Marina Rice Bader's 'Anatomy of a Love Seen' Premieres at Outfest

At nearly 60 years old, writer/director Marina Rice Bader is just getting started. On July 18, she will see her feature-length directorial debut, "Anatomy of a Love Seen" screened at the 32nd Annual Outfest Los Angeles LGBT Film Festival. Following that, she will release the movie online as a streaming rental, as part of her DIY marketing strategy.

"It's awesome that we have our screening on July 18, because I love Outfest: the people who work there are great, it is run so well and I get to screen my film at one of literally the best theaters on the planet, The Directors Guild of America. It will be so wonderful for the cast and crew to see this film on a big, beautiful screen in my home town."

The lesbian-oriented film starts Hollywood newcomers Sharon Hinnendael, Jill Evyn and Constance Brenneman. This film within a film explores love in all its painful and messy glory. The story takes us back six months, when actresses Zoe (Hinnendael) and Mal (Evyn) fell for each other at exactly the same moment in time while filming a love scene.

After five blissful months together Zoe is decimated when Mal walked away. Three miserable weeks later a very lucrative network broadcast deal was in the works. They only had one request... re-shoot the love scene. Welcome to the set.

The whole film was shot in five days on a small budget, but that hasn't stopped a huge online buzz. This improvised film was based on Bader's story, characters and outline and fulfilled her desire to create a very organic and visceral experience.

"It was really exciting and fun, because you can't waste any time planning or plotting, you just jump in and do it," said Bader. "It's important to trust your gut and instinct, otherwise you're screwed. It was great because my wonderful, extremely talented and committed cast and crew were with me on the whole thing. It had a life of its own from the beginning, so I was never nervous about getting it done in five days. I knew it would happen in the most expedient way while still maintaining high production vales."

One of the huge reasons this worked, said Bader, was that it was shot in one location -- a soundstage where they didn't lose any time resetting the props or lighting. Every minute was able to be used for creating the film.

Bader got somewhat of a leg up by owning her own independent film company, Soul Kiss Films, with an established audience. As part of her do-it-yourself sentiment, Bader will release the film online via a $5 download on Vimeo that last for 72 hours.

"I thought long and hard about it, and I wanted this film to be available to my fans. I think what I do has value, and I have no problem asking the audience to support what I do, because it has value for them," said Bader. "I'm following in the footsteps of the likes of Louis CK and Joss Whedon, who have taken on distribution themselves."
Bader sees this as the "wave of the future" for indie filmmakers. Her fan base is her biggest asset, so why keep the film wrapped up in the traditional Hollywood distribution model for six months, rather than get it out to viewers right away?
"I'm very close with my audience and I made this film for some very dear friends, so I thought It was a great project to try this model out on," said Bader. "It's a perfect trial run."
Bader has accomplished her goals while successfully balancing life a single mother of four kids. And she's not showing any signs of stopping. Her newest film, "Raven's Touch," starring Dreya Weber and Traci Dinwiddie, is already in the hands of an editing master, and should be ready by the end of the year.

For now, catch her screening at Outfest LA on July 18, or download it and watch it with your friends! Subtitled versions will also be made available for a number of foreign languages including Spanish, Portuguese, French and German.