Welcome to the many thousands of you who have signed up to the How To Be mailing list since the release of Twilight! How To Be is a British indie comedy about a struggling musician, played by Robert Pattinson, who shot the movie just before making Twilight. How To Be had its world premiere last January and has been screening in film festivals all over the world ever since. We’re now hard at work getting ready for a release during 2009. This mailing list, the news section of our website and our Facebook group are the best places to keep up to date. (And we do read every post on our Facebook page, even if we don’t have time to reply to them all!)

It has been an amazing year for How To Be. But first, let’s start with some announcements for 2009!

• We have sold distribution rights for Italy to Just Us Films! Details of the release are being worked out right now, and further news on the Italian release of How To Be will follow in the New Year.
• For all you American Fans, How To Be is very close to securing a distribution deal for the US! We are also looking forward to UK and other international releases. We will do all we can to keep you up to date!
• We are also very happy to announce we have been accepted to CineQuest Film Festival in San Jose, California. We’ll pass on dates, locations and times as soon as we have them. This will be the first California screening of How To Be!
• Official film posters, which we debuted at the Austin Film Festival, are now on our website. Please download them, send them to friends, and print them out!

And now, to wrap up 2008, here’s a short update on what the cast and crew have been up to since our last newsletter.

In October, Director Oliver Irving attended the Gotham Screen Film Festival in New York and participated in a Q&A after the film. Our friends at Twilight News have a few pictures here. In November Johnny White (who plays Ronny in How To Be) attended the Lone Star International Film Festival and participated in a Q&A after the screening. You can view footage of the Q&A here and photos here. How To Be also recently screened at the Anchorage Film Festival on December 10th.

Thank you all for your support and interest in the film. It has been a fantastic year and we are very much looking forward to 2009. The How To Be team wish you all Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year and look forward to bringing you lots of exciting news come January!

We are happy to announce the screening of How To Be at the Lone Star Film Festival tonight (November 13) at 5pm and Saturday November 15 at 7pm. Johnny White, who plays Ronny in the film, will attend the Saturday screening! We hope you can attend.

For those of you who were unable to attend Austin Film Festival, fear not! We have loads of stills, the transcript and video footage:

• Exclusive Behind The Scenes footage of the Q&A from director Oliver Irving!
• Q&A in its entirety
• stills from the festival
• Rob interacting with the Q&A participants
• Rob and Oliver signing autographs after the screening

Rob also recently discussed How To Be in his interview with Variety.

Thank you for your ongoing support and we look forward to
letting you know about further screenings and distribution. If you have any questions or seek information about our current release plans then please take a look at the FAQ.

We are pleased to announce that the recent screenings of How To Be have been a great success! How To Be won the Audience Choice Award for Best Narrative Feature at the New Orleans Film Festival (NOFF). Thank you very much for your support!

Mike Pearce, who plays Nikki, attended NOFF and participated in a Q&A Session with a phone-in from Robert Pattinson. Our friends at Twilight News have a transcript and some pictures.

We are also very excited to announce that How To Be has been selected by The Anchorage International Film Festival and The Lone Star Festival (Fort Worth, Tex.). We will confirm screening dates and locations as soon as possible.

Don’t forget that How To Be will be screening at the Gotham Film Festival in New York tomorrow, 30st October at 6:30pm and again on Saturday, 1st November at 9pm. Oliver Irving (Director) will be attending both screenings. Both screenings are completely sold out, so get there early for a good seat!

If you have any questions or seek information about our current release plans then please take a look at the FAQ.

We are very pleased to confirm that, in addition to the director Oliver Irving, Robert Pattinson will be attending the 7:15pm Saturday 18 October 2008 screening and Q&A of How To Be at the Austin Film Festival!

We hope to see you there!

The Derby City Film Festival in Louisville, Kentucky will be screening How To Be at 7pm on October 11. They have a large theater, but encourage anyone planning to make the trip to read their special How To Be ticket information. In particular, if there is enough interest then they will consider adding a second screening of the film.

We are pleased to announce that Robert Pattinson won the Best Actor Award for his role in How To Be at the Strasbourg
International Film Festival.

We’ve added a Frequently Asked Questions page to the website which has information about our current release plans for the film.

There are several upcoming opportunities to see How To Be:

• The New Orleans Film Festival on Saturday 11 October at 7.15pm (buy tickets). Mike Pearce who plays Nikki in the film will attend. (That’s Nikki at the back in the photo on the right.)
• The Austin Film Festival on Thursday October 16 at 7.30pm and Saturday October 18 at 7.15pm (buy tickets). Writer/Director Oliver Irving will attend both screenings. How To Be is screening in the Marquee category at Austin along with the likes of Synechdoche, New York, Slumdog Millionaire and Happy Go-Lucky.
• The Derby City Film Festival in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday 11 October at 7pm (info).

Writer/Director Oliver Irving has just got back from the Toronto Film Festival where he participated in the Toronto Talent Lab for up-and-coming film-makers. While there he was interviewed by Front Row Fanz and spoke about How To Be.

We’re looking forward to keeping you up to date with more news in the coming weeks.

How To Be has been announced as the opening night film at the Strasbourg Film Festival.

We are very pleased to announce How to Be as the opening night film of Strasbourg International Film Festival! This wonderfully independent film is an excellent example of a new and emerging filmmaker’s ability to make a dent in what often seems an impenetrable industry. How to Be is director, Oliver Irving’s, first feature film. His cast and directorial debut are as stellar as his producer, Justin Kelly, is dedicated to the success of this film. We suggest you arrive early. Seating may be free but it is limited.

The festival opens tomorrow, Friday 12 September. Because of the unusual amount of interest in the film, How To Be will screen twice: first at 6pm at LaGrotte and then at 8pm at L’artichaut. Further information can be found in their schedule. Justin Kelly, the producer of How To Be, will the be present at both screenings to answer questions.

And finally, we just heard that we’ve been selected to appear in the Austin Film Festival. This information is hot off the press, so we don’t yet have screening information, nor do we know if any of the cast and crew will be attending, but the festival runs from 16-23 October so be sure to make a note of the date if you’re thinking of attending.

Welcome to the latest issue of the How To Be mailing list. If you’re new to the list then How To Be is the new indie film starring Robert Pattinson and directed by Oliver Irving. How To Be is currently playing at film festivals. A cinema and DVD release will follow and we’ll email you with news about this as soon as we have it.

We are happy to announce How To Be will next be screening at:

• Strasbourg International Film Festival (Opening Night film, Friday 12 September, 8pm)
• Calgary International Film Festival (7pm on Monday 22 September and 4.45pm Wednesday 24 September 2008, click link to buy tickets online)
• New Orleans Film Festival (10-16 October, schedule to be announced on 18 September)
• Indie 2008 World Film Festival, Brazil (10-16 October 2008, schedule to be announced on 1 October)

True Genius Magazine have published a detailed article about How To Be. Be sure to take a look.

If you missed the New Producer’s Alliance screening in London on 7th August, or the Rhode Island Film Festival screening in Providence on 8th August, Twilight News has kindly posted transcripts:

• NPA Q&A with Oliver Irving (director), Justin Kelly (producer) and Joe Hastings (composter)
• RI Film Festival Q&A with Johnny White (Ronny) and Robert Pattinson (Art)

And finally, our press kit has been updated with new pictures of Rob and the rest of the cast.

We would be grateful if you could bring How To Be to the attention of any of your local film festivals, cinemas and film distribution companies. And be sure to join the How To Be group on Facebook!

The Movie Fanatic have just published their interview with Oliver Irving, How To Be’s director, and producer Justin Kelly. Be sure to read the interview for lots of background on the people who made the film and what the shoot was like.

As reported by The Providence Journal, “according to staff members at the 12th Rhode Island International Film Festival, the greatest interest in any film at this year’s festival has been generated by the British film How to Be”. So it should come as no surprise that the screening on August 8 was a success!

The guys at Robert Pattinson Online were there and they have a video of the Q&A that preceded the film. Actor Johnny White (who plays Ronny) was there in person, and Robert Pattinson phoned in to answer questions via a mobile phone held next to a microphone. Crazy, but it seemed to work. Be sure to check it out!

And if you were at the screening, let us know what you thought and how it went on our Facebook page.