Welcome To The Party Pal!

It's been a rough week, no doubt, but to look to the positive side, there have been fun moments. Besides, as an experienced human being of nearly 35 years on this planet and existence, I should already know that with the bad comes the good, and so on and so on and ....

So we've gotten past some of the bad and hopefully heading into some good, possibly even into some great. Personal matters seem to be correcting themselves, and I'm finally getting back into some production work. Trying to beat that late February deadline for this one video project of which I will continue to be vague about. I mean, ya know, if I talk about it then it won't come, true right?

Anyhoo.

Forces Of Geek reports this: AC/DC Sets The Tone For IRON MAN 2

Today, Marvel Studios and Columbia Records have announced plans to release the CD compilation AC/DC: IRON MAN 2 on April 19, 2010. The album features 15 AC/DC tracks, many of which will be used in this summer's Iron Man 2. The songs include:

Shoot to Thrill, Rock 'N' Roll Damnation, Guns for Hire, Cold Hearted Man, Back in Black, Thunderstruck, If You Want Blood (You've Got It), Evil Walks, T.N.T., Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be, Have a Drink on Me, The Razor's Edge, Let There Be Rock, War Machine, and Highway to Hell.

Here's a promo video for AC/DC and Iron Man 2.




This put a smile on my face. I really enjoyed Iron Man and I think Jon Favreau has a good sense about moviemaking, much of which seems to harken back to the marketing sensibilities of the 80's.

As I've talked about with much glee before, I do love the 80's and movies from the 80's. I'm sure much of it is because I was an impressionable kid from back then, but I always felt like there was this sense of fun for movies back then, even in the marketing.

Putting out an AC/DC compilation CD that ties in with a summer blockbuster reminds me of Prince recording pop songs for the Batman soundtrack, or Billy Ocean doing a music video for Jewel Of The Nile and Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas, and Danny Devito making an appearance. Or even Tina Turner singing "We Don't Need Another Hero" for Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.

All the cross over music and movie marketing still goes on today, of course, but back then it felt much cooler and much more fun. Like everyone who performed or made movies back then were all just having one big party. I sense alot of that in Iron Man 2. Kinda makes me feel like a kid again.

Makes me long for something from back then to surface now in something new. The Ghostbusters had Ray Parker Jr. Back To The Future had Huey Lewis and The News. And now Iron Man 2 has AC/DC. I'd love to see more marketing like this from more movies in the future. Where it's not just about telling people about a movie premiere. It's about announcing that a MOVIE EVENT is about to happen. It should make you feel like if you miss this movie, then you're missing the party.

I think that's something Indie Moviemakers need to keep in mind, even before you start working on that script. Think about the marketing. How can I make this into something more than just an indie movie? How can I make this into an EVENT? How can I make this so people will WANT to see it?

Don't just make a movie. Make an EVENT!

LOST / 24

This won't mean much unless you're a fan of LOST and perhaps even 24.

Someone took several episodes of LOST and cut them together to show exactly what happened when Flight 815 Crashed. Amazing editing. Done in the style of 24 with sound fx and everything. Genius work.

Amazing Things Will Happen

Originally written Friday January 22nd. But not posted til now. Because that's how I roll.

For reasons passing understanding, this has been a very difficult past 8 days for me. I can't even begin to describe how terrible it was. All the while I tried to keep things in perspective. Compared to those helpless souls in Haiti and in so many other parts of the world, even on my worst day, I've still got it great.


With that said, it was pretty terrible. I don't like it when I'm on a mission to accomplish something, and not only do I not accomplish it, but I don't even get the chance to try, because sometimes, life just fucking happens. I don't like being put in a position where I am weak and helpless, but shit happens. You do what you need to and deal with it as best you can. Right now, I'm kind of still in it, but I'm hoping that's light that I see at the end of this tunnel. And as down as one can get, you do strive to pull yourself up from your boot straps. You pick yourself up. But sometimes you need a little boost to get you there.

Tonight I saw several celebrities work together to give a helping hand to a country in dire need of one. That by itself was both saddening and inspiring. I'm always moved by the efforts of others to help each other.

Tonight was also Conan O'Brien's final broadcast as host of The Tonight Show. It does seem silly to speak of something so trivial as a talk show in the same post as Haiti, but I must.

The events that unfolded with NBC over the late night shows was an important one to me, simply because I truly do love Conan O'Brien. I watched him from the beginning of Late Night after he took over for David Letterman, respected him even more when I learned he was a writer for Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons, and cheered him on as he got to live his dream as host of The Tonight Show.

We all know the details of what went down, and we all have our different takes on it. Me personally I was rooting for O'Brien. Not once did I feel sorry for him. I knew he'd leave NBC and he'll end up doing an even better show on another network, I mean you just can't stop talent like that. I was happy to join the bandwagon of fun rooting for Conan. I joined all the groups and pages on Facebook. Team Conan, I'm With Coco. Watched every piece of news footage on the subject and all the videos from the rallies. Warmed my heart to see so many people cheer for Conan and to know so many others are fans like me.

I knew his final broadcast would be bitter sweet. A truly great show with some surprises. Tom Hanks was there. The man who originally created the name Coco. The entire show was full of fun and energy. Then it came time for Conan to speak seriously about the situation. Towards the end he started to tear up, which made me and I believe most people watching tear up. But in that final sentence of his entire statement, he said EXACTLY what it was I needed to hear. And when he said it, it almost felt like he was talking directly to me. Here is his final statement on his final broadcast as host of The Tonight Show.

"Before we end this rodeo, a few things need to be said. There has been a lot of speculation in the press about what I legally can and can't say about NBC. To set the record straight, tonight I am allowed to say anything I want. And what I want to say is this: between my time at Saturday Night Live, The Late Night Show, and my brief run here on The Tonight Show, I have worked with NBC for over twenty years. Yes, we have our differences right now and yes, we're going to go our separate ways. But this company has been my home for most of my adult life. I am enormously proud of the work we have done together, and I want to thank NBC for making it all possible.

Walking away from The Tonight Show is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Making this choice has been enormously difficult. This is the best job in the world, I absolutely love doing it, and I have the best staff and crew in the history of the medium. But despite this sense of loss, I really feel this should be a happy moment. Every comedian dreams of hosting The Tonight Show and, for seven months, I got to. I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not regret a second. I've had more good fortune than anyone I know and if our next gig is doing a show in a 7-11 parking lot, we'll find a way to make it fun.

And finally, I have to say something to our fans. The massive outpouring of support and passion from so many people has been overwhelming. The rallies, the signs, all the goofy, outrageous creativity on the internet, and the fact that people have traveled long distances and camped out all night in the pouring rain to be in our audience, made a sad situation joyous and inspirational. To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I'll think about it for the rest of my life.

All I ask of you is one thing, I'm asking this particularly of young people that watch: please do not be cynical. I hate cynicism -- for the record it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."

I know it's not the end of Conan, but a part of my heart for media and entertainment is broken. But as I said, it's not the end. THANK YOU CONAN O'BRIEN. Thank you for entertaining us for so long on NBC. And thank you so much for saying what you said. I needed to hear it.

In 7 months I look forward to Conan's return on a yet to be determined network. To be continued indeed.

As for me, I now return to my regularly scheduled fight. A fight where I am determined to make amazing things happen.







;)

Sometimes

it's tough to know what to blog about.  How honest should I be in a blog? I mean I'm certainly not one to go on and on about myself, and I do like my privacy.  There have been many tales that I've told where I have changed the names to protect the innocent and not so innocent.  Heck I don't want you to know EVERYTHING about me.

Today was great day, with some really hard spots.  Some tough things to ponder.  But it was all worth while because I was with my wife. My Juli. I couldn't live without her and don't ever want to. But I started out the day not feeling my best. More emotionally than physically. I know it was partially because yesterdays workout had really beat me up.  The rest of it was all because of others subjects that I don't really want to think about anymore, but I can't help it.

What's really disturbing about all this is that it makes it harder for me to concentrate on the things I want to concentrate on.  And that really pisses me off because I feel like I've got so much work to do and I'm facing some deadlines.

But that's just how it goes. Once you decide you're going to achieve a certain thing, the exact opposite has to appear to help define your situation of not having that thing. Makes the achievement even sweeter.

Wish I could say what this was all about, but all this best left on my mind and on my shoulders.  It'll workout, I hope soon.

In my pondering of such negativity, I find myself listening to alot of house progressive music while I play Bejeweled Blitz. The constant rhythm and the motions of matching and exploding cubes some how helps me process what I need to process.

I need to set up some sort of production site to get everyone on the same page of what's going on.  I've got a May deadline and a Feb 22nd deadline. I'm going to attempt to get alot done Thursday of this week, and I hope I can keep distractions at bay.

Some days are harder than others. Today, this is hard. Not too hard. But it still makes me feel like crap.

111th

His name was Abdul Baser Wasiqui. He was the only runner representing Afghanistan in Atlanta at the 1996 Olympics. His hamstring was injured before the race, but he ran anyway.

At the time, I was working on my first feature film. Vampire Killer.  I distinctly remember watching TV that day when the cameras caught a glimpse of this one lone man trying to finish a race that had  long ended for everyone else.

Soon everyone would take notice of the man who was about to finish dead last at 111th place. I watched as Abdul headed towards the finish line, at the stadium where workmen were already clearing out the area for the next events.  They noticed Abdul and quickly made a make shift finish line for him with some masking tape.  Everyone, including myself were in awe of him as he crossed the line and broke through the tape.

Bob Costas stated correctly, observing that although Abdul was finishing dead last, his determination to finish the race was the very essence of the spirit of the Olympic games. I was impressed by that. I identified with Abdul Baser Wasiqi. I was running my own marathon. Trying to finish my first feature film. Trying to reach my own cinematic finish line.

I was working at a video editing place at the time. I took my VHS copy of Abdul Baser Wasiqi I had recorded (yes I'm kind of an Olympics fan/nerd). We had a video deck that could print out pictures of a freeze frame from a video tape. I printed one out of Wasiqi crossing the finish line.  This image would always help me to remember that crossing your finish line, no matter what kind of a race you're running, it is possible.

And I think of him now. I think of the pain he endured. His struggle. The only man representing his country. Not the first to cross the finish line, but a winner nonetheless. Where so many others would have just given up, and probably did give up, he finished.  He finished.

I'm going through a bit of my own struggle right now. Trying to reach my finish line. It's hard. Yes, I've been through more difficult times, but it's still hard. Trying to get what's in your head out into reality.

I need to remember this. Remember this pain. Remember how it's all my own doing. Any trouble here is only my fault. And any success will be because of some very hard work. There are somethings going on right now, and it's up to me whether or not they're good or bad, or maybe even bad or AMAZING.  I'm working towards amazing.

Remember this pain. Remember that as hard as you work there is a part of this that is not up to you.  All you can do is your very best, and as much of it as you can.

If Abdul Baser Wasiqi can cross that finish line, so can we all.

I need to envision the greatest most amazingly brilliant out come possible, and make it happen.


Ok, this is going to sound crazy, but in the midsts of writing this blog, God just talked to me. He said only two words.

No blocking.



Ok, so the last part of this blog won't make any sense to anyone, but damn, everything just fell into place just now.

Turn Off The Lights

and light a candle.

With everything that's been going on in my life and in the world, I just haven't had a chance to pay homage to the great and amazing Teddy Pendergrass.  I was reminded just a few moments ago that I needed to post about this because an infomercial had come on about R&B songs from the 70's.  They played "Turn Off the Lights."  And my heart sank.  It really hit me, Teddy's gone.  He passed away a few days ago.

My ringtone is actually one of my fav songs of his. Love TKO. It's one of my fav songs of all time, and it's been my ringtone for the about 2 years now.  When my phone rings I'll always get a little sad, but it'll be my little tiny personal way to remember and pay tribute to the great Teddy Pendergrass.

Thank you for the music Mr. Pendergrass.

"Simplicity is the key to brilliance"
- Bruce Lee

Try to fail. Don't fail to try.

It's one of those days. I woke up with a sinus headache that just would not go away. The day started off crappy and I just felt like giving up and going back to bed.

But I can't. I've got too much to do. I could just do nothing today, but there's so much more that needs to be fought for, and the battle has barely begun. So you buck up, say screw it, and dive in anyways.

It's easy to look passed my headache when I see what's going on in Haiti. I'm blessed to have the life I have and the opportunities I've been given. My house is still sturdy, my loved ones are safe, and I only have a headache from stopping me from working on my dreams to day. When you really look at it, your problems end up being better than a whole lot of other people's.

I read somewhere once "If we all threw our problems into a big pile and saw everyone else's, we'd take ours back instantly." Don't remember where I saw that.

Problems are a part of life. It's what makes life interesting, keeps your brain functioning, and our bodies moving. And one of the biggest problems I think people in general have is that alot of their problems aren't really problems. Just excuses.

Me? I have no excuses. I don't really have problems either, when I compare it to real world perspectives. I'm doing fine and I'm working towards being great.

So we continue to try. And alot of the times we fail. But failure is good too. Failure is also a part of life. It makes achievement mean more, keeps you awake, and teaches you to do better. One of the biggest failures I think people in general have, is the failure to recognize that failure is actually opportunity.

And I'm thankful for all my failures and opportunities. As long as I keep trying I'll never truly fail.

Oh, whaddya know, my headache is gone. I'm going to finish my green tea, go work out, and run some errands. I'm going to continue to be thankful that I have the opportunities to try and fail and try again.

And then at some point I'm going to eat some chicken.

Conan

Conan's statement concerning his leaving The Tonight Show.  I'm posting it here, because I admire Conan, I think he's making the right decision, and I think he explains it with class and eloquence and his classic brand of comedy.

People of Earth:

In the last few days, I’ve been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me.  For 17 years, I’ve been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I’ve been absurdly lucky.  That said, I’ve been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.

Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The Tonight Show in June of 2009.  Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me.  I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future.   It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule.  Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.

But sadly, we were never given that chance.  After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.

Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35.  For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news.  I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting.  The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’t the Tonight Show.  Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot.  That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.

So it has come to this:  I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it.  My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction.  Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn’t matter.  But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.

There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next.  My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.

Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it's always been that way.

Yours,
Conan

I could read that all day. It's almost poetic.

My heart broke the day Carson left The Tonight Show. I grew up watching him. When Jay took over, it didn't feel quite right, but I gave it a chance. I never once thought the writing on the show was all that great and the show itself went from truly classy to completely terrible. For some strange reason Jay's ratings were good although everyone I had ever talked to disliked Leno, with the exception of one or two people that thought he was alright.

I was happy that Conan took over.  I knew he would do something great with it. But to be honest, I missed him in New York.  L.A. never really felt right.  But hey, I'll watch Conan where ever he goes. I hope he goes to FOX. Don't know what the hell's going on over there, but NBC's really been missing the boat lately.

Powering Through

First off I'd like to say that Aunt Jemima makes THE WORST WAFFLES in existence.

Secondly, I'm not feeling very well.  And of course I have so much that needs to be worked on NOW.  I've got to knock out scripts and pages out to everyone for REDD and for MONSTER COPS. I need to finish up the Werewolf build and knock out shots for the next couple of Monster Cops Episodes. First I need to knock out this video project that needs to be knocked out ASAP.  A whole lota knocking out needs to be done.

Still searching for a location. I need a studio space or someone's living room that has alot of room. It's hard to concentrate on anything when I'm feeling like this, but I'm hoping I can get past it in the next few days.

Some exciting things transpiring, can't wait to find out how things will work out over the next few weeks as well as the next few months.  Getting in a new camera soon, and hopefully I can get my test shots done when I finally get the Werewolf built.

So much I wish I could go into more detail about, but I don't want to jinx or spoil anything.

Meanwhile, the TV geek in me is anticipating the return of several shows including the start of the final season of LOST.  Do I think they will answer all the questions that they've posed in passed seasons? No. Do I think they're just making it all up as they go along? Yes. Am I excited about the final season? You bet your ass.

I can only hope to produce a show as popular and as intriguing.  I'm hoping I can continue to TRY to produce good stories and entertaining media with Monster Cops.  I've barely touched the surface of what I'm trying to achieve and express with it. Comedy, Horror, Action, Drama, Empathy, Pathos, but mostly Gravitas.

Like I've said before, it's that depth and endearment that helps make all those horrifying, comedic, and action packed elements mean even more. Gravitas is that thing that makes it real, makes it defined, and gives the final product a soul.  I'm inching my way there with Monster Cops, and hopefully will really be able to achieve that with these next few projects, especially with that super secret spectacular and amazing no-budget feature film I'm quietly working on.

Wisdom is knowledge applied.

Learn to over prepare, but also to go with the flow.

Make a plan, but learn to improvise.

Round 1: FIGHT!

It's like a fight, a war almost. The battle to strive to reach those goals. A new year's promise to give you another chance to make this year better than the last.

January 2010 = Round 1

What are we fighting for exactly? Improved income, improved lifestyle, and to make a kick ass bunch of videos and movies that will not only help in achieving those improvements, but to inspire and entertain the world as a whole, and hopefully change things for the better.

I'm excited actually. I really see the previous years as preparations for this one. 2005 I moved here to NC. 2006, 2007 was all about healing and grieving after my wife's mother died. 2008 was about getting back on our feet. 2009 was about solidifying what the goals are and preparing to move towards them. Which brings us to 2010. The move towards those goals.

The ball dropped on the first year of a new decade on the night of a Blue Moon. Sounds magical doesn't it. Like the beginning to what should be a magical and adventurous story. Like Once Upon a Time. Which only makes us all pine for a happily ever after.

Oh, but you gotta fight for it. Work must be done to reach that next level. Gotta climb that hill to get to the top. If you want to succeed you have to rise from your failures. How many more ways can I state this?

Oh I've got a few more.

You gotta drive right if you wanna make it down that freeway of life.

You wanna win it, then you gotta get in it.

No guts, no glory.

No fish, no fowl.

No cheese, no sandwhich.

yeah I lost it.

Bottom line is, there is much work to be done, and I'm ready for it.

Production wise we've still got the same goals:

First up, it's MONSTER COPS. Now that the holidays and hectic schedules have settled down, I have more time to work on our little monster killing web series. I hope to make enough episodes and webisdoes to warrant a pretty nifty DVD to put out. I'm finishing up editing on this next episode and we'll start shooting for the next one and the next few webisodes this month.

REDD. My little Red Riding Hood short. I'm aiming for it to be a mind blowing 5 to 10 minutes. Will start back to work on finishing the Werewolf body and stilts. Already finished the head and hands. Not quite sure when we'll wrap this one up, cuz I'm kind of holding out til I get the new camera in.

BOBBY'S CLOSET. In early pre-production. Going to continue to fill out the official site with art work, may even try to shoot some sample scenes from the script. Not going to go into principal photography til we get the full budget, and we are still fundraising. 53,000 for actual production, and 20 to 40,000 for marketing and distribution. And I don't feel at all comfortable going into it without the money for either. I'm confident we can get the movie out there and make money back as well as raise money for Cancer Charities, as long as we get the full budget. We shall see.

PATRICK'S SUPER SECRET SPECTACULAR AND AMAZING NO-BUDGET FEATURE FILM.

Bobby's Closet was supposed to be a high concept on a low-budget. Something we can make with little money. A million dollar film for less than 100,000. And while I haggle with investors and go out begging for money, I'm still itching to make a truly filmic cinematic feature. So as I was ready to dive into low-budget moviemaking, turns out I'm not quite done with no-budget moviemaking just yet. So this project will only require the new camera, and utilize resources we already have (as per usual.)

Not going to say what it's about, because it is ever evolving. If you recall I wanted to make an Untitled Vampire Movie, then it was a Paranormal Film (which was turned off of when I saw Paranormal Activity), then it was that one about Russian Hookers and Filipino Pimps. Just kidding. Or am I? (muwahahaha)

I'm half way through the script, and I'm very excited about it, but I'm not going to tell anyone about it til it's done and ready to be xeroxed and given to the respective players and crew members. Just know that it's going to take a TON of preparation, and it's going to kick my ass. But it's something I'm confident we can shoot before the fall.

Any other projects will be Video and Commercial work. (Gotta support that green tea habit.)

Oh yes, and I'm working on another screenplay. This one I don't plan on shooting, it's just I've been missing the contest and festival circuit for a while and I kinda wanna throw my hat back in the ring. Came up with a nice concept and I'm writing through it. So many more opportunities and resources for script writer's have developed in the passed decade, why not try em out. Besides I miss getting those rejection letters from Endevour, Paramount, Warner, and Village Roadshow. There must be a ton more companies now that I can get rejected from.

I've been such a script hog for the passed decade. I didn't want to part with any of my scripts for a while, because I was intent on shooting them all. Now I'm wise enough to see that is impossible, so why not let my babies out into the world, let them grow, and evolve into the movies they're meant to be under other filmmakers effort. Or at the very least options that pay up but never get a green light. Dare to dream.

So let the fight begin.

right after I take this nap.

Dan O'Bannon

Dan O'Bannon. Not a household name. But a name in Sci-fi and Horror that I put right up there with George Lucas, Stephen King, George Romero, and many others. You may not know him, but you've undoubtedly seen some of his work. He passed away last week. And while everyone is talking about the death of Brittany Murphy (god rest her soul) Dan O'Bannon was someone that actually and directly influenced me, and whether you know it or not, he influenced Sci-Fi and Horror.

I remember the first time I saw this poster. It was 1985, and I went to see a movie at the General Cinema Six Flags Mall. Back before asbestos would shut the theater down and back when Six Flags Mall was the place to be.

Not sure what movie it was I went to see. I just remember coming out of the theater and seeing this poster. I was 10 years old and I hadn't quite yet started my obsession with horror movies. That wouldn't come for another 2 years. This poster scared the crap out of me. It was strange and avant garde, and it made me wonder what kind of people would go see a movie like this.

The commercials for it scared me as well. Running Zombies! Punk music, or what I thought at the time was Punk. Alot of chaos and people being chased down by cannibalistic moving corpses.

By the time I was deep into my horror obsession, this movie was on VHS. I rented it often and then eventually owned it.

It was this odd blend of humor and scares. Til this day I'm actually not sure if it's straight up horror or comedy. It was one of the first times a movie featured running zombies. And although it is somewhat connected to Romero's Dead Trilogy, these zombies just couldn't be killed AT ALL. Oh unless of course you burned them, then the fumes would go into the air, then it would rain into a cemetery, then you'd get more unstoppable running zombies.

Dan O'Bannon was the writer and director of this movie, and it further pushed the zombie genre into popularity. It would be the first time I would really hear the name, and later I would realize that this was the man who wrote one of the scariest movies of all time. ALIEN.

If you research Dan O'Bannon, you learn he worked for Lucas doing some visual fx and animation for Star Wars, he wrote and directed Night Of The Living Dead, and he wrote Blue Thunder, Invaders From Mars, and Lifeforce, and he made the merger of Sci-Fi and Horror popular with Alien. Alien got the ball rolling on strong female leads in movies, thanks to O'Bannon making the characters in the script non-gender specific.

Back in the day me and my friends actually got a copy of O'Bannon's first movie that he worked on with John Carpenter, a sureal Sci-Fi comedy called Dark Star. O'Bannon also starred in it as the character Pinback.

Watching Dark Star helped me as an indie. To see where it all started with John Carpenter and Dan O'Bannon. To understand what could be done on such a low budget. To see how the greats like Carpenter and O'Bannon could start out with something smaller like this, and then blow up big enough to make the great movies they made.

O'Bannon specifically always felt like one of us. Like a guy I'd hang out with and talk to. If this guy can make it then so can the rest of us. Not only did he create a cult classic that helped further the zombie genre, but he started the Sci-fi / Horror ball rolling with Alien, a true movie classic that would help change the genre movie landscape. I think mainly for me, Dan O'Bannon helped make my dreams of making movies seem more accessible.

Thank you for that Dan.

KICK ASS!

The name of the movie is Kick Ass. And I am beyond excited about it. Clips and trailers below.

Snow Day

Ah yes, winter weather.  A great excuse to bust out the camera.

Snickers Machine

The video I busted my ass on all last week. It's for the Snicker's Assignment over at Poptent. I've said it before, if you're video maker and you want to try to build up your portfolio while trying to earn some money for major brands, then you've got to go over and sign up at POPTENT.



I've been with these guys for a while now and it's been a blast making videos for them, and it's helped me out financially as well. It's one of the many ways an indie moviemaker / video maker can make some money.


I will say that I tend not to work on video contests unless I feel the video itself can benefit me in more ways than just trying to win money. Here I decided to make a Rube Goldberg Machine. To be honest it's something I do alot actually. Origami, magic tricks, make Rube Goldberg Machines, it helps me think.

Not only did I think it would make a great video for Snickers, but I also wanted to finally shoot one of my machines to actually show what I have in mind for some of the scenes in Bobby's Closet. In case you didn't know, Bobby's Closet is a feature length film I plan on shooting next year, and or as soon as I can raise the money. The movie is a sci-fi, action, adventure, fantasy flick filled with funny characters, old school monsters, and a lot of Rube Goldberg Machines.

Here's the Rube Goldberg Machine Video I made for Snickers.



It was initially much longer, and featured parts I made for the now scrapped Halloween Machine video, which was going to feature a Halloween themed Rube Goldberg Machine. My ideas for it were entirely too big for the space I have right now. Maybe next year. I decided to use what I had and combine it with new pieces and parts for this here Snicker's video.

It was a HUGE pain in the ass to shoot. I could've easily faked each part of it, but the hard part of it was that it was pretty much fully functioning. That's what was so difficult. I was shooting it in pieces and cut angles, so when I rolled on one set up, the machine would keep going, and I'd try to stop it, and then re-setup everything. On top of me having to reset parts to get more than one angle at it. Oh how many times the ball would roll away from me, underneath a desk, and don't even get me started on how many times I had to set up those dominoes.

I know a lot of people who are in to Rube Goldberg Machines prefer the single take method. One uncut shot that records each and every step. But I prefer to see how each and every part functions, and seeing different angles to get an understanding of each part that moves. I was originally going to set up more than one camera to capture the entire machine in one go, but I only have one decent digital camera, the rest were of varying formats and qualities, and I wanted to try to stick to one format and look.

I love Rube Goldberg Machines. I loved seeing them in movies like The Goonies and Pee Wee's Big Adventure. All this ties into what kind of movie Bobby's Closet is, and how Rube Goldberg Machines fit into the movie. I hope Snickers likes it, but even if they don't, I've at least finally got an example scene for Bobby's Closet.

Click here to find out about Rube Goldberg.

Click here to find out more about Bobby's Closet.

Click here to go to Poptent and watch my video.

90 pages

That's the goal. Another 90 pages. Last full length feature script I wrote was in July. It was Bobby's Closet. And I know that will need another re-write before it actually gets shot next year. Also in the middle of a Monster Cops episode and Redd re-writes, but those are less than 30 pages.

I'm about to embark on another feature length script, this one is my no-budget venture. Bobby's Closet has a budget of about 63,000 depending on what camera package I'm going to use. This new script is one we can start shooting as soon as I finish writing it and whenever I can get the new camera in.

As I've written before, alot of the writing process doesn't actually involve any physical writing. The real and first writing starts in your head. My brain has been scrambling around all the ideas and plot lines trying to piece it together like a puzzle. I'm putting pressure on myself to make this one truly great, but when am I not?

When my brain is doing all the writing it's important for me to create an atmosphere that is optimal for inspiration and creative thinking. That means everything around me has to help feed my mind. Sights, sounds, even smells and flavors. I've got an apple pie flavored candle burning, it matches the holiday feel lately and I find it rather relaxing. I've been drinking alot of coffee, not only to feed my caffeine headache, but also because something about the flavor helps my brain. I always try to keep the house clean, because I'm sort of a neat freak of course, but also because I can't think if there is a mess around me.

This brings me to what I've been listening to and watching.

Movie scores always help. I always write to music. Here's part of my huge movie score playlist. The tracks I keep repeating over and over. The sounds that help bring me to where I need to be to write.

- Beowulf Slays the Beast by Alan Silvestri from Beowulf
- Chiun Walks On Water by Craig Safan from Remo Williams The Adventure Begins
- Enterprising Young Men by Michael Giacchino from Star Trek
- A Dark Knight by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard from The Dark Knight
- Panda Po by Hans Zimmer from Kung Fu Panda
- Overture by Michael Kamen from Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves
- August's Rhapsody by Mark Mancina from August Rush
- Roll Tide by Hans Zimmer from Crimson Tide
- My Day So Far by John Powell from Jumper
- Escape From Torture by Jerry Goldsmith from Rambo: First Blood Part II

There's plenty more but these are the tracks I keep gravitating to.

I've been digesting and re-digesting much TV as well. My wife just got into DEXTER and has decided to get me into it as well. Already watched the first season. It's a really great show and luckily it's been helping my creative atmosphere. Good writing, great performances. It's a show that has alot of episodes that write the same way I think.

Been re-watching alot of HOUSE episodes as well, since it's sort of a detective movie I'm writing I need my Sherlock Holmes fix, and HOUSE is the closest to a modern day Sherlock Holmes we'll get nowadays (Love the guy, but Robert Downey Jr. doesn't count.).

I've read a few rants about the show recently. Some people have lost interest because they feel they show may have jumped the shark a few times. Me personally I don't care. As long as the characters stay true to themselves, keep the mysteries coming, and let House continue to be a wise ass medical detective, I'm perfectly fine with jumping whatever type of shark they want.


Slipping in the occasional THE WEST WING episode as well as SEINFELD to round out the comedy.



Ooh, my music player just went into Kung Fu Panda, SUCH A GREAT SCORE!!!!

Anyhoo.

And of course watching Movies always helps. Can't go wrong with PIXAR. THE INCREDIBLES and TOY STORY 2. Pixar in general is one of the great movie making and story telling companies in existence. They really know how to make a really great movie and know how to capture the essence of amazing cinema.

ROUNDERS is always one of my favorites, such a cool and smooth flick. I put it right up there with GOODFELLAS as far as voice over flicks are concerned. Great direction and performances and Damon does so well with the narration. Love the way it's written, such slick dialogue. Also, I'll watch anything with Famke Jansen in it.

Just re-watched THE PAPER, a highly underrated Ron Howard movie and one of David Koepp's best scripts. Every bit of that movie was entertaining. I love ticking clock movies and this one gets almost every beat right. A pre-cursor to SPORTS NIGHT and THE WEST WING, filled with walk and talk, wit, intellect, and street smarts, funny as hell. Captures the chaos of a newspaper news room. Great cast, and man, do I miss watching Michael Keaton take control of the screen.










This should give you some sense of what I'm working on. Ticking Clock, Voice Overs, Ensemble Casts, and a Detective Story. Throw in a murder, smart comedy, and a few thrills and you've got whatever the heck it is my brain is trying to piece together.

Of course still working on props and script for REDD. Got most of Redd's weapons established and I'm back on the Werewolf in a few weeks. The top of that pic you'll see the double barrel shotgun I built. I wanted Redd to have a primary weapon and I wanted it to be a big ass gun. I figured a double barrel sawed off would look great with her outfit. The other guns are props from Monster Cops I've had to re-paint and fix, note the tape job on that bottom handgun.

I think I should probably eat at some point this week.

"Pain is your friend, your ally, it will tell you when you are seriously injured, it will keep you awake and angry, and remind you to finish the job and get the hell home. But you know the best thing about pain? It lets you know you're not dead yet!"

- Master Chief Urgayle (GI JANE)