Okay Great

From the day I wrote the first draft to the day I start shooting will be almost a year. Kind of a frustrating process...Initially I was going to shoot in january, but I got extremely bogged down in work, had to take on an additional unexpected project, etc...then we were going to shoot in May but my DP, Adrian ordered the new Red camera so we waited. The delivery schedule for the Red camera was just bumped 3 months and I'm not waiting anymore. The camera promises to be a revolutionary camera filmmakers- Steven Soderbergh is shooting his next 2 films with it, but again I can't wait anymore. I have a project in the winter and we'll shoot with it then. So be it...

If all stays on course (which it should) I will start shooting Okay Great on September 21st. It'll be a jam packed 3 day shoot. The project started with wanting to do "something weird" and evolved into much more. Without giving too much away- I'd rather have everyone watch it- Okay Great is about a twentysomething man, Sean Chase, who after a sleepless night, is having the single strangest day of his life, but he's not sure if it's his imagination or if it's real.

I'm still looking to cast a female- 20's-30's- in a small (2 scenes), but critical, fun and (hopefully) memorable role, so if anyone knows anyone...also if anyone knows an exhibitionist I have another small scene, no dialogue but very important. There is no nudity, but it is a sex scene. It's not exploitive or distasteful, it's for effect, and it's a neccesity to the story. Anyway, it's a tougher role to cast for the obviosu reasons, so again, if anyone knows anyone...I can explain and describe more when I talk to whomever might be interested. I'll keep posting about this project as I continue to prep.

Outside of my day to day work, I'm close to having a first cut of a piece I'm doing for Steve Depino, which will definitely be posted when it's finished.

later skaters.

There will be Blood

My excitement for this film knows no bounds. This is my favorite filmmaker. Hard Eight, Boogie, Magnolia and Punch Drunk Love are all AMAZING films. Along with Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas), Robert Altman (Short Cuts), Spike Lee (Do the Right Thing), and Steven Soderbergh (sex, lies and videotape), Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights) completely revolutionized the way I looked at making films and writing scripts. This is his new film.

On the Lot sucks (but I've seen every episode)

It does though. I can't believe Mark "king of reality/competition shows" Burnett and Steven Spielberg dropped the ball on this. It's all over the place. There's no rhyme or reason to what they're doing and they're not showing the best part- the shooting! I don't think the general public knows what goes into making a film and maybe they don't give a shit but truly it's fascinating and would make for great drama without having to resort to the usual reality style editing where a situation seems more dramatic than it is. On top of that the Host needs to relax. Obnoxious doesn't even cover it. She has this habit of wrapping her arms around the contestants and making them do the same to her. It's awkward. Then she'll point out that they're "shaking" and "why are you nervous?" Ummmm, because you're a creppy weirdo who can't make them feel comfortable not to mention they just screened a piece of work that they put their heart and soul into (hopefully) and adrenaline is consuming them. I do like the guest director judges- there honest and not afraid to speak their mind, although Michael Bay seems like a douche bag through and through. Carrie Fisher is a trainwreck, and Garry Marshall says some good stuff and has some funny one-liners but sometimes I'm not sure where he's coming from. Either he's drinking during commercial breaks or he's slipping mentally. For example, he told one director that next time he'd like to see her do something more serious. Well their assignment was to make a comedy. I'm sure she would love to do something serious, when assigned to. But he ragged on himself for Beaches so that made up for it.

All right I'm done with the soap boxing...

I'm watching because I love watching the shorts. We DVR the episodes and fast forward thru the Crystal methed-up host. Probably the only way I could watch it. That being said, as a filmmaker (or wannabe filmmaker) it's a disappointment that the show doesn't tell you anything about filmmaking and that's it's American Idol for filmmakers. Maybe they'll get their shit together next season.

Short Films, etc...

Please feel free to comment here on my work currently displayed on the site. I realize that this isn't the ideal setup but we'll get there. In the meantime, good, bad or indiffferent please voice your opinion.

UPDATE:

Even though one person reads this blog I've already managed to confuse her. Eventually I will have something setup where on my main page you can view my work and make comments. For the time being please feel free to post them and just reference the title.

Accelerating America

I went to a screening of a documentary titled "Accelerating America" last week at the Soho Hotel screening room. My friend Tim Hotchner made the film as an independent with little money. He's polishing the film over the next few weeks and then he's looking for distribution. Go to the site and check it out- there's a trailer also. http://acceleratingamerica.com/

3 Back to Back

I saw 3 movies yesterday I've been wanting to see for awhile. Alpha Dog, Dreamgirls and Bobby. I liked all of them, but Alpha Dog stood out. Dreamgirls looks great, sounds great and the performances are all fantastic, but I have a hard time with musicals sometimes. When characters break into song and act out their scene in song, it usually loses me. That being said, I liked the film alot but I didn't feel it was even close to being a Best Picture contender for the oscars. Bobby was also good with strong performances and more importantly had a lot of good things to say which all pertain to what's going on in the world right now. It takesd place on the day Bobby Kennedy was assasinated and follows several characters and how they are affected. Alpha Dog was the best of the bunch. It's based on a true story about a gang who kidnaps the 15 year old brother of an addict who owes them money. More than that it's about a group of young kids whose wanna-be tough guy image pushes them in a direction they can't handle. The film was delayed for 2 years because the trial was still ongoing and the defense team felt the film portrayed their client in an unflattering light. It's written and directed by NickCassavetes son of John and featues lots of good performances from talented actors. EmileHirsch is very good as always. AntonYelchin, ShawnHatosy and JustinTimberlake were also good. BenFoster gave one of the best performances in the film as the drug addict who's debt to a dealer causes the kidnapping. There's a slight documentary approach and a conservative use of of split screen which all tie in nicely at the end. Well worth checking out.

First of (hopefully) many...

So this is my first post and since I have no idea what to start off with- ideally something witty and entertaining, but that's unlikely- so I'll just talk production and movies. I started this for that reason. To create a nice network of filmmakers and film fans to talk movies and making movies. Currently I'm polishing a 21 page script for a september shoot. It's called 'Okay Great' and it's centered around 20 something Sean Chase who is having an bad/strange day, which may or may not be motivated by something threatening. vague, I know, but I'd rather show than explain. We are hoping to shoot with the Red camera, which my friend/DP, Adrian bought. The delivery schedule is being postponed (bout halfway down), however and I'm too anxious to wait any longer. So with fingers crossed, we'll be shooting in september on the Red camera.
Other than that I'm currently working on a mini-doc promoting a photographer friend of mine Steve. We did 2 days of shooting and today I'll start editing.

Click here and go to the second page, halfway down to see a little preview I put together.