News
February 2015
Production
Blackflight Studios
Had a chance to fill in on an actor's speed reel with the folks who did Friend Request with me. I rarely get to play normal guys so I jumped at the chance to play a principal who is sincere and serious ("sincerious"?). It turned out nice; I might use some bit of it in my next reel update. More of their work can be seen in the feature The Legend of Seven Toe Maggie premiering in March.
Post production
Mr. Lockjaw - Pilot
In the home stretch on Mr. Lockjaw for final score and sound mix. I only had a bit of final ADR this month, to tweak and fine tune a couple bits, but otherwise I'd guess it's better than 99% picture lock. Along the way, Byron has turned out some sweet promotional graphics:
Bad Blood - Feature
Starting to see some post-production stills for Bad Blood and, damn, I'm pleased.
With fun shots like this in the sci-fi horror / creature feature, I'm wondering why bother with my pickup shots?
They might be tempted to cut more coverage of my P.I. character sitting on his ass in a car!
If they stay to plan, however, in March April I'll be picking up three brief scenes that didn't fit into the October schedule for principal photography.
Pre production
Untitled Feature
I got cast this month in a psychological crime thriller, by Fierce Films and Graveyard Walker Productions.
The story is inspired by their "Insanity" short film they created for the Atlanta 2014 48-hr film contest.
Logline: two interns on a police detective division get in over their heads as they try and solve a murder mystery themselves.
I'll be playing one of the veteran detectives on the force.
The first part of the feature-length story will shoot in March May.
Events
Ga Tech Business Network - Film Industry
Georgia Tech's School of Business hosts film industry networking and a panel discussion on the 24th (tickets). Hear the buzz about tax credits, locations, and economic impacts from panelists Lee Thomas, Mike Riley, and Shay Bentley-Griffin.
Atlanta Film Festival - Eat, Drink, & B*Indie
Got Stella, wet nuts, and a sore throat in a bar on the 17th. In other words, Manuel's Tavern for beer, boiled peanuts, and talking with some of the indie filmmakers behind, and watch trailers for, selections in next month's Atlanta Film Fest. Multiple promising documentaries to check out, including Jef Bredemeier's feature documentary about "Dante's Down the Hatch" and Jared Callahan's "Janey Makes A Play." Two films I worked on, American Hell and Public Enemy #1, are also AtlFF selections.
Invasion of the Undead
Enjoyed catching the premiere of this campy horror feature and seeing several familiar faces on the big screen. I'm not in it but several of the actors who are share previous film projects with me. One of the three leads, Dylan Schettina, played with me in Evolution Creek; another lead, Marie Barker, as well as the writer-director Torey Hass, did an episode of Horror Hotel. The movie also has Candace Mabry ghostly garb (and a head wound like in No Experience Necessary; and Restricted Diet), and a featured bit with Mark Ashworth (Mr Snuggles, American Hell, and Mr Lockjaw) bowed but un-bloodied.
Days of the Dead
Doing a bit of promotion at the Days of the Dead horror film fest, February 6-8. We got a vendor table for Mr. Lockjaw where I and members of the production team and cast talked up the film in which I play the psycho lead.
I got a kick out of doing a puppet interview with the fest reporter and videographer, so the photo looks ironically cheerful - with smiles and bright yellows - but the the film itself is very dark - lots of blues and reds, not to mention the homicides. I love the idea of someone thinking it's a children's show.
Attack of the Morningside Monster was there too with a vendor table and DVDs for $10. I played monster fodder in that one. Neat to see stars Tiffany Shepis, Robert Pralgo, and Mike Stanley there.
Around the corner, the leads of Invasion of the Undead were promoting their premiere this month.
Inspiration
Creativity in the age of YouTube
I found a couple more video essays I really like that dig into the evolving nature of copyrights, creativity, and re-mixing. One is a 2007 TED talk by Lawrence Lessig, where he explains how current laws are actually corrosive to our culture if only because we criminalize how many people now tell stories. The other is by Michael Wesch, An Anthropomorphic Introduction to YouTube which is less flashy but has more examples and data. It also includes a nice clip from the former that I excerpted here. Only 60 seconds long. I like the "animated scrap book" technique that also reminds me of the This is Water video by The Glossary agency.