The Holiday Season is upon us. Hanukkah is upon us and two weeks from today is Christmas. Kwanzaa starts soon after that, as does Festivus. In the midst of my preparations for this most wonderful time of year, I’m still hard at work on films.
I received an email from IMDB on Monday asking for more information on the Lancaster Area Film Festival, specifically how selective it is. Bryan is being gracious enough to write a small piece regarding this, including the film by the co-writer of American Pie and the sci-fi authors that were present and in some of the films.
The Sunday before Christmas we will be resuming shooting of Old Scratch. I hope to get most of it done, if not all of it. That may be hard as well as finalizing designs for Mark’s makeup for the end. I’d love to say more but it will give it away. We’re in the process of looking for actors for smaller parts.
I’ve also sprung ideas for a crossover of two great pop culture institutions into a story. Whether it will be a short film or a short story, I can’t say at this point. I probably won’t tackle it until later in 2010. But I think it’s a great idea personally and something that fans of both sagas will enjoy.
Lastly, I am looking back at 2009 while prepping for 2010. With the changes in my life, including my baby girl, I have to reassess my goals. While 2009 was an ambitious year, I’m starting to believe it was unrealistic to achieve. I am sure I will be scaling back my goals, but after having no films released this year (well, maybe I’ll have one: my son’s second Lego short is almost done, but I am just producing that), I don’t think I can shoot for Mars. I’ll stick to shooting for the moon. You have to. And with my short scripts (5-7 pages) I think I can do that. But my goals articles are a couple of weeks off.
In the meantime, enjoy your Holiday season, may you have a prosperous New Year and keep your eyes on stunodpictures.com for updates.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
IHM-DIB
I have a love hate relationship with IMDB for a few years now. For those that aren’t familiar, IMDB is an acronym for Internet Movie Database. I like to call it IHM-DIB. It is THE go-to tool for anything regarding movie and TV. You can look up actors, films, and TV episodes from all over the world. It is used by everyone in the movie industry and those who want to be in the industry. They even have a sister site, IMDBPro.com, that is a pay service used strictly by industry professionals.
One of the great things about it is that you can make changes to it. Now granted, the changes are limited and they have to be approved (which can take anywhere from two weeks to two months) but you can edit them. I was one of the many who tried to update Heath Ledger’s page upon his death. I have added some trivia to some known and not-so-known writers and directors.
But the biggest thing is that they allow filmmakers to have their own credits posted, even for short films. They recently partnered with Withoutabox, allowing films accepted to fests through that site get added to IMDB. This is a great tool for filmmakers, who can now get some exposure on a site used by pros. And face it, it’s cool to look up Brad Pitt on IMDB one minute, then search and find your name next.
They have guidelines where this is concerned, just so some guy who was an extra on public access doesn’t have a page. But IMDB allows to request your film (or your buddy’s) to be added.
This is where the hate comes in. For the past 5 years I have tried to get all of my films listed. That’s where some of the guidelines come in. They will accept your film if it’s screened to the public or sold as a DVD. This includes film festivals, though there are certain ones they don’t accept (mainly the NY International Independent Film & Video Festival, which my first two films were in and one received an award for. Go figure) because they take anything, regardless of quality (they should leave a lot of Hollywood films out for that very reason). So that knocks out The Prize and Passing The Test. Fine, I can see their point.
When you add a title, you pick things like director, writer, actors, who released it, country and year of origin, and they have a drop down list of festivals. If it’s in this list usually there’s a good chance they’ll take it. With the exception of the American Motion Picture Society Film Festival and our fest, the Lancaster Area Film Festival, all of the others that I’ve been accepted into are in their database.
To this day, none of my credits have been to be added. And of course there is no way to contact them and see why you weren’t added. I’m sure they’d say your entry didn’t meet guidelines, and wouldn’t elaborate on which guidelines you failed to meet. I am hoping that at least Brogue would get added because Bryan is in it, and he has a credit from getting Ironicality into IMDB since it was accepted to a fest via Withoutabox.
I am getting frustrated, not because I am left out, but because of the whole damn process. It has come to a point where I will enter the festival I help run via Withoutabox just so I can get listed! What has the world come to?
One of the great things about it is that you can make changes to it. Now granted, the changes are limited and they have to be approved (which can take anywhere from two weeks to two months) but you can edit them. I was one of the many who tried to update Heath Ledger’s page upon his death. I have added some trivia to some known and not-so-known writers and directors.
But the biggest thing is that they allow filmmakers to have their own credits posted, even for short films. They recently partnered with Withoutabox, allowing films accepted to fests through that site get added to IMDB. This is a great tool for filmmakers, who can now get some exposure on a site used by pros. And face it, it’s cool to look up Brad Pitt on IMDB one minute, then search and find your name next.
They have guidelines where this is concerned, just so some guy who was an extra on public access doesn’t have a page. But IMDB allows to request your film (or your buddy’s) to be added.
This is where the hate comes in. For the past 5 years I have tried to get all of my films listed. That’s where some of the guidelines come in. They will accept your film if it’s screened to the public or sold as a DVD. This includes film festivals, though there are certain ones they don’t accept (mainly the NY International Independent Film & Video Festival, which my first two films were in and one received an award for. Go figure) because they take anything, regardless of quality (they should leave a lot of Hollywood films out for that very reason). So that knocks out The Prize and Passing The Test. Fine, I can see their point.
When you add a title, you pick things like director, writer, actors, who released it, country and year of origin, and they have a drop down list of festivals. If it’s in this list usually there’s a good chance they’ll take it. With the exception of the American Motion Picture Society Film Festival and our fest, the Lancaster Area Film Festival, all of the others that I’ve been accepted into are in their database.
To this day, none of my credits have been to be added. And of course there is no way to contact them and see why you weren’t added. I’m sure they’d say your entry didn’t meet guidelines, and wouldn’t elaborate on which guidelines you failed to meet. I am hoping that at least Brogue would get added because Bryan is in it, and he has a credit from getting Ironicality into IMDB since it was accepted to a fest via Withoutabox.
I am getting frustrated, not because I am left out, but because of the whole damn process. It has come to a point where I will enter the festival I help run via Withoutabox just so I can get listed! What has the world come to?
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Paranormal Activity = Abnormal Failure
Sunday was a great day for me. My wife and I went on a date, the first we’ve had in a while. She turned me on to the film Paranormal Activity phenomenon, which is a rare thing. We planned to catch a matinee and a romantic dinner afterwards.
We were both very hyped up to see the film. My wife loves horror movies that are scary, and I have been since we got together, because anything that gets my wife to jump into my lap is a good thing. ;) Besides that, my goal is to do what writer-director Oren Peli did: get a film made for a cheap amount and get distribution. He made a film that became the new Blair Witch Project and as of last week, became the most profitable indie film of all time.
After watching the film, I have to say WOW! What a MAJOR disappointment! There were hardly any scary moments, and the last four or five shots seem manufactured (whereas the rest of the film felt real and genuine). I thought the actors were great; they had real chemistry and you felt as if they’d been together for a while. But the only semi-scary moment has been shown in the film’s TV spots. I really haven’t been this underwhelmed with a film in a long while.
Now, I don’t want my review to take away the admiration I have for what Oren Peli has done. He is to be commended for making a film on limited means and creating incredible buzz for it. He is set in Hollywood and should have a long career. His next feature is Area 51, which is apparently going to be Paranormal Activity with aliens. I still want to see it, being an alien and UFO buff, but I have tempered my enthusiasm for it.
Nevertheless, Oren should be commended for his efforts. I am very excited to see the Behind-The-Scenes features on the DVD and how you accomplished some of those visual effects on that budget. I am sorry to say, that the product doesn’t get anywhere close to the hype.
We were both very hyped up to see the film. My wife loves horror movies that are scary, and I have been since we got together, because anything that gets my wife to jump into my lap is a good thing. ;) Besides that, my goal is to do what writer-director Oren Peli did: get a film made for a cheap amount and get distribution. He made a film that became the new Blair Witch Project and as of last week, became the most profitable indie film of all time.
After watching the film, I have to say WOW! What a MAJOR disappointment! There were hardly any scary moments, and the last four or five shots seem manufactured (whereas the rest of the film felt real and genuine). I thought the actors were great; they had real chemistry and you felt as if they’d been together for a while. But the only semi-scary moment has been shown in the film’s TV spots. I really haven’t been this underwhelmed with a film in a long while.
Now, I don’t want my review to take away the admiration I have for what Oren Peli has done. He is to be commended for making a film on limited means and creating incredible buzz for it. He is set in Hollywood and should have a long career. His next feature is Area 51, which is apparently going to be Paranormal Activity with aliens. I still want to see it, being an alien and UFO buff, but I have tempered my enthusiasm for it.
Nevertheless, Oren should be commended for his efforts. I am very excited to see the Behind-The-Scenes features on the DVD and how you accomplished some of those visual effects on that budget. I am sorry to say, that the product doesn’t get anywhere close to the hype.
Monday, November 02, 2009
A Sad Loss
This past Friday I was taking a break from working on my feature script and went online to scope out some movie-related websites. One of them was a perennial favorite, The Amateur FanFilms Forum(AFFF).
To my surprise, I was redirected to Random String of Words. This is the site for Palamedes, who owns AFFF. He left a note that said the forum was done, citing costs and the site's prevalence of spam and nots.
This was very sad for me. The AFFF was, in many ways, my education in fan films and filmmaking. I learned a lot of tips and tricks, made a few friends and gained collaborators. I found it after I spent a lot of time on TheForce.net's Fan Films forum. When the realization hit me that people on the TheForce.net's forums were only interested in getting advice, not giving it, and that many of them were pretentious (this included moderators, unfortunately), the helpful, laidback folks at AFFF were a welcome change.
As a result of my time on the site, I can say my stories and filmmaking skills are better. I've reached out to my friends, hoping we can keep in touch and/or collaborate on future projects together.
Like all good things, The Amateur Fan Films Forum has come to an end. While it is a sad thing, I take comfort in knowing that the knowledge, friends and contacts I made through it will carry on. I am thankful for its existence and recall it fondly.
Amateur Fan Films Forum, 2000 - 2009
R.I.P.
To my surprise, I was redirected to Random String of Words. This is the site for Palamedes, who owns AFFF. He left a note that said the forum was done, citing costs and the site's prevalence of spam and nots.
This was very sad for me. The AFFF was, in many ways, my education in fan films and filmmaking. I learned a lot of tips and tricks, made a few friends and gained collaborators. I found it after I spent a lot of time on TheForce.net's Fan Films forum. When the realization hit me that people on the TheForce.net's forums were only interested in getting advice, not giving it, and that many of them were pretentious (this included moderators, unfortunately), the helpful, laidback folks at AFFF were a welcome change.
As a result of my time on the site, I can say my stories and filmmaking skills are better. I've reached out to my friends, hoping we can keep in touch and/or collaborate on future projects together.
Like all good things, The Amateur Fan Films Forum has come to an end. While it is a sad thing, I take comfort in knowing that the knowledge, friends and contacts I made through it will carry on. I am thankful for its existence and recall it fondly.
Amateur Fan Films Forum, 2000 - 2009
R.I.P.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
LAFF is on Withoutabox!
I am happy to announce that the Lancaster Area Film Festival is now on Withoutabox! This is great news for us, as it legitimizes our fest and with their new initiative, we can watch digital screeners online, making our job easier (Well, making my job easier. I'm in charge of the selection committee).
You can go here to view our entry and enter the fest.
You can go here to view our entry and enter the fest.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Out Of Touch
No, I’m not going to discuss Hall and Oates. They were before my time and a reminder that my mother controlled the radio all those years on our trips to see Grandma in Pittsburgh (thank Heavens for walkmans!). Rather, I am touching on a theme today.
One of the many great things about my wife (besides being beautiful and a Star Wars fan) is that she shares the remote with me equally. I usually get the run of the TV on Sundays so I can watch football and she gets time alone with our daughter. In turn, unless the Denver Broncos are on, we watch Sunday night TV on ABC until she goes to bed (fortunately for me, between 9:30-10, so I catch most of the game anyway!). One show she loves to watch is Extreme Home Makeover. She loves seeing the transformation of the houses (she’s into building and home improvements, which is great because I am not.) and the reaction of the people who get the homes.
While they do a great job, and I think Ty is a great role model for young people and adults alike (is that guy on crack? How does a 40+ man maintain that high energy level on a daily basis?), they have a big flaw that really takes me out of the show: they’re all maudlin. Anyone who watches the show knows that these people have hardships and that’s why they need the house, but do you need to make them re-live that hardship by bringing it up all week? And then you give them the house and remind them they had it real bad just seven days ago? C’mon. For a world focusing on the negative, you actually have a show that accentuates something positive, but Ty and the others bring it down by talking about why the families were in the shitter to begin with. Now I realize that maybe the producers encourage that to shape the show and do a rags-to-riches type tale, but it wears on me after a while. And the worst is when they do it with kids. They are suffering when they shouldn’t have to, they have a brand new house with awesome things that most normal kids never get, and you make them feel like crap for reminding them they’re in the situation they have. If that IS an order from ABC to do that, then it shows they’re out of touch with society.
Speaking of which, you may be asking why I watch that with my wife instead of watching the game on another TV? The answer is my cable company made the full switch to digital and as such, only one TV works. That’s because you need a converter box for ALL of your TV’s if you want them to work. In one of the most blatant attempts to get more money, they are seriously inconveniencing customers by doing this. I am sure they can make it work without having to do this. In fact, their top competitor is able to do that, and I am thinking of giving them a call this week. In the midst of a recession, where many people are out of work, the company pulls this. You’re not Comcast. You have competition to worry about. Yet that doesn’t seem to bother them. They too are out of touch.
Finally, many have said that Hollywood is VERY out of touch with America at large. I got another confirmation of that this morning while reading the Hollywood Reporter. The networks are highlighting volunteering this week, while showcasing it on some of their shows, including Parks & Recreation. They give the standard spiel about how it’s good and does good for you as well as the person you’re helping, yada-yada-yada. It has some traction because it’s led by former studio boss Sherry Lansing who is highly respected.
While it’s a good idea in principle, I question the timing. Sure, volunteering has its rewards I guess ( I didn’t get much of my volunteering that was mandatory in HS and college – that’s probably why), but right now people are out of work and struggling to survive and keep their homes. Their time is spent looking for work. The last thing they need to do is volunteer. President Obama is making that a big push, even to the point of making it mandatory for 18 year-olds ( this isn’t a political blog, but that is wrong on so many levels, and I will leave it at that). Let’s focus on getting people back to work and securing their futures at least for a while before we worry about volunteering. Once again…
…They’re out of touch and I’m out of time. I have work I need to do. I would like to say that I welcome any and all comments, criticisms and queries about the re-designed website. Please visit if you get a chance.
One of the many great things about my wife (besides being beautiful and a Star Wars fan) is that she shares the remote with me equally. I usually get the run of the TV on Sundays so I can watch football and she gets time alone with our daughter. In turn, unless the Denver Broncos are on, we watch Sunday night TV on ABC until she goes to bed (fortunately for me, between 9:30-10, so I catch most of the game anyway!). One show she loves to watch is Extreme Home Makeover. She loves seeing the transformation of the houses (she’s into building and home improvements, which is great because I am not.) and the reaction of the people who get the homes.
While they do a great job, and I think Ty is a great role model for young people and adults alike (is that guy on crack? How does a 40+ man maintain that high energy level on a daily basis?), they have a big flaw that really takes me out of the show: they’re all maudlin. Anyone who watches the show knows that these people have hardships and that’s why they need the house, but do you need to make them re-live that hardship by bringing it up all week? And then you give them the house and remind them they had it real bad just seven days ago? C’mon. For a world focusing on the negative, you actually have a show that accentuates something positive, but Ty and the others bring it down by talking about why the families were in the shitter to begin with. Now I realize that maybe the producers encourage that to shape the show and do a rags-to-riches type tale, but it wears on me after a while. And the worst is when they do it with kids. They are suffering when they shouldn’t have to, they have a brand new house with awesome things that most normal kids never get, and you make them feel like crap for reminding them they’re in the situation they have. If that IS an order from ABC to do that, then it shows they’re out of touch with society.
Speaking of which, you may be asking why I watch that with my wife instead of watching the game on another TV? The answer is my cable company made the full switch to digital and as such, only one TV works. That’s because you need a converter box for ALL of your TV’s if you want them to work. In one of the most blatant attempts to get more money, they are seriously inconveniencing customers by doing this. I am sure they can make it work without having to do this. In fact, their top competitor is able to do that, and I am thinking of giving them a call this week. In the midst of a recession, where many people are out of work, the company pulls this. You’re not Comcast. You have competition to worry about. Yet that doesn’t seem to bother them. They too are out of touch.
Finally, many have said that Hollywood is VERY out of touch with America at large. I got another confirmation of that this morning while reading the Hollywood Reporter. The networks are highlighting volunteering this week, while showcasing it on some of their shows, including Parks & Recreation. They give the standard spiel about how it’s good and does good for you as well as the person you’re helping, yada-yada-yada. It has some traction because it’s led by former studio boss Sherry Lansing who is highly respected.
While it’s a good idea in principle, I question the timing. Sure, volunteering has its rewards I guess ( I didn’t get much of my volunteering that was mandatory in HS and college – that’s probably why), but right now people are out of work and struggling to survive and keep their homes. Their time is spent looking for work. The last thing they need to do is volunteer. President Obama is making that a big push, even to the point of making it mandatory for 18 year-olds ( this isn’t a political blog, but that is wrong on so many levels, and I will leave it at that). Let’s focus on getting people back to work and securing their futures at least for a while before we worry about volunteering. Once again…
…They’re out of touch and I’m out of time. I have work I need to do. I would like to say that I welcome any and all comments, criticisms and queries about the re-designed website. Please visit if you get a chance.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
STUNODPICTURES.COM REBOOT
No I am not talking about the endless stream of sad films coming out of Tinseltown. I’m referring to stunodpictures.com. I am proud to announce the redesign of our website. There are still some bugs that need to be worked out, but for the most part it is up and running.
I decided to make the change for a few reasons. When I first made the site, I just wanted a web presence. This was before YouTube but after I made my first two films. That and my friends and collaborators on those films thought it was neat to see themselves on the web.
Now things have changed. With my involvement in the Lancaster Area Film Festival and my name on that homepage, as well as my desire to soon start a financing push for a feature, I felt it was time to have a more professional looking website. My site was good for 2003, when it was created. But it looked like crap. I had planned on doing it earlier this year, but when my computers crashed I lost Frontpage, which I used to create it.
There’s not much that will change, other than a more streamlined look and better looking graphics. I’ve added a link to upcoming projects, which will give you a tease of what is to come.
I am also thinking of adding a section for my other creative endeavors as well. I am in the midst of working on a short story, as well as turning some of my more ambitious and improbable scripts (only due to time constraints, nothing more) into short stories. I may post them on this page as well. I have some time to work on them because filming won’t resume on Old Scratch until November now.
The story I am working on now deals with two prominent characters from an academia-based profession made prominent by two different, but connected popular culture mediums. Want to know more?
Stay tuned to the new and improved stunodpictures.com.
I decided to make the change for a few reasons. When I first made the site, I just wanted a web presence. This was before YouTube but after I made my first two films. That and my friends and collaborators on those films thought it was neat to see themselves on the web.
Now things have changed. With my involvement in the Lancaster Area Film Festival and my name on that homepage, as well as my desire to soon start a financing push for a feature, I felt it was time to have a more professional looking website. My site was good for 2003, when it was created. But it looked like crap. I had planned on doing it earlier this year, but when my computers crashed I lost Frontpage, which I used to create it.
There’s not much that will change, other than a more streamlined look and better looking graphics. I’ve added a link to upcoming projects, which will give you a tease of what is to come.
I am also thinking of adding a section for my other creative endeavors as well. I am in the midst of working on a short story, as well as turning some of my more ambitious and improbable scripts (only due to time constraints, nothing more) into short stories. I may post them on this page as well. I have some time to work on them because filming won’t resume on Old Scratch until November now.
The story I am working on now deals with two prominent characters from an academia-based profession made prominent by two different, but connected popular culture mediums. Want to know more?
Stay tuned to the new and improved stunodpictures.com.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
