Woah! It's been a few months posting about fundraising -- forgive us, but after the big test audience screening in Ann Arbor at Cinetopia we needed a BREAK.

Rest assured, we've been busy in the background working on making sound design and sound post tweaks (that we noticed in the theatrical test screening), squaring away all of our accounting and contracts, preparing for the social media to come (press notes writing, etc.) and strategizing on film festivals applications, distribution, and, and, and...

Now that summer is at an end and the film festival circuit is reaching its new cycle for submissions, we're back. STILL in debt, somewhat, but not taking on any more post debt outside of film festival submissions.

The good news? We're so energized by all that we experienced in our screening at Cinetopia and the audience feedback that we won't stop on our journey, no matter how unknown it may be right now.

Your donations will continue to help us cover film festival entry fees (and they run from $50 to $200!) as well as continued administration and marketing (dropbox, our website, etc.)
We promise to keep you in the loop as to what is on our horizon with "Love & Vodka" and thank you so much for being a part of our journey!

Please go to our DONATE page and thank you in advance for helping us out!
Yours, truly,
Heidi & the Love &Vodka team

From all of us at Love & Vodka Movie and Personae Entertainment -- we wish Ukrainians everywhere a Happy Independence Day of Ukraine!

For those of our #loveandvodkamovie fans and supporters who would like to learn more about Ukrainian independence, please check out this site (the Diplomatic Service of the European Union: https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/ukraines-independence-day-24-august-2024_en

#ukraine #ukraineindepedenceday #IndependenceDayUkraine
 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
MICHIGAN NATIVE MAKES SOLO DIRECTORIAL DEBUT WITH 
“LOVE AND VODKA,” PREMIERING AT CINETOPIA FILM FESTIVAL 
ANN ARBOR JUNE 23, 2024
Ukrainian-American Romantic Comedy Celebrates Transatlantic Friendship Between Two Countries with a Focus on Love and Laughter in a Time of Tragic Loss and War
 
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – June 3rd, 2024 – “Love and Vodka,” an independent film five years in the making, is set to make its debut at the upcoming Cinetopia Film Festival Ann Arbor. The movie, which was shot in Bay City and Grayling, Mich., is directed and produced by University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University graduate Heidi Philipsen-Meissner, Director/Producer/CEO of Personae Entertainment. The movie stars Ukrainian actress Svitlana Kosolapova and American actor Zack Bradley.
 
The film will be the final film screened at Cinetopia Film Festival Ann Arbor on June 23, 2024, at 5 p.m. For more on the screening and festival, visit https://marquee-arts.org/cinetopia/.
 
“Love and Vodka,” which is based on a true story, is about a high school film teacher who recalls the magic of 2018 when he fell in love with a Ukrainian exchange student and impulsively traveled to Ukraine to propose to her and meet her family. Three years later, the war breaks out, as he works to finish the script and save the love of his life. 
 
The trials and tribulations in “Love and Vodka” were mirrored in real life during the filmmaking process, as Philipsen-Meissner made a transatlantic move from Michigan to Germany to immerse herself in the European film industry to find coproducing partners in Ukraine and Germany. Plans were then put on hold when Covid-19 emerged, and she experienced several deaths in her family. The film was then set to begin shooting in the summer of 2022 but was put on hold once again with the Russian attacks on Ukraine. The script then had to be rewritten to be respectful of the current times and the location was moved to Michigan.
 
“While I have experienced my own difficulties during this process, it will never compare to what our fellow human beings in Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees around the world have been through and are still going through,” said Heidi Philipsen-Meissner of Personae Entertainment. “Being able to tell a heartwarming story about their culture, country, and people has been my way of keeping hope alive.”
 
“Love and Vodka” quickly turned into a passion project for Philipsen-Meissner, as she found her heart pouring out for Ukraine. While making the movie, she simultaneously focused on protesting, giving, and helping whenever and wherever she could. While living in Germany, she helped find homes and language lessons for refugees and donated cartloads of non-perishable items for volunteers.
 
“As an artist-activist who understands the power of storytelling, I started to understand this war was as much about culture and identity as it was about geopolitics,” said Philipsen-Meissner. “This led me to believe that maybe making a film about love and Ukrainian culture wasn’t such an off-kilter idea, after all.”
 
To see a preview of ‘Love and Vodka’ and to support this film as it makes its way to other film festivals across the country and world, please visit: https://www.love-vodka-movie.com.
 
For more on ‘Love and Vodka’ and Personae Entertainment, visit https://www.personaeentertainmentpictures.com/.
 
About Personae Entertainment 
Personae Entertainment Pictures is a film development and production company that started out as a small collective making short films, local commercials, and production managing low-budget indies in upstate New York. It has evolved into a transatlantic company with offices in Berlin and Detroit, with a singular focus on international feature films. Developing its own IP content, while also partnering with collaborators, Personae Entertainment Pictures is dedicated to collaborating with innovative filmmakers and international co-producers. 
 
Media Contact
Jason Brown, PublicCity PR, [email protected]; 248-663-6166
 
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"Love & Vodka" is proud to announce that it's going to have its big premiere this June at the Cinetopia Film Festival in Ann Arbor, Michigan!  

We'll be sending out a press release soon, but for now, allow us to say how happy we are that our very first screening will be at the Michigan and State theaters in downtown, Ann Arbor, and so close to home. Michigan is where we made "Love & Vodka," and we can't think of a better way to celebrate our love for Michigan movie-making than to have our premiere screening amongst family, friends and colleagues in Michigan.


According to the Cinetopia Film Festival's own website:

JUNE 13 - JUNE 23, 2024The Cinetopia Film Festival has been known for showcasing a diverse and exciting selection of films. Ann Arbor is sure to be buzzing with film enthusiasts eager to explore the 2024 lineup from June 13 – June 23. 
Cinetopia is excited to collaborate with the Ann Arbor Summer Festival (A2SF) is proud to announce an exciting collaboration with Cinetopia, enriching the cultural landscape of Ann Arbor with an innovative cinematic experience. As part of this partnership, the beloved “Movies in Moonlight” series will feature a curated selection of films under the starlit sky. Additionally, audiences will be treated to a unique journey through cinematic history with a special lineup of silent films, transporting viewers to a bygone era of storytelling. This collaboration not only celebrates the art of film but also fosters community engagement and appreciation for diverse cinematic experiences, promising unforgettable summer evenings filled with cinematic magic in Ann Arbor.

For tickets and schedule information, go to: https://marquee-arts.org/cinetopia for more information.

The team of the Love & Vodka movie is so excited to begin work on the sound post of the film. Truly, sound design makes a film, so by June, Love & Vodka could feel like a completely different film! We're looking forward to the process and the ups and downs it may bring.

Love Always,

The Love&VodkaMovie team

With filming being over, and editing wrapping up, Love and Vodka is staying strong in its post-production phase. After wrapping up with editing, we will be moving on to soundpost. This addresses things such as sound within film, soundtrack, as well as the score of the film. 

Most recently, we have had a meeting with two musician/producers in Berlin and are working with Sophie as well on creating/curating the perfect pieces for our Ukranian-American coproduction. The meeting went quite well, and the soundtrack is in the works.

Keep a look out for more to come.

xoxoxo,
The Love and Vodka Movie Team

Producer/Director/Adaptation Screenwriter Heidi Philipsen-Meissner was interviewed by her former Professor Kimberley Barker, Professor of Management at Eastern Michigan University's College of Business Eastern Michigan University EMU College of Business, who discussed intercultural exchange and "Love & Vodka" as an informal case study.

They exchanged their thoughts about cultural competence and working to create positive change in the world, and thinking globally while acting locally, as the "Love & Vodka" team has done to make a romantic comedy that brings joy and hope in a time of uncertainty and darkness.

So grateful to Professor Barker for lifting up "Love & Vodka" via her interview and continuing to spread the word!
​
Please watch and, if you are so inclined, share:

LOVE & VODKA was at the European Film Market in Berlin, Germany, during mid-February 2024, checking out all the film market stands and companies in research for the day that our feature is completed and ready for sales and distribution.

One of the key findings at the market this year outlined the need to create content that fights against stereotypes and provides an opportunity to see a culture in a different light.

After EFM, we are confident that LOVE & VODKA is a film that will do well in the marketplace with viewers of all ages and backgrounds. As we push through post-production, we look forward to engaging with sales companies and distributors for our future release.

Hello Everyone! I

t's been a busy week, full of ups and downs, and so I'm writing to you all to catch you up. We finished our Final Cut -- our Ukrainian editor, Yakiv, finished the last cuts to LOVE & VODKA and it felt like a major accomplishment.

Those GoFundMe contributions made helped me to pay him another installment of the $7000 that I owe him as editor. Thank you!

I still owe him around $3000, which for some people may not be a lot of money, but for me right now, after not being able to work due to the film industry union strikes, and after already spending so much of my own money toward this passion project, feels like a lot.

We still also need to get the sound post done, as well as color grading and pay for some stock footage.

This past week, I felt a bit down, to be honest.

​Many established producers will tell you that its harder to make a micro-budget passion project with unknowns than it is a multi-million dollar, packaged picture with bankable stars -- and though I haven't experienced that myself, I can say that when you are taking a chance on unknown actors and you, yourself, are not yet considered "known" as a director (even IF you DO have one feature under your belt that has done very well... in my case, "Darcy") -- all I can say that pushing this project forward has felt, at times, as if I'm pushing a bolder uphill with gale-force winds blowing straight at me.

The one thing that keeps me going is that it's turning out to be a lovely little film. The performances are delightful. It's full of good laughs. It's honest. And it makes me cry during the heart-felt moments. So I'm very proud of it. If I weren't, I couldn't put myself out there.

Look, if I had the right organizations to back me and push this picture along, I know it would do well. And I'm definitely working toward that end. But it takes constant work and the ability to put yourself out there again, and again.

I'm including this video of our Associate Producer Ariel Wan who is someone on my side. She's believed in me from he get go and recorded this video before we had our first film production crowdfunding campaign.

I'll come back soon with an updated version because - just recently - Ariel viewed the Final Cut and is extremely excited to see what we've made. It's a wonderful feeling to show what you've made to the very people who believed in you from the get-go and hear their encouraging and satisfied feedback.

They took a chance on you and you didn't disappoint them. To that end, I'm asking you to take a chance on us and this film.

Even if you don't have funds yourself, perhaps you know of the right Ukrainian organization that is looking to support a film about the American-Ukrainian transatlantic friendship.

By supporting #LOVEANDVODKAMOVIE ... you are supporting activism in the form of a movie. We've done our best to provide hope to Ukrainian refugees and give them something to be hopeful and happy about... Thank you. Heidi