I must be getting old

Wow. I tried to watch the VMAs last night. I was looking forward to seeing Britney. Yay for her getting back to normal-ish. I knew she could do it! But seriously after her opening sketch I lasted through the first award. WTF was up with that annoying British guy? If you have to assure people you're famous in another country, you probably shouldn't be hosting the VMAs in any country other than your own. He talked way too long and was not funny. Made me think of that SNL sketch where Kenan played a British comedian on Def Comedy Jam and all his jokes were about British stuff that no one had ever heard of. Anyway, the only thing he did that I liked was tell everyone to vote for Obama. Because yes, they should.

using this blog - a novel concept!

So I started this blog with the intention of using it regularly and then failed miserably. I'm going to do better now. Hopefully this blog will be an intersting chronicle of my attempt to shoot my first indepentdent feature length film. So for starters, a little bit about what's I've been up to.

Since I last posted, I've acquired my own camera equipment. I am the proud owner of a beautiful Sony HVR-V1U HDV camera, a Bogen-Manfrotto tripod, a nifty wide angle lens and other sundry accessories. Owning my own equipment has opened up a whole new world of possibilities for me. (Including of course, serious debt!)

Back in July I started shooting a documentary that has since gotten caught up in governmental red tape. You can see a trailer I made for the IFC's Back To Basics Documentary Challenge here:

Michigan Youth Challenge Academy Doc Trailer

It wasn't selected as a finalist but I think it shows what a compelling subject the MYCA could be if made into a do. I'm pretty proud of it.

While I wait and see if that situation gets worked out, I've turned my attention to music videos. A week from today I will be shooting my first music video for a band called Darling Down and their song Revenge Is Sweet Like Cherries. I'm pretty excited. I think it could turn out very cool.

I also have a short I want to shoot soon. It's a script I adapted from a Ray Bradbury short story years ago. I might not be able to screen it anywhere but it is my all time favorite short story so why not, right? Experience is experience.

I had been working for a while on a script for a story I've been wanting so shoot for years, but I'm putting that on hold in order to work on something that can be shot in the winter, in a very short amount of time, and on a very small budget. Wish me luck with that one!