Countdown!  One Day to Premier

          So you think it’s about terrorists or no terrorists.

          Maybe for you it’s gas prices and the economy.

          A bit more political?  Take your pick—McCain or Obama.

          A bit more shallow?  Coke or Pepsi?

          Maybe you’re attempting to absolve your feelings of inadequacy by discussing in great depth and detail the tanginess of the Buffalo Wing sauces at various eateries.

Trying to defend the dignity of family values? Or…questioning whether families actually have values.

          But while the great debate rages over topics simple and complex, human life inches on in pursuit of both purpose and power.  But purpose and power are almost always universally supplied through a great emotional and spiritual awakening triggered by a renaissance of the arts.

          Like the next guy, I like to slip a couple of bucks to the dude on the street.  I like to hug my children.  I like to see people laugh.  Actually, it’s even more fun to hear it.  I like to know that there are people out there working on pasta that has zero carbs and zero calories.  I like to believe that our government is not cheating us and stealing money from us with gasoline prices. 

          But the only thing I can do about any of these things is produce a little piece of heart and soul and put it in a song, a verse, a rhyme, a script, a book and maybe ultimately, up on a movie screen to get all the somebodies to feel something again.

          What is the great onslaught in trying to get people to think? Isn’t it more important to feel? 

Movies.

For a few short hours, it’s nice to climb into the story of simple people pursuing great dreams with just the right blending of conflict and become part of their struggle and their victories and feel enriched by having met them, communed with them and known them.

          That’s art.

          It opens up our hearts so our souls can finally be fed and our minds renewed and our strength engorged. 

That’s why tomorrow night we will gather at Watkins Film Institute and show two brand new movies that the Middle Tennessee area has never seen before.  Radio talk show hosts will not be there.  The press will probably be covering a car accident somewhere across town.  CNN will be looking for a new angle on the Presidential campaign.  The Tonight Show will be busy plotting fresh skits. 

But you and I—we can get together and celebrate what really changes our world—an idea that becomes a notion, developing itself into a character who forms a plotline, carrying a story to the point of danger only to be rescued at the last moment by a great plot twist which leaves us all breathless and emotionally uplifted.

          That’s art for you.  That’s what we’re going to do tomorrow night.  That’s what we will be doing from now on in this community. 

How about you?  

                   Yours,

                 J

 

Countdown!  Two Days to Premier

           Jasson was persistent.  For those of you who don’t know, Jasson is my son.  Not that I’m saying he’s persistently trying to be my son—although that seems to be true also (DNA tests pending.)

          He was persistent in bugging me about writing a script, one which I had stupidly shared as a possibility some time ago, about a rag-tag group of high-school chums who start a rock and roll band and then begin a mechanics shop to try to fund their efforts towards wealth and fame.

          I originally gave it the working title of Garage, but later changed it to Four on the Floor.—connoting the place in which they sleep in their little garage establishment. 

Well, no matter how many screenplays I write and have written, he keeps coming back to this one, demanding that I leave the room at all hours of the day and night to get about the business of pumping this particular project out. 

Now, let me talk to you about the process of writing just for a second.  It’s very similar to having a tooth removed with a pair of pliers with somebody offering you an elixir of Kool-Aid as an anesthetic.  I’m sorry, that was a bit dramatic.  But my point is, I don’t trust people who say they “like to write” because writing is like anything else; it’s a job that offers very little inspiration in the beginning, hiding the passion for its pursuit within the quest itself.  In other words, you don’t get excited about doing it until you’re doing it. (I’m sure every married couple out there who’s been together for more than four years knows what I mean by that.)

 So on my drive home from California, I had a particularly long stretch of road from Albuquerque, New Mexico, so I started writing the script for Four on the Floor and Matt, Mark, Ned , Nathan and Callie emerged from the shadows of my dark consciousness and became living, breathing rock and roll adolescents, melding darling and defiance.

Having no idea what songs I was going to write for this adventure, I had inserted into the script as I wrote, arbitrary titles that seemed apropos for that scene’s activities.  Completing the script somewhere in Western Oklahoma, I came home and took three days to write five songs which I just heard the final production on this very morning.

I am a very grateful man because I have the privilege at this point in my journey to pour out the fancies of my heart onto paper and into music with the great anticipation that other people will find it interesting enough to either view, read or at least give a listen.  If they don’t, sometime soon I will return to my secondary occupation—that being ballet dancing (really keeps me on my toes…)

I digress.

Four on the Floor , script and soundtrack is completed and goes into production the day after our premier on June 19^th at Watkins Film Institute of Has Been and Melvyn’s Clock. 

I share this with you because we have no intentions of stopping the flow of creativity in this Middle Tennessee wilderness until we are either dead or silenced by the boll weevil of Bubba-ism (feel free to use “the boll weevil of Bubba-ism,” but please send me a nickel every time you do…)

It was an exciting day listening to the new music and very exciting to share with you these blogs over these past few days leading up to this fabulous premier. 

Will I see you?  Would you be so kind to take a moment and drop me an email and let me know of your experiences?   Maybe start just with respiration and how much you enjoy it.  We can build from there.

 

J

Countdown!  Three Days to Premier

          Fourteen days until the premier in Sacramento, California, we had stimulated the enthusiasm that one might experience in offering a dried apricot that greatly resembled the face of Ronald Reagan on e-bay.  In other words, a very limited response.  I don’t know why it works that way sometimes…people were enthusiastic about making the movie; they were thrilled about the results.  But a terrifying torpor often sets in right before a premier.  I don’t know whether it’s a little bit of that American attitude of, “Well, I might come and I might not…it’s a moody thing.”  Or perhaps we all have a bit of a problem with being fans of things that are not of our own humping.  I don’t know.  In my journey I’ve learned this—there are times and seasons for everything.  You might even call them dispensations.  Bluntly, good things don’t hang around very long until they’re promoted to a higher status or they just get tired.

          So it’s important to be the smart one who sees what’s happening now and grabs onto it and makes it his own.  The best thing you can do for yourself is be honest and say, “I’m not smart enough to come up with every new idea that’s going to be special in its nature to breathe and therefore bring life, but I can be smart enough to back the next thing breathing.”

          So anyway, back to the Sacramento premier—we had a little meeting and we decided to try to stimulate interest by writing some  blogs and putting some extra footage on the web site with examples of scenes and ideas from the movie—teasers.

          Well, it worked.  What could have been a disaster turned into a roaring success.  Marcus and Mercedes (Rory and Sansy) showed up to the premier in a stretch limousine.  People came through the doors energetic.  Marianne, who played Ariel Robards, lit up the room with her enthusiasm.  People came from the street.  People came from churches.  People came from their homes and turned our little premier into a wonder garden of fruitfulness.

          The location of the theater was less than ideal—what some people might refer to as “the bad side of town.”  That’s because in California it was difficult to find a theater rental that didn’t demand one of your kidneys for down payment.  One theater in particular wanted so much money and insurance and a deposit that I just had to quip to them, “Listen, we’re just going to use your theater to show a movie…not butcher cattle.”  In our brief time of conversing, I think they failed to grasp he depth of my humor.

But we made the best of it and the premier was a roaring success.  Matter of fact you see Jasson’s minute-by-minute footage of the premier and meet some of the actors.

Click Here To Learn More About Has Been.

          So on Thursday night we go to Watkins Film Institute to show the movies.  I love where I live, but Nashville can be a fussy little aunt—not really satisfied with how you spread a table and where you put your napkins, if you know what I mean.  There are people who think you can’t show anything unless you show it at the Belcourt and of course, the Belcourt does its best to promote that concept also.  I’m sure it’s fine, but we would much rather save our money to make another movie instead of padding the funds of some existing organization that tends to welcome the status quo over the razor’s edge.

          So—come join us at Watkins.  And you know what you’ll be doing when you do that?  Three things will happen:  Number one—you’ll catch the energy of what’s happening in this town now.  Number two—you’re going to see two great movies which will make you laugh and cry.  And three—your inexpensive ticket price is going to help us shoot the next movie, Four on the Floor.  Now where else can you get that?  Entertainment, fun and still end up being a patron of something exciting that’s going on. 

As I write this, I am driving in the middle of the night from Pascagoula, Mississippi, back to Nashville, Tennessee.  I hope you have a great day and you’re making great plans to join us this Thursday night. 

Yours,

J

Countdown!  Four Days to Premier

           His name was Marcus Proctor and he was playing the part of Rory Jacobs, our journalist fallen on hard times and was relegated to the status of ghost writer for a bunch of “has beens.”  Marcus is a delightful blending of a minx, a pixie and a koala bear.  This may seem a little bit confusing until you someday meet him and make sure when you do, you contact me and say, “You nailed it exactly.”

          Playing the part of Sansy, his love interest, was Mercedes Danekis, the daughter of the publisher, Jason Samuels, played by Oto Brezina.  Oto did a great job for us even though the day we taped, he fell under a great big cloud of fatigue and had to resort to tons of perseverance to make it through.

          Our movie, Has Been, has its own belly dancer named Zaheea and I can tell you of a truth, more of her dances than just her belly.

          The fallen-from-grace preacher in our story is Wayne Goodman and “ took-a-bribe-when-she- shouldn’t have” Congresswoman, Ariel Robards, is played by Marianne Bartley.  We have a broken-down quarterback named Jate Jeffers, portrayed by Chris Kjornes, a heart-of-gold former porn star, Zara Zing, adequately having shoes and everything else filled by Christine Tringali.  And, of course, playing the part of rock-and-roller, Gondo, is Damion Sharpe. So many other names, so many other wonderful people. 

I was completely done writing the script when my son, Jasson, came to me and said, “Where’s my part?”  Normally I would tell him “better luck next time,” but he is my son and was also present at that scandalous occurrence involving a shower stall, a bag of Cheetos and four flair pens—please don’t ask…

So I created a “has been” child-star for him named Johnny Boy Bronsky, the Little Muskrat, who will tickle your funny bone if rodents actually have such an appendage. 

What accentuated this particular shoot is the fact that the cast lived together for four days at a campsite in Snug Harbor, during a time which was to represent the stay at Camp Bumblehead, Montana.  The camaraderie was rich and the comedy was prevalent.  You certainly will pick up the fellowship which was achieved during the closing scene around the fire. 

You should get on the website and check out the Has Been section under www.extraordinaryfilmproject.com and see the wonderful footage of the Sacramento premier and the candid shots.  We dressed them all in pink and orange jumpsuits, inscribed with “Camp Ben There.”  Also you might want to log onto the website and listen to the theme song—the closing song of the movie—entitled (appropriately), “Has Been,” featuring our good friend, Hope, singing it.

Just talking about these wonderful folks makes me so anxious for the premier coming up—in just four days, really.  You won’t want to miss it—Watkins Film Institute on Thursday night, June 19^th at 6:00 PM for Has Been and 8:00 PM for Melvyn’s Clock.  Four days until premier and tomorrow we’ll talk about that premier we had in Sacramento of Has Been.  Looking forward to seeing you.

  Yours,

J  

Article From Tribune Entertainment June 5th

Radio Interview With Film Festival Radio's Janice Malone Coming Soon

Countdown!  Day Five to Premier

          Nothing is cheap in California.

          We rented a house in Folsom—a suburb of Sacramento—a house that ended up costing us twice as much as the one we had in Arizona.  Meat was twice as expensive.  Produce at least 50% more and we saw $4.00 gas before it was a national fad. 

          Our living quarters was about three-and-a-half blocks from Folsom Prison and a mile or so from where Sutter’s Mill was situated—which was the foundling origin for the Great California Gold Rush of 1849.

          The first time we went to the grocery store, we didn’t know whether to gasp or merely faint. 

We were strangers in a strange land.

          As welcome as we felt in Arizona at first, California felt a bit cooler, slower to ignite and free of any sense of childlike excitement about our presence.  But there are always people that are sent your way to encourage you not to believe everything you fear in your heart.

          Actors from Los Angeles, San Francisco and all over California rallied together to form the cast of Has Been.  We received permission from a wonderful resort area close to San Francisco called Snug Harbor to become the site of our camp scenes in the movie.  We specked out locations in San Francisco, including a wonderful video montage of China Town. 

          We just got busy doing the things we remembered to do that seemed to work and even though at first they appeared to lack the luster and strength to pull off their mission, piece by piece the passion appeared, the energy unfolded and we were back to the business of making movies.

          We weren’t in town for more than an hour before Marcus Procter arrived by bus from Los Angeles to play our lead—Rory Jacobs—in the movie.  He moved into the house with us and a plateful of teriyaki chicken later, we were all family.  He was just one of many miraculous souls who crossed our paths during the filming of this wacky comedy, Has Been.

          Yes, we made a comedy which is unabashedly silly, moving, thoughtful and trivial all at the same time--without apology. 

Well, this is day five in the countdown until the premier of these wonderful movie at Watkins Film Institute.  Tomorrow I am going to tell you about the cast of Has Been—their names and who they are and some wonderful things about them.  Are you getting excited yet? I should hope so. 

I send you greetings from on the road with this particular blog.  This evening I am in Pascagoula, Mississippi.  And you’re not.  Talk to you tomorrow. 

                    Yours,

               J

Countdown!  Six Days to Premier  

          Actually we wanted to hold the premier on Friday night, February 29^th, since it would be Leap Year and all—and we thought that would be really cool.  And don’t get me wrong—it was a cool idea, until the Pollack Tempe Cinemas told us it would cost us twice as much to do it on Friday night.  Then suddenly Thursday night, February 28^th seemed divinely inspired.

          The premier in Phoenix was really an exciting and a perplexing event.  We had family and friends fly in from Nashville , Tennessee , so that was particularly exciting and unusual to see our acquaintances trotting around the desert community.  And it was a little perplexing because I don’t think the Arizona actors and newspaper people covering the story really ever thought there was going to be a premier.  In some ways I think they had gotten used to the fact that lots of people come in with ideas and maybe even shoot some footage but no one actually gets anything up on the screen—unless their last name is Spielberg, Lucas or maybe Scorcese.

          So the energy really picked up in the last week when everybody involved in the film went to their emails and received daily announcements about ticket details and the premier instead of what they expected, which was some derivation of, “Gee, whiz, we’re sorry.  But there really won’t be any premier this week.”

          So when I arrived at the theater there were already people milling around the parking lot, waiting to get in, and it had all the earmarks of being a boondoggie (which is a word I heard somewhere, some time or another, which I think means that something is really going to be great.  If it doesn’t end up meaning that, please chalk it up to my feeble attempt in my aging years to remain a hipster…)

          Three hundred and forty people from all over Phoenix came to the premier that night.  We even had a few show up from   Wickenburg High School , which had been afraid to have the movie shown in their auditorium.  I guess grotesque notions, like pregnancy tests, are more easily accepted by the mind when shown in big-city theaters.

          We printed off a great poster, which we offered that evening which people flocked to purchase, along with the DVD of the movie, and I think everybody was stunned with the quality that Russ and Tracy had achieved on the screen and the expertise that the actors produced in their performances.

          I think the ending left everybody breathless and stunned, which certainly pleased this screenwriter.

          It was a night to remember and certainly a blessed event as long as we didn’t demand it be duplicated any time soon.

          As I leave the Arizona premier and the fine folks from that state, I say a final thank-you and express my deep appreciation for their openness and generosity.  We will always have that January and February in 2008 together and we will always have the evidence of that encounter through a piece of art called Melvyn’s Clock.

          It was February 29^th when we woke up, packed up our things and headed off towards California with a stop-off in Flagstaff and a visit to the Grand Canyon .  Well, more about that tomorrow.  

Yours,

J

Countdown! –Eight Days to Premier

          It all began with a beautiful woman named Debbie Overby.  She was our contact into the Phoenix area and literally took the ball, planned the auditions on site and also ended up playing the part of a wonderfully cantankerous, aging lass named Edna.

          She found for us our Melvyn—because how can you have Melvyn’s Clock without a good Melvyn?  His name was Lanny Rethaber and although he was a bit too young for the role, he agreed to add some layers of fussiness to himself to create our delightfully annoying and amazingly energetic Melvyn.

          Playing the part of our disturbed, young single father, Tony, was a dynamic gentleman named Jose Rosete. 

The script demanded that we have an introspective and searching priest name McCorkle, who was brilliantly portrayed by Roger Prenger. 

Then it goes on and on.  There was Camrin Richardson as the young boy, Carl.  How about a real sleazy pawn broker called Kipsky, which was captured for all time by Aaron Ginn-Forsberg?  We met a lady in her seventies who portrayed Mrs. L brilliantly and her name was Joyce Gittoes.  Barry Wallace was Dr. Payne—and the list goes on and on—of intelligent and talented and willing participants in this dramatic excursion that certainly borders at times on a “Hitchcockian” insanity.

          One of the most difficult things to learn as you grow up in the American culture is that we never see the best people for the best jobs.  The best person does not become President of the United States , mainly because the person that would certainly be most qualified for the job cannot survive the butt-kissing, the systems and the overly-analytical scrutiny of the press. 

And certainly we do not see the best people make it in Hollywood , either.  When you get done with nepotism, politics and just the general grind of an elimination process which tries to wheedle out any one with spot or blemish, you end up with a safe modicum.

I point this out to you because often, people avoid independent films because there are no well-known actors on the roster.  That is a mistake.  Acting is a craft of the soul, willing to abandon all self-consciousness to engage character.  It is not limited to New York or Hollywood , but open to any person of talent who is willing to make the journey.

And boy, did we find them in Arizona .  They took the script for Melvyn’s Clock, added their perspiration and inspiration and delivered a chilling tale with comedic overtones of what happens when our lives intersect.

So let me take this eighth day before the premier at Watkins Film Institute and thank everybody in Arizona that made this movie possible.  I would say that you gave great sacrifice but honestly, considering the product we created and the scope that was achieved, it wasn’t nearly as much sacrificial as it was a moment of creative brilliance in time.

Don’t miss it on June 19^th.  Debbie Overby would probably tell you, “When something comes your way, go ahead and get excited.  Grab on and make it your own.”