{"id":1565,"date":"2014-01-09T17:26:55","date_gmt":"2014-01-10T01:26:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/?p=1565"},"modified":"2019-04-17T07:48:38","modified_gmt":"2019-04-17T14:48:38","slug":"the-brother-roars-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2014\/writing\/the-brother-roars-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"The Brother Roars and More"},"content":{"rendered":"

2013 was a great year on a number of levels. \"theBROTHERposter\"<\/a>Yes, The<\/strong><\/em> Brother<\/strong> roars and more. This short film<\/a><\/strong>, that I co-wrote and co-produced with Michael Stevantoni<\/a><\/strong>, my grandson, had its premiere<\/a><\/strong> in January. After that, it was selected for a number of film festivals. Michael won the Director’s Prize<\/strong> at the Green Mountain Film Festival in Vermont. He also won Best High School Drama <\/strong>at the Independent Student Film Festival Hollywood and received a Film of Merit at the Route 66 International Film Festival, Springfield, Illinois<\/p>\n

This past year, we worked together on another short film, It Is What It Is<\/i><\/b>, currently in post-production, meaning Michael is now busy editing. Anyone involved in film-making knows producing a film is not a smooth road. There are unexpected bumps along the way. Lighting issues, location headaches, and human error<\/p>\n

\"James

James Kay in IT IS WHAT IT IS<\/p><\/div>\n

can cause many a sleepless night. But you don\u2019t give up. You find a way. Passion keeps a project afloat, even when unexpected problems surface.<\/p>\n

Which brings me to my novel. For the past year or two, I\u2019ve been pitching my novel to various agents\u2014and tweaking it as well\u2014while trying to get it out the traditional way. For those of you who know, I\u2019ve been agented before for my screenplays, so I know the value of having an agent, even though none of mine ever sold. This time around though, I got some interest in my story but no bites. So, after much agonizing, I\u2019ve decided to self-publish. My novel is currently sitting on a copy editor\u2019s desk in New York and I\u2019ve put out a request for a book cover design from someone highly regarded by a number of authors. My plan is to publish this spring. So, within the next month of two, I\u2019ll let you know my progress, title, etc. It\u2019s a story I\u2019ve labored over, a story I fell in love with as I wrote it.<\/p>\n

As well, I\u2019m only a couple of chapters short of a first draft of my grandmother\u2019s story, a chapter of which has already been published in Escape<\/em>, an anthology<\/a><\/strong>. And I have plans to revisit an earlier novel, set largely on a psychiatric ward. It was one that I adapted from a screenplay I wrote, one that got me an agent.<\/p>\n

As usual, I have many irons in the fire…from poetry, to a stage play, to short stories and children\u2019s books. Daughter Karen and I also hope to write a book together about her incredible and courageous journey, not to be divulged just yet. All I need is time and the will to persevere.<\/p>\n

Again, I\u2019m reminded of how one gets things done by watching my grandson at work. It\u2019s the fire in one\u2019s belly that keeps projects alive. So far, mine is far from being extinguished.<\/p>\n

Wishing you all a joyous new year! And may you be surrounded by love and the promise of better things to come.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2013 was a great year on a number of levels. Yes, The Brother roars and more. This short film, that I co-wrote and co-produced with Michael Stevantoni, my grandson, had… <\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[82,4],"tags":[256,78,582,104,9,569,454],"class_list":["post-1565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-film-2","category-writing","tag-anthology","tag-diana-stevan","tag-it-is-what-it-is","tag-michael-stevantoni","tag-novel","tag-self-publish","tag-the-brother"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1LuVB-pf","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1244,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2013\/writing\/the-brother-comes-to-town\/","url_meta":{"origin":1565,"position":0},"title":"THE BROTHER Comes To Town","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"21 \u0421\u0456\u0447\u043d\u044f, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"On Jan.24th, our 16 yr. old grandson, Michael Stevantoni, premiered his thirteenth film, THE BROTHER, in\u00a0 Campbell River, B.C. With Michael being in school, it\u2019s taken a year and a half to get this 25 min. film this far. Though he and I co-wrote the screenplay, it\u2019s his vision that\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/film-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"theBROTHERposter","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/theBROTHERposter.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2398,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2015\/film-2\/eduardo-in-kodak-film-challenge\/","url_meta":{"origin":1565,"position":1},"title":"Michael Stevantoni’s Eduardo in Kodak Film Challenge","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"22 \u0413\u0440\u0443\u0434\u043d\u044f, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Michael needs your vote for his film Eduardo in the Kodak Film Challenge. Our grandson, Michael Stevantoni, who's been making films since he was six, is now in second year university, at Dodge College, Chapman University, Orange CA. There,\u00a0he directed a short film, about five minutes long, called Eduardo. \u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/film-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"On the set of Eduardo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/IMG_5231-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7009,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2025\/film-2\/death-letter-blues-a-thriller\/","url_meta":{"origin":1565,"position":2},"title":"Death Letter Blues: A Thriller","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"12 \u0421\u0435\u0440\u043f\u043d\u044f, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The premiere of\u00a0DEATH LETTER BLUES, a supernatural and psychological thriller, set in the Deep South went well. A great audience showed up on August 7th to view the film at the Glendale Laemmale theater in Glendale, California, along with directors and co-writers,\u00a0Michael Stevantoni (our grandson), and Strack Azar and actors\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/film-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"DEATH LETTER BLUES","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/thumbnail_1.-Death-Letter-Blues_Official-Poster_THEATRICAL-SIZE-1.png?fit=427%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":388,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2011\/writing\/cipher\/","url_meta":{"origin":1565,"position":3},"title":"CIPHER","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"6 \u0422\u0440\u0430\u0432\u043d\u044f, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"My 15 yr. old grandson, Michael Stevantoni, finished CIPHER, an 18 min. film he directed last summer. It's been a labor of love. He and I co-wrote an adaptation of a screenplay he found on the net (with the author's permission), and then produced it. It's been an amazing journey,\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/film-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/CIPHER-POSTER-THICK-211x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":554,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2011\/uncategorized\/cipher-at-tulsa-international-film-festival\/","url_meta":{"origin":1565,"position":4},"title":"Cipher at Tulsa International Film Festival","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"10 \u0421\u0435\u0440\u043f\u043d\u044f, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"CIPHER, a short film my grandson, Michael Stevantoni,\u00a0 directed, shot and edited has just been selected for the Tulsa International Film Festival Sept. 22-25, 2011. As a writer with aspirations of my own, it's been fascinating to watch Michael get to this point. He shot CIPHER last summer when he\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/film-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/CIPHER-POSTER-THICK-211x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1878,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2015\/writing\/the-rocket-a-great-movie-to-lift-your-spirits\/","url_meta":{"origin":1565,"position":5},"title":"The Rocket – A Great Movie To Lift Your Spirits","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"9 \u0421\u0456\u0447\u043d\u044f, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"With endless bad news on TV, I found a lovely escape and a great beginning to the new year when I watched The Rocket, an inspirational Australian film I took out of the West Vancouver Library. I didn't know what to expect but the cover said it had won a\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/film-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Rocket","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/The-Rocket-203x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1565\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}