Working On It.

Sample of the DVD Front Cover.

Strictly Background

I love this business. This is one of those docs that reminds me of how much fun it all is, and how everyone has a dream. Don't ever take your background for granted.

NIGHT OF THE COMET!!!!!

First off I have to say that I actually really enjoyed Hostel. And although I really don't have much desire to see part 2, I did enjoy what Eli Roth is saying about HOSTEL II.

6 Reasons Why Hostel Part II Will Mess You Up By Eli Roth

1. In the first movie it was the three guys, but in Hostel Part II the violence is harder to watch because it’s all aimed at women. And any violence aimed at women is always gonna have a sexual element...
   
2. Hostel Part II goes much deeper. It shows you who runs the torture chambers – the shadowy figures who are in control. Everything you need to know about the corporation is right here. And it’s fucking terrifying.
   
3. It also looks at it from the other angle: how do people get from seeing this shit advertised on the web to standing in a torture chamber cutting someone up? The people doing it are normal guys, like you and me...
   
4. I don’t hold back on this one. The Unrated DVD of Hostel went to No1 but I only had 30 seconds of extra material to put in. This one, I’m filming it all: the sickest shit you’ll ever see. The censor’s are gonna flip.
   
5. I show you all the blood, because I fucking love that stuff. But with Part II, I want more suspense. I love it in the first movie where the guy is dragged along the corridor: the dread. Here, the whole fucking movie’s like that.
   
6. There’s one scene in this film that’s gonna change horror history. Even the guys from [effects company] KNB looked away as we shot it, and those guys live and breathe that shit. It’s special. I’m really proud!

In my moviemaking opinion THAT's how you market a movie. Kudos to you Mr. Roth. You've actually got my semi interested.

More importantly ....

My world has just gotten a whole lot brighter. And here is why:

New on DVD. NIGHT OF


This movie is on my list of flicks I can watch all day long. Friday August 23rd 1985, Patrick spends entire day watching Night Of The Comet, pausing only once to watch a special episode of Macgyver that night. I love this movie, and it's not just because Kelli Maroney is frickin hot as a cheerleader with a sub machine gun.

And if you hadn't heard the news GUESS what's coming out from Lions Gate Home Video later this year. That's right bitches, It's THE mutherfuckin MONSTER SQUAD!!!!! Don't believe me, read this: http://www.movieweb.com/dvd/news/57/17857.php

WOLF MAN'S GOT NARDS!!!!



Oh what? What's that you say? Patrick's movie MONSTER COPS: THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL will be released on DVD on FRIDAY APRIL 13th? HOLY CRAP? REALLY!?

Yes.


I'm working on the special features as we speak. APRIL FRIDAY THE 13th, get your copy at monstercops.com, customflix.com, or amazon.com. It'll be available for digital download through amazon.com in June, and then we'll hit Blockbuster and Netflix before end of Summer. And all this year we'll still be hitting screenings at fests and conventions, including ...

ALL-CON DALLAS Sci-Fi/Fantasy/ Convention
March 17th

STARFEST/HORRORFEST Denver, Colorado
April 20-22 (Date and time pending)

More to come.


Goddamn, I love this movie making shit!

The Goodbye Girl

Sometimes it's good to be reminded of things. I think that's what makes forgetting such a precious necessity. You experience something incredible only to be reminded of it's greatness later in life. Such is the case with Neil Simon.

I mean really how can one forget the incredible work of Neil Simon. But when you go through life's roller coaster and experience more and more, it's easy to forget almost anything that isn't constantly around you. Tonight, my wife watched The Goodbye Girl for the first time. And for me it was like the first time as well. I'd only seen it twice before and it had been a long time. Upon watching the movie, I started to beat myself up for forgetting how good this movie is and how great Neil Simon is. But then I realized just how much fun I was having remembering and reliving all these great things. Great writing by Neil Simon. Great direction by Herbert Ross. Marsha Mason was charming and that little girl was hilarious. It's funny, it's witty, it's charming, it's smart, it's Richard Dreyfuss at his best, and possibly one of the greatest romantic comedies of all time.

And I needed it. I needed to be reminded of that spark, that light, that charisma. I needed to be reminded that life isn't just a roller coaster of emotion, ups and downs, but ins and outs, lefts and rights, brilliance and even more brilliance. The power of writing and performance and the power of the movies. I needed to be reminded of that as a writer, and I was. Now I just need to let the rest of me know.

Well it's for sure now that I need to reacquaint myself with the works of Neil Simon. I'll start with more movies. Biloxi Blues and Lost In Yonkers for sure. And I have a need to watch one of my favorite Dreyfuss/Detective movies, The Big Fix.

I now have for you my continuing education in origami, in video form of course.

The paper rose in color.

Paper Rose - The most amazing home videos are here

And the talking sheet of paper. Which isn't being received too well. I think it's because I unleash my craziness a little too much on this one. Go figure.

Make A Talking Sheet Of Paper - The best home videos are here

Sick and Tired of being Sick and Tired

I guess I was jinxing things when last I posted about being sick.

I'm finally past my fever, cough, and cold. Just in time for some sort of stomach virus. I know it's mostly stress related. Induced by the current mood. Going to my second funeral in 5 months doesn't help. And still sinking back into sadened memories of the recent past. A local cop died, a friend of the family past away, and another commited suicide. And you never know when Juli will sink into that place where she does nothing but think about her mom. The only thing I can do is hold her. And somehow I feel like I'm not being a good enough husband, simply because I've been too sick to really hold her as tight as I want to. And I keep worrying about my Father and how my Mother is dealing with him. I also worry about Juli's Father and how he's dealing with recent tragedies. Can't help but let it all get to me sometimes.

So many details and tragedies and odd and eerie things to post about. But I'm too God Damned tired. Too tired of living though all this stuff to relive it in a blog. And I haven't even gotten to the part where I have to deal with the traditional stress that accompanies DIY Distribution. Such is the life of an indie movie maker. But honestly it could all be so much worse. Even with all the crap going on and going down, I can still look at the fact that I made a movie, and most importantly I've got Juli.

And it's not all Shitsville all the damned time either. We make plenty of time to laugh and remind ourselves of the more positive aspects of life. We're goofy people, so even after the crying and suffering, a stupid joke is somewhere around the corner to lighten the mood. If you're ever down and out, just sing "Dick in a Box" to yourself and your day gets brighter. The song is medicinal.

Gotta get off my ass pretty soon though. The DVD for The Midnight Special will be headed out on April 13th. Much marketing to do. Also must prepare for the ole wedding anniversary as well as Juli's Bday. Gotta get some gifts ready.

The Midnight Special will be screening at ALL-CON (sci-fi, fantasy, convention) in Addison, Texas, March 18th. Wish I could be there.

Monstercops.com

Website has been redone. In the process of updating all of the pages, so bare with me. Monster Cops now has it's own blog. Also I'll be adding more fun stuff and new videos.

Monstercops.com

WOW!

This is going to be quite cryptic, but perhaps someday I will explain. Right now I just need to document the fact that at this moment, I am quite humbled.

I've got a lot of interests, hobbies, practices. But tonight I witnessed a mastery of something that I thought I was pretty good at. And I am just blown away. I thought what I was doing was pretty spectacular, and now I've witnessed someone who can run circles around me. I am in awe, inspired, and humbled all at once. It's the kind of thing that really makes you realize that you need to concentrate on what you're good at and leave the rest to others who have the skills to take the game to a level you never dreamed. Play your own game, not someone elses.

I'm gonna take the spectator role in this show. I'll stick to making movies. I wish I could say what it was that I was dabbling in, but I'm just to thunder struck right now to go on. I'll just head on back to my little movie land and leave that other stuff to the pros.

Whew.

High Pitched Advertising

Saw this first on Matt Dentler's blog. Sony came up with an interesting way to advertise for the movie THE MESSENGERS. Utilizing high frequencies in commercials. I thought this was an interesting approach. Glad there are still some people in movie marketing still using the old noggin.

Here's an article all about it.

Candy Hearts and Knowing Your Movie

I'm just now, right at this moment, getting over being sick. As a matter of fact I'm still sick, and feeling a bit better, and most likely jinxing things by jumping the gun in posting this. It's been a bit of a rough week. The last time I was sick was back in October when Juli's mom died. So there was a bit there where I was reliving some things that really didn't really need reliving. Add in some other things. The father of an old friend of Juli's had passed away, Juli's Grandmother isn't doing all that well, and our old next door neighbor and a dear friend to me and Juli, and to Juli and her family long before I was in the picture isn't doing much better either.

I was quietly dealing with a small bout of depression, but I had a nice little cough and headache to keep me preoccupied. Juli ended up breaking down the other night. This vibe of illness, death, and depression seemed to swallow us this week. It has been a bit heartbreaking, but we've gotten really good a dealing with this kind of thing. The only thing that kept Valentine's Day from sucking was the simple fact that we have each other. And I decided to be silly super husband and brave the cold cold weather in my sick sick body to hunt down Juli's favorite candy hearts. Undercover of getting dinner and DVDs of course. That made her happy. At least I hope it did.

I'm not use to being sick. I don't really get sick that often. And when I do get sick I tend to want to still work on stuff. Especially movie stuff. So I spent the past few days struggling through a sore throat, annoying cough, stuffy nose, and sinus headaches, planning out screenings, fest entries, and convention screenings.

Thanks to Crystal for reminding me of what our exact demographic is and for pointing out conventions as a place to target our core audience. Monster Cops: The Midnight Special is, after all, Cult, Horror, SciFi, Comedy, Action. So it does reach a wide range of people. Thing is I was mainly working the Horror and Comedy crowds in my agenda. I had conventions in mind, but I was aiming mainly for horror themed cons. For some reason it didn't even occur to me to that our core audience would also be interested in general scifi fandoms. I had missed the SciFi aspect of The Midnight Special. I mean I knew it was there, but I was mainly concentrating on the two things The Midnight Special are at the forefront, Horror and Comedy.

Film Threat put out there "Top Ten Tips To Distributing Your Movie" years ago. In one section they mention Truly Understanding Your Film. The section talks of filmmaker Mark Bosko making his movie "Killer Nerd". Mr. Bosko thought he was making a simple horror film, but when he was distributing and marketing he discovered a new niche for the film, Horror Comedy. I don't know how you couldn't know from the title, Killer Nerd. But it's a good tip to truly identify what your movie is. Makes it much easier for you to identify who your audience is.

In my case I just didn't really look at it, and I would've missed a good opportunity to really get to the core audience of people who love Cult, Horror, Comedy, SciFi, Action movies. This is why I have specific people I call when I need data or assistance. Crystal is great with PR, and when I hit a point where I knew I needed to re identify our core audience in order to figure out everything I needed to supplement my agenda, I knew to call Crystal. She really hit the nail on the head with the SciFi Cons. Also helps that she's worked a few in her time.

What's great with alot of these cons is they seem open to screening indie movies. Many of them have just started their own little film festivals or at least have a video or screening room that runs movies through out the con. Even if it isn't an official screening, at least your movie will screen through out a convention run and you have the potential to reach hundreds of people. It's mainly just about having some sort of presence around your core audience. Also cons love to hand stuff out for free. Send them any promo items, especially ones with your URL on them (monstercops.com) and they'll be sure to put them in the hands of many if not all of their attendees. I'm documenting the entire process for a future article on Indies working with Cons.

Don't know how many cons Monster Cops: The Midnight Special maybe screening at, but I know it will be a couple at least. This will definitely be a great supplement to the festival screenings as well as the theatrical screenings we're going to organize.

Still have a ton of things to put together before we start getting people to the website. That is the big key here, getting people to the website, monstercops.com. this is where they will get to know the movie, get to love the movie, and then eventually where they will want to buy the movie.

To do:

- Update trailers. Cutting together a new trailer to supplement the official trailer.
- Upload clips of the movie. Must give the people a sample of the film if they're just coming to the site without having seen it at the screening. Gotta let them know what they're missing out on.
- Video Blogs. Gotta let the people know about the filmmaker. If they know you, they'll be more inclined to buy from you and support your efforts. At least I hope.
- Update all links and pages and put up some new content. Gotta keep em coming back for something until the DVD release.

- Must prep all marketing materials, fliers, cards, promo items, etc. for the conventions and possible other events.
- Still got a bunch more press kits and DVD screeners to make and burn.
- Still have a bunch of festivals to submit to.

OK gonna work on the site a bit, and email a few more cons.

Ooh, I hear the cough medicine calling me.

COOK OFF!

Check out COOK OFF!

COOK-OFF!

Add to My Profile | More Videos


And feel free to add them to your friends list if you have a Myspace. Tell everyone.
COOK OFF Myspace Profile

This movie features Deidrich Bader, Jordan Black, Jennifer Elise Cox, Ben Falcone, Roy Jenkins, Phil Lamar, Steve Little, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Cathryn Michon, Neicy Nash, Markie Post, Jack Plotnick, Christine Rose, Romy Rosemont, Gary Anthony Williams, Jane Edith Wilson With featured appearances by: Louie Anderson, Gavin McLeod, Sam Pancake, Melissa Peterman, Marcia Wallace, Cedric Yarbrough.

To The Universe

I declare to you that I am an adventurer. A bringer of the light. The courier between dreams and action. I connect the molecules to the light. For I am the light. But then again aren't we all?

I hope my fellow CWGers and knowers of "The Secret" were doing what they needed to do 7:00 am this past Tuesday. Rock the fuckin house ya'll. Namaste to all you bad ass mother fuckers out there. Namaste.

And special thanks to my fellow indie that posted this on the LJ Filmmaking community. Right on time.

"The film of the future will be shot by adventurers...The film of tomorrow appears to me as even more personal than an individual and autobiographical novel, like a confession, or a diary. The young filmmakers will express themselves in the first person and will relate what has happened to them: it may be the story of their first love or their most recent; of their political awakening; the story of a trip; a sickness, their military service, their marriage, their last vacation...and it will be enjoyable because it will be true and new... The film of tomorrow will not be directed by civil servants of the camera but by artists for whom shooting a film constitutes a wonderful and thrilling adventure. The film of tomorrow will resemble the person who made it and the number of spectators will be proportional to the number of friends the director has. The film of the future will be an act of love."

-Francois Truffaut


Smart guy. ;)

Gigantipithicus in Kentucky

For reasons passing understanding, I found myself deep in research for a screenplay having to do with the following subjects. Gigantipithicus, Waverly Hills Sanatorium, and Fort Knox.

It all started innocently enough. I decided to leave for work early today, and then found myself entranced by The History Channel. This happens often. If it's not The History Channel, it's The Food Network. If it's not The Food Network, it's FitTV, mainly because I have a very unhealthy obsession with Namaste Yoga. I dare you to turn on a show where three hot chicks do hot yoga poses in a relaxing environment, and then try to change the channel, it's fuckin impossible. The History Channel had a special on The Gold Bullion Depository in Fort Knox, the design of the place, the history, the mystery, and the background of the Depository itself as well as Fort Knox Military Base next door. I'm a sucker for almost any show on building and design or military history and training and weapons or any kind of conspiracy, and this show had all of that goin on. So I popped in a tape and let it record as I left for work.

I had told my wife when she got home to just stop the tape, because the show should be finished by the time she got home. I went to work, got off work, got a bit of shooting done for some needed dialogue scenes for something I shall speak of later, and then got home after midnight. Did the usual, kissed the wife good night (she has to get up early), ate, showered, and then got on the computer as I rewound and watched the recorded program. And this is what happens often. I record a program on Discovery or History, and then I end up recording 4 hours worth of stuff because the tape doesn't get turned off til later. In this case Juli didn't get home til later, so the Fort Knox documentary was not the only program on the tape. It happens all the time with me. I watch the program I initially intended to watch, and then I continue to watch the following programs, and then somehow in my head I try to connect all of the programs subject matter into a story.

It never fails. I learn a bunch of stuff and immediately my brain goes, "Now how can this be turned into a script?" Ask me some other time about when I watched the show on Mega Freighter Ships and then watched that show on the History of licorice, yeah, it was a pretty fucked up plot. What normally happens is, I write a few notes down, and then forget about them as I get back on track with the business at hand. Not this time. For some reason I just couldn't get this little twisted plot out of my head.

It popped into my brain as I was watching the documentary on Fort Knox. Great stuff in this little doc. Covered everything from what is known about the depository, like how much Gold it may hold and how secure and guarded the area is, to what is not known, like speculation on the security measures of the place and whether or not the building is holding the Roswell Aliens. They also talked about Fort Knox Military Base, the training facility and how many modern day weapons are tested there. This was already turning all sorts of wheels in my head. I won't tell you details, because I hardly ever discuss scripts I work on. It's that whole birthday wish syndrome again. If I tell you it won't happen.

Suffice it to say I had this great visual story goin on and I was getting very excited with every intriguing detail from this doc. I will say that I'm thinking of something horror sci-fi based. And along those lines, it clicked in my head. Fort Knox, Kentucky. What else do you think of when you hear the word Kentucky Patrick? CHICKEN! How about a horror movie about Fried Chicken in Fort Knox? Ya know, like the Roswell aliens come to life, escape Fort Knox and turn all the soldiers into killer alien buckets of fried chicken?

OK not really.

What I did think of was, Waverly Hills Sanatorium. I started to wonder how far apart these two locations were. Was Fort Knox anywhere near Louisville where Waverly was located? I got REALLY curious. If you know nothing about Waverly Hills Sanatorium, all I will say is that most people call it THE MOST HAUNTED PLACE ON EARTH. Now click this link for more info. Pretty creepy stuff.

My brain started trying to tie the two subject together. Fort Knox conspiracies, Waverly Hills ghosts. Did some digging. Fort Knox wasn't too far away from Waverly, but they weren't right next door to each other. Still, close enough for me to put something together. And the plot I was conjuring in my head was just insane. It screams, action, horror, sci-fi. Very much along the lines of an old movie called The Keep. I would say go rent this movie, but it's extremely hard to find. It's a heck of a cast, and it's a Michael Mann horror movie.

So I've pretty much got a whole plot in my head just based on what I've got. But of course I continue watching the tape. What comes up next? A documentary on Fried Chicken. Just kidding.

It was a documentary on Gigantipithicus. Jeez, am I even spelling that right? Let's just call him G. G was basically the real life King Kong. A gigantic ape that lived ages ago. A relic of the past. The show did talk to people who believed there was some connection between G and Sasquatch. Fuckin Sasquatch. I swear to God I just can't get away from him. I attract it, I do. I can't turn on the TV without running into a show on Bigfoot. And I have to watch it. Monster sightings and conspiracies are like candy to me. I don't buy into the majority of it, and I'm more inclined to NOT believe in Bigfoot's existence, but I love this stuff anyhow. And more so lately because alot of what I'm trying to do with the Monster Cops movies is based on monster sighting footage. I'm obsessed with creating Monster Sighting footage. Can't wait to show you the next movie.

Anyhow. So now my brain is trying to cram Sasquatch into a supernatural, military, movie that takes place in Kentucky. Might as well throw in a subplot about The Colonel's Fried Chicken.

Part of it is just me trying to avoid the research I have to do on Video Compression and Mpeg2 DVD creation, yadda, yadda. It happens. I can't work on 1 thing. I have to work on 5 things. But seeing as how Haunted Fort Sasquatch is now number 6, looks like this goes on the back burner. But I'm getting back to it though. I REALLY like this plot I've got goin.

Great, now I want some fried chicken.

Oh yeah, try locating Waverly Hills Sanatorium on Google Maps, and see if you get creeped out like I did.

Florida

Hang in there Florida. Hang in there.

Guerrilla Marketing Gone Right

So the hot topic right now is the supposed terror threat in Boston, that actually turned out to be a marketing campaign for Adult Swim's Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

So lemme get this straight. Someone saw one of these things:



So what did they think the Joker sent his henchmen out to plant these things all over Gotham as well as the greater Boston area? I heard about electronic devices being spread around and thought, of course I would think someone was planting a bomb, but then I saw what they looked like and thought, this is what made Boston freak out and close down an interstate. I understand being on the side of caution, but come on, did someone really think that terrorists took the time to be creative and come up with some sort of logo to match their terror?

I've read 5 different blogs that said that it was a guerrilla marketing stunt gone wrong. What are you kidding me? This is the most successful guerrilla marketing tactic this year. Who cares if they got arrested? The two guys who were hauled off in handcuffs certainly didn't. They were all smiles. Why? One, because they knew they did nothing wrong, and two, because IT WORKED!!!! People are blogging about it. The news is eating it up. And those that did not know who Aqua Teen Hunger Force was certainly know now. Are you telling me that Adult Swim isn't going to use this to their advantage? These are the same people who bring you ROBOT CHICKEN as well as a cartoon about a talking beverage and fries.

I will say this though. Boston sure does have their shit together when it comes to reacting to a possible terrorist threat. The two guys were released from custody today and Turner Broadcasting has made an official apology. But I'm fairly certain they ain't too sorry. Especially after we see a rise in ratings on Adult Swim.

And what about those 9 other cities where these things were planted? I'll say either we've got 9 cities that can take a joke, or 9 cities highly under prepared for a terrorist attack from a mooninite.

If you go to the Adult Swim Homepage, there is a posted apology. But if you're familiar with Adult Swim, it's kind of hard to read this without hearing a tone of sarcasm followed by a small chuckle.

9:00 am

And I still haven't gone to bed yet. Why? Because I'm obsessed with movie marketing and self distribution.

My father has made a full recovery. So now that I can breath a little easier about that, I can continue to pester myself about details on the current front.

Just a few notes. As soon as I go to sleep, I'll have to get up 6 hours after that to run errands. Good things it's my day off. Also have to settle a few details, but it looks like maybe hopefully possibly we've got a lead on a screening here in Winston Salem, NC. for The Midnight Special. We shall see how and if it happens. Hopefully today also marks the day I get to actually begin to work on updating some videos and the sites. This means new trailers for TMS and a ton of footage that's begging to be turned into two video blogs and DVD extras for TMS. We are also one step closer to bringing TMS to DVD. After today I'll know for sure if it's going to be March or April for a release date. And we begin the process of platform theatrical releases and screenings. But more on that later.

A couple of notes as far as marketing is concerned. I'm taking a few notes from foureyedmonsters.com and theindywoodproject.com.

Hey look. A bed.

According to my bro, Dad is fine. He's stable and was moved out of ICU and to a hospital closer to their house. So it looks like everything's ok for now. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers.

I now go to spend some quality time with my wife. She insists on watching this horror movie that scares the crap out of her and she refuses to watch it alone.

Off I go to be super husband guy.

Wow

I had no idea. Just found out about this. A little bit of something positive to keep me up. Horror Bob over at the Horror Review put up his top 10 of 2006. And my movie The Midnight Special ranked #2 for the year. Right under Lance Weiller's Head Trauma and right above Night Watch and Feast. Wow. Thanks Horror Bob. That is quite an honor.

View the list here.

No news yet on my father. As far as I know he's in ICU in the Phillipines. Some other bits of tragedy have arisen that I really don't want to rehash online. I'm just so worried about my family.

It happens. It's all ups and downs and sometimes you don't know when the downs are coming. Usually comes when your concentrating on staying up. I just got myself psyched up about self distribution. Now I can't concentrate.

I feel like I got the wind knocked outta me. I'm not ready for another tragedy. I wish I had the energy to work. I just wanna work. So much to get done. But all I've been doing all day is stare at the wall.

I'll fight through it though. Gotta stay positive.

My father just had a heart attack.

It's late and everyones asleep. I don't want to wake anyone. So I'm posting it here and on my livejournal.

I'm just waiting to hear about his condition.

Map Test

Don't mind me, this is just a test. Researching how this whole mapping idea works. Taking a page from the guys over at Foureyedmonsters. They've become an internet and indie film sensation with the ways they've come up to market their movie. As a fellow indie I'd be a fool not to follow in the same foot steps. One step they took in particular that I am fond of, and will attempt as well, is the idea of a map where people can post where they want the movie to be screened. If they could get 150 people to request the movie on their map in a specific area then they could get a screening of the movie there.

I'm in the midst of talking to a few theatres about setting up screenings, and it looks good, as long as I can prove that there is an audience. So here I go messing with map schemes. This may take me a bit.