Hello everyone and I hope you all had a safe and happy New Year's celebration!!

With the arrival of 2010, and also with the chaos of the holidays past, the LoliGirls team are getting back to work! Our goals for this year:

1) Get LoliGirls: The Story Behind the Frills and Bows into as many festivals as possible!

With each festival, our documentary isn't not only viewed and enjoyed, it's recognized. We're not only interested in feedback, but we're looking for people interested enough to invest money in the development of a feature-length documentary. Which leads us to our second resolution-

2) Develop and shoot LoliGirls: The Movie!

First step: create a funding trailer that we can use to approach potential investors. I'll admit that this is my first time raising money for a film (I don't think the fundable site for LoliGirls counts) so it will be a learning process. Fortunately, my associate producer is well-versed in this area of film making, so I'll be relying on her expertise to get us pass this crucial part of the film making process.

Now, I'd like to take this space to clarify a point. With the LoliGirls short, some folks expressed concern over us filmmakers making money off the film. They felt we were, in theory, exploiting them in order to make a buck. I completely understand this sentiment, however I have to explain something: in order to make a movie, you need money. And, you need to make money to pay back those you took money from. On top of that, you want to make a profit so you can apply that towards making your next movie. During the filming of our short LoliGirls, we made a negative profit. I financed most of the film out of pocket. Here's something for a little perspective- during one afternoon of filming I spent xxx. Have of that went towards drinks and food for the crew (it was blisteringly hot that day and we didn't want our talent to faint!), the rest went towards gas and camera equipment. That might not seem like a lot of money for a big production, but for this small project that started out as a weekend activity, it's quite a bit. Of course it was totally worth it, but my bank account took a bit of a blow last summer.

If you have any questions or concerns about the money raising/spending part of the filming process, please don't hesitate to contact me via our contact form:)


So here's a call out to all you lolis! Please let me know of any big lolita events and/or any film festivals in your area! We're still on the lookout for festivals to send LoliGirls, and we're currently searching the globe for lolitas and lolita communities to possible include in LoliGirls: The Movie! If you're at all interested please get in touch with us. You'll probably make it into the credits of the movie for your assistance:D

So from now on "LoliGirls" will refer to the short documentary we completed last summer, and the Loli Movie will refer to our next project: a feature-length (60+ min) documentary on Lolita.

I've gotten asked on numerous occasions how exactly I can make my short documentary into some full-length. I know it's hard to imagine extending our cute short film! But the Movie will be a lot broader and, although it will have some personalities, it will cover more of the history of the fashion, the philosophy behind it, and how it fits into the American J-Pop culture scene. So for research purposes I've been following a number of lolita blogs (lifestyle and non-lifestyle) as well as keeping an eye on larger communities such as EGL. I've also enlisted the help of a loli expert;)

Everything is still very much in the preliminary stages, but I'll post frequent updates on our progress here.

In January I'll most likely be visiting Tokyo Rebel in New York (camera in tow) to conduct some interviews. I was told that after Christmas they would have most of their Lolita lines in stock. Also, I'm going to work on getting a test screening of LoliGirls at NYU to get some audience reactions that will hopefully help me with the Movie concept.

So that's all the news for now!

Hope you guys enjoyed another secret screening! Sorry I wasn't around to monitor things personally, I was taking a production workshop all weekend, learning how to raise money to shoot a feature-length documentary on lolitas:)

There will be other secret screenings, but for now, I'd suggest working on your Scary Loli Contest Entries!! :D

Want a copy of the LoliGirls poster? Enter the LoliGirls October Halloween Contest! Here's the deal:

Contest details:

THEME:
It was a dark and stormy night...

Write a scary short story, poem, play, comic or draw a scary picture featuring a lolita!

DEADLINE:
Entries will be accepted starting right NOW through Oct. 23rd! **Send your entries to loligirlsmovie@yahoo.com**

PRIZES:
Entries will be posted on this website on October 25th and judged by the LoliGirls! The winner/s will be announced on Halloween!

First place receives a LoliGIrls poster and a LoliGirls mug!
Second and third runner ups get LoliGirls posters!

So get writing, composing, sketching, painting, etc. Get spooky, get frilly, get loli!

I had a fabulous time at the New York Anime Fest on Friday, and am looking forward to going back to the Big Apple on Sunday! I had to skip the con today, Saturday, to do some work for Kato Productions :-/  We're hoping to arrive early on Sunday so we might be able to visit Alice's Teacup...which I hear is a lovely place!

If you plan on attending NYAF on Sunday, be sure to check out the fabulous Neo-Victorian Fashion show...which I believe will start at 12:30PM. I shall be there with my *brand new* Kodak Zi8 to film the show:D

Now, for the REAL reason why you've come to this blog post...for info on the Super Secret Loli Screening!! I'm sure you all know by now why I haven't posted LoliGirls on YouTube, Vimeo, blip, etc. I have to refrain from releasing LoliGirls on the internet so it can get accepted into film festivals. However, the festivals I'm submitting to get going around March 2010...and I don't think it's fair to keep you guys waiting! So I've come up with a solution- a super secret, limited time only LoliGirls screening on a super secret website that I will post a link to at a super secret time:)

So stay tuned to this site for more details on the screening, which will be coming soon!

I'll be at the New York Anime Fest filming a little bit (the footage may potentially be in the feature documentary on lolita) as well as the opening of Tokyo Rebel in NYC on Oct. 3! For the store opening I'm thinking of collecting some footage and interviews. Check out Victoria's blog on the store opening!

Thank you to all who attended the premiere of LoliGirls: The Story Behind the Frills and Bows!!

I hope everyone had a good time and enjoyed the film. So far I've received a lot of positive feedback, and with that confidence boost I've doubled my efforts in searching for film festivals in the area. So far I've found the Kent Film Fest and the Hartford Film Fest, and I'll be sending out those submission forms this week. I'll post an update here when I hear whether or not the film will be screened at either festival. Also, if you know of a festival near you where LoliGirls could fit in, please let me know! You can contact me through our contact us page:)

A couple of people have approached me asking 'what's next?' And also whether any copies could be for sale. Answer: My next step in this project (after doing the festival circuit) is to write up a film proposal for a feature-length film on lolita fashion. I have a few ideas about how to structure the film, but, again, I'd welcome any and all feedback on the concept! As for DVD distribution, I am looking into it. I will not be selling DVD copies. I haven't figured out quite yet the best way to get the film out to those of you who aren't from CT and are keen on seeing it. Rest assured I am figuring something out! I cannot put LoliGirls up on YouTube or a related site right now because it will hurt our chances of getting accepted into a film festival. But once we've done the festival thing, I do believe the film will be available on an internet site. Sorry for being vague, but the project has just been completed and I'm still wrapping my mind around that concept!

This has been such an amazing experience, and I really have to say thank you for all the help and support the lolitas have given me. You gals rock:)

Hey gang! Umi from Carousel of Crowns put up the trailer and an interview about LoliGirls on her lovely site, please check it out:)

I started to write this post on the front, page but it was getting long, so I had to move it here. The LoliGirls Premiere is only a day away! I'm expecting a good-sized crowd to show up, and I'm getting very excited!! This screening is mainly for those closely involved with the making of the film, so family, friends, cast and crew, and anyone else mentioned in the credits. People have started to wonder when and where they can see the documentary, and I can't say for certain quite yet where it'll be shown in terms of festivals (rest assured I am looking into it and I'll post an update soon!). The reason why I'm resisting posting it on YouTube or a related site is because I'm told that I should keep it off the net so as not to hurt the film's chances of getting into a festival. I may have other, smaller, screenings, because I know there are a lot of folks who would like to see it before the festivals come round.

I'm also very excited about attending this year's New York Anime Fest! Not only will I meet with some people who will advise me on how to proceed with a feature-length film on lolita, but I can meet with some loli vendors...and also get my anime fix:)

Hope to see you there!

Check out the LoliGirls Interview in Sucrerie magazine! (with a first look at the official movie poster!)

Recently the New York Times featured an article on Lolita Fashion!

Kinda random, I know...not exactly sure what inspired it, but it's still pretty cool:)

Have a read here