Tuesday, November 28, 2006

“Ulterior Motives” by Derek Baker

King Penguin Productions has been graciously asked to be on set and assist in principal photography for the final remaining scenes for the feature film “Ulterior Motives” which was shot over the summer in and around Omaha. I have seen some rough footage from the film and it has a real nice look and feel to it and I’m honored to be a part of their filming process.

The cast for this film is tremendous (in quantity as well as quality) and I’ve had the opportunity to work with several of them over the years in my own productions so I’m sure they are getting great performances.

Rehearsals are scheduled over the next several days and we will plan on being on set sometime in the upcoming weeks. I’ve heard a lot about the cast and crew and I’m looking forward to spending some time with them on set and seeing their creative process.

For more information, check out Ulterior Motives.

Sunday, November 26, 2006

“Off Broadway” by Matt Harrell

Matt’s Senior Thesis short film project entitled “Off Broadway” has been in preproduction for a couple of months and principal photography is set for early January. The script, written by Matt, has a very theatrical feel and will marry film and theater elements in what should be a very creative and interesting short film.

The crew will have many of the same people that we had on our short film “Wisdom” so I know it will be a very professionally shot film and with Tory at the producer helm, I know that things will run smoothly in front of and behind the camera. Weekly production meetings have been underway and will continue through December to ensure that all I’s are dotted and all T’s are crossed.

I look forward to being a part of this film project and anticipate another quality short film production.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Michael Cooper – Masked Marvels and Wondertales

Had a great chance to check out Michael Cooper’s Masked Marvels and Wondertales show at the Holland Center on Saturday with Jeremy, Julie and Wes. We knew nothing about the show before we went other than it was at the Holland Center, the $45 tickets were complimentary, and we knew the name of the performance. I haven’t had a chance to see the inside of the Holland Center yet and have really been wanting to check it out, and given the ticket price, the show had to be decent, right? I did have a chance to look up Michael Cooper’s website so I did have a pretty good idea of what we were going to see and we weren’t disappointed. A little surprised perhaps, but not disappointed.

So, the show was a children’s show and the performer was basically a puppeteer, but HE was the puppet, using various homemade masks and costumes to create his characters. His show was set to music and had lots of storytelling and audience (children) participation. More than half of the audience was made up of children and it was as enjoyable watching them and their reactions and listening to them laugh as it was watching the show itself. If anyone has a chance to catch Michael Cooper in the future, I recommend him highly. And bring your kids.

Since this was my first chance to see the inside of the Holland Center and since the show that we saw was in the smaller Scott Recital Hall, I wanted to see the rest of the place. I was fortunate enough to catch the right person on the right day and we ended up getting a guided tour of the rest of the place from and wonderful lady that was working there. The main hall is unbelievable. Visually, acoustically, unbelievable. I have to see a performance in there now. The look and feel of the place is very different from the Orpheum, and they both certainly have their place, but having seen dozens and dozens of shows at the Orpheum over the years, I’m looking forward to seeing (and hearing) something in the new Holland Center for the Performing Arts.

Special thanks to Alana for hooking us up with the tix.

The Holland Center
Michael Cooper

Friday, November 17, 2006

UNO Film Festival

Had a great evening at the UNO Film Festival this evening. The event was held at the Westwood 8 Theatre and highlighted 10 short films from UNO students. Given that UNO doesn’t have a film department, I was really surprised by the quality of some of the films. While the production values weren’t extraordinary, there were some nice films and a lot of great and creative ideas. In particular, I really enjoyed “Fear of Feet” by Tim Mayer, “Sour” by Topher Barnes, and “Final Fight” by London Yang, but all of the films had something nice to offer.

Congratulations to the winners, congratulations to all of the filmmakers that were good enough to be screened and congratulations to Monica Yoo, President of the UNO Film Society, for putting on a nice festival.

It’s a great time to be a part of the local film community. The future looks bright.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

“Running” premiere at the Dundee

Checked out another Omaha film premiere at the Dundee Theatre tonight. There were two short films then a feature (60 minutes) that screened, all by Fallen Man Productions. The short films were “O’Digiorno,” written and directed by Adam Fogarty and “Rube’s Last Dance,” written and directed by Duncan Joyner. Both short films were the same story, filmed from different perspectives. An interesting concept.

The feature film “Running” was written and directed by David Sawatzki. The film was shot on the discontinued 8mm film Kodachrome and it resulted in a very unique film look. I had the opportunity to chat with David after the film and discussed some of the motivations for the film and the technical process.

Tomorrow night I will be heading out to check out the UNO Film Festival which will highlight the top films from the last year from the UNO students. Should be an interesting evening.

“[pre]” ADR work

Spent some time with the 510 Cinema guys last Wednesday doing some looping for their most recent short film “[pre]”. Erich had already done all of the ADR before he left for California so all that had to be done was Adam’s dialog. After they went through the film and recorded all of the dialog, I had an opportunity to sit and watch the film for the first time and it turned out real nice. After looking at some of the footage that will run during the credits and hearing about the b-roll footage that they shot for the opening, it should make a great short film. Look for it at a premiere or a film festival near you.

Sunday, November 05, 2006

An evening with Peter Bogdanovich

The directors of the Omaha Film Festival (Jeremy, Jason and I) had an incredible opportunity to spend an evening with none other than legendary Hollywood Director, Writer and Actor, Peter Bogdanovich. If you don’t know who that is, first slap yourself, then look him up on imdb.com. Fans of Mr. Bogdanovich will certainly recognize such titles as “The Last Picture Show”, “Paper Moon”, “What’s Up Doc”, “Mask” and “They All Laughed” as well as dozens more, or more recently maybe you’ve seen him playing a psychiatrist on the popular Showtime hit “The Sopranos”.

The event was a part of the Lied Center for Performing Arts’ new series “An Evening With…” which should prove to be an excellent series for years to come.

So my general take on the evening. It’s one thing to hear stories about Alfred Hitchcock or John Ford or Orson Welles, it’s another thing altogether to hear first person stories (often in their voices) from someone who was great friends (and sometimes roommates) with each of them. The number of incredible anecdotes and direct connections to just about every great director and actor that’s lived through the golden age of cinema was mind blowing and extremely entertaining, to myself and to the hundreds that attended.

The highlight of the evening was the after party where we had the opportunity to personally sit and chat with Mr. Bogdanovich in a small (fewer than 30 people) setting. You get the sense that he could tell stories for hours (actually he did) and every one of them was an entertaining look inside the world of cinema.

It was also great to see other local filmmakers and film enthusiasts in attendance including film students Tori and Chris (who helped crew some of my short films), Jim and Mark from Apartment 101 Films, Mark from 600films and Rachel from Film Streams.

I don’t know if I’m more energized to watch more movies or make more movies. I just got done watching “They All Laughed”. I recommend it highly.
free web page hit counter