Photos courtesy of Rajeev Nirmalakhandan Tami
Powers and Christo Dimassis star in
"Duncan’s Dilemma," opening Nov. 9 at www.ifilm.com.
By Michael Rosen-Molina
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Posters and postcards in bars, restaurants and phone booths all
over Los Angeles pose the question: “What is Duncan’s
Dilemma?”
UCLA film student Rajeev Nirmalakhandan executed the massive
publicity campaign to promote his new movie “Duncan’s
Dilemma.”
“It’s much like the Blair Witch phenomenon,”
said Nirmalakhandan of the grass-roots publicity campaign.
“We’ve got postcards, posters, and banners. We’re
even planning to send out bulk e-mails to get the word
out.”
“Duncan’s Dilemma” premiered Thursday on the
Internet. The 10 minute black comedy will play on www.ifilm.com for
the next six months.
 Rajeev Nirmalakhandan Tami Powers and
Christo Dimassisconverse in an elevator.
According to Nirmalakhandan, postcards with slogans like
“Meet Duncan” and “Who is Duncan?” are
intended to whet the public’s curiosity about the film.
Duncan is the film’s hapless hero, who falls into despair
after his wife cheats on him. He decides to end his life, but his
every attempt at committing suicide ends in failure. Bad luck
follows him everywhere until, riding an elevator to the top of a
skyscraper for one last try, he spies a mysterious woman who
changes his life.
In addition to postcards and posters promoting the film,
Nirmalakhandan also announced plans to stretch an enormous banner
over the 405 freeway overpass, reading “Bad day? Wait till
you meet Duncan?”
“Everyone will see it on their way to work,”
Nirmalakhandan said. “We’re trying to get Star 98.7 to
run a radio spot about “˜Duncan’s Dilemma,’ and
hopefully, that will get people to start calling the station with
questions about the movie. It’s really going to build up the
hype about the movie.”
“Duncan’s Dilemma” runs on ifilm.com, a free
site dedicated to showcasing innovative work of up and coming
American and international directors. The site keeps count of how
many times each film is downloaded for viewing, compiling a weekly
top ten list.
Submitting a movie to ifilm.com is a good way to launch a film
career, said Nirmalakhandan; the top ten frequently attract the
attention of Hollywood producers and executives.
Nirmalakhandan hopes that “Duncan’s Dilemma”
will convince Hollywood of his skills, and is preparing a huge
campaign to ensure that the film makes it into the top ten.
“The city is divided into 10 parts: Santa Monica, Burbank,
Westwood, and so on,” he said explaining his promotion plans.
“Then we send out teams of 10 people all over the city to
distribute fliers.”
Although Nirmalakhandan’s publicity work will center
around the Los Angeles community, he does not rule out the
possibility of a global effort. “I’ve got friends and
family all over the world,” Nirmalakhandan said.
Nirmalakhandan’s father is an Environmental Engineer
Professor, a job which required his family to move all over the
world.
“We left Sri Lanka when I was five and traveled all over
Australia, Singapore, and Canada,” Nirmalakhandan said.
“I’m going to contact old friends overseas and get them
to help out.”
Nirmalakhandan is optimistic about the reception of
“Duncan’s Dilemma.”
“I spent the summer taking it to various film
festivals,” he said. “Its always gotten a good
reaction.”
Actor Tami Powers, who played the dual roles of Duncan’s
cheating wife and the mysterious elevator woman, accompanied
Nirmalakhandan to film screenings and festivals.
“Originally, I was just going to be the elevator
girl,” Powers said. “There was a problem with the woman
who was to play Duncan’s wife, though, so I volunteered to
take that part, too.”
“As the wife, I was made up differently and had black
hair,” she continued. “They did such a good job that
no one recognized me; people who saw the movie were astonished
that I played both parts.”
Powers also praised Nirmalakhandan’s style.
“Rajeev is the kind of director who really pushes the
envelope,” Powers said. “He’s got such a bright
vision. Everyone on the set was just amazing. Everyone pulled
together and gave 110 percent.”
“Duncan’s Dilemma” cost only $3,000 to make,
in contrast to the normal student film budget of $4,000 to
$6,000.
“I think this will be really good for the UCLA film
school,” Nirmalakhandan said. “UCLA has a reputation
for being kind of artsy and inaccessible. When people see this
movie, they will realize that we can make good, commercial films
with only a reasonable amount of money.”
With “Duncan’s Dilemma” to show his abilities,
Nirmalakhandan hopes to make a feature-length film.
“I’ve already got a script that I’ve been
showing around,” Nirmalakhandan said. “It’s a
dark comedy drama about four strangers whose lives intersect and
become entangled. I’ve gotten good reactions and I think
it’s heading in a good direction.”
FILM: “Duncan’s Dilemma” is now playing on
www.ifilm.com.