"This is a revolution." --McG

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.

New TFS Podcast - Mike Maden of Pink the Series

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.

New TFS podcast with "Pink" filmmaker Blake Calhoun

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/

Angel of Death

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.