A Sedulous Artifice

My long dormancy will soon end. I’m about to embark on several projects and all of them have their individual challenges. I hate that word “challenges”, at least the way it has replaced the word “problems”. Regardless, your faithful narrator has a full plate and none too soon.

First on deck, finishing a TV show pilot I’ve been working on just nigh of two years. Scott Spears and I have been tinkering with this show and idea for so long, and we’ve already shot a bunch of segments, but we have no edited a single one. I was unmotivated because the anchor to the show could not be shot whilst we had a giant kitchen set in our studio. Now that this monstrosity has finally been removed; it wasn’t even 30 minutes later I started booking crew for the shoot. We’re going to do a 4 camera studio shoot and I’ll do the camera switching in post because software allows a great multicam edit function.



Simultaneously, I will be putting together two separate TV shows for a different network and I will need to shoot some intros and start to gather up content. If you have a short film, or preferably several short films, that you want to show on TV, by all means drop me a line and let me know. These will have to be broadcast TV friendly, so no bad words, no nudity, and nothing that sucks. Given that there are many good shorts over 20 minutes; I’ll even be seeking those too. Exposure is always a good thing. So if you’re interested in getting your movie seen, let me know. I’m going to ask several of the more attractive actresses to host this show in my stead.

Similarly, I want to finish out the CREW JOB DESCRIPTION videos I started. I have several more to shoot. Again, I’m going to find some pretty girls to be on camera instead of me. That tends to make more people watch them. I don’t really care if technicians get upset, as they aren’t trained to say lines and no one actually wants to see them on screen. The target is people who have never made a movie before, so why people with experience care is beyond me.

Then there is an outlet for feature films too. I’m going to be editing some features I have access too for broadcast. Again, no money, but with proper work, an ambitious filmmaker could make the opportunity something more. Print press and something to use to entice a buyer that is what people who want to work their projects can do. I’ll be on-camera talent for this show, which I don’t particularly like, but I’m cheap and available.



My personal exposure is about to go up. I was not looking to get more in the public eye much. In fact, I wanted the opposite. I’ve entered my self-imposed Kubrickian phase. I want to focus on quality, not quantity. I’ve already done a lot of shorts and even worked a few features. My desire at this point is to make things that I am proud of and that exceed what I have done in the past, at least in my own opinion. These projects are more side projects.

I felt I needed to warm back up. I shot ACCIDENTAL ART in late August and have not shot anything since. As a director, I need to stay in shape. Before I embark on another big shoot, I want to scrimmage a little. I have come up with a mini-web project that suits this need. I am deciding how to put it together as a whole, but I think I can show off some of our local acting talent in a short form that is simple to make, but elegant in its execution.

After these enormous targets, I have to decide if I want to make an ambitious short film or proceed with my next feature film. There are benefits and downsides to either choice, but so far, there is no clear path. At least I can be distracted by many weeks of hard work and organization with these other projects before I have t make a decision…

Peace and goodwill towards men and women and cats.

SMELL THE GLOVE

Now I’m excited again, in a big way. After making some short films earlier in the year, and doing some writing, I feel a little bit more confident in myself again. Part of it was the self beating that my first real feature film gave my ego, especially on the self reflection angle. I’m not really affected by people saying “You suck!”, no matter what the project. I don’t like or hate something I made based on how other people feel about it; I’m only concerned with how I feel about it. I don’t measure myself against other people, only myself and my own goals and interests.

When another local filmmaker recently dick-measured themselves versus my material, and basically were saying they were so much better than me. I was not pleased. A friend misinterpreted how I felt and told me to “Use that! Go out make your next movie and kick their ass!!!!” and all I could think was (And unfortunately I also said this out loud), WHAT A STUPID REASON TO MAKE A MOVIE. I am not motivated by interpersonal rivalries or comparisons to other filmmakers. Making movies is NOT a competition or a race. This whole analogy that film is akin to sports makes me nauseous. I make movies to tell stories. My only successes and failures, along with comparisons are to myself and my other work. I can’t put myself on any kind of scale with another filmmaker. My personal philosophy truly is that there is NO SUCH THING AS BETTER OR WORSE; ONLY DIFFERENCES.

What motivates me is the need (not desire) to tell a particular story. If I have something to say, I say it with the moving pictures and the sound along with it. It’s an expression about whatever the story and characters mean to me and some kind of sociological metaphor or slice of humanity that tickles my fancy. When I make a movie to try to prove that I can do this or that to some other filmmaker or to win a popularity contest, I’ll shoot myself in the head.



Now what gets confusing is that I have had to learn to keep my mouth shut about my honest assessments of other people’s work, unless it’s praise. I’m much more silent now about that kind of stuff, but I guess some people are ultra sensitive about their own material. Go figure. I’m a lot less interested in other people’s projects at this point anyway. My life has changed significantly in the last 2 years and where I am at and what interests me has invariably changed.

CHANNEL 17, a local digital only TV station has switched over from being a HOME SHOPPING NETWORK to original programming. They are filling a much needed void of locally created content. My old boss Mike Tavares does some freelance shooting and editing for them. A few months ago, they told him about how they were interested in local content and he told them about me, my short films and even HORRORS OF WAR. He gave them some DVD’s and that started them looking at the local film scene as a whole. Ironically, local yahoos want to (yet again) take credit for something they didn’t start but I really don’t care. All I want is my material to be on TV again. It can only help with exposure to an audience that otherwise would not see it. There is also a credibility issue that good work being seen on a TV station helps create. If potential investors see your work broadcast or know that it is being shown, then you are being validated by someone other than your mommy and daddy and the cast and crew. Step aside pretend filmmakers, the real ones are going to utilize the opportunity, then parlay it to mean something.

Sonnyboo.com is going to sponsor the show and the :30 Sonnyboo spot will play on the CHANNEL 17 network soon. With enough (good) new programming, WDEM CHANNEL 17 might get picked up by cable operators and then the exposure goes up exponentially. Since Columbus is illegally withholding any kind of Public Access television, this is a way to get material seen, and in this case, the station will filter out the sub-par, unwatchable crap from many of the weekend camcorder wannabes.



Next month I am shooting something special to me. Finally, I get to shoot something with the RED ONE camera. That will be freakin’ sweet. That means an upgrade to Adobe CS4 just to be able to handle the RED footage from the CF (Compact Flash) cards. I think THIS will continue my growth as a filmmaker and be another huge stepping stone in the career path. RELATIONSHIP CARD helped, and I am very proud of the piece, but this is taking another deep stab at something more professional and clawing my way towards another feature film.

Rehearsals start this week for the new project. The juices are flowing. Time to take another bite out of life and see what’s left.

An Interesting Television Business Decision

Last year’s writer’s strike caused an interesting thing for FOX’s show 24, which I love dearly. Now, the reason I enjoy the show is because I immediately stop worrying about the concept being “24 hours” and “real time”. If realism will destroy your enjoyment of a fictional show, then this ain’t for you. I got into the show on DVD a few years ago because Scott Spears tipped me off that Buy.com had season one on sale for $15 including shipping and for a 6 disc set, that’s cheaper to buy than it is to rent, plus I could sell it for that amount at a used DVD store.

My Sexy Fiancé Veronica ™ and I were hooked right away and Netflix © kept us going until we caught up with the current seasons. I’ve liked Kiefer Sutherland since THE LOST BOYS and STAND BY ME in the 1980’s and his JACK BAUER character has been a source of acting challenges with range for him that I enjoy watching.



24 starts shooting like every other TV series in the fall even though none of their episodes begin airing until January. They do this because they feel that the show is much more effective with the audience to consistently get new material every single week with no breaks for all 24 episodes. This even affords them some double episode weeks and really gets the anticipation going from start to finish. Shows like LOST are emulating this model because shows that are highly serialized demand audience attention for continuity, etc.

Last year, 24 got off to a rough start. They had a highly publicized halt to their production. Supposedly, they were breaking their difficult show model and were going to do 24 hours, but not all in a row. So 6 hours in this city, then a week later, 6 hours in another city, etc. The original intent was going to be the first 6 hours taking place in & shot in AFRICA and the next 6 hours in Washington D.C. The writers & producers felt each year being in Los Angeles was limiting and they were right. The formula was getting a bit stale, so breaking it up and moving it out would have been better.



So, the problem became that FOX was deeply concerned about shooting in Africa for real and knew that the budget would skyrocket, so just as they were about to pack up and leave, FOX pulled the plug and told them all to re-think the season minus the Africa segments. Since the show doesn’t premiere until January, this wasn’t an emergency per se, but they did have a lot to catch up on and re-do to alter everything they intended. So they re-tooled, re-wrote and started off with the Washington D.C. segments and laid the Africa stuff as backstory that occurred off camera between.

They got 7 new episodes in the can before the writer’s strike kicked in for 2007-2008’s season, then the writer’s strike set in for months. Even when the strike was over, a show like this cannot catch up, nor can they do less than the “24” episodes that is the core of the show’s concept. Kiefer Sutherland also had to serve a jail sentence for drunk driving, and it all worked out.
The decision was to completely hold off any producing any new episodes until the 2008-2009 season.



So cut to the new season, FOX has already invested in 7 fully produced episodes and wants to continue where that left off. That means for the current season they have a surplus in their budget for 7 episodes and taking after another TV series, NBC-Universal’s Sci Fi Channel BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, they offered the producers a chance to make a one off 2 hour TV movie for 24 called REDEMPTION. They could use the majority of the 7 episode surplusmoney to produce it, and the writers/producers decided to dust off their scripts and ideas for the AFRICA storyline. NOW they get to produce the African storyline with even more budget, not conflict with the 24 hour real time aspects, and get the backstory for the new season as something we can visually see with high production values.



Still following the BATTLESTAR GALACTICA model, used to do their 2 hour movie RAZOR in 2007, this 24 movie REDEMPTION will also get released within a day or two of its airing on DVD in a longer, unrated producer’s cut. Since the new season doesn’t start until January, they can still satiate fans with new content in the fall with this made for TV movie. Given what neophiles and the compulsive nature of fandom, this idea has real brilliance. The buildup hype for the new season, using annual production budget surplus, and then offer it as a retail item immediately for the big cash return. It’s genius, if only because the product is good.

Next week I’ll be watching the broadcast, then probably renting the producer’s cut, and getting psyched for some Jack Bauer terrorist ass kicking since it’s been nearly 2 years. I love these ancillary products like the TV movie for things I’m into. It deepens the mythology of the stories I like, it creates alternative revenue for a dying industry, and it’s just feeding the fans desire for MORE of anything.

The Seinfeld-Twin Peaks Connection

Ever since Doc Hayward (Warren Frost) & Mrs. Sarah Palmer (Grace Zabriski) appeared on Seinfeld as George Costanza's soon to be parents in law, the Ross', I often wondered if there was a connection between Seinfeld and Twin Peaks.

There were as many as four Twin Peaks cast members on a single episode of Seinfeld. The aforementioned two, along with Jacque Renault (Walter Olkewicz) playing a "Plaza Cable" guy who terrorizes Kramer and the mysterious Mrs. Tremond (Frances Bay), who already appeared on Seinfeld getting a marble rye stolen from her, all showed up in a season seven Seinfeld episode called "The Cadillac". A previous Seinfeld episode also had three of them, plus character Emory Battis (Don Amendolia) who worked at Horne's Department store and was tricked into letting Audrey Horne work at One Eyed Jacks played the owner of a horse carriage owner who loans his rig to Kramer. Sue Ellen Mischke from Seinfeld played Ms. Jones, the assistant to David Warner's Mr. Thomas Eckhart, turns out to be an assassin who tries to off Sheriff Harry Truman. Even Elaine's boss Mr. Pitt (Ian Ambercrombie) appeared in Twin Peaks as Tom Brockman, the insurance man.

Strangely, no one in the casting department for either show is shared, nor can I find any producers/writers shared. These two shows couldn't be more different, and yet there are strong ties with the bit actors and day players.

What is the connection? Why were so many of these actors crossing over from the Pacific Northwest to the Big Apple? Who bridged these two productions?

A mystery without an anwer....