peaceman630

2:59a

It's still a good 10 hours or so before I have to leave and surprisingly I'm all packed up and ready to go. We are leaving for Hagerstown tomorrow afternoon and are going to be there for about three weeks. The project is called Loudoun Heights and I'm not really sure what I'm allowed to say about it as per our contract with the client, but I can tell you that it takes place on a hiking trail in the wildnerness. No spoilers there. Which means that it's going to be a hot, damp, blistering, tick infested three weeks. It may not sound like it but I'm actually looking forward to it.

( ....more? )


I'll try to stay in touch while I'm out of town, but if I don't, just assume that I'm having a good  day anyway. Wish me luck....

Schpadoinkle

3:38a

2:53a

I fear that despite...or rather...because of my best efforts I have become addicted to smoking. I came to this realization after I had a cigarette one morning and it made me feel immediately better, no sore throat, no cough, head buzz...yeah that counts as addiction doesn't it? I plan to quit, or at least greatly reduce my nicotine consumption before we leave for our next feature at the end of the month. But this is definitely un-groovy.

I've written about my smoking before. I basically picked up the habit at the tail end of college and have been doing it off and on since. I've really taken it up in earnest in the last few months. Why? I'm sure you know why.

It just centers me, what can I say?

---

Good news. I am scraping out a living (paying my bills, buying food, paying my rent and still having enough left over for unnecessary frivolities like trips to the bar, dinner out, movies and hookers...well maybe not hookers) doing what I love to do, and that's video production. And the great thing is that Joe and I haven't had to troll craigslist or bug clients for work in months. The work has literally been pouring in. Which means that three years in, my company is....well, I won't say successful...but it's not dead. It's not even dying. If i had to equate it to anything, I would call it a scrappy, under-privileged, third-world child. It's not exactly what you would call healthy...but somehow it's surviving, and maybe with a little luck, some street smarts and a few bucks from some gullible Christians...it just may pull through.

I've noticed that my metaphors have become pretty laborious as of late, has anybode else noticed this?

Anyway, we've worked with a lot of wonderful seasoned local pros recently and working with them has sort of revealed something to me. As cool as they are, I don't really want to be them. I want something more for myself, and for Joe, and for our company. I want something more for my end game. I really really want to be a sucessful film and television director.

I'm not sure what the path to get me there will be, but I do know that I have the all the resources at my disposal to make something of myself, and I want to do just that.

To that end, after Joe and I return to Baltimore next month I want to:

1) Produce the short film that I mentioned previously. - it's entitled 'The Feeling is Mutual'
2) Produce at least one spec music video. - using a great Black Keys song
3) Begin pre-pro, if not production on Your Mom To The Future - A short script I wrote last year.
4) Produce multiple trailers for BOOM II - A terrible idea that Joe and I devloped, and a sequel to a short film that nobody saw.
5) Develop the web series that I'm co-writing with Greg.

Let's be clear, there is no money in any of these endeavours. Short films don't sell...ever. We won't have premission to do anything with the music video other than maybe use it as a demo, and Boom II....well.....what can really be said about Boom II?

The web series though has some potential....

The idea is to....finally....get me directing again. I wanna be a director right? Isn't it about fucking time that I directed something?

Anyway, that's my plan over the next several months. Will any of it actually get done? Any of it? Stay tuned.

---

On the 'good habits' tip, I can tell you that I remain a loyal member of the Meritt Athletic Club. I try to go at least twice a week. I actually really like working out, as difficult and as painful as it can be sometimes. It feels like I'm bettering myself, as opposed to the other thing. And that feels good. It's funny how my most recent lifestyle choices are pulling me in polar opposite directions. See I told you I was like an onion. Like a really...fat...uninteresting onion....with great hair and sexy brown eyes.


Schpadoinkle

3:09a

Back in 1996, I was in Mrs. Jenning's sixth grade class. It was getting towards the end of the school year and we had whatever passed for senioritis in elementary school children ready to make the jump to middle school. We were having a pizza party for some reason. The pizza party: the kiddie version of a wine and cheese gathering. The social event of the month. And there was dancing. All of the kiddies had formed a little circle and everybody was taking turns in the center dancing to mid-nineties house music. I remember thinking at the time that I really wanted to jump into the middle of that circle and bust a move but I was still a painfully shy little boy. I didn't. And I remember saying to Mrs. Jennings when it was all over and everybody was disbanding "I should have danced." and Mrs. Jennings turned to me and said. "Yes, you should've."

---

I've had a few conversations about regret recently. The position that everyone seems to take is that one should live life completely without regret. While I believe that goal in itself to be admirable I think that anybody who says that they don't have any regrets at all is spewing bull-puckey. I equate the word 'regret' with 'mistakes'. When you say you have no regrets what you are really saying is 'I've never made any mistakes'. And we all know that that cannot be true.

I believe it was the great philosopher Frizzle who said: "Take chances, make mistakes...get messy". I believe she's also responsible for the inspirational words: "Bus, do your stuff!" But that's a nugget to be dissected in a later entry. Anyway, the point is life is about MAKING mistakes and thus incurring regret. While we do our best to learn from those mistakes and hopefully correct our behavior to avoid such mistakes in the future we cannot avoid them entirely. So saying that you have 'no regrets' is false, isn't it?

Sure sure, I could just be jealous of these people that say that they have no regrets. I wish I could be like them, that I could have lived the first 25 years without regret. But I just don't think that would have been possible.

---

Back in high school there was a girl I had a really big crush on. Okay, to be fair I think I had a yearly crush through every year of my schooling (including college) and if you pressed me hard enough I could probably name each and every one of them. If you pressed me even harder I would probably ask you if you wanted to start dating.

She was a salsa dancer, not professional mind you, just a hobbyist. She invited me to her sister's birthday party, it was at this really nice ballroom, and she kept telling me not to leave before I shared a dance with her. She had a boyfriend at the time and I was still a very shy young man. I had no idea what I would do to even get her out on the dance floor let alone what to do if we actually did get out there and start dancing. I'll never know, because I left without getting that dance.

---

I think that a little regret is healthy, it builds character, kinda like a nice scar or a slip and fall into a vat of acid. Look at what acid did for Darkman, he's happy right? No, Darkman is probably the most miserable superhero on the planet. Nevermind. I'm sure he regrets being dunked in acid. But see, he took his regretful experience and turned it into a positive thing. He became a super hero, and before you knew it he was fighting crime and killing his arch nemesis in violent helicopter crash.

Anyway, I convey these little anecdotes for you not to illicit pity or anything like that but just to tell you what memories I'm coming from. Today I go line dancing on a weekly basis. I'm up there with 30 to 40 other assholes kicking and scraping my away across the floor, and I have fun doing that shit. I dance at weddings, parties and in ridiculous little dance floor circles constantly. Basically, regret can be a nice way to motivate yourself to do the things that you want to do, if nothing else, then to avoid further regret.

For example, i regret that this entry has gone on so long and so pointlessly. And I will remember this entry when writing further entries so as not to bore you, dear reader.

Lo siento.

Schpadoinkle.

5:12a

Having just purchased new glasses to replace my old, scratched up, bent ones where the lenses fall out and being very satisfied with the purchase I've decided to move to another area of self-improvement - My teeth. Specifically one amazingly large cavity that has been developing over the past few years. I literally have to attack it with a toothpick EVERY time I eat. I was kind of alarmed today when I pulled a hunk of food out from it that could have sustained a small tribal community for several days. I figure...I have a little bit of money now...might as well look into this situation. I think I might have the hook up for a dentist in Baltimore. He's probably some kind of mafia dentist...but that means two things 1) He'll be relatively cheap.. 2) He won't mind accepting cash with dried blood on it. Both are pluses.

Bit of news today: I got a bite on my craigslist ad asking for a music video project. It's an indie rap record label in VA. I was hoping to snag something closer to Baltimore, but I'm not going to complain. I'm going to e-mail the guy later today to see if I can get a feel for what he wants. The guy seems to represent a lot of artists, and assuming that it all works out there could be a lot of potential projects on the docket. The main problem I have right now is that Joe, my DP is going to be out of town in May on a feature, then after that we're going to be working on two more features together meaning that I won't be free until early July. That in itself is good, but it means that either I have to wait until July to get working on directing these videos or do it in May with a DP that isn't Pepe. Gotta think on that one.

So my taxes are done...my bills are actually...right now up to date and I still have a postive bank account...enough to get my teeth fixed. This 'having enough money to live kinda comfrotably' thing is weird. But I could get used to it.

Sidebar: I finally visited the Tanytown Deli which comes highly reccomended by a good friend of mine. Good stuff. Good food. If you go, get a specialty sandwhich with lots of mayonaise. Also, have your order completely ready by the time you get to the counter and order quickly. You will get yelled at otherwise. Take it from a guy that knows.

Lastly: Peep this. It's a little glide cam trial that we spent most of the day doing once we got back from Trellis. Maybe one day I'll post a version with the audio, I'm ad-libbing some relatively amusing stuff, but the point is the glide cam move so...boo. Anyway, Joe's a pimp. Believe it.



5:05a

Schpadoinkle.

Ok so it's just after five am, in about four hours I'll be shooting another video with Trellis Services. They're a learning center for children with autism that is conveniently located about five minutes away from my apartment. That being said I should probably be sleeping, but I don't think I will. I'll probably go lie down after this, but sleep is out of the question. Thankfully you only have to be remotely cognizant to hold a boom mic, ask most sound guys. Sidebar: Did you know that the word cognizant is spelled with a 'z'? The mind boggles. Especially at 5:22am.

--

So LiveJournal says that I haven't updated in 68 weeks. It's hard to believe that to be the case but it makes sense. It's been a busy year and I haven't been able to chronicle it, and candidely a lot of the writing I've done in recent months has been for my eyes only. But I'm ready again to share with the rest of the class. Anyhoo: Here's the cliff notes update of my life and yes there will be a test later:

- Lia and I broke up. It's been on my mind front and center since it happened nearly six months ago. Sucks. But I'm well past the point of my friends, even my best friends wanting to hear me bitch about how unhappy I am so I know it's well past time to move on. I haven't really seen her since we left things, but I've managed to think about her several times a day EVERY day since. We talk occasionally, and that's nice, but the idea these days is to focus on my career, my company and the rest of my life.

- The company is doing well. I've been surviving ever since I quite my job at LTVN on freelance gigs that we've been getting through word of mouth. It's true, we've done zero advertising for the company save biz cards and the website and somehow we're managing to etch out a living. Is that a phrase that people use? Etch out a living? Is 'etch' even a word? Last year we put our first feature under our belts as 1st unit, and this year we have three features on the docket, one of which Joe will be DP'ing, his first DP credit. Looking forward to that. So, though it's been a struggle at times at this very moment, April 14, 2009 I am somewhat financially stable, all through freelance film work, all through doing what I love to do...and that does feel kinda good.

- The universe has lit a fire under my ass and I'm suddenly very antsy about getting my own projects off the ground. I have a very short script that I wrote a little after Lia and I broke up to kinda get things off of my chest that I'm looking to produce. At the time I thought is was a little too moody and bitter but I'm told that it actually has some merit. I need two actors and a skeleton crew for a day's worth of shooting, a couple boxes of pizza and Bob's your uncle. So I think I'm going to produce it around mid-may when I have some time. Aside from that I've also posted an ad tonight on craigslist pimping out my services in directing a music video. I just want to do something, we'll see if anybody bites.

- I just turned 25 last week, and I feel particularly oldER...if not particularly old. I have racoon eyes most of the time and I generaly look pretty haggard. But that could be from anything...first on my list of candidates would be the healthy amount of nicotine I've been ingesting on an increased basis. Oh yeah, we're living it up these days.

---

That's all I've got for now, I plan on doing this more often. And by that I only promise to not wait another 68 weeks before I post again. So um, how are you doing these days?

5:40am

Schpadoinkle.

I am quitting my job in ten minutes.

Six weeks since the last update? Holy carp! And yes I mean 'C-A-R-P'. I'm trying to bring that expression into the American lexicon because...well..I like it.


Schpadoinkle.

As I'm writing this to you I've just spent two hours labeling and loading equipment into my truck. I have laundry running and need to pack for four days away. See, we are set to begin SABERS AND ROSES tomorrow, for which I will be in Frederick for four days. Did I say tomorrow? I meant in like...six hours. Holy crap. 

Anyway, while my laundry is running I figured I'd check in with you fine people. There's a good chance that I could be offed by a musket fired by an overzealous cast member tomorrow so I might as well leave you with something right?

Last night Lia and I attended the release party for THE MURDER GAME. And as I predicted it was wonderful meeting up with the cast and crew again. I told them about Nice Guys, gave out some business cards and rattled off our eq list and it looks like they're interested in hiring Joe and I on as 2nd unit for their next project. It's by the dude who wrote and directed the GHOSTWATCHER films (first one's okay but the second one is really enjoyable, reccomended). They told me they'd look me up in a few months when they go into pre-pro, so....yay.

I have to comment how great it was to have Lia there at the party with me. I love this girl, she's bubbly, smart and gets along really really well with anybody she meets. This I think makes her the perfect party guest, and the perfect party date. (And let's face it, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that she's a knockout beauty...that certainly doesn't hurt ;) She knew I was a little nervous going into the party...I was...I had remembered walking up to the house that ...'oh yeah, I don't like parties'. I know I've written before how I don't do too well at social gatherings in general. Well i've gotten way better, but it still takes a little while to get myself going. Still, I followed her lead and by the end of the night I was networking with the best of them. More importantly I had a great time seeing these people again and hopefully joe and I will be working with them sooner than later. 

So at the party Rob was previewing the dvd for all of us. We checked out the movie again and then watched the bulk of the special features. It's not an overly packed dvd but you'll certainly get your moneys' worth. But really, how cool is it to have something that you've worked on come packaged and nice?

I'd reccomend the film to you if you enjoy slashers, blood, gore etc. The makeup effects are great and the production values are pretty darn good for an indie flick. 

Of course the real reason that you should buy the dvd is to hear my mention in the audio commentary. Yep, that's right, during my 'critical scene' the dp and director give me some kudos and and a shout out (albeit slightly mispronounced...but hell who cares?)

Become Anecdote on DVD Audio Commentary -- done.

Anyway, enough patting myself on the back. Okay maybe one more. Pat. 

So about now I'm probaly down to maybe five to five and a half hours of possible sleep time so I better get on it. This reality show is going to be grueling I can tell. But at least I'm getting to do what I love right? Plus I'll have more stories for you to skim though. Fun fun.

Schpadoinkle.

I can't believe that it's only Thursday and there's still ONE MORE WORK DAY after this before the weekend. What the hell. Aren't short weeks supposed to feel...you know. Shorter? Very odd.

It probably is just me.

Anyway, it's been an interesting week thus far. The Law Firm that LTVN runs out of just hired a new associate, incidentally they now have more lawyers here than offices, so that means someone had to give up their office. And that someone was Mr. Producer man (me).

That's what I get for not going for a law degree. If I had a law degree I'd still have an office. But it'd also mean that I'd have to become a lawyer.

My mom always wanted me to be a lawyer, have I ever told you guys that?

So I've moved into my boss' large-ish office and I'll tell you what, I think it's definitely made things a little easier for me. Now whenever I need him to come look at something I'm working on I can just spin my chair around and bug him, saving me a walk down the hall.

It's all good though, the fact of the matter is that I'll be out of the office all next week filming SABERS AND ROSES, and after that Joe and I are looking to keep on freelancing more and more and more, meaning that I'll be out of the office more and more and more. By the end of the year I'm going to be looking into freelancing as my main source of income. I still won't have health insurance, but that's easily remedied by never getting sick. So I should be fine.

So I'm just riding out the week, trying to get whatever editing done that I can. Tomorrow is the DVD Release party for THE MURDER GAME, and if you haven't picked up your copy yet shame on you. For the price of three Double-Quarter-Pounder meals you could be watching a very gory and very fun indie horror picture. You don't need the burger, but you DO need to see someone get stabbed in the throat with a lead pipe.

Who doesn't need that?

Anyway, I'm off to get some work done. Oh look at that it's already past noon...how the time flies...

Schpadoinkle.

It's been up and down the past couple of months, but summer is finally coming to a close and what do I have to show for it? Well, not very much in terms of entries unfortunately. And the bitch of it is that I've had some great ideas and some very good titles in mind, but I just haven't been able to sit myself down and type something out.

It's the end of August and there are a ton of things going on with the Nice Guys that I'll update you guys on. First off, we've secured a major gig with a reality show pilot called SABERS AND ROSES. Think of it as Survivor meets The Real World meets The Civil War....not the television series, the actual Civil War. Joe is operating and I'm going to be his AC/Gaffer. It's four days in scenic Frederick MD and I'll tell you what, I'm actually looking forward to it. I should probably mention that we just picked up a brand new HVX-200 High Def camera and a glide cam (Just like a stedicam except it's a glidecam....think of it as the rc cola to steadicam's coke.) And that's mainly why we're getting these other gigs.

Other gigs, you say? Indeed, more paid work. Imagine that.

Last week we filmed the red carpet premiere of FEAR OF CLOWNS 2 (If you don't know you better IMDB that shit ;) down at the Senator Theater. We got to mingle with the stars, including the dude who plays the giant muscle-ey clown who is actually a really nice guy. Joe was  second unit DP on that film, and it turns out that he got to shoot a giant chunk of the movie. I know this because I sat next to him during the screening and every five seconds he was pointing to something that he did. So maybe in our wildest dreams our footage from the premiere makes it on the eventual dvd release but in the mean time we can look forward possibly to some internet video action.

Speaking of DVD releases I don't want any of you to forget to pick up your copy of THE MURDER GAME this Tuesday when it drops. (that's what the kids say these days.) It's the film that I gripped on back in '05 yadda yadda yadda you know the deal. Pick it up. The MG guys are great people and great people to work with. And you can see a teensy tiny bit of my handiwork if you're paying attention.

Of course the most gi-normous project on the horizon for us is PENNY DREADFUL which is actually due for a title change soon. I'm in charge of the lighting department which means that I need Grips! If you're even remotely interested in plugging lights in and pointing them at people I need you to get in contact with me so I can put you on the awesome list. Joe will try to steal you away to the camera department, don't listen to him. He's a bastard. Grips are way cooler than Camera Assistants. You want to be cool don't you? Of course if you have no interest in production at all the movie could still use your help, they are looking for people in every department from wardrobe, to makeup to set-design, to casting to bitchwork, i mean PA's....You want to work on a movie? Start on this one, just hit me up and I'll put you in touch with these guys.

Beyond all of that, Joe and I have music videos and a couple other shorts lined up. Independent of the company I've also got some connections rekindling with my friends from channel 7. I don't think I did such a hot job the last time I was out with them a couple weeks ago but hopefully they call me back for more gigs. I'm also prepping to direct again (God knows when with the schedule that I have) but I'm excited about it, it's a script from the mind of Johnny Benson and I won't say too much, but it's going to be a departure for me based on my limited um....works. Stay tuned.

Amidst all of this Lia and I quietly celebrated a year together. I can't believe that it's been that long already, but it's all very wonderful. We don't get to see each other nearly enough but we always make the best of the time that we do have.

Oh, before I forget guys, do check out WWW.CLIENTELEVISION.COM I don't mean to pimp to you too much but we are trying to build some serious traffic so I'm pimping to everybody. It's the latest project from The Legal Television Network and features nearly a hundred videos, all of which yours truly had a hand in creating. So click away friends, you just might learn something. And please tell a pal.

Alright mofos that's the update for now. Pray for your favorite filmmaker, he really wants to do all of this for a living...

Shpadoinkle.