Web Journey

In this small window of free time today, I've completed the creation of the web page for Journey of the Mind here at directorG.com! It includes still frames, a synopsis, and credits. Video may come in time.

Soon, I hope to be able to do two things: 1) Send a copy to the Epilepsy Foundation of Northern California out of thanks for their kind permission to film at their Living With Epilepsy event during October, and 2) Submit this film to a film festival recognized by Withoutabox.com in order to get this project listed on IMDb!

Doc Submitted Yesterday

It's done! Journey of the Mind was submitted yesterday to the Arizona State U festival, different from what? The web page for the movie is now under construction, and should be ready in the next few days.

There's a possibility that this documentary could also get shown on a local television station... More on that as details arrive!

Executive Producer!

This is the week I must submit Journey of the Mind to the festival, Different From What?, at Arizona State University. That's why the timing is PERFECT for a new person to be on board: Jayne Ham.

Thanks to her, it is now possible to completely afford the submission fee of the festival and beyond! She now is being credited as Executive Producer. Awesome to the extreme!

Jumping for joy...

Got Permission!

This is wonderful. For next weekend's Living with Epilepsy conference, I have been speaking with a very helpful woman on the phone from the Epilepsy Foundation of Northern California (who have organized the event). So far, she has granted me permission to film at least one of the panels of neurologists that plan to speak!

This is all for the still-untitled documentary which I will quickly be shooting, editing and sending off to the Different From What? festival within the next month! I hope to complete the screenplay in the next few days so that I'll have an idea of where to include this necessary footage.

Sooo excited!

Gettin' Busy

Lots o' stuff has been happ'ning lately! Aside from editing a series of videos for some friends, I'm starting not one but TWO documentaries, and that's all not counting the touching up of the capstone for festival entry, reediting a lost pic from found footage, and finally creating a new narrative piece!!

This, though, is about the docs. This really is the Year of the Docs, since it will contain at least three for public release, plus a few in private release, by the 2009's end. The first, possibly titled Getting There (working title), is a personal documentary that follows my lifelong journey with epilepsy, and how I make do in spite of it. As it's just now brewing and I'd like to enter it in the Different From What? festival in late October, I've gotta be quick about it!

The other, Everyone and Their Mother, will probably begin this year, but will be finished next year, right before Mother's Day. It will follow three different interviewees within the approximate 6 minute timeframe, and through overlapping stories, they each reveal that their mother was the hero. It's to be posted on Current TV, among other things. Time to get crackin'!

Alumni Fest '09

If you happen to be in the Monterey area tomorrow, the CSUMB Alumni Showcase will be occurring on campus at the Alumni and Visitor's Center (Bldg. 97) from 2:00 - 4:00 pm.

I was able to submit a copy of my Television Commercial for Gizdich Ranch, which should be airing this fall on KSBW, to the alumni event.  On a spontaneous run, I may even attend...

Online Speculations

Unless there is reason to be misled tomorrow (Tuesday), when contained films of this year's MVFF are to be listed to the public, there is speculation that At the Core sadly did not get accepted.  However, this now makes it possible to show online!

Through both IMDb and YouTube, it becomes entirely possible not to hide this documentary from the public anymore.  It needs to be rendered again with the new credits, which will be altered for the music rights, and compressed for uploading, but that should make things possible!

Initially, I didn't think uploading video to IMDb was all that possible, but by submitting At the Core through Withoutabox, that allows me a connection to IMDb that includes uploading videos!  That's how the film's trailer was uploaded there already...  Updates on this soon!

Win Some, Lose Some

"Filmmakers will be notified via email of entry status by approximately September 4th."

-http://www.cafilm.org/mvff/c4e.html

Though I am yet to receive any such email about Mill Valley, I am to assume At the Core (2009) did not make it into the festival based on the Submission Status shown at Withoutabox. That claims to have been notified on September 2nd, and the decision was "Not Accepted."  Sigh...

And still, this day remains pleasant because some of the footage from Brave New World (2002) has now been digitized (it's all already been transferred from Hi8 to MiniDV, thus saved), and it's begun to be edited. I'm not going to upload the movie to YouTube until it's entirely reedited, which may need to wait during a paid video editing job. However, above, I posted a few Brave New Outtakes from the opening scene. I'm sure more are to follow, so I called it "Part 1." Enjoy!

Two Weeks To Go

Barely a smidge over 2 weeks from tomorrow is September 15th. Why is this date important, you ask? It is the date that the schedule of films to be shown at the Mill Valley Film Festival will be announced.

This may or may not be beneficial to Thomas Productions, but it certainly can be! The MVFF has the chance of being the first "adult-level" film festival one of our projects has ever placed in. We have earned status with the National Children's Film Festival before, but that obviously was during the K-12 era.

Whether or not the hope rings true, the festival still permitted another entry into IMDb.com, and also initiated contact with Michael Neverisky for music rights. This festival is noncompetitive, so if At the Core shows up anywhere in the schedule, then it's worth a yipee!

Plans of Big Bear Lake

Entering any festival can be tedious with all the paperwork to fill out, but by using Withoutabox to do all of that for At the Core, it was ten times easier than it could have been. Also because of it, Thomas Productions has another entry at IMDb.

As such, I've been planning out future movies that, too, could be "festivized" through Withoutabox... One that I'm still hoping to retouch a bit is The Nightmare. It's generally okay in terms of editing, but I'd like to work some more on the visual effects and the musical score. Once that's completed, I'd like to send that to the Big Bear Lake International Film Festival for 2010!

I wouldn't have to enter it any sooner than January, so I have some time to work on it. Big Bear is significant to me because it's the town in which I was born, but never really lived beyond the first six months of my life... It's time to revisit.

Commercial Update

News from Gizdich Ranch today! Slightly bittersweet, but an overall positive outlook. I say bittersweet because the commercial has yet to air. However, this is not because it didn't work; in fact, what is great is that its MiniDV format ended up being perfectly acceptable by the station, KSBW, in place of a BetaSP tape. The reason it hasn't aired yet is that the ranch determined the commercial would be best to start airing in the fall.

So, it's merely postponed. Heck, it might even be airing around the time of the Mill Valley Film Fest! We'll update again on this topic once more news is heard!

Grasshopper Approval

As an unexpected charm that happen to reach Thomas Productions yesterday, I was able to receive music rights for the song I was hoping to use in At the Core: more specifically, Michael Neverisky's instrumental performance of "Grasshopper Sitting on a Sweet Potato Vine."

I was considering contacting him through an email address, but gosh darnit, that site would not load on my machine at that moment (but it would again later!). So, I found him on YouTube, and was able send him a message that way. That he responded so quickly and so kindly just about made my day! That particular song is not performed on YouTube by him, but here's another one that's at least as good.

Anyhow, this news is GREAT because it means the intentional, excellent piece can play in Mill Valley instead of my subpar temp track. Yay!

All Signs Point to Mill Valley

Not to sound superstitious or anything, but today, I randomly received a note from someone giving positive site feedback. This person is named Christian Svanes Kolding.

christian svanes kolding, showreel, the "a-side" | 4 min. from svanes on Vimeo.

Why is this important, you ask? It's because his short film, Depression Served Six Ways, is listed as "great" on the Movie Ratings section of this site, and I had specifically viewed it at the 2005 Mill Valley Film Festival.

It's another reference to Mill Valley, and it had nothing to do with At the Core. Plus, it's always cool to get contacted by the filmmakers directly!

3rd Time's the Charm

Wow, that was fast! It was supposedly not going to be posted for "two to four weeks," but it's already up only one week after filling out the online invitation forms from Withoutabox!

What I'm referring to, of course, is the IMDb entry for At the Core (2009), which was recently submitted to this year's Mill Valley Film Festival! Now, the entry is not yet complete on IMDb's website, so I'm assuming they meant having the entry complete in two to four weeks.

It's our 3rd movie to exist on IMDb, after The Dog of Pompeii (1999) and The Last Kiss (2000). Quite a time distance exists between The Last Kiss and At the Core, but that's what THIS site is for!

Anyhow, here's the new IMDb link for At the Core:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1442006/

Invitation

Quick li'l note here: the MVFF officially received our entry of At the Core a few days ago.

This is good for 2 reasons, aside from it being a relief that it's been received: 1) It is now listed on Withoutabox with a blue checkmark instead of a red dot, and 2) It was automatically invited to become a part of IMDb.com (Internet Movie Database) in result!

Deed is Done

Wahoo! At the Core, reedited for 2009, has officially been submitted to the MVFF, DVD & all. The online entry through Withoutabox occurred a few days ago, and the DVD screener was sent today!

What a relief! And now, a glimpse of what's in store:

With Withoutabox

At current, I'm in the midst of filling out all of the bits and pieces of required info & suggested info at Withoutabox.com for entering At the Core into the Mill Valley Film Festival (and possibly any other). It's great in that it saves a ton of paper, making the only things necessary to send are the actual videos (DVDs, tapes, etc.). But, it's a nuisance as well because there's a ton to fill out!

One such thing it suggested to complete was a trailer! So, there you go: a new trailer for At the Core!

Other things to include are not one but THREE separate synopses, each of different length, and a bleepload of technical details... So much more to write!

The First Fest

It's official: At the Core (2006) is soon to be entered into the 2009 Mill Valley Film Festival! Early entry deadline is May 15, and the festival itself is in mid October.

No clips of it are online yet, as I want to make sure doing this wouldn't prevent any sort of festival "world premiere" attributes. Nonetheless, there are several stills and production photos that hold up just fine for now.

BTW, I simply couldn't believe that The Last Kiss (2000) had never been embedded in a News Blog entry before this one! Tada!

BTW#2, The Dog of Pompeii (1999) has now reached 2,000 views on YouTube!

Decade of Pompeii

Exactly 10 years ago to the day, The Dog of Pompeii (1999) was completed and submitted to the National Children's Film Festival, to eventually become a National Finalist.

To celebrate Pompeii's 10 year anniversary, we've been uploading some extra videos to YouTube, such as the bloopers to that film and a few others.

Speaking of uploading and decades, The Trouble (1999) (which will be 10 years old this fall) has now been added to YouTube as well. Bloopers, too. Enjoy!

Hidden Treasure

Unbeknownst to me for the past several years -- after the blackouts of 2003 that destroyed my hard drive and what I thought were any remaining copies of many videos -- a VHS tape was recently found with a newer copy of Macbeth and the Crusades on it!

I say "newer copy" because things were done for festival purposes after it was initially turned in as a class project, including more visual effects work and composing original music. This movie is the first Thomas Productions YouTube upload of 2009. Enjoy!

Nine for '09

Starting this exciting month, when the worst president in U.S. history is finally dethrowned, is the new year of 2009! Accordingly, it would be good if there were some New Year's Resolutions made. These advantageous commitments, which there could be nine of for the year, could be for anything: movies, site, and other related goodies. Here are some possibilities for the year (in random sequence, only numerical for counting purpose):

1. Complete TV Commercial for Gizdich Ranch
2. Begin Production for Hitchcock Road
3. Upload More Projects to YouTube
4. Finish Web Hosting Transfer Project
5. Submit At the Core to Film Festival
6. Submit The Nightmare to Film Festival
7. Begin Production for Everyone and Their Mother
8. Create and/or Complete Web Pages for Remaining Films
9. Finish Remaining Demo Reels for Cinematography and VFX
   

There are probably a few other things, including the logical idea of making each Thomas Productions logo on each page actually link back to the home page... But, that's minor. Happy New Year!