No Failsafe Productions

Not Giving Up Just Yet ....

2006-03-03T01:05:00.000-08:00

A lot has happened in the past seven months since the filming of "The Wild Side" blew up in my face. I moved, got married ... you know .. the ususal stuff. The one thing that hasn't changed, however, is my desire to see this project come to fruition.

Last night, I had my first meeting with Dustin and Goose about the status of the project in over six months and as right now .... we're going back into production in about six weeks. Dustin, Goose, Patrick and Angela are all on board still ... the only variable is Regina. I haven't spoken to her since some time in January and she was having some family issues at the time.

In the event that Regina is not able to perform in the film, we are looking for someone to play the part of Andi. Flyers will be posted on the campus of MTSU searching for actresses and technical help. We're taking the bull by the horns this time and I know without a doubt that I have a group of people that I can count on working with me this time.

On a side note, I want to welcome the newest member of the No Failsafe team ... none other than my lovley wife Kayla Hurst. Kayla will be doing ... who know what at this point. Number one will to help keep me from going insane during production time. Aside from that, she's a very talented and beautiful woman and I'm excited about the prospect of what she will be able to bring to No Failsafe ...as well as my life. Welcome to No Failsafe Kayla ... and I love you.

In The Meantime ...

2005-09-14T10:36:00.000-07:00

As of right now, Wednesday Sept. 14th, 2005 ... I have absolutley no idea when the hell we will get back to work on "The Wild Side". I had heard that the guy we talked to about being our new director of photography was on board - which I guess means he read the script and liked it ... I have no idea. I called and left him a message yesterday about getting back to me. Let's see how long that takes him.

The fucked up part is that I have been itching to get back to work again so bad that I have come up with an idea for a new short and will quite possibly going back into very familiar teritory - that is ... teritory that I had said I was done with for good.

In case you can't figure it out for yourself ... I have an idea for a new film featuring "Richard & Mike" from the whole Friends, Days, Holidays trilogy. Well .. I guess if this shit actually works out then it won't be a trilogy anymore ... it'll be a series.

I don't want to give too much away but I can say that the idea and story for the potential new film would have to be pretty good because I said I was finished after the third film (technically the forth if you count the 'Friends Like These: Special Edition' that to this day has never been finished). All I'll say right now is that the new film would potentially be called "Movies Like These" and be set at a movie theatre with Richard and Mikey hopping from theatre to theatre throughout the film trying to find a movie worth a shit to watch. Wow ... I just said a whole lot more than I originally planned ... but what the fuck. I think it might be fun to go back and do another one of these seeing how I had so much fun and really liked doing the other ones. I'm sure the fans of the series (Clay in paticular) would be happy to hear of the return.

I'll let you guys know more when I know more myself. Peace.

Fuckin A ...

2005-08-23T16:44:00.000-07:00

Dustin, Goose and myself will be meeting with our potential new director of photography and editor tomorrow night to see what we can work out. I'm psyched as hell because I have heard so many good things about him and I can't wait to get back to work on the film. If all goes well and everyones schedules permits ... we may get started again by Labor Day Weekend. Cross your fingers for me.

Back to the drawing board ...

2005-08-14T17:52:00.000-07:00

The situation is what the situation is. Anyone who is a part of the project knows what happened and I'll leave it at that. Anyone who isn't a part of the project - see the last post if you want to know what happened. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. No more questions.

Moving on ... It looks like we may start filming again in September or October. I'm not sure yet. With the cancelation of filming this past week, Dustin is out of town for the next week and when he returns, he, Goose and myself will be meeting with our new director of photography and possible editor. I'm not going to name any names because I don't want to jinx anything - like what happened with John earlier in the project. Actually - with everything that's happened, I'm really glad John dropped out of the project and Dustin came back on board. I should have my fucking head examined - as I've said before - for considering getting rid of Dustin. But that's neither here nor there.

As far as I know, everyone who was involved will still be doing the project. Dustin, Angela, Goose, Patrick and Regina. I just want to thank all of them for their support and for staying with the project through all of this. You guys have all been amazing. I couldn't ask for a better group of people to work with.

Hopefully we'll be able to bust our asses and get this done and it'll be amazing like we all know it can be.

Later.

For anyone who cares ...

2005-08-10T12:54:00.000-07:00

Due to creative differences between myself and the producer/director of photography of this film, filming on "The Wild Side" has been postponed indefinitely. I will post updates on the status of this project as they occur.

It has begun ...

2005-08-07T14:36:00.000-07:00

Well, for the first day of filming on an 84-page script, we didn't quite get as much done as I would have hoped to, but what we did get done was just flat out amazing. I have never had a better cast, crew and group of people to work with than I did yesterday. I am notorious for getting angry and blowing up on the sets of my films (except for Holidays Like These when I behaved myself) but yesterday I never even had to raise my voice. Dustin, who I usually direct my anger towards, said he was amazed at how calm and laid back I was yesterday. I told him that was because I didn't have any retarted people on set driving me crazy.

First of all ... I have NEVER, and I mean NEVER worked with an actress as amazing and talented as Regina. She is an absolute joy to work with. Her performance was brilliant and she was totally open to everything I told her and hit every damn mark every damn time. I was overflowing with joy watching her performance. The best part was that she and Dustin seemed to have really good chemistry onscreen and that is something that is very important.

I also got to see Dustin spread his wings as an actor. He has been in every project I have done but this one is by far the most demanding of him. He was looking forward to the opportunity to spread his wings as an actor and by God he did it yesterday. I was really happy with the performance he gave yesterday. I don't know if he realizes it or has even seen him before, but there was the slightest hint of Woody Allen in his performance ... and it really worked. If the rest of the film turns out as good as it did yesterday then we will really have something on our hands here.

Oh, and Jennifer and I had our cameo's yesterday. Jennifer was originally supposed to play Andi - the part that Regina is now playing - but had to drop out because of scheduling conflicts. I was glad to at least have her in the movie if only for a moment and I think our little cameo together is really funny. You'll have to wait to see the movie to see it because I'm leaving it a surprise.

Okay... we are filming again tonight and every day this week. Tonight is the first time Patrick will be on set and the first time we film any scenes between Rodney and Allen - my two main characters. I hope it goes well. Cross your fingers for me.

Blah blah blah blah blah ...

2005-07-30T18:08:00.000-07:00

Okay ... sorry about being so negative in my last post but I was really freaking out and feeling like everything was going down the tubes. Like I have said before ... I tend to get very negative and aprehensive and look at ALL of the negatives right before I start fiming a new project. This time is aparently no different.

I have a lot more hope and a postivie outlook about everything - at least more than I did last week. I guess I have resigned myself to just try and do my absolute best and what will be will be. If everything falls to pieces around me and this project doesn't get off the ground - it won't be because of me.

I have had an amazing time working with the cast this past month, watching them grow into their parts. All our rehersals and the time we've spent together going over all this has really helped bring us together and make us all even closer - which will be a great thing when we start filming. I have so much confidence in EVERY ONE of the cast memebers. They are all amazing, funny, smart people and I think I will have the least trouble with them than with any other cast I've ever worked with. I have a history of getting frustrated on set and being a less than nice person - especially to Dustin. But he knows that I throw my frustrations at him so I don't wig out altogether and he takes it with a grain of salt and I appreciate him for that immensley.

So .. one week today we get going. Are we 100% ready to go and am I totally calm and at ease with the entire situation? No freakin way. But what the hell? We're makin a movie and I should at least have some fun with it and realize that everyone who is a part of this project is doing this because they want to be a part of it and they believe in me to giude them and help make the best damn movie we can. Is that too much to ask? I think not.

I'm not so sure about all of this ...

2005-07-24T13:36:00.000-07:00

So ... we start filming in two weeks. Are we ready? Not even fucking close. I have never been more nervous about a project falling to pieces all around me as I am about this one at this very moment. I guess I could smile and lie through my teeth to everyone and say everything is 'a-okay' but I just don't think that's fair to anyone.

The first readthrough/rehersal on Tuesday went great. Everyone was there ... the readthrough was great. I was laughing my ass off. I was really amazed at how the script played out and sounded when read all the way through. Then we set another rehersal for Saturday afternoon and two people didn't come. One because they were confused about the date of rehersal and another had 'prior commitments' that he had forgotten about. This - of course - didn't sit to well with me but what the fuck was I supposed to do? Myself and the three people that were there had rehersal and it went pretty good.

The fact that I ever even remotly considered removing Dustin from this project makes me think I should have my head examined. He is - without a doubt - one of the best parts of this project. This part really gives him a chance to shine and so far he has really done so. He is really very funny in the part of Rodney and now I can't see anyone but him ever doing it. Goose is also amazingly funny as Nathan. I did write the part for him and he takes full advantage of it. Regina is really good, and different, as Andi. She plays the part a lot differently than Jennifer would have - but that's not a bad thing. She brings a lot more of an edge to the character ... and I like that.

Patrick and Angella are both really good but since they've never acted before they need a little more direction and work than anyone else. I'm sure they'll be fine by the time we start filming. They're both very intelligent and take direction well, so I have no doubt about their abilities.

On the other hand ... I have yet to meet with Teri, our director of photography, to talk about any of the film or go over any stuff prior to filming. I have not had a meeting with Dave, my producer, in almost two weeks ... and none of the stuff for the radio station has been built yet. So yeah ... that makes me kinda nervous.

I hate to say it but if I still feel unsure about a number of things just before we start filming ... then I will have no qualms about pulling the plug on all of this. I would absolutley hate to do it but I would rather shut this down than go forward with something that I am unsure about and end up with something I am less than happy with. I'm sure that would really piss some people off .... but I wouldn't be against doing it.

Hopefully, eveything will end up working out like it has a habit of doing in the past and all of my worrying is for nothing. I guess we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?

Serenity Now.

2005-07-18T19:49:00.000-07:00

When I say Serenity now ... I'm not saying that I really want to see the new film "Serenity" that comes out in September ... although I do ... I'm refering mainly to the phrase that George Kastanza's father used quite regularly on Seinfeld that - in the end - drove Kramer and himself completley mad. That's basically how I feel.

It's been a crazy week in No Failsafe land ... I got an Email from John last Thursday saying that he had not agreed to be in the film untill he read the script ... and now he had. AND ... he had issues with it because he said it "seems a litte crude in some parts"... which is basically a fucking understatement. It is a LOT crude in some parts ... so the fact that he picked up on that and that it offended him to the point where he was thinking about pulling out of the project ... THAT WAS HUGE!!!

The fact that you have offended someone - to me - means that something you wrote, whatever it was, had an impact on that person in one way or another. While some people, like John, have said that the script was crude ... others have praised it for being very funny and honest. I was thrilled when Regina - who plays Andi in the film (see picture below) - read the script and really liked it. I don't care if people love the script or they hate it - I just want them to feel one way or another about it. If they were indiferent ... that would be so much worse.

So ... after all the shit we have been through ... Dustin is back on board as Rodney. For a while there when John was going to play Rodney - I seriously thought about casting Dustin against type and letting him play Allen (the vulgar idiot of the film). Would it have worked? Who fucking knows ... but it would have been interesting.

Patrick is back on board to play Allen now. Patrick played Allen in the original teaser preview we attached at the end of "Holidays Like These" and I had wanted him to play the part - but as I wrote the script I worried that the part had grown to large and if he would be able to pull it off. Dustin, who has been a close friend of Patrick for many years, assured me that he could - and I took his word for it. I have never known Dustin to mislead me or lie to me in any way so I trust his judgement.

Now ... the only thing different about the cast is that Jennifer had to drop out and that Regina is now playing Andi. She really hated it - as did I - being as how I WROTE the part for her. Steven ... or Goose as we call him ... is still playing Nathan, which is also good since I wrote that part for him also. Maybe I need to stop writing stuff with people in mind. That usually has a horrible outcome. Oh well. Tomorrow night is the first official readthrough/rehersal ever. I'm excited as hell and I hope everything goes well. Be back soon with more info ... when I have more info to give.

Monkeys are funny and ham is delicious.

2005-07-10T00:12:00.000-07:00

Okay .... well, a few days ago I had the feeling that our project was going south and that we were just plain fucked and might have to scrap our plans for a summer shoot and move this thing to later on in the year. That's not something that I wanted to do, but at that point ... I had no lead actress, no second male lead and my sound guy (who also has a substantial part in the film) was only going to be available a small portion of the time when we were going to need him.

I honestly was freaking out. Jennifer had to drop out of the project because of her schedule, then magically I get a phone call from someone who saw our ad for actors that wanted to audition. And holy shit ... it was a female. So Dave and I met with her today ... and she was fucking awesome. I was still bummed about the fact that Jennifer had to give up her part ... and since I wrote it for her I knew she'd be perfect ... but this girl ... Regina... she was really good. She fit the part very well.

I still have to fill the part of Allen, which is a major task in itself because of the things this character does and says in the film. It's not going to be easy, but I do have some ideas about it and if it comes down to the wire, we're just going to go with an idea that I have had recently and see what happens. I don't want to get into it too much now because it's too early, but it will be interesting to say the least.

Those people up there in those pictures? Those are my new STARS!!! That's Regina on the left and John on the right. They are both amazingly cool people and I look forward to working with them. Do they look like they might date? Or have dated and then she dumped his ass because he's a pussy? I sure hope so. Otherwise I have no movie.

Hopefully readthroughs and rehersals will start next weekend as our start date continues to creep up on us. If you could wish me luck ... that would be ... great.

I know my title has absolutley NOTHING to do with anything I've just said ... but my friend told me that last weekend and I thought I was going to pee on myself. Because it's true .... right? Hello? Anybody?

Shit happens.

2005-07-05T22:09:00.000-07:00

So ... we had our auditions last weekend. Two people. Two fucking people showed up. Thank God we did it at my house and not at the theatre, that would have been embarassing.

So ... out of the two people that showed up, we gave both of them parts in the film. The fucked up part is that the one guy who came to auditon, John, was really good ... but not for the part we were casting. He was much better as the part we already had filled ... by Dustin - one of my best friends who has been in every film I have done so far. One of the two main characters in the script is named Rodney. And this guy John, he fucking WAS Rodney. He nailed it. I hated to do it, but I had to do what was best for the film and I gave him the part. The only shitty part was going to be telling Dustin about this. Even worse was the fact that I couldn't get him on the phone for FOUR DAYS after that. I finally talked to him today and gave him the news. He took it well, like I thought he would. He was just a little disappointed. This doesn't mean he's out of the project, just doing something most likley behind the scenes with me for a change.

I had my first meeting with Dave tonight about the project ... which is just a little over a month away from starting principal photography. I found out that Jennifer, who is our lead female actress, will probably have to work on Saturday the entire month of July ... which means she will get no rehersal time with the rest of the cast AT ALL. And Steven, who has a predominant part in the film and was supposed to run sound for the movie has work and an eratic schedual at a recording studio where he is learning and will be unavailable most of the week we're filming.

So now Dave has to call Jennifer to find out if what she said is true and if so we might have to replace her with another actress. And now Dave has to find someone to do sound for the movie too.

Isn't moviemaking fun, kids??? I feel like I should have a camera crew following ME around ... because this is just like the shit you see on Project Greenlight. Is this how ALL movies are made??? I fucking hope not.

Haven't we been here before?

2005-06-25T22:23:00.000-07:00

Wow. I haven't posted anything in almost a month. That's insane. Sorry, don't know if anyone actually reads this shit ... but if you do, I apologize. Lots of stuff going on.

So ... the script for 'The Wild Side' is finished ... it's actually already been revised. Small revision and something that makes it better I think. The script, at this point, is a whopping 82 pages long ... which is absolutley the longest fucking thing I have ever written. I love it though and I've gotten very good feedback from everyone who has read it ... although no one has read the revised draft yet ... hopefully they'll like it too ... especially since the ending on this one is pretty much entirely different. Oh well.

We also have a casting session for the film next weekend too. 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m at the Premiere 6 Theatre. Dave, who is my producer on this one, has been putting up flyers in Nashville and all over Murfreesboro for this. It's actually amazing to have someone to help me with this shit and not have to worry about every little goddam thing - as I had to do on all my other films. A producer is really .... a blessing. Thank you Dave ... thank you for being my blessing. Okay ... my gay moment is now over.

So if everything goes according to plan ... we will begin filming the second week in August. A one-week shoot that will mainly consist of nights and weekends. It's nuts but it's also exciting as hell. We're headed into the big leagues and there's no turning back now.

I'm sure my post will become much more frequent now that I have something to talk about with the new film getting underway. Wish me luck ... I'm going to need it.

Writin, writin, writin ...

2005-05-31T10:29:00.000-07:00

Well, the Memorial Day Weekend has come and gone. I had set myself a deadline to get the script for 'The Wild Side' finished by the end of the weekend ... but it didn't happen.

I may not have reached my goal, but I did get quite a lot accomplished. I am almost 50 pages into the script and i would say that I have anywhere from 25 - 30 more pages to go. Currently, this is the second longest script I have ever written and upon completion will probably be the LONGEST script I have ever written.

I really do think that I will have the script finished by the end of next weekend. At my current pace, I don't see how I couldn't. I am really happy with how it has turned out so far, but I am also amazed at how different things turn out from the original concept in my head to the actual page. Not bad, just different.

I have had really good feedback on the script from everyone who had read it. Jennifer, who plays the female lead in it, read it this weekend and at that point I only had 30 pages. When she got to the end she was like "Ahhh! I want more!!!". So, I take that as a good sign.

Hopefully when I talk to you guys again, it will to inform you that the script is done, and I might just post some of my favorite lines to find out what you guys think. Peace.

Computers suck ... but Foster's does not ...

2005-05-25T21:04:00.000-07:00

Well, after a legnthy battle between my computer and me ... my computer finally lost. Somewhere in the past few weeks, I picked up a nasty virus or something. Who knows what makes these things do the things they do. Anyways ... I had so many pop-up ads .. uh popping up on my computer that I could do almost nothing. Even if I disconnected from the internet, they still would pop up. Persistant little fuckers, eh? Well, I finally got sick of it ... the only thing that was keeping me from doing it in the first place was the fact that I knew if I wiped my drive and started over - it would take me probably a half a day to do it and get everything running again. And that was time I didn't want to waste doing that when I could be writing. But then I changed my mind and that was pretty much how I spent my Sunday afternoon last weekend.

So everything is back to normal now ... I just decided to stick with Windows 2000 instead of XP this time. But that's neither here nor there. I'm back to writing and it's going ... pretty good.

I'm amazed at how far into the script for 'The Wild Side' I am ... I finally reached the point of the story where things really get going ... and it's pretty exciting. It was slow going for a while because most everything was setup and character development. 25 pages of character development. Don't know if all that will end up in the final draft of the script or the film, but it's all good stuff though.

I hope to have the majority of the script finished by the end of this Memorial Day weekend, but that case of Foster's my friend Chris from work gave me may hinder that just a little ... or it might help me on my way ... who knows.

I'll be back with more news ... when I have more news. Later.

To post or not to post ....

2005-05-15T23:01:00.000-07:00

Wow ... I think this is the longest I have ever gone without posting. Then again, with the completion of 'Holidays Like These', I seem to have less and less to say about things. Dave and I still plan on finishing the poster and t-shirt for the movie, to get to the cast and crew who want one. Right now ... most of my focus is going towards writing, writing and writing. I have set myself a deadline to have the first draft for 'The Wild Side' finished by Memorial Day Weekend. If that means that I sit my ass in front of this computer for the entire weekend and do nothing else, then so be it ... but that is my goal.

I did some work on the script today and I'm at about 25 pages right now. The script will be somewhere between 60-90 pages long when I'm finished. It's insane because 25 pages was close to what the legnth of the script for 'Friends Like These' was. Now I'm just like "Oh my God, I'm 25 pages in and I'm just getting started."

I feel REALLY good about the script so far. I honestly believe it's the best think I've written to date and I'm so happy because I'm not holding anything back this time. The script it vulgar and offensive and not everyone will like it... but the people who DO like it won't just like it ... they'll damn well love it.

It will be interesting to see if the cast that was put together for the teaser preview that was put on 'Holidays' ends up being the cast for the film when we shoot. It has already been discussed that at least one of the actors in the preview most likley will not be in the film. It sucks because it throws a monkey wrench into the casting, which I thought I already had controll of. It sucks but it also could be interesting and a good thing. Who knows.

Keep with me guys. The more I keep writing, the more excited I am about this project. the more I'll get done and the more I'll have to talk about with you guys. Later!!!

Trilogies Like These ...

2005-05-03T22:47:00.000-07:00

I seem to be slacking on the posting as of late. Ever since the film has been finished and the premiere, I haven't had too much to talk about. Dave and I did finish the DVD last week. The cover to it is amazing. The best cover of the three films. Everone who got a copy loved it. My mom even laughed. You see, there is a drawing of a kid peeing on a snowman on the cover. I have tried to post the cover on this site, but I guess the file is too big. Whenever I figure out how to make it smaller, you guys will get to see it ... unless you already have a copy.

Tonight, Dave and I finished the cover for the trilogy DVD collection, titled aptly enough 'Trilogies Like These'. Nice, eh? I kept racking my brain when I was working on the cover alone trying to figure out how to get something from all three films on the cover. And then there would be the back cover, which would be insanley busy will all the info about the films and artwork and everything. So we decided to go the oposite direction and make it incredibly simple, similar to Kevin Smith's 'Clerks X' DVD cover. Just the title and two black and white photos, one of Dustin and one of myself. I think that conveys how I felt that at the heart of all the films is the friendship, be it fucked up as they come, of these two people.

I was at a loss for words when I added the 'Holidays' and 'Trilogy' DVDs to my shelf tonight. See, I have this special little shelf under my tv where I keep all my movies. And now, I have five DVDs sitting there. I'm sorry ... but that is just nuts to me. It's nuts but at the same time it is so incredible. I am so proud of these films, in every single way. All I can do now, is keep going and keep raising the bar higher each time.

This summer we start production on 'The Wild Side' which will be our biggest undertaking to date. It scares the hell out of me and excites me at the same time. I hope it comes out as good as I think it will.

I'll be back soon with more info, and hopefully some DVD covers for you guys to see.

Peace.

Laugh and the whole world laughs with you ...

2005-04-25T10:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry to be so late reporting on the Premiere (as if anyone actually reads this), but I just had a really busy weekend and there has been so much stuff floating around in my head the past few days that I wanted to kinda sort out before I sat down and wrote a new post.

The turnout for the Premiere wasn't great. There was maybe 25 people there - opposed to the 30-40 we had for the past two. But several people had to work or were out of town. Some people forgot about it altogether and some people had a hard time distinguishing 11:30 a.m. from 11:30 p.m. Oh well. The crowd that was there was great though.

I didn't go to sleep till around 2:30 a.m. the night before and I pulled my ass out of bed at 9 a.m. to get ready for this thing. I needed a haircut badly and I had to pay my cable bill too, which was already a couple days late as it was. That came back to haunt me later in the day when I was just exausted. I even got to the theatre almost an hour early. It was cool though. I had everything set up from the night before, so I just hung out and talked to Alice (Bill-the theatre owners's wife) for a while untill people started showing up. I was really happy that some of my co-workers from my 'real' job showed up to see the film. And this was the first time one of my parents was able to attend a premiere. Howard was there, late but there.

Sitting through those premieres are gut-wrenching. I'm so afraid people aren't going to get the jokes - or worse that they are going to get the jokes and just not think they're funny. I can always remember who I was sitting next to at the premieres. At "With Friends Like These" I was sitting next to Mikey - the real Mikey, the one Dustin's character is based on. At "Days Like These" I sat next to Dustin. And at "Holidays Like These" I sat next to my friend Jennifer. As nervous as I was, sitting there next to her calmed me down somewhat. I knew how excited and happy for me she was about the whole thing and the fact that she understood so much of what I was going throught really helped a lot. Plus, you always have to feel better when you're sitting next to a beautiful woman.

It's strange how some of the stuff that ends up being so funny when you're watching it is stuff that wasn't even in the original script. The improvised stuff always gets big laughs becuse it's so damn real. The biggest laugh of the entire movie was something I didn't write and didn't even come up with. At one point of the film, I get a beer out of the refrigerator and look around for a bottle opener. Josh grabs the beer out of my hand, opens it on his belt buckle and hands it back to me. Everyone in the theatre must have laughed at that, and laughed the hardest. That just proves that as a director, you should always listen to the ideas of your actors, producers, cameramen or whoever. You never know, they just might have an idea for the best moment in your film. A good director can just distinguish between crap and what really should go into the film. Is that me? Not quite yet, but I'm working on it.

After the film everyone came out and congratulated me and shook my hand and hugged me. I heard someone say that they thought this was the best one I had done so far, and I agree with them. The preview for "The Wild Side" got a very positive reaction and several people told me how much they were looking forward to seeing that one. I look forward to seeing that one too.

Now all that's left is to finish up the DVD to get it to the few people that want copies of it. After that ... write, write, write. I need to finish the script for "The Wild Side" and get to work on another project I'm going to do with Dave. I'm going back to the horror genre, which I'm not as good at as comedy, but I'm going to give it my best shot. If we don't try new things, we'll never grow, will we?

Thank you to everyone who attended the premiere and actually enjoyed yourself. And thank you once again to everyone who helped make this film possible. I look forward to taking it up a notch with my future projects and hopefully you all will come along for the ride.

Peace.

2005-04-23T00:20:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Photoshop for the wonderful colors that bring this artwork to life. It only took me three hours to to half of it before Dave showed me what a damn magic wand was. Oh well ... we must suffer for our art, musn't we? This is part of the artwork for the DVD, poster, t-shirt. I didn't know I was that talented.

The ramblings of a mad man ...

2005-04-22T23:56:00.000-07:00

I should be in bed right now ... I really should. But I can't sleep. Is that surprising? No. Not to me. Tomorrow is such a huge day for me ... I can hardly stand it. The premiere of 'Holidays Like These' is just over nine hours away. I wonder if the big guys get this nervous before a premiere? Guys like Spielberg or Peter Jackson? I would say Lucas, but he seems really to just not give a shit what people think of his films anymore. I truly think that when you get to that point - you should just quit. I know the root of filmmaking is supposed to be about 'doing it for yourself' and everything ... but watching your film with an audience that 'gets it' is beyone description.

The first time I saw any of my films with any kind of an audience was in Febuary of 2004 at Shana and Doug's house (they appeared in the first two films and are mentioned in the third) at the 'Premiere Party'. There was like thirty people there ane we all stood sandwitched in their game room watching it on a 27-inch television. I was so nervous I honestly though I was going to throw up. No shit. But when the movie started, the strangest thing happened - people laughed. And not that laugh you can tell is fake but honest to God laughter. And they kept laughing. It was some of the best 24 minutes of my life.

The one thing I remember more than anything was looking over at Dave in total shock. Dave just smiled back at me and shook his head and laughed. I could tell he was honestly happy for me. I was so grateful to him because without Dave, none of these films would have ever happened. All I was before that was just an idiot with a video camera. Dave was the one that said 'Make something, I'll edit it for you.' I'm sure he regrets those words now as I have, at times, driven the man crazy with questions about the progress of projects we were working on. So I want to take this opportunity to thank him, because he opened a creative door for me that I will be eternally in his debt for.

I have no idea how many people will actually show up tomorrow (or should I say today?) and I have no idea how they are going to respond to the film, but I will say this - I love this film with all my heart. I am proud of every single minute of it and people that don't like it can kiss my ass. The preview for 'The Wild Side' that is attached to the end of it makes me think that project will go above and beyond even this one if we do it right.

I have gone through so much shit trying to get this movie done, but now that it's done it's all the sweeter. Thanks again to everyone that helped get this finished. You know who you are.

So much to do, so little time ...

2005-04-17T19:28:00.000-07:00

If you'll look directly below this post you will see the basic line-art for the cover of the new DVD and for the new t-shirts. It wasn't exactly what I had envisioned but I still like how it turned out. I originally wanted to add Josh and Justin to it also, but I just felt like extending it any further didn't feel right. The three of us there are basically the three main characters ... and I may still end up tweaking it and adding Josh and Justin later somewhere around the title, which I originally wanted to draw also ... but that just didn't feel quite right also.

Now I need to get to work inking this pencil art, then I'm gonna clean it up in Photoshop and color it there too. It's really exciting to know that it's all coming together and in just a few days I'll get to show the film to an audience for the first time. It's exciting because a few people from work are coming, as well as some of my family members ... and I really respect their opinions. I know not everyone has the same sense of humor we have, but people seem to like these films and I honestly belive that this is the best one. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Dave, Dustin and myself recorded audio commentary for the movie last night and I was EXTREMLEY pleased with how that turned out. This commentary was quite different from the others we've done as it wasn't so scene specific, we just basically talked about the project in general ... and anything else that popped into our heads. We were brutally honest about certain aspects of the film, and Dave talked about editing that out of the commentary but I told him to leave it in. Nothing we said wasn't the truth, and anything we said about anyone or anyting during that session, those people already know about it.

Well, I would love to tell you more, but I honestly need to get back to work on the art. Hopefully I'll have it done by tonight or maybe tomorrow. We're down to the final days ... I think I'm gonna need some Tums before it's over. Peace.

2005-04-17T19:15:00.000-07:00

I look happy but they sure as hell don't.

I should be in bed or drawing cartoons right now ...

2005-04-14T23:51:00.000-07:00

Looks like I'll see the finished film in its' entirety this weekend ... and hopefully that's when we'll be recording the audio commentary for the DVD. I'm hoping to have two audio tracks - one with Dave, Dustin and myself. The other track ... if it actually happens will be the 'Drunk Canadian Commentary' track. That will basically be Dave and myself drinking a six pack, watching the movie and talking like the McKenzie brothers for the duration of the film. Sounds good in theory but I don't know if we'll be able to keep it interesting for 40 plus minutes. I guess we'll see.

I'm also working on finishing the artwork for the DVD cover. I have set myself a deadline by the end of the weekend to get it finished. I hope the hell I make it. The artwork I'm working on now will also be the artwork that will grace our new t-shirts. I should be working on that shit right now instead of doing this ... or sleeping for that matter.

On a side note, you might notice the two different links on my page. The first 'Burning Inside' is acutally the blog that used to be 'The Garage'. The other is an amazingly addicting site by a fellow Murfreesboro resident titled 'My Supposed Existence'. The blog author 'Chloe' as she is called has an amazing way with words and she also does her own comic strips. Be forwarned, once you visit you'll definitly keep going back again and again to see if she's posted anything new.

Hope to be back in a few days with more news. I'm excited as hell. The premiere is only a little over a week away. Damn I've got a lot of work to do.

2005-04-10T09:34:00.000-07:00

Is he really that little or am I just that damn big???

2005-04-09T15:06:00.000-07:00

This is the face I make ever time I drive by the gas station and see the price of gas. Soon I think my head will just explode. I also make this face when someone tells me that they thought Sin City sucked. People really are stupid, ya know???

I can see the finish line from here ...

2005-04-09T12:16:00.000-07:00

There are times in your life when words elude you. There are so many things you could say at that exact momemt but the only thing that comes out is ... "Wow". "Holidays Like These" is so close to being done, it should be a porn star. (Get it? No. Oh well. I tried.)

There are just a few things left, like the opening still has to be finished and the end credits, the music still has to be addes to some parts and some polishing here and there ... but other than that ... VOILA!!! I watched all three of the films in a row last night and I was amazed at the general progression of improvement in all areas from film to film. The acting, writing, directing ... everything. It just kept getting better and better.

I am so exicted to show this film to people, as I truly beleve with all my heart that it is the best thing I have ever done. I won't have to wait very long as the premiere is only two weeks from today. Yes, that's right ... the world premiere of "Holidays Like These" will be on April 23rd, 2005, 11:30 a.m. at the Premiere Six Theatre in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. I'm telling everyone I know and telling them to tell everyone they know ... hoping for our largest turnout ever.

The DVD of the film ... and all the other films for that matter will be on sale from that date forward. If you are interested in purchasing one or all of them, E-mail me at NoFailsafe@Gmail.com. Prices on the DVD's vary from title to tile.

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who worked with me on this and helped me complete it. Dustin, Dave, Micah, Seth, Kathleen, Katie, Donovan, Josh, Justin ... you guys all rock and thank you so much for everything you put into the film. Without you guys, I really would have nothing. I'm looking forward to getting to work on "The Wild Side" and taking it up another notch.

On a side note, we are filming the preview for "The Wild Side" which will be included with the "Holidays" DVD this weekend. The initial readings of the material I have make me feel really good about the future of this project and I'm looking forward to getting to work on it.

And it was good ...

2005-04-03T13:17:00.000-07:00

The past few days have been ... pretty incredible. I don't know where to start, there has just been SO much good stuff going on. I guess it all started Thursday night. That night was already looking to be pretty amazing because I was going to get to see a special advanced showing of "Sin City". My anticipation for that film over the past few months has just been growing and growing. So much, in fact, that I was almost afraid going into it that the film wouldn't live up to my expectations. Boy was I wrong.

At around 7:30 that night, Dave stopped by with a video tape. It turned out to be the first 30 minutes of "Holidays Like These". It was a rough edit (we still don't have all the shit for the opening credits, but I'm working on it) and he still has some stuff to do, but WOW ... it was amazing. I was so pleased with what I saw, I just couldn't believe it. I have always had faith that this would turn out to be a good film, and I was really happy with what we got when we filmed it, but seeing it put together like that ... it is something else entirely. I have to say, without a doubt, that this is the best work I have done as a director and a writer. Kudos to Dave too for finding ways to make even the smallest little things funnier. I have kicked myself the past few days for screwing around and trying to find other ways to edit the film. Dave really is quite excellent at what he does. He's worth every damn penny.

So ... the film is very close to being completed. Hopefully within the next week or so we will be done with everything and ready to show it to the world (or a few dozen people, like I said before). I have seen "Sin City" three times in three days now. Haven't liked a movie that much to sit through it that many times that close together in quite a while. And tonight is Wrestlemania. Could life get any better?

The end of one thing ... the beginning of another ...

2005-03-27T14:22:00.000-08:00

Well, today is Easter. The thing that I find to funny is the fact that we wrapped filming on "Days Like These" a year ago today. That means that our current project "Holidays Like These" has been in production for almost a year now. I actually started writing the script for "Holidays" before we even filmed a single shot in "Days". But I ended up trashing the entire script and starting over sometime in June of last year. It's just amazing to me that it has taken us this long to get this thing finished.

I guess I got spoiled when we got the first two done in such a short time ... I thought this one would be done just as quickly but there has just been shit getting in the way at every single stage of the project. Right now I just want it to be finished so I can be done with it and move on to something else. Don't get me wrong ... I love the film. I think it's the best one of the series and I'm proud to say it's the final part of the series ... but I'd really like to be done with it now. I have project after project after project in my head that I want to move on to but I can't when I'm still having to figure out how the hell I'm going to get this movie finished and who's going to help me do it.

As of right now ... today ... this very moment ... Dave is back on board as the editor. I have 'retained' his services and if what he says is true ... the bulk of the film could be finished and edited within the week. I hope that remains true. Dave is a very talented editor and has helped me out in many ways and in many areas in the process of producing all three of these films. While the thought of having someone new, even myself for that matter, edit this last film was appealing ... it was also very frightening.

There are a lot of people that are fans of the first two films that have asked me repeatedly when this new one was coming out ... and all I could keep telling them was "Soon.". The last thing I wanted was for myself or someone else to do a shitty job putting it together and people being dissapointed with this one. Sequals aren't easy things to make. People always compare them to the original film, and making a 'trilogy' is even harder. Don't worry .. I don't have a 'prequal' trilogy planned that would shit all over the legacy of this one. I'm not that fucking insane.

Well ... if all goes well, this thing will finally be over by the end of April. I sure as hell don't want to have to ask my boss at the movie theatre where I work part time to let me screen my film there on the weekend of April 29th. I don't think I can compete with "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" or even "XXX: State of the Union" for that matter. I had to ask him to let me screen "Days" the weekend "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" came out last summer. That was like pulling fucking teeth.

We're filming the teaser for "The Wild Side" this week sometime hopefully. Hopefully that will be the signal of the transition from one project to the next. It usually is.

It's always something ...

2005-03-16T21:27:00.000-08:00

So ... we wrapped filming on the new movie ("Holidays Like These" in case you weren't keeping up) back in January. I spent most of February figuring out what I was going to do about editing it. Was I going to do it? Was I going to go back and get the editor of every movie I have done to date (the awesomeley talented Dave) or was I going to go another route altogether?

Well, after a lot of talking with the guy who's pretty much my partner in all these films, Dustin, I decided to get Seth, the gentleman who was our director of photography on this film to edit it. Seth has some experience in editing and he was there for the entire shoot and he has a really good idea what I am looking for AND that means I don't have to do it either. For the first time ever, I got to pick all the shots I wanted as I actually compiled the footage for Seth in prepping him for editing. It's pretty awesome and there are actually a few scenes he's going to have me there when he edits them because they are pretty complicated. Right now we're just in a holding pattern as we have been having some computer problems and Seth, who is still in college, has a paper due this week. Ah ... the joy and frustration of independent filmmaking.

On a side note ... one of the actors in the new film, Josh, was until this week a coworker of mine. I hate to see Josh go as he is a really good guy and he taught me a lot in the time we worked together. This also sucks because I have not spoken to Josh since this happened and I was waiting on some pictures from him to use in the opening sequence of the film. So now I'm stuck with 'Do I do the original opening without the items I needed from him or do I go a different route and do something completely different?' I really don't want to have to do something else as the opening to the new movie was my second choice of ways to open it ... and I really don't want to have to figure something else out. Ow. My brain hurts. I'll be back later ... maybe I'll have news that doesn't suck then ... like some of the movie has been edited. Later.

What the hell is this?

2005-03-13T19:24:00.000-08:00

Who am I and why the hell should I have a blog? Well, doesn't everyone else? Why can't I have one too? So fuck it all ... here it is.

The main purpose of this blog will be for me to discuss film and other projects I am currently working on. Thus far, I have four short films completed. Two of them were completed last year and this one was supposed to be ready by Christmas but that didn't happen.

My latest film, titled "Holidays Like These" is curently in the editing phase and will hopefully be finished by the end of the month so I can unveil it to the world (or a few dozen people) sometime in April.

I am very excited about this new film as I think it is the best thing I have done so far. I am also working on the script for my next project tentivley titled "The Wild Side". I'm hoping to have the script done in time for us to shot this summer.

Uh ... I can't think of anything else to say. Be back soon. Hopefully ....