So, what am I thankful for… Where do I start?
I am Thankful for my family who want to see me succeed, even if they don’t always know how to show me they are behind me. I am Thankful for the Friends who take the time to listen to me ramble, because God knows I do. My friends also take the time to support projects I’ve worked on, which makes me feel a LOT more important than I really am. I NEED to and could NEVER stop being Thankful for my amazing Network of Colleagues, some are closer to me as Friends and some further, but all of them have allowed me the chance to work so much this year. Which leads me to the fact that I am Supremely Thankful to be working so much, especially in such crazy economic times. Sure, I’m not going to be rich anytime soon, and need keep working to pay off what few debts I have, but I have worked more this year in my Career industry than any previous year so far. It’s hard to believe, but this year I have worked on 10 projects, in 4 different States, over the course of 9 Months, soon to be 10. I am very fortunate and Thankful for everything I’ve received this year and Grateful to those who brought me the opportunities. It sets the bar pretty high for 2011, but I’m sure this is only the beginning. Thank You All!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
September Already???
Is it really September already??? Where the Hell did 2010 go? It is flying by and I’m not sure what has happened to all my time…
Well, I never planned to neglect my Blog for as long as I have. In my defense, I have been a little busy. In fact, I have been busier this year, than ever before. Let me try and catch you all up to speed with what has gone on this year so far…
Of course, January had me traveling back out to Park City, Utah for the Sundance Film Festival. It’s hard to believe this was my 11th year working Sundance. I know I posted most of my adventures, but my reviews still need to go up.
February just might have been one of the worst months I have had physically. I came down with some really bad flu bug, and was down for about two and half weeks. In that time, by laptop died, needing to be re-formatted. I had to start over and reload software. There was A LOT of catching up I had to do in order to recover from that. To round out the month, I got food poisoning which lasted the last 3 days of the month. That will teach me to eat late at night from a gas station.
Now, March came in fast and hard. With a last minute phone call, I was whisked away to Charlevoix, Michigan for the month to work on the Feature Film, ‘The Frontier Boys’. After my 11+ hour drive I jumped straight into my job as 1st Assistant Director. It was certainly a challenge as my first day was day eight for the shoot. I had a lot of catching up to do, but we had an amazing cast and crew to help everything finish on schedule.
While in Michigan, I had a few offers come my way, but I decided to return home and work on a film shooting in Alton, Illinois, ‘Joint Body’. It was Brian Jun’s (‘Steel City’, ‘The Cover Up’) Third Feature Film. After a little crew juggling, I served as the 2nd Assistant Director. I got to work with several friends and colleagues, and return home to sleep in my own bed every night. The down side was I had about an hour drive every day, if not longer. It was a quick, short shoot, but took me through April after a few down days.
May seemed to slip away. I had a few weeks of down time. I spent my weekend working at Bobby’s Place (my friend’s bar) and trying to regroup. I did travel to Columbia, MO to work on the re-shoots for my friend Aaron Crozier’s feature film, ‘Mil Mascaras: Aztec Revenge’. It was only a few days of shooting, but definitely fun. I served as the First AD on the re-shoots. Plus, this got me down to Columbia, MO where my brother owns a new bar, 1839 Taphouse. If you get a chance, drop in and check it out.
June took me back out of town. I started in Chicago, working as 1st AD on the Short Film ‘Left Alone’ with Cinematographer Pete Biagi and several friends and colleagues. The shoot was predominantly nights, but a lot of fun, except for the serious storm we had to avoid getting blown away by. The day after wrapping the short, I left for Grand Rapids, Michigan to 1st AD the Feature Film ‘All You Can Dream’ with several of my Michigan colleagues. The film was a true challenge, but I survived. All I’ll say is NO more pigs!
I made it back to St. Louis for the 4th of July, but didn’t have much down time. Within 72 hours of getting back to St. Louis, I was off to Bloomington, Illinois to take a job as the Production Supervisor on the Feature Film ‘Using’. My Key Set PA from ‘Leading Ladies’ a year prior was serving as First AD and asked me to come help him smooth the production out. The project was built as an apprenticeship project so about 2/3 of the crew were students and recent graduates, while 1/3 of us were working professionals helping teach while we worked. I was amazed at how quickly the crew learned and how great we all worked together. Now, the shoot had a number of challenges, but we saw it through, even with two days of shooting in Lincoln, IL and a week of shooting in Chicago.
August was supposed to be a month to work on some of my own projects while regrouping and collecting myself. Well, I did get to focus on my own projects for a bit, but I did serve as Second AD on the short film ‘The Bloodfest Club’. It is the precursor to the feature of the same name, and the next major project of Crunchy Cool Films (Hooch and Daddy-O). It might have only been two day of shooting, but we all had a lot of fun. Especially for me, getting to ride a 4-wheeler almost all Sunday.
And now, we are into September! What does this month hold in store for me? I can admit I have received word of a few possibilities, but I’m still in a slight holding patter while things get worked out. And of course, if you have not heard, I am set to produce a few projects, including the werewolf Feature Film, ‘Hallow Pointe’, with Bobby Ray Akers, Jr. directing. I’ll be sure to post more often and keep you all up-to-speed with how things continue to move forward.
Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check back for more news… The way things are shaping up, there will be some good stuff ahead…Monday, March 1, 2010
Thank God It's March!
So, February was probably one of the worst months of my life. I won’t bore you will all the little details, but here are some of the highlights of the shenanigans:
Got back from Sundance on January 31 and by February 3 was starting to get seriously sick. I’m pretty sure it was the flu. Which one, I don’t know, but still the damn flu. And I had my flu shot.
Next, just as I recovered and was ready to get back to work, my computer decided it was finally done. After all the years of service and at least one previous owner, my poor laptop died. I was smart enough to start transferring files off as I saw the end coming, but sadly not everything was saved. In my world, even one file lost is too much. Now I did go have my laptop checked out, formatted and the operating system reloaded. It just set me back because I had to reload ALL my software, which required calling each company and having my licensing codes reset so I could reactivate all the programs… YEAH! The major fact that sucks is that I still have not managed to re-sync my iPhone to the “new” computer. I just hope I get that figured out ASAP, and without having to erase that as well. THAT WILL NOT HAPPEN!
And the last big ass kicker was ending the month with a terrible case of food poisoning. That really sucked and was incredibly painful!
Now, there were other little things throughout the month, but no need to bore you…
I know you are itching to know what I’m up to now in March. Well, aside from cranking out a few copies of a DVD for client, I have been packing all day because I’m rolling out tonight… That’s right! Michigan here I come! Over the weekend I got offered my first Feature Film of 2010, ‘Frontier Boys’. I’ll be serving as the First Assistant Director. THANK YOU AGAIN MATT CORRADO!
Now, I will be back in St. Louis at the end of the month, but for now… I have to go. A long drive awaits me! Oh yeah, and please don’t think I forgot about my Sundance wrap up blog and the reviews of the films I saw during the fest, as well as a few new sites I’m launching. Now that my computer is back and running, I will get everything caught up… But as the saying goes: When it rains, it pours! So stay tuned, everything will be going up soon!
Got back from Sundance on January 31 and by February 3 was starting to get seriously sick. I’m pretty sure it was the flu. Which one, I don’t know, but still the damn flu. And I had my flu shot.
Next, just as I recovered and was ready to get back to work, my computer decided it was finally done. After all the years of service and at least one previous owner, my poor laptop died. I was smart enough to start transferring files off as I saw the end coming, but sadly not everything was saved. In my world, even one file lost is too much. Now I did go have my laptop checked out, formatted and the operating system reloaded. It just set me back because I had to reload ALL my software, which required calling each company and having my licensing codes reset so I could reactivate all the programs… YEAH! The major fact that sucks is that I still have not managed to re-sync my iPhone to the “new” computer. I just hope I get that figured out ASAP, and without having to erase that as well. THAT WILL NOT HAPPEN!
And the last big ass kicker was ending the month with a terrible case of food poisoning. That really sucked and was incredibly painful!
Now, there were other little things throughout the month, but no need to bore you…
I know you are itching to know what I’m up to now in March. Well, aside from cranking out a few copies of a DVD for client, I have been packing all day because I’m rolling out tonight… That’s right! Michigan here I come! Over the weekend I got offered my first Feature Film of 2010, ‘Frontier Boys’. I’ll be serving as the First Assistant Director. THANK YOU AGAIN MATT CORRADO!
Now, I will be back in St. Louis at the end of the month, but for now… I have to go. A long drive awaits me! Oh yeah, and please don’t think I forgot about my Sundance wrap up blog and the reviews of the films I saw during the fest, as well as a few new sites I’m launching. Now that my computer is back and running, I will get everything caught up… But as the saying goes: When it rains, it pours! So stay tuned, everything will be going up soon!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Final Few Days of the Film Festival…
So, here are my events from the final few days of the film fest. I admit I got a little relaxed in these final days, but can you blame me? All work and NO rest will kill anyone.
Thursday: Once I was up and moving I headed over to the Holiday Village Cinema. They were transitioning from primarily only holding press and industry screenings to all 4 screens running public screenings. And after the Next Generation Filmmakers panel, I wanted to make sure I caught at least one of the Next Category films. So I screened ‘Bass Akwards’ from writer/director/star Linas Phillips. It screened with an animated short film ‘The Art of Drowning’ from director Diego Maclean.
After the screening I raced back to Main Street with the goal of attending the second YouTube Presentation. However, the listing was completely a misprint. It was the day before and at a different venue, which I even went and asked about. I wasn’t a waste of time, I was able to see more of Main Street and hang out for a bit in the Filmmaker Lodge. Plus, I did learn A LOT at the previous YouTube Presentation that I didn’t feel totally cheated.
After the schedule debacle with the YouTube Presentation, I simply headed home, had little dinner and got ready for an interesting night. Now, my shift started off not exactly as I planned. I can not get into details, but I will say I am tired of incident reports. The upside of the night was out Midnight Screening: ‘Tucker & Dale vs. Evil’ director/co-writer Eli Craig and starring Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowden and Jesse Moss.
Friday: So I slept in a bit… I do get home after 3 AM every night. So when I got up and moving, I had to make a decision while I ate breakfast. Which movie did I want to try and see? There was a Doc (‘Smash His Camera’ by Leon Gast about the Original Paparazzo, Ron Galella), a Next Category Film (New Low from writer/director/star Adam Bowers) and Dramatic Competition film (Happythankyoumoreplease from writer/director/star Josh Radnor). I chose to try and see Happythankyoumoreplease, but by the time I got all the way out to the Racquet Club Theatre, it was too late. It was such a crowded show, I never stood a chance.
I headed back to Main Street, grabbed a bite to eat and headed to my shift at the Egyptian. Now, our shift started with a private screening for HP, one of the presenting Sponsors of the Sundance Film Festival. So our 9:00 PM film was smooth. Now, our Midnight Screening was fun. The Friday Midnight Screening was ‘Louis CK: Hilarious’. It is a stand-up routine directed by and starring comic Louis CK.
Saturday: Now this was not really a day to relax. I did laundry, packed, cleaned and got ready for our Annual Midnight Team Dinner. I was a very productive day and a great day for all of us to spend time together, tell stories, laugh and enjoy some AMAZING food. Thanks to “Iron Chef” John Ho, with help from our New Box Office Girl, Dena, for all the AMAZING food we had. I’m still curious why we always make so much.
Now our final shift at the Egyptian started with ‘Tucker & Dale vs. Evil’ being the 9:00 PM film. So it started off fun. The Final Midnight Screening was Rodrigo Cortes’ film ‘Buried’ starring Ryan Reynolds.
That pretty much sums up the 2010 Sundance Film Festival in this and the previous blogs, but I will still take time tomorrow to write a recap of the entire festival including how many panels and screenings I attended, as well as list off the award winners for 2010. I’m always amazed at how fast it goes by, but also how much I learn and grow!
Thursday: Once I was up and moving I headed over to the Holiday Village Cinema. They were transitioning from primarily only holding press and industry screenings to all 4 screens running public screenings. And after the Next Generation Filmmakers panel, I wanted to make sure I caught at least one of the Next Category films. So I screened ‘Bass Akwards’ from writer/director/star Linas Phillips. It screened with an animated short film ‘The Art of Drowning’ from director Diego Maclean.
After the screening I raced back to Main Street with the goal of attending the second YouTube Presentation. However, the listing was completely a misprint. It was the day before and at a different venue, which I even went and asked about. I wasn’t a waste of time, I was able to see more of Main Street and hang out for a bit in the Filmmaker Lodge. Plus, I did learn A LOT at the previous YouTube Presentation that I didn’t feel totally cheated.
After the schedule debacle with the YouTube Presentation, I simply headed home, had little dinner and got ready for an interesting night. Now, my shift started off not exactly as I planned. I can not get into details, but I will say I am tired of incident reports. The upside of the night was out Midnight Screening: ‘Tucker & Dale vs. Evil’ director/co-writer Eli Craig and starring Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowden and Jesse Moss.
Friday: So I slept in a bit… I do get home after 3 AM every night. So when I got up and moving, I had to make a decision while I ate breakfast. Which movie did I want to try and see? There was a Doc (‘Smash His Camera’ by Leon Gast about the Original Paparazzo, Ron Galella), a Next Category Film (New Low from writer/director/star Adam Bowers) and Dramatic Competition film (Happythankyoumoreplease from writer/director/star Josh Radnor). I chose to try and see Happythankyoumoreplease, but by the time I got all the way out to the Racquet Club Theatre, it was too late. It was such a crowded show, I never stood a chance.
I headed back to Main Street, grabbed a bite to eat and headed to my shift at the Egyptian. Now, our shift started with a private screening for HP, one of the presenting Sponsors of the Sundance Film Festival. So our 9:00 PM film was smooth. Now, our Midnight Screening was fun. The Friday Midnight Screening was ‘Louis CK: Hilarious’. It is a stand-up routine directed by and starring comic Louis CK.
Saturday: Now this was not really a day to relax. I did laundry, packed, cleaned and got ready for our Annual Midnight Team Dinner. I was a very productive day and a great day for all of us to spend time together, tell stories, laugh and enjoy some AMAZING food. Thanks to “Iron Chef” John Ho, with help from our New Box Office Girl, Dena, for all the AMAZING food we had. I’m still curious why we always make so much.
Now our final shift at the Egyptian started with ‘Tucker & Dale vs. Evil’ being the 9:00 PM film. So it started off fun. The Final Midnight Screening was Rodrigo Cortes’ film ‘Buried’ starring Ryan Reynolds.
That pretty much sums up the 2010 Sundance Film Festival in this and the previous blogs, but I will still take time tomorrow to write a recap of the entire festival including how many panels and screenings I attended, as well as list off the award winners for 2010. I’m always amazed at how fast it goes by, but also how much I learn and grow!
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