Monday, December 19, 2005

Smogdance

We have learned that True or False did not get into the festival Smogdance. But there are 4 more to go!

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Vail Festival

We have sent A Particle of Just Watch It to the Vail Film Festival. It runs from March 30th- April 2nd, 2006. They will announce who got in around February 20th.

Monday, December 12, 2005

Atom Films round 1

We have heard back from Atom Films and they have rejected the sketches we have sent them. We are working on getting some sent to ifilms and to get another 5 sent to Atom Films.

Friday, November 04, 2005

A Particle of JWI Sent to Another Festival

We have submitted A Particle of Just Watch It to the 13th annual South By Southwest Film Festival. It's from March 10, 2006 to March 18, 2006. They will announce which films got in around February 13th, 2006. I've heard some good things about this festival and how they treat the film makers there.

A Particle of Just Watch It Update

We have sent A Particle of Just Watch It to the fourth annual World of Comedy International Film Festival. This takes place in Toronto Canada from March 8-12, 2006. They will announce who has been accepted approximately January 20th, 2006. We think this is a great fit for our comedy show and a way to showcase our resident Canadian RJ Franklin in his homeland!

Thursday, November 03, 2005

Last Festival Submission for True or False

True or False has been sent to the third annual Lake County Film Festival. It runs from March 02, 2006 to March 05, 2006. They will announce who was accepted around February 1st, 2006. Unless another festival really grabs me, (or doesn't cost anything to submit), this will be the last submission for True or False. It's been a great ride but it's time to move on and focus on other projects including the DVD for True or False. It was a great experience and it was great working with all those involved.

True or False Sent to Smogdance

True or False has been sent to the Smogdance Film Festival. It runs from January 20th-22nd, 2006. It was established in 1998 and keeps growing every year. They will notify who got in approximately December 22nd.

Monday, October 31, 2005

A Particle of Just Watch It Festival Update

We have sent A Particle of Just Watch It to the Cinequest Film Festival (San Jose). It is their 16th Annual and runs from March 1st, 2006 to March 12th, 2006. They will announce who got in on January 5th, 2006.

Saturday, October 29, 2005

True or False Update

True or False has been sent to the Independent Film Festival of Boston. It runs from April 19, 2006 to April 24, 2006. They will notify the winners on March 15, 2006.

Friday, October 14, 2005

Sketches Submitted to AtomFilms

In an effort to get a wider audience for our sketches, we have submitted our first group of five to AtomFilms. If you're not aware of them, they post short films under 15 minutes, typically under 5, in all types of genres. It's a great way to get a large number of people to see your work. We should know in about a month whether they accepted any or not. Then we'll try another 5. If we get any in I wanted to space them out a little bit so we can hopefully keep new stuff coming into them.

The first 5 sketches are: Annoya, Cain, American Doctor Online, Save Me, and Dresses.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

True or False Festival Info

True or False has been submitted to the Durango Independent Film Festival! They will announce what shorts got into it around January 20, 2006.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Zombies!

After months of a Zombie movie idea of mine was laying dormant, I finally pulled out the outline and have been working on getting the first draft of my first horror movie feature completed. It's about 87 pages and I tried to establish the characters a little bit so there's some emotional attachment when they are eaten by the zombies. It was a lot of fun to work on.

So now that I have gotten that out of my system I have several projects in various stages of development. I'm continuing to send out tapes to festivals, I have a few shorts that I'm working on, and as always we're continuing on with our sketch comedy for Just Watch It.

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

The Duel Shoot


We finished principle photography on a new sketch called, "The Duel." It's about, get ready for it, a Duel! A duel to the end over the love of a woman (what else?). It was a fun but grueling shoot up in Longmont, in a park, in the pouring rain. The weather added a nice effect to it, but just a wet mess to shoot in. We used a couple of actors whom we haven't used before so that was fun and different. The sketch will be added to Just Watch It Episode 4.

Monday, October 10, 2005

New Festival Submission for True or False

In an effort to get this short that so many people have put in a lot of energy and creativity into seen, I'm trying one more round of festival submissions. I'm going to try for 4 or 5 smaller, more intimate festivals this time. The first one is the Delray Beach Film Festival in Florida. They will announce what shorts got in around January 16, 2006.

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Just Watch It Festival Version

We have set up a festival version of our sketch comedy show, “Just Watch It.” We're calling it, "A Particle of Just Watch It." It is a shorter version (15 minutes) to get a better chance of getting played. I have heard that shorter is sometimes better, and some festivals have time limits on their shorts. We are including the classic sketches, Stonehenge, Door to Door Martial Arts, Storytime, Satan Helped Me Win, Governator 2: Election Day, Wedding, and the Door to Door Comedy.

The first festival that we have sent it to is the US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen.

Monday, August 15, 2005

Just Watch It to Appear on Ruckus Network!

Thanks to the re-airing of our sketch “Annoya” on ManiaTV, a representative from Ruckus Network saw it and our other content on our website and wants to play all of our sketches on it! Ruckus is the premier digital entertainment service for universities and offers a myriad of ways for college students to connect with one another. They offer music and movie downloads and now independent shorts to several universities.

Unfortunately, there aren’t any universities in Colorado yet that has signed up with them so the only way to view it is thru their network on one of the universities that has access to it. But this should give us some exposure to several colleges.

Thursday, June 02, 2005

ManiaTV to Re-Air Annoya!

ManiaTV will be airing our sketch comedy Annoya again in the month of June. It will air during their Too Short For Hollywood show from 10-11 pm and from 2-3 am ET. The air dates are June 5th, June 9th, June 17th, June 22nd, and June28th. I don't know the exact time it will air. Check it out at www.maniatv.com. As always, you can still see it in their video on demand vault here.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Project Greenlight Episode 9

This is it. The last episode of Project Greenlight. It’s been a wild ride from when I first submitted my own screenplay to the final show. John Gulager seems to have become more comfortable talking to people. I think he’s brought something away from this experience. Whether or not he wants to use it on another Hollywood produced movie only time will tell.

This show focused on the test screening. The movie is played for a test audience who gives feedback so the filmmakers can go back and correct some issues. An executive wanted to show it only a week after his own screening. There was a lot to do to get it into shape. So again they didn’t have enough time to get it ready. They had a cut of the film and then spent a day to work on all of the sound. After this test screening though, the sound will have to be redone again. So all of that work is for just one screening.

The audience’s reaction broke into two camps. The first liked the film but wanted to know more about where the monsters come from. So they rated it low. The other didn’t care where the monsters came from and rated it high. Their reactions while the movie played seemed good. Even though they have lower than average scores the executives think by adding another scene at the beginning about the monsters’ origin then the movie will play well.

So they were given a new budget for some re-shoots. It looks like they will be given more time for editing and sound since Feast won’t be released until December. I think I’ll adopt a wait and see before I decide to check it out. Maybe I’ll see if it’s on Rotten Tomatoes and see what kind of reviews it gets.

On a more somber note, regardless of how well the movie does, the ratings for Project Greenlight the TV show was not high enough to keep it going. The Executive Producer Chris Moore had a blog about it. Without the TV show he’s not sure if the contest/movie part will be able to continue. So this could be the last Project Greenlight ever. There were a lot of issues with the way it was run but it was still a nice door into Hollywood. Now that door has been shut.

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Project Greenlight Episode 8

So they have finished shooting and have moved on to the editing phase. They only have 6-8 weeks to finish it where usually they would have that much time to just get a rough cut. There was only a couple of problems on this show. First, there was a screening for some of the producers including Ben Affleck. Chris Moore was not invited. He makes up the main three players of Project Greenlight and if the other two are invited then he should be there too.

Once word got out that a rough cut was being shown, the Dimension Films exec's wanted to see it. The producers didn't want them to see it yet. A lot hinges on their first impression and if they see a rough cut then they might not want to release it. I can see how they would be anxious to see how their money was spent but I would think they would want to see a good product too.

The last show will have a screening in Vegas. With the last episode coming up I have a bit of a problem. Do I go out and watch the movie (that is if it is released in the Denver area, the previous two were not)? I want to support Project Greenlight but I don't want to support Feast. I know the script has gone thru some revisions and the director can add a lot to it but I don't want to support the worst of the final three scripts. The executives picked an idea they could market, not the best script that could make some money. I'll have to see the last show and do some soul searching to decide what I'm going to do.

Monday, May 09, 2005

Project Greenlight Episode 7

There's not much to say about this one. It looks like the crew was coming together and getting the job done. I think this was a good learning experience for John. It's a game of give and take when you don't get to run the whole show (such as when you do a short).

There was a few cast problems. One actor had already lined up another job after Feast and he needed to have long hair for it. So he wasn't going to cut his hair. It was a bit longer than it was in other shots. Since all the action takes place in one night it's very important that everything matches. Some of the crew got haircuts like his character and he went ahead and did so too. It made for a funny scene and shows the commitment of the crew but really if your job is to have short hair then keep it short. If you're afraid that a bigger job might come by later on then don't commit yourself to a project.

Also, an actress showed up drunk. I mean really. If I showed up to work drunk I would probably be fired if not suspended. Granted, they do need her so they can't just find a replacement. But I'm sure her name will go around to other producers and the problems that they've had with her. Not brining your best can hurt you, especially when they tape the process and air it on national TV. Oops.

Friday, April 29, 2005

Project Greenlight Episode 6

The beginning of this show started off well. John set up some rehearsals before shooting and the cast and crew were having a good time. The next day it went back to business as usual. Tensions were very high and John in frustration told the DP and the Assistant Director to do what ever they wanted. John did seem to be learning something finally. Some some jobs you do for the money. Although you can still have some fun with them I think.

John still seems to be stuck on that he's the director and he should be able to do anything he wants. He keeps complaining that they treat him like a contest winner. Actually, they treat him like a first time director. In a sense, he is just a contest winner. He has never made a feature length film before. The only job that he's been paid for is for wedding videos; that doesn't make him a director. He says that nobody trusts him. That might be true. Again, he hasn't done anything before. Trust has to be earned.

This reminds me of two things. The first is Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. He wanted to make the movie his way. So he funded it himself. He was the writer, soundtrack producer, director, and the producer. When you fund your own movie you can do what ever you want.

The second is from a film class that I took. Let's say I want to make a 20 million dollar movie. To do that I need to make a 10 million dollar movie that makes money. To make a 10 million dollar movie I need to make a 5 million dollar movie that makes money. Etc. So for John to get more money (which means more time to shoot) he needs to make a smaller movie that makes money. If Feast does well then they'll trust him a bit more and he will get more.

There was one incident though that was completely uncalled for on the crew side. John wanted a certain shot and was told there wasn't enough time to do it. That's fine. John really wanted that shot and kept pushing for it but to no avail. When John decided to quit for the day and told them to shoot whatever they wanted they started to set up the same shot that John wanted. This is completely uncalled for. If there's no time then fine. It's a low budget film so some things won't get shot but don't tell the director there's no time then set it up yourself. The DP and Assistant Director are coming off like selfish brats and if they keep this up should be replaced.

Monday, April 18, 2005

Amazon/Tribeca Film Festival

There is a new film festival being put on by Amazon and the Tribeca Film Festival. The shorts have to be under 7 minutes so we have submitted 3 sketches, "Cain, the Lion Cockroach Hunter; Dresses; and Wedding." So this is how it works.

Starting April 18, the films will be presented to Amazon customers, on a random basis, in the Tribeca Screening Room at Amazon.com. Customers will be invited to rate the films, on a scale of 1 to 5 stars, to determine the five finalists.

At the end of May, the five highest-rated films will each be featured on the Amazon.com welcome page over five weeks. Amazon.com customers will again be invited to rate the five finalists to determine the winner.

Unfortunatly there is no way to choose a specific short. And you can't choose a different short to look at. You have to watch and rate it to get to another short. I don't know how many shorts were entered so the odds of getting one of ours is slim but if you happen to be on Amazon.com and go to the screening room maybe you'll be able to vote one of ours into the top 5 and help us win the $50,000 prize to help fund our next project!

Project Greenlight Episode 5

So the third season of Project Greenlight is well under way and there are production problems on this season as well. The director, John Gulager, wants to get everything just right to make the best movie he can. He likes to set up shots on the fly and take the time to get it just right. This is great if you're Steven Spielberg and you have a 90 day shoot so you can take the time to shoot 1-2 pages of script a day. When you only have 26 days to shoot a 90 page (or so) script then you have to get 3 1/2 pages done a day. There isn't always enough time to get that perfect shot every time. John made his first couple of days ok, but the crew was worried that when more effect shots have to be done then they might not make it. This happened on day 5 when an actor spent an hour in the make up chair for his "face ripped off scene" and they ended up not getting to his scene and he just washed it off.

I think the directors problem can be summed up with this analogy. He wants to go to a sit down restaurant and order a double cheeseburger, cooked medium well, with no ketchup but with mayo, lettuce, tomato, no pickle, and a sourdough bun. Instead of fries he wants onion rings. Half an hour later he gets his burger and it costs him $10. But he only has $3 to spend and only 5 minutes to wait. So he has to go to a fast food place. He doesn't get it cooked the way he wants, or on a sourdough bun. Onion rings cost too much so he gets fries. It's still a double cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, and mayo. It's not exactly what he wants but it's close and fits in his money and time constraints.

I paraphrase the Rolling Stones that I believe fits this situation very well. "You can't always get what you want. But if you try some time, you just might find, you get what you need."

I wonder if after this experience that Mr. Gulager decides he doesn't like the Hollywood constraints that are placed on him and goes back to making his home movies. Time will tell.

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Annoya Wins!

Greetings to all!
I would like to thank those of you who were able to check out the premier of our sketch comedy “Annoya” on the ManiaTV Film Festival where we took 1st Place for Best Commercial Spoof. For those of you who missed it you can see it in their video on demand vault. Go to http://www.maniatv.com/. Go to Shows and CJ’s, then VOD Vault. Click on “Annoya” and enjoy!

Monday, April 11, 2005

Me

For my blog picture.

True or False DVD Available Soon!

You've all been begging for it, calling day and night, harrassing us like paparatzi on a Royal, and finally your fondest wish is coming true! True or False, the DVD will feature the Short Film True or False, along with many video extra's such as the Trailer, "True or False" the Documentary filmed and edited by Ryan Notch, the famed Horror Producer, stills from the set, and Directors Commentary! WOW!