 PM at the Rockwood Music Hall (Stage 1) in New York City.

http://mikalevansband.wordpress.com/
http://www.myspace.com/mikalmevans

MIKAL EVANS
with Michael League, Bob Lanzetti, and Glen Grossman
THURSDAY NOV 11th 9:00 PM
ROCKWOOD MUSIC HALL - Stage 1
154 Allen st. Between Houston and Stantonhttp://www.rockwoodmusichall.com/

For (much) more about HIFF 2010...

QPORIT: HIFF 2010

HIFF 2010 WITH PARTY PIX & RED CARPET SNAPSHOTS!

Alec Baldwin
At the Chairman's Party
Hamptons International Film Festival 2010

Alec Baldwin must be at least three people. He's announcing concerts, interviewing other actors onstage, and going to parties in the Hamptons.

And he was live (on 10/14) on 30 Rock, as well.

30 Rock Live was hilarious (10/14 8:30 NY time). I gather they did it again, live, for the West Coast -- That was Thursday, October 14, whatever time they do it live in California. (Hope you watched it!)

Alec Baldwin seems ubiquitous at HIFF... so he's at the top of this guide to stories about HIFF 2010. We'll be adding to this directory of articles as we process the photos and write the stories...

Here's some of what's still coming:

Interviews with Jane Goodall and others...
Notes on films, including...
=>Barney's Version
=>The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
=>The Debt
=>Sweet Evil

HERE ARE THE CURRENT STORIES FROM HIFF

Follow http://www.qporit.com/
Or check this page... http://qporit.blogspot.com/2010/10/hiff-2010.html
For more stories about HIFF 2010 as they appear...

(For next year...) HOW TO PROMOTE YOUR FILM AT HIFF!
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-to-promote-your-film-at-hiff-and.html

KISSES, CHLOE with ROBIN SINGER and MIKAL EVANS
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2010/10/kisses-chloe-with-robin-singer-mikal.html

ON THE PATH and ZRINKA CVITESIC
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2010/10/on-path-zrinka-cvitesic.html

Tweet... MIKAL EVANS from KISSES, CHLOE in concert Friday October 15 (Again, Nov 11!)
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2010/10/mikal-evans-from-kisses-chloe-in.html

HIFF 2010 - PRIZE WINNERS
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2010/10/prize-winners-at-hiff-2010.html

HIFF 2010 - THE SLOAN FOUNDATION AT HIFF 2010 (& BEYOND...)
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2010/10/sloan-foundation-at-hiff-2010-beyond.html

HIFF 2010 - BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMERS
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2010/10/breakthrough-performers.html

HIFF 2010 - FIRST PREVIEW: THE 2010 HAMPTONS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL http://qporit.blogspot.com/2010/09/first-preview-2010-hamptons.html

HIFF 2010 - PREVIEW: FILMS & EVENTS COMING TO THE HAMPTONS http://qporit.blogspot.com/2010/09/hiff-2010-preview-films-events-coming.html

For links to stories about HIFF in prior years, please take a look at:

The QPORIT INDEX to stories about HIFF

PARTY PIX
AND RED CARPET SNAPSHOTS

WINE GLASSES
READY TO PARTY!
Photo by Eric Roffman


PRODUCERS AND DIRECTORS

Julian Schnabel
Director, MIRAL
On The Red Carpet
Photo by Eric Roffman

Lorenz Knauer, Director, and Jane Goodal
JANE'S JOURNEY
Photo by Eric Roffman

Nikhil Melnechuk and Andrea Wozny
At the Opening Night Party
Photo by Eric Roffman
Andrea attended HIFF last year working on her film TO TIMBUKTU about singer Vieux Farka Touré of Mali. Since then she travelled to the World Cup Celebration for his performance. Nikhil helped her with cinematography. Nikhil was also a co-producer of FURTHER LANE, the short that played together with KISSES, CHLOE.

www.totimbuktu.com


Dennis Lynch
KING OF THE HAMPTONS
At the Opening Night Party
Photo by Eric Roffman

Dan Rattiner
KING OF THE HAMPTONS
At the Opening Night Party
Photo by Eric Roffman
KING OF THE HAMPTONS was the first film and then also the last film shown at HIFF this year. Dan Rattiner, who started publishing Dan's Papers in the Hamptons while still in college, introduces Dennis to the Hamptons.

Jeremiah Newton
BEAUTIFUL DARLING
At the Opening Night Party
Photo by Eric Roffman
Jeremiah Newton was a close friend of Candy Darling and helped produce this documentary about her short life. Jeremiah has also been working with HIFF for many years on developing the student film program.

Iona Ramsey
CANARY
Photo by Eric Roffman
Visiting from the UK, Iona is the producer of the short film, CANARY.

David Roach
BENEATH HILL 60
Photo by Eric Roffman

David is the author of the screenplay for BENEATH HILL 60, the Sloan Prize winning film.

For more about the Sloan Foundation activities at HIFF:
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2010/10/sloan-foundation-at-hiff-2010-beyond.html

Ondi Timoner
COOL IT!
Photo by Eric Roffman
Ondi is the director of COOL IT! a documentary that takes a look at economic approaches to issues concerning global warming.

Jill Andresevic
LOVE, ETC.
Photo by Eric Roffman
Jill is the charming and charismatic director of the Audience Award Documentary LOVE, ETC which follows a handful of couples through some critical periods of their love lives. Filmed with great sophistication and insight, the stories evolve and diverge in unexpected ways.

Mr. & Mrs. Jonathan Tisch
LOVE, ETC.
Photo by Eric Roffman
Observing the diversity of couples around them when they were married provided the impetus for Jonathan to produce this (bittersweet) chronicle of love stories. (If the name sounds familiar, Jonathan's day job is CEO of Loews. His uncle, Larry, was CEO of CBS.)

Jonathan Tisch in WIKIPEDIA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Tisch

Harvey Weinstein with a member of his staff
Weinstein Company
At the Chairman's Reception
Photo by Eric Roffman


PRODUCTION STUDIOS AND EXHIBITION

Campbell Dalglish
The Plaza Media Arts Center
At the Opening Night Party
Photo by Eric Roffman

THE PLAZA MEDIA ARTS CENTER: http://www.plazamac.org/

Jane and Mark Garcia
Ovasen Post Production
At the Opening Night Party
Photo by Eric Roffman

Parviz Farahzad
Grumman Studios
At the Opening Night Party
Photo by Eric Roffman

Believe it or not, Salt (Angelina Jolie) was not at CIA headquarters and elsewhere in the world making SALT. She was (conspiracy theorists claim) actually at Grumman Studios.

http://www.grummanstudios.com/


PARTIES, PRESS, CONNECTIONS

Freida Pinto's Earring
Press At the Red Carpet
Photo by Eric Roffman

Working Press
On the Red Carpet for THE DEBT
Photo by Eric Roffman
Though this videographer and his on-camera partner interviewing Jessica Chastain on the Red Carpet for THE DEBT may have been among the youngest working press, as far as I could see and hear, they were doing a top notch job.

Rula Jebreal and Freida Pinto
MIRAL
Photo by Eric Roffman
Rula, the screenwriter (and author of the source novel) for MIRAL had the best line of the festival. A reporter (for a major magazine, though arguably less professional than the previous interviewer) asked Freida what she was wearing. Rula replied: "She's wearing me."

The HIFF Event Staff
Photo by Eric Roffman

Party-ON!
At the LOVE, ETC. Premiere Party
Photo by Eric Roffman

FRANK PR TEAM
Photo by Eric Roffman

The FRANK PR team did a great job at the festival. Left to right: Tiffany Malloy, Lina Plath, Kerry McAleer, Dana Morini, Clare Anne Darragh.

Karin Dix
European Film Promotion (Shooting Stars)
At the Chairman's Reception
Photo by Eric Roffman
http://www.efp-online.com/en/about_efp/index.php

Shooting Stars meeting informally with Harvey Weinstein
At the Chairman's Reception
Photo by Eric Roffman


ACTORS

Alec Baldwin
At the Chairman's Reception
Photo by Eric Roffman

Stanley Tucci with young partygoers
At the Chairman's Reception
Photo by Eric Roffman

Stanley Tucci (first name only just seems wrong, here) was very friendly and approachable. Seems quite different from the characters he's played recently... OMG, he was acting.

Stanley (well, it still seems wrong but I'll do it anyway) directed LEND ME A TENOR last year on Broadway. He's currently developing MOMMY AND ME with Meryl Streep (Mommy) and Tina Fey (Me), which he is planning to direct. It will be the fifth film he has directed, the last being BLIND DATE in 2008.

Happy Birthday, Stanley! (He turns 50 on November 11.)

QPORIT on LEND ME A TENOR:
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2010/04/lend-me-tenor.html

Robin Singer and Mikal Evans
KISSES, CHLOE
At the Opening Night Party
Photo by Eric Roffman
Striking new talents, actress Robin Singer and actress/singer/songwriter Mikal Evans starred in the provocative sell-out indie feature KISSES, CHLOE. Robin will soon be seen in two comic web series, and Mikal performs solo and with her band frequently in New York. Her next show will be with the full band, November 11th, 9pm @RockwoodMusicHall. (Perhaps she'll sing Happy Birthday for Stanley Tucci? -- See previous item.)

QPORIT on KISSES, CHLOE:
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2010/10/kisses-chloe-with-robin-singer-mikal.html

Pihla Viitala
BAD FAMILY
Photo by Eric Roffman

A Shooting Star / Breakthrough Performer this year, Vihla co-starred last year in TEARS OF APRIL with the 2009 Breakthrough Performer Samuli Vauramo. (Samuli can be seen currently in George Clooney's THE AMERICAN)

Britt Robertson
CHERRY; also THE FAMILY TREE
Photo by Eric Roffman

A Rising Star / Breakthrough Performer, Britt can be seen in two films this year that were screened at HIFF. She often plays tough teenagers (she's actually just a bit past her teens). She can be seen currently on TV in LIFE UNEXPECTED.

Freida Pinto
MIRAL
Photo by Eric Roffman
A Rising Star / Breakthrough Performer, Freida was the object of desire in SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE.

Anais Demoustier
SWEET EVIL
Photo by Eric Roffman
A Shooting Star / Breakthrough Performer, Anais is soon to be seen in a series (8 films in 2010 !!!! !!!!) of important French Films with some of France and Europe's biggest stars and most important directors. Watch for: SPONSORING with Juliette Binoche, FRACTURE, ELSEWHERE, BELLE EPINE with Lea Seydoux, and more!

Zrinka Cvitesic
ON THE PATH
Shooting Star / Breakthrough Performer
At the Chairman's Reception
Photo by Eric Roffman

ON THE PATH is an important film, brilliantly acted and directed.

QPORIT on ZRINKA CVITESIC and ON THE PATH:
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2010/10/on-path-zrinka-cvitesic.html

Jessica Chastain
THE DEBT
Rising Star / Breakthrough Performer
Photo by Eric Roffman

(I just realized that I once saw Jessica before, onstage. Jessica played Desdemona in the LAByrinth Theater / Peter Sellars production of OTHELLO: http://qporit.blogspot.com/2009/09/othello.html)

Jessica waves goodbye, after the Breakthrough Performers' Panel!

For more about the Breakthrough Performer Program:
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2010/10/breakthrough-performers.html

Check the top of this article
for links to other stories about the Hamptons International Film Festival!

QPORIT HOME
www.qporit.com LOVE'S FINE WIT -- Shakespeare's sonnets selected and rearranged to dramatize the story of an intense love triangle, with Elizabethan music.

One night only: April 23 2011 6:00
At the Cornelia Street Cafe - 29 Cornelia Street NY 212 989-9319.


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"KISSES, CHLOE" WITH ROBIN SINGER & MIKAL EVANS

Robin Singer, Director Stephen Padilla and Mikal Evans
From KISSES, CHLOE
On the Red Carpet, Opening Night at HIFF 2010
Photo by Eric Roffman

For (much) more (reviews, interviews, pix, features) about HIFF 2010...
QPORIT: HIFF 2010
KISSES, CHLOE, written and directed by Stephen Padilla, takes a fresh, unsentimental, unromantic look at a slice of twenty-something hook-ups, friendships, rivalries, desires, personalities and sex talk. It's an extremely interesting film.

Emily (Mikal Evans) brings her current boyfriend, Alex (Brad Coolidge), for the weekend to a beach house in the Hamptons belonging to her old friend, the beautiful, blond, "flirty" Chloe (Robin Singer).


The TITULAR Postcard: it tells Emily and Alex to let themselves in
The note is signed, "Kisses, Chloe."
Brad Coolidge and Mikal Evans
In a scene from KISSES, CHLOE

Patterns that the characters identify in each other's behavior are repeated. According to Emily, Chloe just wants to be loved. According to Chloe, Emily is immature, her relationships deteriorate quickly, and she will hang on to ex-boyfriends forever. Also according to Chloe, Alex is a "triangulator:" a guy who gets into relationships with women as long as there is a third guy in the picture to vanquish (and, she points out, Emily has no other boyfriend anymore).

The film features singularly casual and extensive conversations about the sex lives and hook-ups of the characters.

The tone of the film and the behavior of the characters is new and different.

There are only three characters in the film. Just three people talking, alone together in one house by the water. Talking a lot about sex and their sexual experience. And when they are not talking, there is silence. Awkward, painful, uncomfortable pauses, gaps in the conversation.

Mikal Evans, Robin Singer and Brad Coolidge
In a scene from KISSES, CHLOE

Both screenings of the film at HIFF were sold out. A few audience members (mostly couples in middle age), after half an hour or so of sex talk and awkward silence got up to leave. But the revealing fact is that they did not slink out or leave quietly. They announced their own morality with loud, public exclamations such as "Terrible!" "Worst movie I've ever seen!"

When audience members need to justify their own discomfort, it is a sign that a movie has touched a nerve. The remaining audience, almost everyone, seemed very enthusiastic about the film, and what it was saying.

The film script itself is very conspicuous. The film seems to be very much about what the characters are saying. It is about sex talk. There is very little touchy-feely. The one time we see the characters doing sex (not having sex? not making love?) Alex is making Emily tell him about her sexual experiences with Chloe. While the actors don't wear much at the beach, there is no nudity.

The dynamic seems to be:
=>Emily is immature,
=>the relation with Alex may be no longer at its best, and
=>bringing him to meet Emily may be a mark of naive simplicity -- not recognizing the pattern in her relationships, or
=>it may be a test of her relationship with Alex.

Emily goes to bed early, leaving Alex and Chloe alone a lot in the late evening and at night. Emily is passive, Alex is passive, and Chloe is passive even as she talks about sex. The passivity and the casual sex talk, followed by the honest ending is the unique mode of this film.

Robin Singer
In a scene from KISSES, CHLOE

Despite (or because of) all the sex talk, it seems to me that there is a pervasive feeling of loneliness. Each of the characters seems lonely in their own way. Emily retreats to bed. Alex and Chloe talk (and retreat). But connections are hard to make. They try. At the end, perhaps Emily has grown up enough to connect the next time.

Great plays (more than most films, which seem fixed in their visual interpretation and are generally hard to re-make successfully), are different (sometimes very different) with each different realization. And here, too, with a film in which the script seems primary, we can imagine making a completely different film without changing the words hardly at all.

Virtually the same script could support a very different film, in which passivity is replaced by strong (secret) objectives for each character:
=>Emily comes to the house to rekindle a relationship with Chloe;
=>Alex is deeply in love with Emily and comes to the house to re-consummate, re-energize his relation with her; and
=>Chloe wants Alex's bones.

Is Emily willing to "sell" Alex to Chloe, in return for Chloe's sexual attention? In this version of the film, there is nudity, there is a lot of touching, there are no awkward silences, and somewhat rough and "ugly" sex between Alex and Chloe is shown quite explicitly.

This version is not a better film, but it is a very different film that could use almost exactly the same words. Comparison of the film that Padilla did make with the one (I just described) he did not make, may illuminate the intentions of the filmmaker, and his take on these characters.

There are some significant similarities in style and aesthetics between this film and another film I liked (a lot) recently, The Romantics, which could be, in some sense Kisses, Chloe's older sibling (I call it with neutral sexuality a sibling, because I'm not sure if it's an older brother -- because it's robust; or an older sister -- because The Romantics is very much a woman's movie).

Just to be clear, first of all, of course, the films are different in that The Romantics is a much "bigger" film, with many, very famous actors (compared to just three not (yet!) famous actors); a (not that big, but) much bigger budget; and a (short, but) much longer shooting schedule than Kisses, Chloe's mere 12 days. The characters in The Romantics are perhaps ten years older, more educated and (somewhat) further along in their lives and careers than the characters in Kisses, Chloe.

But the two films are similar in their simplicity, honesty, naturalistic style, and emphasis on the characters as real people. They are both dramas about love and sex.

Both films are about a triangle, with a rather passive man (Brad Coolidge has much the same role as Josh Duhamel) in the middle between two women that have a long standing friendship and a long standing rivalry.

Kisses, Chloe, is an independent, low budget film about modern singles. The commercial success of this film, I suspect, depends on positioning it as a brilliant portrayal of the sexual lifestyle of modern young singles, realized by a quartet of 3 rising young stars, and a director with a striking new vision.

This quartet: the director and all three actors, are people to watch and follow!

Director Stephen Padilla
On location with KISSES, CHLOE


Director Stephen Padilla

Kisses, Chloe, is director Stephen Padilla's second feature film. His first feature, The Little Things, was one of nine films selected for the IFP Independent Filmmaker Labs. It was named “Best of the Fest” at the Philadelphia Film Festival, won the Audience Award at Red Bank and received a Gold Remi Award at WorldFest.

His play, Picking Palin at the 2010 Fringe Fest in New York was a major success.

Stephen has an M.F.A. in Film from Columbia University and a B.A. in Screenwriting from Georgetown University.

Brad Coolidge
From KISSES, CHLOE
Opening Night at HIFF 2010
Photo by Eric Roffman


Brad Coolidge (Alex)

Brad is a theatrical and film actor. He appeared in the screen adaptation of Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit (Slamdance Film Festival). He has appeared on stage in The Drilling Company’s production of Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet and The Tempest. He was also, apparently, very popular at FAO Schwartz (see his link below).

Robin Singer and Mikal Evans
From KISSES, CHLOE
On the Red Carpet, Opening Night at HIFF 2010
Photo by Eric Roffman


Mikal Evans (Emily)

Mikal is a terrific, subtle actress, with a lovely, warm and friendly face and personality. And she's a beautiful singer / songwriter. She provided many of the songs on the film soundtrack. She is frequently seen around town in performance: solo and with her band. Before playing Emily in Kisses, Chloe, she appeared on stage in Eighteen, Twelfth Night and Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Her critically-acclaimed debut solo EP, A Jailhouse . . . A Kingdom, was released by Gypsy Eyes Records.

Robin Singer
From KISSES, CHLOE
Photo by Eric Roffman

Robin Singer (Chloe)

Robin is a beautiful, serious actress (and writer). She has the special quality in Kisses, Chloe of being both committed and distant at the same time, simultaneously outrageous and simply natural. The best actors seem to be archetypes of a specific personality of a certain generation, and Robin has that quality.

As an actress, she is always perfectly prepared -- I've seen her at work -- and always interesting. She's easy to work with. Both at work and outside of work she is genuinely nice, serious, friendly, and she giggles a lot.

Robin has appeared in a number of films, including Little Kisses (written by Neil LaBute), and Battle of the Bands (LA Reel Film Festival). She has an award winning screenplay working its way through the "system". She has new roles in a film called "Work It Out" and a comedy web series called "Public Relations," both currently in post-production.

LINKS:


KISSES CHLOE
http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Family-Affair-Films/127611520584947
http://www.kisseschloe.com/KC/Home.html


ROBIN SINGER
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3295250/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3295250/resume
http://publicrelationstheseries.com/home.html


MIKAL EVANS
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2669510/
http://www.myspace.com/mikalmevans
http://mikalevansband.wordpress.com/


BRAD COOLIDGE
BRAD AT FAO SCHWARTZ: http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/n_8495/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3502336/


THE ROMANTICS
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1403988/
10+ REASONS TO SEE THE ROMANTICS AND WHY IT IS AN IMPORTANT FILM...
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2010/09/10-reasons-to-see-romantics-and-why-it.html

For (much) more (reviews, interviews, pix, features) about HIFF 2010...

QPORIT: HIFF 2010