The Alchemist

George Cornelius, director of one of the films I’m working on (Pit Stop), grabbed some press with local Fox TV affiliate, FOX59.

Here’s the clip.

(I’m in some of the footage, too, but this one is all about George.)

Nice job, man!

Update: I just received links on a couple other stories about George and his incredible story in overcoming spinal muscular atrophy and becoming a filmmaker. Here they are:

Indy Star article

WFYI (PBS) “Across Indiana” Story

This guy is truly amazing. I consider myself lucky to have had the chance to work with him.

Ok… sure… “Extravaganza” is reaching… but if you like ComedySportz - think “Who’s Line Is It Anyway?”, you may be (slightly?) interested to know that I’ve been taking a class on improvisation from Dave Ruark, and as part of that class, we’ll be performing various skits and improv games for friends and family at the downtown Indianapolis ComedySportz!

The show is next Sunday (Aug. 6) at 6:00. See you there?!?

I’ve had a fantastic day today!

I spent the afternoon meeting the cast and crew of 314 for the first time and I can say that Jake (our director) has put together a great team of people! Everything was planned very well, Jake had lots of food and drinks available, and our rehearsals went extremely smoothly.

Certainly we didn’t really have our lines down yet and this was our first chance to meet each other out and feel our way through the scenes, but it was very exciting to see just how quickly we were able to start really defining the shape of the film together. Jake seemed pleased as well, so here’s to the new production!

One thing that it did show, though, is just how emotionally exhausting this film is going to be. Just in my own scenes I run the gambit: I enjoy my wedding night, become emotionally distant from my wife, cheat on her, confess to her and beg her to stay, have my life threatened by the other woman (while in the bedroom of a 3rd girl), and ultimately commit suicide. Whew… I’m tired.

But I love it! I really do. I love creating a character and becoming him to share him with the world. And I dearly love the creative collaboration with my fellow actors and filmmakers to put that character into a story with other actors and bring that story so vividly to life.

Thanks, everyone: You were really great today.

Robert X. Cringely of I, Cringley fame on PBS, has taken issue with YouTube’s new policy regarding copyright of your uploaded materials. Of the new policy, Cringely writes:

Under this new license, then, it would seem that they could produce a Best of YouTube DVD and sell it on late night TV. They could take your musical performance, strip the audio from the video, and sell it to almost anyone for almost any use. They could refuse to take down your video, no matter how embarrassing. They could charge YOU for your own video. And of course they could insert ads in the video virtually anywhere.

This should be a wake-up call for those wanting to retain control of their property on the Internet. Always, always, always read and understand those license agreements!

Read the whole article here

Update: I’ve checked around, and the same type of copyright policies are also in place on:

• Blip.tv
• Google Video
• Yahoo Video

I’m extremely disappointed! Does anyone know of a service that doesn’t claim these kinds of rights over your uploaded video?

Ah… to think that just 24 hours ago I was laying in bed, dead and covered in blood from a shotgun blast to the chest…

But I’m feeling much better now, thanks for asking!

(Isn’t acting great?)

I just got home from an Indiana Media Industry Network (IMIN) event launching the “Hoosiers In Hollywood” exhibit at the Indiana History Center. It was nice to view the exhibit, perform in a fake audition for “League of Their Own” (There’s no crying in baseball!), and I saw a few people that I knew and met a few that I didn’t. But, I have to say that I was disappointed that the turnout wasn’t better. We need to support this kind of thing here in Indiana, folks!

So, I decided to put my money where my mouth is and join this organization and support it’s efforts to bring more film making to Indiana. I may be only one person, but every voice counts. Come on! Let’s put more Hoosiers in “Hollywood!”

I don’t know if any producers, directors, or screenwriters read my blog, but if you are one - you’re gonna want to read this!

After attending Gary Wood’s very interesting and informative workshop on writing a screenplay last Saturday, I’ve been thinking about trying my hand at writing something (you know, ’cause it always seems easy when you know just enough to be dangerous).

Anyway, since I didn’t have a bunch of money to plunk down on the software that Gary recommended (Final Draft - at close to $200!), I started looking around for alternatives. And boy did I find what looks to be a great one! Celtx appears to be a fantastic piece of software for not only scriptwriting, but also managing pre-production of film, video, theatre, or animation. Not only that, it’s cross-platform (runs on OS X, Linux, and Windows), has built-in collaboration capabilities, and… get this… it’s FREE!

Wow. I have a pretty good idea what I’m going to be using on my projects!

Go get it here and let me know what you think!

More good news! I’ve accepted leading roles in 2 different short films that I’ll be filming over the next few weeks:

The first is called “Pit Stop” and is being directed by George Cornelius of Gimped Productions. It’s a much darker film than my previous work but I’m really looking forward to it. We’ve already met twice to read through the script and I’m very pleased with how it read, the direction from George, and all the other actors involved. Playing Charlie will be a great experience!

The second is titled “314″ and is being directed by Jacob BIlinski of Cinephreak Productions. It’s a dramatic film showcasing highlights and the interconnectedness of the characters as they pass through life and cross paths in a hotel room. I gotta be honest, playing Evan is going to be hard for me as he is a very troubled character and I’ve been having a little trouble connecting to him, but I fully believe that I’m on the way and Jake has been very supportive already of my work on him, so I’m feeling pretty good about it. I can’t wait to meet the rest of the cast!

Interestingly, in both films I do bad things and die at the end. Justice? Well, you’ll have to decide when you see the films.

Unfortunately, neither production has a web presence yet, but I will give you links when/if they do.

Chris Allen has posted Star Trek VS. Batman Episode I on his site. It’s a fun little film! Check it out! But you will have to wait and see what happens next, in Episodes II and III…

I’m on IMDB! I’m on IMDB! I’m on IMDB!

Check out my listing!

Oh sure, I know it may seem weird how excited I am by this, but I really don’t care. This is so cool and I’m really, really thrilled!!! Seriously, this is major freakin’ milestone for me to be listed for my first film on IMDB. I’m bloody well giddy!

Furthermore, it’s not for just any crappy movie - it’s for a good movie! Thank you, Gary Wood!

Of course, my plan is that this is only the first of many, many good films that I can be a part of in more significant ways than I was in Open Micr’s. But you gotta start somewhere… and here I am!