Curtis Wayne

New year, new challenge!

2011-01-18T10:48:00.000-08:00

Since I last posted, Mary and I had our third (and final!) baby girl, Niesha (pronounced nee-shah). I've been working on various film projects, in various capacities, including acting, writing, script coverage, and stage daddy. On the business side, I wrapped up several consulting projects, and was looking for something to keep me closer to home, and closer to my wonderful girls.

And I found it.

Next Monday, I will start full-time as the ~~Director of Operations~~ Chief Operations Officer at an exciting Austin-based company called Appiction, which makes iPhone apps. Actually, we make apps for several devices, including Android devices, Blackberry (RIM), iPad, and iPod Touch. It's an exploding industry, and the position harnesses both the left and right sides of my joyful little brain.

The company is a wonderful collection of opposites and complements, hipsters and veterans, artists and strategists, and I'm right in the middle of it- exactly where I love to be! I've been working there on a consulting basis for three weeks now, and have enjoyed every minute of it. It's always fun to be in on the ground floor of a new venture, and to have a hand in shaping it's success. Plus, it's just plain ol' fun.

I'll keep working my film and music jones, but will be combining that with my love of technology and business. Gonna be a great year!

Hey, if you need an iPhone app for your movie, holla.

Acting class starting

2010-08-19T13:44:00.000-07:00

UPDATE:
This Saturday, I am launching the "beta" version of my on-camera "Auditioning" acting class. This initial class is by invitation only, so if you would like to attend, email me, and I'll let you know if there are any spots left.

The class will focus strictly upon auditioning, which I believe to be a little bit of a black art, no matter what anybody tells you. Many folks who read this blog are veteran actors, some are newbs, and some are not actors at all. A few of each have signed up for the initial class, so you'll be in good company.

We'll cover some of the following items. The rest we'll cover during the full-length course:

The kind of auditions you should be focusing on for your "type."
7 things you should ALWAYS do during an audition.
Differences between auditions and on-set performances.
3 things you should NEVER do during an audition.
Owning the room.
How to handle improvised, no-line, and 1-, 2-, or 3-line auditions.
Group auditions vs. solo auditions vs. "firing line" auditions.
Role reversal tips.
Taking direction and making adjustments.
Making use of the full frame.
Sit, stand, or lie down? How to handle stage directions.
Hot choices and when to make them.
What to wear, and what to NEVER wear!
Off-book or on-book? Should you memorize your lines?
Live auditions vs. taped auditions.
Regional casting directors' likes and dislikes.
How to make story-accurate choices.
Bait & Switch- what to do when you are asked to read for a DIFFERENT part.
Using your voice to best advantage.
Cold Readings – Sides are given to each actor in the audition class and they have between five and fifteen minutes to prepare for the audition.
Warm Readings – sides are e-mailed to the actors several days in advance and they bring in their prepared auditions.
Text Analysis – Method that teaches how to efficiently break down a scene to create certainty while auditioning.
Improvised auditions.
How to use your nerves to your advantage.
Transitioning your auditioning skills into a real world audition. Many actors perform fabulously when going over sides on their own, in acting class or with a coach only to have a less than par audition in a real world situation.
How to kick off your audition with "guns blazing."
Keeping records of your auditions.
Keys for product commercials.
Reading for "non-actor / real people" roles.
other fun stuff.

In the course of each audition class, actors will work, and see their work on-screen.

Happy auditioning, everyone!

P.S. - A shout-out to our friend Karl Anderson, who booked a role on the new TV series Chase. Way to go, Karl!

Pitching a TV show to Oprah

2010-06-12T20:26:00.000-07:00

I'm in Dallas this weekend, for the in-person pitch to the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). As always, there were important lessons to be learned.

Things like this are always a long shot, but my friend Kai Dupe and I met many wonderful people, and enjoyed the experience quite a bit. Props to Mary for clueing us in to the whole event!

Today was one of the four American Idol-type "cattle call" events. You can also submit online. I did both.

The online video pitch, which you can find below, allows you to vote easily, with no registration, and as often as you like. I suggest 500-600 times per day, please. :-) I'm shooting for 10,000 votes. Most importantly, though, I'd love to hear your comments and feedback, as I may pitch this to other networks or self-produce, so I'm anxious to hear what you guys think. By the way, much love to Marissa, Roze, James, and L.A. Houston for their great comments. If you're not a member of Texas Film Scene yet, try joining up, and connecting with others like you, who are doing it for themselves.

One lesson in this experience has been that you don't get the call if you don't show up. One guy in Kai's group got a call back, so it DOES happen, and we were close. Another lesson is the importance of being "good in a room," that is, knowing HOW to pitch; in other words, sales. So, 20 years later, that communications degree doesn't look like such a bad call, after all! Finally, you have to remember: you're not actually pitching Oprah. Sorry. You are actually pitching a young (like, 25 year old) junior casting associate. So if your pitch falls flat, take heart. Oprah might love your pitch, when she eventually gets to hear it. But to do that, you may have to make your OWN way for a while, until O comes knocking on your door, saying, "Hey, I'm a big fan of your show!"

Please VOTE if you like the video, and let me know your feedback. Thanks! Here's the URL.

Is your Website ready for Google TV?

2010-05-24T03:15:00.000-07:00

Google just announced that Google TV is real, and gave a public demo, via YouTube (above). It's been the talk of the digerati for a few months now, but at last it's confirmed. Google also said that by summer of 2011, Google TV will be open-sourced. That's a big deal.

For one thing, it could pull the life-support plug on AppleTV, which was already reeling from Netflix's partner offerings, like the Roku box, and Amazon's similar service. For another, it pretty much squashes any hope Microsoft had of jumping in with a new dedicated hardware offering and/or service; fortunately, the X-Box 360 is a sanctioned Netflix-streaming device, but that's all MS has got, really.

I remember a presentation by MIT prof Philip Greenspun in 2001 here in Austin. He talked about how these awesome new 3G phones were the rage in Japan. People could websurf on them at ridiculous speeds, and the technology was coming here soon. Corporations needed to prepare their sites by offering a WAP (wireless access protocol), or 'mobile' version. Philip was a little ahead of his time.

Mobile browsing did eventually catch on here in America, much later than Greenspun predicted. Now Google has given the same heads-up: is your Website GTV-ready? I don't even know what that entails, but you can be damn sure I'm gonna find out. Soon.

Be the Media

2010-05-01T21:38:00.000-07:00

David Mathison, former CEO of Kinecta Corporation (purchased by Oracle) has written a book called Be the Media. Great title. The content is good, too, though a little shallow. Mathison attempts to cover an ocean's range of subjects, and while the topics are a mile wide, they are only about a foot deep. Actually, more like a yard deep, to be fair. It's a good introduction to several areas, but probably nothing most indie producers don't already know.

Even better than the book, though, is Mathison's Be the Media Internet radio show on BlogTalk Radio. He's got some impressive guests, and deeper discussions on the topics he scrapes the surface of in the book. Recent guests included Seth Godin and Terry McBride. So far, every episode I've heard has been good. One of the best for filmmakers was this one, featuring distribution guru Peter Broderick.

I like the book, but cannot heartily recommend it. But I do recommend Mathison's BTR podcast. Check it out.

Instant jam session- just add iPhone

2010-04-05T11:08:00.000-07:00

Musicians, have you ever felt the urge to have a jam session with some friends, to try out new ideas, or just commune with the muse, but found it too much hassle to get everyone together? Well, check out LaDiDa, a new iPhone app that applies some old technology in new ways, to let you throw an instant "pickin' party."

Years ago, when I was playing a lot as a singer-songwriter, I missed the sound of a full band, and the chemistry of trying out new ideas instantly. Digital recording systems are great, but they are very solitary affairs, and require you to not only know how to play your instruments, but also those of the musicians you are replacing with a computer (usually the drummer).

A clever piece of software called Band in a Box (PC only) used pre-programmed styles and (terrible) MIDI sound files to provide a backing band, complete with notation and arrangement options, but you had to do at least a little pre-planning, entering the number of measures, chord changes, tempo, key, and style for the program to do it's thing.

LaDiDa is different. You hum. That's it. Literally hum into your iPhone, and LaDiDa figures out everything else on the fly, as you can see in the video. Very, very, very impressive. I'm curious to see if it responds to instruments as well as voice. But even if not, it gives you a great starting point as a songwriter, allowing you to make changes on the fly, and it also gives you motivation to finish the song, since you can easily imagine how great it will sound when complete.

Check it out, and post some feedback of your experience here on this post. Let me know what you think.

The Futures of Hollywood

2010-04-02T19:06:00.000-07:00

A sample of movie futures soon to be on offer from the Cantor Exchange.

The Hollywood Stock Exchange has been around for 15 years. It's a game where players bet on the "securities" of Hollywood properties, including make-believe stocks, bonds, and even derivatives. In a truth-stranger-than-fiction move, Cantor-Fitzgerald, a Wall Street investment brokerage and consultancy, bought the HSX. And now they are hoping to make reality out of fiction.

On April 20, 2010, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) expects to tell Cantor whether they will allow the new company, called the Cantor Exchange, to actually trade movie titles as securities (specifically, as futures). This means we'll all be able to bet, literally, on whether a movie will make money or not.

This is an interesting twist on the "internal prediction markets" that are happening at companies like Google, who run an exchange to bet on the delivery dates and health of a particular project or product. Movie returns have always been wildly unpredictable, so it will be interesting to see if commercializing our predictions adds any accuracy, and really makes anyone money (other than the Cantor Exchange, which takes a cut of every transaction), or, if William Goldman was right when he famously said, "Nobody knows anything."

If, like me, you predicted that Hot Tub Time Machine would have stunk up the box office, well, you probably would have lost your retirement fund. Who knew?

The future of movie distribution

2010-03-26T20:24:00.000-07:00

Next time you have a free hour and a half, enjoy this treatise on the future of movie distribution. Me and many others have been saying the same thing for a few years now, but it's interesting to hear it straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak. Mai is a former distributor sales agent.

Thanks to Lorie Marsh for hipping me to this presentation.

My sentiments exactly

2010-03-05T17:38:00.000-08:00

Amen.

Stu Maschwitz set to direct Psy-Ops movie

2010-03-03T19:03:00.000-08:00

Stu Maschwitz, author of the DV Rebel's Guide to Making Action Movies on the Cheap, and the incredible resource blog Prolost (get the RSS feed of this blog on our Texas Film Scene) has been tagged to direct the new biggish-budget film Psy-Ops. Excsssssellent. I'll be there.

Attention, Movie Tech Geeks: Great interview with Stu on why 24p rocks, here. Sorry, it's not embedable video (boo!).

Amazing art!

2010-02-14T14:25:00.000-08:00

Next time you think your movie needs lots of talky dialog, watch this video, and remember that we trade in a visual medium.

Straight to Audience, not Straight to Video

2010-02-06T20:12:00.001-08:00

I love this post by Sherri Candler, a Los Angeles-based low-budget film marketing advisor, where she suggests that we change the term "straight to video" (or straight to DVD) to "straight to audience." Amen!

Filmmakers have been doing this for decades, now, probably as far back as John Cassavetes. But the difference now is the presence of The Great Disintermediator- the Internet. Search engines, YouTube and it's ilk, and social networks have made it possible to find an audience simply by posting your content online. Doing that and only that will not necessarily gain you much traffic, or any money, but it can help you find what Kevin Kelly calls 1,000 true fans.

With such a core audience, you become your own distribution company, for whatever content you produce- movies, music, books, blogs, podcasts, speeches, etc. It's an approach I've been advocating for sometime here on this blog, and on the Texas Film Scene, and is also the thrust of a book I'm writing on entrepreneurship in the digital age (if you're interested in knowing when this book is shipping, email me).

Straight to audience is not as sexy as a box office release, but considering that most indie filmmakers now only score a box office release if they (a) get chosen by the Festival Gods, or (b) pay for their own 4-walling, it certainly is a lot cheaper. Straight to audience has also helped Texas filmmakers like Blake Calhoun and Mike Maden score pretty sweet Hollywood production deals on the strength of their straight-to-audience work. Besides- and I know this is heresy- on most nights, I would rather enjoy a movie on my dirt-cheap home theater system than pay $20+food+gas+babysitter for a movie ticket. At $35 per outing, it takes only 25 movies to recoup the cost of my 47-inch LCD. Avatar or Star Trek is a different story, of course.

Straight-to-audience also scares people because it sounds like sales, which it is. It's time for artists to stop fearing sales, and start embracing it. If you love what you're selling, then selling is no chore. If you don't, why are you making that movie, again?

$50 horror flick 'Colin' takes Cannes by storm

2010-01-06T12:48:00.000-08:00

Well, actually it was fifty pounds (Sterling), but I don't have the British keyboard settings enabled. Still, pretty cheap.

Colin is a no-budget movie by London director Marc Price, which tells the story from the zombie's perspective. A nice twist, playing on the American Werewolf theme.

Price took 18 months to organize (and write?) the project, cast and staffed entirely with volunteers from his Facebook group. The project garnered acceptance to Cannes, and awards at many smaller festivals worldwide. It has done so well, in fact, that it has an extensive theatrical release schedule! Not bad for fifty bucks.

No doubt many in Hollywood will trash the movie, and call attention to all it's low-budget production faults, instead of focusing on what a determined young director was able to do with no money. Smart studios will see this as a great way to mitigate their risk. As with Texas' own Pink: The Series, and the recent Uruguayan director who made a 5-minute version of War of the Worlds for $500, studios are making big offers to small indy filmmakers who prove that they can attract eyeballs in the vast Internet wasteland, and proving once again that it doesn't have to cost millions of dollars to make good movies; Hollywood just doesn't know any other way.

Stay at home actor

2009-12-21T11:19:00.001-08:00

I love this. Reminds me of the Tonya Harding vs. Paula Jones sketch on SNL a while back. Thanks to Robert Dugan for the link.

Austin's funniest villain? Find out Dec. 14!

2009-12-08T16:42:00.000-08:00

I had a blast doing my comedy debut at Cap City Comedy Club back in November. Now, I'm ready to go back for seconds. Come join me and several dozen of my closest friends on Monday, December 14, at 8 p.m., for a great lineup of some 20 rookies, and a veteran headline act. It's a fun night out. Besides, after all the fiscal doom and gloom this year, who couldn't use a good laugh?

Comcast-NBC deal on the brink

2009-11-08T23:11:00.000-08:00

Cable provider Comcast is eyeing NBC-Universal for a price of about $30 billion, according to Bloomberg. In a previous post, I predicted this would happen, since it makes since for cable companies to find ways to add value to customer, beyond just being a series of tubes.

What about you?

What does this mean for filmmakers, actors, writers, and directors? As with vertical integration in any industry, it should stabilize the demand for content, and those artists and skilled tradespeople who provide it... for a while. Let's face it: if you want to create art that takes $40 million of stars and special effects, you need a big studio behind you. Hollywood will continue to consolidate not only structurally, but in terms of content, too: big, comic-book, tent-pole movies will become Hollywood's main (perhaps ONLY) competitive advantage. There will be fewer shows made, probably, and they will likely continue to skew young. So if you're 18 and hungry, you should still plan on moving L.A. to jump start your movie-making career.

Regardless of NBC's short-term fate, the industry still faces larger issues, including a business model that doesn't depend on traditional commercial advertising and DVD sales. The music business highlights the importance of finding new ways to monetize digital content. NBC-Universal is a player; Universal Music Group, which bought BMG, is the largest of the "big 4" major labels.

So if you don't fit the major studio demo, or want to make movies outside that niche, try looking to the indie music industry, which is finding ways to redefine what business they are actually in.

Epic development

2009-10-30T05:57:00.000-07:00

Paramount, Lionsgate, and MGM have launched a new TV network called EpixHD. It will feature movies that are still in the "pay TV window"; that is, after their theatrical run has finished, but before the DVD release.

What sets the new network apart, though, is that it will bundle an on-demand Internet streaming service, similar to Netflix Streaming or Hulu, allowing users to watch 720p high-def movies from the Epix catalog on demand, rather than be subject to run-of-schedule, like HBO subscribers, who are forced to endure the latest episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm 56 times in a week.

Originally, the company wanted to have cable providers like Time-Warner and Cox bundle the service with existing cable packages, shifting the burden of payment from subscribers to cable providers. Verizon, for one, said no thanks. They will offer EpixHD on their FiOS TV network, but at a $9.99 premium charge. Other cable providers and ISPs are likely to follow suit.

To combat that move, EpixHD is offering a free 30-day pass on their site. No doubt they will use information they get from you to lobby the ISPs and cable providers to bundle the channel, and to spam you with offers. But hey, it'll save you $10 or so!

iPhone Bluetooth Keyboards?

2009-09-03T10:32:00.000-07:00

They're here! Sort of.

Some innovative companies have announced portable Bluetooth keyboards for the iPhone! (Way to be cutting edge, Apple. Palm had this kind of stuff 10 years ago for their PDAs and smart phones. Yeeesh.)

Oh, but wait- they don't actually work yet. Apple has not released drivers for the iPhone, so consumers can't enjoy this very useful technology unless we hack our phone. I wrote about the need for iPhone keyboards, and the available hacks a while back on my Easy Tech Zealot blog.

I suspect the reason is that Apple doesn't want to cannibalize possible "MacTablet" customers. Truth is, most die-hard Macheads that I know would buy both. I think Apple is missing an opportunity to cement the iPhone as the platform of choice for many users, especially with Android phones hot on their heels.

Google's Android is free, with many different suppliers, phone vendors, and price points. It's hard to compete with free, and even harder to compete with Google. Remember Yahoo, Hotmail, Outlook, Internet Explorer, and MS-Office? Google has supplanted or is rivaling all of those once-leading products. It will take time, but many phone users will choose "cheap and good enough" over "expensive and elegant." Many already have. So, lighten up, Apple. Give us the BT keyboard, already!

Curtis Wayne Demo Reel

2009-08-24T07:09:00.000-07:00

Drawing inspiration from my fellow Texas Film Scene member Tommy Kendrick's excellent short-form demo reel, I decided to re-edit mine. I took a little different approach, since I don't have the pedigree that Tommy brings. Instead of a dozen short scenes, I used just a few scenes (still short, about 90 seconds for the whole reel), but long enough to show different looks and some acting "chops," I hope. Please let me know what you think. I would love some feedback!

NOTE: HD version is available on YouTube.

UPDATE: I have heard and obeyed! Newly-updated reel now includes clip titles, as you guys suggested. To keep it short and focused, I left out other clips from comedy roles and such. Thanks for all the great feedback, folks!

Tweeting during auditions

2009-08-18T06:11:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if this is bad form or not.

Daryl Eisenberg of DE Casting in New York, NY, has been using the popular insta-blog service Twitter during her casting sessions, though not during the actual auditions, she claims. As an actor, I feel empathy for the people who feel slighted by her actions, and am maybe a bit icnredulous that she was not doing it during actual auditions, though I give her the benefit of the doubt, since I wasn't there.

However, it's instructive to read what she was actually tweeting. The feedback is honest and blunt, which is what most actors need. I don't think reading the tea leaves of a casting director's musings will make us better actors per se, but it can certainly help identify and eliminate behaviors these CDs feel is "unprofessional" or even just plain old annoying.

Different CDs have different likes and disklikes, and being able to listen in on their thoughts, especially during a live casting session, seems to me like invaluable acting intelligence.

What do you think?

Comcast Century Fox?

2009-08-17T00:19:00.000-07:00

Rumors are floating that Comcast is trying to buy a film/TV production studio (perhaps the troubled NBC?). To this, I can only say, "Aha! I knew it!"

5 movie remakes that must be stopped

2009-07-29T17:54:00.000-07:00

My God, I had no idea! This cannot stand!!!

Indie Film Fissure Starts its Texas Screening Tour

2009-07-22T09:50:00.000-07:00

A shameless plug for my fellow Texas filmmaker Russ Pond.

The Award-Winning, Indie Film Fissure Starts its Texas Screening Tour

Indigenous Film Works and Top Pup Media invite you and your guests to a free preview screening of FISSURE in Dallas on July 21st, Houston on July 22nd and Austin on July 23rd. Showtime is 7:30 PM. Doors open at 6:30pm. The screening is free, so seating is first come, first serve.

Fissure star James Macdonald and producer/director Russ Pond will be attending all three screenings. Please join us for a night of mystery and indie filmmaking.

Details about the screenings can be found here: http://fissure.tv/screenings

You can register for the Facebook events at the following links:

Dallas Screening - Tuesday, July 21: http://bit.ly/fissure-dallas
Houston Screening - Wednesday, July 22: http://bit.ly/fissure-houston
Austin Screening - Thursday, July 23: http://bit.ly/fissure-austin

Synopsis: Detective Paul Grunning is trying to piece together his fractured life. When a routine disturbance at the Ulster House turns into an unexplainable death, all he has worked for will be tested. James McDonald is Grunning, an ailing, addicted cop, haunted by his own bad choices. He investigates the mysterious house, only to find shifting testimonies and perplexing new clues in every room. Sifting through the erratic claims of Emma, the victim’s wife, Rachel, the seductive grad student, and Andrew, a bitterly resentful son, Grunning uncovers motives, but no real answers. Ultimately, Grunning must navigate a fractured reality and his own insecurities to find what's real.

Fissure Trailer: http://www.fissure.tv/fissure-trailer

$4.5 million gross profit on indie feature

2009-07-21T08:02:00.000-07:00

Yeah, that got my attention, too.

My friend Joe McReynolds hipped me to Lance Weiler's feature film site. I had heard of Lance's Workbook Project, but hadn't put his face to the films. Weiler claims to have made $4.5 million from self-distribution of his first feature, The Last Broadcast. His Workbook Project is wildly popular, and has returned him more money than a book advance he turned down to start it.

DIY DAYS LA - When the Audience Takes Control - panel

Choose your rut

2009-07-12T08:25:00.000-07:00

There is a sign on an muddy dirt road: "Choose your rut carefully. You'll be in it for the next 26 miles."

Mary and I chose Austin, Texas. As ruts go, it's pretty awesome. As major movie projects go, well, we're kind of in a rut.

Other actor friends of mine chose L.A. As big studio movie projects go, it has been, and still is, the place to be. As a place of business, L.A. looks like it's becoming a pretty big rut, according to this op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal.

Casting director and actor Mark Sikes, along with millions of other people, think L.A. is the bee's knees. Mary and I thought it was pretty cool, too, though with all the usual caveats- too expensive, traffic sucks (REALLY sucks, not like Austin traffic sucks), and smog, though it's gotten better. As a young single person, I think it would be great. As an old married couple with kids looking for a house and good schools, not so much. Especially not as a struggling actor. But Sikes is quick to note "[Y]ou'll be here ten years minimum. If that sounds like a prison sentence then you might want to get out now. "

Hey, every place has it's good and bad.

The Texas legislature recently passed historic incentives to lure productions back to Texas. I was in Shreveport for an audition last week, and a fellow actor mentioned that the Louisiana just passed higher incentives to keep productions there. More rut for us? *Sigh...*

One attraction of states like Texas or Louisiana is the absence of city and state income taxes, like the ones that Newcombe's WSJ article rails against. You also get a lot of quality life for your money. Summer is hotter, but we don't have earthquakes. Shreveport is nice, but basically a gambling town. My agent once offered my wife and I the chance to run her New Orleans office years ago, but I'm opposed to drowning in hurricanes. A well-known movie and television star once confided to me: "Hell, yes, I'd prefer to live in Austin. What actor wouldn't? But L.A. is where the work is."

With so much capability in the hands of independent filmmakers, and the old studio model changing under our feet, it is important to look at TQL- the Total Quality of Life package for whichever rut you choose.

For us, Texas, and Austin in particular, is pretty hard to beat. Forbes Magazine agrees, with Texas claiming the top five spots for Best Big Cities for Jobs in 2009. Austin is usually near the top of most such lists, whether it's CNN, Kiplinger, U.S. News and World Report, or acting colleagues. Most actors are unemployed most of the time, so we need other jobs to make ends meet. Those jobs are getting harder to find in L.A., even waitstaff jobs, the actor's bread-and-butter gig!

So when you're considering where to hang out your filmmaker shingle, choose your rut carefully. You'll be in it a long time.

Medium budget films too risky for Hollywood economy

2009-07-10T22:24:00.000-07:00

In a recent episode of KCRW's The Business, host and Daily Beast writer Kim Masters and two of her journalistic comrades, Jonathan Horn, staff writer for the Los Angeles Times, and Stephen Galloway executive editor of the Hollywood Reporter magazine, concurred with my prognosis that mid-level Hollywood films are dying, possibly already dead.

"Movies are more about concept than stars," said Horn. Which explains Transformers, Spider Man, The X-Men, Hangover, and, uh, Transformers 2. High-concept movies are nothing new, but they used to be a tasty desert on the Hollywood studios' menu; now they are the main course.

It looks like they will soon be the only dish that Hollywood serves.

How not to use the internet to find investors for your film or theatre project

2009-07-02T12:03:00.000-07:00

Shara Nickell brought my attention (via Angela Lee's Film Austin Yahoo Group) to this excellent article from L.A. entertainment attorney Gordon Firemark, and he graciously allowed me to republish it here. Good stuff. I've been working with L.A.-based producers for over 10 years raising money for films, only modestly successfully. It's complicated and expensive. Before you stake your hopes on "InstantProducer.tv" or similar sites, read this article.

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How not to use the internet to find investors for your film or theatre project.

By Gordon Firemark | May 13, 2009

In recent weeks, I’ve begun to see more and more independent filmmakers and theatre producers using forums, chat rooms, and other internet-services to seek out investors for their projects. In most cases, these inquiries are couched in plain language: “Seeking investors for independent film” or similar.

Unfortunately for these producers, their use of the internet as a tool in identifying and securing the financing for their projects may actually serve as an impediment to their efforts, making the sometimes improbable chances of raising funds virtually impossible.

Projects financed through the use of funds contributed by investors must comply with myriad laws and regulations governing the manner in which the investment opportunity is communicated and the transaction completed. First among these laws is the 1934 Securities Act, which established the Securities Exchange Commission, and gave that agency authority to regulate the offer and sale of securities.

What is a “security”?

Generally speaking, any sale of an investment in a venture where the investor’s role is “passive”, in that he or she does not share meaningfully in the right to control the day-to-day operations of the venture, and/or does not share the risk of loss with those in control, is likely to be considered a security, subject to the rules and regulations of the SEC.

The Registration Requirement

The general rule is that every offering or sale of securities must be registered with the SEC unless there is an available exemption on which the issuer relies. Registration of securities is a time-consuming and often cost-prohibitive option for low-budget filmmakers and producers of theatrical plays and musicals.

Exemptions from Registration: Advertising not permitted.

Although there are several exemptions from registration available, those that are most commonly available to producers of entertainment arise under SEC Regulation D. Unfortunately, these exemptions are intended for private, limited offerings, rather than offers made to the general public. As such, the regulations prohibit the use of advertising in the offer and sale of the securities.

Internet postings seeking investors ARE advertisements.

Lawyers are in agreement that any communication put on the internet for the purpose of raising money via sales of securities WILL be considered an advertisement, and thus, renders the Regulation D exemptions inapplicable. Therefore, by posting in an internet forum, chat room or social networking site, producers often make things much harder for themselves.

Solutions

So, how can a producer effectively use the internet in her efforts to finance her project?

One possible solution is to work outside the securities realm. By this I don’t mean to skirt the law, but rather to ensure that the offering being made does not involve securities, but instead, an opportunity to become an “active” investor and participant in the production. Typically, this is done by posting or offering prospects the chance to review the business plan for the project, and the chance to join as a partner, co-venturer or founder of an initial incorporation for the purpose of producing the project.

This drastically limits the universe of likely financing partners, since by being “active”, the partner shares in the downside (liability) as well as the possible upside from the profitable project.

Another viable approach (if executed carefully), is to use the internet as a tool for developing and building relationships with people whom you may later approach on a personal, private basis with the investment opportunity. Care should be taken, however, that this relationship building is in fact more than merely window-dressing. The common interests of those involved must go beyond the project being financed. The internet in such situation isn’t involved in making the offer, but merely in networking with like-minded individuals.

Finally, there ARE some internet based organizations that focus on attracting “accredited” investors and building a pool or network of people interested in investing in entertainment projects. By engaging the services of such an organization, (which has a pre-existing relationship with pre-qualified investors), some producers have succeeded in securing financing.

Ultimately, however, the internet should be thought of as simply another medium for communication. It cannot be used in ways that older, more traditional communication methods would be prohibited. Before starting any campaign to raise funding for a film or theatre project, producers should consult with a qualified and experienced entertainment lawyer (like the author), as the pitfalls for noncompliance with securities regulations are onerous.

NOTE: This article addresses U.S. Law only. Securities laws vary from one country to the next, and from state-to-state within the U.S. This article is not a substitute for legal advice obtained from an experienced entertainment attorney you’ve hired to counsel and represent you.

Trent Haaga's new DVD out in UK

2009-06-11T10:28:00.000-07:00

Moviemaker pal Trent Haaga has just released his very successful Dead Girl on DVD in the UK (PAL players only, sorry). But look for it soon here in the U.S.

Kick ass, Trent!

24 Hour Film Race Results

2009-06-09T07:04:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to the 24HFR Austin winner Bryan Hunt! His film Breathe took first place; our film Sexual Hunger came in second, and also walked away with:

Audience Award
Best Acting Ensemble
Best Original Music Score
Best Set Design
Best Writing

So, it was a terrific learning experience for our whole, wonderful team. Check out all the entries on the 24HFR page.

We had a lot of fun, and made a great, entertaining little film. Much thanks to Texas Film Scene member Cheryal Loosmore for organizing the Austin leg of the contest.

Texas native is semi-finalist in Netflix contest

2009-06-07T21:26:00.001-07:00

Houston native Robbie Pickering is a semi-finalist in the Netflix Find Your Voice competition, which offers a prize package worth $350,000. Robbie asked that fellow Texas filmmakers vote for his trailer Natural Selection.

NOTE: The above movie is NOT Robbie's film. Click the "Visit and Vote" button to get to the semi-finalist page, and look for Natural Selection. Then tell Netflix that their "Share Video" feature randomly sucks.

It would be a great thing for a Texas filmmaker to win. Cruise over to the Netflix site and help a brother out. Check out the other fine trailers, too, from several talented filmmakers around the world.

Good luck, Robbie!

Post-mortem of the AFTRA Contract

2009-06-07T12:15:00.000-07:00

John Cygan, a self-described "middle class actor" and SAG member, offers some thoughts on the aftermath of the AFTRA deal.

I personally take all union-versus-producers talk (from both sides) with a grain of salt, but it is an interesting take. At the very least, it confirms that those filmmakers who are making Webisodes probably have the right idea for the future.

Thanks to Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood for the link.

Time to stop reaching for the stars?

2009-05-28T06:20:00.000-07:00

We've known that big stars are no longer enough to ensure box office success. Now, apparently, they're no longer enough to even greenlight a movie.

Lisa Wilson, president of international distribution at GK Films remarked recently to Variety : "I've heard of stories about films in the middle of production that have bank notes that still haven't cleared yet." Will Smith can still get a film greenlit sight-unseen, according to Brian O'Shea, executive VP of worldwide distribution at Odd Lot Intl.

So, if stars can't get big films made, what can? Positioning.

Producers, including indie filmmakers like those at the Texas Film Scene, need to start with the idea of what will bring people to the film. That could be an actor, but it could be a great writer, or a unique location (particularly if you are marketing the film locally or regionally), or a fantastic logline. Hollywood types love these so-called "high concept" movies, because they can be more easily marketed.

And books. Hollywood loves, loves, loves movies based on best-sellers, like Twilight, Harry Potter, or James Bond. Why? Because it reduces risk. Or, at least, it appears to reduce risk. If the book sells well, that (hopefully) proves that there is a built-in audience, just waiting for the movie to be released. And Hollywood is all about reducing risk, particularly on mid-range, $30-100 million dollar films.

As discussed here in previous posts, comic book movies and big-budget extravaganzas are almost the sole purview of Tinsel Town. Nobody does a $250 million dollar, effects-laden blockbuster like Hollywood. Come to think of it, nobody else does them at all, period.

But what about micro-budget indies? For them, the costs of production are so low that even C-list stars can generate enough interest and critical praise to achieve profitability. But if you are trying to raise capital for your film, it may be better to invest in a unique story, or other marketable hook, than in a "name" actor, unless that actor can demonstrate a documented following and fan base.

Think hard about what marketing position you will take for your film long before you ever call "action."

Thanks to Joseph Kenny for the heads-up on this article.

"This is a revolution." --McG

2009-05-15T09:39:00.000-07:00

Good feature interview with superstar director McG in the May 2009 issue of Fast Company magazine. Listeners of our Texas Film Scene podcast will recall that Dallas filmmakers Blake Calhoun and Mike Maden are now partnering with McG's production company.

Here's an excerpt from the interview:

Our dinosaur studio system does not make sense. This is a revolution.
--McG, director of Terminator: Salvation

Words to live by. Check it out.

Orwellian filmmaking

2009-05-13T08:28:00.000-07:00

In 1946, George Orwell aptly described the process of feature filmmaking, from writing to producing to directing to acting to shooting to editing and finally, to marketing:

"[It] is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven by some demon whom one can neither resist or [sic] understand. For all one knows that demon is the same instinct that makes a baby squall for attention. And yet it is also true that one can write nothing readable unless one constantly struggles to efface one's personality [...] Good prose is like a window pane."
-Why I Write, by George Orwell

Except that Orwell was talking about writing a novel, of course.

No more fat pipes

2009-05-05T05:58:00.000-07:00

Cartoon courtesy of Steve Greenberg

If you live on either coast (not counting the Third Coast), then you may have noticed Cox, Comcast, and Time Warner "capping" the amount of data traffic you can have on your connection, even if you paid for an unlimited account. This is an attempt to wring the last penny out of a failing business model.

Time Warner's latest attempt to avoid becoming just a "fat pipe" from which users download valued content is to buy NBC Universal from General Electric (GE)- maybe. Time Warner, which owns HBO, TNT, CNN, and TBS, plus film studio Warner Bros., would benefit by having additional content-producing channels like USA, Bravo, Sci-Fi, and CNBC, though it would probably shutter Universal Pictures, currently owned by NBC.

GE has tried for years to drop the multi-billion dollar entertainment anchor from it's roster, but with no luck. Despite some hit shows and movies over the past decade, the company does not fit into GE's corporate focus, and diminishing ad revenues plus movie piracy and dwindling DVD sales have made NBC more risk than reward.

This actually makes some sense to me, just as it made sense for Apple to threaten to become it's own recording label if the the Big 4 did not coporate with it's one-size fits all pricing policy (though recently Apple relaxed it's stance a bit).

Cable, satellite, and phone companies transmit bits, but add very little value, other than bill consolidation, if you have your phone, TV, and Internet service with a single company. They are merely "fat pipes" to the Wild West Web, where consumers can pick and choose content exactly to their liking, and watch or listen to it exactly when and where they want.

Some providers have exclusive agreements with certain sports teams or other channels, but for the most part, they struggle to justify their high prices. But if cable companies buy up studios, which are struggling even more, then not only do they control distribution, but they also directly control content (except for piracy, of course).

That could stave off the creditors for a while, until they can think up a real business model.

MPAA says show biz creates jobs

2009-04-22T07:42:00.001-07:00

No surprise, the lobby industry for Hollywood published an "impact report" that says show business is good for the economy.

In fact, it says the average salary for "core production staff" (whatever that means) is almost $75,000, over 20% higher than the national average for other jobs. It also points out all the tax money the industry brings to the coffers of state governments.

I certainly don't think the movie industry is bad for any state's economy, and it definitely helps put food on the table of people who work in that industry. But the numbers in this report appear skewed:

Most people (including most actors) involved in the making of any movie, even $20 million-plus films, make nowhere near $75,000. They are paid a decent, but not exorbitant daily rate. For example, most extras on a film set (who arguably have the worst job on set), are paid around $75 for a 12-14 hour day. In non-union states (like Texas), that might be as low as $50 per day.

The "average" salary is highly inflated, both by the grossly large salaries of a few key stars, and a few key studio executives, while those on the front lines do OK during the three months of a shoot, but then are left wondering when and where their next job will come.

Some argue that this is the reason why we need greater union participation. Others argue that stronger unions will only serve to drive up production costs, and make filmmaking a more risky and less profitable business.

My take is that the MPAA is talking out of both sides of its mouth. When it serves the industry, the MPAA will talk about how much money it loses to piracy, star actor profit participation, union demands, and state taxes. But on the other hand, this report touts how much money the industry makes and generates for it's workers and host states.

Any veteran of the music industry will instantly recognize this sort of rhetoric- the same type of stuff the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) spouts. It serves to remind us that Hollywood is big business, no different than Enron or AIG. And we all know how great those companies were for the economy.

Look, movies are business, period. If you make movies to make money, learn the game. As with most industries stiffled by large oligopolies, it helps to look at what innovators like Blake Calhoun and Mike Maden, Robert Rodriguez, Trent Haaga, and others are doing. Just make your own damn movie.

On taking better photos

2009-04-14T11:14:00.001-07:00

Great post on taking better photos from Stu Maschowitz over at Prolost. Read it from the home page RSS feed at Texas Film Scene.

Tough times for big stars

2009-04-09T11:06:00.000-07:00

Tough times for A-listers. Scarlett Johansson was recently tapped to replace Emily Blunt as the leading lady in Iron Man 2. Marvel Studios' initial offer to the young superstar? A measley $250,000, reports Kim Masters of KCRW's The Business, in her Daily Beast column.

Now, a quater million dollars for an acting gig would cause most of us, even most "working" actors, to wet their pants with glee. But to an A-lister like Johansson, the offer must have hurt; at least her pride, not to mention her pocketbook. After all, Malibu mansions don't come cheap these days!

What does that mean to indie filmmakers? It means even in elite Hollywood circles, budgets are key. The more you can do with less, the better off you'll be. Sounds like a perfect reason to make your own damn movie!

New TFS Podcast - Mike Maden of Pink the Series

2009-04-08T21:07:00.000-07:00

Photo courtesy of Pink the Series

My guest today is Dallas-area film writer Mike Maden. Mike is the co-creator of the pheonomenonally successful Web show PINK THE SERIES, which has almost 6 million hits on YouTube, and can also be seen on many other Web sites, including the WB.com. Mike is a Texas writer who has lived and worked in LA, but it was his work with fellow Texan Blake Calhoun on Pink that earned him a deal with L.A.-based production studio Generate, and production deals with Warner Bros. and Hollywood wunderkind McG.

Mike and Blake's company site: www.altfueltv.com. For more information, additional shownotes and links discssed in our podcast, visit the Texas Film Scene site.

NOTE: I wanted to have Mike on during Blake Calhoun's interview, but I wasn't smart enough to make Skype conferencing work with non-Skype numbers.

I really want to pimp what these guys have done, because it's the model of the future for filmmakers: (1) Make the best quality content you can, (2) Post it for free on the Web, (3) Repeat.

Doing just this (which is simple, but not easy), these guys secured a deal with a strong L.A. production company, and production deals with Warner Bros. and one of the hottest talents in the world (McG). Listen, learn, emulate.

Nothing new under the sun

2009-04-07T00:10:00.000-07:00

Good artists borrow; great artists steal.
-Pablo Picasso (maybe)

This great article called The Ecstasy of Influence: A plagarism in Harper's Magazine explores the question of plagarism in art- any art- and whether it really is such a black and white issue.

Fascinating stuff. Plagarism, thinly cloaked as "research," occurs all the time in both academic and pop-literature. In academia, we call it "standing on the shoulders of giants;" in popular publishing, we call it "stealing." Did black blues musicians rip off negro spirituals and Irish folk music? Did Elvis rip-off black blues musicians? Did the Beatles rip off Elvis? I'm sure you can think of about 1,000 movie equivalents here.

Does any of this matter? You be the judge.

Making money making movies

2009-04-05T22:07:00.000-07:00

Graphic by Recruitment Matters

"Without money, there is no art."

Actually, it depends on how you look at it. There is lots of art that was made for free, or for very little money actually derived from, or earmarked for, the art itself. This is where our infamous day job comes in. But actually making art full-time? Yeah, that takes money. It takes making money from your art. It requires monetizing your art.

Or at least that's been the traditional thinking. Certainly, if you ask big record labels or movie studios who are in the business of selling little plastic discs, they'll tell you it does.

But Chris Anderson speculated, and I believe he's correct, that anything that is digital will be free. In that case, how does an artist survive? He (or she) survives by monetizing something, but not necessarily their art.

This same debate has been raging in the publishing world for a couple of years, and particularly in the newspaper industry. Now, the numbers are finally in, and they do not point to paid content as the way to right Big Newspapers' sinking ship.

Somewhere in here, there are lessons for filmmakers, since, as we know, our content can and will be free, in some cases, by design.

NEW! Texas Film Scene site now open!

2009-03-27T10:13:00.000-07:00

I have thrown open the doors, ready or not, to the Texas Film Scene social network. In 24 hours, almost 30 members have joined, formed two sub-groups within the network, and are adding content and traffic like crazy.

It's free to join, and there are tons of good tools for networking and publicizing your own events and work. Plus, it will be a great place to meet other filmmakers without all the "noise" of Facebook or MySpace.

Pop over and see what you think!

New TFS podcast with "Pink" filmmaker Blake Calhoun

2009-03-23T18:43:00.000-07:00

Dallas-area filmmaker Blake Calhoun is one-half the team behind the incredibly popular Web show Pink:The Series, which has received over 6 million hits in the last 18 months, and two Streamy Awards. Pink's success helped lead Blake and writer Mike Maden to a contract with Hollywood's United Talent Agency, and production and distribution deals with L.A.-based production company Generate, headed by former WB chief Joran Levin.

Blake talks about his start in the business, shooting film vs. video, his partnership with Mike Maden, working with Texas talent, DOF adapters for prosumer video cams, making the leap to L.A. work while being rooted in Dallas, and advice for up-and-coming filmmakers.

The pair recently formed a new company called Alternative Fuel, and their newest project is Exposed, a Web series, and possibly a TV show, for WB Network.

SHOW NOTES:

Blake's personal site:

http://www.blakecalhoun.com/

Blake's companies (including Blake and Mike Madden's company Alternative Fuel TV):

http://www.loudpictures.com/

http://www.altfueltv.com/

Blake's work:

http://www.pinktheseries.com/

http://www.killingdown.com/

http://www.mobumentary.com/

Blake and Mike's new runnin' buddy, McG:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0629334/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonderland_Sound_and_Vision

Blake and Mike's reps in L.A.:

http://www.unitedtalent.com/about/index.html

Generate, an investment and production company:

http://www.generatela.com/

Take me to your NEW podcast, Earthling!

2009-03-15T23:31:00.000-07:00

Latest Texas Film Scene podcast is up. Interview with Clay Liford, writer/director/producer of the new indie sci-fi film Earthling. Bonus interview with Austin actress Amelia Turner, and Clay's dogs. Lots of fun, this one.

Clay's got two entries in SXSW, so check out the podcast, then check out his films.

Mother of all music mashups

2009-03-15T22:01:00.001-07:00

Every once in a while (or in my case, every few minutes) an artist does something that makes me feel both insanely jealous and hopelessly inadequate.

When I were a wee lad, there were these devices called "samplers." They recorded short (usually 1-2 seconds) recordings of sound, which could then be assembled into songs. Beck uses them to death, and Primitive Radio Gods (actually just one guy) made his living, and his one-hit wonder album, from samples.

Samplers came about because rap artists began manually "sampling" bits of songs in their acts, by spinning turntables to replay a short groove over and over, or to add a horn blast, or other riff, at just the right time during their song. Other artists decided this would be cool, too, but they weren't as skilled at turntable manipulation. Besides, that was limiting, and digitally recording the sample allowed more possibilities. You could sample the song, then play it back via a keyboard! Sampling keyboards like the venerable Korg M1 were staples in most of the recording studios I haunted, back in the day.

But now, Kutiman has taken this art to a who-nutter-lellel. Damn.

Boxee

2009-03-09T05:37:00.001-07:00

quick intro to boxee from boxee on Vimeo

I have long been searching for an all-in-one media center for my Mac-based home setup. Windows users have some pretty good pre-packaged options with the Windows Media Center Server, but not for Macs. AppleTV is sorta-kinda a media center, but still not in the way I would like. You are limited to content already on your computer, and stuff available from iTunes or YouTube. Sorry, but I want it all.

Enter Boxee. I have not yet installed it, but Boxee appears to allow surfing from your computer OR television to any content available on the Web, and/or on your computer.

The demo above looks impressive. I'll let you know if it lives up to the hype.

Best... acceptance... speech... ever.

2009-03-08T14:01:00.000-07:00

I just don't know quite what to say about this. Enjoy.

Breaking news

2009-03-08T08:17:00.000-07:00

TV news report about The Vern.

;-)

TFS Listener Q&A - 1

2009-03-07T08:48:00.000-08:00

One of our Texas Film Scene podcast listeners wrote in some questions, so I thought I would post the answers here on the blog, in case the answers might help others.

Steve Powers writes:

When discussing sales on Amazon I heard you mention "onsies" and "twosies" (if that spelling is even remotely correct) What is that?

During my discussion with writer/actor/producer Ben Taylor in TFS episode 2, I referenced the success of Amazon's "long tail" sales model. The term long tail is a reference to Chris Anderson's book.

Amazon sells a lot of stuff, but not all of it is best-sellers. In fact, about 20% of Amazon's sales comes from selling very small quantities- one or two items. Retailers like Wal-mart or Target can't do this, because retail space is EXPENSIVE, and the shelf space an item takes up is part of that retail space. So Blockbuster, for example, has to make enough margin, and sell enough quantities of each item for it to pay for it's shelf space, and make a profit for the retailer. It cannot afford to sell one-sies and two-sies. It needs best-sellers.

Amazon does not have to worry about shelf-space. It has invested in it's infrastructure, which is like a filmmaker buying his own camera: what your CPA calls a capital expenditure. Sure, it's expensive, but once purchased, you can spread that cost out (amortize) over several movie projects, for years to come. Amazon then uses that infrastructure to serve as a middleman between makers of stuff and buyers of stuff. They partner with FedEx, UPS, the US Postal Service, and manufacturers to take the order, deliver the order to the manufacturer, and let the manufacture ship direct to the consumer. How do I know this? Because I am an Amazon supplier, too! I have had my music CDs on Amazon (and CDBaby, and iTunes) for years.

What does that mean for you filmmakers, actors, and writers? Good question! Check these blog posts for further discussion.

Steve also writes:

Also I heard Ben mention you wrtiting "Chubic notes" (again, I hove no idea how to spell that) and I've never heard of that before either. Is it a study method or something like that?

Yes, it is a study method (sorta) originated by Ivanna Chubbock, by way of Roy London, by way of Uta Hagen, by way of Stanislavsky, with a detour through cognitive psychology. I studied it with Bentley Mitchum, one of Ivanna's prize pupils, who taught the class in L.A., before moving to Texas.

Students of these methods tend to do a lot script breakdown work in isolation, prior to a scene. The technique emphasizes individual motivations over a group choreography, which is the tradition of the stage, and of several film actors. In other words, actors using this technique don't much care what the other actor plans to do; they have their own motivation, and will adjust their behavior according to their scene partner(s) responses. It's a good technique for film, since the camera is usually trained on just one or two actors at a time, not a whole stage/set with an ensemble of actors.

I have not taken the class, but I understand that Austin actress Katherine Willis and actor Peter Blackwell teach a Roy London-style class here in Austin (Peter studied with Roy). Chubbock's book details her technique.

Steve, thanks very much for the questions, and I hope the answers helped. Please stop by iTunes and leave some feedback on the podcast, if you don't mind.

If anyone else has questions, comments, or suggestions, shoot me an email, and I'll respond. Thanks for listening to the Texas Film Scene podcast! Let me know who you would like interviewed, and leave me feedback or constructive critiques at iTunes.

Angel of Death

2009-03-07T08:21:00.000-08:00

From Crackle: Angel of Death Ep 1 "Edge" starring Zoe Bell

Um, can I just say... holy sh*t!

This video (best viewed on Crackle), is off the chain. Following (very damn closely) in the footsteps of Dallas' own Pink the Series, the latest venture by Fort Worth-born Paul Etheredge. Both are a nod to Luc Besson's classic La Femme Nikita. And don't even get me started about Kill Bill.

Low-budget indie Webisode makers, pay attention: the bar has just been raised. Like, to the moon.

Thanks to Blake Calhoun for this item.

Missing podcast

2009-03-06T06:28:00.000-08:00

I recorded a great Texas Film Scene interview last night with accomplished Houston actor Davi Jay, but we had to shelve it for now, because the Department of Homeland Security deemed it a threat to our national sovereignty.*

But rest assured, this excellent interview will be posted at a future date, hopefully as Davi's star is rocketing even higher. He's a wonderful actor, and had tremendous stories and insight for actors everywhere, particularly those living outside of the Hollywood system. Look for him soon on a major project.

I'll have another TFS episode recorded and posted next week for your pleasure. Stay tuned...

*Um, no. Not really.

The audience is plotting...

2009-03-05T21:45:00.000-08:00

This is a great article by A-list screeenwriter Terry Rossio about what it takes to keep viewers engaged. Rossio should know. He's penned hits like Pirates of the Carribean, Shrek, Men in Black, National Treasure, and many more.

Rossio contends that the audiences are so sophisticated today that they will see your plot twists and turns coming from a mile away, even at night, without headlights on. Makes sense. Audiences today grew up inundated with feature film-watching: on TV, cable, video store rental, on-demand shows, Netflix subscriptions, pirated bit torrents, and of course, movie theaters. Previous generations were limited to the occassional cinema showing, and (in my generation), a few HBO movies, which we got to watch 57 times a week. And these kids with their vid-ee-yuh games, well, that's just a whole new level of interactive storytelling.

In the past 10-15 years, screenwriters struggled to sell their character-driven stories. Hollywood execs looking for huge opening weekend numbers, poster-friendly tag lines, and lunch box tie-ins just were not interested in "character studies." Like, The Graduate. Or Streetcar Named Desire. Or Casablanca. Well, that one had Nazis, so maybe they'd give it a pass.

What the execs were looking for was so-called "high concept" movies, whose main plot elements could be summarized in a pithy sentence fragment:

WRITER

It's Gone with the Wind meets Godzilla.

STUDIO EXEC

Hmm. I like it. But could it be Rodan instead of Godzilla?

Actually, high concept does not necessarily mean crap, as Rossio points out. But what you need these days, he says, is a second major concept in your screenplay that could almost stand on it's own as a script. If you can put those two ideas in the same script, and make them work believably, you're in business.

The bar has been raised for movie-makers. No matter how good your acting, direction, editing, or cinematography, if you're audience is two steps ahead of your plot, then you're toast. Boredom kills entertainment.

So, as you write your indie opus, just remember: Your audience is plotting against you.

And the winner is...

2009-03-03T05:56:00.000-08:00

Big ups to our buddy Jason Smith, who won First Place (behind the Grand Prize winner) the Action Hero creation contest at Z-Brush Central.

Here's a note from his girlfriend Tracy:

There was only a 2 vote difference between Jason and the Grand prize winner. Considering this was Jason's first contest submission, and his competitors were some of the best professional 3D CG artists in the world (including artists in the film industry), this is an amazing accomplishment by any standard. He is one extremely talented dude!

Congrats, Jason!

Agent Liz Atherton Interview on TFS podcast

2009-02-28T15:39:00.000-08:00

The latest episode of my Internet radio show, the Texas Film Scene podcast, is now up on iTunes.

Liz Atherton was a financial analyst and Project Manager for large companies before purchasing a fledgling talent agency in the suburbs of Austin, Texas, 16 years ago. Since then, Liz has built the former Ciao Talents into one of the premier Texas talent agencies. Under the new moniker The Atherton Group, or TAG Talent, the company recently opened offices in Los Angeles, Louisiana, and New Mexico. It appears 10th on a list of IMDB's "power" talent agencies, ranking ahead of much more established players. She is an early member and sponsor of the Texas Motion Picture Alliance, which is working to attract feature film and television production to Texas. She is a wife, and proud mother of four wonderful children.

She's also my agent.

Download the episode free from iTunes, or check the show notes, and download directly from here.

Not far behind

2009-02-24T21:06:00.000-08:00

The music industry was the first to deal with all the issues around digital disribution, including piracy, file formats, hardware, DRM, and revenues.

Look for more lawsuits like this one to follow in the movie industry.

Thanks to Nacho at teveo.tv for the heads-up.

Director Jon Keeyes interview on iTunes

2009-02-19T08:11:00.000-08:00

My recent interview is now up. You can download it directly, or subscribe in iTunes. Both are free to you.

From the show notes:

Jon Keeyes left Hollywood so that he could become a filmmaker. His "American Nightmare" is a fixture in the cult horror scene, and in "Living and Dying" (released by HBO), he directed top actors like Edward Furlong, Michael Madsen, Jordana Spiro, Arnold Vosloo, Trent Haaga, and yours truly. Now a staple of independent Texas productions, ranging from $50,000 to $1.2 million, and most recently a new media venture for Warner Brothers, Jon's is a true Cinderella story.

Enjoy!

Coen Brothers do it again, dammit

2009-02-16T18:46:00.000-08:00

I just watched No Country for Old Men, and was absolutely knocked out... for the first 118 minutes. The last four, as with other Coen Brothers movies, just made me wonder, "Um, what was the point, here?" But then, maybe that was the point.

It's de rigeur to cheer on the Coens as they "buck the Hollywood traditions" (like good storytelling). But my initial reaction was that the movie left the audience hanging in the last scene. I have not read the novel yet, but perhaps there was additional thematic insight to be gleaned there. Perhaps I am old school, or just plain old, but I was really hoping for a theme that was not so cleverly disguised that it cannot even be recognized by NYT book critics.

Don't get me wrong- I do not want a movie to hit me over the head with allegory or jingoism. But I would like to be able to suss out a theme from a story, any story, no matter in what medium it is told.

I watched Rashomon last night, the 1950 Kurosawa gem. The acting was over the top, the score was cartoonish, the subtitle translations were blunt, (though the direction and cinematography hold up very well), and yet, the movie's theme was clear enough to provoke discussion and thought. Rashomon left me feeling satisfied, like the story circle had been completed. Earlier Coen Brothers films also feel this way, like Raising Arizona and O Brother. It's not like they don't know how to deliver a theme; they just sometimes choose not to.

Am I just a slave to the Hollywood formula? Aristotle doesn't think so:

[Writers should create a] character between these two extremes - that of a man who is not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice or depravity, but by some error or frailty. [W]hile reproducing the distinctive form of the original, make a likeness which is true to life and yet more beautiful.

I loved, loved, loved the cinematography, dialog, and acting in No Country. What I didn't like was that (a) I didn't know whose story it was; which is to say, that it suffered from a point-of-view problem, and (b) the story's theme was obscured. Why is (b) important? Well, without a theme, then I'm just watching plot elements- character studies, pithy dialog, pretty shots, random acts of violence. Hell, I can do that by turning on the evening news (in HD, no less). I want a story, dammit, and a good one.

I decided to reach back to the source, poet William Butler Yeats, for some help.

That is no country for old men. The young
In one another's arms, birds in the trees
- Those dying generations - at their song,
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unaging intellect.
[...]
Once out of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing,
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
Or set upon a golden bough to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.

Yeats' theme is clear, yet subtle, and not bludgeoning:

People, particularly elders, are not as revered by the young as the things they make; so, then, how do we best leave our legacy?

As an artist, I fully appreciate Yeats' sentiment. As for the Coen Brothers' movie, they succeeded in getting me to talk about it. So maybe that is their point.

What makes a good movie?

2009-02-08T20:36:00.000-08:00

This week, I actually watched a few movies. Mary and I haven't had the chance to do that in quite a while (like, two years), thanks to the combination of Baby Girl and the loft-like, no-bedroom layout of my Fortress of Solitude (now under contract, thank you). I also met up with my buddies Joe and Javier, to discuss a joint project. There were several good ideas floated, but I only wanted to commit to making something that was going to be really good, which begs the question: what makes a good movie?

The variety of stuff we saw ranged from edgy drama to farce, black comedy to uh, regular comedy, short videos to children's movies. The things that did not make a movie good included:

big name actors
big name directors
big name writers
big budget
explosions and car crashes
potty humor
gratuitous sex and violence.

Some of the things I enjoyed most about the good movies included:

big name actors
big name directors
big name writers
big name editors (oxymoron?)
big budget
explosions and car crashes
potty humor
gratuitous sex and violence.

Hmm. Seems like William Goldman was right: nobody knows anything. But is that really all we can say about what makes a movie good?

When I watch a film, I watch it as an audience member, but also as an actor/writer/director/editor. I tend to study the movie, as well as let it wash over me. Sometimes I need to watch a movie more than once, just to be able to fully enjoy it without being too analytical.

With my auteur hat on, I realize that what I love most about good movies is how the entire package fits together. A great story premise without great dialog writing will fall flat. A great script without clear, visionary direction will fall flat. A great vision without great acting will fall flat. Same is true for audio, editing, lighting, cinematography, and many other of the dozens of aspects of filmmaking. Filmmaking is collaborative storytelling. It is all too easy to forget the collaborative aspect of the process, and only focus on one area. [Even marketing is a collaborative aspect of the film's success, but it is not, strictly speaking, what makes a good movie.]

Big name actors often, but certainly not always, bring good acting. Big name writers and directors often, but not always, bring good writing and directing. Not all of these elements need to be great in order for a film to shine, but most of them need to be great. It's like a balance scale: if enough of the components are good, it tips the scales in favor of "good movie". If all of them are good, the scale thumps to one side, like weighing a feather versus a boulder: Oscar-caliber good. Vice-versa, and you've got a universal stinker.

In most of the bad or mediorce films I saw, not enough of the elements were good to make the film a "good movie." The only one I saw that was a slam-dunk was Notes on a Scandal, with Dame Judi Dench, among several other excellent actors.

What do you think makes a good movie?

What I want to do when I grow up

2009-02-02T19:22:00.000-08:00

I had the pleasure of speaking to some great kids at Gus Garcia Middle School in San Antonio, Texas last week. It was a welcome break from the day-job grind, even if it cost me some money and drive time. These kids were very cool.

My buddy Ray Ayala had asked me to speak to his classes for Career Day. It sounded like a lot of fun at first, but as the day approached, I started to get a little bit nervous. Not because I was afraid of speaking, but because I wanted to be excellent for them, give them something memorable and useful to take away.

The crux of my message was that you really cannot know what you want to do until you stumble upon it. You can intellectualize, dream, study, and plan all you want, but until you are in the trenches of that job, you will not know how it feels to you. I have been blessed to live out modest versions of two of my childhood dream jobs: being a professional musician, and a professional actor. To my utter shock and dismay, neither was a perfect experience. No wonder all those Hollywood stars get hooked on drugs and crash their Porches into telephone poles!

Since we cannot know, I encouraged the kids to try everything they can, even if it is just as a volunteer or an intern. And to use school as a chance to find their medium- math, science, reading & writing, sports, public speaking, or even acting. Put that information in their files, and look back on it when they are 25, to see what patterns form. But most of all, do not rush yourself, and do not assume that you know. And be okay with not knowing; it's normal, it's cool.

These kids were a terrific audience, but you never know if kids are listening to you, especially middle school kids. At the end of the talks, though, the kids swarmed the front like piranhas, clamoring for pictures, and a few CDs and DVDs I had brought along. I must have signed 150 autographs that day.

Pay or no pay, those are the real "rock star" moments you live for.

Sonny Castillo gets busy, 02-style

2009-01-29T16:55:00.000-08:00

Love this clip from my friend Sonny, who was one of the thugs menacing my character in Kat Candler's Ninja James and the Beast Boy shoot. Funny stuff!

Ben Taylor on latest Texas Film Scene podcast

2009-01-26T00:24:00.000-08:00

Just posted a fresh episode of my Texas Film Scene podcast. This week, I interview produced writer/producer/actor/director/teacher Ben Taylor. I've known Ben for about four years, taken his classes, and only just this weekend learned about his storied and accomplished career. Good stories and good advice from a Hollywood veteran.

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or directly from Libsyn.

Comic art on steroids

2009-01-21T12:00:00.001-08:00

This guy is living my dream job, back from when I was 12, tracing John Byrne's Wolverine out of the X-Men series, and he's right here in Austin. I am soooo jealous! How cool is this job?!?!

Jason Smith rocks.

My new podcast is up!

2009-01-15T12:55:00.000-08:00

Yea!! My new Texas Film Scene podcast is up on iTunes, though it might not be searchable via the iTunes store until January 17, 2009.

In the meantime, if you have iTunes, you can get to it directly from this URL. If you don't have iTunes, you can find it here.

Please download it and review it on iTunes. Got suggestions for someone you would like interviewed? Let me know. I would love to hear your feedback!

ATX is jumpin'

2009-01-14T09:15:00.000-08:00

Winter is a traditionally slow time for acting work here in Austin, but I have had about 5 auditions in the last couple of weeks! Three were commercials, true, but it is nice to get the calls.

In the bigger picture, though, Texas is losing the battle for film incentives to other states. The Texas Motion Picture Alliance is trying to change that, lobbying the state legislature to boost incentives to lure production back to Texas, which once swallowed up runaway Hollywood productions left and right.

Photo: Curtis Wayne hard at work answering fan mail. Keep it coming! :-)

Smart and gets things done

2008-12-30T21:30:00.000-08:00

My buddy Joe McReynolds is a talented filmmaker (writer/director/editor/producer), who is about to lock picture on last year's feature film The Vern, in which I play- wait for it- the villain.

Joe and I are dead-friggin'-serious about making more films on our own, now that I'll be here a while longer. He just started, but he's got a great eye, and, more importantly, Joe gets things done. I love working with people like that. In fact, I refuse to work anymore with people who are not like that. I need to be more like that.

So, I'm getting off my butt, and trying to put together both a short film for me to produce/write/shoot/direct/edit, and a feature that Joe and I can work together on, along with some of our friends and professionals that we have met on the ATX scene.

If you have any advice, ideas, or suggestions, though, I would love to hear them. I'm new at this, but learning fast.

The Bailout Ad

2008-12-09T19:17:00.000-08:00

Props to Gregg Yows for sending this around:

http://buzzfeed.com/scott/the-bailout-ad

Spot on, man.

That's a wrap!

2008-12-07T19:21:00.000-08:00

Director Kat Candler declared a wrap on the shooting of Ninja James & The Beast Boy yesterday, and producer Leslie Langee celebrates here by popping open champagne (a surprise gift from Scott Colquitt).

The day started cold as Hades, about 30' Farenheit, from the 6 a.m. call time until about 8 a.m. But by noon it was a beautiful, cool, sunny, fall day, perfect for filming. The sun fell pretty quickly starting about 4:00 p.m., but by that time, we were all done except for some quick audio and close-ups of Savanah's character, my wife "Jane". The cast and crew have been absolutely fabulous. Everybody worked so hard to make this a success.

There is still the grueling post-production

remaining, but from my vantage point, it

was waaaaay smooth. I am sure that it was not that smooth from Kat and Leslie's view, but that's what makes them pros: they kept all that hidden from us meat puppets.

There was absolutely no whining on this set at all (except maybe by me, when I was freezing my nipples off!). It was a wonderful esprit de corps, and my hat is off to the entire cast and crew,

starting with Kat.

I hope to work with these talented filmmakers again.

Photo by Larry Furnace

Is that thing loaded?

2008-11-26T12:36:00.000-08:00

Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail, and editor of Wired Magazine, wrote a terrific article on how shooting digitally affects the performance of actors.

Big-name directors that Anderson spoke with, such as Tony Bill (Flyboys, Untamed Heart) explained that shooting digitally eliminates the actors' fear that every take was costing hundreds or thousands of dollars of film, and thus put the actor more at ease.

Photo by Larry Furnace

It also allowed directors to eliminate rehearsals and roll on every take:

It's "the difference between pointing a loaded gun at someone and a toy gun. You point a loaded gun at them and they're going to act different. A film camera is a loaded gun. Digital is not."
--Tony Bill

Having shot on both multi-camera 35mm sets and indie digital sets of various sizes, I have to disagree just a bit. It is true that film is expensive. For an indie filmmaker with a nano-budget, shooting even 16mm is often prohibitive. Robert Rodriguez' book Rebel without a Crew explains this well.

However, there are usually other factors at work that are even more prohibitive than the cost of film, such as crew costs, limited location availability, daylight, and the number of takes an actor (or director) has in them. Actors are like racehorses who wait, wait, wait, in their stalls, while the crew dresses a set, makes up the actors, rigs the lighting, sets the props, and grabs focus. By the time the director yells "Action!", the actors are often emotionally spent. It's like war: hours of boredom punctuated by minutes of sheer terror.

In the still shot above, for example, I am freezing my nips off on a 40' F morning, with a 30' wind chill, while pretending that it is 90' outside. [Photo by professional set photog, industrial videographer, and all-around mechanical genius Larry Furnace.] But when director Kat Candler called action, we all had to be ready to go, knowing that we had limited time and resources for getting this shoot wrapped.

Even in my former life as a musician, digital media did not change the economics of hourly studio rental and producer fees. When we rolled, uh, RAM... it was much the same as rolling expensive 2" tape: time is money. Time is always money. Maybe not yours, but somebody's. And if you are a professional, you appreciate other people's time, and do not waste it.

Digital definitely allows long tail movie-making. But it does not preclude common sense and pre-planning in the process.

Happy Thanksgiving- we're on strike?

2008-11-26T11:40:00.001-08:00

Looks like SAG president Alan Rosenberg (pictured) is pushing for an actor's strike authorization. The threat of a work stoppage from one of the major artistic groups has put a crimp in productions for the last nine months, causing networks and studios to rush-release the properties they already have developed, and to hold off launching into any new productions.

A friend of mine is a 30-year veteran Hollywood costume and set designer, and has been suffering through the squeeze this past year by taking on jobs for Ringling Bros. and other clients. But his bread-and-butter business of TV and film costuming has been hurt by AMPTP fears that, once pilots and films are in the middle of production, actors will walk off the set, and have the producers by the short hairs.

I am not yet a SAG member; merely SAG-eligible. Living in Texas and shooting indies, it has not made sense to me to join SAG until I move to Hollywood.

Looks like we picked a good time to postpone our L.A. trip.

Bambino #2 on the way

2008-11-22T10:00:00.000-08:00

Mary is pregnant!! Yea!!!

We were really hoping for two kids, but felt so blessed just to get one beautiful baby, Danielle, that we thought we were really pushing it to hope for two. We are thrilled. Danielle will make a great big sister, I know.

As for L.A., well... we are going to wait for another year. Again! Kind of ironic, since having a baby was what stalled our plans the first time. But not going enabled me to be here in Austin when I landed the Living and Dying and Prison Break roles (and a shot at a good role in Microwave Park), so, nobody knows anything, really. We are just happy to have another bambino on the way.

Currently scrambling to find a house and set up shop. We'll keep y'all posted!

I'd like to thank the Academy...

2008-11-20T15:03:00.000-08:00

Dan Eggleston, of Zombie Musical fame, sent me a very nice little congratulatory note for making #25 on IMDB's Top 100 Texas Actors List. Whoo-hoo!

I am glad Dan pointed this out to me. I didn't even know the list existed! Better start doing my research. Thanks, Dan!

Shooting the Ninja

2008-11-09T19:53:00.000-08:00

Photo by David Overturf

This is me running full-speed through a gaggle of school children on the set of Kat Candler's "Ninja James and the Beastman". I was so nervous that somebody would get knocked down! Short steps, quick-moving feet is the key.

Kat runs a smooth set. This was the first time I have worked with Kat in any significant role, and I was very impressed. She is relaxed, laid back, and perpetually sunny, much like my friend director Jon Keeyes. That attitude pervades the set. We got lots of coverage, and still finished early both days. Now that is cool.

Kat is one of the select Austin filmmakers that Get Things Done. She gets films written, made, distributed, and promoted. And that's why I wanted to work with her.

It's been fun so far, and I look forward to the next two weekends.

Nobody knows anything

2008-11-06T07:33:00.001-08:00

Why is it that nobody knows anything? William Goldman couldn't have been more correct when he said it, but why was he so right?

I am a business and marketing information addcit. Been doing it since I was 13 years old. Read Positioning when I was 15 years old. I have been marketing myself and other businesses, large and small, on three continents for years. I have even assembled business and marketing plans for movies and production studios. Many others, way smarter and more experienced than I, have been doing it even longer. So how come nobody knows anything yet?

Because: Art is not repeatable. That's why.

Oh, a nicely-assembled marketing binder will give you the impression that it is, but don't be fooled. They'll say this new movie has all the same winning elements as the latest Oscar-winner, or mega-blockbuster, and therefore, is guaranteed (pretty much) to be a success.

Past performance is no indication of future results.

Science is, by definition, repeatable. Everything else is a guess. Wall Street types call it speculation. In Vegas, baby, they call it gambling. But every piece of art is unique in some way. Any movie (whether or not you consider it art) is different from any other movie: the director, stars, writer, producers, crew, budget, effects, storyline, locations, marketing, timeline, release date, and process of making the movie may all be different. Sometimes only one or two elements seem different. But there are always differences, and they are not easily isolated, or repeatable differences.

Movies are not creations that you can assemble or dissect on a lab counter and run through a spectragraph, even though there are many books, workshops, and studio executives who believe that you can. Movies are unknown, risky ventures. There is absolutely no way that you can know in advance if your movie will succeed; you can only speculate- take the risk.

The very best thing you can do is to make what you believe in your heart and soul to be a good movie, and do your best to get it seen by as many people, as quickly as possible, so that it builds a rolling buzz, which hopefully snowballs into a "sleeper", which snowballs into a cult hit, which snowballs into a must-see, which snowballs into critical darling, which snowballs into a commercials success, which hopefully rolls the last mile into an Oscar winner.

Many people will tell you what is a good movie, and why yours is not. Absorb what is useful, but trust your instincts, stick to your guns.

After all, nobody knows anything.

Perspective

2008-11-04T20:33:00.000-08:00

In her excellent book How to Sell Yourself as an Actor, K. Callan extracted this gem from Andre Braugher, speaking with the L.A. Times:

This business is not going to keep me warm. This business is not a priority. My priority is being a husband, a father, a son, a brother, and a citizen. I am not an actor. I am a man who acts. Everything that is important to me is about being a man.

Well said. I'll try to keep that foremost in mind.

Danielle does Disneyland

2008-11-04T20:17:00.000-08:00

Whew!

Danielle, Mommy, and Daddy took a whirlwind tour of Los Angeles, which served as a business trip, vacation, catch-up time with old friends and new, and a recon mission to see where (and if) we might want to live in L.A.

We answered the "if": the answer is yes, we're going, barring serious unforeseen disaster. Nevermind the foreseen disaster. Life is short, and we've been broke before, so there ya go.

As for the "where", we got lots of help from old friends, and new friends, like Dad's friend Cliff. In order of preference, it looks like:

Santa Monica
West or North Hollywood
Burbank
Glendale
Sherman Oaks
Silverlake
Eagle Rock.

Meanwhile, Danielle's new favorite uncle and Disney Benefactor, Reagan Brown, scored us free admission to the Magic Kingdom. Danielle wasn't quite sure what was going on, but she was out of her mind with joy. I was amazed at the logistical precision of the place. Danielle was amazed at how many kids there are in this place!

I've created a photo album of some of our favorite pics here.

Starz exec Rob Markovich reception

2008-10-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

The Austin Screenwriters Group held a pretty swanky reception tonight for Rob Markovich, Director of Original Programming for the Starz movie channel network. Rob has been the driving force behind such Starz series as Crash, Head Case, and Hollywood Residential.

At the ASG meeting, he talked about where his network, and the industry in general are heading (episodic TV, not movies), and how aspiring writers could get their scripts read. He was a great guest, very informative and gracious with his time, and I really appreciate him speaking to ASG.

I pitched Rob some of my own TV and film ideas, and he liked them. Hopefully we can discuss them more when I'm in L.A. In the meantime, I'm going to try and connect him with my friend Mike Alvarez, who might have an animation co-production deal that Rob would like.

Nimble DV

2008-10-10T11:36:00.000-07:00

HBO's Director of Digital Content, Adam Wolman, interviewed on On the Page, says that HBO is implementing new models for their Webisodes. Wolman directed the ABC's Micro Mini-Series one-minute, interstitial episodes, which aired during the commercial time (technially, after the scene-outs) of other broadcast shows. They were serialized, with cliffhanger endings, and there were several of them. They didn't fare too well.

Now HBO is trying the same thing, with a slight modification: they will start with 3-6 minute Webisodes, which can then be stiched together into a 30-minute or 60-minute episode and delivered via HBO On Demand's download service. If a series gets really popular, it might be re-shot and delivered on HBOs core channels.

In effect, HBO and ABC were using these short-format videos to test pilot new shows. It's a reasonable idea, and has the benefit of being quantifiable. But it does not tell the execs what kind of legs the show will have if and when it gets picked up, which makes it hard to decide how much production money it needs, and (consequently) how to price the advertising.

As I have said many times here, the television industry is looking more and more like the music industry circa 1998. As bands started selling direct to fans, they relied more on grassroots support from live shows (a concert is a small "test market group"), until they zeroed in on their most popular songs, style, and fans.

For those of us indie filmsters who can make quality stories for less than a gazillion dollars, this is good news. We don't have to compromise art in order to sell advertising; we just have to make good art- granted, easier said than done. But we can employ the same method HBO and ABC are: start a project, see how it does, put more time and money behind it if it takes off, and drop it if not. But like guerillas, we can move a lot faster, working together with other indie writers, crew, actors, and producers than the sluggish armies of the Big Studios.

So be quick, be creative, be nimble. Let's go make some movies.

Be informed! Be very informed!! Bwahahahahaha!

2008-10-08T21:53:00.000-07:00

A Fed, a TED, and a LIBOR walk into a bar...

If you are as confused about this whole financial crisis as I am, you will really enjoy NPR's excellent Planet Money podcast, which breaks it down into layman's terms, and delivers timely news on a daily basis.

I highly recommend that you start with two most enlightening 'casts from Ira Glass' This American Life series:

They are about 45 minutes each, and are well worth your time.

New blog! I started a new blog to chronicle the current eco-storm for my daughter.

I'm not sure how this will affect the film markets, but let's hope cinemas give us a "hardship discount" on those $8.00 tubs of popcorn.

Curtis the Ninja

2008-10-06T19:40:00.000-07:00

Hiitenge- jabun henja menjae ridooru!

I am pleased as punch to be working with Kat Candler on her new short film, Ninja James and the Beast Man. I guess that I'll be playing, uh... Ninja James? I'm not sure, because my script said "Mr. Smith." But it's all good.

As always, Kat has assembled a great team of people around her, and not just the actors. I look forward to working with all of Alicia, Leslie, Scott, and the whole cast and crew. Especially Sam, the young lead actor, to whom I will be arranging the marriage of my two-year old daughter soon. Too cute!

Moshi, moshi!

Lion's Share of Viewers

2008-09-24T07:46:00.000-07:00

"How do I make any money at this?" is the constant refrain of indie filmmakers, including myself. Increasingly, I am finding the answer is: YOU DON'T. At least, not from the movie itself.

This is no surprise. I watched the same thing happen in the music industry, where opportunities to thrive still exist, but are largely limited to touring revenues, for true independent musicians, and up-front signing bonuses for "ready-made" acts, like the Amercian Idol gang.

Similarly, with indie films- er, videos; do indies shoot on film anymore? Ever?- most New Media Moguls are making their short movies, features, mash-ups, and music videos, just because they can, and they love it. They use these works as calling cards, like PinktheSeries.com. The payoff, if there is one, comes on the back end.

The latest such YouTube sensation appears (I haven't fact-checked it) to be a true story about two men and a resuced lion cub. I'm not sure there is enough meat here for a 90-minute movie; the 90-second YouTube video pretty well gets to the essence. But the rumor is that Sony Films sat up and took notice when the video hit 14 million views.

Deciding what does and does not get made into a film simply by using the YouTube metric may seem crass and unartistic. But I kind of like the idea. It is what bands do when they tour the dive bar circuit and self-release home recordings on home-burned CDs. In other words, these movies are building a fan base. When they hit critical mass, the majors sit up and take notice. Occassionally, the big studios may snatch them up just before the story suffers YouTube burnout. But at least the public has already voted with their eyeballs.

That way, studio execs can focus on more pressing matters, like whether to stock Bling or Cloud Juice at the daily staff meetings.

Silver Bullets

2008-09-22T06:33:00.000-07:00

A guest on one of my favorite weekly podcasts about filmmaking and new media commented that people were always asking him what software he was using for this, and what camera he was using for that. In other words, what tools he employed to produce his films and videos. "They think that there's some magic tricks that they don't have access to yet," he said. Once they get hold of those tricks, then everything will go faster, cost less, look fantastic, and of course, garner awards and major studio offers.

Um, no.

Making a movie is hard work, and it can go right- or horribly, horribly wrong- for all sorts of reasons that have nothing to do with whether you edited on Sony Vegas or Final Cut Pro, or whether you shot on a Red Camera, or a Flip Video.

I have noticed the same search for a silver bullet in many other areas of life. In the field of personal development/self-help, people always seem to look for a particular guru or philosophy. Dr. Wayne Dyer and Deepak Chopra are leaders in the "personal zen" arena. Suzie Orman and Dave Ramsey are at the forefront of the personal financial advice field. The career field used to be dominated by What Color is Your Parachute in the 1980s. This week's flavor of the month is Tim Ferriss' 4 Hour Work Week.

Even within the walls of Corporate America, leaders still look for a single magic bullet: the perfect software package, the perfect project management methodology; the perfect marketing strategy. In most cases, they would be better served to try many things, understanding that you cannot know until you try, and see what blossoms. As the Japanese say, "Let a thousand flowers bloom."

The latest silver bullet search, though, is happening on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., as lawmakers search for the perfect, painless solution to a massive financial crisis. What this means for Hollywood and for the film industry in general is uncertain at this time. The Great Depression of the 1930s was actually considered Hollywood's Golden Age! But things may be different this time.

I personally think that big-budget Hollywood escapist fare will do very well during hard times, but that does not mean prosperous times for struggling actors, writers, directors, and crew. At $300 million per film, Hollywood can't make many of those blockbusters each year.

As with filmmaking, weight loss, career planning, and personal saving, there is no easy solution, no silver bullet. One can only make a best guess, take action, repeat. Hopefully, we learn something along the way.

And the other shoe drops...

2008-09-05T08:49:00.000-07:00

It's official: movies are free.

Napster ruined the Big Corporate Music Model by setting the expectation among fans that music can and should be free to acquire. Many musicians disagreed, but many accepted the new order, and found other ways to make money in the music biz.

Bittorrent technology did for movie piracy what Napster did for music piracy, making it easier to download huge files over the Internet.

I have long contended that the same thing is happening with the movie industry, and eventually, even big filmmakers will give over to the "free" model, just the way big musicians like Trent Reznor, Radiohead, and others, have.

Now it has happened. Michael Moore will release his latest movie (I keep wanting to call them "films", kind of like I keep referring to "albums") for FREE. Like Radiohead, he is only releasing it for a limited time as a free download, and fans can buy the value-added DVD if they want.

This, combined with the legal Web distribution of movies, TV shows, and Web-based content, means that the film business is following exactly the same path, albeit slower, as the music business. What does this mean for actors?

It means that it will probably be harder to earn a living. Why? Because free or cheap Web-based distribution opens the floodgates to amateur filmmakers who compete with big studios, and because there are no existing mechanisms for making big money from Web video... yet. This means that studios will want to drive down their costs as much as possible, as they throw a bunch of spaghetti at the wall, and see what sticks.

Now, I do not pretend to know this for sure; it's just my guess, based on experience in the music industry and as a small business owner. The analog to live music is live theater, not film. You can't pirate a live theater show experience. So, as musicians now give away music and sell concert tickets, so, too, must actors- particularly film and television actors- find other ways of capitalizing on the shows they create.

Shows which are now free.

RED Rocks

2008-08-26T08:09:00.000-07:00

skate - shot on red - 120 fps from opus magnum prod. on Vimeo.

If you are not yet hip to the RED Camera buzz, you've been living under a rock. Film is great, yes, yes. So were fresh, hot-off-the-presses vinyl records. Until you played them once and the diamond needle forever deflowered them. You think the film print you see in your local megaplex is pristine? It's already been digitized twice (at least) by the time you see it, and scratched up by shipping, and running through the mechanical projector five times a day.

Who even gets to see that pristine, high-contrast celluloid? The developer, maybe.

Film is great, but film is dead.

Sorry.

"Long Tail? WTF?!"

2008-08-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

Dude, sell your Blockbuster stock.

If you haven't already. Which you probably have.

PGA's answer to SAG

2008-08-20T08:20:00.000-07:00

For actors who thought that only auto plant workers and computer programmers were getting their jobs outsourced, this is food for thought. Here is the Producers Guild of America's (PGA) answer to the next Screen Actors Guild (SAG) strike threat: http://tinyurl.com/6pedl7

Also, eerie Tron-Pr0n.

Yikes!

Back to Shreveport

2008-08-18T20:35:00.000-07:00

Drove 7 hours, all of it in a heavy rain, from Austin, Texas to Shreveport, Louisiana on Monday to audition for the new Edward Norton film Leaves of Grass. It was good to get back there, and enjoyed staying in one of the cool casino/hotels on the Boardwalk.

It was scary to see six (!) car accidents on the way up, most of them people driving stupidly in the rain. Conjured up images from my family blog post a few months back.

I stunk up my last audition in S'port, which was a cool role nailed by fellow Austinite Luis Rolon. I'm happy that Luis got the part. He's a good guy, and fellow TAGer. I think I acquitted myself on this go-round. Even though we never know, I was happy with my work, and that's all I can ask.

But man, it's a long drive for a 5-minute audition...

What's fair?

2008-08-14T05:39:00.000-07:00

Life, and Hollywood, are not fair; but is anything? In this book geek-y post from Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute (FoHI), Eliezer Yudkowsky contends that "fairness" is all in the eyes of the beholder.

Think about that after your next audition. :-)

No server for you!

2008-08-11T09:25:00.000-07:00

BSOD sighting in the wild:

http://tinyurl.com/6gwcy3

I guess $1.5 billion was not enough for a Microsoft support contract. :-)

Fortress of Solitude - For Sale

2008-08-11T07:27:00.000-07:00

Mary and I are selling our Austin-cool loft home in the country, complete with 1/2 acre of land. *Sigh.*

I really wanted to keep this, and add an addition, but alas, it did not happen. Still, the house has been great for us, and we've enjoyed living there. But the time has come to move on, and long-distance property management seems like it would be more hassle than it's worth. So we're selling.

Any takers?

Are iFriends worth the trouble?

2008-08-06T05:10:00.000-07:00

I hate MySpace.

There, I've said it. It's ugly, even with the redesign. And what's more it's yesterday's news.

I know that I am old, and late to the game. But I have long wondered about the actual value of many social networking sites: MySpace, Facebook, even LinkedIn, the business-focused equivalent, or most recently, Twitter. Recently, I opened a Facebook account, and I was surprised to see just how many people I knew that were on that site. But other than sending the occassional "hello" by writing on their wall or sending a proprietary FB mail message, I am just not sure how I or they are benefiting.

If there is interesting stuff happening in either my personal or professional life, it is on my blog (I have a personal blog for close friends and family). I have a hosted Web site with subdomains and all that, but find that most people visit Web sites regularly only if they are frequently updated; hence, the blog-focused site. If people want to interact with me, they can easily do it via the comments or forums on the blog, or e-mail, if they want a more personalized interaction. Or, heaven forfend, an actual face-to-face conversation over coffee.

I know how to build Web sites that look and function better than Facebook (at least the stuff I need), so I'm not sure what the real utility of social network sites is other than this: to introduce myself to otherwise complete strangers, i..e, a friend-of-a-friend. I guess this is helpful if you want to hook up with some hot guy/girl you spotted in the Photos section of one of your friends' pages, or to get a job. LinkedIn is probably best at this, though it feels kinda cynical, knowing that the main reason someone pings you out of the blue is to hit you up for a job (or vice-versa).

The connections on these sites tend to be extremely superficial. This may be good, from a Tipping Point perspective. Gladwell emphasizes the power of the "loose connection" when it comes to spreading ideas (memes). They usually devolve into a competition for "iFriends." Such activity does not scale.

These sites distract me from doing the important creative work that I is my main job. Creativity takes time. Long, uninterrupted blocks of time, which is the complete antithesis of Internet social communication. IM, e-mail, SMS, Twittering, and mini-posting are all what I call fidget talk, something you can do between thinking blocks, but not a way to have meaningful discussion.

Merlin Mann of 43Folders has an excellent 3-part article which discusses this at length with other artsits:

The power of connecting with people in an authentic way (no, not in that cheesy, half-assed, internet “friends” way) falls apart at the point where its resource consumption curtails your ability to keep making new stuff. [I]t’s be a little like the Beatles skipping the writing and recording of Rubber Soul in order to catch up on 1964’s fan mail.

Put plainer, my sense is that western culture would be a damn sight poorer today if John Lennon had been forced to carry a goddamn BlackBerry.

So please forgive me if I am not a good Facebooker or Twitterer (er?). If you haven't heard from me, it is because I am working on my next book, screenplay, or film.

Erm, as soon as I publish this blog post...

Show me the iMoney

2008-08-05T06:05:00.000-07:00

The 2008 LATV Festival, presented by National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) wrapped up last week, and the news was (surprise!) good for Old Media companies.

The Big 4 television studios and Big 6 (5? 4?) movie studios are feeling the pinch from online "new" media, such as Webisodes, podcasts, and videocasts. However, the reports of Old Media's demise were greatly exaggerated, according to Howard Hononoff, who heads the media advisory board at PricewaterhouseCoopers, at a panel covered by TV Week.

Despite growing advertiser skepticism about television's actual reach and effectiveness, TV advertising will grow about 5% per year, to $90 billion by 2012, claims Homonoff. It is difficult to know how many advertising dollars Web content is generating, because there is not yet any organization that accurately collects those figures, partially because Web advertising varies so widely. There are banner ads, referrals, pay-per-click, flat-fee, and CPM (cost per thousand) advertising on many Web shows, but no one has a good handle on how much money actually changes hands.

More concretely, though, Mr. Homonoff noted that Disney made less on all of it's iTunes Music Store downloads in eighteen months ($48 million) than “Desperate Housewives” alone generated on-air in a single season. Well, yeah. When you can sell 30-second spots for about $400,000, it is hard to compete.

For actors, this is a big deal. Literally.

Yes, while we can make movies in our backyards with $50 cameras and free software, the question is, can we monetize them? For most, the answer is "no." At best, our DIY efforts will serve as calling cards.

But to make a living as an actor, you still have to be where the money is. And, like it or not, the money is (still) in unionized productions. The money is still with the Old Media model, particularly television.

And, sad as I will be to leave my beloved Austin, that is why I am moving to L.A.

Post partum

2008-08-03T22:28:00.000-07:00

Directing buddy Jon Keeyes has released the trailer for his new feature film project, Angela's Body. Jon directed me in Living and Dying, and is currently enjoying the mild summers in Colorado, instead of the 40 days of 100+ temperatures here in the ATX. Coward!

Check out the movie's MySpace page, or download the trailer directly:

For Windows: http://www.highlandmyst.com/ABpromo.wmv
For Mac: http://www.highlandmyst.com/ABpromo.mov

Excelsior, Jon!

Talk amongst yerselves

2008-08-03T22:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending a couple of hours with our very own, Emmy Award-winning casting director Beth Sepko. It was a very informal and informative session with about 15 other local actors, all sitting around a table at the Austin Studios, inside the Austin Film Society's office.

Beth had some great stories for us all, graciously answered any and all questions, and even provided feedback on a couple of demo reels (including mine!).

What was most fun was catching up with Beth and several other acting friends, like Donnie Blanz, and meeting some new ones. The one key thing I took away from the session was how much fun and how laid back Beth really is. She is just a down-to-earth, cool person, full stop. So if you ever think you have pissed her off, or blew an audition and that she'll never call you again, well, you're probably wrong. I am proud to have worked with Beth, and wish her continued success in this crazy business.

Beth, many congratulations on the Emmy(s)!!!

The Dark Knight RAWKS! (for 2 hours, then...)

2008-07-26T20:50:00.000-07:00

Saw "The Dark Knight" today. It was waaaaay cool... for the first 2 hours. I'd say the movie was 3 great acts, and 2 short, superfluous ones.

Now, Heath Ledger was excellent. Maggie Gyllenhall was really as interesting as she could be with the "damsel in distress but not really" role- much better than her predecessors in this series. Christian Bale was kind of annoying, but not enough to ruin anything. I got tired of the forced-whisper-through-gritted-teeth-thing. Gary Oldman was typically great, if understated. Did I mention that Heath Ledger was excellent?

The only thing missing was a truly hot, half-naked woman. IMHO. Where, I ask, was the gratuitous nudity?!

The actors' voices were low and buried in the sound mix, but that seems common these days, even on the most big-budget movies. And the editing was so fast-paced (particularly in the last two mini-acts) that it was hard to follow all the details.

The Nolan Brothers have done some good work, and this was right up there with the "Memento". It just went on too long. The "x-ray phone" thing was a bit too much of a stretch.

OK, so the "Twoface" origin story and makeup was INCREDIBLE, but that little mini-story could have been a whole other movie, and should have been, in my opinion. But they didn't ask me.

They should have.

Did I mention that Heath Ledger was excellent?

The importance of being earnest

2008-07-25T13:31:00.000-07:00

Sometimes acting feels like a vain, superfluous exercise, of no importance in a world troubled with poverty, slavery, genocide, famine, flooding, global warming, noxious pollution, rain forest devastation, corporate greed, and children who can't read.

"Why bother?", I often ask. Do I, a simple storyteller, add any value to the world?

David Mamet, award-winning playwright, director, and screenwriter, answers in his book True and False:

Actors used to be buried at a crossroads with a stake through the heart... [their] performances so troubled the onlookers that they feared their ghosts. An awesome compliment.

Those players moved the audience not such that they were admitted to a graduate school, or received a complimentary review, but such that the audience feared for their soul. Now that seems to me something to aim for.

Indeed.

Mad, Bad, & Dangerous to Know

2008-07-15T12:29:00.000-07:00

The latest feature from my friend Jon Keeyes has just hit the shelves at Blockbuster, and other retail outlets. It's called Mad Bad, a play on the quote about Lord Byron, written by one of his lovers, Lady Caroline Lamb.

Not to be confused with the British pop band, Jon's new movie is the tale of "an ex-con who attempts to rebuild his life, but is drawn into the same circumstances that led to his demise."

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival, this film sports a rocking soundtrack.

Check it out!!!

You're in the Movies! (Sort of)

2008-07-14T20:17:00.000-07:00

A new game called You're in the Movies was previewed at the 2008 E3 , which allows players to star in "movies" on the XBox console. The game has been dubbed "cheesy" by some hard-core gamers, but I was fascinated by one key aspect of it's technology: instant green screen.

Now, this is seriously cool stuff.

There are lots of existing software programs that enable even the weekend hobbyist to do their own green screen CGI effects. But, as this video tutorial demonstrates, there is a considerable PITA factor involved. One must set up a green (or blue, or red) backdrop, light the scene, shoot the scene, then transfer it onto a computer, then identify the chroma key color to drop out, acquire and select the static backdrop to replace it with, then render the "new" version. Oh, and you have to repeat some or all of the process every time your backdrop changes. And that's just for a static backdrop. If you want the backdrop to move (to be, say, a video of a street scene), that's a whole separate PITA.

What the game-heads who panned YITM did not take into account was just how quickly and easily green-screen technology is implemented, using the included Web-cam attached to the XBox. Sure, it's not perfect, but it's pretty damn good, all things considered.

Why is this important for filmmakers?

One of the cool things about video games is their interactivity. They allow players (the audience) to take an active part in shaping the story. YITM lets the players be the movie. A cheesy movie, sure. But that's still a big deal. And this is just Version 1. Check back in 3 years, and see how cheesy it looks then.

The game comes with pre-selected genres, scripts, and sequences of scenes. I anticipate that the game will eventually let players author their own movie, perhaps by selecting from hundreds or thousands of scene building-blocks (scriptwriters will be familiar with these plot-building blocks), or perhaps some clever software authoring (scripting) language that more technical users can write themselves, using the game's graphics engine to render the final output. Other sites on the Web do this already.

As major studios move away from character-driven films to focus on blockbusters like Iron Man, indie filmmakers, writers, and even computer coders will look for new ways to make their own low-budget action fare.

The new breed of low-budget filmmaker is here. And it's you!

MIT Professor predicts the future

2008-07-11T09:01:00.000-07:00

Hollywood could learn a lot from ex-MIT professor Philip Greenspun.

In 1997, Greenspun wrote a book (actually two), that predicted how important data mobility would be in all facets of business. Here's a lengthy excerpt from one chapter:

The late Ken Phillips, a professor at New York University, figured this out in the late 1970s when he set up a massive computer network for Citibank. He would ask folks what they thought AT&T's most valuable asset was. People would try to estimate the cost of undersea cables versus the fiber links that crisscross the continent. Ken laughed.

"AT&T gives you long distance service so they know which companies you call and how long you spend on the phone with each one. AT&T gives you a credit card so they know what you buy. AT&T owns Cellular One so, if you have a cell phone, they know where you drive and where you walk. By combining these data, AT&T can go to a travel agency and say ‘For $100 each, we can give you the names of people who drive by your office every day, who've called airline 800 numbers more than three times in the last month, who have not called any other travel agencies, and who have spent more than $10,000 on travel in the last year.'"

Ken was ahead of his time.

Indeed he was.

Corporations call this mix-and-matching of data "business intelligence."

Omnifocus just released task management software that uses the iPhone's built-in GPS tracking to show you tasks relevant to where you are. Near the grocery store? Don't forget to pick up these items on your shopping list. Near the bank? Don't forget to make that deposit.

How can filmmakers, both Hollywood studios and indie producers, use such technology? How about by letting people know when they are near the site of a screening? How about letting people know when they are near the location where you filmed a scene? How about observing the geographic traffic patterns of your target audience to determine the best venue for a screening? I don't know. There are probably lots of cool ideas that I can't even imagine. Remember Minority Report's constant retinal scans and personalized advertising? Spooky.

Greenspun would say that this technology is long overdue, and set to take personalization to new levels. What do you think? Post a comment below, and share your ideas!

Hollywood's only competitive advantage

2008-07-07T21:12:00.000-07:00

I finally cut my hair, after 13 years. But, despite urging from my wife, agent, acting coaches, and even casting directors, I stuck with my ponytail and "mean" head shot for years, because it gave me a unique competitive position- The Villain. Hollywood needs it's own unique position, now, too. Mid-budget films are dead-ends for major studios, regardless of star power.

Consolidation will change the movie industry, probably similar to how major label consolidation changed the music industry. I think that Hollywood will produce fewer films, and most all of them will be $100 million+ projects. Current estimates from industry sources are that it takes $15-30 million dollars in marketing and advertising expense to properly "open" a film in a wide number of theaters.

The argument is that, less than that, and you'll end up with a mediocre-performing film that does not get opening weekend "buzz", and ends up languishing, probably losing money, or not making enough to justify the risk and expense. Most films these days make 70-90% of their theater revenues in the first week or two, and most of that in the opening weekend, especially for "popcorn films".

But Hollywood makes blockbusters really well, all things considered. In fact, ONLY Hollywood makes blockbusters like "Iron Man" and "Batman: The Dark Knight". But many producers worldwide make low to medium budget, character-driven films. Hollywood really doesn't have much competitive advantage there, except money for stars, which, as we've seen, is no guarantee of success.

So, in long-tail fashion, I think Hollywood will migrate more and more towards blockbusters, while indie producers make ultra-low, low, and medium-budget films. Stars will work for scale, lending their star power to quality scripts and vanity projects.

Hollywood will eventually figure out that even a 72-inch screen home theater doesn't compete with an actual theater experience (especially IMAX). Studios will make films for the BIG screen, because that is their real competitive advantage, possibly their only one. In the absence of such a film, here are ways other films and theaters are enticing people to come to the movies. They need to make it an event that we'll come out for.

That's my prediction, anyway. But as Bill Goldman said, "No one knows anything."

Making money with movies

2008-07-07T06:28:00.000-07:00

In a post last week, I discussed the cloudy future of big-budget Hollywood movies. As movies move inevitably towards free, how will filmmakers, and cinemas, make money? Austin's Alamo Drafthouse has one answer: The Team America Sing-Along.

The feature film showing was more than your usual cinema fare. It was a combination movie and comedy club, and drunken frat party. Well, not quite that radical (it was the 7 p.m. showing, after all), but it was value-added interactive entertainment. It was... an event.

My wife Mary and our friends Robert and Sherri Dugan were handed a goodie-bag of American flags, glow sticks, balloons, poppers, and sparklers. After the customized patrio-parody opening trailer collage, a live host laid down the ground rules for the film, which included speaking and singing along to the "Fuck yeah!" choruses, standing and cheering, tossing streamers and balloons, and then following the host down 6th Street after the show, waving our sparklers and singing the Team America theme song acapella, as a group, er, mob.

Did I mention that the Drafthouse serves food and alchohol?

If I wanted to just watch a movie, I can do that quite well in the comfort of my own home, thank you very much. Big screen, hi-def home theater has never been so affordable, and movies were never so cheap and easy to get.

No, what I want is an experience, a reason to get off the couch and go sit in a room with a bunch of like-minded instant friends and have a trascendent experience. In short, I want an event.

And this July 4th weekend at the Alamo's Team America Sing-along, that's what I got.

Fuck, yeah.

P.S. - Thanks to Beth Burroughs for learnin' me 'bout this here event.