Pre-Production peaks and valleys

So as I mentioned a week ago (Yikes! Has it been that long!?!) I'm shooting a short film for my directing class called OLD TIMES. It's based on a song Todd Snider did on his new album "The Devil You Know" only the song is called "Just Like Old Times." Brevity my friends, it's the way I need to go. Anyway, I've been really focusing hard on working everything out ahead of time for the shoot. When I first decided to do this for my project, I got alot of good luck.

First, I emailed Todd Sniders rep at Universal in order to get some kind of permission for the project. Long story short, they loved the idea. The short is basically a fictionalized or live version of the song. Kind of like what Sean Penn did with INDIAN RUNNER which is an adaptation of Bruce Springsteens "Highway Patrolman." Not only did Universal give me the thumbs up, Todd himself (via email to his manager) said "sure they can use it. can i be in it?" I responded with, "umm, that's flattering, but I already have it cast." Apparently he was joking. A few days later I got this from Todd via Todd's manager: "this is cool. tell them thanks for me." Nice!

Next stroke of luck...sorta...
my friend Dan who I hadn't spoke to since moving back to Nor Cal agreed to shoot the film. Dan's a great guy and has a keen eye, as they say. He also recently got a business partner and together they own and utilize $10,000 worth of high end equipment! I did not know this and was like "whoa dude, this might kick some ass!" He said he'd shoot the thing for me with the good stuff! Sweeeeet. But then he got a paying gig and had to bail on me. I totally understand but still...dang!

This was when things went funky. Namely, my run of luck that started with Austin hit a snag. I can't find a location to shoot the thing in. I just need a hotel room dammit! Every place I've asked has said, quite succinctly, "No way." I tell them it's not horror or porn but they just aren't budging. I have some leads that I need to follow up on tomorrow and if they don't work, I'm just gonna do it somewhere and hope it works.

One last thing...
I signed up for "The Lot" which is a website in which you can submit films in the hopes of being selected to be on the FOX show "The Lot." The show is like project greenlight only more reality TV like. The guy who created Survivor teamed up with Steven Spielberg to do it and I'm hoping to land a spot on the show. Check out their site at: http://www.thelot.com/ and sign up so you can vote me onto the show later!

I'm off to class....

Newswire...

Sorry I haven't been blogging...I've been either really busy or really lazy. Here's what's new...

We're still submitting STRINGERS to a few film festivals. It's expensive submitting to fests! Like, $30-$40 a pop and that's just to apply. We submitted to SF Indiefest and Cinequest and have some more deadlines coming up.

I'm shooting a short film for my directing class! I'm nervous as hell! It's an adaptation of the song "Old Times" by Todd Snider. Directing takes alot of work...if you want to do it right, and I'm trying to do it right. I've done a ton of pre-production and am starting to breakdown the shots in my mind. I also have 2 incredible actors involved so that's going to be a ton of fun.

Oh, we're moving. Boo! To Santa Rosa. Ugh. I hate Santa Rosa. But, it's a bigger house for the same money, a bigger yard, we can get a dog, it's closer to work and I get the garage as an office. Plus, I'll save money because I won't be able to walk over to Dempseys and spend all my cash. But still...Petaluma is home. Ah well.

So that's the scoop, alot's going on. Oh, go see FAST FOOD NATION and if you can, check out THE HAMILTONS tomorrow in a city near you. It's part of this weekend long horror film festival called Horrorfest. Clever. The guys who made it live in Petaluma and filmed it here and Lionsgate is releasing it soon.

Here's the website for The Hamiltons
and here's an interview I did with The Butcher Brothers.

Have a good weekend!

Wanna laugh really hard at a big ole phony?

Since I really have nothing to blog about, I'll continue to steal funny shit from other sites via youtube.

Watch this clip and watch Faith Hill's reaction when they announce the winner of the Country Music Awards Female vocalist of the year. She's like, the second person down on the left. Frigging classic !

When Tweedy attacks...

Dude, Jeff Tweedy smacked the crap outta some guy who jumped onstage at a Wilco show last week. I didn't know the demure Tweedy had it in him! It happens about a minute and ten seconds into the song...

I'm an AWARD WINNING filmmaker!

STRINGERS won the audience award at the Austin Film Festival!! Absolutely amazing!!! I didn't think we even stood a chance to get in and now we won the damned audience award! John from the AFF called me last night and told me the news. I was driving home when he called and I seriously don't remember driving after that. My mind was racing. It feels so good to know people liked our film. Now maybe we can pitch it as a TV show again...

CLICK HERE>>> to see it in writing if you don't believe me. I've clicked it at least 50 times since last night.