HALLOWEEN Phan-Film A Sucess!

Last Halloween's Premiere of the Southlan-Film's phan-film HALLOWEEN: RETURN OF THE SANDMAN was a tremendous success.  It first had a premiere screening on October 20th at the Gwinnett Center where it was greeted with an enthusiastic audience before having it's World Premiere online at You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF5GH1Q3F9s in which it was separated into 7 parts (or 73 minutes).  The featurette has gotten great reviews from fans which is whom the film was made for.

Writer/producer/director Ron McLellen was at had at the Gwinnett screening (as was most of the cast & crew of the film) to support the film and to see it on the big screen with an audience.  Although McLellen plans to do more phan-films in the future only time will tell if he does a sequel to this one.

DIARY OF A FILMMAKER - The Website!

I've just completed my personal website - http://kevinlpowers.yolasite.com and now I'm thinking about creating a website dedicated to my DIARY OF A FILMMAKER film series which will link back to this blog.

I've been very busy lately working on lots of productions and I hope soon to be caught up with all the updates that I need to do for this blog site. I hope never to leave my readers with nothing to read as long as this past two months so continue to come back to this site where I will be uploading and constantly keeping you updated on everything!

DIARY OF A FILMMAKER - Episode 1006 Now Online!

The latest episode in my DIARY OF A FILMMAKER series Episode 1006 was just uploaded to You Tube and to my Facebook yesterday. Episode 1006 is the third Part of the series of episodes documenting the behind the scenes production of the Southlan-Films production of the HALLOWEEN phan-film RETURN OF THE SANDMAN which will have its World Premiere this Monday, October 26th at the Gwinnett Convention Center at 8:00pm.

There is at least one more episode for the this sequence before I head back to other film productions but it was fun while it latest.

08/27/09 More Filming on Remote Viewing Documentary

Over the last three days I've been getting together with Vernon Mui to continue filming on our remote viewing documentary. Most of what we have been doing over the past few days is updating his website - Georgia Remote Viewing Society, and filming FAQ questions that he can update to the site to add more content. Most of what we have been focusing on is to make the GRVS website be the best it can be and attract more people.

One of the major hurtles of this documentary is the lack of a real group of people interested in the subject matter so I am trying to help Mui create content to get people more interested. This may seem like something that a documentarian should not be doing but I am not only a filmmaker on this project but I am also someone who is trying to help Mui present remote viewing as something anyone who is interested can learn.

One of the other main hurdles of this film is that Mui is still new at not only teaching but also being in front of the camera. He is someone more comfortable behind the camera and it shows in much of the footage captured thus far, but he is improving and has come a long way since we first started filming this project a few months ago.

I do not know how long this production will take before I have enough good info to put in a film but it will be an interesting journey nevertheless.

Next, we will meet to edit the FAQ that we filmed as well as work on the footage of one of his sessions that we filmed so that members of the site will have more content to view. It should be very interesting.

08/23/09 Cake Baby Productions finishes THE TEDIOUS EXISTENCE OF TERRELL B. HOWELL

Sunday was the last day of filming on the Cake Baby Production of the short film THE TEDIOUS EXISTENCE OF TERRELL B. HOWELL, which was written & produced by Kelly Silverman and directed by her husband David Silverman. The production had a seven day shooting schedule and was completed on schedule.

I was on set as a general production assistant but also provided production stills for the film. The film is an under stated drama with subtle hints of dry comedy about a married man (played by Steve Coulter) whose life takes a drastic turn when he gets involved with a woman he encounters on the street.

Although I had very little to do with this production I was able to once again work with many people that I hadn't worked with in a long time such as Renonda Anderson (make up), Donna Wong (script supervisor), Alex Turner (PA), Karli Brooks (actress), and Brent Brooks (PA). Working on this production, for me, was mostly fun and entertaining due to the fact that I wasn't responsible for much of the actual work on the film (which was a relief believe you me).

I am glad that I was given the opportunity to work on this short film as it gave me the opportunity to work with many filmmakers that I haven't worked with before and I had a lot of fun just being able to be on set and enjoying myself.

As the Silvermans take the film into post production I wish them all the luck especially since they hope to be able to have the film out to film festivals before the end of the year. I can't wait to see the final version when it is complete.

8/1/09 - 8/3/09 Filming on the "Pilot" of The 48 HOUR FILM COMPETITION SHOWDOWN

Since production on this documentary lasted more then four days, I'm just going to group the entire experience under one heading. I started work on the 48 Hour Film Competition Showdown before I ever knew that I actually had the job.

Following my work with Interstate Films on the actual 2009 48 Hour Film Festival Competition and the production TURN THE OTHER CHEEK, several of us got together to put together an auditition package for the actual Showdown (which we heard about during the screening of our film). Although only one of us got a call back to be a part of the actual crew of filmmakers being filmed for the showdown, I would eventually get on to the production as part of the documentary crew care of both Ondie Daniel and Renonda Anderson, who referred me to the production. I was hired as an assistant camera on the production.

The Showdown that we are filming is actually a race between two teams (one from Atlanta and the other from Nashville) who have 48 hours to complete a short film (in the same tradition as the original competition) andd we are filming this as part of a "Pilot" episode for a proposed television show. The production crew for the show was huge and as an AC my job was to supply the cameramen with batteries and cards whenever they needed them. On set my co-AC was Jennifer Rowland who was making her film production debute. Together we handled everything that Team Atlanta documentary crew needed during the Morning shift of production (since everything was filmed around the clock). She started work on the production a day before me but over the next 48 hours we would be a non-stop perfect team that complimented each other.

On the first day of production we were mainly on location at an abandoned werehouse (chosen by the film crew) and allowed us to be of the most use. The second day we had a lot less to do and therefore there was a lot of down time but we had to keep in mind that this was a documentary film shoot and we filmed what we needed to film.

There were a lot of surprises on set (too many for me to name here) but I guess I did a well enough job as I was asked to return for the final day of filming in which the screening of the two teams' finished films would be screened in front of an audience. I enjoyed filming on this day the most as I was promoted from AC to camera op as the production needed more camera ops for the added cameras of the shoot. This allowed me to work with the HD cameras for the second time (the first being on TURN THE OTHER CHEEK in which I used an HD camera but filmed in 24p).

The experience was an eye opener as I gained a lot of knowledge from the production personnel as well as the team members being filmed and I gained a lot of new friends that I hope to have on future productions. The experience working on this film is not one that I would have missed for anything and I'm glad I was able to work on the production and be of some type of help.

I do know that it took me two days to not only recover from the three days on set but also all the other films I worked on just earlier that week. You only get a few great opportunities to work on and with productions such as this (which was a paying gig) and I hope that the production gets picked up so that I might have the opportunity to work on the actual series.

Here's hoping!

7/30/09 Filming Continues on OUT OF SEASON or Does It?

We were scheduled to continue filming on OUT OF SEASON on 7/30/09. Director Ed Harlaque wants to see my lawyer character in the film more then just the two scenes originally scheduled so the scene we were scheduled to film today now has my character in it talking to the main character Sara.

I was up for the expanded role because it had been so long since I had done any real acting and the one day we have already shot I had a lot of fun dong.

Today's filming had to be cancelled because out lead actor playing Sara just could not get out to the location. Even though she was in Harlaque's previous film BREAKING THROUGH, she still had problems making her way out to the location. We ended up cancelling once she finally arrived becaue we ultimately ran out of time.

I'm only disappointed because I spent time going over the script and was ready to film when all of this happened, so, I was a tad disappointed. This is okay as I forgot to cut my hair and if we had filmed continuity in regards to my hair cut would not be the same (a problem I ran into on the set of JACK O'LANTERN). All in all Harlaque and I had time to discuss this project while we waited for the actor and even though we had the location/room set to be filmed (and we then had to tear down without ever filming), I don't believe the whole day was a bust.

Since I had just filmed the LAST CALL teaser last night not filming today was actually fine by me because I had another film shoot to be ready for for the up coming weekend. We'd just reschedule like we normally do and eventually we will "get it done."

Shooting the LAST CALL Teaser

Producer Ondie Daniel wants to put together a teaser trailer for the LAST CALL vampire anthology, thus we decided that we would film a scene from my fine (in addition to two others). We decided to film one of the flashback sequences since we could show one of the vampires in addition to showing how the film would look. Everyone was available except for Bren Allison so I decided to film the scene myself.

Having no asperations to direct the film myself I was more nervous going into directing this then I was HOUSE OF SECRETS, which I was prepared to direct and produce. The teaser was easier only because we had cast two actors that I had already worked with - Amy Wolkis and Jason Von Stein, while the third actor in the scene who was playing the vampire of the film and before that night I had never met him. He was an addition by Daniel as I requested that she be responsible with casting all the vampires in the film since we were going with people from Netherworld who already have or will soon have their own vampire teeth. Authenticity is key with this project and having great teeth is one of the reasons I agreed to do the project.

Another reason for doing this project is obviously because I wanted to collaborate with someone else on a creative level and Allison is someone whom I've worked with before but not so much on a creative level and this project was the perfect opportunity. I've only worked with Daniel as an actor or as a make up artist (and more recently she was casting director on several other projects) so working with her to produce this film is also new and a challenge.

One of the key ingredients that Daniel has provided is an amazing location for the production is far better then anything I could have imagined. The location is key to my story and filming at this location has given the production higher production value then I could have ever imagained. I did have to do some rewrites on the spot to accomodate that fact that I did not want to show any blood or gore in the scene (and therefore wouldn't have to worry about the clean up) but I think the scene works really well without the gore.

I think my actors all did a great job putting this teaser together in such sort notice and my crew were great as well (the make up artist was from Netherworld as well) and this was a great way to break the ice on the production. Shooting this teaser was a way to let everyone know that we are still a "go" on the production dispite the delays.

For a few moments I even wanted to direct the film myself since I was having so much fun (until it all had to eventually end) but then I wised up and realized that it was better to let Bren do all the heavy lifting while I sit back and just watch :)

A FILM IN 48 HOURS: The Making of TURN THE OTHER CHEEK Part 4

7/01/09

The screening of all the films produced during the 2009 48 Hour Film Competition will began on Tuesday and continue until Thursday. There are six sections of screenings of which the Interstate Film production of Turn The Other Cheek will be part of Group C, which will screen at 7:00 pm tonight along with eleven other films. The trick is that each section is given a specific criteria to follow in order to qualify for the competition (these criteria being the specific prop, character, and phrase that had to be in all the films of each section).
The screening will all be at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. This venue is a friend to independent cinema as it specializes in limited release domestic and foreign films not to mention being a sponsor of the Atlanta Film Festival (which also so happens to be a sponsor of this event). The venue is a great place to showcase these indie films to a larger audience.
Many, if not all, the cast and crew will be seeing the film for the very first time on this night so it is a big deal to us all. Although producer Gary Hamrick, Jr. is lamentably nervous about the whole affair having been on call for the entire process of the film (and lets not forget the other producer Ondie Daniel) because he was originally set to direct the film before relinquishing the role to Jim Adams.
We have an amazing turnout for the film that included (but is not limited to) actors Liz Martin, James Robert Jarrett, Luisa Casas (who also co-edited), Daniel, Corey Chalef, and Robert Sattler, to name a few. Members of our crew also made an appearance from Asa Rose (key grip), Emilie Peters (script supervisor), Christine Cuff (production assistant), and Michael Bailey (head writer), to name a few. It is a grand event as filmmakers from all the films screening show up to support their films as well as the event itself and fun is to be had all around as people cheered and awed at the amazing lineup of films on display.
This being my first 48 Hour Film Competition I just take it all in. It will be the first film I’ve been a part of that screened on a big screen (I don’t count JACK O’LANTERN since I never saw it on the big screen when it was screened). It is a great sense of accomplishment to see a completed film on the screen and that everyone enjoys the experience because regardless of the quality of the film it is one of the most nerve racking and exhilarating experiences that I have ever had (other then shooting my own film House of Secrets that is).
There is no describing the feeling one gets when you are able to see a finished film on the big screen and that people other then your own cast and crew are enjoying it. It is one of the greatest feelings that any filmmaker can have sinse deep down inside we all want someone to enjoy the films that we produce. I don’t know about other filmmakers but I like to think that I don’t do films just for me but that I hope others will enjoy them as well (no matter how messed up and unusual they are).

I have mixed feelings about the film itself but that’s because I have mixed feelings about everything I work on. I’ve never once had a great reaction to anything I’ve ever worked on and knowing that this is only a rough version and that director Jim Adams intends to film an expanded version of the film only solidifies my insecurities about the film since he wants to make the story better by working on the characters more. There is only so much you can do with a story that’s less then seven minutes long and in which we were given particular things to put in the film, but whatever…the festival version of the film is its own entity that will be separate from the expanded version just like the competition version of Ron McLellen’s Night of the Hungry Dead is vastly different from the final Director’s Cut, which was expanded post it’s festival version.
All in all I think the cast & crew of Interstate Films did a good job putting together Turn The Other Cheek and even though it may not be the strongest film that any of us have produced it is one of the most fun and I can’t wait for the opportunity to work with the cast & crew again.
Working on the 48 Hour Film Competition is a unique opportunity for me to work with other filmmakers and expand my skills as a filmmaker and I hope that I get the chance to repeat it next year.

THE END.

A FILM IN 48 HOURS: The Making of TURN THE OTHER CHEEK Part 3

6/28/09

Post-production on the Interstate Films’ 48 Hour Film Competition production Turn The Other Cheek started on Saturday, June 27, 2009 but would not be complete until Sunday, June 28, 2009.

After we had completed filming at the Mexican Restaurant location our co-editor Luisa Casas took the tape to her condo where the production had set up shop to start uploading the footage and cutting the scenes already filmed. When they got hold of the footage they took notice of the HDV footage of the first scene which they could not upload because they were editing with an older version of Final Cut Pro. As luck would have it, these scenes were at the end of the film and director Jim Adams had a solution to changing the end of the film so we didn’t have to go back and reshoot the scene (which was impossible since we no longer had the actors or access to the location any longer).

This is the only major problem that we have in regards to any technical issues of the footage. I’m sure that we could have filmed more coverage of scenes and cutaways (since I truly believe that we don’t have enough) but this is not one of those things you’re thinking about when you’re trying to shoot a film in under 24 hours in order to get it to the editors. The more time we spent shooting the film, the less time the editors hve with the footage and the production has to be complete and final by 7:00 pm tonight.

There is a lot of pressure on shooting the film so the editors can get their hands on the footage. This may not have been apparent but it is something we are all thinking about because unless we complete the film by the deadline all that we have worked for will have been for nothing.

This being the day of post-production I don’t have anything that needs to be done on my end. It is extremely “soothing” to know that I don’t have to be responsible for the final edit of the film (unlike say my feature film House of Secrets which I’m in post-production on). One of the reasons why I decided to do this project is that I want just to do lighting and camera and not be responsible for anything else. Not since working on the Movie Tao production 6 Degrees of Desperation (written & directed by Bren Allison) have I been in this position and sometimes I miss just working on a set as someone other then the person in charge.

The only work I do for the production on this day is give some background info on some of the technical aspects of the film for the paperwork that has to be turned in by the Interstate Films crew (Ondie Daniel & Gary Hamrick, Jr. as producers on the film). Instead, I decide to unwind from the process by going to see a movie on the big screen (the film is Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and the less said the better).

Daniel & Hamrick send out an email and text declaring that our film Turn The Other Cheek has beat the deadline and made it to the finish line of the 2009 48 Hour Film competition. Everyone is extremely happy with the outcome and ecstatic that our film will be screening on Wednesday, July 1st as part of the Group C screening of the 48 Hour Film Competition.

Our next goal is to support the film by going to the screening and voting on our film to be the audience award film so it can go on to bigger and better things (in terms of the film festival).

Week 1 - "Filming the First Class"

Vernon Mui conducted his first class for the remote viewing classes. He's conducting two INTRO classes in order to get people to sign up fot the funsar the two day "Beginningers" class so he can get the funds to make his trip to California at the first of August to do some one-on-one training in remote viewing.

The first class was on Friday, 7/10/09 and had two people from his website that decided to do the FREE Intro class. I couldn't be on hand put we set up a camera to film the entire thing so that not only does he have something to look back on but we have something for the film in case something extraordinary happen during the class.

The second class was the following Sunday on 7/12/09 and only had one person show up.

From what Mui has told me the 1st class provided him with a alot of good questions on the subject to answer whereas the second class went on at a snail's pace due to the lack of students but I informed him that this was his first attempt at teaching a class and he shouldn't get too discouraged

From what I've been told remote viewing is not an easy subject that can be explained in five minutes. It takes Mui almost 2 hours to go over everything and he didn't even get into the "meat" of the subject. I'm sure the first class had a lot of questions for Mui whereas if the person in the second class asked almost no questions (I ended up filming a huge chunk of the second class).

This week ended up being nothing more than more footage that probably won't end up being in the film because the focus of the film is on Mui's personal experience with remote viewing while the classes are only going to be some background flavor.

What this week did do was help me understand why other people are interested in the subject as well as might promote some promotional material not only for my documentary but for Mui as well who wants to do more classes and possibly turn it into a business.

A FILM IN 48 HOURS: The Making of TURN THE OTHER CHEEK Part 2

6/27/09

Today, Saturday, June 27, 2009 will be the first production day of the Interstate Films 48 Hour Film Competition production Turn The Other Cheek, with Ondie Daniel & Gary Hamrick, Jr. producing and Jim Adams directing and me as director of photography. This will be one of the craziest days in my life as I first have a photo shoot to set up through my company CenterSeat Entertainment before making my way to the Mexican Restaurant – the first location of the day.
The photo shoot for CenterSeat Entertainment is put together by my co-workers Safaa Sammander, Laura Scigliano, and Renonda Anderson, all of whom worked on my feature film House of Secrets. Since Sammander is wanting to get more into the still photography arts (having done all the production stills for my film) this will be the first of many photo shoots designed to showcase themed photo shoots for actors & models. This first one is designed to focus on headshots with Anderson on make up to create some truly inspiring and fantastic creations against a green screen backdrop (with backgrounds to be added later). Since Sammander has never used lighting equipment before it is my job to set up the lights and make sure everything works according to plan. Since the lighting kit is one I’ve never used before it takes twice as long to set up as expected and I end up getting to the Mexican Restaurant later then expected.

Once on the Mexican Restaurant set I immediately set foot to setting up the lights for the first set up of the day. My key grip is Asa Rose who has been working with me on all my productions for the last couple of years. He came to this business knowing absolutely nothing but by working on several different indie film sets he has come unto his own.
Because the film is being shoot in 48 hours I’ve decided to use a very bright and evenly lit restaurant set since it’s a comedy. The location in its normal décor is far too dark and ominous and befitting a dark drama in which the characters have much to hide which is the exact opposite of the feeling I want to give to the film since so much of it takes place in this location.
Adams as director of the film is very fast and very easy to work with as he allows me carte blanche in terms of the cinematography of the film as he focus’ on performances and the blocking of each of the scenes.
The atmosphere on the set of this film is quite different then that of the experiences I’ve had on other films. Since most of the films that I’ve worked on have been features and in the horror, suspense, adventure, and dramatic genres the atmosphere on set has always been heavy and maybe a little too serious (probably because they were features and we always had a set amount of scenes and pages to get through before the end of the day). The atmosphere on this production is different and at times down right hilarious despite the tight shooting schedule and pressures of trying to complete the film on time.
When we aren’t filming everyone is having a grand time whether talking in groups or taking pictures of anything and everything. This ends up being one of the best groups of people I’ve worked with in such a short period of time. Although I did not get to know many of the individuals involved with the production (aside from the technical crew) working on the 48 Hour Film Competition is indeed a unique experience.
Most of the day is spent at this main location and when we finished filming there we move onto the second location, which is one of the actor’s home – Corey Chaleff, who is gracious enough to allow us the use of his home for the film. At this location we film the beginning of the story in which the scenes are mainly with our main actor James Robert Jarrett (who’s in the film Dance of the Dead).
Since I’ve never read the finished script (and am going by instinct and what Adams describes to me about the film) I don’t know much of what is going on in any given scene, which ironically is freeing as I focused on the look of each scene and where we will place the camera..

The entire shooting time for the film is less then 10 hours, which is amazing considering what we are trying to accomplish but we succeed in finishing up principal photography sooner then anticipated. We complete filming around 7:00 pm that night long before the sun is actually down.
Although we encountered a few problems (most notably that the first scene of the day is filmed in HDV instead of DV-24p so it can’t be accessed by the editing crew and has to be scraped altogether), the post production process will go through without many problems, hopefully.
Filming being done I leave the post production process to Hamrick, Daniel, and the rest of the production crew.

7/09/09 First Day of Filming on OUT OF SEASON

It's barely been one month since writer/producer/director Ed Harlaque finished filming pick up shots on his previous indie film and now he's plowed straight ahead into his next film OUT OF SEASON in which I have a small role as the lawyer to a woman who is accussed of killing her boyfriend, who also happens to be a police officer.

Since getting the location of Gwinnett Convention Center was so easy on his previous film we decided to make the first day of filming at my place of work once again. Harlaque has decided to possibly start filming this production in sequential order so the first scenes we are filming are the prologue to the film. And I'm in these scenes.

Originally, my character was only suppose to be two scenes but do to Harlaque continuing to do rewrites he's decided that my character (who has no name and is simply known as "lawyer") may show up in several scenes throughout the film.

After reading the script I asked Harlaque if I could be the lawyer as it has been a long time since I've been in front of the camera (although I made a cameo in his previous film as a bouncer) and I wanted my comeback to at least be something I would be interested in doing. Although the role is small (and I don't have a name), I've always wanted to play a lawyer and hope that we have a scene in the courtroom where I would really like to show off.

Another thing that attracted me to this role is the fact that it is the first time I'm able to dress up in a suit and look older then what I normally do because I have to look like a sophisticated lawyer at the top of his game.

I had a lot of fun with the role and look forward to more scenes as the lawyer in the film.

A FILM IN 48 HOURS: The Making of TURN THE OTHER CHEEK Part 1

6/26/09

Today is the first day of the 48 Hour Film Competition in Atlanta, Georgia and even though I’ve known many people who have participated in the event in the past, this will be the first year I participate. On a whim I decided to be the lighting designer for the Interstate Films production team being lead by Ondie Daniel and Gary Hamrick, Jr. both of whom I am currently working with on the vampire anthology film Last Call.
This being my first competition I don’t want to work too hard i truth be told this experience will dictate whether I ever do another one again.
Today is Friday, June 26th, 2009 and the production crew will get all the competition specifics in order to begin production on the competition film. This includes picking a genre, getting a character, a particular prop, and receiving a phrase that all needs to be incorporated into the film in order to qualify.
I’m not part of the writers group of what so much will happen on the first day. I show up to meet & greet everyone else on the team. The writer’s council takes place at the condo of Luisa Casas, who is an actor in the film and a co-editor on the production.
In what can be called the recreational room of Casas’ condo complex, Daniel and Hamrick gather together the writers in order to hammer out a script as soon as possible. Because the nature of the competition is to write, shoot, and edit a complete film in 48 hours we are not going to wait for anything. The sooner we have a script, the sooner we cab begin filming.
The group lucks out by getting comedy as the genre as that seems to be the writers’ greatest strengths. A rough draft of the script is quickly put together long before I arrive.
Due to some financial difficulties and having to run all over Georgia not only for equipment (located in Peachtree City from a fellow filmmaker who is letting me get a hold of his HDV camera for the film shoot) but to acquire the money to even be able to do the film, I don’t make it to the location until close to 10pm at night which ends up being fine since I walk in just as the production crew and cast are about to take a production photo.
When I arrive I can tell the group that Daniel & Hamrick has put together is a good one as I see the camaraderie coming through in the pix that are taken. This just makes me believe that I have chosen a good group of people to do my first 48 Hour production with.
After taking the group photo (which is during a break from writing the screenplay), I meet a few of the people involved with the production (even though many are leaving since it is decided we are not going to be doing any filming tonight).
I stay in order to talk through a possible shot list with the director once the script is finalized. This is not going to happen as Hamrick (who is slated to be director) steps down in order to let Jim Adams be director on the project. Hamrick has no problems stepping down as he has very little experience in the comedy genre unlike Adams. While Adams and Hamrick and Daniel help finalize the script, I spend most of my time discussing the whole process with Casas.
This being my first production away from Southlan-Films or CenterSeat Entertainment I want to get the lay of the land. Speaking with Casas leads me to the conclusion that many people working on this production are filmmakers just wanting to network and do what they love to do regardless of the hardships of indie film production. None of us are getting paid and we are all there because we want to be, not because we have to be.
This puts everything in perspective for me as it has been a long time since I’ve participated in a project in which I am not the production manager, producer, or someone in charge of every little aspect of the production.
I can actually sit back and enjoy myself for once. Enjoy the reason why I got into filmmaking in the first place. I enjoy that evening (even if I don’t end up leaving until close to 2:00 am in the morning) and it remind me that filmmaking can be fun.

With a finished script in hand we are ready to begin production on our short film Turn The Other Cheek at 8:00 am in the morning at our first location – a Mexican Restaurant.
Much fun will be had.

7/07/09 Meeting With A Editor

I've got so many projects I want to have done by the end of the year that I'm getting the aid of another editor to help me out. Her name is Bren Allison-Pettingill and I've worked with her on several other projects most recently as a director of photographer on her feature film 6 DEGREES OF DESPERATION, a teen comedy. Since she edited that film I've decided to work with her to continue putting together episodes of the DIARY OF A FILMMAKER series while I focus on my short films ALONE... and MISS KITTY & ME with my other editor Daniel Hirsh.

Allison-Pettingill is a promising editor who has edited several of her own projects in addition to her feature film so I am confident that she will be able to jump right into the DIARY OF A FILMMAKER series with no problems. In addition to the DIARY OF A FILMMAKER series I hope to work with her on several of my smaller productions which have been sitting on a shelf for quite some time which includes the second episode of the CITY GARDEN series THE OLD WOMAN IN THE PARK and Safaa Sammander's short film MY SISTER MADGE to name a few.

I'll know more when the time comes and will report it here first when they are released for the public consumption.

6/30/09 Filming the First Interview.

At the last moment Vernon Mui and myself decided to film the first initial interview for our remote viewing documentary tonight at Gwinnett Convention Center. In addition to the interview we were also going to film his first solo remote viewing session not only as a means of discovering all the technical aspects of the project but to also get me familiar to how it works in the practical sense but to also familiarize me with the whole concept.

The purpose of this film is not only to inform and describe what the process of remote viewing is for the average person but to allow me to go on my own journey of discovering what it is since I have so little knowledge of it in the first place.

The interview was hard going at first since Mui has never been interviewed before and found it difficult to stay focused and concentrate. He had issues with staying focused on the task at had but by the end of the interview he was where I needed him to be for the film. Mui is an unusual subject for the film as he is mostly a behind-the-scenes person who never wants to be in front of the camera. For this film he is mainly the subject and my "window" into the world of remote viewing. He gets satisfaction from using the project as a means to teach more people who are interested in the subject matter. We are currently setting up several classes that will be filmed for the documentary and which will allow him to shine as a teacher.

I'm thinking the film will take us through summer and part of the fall to film and I will be a feature (or at least 74-80 minutes long). This is our second day of filming (our first day was spent on the first class).

The amazing thing about this proect is that even though the filming of the actual remote viewing sessions are quite boring it is the results of the session that are facinating because with Mui's session I picked the subject that he was to remote view and he was very close to finding the right place (the place was some pyramids of Egypt) even though he had no knowledge of the place he was looking for. He had enough of the small details correct that I am convenced that there may be something to this remote viewing (the results of the session will be posted online and in the finished film).

This was our practice run for the documentary but I'm convenced that this is a subject worth documenting and looking into.

6/25/09 Finding a New Director

After Ron McLellen had to drop out of working with me on the vampire short "History of the Vampire" for the anthology film LAST CALL I scrambled to come up with another person to take his place. As luck would have it a friend of mine Bren Allison-Pettingill was interested in working with me again and the timing couldn't have been more perfect.

We spoke today discussing the script and any possible changes that she might want to the story and her ideas were all very valid. One of her key contributions is that she thought the two main characters of Jackaboc and William spend too much time sitting at the bar not doing much. She thinks that they should be doing something other then that which she suggested the action of playing darts. I agreed that this could be a possibility.

She also suggested that there be a stronger modivating factor for the William character to remain in the bar all the while paying little attention to the story that Jackaboc is trying to tell him. This was also another idea that I had no problem with implimenting into the script.

After we discussed all the possibilities she said she wanted to read over the script again with all these new ideas in her head before officially jumping on the board the project. If she does agree she will be a great asset to the film as she will definitely bring a different approach to the film then McLellen primarily because McLellen has done mostly horror films and she has done adventure, drama, and comedy so they are both coming from two different backgrounds.

This should all be very interesting.

6/20/09 Hiring a Director

After a long talk with director Ron McLellen it was decided that he should no longer direct my screenplay HISTORY OF THE VAMPIRES for the vampire anthology LAST CALL (which is Executive Produced by Ondie Daniel). He is currently heavy in post on his own film EVIL IN THE FLESH which was filmed last year and is heavy in CGI effects right now. He is also prepping production on a HALLOWEEN fan-film and these two obligations prompted him to step down from behind the camera on my project.

Instead I now find myself looking for a new director for the screenplay which will also be aproved by Daniel. My second choice is Bren Allison-Pettingill who directed the film 6 DEGREES OF DESPERATION last year (among having directed many other short films and documentaries). I sent her both the original screenplay and the McLellen approved version for her consideration.

The reason I did this is because I want to give her the oportunity to read the screenplay as originally developed before McLellen & I did rewrites. I prefer the original version although I was always up for changing details to suit the director. I want to give Allison-Pettingill the opportunity to give her own input into the production.

Right now the only characters cast are minor characters with the exception of the WIFE in which actress Amy Wolkis (whom I worked with on BAD LAND and EVIL IN THE FLESH) is attatched. Many of the minor characters and vampires will be played by actors from the haunted house attraction Netherworld. The artists of Netherworld are also providing make-up, stunts, and CGI, among other technical support, to the film.

If Allison-Pettingill decides that she is not interested then I will direct the film myself which was never out of the range of possibility. Either way I look forward to working on the film and with Daniel again since the last time we worked together she was the Casting director for my film HOUSE OF SECRETS (when it was known as SHIVER).

6/19/09 ReShoots on BREAKING THROUGH

We were at Gwinnett Convention Center & Arena last night filming reshoots on the urban film BREAKING THROUGH which is directed by Ed Harlaque (his first film). After three years of filming on and off he decided that more was needed for the film so we ended up filming more footage for the stripper runway model sequence (in which the strippers of the film walk down the runway in very little clothes) which is one of the final sequences in the film.

We filmed some of this earlier in the year but with none of the main cast members until now (which is kind of unusual since the main characters should be the ones that are in the competition).

Either way, this is one of the longest productions I've ever been on. It is good to hear that the film is almost done and that soon I'll be able to see some of the work I've put into the film since I was one of the lighting directors on the film (getting out to the set whenever I could).

6/11/09 Meeting the Music Supervisor

Met with my music supervisor Sacha Dzuba last night to go over some preliminaries for HOUSE OF SECRETS. Dzuba is part of the band The Julia Dream but he's also a very talented composer who contributed to the score for JACK O'LANTERN and some of my early photo gallery films. He's also composed music for several short films and even a full score for a children's theatre play.

For HOUSE OF SECRETS I need a variety of band music and original score and he's the one I trust to be able to bring me a variety of stuff to choice from (if not compose something original himself). Right now I have someone else on board to score the film (Kevin McKiney who has scored CITY GARDEN for me so far) but I wanted to work with Dzuba again and this was one of the best ways to do so.

Our meeting was very production in that we discussed the four songs by bands that I thing the film needs and we listened to a lot of different genres of music so that he could get a better feel of the types of songs that I'm looking for. I even came to the conclusion that I need to use one of The ulia Dream's song as my End Titles song.

Working on this just means I'm getting that much closer to finishing the film (even though I still have a very long ways to go).

06/05/09 First day of filming on Remote Viewing Documentary

At the same time I was conducting a reading of my screenplay HISTORY OF THE VAMPIRES for the anthology film LAST CALL, I was also doing some preliminary filming on my documentary on remote viewing. Vernon Mui, who is a practicioner of the process of remote viewing, was conduction a Level 1 class with an individual who was being exposed to it for the very first time. This class wasn't originally suppose to be part of the film that Mui & I are doing but we decided to film this session just so he could get aclimated to the camera being on him (since the film will mostly follow him) and we could get some cutaways and background footage for the proposed feature length film.

I don't know really anything about remote viewing other then what was in the film SUSPECT ZERO but I thought it would make an interesting topic for a film that discusses the process and execution by someone who uses it.

Since I was unable to be on hand to film and watch the entire session, I'll have to rely on the footage to give me an idea of what happened and how well the session went off.

06/05/09 The Reading of the Screenplay with Actors

Producer Ondie Daniel put together a tean of actors (both cast and not cast) for the reading of my screenplay HISTORY OF THE VAMPIRES in order to work out some of the problems (if any) with the script prior to casting later this month. It was interesting as I originally didn't think that the reading would be all that benificial since I had already did a re-write of the screenplay changes things to meet expectations of director Ron McLellen, who at the last minute could not make it to the reading for personal reasons.

The reading was actually beneficial in that the notes that cast & writers had helped me see the problems with the story when I changed some of the motivations of the main character WILLIAM. These were small things but nevertheless things that when I change them will make the screenplay stronger as a whole.

The meeting/reading was also good in that it gave me and Ondie our first real meeting together on the production and we actually came to some decisions about my production and the entire production as a whole. I was also able to get the title of the film - LAST CALL, and I got a look at the film's promo art work that will be on the tee-shirts (among other items).

Now I've got to contact actors and try to put together other production items to get this film on the move.

05/31/09 Rewriting the Script

Emailed the director approved version of HISTORY OF THE VAMPIRE to producer Ondie Daniel and director Ron McLellen yesterday (in addition to actor Chris Whitley, more on that later). Par my conversation with McLellen it was decided that the main character in the screenplay WILLIAM should not know he is a vampire, which upon closer examination I agreed with, so I incorporated those ideas into the current version of the screenplay.

HISTORY OF THE VAMPIRE is just one story of five in the Daniel produced vampire anthology (title currently unknown) of which I contributed one of the stories and wanted McLellen to direct if I was not going to do so myself. I could have easily done the film myself but I want to see how someone else interprets my work so I'm being very hands off on the production of the film.

Another fact is that I do not particularly like vampire films as the majority of the ones I've seen (which is a substantial amount) are dull and uninteresting. I just think the monster itself is dull and uninteresting. But I came up with a story that put my love of horror films and the vampire mythos on its head (or at least I hope it does). I hope the story is both informative and funny at the same time even in the gore-soaked bloody parts at the end (which I had a oy in writing).

I hope the film comes off just 70% as originally intended because then I know I'm closer to writing the type of screenplay that any director can come in and adequately interpret which is my true goal with this endeavor.

We'll see how the re-writes are taken when Daniel and McLellen give me feedback.

05/06/09 - Reading the Script

Just finished reading writer/director Ron McLellen's short film script HALLOWEEN: NIGHT OF THE BOOGEYMAN which is meant to be a fan-film that he plans on filming this year. It is a short film that is part remake and part re-imagination of the original John Carpenter film.

Being a short film and a remake of the original film (and not the Rob Zombie remake) McLellen's script borrows a lot from the original film with only a few minor changes mostly in terms of names of characters but the plot is 100% Carpenter HALLOWEEN, which is not a good thing.

In this day and age there are virtually hundreds of HALLOWEEN fan-films out there and doing a remake of theoriginal is probably not the best way to go. Of the few HALLOWEEN fan-films I've seen most of them have either done sequels to various films in the franchise or created stand alone one-offs but none that I have seen have tried to remake the original (which point of fact is too straight forward and kind of bland which is why Zombie changed so much for his version). McLellen has done some very interesting short films in his past, most notable NIGHT OF THE HUNGRY DEAD (which gets mention in this fan-film), THE INN, FROM ABOVE, and DER SOLDAT, but this film is lacking in originality and...well, a sense of fun.

Most of the fan-films I've seen relish the opportunity to have fun with their favorite character being able to put them in situations that "Hollywood" never would but this sense of fun is completely void in McLellen's script and in fact comes off as dare I say - bland and emotionless. Now this may be exactly what he is going for as it is a remake of the Carpenter film and if that is the case then he has succeeded but that doesn't always make for a good fan-film.

Regardless, I've always trusted McLellen with his productions and for the most part they are sound, so, I'm not too worried when we actually start to film. I'm actually looking forward to the filming as this will be my first fan-film and McLellen is working on getting the Myers mask from HALLOWEEN: H20 as opposed to any of the other versions of the mask. I know that he'll change it around and augment it to fit his own perceptions of how Myers should look. I also happen to be in the running for a small role in the film which should be fun since I've had no roles in quite a long time (by choice since I'm too busy) and I thought that this film would be a good film to re-enter the field.

I'll have more as we get closer to filming the movie.

04/27/09 Turning In The Script

I gave Ondie Daniel my screenplay "History of the Vampire" last week. This short script is part of a vampire anthology she is producing. I agreed to contribute a script although I may or may not direct or even have anything to do with it. Although I would love to direct the screenplay, I think it would be more interesting for me to watch someone else interpret my writing. Right now I'm just waiting for feedback in regards to whether or not the screenplay is right for the film she is producing.



I designed the screen-story to be an homage to vampire films while also being a kind of "intro" to vampires. Since I don't particularly have an interest in vampires, vampire films, or this sub-genre of horror to begin with coming up with a story for Daniel's "Untitled Vampire Anthology" was a feat unto itself. The only way I got through it is by loosely basing the story and structure of the story on a thus far abandoned screenplay from almost eight years ago. Although I had very little initial interest the story seemed to write itself as it took me only two days to write the first draft (which came in at just under 30 pages).



Since giving the script to Daniel, we've discussed the possibility of Ron McLellen directing the film. I both like and loathe this idea. I like this idea because by having a seasoned filmmaker on board I can be assured of the high quality and production values but I loathe this idea as McLellen has a knack of dumbing-down his scripts and there is a lot of ambiguous moments in the screenplay that I don't want to be made obvious.



Upon reading the screenplay we discussed a few items mainly that he wants to change the ending so that the two barflies exit the bar and the audience has no doubts that they are vampires because they change into vampires to help a third one who is being attacked by vampire hunters. When I heard him say this I immediately knew that he didn't get the story as everything in the story is ambiguous in regards to the vampires and my point was to show that vampires in the modern age can hide in plane sight even from their own kind. If you reveal the two barflies as vampires then you loose the whole point that I'm trying to make with the story. He also wanted to change a lot of the dialogue since my original had very little and it was meant to be brutal and fast and disturbing. By adding more dialogue you miss the element of the brutality because the characters are being too talkative. The dialogue that is present is very stylized because the less said the better.



Now, I know I'll have to do another re-write of the screenplay which I am prepared to do but based on the input of Daniel and the rest of the producers. After that I will wash my hands free and leave it up to the director to deliver a good story. I'm fully prepared to see a finished product that is barely recognizable from my own. This is one of the reasons why I'm working on this production which is to see how I can work as a writer with other people.



I await Daniel's response to the script before doing anything.

04/09/09 - On the Set of BREAKING THROUGH

Today was the final day of filming on the urban film BREAKING THROUGH which I've been working on and off for over two years. Today we were filming some pick up scenes at Gwinnett Convention Center & Arena (where I work my 9 to 5) in which three of the "strippers/contestants" of the film are having a discussion in the dressing room before taking the stage for the climatic contest scene.

As directed by first time writer & director Edward Harlaque BREAKING THROUGH has many problems that most first time films have which is a mediocre script, mediocre acting, and mediocre technical skills, but what the film does have is dedication from the large cast and heart from the director who has toiled on the project for over two years and refuses to give up. There is great passion on this production which will allow it to get finished and in front of an audience if nothing else.

On this film I helped with lighting and even acted in one scene as a bouncer, so, for me it was fun.

******

Just after the shoot ended Harlaque gave me the screenplay for his next film. He plans on trying to get three films out by the end of the year. This is one hell of an ambition considering that the first film needs to get finished but after watching him work on BREAKING THROUGH for two years I have no doubt that he will attempt everything that he says and I admire him for that.